" Now I don't wanna go home
'Cause when you hold me like this,
You know my heart skip, skips a beat.."

-Olly Murs

The first thing Joycelyn noticed as the groggy tendrils of sleep began to loosen their grip on her was light. It flooded her senses making the room feel both ethereal and unbearably bright, causing her to tightly shut her eyes to not be blinded. She must have forgotten to close the window blinds again last night. With eyes still closed she could feel the sun warming her face with its gentle caress. She was warm and comfortable, wrapped in a cocoon of happiness and snuggly heat. She shifted slightly, and the arms tucked loosely around her waist shifted as well. She could feel a slight tickle of gentle breathing in the space between her neck and shoulder. The familiar scent of lilac and apples drifts through her nostrils and a small contented sigh escaped her lips. She cracked one eye open squinting immediately as the light stabbed mercilessly at her still sleep crusted orb. She winced, and tried again, slowly opening her eye after a slight rub of her free hand, and blurry blonde hair turned gold in the morning light came into view. She blinked a few times attempting to rid her morning eyes of sleep as that blurry gold came into focus. A feeling of deep contentment washed over her, she was home.

A sound like an airy contented sigh escaped the lips tucked into the crook of her neck. Lips brushed across her neck and a puff of air made its way past those lips, another contented sigh. Joycelyn turned her head slightly nuzzling into the golden hair at her shoulder, and the smell of lilacs and apples engulfed her senses like a hazy cloud.

A tickle at her shoulder intruded into her contented thoughts, at first, she brushed them away, but the tickle continued worming its way toward her neck. With a grunt she swatted at it, but it persisted. That lingering scent of lilacs and apples once again clouded her senses. A voice, filled with gentle laughter whispered into her ears, "wake up Joy, you're humming in your sleep silly".

With a start, the brunette's head shot up, eyes darting around the room, attempting to make sense of where she was at. Chalk board at the front of the room, a ghost sleeping on the desk, rows of students reading scrolls, and writing notes to themselves appeared before the sleepy witch. Her eyes flicked to her left where a pair of amused blue orbs peered curiously at her. A dream. Again. This was getting old Joycelyn thought dejectedly to herself.

Joycelyn pulled herself up into a sitting position, wiping the sleep from her eyes, and glancing at the blonde-haired witch out of the corner of her eye.

" 'Hanks Penny" she murmured, as her eyes searched her notes desperately trying to figure out what she was supposed to be reading. A hand snaked into the dark-haired witch's vision, pushing aside a scroll, and pointing to a paragraph on the magical counsel of 1172. Gratitude bloomed in Joycelyn's chest and she turned grateful eyes toward Penny only to be stopped as she noticed a peculiar look on the other girl's face.

The other witch pointed toward the corner of her own eye motioning to the Scottish girl that she still had eye crust. Pink exploded over Joycelyn's cheeks as she furiously attempted to will her cheeks to be normal. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

She mimicked the motion Penny was making on her own eye, attempting to find the stray bit. After a moment, color also bloomed on the blonde's cheeks as she gingerly reached out. Hesitant fingers brushed by her chin to bring Joycelyn's heart-shaped face into her hands. The Scottish girl's eyes instinctively closed as Penny's finger's made deft work of the wayward eye crust leaving a trail of heat in their wake. It could have been the Joycelyn's imagination, but she almost thought Penny's fingers lingered a bit longer on her face before quickly dropping to the desk they shared.

"There you go Joy."

Joycelyn smiled gratefully in return. It wouldn't do to go around Hogwarts all day with eye crust. She tried to think of something witty to reply with, but the more the dark-haired girl tried to the more her brain came up with nothing.

"Can you meet me in the Artifacts room later?" The stray words escaped the dark-haired witch's treacherous lips before she had a chance to catch them. Too late now, the Scottish witch mused while simultaneously impressed by her own brazen request.

Deft fingers which were just on her cheek brushed blonde hair almost nervously behind an ear, as blue eyes peered up at her curiously. "Sure Joy, I'll meet you as soon as class ends."

"Great" the taller brunette replied. She hoped her clipped response and tight smile didn't betray that she had a sudden urge to throw up. What did I just do? Play it cool, Joy. Play. It. Cool.

The Scottish witch offered another small tight smile before turning her eyes to the scroll in-front of her, not able to comprehend the words she was staring at. After an eternity of pretending to read the same paragraph over and over again she sighed quietly. A prickling sensation at her right spread the same warmth she had come to associate a certain blonde with. She glanced up quickly and then right back down. She glanced up once more, attempting to be as subtle as possible while ensuring she had seen correctly before she refocused on the scroll in front of her.

What in Merlin's tits is going on? she thought to herself.

Penny Haywood would not stop staring at her. The other girl was giving a valiant effort at hiding the fact, but those ocean colored eyes were constantly roving toward her direction. All the attention was causing flustered blooms of color up Joycelyn's pale skin and, a feeling of clumsiness seemed to settle in her bones. But it was also met with something else, a flutter of warmth. The hope of what if.

The Artifacts room was small. It seemed so much bigger when Joycelyn first entered it years ago, and the memory of it hung around the brunette's shoulders like a familiar sweater. The room was a treasure trove of the most random things at Hogwarts. It was also the place that Joycelyn had spent countless hours searching for every manor of item over the years. It was the place where she and Penny would go with an extra cauldron and brew potions together. These clandestine position making sessions were not only for vault hunting adventures but for other things throughout the years. There were times when the two of them would huddle on the floor of the artifacts room for hours as they brewed their concoction. Other times Penny or Joycelyn would pour over the potion while the other chatted casually. It was one of their shared places, and for the brunette one of the few places she felt like she could just be herself.

So, in the young witches' mind it was the perfect place to meet the other girl. To meet Penny, and do what exactly, talk about the sky? The brunette's rebellious thoughts shot back at her. It was true, she had impulsively asked to meet the other girl with no thought as to why other then to see her face.

Before she could do much more then sigh the door to the Artifacts room creaked open. A head of blonde hair nervously peaked around it, and bright blue eyes met green. For the Scottish witch it was like all the air had suddenly been sucked out of the room, as the blonde walked in, shut the door, and turned expectant eyes toward her.

"Hi, History of Magic is always so dull", the other girl rushed out in a single breath. Penny had a habit of touchy with her friends, and Joycelyn was no different in that regard. The blonde strode up to Joycelyn, still talking, her hands smoothing over the Scottish girls' shoulders to wrap her in a lose hug.

"Yeah" Joycelyn breathed out.

I love you. You're essential to me like air; I'm enchanted with you're every move.

"Yeah" Joycelyn repeated.

The other girl suddenly stopped, and her hands began to roam over the brunette's shoulders finally coming to a stop with a small squeeze of the muscles of her upper arms. Curious blue eyes peered up at green as a genuinely confused smile found its way on Penny's features.

"You really have been training hard, haven't you?" she seemed to breathe out.

Immediate color exploded on Joycelyn's face, and she coughed lowly in embarrassment. The sound seemed to snap the blonde witch out of her thoughts causing her to drop her hands to her side, almost awkwardly.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of going into curse-breaking after school", Joycelyn sheepishly expressed.

An impish smile spread across Penny's features, and she tilted her head slightly. "You are the Hero of Hogwarts after all", she expressed almost proudly.

Joycelyn let out a short laugh, awkwardly smoothing an eyebrow. It had been a while since Penny had called her that. The old nickname brought up images of a time in herbology when the dark-haired Scot had blurted out her feelings to the blonde. Joycelyn had given her talk with Rowan some thought, she did desperately wish to keep a friendship with Penny. But the more Joycelyn thought about it the more she needed a definitive answer from the other girl.

"Joy?" the other girl's voice and a soft touch to her arm broke into her thoughts. Concerned blue eyes peered up at her and Joycelyn realized the other girl was impossibly close. For the second time in less than five minutes Joycelyn breathed out a barely imperceptible

"Yeah?"

Ocean colored eyes peered deep into her own with something the brunette had not seen before. Penny was usually so controlled, bubbly, and easy going. However, this intensity from the blonde was new. The soft touch that had roused the Scottish girl from her thoughts were now slowly climbing up her arm. They snaked around her shoulders, akin to a caress, before coming to rest with Penny's palms gently cupping her shoulders.

The slightest pressure from that hand caused the taller witch to cave, bending slightly so the other girl's hand could get better purchase. All the while the witches drew into each other's space, both girl's eyes darkening. For Joycelyn, her heart had sped up to double time march around her insides until all she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. Her vision awash with now dark blue eyes. Her own hands had mysteriously found themselves comfortably resting on the blonde's hip, slowly pulling the other girl closer.

Merlin's tits this is it! The brunette thought.

Her head swam with the scent of lilac and apples. The scent that seemed to haunt her even in her dreams. Her gaze flicked down to the lips growing ever closer, the same ones which she had only dreamt of for years. Her own tongue unconsciously flicking out to wet her own lips.

A crash like something heavy being smashed against the door suddenly broke through the haze, the moment lost. Purely on instinct, Joycelyn pulled the smaller girl flush against her protectively tucked into her side. Her wade pointed at the door ready to attack whoever was on the other side.

After a moment of tense silence, a soft "ow, what in Merlin's beard was that for Tonks?" could be heard from the other side of the door with more shuffling and muffled voices growing distant. Tulip and Tonks were apparently having another prank war. Joycelyn let out a shaky breath, her heart now beating for a completely different reason.

The blonde must have felt it too as she nervously extracted herself from Joycelyn's protective embrace.

"Well, uh, that was…loud" she finished lamely. But before Joycelyn could reply the blonde had continued talking with an awkward cough. "What did you want to talk to me about again?"

Joycelyn dropped her wand with a start, shaking slightly.

"Right. Yes. I want to …show you something. At the Black Lake. Later. Can you go?" The brunette rushed out, her words falling over themselves while her brain screamed at her.

Penny began to shuffle away from the Scottish witch nervously. "Yeah, let me just go change. I will meet you in the courtyard in a few".

As the other girl seemed to beat a hasty retreat from the Artifacts room, for the third time in the last five minutes, Joycelyn breathed out a single sad word.

"yeah.."