Since the return of his memory, Jai had embraced new experiences. He was much more open to trying things he normally wouldn’t. He didn’t exactly know why this was -- but he knew it could probably be blamed on the near-death experience he was remembering more and more about. It had only been a few weeks since his memory had made its long-awaited comeback, leaving just hours left of his time with Jordyn. He felt like he’d missed out on so much time with her.

So that’s why he found himself at Gracie Slant’s New Years party. He thought about where he was a year earlier, (which he wouldn’t have been able to do a few weeks ago, actually… he was constantly thinking of the things he now had the power to recall). A year ago he did not have a beautiful girlfriend, nor did he have a job or any sense of stability in his life. He definitely had not been at a party. Things had completely changed.

In celebration of this, Jai had partied with Jordyn and her friends. He imbibed, to excess. Jordyn wore an outfit that with each drink, Jai was having more and more trouble resisting the urge to get underneath. Sloppy and silly, there was much snogging and even a little groping when he was (mostly) sure no one was looking. Together he and Jordyn had rung in the new year with kisses and even more drinks.

With his arm slung lazily around her hip, they staggered through the streets with about as much direction that Jai had a year ago. They were headed in the general direction of home -- more likely Jordyn’s home, since her parents were out and that was much more fun than his house.  He was laughing about something, though he couldn’t get specific on exactly what.

When she had agreed to have Gracie dress her, it was probably a choice equivalent to someone who had just been stupefied being asked if they’d like to take their NEWT exams.  Thankfully though, Gracie decided to be kind to her.   The only thing that was really different about her look was the lacey top thing that pushed everything upwards.  She had worried at first… of course, about it being too much.

After all, Jordyn was built a little differently than Gracie (understatement).  But, as drinks started to pour and music pulsed… it became sort of a non-issue.  Jordyn hardly noticed, outside of Jai’s wandering hands.  And even then that had not posed a problem at all as the evening ramped up, Jordyn had even enjoyed herself.  They’d laughed and drank and danced then drank some more… and now they were on their way back home. 

Jordyn’s feet naturally carried her toward her home.  Her parents had gone back to her grandmother’s after Christmas day and she knew they didn’t have to worry about them.  Plus, Jordyn was leaving for school in… tomorrow! That was so unfair. 

Stumbling over a break in the sidewalk, Jordyn squeaked and tilted forward, the arm that she had wrapped around him grabbing tighter before she managed to turn on her toes to plaster herself to his front in the middle of the sidewalk.  The neighborhood had quieted significantly (not that it was ever loud) as it was well past midnight, and Jordyn still bubbling full of alcohol and party laughed again.  “I wish there was just… one more week of holiday!” she whined. 

“Wasn’t this fun?” her eyes went wide and she beamed, “I like having fun with you.”

Presently Jai did not want to think about how this was the last day he’d be able to hold Jordyn’s hand, kiss her soft lips, remember every single thing she said, turn everything into a memory. It seemed unfair that he couldn’t visit her while she was at school; letters were nowhere near as good as the real thing. Jai looked around for something -- anything -- else to talk about. That’s when he saw it.

Jordyn was mid-sentence, her voice slurred but somehow that still made Jai smile as he yanked her towards the igloo he had spotted in the middle of a seemingly empty park. Abandoned. It was like it was meant to be, written in the stars.

“Let’s go in.” Jai dropped into the snow clumsily, then crawled toward the igloo. It was clearly built by children, judging by size, but once he wiggled over 6 feet of himself into the dome of the igloo, he realized how roomy it was. These kids must have been experiencing their first sparks of magic, making this. It was much bigger on the inside.

“Shit! This is awesome!” Such enthusiasm was rare for Jai, but the igloo really was pretty cool. And being drunk as he was, it also felt a little bit like a miracle.

Once Jordyn was in, he wrapped his arms around her. His pants were soaked and his hands were freezing but he didn’t care. Jordyn would warm him up. “I heard once that you have to stay realllly close to another person in the cold,” Jai said faux-innocently, resting his chin on her shoulder. “So you don’t freeze. To death.” He said the last part gravely, but then couldn’t help smiling and cuddling her as if she were a stuffed animal and he was a 3-year-old.

Unlike a toddler, Jai began kissing Jordyn’s neck, not pecks but long warm kisses that were soft… or at least they intended to be. They were a little sloppy, but he didn’t notice nor did he care. He kissed her collarbone and the top of her ribcage. “Are you warm yet?” Jai asked with a coy grin.

I It took Jordyn half a beat longer than it should have to realize what Jai was talking about.  Her eyes also took half a beat longer than they should have to follow along.  What was that?  It looked like a giant pile of snow.  She wasn’t sure what was going on, but Jai tugged her and she tipped forward in her shoes, eyes focused until she let out a surprised “oh!” 

It was an igloo?!  Had it really snowed that much? 

Looking around her, she supposed all the dug out snow and the giant dome was obviously  fully constructed.  Wow.  Stopping short, Jordyn turend her eyes to look at him with big eyes.  “What?!”  she could not believe what he was doing… crawling down on the ground and then… oh gosh!

“Jai!” she squeaked, stomping her foot before whing now: ”Jaaaaaaai.”  She didn’t want to get in there!  But he didn’t stop, quite the opposite.  His lanky frame disappeared through the opening and it didn’t look like he was going to come back out.  “Oh no,” she muttered to herself, already feeling extra cold before she ducked down to peer in.  “Jai?” she called… to no answer. 

She whimpered to herself and dropped her hands down, squeaking as the shock of cold hit her.  She was already chattering by the time she shimmied inside and crawled directly into his lap.  Oh gosh.  Her legs were frozen and her hands were practically ice themselves.  She shoved her hands inside of his sweater and nodded as her teeth chattered.  “I’m halfway there,” she pouted and tucked her head down. 

That was just obscene. 

It was too cold for this.  “You at least have pants on!” she pointed out with a huff, looking down to her soaked knees in those tights.  Again, she pouted, because apparently that’s what drunk Jordyn did.  Fortunately, it also seemed drunk Jordyn was easily distractible. Warm, wet kisses peppered her neck and she immediately lost her train of thought.  Sucking in a breath, Jordyn’s head tilted and she dug her fingers into the black material of his shirt under the jumper. 

“No fair,” she muttered into his collar.  She turend her head again so her cheek was pressed against his upper chest and shoulder, “Why on Earth did you drag me in here?” she asked, quite honestly, still trying to squeeze warmth out of every inch of his body that she could touch.  It involved some moving and jostling, but she was determined to keep her legs off the ground.  It was too cold. 

With Jordyn in the igloo it was more cramped, but Jai hardly noticed or cared. She didn’t seem as comfortable as he was in the snowy enclosure, so he wrapped himself around her. The drunk was keeping him extra warm and so he felt obligated to share it, of course.

“You at least have pants on!” 

At this Jai smirked and scooched down a little, kissed her belly and rubbed her legs. “I’ll be yer blanket,” he said, mostly to her legs. They were soft, but he agreed that they were much too cold and needed his help. He ran his fingers against the contours of her knees and ankles, and once he reached the hem of her dress he rolled over and rested his chin on her belly. He pressed his lips to the shiny fabric and then looked up at Jord’s face.

“No fair. Why on earth did you drag me in here?”

He laughed and buried his face into her belly. “It’s a clubhouse,” he told her confidently.

Jai was drunk.  The drawl was clear enough to let her know that and when he started rubbing her legs and kissing on her… she couldn’t help but flush a little!  That didn’t change, however, that they were in a child’s igloo and she was in the snow and this was terrible.  “You’re a terrible blanket,” she whined.

Apparently, this was the night of whining for Jordyn as she would have much preferred to be back in her own bed with a real blanket and not in the snow.  Plus the walls were pretty closed in and she was feeling a little cramped!  She wasn’t even tall, so she had a hard time trying to understand how Jai could stand it in here.

Oh right, he was not focused on the tiny space or how cold he was.  Breathing heavily, Jordyn whimpered and squirmed, she was not dressed for this.  “For children,” she pointed out, craning her neck to glance down at him, looking as comfy as ever. 

She was not comfy.  But, to be fair, after she dropped her head back down and stared at the ceiling, she wasn’t really into moving too much either.  She felt light, everything was sort of swirling.  Even though she was cold and definitely wanted to leave, she closed her eyes for the moment: when they stopped moving it became infinitely harder to start up again.  “We could be at my house… with a fire… and blankets…” she took a big, deep breath.  “Wouldn’t that be nice?” 

The cold was starting to prick at Jai’s fingertips, a feeling Jordyn had evidently already become familiar with. She whined and groaned as he did his best to physically encourage her that this was a good idea. Soon enough it was becoming hard to move, their bodies deciding to send warmth to the parts that needed it most. Apparently fingers and faces did not fall under that category. Jordyn not-so-gently reminded him that this igloo was a place built by and for children, and Jai pouted.

“The craftsmanship is too exceptional for this to have been built by kids,” Jai pointed out. The snow bricks of the igloo were cut out so that they fit exactly, and the igloo was spacious enough to fit over six feet of Jai Patil. It might not have been as roomy as any room in Jord’s mansion, but that was hardly the type of thing one needed to worry about when trying to snuggle.

“We could be at my house… with a fire… and blankets…” she took a big, deep breath.  “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

It did sound nice, and that had been their original plan. Jai whispered a quick spell so that the igloo gained more space as well as a fireplace with a stack of blankets nearby. “Eh?” Jai raised his eyebrows, implying that she should be impressed. “Forgot we were magical folk, did ya, Head Girl?” He was teasing her, but was thankful that the space was starting to warm up. He didn’t know whether this icy castle had been built by muggles, but if it was in fact built by children as Jord suspected, then either way they wouldn’t have been using magic.

 Jordyn raised her eyebrows, ’the craftsmanship?’  “When did you get an interest in building stuff?” her drunk mind did not let her find the words she was looking for and she substituted accordingly.  It was just silly.  This was a child’s igloo and she couldn’t see how it was different from any other igloo.

Though, she supposed that was probably because she’d never been in an igloo before.  It wasn’t as though she had siblings to do those sorts of things with and it wasn’t exactly a thing she and her friends would do.  Jordyn was far more interested in a hot chocolate and a couch with a wireless or some magazines. 

That was not here, unfortunately. 

Pushing herself up a little bit on her elbows again, Jordyn gasped when things started to move (and not because she was dizzy).  “Jai!” she gritted her teeth and tried not to be too loud.  They were still on a residential street at… she didn’t even know what time.  But truthfully, she wasn’t only freaking out for that reason.  “You shouldn’t,” she hiccupped (just accenting the drunk), “do magic when you’ve been drinking!” 

It didn’t matter that it worked.  It mattered that it wasn’t good.  “You’ll have to fix it!” she breathed heavy, kinda scared.  “This was a terrible idea!” 

Ignoring Jordyn’s complaints, he moved them towards the fire. “Please. I’m a wizard, baby,” Jai pointed out. He chose not to mention the fact that he had only just recently begun to use magic since his head injury. The alcohol made him a little more reckless, sure… but Jai thought it might be possible that he was better at magic after drinking.

He didn’t know what would happen when the new year came, what his status was with his job, what he would do without Jordyn for the next several months. He kissed a path up to her face and then pressed his nose to hers. He curled around her, lazily attempting to keep her warm.

Watching her eyes for a moment, he thought about the sadness that was always behind them, wondering how much damage he’d done by forgetting. Jai looked down and then back up, brushing the hair out of her face. “Imma miss you,” he whispered, slurring from the alcohol and also from the moment’s intensity.

. . . Jordyn was still not amused.  Placating her with a pet name and the assurance that he could do magic was not enough to make any of this okay.  Indeed, she was horrified about the whole situation.  Even warming up, she was still just… not amused.  “Jai,” she whined again, without anything to really add after it.  She just couldn’t even with all of this! 

A series of kisses definitely made her shut up for a couple of minutes.  The heat was starting to fill the igloo and it was less distressing than five minutes ago when she imagined they’d end up in Azkaban or in front of the Wizengamot for violating the statute of secrecy.  At least they were inside of the igloo.  She didn’t know if it changed on the outside, but if it was huge and cumbersome… Jordyn could not go to Azkaban.

She was entirely too pretty for prison. 

Her fears of having her soul sucked away and all future career opportunities squandered were pushed down by the more pressing fear: going back to school.  She dipped her chin and sighed.  “Only one term left,” she tried to be reassuring, “then I guess we will figure it out?”     

“Only one term left… and then I guess we will figure it out?”

Jai curled around his girlfriend, whose consideration of the future he had always admired. Jordyn was so smart, determined, goal-oriented: it kept him driven too. If anything it was to impress her. These were the things that Jai was remembering, the past that was getting refreshed. The future wasn’t something he was trying hard to catch up on, not at the moment.

He pulled up the bottom of the sleeve of her gloves, knowing this would make her nervous, but stopped quickly and kissed the base of her hand. “I’ll be around,” Jai promised her. Somehow that answered the question for him, if it even was a question. Jai couldn’t think of anything he could do to ruin it all, for once. WIth his memory had come the re-remembering her infidelity, but……… that shirt, though.

With a few kisses in a row, he was at the place where her soft skin met at the fold of her elbow. He poked it with his nose, which in this case even he could admit was big (but good for poking).