Seven Minutes PV Opeila Winters Finished

When word of a games afternoon was spread, Opeila had not thought twice about signing up, especially when she realized that there were several people around her age signing up. That this, knowing Hogwarts and its crazy inhabitants, would inevitable lead to one or more games that involved kissing only occurred to the Slytherin a bit later. Not that she minded it much, consent still mattered in these games after all, but Opeila had never managed to warm up to the idea of kissing too much, her first and only kiss so far having been with Alec Mason a few months prior.

Well, if the games hadn't been worth going- which they had- the snacks and drinks certainly had. While of course eventually kissing games were brought up (Why would people find the idea appealing after playing gobstones? Quite a few of the present student had been sprayed with the smelly contents of the stones during the game, luckily she wasn't one of them.), Opeila had a nice time. So nice, that despite of the unpleasant odors that filled the room (Opeila had discreetly gone to open a window at some point), the fourth year was staying. It wasn't the first spin the bottle she played, and she went for her usual safety-backout, which was hugging people instead of kissing.

Eventually a few people left the game and then it was her turn to spin the bottle. It came to a stop, pointing right at a familiar face- Aaron Jones. The two of them had spent some time together occasionally, though it was probably a stretch to call them friends. Opeila could only send him a slightly nervous smile- while she could appreciate the game, she hated being the spinner of the bottle and thereby the one who was expected to take initiative- before she remembered the game had been changed. Before she could realize what was happening, she found herself locked into a closet with Aaron, faint voices cheering them on from outside.

Aaron was the first to move, commenting on the darkness and then stumbled. Opeila felt him grab her arm for stability and got a grip on his elbow. "Don't fall!" She chuckled a little before she fumbled for her wand. "One second- Lumos!" The first thing she would look at when her eyes adjusted to the sudden change of lighting was the ground- she'd rather not step on or fall over anything... well, who knew what was in here. Despite a broom in a corner and some... spiderwebs, there wasn't much.

Opeila decided not to look for a spider, despite of the hairs of her necks standing on edge at the thought. She had moved on from the most extreme fear of spiders she had developed after the attack in her first year, but she was no longer that same person. No longer eleven. She had even deliberately begun to refrain from killing them when she found one, but rather brought them outside.

Anyways- not the time to think of spiders, being... locked into a closet with a guy. "So... what do we do?", she would ask with another, slightly breathless sounding chuckle after a few seconds of silence.

Thankfully the Slytherin girl had her wand on her, and within a few moments a soft light filled the closet. The first thing his eyes focused on was the space above Opeila's head, because she was quite a bit shorter than him. Or rather, he had just undergone a major growth spurt this last year that put him at the same height or taller than the girls in his year who may've already gone through their own growth spurts. His five-foot-six self was still growing, and he'd probably end up closer to six feet (or so he hoped) like his father.

The closet was pretty bare aside from the broom and a bit of extra parchment and such supplies, it was just really small. There was hardly any room for the two fourth years to move around, but Aaron was able to move back ever so slightly now that he could see, leaning against the bare wall behind him, and that gave each other slightly more breathing room. Still, he was physically closer to Opeila in this moment than he could ever remember being. Even when they'd met back in first year, he remembered thinking she didn't seem like much of a hugger, so he had never greeted her in such a way before.

And now, they were both well into their teens. They were going to be fifth years in just a couple of months! And it showed, considering how much they'd grown. Aaron in height and the muscle he was building in his upper body and arms. Opeila too, considering the thought crossing his mind now was how pretty she was. "You cut your hair," he observed, surprised he had not really noticed such a change in her. Then again, they didn't really talk much. Sure they greeted each other in classes, but they didn't really talk. In fact, he thought that he'd heard she had a boyfriend a couple months ago. Had they broken up? They must've, if she was here playing kissing games. So much happening in each of their lives, but obviously they were not at a level of friendship to share such details.

"It looks good on you, the short hair," he said, his hand instinctively reaching forward and tucking a stray hair behind her ear. It had been blocking his view of her face. When his brown eyes met her green ones, it suddenly had him flashing to someone else who had very green eyes. "Sorry," he suddenly said, retracting his hand pretty quickly when he realized what he was doing. He had never really viewed Opeila as the most touchy-feely person in his mind, even if she was playing this game. "What should we do?" he said, repeating her words from a moment ago. A small smirk appeared on his lips but he shook his head playfully. "Well, what do you want to do? Catch up? It's been a while since we've talked. Of course, this game isn't usually made for talking," he said, mainly joking but also a bit flirting given the nature of the game.

@Opeila Winters

When they were finally certain that neither of them would fall, it started to feel... odd. Opeila didn't know Aaron well. Last year- or was it the year before?- she had shown him the room of requirements and before that they had exchanged a few words every now and then (and there was of course the small deal with the secret blossom ball), but she had never really viewed her classmate as someone to be attracted to. Not that he wasn't attractive- on the contrary- but she had always just looked at him the way one looked at the neighbor's kid one had known forever.

And her own life had been way too chaotic to think much of the attractiveness of classmates that weren't Alec Mason or Wyatt Starkey. There were plans to make and this game was supposed to take her mind off of things for just one night. And well... it successfully had.

With the sudden proximity, forced by the smallness of the closet that they had been shoved into with clear intent, a lot of so far never imagined images played through her mind, making her cheeks burn. Suddenly she wished that she had never turned on the light, that so clearly underlined the evidence that in her mind, Opeila was already playing the game just the way it was meant to be played. She lowered her wand a bit, hoping that the darkness would conceal the redness of her face a little.

And Aaron was not helping, as he commented on her hair, his hand suddenly reached out and moved a strand of hair behind her ear. "Th-" Opeila swallowed, hoping it would help the sudden hoarse tone in her voice, "Thank you."
The young Slytherin felt her heart pounding in her chest when Aaron repeated her question what they should do. And then asked what she wanted to do, followed by a suggestion. Her mind was racing to figure out an answer that wouldn't sound weird.

"So... I take it you want to... play the game?" Two sentiments were bitterly fighting inside her. One had the calm, strict voice of her grandmother, telling her not to be impulsive and do things she might regret. Not to put herself into a position of vulnerability. The same voice that made her generally reject kisses at spin the bottle games. And the other was that small but bright spark of curiosity that the privacy as well as the darkness were feeding into. It wasn't like she felt unsafe with Aaron either, not at all, so... what was stopping her from saying what she actually felt?

"I mean I... I wouldn't be opposed to playing the game.", the young fourth year would add, hoping her own attempt at flirting didn't sound as ridiculous as she feared it did.

Did he want to play the game? Honestly, Aaron didn't mind either way. He had agreed to spin the bottle easily enough, but this was his first time playing seven minutes in heaven. Yeah, it was an exciting game - the prospect of an unsupervised seven-minute-timed spin-the-bottle makeout session (because that's essentially what seven minutes in heaven is, right?) - but he had no expectations of the person he was in the closet with. They could just talk, and that'd be totally fine.

But here Opeila was, saying that she "wouldn't be opposed" to playing. Which Aaron read as - she was interested in the game, but maybe didn't know how to express that? And while he maybe could've just gone with that and kissed her, he couldn't help thinking that this was a little beyond spin the bottle. A kiss in spin the bottle didn't mean anything, like the kiss he'd shared with Akari. But maybe seven minutes in heaven kissing meant more? Maybe they should set some ground rules, so that no one gets hurt - his mind flashed briefly to the situation with Lindsey, and he did not want to repeat that.

"I'd like to play," he said, thinking it was best to be straight forward rather than Opeila's noncommittal answer. He was feeling maybe a bit too confident in the situation, since he had experience with making out (he thought she would've too considering the ex-boyfriend thing, but maybe not), and he felt the situation needed at least one of them to be confident. "As long as we agree that one - whatever happens in here, stays in here - and two - we don't get attached to each other. We have to remember it's just a game. Is that okay with you?"

Only if and when she agreed, Aaron would take Opeila's hand - the one holding the wand - and guide it to the highest shelf in the closet. He was nonverbally telling her to leave the wand there - the lumos light would continue to shine even after she let it go, giving a tiny window of light on the ceiling, but it would leave them mostly shrouded in darkness, which was a much better atmosphere for making out anyway. There'd be just enough light to see each other's outlines and features when up close.

With his other hand, he reached towards her face again, this time tilting her chin up slightly so that he could lean down and close the gap between them - but as he got close enough to feel her breath on his lips, he felt the need to add one more thing in a whisper. "And if you want to stop at anytime, just say so." Then he kissed her, taking the small step forward to close the gap that had been between them.

@Opeila Winters

"I'd like to play"
It was truly amazing how much better these four easy words sounded than Opeila's pathetic attempt at expressing herself. She usually was better at talking, truly, but physical contact was still strange terrain to her that always felt just a bit... forbidden. And considering how hard Opeila had tried to play by the rules in the past years... it just felt difficult.

It was probably a good thing that Aaron seemed to be way better at expressing himself than Opeila, or they may have just ended up standing there, dancing around the topic for the complete seven minutes. And not only did he straight forward say what he wanted, but set some ground rules too.
The young Slytherin was truly grateful for his confidence to take the lead in this moment. Opeila had always hated being the one to take initiative in Spin the Bottle and this... felt like even more. She was just lacking the words that others seemed to use so easily- Colin straight up asking if he could snog her was still a rather fresh memory. He had to be 12 or 13 now, and he had the confidence that she was lacking at 15?

Opeila would nod at the rules Aaron listed. "Yes. I think that is a good idea." No feelings, no gossip. Immediately her mind wandered to Alec, supportive, lovely Alec, who she felt closer to than anyone, despite their short friendship. The two of them were faking a relationship, he was free to secretly see someone or end the ruse at any time. They weren't even together for real and yet she felt just a slight pang of guilt. Was she pushing it?
If anything, it was probably better when he never heard the details of what they did in this closet.

She would allow Aaron to guide her hand up to a shelf where she would drop the wand on the highest board- would it stay lit when they started? If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she would not be able to focus on upholding a spell while kissing. There was no way, if the knowledge that they were going to do it alone made her heart beat like that. She was almost scared that Aaron might be able to hear it.

With her eyes she had followed their hands, so the other hand that now tilted up her face caught her off guard a little. "And if you want to stop at anytime, just say so." Opeila could feel his words on her lips almost more than she heard them. Tingling heat seemed to run down her skin and gathered in her stomach, and she leaned in just a little. "Okay..."

But when he kissed her, any thought of stopping that she might have still had was erased. Still a little shyly she would kiss him back, the now wandfree hand lightly moving up the arm that had guided it to the shelf before.

The interaction of figuring out the closet's layout, getting a light to see each other, and dancing around the subject of what to do had all in all taken about a minute. That meant they had six minutes left to do exactly what the game was made for - stir up lots of teenage hormones and make out. One kiss turned to two turned to three and four. Neither of them expressed any desire to stop during the next few minutes.

Aaron's hand under Opeila's chin ended up on the side of her cheek at one point, then eventually at the back of her neck, holding her closer. The hand that had guided hers before was now around her waist, accomplishing the same effect. He could feel her hands on him as well, her fingers leaving a trail of heat along his skin. Despite her lack of confidence going into the whole thing, Opeila was actually quite good at this. At least, that's what Aaron thought. She was a pretty active participant in the kissing, and he had no complaints whatsoever.

When the two teenagers finally came up for air, it's because someone knocked on the door. One minute left, lovebirds! The ensuing giggling outside the door reminded Aaron of the fact that they had an audience. One they couldn't see, but an audience nonetheless. He withdrew from the embrace, opening his eyes as he pulled back only to find they were in utter darkness. Right, the whole concentrating aspect of casting was a thing. He chuckled a little under his breath, still close enough to now lean his forehead against hers.

"If there was ever any doubt, you're a really good kisser," Aaron complimented, a slight grin on his lip though not visible given the complete darkness they were in. "But you might want to work on your concentration. I expected the lights to still be on, Ms Duellist," he teased, making it clear he was joking by placing another lingering peck on her lips before pulling away again. The hand around her waist lingered where it was, but the other was no longer in her hair and instead went through his own hair, pushing it back a bit.

"One minute left," he repeated, letting those words linger in the air.

@Opeila Winters

There was no stopping. Instead the time seemed to pass too quickly, the six minutes allowed them to create a fire but not extinguish it again.

His kisses, his hands, one at the back of her neck and one around her waist seemed to burn through layers of fabric and right into her skin, were indeed more than enough of a distraction to make the light of her wand first flicker and then disappear, unnoticed by both of them. Who needed light anyway...

As the minutes passed, Opeila gained more confidence in her movements. Her hand trailed further up his arm, coming to a halt on his shoulder. The other moved up his chest, not getting in the way of his own arms and got a grip on his shirt, pulling him in closer.
It was the knock on the door that brought her back to her senses.

Breathlessly she would turn her face to the door, only now realizing that the light had disappeared. She had entirely forgotten that they were truthfully not alone at all and the giggling turned her already flushed cheeks a little darker again. The breaking of their kiss was barely more than that, his hands didn't move, only her hand on his shoulder slid down his arm again.
Leaning her forehead against his, she would try to catch her breath again, smiling into the darkness.

The Slytherin heard Aaron chuckle as well, then he complimented her skill as a kisser. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. Um... you too.", she would return, again feeling a bit awkward but still smiling. It widened into a slight grin when he teased her losing her focus, resulting in them being surrounded by darkness. "Excuse me, Mr-" She was forced to pause as he kissed her again and chuckled. "... it's not like you are all innocent here..." Her left hand, that was still hooked into his shirt nudged his chest playfully, as she turned slightly and reached up with the other, trying to find her wand. "One moment- there. Lumos."

Opeila dropped the wand again and turned to Aaron, immediately biting back a chuckle at the sight of his hair. Her own was probably not looking much better. Feeling braver now, she reached forward and pushed some of his hair back herself, allowing her fingers to linger at his temple and then ran the tips down the side of his face.

"One minute left"

"Then let's make the most of it..."
This time it would be Opeila who pulled him down, standing on her toes to kiss him again.

"No objections there," Aaron chuckled at the accusation of not being innocent. "Being guilty is more fun anyway." Maybe not in all situations, but definitely this one. He felt her hand had traveled back to his arm, which meant he flexed slightly, maybe hoping the budding muscles there impressed her, but she was soon reaching for her wand.

The light that emitted from her wand illuminated the ceiling again, giving the two fourth-years an easy transition back into seeing. Aaron's eyes readjusted to the dim light easy enough, and he looked at Opeila just as she was reaching up towards him. He instinctively leaned into her touch. Her hand running through his hair - even briefly - felt nice, and her fingertips on his face left a gentle trail. In an effort to adjust and give them better room now that they could see again, Aaron rotated closer to the door with his back to it, using the hand still on Opeila's waist to guide her to move accordingly.

The Hufflepuff's eyebrow raised a bit when she spoke of making the most of their last minute in here. He thought for sure she'd want to use the last minute to collect herself and make sure they were ready for when the door opened, but thoughts of all that left Aaron's mind as she stood on her tiptoes and leaned up to kiss him. He leaned into the kiss so she wouldn't have to stay on tiptoe, and both arms now wrapped around her. Without thinking about it, he leaned back against the door, and there was his mistake. Time was lost to the two of them during their kiss, and sooner than expected, Aaron felt something moving behind him. He broke the kiss immediately and said, "Shit."

Several things happened at once. The door swung open far faster than it should've (their peers had clearly been wanting to catch them in the act), meaning Aaron had only a moment to react. His arms unwound from Opeila's waist, and since their lips had already broken, it meant that he wouldn't drag her down with him as he fell backwards. He had been putting his full weight against the door without thinking about it, this time he was the one who had been distracted from the kiss.

The giggling that had become incredibly loud now that the door was open was broken up with a gasp or two as he fell back onto his butt, catching himself with his arms behind him. Good thing he had fast reflexes and plenty of experience with falling.

"Er, sorry," one of the guys said, looking down at Aaron sheepishly as he held the door open. He'd clearly been in on whatever plan there was to catch them. Aaron shrugged it off with a grin, the charismatic boy brushing off the fall without embarrassment as he got back to his feet. As their peers asked for details, Aaron and Opeila insisted that all they did was talk and catch up. They would stick to that story no matter who asked. Funny enough, when one of the organizers was designated next to spin the bottle for a seven minutes game, she began to make excuses that it was getting late and they shouldn't keep playing. It was pretty evident that she had seen the way the group had tried to catch Pei and Aaron and decided she didn't want to be victim to that. Next time I'll do it, she insisted as everyone began to clean up. Aaron cast a knowing look at Opeila, rolling his eyes at the ringleader girl for chickening out. Then at one point during the cleaning, he made eye contact with her again and (after checking no one was watching), winked at her with a grin. Just jokingly to see if he could get a rise out of her.

Opeila branched off from the others as everyone poured into the corridors to make curfew, and when he noticed, he excused himself from the other Hufflepuffs and went in her direction. She wasn't that far ahead and the stride different meant he caught up just as she was turning a corner. "Hey," Aaron said, sure that she must've heard his footsteps so hopefully he wouldn't scare her.

"I know I said rule one should be that what happens in there stays in there, but... if you ever wanted to find a different closet to do that in, I'd be game," Aaron said, a slight grin on his lips. The finding another closet part was a joke, but the offer of doing that again was not. He wasn't quite at the level of confidence (yet) to outright say what he was suggesting, so broaching the idea as a joke first seemed safe. Test the waters on her reaction and go from there.

@Opeila Winters

And they certainly did make use of that last minute up to the final second. One moment Opeila was still wrapped into Aaron's arms- that were more muscly than she had expected- the next he was gone and light flooded the closet. "Woah-" The young Slytherin was force to let go of his shirt and catch herself on one of the shelves inside to not fall out with him.

One hand flew to her mouth, partly to hide the grin, but also because just for a moment she felt scared that the past six minutes were visible on her face. While the others still giggled, Opeila turned and reached for her wand, allowed herself to giggle as well while her face was hidden and then stepped out of the closet, grinning down at Aaron.
When he started insisting that all they did was talk- whether the others believed it or not- Opeila joined in. Everything that happened inside the closet stayed inside the closet. She liked this rule more now than ever.

And then the game was over. Just after one round. Opeila caught Aaron's eyeroll at the girl who insisted that it was getting too late and chuckled quietly. Coward. She helped cleaning up, talking fairly little, her mind was still replaying the past seven minutes... which, if she was entirely honest had passed way too quickly. She could have stayed in there for longer just fine. Despite not knowing Aaron well at all, she had quite enjoyed the few moments in the dark, that now felt like a protective veil, hiding the moments in which she had abandoned the restraint that she carried around like a shield nowadays.

Not only would she remain silent but quite lost in her own thoughts as a whole. Aaron's glances in her direction would be missed, as she tried to sort what felt like a mess she had just made in her mind. Aaron. Alec. Miles. Wyatt. Four names jumping around in her head, each associated with its own moments, positive and negative, but all... seemingly unable to fit into the same space.

Opeila would wish the others a good night before heading towards her common room however, a last moment of socialization before she could continue her brooding.
Only... that it wasn't. She heard the footsteps before she heard his voice. "Hi!" Opeila turned to Aaron again with a smile, that faltered a little at his next words. However nice the minutes in the closet had been, this she would have never expected.

"I...", she would start, unsure how to answer this. Only a moment ago she had been confused enough over the whole situation. It would not help to start anything longterm- maybe not longterm, but even just repeated- with Aaron. "I will think about it."
She returned his grin. "Thank you for the game. Um... Good night!"

Opeila made maybe five more steps before stopping again. Screw it. "Aaron? I..." A grin appeared on her face. "I... wouldn't be opposed."