Archive of Our Own ^beta

            There was one gift left at the bottom of the pile, wrapped in green and red striped paper covered in snowmen. It was hidden amongst the plain brown parcel paper that the house elves had perfectly tied with some twine, and Lena curiously picked it up. It wasn’t off her parents, that much was clear, and Lena didn’t have to think too hard to figure out who it was off – she didn’t have any friends, well, she had one, which was why it was so easy for her to figure out who it was off. She was almost scared to open the gift, because Kara was either optimistic or naïve to think that Lillian wouldn’t take her gift off Lena, and had sent it via owl, and the obnoxiously wrapped gift had wound up underneath the piles of gifts off Lena’s parents. Before the massive red and gold bow clumsily tied on top caught her mother’s sharp eyes, Lena covered it with one of the new cloaks she’d received, hoping to escape quickly so that she could open it in the privacy of her own room.

            As Lena watched her mother climb to her feet, she hurriedly dumped some more of her gifts on top of the present, making it easier for the house elves to take them upstairs in the process. “Shall we have breakfast then?” Lillian said, looking to Lionel, who had been reading the Daily Prophet all through the gift giving, and had paid little attention to what had been given to him.

            He grunted at his wife’s question, folding the paper in half and climbing to his feet. Giving Lex a quick nod at the thanks he received, Lionel turned to Lena and gave her a loving smile, and Lena smiled brightly back at him as she climbed to her feet. “Thank you for the gift’s dad,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek while he gently patted her on the back and gruffly cleared his throat.

            “Of course, darling,” he said, “now, let’s go and make sure those blasted house elves haven’t overcooked the eggs again.”

            “Oh god, wouldn’t that just be the worst thing that could happen on Christmas Day,” Lex drolly replied, giving Lena a quick wink as he straightened his tie, and Lena scowled slightly at him.

            She hated this time of year, and had begged to be allowed to stay at Hogwarts for the past six years, but the answer had always been a firm no. They were prominent figures in society, and what would people think if the youngest Luthor didn’t want to come home for the holidays? They were already outsiders in Britain because of the fact that they were American – although, technically Lillian was the only American there, what with both children being born in Ireland, as Lionel was himself. Lena had to admit that her mom had a point there though, and even going into her sixth year at school in Scotland hadn’t been enough to shake away the accent, which admittedly, wasn’t very strong when compared to her mom’s. It was their money which gave them power, as well as their blood status, and Lena knew it, and she knew that was why Lillian was so strict about who they were allowed to be friends with. Strictly Slytherins, to begin with, but not the muggleborn ones – perhaps the half-blood ones if they were pushing it – and definitely not anyone whose family went against the Dark Lord in the last war, because that would go against the generations of values the Luthor’s had held. That left the list rather short, and Lena had kept to herself, rather than associate with dark witches and wizards, until she’d met Kara.

            She broke almost all of Lillian’s carefully crafted rules to help them climb the social ladder; she was a Hufflepuff, to start with, and definitely as far away from being involved with unsavoury business and dark magic as you could possibly get, and she wasn’t well-to-do, which automatically drew Lena to her. She was a pureblood though, although she was raised by a half-blood witch after her parents had both died in the last wizarding war, so Lena was unsure if Lillian’s nose would’ve been put out by that too, or if that might be Kara’s one redeeming quality. Either way, she’d kept her friend a secret, choosing to meet up in abandoned classrooms, and slyly send each other owls, just as a precaution. Her brother wasn’t at Hogwarts to spy on her, so it wasn’t too hard to keep her friendship with Kara a secret, but she knew that as much as Kara insisted it wasn’t a problem, it did make things more difficult for her with her own friends, some of who were disapproving, purely because of her surname. If Lena was allowed a few hours a day in the company of the only person truly knew her, then doing it in some dusty old classroom on the fifth floor, while they did their homework, was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

            “Lena,” Lillian snapped, breaking her daughter out of her thoughts about her friend, and Lena blinked as she turned her attention to her mom, “pay attention, and stop slouching.”

            Murmuring an apology, Lena threw her shoulders back as she followed her mother out of the sitting room and into a dining room. The house was overly stuffy as fires burnt all throughout the manor, trying to chase away the cold that seemed to seep from the stones of the place. Crossing the hallway on the way to the dining room, Lena saw house elves busily putting up Christmas decorations – her mother loathed them, but they had an annual party, and so the decorations were put up for it, before being taken straight back down the next morning – and Lena watched as boughs of holly and mistletoe were wrapped around the balustrade of the grand staircase. Her mom sat at one end of the table, while her dad sat at the other, leaving Lena and Lex to take their seats somewhere near the middle of the long table, too far for any of them to comfortably have an easy conversation. As soon as they sat down, food instantly appeared on the table, and Lena reached out for the pitcher of pumpkin juice and poured some into the silver goblet on the table, before spooning some porridge into the bowl in front of her. She listened to her mother and brother talk about his business in America, while their father ignored them in favour of his newspaper, leaving Lena to eat her porridge in silence as she made eye contact with one of the moving portraits on the wall opposite her – the one of an old ancestor, who was a famous dark witch in Ireland during the sixth century, and Lena bit back a smile as the woman had the nerve to wink at her as she lounged in her wingback chair.

            Finishing her breakfast, Lena charmed a cup of tea to float along behind her as she excused herself and walked upstairs, passing house elves who were conjuring icicles to hang from the windowsills and the railings of the staircase with their odd magic. She smiled at them slightly, knowing that her parents wouldn’t take too kindly to her showing them any kindness, and she continued up to her bedroom on the fourth floor, her hand motioning towards the door to lock it as she breezed inside and kicked it shut behind her. Gesturing for the cup to set itself down on the desk near the window, Lena walked over to the pile of gifts neatly placed on the ottoman at the end of her bed. She carefully set aside the pile of robes and cloaks, shirts and dresses, and accidentally displaced a stack of books on curses, before she found the brightly wrapped present. Everything in the room was in dull shades of black, grey and a deep green that was suitable for a family that prided itself on its Slytherin heritage, and the riot of bright red and emerald green was in startling contrast to the dreary look of the room. Smiling Lena perched on the edge of her bed, hardly daring to touch the carefully wrapped gift, because of how much it meant to her to have someone care enough to wrap it so beautifully – even the snowmen were all lined up so that the edge of the paper was indistinguishable and the snowmen were all whole. The softness of the contents of the gift got the better of Lena’s curiosity though, and she slowly untied the ribbon, winding it into a small ball, before setting it aside and focusing on carefully peeling up the edge of the paper. She didn’t want to tear into it, the way she knew Kara would’ve torn into the paper of the three perfectly wrapped gifts Lena had sent to her – three books on hexes, defensive spells and curses, for when she followed her dreams of becoming an auror, like her parents had been.

            By the time she’d carefully pried open the paper, Lena was left staring down at a canary yellow monstrosity that she could hardly believe she was looking at with her own two eyes. She couldn’t help but laugh though, because it was so perfectly Kara, and as Lena unfolded the knitted sweater, she let out another laugh at the neat rows of knitted snakes wearing Santa hats, along with snowflakes and holly and more snowmen. Stitched across the chest was ‘Merry Christmas’ and Lena stared at the whole thing with wide eyes as she tried to process it. Shaking it out slightly, she noticed a small white envelope slide out of the bottom of the jumper, and Lena carefully set the gift aside in favour of the envelope. Opening it up, she let out a quiet curse as the reindeer on the front of the card burst into a chorus of carols, and Lena slid her wand out of her shirt sleeve, casting a shield towards her door so that no one would hear the singing. Eagerly opening the card, Lena smiled brightly at the loopy writing inside, and quickly scanned the words.

To Lena,

            Merry Christmas!

            I hope you’re having the most wonderful time, and enjoying all of the gifts and good food. I made the sweater myself (no magic, I promise) just in case you wanted something a bit more festive to add to the Christmas cheer. I hope you’re not opposed to a bit of Hufflepuff pride on my part – I thought it might brighten up your wardrobe.

I can’t wait until the holidays are over so that I can see you again, which sounds incredibly lame, but is still true. I know we left things a little unfinished before the break, but I miss you, and I’m sorry. I hope you like the jumper, and enjoy the rest of your day. I’ll see you on the Hogwarts Express.

Lots of love,

Kara xxx

            Lena let out a small sigh as she read the card again, before she climbed to her feet and walked over to the bookshelves, hiding it inside the cover of one of the leather bound books neatly organised.

            She couldn’t help but miss Kara too, and knew that it should’ve been her apologising instead of the other way around, because they’d argued about Lena’s family, and she knew that Kara had a valid point. It was one thing for Lena to have her own opinions on her family, who, admittedly, weren’t exactly secretive with their beliefs and values, but when Kara had made a passing comment about the Luthor’s and their penchant for the dark arts, like most Slytherin’s, Lena had bristled at the insult. She knew Kara wasn’t lumping her in with the rest of her family, but she’d put up with the snide comments all through school, from all of the students who weren’t a part of Slytherin house, and Lena hated to think that her parents were that bad, knowing that some of her fellow housemates’ parents had been the ones to kill innocent people. It had only been a quick comment about the Luthor’s annual Christmas gala, and how Lena should sneak out and visit Kara instead, rather than socialising with a bunch of Death Eater’s, but it had caused a small argument between the two girls, and Lena hadn’t written to Kara since she’d been home, unsure of how to apologise. The worst part was that Kara hadn’t written to her either; warm and loving Kara, who found it hard to be quiet for longer than five minutes, and was always laughing and talking way too fast, because she was always excited, hadn’t written to her in days, and Lena missed her. She missed her more than she’d thought it possible to, and her eyes prickled slightly and her throat closed up, almost as if she was about to start crying, which wouldn’t have been too much of a reach for Lena – she’d spent a long time crying over her family and the mean comments thrown her way. More than anything, Lena wished she could see Kara right now, and not for the first time, she wished she could spend Christmas at Hogwarts, and have Kara there too. There wouldn’t be enough people there to care that they were talking, and they’d be allowed to sit next to each other for meals, and charm snowballs to fly at each other out in the courtyard. They could be like real friends.

            Walking back over to the bed, Lena reached for the jumper and pulled it on over her shirt, enveloping herself in the faint smell of Kara’s perfume that clung to the wool. Wrapping her arms around herself, Lena collapsed back onto the vast bed, sighing slightly as she stared up at the dark canopy above her, running away into thoughts of Kara. She could’ve stayed there all day, thinking about the exact shade of blue in her ocean eyes, and the way they sparkled behind the lenses of her glasses as she laughed. Then there was the sound of her laughter, which was so carefree and happy that Lena could listen to it endlessly, watching the way that Kara would throw her head back, exposing her neck, and the underside of her jaw, that Lena couldn’t help but admire. The crinkle she got between her eyebrows when she got stuck on a particularly hard part of her potions homework, and how her face would light up when Lena would explain it to her and help her find the answer herself. Lena knew all there was to know about her – knew more than she’d even known about anyone – and she knew how those long fingers that could delicately hold a quill felt as they reached out to excitedly grip her upper arm as Kara thought of some exciting news to tell her. Lena couldn’t help but think about what they would feel like tangled in her hair, and how those perfectly shaped lips, which were so quick to smile, would feel pressed up against her own. Would they be warm? How gently would Kara kiss her? How soft would they be against her own lips? The thoughts about her were endless, and Lena knew how she really felt about her friend, but a friendship was more than she had ever dared to dream of from this bubbly Hufflepuff. It was a miracle she’d even taken a second glance at the brooding Slytherin the year below, who she had absolutely nothing in common with, except a brilliant mind – perhaps Lena’s mind was just the slightest bit more brilliant – and a hatred for dark magic. Lena knew how she felt with startling clarity, and that was why she’d been so quick to take offence at Kara’s words. Of course Kara would never lump her in with her family, but could she ever love Lena because of them? The thought of rejection had been enough to hold Lena back from admitting her true feelings for quite some time, even to herself.

            She hadn’t even realised at first. They hadn’t become friends until Lena had been halfway through her fourth year, and not right away either. Lena had been walking up to the library, fully aware that there was a trick step that she needed to hop over, but a group of Gryffindor’s had come past, and one of them had thought it would be funny to bump Lena, and her leg had gone straight through the hole as the step had disappeared beneath her foot. They’d laughed and moved on, leaving Lena struggling to push herself out of the hole, until a pair of warm hands had come up under her armpits and pulled her out with surprising strength. Finding herself face to face with a disapproving Hufflepuff prefect, Lena had blushed bright red, murmuring her thanks as she hurried down the steps to pick up the books that had spilled out of her satchel. Kara was right beside her, helping her neatly stack them, and fixing a pot of ink that had rolled out and smashed against the stone steps. Her smile had been so warm and friendly that Lena felt scared – no one was this nice to her; they usually only smiled when they were about to do something mean to her. There was no malice in the smile though, only friendliness, and it caught her off guard. She would’ve done anything the girl with those bright blue eyes asked her to, but instead, she’d just run away, leaving Kara holding her copy of A Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4. Lena didn’t even realise until she’d gotten to class the next morning and given detention for showing up without her book. As her luck would have it, it was also the day she’d been pushed into the Great Lake after she’d paused on her way back from Herbology to tickle the tentacles of the Giant Squid. Soaking wet, and leaving a trail of water through the hallways, she’d walked as high up as she could, until she found an abandoned staircase and sat down on the bottom step to cry. That’s where Kara had found her, having followed the water, vanishing it behind her so that Filch wouldn’t find it, and had awkwardly hovered nearby, until an angry and upset Lena had spotted her and chewed her out for spying. Kara had dried her soaked robes for her, and steaming slightly, Lena had dried her tears and looked down at her book that had been gently placed in her lap. They’d been friends ever since. Lena wished that her friend was here now.

---

            The party was in full swing, and Lena had only just made her appearance, wearing the canary yellow Christmas sweater that Kara had knitted for her. Emerald green dress robes had been left hanging up in her room – pressed and ready for the party – but her mom had been too preoccupied to even check on her, and hadn’t seen Lena all day. The room was filled with witches and wizards dressed in black and other dark colours, and everyone within the vicinity of Lena turned to look at her with expressions varying from surprise, horror and disgust. Luckily her mom was in one of the rooms on the ground floor, and wasn’t around to see Lena, but Lex was nearby, talking to a banker from Gringotts, and was looking at her with wide eyes. She watched as he excused himself and sauntered over to her with a look of amusement on his face. “Well, I assume mom hasn’t seen you yet.”

            “Obviously not,” Lena replied in a clipped tone.

            “Hm, I’d hardly say Hufflepuff colours suit you, and are those snakes? Where did you even get it from?” Lex continued, reaching out to pull at the yellow sleeve as his lips twitched slightly, as if he was about to smile, “you’d better get changed if you know what’s good for you.”

            Lena scoffed, “I don’t need your opinions on how to dress.”

            “On your own head be it,” Lex sighed, shrugging as he turned around and walked off to find someone else. Lena scowled at his retreating form and walked back out into the hallways, quickly walking downstairs and into one of the other designated party areas. Making a beeline for the table holding a bowl of punch, Lena filled up a crystal goblet and was about to take a sip when the glass leapt out of her hand.

            Biting back a groan, she hunched her shoulders, knowing that her mom was stalking towards her, and she didn’t have to see her face to know she wasn’t happy. A few moments later, a hand clamped down on her shoulder, the grip almost painful as Lillian jerked Lena around. “What do you think you’re doing?”

            “Getting a drink,” Lena replied, looking at the goblet of punch Lillian was holding.

            “Where are your dress robes?” Lillian snapped, looking at the sweater with distaste and turning her nose up at the brightness of the yellow – it was a colour never before seen in the Luthor household.

            “In my room.”

            Lillian’s face stiffened as she gave Lena a hard look, “get dressed. I’m giving a speech in ten minutes.” Lena crossed her arms over her chest, hiding the Santa hat wearing snakes and looking like a petulant child, and Lillian made a low sound of warning, her eyes darting around to make sure that no one was paying them too much attention. “Now, Lena.”

            She didn’t move again, and Lillian roughly grabbed Lena by the arm, her nails painfully digging into her skin beneath the sweater as Lillian dragged her out of the room, letting go of her as they reached the bottom of the grand staircase. Lena stumbled slightly, but managed to catch her balance before falling over, and she scowled up at her mom. “Are you going to behave yourself or not? I don’t want to make a scene, but if you try anything funny, I’ll have you locked in your room for the rest of the holidays. Now get that ridiculous sweater off, or I’ll curse it off you myself,” Lillian said through clenched teeth.

            Sighing, Lena brushed past Lillian and, slowly climbing up the stairs, her hand skimming over the tinsel and holly wrapped bannister as she took her time. She’d been wearing it all day, thinking about Kara, and she knew her mom wouldn’t react kindly to her wearing it to the party, but she couldn’t bear the thought of taking it off – the lavender smell that seemed to follow Kara everywhere clung to the wool, and Lena couldn’t help but wonder if she’d worn it for a few moments. It made her miss her less. Debating whether or not she could get away with hiding upstairs for the rest of the night, Lena wearily dragged her feet past the landing on the second floor, and had her foot on the bottom step of the next staircase when she heard a quiet banging noise from behind her. It wasn’t coming from the room off to the right, and Lena whirled around, slipping her wand out as she walked over to the doors leading out onto the small balcony. It was snowing, and pitch black, but she could hear a rattling sound and muttered curses from below, and her curiosity got the better of her.

            Slowly inching towards the edge of the balcony, Lena peered over the side, her knuckles white as she gripped her wand tightly in her right hand. The trellis below rustled and another curse was muttered, followed by a very familiar voice. “Alex! Watch it, you almost kicked me in the head!”

            “Well excuse me, it’s not as if I asked to be here,” a snarky voice replied.

            “You agreed to come in case you got to see Lucy,” Kara said in a carrying whisper, “I mean, you probably could’ve worked up the courage to ask her out at work-“

            “Never you mind what I do at work,” the voice hissed in reply, and Lena didn’t have to think too hard about who it was – Kara’s sister. “Just shift your ass, before this whole thing falls off the fucking wall and we die.” The leaves on the vines of ivy rustled again, and Alex let out another curse. “Do you even know which room is hers?”

            She heard a quiet sigh off Kara and bit her lip to stop herself from smiling; she was here to visit her. “Of course I don’t! Do you think her mom would let me step foot inside this house? We couldn’t go in the front door though – we’d be hexed off the property before we even managed to say hello.”

            They were still quite far down, and Lena rested her elbows on the edge of the balcony, leaning over as she peered down in the dark, trying to see Kara, with no luck. She was quiet for a few moments, before quietly clearing her throat. “Kara?”

            “What was that?” Alex asked, and they both stopped climbing, the vines falling silent as they fell still, and the only sound was the howling of the wind.

            Lena hesitated for a moment, before trying again. “Kara, it’s Lena.”

            “Lena?” Kara excitedly called up, and Lena and Alex both loudly hushed her, and Kara immediately fell silent. “Oops, sorry! Hi!”

            "What are you doing here?" Lena whispered over the balcony.

            Kara quietly laughed, "I missed you!"

            They resumed their climbing and Lena’s eyes widened suddenly, “I should warn you that there’s a protection spell-“ she cut off at the quiet shout of alarm off Alex as she almost reached the top of the vines and triggered the spell, finding herself levitating in mid-air, completely wrapped up in the vines, which had sprung to life and encased her in their clutches. Kara had been a little further down, and to the left, but had been caught in the crossfire, and was soon floating beside her sister, panicking slightly as claustrophobia set it. Swearing under her breath, Lena lit up her wand and illuminated the two girls, who were wriggling as they tried to free themselves, and she let out a quiet laugh at the sight. At the bright light washing over them, they both looked up, and Kara’s face split into a wide smile as she stared up at her, while Alex’s scowl deepened. “Hang on a second,” Lena quietly told them, putting her wand in between her teeth and crouching down to reach through the gaps in the balcony and touch the vines. At the touch of her hand, the vines receded, and she quietly called out a warning, “careful! Hold on!”

            The girls were both soon climbing over the edge of the balcony railing, landing quietly on the paved floor and staring at Lena, who was looking a bit confused, but excited at seeing her best friend standing on the balcony of her house. Shooting the open door a look over her shoulder when she realised that someone could walk past and see her, Lena kicked it mostly closed, before she turned back around to face her friend, and gave her a warm smile.

            “Right, well I don’t want to watch you two stand in silence, so, Luthor, if you’d be so kind as to tell me if you’ve seen Lucy Lane around here,” Alex asked, giving Lena an expectant look.

            “Lane?” Lena blinked in surprise, “um, like the Head of Magical Law Enforcement? He’s here with his daughters, I think, but I don’t know where.”

            Alex perked up slightly at the fact that Lucy was here, “not to worry, I’ll find her. Stay out of trouble, will you, Kara?” She cut past Lena, who was left spluttering in surprise, whirling around to try and stop Alex before she slipped inside.

            “You can’t-“

            A hand on her arm made her cut her sentence short and turn back around, and Kara gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, she’s an auror – she’s not that stupid. I already told her to be careful, anyway.”

            “Right,” Lena murmured, before falling quiet as she stared at Kara.

            The silence stretched on for a few moments, before a wide smile spread across Kara’s face. “My sweater! You’re wearing it.”

            Lena laughed as she looked down, plucking at the yellow wool, “yeah, my mom just sent me up to change. You know how she is. Thank you though – I love it.”

            “You’re welcome!” Kara beamed at her, “and thank you for the books, they’re fantastic.”

            “It was nothing,” Lena murmured, glowing inside at the thought of Kara liking her gifts. She fell silent again, and the silence seemed to weigh heavy on her. Kara seemed to be similarly tongue tied, and when Lena glanced up and met her eye, they both gave each other sheepish smiles. “I’m sorry,” Lena eventually blurted out. “I know you said you were sorry in your card, but I’m sorry.”

            “It’s okay,” Kara quietly told her, “you have nothing to apologise for. I was wrong to say the things I did about your family.”

            Lena sighed, walking over to the edge of the balcony and leaning her elbows against the frosted stone railing. “You were right though,” she murmured, looking up when she felt Kara’s arm brush against hers. Despite the heavy coat she wore, her lips were slightly bluish, yet Lena had the urge to kiss her, and quickly stood upright. “Did you want to go inside? You look cold.”

            “Is that okay?” Kara asked, a wary look crossing her face, and Lena couldn’t blame her for it. Even though she’d been ready to crash the Luthor’s Christmas party, the thought of getting caught still scared Kara, who Lena was almost completely sure had never even gotten detention before. Lena wasn’t sure whether she should risk her mom’s anger at finding them together, but it was either that, or she would end up embarrassing herself by trying to kiss Kara, and so she’d opted for the former. At least that would just reaffirm her mom’s opinions of her daughter, rather than ruin the only friendship Lena had.

            “Yeah, we’ll just … we’ll be sneaky, like at school,” Lena said, giving her an uncertain smile, “come on.”

            She ushered Kara towards the door, opening it and stepping through at the exact same time that Kara did. What she wasn’t counting on was walking into the whitish side of a semi-transparent bubble that had bloomed into existence, stumbling backwards into Kara at the force of the rebound. Pressing her hand against the impervious shield, Lena tried to push through it, frowning in confusion – she had no idea where it had come from – and turned to look at Kara, who was pressing against a wall on the other side of them.

            Looking around, Lena realised that the bubble completely encased them, and it wasn’t until she looked up at the doorframe that she understood what had happened. For the second time that night, Kara had sprung a trap laid at the Luthor household, except this one was for the party guests. Above them, a small sprig of enchanted mistletoe had lain in wait for two unsuspecting – or willing – individuals to pass beneath it so that it could trap them in the bubble for a Christmas kiss.

            “Oh,” Kara softly murmured, and Lena looked down to look at her at the exact same time that Kara met her gaze, “it’s mistletoe.”

            Feeling her cheeks turn slightly pink, Lena gently cleared her throat, “yeah, it’s, uh, for the party.”

            Kara let out a quiet laugh, “yeah, I figured.”

            Lena turned around, nervously laughing as she splayed her fingers against the bubble, which didn’t budge an inch, except to push her back slightly. Hands steadied her, and she swallowed the lump in her throat as she murmured her thanks. “Any ideas on how to get out?”

            “Yeah,” Kara laughed, and Lena turned around, raising an eyebrow questioningly. “We have to kiss to break the charm.”

            “Well … yeah,” Lena slowly said, “but I’m sure there’s another way.”

            “Sure,” Kara shrugged in agreement, “how long do you think we have before someone catches us?”

            Sighing, Lena ran a hand through her hair, frowning slightly, “right, we probably need to get out of here sooner rather than later. Um, so I’m not sure what the conditions are, but do you think the back of the hand will work? Surely the cheek does – what if married people-“

            She was cut off by Kara cupping her face in her cold hands, and leaning in, their noses gently bumping. She didn’t kiss her though; she hesitated for a moment, running her thumbs along Lena’s high cheekbones. “Is this okay?” Kara whispered.

            Lena could feel Kara’s breath against her lips, and she shivered slightly, feeling nervous. Kara was actually going to kiss her – if she said yes – and Lena couldn’t stop her stomach from tying itself into knots. All she could think was that she should’ve had a mint before, and wiped her palms on her skirt, because they were definitely sweaty. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t even speak – no one had ever kissed her before. No one would’ve wanted to. Shyly nodding, Lena placed her hands on Kara’s shoulders at the same time Kara ducked her head slightly, tilting Lena’s head up and softly brushing her lips against Lena’s. It barely counted as a kiss, and the bubble disappeared instantly, but that didn’t stop Kara from pressing her lips down harder.

            They stood in the doorway, kissing for what felt like an eternity, until angry shouts drifted from downstairs, where the party was still happening. “We have to g- oh!” Alex breathlessly exclaimed, appearing out of nowhere and pulling up short at the sight of her sister springing away from Lena at the interruption. “Oh … okay, um, sorry to break up the party, but we need to leave. Now.”

            Kara was pink cheeked, and Lena ducked her head, wiping at her mouth as she avoided eye contact with both girls, feeling her heart fluttering in her chest as Kara pulled her out onto the balcony, followed by Alex, who closed the door and charmed it to lock. “Alex, what did you do?” Kara quietly hissed, “I told you to be careful.”

            “Good news – I found Lucy. Also good news – we got caught under one of these too, and she kissed me. Bad news – your dick of a brother realised I wasn’t on the guest list, and I accidentally hexed him into the punch bowl. So, Kara, you better shift your ass back on over that balcony and fucking run,” Alex explained, walking over to the railing and hoisting one leg over and straddling it as she looked at Kara, who was still looking at Lena. Whistling sharply, Alex sighed, “well give her a kiss, and come on!”

            Alex slipped over the edge of the balcony, disappearing from sight with lingering curses about the snow that had started to fall, and Kara blushed as she hurried over to it to escape with her sister. With one leg over the railing, Kara turned to look at Lena, holding out a hand for her, which Lena took, letting Kara pull her close, almost as if she was in a dream. With a quick kiss, and a crooked smile, Kara was fully over the balcony, precariously balanced on the edge as she reached over and gave Lena a tight hug. “Merry Christmas, Lena.”

            “Merry Christmas, Kara.”