InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Hey, baby. Wanna wrestle?"

Meaghan came to in the near-pitch-dark, but that was normal these days. Since the default Cattery decor was thoughtfully picked with Quidditchers and their hangovers in mind, the curtains were very heavy.

The insistent thunk - thunk - thunk at the wall was less normal. It was repetitive, but not rhythmic, and just loud enough to make her throw off her blankets and sit suddenly upright in bed, glaring at the darkness, which (as was typical) explained nothing. Letting out an unintelligible groan that was probably intended as a swear word, she slid out of bed, snatched up the blankets to cocoon them around her, and shuffled over to her window.

The instant she twitched the curtains open a snowball exploded against her window, like someone had been waiting for just such a signal. Meaghan yelped and jumped back, stumbling over the curtains and her own blankets. When she looked through the window again there was a familiar face peering through.

Dunbar couldn't sleep. He'd already laid in bed for what seemed like hours, but had spent most of that focusing on a spider sitting up on his bedroom ceiling rather than getting any sleep at all. He'd even tried doing paperwork for QUABBLE, except all he managed there was to actually catch up on the paperwork. No matter what he tried sleep still eluded him. And it was as he leant his head against the window in his living room that he had an idea. To be honest it was probably a bad idea, and he maybe should've owled first but he was confident this wouldn't end with him getting punched - at least he really hoped so.

Moments later, after getting properly dressed and grabbing his broomstick, he had apparated to a point he knew of in Paisley and then flew the rest of the way to the Cattery. Sure, he could've gotten off his broom and knocked on the door, but where would the fun be in that? Seconds later, whilst hovering outside of what he knew to be Meaghan's window, he had his wand out and was magicking up snowballs, and was throwing them at the window one after the other every few seconds or so.

It was an exceptionally well-timed snowball that hit the window the moment the curtains pulled back, and Dunbar couldn't help but laugh when he saw Meaghan jumping back. With a grin he waved at her, before gesturing for her to come out.

Meaghan raised her arms in the universal gesture of what-the-fuck-mate and jerked the curtains back into place. Rubbing her eyes and swearing under her breath, she let her blankets fall and pulled on her clothes, taking her time because why should she hurry for a bloke who just wakes her up outta nowhere, probably for no reason?

A few minutes later she was downstairs and opening the door, hair stuffed into her hat, chin burrowed into her coat. She squinted around for a moment -- the bastard better not have just left after waking her up and dragging her out of the warm -- and seeing him, called, "This better be good, Ogletwerp!"

Dunbar was still grinning even as Meaghan closed the curtains. He didn't even mind waiting for her to change and come outside. Though he wasn't stupid and knew even if she did come out she could still make him dearly pay for it. Well, that and have made this a completely wasted trip by not agreeing to the scheme.

"Sorry, McCormack," he responded, feeling a smidge guilty about having woken Meaghan up, drifting down until he was hovering in front of her. "Can't sleep, and needed to do something. And I thought: snow fight, on brooms'n stuff... look, I probably shouldn't have woken you up but as consolation you'll get to try and hit me with snow? So whataya say?"

There were a lot of things she could say. Meaghan didn't like being woken up and she hated the cold. But lucky for Dunbar, Quidditch was one of the few things she'd do anytime, anyplace.

Well, almost anyplace. "Can't here," she said, yawning. "Too muggly, shouldn't even fly." The last was a little pointed. It was late enough that you could get away with that a little but not anything more Quiddy. Her mum would kill her if she got caught breaking the Statute again.

"Got a idea tho, give us a mo." And she disappeared with a click of the door. A few minutes later (still not making any great effort to speed it up) she emerged, a little more bundled and with her broom.

"Follow me," Meaghan said, and as quick as a grin she was shooting off on her second-best broom without so much as an explanation.

In hindsight, he should've remembered that. Though thankfully for him there was no one else about to tell him off for it. Or any muggles about to wonder how it was he was hovering above the ground on a broom. Dunbar gave her a sheepish smile. He'd remember it for the next time he was around here. Dunbar had to wonder what she had in mind if the area here wasn't suitable.

His suspicions were raised though when Meaghan exited the building and off quick as a flash after telling him to follow. After rolling his eyes he sped off after her, and though she was definitely ahead of him he was still able to keep up. Well... he was able to right up until they got to their final destination.

One minute he was fine, and the next he found himself being bounced back. If it wasn't for acting quick and grabbing hold of his broom he would've ended up on the snowy ground below. "What the fuck?" he shouted. His head snapping around the moment he heard laughter, and his eyes narrowed at Meaghan. "Let me guess, payback, hmm?"

Meaghan spent a few moments bent over her broom cackling before she was able to respond. "Serves you right," she called smugly. "Good reflexes though, maybe you ain't gone to seed after all."

She flew back to Dunbar and linked arms with him. "Should be fine if we go through now," she said, steering them through a weak point just in case. "Mum's wards. Paranoid as hell she is but there's loads o' space." Her mum had added onto the wards since she moved out, especially during the last war, but she'd done that during the first war too. Meaghan had spent her childhood watching them get thicker and more complicated. She knew how to spot the cracks and faults underneath the new stuff, to help her get another person through.

It wasn't far to fly past the wards -- just a couple minutes over the edge of the woods and down to the large clearing, where she let go of Dunbar's arm. There was a larger space nearer the house, better for training and pickup matches. But this far away they wouldn't be seen even if her mum was up this late, and even if they were they were close enough to escape.

Meaghan might've had a point there, but he still flipped her off the moment he was steady on his broom again. "S'not like I've forgotten how even if it's been a while," he said.

Dunbar gave her a slightly disbelieving look, as Meaghan linked arms with him, wondering if she'd try and mislead him again. He gave a slight nod of understanding when she explained about the wards. Given the past it certainly made sense. "Sounds good, s'long as you're not looking to make me bounce off any more wards," he commented, flying beside her as they passed the wards.

It was a sizeable area, and there was plenty of snow on the ground - not that a lack of it would've been a huge issue with magic involved. Hovering in place, one hand on the broom to balance, he had his wand out and had magicked up a snowball that he was 'tossing' side to side. "So rules, or all out war?" he asked, grinning a little.

She leaned over her broom like Dunbar, legs gripping tight in case she needed both hands. "Pshhh," Meaghan scoffed, pulling out her wand to make her own snowball. What a dumb question. It was like he didn't even know her. "War, duh." And she shot the snowball straight at his face without further ado.

Not quick enough to have dodge it Dunbar spluttered, and wiped the snow from his face before grinning at Meaghan. Oh, it was on! He shot off one of his own, before quickly pulling back to the side to escape an incoming snowball. Unfortunately, his had only managed to hit Meaghan across the chest.

Soon enough the pair were flying about shooting snowballs at each other - some hitting their mark, others a little wide, and a few being successfully dodged. Dunbar laughed as his latest hit Meaghan in the back of the head as she was turning around. "Not too shabby for a retired player, huh?" he said with a grin.

Bundled up as she was, Meaghan still hated the snow. It wasn't just about being cold, after all, it was cold and wet and… well basically it was cold and wet but she didnt like it, okay? It didn't stop her from getting into the spirit of a snowball fight but it did mean she yelped when it got her skin, and that she was dodging nearly as much as she would in a Quidditch match -- but with less success.

"Alright. I guess," she conceded, shaking snow out of her hair (her hat having long since come off) and sending a snowball plummeting down on top of his head. He'd always been a great chaser. That's part of why she'd been so mad when he left. "Shame to waste that aim on dustbin Quid though!"

Dunbar couldn't help but squirm as some of the snow fell down the back of his jumper after trying to shake it off. It was bloody cold against his back! "Eh... bit late to try and make any kind of comeback now anyways," he shrugged. Plus Portree's roster was already full as it was, and he doubted he'd be safe from his mum's 'wrath' if he decided to join any other team, even if they weren't Montrose.

He missed playing Quidditch enough that sometimes he considered going back to Quidditch, but now with QUABBLE and everything... well, it just wasn't as easy as that. Still he was able to fly, and do things like this snowfight of theirs - and there were still friendlies he sometimes got to play in if he wasn't busy.

"Besides... s'not like I'm wasting it right now," he said, grinning smugly as he shot a snowball off at her.

Meaghan shrieked and ducked, but not fast enough -- the snowball just streaked her head instead of missing her.

She wasn't a chaser. Shooting with her wand she had better aim and more control, but he could hold onto the ball longer too. Dunbar still had the advantage here, not that you'd catch her admitting it. "This don't count," she said instead, shooting two snowballs at him this time. "Sides, Lorna came back and how long'd she have off again?"

Dunbar managed to just dodge the first but the second got him across the shoulder mid-turn. Unlike in Quidditch where you usually only had to worry about the one bludger coming for you - unless you were playing against the Falcons, in which case it was increasingly likely that both of them would be gunning for you. "Yeah, I just bet you're not using any of your Quidditch skills right now," he said, rolling his eyes. He focused for a second before shooting off another two, hoping for a headshot but would happily settle for any shot that made impact.

"Six years, wasn't it?" he replied. "Sides, you're forgetting Portree have a full lineup and all now. Couldn't make a comeback even if I wanted to."

Meaghan rolled her eyes -- bad timing with snowballs coming at her. They hit her in the cheek and the neck, leaving her coughing and wiping her face like a kid trying to scrub off cooties. "Weak," she said. "If you want something, go for it. None o' this couldn't-if-I-wanted-to, that's just a excuse." Anyone who wanted to play Quid and was good enough should get to, end of, and Dunbar was good. He was wasted in an office doing nothing more exciting than paperwork, it was a goddamn crime is what it was.

"Sides, we can always get rid of Bucky," she added, taking aim and sending a volley of small, fast snowballs at him.

Dunbar laughed at the reaction. At least he was successful there. "A valid one. Don't want to be known as that wanker who got someone kicked off the team," he retorted. It was something he'd hate just as much as having to listen to his mum if he ended up joining a team other than Portree.

Dunbar scoffed. "Right, get rid of a perfectly decent player to bring in one who's been knocked about even worse. Makes sense." He let out a squawk of surprise at the volley of snowballs, and if not for his grip he would've fallen off his broom. As it was he hunkered down, and his head and shoulders took the brunt before he turned about. Reacting quickly as he could he fired off a few - aiming where her hand was gripping the handle of her broom.

Meaghan was happy to be known as that wanker if it got a friend back on the team (especially a friend who was still damn good and had no business leaving them in the first place) and was about to say so, but Dunbar moved faster than she expected, and aimed where she wasn't expecting, so instead she yelped, and fumbled, and tried to grip the broom in her mitten hand instead but the mitten wasn't good for gripping so she tumbled gracelessly off her broom and onto the snowy ground.

"Fuuuuck," she groaned. "I knew that was gonna happen this season."

Even knowing it was what he was aiming for Dunbar still had the grace to wince a little when Meaghan tumbled to the ground. Concerned, he flew over, and hopping off his broom held out a hand to her. "You alright?" he asked, catching the last of what she'd said. "Don't worry, I won't tell a soul."

Meaghan reached up and gripped his hand, but instead of pulling herself up she tugged sharply and brought Dunbar down to her level. She could move fast, too, and in a moment she'd pinned his shoulders to the ground. Sitting on him for good measure, she scooped up a handful of snow in her mitten. "Surrender!" she said, grinning.

"Nevlphhhh!" Is sort of what it sounded like he'd said. If it hadn't been for the surprise of Meaghan sitting on him it would've sounded like a much more confident 'Never!'. He eyed Meaghan warily. "And if I don't surrender?" he asked, having a suspicious feeling the snow in her hand was either going down his jumper or down his pants.

Meaghan just whistled an "uh-oh" tune and grinned again. She knew what she'd do, but telling him where she'd dump the snow would just ruin the surprise.

In a split-second decision, one which he'd find out soon enough whether it was a bad one, he reached up to pull Meaghan down to his level before kissing her soundly. There was a slim chance he could get hit for it, or she'd still follow through with the snow but he was hoping she'd be suitably distracted to forget about either.

Dunbar might have caught her off guard, but that didn't mean Meaghan hesitated. As soon as their lips touched she responded with immediate enthusiasm, pushing him down further into the barely-touched snow as she deepened the kiss. Her hair, loose from her hat and cold and wet from their fight, fell around their faces. She'd probably get a cold. He'd probably get a cold. She didn't really care right now, that much was obvious from the fact that she was still grinning.

That hadn't been the reaction he'd banked on but he certainly wasn't going to complain at all. He wasn't an idiot! The snow... well, he didn't care, and if he did happen to catch a cold later it was completely worth it. Though after one very long moment of snogging Meaghan, even he was finally needing to breathe again. However, he didn't really move much just pulled back ever so slightly to look up at her.

"Sooooo... willing to call it a draw?" he asked, looking flushed as he had a ridiculous smile on his face.

"Hmmmmm," she said, pulling back a bit more herself to observe his goofy face. "Nope. No mercy, no prisoners." And she dumped a (smaller) handful of snow on his nose before kissing him again, nevermind how cold it'd make her.

Dunbar's laughter was instantly muffle by both the snow and the kissing; not that he felt a need to complain about either, or Meaghan's verbal response. Though the bit about 'no prisoners' is probably why a few seconds later he had, as stealthily as he could manage, grabbed a small handful of snow before slowly reaching up and dumping it down the back of her jumper.

"All's fair," he said a moment later, grinning smugly.

Meaghan stopped gasping and flailing at her back (coldcoldcoldcoooooooold, dammit) and glared down at him. The look in her eye said he was in trouble, but there was no telling how far her revenge would have gone because just then she stiffened and looked up.

Was that… barking? Lots of barking. Getting closer.

"Fuck, she's up." Meaghan rolled off him and started searching the snow frantically. Godric, where had she dropped it? "Brooms and wands, hurry, get your shit, we gotta go." The crups weren't that big a deal -- well, not for her, they'd gnaw on Dunbar pretty good -- but there was no way her mum had just let the dogs out without coming along with them. And while she was pretty sure she had the right to bring a mate to her childhood home and have a fight and a snog in the snow, she also knew that this was her mum and she had no rights at all, ever.

Dunbar grinned cheekily as he looked up at her. Not even bothered by the look in her eye - a tell-tale sign if he ever knew one. Except he went from expecting revenge to looking at her in confusion - at least up until he started to hear the barking as well. It wasn't until he heard Meaghan that he realised just what that meant, and he quickly hurried to get up and grab his broom. He definitely had no wish to be meeting Catriona this late at night or getting acquainted with her crups either for that matter.

After having helped Meaghan locate her wand, Dunbar hopped on his broom and waited for Meaghan since he had no wish to find out if the wards would bounce him back this side as well. Once they were a little ways out past the wards, and much much farther away from the crups, he pulled up a little and turned to Meaghan. "Well, that was close" he commented. "I guess that means I can expect your revenge at a later date then?"

Meaghan was still breathing hard from their unexpected flight and took a moment to respond. That was way too close as far as she was concerned. Was she mental, or had she heard her mum's voice as they took to the air? If so they must've still been outside of wand range because Catriona McCormack was not one to give warning before hexing someone, especially on her own property where there were no witnesses.

"Yeah, I reckon," she said, running her mitten hand over her hair and grimacing. Damn near froze solid it was. That's what she got for going out in the cold without a hat.

Wait. She hadn't gone out without a hat.

"Shit. I left it. Shit. She's gonna know." Maybe she wouldn't find it? It was white, that's why she didn't see it herself. But no, her mum had eyes like a hawk. She'd find it for sure. Dammit, she was in trouble.

Dunbar blinked. One second she was fine, and the next Meaghan sounded kind of panicked. "What's 'it'?" he asked.

Dunbar hadn't noticed Meaghan was missing anything but then he'd been somewhat distracted by the thought of getting away before being set upon by crups and Catriona McCormack. Though he was smart enough to figure out the latter of what Meaghan had said, and couldn't help but think 'thank merlin, it's not me in trouble'. Well... provided his own mum never found out. "Won't really be that bad will it?"

Meaghan laughed. Of course it'd be bad, this was her mum. "Aw, hell," she sighed, her mitten hand dropping from her face. Nothing she could do about it now anyway. Just had to put it out of her mind and take it when it came, tomorrow or the day after or whenever the next time she saw her mum proper.

"Well, c'mon anyways," she said, jerking her head at Dunbar to follow.

"C'mon?" he repeated, raising a brow."Whereabouts?"

While he had some idea of what Meaghan might be thinking of he wasn't about to assume anything. Although he did happen to like her unpredictability but he still wasn't going to assume he was about to get lucky when in fact it could just as easily turn about to be part of her plan for revenge for his last attack with the snow.

Meaghan raised both eyebrows back. Wasn't it bloody obvious? What did he come wake her up for anyway, because if it was really just a snowball fight he wanted he could've gone to loads of other people.

"Mine is just there." She let her broom drift back towards him and nodded in the general direction of the Cattery, then reached out and grabbed the lapel of his coat, casual-like, as if checking something. "You're gonna be freezing by now." She leaned closer, hand still on his coat, grinning a very particular sort of grin. "So let's go warm up."

For a second he looked in the direction she gestured to before being distracted by the way she reached for his coat. He didn't know about freezing, not when he saw the look on her face and now definitely knew what she had in mind. A lazy, and somewhat smug-looking, smirk crept into place. "Well, don't need to tell me twice."

"C'mon, race you the rest of the way there," he half-shouted, grinning as he shot off in the direction of the Cattery.

Now that was more like it. Meaghan's grin widened as she flew after him, giving it all she had even though there wasn't anything to win in this race (at least, nothing that she wasn't going to get anyway).

She seemed to have caught a bit of his smug as well, but it was hard to see in the dark.