Inspired by a line of dialogue during the Polyjuice Potion side quest, in which Penny states she once got her wand tangled in her plaits.

Let Your Hair Down:

The ringing of the clock tower bell echoes throughout the large castle, signifying the end of the last period. (F/N) walks out of the potion's classroom, hair in a mess, sweat lingering on their brow. As the OWL examinations drew ever closer, Snape's lessons had become exponentially more demanding with every passing day. His most recent lecture was nothing short of cruel, demanding they brew a perfect shrinking solution, proceeding to assign three rolls of parchment on the uses of syrup of hellebore.

Most unfortunately, Barnaby had misread the directions, forgetting to stir his potion before adding the eel's eyes, causing his concoction to become unstably volatile. (F/N) just so happened to be standing next to the oaf, and now walked through the halls, their robes singed and smelling of burnt hair. Tired and sore, (F/N) couldn't wait to slip into the large tub in the prefect's bathroom before dinner. Lost in thought as they imagined the soothing effect the different taps would have on their muscles, (F/N) rounded a corner and ran headlong into Penny Haywood.

"Merlin's Beard! Sorry Penny." (F/N) says, grabbing their friend's shoulders and preventing them from falling.

"(F/N)?" The blonde says in surprise. "Oh, thank heavens! I could really use your help."

"Of course." (F/N) says a little to eagerly. "Anything you nee... Penny, what's that in your hair?"

"It's my wand." Penny wails miserably. "I had tucked it behind my ear for safekeeping so I could take notes in charms class. And of course, Tonks was sitting behind me..."

"Oh." (F/N) says flatly as Penny continues panicking, having some semblance of where this was headed.

"...and no matter what I try I just can't seem to get it unstuck." She finishes. "Do you think you might be able to untangle it?"

"I suppose I could give it a go." (F/N) offers.

Penny sighs in relief. "Oh, thank you. I hate to trouble you, but I just can't seem to work it out on my own."

"It's no trouble at all." (F/N) insists. "Let's move somewhere else though, we don't want to block the corridor."

Penny's face turns red as she realizes they have been heavily impeding the flow of students.

"Oh, right." She says embarrassedly.

Gently taking (F/N)'s hand, she leads them off to a small secluded alcove, a single stone bench placed in front of one of Hogwarts' many stained windows. Sitting down, Penny turns her back to (F/N), presenting the tangled mess of golden locks that are her hair. Taking a seat next to her, (F/N) gets to work.

Fingers running through Penny's hair, (F/N) could understand why she was unable to free her wand. Tonks was truly a master troublemaker. Penny's wand was tangled in her half-up, and additional lose strands of hair had been tied around the thin strip of wood, resulting in several extremely frustrating knots that simply refused to come undone.

"Bloody hell." (F/N) says in exasperation. "How many knots are there? I tell you, Tonks has really outdone herself this time."

"You will be able to get it out, won't you?" Penny asks frightenedly.

"I reckon I will, yeah." (F/N) nods as their fingers work on one of the many knots, finally managing to loosen it. "It just might take some time."

Penny makes a noise of annoyance. "Don't get me wrong, I love Tonks to death, but sometimes she goes a little too far."

Tongue between their teeth, (F/N) nods in agreement, then remembering that Penny can't see them, issues a small noise of agreement.

"Just be glad she and Tulip don't hang out too much." They say. "I swear I still have nightmares about Halloween."

Penny laughs, the soft angelic sound music to (F/N)'s ears.

"Don't remind me." Penny jokes. "I still don't think I've managed to completely get the smell out of my robes."

(F/N) makes a small noise of triumph as they manage to untie another knot. Filled with a renewed sense of vigor, they start to work on the next.

"Sorry this is taking so long." They apologize.

"It's alright." Penny says. "Besides, it feels really nice when you play with my hair."

(F/N)'s fingers slip momentarily, butterflies fluttering in their stomach.

"(F/N)? Are you alright?" Penny asks, noticing the small slip up.

"Fine." (F/N) responds meekly.

A few moments pass in silence as (F/N) continues undoing Tonks handy work. Another knot is untied when Penny sniffs the air.

"Do you smell that?" She asks.

"Sorry, what?"

"That scent." Penny says. "It smells like burnt hair. You didn't resort to burning my hair off, did you?" She asks in mock terror.

"No, sorry. That's me."

"What's you?"

"The smell." (F/N) clarifies. "Barnaby had a little mishap in potions earlier and his fire ended up catching on the cuff of my robes."

"That's too bad." Penny laments. "I imagine Snape was none too pleased with him."

"I imagine not."

"Poor Barnaby."

"Poor Barnaby? What about me? That's the third pair of robes in just the past two weeks alone. I swear, if our friends don't start taking more care, they'll end up running me dry they will."

Penny can't help but snort in amusement at (F/N)'s words.

"Hey, stop moving Pen! You're only making this harder."

"Well it's your fault for making me laugh." Penny giggles sweetly. "You know, I'd bet you'd make a fine comedian."

Finally untying the last of the knots, the only thing still trapping Penny's wand are her braids and half-up. Unfortunately, the wand has been integrated so securely, (F/N) can see no other way of freeing it then to completely undo Penny's hair.

"Um, Penny?" (F/N) says. "Sort of a good news bad news situation. I've managed to free up all the knots, but it seems like Tonks redid your hair so your half-up and braids have been weaved around your wand. I don't think I can fix it without undoing them."

Penny sighs defeatedly. "That's alright." She says. "I suppose it won't hurt to take them out a little early."

Nodding, (F/N) starts untying the bottom of Penny's left braid, running their fingers through her hair to untangle it, causing her to hum with pleasure.

"So, what's this gummy thing you were talking about?"

"Gummy thing?" Penny asks in confusion.

"Yeah, you said you thought I'd make a swell gummy dean, or something. Least that's what I thought you said."

"Oh, no, I said comedian, not gummy dean." Penny laughs again.

"Right, that." (F/N) says. "So what is it?"

"A comedian is a person who makes people laugh." Penny explains.

"So what, like Tonks?"

"Well, sort of, I suppose." Penny says, thinking about how best to explain it. "But they make a living off it."

"What, telling jokes?" (F/N) asks incredulously. "Is that what muggles do all day? Pay each other for a laugh? Bizarre."

"Well, you have to be quite good at it to make a job of it." Penny says. "I'm surprised there aren't any wizard comedians to be honest."

(F/N) simply shrugs, finally managing to free Penny's wand. Without the braids and half-up, Penny's long golden locks fall straightly down her back. Setting their friend's wand on the windowsill, (F/N) runs their hand through Penny's hair, untangling the last traces of Tonks masterpiece. Penny sighs in contentment, closing her eyes and leaning back into (F/N)'s frame. Long after her hair is sorted, (F/N) continues to lazily thread their fingers through her hair, and Penny lets them.

The two pass the next ten minutes like this, and by the time they stop, the rest of the castle is assembled in the Great Hall, indulging in another spectacular feast. Turning in her seat, Penny grabs her wand from the windowsill.

"Thanks for you help (F/N)." She smiles sweetly.

With her hair styled and tied in their normal braids, Penny is extremely pretty, but with her hair straight, (F/N) can think of no other word to describe her than beautiful.

"Hey Penny?" (F/N) asks. "Why don't you wear your hair down more often?"

"I don't know really." She says thoughtfully. "I've just been braiding it for so long it's really become more of a habit that anything. Why? Do you like it?"

(F/N) nods once. "I do."

"Well, maybe I let it down more often then."

Penny can't help but smile at the way (F/N) is looking at her. Turning her head, she tries to hide the blush rising on her cheeks, her hair falling into her face. Timidly, (F/N) reaches up and brushes the stray hairs to the side, causing Penny to look at them, a mixture of surprise and nervousness on her face.

"Penny?"

"Yes?" She breathes.

"Can I kiss you?"

Penny's mind goes blank for several seconds before she finally registers what (F/N) just asked. She responds with a simply nod.

Her eyes flutter closed and her breath catches in her throat as she feels (F/N)'s soft lips pressed against hers in a tender kiss. 

Author's Note: I can't help but feel that the kiss might be a little out of place. Please tell me what you think.