Skate them away PV Amelia G. Fin

'Terrific, fantastic, absolutely marvellous': The words echoed in her mind— that's how her mum had described ice-skating. She had forgotten to mention the biting cold that came with it, though. But now it was too late to go back— Amelia was already on her way to the lake, and going back inside would feel like losing, somehow.

Although she was protected by a scarf, robes, and gloves, Amelia was freezing, thanks to the merciless weather outside. She could barely see the lake; everything was coated in snow. Small mist clouds formed in front of her face, hiding some of the view every time she exhaled.

For a split second she regretted not asking a friend to come with her. Her cheeks burned the moment she imagined the scenario— nope. No chance. Falling and embarrassing herself in front of her friends was not something she wished to accomplish.

She plopped down into a pile of snow near the lake, unaware of her surroundings. It didn't take Amelia too long to put her brand new skates on. Just like the skates, Amelia was new to this sport.

Since she was at Hogwarts these days, her mum had insisted on getting her skates during Christmas break. She had used so many big words to describe ice-skating, that Amelia got lost in the conversation back then, just as she was now lost in all the white around her.

Amelia considered staying in place and giving up on skating, but a sudden yelp made her head turn. She hadn't even noticed someone else was there, already skating! Or, well, attempting to skate. She watched from her spot as the student—a girl— fell and got back up again.

Amelia recognized the girl, but wasn't sure of her name or where she knew her from. Perhaps they had some classes together? Amelia had no idea. But it seemed the girl was in the same situation as her— trying to skate.

"Hey!" Amelia called out. "You okay there?" Amelia got closer to her slowly, trying and failing to move steadily despite the awkward combination of skates and snow.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Great Lake| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Jan 21st, afternoon| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 350

𝓢he sat there for a moment, letting silence engulf her with a temporary moment of tranquility. It was a beautiful sight, from where she sat, her bottoms turning colder by the second. Ruth could see the looming castle in the distance, and the snow that coating its rooftops looking like icing. Ruth suddenly had a very strong desire to eat cake. Not that there was any, but some of that cauldron cake from Hogsmeade would have been delicious...

Her daydreams were dashed when she heard the crunching of ice and the sound of rubber towards her left, announcing presence. It was accompanied by a kind voice of a girl, and Ruth reluctantly tore her line of sight away from the school towards her direction.

How hadn't Ruth noticed her coming? Was she so caught up with her dilemma of not being able to skate that she had forgone all her senses and observation skills? Ruth Fairchild was losing it alright, she was losing it. This shook her a little. What was happening to her? First the anxiety, and then the lack of overthinking. Next the controlled (but barely) desire to fistfight, and the inexcusable turn towards pranks and troublemaking instead. Most of all, what shocked her was that she had friends, and she wasn't just someone who got looked down upon.

What was about this school that changed her? Ruth couldn't ponder that for long. Instead, she gave a slight nod to the girl, then let out a sigh, standing up on the snow to greet her. "No, I'm not okay. This was a..." she inhaled sharply, "really bad idea and I have no idea why I did this to myself." Ruth threw her hands up, "I-" then deflated. I have no excuses.

Setting her jaw, Ruth bore a determined face as she nodded at the girl one last time to signal the end of the conversation, then face the lake once again and attempt getting onto the ice. She got this, she got this--Ruth took quick steps onto the ice, wobbling slightly at the change in friction, but stood successfully on the ice. So surprised she was she grinned, looking up from the soles of the skates up to the girl, only to lose her balance in that moment and crash down onto the ice, wincing.

Argh, that was embarrassing. She glanced back up at the girl and offered a smile, hoping it said 'that was a joke' rather than 'help', though it probably masked the former due to the accompanied flushing cheeks.

The girl took some time to answer; perhaps the biting cold had distracted her. Amelia wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, as the girl was just getting up from the frozen lake, giving a nod and a sigh. Amelia herself felt as if her lungs were blocks of ice every time she inhaled.

The girl seemed exhausted, and in Amelia's opinion, her words affirmed that idea. Before Amelia even had the chance to respond, though, the girl nodded at her, her face clearly set in a 'we're done here' sort of expression.

It did hurt a little, being dismissed so quickly by a stranger, but something else bothered her— who was this girl? She was oddly familiar, too familiar. Amelia was sure she'd seen her around often. She wasn't a Slytherin. Probably a first year, though. What was her name again?

After cutting off their conversation, the girl stood up straight on the ice, only to fall down again, while Amelia stayed in her spot.

"Oh, gosh!" The words escaped Amelia, along with a gasp. It was actually quite amusing, funny even. Amelia stifled a giggle.

The girl looked up at Amelia, her expression a mix of emotions. Amelia couldn't decipher what exactly they meant— the blush was probably from the cold, and the smile seemed friendly enough.

Amelia held out her hand to the girl— Rachel, maybe? Yeah, definitely a name with an R. "You okay?" Amelia repeated her question from earlier, hoping for a different answer this time.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Great Lake| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Jan 21st, afternoon| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 252

ooc note: omg I'm so sorry, I didn't even realize it's been two weeks!

𝓣he embarrassment. Wow, she must have been quite the source of entertainment. Ruth swear she could have seen a close slip up of a smile peeking from the corners of the girl's lips but she couldn't even feel a twinge of anger. Ruth knew how bad she probably looked, all sprawled up on the ice. If it was anyone else, she may as well have done the same and want to giggle at such a comedic sight.

Fortunately for the girl, who, Ruth realised after wiping her eyes and composing herself again, looked to be Amelia from her History of Magic class, she had been polite enough to avoid tampering with Ruth's fist-meter, which laid surpringly dormant immediately after Amelia offered a hand towards the girl.

"Thanks," she finally mumbled, grasping her cold fingers(or gloves, double check) with a firm grip before pulling herself up and back onto the snow. Back to step one. Bummer. “I’m fine. Just…haven’t done this before.” She scoffed to herself, shaking her head as a hopeless smile snaked onto her face. “I say that as though you aren’t able to tell, but I’m sure you can.”

Ruth pointed down at Amelia’s feet that donned on her own pair of skates. “It seems like you’ve come to do the same thing as I, perhaps with more professionalism?” She wasn’t entirely sure of Amelia’s skills. However, if she wished to giggle at Ruth, surely she was much better than the Hufflepuff. Turning away from her to stare back out at the ice forlornly, she added another request, this time in her head. Maybe teach me as well, while you're add it. But how could she ask that? Ruth had been rude to her just now, dismissing Amelia's presence to dutifully focus on getting used to the ice. Pleading at the Slytherin's knees would be acting as a poor puppy.

Ruth made to kick the snow below her, then swiftly remembered that she had a heavy pair of shoe-wear strapped onto her feet. One movement and that'd send her tumbling backwards onto solid ground for sure. Not much of a choice but to face the slippery obstacle before her, she clenched her fists and squared her shoulders, feeling the push of determination rise again. She couldn't just give up like that. If others managed to glide, she could at least walk. As much as she wanted to leap from milestone to milestone, Ruth could only afford baby steps at this point. No matter.

OOC: I'm so sorry @Amelia Garnett, this is a terrible, terrible post

The girl accepted Amelia's hand and helped herself up, thanking her. Amelia wanted to reply that, yes, she could definitely see the girl had never skated before, but she held it in, so as not to appear mean.

However, Amelia could answer the second statement easily. After a few seconds of thought, she replied, as the other girl stepped onto the ice again. "Yup, I've come here to skate too. I'm not any better, though. I've never stepped on ice before," Amelia said cautiously. She didn't want the girl to turn away again— Amelia was kinda intrigued by her. "But I've heard a thing or two about ice skating."

Watching curiously as Raquelle(was it really Raquelle, though? What was her name?) began to take small steps, Amelia decided to try as well. Taking a step forward, Amelia copied her, then applied a few tips her mum had given her: bending her knees slightly, setting her feet in a V shape— heels in and toes out— with her back leaning forwards.

Her feet began to move ahead slowly, Amelia's body following unsteadily. Amelia gasped in surprise, the cold air infiltrating her lungs as she watched her legs move swiftly on the ice. By the time Amelia noticed she was right behind Riley, it was already too late to stop. She didn't even know how—

"Oof!" Amelia fell on top of Reina in a tangle of limbs, and the two slid towards the center of the lake. Amelia had no idea what to do— it was fast, it was scary, and although everything blurred due to the speed, it seemed like they were drifting far away from the shore...

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Great Lake| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Jan 21st, afternoon| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 277| 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: scarf, robes, gloves:)

𝕽uth stared at Amelia, then shook her head. "What a bummer,"she muttered, almost to herself, then looked back at her, "Oh well. I thought you might have some experience," she cocked her head and smiled sadly. Just as she was about to turn away and continue her futile progress, the Slytherin added rather quickly that she knew some things about skating.

Ruth raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that so?" she asked, focusing back on walking, her arms slightly parted midair, an act of balancing her entire weight. “Maybe tell me some, if you'd like.” Ruth knew little of skating, another reason this was suddenly a bad idea. Bad, bad idea. She took another breath of biting air, then began increasing her stride lengths. Baby steps, baby steps, baby steps–

From behind her, the sound of blades scratching smoothly against the ice was heard. She couldn't afford turning back to take a look now. All it took was one glance and her balance would be lost, leading to another sprawl. However, from the sound, she'd assume that Amelia had gotten her wits together and was attempting to skate, no, was skating on the lake now. Good for her.

And because she hadn't turned that Ruth hadn't realised the gradual foreshadowing behind her. One moment Ruth was inching towards a glide, the next an uncontrollable force had hit her from the back. She yelped as her knees betrayed her, hands out and absorbing icy impact as Amelia and Ruth collapsed as one onto the ice, sliding further than anticipated. She cried out a surprise as Ruth narrowly dodged Amelia's blades crashing down against her legs, thrashing underneath her. Ruth attempted to scramble out from under the other, but the slippery surface and her skates made it hopeless. For a moment she laid under Amelia, fighting the dilemma of crying or fuming. She barely lasted long before pressing her palms against the ice, biting her lips to withstand the freeze, sliding herself out from under Amelia. Her body screamed for warmth, fire, hot chocolate even.

Ruth sat on the ice. Unable to skate, unable to stand. This is what happens when you try something new from scratch,she thought glumly, turning her palms over every so often to inspect the red. Her knees felt gashed, and when she nimbly touched it she couldn't help but wince. Ruth had came to enjoy the winter wonder, to relief her anxiety through skating (or at least learning to), but now her anxiety hadn't bid her farewell and was accompanied by pain. Frustration. Anger. Sadness.

She couldn't bring herself to look at Amelia, afraid to snap at her. “Are you okay?” She asked softly, her back to Amelia. Ruth let out a dry chuckle. “We're really terrible at this, aren't we?”

@Amelia Garnett

Oh no, no no no! That was not what Amelia had intended to do. She was on top of the other girl, probably choking her. They were in the middle of the lake. It was frozen. It was so horrible. They were going to die, and the girl was probably so mad at her.

After a few seconds, Riley slid away from her, looking injured. Amelia herself wasn't wounded much, most of the impact had affected the other girl. Her ribs did ache, though, and her hair and clothes were a mess— one glove was missing, and her scarf felt way tighter than before.

Amelia really, really hoped the girl wasn't hurt too badly, but there wasn't much to expect— the ice was cold and hard, the skating blades were thin and sharp. And their crash had been awfully strong.

Amelia could feel cold, wet tears threatening to fall from her eyes. This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. The girl sat up, her back turned to Amelia. What if... what if she was so wounded that she couldn't see Amelia, and that's why she faced the other way! What if she was blind now, and all because of Amelia?!

Amelia sat up and pulled her hair away from her face. "I'm so, so—" Amelia's voice broke in the middle of the sentence. Sniffling, she tried again, "I'm so sorry, I didn't... I didn't mean to."

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Great Lake| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Jan 21st, afternoon| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 238| 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: scarf, robes, 1 glove(the other probably somewhere near)

𝔖tanding up again would be a bad idea. Ruth tried anyways, gritting her teeth as she brought her hands back down on the stinging ice and in between her legs, pushing her right leg up before the other. Both legs wobbled dangerously, the slicing motion close and fatal enough to cut right through her fingers. Realisation came a moment almost too late, and as Ruth let herself get thrown back down to avoid the risk of losing a finger, she let out a grunt of muffled pain. The throb shot up her hip and she grimaced, a tint of frustration trickling back. Ah, who is she to blame but herself?

And someone else.

Taking another deep breath and exhale, Ruth swiveled around on the spot to address Amelia, biting her tongue in reminder not to blurt out something too honest. It had only been a couple of months since leaving Bathwick Academy. Her brutal integrity could still be present somewhere inside her.

Careful... she was thinking to herself, but her thoughts faltered as Ruth finally drew her gaze to the Slytherin before her. It took barely a moment to notice the glistening sheen that glossied Amelia's grey. All trace of wanting to rant disappeared as Ruth paused momentarily to stare, then looked away as the girl began to sniffle.

"It's..." Ruth sighed, then cast a look further away. Her eyes settled on a garment not so far away from where Ruth sat. Amelia's glove. She gingerly pushed herself forward and grasped ahold of it before tossing it back to Amelia. "Come on," she said instead with an air of finality, narrowing her forest-green pupils towards the nearest bank.

Looking back down onto the ground, Ruth found herself staring at a mild crack running along where she had been sitting. Oh dear. Stifling a sigh, she lowered herself onto the ice, hoping to distribute at least most of her weight around. Taking a quick glance at her numb, flushed hands, she muttered a quick "nope" and placed her arms down instead, using them to inch forward towards the bank. It was so cold. Every part of Ruth, especially the one in contact with the frozen lake, hurt. She continued on anyways, occasionally taking a look backwards to see if Amelia was trailing behind. If the girl lagged, the Hufflepuff took a breather while waiting, then together continued across the lake.

Arriving at the edge felt like a whole entire accomplishment. She got onto the snow first, resisting the urge to comically kiss the ground. Instead, she turned back and lent out a hand, waiting for Amelia to grab it to hoist her up.

Ruth brushed at her clothes. They were soaked in the front, dry but cold in the back. All she could think of doing was heading back to the Hufflepuff cellar, sneaking a hot chocolate from the kitchens on her way to the barrels if she could.

But no. That wasn't a Ruth thing to do. Her family had taken so much time and consideration getting her the pair of skates she now wore. It would be a waste and disappointment to owl them back to her parents, explaining how she hadn't been able to skate and all and merely flopped around at the center of the lake.

"Well, that was a terrible start," Ruth brought her palms to her lips, cupping them around her mouth and blowing hot air into it. Rubbing them together, Ruth propped her hands on her waist, holding her head up eye and grinning at Amelia, though the glimmer didn't quite reach her eyes. "Let's start again. Ruth Fairchild, ready to be your skate partner for the afternoon."

Relief washed over Amelia as Rita turned around and looked at her. Amelia could barely see her through the screen of tears that covered her eyes, but the other girl's eyes were definitely still working, looking at Amelia with an expression she couldn't decipher. She sighed, elated that they were both still alive. True, Rose was wounded, that much was visible— the ice was blood red in some places, but so far Amelia hadn't left her with a lifelong scar, and Amelia was deeply grateful for that.

Amelia wiped her tears away, although some had already frozen on her cheeks, when suddenly, something was tossed at her—her glove!! Amelia put it on immediately, struggling a bit due to her shivering fingers. She looked up at Ruth(what was up with that name? It suddenly felt odd, for some reason). The other girl was lying down on the ice now, somehow moving forwards without actually walking. Amelia had no idea what Ray had in mind or what her destination was, but she did know that the girl had told her to come, and that, well, she didn't want to be left alone in the middle of the lake.

With a sigh, Amelia gave up on skating and followed the black haired girl, attempting to haul herself forwards in the same manner. She was soon panting, not used to exercising under such circumstances. Her elbows burned from rubbing against the ice. She gritted her teeth, avoiding the pang in her ribs and the ache in her elbows. Somehow, focusing on the chilly weather kept the pain at bay, at least to some extent. Whenever Remi looked back at her, Amelia tried to put on an apologetic and encouraging expression, but failed miserably— she was freezing; her facial features could barely move.

Amelia let Rosalie help her up, assuming it was a peace offering. That should have been her cue to leave. She just couldn't bear any more awkward moments. She tightened her ponytail and tried to take a deep breath, working up a quick apology in her mind, along with the courage to say it out loud. Saying a simple sorry and walking away would probably not suffice; she had almost made Regina blind. But ugh, Amelia hated apologies.

The green eyed girl in front of her seemed calm, though, as she addressed Amelia. She warmed herself up and suggested they skate together again.

"I— sorry, what?!" Amelia caught herself mid-sentence. She was shocked. What did she mean? Was she trying to prank her? But... if the girl was truly willing to forgive her so quickly and get her to skate, how could she refuse? "Er, sure, yeah, absolutely!" She babbled, still trying to catch her breath from the journey to the bank. She breathed out slowly, trying to gather her thoughts. The cold mist formed a sort of shield between her and... Right, Ruth. She had introduced herself along with her question. Amelia shouldn't—wouldn't! Forget her name.

"Alright, okay, I'm Amelia. Garnett. Amelia Garnett." Amelia exhaled again, giving herself some time to think. "Okay, so what do we do? My mum told me about some tricks, but... You saw where that got us." She shouldn't have spoken ill of her mum's tips like that; it had probably been her own performance of them that had caused the trouble. But she didn't really want to admit it right now. It was easier to put the blame on something else...

A memory popped up in her mind, and so her mum was forgotten quickly, and the shame subdued. "You know what, I did manage to skate. Maybe we could just do what I did, but slowly? I've seen people slow themselves down, like this," Amelia sat down on the snow and stretched out her legs in front of her. She positioned them slowly, copying from the blurry memory of other students skating. Her left sole was pointing upwards, and the right one rested on top of it, creating a 'T' shape. Amelia looked up at Ruth(yes!! that was her name!) for approval.

𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝑴𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈: @Ruth Fairchild| 𝑳𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏: The Great Lake| 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 & 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆: Jan 21st, afternoon| 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕: 678 | 𝑶𝒖𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒕: scarf, robes, gloves, ponytail