Of Snowflakes and Snow Angels Closed

@Alexa Mackenzie

Huffing and puffing up a small incline to the Great Lake, Margo's breath created clouds in the frosty air. She felt positively boiling! It was like her tough Scottish nature was kicking in at last. Unfortunately, it hadn't been present when she'd come back to the castle with blue fingers after the last Hogsmeade weekend. She'd had to spend a whopping two hours with painfully prickling extremities sitting in front of the fire in order to warm up.

But now, well, the exercise was making her cheeks red and her eyes determined. The good two feet of snow on the ground wasn't making things any easier. Margo had to yank her foot out of the white abyss every time she wished to take a step - something which her shortness make a little difficult. Not that she'd admit it, of course. To Margo, most people were just weirdly tall. Her height was perfectly average - above, even.

Reaching the lakeside at last, the girl unzipped her bright red coat and surveyed the icy body of water. What she saw made her eyes bulge and her mouth open in surprise. Was that, up the lake a bit, a fire? Or was she just imagining things in her sweaty predicament?

Deciding that no, she couldn't rest until she could prove that she wasn't insane, Margo trudged her way through the snow towards the 'flickering red flames' on the ground. But blast! The snow was even deeper here because the wind had blown it into big, annoying ridges. Margo groaned before continuing. She had to know, though. Just to check if nature was laughing at her or if there was a problem with her eyes and-

Margo frowned down at the red-haired girl lying in the snow with irritation. The number of people with bright red hair at Hogwarts was crazy!

But now she'd solved the mystery and the snow looked so cold and inviting and plus, Margo hadn't made snow angels in ages...

The Slytherin flopped down next to the redhead with newly-found excitement.

"Hiya there. Having a fun snow-swimming session?" She smirked. "You know, your hair makes a very strange kind of halo."

Margo turned to look at the girl, only to see that she'd sunk into the snow and was now facing a wall of fluffy ice. Pushing herself up a bit, she dusted the snow out of her eyebrows.

"Boiling, isn't it?"

@Margo White @Alexa Mackenzie

Elzabeth was itching to get out in the snow, it seemed to be the thickest it had gotten all year, and the idea of being able to make a giant snowman was inviting, especially with all of the schoolwork that had been stressing her out. Maybe she would even knock it down and take some anger out?

The ideas of all the activities she could do excited her, so she looked for the largest hill of snow she could and settled on a mound by the lake. It was almost picture-perfect, the way Hogwarts looked during winter.

Snow seeped through her shoes and eventually into her socks but she could have cared less, the satisfying crunch of snow beneath her shoes was enough to make her annoyance completely dissipate.

She seemed to have made it up the mound, her chest heaving with large breaths when her eyes caught the sight of two others who seemed to have gotten the same idea she had. A girl with fiery red hair was laying in the snow, a peaceful look on her face as another girl took a seat next to her.

Elzabeth smiled, pausing for just a moment to make sure she wasn't intruding on anything. If they wanted her to leave them alone then she would just have to find another mound somewhere else.

"Sorry to bother you, I figured I could make a snowman or something out here." She explained, bringing her gloved hands closer to her chest. She was sure her nose had turned pink due to the brisk winds, accentuating the green of her eyes.

@Alexa Mackenzie, @Elzabeth Gillan

As soon as the words left her mouth, Margo realised that she might have possibly come across as a teeny, tiny bit rude. Hm. Perhaps she should invest in a filter for her oh-so-active mind. But pfft! Who was she kidding? Filters were for coffee, and she loathed coffee. She would just have to move forward instead.

"I'm Margo, oh fellow Scottish person! She sighed in relief. She'd finally found someone 'round here who didn't have an English accent! Margo closed her eyes and revelled in the familiar vowels and lilting phrases. The comfort of Alexa's voice was instantaneous. It was so zen that she almost felt like she was sinking through the snow into heaven.

Suddenly, a different, distinctly English accent pulled Margo out from her reverie. But wait! She knew this person. It was Elzabeth. From the owlery and the Dawn so long ago. It had been an entire year. Margo needed to start checking her head for grey hairs.

With no further ado, she threw her arms around the girl. Because, ehem, her blood was slowing after recovering from her strenuous exercise, of course. Margo pulled her face back from Elzabeth's coat and involuntarily spread her features into an ear-splitting grin. "Let's build a snow-figure alright! But how about a snowwoman. We're all girls here, no? She gestured to the three of them with a pointed look. "And it's Margo, by the way, Alexa. Of Aviemore, Scottish highlands."

Suggesting a snowball fight with @Margo White | @Elzabeth Gillan | @Alexa Mackenzie
Outfit

Snow has fallen and many were congregating outside with either catching up, building snowmen, ice skating even, or which was probably Henry's most favorite snow actively; having a snowball fight!

Henry remembered back in godric hollow having them with his siblings on snow days and always having a blast getting pelted with the snow then after they would sit together reading some books while drinking coco. The memories of December's past brought a smile to the twelve year old's face which was a sight to behold during that time when the boy would usually purposely isolate himself and let his thoughts consume him.

Dressed in not the warmest clothes, the boy raved out to the courtyard in hopes of a group who also wanted to some friendly competition and fights on that snow day.

Ever since he was little the boy usually had more female friends than make which was odd to some but Henry never noticed or cared when he approached the group of three girls; two he recognized.

" Hello! Uh Margo right? And Alexa and you are? Anyway I was wondering if you three would like to join me in a snowball fight? We could form teams of two or individually?" Henry spoke with a smile toward the three as he waited their answers.

@Margo White @Alexa Mackenzie @Henry Knight

Elzabeth let out an infectious laugh as Margo enveloped her into a hug. It had been so long since she had seen any of her friends from The Dawn, she truly missed them.

She didn't hesitate to wrap her own arms around her friend, nodding when she suggested building a snowwoman. It was an idea that Elzabeth had somehow never thought of before, but now that it was suggested she could see no other way she'd prefer to do it.

"I can sacrifice my gloves if we find sticks big enough to be her arms!" Elzabeth gestured at her mittens covered in snow. She was willing to go cold in order to make a snowwoman.

Just as she turned to try and start on their project, a boy appeared seemingly out of nowhere. As he suggested a snowball fight Elzabeth paused. There was so many planned activities, she was down for either but a part of her was hoping they could somehow fit all of it in. The idea of making a snowwoman, having a snowball fight, and making a snow angel sounded like the perfect December outing.

She glanced at the party, wondering which one they would side with. "I'm down for whatever, so long as we take time to enjoy the snow."

@Margo White | @Alexa Mackenzie | @Elzabeth Gillan

Giving a wave to Alexa before hearing the girl whom he didn't know say something about appreciating the snow which made Henry think of the tree huggers or hippe types that he sometimes saw around London. Anyway Henry ignored the thought and possibly the phase as he spoke " it's nice to meet you Elizabeth, I'm Henry and I never cared much for houses anyway," his mind still on the snowball fight as he spoke " if we do teams then each team could create a snow fort to hide behind and store extra snow balls? Also sure I'm in with building a snow women first, maybe we can do the fight around her and say whichever team captures a hat or scarf on her wins?"

Henry hoped the three liked his suggestion, the boy took his faded slytherin scarf that orginally was his brother's and held it out to the three as he spoke " we could tie this around the snow women and use it as a flag in the snowball fight? If you guys want?" Henry looked at the three and didn't mind building a snow women first, it could be fun and could tell Alexa agree with him and look over at Margo hoping she did as well. He thought that Elizabeth agreed with the plans but couldn't be sure.

@Henry Knight, @Alexa Mackenzie, @Elzabeth Gillan

Elzabeth’s laughter made Margo smile. Christmas was approaching and the world seemed bright. Well, apart from a pandemic and a year full of rather perculiar events at Hogwarts. But that was neither here nor there.

Henry’s arrival, in Margo’s opinion, made things a little less easygoing. Their summer encounter had ended on a rather awkward note, if she said so herself. But hopefully a relocation to the opposite end of the country and a solid five months with no interaction could fix that. The thought made Margo smile and shoot the boy a wave. ”Hiya, Henry. And yes, it’s Margo indeed.”

To be quite frank, Margo was very keen in starting a snowbal fight. But who was she to upset the balance in the group? It was Alexa who decided on a compromise, after all. So she strode to the patch that Alexa had pointed out and turned to face Elzabeth. ”The gloves look perfect.” She frowned. “But won’t you need them for a certain snowball fight?

Henry’s enthusiasm to get the battle into action forced Margo to smother a gleeful grin with her gloves. The two were more alike than she’d originally allowed herself to think. For she too had the yearning for fierce friendly competition in her viens. But luckily it was well under control. She was forcing all her focus onto their collaborative snow-woman... for now.

So Margo started to roll some of the deeper snow into a ball. But, well, it was only fair that they had some idle chatter whilst they worked, was it not? “Henry and I are both proud Slytherins, Alexa.” Margo grinned at the girl. It was entirely possible that the Hufflepuff just had a curious mind like her, but there was always the chance that she might not be the most accepting of their more ‘deceitful’ house. Which was why, as she turned to her rolling ball of snow once again, she shot Henry a friendly, conspiratorial wink.

“A Slytherin scarf flag sounds like an great idea for the snow-woman. I can’t wait for the epic snow-fort battle to commence! Margo flicked a little bit of snow her fellow housemate after she spoke. A promise of what was yet to come.