Almost A Snowman PV Piper

He felt his shoulders ease as she laughed about his comment with the glove. He was unsure why he was so nervous with impressing a first year, much less one not even in his own common room. In fact, the fact he was attempting to just get along with her was beyond him. Perhaps he was simply not used to social interactions where he did not plan everything out first, or maybe it was the fact that they now had to create something together. Either way, he had been nervous when she had first come along. Making a fool of himself was something he did frequently, but usually the shame did not kick in until afterwards. The recovery felt nice. He would be spending the next few years with this girl in the school, it would only make sense he wanted her to have a half decent view of him.

As she demonstrated decent knowledge of charms, he felt excited. Finally someone who knew what they were talking about. Well, he met plenty of course; however, it was nice to meet someone familiar with the topic.

"Levitation charm it is! Don't wanna hurt our masterpiece." he remarked, gesturing to the lumps of snow they made on the ground. It truly would not hurt to harm them at this point in progress, but Ross had already become mildly attached to the small lumps.

As he stood up and brushed the snow off of his pants in preparation to attempt the charm, he heard her remark of her own house. To be fair, he was not surprised. The strong majority of his friends ended up being in Slytherin for some peculiar reason, but it was likely due to the fact he was a wanderer between groups. He found Slytherins were not particularly fond of people who clung to them, and Ross preferred to not be on any Slytherin's bad side.

As she mentioned that he fit the trope of a Hufflepuff, doubt crossed his mind. "I dunno, if that's the definition of a Hufflepuff i'd say you could be one too." he remarked, not paying much mind to his thought.

He took out his wand, getting himself into position. He gestured for Piper to scoot back a little in order to not pull another Jarleth Hobart on her clothes, knowing well it could easily backfire. Once she was in the clear, he pointed his wand at the smaller clump of snow they had created. With his wrist, he created the line of what a slithering snake would appear to be. He was unsure why it was that way, but he could not change it even if he wanted to.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he determinedly exclaimed at the piece of snow.

He waited... waited.. but nothing happened. He recklessly flicked his wand up, causing the snow to go flying with it. He gasped, suddenly attempting to steady his movements as small bits of it began to fall to the ground. Right- of course. He needed to be careful. He kept it still for a moment before carefully moving it to the side.

PLOP

It fell right on the bigger clump of snow, creating something that mildly resembled a snowman. He dropped his wand into the snow, hoping it would stop the magic. He froze for a moment, feeling adrenaline run through his veins. He glanced at the girl, hoping to see her reaction.

Ross' insecurities washed off as she praised him, even if it was not the most confident praise. The laughter only contributed to soothing his concerns, as decided to join in for a moment and break up his own stiffness. A smile crossed his face as he looked at his own work. It was messy and a bit wobbly, but it was theirs. They had worked hard on it, and they had come up with an interesting solution despite the circumstances they were given- which now that he had considered it were entirely normal circumstances, they just remained rather incompetent. It was still nice to think that perhaps they were competent in some way at least.

He leaned over to free the wand from the grip of the freezing snow with his gloved hand as he listened to her criticism. He could not help but let out a laugh and roll his eyes. He knew what he was doing, he was sure of it. Well, he at least knew what he was doing enough for it to have worked.

"I dunno, it worked, didn't it?" he remarked as he transferred his wand to his other hand in order to brush the remaining snow gripping to it off with his glove.

Still, he did have his fair share of traumatizing incidents with dropping his wand. He would never forget the day he had accidentally set his foot alight and had to roll himself into the freezing cold lake. It was something he tried to avoid; however, dropping it was efficient enough. He just did not seem to be the best with stopping spells. There was something difficult to grasp about it- the lack of an incantation? The lack of a sustainable thought process? It just seemed so inconsistent in contrast to what he was being taught.

"It'd be hard to do again, suppose it's a snow orphan for now." he jested.

He felt proud of their accomplishment. They had really made a snowman, hadn't they? The Christmas spirit and festivities were difficult to get into; however, right now he suddenly found himself swelling with the desire to snag a mug of hot chocolate and talk to his peers about gifts and stories of home life. It was not until her words hit him like a rock- or more suitably a snowball. did it hit him they were only halfway done.

It took him a moment to comprehend what she meant before the light bulb in his brain lit up. He began to aggressively dig in his pockets. The first thing that plopped on the ground was the carrot, but soon other small items came to join them. Twigs and coal snatched from the Hufflepuff fireplace fell into the snow and... that was it.

"Erm.. that's all I got." he confessed.

It was the only thing he assumed they needed. That was all they seemed to need in the movies, at least. Frosty the snowman seemed to only need that to become a living, breathing snowman. Oh dear, would he be setting his snowboy back in school? What if the other snowboys made fun of him? They would need to give this snowman the biggest head start there was. Sticking his wand in his pocket and grabbing the carrot from the snow, he approached the deformed snowman.

"this might hurt so.. sorry buddy." he informed the snowman before sticking the carrot in its face.

it stuck, and now it had a nose. They were well on their way to making a genuine snowman.

He felt a sense of relief as she bothered to pick up the materials he had plopped into the snow and attempted to put her input for the creation. Sure, anybody could shove some coal lumps onto a snowman's chest; however, this was the making of their own snowman and nobody else's. He wondered if this is how parents felt- attached to a creature that was certainly imperfect; however, was theirs. In fact, it quite literally had Ross' nose and Piper's fashion sense. If that was the case, he only hoped it would get Piper's personality- he was unsure if he could take another genius detective such as himself within the grounds.

"Better than havin' no arms at all, don't want their arms to fall of with too big of ones. he remarked.

As she plopped the hat onto the snowman, Ross felt warm inside. It felt like he just witnessed the circle of kindness finish its loop. He ha given her a glove, and she had given it her hat. She did not have to- in fact, she was likely suffering due to the choice; however, she chose that. The snowman did not need to be warm, yet she chose to make it happy. At least, Ross assumed it was happy.

"you really could be a Hufflepuff!" he shouted suddenly as soon as the beanie was settled upon the snowman's head, likely scaring off any creature nearby at how out of the blue and loud the statement was.

He felt like a master detective having just proven his point. According to her explanation, she fit the bill. She could entirely be a Hufflepuff with the given definition. He had found the evidence and shoved it in her face, though that was not the best idea in front of his new son. How would they feel seeing its creators fighting? He decided to tone back the enthusiasm until she asked her next question.

It caught him off guard to say the least. He was familiar with the question only due to the fact he saw himself within it. He had been rejected by people a multitude of time, but he had also been among those who rejected others. He recalled refusing to let in a person who had been bullied until the bully was fully gone, but he also recalled being rejected by his peers at times for being a bit too curious of their social lives.

"Well, everyone's sorta a mystery waitin' to be solved I guess. Doesn't really matter if you get along with them as long as you get answers. Usually people who are mean got some pretty interestin' answers. Can't say why people keep 'em- haven't really talked to anyone I met my first year." he shrugged as he continued admiring the snowman, though he knew his answer was incorrect in a sense.

While he always treated everyone he met as a new mystery, he always felt insecure of their gaze. He flinched when those looked at him wrong and would tear up over it at night. It was anxiety inducing just to be there, yet that remained his mindset. He was not sure if it was entirely the truth, but to him if he treated everyone was a game that anxiety eased up far more. His confession still burned inside though. He had hardly any long-lasting friendships. He was a drifter and it was something he did not like confronting about himself

"Weird how ya brought somethin' out here you didn't need but not gloves." he playfully joked back. "but you're all nice and all that though too. I betcha you could pass as a Hufflepuff. Just wear a scarf at the table or somethin' and nobody would question you for a second." he remarked, partially hoping that she would take him up on that offer.

It would be an interesting experiment to see if she could pass. He would like to see if that could work out, but at the same time he knew Slytherins tended to stick to their own plans. He could not blame them, it was a busy time. But at the same time, he felt she would look nice in yellow.

He thought a bit on what she said for a moment. Something had caught him a bit unsure. What was it? Wait- that was it. They had been referring to the snowman as it the entire time and had not even considered its name! What an atrocity! The snowman had feelings, certainly. He thought for a moment before bringing up the topic, trying to put out the offer in the best way he knew how to.

"It needs a better name than 'it'. I was thinkin' Layton the second, but I sorta think both creators should have a say and all that." he joked, a bit too anxious to touch the parental jesting territory.

and then he got hit in the head with a snowball while he was lost in thought

He let out a yelp from the suddenly cold impact with his skin. He almost regretted the yelp- no, he absolutely regretted yelping, but it had unlocked something inside of him

His limits for parenting jokes were suddenly lifted.

"Fightin' In front of Lil' Layton? Really?" he huffed jokingly. He used his gloved hand to make a little snowball. It came out a bit lumpy with the lack of the support of the other hands, but it was good enough. He chucked it at the first year as an act of revenge.

"Layton is a GREAT name." he argued, his smile practically entering his tone. "He could be a detective, like his dad." and there he was entering parental joke territory once more. "That's why he's the second! There's already a pretty great detective named Layton. Not changin' unless ya could think of anythin' better!" he challenged.

Despite the fact Piper was being more strategic, he knew he was practically twice as prepared as her. Ssure he had never had a snowball fight before, but he had the layers to prevent there from being any 'fatal wounds' from the attacks. As the snowball targeted towards his head simply fell flat on his puppy yellow coat, he hardly felt a thing. He brushed it off with his gloved hand, but as soon as he glanced up he realized her true strategy.

"Lil Layton, No!" he exclaimed before realizing he was getting far too into it.

Oh well, this WAS war. Or was it divorce? Who was to say.

As she listed her demands, he could not help but feel as if he was in a custody trial. A custody trial that would only end up in cold blooded snowball attacks.

"No fair, Layton- erm.. Mum-rules, can't choose sides!" he exclaimed, but he could not stop himself from snickering afterwards. The only thing that could ever stop him from being a theatre kid at his old school would be the fact he could not stop himself from breaking in 'serious' moments.

As she peeked around the snowman, Ross could not help but grin. He had won the name battle, but at what cost? Taking the slim opportunity he had, he quickly kneeled down and used both hands to make a lumpy snowball and proceeded to chuck it at the girl with the best aim he could manage.

"So are you!"