Closed Unexpected Snowfall, REALLY Unexpected

It was December, and the weather, to say the least, was cold. Well, more like freezing. Bitter, crisp, frigid, bleak, whatever you wanted to call it, it was a temperature worthy of the north pole, in Mahlioz's opinion. She'd looked through her thesaurus to find the right word and had settled on "hyperborean". It was a fun word to say. And she felt like it described the weather outside perfectly.
On another hand, the young Slytherin was trying her best to ignore the outside world. It was, well, cold, quite obviously, and she much rathered hide under her covers in her bed reading than think about the snow outside. Nevertheless, she was growing restless. She wasn't sure why - she was the complete opposite of an outdoorsy person, and she always loved reading, whatever the occasion. Today was just different. She couldn't concentrate. Her brain was convincing her that the snow looked tempting. Look how white it is! Look how perfect it is! It looks like a fluffy blanket. Don't you want to go jump in it? She was trying to fight back against it, because gods knew she hated being outside (especially in this hyperborean weather), but in the end she relented. She was just itching to do something - anything.

So she put on her winter coat and boots, snowpants, matching frog hat and mittens, rainbow scarf, and set out into the wild, wild Hogwarts grounds. Aside from the temperature, it was actually quite a nice day. The sun was shining, the snow was sparkling, and the trees, however dead-looking, were waving with the wind, as though saying hello. For once in Mahlioz's life, she wanted to run around. It didn't mean she wanted exercise, or to be with others, of course; she just wanted to have fun. In the snow that looked like a giant empty canvas, ready to be filled with color.
There were already a few specks of color, though. Other people seemed to have had the same idea as the first year. Warm-colored coats and faces breathing out clouds of mist contrasted against the stark white everywhere else. Mahlioz kept well away from these. Maybe her brain had gotten frozen enough to forget that she hated being outside, but her introvertedness could not change just because of some stupid temperatures. The day that happened, Mahlioz would just give up on sanity altogether. In the meantime, she decided to make a snow angel.

...Or four. Weirdly enough, she was actually having fun. Outside. On December 15th. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her. But she didn't care, at this point. She was too busy grinning. Just as she was about to make a fifth angel, though, she heard a scream. Jumping up with too much curiosity to ignore it, she looked around. The scream had come from not too far away, but there was no one nearby. Just snow, and trees, and more snow. Mahlioz frowned. She distinctly remembered that there had not been a pile of snow by that tree over there before.
By the time she realized what had happened, she was already running over. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Trying to move all the snow, she found the stunned pale face of a girl. Mahlioz couldn't decide whether to laugh (you had to admit, this was only something ever seen in muggle cartoons) or panic because the girl might have gotten frozen to death. "Oh my god, are you okay?" The words spilled out of her mouth before she could stop them as she kept trying to brush the snow off of the poor girl.

♡

─A voice; just what her humilation needed.

If not for the witness who had rushed over to her, Maeve would have considered dying there altogether. Perhaps the dramatization was a bit stretched, but a student's death on Hogwarts grounds was hardly unheard of as it were.

Now we were just being cynical.

The unfamiliar hands that appeared to help were slowly brought into view, though their identity misplaced. The only information registered was the absurd question that followed, leaving Maeve bemused at the seriousness in their voice. "Do I look okay?" Her tone was noticeably affected by the cold, quickly softened as the words escaped her lips. "Sorry. Just shaken, I guess." Maeve looked upon the girl with curiosity, partially thankful she wasn't the only one crazy enough to spend a day like this outside. If not for her predicament, maybe their chat could've even been pleasant.

Though it appeared indulging in the winter wonderland wasn't nearly as exclusive as she thought; the glimpse of another just barely off in the distance. Had they seen the whole thing too? Much help they were despite just complaining about the aid she did receive. Still, the idea of being a spectacle didn't exactly resonate with Maeve. Had it not been for the pink fur just next to the figure would she have called out to them directly, instead only cocking her head at the sudden sight of the pygmy puff. If there was something the first year was without question, it was confrontational. With whatever strength she still did maintain, Maeve waved feebly at both the creature and its owner. Cute little things.

Her focus returned back to the student before her, one she hadn't known personally but had sworn she'd seen at the Slytherin table. Either way, standing up properly was the least she could do to maintain her dignity. "Looks like I have quite the audience." There was a lightness to her voice, one almost considered playful.

@Mahlioz Evethisawe · @Kim Sato

Reducio

No worries! You're more than welcome to join.

The snow had apparently not frozen the girl so much that she could not speak. Though she seemed bewildered, she let out an annoyed "do I look okay?" Mahlioz couldn't help feeling bad about. Obviously she didn't look okay. Mahlioz hadn't meant for the question to be mean - she hadn't really been thinking. She was just... imagining how much she would have hated to be in the girl's situation. And how much she would have wanted someone to come help her.
Actually... she took that back. The young Slytherin finally understood why the girl had snapped at her. It was an incredibly embarrassing thing to happen. Of course she didn't want people to help her - she didn't want people to be there at all, witnessing what had happened. Mahlioz now just wanted to go back in time. But it was too late now. And besides, the girl seemed to realize she was putting her humiliation and anger into her tone, and apologized. "Don't worry about it." Honestly. She definitely understood.

The girl whose name Mahlioz did not know - they still hadn't introduced themselves, but that was to be expected, since they were in such a peculiar predicament - seemed to notice something, or rather someone, behind Mahlioz, and waved. Curious, the first year turned to look for herself, but saw nothing. Or - wait... a splash of color. Pink. Was that... Is that a pygmy puff? And its owner, though partially hidden and barely noticeable, stood beside it. Mahlioz frowned, slightly confused, but deciding not to do anything about it for now, turning back to face the girl instead.

She had finally made it out of the snow, thankfully. And regained her good humor, from the looks of it. "I guess so," Mahlioz replied, not sure what else to say. "Are you not frozen to the core? How aren't you running inside to a fire?" That was what Mahlioz would have done. Cursing the cold all the way there. The girl was seemingly immune to extreme temperatures.
Well, she was too far in to back out now. It was about time they introduced themselves. Mahlioz put her frog-mittened hand out to shake. "I'm Mahlioz, she/they." She wasn't really sure whether that was weird, or not the right time, or something else, but... well, none of this encounter seemed normal to her, so she decided to go with the flow. What else was there to do, anyway?