How do you make a snowman again? Closed

The cold weather wasn't one that was at all foreign to Bree, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Like almost always, the petite blonde was grumbly and irritable during the winter season, something that drove away more classmates than the the ones she'd already scared off. When her older sister had asked her how many friends she'd made at school during her return to Brighton that Christmas season, she'd sputtered out a quick "five!" although the truth was that she hadn't even gotten close to one person yet. It was clear that her siblings hadn't believed her either, and Mum had encouraged her to talk to more people.

Today she was out, bundled up in her thickest coat, her petite form nearly swallowed up in the large red and gold scarf she'd wrapped around herself. Her boots crunched in the snow of the courtyard as she walked, her sketchbook and a graphite pencil tucked under one arm. The only reason she'd decided to go out was because the snow was beautiful, and never had Bree been able to resist beautiful things. Thankfully there were no large masses of students in the open space, and she found herself releasing a sigh of relief.

Blue eyes scanned the courtyard, looking for a pretty scene to sketch out, but instead caught sight of something much more intriguing. A boy, attempting to do something in the snow that was much beyond her comprehension at the moment, as he didn't seem to be making any progress at all. It took a few more seconds for her to guess- he must've been making a sculpture in the snow, probably a snowman. Oddly enough, the scene brought a smile to her face and a small twinkle to her eye, and she choked back a laugh as she observed for a few more seconds. Her hands itched to put his struggle on paper, but Mum's words of encouragement replayed in her head and she took a few tentative steps closer before finally striding up with a bit more confidence.

"You're doing great!" The Gryffindor chirped to the boy, before internally wincing. She was glad her cheeks were already pink from the frosty air, because she was, for once, embarrassed by her tendency to tease even strangers. No more sarcasm, she reminded herself, exhaling another breath into the frosty air. "I, uh... I think you might need gloves for that. Your hands'll freeze off otherwise. Um. Wanna borrow mine? Gloves, I mean."

@ross stephens

The brunette practically jumped when he realized someone was near, then internally face palmed himself quickly after. Of course someone was near. This was quite literally the winter hot spot. While it was freezing, for some reason students loved to spend their free time here. He never quite understood it. It was too cold. He didn't quite have a preference for temperature, but he certainly disliked it when it was too much of one thing. It felt imbalanced. He quickly looked up from his clumped together mess of wet snow. He looked back and fourth before finally settling on where she was. He rubbed his hands together to get some of the freezing water off his pale hands.

As he looked at her, he quickly took notice of some things. The girl was blonde and clearly creative or just really liked carrying books due to the book tucked neatly under her arms. She was a Gryffindor and was not afraid to show it due to her scarf. Part of him wondered what she was doing out here. She had never really seen her before, but that was likely because he mainly hung out in the Hufflepuff room. He always felt too nervous to meet someone else.

As she told him he was doing great, he could not tell it was sarcasm or not and turned absolutely red. He tensed up, clenching onto his own fingers and opened his mouth as if ready to make a snarky remark. As soon as she made the next remark, he slightly untensed. She seemed to fine enough, though he was a little confused. Still, he put thought into the offer he received into consideration.

Would that not be a little complicated? he thought to himself. He would have to find her again, or she would have to awkwardly watch him. Still, she could tell she was being genuine and tried to think of the best solution that would not be possibly the most awkward thing he had suffered through due to the fact he actually had no clue how to make a snowman as shown by the horrid attempt that lay before him.

"Oh! That's.. erm. That's rather sweet" He said, giving a slight anxious smile. He looked down at the creation he was attempting, and realized he refused to quit on it. " But I gotcha' a better idea. How 'bout you help me with whatever this is instead?" He offered, gesturing to the strange clump of snow he was making instead. "Not that I.. erm. Don't know what i'm doin'. I'm a professional, of course." he bluffed and slightly joked, sincerely doubting he could get away with a lie like that but supposing it was worth a shot.

She was sure he'd reject her offer during the brief silence where he seemed to be contemplating. Bree was preparing herself to turn away when the boy spoke, and she tilted her head curiously at his first few words. Sweet? Bree was rarely ever called sweet by the other kids, but the tiny word put a warmth in her chest that made her return his tentative smile with her own. The smile grew a bit when he invited her to join in, and her eyebrows jumped up in mild surprise.

So she hadn't scared him away with her earlier sarky reply. That was definitely a reassurance.

"I... would love to." Bree accepted, crouching down in the snow behind him. She observed the messy attempt at building the snowman, her sketchbook still safely secure under her arm so it wouldn't touch the snow. Had he even packed the snow together correctly? Probably not, it would've stayed up at least somewhat if he had.

"So very professional," she replied to his joke, a giggle escaping her. "What could I possibly teach you about snowman-making, uh...?" She trailed off at the realization that she didn't know his name, and that she hadn't bothered to truly introduce herself just yet. Getting back to her feet, she decided to do just that, but didn't bother sticking her hand out for him to shake, as she was sure it would be awkward and much too formal. Instead she settled for a nod, and kept her small grin on her face. "Bree. I'm a first year. Gryffindor- if that isn't already obvious enough from this." She held up her scarf, another chuckle sounding as she finished her introduction.

She focused on the snow again as she waited for his name in response. How was she to go about this? Sure, she'd done it before, but usually with all five of her siblings, sometimes all seven of the Beckham clan if her parents were free. It took her a few seconds to think, and then she began pushing the snow into a small pile, patting it down so it packed together.

"Let's start with a small snowman, eh? It'll make it easier to make one, I think."

@ross stephens

He was a little surprised when she actually decided to join in. Most people at his old school would probably have laughed and left, which was not exactly a problem. I mean hey, he was not going to object to this either. She seemed nice enough, and he could do with some friends.

He couldn't help but laugh along with her at the professionalism remark. Who was he kidding, he had no clue what he was doing. Snowmen were complicated. They were round and stuff, and that was already confusing.

As she stood up, he felt it was a little surprising. Such a sudden change in motion seemed odd for an introduction, but still he felt it would be odd not to do the same. He would be lying if he claimed he wasn't relieved she introduced herself. He would have no clue how to ask if she hadn't. He felt extra relieved she was also a first year. He wasn't sure what it was, but the upperclassmen terrified him. They were just so.. tall. He stood up too and brushed the snow off him to little to no avail. The majority of it simply stuff to him, but he didn't exactly mind either. He adjusted his clunky black glasses a little and held his hand out for her to shake.

What a coincidence! First year here too." He said, looking down at himself and remembering he was a bit small. "But I s'posse that was obvious." he laughed slightly. "The name is Ross! I'm a yellow badger thing." He introduced.

He felt a little surprised she knew he was trying to make a snowman, and felt slightly proud. He wasn't really that bad, was he? He grinned and looked down at the snow.

"How small ya thinkin?" he raised an eyebrow. at her. "If it's small enough, I'm just sayin' we could take it into Hogwarts."

@Bree Beckham

He laughed with her, and in that moment, Bree decided she rather liked making people laugh. It was a nice feeling, one that kept the smile on her face in its place. Ross, she repeated in her head. Maybe soon she'd be able to call him her friend, that is, if she didn't manage to scare him away within the next hour.

"Ah, another first year! That's good. Some first years still seem to know the place inside out, regardless. Me, I have no magic in my family. It's jus' me, apparently." Her nose wrinkled as she smoothed over the snow. By now, she'd nearly forgotten how much the snow had made her shiver- something typically difficult for her to do, especially since she disliked the cold. Her nose had gotten just as pink as her cheeks, but she seemed adamant to finish the snowman. "Badger- Huffleuff then? The true n' loyal ones?"

She couldn't help but add another quick, small, and slightly envious remark under her breath, unable to look Ross in the face as she did. "You must make a lot of friends, then." Her blue-green eyes flitted nervously to focus on anything else. She was glad that she was nearly buried in her large scarf. Bree was someone who never held back, but when it came to her faults it was difficult to discuss or admit to anything at all.

Thankfully his other previous comment raised another topic, and her eyes widened again in pleasant surprise. Her cheeky grin returned and a brow jumped up as she spoke. "I like how you think! Two questions though- which one of us gets to keep it, and do you know what charm'll keep it frozen?"

@ross stephens

Ross felt comforted. He had magic in the family, but he had only learned as of recent. His father had not bothered to tell him, begging for a squib or a normal life for them. Even so, knowing he had magic made him feel some sort of pride. He could relate to her at least. He put on a slight smile.

"If it makes ya feel any better, I 'ardly know the place. I got magic, but I didn't know for quite some time." He slightly joked.

@Bree Beckham
He felt himself shiver, and started rubbing his hands together in hopes the friction would start creating warmth. He blew warm air onto his hands as well, but stopped as soon as she brought up Hufflepuff.

"S'ppose I'd get that a lot if it was true 'bout the whole friend deal." he remarked "but nope, loyal and stuff is probably true. I don't really know, though. Don't really get the whole house thing." He elaborated

As the Snowman comment came back up, he quickly snapped to that excited attitude that had vaguely gone away.

"I uh.. dunno the charm." he quickly realized. "BUT we could maybe ask the charms teacher!" he quickly realized. "That'd work... right?"

"and we'll trade. Like divorced parents!" He joked.

He smiled up at her, and crouched onto the ground, letting snow get stuck to him. He continued to blow on his hands and rub them together.

"We'll figure this place out together then! Besides, I gotta have someone to test the moving staircases with. I don't wanna fall off first." Her expression betrayed that she was just joking about that, though, and she couldn't hide her wide grin, even behind the scarf.

"Great! We'll try to see if we can get the professor to do it... or an older student. Whoever." She laughed, one hand reaching up to brush away a strand of dirty blonde hair out her face. The realization that they could keep the snow from melting came with another spark of inspiration. She usually named her artwork, and this would count, right? "Trading the snowman it is! We have to decide on a name if we're going to keep him!"

She sat back for a moment, admiring the first small ball of snow that she'd packed together to make the base of the snowman. She tilted her head, nodding to herself for a moment as she contemplated if it was round enough. The Gryffindor's eyes narrowed, and she leaned forward to smooth out one part of it before directing her attention to Ross again. Her hands sat folded in her lap as she took a break from snowman making to ask him a question that she'd wanted to ask seconds earlier.

"Oh... not too may friends yet?" Bree sighed, her expression solemn. She tried to play her next words off as nonchalant but failed terribly. "Me neither. I thought it would've been a lot easier, but I- I'm jus' not good at it. I never have been good at it, honestly... but hey! That's fine, maybe I'm the lone wolf type?" The last addition was a weak attempt at a joke.

Great, she was being awkward.

As another quick effort to divert the conversation from her random rambling again, she pointed to his hands, and blurted: "Your hands look like they'll freeze! You wanna take at least one of my gloves?"

@ross stephens

He let out a slightly louder laugh than he did before, but quickly covered his mouth. He kept his freezing hands on his pale face and began to ponder for a long moment.

"S'ppose someone has aught to have done that before, 'aven't they?" He inquired, out of pure curiosity.

Sure she probably lacked the knowledge to know the answer to that, but the brunette boy still could not help but wonder of the question. As another question popped up about a professor, he began to worry. He loved the charms professor, but still felt rather wary talking to teachers. They could just as easily get him in trouble as they could help him with his homework. It really depended on the teacher.

"If ya know an upper classmen, please tell me. I'd rather not risk a teacher." He remarked, with a slightly more worried expression just at the thought of having a one on one conversation with a specific teacher.

"You're probably right, but we 'aught not to name him Frosty. That could end ironically." he joked "Maybe somethin' like Charles Fredrick Field. Could be a great detective or somethin'. What are you into? He inquired after his proposition.

He looked at the little compact ball of snow she made, and a bright smile suddenly covered his face. It was such an odd way to make something. What kind of kid suddenly decided stacking three of them looked like a human. He shifted back and fourth on his feet

"He is lookin fantastic! Wonder where we are to get tiny clothing for him. Can't let 'em going out naked can we?" He stood up and walked around the snowman. He squatted down and leaned in, eyeing the other side. "Looks a bit lumpy on this side though. The other snowmen wizards are gonna make fun of 'em! Or would that be messin' with DNA if we were to fix it? He remarked.

He stood up and walked back to his original spot. He squatted down once more, and it was quiet for a moment until she asked the sudden question.

"Nah, I just think movin' to a new school can be kinda odd and all. Sure you'll fine friends in no time. I find the Hufflepuff common room fire a very good friend." Ross joked.

Realizing his hands were still shaking when she made her offer for gloves, he quickly shook his head and began to block on them again until they felt warm.

"It's all good! I'll just be the one to carry 'em inside. We 'aught to figure out a way get him in though without him melting."

@Bree Beckham