hogwarts' honourable hussy (grizel) wrote in enemies_rpg, @ 2012-12-11 14:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! [1942-12] december, grizel mcgregor, myles montgomery |
WHO: Myles Montgomery and Grizel McGregor
WHERE: Ravenclaw Common Room and out and about!
WHAT: A break from studying turned cold and wet.
WHEN: Tuesday, after lunch
STATUS/RATING: PG / Completed Log
She kept staring out of the window a longing look in her eyes. A light snowfall was dusting the snow already present on the Hogwarts grounds. And despite knowing what had happened to Sebastian Black, she had it on her mind to go make an actual snowman, or find someone to have a snowball fight with her. But at the moment, she had her Ancient Runes text spread open in her lap, and Myles sitting across from her. "Don't you love it when snow is falling?" she said. "I like it much more when rain falls. It's so lovely and peaceful, so delicate." She bent a page in the book unconsciously as she continued to watch the flakes dance past the window. Myles hadn't notice the snowfall begin, but as Grizel mentioned it, he looked away from his Runes and out the window, he watched for a moment before responding. "It's quieting," he said, appreciating that fact. He rather liked rainfall himself--the steadiness of it always kept him aware--but snow was different. Snow could surprise you, leaving inches on the ground before you even knew it had started. "It's like it dampens everything--dampens the sound, I mean, not like makes everything damp," he added, fumbling. Small talk had never been his forte, and when he spoke without considering, he often over-explained himself. He decided to stop and let her carry it for a bit. "It still does make everything damp that it touches," she said with a little laugh. She gave him a funny look, finding his fumbling amusing. "If the snow is making things so quiet," she began. "We ought to go and make things loud." She knew that Myles wasn't really the type to make things loud, but that didn't mean that she didn't try and get him to unwind and have a bit of fun now and then. A walk in the snow ought to cheer up anybody. She closed her book. "Time for a break," she said, standing up. She gestured that he should do the same. Sometimes she wondered if he would take breaks that were any fun if it weren't for her. "Come along, Myles," she said as she sauntered off toward the door to the common room. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure that he was coming. Myles preferred to study with someone else; he felt he got more out of a lesson when he was able to go over it with another person, bouncing ideas and theories off each other. The only problem, then was that sometimes one wound up taking snow breaks in the middle of an important study. He hesitated, but closed his own book as well, piling it on top of Grizel's and pushing them to the corner of the table so more focused Ravenclaws could use the space if they wanted. He followed Grizel to the door, glad he'd kept his scarf with him from his earlier time outside. He wrapped it around a couple of times as they left the common room. "A snow break, then?" he asked, keeping his mild annoyance at the interrupted studying out of his voice. He reminded himself that sometimes, breaks helped you come back fresher and clearer. "Well, as long as it's the light, fluffy snow and not the wet, heavy, miserable stuff." She was glad he was coming. Grizel always knew that even though she tried to draw Myles out, it didn't always work and sometimes he ended up a bit cross with her. But she thought that it was important for one to have fresh air when they were working so diligently, and if the air was filled with snowflakes, all the better! She felt confident that he would be glad for the break by the end of it. Grizel would make sure that he had a good time in the snow. Maybe she'd even get him to play around in it. Wouldn't that be a holiday miracle? "Sometimes," she told him as they walked down the hallway toward the entrance hall. "You almost sound as though you have an aversion to fun," she teased him. "Besides, I don't think snow is ever miserable. It's such a delight." They reached the door and she ran out ahead of him, stretching out her hands to catch the flakes as they dropped down. The heat of her fingers made quick work of the little flakes, but not before she could catch some of the intricacies of the shapes. "I love the thought that every snowflake is different," she said as she rejoined Myles. "Don't you? Just look at all the snow coming down and think about how unique each little sliver of slow is." Myles was, perhaps, not as enthused about snow as his counterpart. He also thought the idea that every snowflake was unique was a terribly unlikely one--they weren't all the same, sure, but it could never be proved that no two were the same, and therefore 'unique' struck him as the wrong word to use. He decided to keep this thought to himself, especially as Grizel seemed to be enjoying herself so much. He was still wary of his surroundings since last week's events. In another thought he decided to keep from Grizel, he didn't like going anywhere alone--and he wasn't about to let her go alone, either. Between his own fuzziness and whatever had happened to Sebastian Black, it didn't seem to be a great time to be out on one's own. "It's nice," was all he said about the snowflakes as he walked along with her. Grizel, too, couldn't help but think about Sebastian Black as she walked next to Myles with her bare hands stuck in her coat pockets. She wished she'd remembered to grab gloves, but she knew that a spot of cold wasn't likely to bring her down to her knees. And the cold made her feel alert and aware. That was certainly something Myles should be able to take away from the experience. "It really is," she agreed happily. Although she could think of a few ways where things could be even nicer. She wasn't going to let Sebastian Black's unfortunate experience spoil her own love of snowmen. "What do you say..." she began cautiously. "To building a snowman? Or a snowball fight?" She anticipated his hesitation before he could speak. "Afterward we'll have some hot water and honey, and warm right up. And isn't the cold making you feel more alert? We'll fly through the Ancient Runes work!" She gave him a pleading look. Myles didn't miss the look, and after hesitating only a moment, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and agreed to build. He didn't have gloves, but as he noticed she didn't either, he imagined they wouldn't be out too long, anyway. He looked around them, making sure they were well within view of the castle's windows and in shouting distance of others in case anything were to happen. He'd continue watching out like this as long as they were away from the common room, one of the few places he felt safe and comfortable now. He tried to make himself relax as he gathered snow for the base of the man, but he knew he was doing this more for Grizel than himself. He hadn't built a snowman in years, he realized suddenly; he'd always rather enjoyed it as a kid. "Our neighbours used to let us take the snow from their yard," he said suddenly. "Ours was small and never had enough for a proper fort. I imagine that wouldn't be a problem at Hogwarts," he added, packing some of the snow down as more fell into his hair. She clapped her hands enthusiastically as he agreed to build one with her. She was glad for it, and started working on the second part of the snowman as he constructed the base. She hummed a little when they weren't speaking, as Christmas carols had been spinning around her head when she wasn't doing anything else for the past few days. Especially those that had to do with the Christmas Nativity. "That was nice of them," she said. Grizel hadn't had a proper yard at her home, living in the heart of the city. "We had to go to a park to get our full chance at making a mess in the snow," she told Myles. "But we made do with what we could, making snowballs off what had gathered on the tops of cars, window sills, that sort of thing. Whatever we could find, we used." She finished rolling the snowman's middle and looked up at him with a cheery smile. "But now I have Hogwarts and I like to take advantage of the great big grounds," she said. "And now your yard is as wide as the eye can see. But you don't really take advantage of it," she mused. "You really are an indoor person through and through, aren't you?" Myles nodded as he continued to roll the snowman. "I always have been," he said, pulling his hands back toward his body to warm them up again. They'd gotten cold quicker than he'd liked. "It's a Montgomery family trait. That and left-handedness. We're odd ones." He cupped his hands around his mouth to blow and warm them up a bit. "I guess it can be nice, though, sometimes," he said, lowering his hands just enough to speak over them. "Like now's not bad." His hands returned until they felt warmer, and he kept pushing the snowman until it reached the right size. He liked to keep things proportional, and judged the two pieces they'd made to figure out the right size for a head. "In some ways I do like being indoors more," she said. "But I think because I didn't really have a place to run about outside when I was a child I appreciate the outdoors more than I otherwise would, so I hate to squander the time I could have with them. That, and fresh air makes me feel alert and alive. I'm already looking forward to getting back to Runes." It was, after all, her favourite subject. And she really did feel more able to study after this bit of fun, but she wasn't ready for it to end already either. "And you're not that odd," she told him. "Only sometimes I worry you don't let yourself relax enough," she said. Grizel couldn't help but notice that he seemed to be getting cold faster than herself. She pulled out her wand and considered a charm for a moment before casting it. "Tepidus Orbis," she said, casting a warm bubble charm around his hands. They'd pop as soon as he touched the snow again, but she hoped that it did a little good. Myles smiled when he realized what the charm did and let it hold for a moment to let himself warm up. "I relax," he said, almost defensively. "I do. Maybe it's not my natural state, but I relax. You know, sometimes. When I need to." He felt himself growing more defensive about the idea, just as when people around him accused him of not having any fun. He had fun. His fun was just different than other people's fun. Like building snowmen. That was a fun thing that fun people did. And relaxing. "I relax," he added again, frowning a little this time. "All right, all right," she said quickly, as though she completely believed him. She didn't, not really. He was excellent at holding stress as far as she could tell, but Grizel didn't see him active enough in ways that didn't involve chess and studying that could convince her that he completely understood the concept of letting himself enjoy himself. But she supposed he really did like chess... "Myles the Relaxer," she said with a bit of teasing edge to her voice, kneeling down and digging in the snow. She knew she could simply accio some rocks, but there was something calming about doing things the old fashioned way. The Muggle way. She dug a little further, her teeth starting to chatter as she found the ground and no rocks. "Oh bother," she said. "I was trying to do this properly but I think my teeth will fall out and my fingers will snap off before I find any rocks for eyes or pebbles for a mouth," she said. "You're good at Transfiguration, you ought to make those," she suggested. Myles smirked at the new nickname, feeling a touch better but still a little defensive about the whole thing. He was loathe to let the warming spell she'd set on his hands go, but fished his wand out of his pockets and made a few small snowballs; Transfiguration was always easier when things were roughly the same size and mass. After a moment, the snowballs were shiny and black as obsidian. He handed a few of them to Grizel. "Here, you make the mouth, I'll do the eyes? I'd probably make it frown without realizing," he said, not quite sure if he was joking or not. "Besides, I'm taller." He burrowed the new eyes into the snowman's head until they stuck, staring out and watching the world. It reminded him once again to look around them, just to be sure. She smiled at his smirk, and took the little transfigured snowballs and gathered them up in her hands. "Excellent," she said. "Just what we need. And you wouldn't dare make our snowman frown. You know I'd be extremely put out at you." She gave a jokingly injured sniff at the joke about their height, but Myles was certainly far taller than she was. "It's not as though I'm that short," she said. "There are plenty of girls exactly my height. Maybe it's more that you're such a giant," she said. After he had placed the eyes in the snowman's head, Grizel walked over and make the snowman smile brightly. She stepped back to admire their handiwork, but something was missing. "He needs a nose, and, oh!" she said. She rushed over to the nearest tree and used a severing charm to drop a small, flexible branch. "Myles the Relaxer, I have need of your Transfiguration skill once again. Could you make this into a scarf?" Myles looked at the branch for a moment, bending it a bit to get a feel for it before he tried the Transfiguration. "Yeah, I can do that," he said. "He'll need a couple for arms too, right?" He began to transform the stick; it took him a few minutes, but the scarf he created bore thin, alternating stripes of blue and bronze for Ravenclaw. He frowned at his finished product; its width wasn't universal--rather, it was thinner where the branch had been thinner, and grew thicker toward the other end. He'd have to work on that. Still, he was determined to act relaxed, so he didn't mention it to Grizel as he presented it to her. "Your scarf, madam. Er, or his scarf. It's probably scratchy." "Oh yes, we need to make him utterly complete," she said, hoping that no rude students took the time to knock down their snowman. Whatever it was they decided to call him. Grizel thought about it and couldn't come up with a name. She'd let Myles name him. She didn't notice that it wasn't completely uniform; Grizel was not a perfectionist. She took the scarf happily and wound it around the snowman's neck. It did scratch at her fingers, and the snow, but for a scarf made out of a twig it was quite good. Far better than anything she would have been able to make. "He's a prefect too," she said, digging her pointer finger into the snow to make an etching of a prefect's badge in the giant snowball. "And he needs a name, Myles, and I'm afraid you're the one who's got to name him." Myles looked at her skeptically but set about trying to come up with a good name for their snow creature. He searched for clever snow-related puns or names, but wordplay wasn't his strong suit. "I suppose just 'Snowman' is out of the question," he teased. "Yes," she said emphatically. She laughed, though, at his joke. "Come on then, you can come up with something sweet for the Snowman." She gave Myles a look. "All right, perhaps not sweet but if you let me name him you'll probably think I'm being ridiculous." She laughed and reached down to grab a fistfull of snow and threw it at him, the sorry excuse for a snowball falling apart almost before it reached him. "'Snowman!' Really, Myles!" Myles still ducked away from the coming snow attack, dodging around their snowman and hiding behind it as cover. He smiled as he peeked around the side of it, figuring their creation would make a decent somewhat-human shield if she wanted to keep throwing snowballs. "I suppose 'Snowboy' would work too!" She couldn't help but laugh as he hid behind the snowman. "So you're the one taking the shield," she said. "Perhaps that's because you couldn't make a snowball to save your life, Myles Montgomery." She stuck her tongue out at him at the mention of snowboy and gathered up some actual snowballs, peering up at him with a smirk between packing down the balls. And then, to drive him out from his shield, she went charging at him with her three snowballs, throwing them at his shoulders. He tried again to duck away from the barrage but was unsuccessful this time, getting hit squarely in the shoulder. He grabbed a handful of snow and moved to keep the snowman between them once more, circling to give him enough time to pack a decent snowball. He'd been careful not to grab any grass or dirt from below, as most of the snow in the immediate area now made up their Snowboy. He kept his eye on Grizel, and once he was satisfied with his snowball, lobbed it her way. She was glad to see him getting into it. And as she saw him making a snowball she quickly tried to make another. She was about to go running at him, hoping to dodge his snowball, but when he threw, she didn't move fast enough and he didn't miss. She let out a shriek as the snowball hit her front and exploded over her coat. But she was laughing, too, as her cheeks grew rosier. She'd dropped her snowball in the shock of being hit so she went running off to the side to get more snow to bring back the attack, packing two more snowballs that she threw at Myles while running past him. Her latest snowball left snow on Myles's glasses; he dropped what snow he had so he could cast a quick protective charm on them. As he went back to preparing for snow battle, his mild inner-perfectionist made packing snowballs a longer process, as he didn't want to make one that would just come apart or something mid-throw. He gave himself some distance from Grizel, enough that he could make a few before her next attack, or his. Once he had four he was happy with, he carried them cradled by his right arm so he could have them ready to throw. His coat and robes below were slowly being caked in white, but he didn't notice. He was finally, actually relaxing, and wasn't self-conscious enough to be aware of it. He threw two snowballs quickly, keeping the others one in each hand so he could be ready. She watched him from behind a tree, giggling as she saw him taking such care to make the snowballs. It was so much fun to get Myles to just play like this. She felt as though she'd done her good deed for the day, getting him all covered in white fluff and participating in a snowball fight and making jokes. She packed her new snowballs while he did his, just two that she carried in either hand. "Your aim is bad," she taunted, although the snow on her front told a different story. She jumped out from behind the tree. "You can't get me!" she said, and then took off running through the snow. He ran after her, awkwardly crunching his way through the snow. His hands grew cold, but the snowballs there started to melt just a bit. He'd have to throw them sooner or later, but he had a hard enough time aiming properly when he and his target were both still. Finally, he gave in, tossing one that missed her as he chased. He almost ran into Snowboy without realizing it, but managed to steer away--too quickly, as he slipped and fell into a nearby pile of snow, dropping his perfect snowball on himself. He laid his head back on the snow behind him, allowing a momentary defeat and hoping he didn't look too ridiculous. She thought he'd have an easier time getting to her because of his long legs, but he did look awkward as he ran after her, which made her continue to laugh, not meanly. She kept glancing over her shoulder at him as she ran and she grinned as the snowball missed her. "Nice try, Montgomery!" she said, crunching around a tree to turn back to face him. It was just in time, too, as she saw him fall back. She almost choked on her laughter as she started heading back toward him. She didn't know if this was a trap or not but she couldn't just stay away when he'd fallen back like that. There were worse traps to fall for. "Are you all right?" she laughed as she stood over him. "Did you decide you wanted to make a snow angel?" She pursed her lips to keep from laughing again at him, for it was very hard not to. "You look so peaceful," she said. "Er … yes, that's it exactly," he said as he pushed his arms out and moved them to make wings. He stopped after a moment, laughing. "A terribly graceful snow angel." He pulled his arms back to his chest, looking up at her. "I think you win. Running in the snow is hard." "You'll win next time," she said with a smile, reaching down to take his hand to help him up. "But you did brilliantly. You just need to make those snowballs a little faster and you could have made me as white as you are," she said, glancing at his clothes. Myles pushed himself up, rising carefully so he wouldn't find himself falling again. "I do think rolling around in the snow helped," he joked, holding up his arms to display the snow caked everywhere. "People are going to think I'm a Snow Beast." She laughed. "Then let's run about the castle till it melts," she joked. "You can chase me and I'll scream like I'm being chased by a monster: Oh! No! Save me from the Snow Beast!" She knew that Myles would do that when hell froze over but it was still a fun image to imagine. She laughed at the picture and reached for her wand and tapped it against his clothes to make most of the snow fall off. "Unless you really wanted to do that... Then you'll have to go roll about in the snow again." Myles laughed. "No, I think I'll pass." It was one thing to willingly look ridiculous in front of a single friend; it was quite another to do so in the castle, acting like a monster. He glanced back at Snowboy. "Let's name him 'Relaxation'." "Relaxation is the perfect name," she said with a smile. She took a deep breath and blew it out to make fog in front of her face. "Well, Myles," she said. She tapped Relaxation with his darling Ravenclaw scarf. "Do you suppose you're ready to return to studying?" Myles smiled. "I'm always ready to return to studying." |