A Pair of Snow Angels PV Ileen K.

Ileen rummaged in her trunk, her heart pounding in excitement. Snow. Snow! The first snow of the year! She had sensed it immediately. The cold air had smelled like snow and wood, like winter. Ileen had been waiting for this a while now. She loved the winter. The snow made everything seem so untouched and peaceful - it swallowed the noises and brought peace to almost everything, something that was rare here. Snow gave the earth an opportunity to relax by covering it and thus providing a fresh start - at least that’s what Ileen liked to think.

Now she was almost dressed to finally go outside, only one thing was missing and the young slytherin tore random things out of her suitcase to find it. “I saw it the other day somewhere. Maybe it was... Aha!” Triumphantly she pulled out her cardinal red bobble hat, to which she already wore the matching scarf. Finally! She got really warm in her teddy fur lined winter jacket and gloves. So equipped she slipped quickly into her winter boots and pulled her hat over her ears. The bobble was almost as big as her head, something she was extremely proud of. She had been looking for this hat for a long time!

All who knew Ileen, which admittedly were not very many, could see that she was in such a good mood as she hadn't been for a long time. Her dark brown eyes sparkled and her cheeks flushed in excitement. With jumping bobble she ran through the corridors and even gave some of her classmates a smile. She couldn't wait to build a snowman or just let herself fall headfirst into the snow. The young brunette could only shake her head at the people who were coming towards her. Wrong direction. Out! Not in! Philistines. Well, what did she expect? Of course many people who were too stupid or ignorant for this did not appreciate the weather. She wrinkled her nose and slid around the next corner at a run.

When she stormed into the courtyard, she was surprised to find that there were already a few other students. And something else caught her by surprise: the slippery doorsill. Full of motivation and with a lot of drive she came to slide on the flattened snow, rowed helplessly with her arms for a short time and lost her balance with a frightened squeal. This was an untypical entrance for Ileen, who preferred to keep quiet in the background and rarely stood out by conspicuous behavior. Okay, it was not as if she had chosen to do it.

She stumbled slightly against a girl with long red hair, tried to hold on to her, missed her and fell lengthwise into the snow in front of her. Oof. Due to the impact the hat slipped over her eyes and her nose landed in the snow faster than planned. “Oof. I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Ileen sat up and straightened her hat. She blinked to get the snow out of her eyes and wiped her face with the glove. Then she recognized the girl. It was one of their prefects. Nico. Ileen smiled up at her reflexively. She respected the Slytherin, something she could not say about many of her housemates. The smile on her face was real, but also a little uncertain. She had never spoken to Nico in person before. “I-- Sorry. I didn’t mean to knock you over or something.” Blushing, she looked into the blue eyes, which were complimented by the girl's scarf. Ileen wondered what she was doing out here. Did she have supervision, or did she simply want to be in the snow?

@Ileen Knight

Her mind with the snow, Nico pondered what she'd do first. A snowball fight was out of the question. The last time she did one of those was with her dad back in their backyard in London. Her dad was a pro at throwing and showed her a few tricks. She remembered how, one time, he struck her from behind and she fell on her face, kneedeep into a heap of snow. Gone out of sight. The laughter of her dad with the occasional old-man-wheeze echoed in the back of her head until he struggled his way over to her to pull her out. He nearly peed his pants laughing. It was kind of embarassing thinking back. But it was one of those memories she'd not want to lose. Not for any money in the world.

Back in the courtyard, the redhead eyed at a corner of untouched snow. Just what she had been looking for. Maybe she could build a snowman? That could be achieved solo, right? Barely lifting her foot, she'd no longer be solo. From her side, she felt something brush against her arm, as if something had attempted to grab hold of her, yet failed miserably. Abit flustered, Nico blinked, watching the girl land in front of her instead. For some reason, the scene in which the other girl unsuspectingly took part in, made Nico notice the redness of her hat and scarf more. The colour looked even brighter next to the white of the snow.

When she wiped the white flakes off her face, Nico could recognise the brunette. She was a Slytherin, just like her. The dhampir blushed a little. She'd blame it on the cold... In fact, however, she felt abit caught in the act, in the midst of her happy mood. Only a handful of people had seen her happy and easy going. Even a smaller amount of Slytherins had seen her genuine, heartfelt smile.

What was her name? Was it Ileen? Nico had tried to remember faces and names. It was rather crucial if someone would ever cause any trouble. How awkward would it be to catch someone and not know their name. Of Slytherins atleast.

Was she... one of her peers that ... hated her? Did she intentionally try to knock her over? For a moment her eyes slightly squinted together, eyeing the girls face, trying to search for an answer there. Abit wary, the dhampir tugged a small smile on her lips. 'Oh. That's okey.' Just like her, a soft redness rested upon Ileens cheeks. Was it because of the cold? Or...? Whatever the reason was, if it were the way she apologised and with the sincerity she did it with, Nico sensed that maybe this girl wasn't so bad... The redhead was still quite on edge but she allowed herself to let her guard down for a bit. 'Are you okey? That fall... looked kinda painful.' Her arm stretched outward to the fallen maiden and her pale fingers invited her to grab hold. 'Here. I'll help you.'

Due to her fall, Ileen was already completely covered in snow, but the cold didn’t get to her yet. In fact, the girl felt quite warm from her run outside and now her cheers were burning in embarrassment. The red headed dhampir was one of the people Ileen didn’t know but respected and she surely hadn’t planned to get to know her like this.

She had to swallow as the blue eyes looked at her inquiringly. Was there a trace of distrust? Well, she couldn’t blame her. Last but not least she was a Slytherin herself and her opinion about her own house mates was, to put it mildly, not the best. The prefect girl’s experiences regarding the ambitious house of snakes might be even more rough since she had to deal with their rule breaks - plus, she was a student at Hogwarts one year longer than Ileen. Thinking about her first year here, she could imagine that there had been a bunch of very unpleasant events.

For a moment the brunette girl was afraid that Nico would leave. Before she had ended up in the snow, she had caught a glimpse of her face and there had been a smile. As said, Ileen didn’t really know the dhampir but as far as she could recall she had barely seen her smile. She surely didn’t mean to to take that moment from the girl, especially not with the stupid accident.
All the greater was her relief when Nico did nothing of the sort, but even offered her help to get up, which Ileen gladly accepted.

“I-- Thank you. I’m alright.” An embarrassed and shy chuckle escaped her and she couldn’t help but shake her head about herself. “I guess I was just so eager to get out in the snow that I lost control. Sorry again.” She brushed the snow off her pants and then slowly looked around. She had actually gone outside to enjoy the peace and the snow alone. Maybe Nico felt the same way? A thought popped into her mind and Ileen tilted her head thoughtfully.
“You are Nico, right? I’m Ileen.” She gifted the other girl with a warm smile and pointed at the untouched snow. “I don't know if you have supervision, but i wanted to build a snowman. If you have time and want to, we can do it together, right?" She blushed even more and glanced at the prefect girl. Ileen wasn’t actually the socializing kind of girl, but this felt right. She would happily enjoy the snow with a related soul. Hopefully, she would agree.

@Ileen Knight

With a rather powerful tug, the young dhampir pulled Ileen onto her feet. Nico felt abit warm seeing how the Slytherin had no issue with accepting her help. Or was that part of the trap?
She really had to be careful.

'It happens to the best of us. I think.'It really bothered the brunette that she flew into the Prefect. Thinking of excuses why she ended up doing so. For a moment the redhead looked over her shoulder at the direction where Ileen came from. Nothing indicated anything strange or dangerous. Snow was hard to run in and before you know it, you fall flat on your face. Dusting off her clothes of remnants of snow Illeen apologised once more. The redhead stared at her features for a little while. Something as sincere as an apology did something to her. It felt like a gentle pat on the back or the sun shining down and melting away your worries. Was it really that easy to trust someone again? What must've been a ... minute or so, Nico only then came to realise she had been zoning out. 'O-Oh I-... Sorry. Yes. I'm Nico.' Calm down. Don't panic. Iceblue hues darted around, attempting to make herself look less odd as if she had been distracted by something this entire time, which ultimately failed.

'Nice to meet you, Ileen.' Blushing, Nico slipped her hands in the soft, wooly pockets of her teddybear coat. Only now did she feel how cold her hands were. Did she bring her gloves? Her fingers gently digged deeper in the pockets, feeling around. She really didn't feel like going all the way down the fetch them. She'd have to battle through this... Oh! There they are. Pulling them out, a pair of pastelpink shark gloves reached the surface. It had a removable part, which allowed the fingers to be... fingerless.

'I'm not here to supervise. Even though... I usually... always kind of do. I came here for the fresh snow.' The pink sharkheads had now fully overtaken her hands and made her snow ready. 'Well... Sure. I don't mind. Let's give it a try.' Still cautious but excited, Nico accepted Ileens offer to make a snowman together. A friend. Was Ileen possibly a newfound friend?

Ileen followed the gaze of the ic blue eyes back to the castle. Was there a shadow or concern gliding over the girls face? Was she suspicious? Did she suspect a trap or mean prank?
Not that Ileen could blame the red headed Slytherin. It was just her own approach to such situations and as said - the prefect had probably had even more bad experiences with her classmates than the brunette had. It was just legit to be especially careful though Ileen was the last person to hurt someone.

Her chocolate brown eyes were fixed on the girls face to give her a shy and reassuring smile. If she was worried Ileen would understand. A lump formed in her throat and she had to swallow. Wasn't it sad that one always had to assume the worst first? Ileen wondered what had happened to the girl to make her so cautious.
Well, hopefully she could dispel these doubts with her honest and friendly suggestion.
Ileen was relieved when she couldn't see any distaste in the Slytherin's gaze, instead she blushed slightly. But that could also be due to the cold.
When Nico accepted her offer, Ileen felt a weight lifted from her heart. She hadn't realized how worried she had been about being rejected until it hadn't happened. Her smile deepened, painting little dimples in her cheeks and shaping her eyes into crescent moons.
It was so cold that her nose had probably turned the color of her bubble hat by now.

Still smiling, Ileen clapped her hands in motivation, even though the sound was muffled by her gloves. She looked around for a quiet spot and then pointed to a place at the edge of the Courtyard where the snow was still untouched.
"We could set it up there." Meanwhile, she was already moving automatically in that direction, hoping that Nico would follow.
"We could also build a centaur or house elf. What do you think?" With sparkling eyes, she looked up at the girl. Ileen couldn't get excited about many things, but when she wanted to do something, she was on fire. She suddenly felt like an eight-year-old again, who had been waiting for the snow all this time. And what an unexpected joy to share this moment with a friendly person.

@Nico Shymane

Nico watched Ileen as to her surprise, get even more excited. It seemed abit embarassing at first. Snowmen. Where did the idea even come from? Did someone one day go outside and accidentally started rolling together snow? And then added some carrots they had with them? And buttons or coal? The whiteness of the snow slightly entranced the dhampir. Nico herself didn't notice until Ileen clapped her hands together, albeit muffled, and it brought the redhead straight back to the present.

As Ileen moved forward to the spot she pointed at, Nico slowely followed behind. Since they had decided to do this together, the dhampir didn't feel comfortable being left alone by herself. Did she already become this attached to the brunette? Throwing some quick glances at the people around her, she nearly bumped into her. The way she presented herself at her, the redhead couldn't do anything but look her in the face. Big sparkling eyes gazed upon her. They mirrored so much joy and excitement. Ileen really was stoked about this. The dhampir couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. Centaurs. House Elves. All Nico thought of were regular snowmen. Such a lack of creativity. It hadn't even come to mind that there were so many different things they could create together. Two pair of hands were better than one. That was for sure.


'That sounds amazing.' Nico smiled brightly back at the second year. 'I'd imagine a centaur would be pretty difficult but we can only try and see, right?' This was going to be fun. That was a promise.

@Ileen Knight

Ileen looked back at the other girl as she walked towards the suggested spot, somewhat relieved that the other girl followed her. Deep down she still had anticipated rejection. The beautiful redheaded Damphir had seemed rather cautious and reserved with other students. Once again Ileen wondered what experience she might have had to feel that way. However, she was happy and flattered that she didn’t mind her company though.
Her joy even intensified as Nico agreed to build one of the more exotic snow-creatures Ileen suggested.

Her cheeks flushed with excitement and she clapped her hands together, just as they did in the movies when they were motivated and wanted to get something done.
“Centaur will be a challenge, but I am sure it will be the best snow centaur there ever was.” And probably the only one. Ileen was motivated but as she had learned over the past year - not gifted with artwork or handiwork in general. A bit worried she looked at the snow and frowned as she thought about a good way to start.
“Maybe we should build a lazy centaur who’s laying down. Then we don't have to balance a whole body on those tiny legs. what do you think?”
She wrinkled her nose which was already getting red in the icy air and gave the other girl a shy smile. “I am sorry, I am not very talented when it comes to those things. But it will be fun.”
With her last words she crouched down and started to form a small snowball, rolling it over the untouched snow to get it bigger. That’s how it was done right? They probably needed two big balls for the horse body and then two more for the upper body.

@Nico Shymane