Viktor liked Halloween better but this time of year was fun as well. Besides caroling. Not a fan at all. Don't ask him why but it was true. The Professor was tossing a snowball up in the air to himself trying to remember if he could throw it at students. He was going to go with a yes on that one since its more fun that way.

Wouldn't it also be funny if someone fell on the ice. Right onto their bottom. Of course he was not hoping for an injuries and he was hoping so students would know how to ice skate.

It was seriously fun.

Hirsch didn't mind Christmas too much. The shops might get a little too festive during this time and his mum liked to feed him more than he could handle but the parties were great. And then, of course, there was the excuse of taking part in activities like this one. His boyish side, the same side that still liked Indiana Jones, was practically jumping for joy.

So, with a dimpled smile spread across his face, the Defence Professor made his way down towards the Lake for this event. He wasn't exactly one to be missed either, what with the two large boxes he was levitating down the grounds. Not knowing which activity they should start with, he'd decided to bring both skates and sledges along for the students. Better safe than-

Ah! Look who it was!

"Nice of you to come so early and to look threatening while you're at it." The snowball he was tossing around hadn't gone unnoticed. The man set the boxes down on the ground and smirked over at the Ancient Runes Professor. "Ready to be beaten?"

And where were those students?

Zelena had made her way to the Great Lake wearing her favourite Winter outfit. The young witch always loved wearing green with small pieces of black so she always took the time to make sure that her clothes were immaculate.

She really wanted to do some ice-skating but had no ice-skates. Maybe, a teacher had a pair that she could use. Zelena certainly didn't want the time she had spent learning how to ice skate to be in vain.

She saw the Ancient Runes professor and Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and made her way to them. "Hello, Professor Sokolov. Hello, Professor Hirsch. I'd love to do some ice-skating. Do any of you know where I can get a pair?"

Zelena looked at them, two of her gloved fingers crossed, hoping her wish would be fulfilled.

Duuuuuude. Ice skating sounded like an AWESOME idea! Dressed in his winter gear, Brent headed down to the Great Lake. There were a few holiday events going on, and he would try to catch as many of them as he could. He didn't know yet about the singing in the corridors, though...

Reaching the lake, he was surprised to only see two professors there and a student from his own house. "Hello, Professor Sokolov and Professor Hirsch!" he greeted. "What's up, Zelena?" He hadn't really had a conversation with Zelena yet, but they were in the same house and all. "So where's the party?" He had expected way more people! Maybe he should owl a few friends...

ICE-SKATING. Etta really couldn't miss this opportunity. Not that she was GREAT at ice-skating or anything but she was... alright. She could manage. She quickly made her way down to the lake, hoping people hadn't started without her. .. and nope. The girl was quite early. She need not have hurried at all.

"Hello, professors. Hope you're well." Etta acknowledged, feeling slightly breathless and her face was flushed pink too. Ugh, this weather. "Hi." She smiled at the other students ( Brent and Zelena ), wondering if it was only the three of them? Where was everyone? Weird.

Zelena was wondering if anyone else was going to turn up. She stood with her hands on her hips, looking around.

A few moments later, she spotted Brent, a fellow Slytherin making his way towards herself and the two teachers and smiled.

"Hello, Brent. I hope you're well."

At Brent's question about attendance, Zelena shrugged her shoulders.
Zelena's eyes spotted a slightly breathless Hufflepuff (Etta). Maybe this was the start of more people participating. She hoped so, anyway.

"Hello, there. Are you okay? You seem a bit breathless. I'm Zelena," she said with a smile as she extended her hand for the Hufflepuff to shake.

Colt heard the news that there was some winter activities going on, especially some ice skating. He was all down for ice skating and even playing in the snow. He brought his snow gear for a reason right? He make his way down and decided to go ice skating first. He wanted to work on his rusty skills. He saw other students and even the DADA and Ancient Runes Professor were there. He nodded towards them. He asked them, "Sup Professors? You both can ice skate?" He was impressed and will def put their skills to the test. He brought his own bag with his ice skates and began to put them on.

Jacob nearly jumped out of his skin at the feminine voice. He hadn't heard anyone approaching. A blush began to spread rapidly across his cheeks as he realized what his reaction to a professor had been. How dorky.

"Oh," he said, trying to appear casual after the fact. "Hi, Professor Vance. Um. Nobody. Has made me angry." He shrugged. "I just... Messed up what I was going to say."

True enough. She didn't really need to know the actual contents, right? Too embarrassing. And he really liked Professor Vance. He didn't think he had any sort of natural talent for divination, but he didn't mind the class so much since she was a good teacher... And interpretation was pretty subjective, after all.

Realizing he was craning his neck to look up at her, he continued, "Would you like to sit?" Was it weird to invite a professor to just... chill out with you? All friendly-like? Maybe, but it seemed rude to not even offer.

Oh, look who was here. Hirsch being the good Professor and remembering to bring the equipment for the students. A plus job Hirschy. Viktor shook his head at the man and threw the snowball at him. Think fast Mr. Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Beat You here didn't I and please like you can beat me. I will love to see the look of defeat in your eyes"

He gave one last look at the boxes before turning his attention to students. Which probably would rather have fun instead of watching two old men have a snowball fight. "Hello and just give us a second to get set up and you will get ice skates" Guess he should start helping Hirsch instead of being an amazing supervisor. Bunch more hellos to the students showing up until the last question and well he couldn't resist.

"Don't know about Professor Hirsch. I hear he falls down all the time when on ice skates"

Viktor replied to the Head Boy smiling.

"Give us a second to get the equipment out for everyone who wants to skate or sled."

It sure was snowy here and the slick looking frozen lake was very tempting and distracting to this Santa Man. But no matter. He had another delivery, and another joy to bring. Justin was quite use to walking on these snowy grounds, naturally. Following his own lead he went to where most of the action was.. Outside. Now where was the young man to receive the gram..... AHA! There he was!

Was he gonna try skating on the ice? He didn't know, but chasing after skating students would be more difficult than on snow. So his presence was loudly announced from the many jingles from his boots.

Oh no no, he could not just miss this delivery. "HO! HO! HO! A MERRY CHRISTMAS to you!" Stopping in front so he could take out the gram. "Now someone's paid a fair bit of attention to you for this." Handing it over with the attached candy cane.

SPOILER!!: Candy Gram

You once said "hi" to me in Herbology
It. Was. Awesome.

Merry Christmas

From:
an anonymous ifrit

Now there was no need to stop and watch his or the others reaction, there were still some others to deliver. "Enjoy! And have a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Oh ho ho!" The Santa Man was out with the sound of the jingling bells of his black boots fading away.

So the professors still needed to get a few things ready, which was cool by Brent, because then got a chance to hang out. He grinned at Etta, since they'd already said their hello's, and then he gave a wave to Zelena, Colt, and Jacob.

Then his Head of House arrived, and at first, Brent just thought he was here to ice skate. What was this, though? A candy gram? "Thanks for delivering it, Mr. McLeod!" he said. The man was already off, though. Brent opened the candy gram and read the message. Grinning, he just stared at the candy gram in amazement. Was this from a girl?! "Awesome!" he said out loud.

His mind was already thinking back to that Herbology class. Who had he been walking with? There was Skylar...and Olivia...and Etta, too. Had it been Etta? He looked up at the Hufflepuff for possible confirmation.

Was she okay? Etta nodded at Zelena, giving her a smile. "Of course, yeah. I thought I was late.... but looks like I was on time." Or WAY too early because they hadn't even started yet. Why were the professors taking sooooo much time? Goodness. "Nice to meet you, Zelena. I'm Etta." She said with a grin and extending a hand.

---- how long was it going to take?! Etta stood by the lake, starting to get impatient. She wanted to start skating already ------ but the girl got momentarily distracted when she noticed Brent get a candy gram. Ooooooooh. Interesting. He wasn't bad-looking so she supposed there would be someone crushing on him. And he was suddenly looking at her--? Why? Feeling rather curious, she walked over to stand beside him and raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Zelena was glad to hear that the Hufflepuff was okay. Not feeling 100% in these sort of conditions could prove a tad hazardous to one's health as Zelena herself well knew.

"I'm glad you're okay."

When Etta extended her hand, Zelena shook it. "It is nice to meet you, Etta."

Zelena folded her arms and waited to be given a pair of skates. The motion wasn't due to boredom but due to her feeling the crisp, cold air. Maybe she should have worn an extra layer but she didn't want to overheat.

Had she been silent as a mouse? Laurel didn't think she had been but judging by Jacob's surprised reaction he at least hadn't seen or heard her approach. The grass did though soften sounds. And why the blush? Was he ashamed for not having seen her coming? Sigh.

"Hi Jacob, oh, you were writing a letter to someone?" Laurel asked as she flashed a glance down at Jacob's letter. "My apologies if I was the reason that you messed up your words." She knew that when she wrote letters she wanted to write them alone and not be interrupted.

Glancing around and down at her robes she considered for a moment before she kneeled and sat down on the grass some feet away from the eagle youth. "So how are other classes going? Have you got any good friends to hang out with between and after classes?"

"No, not at all," Jacob said hurriedly, not wanting the professor to think he'd been offended by her. "Nothing to apologize for. I was just writing a note to my brother, but..." He shrugged. He didn't really want to say that he'd stopped because it made him sound like a total loser. He finally settled on, "It just wasn't ending up the way I wanted it to. I'll start over a little later after I've thought about it more."

The professor sat in the grass a little way away from him, which he was fine with. And then... WAIT. Had she read his mind?! She was the divination professor... Was she a legilimens? Or just scarily good at guessing? Or just good at asking the right questions? EITHER WAY she had just asked pretty much the exact question he was trying to avoid answering. He blushed again, silently cursing his cheeks' tendency to turn bright red at the worst possible moments. They always gave him away.

"Well," he said, stalling for a moment. "Classes are good. I like studying, and I'm doing well in my other classes. I think I'll be ready for OWLs this year." Okay, first question down... But he couldn't avoid the other question she'd asked. "Friends are..." How did he say this without either lying or sounding pathetic? "Um, there are a few people I see. Outside of class. Every once in a while, sometimes." Technically true. He had chatted with people on occasion after class. She hadn't asked if he had close friends. So. Not a lie. And hopefully not too sad-sounding. Yeesh.

Unfortunately, Christmas was over and Natalie was back at school. Hogwarts was cool and all, but... she wanted more presents. And candy. Half of her candy stash had already been consumed. She wanted to sneak up into the boy's dorm and steal her brother's, but she hadn't figured out how to do that yet.

It was cold, but Natalie wanted to go outside. There was a fresh layer of snow on the grass and the castle and she wanted to tromp around in it. So, after bundling up in some new winter clothes that she got for Christmas, the young girl went outside and headed down the hill to the lake, hands stuffed in her pockets, kicking little fluffs of snow around as she went. If only she had someone to throw snowballs at...

Even if it was a brisk winter day, Henry felt like going outside. He was tired of studying and was starting to feel a little restless being inside. And there was always something to do outside.

He already had a morning run, so he didn't really feel like doing that. But the bundled up sixteen year old headed out through the grounds and towards the lake anyway. Maybe he'd bump into a friend or a few and find something to do on the way. Or if not, maybe he'd build a snowman and someone would come along to help.

All rugged up in her winter coat, Gryffindor scarf, mittens, and hat, Olivia braved the outside. She, too, was feeling unusually fidgety recently and decided that the best way to cure it would be to go on a long walk outside of the castle and away from poltergeists and weird portals! It would be a nice mini vacation for the fourteen year old. So off she went towards the lake!

The Lake wasn't too far from the castle but she was certainly glad that she had remembered to bring her hat back to school after Christmas break. Merlin. She was certain that her ears would have been right red if she hadn't have brought them back with her. Though they had learned a cool charm in Transfiguration to make gloves out of cotton. Olivia wondered if she could use that on a nice hat. Hmmm... That was certainly an idea to try later. She looked up from the ground and her thoughts when she saw a tall figure, also bundled up, walking ahead of her. He was very tall. It must have been Henry, right? She began running over towards him to catch up to him but then stopped when she realized that it may have not been him.

She bit her lip and decided to take the risk. She began rushing over to him and then fell into a snow bank. Whoops. Olivia glanced around her hoping that no one had seen her fall. Well. That was embarrassing. Take 2. She got to her feet once more, dusted off her damp jeans with her mittens, picked up a snowball, and hid it behind her back. Hehe. "Hey Henry! How's it going? Mind if I join?" she called, making her way over to him and losing the snowball in a snow bank. It'd probably be wiser to ask if he wanted a snowball fight instead of randomly hurling a snowball at him, right? Maybe.

Leon was out pacing by the lake nervously, he had asked Juno to meet him here on a date.. Well at least a picnic like thing.. even though it was freezing! He had set up heating Charms as well as placed little blue bell flames in jars to make sure they were warm..

Gahhh..

The seventh year felt like he was going to be sick. He had never officially asked someone out before and his palms were sweating and he was making a trail in the snow from all of his pacing..

Even the great gulps of cold air didn't seem to be helping his spinning head and was only managing to make his lungs feel like they were aching!

Merlin help him!

Juno was late. She was running...but she was late. Not super late...but a few minutes. Because she was a girl and had to be perfect for a specific boy. Time got away from her when Esme was helping her pick out an outfit. She had to be cute for him!!!!!!!!!

When she came over the little hill that lead to the lake she slowed down. She didn't want to be a sweaty mess when she met up with Leon. Despite the cold, running from the kitchens where her common room was, all the way out to the Great Lake where she was meeting Leon, would definitely make her glisten a little bit. But slowing down at that hill would ensure that there wouldn't be any sweat on her face because it was freezing outside. Good thing she remembered the blanket!

Was he pacing? She finally caught a glimpse of him by the lake...yep he was for sure pacing. The idea of him being that nervous made her grin a little. At least she knew he was as equally as nervous as she was. But...he seemed to be a little more so today. She wondered if something was wrong, and her worry crease snuck it's way between her brows.

When she finally got close enough, she smiled and waved with her unoccupied arm. She stopped a couple paces away from him. "Hey." It was all she could think to say at the moment. LORDY WAS SHE STUPID! Hey....She internally rolled her eyes at herself.

Carlton was wearing everything he owned. It's all about the layers. That's what his mom used to tell him. Healer Reed had done some heating charm for the YETI run but Carlton didn't know how to do that. So he wore everything he could fit on his body. Which meant 3 sets of pants, 7 shirts, 2 cardigans, 3 pair of socks (he couldn't fit more into his boots) his winter jacket, 2 Slytherin scarfs, 1 set of gloves and a hat pulled down over his ear. It was all about the layers.

The others didn't want to put on everything they owned so they had all stayed inside. Why, though? Now was the only time a year they could all make snow angels. Didn't they get that? This opportunity wouldn't come again for a whole year. That was a long time. So, he waddled down to the great lake. Slow but determined.

He couldn't really move that well, wearing all the clothes. But that would be a later problem. At least he wasn't cold. There was actually more people by the lake than he'd imagined, people dared to venture outside in spite of the cold! Fun. Carlton waddled toward the people but couldn't really move his neck to look around him for someone he knew. Or to watch out for potential snow balls heading his way.....

O_______________o

Twirl, twirl, twiiiiirl...

Hands in her pockets, Natalie stared at the white covered ground as she twirled in circles, kicking snow up every time. It was fun to watch, fun to do, but her toes were getting a little cold. As she twirled around, kicking snow up, she caught a glimpse of a very large figure walking by right as she kicked some snow up at him.

"Oh!" Natalie stopped her twirling to apologize to the large boy, but all the twirling had made her dizzy and she plopped right onto her but. In the cold snow. After a minute of blinking the dizziness away, she saw that the boy was none other than...

"Carlton? Why are you wearing so many clothes?" He looked a bit funny.

Suddenly his vision got all blurry because SNOW. Snow everywhere. Since movement of his arms was a luxury he just blinked and stood still, waiting for the snow to melt on the exposed area of his cheeks. Burn. Ice cold and burning.

Carlton couldn't really look down but he shifted his weight forward to look down at Natalie, grinning when he spotted her. A FRIEND. A friend that threw snow in his face but still a friend.

"What do you mean why?" He stomped his feet repeatedly so the snow made a satisfying crunching noise below his boots. "Can't you see all the snow?!" He tried to do a waving motion with his arm to all of the surroundings, you know, the snow on the ground, the frozen lake. All the wintry stuff. He really liked Natalie... But this was an odd question. "I don't wanna get frostbite. Sounds more fun that it is..."

And he would help her up but yeah... He couldn't move and all.

She was late..

And with every minute that ticked by past their meet up time, Leon's pacing got worse and worse until finally there was a track just in front of the blanket where they were going to sit!

Had she changed her mind about him? Had he done something wrong?

The 7th year was about to full on Ravenclaw spiral when he looked up and saw the girl of his dream waving to him!

Merlinnnn she was so beautiful! He felt like his mind short circuited for a moment as she moved closer.. All he could do was watch the beautiful blue eyes goddess as she walked up to him.

Move Leon! Talk!

His brain screamed at him as he took a few steps forward and grinned at her. "You look amazing. " He said as he leaned in to hug her. Even her hair smelled good!

Hugging him was like coming home; warm, natural, and wonderful. Just being in his arms made her never want to leave them. Plus he smelled delicious...like leather, salt water, old books, and vanilla all wrapped up into one. She could stay like this with him forever, but she knew they couldn't..at least not right now. "Thank you. So do you." She grinned up at him.

She looked at the little picnic he had set up. Though there was no snow currently, it was still pretty darn cold out. She was really glad she brought an extra blanket for them to warm up with. Plus, the thought of snuggling with him was irresistible. "This looks so wonderful, Leon!" She beamed up at him, oblivious to what was bound to happen in the near future.

She ached to kiss him...but she wasn't going to make that move. She wanted him to take the lead, and wanted their first kiss to be something special. Hopefully he would make that move....eventually.