December 2nd: 'Tis The Season - Lake (Open)

[Arnie Peasegood]

The holiday break was so close, Arnie Peasegood could almost taste his mum's family-famous snickerdoodle cookies, hot cocoa with peppermint, see the house strung up with lights, smell the one Christmas tree that filled their living room...

It was a Friday afternoon, two weeks before said break would begin, and he was looking forward to a well-deserved few weeks off. Not that classes were particularly difficult currently, but he was excited to see his family, update them on the goings-on at Hogwarts, and especially about how well everything was going with Dora. The Ravenclaw grinned behind his blue-and-bronze scarf, just thinking about the girl, as he made his way to the frozen Black Lake to meet her. They'd only been "official" for a few weeks, but he was in love with her. He knew he was - what else could make him so distracted, so happy, simply feel so good day in and day out? She was phenomenal, and she was his, and they were happy together and - well, it was unlike any relationship he'd had. They were good for each other, with no end in sight, and the sky was bright and the lake looked flat enough for him to not make a total fool of himself as they went skating, and -

Well, he'd probably make a bit of a fool of himself as they went skating.

He'd been a good sport about flying, the one time she'd convinced him to go so far, and he'd wound up in a very manly way of it - he'd failed at flying solo, so hopped on behind her, squeezing the life out of her as he convinced himself that this wouldn't be his last day on earth. Blame it on the growth spurt of the last year, blame it on inherent instability, but Arnie simply wasn't great at the athletics. Dora was, though - she was probably a natural skater, hell, he'd likely be leaning on the tiny thing as he tried to physics out how his weight could be properly distributed over such a small surface area, what sort of friction was necessary between the blade and the ice for the best skating...

Whatever happened, it would be fine. Dora's feelings were growing for him too, he knew, and they'd never failed to enjoy their time together. Even if it turned out he was the worst skater in the world, she'd still be there for him. So it was with little trepidation that Arnie completed his walk to the lake, looking out to see a few others who'd had the idea already at the sport...

[Admin]

Today's study session with Willa had gone a little bit longer than it should have. Both of the girls were due down at the Great Lake to go skating, and many of the other students had gotten the same idea apparently, as it was the first Friday since the lake had completely frozen over. Well, at the very least, Professor Dumbledore had used a freezing spell on it so that the students could have some fun together. Dorcas liked to think she was a fair skater, but she would only know if she had become rusty once she was on the ice...how dreadfully embarrassing it was that she would need to find this out with Arnie present.

The two of them had been dating for a couple weeks now, and she was very happy with their set up. He didn't pressure her into anything like the other blokes she had dated would. Not just in terms of sexual activities, but also when it came to their relationship. He seemed more than happy to keep them as boyfriend and girlfriend for as long as they enjoyed each other's company but had made no indication of wanting to take any additional steps in commitment to each other. If he keeps this up then I might not need to end things until I'm done with school...

Collecting her things, she walked with Willa to the doors of the large library, "I'll catch up with you down there?" She would have gone down with her friend, but she wanted to double check her appearance once more before meeting Arnie. It was still a date, after all! Quickly she darted through the other students and up to Gryffindor Tower, and then to her dormitory. Doe fixed her hair a bit and threw a sweater over her other clothes. She would definitely be chilly in the winter air...but a jacket would look off with her outfit, and she was a witch! If things got too much, a warming charm would do the trick.

At the last second before leaving her dorm, she grabbed the Ravenclaw hat that she had somehow acquired from Arnie over the past couple weeks. She didn't know when it had become something she wore, but how did one truly get hold of their significant other's belongings anyway?

Only a couple minutes later she was walking across the grounds and searching the small crowd by the lake for her boyfriend. She found him and made her way over, playfully sliding her mitten covered hands up and over his eyes, "Guess who..." Doe smiled to herself as she got so close to the back of him. He never failed to pull her in and while she had once found it extremely unsettling that he was able to affect her this way, that had all changed recently. Arnie made her feel like being herself was okay, and Dorcas was realizing that she rather liked to be herself when she was on her own now too. How could she find someone who made her feel so happy unsettling. It just didn't add up!

[Willa Robbins]

"It's a plan! Need to run down to my dorm, no use for this outside," the Hufflepuff said with a laugh, giving her full pack a comical tug. Willa waved a goodbye to her friend as their paths diverged, and was soon on her way outside, having dropped off her bag and added a few layers to prepare for spending the late afternoon hours out in the elements. Although it was her least favorite season - nothing could grow underneath the inches of snow, and the only place living things could be found were her common area and the greenhouses - Willa had to admit there was a certain charm to leaving the castle for the sparkling white outdoors. She gave her leg warmers a tug over her knees as the wind picked up, cutting through her tights, kicking her way through the snow in her boots, and was soon near enough to the lake to pick out familiar figures among those enjoying the free time.

Aren't you sweet. She slowed her pace as she spied Arnie and Doe, wanting to allow them their moment. Willa had been so glad, relieved, when the two had become official. They were so well matched, and each had never seemed happier, and they were simply adorable to boot! And today she was happy that they'd have this entire time to enjoy - she was scheduled to work at the ice skate stand at some point, so wouldn't be able to be on the ice the whole time herself, but didn't much mind. James' idea to add to the regular winter festivities was a grand one, and she was happy to help the event go smoothly!

[James Potter]

"No, no - this should fit, sorry about that," James said, handing the disgruntled fourth year a pair of skates that would hopefully work better than the pair he'd originally given. He gave the girl a wide grin, getting a begrudging smile out of her, and quickly ducked down, trying to form some sense of organization within the ice skate shack before the next wave of students arrived. He was damn proud of this idea, and was glad to finally have a good use for the prefects. They'd be taking shifts at the stand, handing out skates to eager ice skaters, making a good winter tradition better. Dumbledore had always had the sleigh rides, which was a great laugh, but there were only so many pairs of horses that could get out at once and not run into each other...and the lake was huge...

So why not give the kids a little independence?

It'd taken some doing to get the headmaster on board, but once he had, James had put more effort into planning this day than any other of his Head Boy duties thus far. It had been his idea - of course he was into it! He could hardly be honestly motivated by mandated activities.

After haphazardly shoving the skates that had somehow wound up littering the snowy floor of the shack, James popped back up, giving his reindeer sweater a tug over his hands as he leaned out over the small counter area...gloves would've been useful. But at least he had the sweater, one of many ridiculous epic reindeer ones he had accumulated over the past few years. He got more than a kick out of finding them in the muggle resale shops he and the guys could go through in the summer months, always getting too excited - according to them - to find an article of clothing featuring his namesake. Of course, his stag form was much more impressive than the blocky reindeers knit into the sweaters, but everything couldn't be perfect...

Speaking of -

James gave a bit of a huff as he saw his dear old friend surprise her new...boyfriend. Doe could do so much better - the two of them had dated, she was regressing - and he could not see the appeal in the scrawny Ravenclaw. But she was happy, or so she claimed, and that was good and all, but...there was just something odd about them as a pair. Well - many things, in fact. Peasegood had popped out of the dirt and scampered off with Doe, or so it seemed to James, taking up all of her time lately...

He looked away from the couple, briefly wondering that if why he was so testy about his friend's new romance was because his own love life was going nowhere only inching forward. True, he'd be spending some time at Lily's this holiday break, but that was just to help her out...although there had been talk of going to her family's party, so that was something...but she'd been beside herself when all this had been suggested, basically as out of it as when he'd seen her drunk...

She's not gone back on her word yet, calm down, would you?

[Deleted]

Sirius had been a little put out when he had gotten back from detention and seen that no one was waiting for him in the dorm. So it was with a dramatic sigh - even more upsetting and drawn out because no one was even there to witness it - that he tugged one of James' Quidditch sweaters over his head before shrugging on his leather jacket before taking off to the great outdoors. He left his jacket open so that his Gryffindor pride would be showing - all of it made even better because one their house colours doubled as a Christmas colour!

He sauntered out the door and onto the grounds and once he made it closer to the lake he joined up in the queue for ice skates - not that he really thought he would be getting out on the lake or anything, but he knew that Prongs had planned all of this alongside his co-Head and this seemed to be the place to meet up with him. Evans was too high and mighty to go for a skate with James probably, least Sirius could do was spend some time over here before finding some bird for a snog or something...

After a couple minutes he got to the front of the line and a huge grin spread over his face as he took in his best mate.

"Great choice of outfit, mate, really." He chuckled a bit and scratched his face as he considered the other Marauder. "Only thing I'd say you're missing are some antlers!" He teased, nodding at some little third year in a fake reindeer get-up on her upper body. After a moment or two of joking around, he took his skates from the bloke - "Meet me when you're all finished up, eh?"

Sirius walked away, a huge grin on his face. Tonight would be a blast, and at midnight tomorrow night he would be turning eighteen years old. No telling what could happen at the party the boys were most definitely going to throw him!

[Daisy Hookum]

Daisy was glad that it was almost the weekend, as well as being close to the winter holidays. She absolutely loved Christmas, but she was really looking forward to some quality alone time with Peter. While they had their moments to spend together during the school year, it was hardly the same. He was busy with his last year, and while this was her first year not taking all of the required classes, she was still feeling absolutely swamped with school work.

So as soon as she was done for the day, she had hurried off to the dorms to change. After checking her appearance in the mirror, and being slightly disgruntled that Charlotte wasn't around, she made her way to the boys dorm. She gave a knock and waited for a response before poking her head. She had learned the hard way when she had first started dating Peter to not simply barge into the room.

Unfortunately, none of boys were in the the room. Perhaps Peter had already gone down to the lake? He knew how excited she had been about the possibility of going ice skating. So she left the common room, ambling down to the lake. There was already a large crowd gathered, and Daisy scanned the crowd as she walked up. There was James, working in the shack and she gave him a way as she spotted Sirius standing off to the side.

She walked up behind him, standing on her tiptoes to cover his eyes before giving a laugh. "Guess who," she teased, before dropping her hands and and moving to his side. She had come a long way from the days of being terrified of the boy. Now he was like an older brother to her, and she was terribly sad that they would all be leaving at the end of this year. "Two days until you are going to be old. That must be absolutely terrible!" She spread open her arms, indicating that she was expecting a hug from her friend.

"Have you seen Peter?"

[Remus Lupin]

This whole idea of ice skating on the Black Lake was ridiculous. And James had been so pleased with himself for coming up with the plan, and putting it all together, that Remus almost felt guilty for the fact he had no desire to leave the warmth of the common room. He was curled up in an armchair by the fire, content in hiding behind his book as he watched his friends come and go, glad that none of them had spotted him yet. He knew if he didn't make an appearance, they would only drag him out. So, with a disgruntled look on his face, he untangled himself from the blanket he had brought down and trudged up to the dorm to change after he saw Daisy leave.

He dug through his trunk, finding the one jumper he could that wasn't special or filled with holes. Of course, it had to be one of those blasted sweaters the boys had gotten for him as a joke in one of their thrift shopping adventures over the summer. It did explain why it was still in tact, though, as it hadn't been worn. He gave a sigh, before pulling the blasted sweater over his head and looking in the mirror. Was it really necessary for them to purchase him jumpers that had wolves howling at the moon?

But it was too cold for him to wear anything else, and so he shook his head, grabbing his earmuffs, a scarf, and a jacket before he trudged out of the dorm out towards the entrance hall. He stopped for only a moment to finish dressing himself, fishing the gloves out of his jacket pocket has he walked out the door, the cold air stinging his face.

He hoped his friends were right, that Cole wouldn't bother with this whole event. They had insisted that Charlotte would love it, even if he was quite sure they could curl up in the library together with some books and she would be just as happy. But Daisy had scolded him, telling him that no girl wanted to spend all her time with her boyfriend holed up with books. Not that he was even sure he was her boyfriend, they had only been on a few dates. Did that make them official? Remus really had no idea.

He hadn't even gotten up the courage to kiss her, which was something the boys had poked plenty of fun at. If Peter could kiss a girl (and kiss her far too often in Remus' opinion), then Remus was fully capable. He frowned as he approached the line, still disgruntled by their jabs. Sure, they had all kissed girls but him. But it wasn't like James was kissing the girl he wanted to kiss. Frankly, Remus was pretty sure Peter was the only one whose was kissing the girl he wanted to be kissing, and doing in frequently. All over the damn school.

Still, Daisy was sweet, and when Remus caught sight of her talking to Sirius he let himself smile. At least one of them had a stable relationship, that was a good thing. Remus certainly hoped he could be as happy as the two of them were one day. He let the smile pull at his lips even more as he reached the front of the line, spying James in one of his many clever reindeer sweaters.

"James, could you be a deer and get me some skates?" Remus asked, wiggling his eyebrows as his friend. No, he wouldn't let them realize how bitter he was about his cold weather. At least not right now.

[Charlotte Fudge]

Daisy, if Remus is going to be there, that's sort of a reason not to go - not because I don't want to see him, but we've not told, we've been managing with our system - it's winter, you know it's not exactly my favorite season -

Unfortunately, no argument had worked to dissuade her rather invested roommate, and Charlotte found herself wrapped in her favorite knit scarf and a thick wintry sweater, arms crossed around her middle as she tried not to skid on the snowy path down to the lake. Not exactly a social butterfly, entering the group of students gathered around the edge of the icy lake wasn't her first choice of afternoon activity...

You could've just said no.

    She'd never let me live that down.

So...just here for Daisy, then?

    Well, I mean, if Remus happens to -

The sixth year shook herself out of her thoughts. She and Remus hadn't become any labelled item, but she was certain he wasn't sort-of-seeing anyone else, and she sure as Circe wasn't. Intimidating enough to be sort-of-seeing one bloke! It was just becoming so natural, spending time with him, the only thing holding her back, really, was fear of her brother's reaction to it all. But, so far at least, she hadn't spotted him - but that didn't mean much, he was well known around the school, anyone could tell him that they'd seen her with a bloke -

You are not his child, Charlotte.

That thought in mind, she was glad to see Daisy, her bright smile always sending something soothing to her center. Even through her best friend was speaking with Sirius Black, and she was sure Sirius had heard about her from Remus, Charlotte preferred chancing a conversation with the pair of them to wandering around without purpose. So, brushing her hair back with her mittens, she approached them with a timid smile. She looped her arm through Daisy's, a long-misplaced memory of the two of them at their sorting popping to mind. It'd been the other girl scared out of her wits that day, while here Charlotte was the apprehensive one. Trying not to seem too preoccupied, she widened her smile, giving her friend's arm a squeeze as she said, "Hi, you just getting here too?"

[Arnie Peasegood]

There was suddenly an impediment to Arnie's vision, and a voice that he had gotten to know quite well teasing him from behind.

"Well, if it's not who I think it is, I'm going to be both severely disappointed and feel quite foolish," the boy said with a laugh, turning in her arms to see Dora looking cute as a button, cozied up for the winter weather. He felt a pang of affection in adjusting his hat on her, the Ravenclaw crest having slid from center, and brought his mittened hands to the sides of her face to tilt her towards him.  Kissing her in front of the school was rather marvelous, Arnie would have no shame in admitting. But he kept it short, knowing her friends were about - having not received a warm sort of welcome from them after he and Dora became official, he didn't want to bring too much attention to Dora and himself. They were here to have a nice afternoon together, not have that marred by some meddling blokes.

"How're you doing, beautiful?" he asked, giving her a grin. "Ready for some extremely coordinated athleticism?" Chuckling, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders as they made their way to the line for skates.

"Is that Potter?" he asked in surprise, seeing a familiar looking fellow manning the stand. Potter had been reluctant to step up to anything, it seemed, that his title had thrown at him...but was seeming perfectly jovial in this, of all things.

[Admin]

Dorcas stood there with her gloved hands covering her boyfriend's eyes, excited as the day she had first learned to fly. Being around Arnie just made her so happy that she usually felt like she could take on the world. The way he made her heart speed up never ceased to surprise her and a big smile grew on her face as he spoke. He turned to face her and she kept her arms looped around his neck, "We wouldn't want that," she teased before pressing her lips to his.

As she was slightly more used to, a spark lit up between them and Doe automatically felt herself going under. It caused her a lot of grief to think about who could have possibly made him such an excellent kisser, but Merlin did she ever enjoy the effects of it. They just sort of got one another...it was like he could read her mind. Arnie matched every kiss, knew when she wanted him to pull her closer, or when she needed some air. He could even recognize the moments that she thought she wanted some breathing space but in reality she didn't. Getting lost within him was one of her favourite pastimes these days.

The Gryffindor blushed when he called her beautiful. "Arnie, stop," she laughed lightly, trying and failing to hide her embarrassment, "I'm good, managed to get a lot of work finished earlier. You?" She knew she wasn't ugly by any means and was confident enough to admit it if asked, but she didn't think of herself as having the kind of look that all the blokes obsessed over. She definitely had a long way to go before she ever looked like the women on the cover of Witch Weekly. "You know I love to watch you try new things..." An image of his first time attempting to fly after a couple years came back to her and she smirked. Arnie trying new things wasn't half of what got her excited about witnessing them.

One part, was that she had met him so late in his Hogwarts career, she wanted him to attach the memory of her to any fun thing they could think to do together. Just because she didn't see them together forever didn't mean she didn't care about him, after all, she more than just cared about Arnie otherwise she wouldn't be considering sticking with him until her graduation. The other part, was that whenever Arnie tried something relatively new, he got this amazing look of concentration on his face and there was no denying how hot it got her for him.

So she put her arms around his middle as they walked to the ice skate queue and gave him a playful squeeze before letting go. Dorcas followed her boyfriend's gaze and snorted out a laugh at James, and more importantly, his reindeer themed jumper. "That it is...he's always had trouble reining himself in though."

[Willa Robbins]

The new couple continued on their adorable way to get their skates and Willa grinned, rocking in her boots as she debated her options. She could follow Arnie and Doe, but she'd just spent the whole time after class working and chatting with the girl...she and Arnie deserved some time just as them, Willa would find them soon enough, she was sure. As she looked about for someone to talk to, part of her wondered if one of Arnie's roommates would be joining in the festivities...

If he's here - if he's here you should say hello. And ask him to skate. You can manage that, can't you?

    Yes, of course I can!

Benji had become more of a fixture in her life these past few weeks, and a welcome one at that. He was such pleasant company, really. She'd invited him to the greenhouses after their lunch with Doe and Arnie, seeing in him a fellow Herbology lover, but it was becoming evident that the younger Ravenclaw was - er -

She'd caught him staring a few times, was all, and he got awfully flustered sometimes and -

It was just nice, catching his eye in those moments before he hastily turned away, her insides warming at the flattery of it all. He seemed like a really good bloke, always with a kind word, and Willa was interested in getting to know him better. He was easy on the eyes, too.

It was then that she spied another easy on the eyes friend sticking out above the heads of a few girls gathered by him - nothing new, true, but amusing all the same, and she bit back a laugh from behind her scarf as she edged about and tried to see who the linked, bundled up girls were. There was a petite redhead and a taller blonde - Daisy and...one of her roommates, if she wasn't mistaken. This seemed a more than fine bunch to chat up, and the Hufflepuff made her way to the group of lions, passing happily chattering students as she did. She had to hand it to James - for as much as he "loathed" being Head Boy, he was finally taking advantage of the position in a positive way. Now, one of these days, if she could get him putting forth the same effort on policy...

Oh, don't worry about that today, he's getting better - and it's a fun afternoon, let him enjoy the success of it!

"Well hello there," she said to the group, grinning as she joined them. "Willa," she said to the blonde with a smile to her. "Don't think we've met - sorry if we have, promise to commit you to memory now." She shot her a playful wink before nudging Sirius' side with hers, eyes flitting between his and the skates he held. "So tell me," the girl said, trying to keep her tone of challenge more than tease. "D'you know how to use those things? Are we about to be dazzled?"

[James Potter]

It was a happy surprise to wave away a trio of second year girls who had been convinced their feet were smaller than they were and make room for the next to step up - and find it to be Sirius. Giving him a ridiculous grin.

Happily and immediately returned, of course, as the boy adjusted his knit hat.

James shook his head, grabbing a pair of skates in his mate's size as the other spoke. "I look great and you know it. It's called being festive, and you're just jealous that there isn't a Christmas dog. But damn, knew I forgot something," he said with a laugh, extremely put out at his lack of preparedness on the deer front. Sliding the skates to Sirius, he continued, "And you're one to talk about outfits - that's my sweater, isn't it? Just help yourself, of course." He let out another laugh, absolutely joking. They shared parents now, Merlin's sake - a swapped shirt or belt here or there was nothing unusual. "Yeah, yeah - see you out there soon, don't get into too much trouble before I'm free." He was distracted by the next arrivals, making small talk with each, until there was finally another familiar face. A face that had been much happier than usual, lately. James' own brightened as he saw Remus in one of the jumpers he'd stuffed him into graciously pointed out at one of their shopping adventures.

"Well now, Moony, that would cause quite the scene," he said with a wink, ducking down to grab him a pair. "And horribly ungainly for this sort of work, hooves. But you, my friend, are not scheduled to man this today - go and have a howling good time with that girl of yours." This was, of course, quickly followed up with a jesting but honestly-Remus-get-over-it-you-like-a-girl-and-she-likes-you-do-something-about-it, "And don't waste your breath telling me she's not your girl - go!"

[Deleted]

“Dolt.” Lily had gone up to the boys’ dorm with Remus after their little heart to heart. As Remus rummaged around for what he needed Lily’s eyes had “casually drifted” towards Potter’s bed. It wasn’t hard to spot with the Quidditch paraphernalia laying around and prefects’ schedule posted on the wall. Glancing at the unmade bed Lily spied a pair of gloves, and had thus named Potter what he was. A dolt. “Might as well save the boy from himself.” She told Remus as she snatched up the forgotten article of clothing. Crossing the room, she wrapped her arms around her friend and pressed a chaste kiss into his cheek. “Guess I’ll see you out there then.” Lily left him to mull over the possibilities in front of him.

He had insisted on staying inside to wind down before braving both the elements and what would surely turn into a date if Char was there. Which she would be if Daisy and Alex were to be believed. Lily hardly saw the appeal in convincing two bookworms outside to go on a date. As far as she was concerned their relationship was going along just fine… at their own pace… the pace that they as an almost-maybe-probably couple had chosen. The only difference was that everyone, the other marauders and Charlotte’s friends, could watch from a distance. She could not deny the romantic appeal of the snowy Hogwarts especially because of personal experiences, but she wished that people would just leave the pair alone.

It took Lily all of five minutes to wrap herself in the coat and Gryffindor accouterments that she had laid out this morning in preparation. With James’ gloves stuffed into her jacket pocket the Head Girl made her way down to the event that her counterpart had put together almost fully on his own. She had to give it to him, this was a first. The prefects’ duties had only ever extended to rule-keeping and Hogsmeade check-out responsibilities. While it had taken Lily some time to warm up to asking the prefects to add to their full plates, Dumbledore had been immediately on board. James had insisted that she hardly had to do anything but take a shift. That didn’t sit well with Lily’s over developed sense of responsibility and Head Girl obligations. Thus James had allowed her to also help out with breaking everything down. For some reason, however, he had flat out insisted on setting up without her. And thus she had been allowed to be late, and she was thankful for that. After yesterday she had needed her time with Remus, for more than one reason.

Yesterday’s storm had produced and extraordinary effect on the grounds when combined with the pure, uninhibited afternoon sunshine of today. A pang of some unwarranted, unrecognizable feeling lurched in Lily’s stomach as she passed the threshold of where she had nearly hexed James. She couldn’t pinpoint then why her lips pulled into an unexpected smile at the thought, choosing to believe it was the humor of the situation and not something… else.

Before she could make it into the crowd of her friends, and Sirius Black, having spotted Willa’s brightness from some distance away, a 5th year Ravenclaw prefect ran up to her spouting out questions about the organization of the drink stall. She had been working with her Hufflepuff counterpart who apparently insisted on a “less efficient” way of doing things. Lily glanced momentarily at the skate hut where Potter was diligently carrying out his vision for today before following the prefect.

After having resolved the debate Lily left them to it, but not before grabbing two steaming cups of cocoa. Potter deserved the human comfort of warmth at the very least. With some level of difficulty Lily trudged up to the hut, trying not to spill hers or James’ drink in the process. She nodded to her friends as she passed them and managed the rest of the way. Lily stopped dead and willed herself not to laugh out loud.

“This is where I stop myself from asking you exactly what kind of an order you have the skates in and try to just ‘go with it’ and ‘let you do your thing’” She had failed at keeping all of her laughter out of her voice, though. Especially with him standing there in a rather gaudy merry reindeer sweater. Looking at his red, clearly frozen hands she sighed and set the cocoas down on the ledge, the only flat surface in the cramped tiny hut.

It looked like he was suffering through the cold by fruitlessly covering his hands with the arms of his sweater. He had clearly been so excited for bringing his vision to life that he had simply forgotten the extremely important articles of clothing. Dolt.

Lily wanted to keep him warm as if to make up for the day before. “I’m surprised you haven’t cut yourself on one of the blades…. Can you imagine all the paperwork I’d have to go through by myself?” she explained with a fake shudder, extracting his gloves from her pocket and exchanging her cocoa for them. “Besides….better warm up. If your hands get red and shiny no one’s going to let you play in their games…” she teased to cover up the caring gesture she had just shown him.

[Deleted]

Sirius laughed harder. Hell yes he was upset there wasn't a Christmas dog. He would be forced to tie reindeer antlers to his head and transform just in order to get them to take his Christmas Canine idea seriously. The Gryffindor grabbed the skates and held them over his shoulder in a indisputably cool way as he considered the Head Boy. "Don't pretend you haven't taken three of my leather jackets Potter," He said, grinning and tapping the wood a couple times, before waggling his eyebrows at his mate, "Have fun with Evans..." Sirius chuckled, dragging out the redhead's name as he walked away.

It didn't take too long for him to wander off to the side of the make-shift skate shack but before he got a proper look at everyone down by the lake a pair of arms found their way around him. He smirked and moved a little so he could get a better view of the younger Lion. "I'm already old Dais' - older than you anyway." Sirius winked at her to let her know he was teasing her but gave a shrug at her question, "Didn't see him in the Tower before I left - figured he was with you." The two had been dating for centuries and while Sirius had no idea how they'd done it and was definitely not looking for anything similar to it, he had to give the couple props. Years like that together and they hadn't ripped each other's throats out yet? Good on them.

The Marauder couldn't help but let the smug smile grow on his face as he saw the youngest Meyers coming up to them. He kept eye contact with her - heard the girl was shy so naturally he had no choice - and watched her exchange with Daisy. He had never paid too much attention to her over the years as she had a good way of staying out of the spotlight, but suddenly Remus had, and there was no way that Sirius could keep himself from being as intrigued as he was when something rare like that happened. "Alright, Charlotte? You know, I hear Dumbledore has allow sleigh rides on the Black Lake and I have the perfect partner for you-" He cut off as Willa appeared, looking hot good in her colourful outfit. At her words he was extremely distracted by her lips but he licked his own and dragged his eyes up to hers, matching the challenging look. "When don't I dazzle," you, "Everyone around me, Robbins?" He held out a hand, "Care to join me on the ice?"

[Daisy Hookum]

Daisy couldn't help but laugh at Sirius' words. Sure, he was the oldest of the bunch, but he was going to be 18 in two days. While it wasn't a big deal in the wizarding world, it was an important birthday for muggles. And that was something that Daisy figured was worth a fun celebration. Any reason to have a bigger than normal birthday was something she could agree with. "Being older than me only means you'll have wrinkles first," she retorted with a wink back at him. Unfortunately, he didn't have any news regarding Peter, and so she gave a sigh, taking a look around outside. "I was busy with schoolwork, so unfortunately I haven't seen him all day. I wonder where he went off too..."

Her thoughts about her boyfriend disappeared quickly, however, as she saw Charlotte approaching. She turned back to Sirius, raising an eyebrow as the look on his face. That smug smile certainly meant that he didn't have anything good on his mind. Daisy smiled back at Charlotte as she arrived, patting Charlotte's arm lightly. "Mhm, just arrived. And everyone seems to have lost Peter today." She frowned lightly as Sirius started to speak, of course she wanted Charlotte to go on the ice with Remus but did he have to be so upfront about things? Luckily Willa interrupted, and she gave the Hufflepuff girl a smile and a wave.

"Good to see you Willa!" Willa Robbins was a nice person, and someone Daisy was very glad she had gotten close to over the years. Still, she figured Charlotte could introduce herself, so she took another moment to scan the area for Peter until she heard Sirius start to banter. Turning back, she raised an eyebrow and simply shook her head. When didn't he dazzle? Well quite frankly, he hardly dazzled her. But she kept her mouth shut and looked to Charlotte, giving her friend an eye roll as she pulled on her arm.

"Come on, let's get you skates Char. Have fun Sirius, Willa!"