Disclaimer: JK Rowling is the creator of everything Harry Potter and I own nothing
Snow
The snow had begun in the gloaming,
And busily all the night
Had been heaping field and highway
With a silence deep and white.
-The First Snowfall, James Russel Lowell
Snow swirled around him, performing acrobatic shows as gusts of wind grabbed flakes. He idly wondered if he would soon be covered in the fluffy white, a living snowman. People swarmed by him in their hurry to reach the next warm haven but he saw none of them; he'd turned his head to the sky long ago, squinting his eyes though he knew that his glasses would protect him. He'd been standing there for a while, either watching the snow or glancing into the Three Broomsticks that stood across the street, watching the patrons laugh merrily. Suddenly a cold rush interrupted his quiet reverie and, even before reaching back, he could feel the snow melting in his hair. Looking around he soon saw a young man approaching him, and he favored him with a slightly scowling look.
"She stand you up, mate?" the boy asked him.
"Nah, told me she'd be a bit late," was his easy reply.
"Mind if I sit with you?"
"If you'd like." The boy sat on the bench next to him, leaning back and pushing his hands into his pockets.
"How long you been here?" the boy asked him.
"Dunno. Not long anyhow. Maybe ten minutes." It had been twenty.
"You're absolutely covered in snow you know."
"Am I?"
"You're bloody mad."
His only response was to shrug his shoulders, not particularly caring.
"Don't suppose I helped at all," the boy said as he looked up, mimicking his earlier stance.
"What've we said about throwing snow?"
The boy shrugged. "I forgot."
"Figures. Not that it matters much. What've you been up to?" he asked the boy after crossing his arms over his chest; the cold was starting to seep in.
"You know. Wandering here and there. Bothering as many people as I can."
"I'm so proud."
"Shove it. Here comes your girl." The boy motioned with his head toward a girl walking towards them. Her scarf blew to the side and her hands were tucked tightly into her pockets. Both boys merely sat and watched as she wound her way towards them, sidestepping holiday shoppers and saying hello to fellow Hogwarts students. When she reached their bench she stopped in front of them and nodded her head in greeting.
"Hullo Sirius, James. Sorry to be so long." The boys each stood up, James shoving his hands into his pockets as he did and Sirius removing his own from his own pockets to cross his arms over his torso.
"'Lo Lily. What are your plans then?" Sirius asked them, bracing himself as a particularly cold blast of wind swept over them.
"We didn't have any, really," James replied.
"You're welcome to be listless drifters with us," Lily offered.
"I'm afraid it's too cold for drifting listlessly. I'll catch up with you later. Ta." Sirius raised his hand as he walked off and quickly disappeared into the crowd around them.
"Well," James said, turning to face his new companion, "anything you need to do?"
"I could stand to pick up some ink. I'm dangerously low. And I suppose I could use a new quill."
"Scrivenshaft's it is, then." Lily reached over and took hold of James' arm with her hands and they set off down High Street. The streets were full of people and numerous greetings were called out to them as they walked; both returned the salutations with nods of the head or smiles; it was too cold to yell loudly. Christmas was less than a month away and frantic shoppers added to the hysteria caused by the students down for their annual Hogsmeade visit.
"How'd it go with Slughorn?" James asked.
"The same. I got the pass, though, so I'll be able to get my essay done." Lily shivered slightly and James put his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to counteract the cold.
"That's the sixth time you've asked to use the restricted section this term. If I didn't know you better I'd say you were up to something."
Lily laughed openly. "Who do you think I am, you or Sirius?"
"No. The idea that I could be dating Sirius disgusts me." James pulled a dismayed face to better illustrate his point, causing Lily to laugh more.
"A tad bit homophobic, are we James?"
"No, not homophobic, merely appalled at the idea of having to snog Sirius."
"Anna Turpin says he's quite good."
"Another good reason: if I were dating Sirius I'd be sure to catch something."
"We can't have that," Lily simpered.
"Exactly, so it's better for everyone that Sirius and I are strictly platonic."
"Thank goodness we've finally arrived."
"Uncomfortable with the trend of the conversation, Lily?"
"No, I just thought my nose was going to fall off."
"I see." James and Lily browsed the shop, stopping here and there, admiring some of the merchandise and mocking other parts of it. Once they'd made their way around the entire store Lily bought a few bottles of ink and a plain looking quill. Both took a few minutes at the door to bundle up and prepare for the cold once more. They exited the shop and once in the street James replaced his arm around Lily's shoulder, his unoccupied hand delving into his pocket. Lily managed to throw the arm not holding her bag around James' waist and they pressed into each other as an attempt to keep warm. As the couple meandered slowly through the small Scottish town the streets slowly began to clear as the sun went down.
"What time d'you s'pose it is?" James asked Lily as he unearthed his buried hand to rub his face.
"Not sure. Do you feel like heading back?"
"Not especially. Let's just walk for a little while more."
"Alright," she responded.
"Excited for holiday?" James asked after a length.
"I expect it'll be nice to have a reprieve from classes," Lily said, looking down.
"That all?"
"I don't really know what else to expect. This'll be the first time I've stayed at school for Christmas."
"Right, I'd forgotten about that," James said awkwardly.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"You didn't," he said without looking at her. Silence engulfed them, neither willing to look at the other, Lily's eyes glued to the ground and James' once more to the ever-darkening sky. "Why don't we stop into the Three Broomsticks? I could desperately use something warm to drink."
"That sounds fine."
A few minutes later they entered the tavern, both breathing heavily from the fast pace they had kept up. Lily briefly reached up, smiling and laughing a little, to brush some snow from James' hair and then repeated the action for herself. Looking around, James managed to glimpse two of his friends sitting together in a booth. Pointing them out to Lily, they managed to maneuver their way through the busy pub and smiled at their housemates when they reached them.
"Mind if we sit?" James asked, looking at both Sirius and Remus in turn.
"Course not," Sirius said as both he and Remus made room for the new arrivals.
"What have you been doing all day?" Lily asked them both.
"Sitting here mainly. It's too bloody frozen out there to do much else," Sirius answered before taking a swig from his drink.
"Where's Pete?" James asked looking between his two friends. It wasn't often that Peter was without one of the three's company.
"He's on his date with that fifth year Hufflepuff. They're over at that table right now," Remus said, gesturing to a table not far away.
"He's managed to slosh his butterbeer all over himself twice and even knocked the girl's drink over and onto her."
"That's a new record," James said passively.
"Poor Peter. I hope things have gone well otherwise," Lily said sympathetically.
"With Peter that's impossible," Sirius drawled out.
"They've only been in here for twenty minutes or so," Remus informed James and Lily.
"And they're already leaving," Lily commented sadly, looking on as the couple stood and began to don their coats.
"Pete shouldn't worry about it. He can do better than that," Sirius said.
"Try convincing Pete of that," James said.
"He'll get it someday. Just might be later rather than sooner," Sirius replied.
"We've not all got your magnanimous self-confidence, Sirius," Remus said quietly. "Peter's probably going to be upset over this."
"There's Wren and her Ravenclaw," James said, nodding his head towards the door and the couple that'd come in as Peter and his date had gone out. The rest of the table looked up and saw their female housemate remove her coat as the Ravenclaw stood next to her somewhat awkwardly. Wren looked up and saw the table of Gryffindors looking at her and whispered something to her companion who immediately looked towards the table, a somewhat crazed panic in his eyes. After a few more minutes of conversation they split up, Wren heading for the others while the Ravenclaw went in another direction.
"Been ditched?" Sirius asked her when she reached them.
"No, Ferris is still slightly afraid of you all and so he went to sit with some of his friends."
"How's your day been Wren?" Remus asked politely.
"Fine, what about all of you?" came her reply. Each person gave some sort of affirmative answer while Sirius merely took another gulp from his tankard. "Lily, I meant to ask you, you're staying at school for holiday, aren't you?" James immediately began to busy himself with a particularly long thread hanging from his sweater.
"Yes, Mum and I think it'll be easier that way," came Lily's well-rehearsed response as she looked down at the table.
"Think what will be easier?" Sirius asked, eyes resolutely staring out the window at nothing.
"The holidays, everything."
"Well," Wren interjected, "Owen said he'd be delighted for you to spend the holiday with us."
"You don't have to, Wren."
"Right, because I want to spend two weeks alone with Owen! Please come Lil," Wren urged earnestly.
"You're sure it's fine?"
"Absolutely. In fact he's invited the lot of you over for New Year's."
"Has he?" Remus inquired of Wren while looking intently upon James who was still doggedly studying his loose string.
"Yes," Wren said firmly. "He'll be gone anyway, and he doesn't like when I'm by myself over the holidays"
"I don't blame him," came from Sirius. Wren could only avert her eyes.
"Well…let me write home to just make sure. And then I'd have to talk to Mcgonagall since I'm already signed up for staying at Hogwarts."
"Just think about it. Let me know whenever." Minutes passed, sipping the only noise to pervade the scene.
"Well, I for one am sick of all this goddamn silence," Sirius all but yelled, slamming his tankard onto the table.
In tandem, Wren shouted "Cor Sirius!" and James shrieked "Oi!" after being sprayed with liquid coming from Sirius' cup. Remus could only sputtered and Lily continued her study of the wooden table.
"What the hell are you talking about?" James asked while wiping himself off.
"All this uncomfortable awkwardness and unnerving uneasiness!"
"How are we supposed to act, Sirius?" Lily asked.
"I don't want any of us to act at all! I just—I…I don't know. Why do things have to be so complicated?"
"We're all doing our best," Remus said. Silence was all anyone had to add. They all seemed teetering on the edge of acknowledgement, afraid to take the plunge.
"Look," Remus stated in a monotone voice while looking out the window "it's starting to snow pretty badly. We may want to think about heading back." For a few minutes the five people silently looked out into the gray outside.
"It's going to be bloody cold out," Sirius simply stated, breaking the reverie they'd just sat in. With a sigh Wren stood and began to pull her coat on and the others soon followed suit. They headed for the door and, each bracing for the cold gust that was sure to come, pulled the door open. Walking into a world of swirling clouds, each person took measures to keep themselves warm: Remus wrapped his arms around himself; Sirius dug his hands into his pockets; Wren held on tightly to the scarf that surrounded her neck; Lily and James grasped tightly to each other. Once they were on the road, James leaned down and whispered into Lily's ear.
"Not one of our better Hogsmeade trips." Her only response was a breathy laugh.
They all walked slowly up the path that they knew would take them back to Hogwarts even though they could not see the school through the billows of snow.
"I think I've lost my nose," Wren stated.
"Why?" Remus asked bemusedly.
"Because I can't feel it."
"So?" Sirius said. "I can't feel my penis, doesn't mean I've lost it."
"That's not what Anna Turpin said," Remus replied smugly.
The laughter of the five friends echoed through the haze of white, bouncing off unseen trees and mingling with the wind.
Author's Note: Thank you for reading my short story. I'd greatly appreciate any comments you all could give back to me.