Her red hair stood out against the snow. He stood there, watching her from the tower. He had been certain that she had gone home. Her brother had gone home. What was she still doing here?
The small dot of colour made its way through the vast field of white. He watched her stop. He watched her fall. He almost lost sight of her as it began to snow again. She couldn't stay out there. She would freeze. It looked like there was a blizzard starting and she hadn't even gotten to her feet yet, much less turn back to the castle.
He ran down the stairs and outside. Wrapping himself tighter in his cloak and scarf, he began fighting his way down to where he had seen her.
When he finally reached her he realized she was crying. It was only the residual sobs of an exhausted body releasing the tension of previously convulsing muscles, but that was perhaps more pitiful. She had been alone when she needed someone most. Why had she stayed here? What had hurt her so deeply that she refused to share it with her family?
He wrapped his arms around her, almost expecting her to throw him off, but she didn't fight him. He helped her to her feet and pulled the end of his scarf out of his cloak. Using the end that was still warm from being against his body, he wiped the quickly freezing tears from her face.
She looked up at him and, again, he expected her to pull away from him, but she just lowered her eyes again.
He led her back to the castle. It took them longer than he would have like to fight their way through the growing storm. By the time they had made it inside she could barely stand under the force of her shivering.
He looked around and decided to take her to the room of requirement. He propped her up against the wall while he made the trips up and down the hall. When the door appeared he scooped up off the floor where she had slid down and helped her inside.
There was a roaring fire and an overstuffed sofa before it. On a table at one end there were two steaming mugs of cocoa and a plate of assorted cookies. He led her to the couch, curious as to why there were two mugs since he didn't really expect to be staying. He still didn't believe she would really want him intruding on her grief, whatever caused it.
He set her down on the couch where she immidiately curled up on herself. He took a seat next to her, turned so he could look at her.
"Are you going to be okay? Are you warm enough?" he asked.
She looked up at him with an unreadable expression on her face and then did the most surprising thing of all. She scooted closer to him and curled up against him.
He just sat there, stiff, thoroughly confused and clueless as to what he should do. She was supposed to hate him. More than that, he was supposed to hate her. This was not the way things were supposed to be. This would most certainly through the universe even further off balance than it already was.
She had remained at school to be alone. That was the only answer he could come up with. He relaxed a little as he begin to think things through and his arm natural draped around her. The way she watched the exits and occasionally fidgeted it had been obvious, to him at least, that she had wanted to be alone for a while now. So why in Merlin's name did she want him to stay?
She couldn't find the comfort she needed in her friends and family for one reason or another. She couldn't even tell them what was bothering her. So why in the world had she curled up in his arms?
Whatever it was, hiding it from everyone took so much out of her she didn't have the strength to be annoyed by anything else. It wasn't just him. He had finally realized that her patience with her brother had somehow grown infinitely as well. Or maybe everything annoyed her as much as always but she was just afraid that if she expressed one feeling she would express them all.
He rested his head on hers. He had no clue. All he knew was that she shouldn't be one to hide how she feels. She was supposed to be real; she was supposed to be warm; she was supposed to be alive. That was her obligation to the universe. He was the one who hid. He was the one who wore a mask; he was the one who was cold; he was the one who lived dead. That was his role. They were supposed to hate each other. Fire versus ice; love versus hate; honesty versus deceit; that was what kept the universe in balance.