Rita glided along, making a figure 8 in the thick ice, her knee-length dress floating as she zipped around. Skidding to a stop, she sprayed ice through the transparent figure floating on the shore of the large pond. She was covered from head to toe in small ice shavings, slowly melting as she caught her breath.
"See! Told you I could do it!"
"Interesting. I'm glad the ice didn't break."
"OH! Is that how it is now?"
She sneezed, losing her balance and falling over. Nick instinctively reached out and tried to grab her, watching in horror as she fell through his arms onto the freezing cold ice. He bent down, looking at her now-blue lips and grazed legs, hoping she wasn't too badly hurt. He heard her sneeze again, watching as her black dress moved a little upwards. She pulled it down quickly, sniffling and sitting up, looking at him with those big blue eyes. She was hurt, but she was much too proud to cry over a flesh wound. He wanted to put his arms around her, pull her up and make sure she was alright. She managed to do that herself, sniffling occasionally and wiping the ice shavings off her jacket.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine, just fine."
She put on a brave smile, sliding over to the shore of the pond and walking over to the fence, unlacing her ice skates and replacing them with black high heels. Slipping off the fence onto the snow, she grinned at him and tried to keep her shoes from falling into the thick snow. He laughed at the way she was walking, it looked as if she was avoiding dog excrement. It was so amusing, barring the small amounts of blood dripping off her leg, leaving dark red marks on the pure white snow. She finally reached the path, almost jumping on it as she moved out of the snow.
"Falling over and almost ripping my skin on ice is certainly my idea of fun."
"Oh you masochist you."
With a laugh, they began to walk off towards the small cottage her aunt called home for Christmas. The sun peeked out from behind a cloud, illuminating the snow-covered countryside for all to see. The pine trees reminded her of christmas, with Father and Mother sitting around in their manor, with Father charming snow to fall on the tree and Mother showing her how to make the tinsel sing. Now she was stuck with Aunt Tess, watching her spray fake snow from a muggle aerosol can onto a fake christmas tree that didn't even smell like pine. She looked up at the sky, watching a few snowflakes fall from the clouds above.
"Nick."
"Yes m'dear."
"What makes snow fall?"
"Uuuh...winter."
"How does winter make snow fall? Its just a season."
"Well, it gets cold, and somehow snow falls."
"Nice explanation."
"I know."
"You're just full of useful information."
"I should write a book."
He grinned, watching snowflakes fall in her curly hair, giving the impression that she was wearing a tiara made of snow. He looked behind them, looking at the small red dots just visible as the new snow covered them up. She would need a bandage, he thought carefully, or possibly some charms to fix it up.