The next morning I woke up early. I was so excited to spend the day with Susan. I didn't really know Mark but he seemed to like Susan and I knew she liked him so I had no reason to dislike him. I was feeling more rested than I had in a long time and I was even almost caught up with my assignments since Snape let me go so early the night before.

I showered quickly and changed into my robes. I dried my hair and let it retain its natural waviness since there wasn't much time for breakfast since Susan said she and Mark wanted to get there early.

Susan and I walked into the Great Hall together. Susan was gushing about how excited she was to get to spend time with her two favorite people under circumstances that were less 'rule breaky'. My eyes did their normal scan of the staff table. Snape was looking at me with a subtle look of amusement on his face. His lips pulled slightly into a smirk and he looked down at his plate to cover it. I was the only one who must have noticed because Susan didn't comment on it. I sideways glanced at her and noticed that she and Mark were making eyes at each other. I smiled at her obviousness and she waved at him and smiled. Mark blew a kiss her way and I looked in a different direction. I wasn't sure what about that made me feel embarrassed but it did. I heard Susan giggle and felt her look at me expectantly.

"I think I'm in love." She confessed when we sat at the table.

"I think I'm going to be sick." I teased and made a fake gagging noise.

She crinkled her nose at me and we both laughed.

"You don't understand." She told me as she spread jam on toast. "You're too picky. Is there honestly not a boy in this school you fancy? Even a little?"

"There will be plenty of time for boys after I take my N.E. ." I answered. "Getting my apprenticeship at St. Mungo's is what is most important to me right now. Besides I'm only seventeen."

"Almost eighteen." Susan added. "It's your birthday in two weeks! I expect you to spend the whole night with me. I have plans for you."

"God help me." I joked and Susan responded with a devilish smile. I had almost forgotten about my birthday with all that I've had to keep up with during November.

Susan rushed me through the rest of breakfast and she kept checking over her shoulder, presumably to look at Mark. Finally Mark joined us at the Ravenclaw table and Susan ordered me to chug down the rest of my juice so we could go to Hogsmeade.

Mark gave me an apologetic look for Susan. I could feel the juice sloshing around in my stomach as Susan pushed me to the double doors leading outside.

"Susan, maybe we should slow down a bit." Mark suggested. "We have all day and the weather is quite agreeable right now."

Susan agreed and stopped pushing me down the road. Mark took her hand and locked his fingers in hers. Susan rested her head on Mark's shoulder as we walked. I felt a pang of jealousy. Maybe I did want a boyfriend but I didn't like anyone that much and the thought of settling to fulfill my want made me queasy.

I felt awkward and stiffly avoided looking at Mark and Susan. I didn't expect Susan to be this cozy with him. The last I knew she was happy about being kissed and wasn't comfortable enough to even walk around the grounds with him alone. Here she was with her head on his shoulder as we all strolled down the walk to Hogsmeade. My eyes betrayed me by checking to the side and I noticed they were now somehow kissing while the walked. An even larger jolt of jealousy speared my stomach. What made Susan so special? Why did she get a boyfriend and not me?

I took a deep breath to calm myself down. It's not like I even wanted Mark or any of the other boys at Hogwarts but the fact that Susan had this new relationship and was reaching a new stage in her life and I felt as though I was being left behind made me feel I needed to scramble to keep up with her whether it was something I wanted or not.

I was saved from my thoughts by the first sight of Hogsmeade. I needed to break those two up. I pushed Susan on the arm.

"Race you." I challenged and took off running.

"Ruby, that's not fair!" I heard Susan yell at me but I could hear her rushing footsteps behind me so I knew my plan worked.

We reached the town square out of breath and freezing. My fingers were so cold they were throbbing with pain. I convinced Susan to come with me to Gladrags Wizardwear so that I could find some gloves and she dragged Mark along.

We entered the shop and I made a B-line to the glove display next to the socks. There were lots to choose from. I picked up a pair of light blue gloves with snowflakes on them and slid them onto my hands. My hands felt like they were plunged into ice water. My hands were now far colder than they were before and removed the gloves and wondered why anyone would want gloves that made their hands colder.

I saw a pair of patch work looking gloves with a snake on them. I thought of the warmth snakes needed to survive and decided to try these on hoping they would be warm. I put them on and was caught off guard by the wet heat they held. My hands felt like they were in a steam sauna. I looked down at them and they appeared to be dry but I thought I saw the snake move. Suddenly there was a piercing pain in my right hand. I looked at my hand and the sharp pain surged again.

"Ah!" I yelped and ripped the gloves from my hand and dropped them on the floor. "They bit me. The gloves bit me!"

"What did you expect them to do?" Mark asked as he looked at the pattern on the snake gloves. "They are snakes."

I looked down at my hand and noticed no punctures just an angry red splotch. I covered it with my other hand and squeezed.

"Who would buy gloves that bite?" I moaned.

"Well obviously you wouldn't buy them for yourself." Mark answered. "More of a joke gift really…for someone you don't particularly like."

"My brothers would probably like them." I considered.

"Probably." Susan agreed.

"They'd make a contest of who could stand to wear them the longest." I laughed.

"Your brothers are strange." Susan added.

Mark gave us a look that asked for an explanation.

"Once when I was visiting Ruby over summer holiday," Susan began. "Her brothers went through her things and found an acid pop. They thought it was a regular lolli but when they licked it and found out it burned they made a contest of who could lick it the most."

"They burned holes in both of their tongues." I finished. "Acid pops are contraband in my house now."

"Are you serious?" Mark asked incredulously.

"They are strange boys." I shrugged. "I think I'll get these for them."

I carefully picked up the snake gloves off the floor by one of the fingers and placed them on a shelf until I had found myself a pair of gloves.

I continued looking at gloves and tried a few other pairs but they always had some strange enchantment on the inside that I didn't care for or they were ugly and I didn't want them anyways. Then I saw a pair of midnight blue gloves with tiny gold and silver stars stitched in them. The stars had a wonderful glitter to them unlike any regular stitching. I picked them up and noticed that there were even some of the constellations on them. I pulled one of them on and my hand was enveloped in warmth like a summer night. I felt the warmth radiate through my skin and flow to my bones. I pulled the other one on and it warmed it just the same. I smiled and pulled them off. I went back to the snake gloves for my brothers and carefully picked them up before walking to the cash register.

"Are these it for you?" The woman behind the counter asked.

"Yes." I answered. "But I think I'll wear these out I said placing my hand on the star gloves."

"Alright, let me just bag these up for you." She said carefully lifting the snake gloves and placing them in a bag.

I paid her and slipped my new gloves on and felt the warmth seep into my fingers. I took the bag from the counter and walked out of the shop with Susan and Mark.

Even against the slight wind the gloves continued to warm my hands and I really liked the stars. The next place we went was Zonko's Joke Shop where I bought my brothers Hiccough Sweets and a fanged flyer. I found a Sneakoscope for my mother to make it a little easier to know when my brothers were up to no good. Mark bought some frog spawn soap which received an eye roll from Susan.

Finally we arrived at Honeyduke's. I grabbed some treacle fudge for my dad and some honey nougats for my mum. My brothers would receive bags filled with pepper imps, ice mice, jelly slugs, peppermint toads, and acid pops (if they agreed to hide them from mum).

"You sure are buying a lot." Susan remarked at my bags full of candy.

"We're here I thought I would take care of Christmas shopping." I explained. "I know everyone likes candy and my brothers love the weird magic candy."

"What about me?" She whined playfully.

"You get nothing!" I joked. "You're with me. I can't get your present when you're with me."

"I'll close my eyes." Susan giggled. "I promise I won't look."

"I'll just sneak off when you're making eyes at Romeo here." I gestured to Mark. "You won't even notice I'm gone."

Susan crinkled her nose at me and stuck out her tongue.

I paid for my goods and Mark and Susan bought a handful of sugar quills. We then went back outside and it was even colder than it was before. The sky was light grey and getting darker.

"It's cold." Mark stated the obvious. "It looks warm in there though."

He gestured to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. I could see Susan melt at the suggestion of an evening sitting in the most romantic shop in Hogsmeade with Mark. My stomach churned.

"You two go ahead." I suggested.

"Aww, but I don't want you to feel like…" Susan began to argue.

"No, I'm fine." I assured her. "I have other things to do. Perhaps I'll find you a present."

Susan's eyes lit up and she nodded her head. She skipped over to Mark who stuck out his elbow for her. They linked arms and disappeared behind the fogged windows of Madam Puddifoot's.

I turned now alone and walked into Tomes and Scrolls. It took me a long time searching through bookshelf after bookshelf before I found the perfect book about defensive magic and even talked about tracking dark magic. It was perfect for her with her aspirations of being an Auror.

I left the shop and decided it was time to go back to Hogwarts. I cut through between buildings and wove on and off the main path taking the shortest way to the road back to school. I walked out from between two buildings and ran into someone as I cleared the corner. The bag with Susan's book fell into the snow. The person I ran into bent to pick it up before I could.

"I believe this is yours, Ruby." Professor Snape said.

He still called me by my first name and it surprised me. I reached my hand out to take the bag from his.

"I'm sorry, professor." I stammered. "I didn't see you. I was in a hurry."

"And why are you in such a hurry?" He asked his eyebrows raised in curiosity.

"I…I'm not sure." I realized. "I don't have anywhere I need to be. I'm just heading back to Hogwarts."

We stood a few moments in awkward silence under the still darkening sky.

"Are you heading back to the school?" I asked and was answered with a nod. "Would…would you like to walk with me?"

"I suppose." He obliged.

We walked in quiet for a little while until I broke the silence. "So what brought you to Hogsmeade?"

"I needed a few potions ingredients." He answered.

"Ooooh, what ingredients?" I asked and received a warning look. "Er, I mean cool, potions…"

We walked silently again but it felt awkward so I had to say something else. "How is your arm?"

"It's adequate." He said looking down at his arm and rotating his forearm.

"No extra elbows then?" I asked in hopes of making him smile.

"What is your fascination with elbows?" He inquired.

I shrugged. "I don't know. It's a funny word I suppose…elbow. Elbow. Elbow…do you ever say a word so many times that it feels like it you're saying it wrong or it has no meaning? Elbow. Elb…"

"Do you like to hear yourself speak?" Snape interrupted.

I pressed my lips together and walked in quiet again. It was now dark and I started playing with my gloves to keep myself occupied. I looked down and was surprised to see that the stars on my gloves were shining like the stars in the sky would have been was the sky not completely covered with clouds. I let out a gasp and Snape looked at me.

"I just got these gloves today." I explained. "I didn't know they did this."

We went back to silence and I stared at my gloves. After few moments of listening to our shoes crunching over the frozen earth and memorizing the stars on my gloves something fell on my hand and obstructed one of the stars. I looked up and saw white flakes falling from the sky increasing in frequency. I stopped walking and looked up at the sky. I felt flakes brush against my cheeks and melt on my lips.

"What are you doing?" Snape asked.

I looked from the sky to Snape. "It's the first snow." I explained with a smile.

"So?" He inquired.

"So, it's the first snow." I answered and ran from the path and headed for a grassy patch a ways away. "Come with me." I shouted to him and spun around.

He raised his eyebrows in an uninterested manner.

"Come with me or not," I challenged. "I don't care."

I continued my sprint into the open field I could hear that Snape decided to come along and I smiled to myself. I admired the glow of my gloves until Snape stood next to me. His black hair was spotted with white snowflakes.

I sprawled out on my back under the sky and watched the snowflakes float down towards me.

"What are you doing?" Snape asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" I snarked. "Lay down."

"Why?"

"Have you ever laid under the snow and watched it fall?"

"No."

"Well then it's time you do."

He followed my instructions and laid next to me on the dampening ground and looked up at the sky.

"I always love the first snow." I told him. "There's something just…magical about it."

"Snow isn't magic." Snape said.

"I know that." I said and turned my head to look at him. "I've learned real magic but there is still something about the first snow that I think is magical. When I was younger I used to always rush outside and lay in the fields during the first snow. Just think about it. They are ice crystals and none of them are the same. Imagine the number of patterns it takes to cover the ground."

"Do you often think about everyday things in this manner?" He asked.

"Always." I smiled. "Don't you ever take even a moment to appreciate the smell of fresh cut grass or the scent of earth after rain or even flowers? Do you ever miss flowers in the winter?"

"No."

"Oh, I do. I miss the smell and the silky feel of petals between my fingers and the colors. Flowers are amazing. They can make their own food from sunlight. I wish I could make food from sunlight. Flowers just make me happy."

"You feel a lot."

"Don't you ever feel anything?"

"No." He said. "Not openly. I feel things but I keep them to myself."

"Did you ever allow yourself to feel? Even when you were little?"

"No."

"You had to have talked to your mum about things. Children get upset about everything."

"My mother didn't have time for me."

"Oh. What about your father then?"

"My father hated me."

"I'm sure he didn't hate you. He may have given you tough love but I don't think he hated you."

"What he did was tough but it wasn't love."

My heart plunged into my stomach and I felt so sorry for this man next to me. I looked over at him. His lips were pursed and he stared unmoving at the sky. I looked up at the sky too and watched the flakes drift down. The vastness of the sky always made me feel insignificant.

"Do you feel dizzy?" I asked.

"Yes." He said.

"Do you feel impossibly small?"

"Extremely."

"Isn't it wonderful?" I turned my head to look at Snape. He didn't say anything but the corner of his mouth twitched into an almost smirk.

"Very."

I looked up to the sky again until the snowflakes rushing towards me made me feel like I was moving even though I was laying completely still. I felt something touch the back of my hand. I looked to see what it was and noticed Snape's hand was resting against mine. I wasn't sure if it was there by accident or on purpose but he made no effort to move it away.