February 26, 1892 - Gryffindor Tower

Sloane Bixby

The tower was quiet with most of her housemates at lunch. Sisse had already eaten and arrived back upstairs, but now she was bored. Restless really. Outside the sky was gray, more snow falling in a seemingly endless winter. Looking down at her black skirts, only reminded her of her mother, and really it just seemed everything was bleak these days. She had done what she could to hide her discontent from her friends, but the smiles and jokes seemed forced, and the weather was not helping. She couldn't focus on anything. It had to stop. She couldn't take this any more.

With determination Sisse jumped up from the window seat and turned only to find herself face to face with Sloane. Immediately her determination began to fade. She forced a smile on her face and before the other girl could say anything declared, "Let's go do something. I'm tired of being cooped up." More like she was tired of being sad all the time, but cooped up didn't garner the same sympathy and as such was a much more acceptable statement.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

After pestering Lester for as long as she felt reasonable, and something to eat, Sloane had headed back up to the common room intent on maybe doing some work for her Care of Magical Creatures assignment. At least if she started with something she liked she may feel motivated to do something else. Or so she was hoping. It was hard to tell.

Upon first inspection of the common room, Sloane didn't see anyone to bother, which was good, as she could get easily distracted, but as she made her way over to head up stairs, she found Sisse in the window seat. Sloane was torn between leaving her friend to her thoughts or inserting herself into the quiet; she often needed both during January, and she knew Sisse was going through something similar, if not more heartbreaking, so the tiny seeker couldn't decide which was to go.

Hesitating for a moment, her decision was made for her when Sisse declared saw her and declared they should go do something. "Absolutely," Sloane agreed immediately. "What did you have in mind?" She was content to follow her friend's lead.

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"I have no idea." Sisse admitted, forcing a bit of cheer into the statement as she shrugged. It was supposed to have been a Hogsmeade weekend, which would have been no better seeing as she would have had to stop and see Matthew and her father, a depressing option as things were. But remaining at the castle was no better. "Do you have any ideas?" At this point Sisse would probably even agree to learn to play quidditch if it were suggested. Or well, perhaps, if her failure at flying wasn't taken into account. She never had been a fan of hanging sideways on a broom.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sloane balked at the prospect of having to come up with something to do, but she did want to spend time with Sisse so, she would have to come up with something. "I don't think it's too cold outside, want to go build a snowman?" The metamorphmagus felt like she was grasping at childish straws, but who said they couldn't enjoy something easy for a turn? Everything else in life seemed far too adult these days. It would be nice to take a step back and so something frivolous.

"I have an old scarf we can use." Decorating was nearly as important as building after all.

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A gentle smile lifted the edges of Sisse's lips at the suggestion, it reminded her of when they had been younger. Their first and second years when they had rushed outside in the snow for snowmen and snowball fights as a whole group. It seemed forever since they had done anything of the like. "That sounds nice." She nodded in agreement, her mind wondering when they had gotten too old for such pursuits. Even at eleven she had thought she was mature, but now looking back, she hadn't been and she missed that childish joy.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Grinning at Sisse's agreement, Sloane motioned toward the staircase that would lead them up to the dorm. "I bet we can scrounge up some fun things to put on it." She definitely had a scarf she wouldn't mind allocating to the project. Certainly there had to be some other fun things they could collect to make it more interesting.

She started up the stairs as soon as Sisse joined her, thinking through her trunk to see if there was anything else, but she'd have to look and see to be sure. "We should make a couple or a really big one." She was thinking out loud now, something easy and fun and light was just what they needed she was going to desperately cling to the notion until they'd been able to see it through.

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Sloane grinned at her and as they started up the stairs, Sloane considering the activity out loud, Sisse almost felt as if they were younger again and all the problems in the last two years had begun to melt away.

"I'm sure I have a hat and some mittens. Perhaps a shawl? We could make a man and a woman?" Mama would hate her using a shawl, but .... Sisse wouldn't think about that. It was perfectly nice activity and she could always reclaim her shawl later. She wasn't about to let this feeling slide away.

Opening the door she headed over to her trunk and began to dig through it."Oh, look. Would this work?" A pair of bright red mittens hung limply from her hands.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

This was good. Sloane already felt that innocent joy at the thought of their snowmen and as they reached the dorm, they both dug into their trunks. "I would say yes. I wonder if we can transfigure a hat for our gentlesnowman." She laughed. A good top hat would do the trick. If she concentrated, she could probably do it. Transfiguration was oddly enough, one of her best subjects.

Pulling the aforementioned scarf from her trunk, she eyed the hold in it. Barnabas must have been in there, silly rat. Rifling through her trunk, Sloane found another pair of old mittens. They'd need to collect some branches and stones for eyes, but that was easy enough once outside. "That should do it, yeah?" She said as she collected her additions, reaching for her cloak and good scarf.

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"I'll leave the Transfiguration to you." Sisse looked over at her friend with a rueful glance. Transfiguration was admittedly not one of her best subjects although Sloane always seemed to do well at it.

Sisse gathered up the supplies and then her own cloak. "I think so." Her smile was widening for real now, probably for the first time in months. More often then not she pulled a smile on her features just so others didn't ask questions, or worse yet, pity her.

"Shall we?" She asked as she pulled her cloak over her shoulders and held out her satchel for the snowpersons's hand me downs.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Their impromptu snowpeople would be quite well-dressed. Pleased to see Sisse smile genuinely, Sloane swung her own cloak over her shoulders and secured her scarf around her neck. Her gloves were... right here underneath Barnabas snoozing on her nightstand. She scooted him aside and put him on her bed, snuggled up in her blanket.

"Yes, let's do it." She returned the smile with a wide, easy grin. "It's going to be fun." Something she thought they both desperately needed these days. She was determined to have a childish afternoon of something frivolous. It felt like everything was too heavy, too adult and she didn't really like it. While they were still at school she just wanted to be a kid still.

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wrap or outside?

  

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