as the world falls down (James)

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A fresh coat of snow had covered the ground over night replacing the dirty foot print stained blanket from yesterday. With the castle situated at the top of Scotland snow was always abundant and it was one of the reasons Celeste adored Hogwarrts. Without looking back or stopping she’d put on her boots and pulled on her clothes, a snug pair of jeans and a light blue fluffy jumper before she wrapped herself with her long scarf and cosy overcoat.

Yes, she was definitely ready for the weather now, grabbing a bag of sweets she’d ordered from Honeydukes – a number of liquorice wands to be exact - she skipped out of the doorway and down through the common room ignoring the number of students that sat studying or worrying over homework pieces, why were they wasting a Saturday, it was to amazing outside to be cooped up, silly house mates.

She stepped outside and almost immediatley the cold air nibbled at her face tinting the tops of her cheeks a rosy red, the wind had subsided but the frost remind imminent, not that Celeste minded it was all part of the winter time experience and it was something that could all be cured with a frothy hot chocolate. With a soft smile playing at her lips she stepped through the deeper parts of the fallen snow, leaving heavy footsteps where it hadn’t been disturbed. Gently as she drew closer to the lake, she touched the branch of a nearby tree and chuckled as its frosty coating of snow fell to the floor and across her shoulders, paying no attention to the world around.

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James had been out early while the snow was still falling, enjoying the peaceful, serene feeling you got when walking across a silent landscape in falling snow. It was like the snow created a little bubble - a pocket... Actually, to put it better, it was like living in a snow globe, just for a moment. 

Eventually the snow stopped, leaving the grounds coated in a fresh blanket of white, the sun that had started to peak through the clouds reflected off it like the ground was covered in thousands of tiny crystals, and with every step you took you caught a different angle - a new shimmer of light. 

James loved winter, and he loved snow, especially when it was fresh like this. He didn't want to keep walking because he knew that it would spoil it. Actually, he wished he had a camera with him so he could take a few snaps of the castle against the snow to add to his collection. As he watched, he could see just how perfect a photo would look just in that moment... darn...

His attention was drawn to the castle doors opening, and even from a distance James could tell exactly who it was, and a smile spread across his features, and he beelined towards the lake where he knew Celeste would be heading. As he drew closer he saw her disturb a branch, the snow fall coating her in the process, making her laugh. James reached down and pressed some snow together into a ball, taking aim, and throwing it in her direction where it could make solid contact with the back of her jacket. If that didn't catch her attention he didn't know what would.

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She was almost lost in her own little world, absently she brushed off the fallen snow from her jacket sleeves, it felt cold to touch, even through her gloves and if she'd known the charm for warming up hands she'd have cast it straight away, if there was one. A splat and a crumble of snow down the back of her jacket brought her back to reality and she spun to lock eyes with the shooter, with her lips halfway into a mock pout she pretended to frown at James.
“Hey, what ever happened to saying hello!” said Celeste as a grin broke out across her lips. She stepped forward and her flat boots crunched the snow under her feet as she made her way over to the cheeky Hufflepuff seventh year.

A devious smirk flickered across her lips as a plan calculated itself quickly, once she got into aiming distance she waved over to James and almost instantaneously she dipped the floor and pressed together a lump of snow, with added conviction she aimed at her target and through the ball of snow forward. Without looking back she quickly broke into a run in fear of retaliation, laughter roared from her mouth as she made for a section of sparsely spread tree's.

“You'll never take me alive!” she teased as she pressed more snow into her hand.

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As he'd hoped, the ball of pressed snow hit it's target, smashing off her back and grabbing her attention, and within seconds she'd turned, seeing him there. Even from a slight distance he would see she was just pretending to pout. Celeste was a good sport when it came to things like this, whereas some people, he knew, would have glared and stomped off after being hit by a snowball.

“Hey, what ever happened to saying hello!”

"That's too mainstream these days, don't you think?" James returned her grin, watching her as she headed his way. He should have been expecting an revenge attack, but he hadn't seen it coming so soon. He barely had time to register that she'd stopped walking and ducked toward the grown before a ball of packed snow was hurtling towards him. His eyes widened but he didn't have time to do anything more than lift his arms to block his face. The snow hit off his wrist and all but exploded, showering cold snow into his face, down his collar, and down his sleeves. James spent a moment fighting the snow away from where it made contact with his before searching the grounds again for his run-away target.

“You'll never take me alive!” 

Oh, no fair! Celeste had the cover of the trees to protect her, leaving James out in the open. He ducked quickly, grabbing more snow of his own and taking aim without even stand up again. His snowball went wide, scraping across the side of the tree that she hid behind, but James was already trying to press more snow into balls as quickly as he could before the onslaught came from her direction.