snowflakes

[Sophia Vallas]

Takes place December 15, 1882

The weather was chilly outside and yet, the one thing that had made it a blessing was the snow that had fallen to the ground. It coated everything on the earth, creating a beautiful landscape for one to admire. And yet, even with the chill within the air, it was a great time to actually be outside. Although the weather was somewhat bothersome for most, Sophia wanted to be outside. The stuffiness of the castle was far too boring compared to the blessing that she had dealt with. Not only that, but it was something that she could enjoy. It was something that she needed, especially when studying everything that could be studied. Following the group of girls that were around her age, she allowed her eyes to look around, watching the snow fall down to the ground in an alluring display. It made her smile, especially with the fact that she was able to explore a bit, as though as she was in the eyes of her chaperone. She would be able to look around. As she watched the chaperone sit down on the blanket and read some book – she didn’t know the name of it – she had decided to walk about a bit, remaining as close as possible to the girls who she had become accustomed to. Not saying anything at all to any of them, and holding her book closely towards her body, she allowed her eyes to look upwards towards the Heavens, allowing the snow to fall upon her face and grace her hair with the white powder. She could have done a lot more, could have danced about the area in happiness but instead, she controlled herself. Too bad for her, it seemed as though a lot more of an adventure would be happening to her.

And it happened without her knowing.

With her eyes glancing upwards, she did not know of the figure who was standing before her until it was too late. It was only when she looked down that she had smacked herself right into the boy. Yet her weight and his own was incomparable and therefore, it caused her book to fall to the ground and her to lose her own balance. As she hit the ground, there was a small yelp that escaped her, allowing her eyes to look up at who she had bumped into. It was not one of the girls who she was hanging out with, which she would have suspected. Instead, it was a boy who she was not familiar with. Feeling the color rise within her cheeks, she allowed her to look towards the ground, reaching for her book and grasping it within her hands. It was then that she unsteadily raised herself upwards, nearly falling back towards the ground. Well, this was interesting for him. Once she as finally up, she still avoided his attention, fearing what he would actually say to her. Well, this was very interesting indeed. “Sorry..” She never allowed her eyes to glance up towards him, instead brushing herself off as though trying to get out the dampness within her clothes. She wished that this didn’t happen at all, wished that she could have just disappeared within a matter of second. This was not something that she needed and yet, it had occurred. Well, she would deal with her actions and what result would occur because of them. This was something that she should have known would have occurred. She just had to make it up to him, whoever he was. With a deep breath inwards, those nerves rallying within her chest, she forced her blue eyes to look at his face, wondering what he would say to her.

  

[Hermes Calathes]

Winter was a great time for having fun- what good was there to being a second year if you couldn’t use the little squealing firsties for target practice? With a couple of his roommates, Hermes had been down to the lake and spent the morning building a snow-fort on the bank from where they could throw their missiles at the first years ice-skating over the shallows. He was rather good at it, having a great aim. Hermes would rather be flying, of course, but target practice was still great fun.

Eventually, the cold got to even him, and he was just heading back up to the castle when something, or rather someone walked into him. He stared down his nose at the small bundle- er, girl- in gruff disbelief.

“What do you think you’re doing- did your governess not teach you to look where you were going?” Maybe she was too poor to have a governess- there were people like that, he reasoned. He brushed a few imaginary creases from his front, not concerned with what the girl was doing. Hermes continued to look down his nose with a slight sneer.

  

[Sophia Vallas]

Sophia would have thought that everything would have been fine, too bad for her, she would be mistaken. When bumping into someone, she was expecting for someone who be a bit kinder to her, someone who was able to be understand. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The person who she had walked into was a boy who was not even a year above her in school however, she had never really seen him before. In truth, she didn’t really spend a lot of time with others, except perhaps her brother, who sometimes teased her about things. This boy, from the looks of it, was in Slytherin. She had heard a lot about this house in general – her brother warning her about some of the troubles that they often caused. The majority of them were blood purist, those who frowned upon people like herself, who were not pure of blood. Yet, his actions were something which he considered uncalled for. She wanted to speak out against him, wanted to prove to him that she was far more intelligent than what he had thought she was and yet, it was hard for him. As a matter of fact, it was hard for the girl to actually stand up to him. Unlike in private, where the girl could have been a beast at any moment, in public she was the proper lady, a figure of nobility and honor. She knew when it was best to ignore the words of the boy and not bother with it however, it was hard. Considering the fact that there was a lot that she had to deal with – it was very hard. There was so much that had fluttered within her mind that she wanted to say but instead, she had decided to be proper and do something that most would not have expected at all.

She would be kind to him.

“I am sorry, I didn’t see you there..” There was a small blush that rose within her cheeks at those words, her eyes looking at his face. Biting down on her lower lip, she held back her words, knowing that it was not something that she should have been worried about. There were others who she could have bother but yet, she ended up with the boy who seemed not to like anyone at all. “My governess? I do not see why you blame it on her? I accidently bumped into you and you act..” However, she knew that it was not proper in order to finish her sentence. She couldn’t argue with him, even if she wanted to. As spirited as the girl could be at times, she knew it was best in order to keep her silence and allow his words to actually say something to him. It was a horrible thing that she had to deal with and yet, she knew it was for the best. Why does it have to be like this? Her mind had questioned it, over and over again inside of her head she had questioned it, and yet she found trouble with everything that was happening. She didn’t like it here, didn’t like to hear the snitching little girls who thought they were better than her. The only reason why she felt comforted was the fact that her brother was around her, making sure nothing happened to her. That was the only reason and right now, she hated it even more. Instead of actually saying anything else to the boy, she lowered her head to look at the snow, feeling the chill within the air. It was something that the girl couldn’t help at all. She felt helpless and alone within this world, feeling as though no one understood her and perhaps, no one did.

  

[Hermes Calathes]

Hermes wrinkled his nose even more if that was even possible as the girl began talking. She seemed so quiet and meek. If a girl was going to be rude and forget her manners and common sense enough to just walk into people, she could at least follow the damn thing through and not act like some church mouse scared of every mildly audible noise.

“I should hope you did not!” Hermes sneered. “Being so short-sighted and forgetful as to manage to walk into people is one thing, but to intentionally walk into people would be abominably rude.” The girl was obviously thick in the head if she managed to do something so stupid. Even Athena managed to look where she was going without mishap. He even felt like laughing as the girl trailed off her retort and hung her head. God, she really was some small rodent.

“No, come on, Little Mouse, continue on with that! Then I’ll be able to see if your governess failed to educate you in speech as well as in common sense!” He grinned wickedly.

  

[Sophia Vallas]

This couldn’t have been happening to her. Sophia had done nothing in order to deserve such treatment as this. Her was this boy, standing in front of her and mocking her for no reason except for the fact that she had bumped into him. What was wrong with this world? There were plenty of times in which she wished to argue, to try her best to ensure to leave the boy with a mark and yet, she knew she couldn’t. Instead, she had to remain the proper young lady that she was, ready for anything that was thrown at her. Yet, just because she was meek and quiet, did not mean that she wasn’t planning things inside of her mind. There were plenty of words that she wished to speak, all of then cruel and distasteful for a young lady such as herself. She knew that she couldn’t do it, especially whenever it came towards the fact that Sophia had known better. In her mind however, she was taking her on, was cursing him and making sure that he paid for everything. Too bad for him, he had decided in order to say something that was completely wrong, causing her to shoot a glare at him. Her spirit was beginning to rise and because of it, she had raised herself to be taller, just showing off how delicate her form could be. “Perhaps, if you weren’t floating so high up, I would have seen you, sir..” Her comment was something that she was certain would land him in a good amount of trouble but she didn’t mind. He deserved everything that was being said to him, especially whenever it came to the name of little Mouse, it was something that she wasn’t going to accept at all. He wanted to play that game, then he would get what was coming to him.

They all did.

With her brow delicately raised upwards, she just watched him for a second, listening to his words. This had caused her eyes to roll gently in annoyance, before allowing a yawn to escape her, politely covering it as though to prove how boring he actually was. Maybe she shouldn’t have done something like this but it was his was the one who had started it and she would bring him down with her. Lowering her hand to her side, she just smiled lightly before commenting casually to him. “I may be a mouse, but it is far better than a boar..” The words had come up as she brushed off some of the snow that had gathered upon her robes, not even looking at him. That was all that he wanted – the boy just wanted someone that he would be able to step on and prove that he was far superior than she was. Too bad for him, he had messed with the wrong girl. She would give him her own opinion, politely give him her opinion. If he didn’t want it, it was too bad for him for Sophia was going to give it to him. Bit by bit, one by one, he would find out why not to mess with a Vallas. They may not have been a popular family but that did not mean she wouldn’t let her show her true brilliance. “I may need lessons on speech but that is easy to obtain, unlike lessons on mannerisms, which you seem to lack.” With those words, she looked up at her, providing a sweet smile upon her face, letting him know that she could play the role of an Angel. She was sweet from others perspective and yet, he had gotten the worse of her. Oh well, he would soon learn what it was about to mess with Miss Vallas and her wit.

  

[Hermes Calathes]

Hermes actually gave a roar of laughter as the girl tried to respond. Well, she was stubborn, he’d give her that if nothing else, though he arguments back were hardly noteworthy.

“Now, come on little mouse, use your brain! If I was floating then you wouldn’t have walked into me!” He laughed in her face, folding his arms in front of his chest as he continued looking down at her with a wicked gleam in his eyes. He hadn’t grown up with a dozen other siblings to be easily cowed, nor to not follow through with his ideas.

Hermes raised an eyebrow as she tried to give a show of cool contempt by yawning at him, but he just found the whole thing hilarious and burst out laughing again. “I would rather a boar than a mouse! A boar is a noble animal, capable of killing even men, whereas a mouse is but a little rodent who spends its whole day with little thought for anything but cheese! Do you want some cheese, little mouse?” He raised his eyebrow in challenge as he gave another smirk. “And who exactly are you to give me lessons on manners? I do not make a habit of walking into people.” Hermes pointed out.

  

[Sophia Vallas]

She wanted to say something but didn’t know what. It was hard enough that she seriously wanted to yell and yet, she had known better than that. Instead, she had stared at him in disbelief. How could a boy like that become so pigheaded that he thought he was better than anyone? She didn’t know the reasoning for it and yet, she didn’t want to. As a matter of fact, she was going to leave before her pride had vanished from her. Raising herself up higher, her eyes glaring at him. She had spoken swiftly. “Good day!” Without answering the mockery that he was trying to make of her, she hurried off towards the other girls, ignoring him. She would figure out something. She always had.