Beware: Theres a monster about.

[Trixi Turner]

The snow crunched under the small feet of the child that had just exited the castle and begun to head out into the grounds. The face attached (via various other body parts) to those feet, would be one that wouldn't be openly welcomed back to the school. There would be many, that once they heard of her return, that would rather quite wish she disappeared again, hopefully as suddenly as the first time.

Trixi had received owl from her parents the many months before telling her that her brother Brett, was sick. Trixi had immediately returned home. Brett was the only person Trixi really cared anything about and so when he was in trouble, she had returned. Without Brett's help back home her parents farm was also in trouble because they were suddenly a man down, so Trixi whilst she had been away, had spent alot of the time working. The small girl, although it wasn't obvious, had alot more muscles then she had had previously, which perhaps, wasn't a good thing.

Trixi had returned to Hogwarts late the night before and snuck into her dorm and now that she was back, she was really in the mood for a little bit of trouble. Trixi moved through the grounds and ended up at a tree. Without really more then a seconds thought Trixi climbed up into it. The tree, luckily, was not deciduous, and therefore had a nice leaf cover to hide her within it. It also had managed to store a large mass of snow upon its branches. The small girl automatically scooped up a handful of snow and began carefully crafting it into a rather nice looking snow ball. With her ammunition created, and a nice little peep hole that she could see out of through the leaves and also throw snowballs, all that was left for Trixi to do, was to wait. Which did not worry her just yet. However if she was waiting too long she might eventually make a new plan.

[Matilda Wentworth]

Matty was tossing up whether she loved winter, or hated it. There were just as many perks as there were down falls, and so it was a tough opinion. Quidditch in winter could defiantly be a downfall, due to the horrid weather and sickness that seemed to loom over her players. But then again, Quidditch was Quidditch, it was going to be tough whether the weather (lol) was on her side, or not. Sickness itself was allot more common, and Matty had gotten the flu twice, and gotten the pox this season. Though, there were good parts to winter, as well. The snow, and cold weather did provide allot of amusement and fun. From making snow forts, to being able to comfortably sit in front of the common room fire, it was all good. So, really, it wasn't a matter of hating it, or loving it, but being content with it.

Unless you were interested in keeping fit in winter, that is.

Matty was one of those people who hated not being able to physically exercise for long amounts of time. Quidditch was mainly on the broom, and so she didn't use her body as much as she did, when swimming or playing soccer or anything, which was best in the warmer months. So, running was the next best thing. But not necessarily when there was wet snow every where, and chilly air that bit into your cheeks. Matty, being herself, decided to put it out though, and decided to go for a run this lovely, freezing winter morning. The Hufflepuff slipped into a pair of black pants, which were made from similar material to that of snow jackets, or wind-shielder jumpers. She wore a pair of running shoes, a white shirt, and a thin red jacket. She escaped the Common Room, before starting onto the grounds.

The youth made her way around the back of the castle, at an easy pace. The morning was warming up, and by the time she had reached a small bunch of trees, Matty found herself stopping, and peeling off the jacket. As she did so, the girl turned her back on the tree's, her eyes looking up the sky as she re-did her pony tail, which had fallen out a bit while jogging. Already, the girl felt better after her run, something she both enjoyed and was consistent at. Little did matter know, there was a monster about.

[Emeric Troy III]

Em wasn't really one to be much up for winter months. It was always the same, every single winter. He appreciated and even enjoyed the snow for about three weeks, and then proceeded to get sick and tired of the stuff.

The only real reason one would be able to find the Slytherin fourth year outside during winter would be that he simply got bored. At times the castle could be extremely entertaining, something going on every weekend or so. But there were also times when there was absolutely nothing to do. It was terrible for Em as a person who was used to parties and gatherings every weekend, he was always ready for a bit of excitement when none ever seemed to come his way while in the castle. It was mainly for this specific reason that he ventured out into the somewhat coldness of the grounds.

He was dressed in casual clothing, more casual than normal with his old pair of jeans and black zip up hoodie. The weather might had been cold, but it wasn't too bad around that time of day. He wandered around aimlessly at first, circling around the lake a couple of times. He poked lightly at the melting ice on top of the body of water with a stick, watching as a tentacle squirmed under the water, a warning that the Giant Squid would soon be out to play. Once that got boring for him, Em expanded his path a little bit, walking around several of the trees, kicking lightly at the remaining snow.

It was then that he took notice of Matty, taking off her jacket and fixing her hair. " Matty! " He called out, once he had checked to see that no one was around and paying attention. He walked closer to the girl, a small smile on his face.

[Trixi Turner]

Luckily the small young snake did not have very long to have to wait until an unsuspecting victim walked into her trap, or should she say 'ran'. Trixi had watched her out running and was extremely gleeful when she ran in Trixi's direction. The girl seemed completely oblivious to Trixi's presence in the tree. Which was exactly what she had hoped for. It was even more convinient as she turned her back and removed her jacket. The worst thing about being hit by a snowball is the snow coming in contact with bare skin, and less layers of clothing meant more chance of that.

Trixi smirked and cocked back her arm with a grin, launching the snowball at the girl without another seconds thought. However, just as the ball of snow left her fingers a voice called out 'Matty' and Trixi was suddenly aware of a second presence. She had completely missed the boys approach as she had been concentrating on the girl that was standing there.

However, the boys presence wasn't a problematic thing. Trixi could work with more then one victim. Especially from her vantage point in the tree. She scooped up more snow, and launched another snowball. This time towards the boy. However Trixi didn't wait to see if either of the snowball's had hit their intended targets as she ducked back down into her leaf barricade to hopefully continue to conceal her position.

[Matilda Wentworth]

The teenager was a little surprised when she heard her voice being called out, and so, Matty turned her head to wards the direction of the familiar voice. Once she recognized it as being Em, a smile immediately flooded onto her face. It was good to see him, and rather a coincidence, considering they were neither in class, nor had they planned meeting up this morning. She was just about to reply, when something cold, and wet hit her back, sending ice through her thin layer of shirt. Matty let out a small, soft shriek of surprise and discomfort, before noticing in the corner of her eye, another snow ball coming their way.

Without thinking, the teenager jumped forward, pushing Emeric back with her hands on either side of him. It wasn't as graceful as she could have planned, but Matty managed to keep her balance, and turned her head just in time to see the snow ball crash into the rest of the snow around them. The Hufflepuff looked up at the boy curiously, before letting go of him, and glancing around quickly. There wasn't anyone near by, but she couldn't be sure just yet. After all, snow balls flying out from now where was kind of odd. The girl eyed the direction in which she thought the snow had come from, that being trees more distant than where the culprit was really hidden. "Uhm, Hi." Matty finally said slowly, turning back to Em, a small sheepish smile managing to creep onto her features.

[Emeric Troy III]

His smile broke out into a wide grin as the girl turned and caught sight of him. He gave a small wave, walking towards her. He hadn't seen the girl around too much and it was good to do so, even if it looked like she was still in the process of a mid morning run. He didn't think she'd mind the interuption too much.

" Matts? " He said in a questioning way as he heard the girl give a small shriek. He closed the distance between them, taking a few seconds to realize that it was a snowball that had hit the Hufflepuff. Again, he scanned the grounds, looking for someone who would have thrown the snowball at the fifth year. He couldn't see anyone, and before he knew what was happening, he felt Matty's hands pushing him back a few steps and avoiding a snowball to the head. " What the... " He trailed off slightly, catching his footing after he had stumbled backwards.

" Uh. Hi to you too. What the hell was that? " He wasn't angry, a little amuse, but mostly bewildered. He had no idea where the snowballs had come from. " Are you okay? " He asked after a few seconds, remembering that it was her who had been struck first.

[Trixi Turner]

As much as the little girl tried, she could not possibly wait much longer then about 30 seconds. The girls patience was an interesting thing. Sometimes she could wait forever for someone to fall in her trap, and then not wait long to check to see their reactions. The young girl poked her head up into the gap in the leaves, noticing with extreme excitement the girl seemed to have gotten hit. She smirked looking two the two older students. They had gotten rather close rather quickly. Trixi grimaced. They would end up with cooties. Boys were GROSS!

Trixi scooped up another handful of snow and rapidly threw it in the two kids direction. The last thing the 12 year old wanted was for the two kids to start kissing, which was something Trixi noticed big kids did, ALOT. She didn't duck down very much this time, if you knew where to look you could have seen the small blonde hair and bright blue eyes peeping through a gap in the tree's, she wanted to see if the snow ball worked. Trixi liked causing trouble and trouble was always better when you could witness its results.

[Matilda Wentworth]

Matty didn't know who had thrown the snow ball, or even why, but she was both curious and amused. She had to admit, at a young age, she had been one of those students that hid behind trees and throw snow balls at people, but she was always very obvious. There had to be someone nearby, and so they were making a job of hiding their location. Once her and Emeric had both secured their footing, Matty was able to quietly mumble "Sorry, the snowball was gonna hit you." She knew he wouldn't have minded being pushed out of the way of an on-coming snowball, but Matty felt the need to apologize for so abruptly pushing him out of the way. It was just her nature.

As he asked her about what the thing was, Matty cast another look to the small grove of trees near them. It must have come from there, and it must have been a student. Well... a student, or Peeves, thought the teenager did admit that she hadn't really seen Peeves outside of the castle. And surely the tree wasn't doing it on it's own. "Are you okay?" Matty looked back to Em again, and gave him a small nod. "Yeah, I'm-" Bam! Another snowball managed to graze past her arm, and past her to wards Em. "Okay. Are you?" she finished her sentence with a small laugh. She wasn't yet sure on where the snowballs were coming from, but by now, Matty had a rough idea. She carefully bent down, gathering a handful of snow, packing it together, before throwing it into the branches of the tree of the original snow-ball thrower.

[Emeric Troy III]

Emeric turned his head, his eyes still darting around slightly, as he saw one particular tree that stood out to him. His main reason for that was it would have been a prime location if some random person wanted to throw snowballs at him, for no apparent reason. It was close enough, but not too close to give the location away completely, and far away enough for the person to still be able to aim right. He was almost positive that it was that tree, who was throwing the snowballs and why was still a complete mystery to him. He smirked slightly, wondering who would get a kick out of that. Probably some bored little first year looking for someone to torment.

He nodded, his smirk melting away into a small smile at the Hufflegirl's apology. " Don't worry about it. I'm used to being pushed around. " He gave a small laugh, and although his attention was on Matty, he was still keeping his eyes on the one tree...

He mustn't have been paying close enough attention, though, because he was caught off guard as a snowball came flying towards them, brushing against Matty's arm and hitting Em in his shoulder. " Ooph.. " He muttered, stumbling back a step. The snowball wasn't the most forceful, but the surprise of actually being hit was a bit shocking. He brushed the snow off of his hoodie and seemed to have the same idea as Matty, gathering a mound of snow into his hands. " Oh yeah, I'm fine. " He grinned at her laugh, still forming the snow ball by the time Matty had already thrown her own snowball. Making sure it was packed nicely, Em threw it back into the tree, hoping that he hit whoever it was that had thrown the snowball at him.

[Trixi Turner]

Trixi had to restrain from throwing her arms up and letting loose a cheer of joy when her snowball brushed past the girl and hit he boy. It was a victory. She had now his them both. However, her consistent snowballs, and the fact her position couldn't be changed, meant that they were now onto her and had a pretty good idea at where exactly she was hiding. Trixi saw the girl scoop up snow and throw a snowball and she ducked back down into cover of the branches to avoid being hit by the snowball, luckily it hit the branches anyway so that although Trixi got sprayed by a little bit of snow she had not been slugged by the girls snowball.

However this ducking had made it so Trixi had missed the boys actions and did not know a second snowball was coming her way. So Trixi, curious as to what her 'enemy' were doing, poked her head back up into the gap to have a look. Unfortunately for the small blonde, the boys snowball came at that exact moment and Trixi copped a snowball right to the face. This normally would have just been a problem of having a cold nose, however, being half way up a tree, the suddenness of being hit in the face by something shocked the young girl and knocked her off balance, hence dislodging her from the tree.

With a yelp, muffled by snow, Trixi had released the branches of the tree and fell backwards out of it. True, the young girl was a fair distance up the tree, however she lucked out by not hitting any of the other branches on her way down and landing, due to the downfall the night before, in a nice pile of snow. Sure, the impact was still rather quite painful, but the 12 year old was now injured, just slightly buried in snow.

[Matilda Wentworth]

The teenager gave another small laugh when Emeric commented on being used to getting pushed around. She wasn't entirely sure if the statement had been directly solely at her, but it did make her recall a conversation they had had a few weeks ago, about Matty being bossy and all when she was a kid. The girl didn't mind, knowing fully that he had been jesting with her, and simply shook her head the slightest bit, letting her laugh die off.

The girl watched as the snowball followed through, and hit Em in the shoulder, which caused him to stumble back a little. She refrained from laughing aloud again, and in stead, nodded when he confirmed also being okay. Like Matty, the boy had obviously had the same idea of throwing a snowball in return. If she wasn't mistaken, the teenager could hear the faint rustle of leaves coming from the tree they were both aiming at. Turning her body to wards the tree, the youth could now feel the cold, wet patch on her back where the snowball had hit her. She didn't care so much, heck, it was only ice and water, and besides, there were bigger issues about.

A small figure with notable blond hair was seen tumbling from the tree. Matty was stuck on the spot, her mouth opening slightly as she finally managed to pick up her feet, only too late to prevent anything from happening. The Hufflepuff stood there for another moment, her eyes glued to the small, limp figure laying in the snow. With a quick look at Emeric, the girl cautiously approached the younger girl. She sunk in the snow a little, as Matty bent down on one knee beside the girl. "Uh," was all that the girl could muster, as she threw back a glance at Em. They had found the culprit... but was the kid hurt? Matty hoped not, despite all. "Um, are you okay?" she asked slowly, softly, somewhat confused as to what to do.

[Emeric Troy III]

Em did his best to peer through the branches of the evergreen tree, but he still couldn't spot the culprit who was responsible for the snowball to Matty's back as well as the snowball that had landed square on his shoulder. He absently brushed away the rest of the snow from his black hoodie as he looked back to Matty.

After he had thrown his snowball, Em's eyes remained trained on the tree. He was preparing for the need to prepare more ammunition to toss into the tree, and was a little dumbfounded as a small figure fell out of the tree. " Blimey... " He said, giving Matty a glance as she took a few hesitant steps towards the blond girl and looked back at him. He was clearly trying not to laugh as he walked forward and next to Matty towards the girl. As they got closer to her, Em noticed that she was rather smaller than he had originally thought. She must have been a first year, possibly a second year if that.

" Oops. " He whispered to Matty, a slight smile on his face as he looked back down to the young girl. She didn't look too injured to Em, but then again she was also partially covered in snow still, so it would be hard to tell. " Want some help? " He asked, poking the girl's shoe with his own. He wasn't going to be mean to her, perhaps just torment her a little bit for throwing snowballs at him and Matty. Harmless fun, of course.

[Trixi Turner]

The snow was painful, but Trixi wasn't really hurt. Had the two older students not been classified under the term of 'enemys' the young girls reaction to the fall perhaps would have been to cry and retrieve the natural sympathy act that seemed to follow tears. However, the two students were part of her 'war' and she was not about to relent and show weakness. However the fall did knock the sense out of Trixi for a moment so the students had the time to come over to her, without her having sat up or wiped the snow from herself yet. However she quickly came to her senses as the girl began to speak.

Her words were typical of what people asked when someone fell out of a tree, however etched with what could only be described as confusion. The 'um' and 'uh' gave Trixi the impression the girl was kinda daft. As much as enemy's they were classified as Trixi could deal with the girl bending down next to her, and even perhaps would have tolerated the boys offer for help, had it not been accompanied by the poking of her shoe with his own foot.

Trixi sat up suddenly, scooting through the snow on her behind a few feet away from the girl and boy. "No I would not like some help. Especially not from you!" Trixi responded to the guy, her small eyes narrowing at him. By matter of deduction Trixi determined it must have been the boy that threw the snowball, as the girl would have not had enough time to launch another one unless she had moved extremely fast. Which was really impossible because the girl was too daft to think that quickly.

[Matilda Wentworth]

By now, Matty had realized that it must have been her own, or Emeric's snowball that disrupted the younger girl from her hiding place in the tree. Either that, or she coincidently lost her balance at the exact time from in which the balls of snow had been thrown, and therefore fallen. It was safe to say that the first of the ideas had been the most probably, though. The teenager remained where she was, biting back a smile. She didn't want the youngster to think that she was too[/i] highly amused by her fall, but nor was sure on whether her heart was really in her words. Probably not as much as it could have been, but hey, she wasn't the one pegging snowballs at random people. Amusing as it was, the girl didn't really need full medical attention, but Matty wasn't just going to let her lie there after all.

When Emeric joined where she was, the Hufflepuff studied the younger girl a little better. She looked familiar, but only the slightest bit. There were allot of blond haired, blue eyed beauty's running about the place, and so she didn't find it odd that this little one seemed a little recognizable. "No I would not like some help. Especially not from you!" After this outburst, followed by a scurry away, Matty couldn't help but laugh aloud briefly an softly, looking up at Em. "Geez..." she mumbled softly, standing up slowly, her gaze eventually making it name back to the girl. "You got a name then, kid?" she asked, wondering what the girl's reaction would be.

[Emeric Troy III]

" Uh.. " He said, still trying very hard not to laugh. It was evident to the Slytherin that the girl wasn't hurt, only had an attitude that would be more fitting on a person three times her size that could potentially prove to be hazardous to her health. He wasn't all that shocked, though, and marked her for a Slytherin with her first comment to him. She was obviously not going to put up with him, which of course only made Emeric want to stick around more. The young girl was cute, blond, and tiny. Upon first glance he wouldn't have guessed that she would be the spitfire she was turning out to be, she looked innocent and sweet. The girl was quickly proving otherwise, though, and Em smirked down at her slightly.

' Especially not from you! ' He did his best not to grin at her or Matty, attempting to play a serious, detached role. " I am sorely sorry to hear that, miss. " He told her, stopping with the poking as the girl slid one her bum away from the two older kids. He send an amused glance at Matty, but didn't say anything about it. He only looked back down to the girl as Matty asked what her name was, knowing he knew her from around the school, not not exactly remembering who she was.

" Quite the spunky one, aren't you? " He commented, finding the little girl a source of amusement. She was interesting to him, as well.