Minerva listened to Belle and Damon and fought the urge to fight Damon on a few points and then crossed her arms. "I am not pushing you into another girl, I just said that it wouldn't hurt for you to meet new people and if a girl catches your eye, then hey it helped!" Sticking her tongue out at him she giggled and looked back at Belle.. Even though she thought they looked cute together she wasn't going to say or push any issue. She knew Damon was set in his ways and to change that was going to take a miracle. She felt the need to roll her eyes at the thought, but forced herself to be good.

Then at Belle's words she jumped up and pushed at his back to get him standing up.. "YES... Snowball fight with us.. Damon you are not saying no." She giggled and pushed at her friend some more.

"And they all just happen to be girls?" Damon looked down at her, a small smirk on his face, "And with how often you've told me that Ari wasn't a good fit for me and I need to move on, and dropping hints with 'Look at all the cute puff girls' or whatever it was you said in the common room when you dragged me over to Laura and the other three." He nudged her gently to let her know he was joking.

Belle held her hands at bay. "Hey it is fine. At least you are honest. I respect honesty." Belle returned the kind smile. Belle chuckled when he said weird cringes. Cringes the word just made her laugh. "Well i am glad that you approve my snowball right idea fun. It might make you less tense during the holidays." Belle said jokingly and smiled at Minnie too.
Belle giggled when Minnie stuck her tongue at Damon. It was like a sister and brother fighting. Belle knew Minnie was trying to get them together but things do take time. At least Damon was giving honest hints that is all she can respect. "Alright guys where you like to go to have this snowball fight?"
She was ready to do some butt kicking. What Damon did not know is that she had a competitive side.

Minerva laughed at both of them. She was having fun whether or not they thought she was up to something and maybe she was or maybe she wasn't.. Thinking about it for a second she smirked, ok so maybe she was. "I don't care, where do you want to go? Courtyard?? Hot Springs?" Pulling out her gloves she continued to push at Damon to get him up for the snow ball fight. She really did like the way they looked.. maybe she should find a reason not to do the fight, let them have some alone time together... hehe.. "Oh I don't have my hat or scarf, maybe I should go back get them before coming out. You could start without me.." Evil planning grin..

Damon nodded with a kind smile, "Thanks for understanding." He looked at Min and sighed, And trying to get me alone with someone now... "Or you could just borrow mine, seeing how I don't get cold at all."

Belle responded to her ideas. "Well i think the courtyard will be good and there are places to hide and cover ourselves." Belle shrugged and looked at Damon and Minnie. She saw Minnie forcing Damon to get up and Belle was chuckling at her attempts. It was quite funny. Belle rolled her eyes at Minnie saying she forgot her hat, scarf and go back and get them and start without her. It was a classic set up. Belle raised her eyebrows at her and motioned her to come towards her.



Belle could see Damon was uncomfortable with this idea of Minnie leaving. Belle was blushing, she did not want to force Damon into anything. "Look Damon...i understand if you do not want to. I mean we can do it another time." Belle said quietly. "The last thing i wanna do is make you feel uncomfortable. Trust me i know what that feels like."

Damon shook his head, "It's not that Belle, I can just tell she's up to something and whenever she is it normally involves malign me uncomfortable." He gave a kind smile, "I assure you it has nothing to do with you." Other then the fact that Belle was clearly one of Min's choices for him... Not that it mattered because he was no where near over Ari, hence why he still wore his half of her birthday gift. He walked over towards Belle, "And it's not so much that I mind her doing it as the excuse, especially since she knows for the first fourteen years of my life in the woods of France, so cold doesn't get to me anymore."

Min knew she was busted, but did she care? Nope not at all.. Was it a crime to want to of her close friends happy. She didn't think so at least and she wasn't betraying Ariana, because Ariana was showing no feelings still. She had went and dated that pig Richard. She stopped pushing Damon and just giggled. She was in a super good mood and was glad he was going to go have some fun with them.

"Fine, you keep the scarf, my hairs long enough to cover my neck." She swung in and grabbed the hat off of him and placed it on her head. Twirling around she laughed, "How do I look?" she giggled more knowing that Damon and Belle knew she wasn't that type of girl that cared about her looks all the time. Walking towards Belle she got a big grin, "Courtyard sounds great.. Time to win a snowball fight."

Damon shook his head and laughed, "Most beautiful thing I've ever seen Min." He smiled at her.

Belle was glad it had nothing to do with her. She was actually smiling brightly than she ever did in a while. Belle nodded and said, "Well i live in Kansas so the winter's there are pretty chilly too. We get lots of snow come to think of it...." she was flashing back to the times where she would stay home from school due to the snow. Then Belle asked jokingly "How would you feel making a snowmen too after i beat your butt in the snowball fight?"

Belle returned a huge grin. "Yes it is time to win a snowball fight. Now let's start heading toward the Courtyard." Bell gestured toward the door. "After you lady and gent." Then Belle whispered quietly to Minnie, "Maybe we won't see any slytherins..."

Minerva laughed, "Oh Damon, I know your just saying that to be nice." she rolled her eyes and then jumped up clapping her hands.. "Let's go.. Oh a snowman sounds great!" She hadn't played much out in the snow this winter and was ready for some fun. There was so many weird things going on in the castle it would be nice to get out and have some fun for a bit.

Minerva then grinned at Belle's comment, yes she hoped they wouldn't see anyone that would make any of her friends upset. Not just Slytherins, because she didn't have problems with them, it was a certain claw she had issues with. Plus she knew that Belle didn't get off on the right foot with Ari, as well as Damon and Ari were not on good terms. So she just wanted a drama free moment with two friends... was that two hard to?

OOC: Go ahead and post at the courtyard.. I might not be on tonight, but will catch it in the morning..

Damon let out a small chuckle, "And what makes you say that you'll be the one winning?" He smirked and started towards the courtyard, "Because I'm pretty handy with a snowball."

Belle smirked at Damon. "Well then let's see your best shot." she said coming close to intimidate him. "I am not the one to back down from a challenge. Remember that. I have had years of practice." Damon did not know what he was getting into.

She remembered. She must have remembered.

Earlier in the day, Max and Emmaleigh had gone to class like any normal day, but today, Em had told him to meet her in the entrance hall after their last afternoon class. That was... weird, and the fact that she wouldn't share why made him quite nervous.

It was his birthday, after all, but he hadn't said anything about it since he first mentioned it many months ago. He was trying not to expect anything - perhaps they were just going to go for a casual, normal winter walk around the grounds, as she had told him to wear warm clothes - but Max really had no idea how they were going to spend the afternoon. The way she had initiated their adventure for the afternoon seemed... a bit too suspicious.

And he hated surprises.

In an attempt to keep himself calm, Max wandered over to the hourglasses. He stood in front of them, a small smile playing upon his lips as he compared the amount of sapphires to the amounts of rubies, emeralds, and amber gemstones.

Hah. Quite the surplus of blue there, eh?

January 22nd, Max's birthday. Emmaleigh had spent the last few days trying come up with something special to do, and then trying prepare a few things for the day. The first part was the most difficult part, and after fretting about it way too much she decided to just sort of wing it. Anything they did together always seemed special and memorable, so it would sort its self out just fine. The preparations are what took the longest. She had spent an hour or so going through her books, looking for just the right things, and had been in the kitchen until curfew last night. That was also where she had spent all of her free time during the day.

Bundled in her snow clothes, bag thrown over her shoulder, she made her way to the entrance hall,. Em grinned when she saw her boyfriend waiting for her. Since his back was to her, she quietly made way to him, and placed her hands over his eyes. “Guess who”

Just as he was pondering Gryffindor's points and wondering how Kurumi was taking the slacking of her house, he felt the presence of someone come closer - then hands were over his eyes.

"Oh gee. I wonder who it could be..." He brought his hands up to his eyes and felt the hands covering them. "Hmmmmmmm," he began, suppressing a smile as he played along with her game. "Soft hands. Thin fingers... whoever it is smells good," he added as the scent of vanilla passed under his nose. "A familiar scent, even... A girl's scent, no doubt." He removed his hands from his eyes to reach around and touch the person's waist. "I don't talk to many girls, so that narrows it down quite a bit. I just saw Louisa, and your voice didn't sound too much like Ella. And you're wearing... a coat," Max said, squeezing the coat at the girl's waist and trying to tickle her in the process. "Going outside? In this weather? Well, it could only be my Em, then, couldn't it?"

Emmaleigh grinned, and couldn't help but let out a giggle as Max went about doing his whole deductive reasoning. When he squeezed at her waist, she suppressed laughter, and pulled back a bit so he couldn't reach her. “Your Em?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Since when did you start calling me that?” She gave him a tight squeeze before adding, “I like it.”

Letting him go, she moved around to place a quick kiss on his cheek. Looking over to the hourglasses, she shook her head, why couldn't her house ever do well when it came to house points? Well, at least they were close to being in second. Grabbing the boy's hand she laced her finger with his. “Do you have your gloves?” she asked, pulling him towards the door. “You're gonna need them if we're gonna build a snowman.”

When she took a step back from him to escape his tickling, Max instead took her hands from over his eyes. His stomach gave an involuntary squeeze of delight when she hugged him around the waist; he chuckled. "Out loud? Just now. But the day you became my girlfriend, I realized you were mine. 'My Em' just feels nice to say and think and..." He turned halfway when she released him, meeting her when she caught his cheek with a kiss, and the smile on his face widened. "Thanks."

Gloves? "Yeah, I've got 'em," he replied, pulling them from his pockets.

...SNOWMAN?

SNOWMAN!

"A snowman?! We're really going to build a snowman?" He almost added some lame joke like, 'Boy, it must be my birthday!' But... he resisted. Today it wasn't just an expression, and he didn't want to point it out. They had a nice day in store for them right now, and as Max released Em's hand to put his gloves on excitedly, he already felt like this was going to be the best birthday he'd ever had. "Waste no daylight - let's go!" He laced his gloved fingers through hers and hurried for the door.

A SNOWMAN!

Em smile as she snuggled against his back. “I always wanna be 'Your Em.'” she said giving him another squeeze.

The redhead couldn't help but laugh at the boy's excitement. “Yep.” she said sliding her own gloves on. “I think I have everything we will need in my bag.” Taking his hand, she grinned. Apparently she had come up with the perfect activity. “I was thinking that the lake would be a good place. The snow that fell last night should be mostly untouched.” She said, pulling open the door and heading out.

Theo was avoiding the Great Hall, so he lingered outside of it for a while. He couldn't quite fathom that the common rooms were STILL closed. I mean he had precious stuff in there, most special being his Omnioculars. Prized possession, much? Sighing, Theo sat down on the corner of the bottom step of the stairs.

His eyes darted around the area before he could relax, purely cos he didn't feel safe since the suspicious stuff that was going on lately. The common room business was just a START, he thought.

It was the ghosts. Theo was ON to them.

Ella was tired of sleeping in the great hall. Really, she was. It wasn't at all comfy and worse, it made her think of food! ...Even more than she usually did. The fourteen year old was afraid if she kept sleeping in there she was going to want to eat ALL the food and then turn into some like blobby badger that didn't fit through doors or in the chairs during classes. O__O That just wouldn't be good.

The blonde left the hall and headed towards the giant doors that lead to the grounds, craving some fresh air. She stopped when she noticed Theodore doing what he did best, lurking in a corner. GRIN. Figuring he wanted her company, cause they were besties, duh she walked over to him and plopped down.

"Hey Theoman, what are you doing?"

...Well, besides lurking.

asdfghjkjhgf

Theodore almost fell off the step when someone appeared right next to him, even addressing him by his name. He'd heard heaps of people passing but THIS PERSON KNEW HIS NAME. Yea, he was a paranoid wreck today, but wasn't he always? "Oh, hi, Ella..." Ella. ELLA? Act cool, Theodore. She won't even mention the hair thing.

If she did...... he'd even considered dropping West in it and outright calling him a nutter. But no he couldn't do THAT to his best friend. He'd have to figure out some master lie.

"Not doing anything, just sitting here, and avoiding things." And people but mainly things. "What're you doing?"

Besides stalking him.

O___O

So Theo wasn't going to have one of those like hair whipping/seizure attacks, was he? Because he nearly fell over and just...well Ella wasn't equipped for that sort of situation. She most definitely would never be a healer. ...But he was speaking, so it seemed he was okay. Thank Merlin.

"Avoiding things?" Hmm. Sounded like something Ella would do. "What kinds of things are you avoiding?" And no, she wasn't being nosy! She was just being a concerned friend, yeah. "Me? I'm avoiding the great hall. It's too stuffy in there, y'know. And I can't sleep cause I keep having these nightmares."

... Scary ones.

After composing himself, Theo smiled at Ella and realized he hadn't seen her for ages. He knew she still had a boyfriend but he did wanna know how it was going... for... reasons. Not to pry or anything, but all he actually knew was that he was a lamo!Ravenclaw.

"Just things." He'd already said too much, but he had an impression that Ella wouldn't back down now. "I'm still sad about Quidditch, but no offence, congratulations by the way." It was lucky that Slytherin didn't end up playing Hufflepuff, because he would have ended getting bitter towards them, TOO. "And I'm.... kinda..... embarrassed." He whispered that part.

Yeah, awk..

Nightmares? Oh, Theo had them all the time and they were NOT nice. Thankfully, the comfort of his bestie's bed being next to his, he usually got through it. #bromance..... "Why're you having nightmares? You're not eating cheese before bed time, are you?" Theo was always too afraid to test that myth.

Well that was vague...and honestly? Ella was kind of worried about Theo. He seemed kind of distracted lately, though she didn't know why. He'd tell her if something was wrong though, hopefully.

Sad about Quidditch? Ella frowned at this. "Don't be sad, Theo. You're a brilliant chaser." And she meant that, he really was. "And thanks...I um...I did very little to help but yeah...it's cool." To be going to the championship and everything. Wait, Theodore was embarrassed about something? Ella didn't actually think he was capable of being embarrassed. She studied him curiously before speaking. "Want to talk about what happened?"

CHEESE? Blink. Blink. Ella smiled a little, shaking her head. "I...no, no cheese." And Ella turned to face Theo, running her hand through her hair. "I..well you know West, your friend?" Course he did, they were besties. "Well the other day her erm...kind of stroked my hair and um..." It was the weirdest thing ever. "And ever since I've had this nightmare that he's like...making a polyjuice potion and that he like stole a strand or something for it." Which was kinda of silly but still. "I know it sounds crazy." Shrug.