You Can't Even See What You Do To Me

It was a nippy winter's day in December, and Hogwarts had just recently gotten the first big snow of the year. Students zoned out in class, their thoughts turned the the cold, fluffy, white snow just outside the classrooms. Between the freshly fallen frozen ice and the fact that that weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend, it was no wonder that the students could not concentrate.

Claire Burns finished her last class of the day, Muggle Studies, and went back to the Hufflepuff Common Room to get her coat. If she was going to appreciate the snow properly, she did not want to freeze!

She walked cheerfully to the front doors, where she met up with her friend Brianne. They planned to go into Hogsmeade together, just to walk around and catch up. They did not have any classes together that year, and they did not get to talk to each other nearly enough. Claire and Brianne chatted amiably (not that Claire did anything in a manner that was not amiable), and walked out the door into the crisp, cold air.

They walked along throughout Hogsmeade, popping into random stores to try on clothing, or look at new quills. However, soon, the cold became too harsh for them, and to avoid a snowball fight, they popped into the Three Broomsticks.

Seth Bradshaw loved the snow. It was probably one of the main reasons his concentration during class was lacking that day. Along with the fact that soon he would be headed to one of his favorite places of all time: Hogsmeade.

The classes that day could not seem to go by fast enough. Seth only half-listened to the professor talking as he waited for the last one to end, that way he could change from his school uniform and get off the school's grounds for a while. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the class ended. Seth basically bounded off to get warm clothes and then go out in the snow.

He met up with some of his friends by the castle's gates and they walked to the village, plotting a massive snowball fight as they did so. In fact, upon reaching just inside the small, wizarding village, Seth threw the first snowball.

The flying of snow through the air progressed for a while in the trip, until, deciding he was too cold to stand it anymore, Seth wandered away from it to get warm again, so that he could rejoin later. Seth walked into the Three Broomsticks, shaking snow from both his hair and clothes, making a small pile on the floor around him, which soon melted with the heat of the shop.

Brianne and Claire picked out a booth in the back corner of the Three Broomsticks, and ordered butterbeers to help warm up. Both had red noses from the cold, with their scarves and hats drenched from the water that was once part of a swarm of flying snowballs. Claire's hands were numb, and the warmth of the Three Broomsticks was welcome on the frigid day.

With all the news out of the way, the two sat in comfortable silence, taking in the atmosphere. They watched the boys pelt each other with flying balls of snow, breaking the "no ice in the face" rule too many times to count. Then, they saw one of the boys duck into the store and shake out, getting snow out of his hair and clothing. Claire smiled as the snow formed piles--it should not be possible for that much snow to come off of one person. The snow melted into a giant puddle on the floor, and a spell quickly wiped the water away.

To Claire's surprise, Brianne smiled and waved the boy over. "Hey Seth, what's up?"

Seth did manage to get the majority of the snow off of him; he had really been attacked by snowballs outside and was covered in it. He was grateful as a spell on the shop got rid of the water the snow had formed, or he probably would have slipped on it, being the klutz that he is.

Seth looked around for an empty table to sit at while he warmed up, but his search was cut short when he heard a voice he knew. He looked to where it had come from to see Brianne and someone who seemed to be one of her friends. Seth thought that maybe they were in the same house.

He walked over to the table they were sitting at, successfully managing to almost fall on his face as he ran into a chair that someone had neglected to push in. But, in the end, he made it to the back corner in one piece.

"Hi," he said in greeting. "Crazy snowball fight outside."

The kid turned around, surprised at the voice, but when he saw us, he walked up to the table. He was still a bit wet although he was no longer snowy, as the warmth was rapidly melting the snow. However, despite this, he had a broad grin on his face, which was bright red from the snow.

Brianne gave a quick hello, and the boy responded. "Hi," he said cheerfully, his voice chipper and enthusiastic. He was kind of cute, adorable in the same way a little puppy is. He had a lot of energy; you could tell from the way he moved back and forth between the balls of his feet. He could not stand still at all, and it was sort of endearing.

"Crazy snowball fight outside," he continued. Claire liked him already, as he seemed optimistic and cheerful. She smiled and said, "It looks like you were right in the middle of it, weren't you?"

Seth looked at the girl he didn't know as she spoke. It looks like you were right in the middle of it, weren't you?" she said with a smile. Seth laughed a litle bit. "Not exactly," he said. "I started it." Then he pushed a bit of snow drenched hair out of his eyes, the greenish-blue orbs going a little cross-eyed as he did so.

Once that was over and done with, he turned his attention back to the two girls. "Mind if I sit here while I warm back up. Getting pelted with snow made me really cold. Is that why you two aren't outside?"

The boy laughed in response to Claire's question, a bright smile lighting up his already cheery face. "Not exactly. I started it," he said, laughter in his voice. He automatically moved to push his dripping hair out of his face, and Claire's attention went to his lovely eyes. They were an unusual color, one that you did not often see, but they suited him quite well. However, Claire had to try to keep from laughing as he crossed them, as if trying to follow his hands around in moving his hair. He was such an energetic kid, and he seemed a bit distracted.

After a second, he seemed to realize that they were still there. "Mind if I sit here while I warm back up? Getting pelted with snow made me really cold. Is that why you two aren't outside?" Claire nodded, and Brianne cheerfully said, "Of course you can sit here! Why else would I call you over, silly?" She scooted over so that he could pull up a chair.

Then, it occurred to her that Claire had never met the boy. "Oh, Seth, this is Claire. Claire, this is Seth." Claire smiled and stuck out her hand to shake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Seth looked around a tad bit while waiting for his response. "Of course you can sit here! Why else would I call you over, silly?" Brianne said scooting over her chair so that there was room. Seth smiled and took an empty chair that was at a nearby table.

It was quiet for the length of a second until Brianne spoke again. . "Oh, Seth, this is Claire. Claire, this is Seth."

Seth's attention turned to the other girl, the one he didn't know. She had put out her hand and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you." Seth shook her hand and said, "You too," although he felt really awkward to say it, and even to shake someone's hand. He'd never been good at introductions and always found them awkward events.

Then he let go of Claire's hand about half a second later, putting his on the table and tapping his fingers on the top of it.

Seth stuck his hand out, but it seemed an uncomfortable, foreign motion, which made Claire want to smile. He did not seem to quite know how to deal with introductions very well, it appeared, as he mumbled an awkward, "You too," and sunk into silence. He was not gloomy or unhappy--not by a long shot--he just did not really know how to react.

Claire was determined to make this introduction as un-awkward as possible. If anyone could ease the situation, in her mind, it would be her.

She let Brianne and Seth catch up on their lives, first, though. It seemed that Seth was a Hufflepuff as well, and a rather amiable sort. He chatted easily with Bri for a few minutes, and when the conversation came to a natural pause, Claire decided to go ahead and join into the conversation. She had never been much good at keeping quiet for extended periods of time--she was entirely too chatty, and she loved being around people too much.

"So, how do you guys know each other?" To some, it may have seemed a rude question, but coming out of Claire's mouth, it sounded like pure, sincere curiosity.

Seth only felt for a short moment longer, until Brianne started to talk to him, causing Seth's awkwardness to dissapate. The two of them catching up for a while, discussing how their families were and things of that matter. After a few minutes they seemed to be well enough caught up and so their conversation dwindled into nothingness.

Seth had warmed up quite a bit by then and was just about ready to get up, say goodbye, and rejoin the snowball fight outside when Claire spoke. "So, how do you guys know each other?" She sounded curious for an answer.

Bri beat Seth to answering. "Our parents know each other. My mum was in Hogwarts with Seth's dad a while back, so" she shrugged here. "We met when we were smaller."

It was Bri that answered her question, as opposed to Seth. "Our parents know each other. My mum was in Hogwarts with Seth's dad a while back, so we met when we were smaller." It made sense to Claire that they would be close, then, if they grew up together. She always loved the concept of having a close childhood friend, which lasted for an entire lifetime. Most of her friends were muggles, and she had not seen them in a while. To explain her disappearance from school, her parents had told everyone that they were moving to America. She exchanged email addresses, though, and she was still in contact with her closest friends.

"I think that is adorable," she said, cheerfully. Brianne's smile shifted a bit, and her face turned a bit red, which Claire thought was cute. Then she had an idea.

Seth and Bri would be the perfect couple, from what she had seen of Seth so far. They already knew each other, which was a definite plus, but they seemed to have personalities that matched pretty well. Claire had never gotten the chance to play matchmaker much, and the idea appealed to her more than it should have, in all honesty. It was not something that her nature was predisposed for--she was a kind, sweet, happy girl, but in a way, it was that insane optimism that blinded her to people's faults and differences.

However, in her mind, they were meant to be.

She spaced out for a while, and when she zoned back in, Seth was getting up to leave, to go back into the snowy weather. Claire waved goodbye.

Seth, distracted by a snowball hitting the shop's window, completely missed whatever Claire said. It seemed to him, now, that the snowball fight was still raging on outside. Deciding that he had warmed up enough from being inside the Three Broomsticks, he stood up from his chair, nearly knocking it over in the process. "Well," he said, "I think I'm heading back out into the snow."

He turned to the door of the shop and took a step before turning back around and saying, "Nice talking to you two." Then he walked to the door, nearly tripping over the same chair as before. Frowning just a little bit, he opened the shops door and promptly got hit in the face with a ball of snow. Blinking the snow from his eyes, Seth left the shop and got back out into the midst of the teenage-caused mini blizzard.

Seth made his way out the door, stumbling his way past a chair he had nearly tripped over earlier. However, now that Claire had a plan, she almost seemed not to notice his extreme klutziness. She was plotting, scheming to find ways to bring Bri and Seth together. She thought of ways to convince the two that they were meant for each other.

She was pretty far gone, within the recesses of her ridiculous and unobservant mind. She should have noticed that the relationship between the two was solely platonic, and nothing else. However, she had a plan now, and she was going to stick with it, and to see it out until the end. She was determined about the wrong thing.

Bri decided she was ready to go back into the cold, so the two girls got up and left. Claire tried to think of the best way to bring up the subject of Seth, but she did not have to, in the end. Bri brought it up on her own.

"So, what did you think of Seth?" she asked, excitedly.

"I like him," Claire responded. Bri smiled, and Claire continued. "And I think that you do too, clearly."

Outside again, Seth found himself getting bombarded with snow, just like he had before. He ducked into an alleyway, shaking excess snow from his hair, only to be discovered by one of his friends, and soon the snow found its way back in his hair again. Seth attempted to chase his friend back out into the heart of the snow, but slid down and face planted in a pile of snow just outside of the alley. But nonetheless, he didn't stop laughing. The snow was just too much fun to be upset about falling. He scooped up a giant handful of snow and chucked it at someone who was passing by and running from snowballs that were coming from behind them.

Bri was a bit surprised by Claire's remark, and her cheeks were pink, although whether it was because of the cold or her embarrassment, Claire could not tell. Claire was about to pursue the subject when a snowball came flying at them, and a snowball fight ensued. Unfortunately, Claire left her gloves in her room, so her hands were freezing, but a smile lit up her face regardless of her frozen, red hands. It took more than that to stop her.

However, she was easily distracted, and the snowball fight had completely stolen her attention. By the time she was finished, she was soaked to the bone, cold, wet, and shivering, and all thoughts of matchmaking had completely escaped her.

That is, until they got back to the castle at the end of the long, fun day.

Claire was bounding up the stairs, ready to part ways with Bri. Bri was a Ravenclaw, so her common room was up in the tower, far away from Claire in the Hufflepuff common room.

Oddly enough, it was Bri once again who brought up the topic. She looked Claire in the face, and her cheeks turning pink, she mumbled, "And yes, I like Seth." She looked around the corridor, making sure no one else was around, before adding, "But you cannot tell anyone. If he knew, it would hurt our friendship, and I cannot lose what I've already got."

Claire beamed at her friend, plans already formulating. However, soon, the teachers would be out patrolling the hallways, so they had to rush back to their dormitories. Claire waved and walked away, quickly but triumphantly.

The snowball fight went well into the afternoon and soon most of Hogwarts' male students and some of the females were soaked head to toe from snow. By the time it was time to head back to the school there was not a single dry, unshivering student. Even on the way back, some people were still throwing and ducking from snowballs. It was overall a very fun and productive day.

Seth walked up the stairs to the castle and made his way to the Hufflepuff Common Room to get something dry to change into. He didn't want to get sick, because then he couldn't go outside. He walked up to the boys' dorms and dug around in his trunk for a little while. Sure, he could probably just magic his clothes dry, but preferred not to.

Once he was mostly dry, save for his hair, he walked back down the stairs and sat in front of the fire place that was there.

Claire was running late, and she just barely missed getting caught out of the common room. She accidentally got her fought caught in a trick stair, and the stairway moved on her, so she had to navigate her way from a completely different floor. It took her a while, but she managed to make it back to the common room in one piece.

She walked through the door quickly, being careful to avoid Peeves. She was glad that the prefects were not on duty tonight, or there was no way she would have made it back. She slipped in, hoping no one else was in the common room, but she saw the shadow of a person sitting in the armchair in front of the fireplace, and she got a bit nervous.

In the dim light, she did not see the doorstop in the middle of the floor, and she tripped and fell, shattering all chances of her getting away unnoticed.

Seth was halfway dozed on in front of the fire, having been sitting there for a short while, just enjoying the warmth of the fire that was burning not too far away. He was jolted completely awake when he heard a thud in the common room, coming from near the entrance. Seth sat up in the chair and looked behind him, eyes not adjusting as quickly as he would have liked to the dim light beyond the fireplace. He got up from the chair, having just made out the shape of a person who looked like they were pushing themselves up from the floor. "Are you ok?" Seth asked, not even knowing who it was. He walked a couple of steps closer to see who it was, his foot catching the chair's leg and causing him to trip and nearly fall over.

Claire heard a voice, as the person in the armchair turned around. She started to hoist herself up, and the person, who she now knew was definitely male, said, "Are you okay?" She knew she had heard the voice from somewhere although she could not pinpoint it. It sounded vaguely familiar, though, that was for sure. She was up on her feet again when she in turn heard a thump. It was not heavy enough for the person to have fallen, but he definitely tripped over something or other.

Claire responded, "Yup, I'm perfectly fine. Are you okay?" She squinted, and could just make out a face in the dark. When she paired the voice with the klutziness, and the outline of a face, she realized at once who it was.

"Is that you, Seth? It's Claire, Bri's friend." She smiled, asking, "What are you doing up so late?" She moved over to sit in the armchair next to the one he was previously sitting in, right in front of the fire, while she waited for an answer.

Seth caught himself using the arm of the chair that had tripped him, so he didn't hit the floor. He blinked when the person he had been going to check on spoke. The voice sounded like one he'd heard before. "Yup, I'm perfectly fine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Seth said, nodding slightly, and then wondering if it could be seen in the dim lighting. "I'm fine. Just tripped is all. Happens all the time."

He straightened himself up and returned to his chair, assured that the person was ok now, when they spoke again. "Is that you, Seth? It's Claire, Bri's friend. What are you doing up so late?"

So that was where he'd heard the voice from. It was earlier in the Three Broomsticks. "Oh, hi," Seth said, yawning just a small bit. "I fell asleep down here earlier, I guess. Your fall woke me back up."

Then he looked around the room, trying to find what time it was. "What time is it?" he asked when looking around had failed.

Seth responded, "Yeah. I'm find. Just tripped is all. Happens all the time." There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice, and Claire was sure that if she was fully able to see his face, she would see it turning an adorable shade of red. "I can understand that one," she said, laughing. "I'm not exactly the most coordinated person myself, as I'm sure you've noticed."

When she told Seth who she was, she was able to make out a small flicker of recognition, which was good. She did not have to go through the whole "getting to know you" phase all over again. That would have been terribly awkward, to say the least. Not that that would have fazed Claire at all.

"Oh, hi," he responded, yawning. "I fell asleep down here earlier, I guess. Your fall woke me back up." Claire nodded, forgetting that Seth really could not see her very well in the darkness. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to wake you up! You sound really tired." Claire felt bad for waking him up, since he DID sound really tired. However, he did not seem upset.

"What time is it?" he asked, looking around the room. Claire pulled out her watch, one of the few devices that actually worked within Hogwarts' walls. "It's around eleven," she responded, not realizing it was that late until then.

Seth just sort of shrugged when Claire said, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to wake you up! You sound really tired." He didn't really mind actually, preferring to be woken up than to spend the night in a chair. His eyebrows pulled together when she said the time, wondering why it felt later than that. He chalked it up to being tired from the snowball fight. He leaned back down into the chair, looking at the fire, too comfortable to move at the moment. He felt like maybe there should be conversation, as there was two people, but he hadn't a clue what to say, and so was quiet, letting a nearly awkward feeling hang in the air.

Seth sat back down, breathing in slowly. He did not seem to mind being woken up, but he did seem tired. He sat back down in the chair, and a silence followed. Claire wanted to say something, but she did not really know what to say. However, remembering her quest from earlier that day, her mind opened up a flood of questions, each more ridiculous than the last.

She finally settled on the least awkward question she could think of, and one that would hopefully be able to start a full-blown conversation. It was also the most standard question in the history of the universe. However, that did not matter to her. A short, standard conversation was much better than this awkward silence.

"So, how was your day?" she asked, cheerfully.

The two just sort of sat there for a few moments in silence until Claire broke it with a cheerful, "So, how was your day?"

Seth looked up from where he'd been watching the fire's last little flames dancing around. He just sort of shrugged again, the normal amount of energy that he had in the day expended. "Snowy," he replied. "And cold. But also fun."

Then he was quiet for a moment, wondering if he should reciprocate the question, but at the same time wondering if this chatty girl he'd met today would answer it on her own.

Being closer to the fire, Claire was able to make out Seth's expressions. Thus, when he answered her question with a simple, "Snowy. And cold. But also fun," she could see that he was just tired. He was not trying to be rude, he just did not know what else to say. Chances are, even if he was trying to be rude, it would go right over Claire's head.

After another few seconds of silence, she continued. "Did you win the snowball fight? I heard it was pretty intense--Bri and I got involved near the end, and we were soaked, but we never saw how things actually ended. It was far too big for us to figure out which side was which."

Claire was babbling again, but she hardly noticed. She was busy prattling on about her day, not really noticing whether Seth was actually paying attention or not. Finally, she realized that she had been talking for a long time, and she turned pink.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to babble like that."