Arriving at the Entrance Hall, Mia spotted James waiting for her. He was wearing a black, fur-lined parka with matching sweatpants and boots. There was a big bag in one of his hands, which confused the Ravenclaw.
"I thought you didn't like wearing all black," she said the moment she walked up to him.
He shrugged. "It's not that bad."
Mia hummed, then nodded her head towards the bag. "What's in there?"
"You'll find out in a minute," he grinned. "Shall we?"
"Alright," she sighed.
The two of them went outside, where everything was covered in snow. Mia squinted her eyes slightly, trying to adjust them to the sudden brightness.
"Man, I love winter," James commented, staring at the scenery in awe.
Mia frowned. "I don't. It's too wet for my liking."
James' eyes widened, then he cleared his throat quickly. "Too wet?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I don't like snow that much, it's quite inconvenient and messy in my opinion. I prefer dry weather, but thankfully it's not snowing right now."
"Well, let's hope that you'll like what I have planned, then. Come on."
They walked past a few students, who were either building something from the snow or were throwing it at each other mercilessly.
After a while of walking, James stopped next to a tree near the frozen lake. He put the bag down, then he turned to look at Mia.
"We're here," he announced happily.
"Okay..." Mia said hesitantly while tightening her coat around her body.
James tilted his head to the side. "Are you cold? I asked you to dress warmly."
"I did, I just forgot my scarf in our dorm and it bothers me not to have it. Would you mind if I went back to –"
"Oh, that can be fixed quite easily," James interrupted her. He bent down, then pulled his Gryffindor scarf out of the bag. "Here, you can wear this," he smiled, placing it around her neck gently.
"Thanks," she said quietly, pulling her hair out from under the thick material. "Will you reveal what's in the bag now?"
"Ah, of course!" Grinning, he bent down again, then came back up with two pairs of ice-skates in his hands. "Here they are!"
Mia staggered backwards with her eyes widening. "No," she said firmly.
The corners of his mouth turned downwards. "No? Why not?"
"Because – well, what if the lake is not frozen properly? Besides, aren't students only allowed to do this with supervision?" She crossed her arms across her chest.
"Nah, me and my friends do this every year," he waved his hand. "We'll be fine, I promise."
"But – but –"
"What's the matter?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "Can you not skate?"
Mia straightened her posture quickly. "No, of course I can!"
"I don't see what the problem is, then," James shrugged.
She bit down on her lower lip. "Is it even my size?"
"Well, I made it smaller for you, but if it's still too big, you can just use your wand to adjust it."
"Fine," she said bitterly, then she walked up to him and took the pair he was holding out towards her.
James put the skates on quickly, while Mia took her time, but to her surprise, they fit her perfectly.
"Whenever you're ready," James said, then he left her side and stepped on the ice.
Mia straightened up slowly, supporting herself by holding onto the trunk of the tree. She took a deep breath, then started taking small steps towards him with her jaw clenched.
When she arrived next to the ice, she gulped, then put one of her legs on it cautiously.
"It won't break, don't worry," James tried reassuring her.
Ignoring him, she placed her other leg on the ice, trying her best to keep her balance.
James did an effortless spin, but Mia just stood there, not willing to move. When he noticed that, he glided over to her with a frown on his face.
"What's up?" He asked. "Why aren't you moving?"
"I was just... looking around..."
"Uh-huh," he gave her a suspicious look.
"Really! But I'm – I'm done now, so... yeah..."
She took a deep breath, then tried taking a step away from him, but as soon as she moved, she lost her balance. James grabbed her forearms quickly and steadied her.
"I thought you said you can skate," he stared down into her eyes with a small smile playing on his lips.
"Oh, shut up," she glared up at him.
James chuckled. "You could've told me. It's fine, I can teach you."
Mia's eyes widened. "You teaching me?"
"Yeah," he grinned proudly. "Looks like I know something that you don't."
"That's absurd," she mumbled. "I don't like the sound of that."
James let out a light laugh. "Well, you better accept it. Come on, skating's not that hard, I think you'll get the hang of it in no time. I'll show you."
He was about to move away from her, but Mia grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"Don't let go of me," she said, her voice sounding scared.
His features softened when he looked down at her hand holding onto him.
"Okay, okay," he murmured, turning his body back towards hers. "I won't let go of you, I promise. We'll take it slow, alright?"
Mia let out a frustrated sigh, then nodded.
"Awesome," James smiled. "Let's get started, then. First, you should take my hands," he said, holding them out for her.
"What for?!" She furrowed her eyebrows.
"Hey, you just told me not to let go of you!" James defended himself. "How else am I supposed to help you?"
Mia glanced down at the ice. "Right... right... sorry."
She let go of his arm cautiously, then she placed her hands in his, their skin touching.
Clearing his throat, James tightened his hold around her hands, trying not to smile too hard.
"Okay, so... you should bend your legs a little, like this," he started, showing her his posture.
"Like... this?" She tried mimicking him.
"Yeah, that's great! Now, you should try gliding, just move your legs the way you saw me do it."
"Wow, you're such a good teacher," Mia rolled her eyes. "Best instructions, ten out of ten."
James shook his head. "Just... follow me, I guess."
"But... if you won't let go of me, then that would mean... you would have to go backwards."
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do," he shrugged.
Her eyebrows shot up. "You can do that?"
"Did you not see me do a whole spin a few minutes ago?" James asked. "Going backwards is nothing."
She scoffed. "No need to flaunt."
James sent her a wink, then put on a serious expression. "Okay, ready?"
"I –"
Before Mia could finish her sentence, he started going backwards, pulling her along with him.
Her mouth fell open. "Oh... oh!"
"You like it?" James asked, beaming. "I mean, you're not moving your legs as I asked you to, but it's a start."
"Leave me alone," she frowned, trying her best not to fall.
He kept on pulling her for a bit, then stopped.
Mia looked up at him, confused. "What?"
"Well, this is fun, but you're not going to learn like this. You should really try gliding now."
"Ah... alright," she nodded slowly.
"Okay, so... I'll hold one of your hands, and you're going to try coming along with me. Sounds good?"
Mia shrugged. "Sure."
Slowly, James moved to her left side and grabbed her hand. "Just keep your posture like that and do your best."
When he started moving, she tightened her hold on his hand. Furrowing her eyebrows, she tried mimicking James' movements.
"You're doing it!" He grinned proudly. "That's not bad at all!"
The corners of her mouth turned upwards slightly. "I suppose it's really not that hard."
"You're a natural, babe."
Mia lost her balance.
"Whoa!" James pulled her closer, placing his free hand around her waist to steady her. "Careful, now. I don't want you to get hurt."
She cleared her throat. "I'm good, I'm fine," she muttered, pulling back a little. "Anyway... how come you're so good at this?"
"What, skating?" James raised his eyebrows. "Well, I practised a lot when I was younger, we used to do it every winter with my mum and little sister."
"Oh, I see," Mia nodded.
Smiling down at her, he took his hand off of her waist and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I prefer doing it with you, though."
She raised one of her legs with the intention of taking a step backwards, but stumbled and kicked his legs, causing him to fall down on the ice with her.
"Shit," James cursed under his breath. "Are you okay?"
Mia sat up slowly, scowling. "I am, but my pants are soaked. See? This is why I hate snow."
"Aw," James pouted, sitting up as well. "We should probably go back inside, then. I don't want you to get a cold or anything."
He got up swiftly and held his hands out towards her.
Mia grabbed his hands, but instead of getting up, she accidentally pulled him down again.
"Come on," James groaned. "Really?"
She let out a laugh. "Sorry, it wasn't intentional, I swear."
He snapped his head towards her, staring at her with big eyes.
"What?" Mia asked.
"I just realised... I don't think I've ever heard you laugh before," he said quietly.
"Oh..."
James got up again, then pulled her up from the ice.
"It was nice," he smiled. "You should laugh more often."
Mia stared up at him in silence, not knowing what to say.
"Let's go," James grabbed her hand, then they went back to the tree.
After Mia put her boots back on, she raised her hands up to the scarf, but James stopped her.
"You can keep it on if you'd like."
She hummed. "Does it look good on me?"
He snorted. "Of course it does, are you kidding?"
"I could've been a Gryffindor, you know," she said casually. "The Sorting Hat considered placing me in there."
His jaw dropped. "You? A Gryffindor?"
"Yeah," Mia scoffed. "It does sound pretty ridiculous now."
"Are you telling me, that... we could have been in the same house?" He asked, shocked. "Why did it not do that, then?"
"Because I asked it not to."
"Ouch," James put a hand over his heart. "Well, I have to say... blue does suit you more," he stared down into her eyes.
"I think so too," she agreed. "I'll just give this back to you later, then," she pointed at the scarf.
"You can keep it," he shrugged. "Add it to your James collection, you already have the flag," he broke out in a playful grin.
Mia raised an eyebrow at him. "What makes you think I kept it?"
His face fell. "Oh... you... didn't?"
She rolled her eyes. "I did, actually."
"Really?" His eyes lit up again.
"Not intentionally, though!" She crossed her arms. "I just put it away somewhere and forgot it existed."
"Still! You didn't throw it away the second you got the chance, that means a lot."
"Well, I'm glad it does, or whatever," she muttered.
James smiled. "Come on, I don't want you to freeze."
He grabbed his bag, then the two of them started walking back towards the castle, leaving the frozen lake behind.