𝑮𝑹𝑬𝑬𝑲 𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑬𝑫𝒀 [𝑺𝑰𝑹𝑰𝑼𝑺 𝑩𝑳𝑨𝑪𝑲]

viii.

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

HECTOR: Poor Andromache! Why does your heart sorrow so much for me?

No man is going to hurl me to Hades, unless it is fated,

but as for fate, I think no man has yet escaped it

once it has taken its first form, neither brave man nor coward.

- Homer, the Illiad

╚═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╝

Edmond's smile was brighter than the first fluffy snowflakes, and he wrapped his scarf around Phaedra's neck to protect her from the harsh winds of December's first storm. She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to protest, but before she could he clicked his tongue and waggled his finger in her direction, "When are you going to learn to wear more than just a jacket?"

"I'm not cold," she protested, but she zipped her jacket up even further and fixed the scarf so it was covering more of her neck. Edmond scoffed and swung his arm over her shoulder, drawing her slightly closer to the warmth that radiated from his body. From his other side, Penelope scoffed to herself, and she leaned around him to meet Phaedra's eyes, "I think she's lost every scarf and pair of gloves within days of buying them. She would bankrupt her father if she kept replacing them."

Phaedra exhaled sharply through her nose, and she scowled so fiercely at Penelope that she quickly retracted her head and utilized Edmond as a barrier between them. Bellatrix pulled off her gloves and grabbed Phaedra's wrists, pushing the warm green wool over her slender fingers.  Before Phaedra could protest and pull away, the dark-haired girl shot her a pointed glare and said, "Cissy's already come down with a cold – I don't need another one of you little brats coughing in my face and sniffling every five minutes."

"She really does have a heart," Edmond cooed, placing his free hand on his chest. His laughter ended abruptly when Bellatrix scoffed and halted, causing the rest of them to follow her example and turn back towards her with expectant looks. She jabbed her finger in the air, "I don't want any of you little weasels getting me sick. Stop walking so slow, or we'll get there by time we have to leave."

"You're the one who stopped," Penelope grumbled, and the three fifth years rolled their eyes as the older girl briskly passed them, forcing them to scurry after her. The path down to Hogsmede wasn't particularly far from the castle, but the brisk winds fought them with every step and snow infiltrated their jackets and numbed their toes in their boots.

Phaedra shuffled slightly closer to Edmond, shivering as the icy wind blew snowflakes into her eyelashes. He grinned down at her, and used his free hand to adjust his hat, "We'll stop first at the Three Broomsticks so you can warm up, Phae."

"I'm not cold – you are," she insisted with a roll of her eyes, but she blushed under her friends' gazes and huffed when they chuckled under their breaths. Bellatrix poked her side and shuffled slightly closer towards her; she rubbed Phaedra's back slightly and gave her what Phaedra supposed was a smile. She'd been oddly nice for the past few days, ever since it settled in that Winter Break was approaching.

Phaedra tried to ignore the inevitable, but it blew across her face almost as harshly as the storm; within forty-eight hours, inevitable imprisonment in the frigid halls of Malfoy Manor. However little she cared for schooling or for Hogwarts, the castle seemed far more homely in the days before her return.