Maledictus

Ch. 13 - Snow

Frosted air forced it's way into Alice's lungs and stung her eyes. She wrapped her scarf twice around her neck so that it overlapped her bluing lips, hoping that her own exhaled air would be trapped around them in a microcosm of warmth. Yet even then the chill seeped in and her teeth began to chatter.

Still, despite the cold, she brushed the fallen snow off the nearest tree branches and climbed up as far as she could, tensing her muscles and brought her limbs in closer. The falling snow became tiny missiles in the gust and she had to squint to retain any vision at all.

But Alice liked the snow.

She wasnt really sure why, maybe it was the pure beauty of it, the way each snowflake danced in the wind as if it was in a choreographed ballet or maybe it was the joy it brought. She wasnt sure.

So, there she was, Alice in a tree, her right leg dangling over the icy, silver bark with a smile. She traced her fingers over the bark, her fingerprint over the ridged patterns.

It was now nearing the time of the Pignus Fidelitatis Sphera due to occur on Christmas Eve. Weeks had gone by since the incident and an unspoken rule was developed. Never talk about it.

Eric always said it was because it was the time where he didn't trust his best friend and the guilt was overpowering. For Blake, he wasnt able to relive the sounds of Alice's screams and for Alice, she still wasn't sure if she had done the right thing.

None of them had forgotten of course. They would never forget how Alice had saved their lives, risked her own for them. But the pain it brought was too overwhelming so it was placed to the backs of their minds, buried deep. Hoping never to be found.

Despite this, they had grown closer. Much closer. Alice seemed to feel safer than she ever did. She felt happier than she ever did and the effects of her curse seemed to reversing, the pain subsiding faster, potions working. Everything seemed to be going her way.

Suddenly, a snow ball exploded beside her, jerking her roughly from her thoughts.

"HEY" she shrieked and was met with the distinctive laughter of Blake and Eric. Her friends. "You're an asshole, you know that? You both are" but she was also laughing.

Alice hopped down from the tree, slipping slightly as she bent down quickly and picked up a handful of snow, throwing it in her friends direction, hitting Eric square in the chest.

"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" yelled Blake and Alice knew instantly he had an entire stack ready to pelt her with.

In seconds of the warning the air was thick with snowballs so compacted that several felt solid and icy. The ones from the fresh fallen flakes burst open on impact, showering crystalline fragments that glint in the wintry light.

Alice's woollen gloves picked up snow like they wanted to be snowballs themselves, frozen crystals dangling from wild loose fibres she'd never normally notice. Already the coldness of the snow has deep chilled her fingers to a point where they no longer wish to bend. But cold or not, a snowball fight is a snowball fight and Alice never gave in - ever.

A handful of other students had now joined in the fun, ducking behind bushes and trees trying to create their own stash, ready to attack.

Soon another icy ball hit the side of the tree Alice was so carefully hiding behind and another whistled through the air just above her head.

There was a stupid grin plastered over her face as she took a snowball and whipped her arm back sending it flying toward another Blake and another Hufflepuff boy. Impact.

She let out a loud whoop and the fight intensified. In the middle of her goofy, celebratory dance, Blake had hit her with three consecutive snowballs, covering her back in snow.