Work Text:
21st December 1886
Anika Belmont sat at a windowsill in the Ravenclaw common room. Her purple eyes followed one of several snowflakes outside as it gently descended, before locking onto another one higher up.
She and her twin brother, Kieran, had both decided to stay at Hogwarts this winter break, not that it was a hard choice to begin with. She shuddered at the thought of having to go back to the Belmont estate for summer break. Now that their older brother, Elias, had fled, Anika was sure that spending time in the manor would prove to be more dreadful, if that were even possible.
Kieran glanced over at his sister, gazing out the window, her white hair almost completely shielding her face from him. He watched as she leaned forward and let out a huff of air at the window. The glass fogged up, allowing her to draw little stars on the condensation. Ever since her roommates, Leila and Jane, had left this morning for winter break, Anika hadn't moved from this spot. Kieran didn't mind too much though, as long as he got to be with his sister, he was happy.
Anika turned towards Kieran then tapped at the window, a silent request.
"Do you want to go outside?" Kieran asked, a smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
Anika fervently nodded, an identical smile spreading across her face as she splayed her hand on the glass. After patting his robe's pocket to check to make sure his wand was there, Kieran offered his hand to Anika that she eagerly took.
They giggled as they raced down the vacant stairs and empty corridors towards the Quad Courtyard. Upon arrival, Kieran handed Anika a pair of gloves and cast a warming charm on them both, just to make sure they would stay relatively warm in the winter chill.
While he stood out from the snow like the bright berries on bare winter branches with his ebony hair, Anika would've blended in had it not been for her robes.
Kieran ran out into the open space, packing snow together with his gloved hands. Anika followed after him, stepping on the footprints he had tracked in the fresh snowfall. After compacting quite a bit of snow together, Kieran started rolling the mound across the courtyard. After reaching one end, he rolled the ball back over to where Anika was silently observing him.
"Here, it's your turn!" He chirped, stepping away from the mass of cold.
She pushed the ball, collecting more snow in a figure eight pattern, before looping back to him.
Kieran had taken the liberty of creating the second ball of snow while waiting, now heaving and stacking it on top of the larger snowball. Anika bent down and started scooping the wet snow together to make the snowman's head. After Kieran had found the perfect twigs for the arms, he waved his wand, a carrot from the Kitchens appeared in his hand along with five pieces of coal, two for the eyes and three for the buttons. Anika plopped the last snowball on top of the other two before joining her brother in decorating the snowman. Stepping back from their work of art, the two kids high-fived in celebration.
Kieran tilted his head back, staring up at the bleak sky as he caught snowflakes on his tongue. Anika did the same, laughing every time one landed on hers. Spinning around in circles, he eventually lost balance and flopped onto his back, giggling as he spread out his arms and legs. Anika waddled over to him and promptly joined him, flapping her limbs in a similar motion. Kieran's viridescent eyes briefly widened at the appearance of his usually sophisticated sister joining him in such a silly manner before he burst into laughter. He couldn't recall the last time his sides had hurt this much.
Finally standing up, the children observed their snow angels. Anika's was noticeably smaller, but just as brilliant in Kieran's opinion.
Anika beamed up at him, displaying a pearly smile saved just for him. Kieran hadn't seen that smile since the day Elias escaped. He was about to say something before Anika promptly turned away and sneezed in the other direction. Realizing that they were dripping wet and that Anika was shivering, Kieran rushed them back indoors. He cast another heating charm on them as they wandered back up to Ravenclaw Tower.
By the time they reached the common room, they were relatively dry, but Kieran still ushered Anika towards the fireplace in the middle of the room. Kieran even wrapped a blanket around them both for extra measure.
"Thank you." She whispered to her brother. Her first words uttered since Elias disappeared, but to Kieran it was the first words she had willingly spoken in years. His mouth opened and closed wordlessly a few times as he fought back tears, before he forced himself to finally say something back.
"Of course, happy birthday, Anika."
"Happy birthday, Kieran."