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It looked like it wasn’t going to be a great Christmas.
The Dementors had already put a dampening mood over the school, and the still-escaped prisoner Black was only putting more and more restrictions on his freedom.
Teachers were still treating him like a glass doll that should be handled with care, and now, his best friend had gone behind his back and reported his 'mysterious' Christmas present to Professor McGonagall.
He kind of understood her reasoning; he really did, but he was so fed up at this point that he stopped talking to her altogether. It also stung that it was a Firebolt of all brooms. A bloody Firebolt!
So yes, Christmas didn't really feel good.
It was for that reason he had joined the Weasley twins and their friend Lee Jordan for a snowball fight.
It was fun while there were the four of them, two on each side, but after Lee Jordan had been summoned by Professor McGonagall for some reason, he was left alone and at the mercy of the twins.
It was difficult enough to fight against two people, but it was nearly impossible to deal with them when their minds worked in sync.
He should have run away the moment they had those devilish grins on their faces, but he stayed for some stupid reason, and soon they were pelting him with snow from every direction possible.
'Ahh', 'Ouch', 'Damn it' and 'Bloody hell' were all he could retaliate with.
He had started walking backwards in an attempt to avoid them, but when it appeared that it wouldn’t be sufficient, he turned on the spot and started running.
Unfortunately for him, he had lost track of his position and was now too close to a blonde-haired girl to avoid a collision.
He tried stopping himself using her as support, but inertia wasn't so kind to him.
As a result, he had managed to not only fall down but also make her fall over himself.
'Oof' was all he could say when he found her hairs on his face, her face on his chest, and her other body parts over the rest of his.
The first thing he noticed, however, was that he liked her perfume.
There was laughter from someone nearby, before they helped the damsel in distress in getting back up on her feet.
However, he was barely able to stand up before they tackled him down again.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Harry yelled in a muffled voice.
"Providing warmth to you..." one of them started.
"... Dear Harrykins," another continued.
"You were buried under..." the first said.
"... the Ice Queen after all," the second one finished.
He couldn't see her from his position, but a scowl appeared on the said Ice Queen's face, and soon two 'splats' were heard.
"Ow, ow, ow," both of them howled, moving over from him, and started removing the snow from their clothes.
Judging from the size of the puddle formed after removing the snow, those were some big snowballs.
He turned to look at his saviour and found Daphne Greengrass, the famous Ice Queen of Slytherin, smirking at the pair of miscreants with her wand in her hand.
"Thank you, Greengrass," he said after finally standing up.
She looked at him, smiled a little, and then looked back at the twins struggling with the snow.
He thought about all the times he had talked to her and was unsurprised to find it quite low.
She was a Slytherin, and on top of that, had a certain reputation of being unapproachable.
‘Why though?’ he thought.
He had no idea, well, nothing except some well-aimed freezing charms.
"Um... Ice Queen," he finally asked, when he was unable to satiate his curiosity. "Why?"
Her face turned a shade redder, whether from annoyance or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.
"It's a stupid thing. One of the idiotic jokes of these morons," she finally said.
"The Weasley twins?" Harry asked, curious now. "What happened?"
"Yes. They...," she hesitated. "They found me eating ice cream?"
'Huh' was all he could utter in reply.
The 'Slytherin Ice Queen' was called 'Ice Queen' because she loved ice cream? It sounded stupid even in his head.
Seeing his dumbfounded expression, she explained, "They found me eating it in the winter and tagged me with that stupid nickname. Not much of a story."
He was even more confused now. It didn't all add up. Especially if some of the things he had heard about her were true. Not having any better idea, he just asked her.
"But... I heard that you have some sort of... fascination for ice spells."
"You should be the last one who believes in stories, Potter," Greengrass said simply.
He turned pink at her reply, causing her to smirk.
"So," she continued. "What exactly have you heard about me?"
"Erm..." Harry started hesitatingly. "Just that you froze Flint's ball... err, privates when he asked you out, and... I guess just that actually."
Greengrass' eyebrows shot into her hairline at his statement, so Harry continued, "I am not complaining. You have my warm regards for that. Flint is an ass. But did you curse him only because he asked you out?"
Greengrass... Daphne started laughing at this.
'She looks great like this,' he thought. 'Err... what! Where did this come from'?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he came back to the present conversation.
She too had finished her laughing and said, "I don't curse the guys who ask me out, Potter. Flint was an... exceptional case. So was your friend Finnigan," finishing with a pointed look.
He coughed uncomfortably at that, having a clear idea what Seamus must have done despite his denials later in the dormitory that day.
That guy had no control over his mouth when the conversation was either about the opposite sex, sex, or both.
Quickly changing the topic, he said, "But it is not that strange to have an ice cream in the winters, is it?"
"No, it isn't Harrykins," a voice said behind him.
Apparently, Fred and George had gotten rid of all the snow that was bombarded at them and were on their feet now.
"But it was not 'an' ice cream, was it, brother of mine?" Fred said.
"No. If my brain is serving me right..."
"You have one?" Daphne deadpanned, her smiling face now replaced by a scowling one.
"... Dear Miss Greengrass was surrounded by more flavours than fingers on her hand," George finished, ignoring her interruption.
Daphne's face turned more red now than it previously was, until it suddenly became white as snow.
Or getting covered in snow would be more accurate.
But before he could comprehend what was happening, his face met the same fate.
Regaining his balance that he had lost at the impact, he quickly removed the snow with his hand and coughed out the part that got inside his mouth. Besides him, Daphne was doing the same.
The two jokers, on seeing their plight, were wheezing so hard that they had to take each other's support for standing.
A grave mistake on their part.
Harry shared a look with Daphne, and both of them gave a small nod in confirmation.
Unbeknownst to the laughing twins, a giant snowball was racing towards them, and WHAM.
The tides turned, and it became their turn to laugh as the twins were thrown backwards by the combined effort of their snowball.
It took a few seconds for them to recover from their ordeal, but they vowed revenge straight up after standing.
"You're going to regret this, Harrykins..."
"And you too, Miss Ice cream"
"This is a war now!"
"... that you should have never started."
The twins immediately went on the offensive, and they had to duck behind a tree to defend themselves.
"Now, now, Harrykins," Fred said in a sing-song voice. "Is this what we have taught you in Gryffindor?" his voice coming from somewhere to his left.
"You are ruining the impression of our house on Miss Ice cream," George continued. "That's very bad of you," somewhere to his right.
They were planning to trap them and then attack from both sides.
He looked at Daphne, who also appeared to have reached the same conclusion.
"One of us has to be taken," Harry said in a solemn voice.
"Why so dramatic, Potter?" she rolled her eyes and then dashed to his left.
Dumbfounded at her recklessness, he was only able to say, ‘Huh’.
It was becoming more than a random occurrence now.
"I was offering myself," he said to the empty spot that was occupied by her moments ago.
Shaking his head, he went from his right.
George, who was coming towards him from that direction, had changed his course to attack Daphne and had given his undefended back to him.
"Poor decision, mate," he said to himself.
Quickly making a big snowball, he pictured a giant club falling on a troll's head.
Grinning, he sang, "Wingardium Leviosa," not forgetting to make his 'gar' a little longer.
The scene from his first year was recreated in front of his eyes, and another 'troll' was knocked down.
This gave a much-needed respite to Daphne, who was on the back foot from the combined attack of the two.
Fred looked at his fallen twin in surprise and then at him. He hastily repositioned himself so that his opponents were at the angle of 120 degrees.
Now that the element of surprise was gone, it was becoming difficult for the two third years to overcome their senior.
All they were managing was to bomb each other in a stalemate.
"Why can't he stay in one place?" Harry mumbled. "Would have been easier if he had been stuck."
His mind processed what had been said, and he blinked for a few seconds. Looked at the frustrated but equally concentrated Daphne and shook his head.
"I am an idiot," he said.
Changing tactics, he cast several warming charms around an unsuspecting Fred in repetition.
Daphne noticed this and looked at him with a questioning gaze.
He only mouthed one word, 'Freeze,' and then pointed near his privates.
She glared at him for his antics but nodded her head and fired several snowballs to distract his target.
When the snow near Fred's feet was liquifying, he shouted, "Now".
This caused Fred to turn towards him in surprise, and an alert Daphne shot several freezing charms near his shoes.
Harry quickly shot a snowball at Fred's hand, and his wand was thrown away.
What followed was a one-sided match where they shot numerous snowballs at their unarmed opponent, much to their heart's content. Chivalry and honour be damned.
After burying Fred under a blanket of snow, they stopped their rapid fire, and Daphne came to him with an incredulous look on her face.
"Seriously, Potter. That was the best idea you had. Pointing at your own balls."
"Hey," Harry protested lightly. "It worked, didn't it? That's what that counts."
She just rolled her eyes in response.
But before they could revel in their newfound success, something threw Daphne over him, and he fell down, covered under a very cold substance.
Her perfume clicked some pleasant sensations in his brain, and it stopped working rationally. He found himself in a garden of beautifully smelling flowers.
However, it was interrupted too soon by her hairs in his mouth, and he came back to reality, much to his chagrin.
She tried standing up, but the layer was far too heavy to lift. With great effort she managed to shift herself from over his frame to beside it, but they were still stuck under a very thick layer.
The twins had come out of their own place beneath a pile of snow and had now covered them under an even bigger pile.
They were laughing hard at their ingenuity, much to Harry and Daphne's irritation.
"Oh...," Fred said between mouthfuls of laughter. "This is... gold. I wish Cr... Creevy was here for the hol... holidays."
Harry's cheeks turned red at the possibility. It would have been a nightmare to deal with his dorm mates if they had seen him under snow with Daphne Greengrass.
"No, dear brother," George said in a mock thinking voice. "Something is incomplete with this picture.”
"What could it be?" Fred asked in the same tone.
"It couldn't be...," George suggested.
"Ice cream!" both of them shouted in unison.
It was Daphne's turn to have burning red cheeks, but she decided to be a little more productive. And creative too.
She made snowballs from the pile placed over them and shot them directly at their faces.
The twins were not prepared for that and had to quickly go on the defence when Harry followed Daphne's example.
Soon, the pile of snow lessened, and they were back on their feet.
What followed was a massive snowball 'war' that left all four of them cold, sore, and tired.
However, it was finally brought to an end by the twins themselves, who finally had had enough of the creative attacks Harry and Daphne were able to come up with.
"You two are little rascals, you know that," Fred said tiredly.
"Despite how much you look like an innocent summer child," George finished.
Harry gave a large grin to Daphne at this, and she smiled 'her smile' in return, something that made him even happier.
"We're not going to repeat this again anytime soon," Fred said.
"Too right, brother of mine, too right," George agreed.
Both of them turned to Daphne and said in unison, "We're really sorry for making fun of you, Miss Ice cream. Please forgive us mere peasants for our mistakes."
They bowed to her and slowly returned to the castle, taking each other's support on the journey.
Daphne was looking at them with a mixture of annoyance and exasperation.
Harry, however, was chuckling.
"Miss Ice cream. I like it."
"Oh, shut it," she said. "It's stupid."
"But it's much better than Ice Queen," he pointed out.
She had no response for that, so she settled on rolling her eyes. The same eye roll he had come to associate with her.
How? He didn't know.
"Hey, you didn't tell me," Harry suddenly remembered. "Why did you freeze Flint's privates?"
"Why are you so interested in Flint's balls, Potter? I thought you had a crush on Malfoy. He will be heartbroken after hearing this," Daphne said, smirking.
Harry turned green at that.
"Never. Ever. Say that again. Please, I am begging you."
"Flint's balls or your crush on Malfoy?" she asked.
"NO," he shouted, much to her blistering laughter.
This surprisingly managed to calm him down.
'Madam Pomfrey should take notes,' he thought. This is better than spending time in that blasted wing.
On quieting down, she answered his question, "I didn't use that spell because he asked me out. I did that because he... stepped out of line. The rest is a spiced-up story thanks to Hogwarts' rumour mill."
It was clear that she didn't want to talk about that incident, so he switched the topic again.
"So... in short, you don't like freezing boys' private parts; you just like ice cream."
Daphne glared at him.
"And this is why I never bothered with that nickname. It keeps 'annoying buggers' in their place at least," she said, looking directly at him.
"It might work on twins," Harry said, ignoring her look. "But it might not work on hopeless romantics."
"Who?" Daphne asked in surprise.
"Well... there are some people who believe that you loved someone, but he betrayed you, so that's why you became cold-hearted. Some believe that it's a mask you wear to survive in Slytherin, not the real loving-caring version of you. Others are of the opinion that, sorry to say, you have never known love in your life, and that's the reason your heart became icy."
"Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief, turning to look at him. "People actually believe all of that."
"Yeah..." he answered.
Daphne was so surprised at this discovery that she didn't notice the pit in front of her.
The same one they had created when they bombed a combined snowball on the twins.
Life goes in a full circle, and you too fall into the pit you have made for others.
She slipped into that and held him for support, causing him to fall down again, and her over him.
The same situation. The same sets of body parts over each other. And the same perfume.
He liked her perfume, he realised. But he liked it more when it was on her.
'What? Where did it come from?' he thought wildly.
Shaking his head in disbelief, he let the first words escape from his mouth without thinking about what he said.
"We should stop ending up like this, Greengrass. I am not sure how much more my poor bones can sustain."
"Are you calling me fat, Potter?" Daphne said dangerously as she stood up and reached for her wand.
"No, no," he quickly backpedalled. "Just that it's going to give them more ammunition than they need," pointing towards the twins who had nearly reached the steps of the castle.
Daphne looked at them for a few seconds and nodded in acknowledgement.
"You're probably right. Merlin knows; they already know far too many secrets of the castle."
Harry squirmed slightly at this, but she either didn't notice or didn't comment.
"You know," he started in a nonchalant voice. "I heard there is ice cream in today's dessert. You want to have a bite before that?"
"And are you trying to butter me up now?" Daphne raised her eyebrows with a cool look but could not hide the easily visible glee in her eyes. "Because let me tell you, I do not like ice cream that much."
He had to try his hardest to not burst out laughing at her response.
It would have been more convincing if she hadn't stuttered on the word 'not'.
"No, why would I?" he said innocently. "It's not like you really like ice cream."
"You're right. I don't like it that
much," she said, trying to convince herself more than him. "Let's see what it is."
Her voice was normal, quite uninterested in fact, yet there was a childish enthusiasm that left him chuckling.
It appeared that Christmas wouldn't be that bad after all, especially if he was probably going to get a new friend as a present.