Getting colder.

[Lauren Gem]

Lauren looked outside the window that was next to her bed, the wind was blowing and the sky was grey. It looked pretty chilly, sighing she abandoned wearing her skirt to wearing something warmer. She checked her hair and called to her cat to follow her. She smiled as he jumped into her arms, she absent mindedly stroked his head while walking down to the common room and out of the castle.

She headed to the lawn where she hadn't been for a long time. It was pretty much deserted, and quiet. She could only hear the rustling of the leaves on the trees and the howling wind. Lauren sat down on a patch of grass by a tree watching her cat trying to catch a fly. While she was thinking about what was happening back at her home. It had been a week since she had sent a letter home and they hadn't replied yet.

 

[Vladimir Volkov]

Vladimir was positively freezing! Or, well, he was already frozen. Sure felt like it.

Hugging his own leather jacket, he walked - well, sort of hopped - along the Lawn, thinking the exercise would get him some more body heat. Didn't work, he felt even colder being outside. And it was already cold inside the castle! Huffing and puffing, he bounced along like a rubbery bowling ball, and halted when he spotted a girl out. In this weather? Perhaps she was trying to get warm too? Well. Looks like his own ideas weren't so unique after all.

With quick, loping strides, he walked along the frozen Autumn ground, coming to a halt behind Lauren and tapping her shoulder, his optimistic enthusiasm somewhat catching. "He-llo!" He greeted cheerfully despite the cold. "Whatcha' doing out here for in this kind of weather?"

 

[Lauren Gem]

A strong gust of wind blew her hair out of her face and she shuddered. Lauren tugged on her sleeves hoping to get a little warmer. Then she felt a tapping on her shoulder and looked round. It was the boy who did the Quidditch commentating. She smiled which probably looked more like a grimace and said "Hey. Well I came to give my cat some fresh air and I didn't think it would be this cold" she said laughing a little."Its freezing! What are you doing out here?" she asked the boy raising her voice so she could be heard over the howling wind.

 

[Vladimir Volkov]

Outgoing as he was, he hopped forward and pulled the over-large hood he always wore over her as well as he was nearly face to face at with her while snugly wrapped in the warmth of the cowl. "Jogging!" He replied, a grin plastered upon his features. "Although it degraded to hopping! An' then shivering and limpin'!" He rubbed his arms along his shoulders and was positively beaming at her, as if getting windblasted in this freezing weather was the ideal situation to make friends. "I think your cat's going to become a popsicle if you don't take it back inside soonish!" He found himself raising his voice even with their close proximity. "Whats' ya name?"

 

[Lauren Gem]

Lauren smiled as the boy walked, or hopped, towards her. She wondered what he was going to do as he got quite close. But she grinned at him appreciatively when he shared his hood. "Thanks" she smiled, Lauren felt warmer. She could hardly feel the wind any more. She raised her eyebrows "Jogging? In this weather?" Lauren said half-laughing. "I'm surprised your not a popsicle. But he'll be ok. He likes it outside in the cold, he doesn't really care for being warm. Like the other day, I was in the common room and I put him by the fire but he skulked off and went upstairs" she said laughing. Lauren looked over at her cat who stopped chasing flies and was now rolling around in the leaf-strewn grass. She looked at the boy "I'm Lauren. What's your name?" she asked him.

 

[Vladimir Volkov]

"Vladimir Dragonski!" He announced, chuckling at her. "But is quite a mouthful, 'yea? So jus' call me Vlad, or Drag, or Draggy, or whatever nicknames you vant' to come up with!" He spoke with a distinct Russian accent that couldn't quite he discerned if he was yelling out from the Commentator's podium is speaking normally. But then again, shivering in this weather made him lose the mastery over his own accent. "So Lauren!" Vladimir said with his usual innocent grin, "Are we going to stand about here any longer like silly leetle' children waitin' for Santa Clauz? I vud much rather go for ze castle and it's warmth! Jogging didn't really warm me up, as you 'ken see!"

 

[Lauren Gem]

Lauren grinned "Nice to meet you Vlad" she said raising her voice some more as the wind picked up. Lauren noticed his accent became more prominent, is he from russia or somewhere like that? she thought. Lauren grinned and laughed a little "Yeah, lets go in the castle, It's not going to get any warmer out here I dont think" she said to Vlad still smiling even though she was cold. Lauren took Vlad's hood off her and stood up. She noticed the temperature change quite drastically and she wrapped her arms around her self to keep warm.

 

[Vladimir Volkov]

Vladimir squinted at the faint outline of the castle, attempting to judge the distance between them and glorious warmth and salvation. "Come now, ve must hurry!" Vladimir declared, taking his cloak off and tying it around her neck, and then grabbing her arm and making for a mad dash to the castle. "T'is cold, but undaunting unless der' is snow! You know, I don't really feel too cold unless der's snow. Well, the wind makes me shiver, really..." His constant cheerful ranting was a bonus addition to his company.

 

[Lauren Gem]

"Thankyou" Lauren said gratefully when Vlad gave her his cloak, she felt instantly warmer, she reminded herself to bring out her cloak next time she was out in this weather. She grinned when he grabbed her arm, guiding her towards the castle, she had to run to keep up with him. Lauren called her cat to follow, she didn't really want to leave him out in this weather. Lauren listened to what Vlad was saying, "Snow? We would probably freeze then" she joked. "Well, wind makes me cold when its blowing like this" she explained. They soon reached the castle and she stepped inside. It felt really warm after being out in the howling wind she turned to Vlad and smiled at him.

 

[Vladimir Volkov]

"Yea', snow." Vladimir replied, his accent fading a little now that he was out of the wind and had stopped shivering. "Is cos' in Russia, we always freeze, but is part of everyday life, so go figure!" He paused suddenly, as if thinking, and then added, "Vell, 'owever, even if you get used to it, you still feel ze cold! But in here, der is no snow, so the cold is not as great..." Vladimir Dragonski tapped his foot on the floor, and then shrugged. "You think I am blabbering like insane now, yes?" He asked, chuckling as he did so. "Well Lauren, a good day to you!" Without invitation, he held up her hand and kissed it once, and then bowed to her cheerfully. "Der are commentaries to be done, and I cannot dally here!" With that, he scooted off hurriedly so as to make it in time for his usual commentaries for the final matches of the season, leaving his cloak with her.