"Wake up," Josephine insists, her voice gaining a touch of urgency without disrupting the dorm's tranquility. Though she is excited about the snowfall outside, she is considerate not to disturb the other girls.
Having awoken to the snowy spectacle, Josie hastily prepared herself before attempting to rouse Dorcas.
"It's snowing, Dorcas; wake up!" she exclaims.
Dorcas jolts awake, prompting Josie to retreat a bit as her friend sits up, eyes wide.
"It's snowing!" Dorcas announces enthusiastically, prompting a chorus of curses from the other girls in the dorm. "Sorry," Dorcas adds, lacking any genuine remorse.
"Should I check if Pandora and the boys want to join?" Josephine proposes.
"Yes," Dorcas agrees, getting up and stumbling toward the bathroom.
Suppressing a laugh, Josie leaves her dorm and walks down a few doors before quietly entering Pandora's room. Pandora is already awake, sitting up and gazing out the window.
"Pandora," Josephine whispers near the door.
Pandora turns, her blonde hair swaying with the movement. She raises an eyebrow at Josie.
"It's snowing. Want to join Dorcas and me for a snowball fight?" Josephine asks.
Pandora's face lights up with a smile. Already dressed warmly, she replies, "Yes," keeping her voice down for the other girls in the room.
"I'll wake the boys; let's meet in the courtyard," Pandora declares, rushing past Josie.
Suppressing another laugh, Josephine exits Pandora's room and closes the door. At least she avoids the trek down to the cold dungeons.
As she passes her dorm, Dorcas emerges, running toward her.
"Let's go!" Dorcas exclaims, grabbing Josie's arm and pulling her along.
Josephine doesn't argue, recognizing the futility.
Dorcas drags her outside until they reach the courtyard doors. Upon opening them, a blast of cold air hits them. Undeterred, Dorcas pulls her out into the lightly snow-covered courtyard.
With smiles exchanged, Josie and Dorcas split off into opposite directions, ready for their snowy escapade.
The snow crunches beneath Josephines shoes as she strolls to her designated area in the courtyard, ready to engage in a serious snowball fight this year. Each step sends a satisfying crunch through the icy ground.
As she surveys the landscape, her breath materializes in the cold air. Josie seeks the ideal spot to construct her fortress.
Just as the courtyard doors swing open, Pandora and the boys emerge. A silent exchange of glances between Josephine and Dorcas precedes their joint approach.
"Same teams as last year?" Dorcas inquires once they gather with their friends.
"Sure," Josie agrees, stealing a momentary glance at Regulus, who looks effortlessly good in winter attire.
Meeting Regulus's eyes, she flashes a teasing smile before grabbing Pandora's arm and signaling for Evan to join them.
"Okay, here's the plan," Josephine begins as they return to their courtyard side, where only a few brave the freezing weather due to the early hour.
Evan rubs his gloved hands together to ward off the cold, and Pandora's face shows signs of the winter chill.
"You'll build the fort, and Pandora will handle the snowballs. I'll assist both of you until we launch our attack, alright?" Josie outlines.
Both nod in agreement, demonstrating their commitment to the strategy. Josephine tries to push away the somber thoughts that threaten to intrude, reminding her she shouldn't be happy.
Sighing, Josie urges, "Let's start."
Pandora breaks away to craft snowballs, while Josephine and Evan clear space on the frigid ground, beginning to build their defensive wall.
"It's too cold for this," Evan grumbles, still diligently working despite the complaints.
"Yeah, well, I want to win this," Josie retorts.
Evan playfully rolls his eyes before Josephine casts a small warming spell nearby, ensuring they stay warm without compromising the integrity of the snow.
Evan shoots her a grateful look, and they seamlessly continue constructing their snow fort.
Pandora joins them, bringing the snowballs she has crafted. She pitches in with the wall-building effort, and in the biting cold, conversation is sparse.
Josephine contributes to the snowball arsenal, each breath feeling like a sharp pang in her lungs. She can't help but worry about the possibility of hypothermia.
"Are you ready?" Dorcas's voice echoes across the snowy battlefield.
"Yes!" Josie eagerly replies, and the game commences.
Pandora wastes no time, bombarding Regulus as soon as he peeks from behind their makeshift barrier.
"Ow!" Barty's yell follows after Josie's well-aimed snowball sends him stumbling. Evan erupts in laughter.
The snowball exchange continues until Josephine decides to break away from her fort, plotting to get behind Dorcas. Sneaking through the trees seems risky, but she ventures cautiously.
However, her attempt is short-lived as someone forcefully pushes her back down as soon as she stands up.
"Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry," Regulus's eyes widen in realization of his forceful action.
"Ow," she complains, feigning that her head has hit the ground.
"Are you alright?" Regulus's concerned voice accompanies his lean toward her. Josephine seizes the moment, grabbing his hand and pulling him down into the snow.
Laughter bubbles out as they lay side by side. Josephine rises to her knees, looking down at Regulus. Both breathe heavily, the intensity of the snowball fight forgotten.
"You look good like this," she blurts out, surprised by her own words.
Regulus smirks, seemingly aware that she hadn't intended to voice that thought.
"Will you let me win today since I'm your girlfriend?" she asks, leaning a bit closer.
"Maybe," he teases, leaning up for a quick kiss before playfully pushing her back into the snow, hand in hand.
She lets out a slight grunt, already anticipating the bone-chilling cold that awaits her after this snowball skirmish.
Regulus now kneels on his knees, peering down at her. "I'm getting déjà vu," he mutters, his expression taking a more serious turn.
Josie chuckles in response, but Regulus's demeanor becomes more earnest. "When this is finished, I'd like to talk with you about something."
She frowns, her brows furrowing. "Alright."
Regulus rises from the ground and extends a hand to help her up. "No, we're enemies for today," Josie declares, bypassing his hand and standing on her own.
"Ah, of course," Regulus nods sarcastically. "See you once I win!" Josephine waves playfully before darting back to her side and taking cover behind the wall.
"Where were you?!" Evan, covered in snow and seemingly hiding, asks.
"Flirting with Regulus," Pandora teases.
"I was not," Josephine denies, and Evan shivers slightly. "Let's win, okay?"
They both nod in agreement.
A few minutes later, they bombard the opposing team with a flurry of snow, prompting Dorcas to lift her hand in surrender.
"You win, okay!" Dorcas's muffled voice comes from behind her wall.
"Yes!" All three of them spring up from behind their fort, celebrating their victory as if it were a monumental triumph.
Josephine laughs as Barty runs over and tackles Evan to the ground. She glances at Regulus, who wears a small smile.
Yet, despite the joyous atmosphere, concern lingers about Regulus's impending conversation. Hopefully, everything will turn out alright.
~~~
Josie finds solace near a fireplace in the library, where carefully contained flames provide a comforting warmth. Despite the proximity of the fire, she can't get any closer due to protective spells. After the exhilarating snowball fight, she seeked refuge in the library, knowing Regulus intends to talk.
With each passing second, her anxiety heightens. What if he intends to end their relationship? Does he no longer harbor feelings for her? Unable to get closer to the fire, she nervously picks at her nails, drawing her sleeves over her hands and tucking them beneath her chin.
"Stop overthinking," Regulus's voice interrupts her thoughts from behind.
She turns to look at him, noting his cold demeanor. Thankfully, they are in a secluded part of the library, shielded from prying eyes.
"I'm not overthinking," Josephine lies, facing the fireplace again. Regulus's footsteps approach, and he sits down beside her.
"You are. You get this certain look on your face when you're deep in thought," he observes, extending his hands toward the fire.
"Fine, I'm overthinking," she admits, shoulders dropping as she turns to face him. "What did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, you're overthinking about that?" Regulus raises an eyebrow, turning slightly to face her.
"Maybe," she replies, bringing her hands down to her lap and attempting to conceal her nervous habit of picking at her nails.
Regulus smirks slightly. "It's not anything to worry about."
"Well, what else am I supposed to assume?" Josie retorts, glaring.
Regulus's smile persists. "I just wanted to talk about what you're comfortable with."
"What I'm comfortable with?" Her brows furrow. "What do you mean?"
He has a faint blush on his face. "What are you comfortable with in terms of sex?"
"Oh."
"I don't want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable, so I thought we should discuss it."
She finds his concern rather endearing and nods slightly. "I'm okay with most things, I suppose. I enjoy a variety of things."
"Such as?"
She takes a deep breath. "You're familiar with the type of books I enjoy. Nearly everything depicted in those books is appealing to me."
Regulus smirks. "Nearly everything?"
"At the moment, I can't think of anything from those books that I didn't like," she says, picking at her nails. "What about you? What do you like?"
"A lot of things," Regulus replies.
"A lot of things," she repeats. "That narrows it down."
Regulus lets out a small laugh."How about this," Josephine suggests. "If we want to explore something new, we can discuss it beforehand to ensure we're both comfortable. So far, I've been fine with everything we've tried."
"Even the choking?" Regulus leans in closer, and she follows suit.
"Especially the choking," she whispers.Regulus leans in to kiss her, and she lifts a hand to cup the side of his face until they part.She smiles against his lips as they pull away from each other.In that moment, Josie feels content.
~~~~~
Guys do you have any blonde teen/early twenties faceclaim ideas? I'm trying to find a Jason Grace fancast for a fic and all the face claims are like 30😭