The Rhythm of Life ((Cass))

[Mackenzie Holden]

The snow looked so peaceful when it fell from the sky and landed on the ground, so peaceful and quiet and lovely. But it wasn't aware of how it's life was going to come to an end. How in the morning, the little feet of first years will come scuffling out of the castle doors to play in the white wonderful world. How their little gloved hands would roll the white snow into balls and make them larger, and larger still - only to stack them on top of each other and call it art. Snowball wars would be started, and then toward the end of the winter when the snow would melt - truces would be called until next year. Then they would be broken again, only to continue the war next winter. Yes, it was a continuing thing - something that always happened every year, tradition. Hogwarts had lots of those, and over the years Mack had grown accustomed to said traditions.

She hadn't grown up with many traditions. Holidays were one thing, yes they were traditions all in their own, but there wasn't any baking of cookies - or cakes - or anything that has to deal with something that you had to every year or else everything would be seem out of place. Tradition just wasn't part of her ordinary life. Not that Mack's life was anything close to ordinary. Her sister had been placed in a looney bin, her mother was remarrying, she was gaining a stepbrother, she was kidnapped when she was 3, her real parents were murdered, she had a twin sister before she died, oh and did I mention she was a witch? Yes. Far from ordinary. But she dealt with it. And traditions, just couldn't fit in with her "ordinary" life. How nice they would be, they just weren't there. Kind of like Mack's father. Would be nice for him to be there, but he never was. Mack sighed and closed rucksack before standing and leaving her seat in the library.

Maybe the courtyard would get her mind off some dreariness. Maybe not. She just wanted out. Her feet carried her down the corridors toward the courtyard, where she opened the door and stepped outside into the snow. She was the first to ruin the newly fallen snow, not the annoying first years. Surprise surprise, Mack ruined a lot of things - even the most beautiful. She should be used to this by now - ruining everything she touched. It was as if everything she touched, just turned to dust - or in this case slush. Mack grinned in spite of herself and found a hardly snow covered bench and sat down. She was soon joined by someone she hadn't spoken to in awhile; "Hi..." She whispered. She didn't know why her words came out in a whisper - maybe she didn't want to disturb the silence.

[Cassandra Blackfire G7]

Cass stretched her arms to the ceiling of her dormitory. Opening her eyes, she saw pure, white show falling from a dark sky. Running over to the window, she looked at the snowy ground. It was already covering the lawn making large snow drifts here and there. Cass smiled, remembering when she met Pyro for the first time. It was about this time last year when she saw him heave a large snowball in the back of Dana Coran's head. Too think, their first, innocent meeting would of turned into this tortuous existence. They were still civil with each other, but they would never be friends again.

After a quick shower, Cass through a pair of dark blue jeans on and then pulled her camel colored sheep skin boots over her feet. Her favorite red sweater came next with a black hoodie that proudly displayed the word Gryffindor across the front. She topped the entire outfit off with her heaviest Gryffindor cloak and a red and gold scarf. She knew that it was going to be cold outside, and she didn't want to risk getting sick before the holidays. After a brisk walk down the seven flights of stairs, she made her way through the Great Hall and out into the courtyourd.

A set of feet had already disturbed the snow's resting place. Following the footsteps, she soon found herself standing behind Mackenzie Holden. Cass considered Mack one of her only Slytherin friends, but she hadn't talked to the girl in a very long time. Unfortunately, the only thing she had heard about Mack had come from Jack Rendel, another Slytherin in her year. With her feet crunching in the snow, she sat down beside Mack on the bench she occupied. " Hey," Cass said in an almost hushed whisper. Mack gave a weak hello. " Um, how are you feeling, dear? It's been a while, hasn't it? I ran into Jack a few days ago, and he told me some...things. How are you holding up?"