The Cold Kills...doesn't it?

Andrew sat out in the courtyard, feeling cold and otherwise down on his mood. He was bored as hell and it dragged him into a level of his personality he hadn't visited in a long time. He didn't know anyone in Hogwarts, except for Rise, but she was nowhere to be seen. He wanted to see her again and see how she was doing, but he couldn't do that unless he knew where she was. And he didn't want to go inside because he found it dreadful in there. He had no idea if the Death Eaters were still running things or if Barker had been walking around in the halls still. He heard some terrible things about the guy, so Andrew preferred to stay outside, hoping to stay out of everything.

Andrew sat on the railings of the bridge that connected two parts of Hogwarts and led down into a small trench below. He wore a white hoody and had the hood over his head, blue jeans, and some gloves and boots. He was preparing for the cold, knowing that it was the end of November and that December was coming. It was that time of year when you could freeze to death in your dorm and others wouldn't even notice. At least that happened once in his first year. It happened to a Ravenclaw or something, but that didn't matter. It was cold and that was the bottom line.

Andrew had been reading a book on the railing, mainly about mythical creatures, such as trolls, dragons, ogres, etc. He wanted to learn about the mythical creatures in case if he were to ever run into one...again. He had fought a dragon before with some others and thought about going after one again, mainly for some scales and bones. Dragon bones apparently were surprisingly durable and was saddened he couldn't grab some last time. But it was a sentimental occasion, having slain a dragon for the first time. Yet he continued his research, quietly and normally.

Mariposa couldn't stand being inside the castle anymore. She just couldn't be in there anymore, with the Death Eaters and Barker inside there. They were ruining the school in her view, they shouldn't even be there. She ran out of the castle dressed like she usually dressed, obviously not in girl clothes. She couldn't stand girl clothes either, they were so tight and so revealing at times. She hated clothes like that and it seemed that every other girl liked wearing those uncomfortable things. Good thing she wasn't like those other girls.

Instead of the clothes she had promised her mother she would wear, she wore a black hoodie with black jeans. They were a bit baggy on her but she didn't care. The less tight they were the better for her. Mariposa also had gray boots and gloves on along with a gray hat. Her long dark hair was stuffed inside the hat so she seemed more like a boy than a girl. She felt so comfortable in these clothes, that as soon as she saw a low tree branch, she jumped onto it. She continued to jump from branch to branch until there were no more branches she could climb.

This was something she couldn't do with those clothes her mother wanted her to wear. Mariposa was an athletic kind of girl and she loved to move around, something she couldn't really do in tight jeans or skirts. The last things Mariposa carried were a black bag, with a soccer ball in it, and a silver locket that had a picture of her and the young girl she took care of now, Jeimy. The locket was the most important thing to her now, since Jeimy had basically become her life. After a short moment of waiting in the tree, and letting the wind hit her face, Mariposa looked for a tree closest to where she stood and she began to leap from tree to tree.

Andrew flipped the page to his book, taking in the contents on the left, then to the right. It wasn't really 'insightful information', but it was just random trivia that made him smile every now and then. He flipped the page again and it showed a photograph imbedded in the print, an old black and white photograph of a dead dragon being examined by some wizards who wore very outdated clothing. Andrew looked down at the caption and noticed that it was an 'autopsy' by the official wizard community. Why 'autopsy' was hyphenated, he wasn't sure. It just looked as if they were up to no good.

Suddenly, Andrew heard the wind whistle and the leaves brustle in an unknown pattern. This wouldn't have been a problem to most, but Andrew stopped reading his book and toke notice of the area. Some students were just appearing to be doing daily activites, such as talking, reading, and kissing, yet they didn't notice the disturbance. Andrew closed his book and set it next to him, his eyes focused on the trees. Something was in them, and he was going to find out.

He looked both ways, making sure no one was watching this event, then quickly leaped over the railings, landing with a roll onto the ground near the trees. He climbed up a medium sized tree, perching himself onto a nearby branch and taking notice of the surrounding trees. He imitated a bird call, using both his hands. It might've just been a hawk or something, but Andrew thought otherwise. Nothing could come in through the forbidden forest, yet it was better to be safe than sorry.

Mariposa wanted to see Jeimy so badly right now. To spend time with her young charge, but apparently she had class right now, and when she got out Mariposa would have to go to class. The only time she would be able to see Jeimy would be during the weekend, and sometimes even that was impossible for them. Mariposa was always being pulled away by one of the girls, who wanted to "help" her act more like a girl. Why couldn't people just leave her alone, she didn't want to be more like a girl. She stopped momentarily in a tree and looked down at herself. What was so wrong with the way she dressed now?

She sighed softly to herself and only jumped one more tree when she hear someone make a bird call. She didn't want anyone to see her up in the tree right now, so she froze where she was behind the trunk of a tree, and she slowly looked on the side of said tree. Mariposa saw a boy down below on the ground and she turned back to her original position. What was she gonna go now? She had two options, return his bird call or she cold stay there not saying anything.

Without much thought she raised her hand to her mouth and she returned his bird call. Eventually he was going to see her so, Mariposa just made it a little easier and she stepped onto the other side of the tree and sat down on the branch. "Hello." she said softly, and she tried to smile at him.

Andrew continued to sit on the branch, keeping an eye on his surroundings. He must've spooked the creature, because almost immediately he couldn't hear any movement within the leaves. After a minute or so, he figured that it must've left, until he heard a returned bird call. It sounded man made, so he decided to further investigate. He let himself slide off the branch so that he was hanging onto it and flung himself back on forth on it. Then with a mighty thrust, he flung himself into the air, landing on another branch of a tree that sat nearby. He panted for a second, not being used to swinging around like this lately.

Then he noticed someone in the leaves. He couldn't make out the figure, but he could tell it was female. He jumped from branch to branch until he finally came close, then sat down on the branch. Now he waited. Then, she had moved onto another branch, thinking that she saw him else when in reality, he sat behind her. "Hello," he said in humorous manner as he kept to himself on the branch. "And what would a lovely lady like yourself be doing swinging around here?"