Jamie sat on one of the benches in the courtyard, legs crossed and a book on her lap as the fire in the jar gave her warmth in the cool air. Jamie loved the soft, cool breeze that brushed over her skin, though it was quite chilly outside and she was completely drowning in clothing - scarf, uniform with extra layers, thick woollen socks, stocking and her gloves. Though the gloves definitely made it a lot harder to turn the pages of the book that was settled comfortably on her lap.

She was reading a book on magical creatures, and was currently fascinated with a page on hippogriff's. The creatures looked adorable, and once you gained their trust they would forever be your loyal companion. However, they were highly dangerous and you had to have a permit to own a hippogriff. She turned the page with much difficulty and continued her reading.

Humphrey walked out to the courtyard wrapped up very warmly. It was cold outside, and he had dressed accordingly. He had on a big fluffy hat, a coat, scarf, gloves, boots, and thick socks. A lot of times people wouldn't come outside when it was this cold, but he was never one to follow the norm. For some reason he felt like getting outside, and he'd brought his book with him. The book was a mystery by a muggle author named Charles Dickens called The Bleak House, it was good so far.

Surprisingly, there was somebody else out here. She was reading too, and he recognized the Hufflepuff from his year. "Hello Jamie, how are you? Didn't expect to find anybody else out here since it's so cold. What are you reading there?" Humphrey asked. He took a seat next to her on the bench, hoping she wouldn't mind. They hadn't talked in a while, but she was a pretty friendly person.

Jamie was reading about something called a puffskein and desperately wanted one of them. The picture made her almost squeal at the adorable and she felt a smile spread on her features as she raised her hand to her mouth. She grabbed her glove with her teeth and yanked it off, ignoring how cold her hand was so she could turn the page properly. She shoved her hand into her pocket to keep it warmed and sighed in contentment as she continued to read about the different creatures.

What had captivated her attention once more though was reading about hippogriff's. She turned back to the page they were on and read it as thoroughly as possible, soaking up the information. Her head snapped up as she heard someone approaching and smiled as Humphrey approached. He was nice. She watched as he sat beside her and her eyes briefly flickered to his book, then back to his eyes. "I like the cold, though it's not nice to be freezing, hence the fire," she pointed to the jar on the ground by her feet that was projecting warmth around them. "I'm reading about magical creatures, hippogriff's to be exact. You like Charles Dickens?" She asked, pointed to his book.

She was bundled up and had a fire in a jar at her feet. The flame let off a nice warmth around them, and it made it not quite as cold as the rest of the area, which was nice. He noticed that she had one hand glove-less so she could turn the pages properly, and smirked a bit. It was good seeing somebody just sitting outside reading, not a lot of people did that.

The cold air was invigorating, it made him feel alive. He'd always loved cold weather, especially when you got snow. Having snowball fights and going sledding had been some of his best memories growing up as a kid. "Yea, I like the cold too. That is a nice fire, smart of you to make it." Humphrey told her, smiling. "Sounds interesting, I love learning about magical creatures. Growing up as a muggle, it's cool to learn about animals that you'd never even dreamed of existing. Dickens is one of my favorite authors, his stuff is excellent." he said. He'd always been into classic authors, and Dickens was one of the best.

Jamie was glad that she'd taken the time to study how to make a portable fire in the library - it was sure coming in handy now, taking some of the bite out of the cool air but leaving enough to make her feel alive and happy. She hated being in stuffy, hot weather, and much preferred to be in the cold weather. She'd always had a slight preference for the cold.

Her body was easily accustomed to it as well, considering she lived on a farm which didn't have the greatest weather. That, and she also lived in Britain which was a country known for being cold, so she just loved the cold and was accustomed to it. Plus, cold weather = rain, rain = snow, she grinned. Jamie adored snow more than anything else that came with cold weather. Jamie blushed. "Thanks Humphrey, but I just got a library out the book and studied how to do the spell. I could teach you some time." She said in a slightly flustered tone at being called 'smart'. "Oh yes, magical creatures are awesome! You're a muggle-born too? Cool." She grinned lightly. "I've never really read his stuff, I prefer stuff like detective books."

A lot of people didn't like cold weather, but Humphrey had never really minded it. One of the nice things was you could always put on extra layers to warm up. He loved the snow too, and couldn't wait to see some. Snowball fights, building snowmen, sledding, all of those were a lot of fun to do.

It was fun sitting out here and talking with a friend, he hadn't seen Jamie in a while and it was nice to catch up. Humphrey promised to himself to make more time for his friends in the future. "That would be great, it seems like a pretty useful one." he said, and smiled. "They really are, I'd love to see a dragon sometime personally. Yea, I'm a muggleborn. Are you alright Jamie? I heard about that kid calling you a bad name the other day." Some people had it out for muggleborns, a stupid prejudice. "Detective books are good too. I read a bit of everything, really."

Jamie's favourite thing about cold weather was the snow, she thought to herself with a smile. The way the snowflakes would sprinkle down, each a little different from the next, so unique and beautiful. They would layer the ground in a thick, white blanket for children to run around and play in. She loved playing in the snow with her twin, and riding in the snow was also very fun.

She felt her face fall slightly as she thought about riding, and it brought back the pain of missing her horse so much. Her horse was her confidant, and she missed him while she was away at school. She smiled at Humphrey though. "It was a great book, really good for beginners. I could show you later?" She suggested. Her face lit up at the mention of a dragon. "So would I! I reckon seeing an Australian Opaleye would be amazing, they're very beautiful according to this book." Jamie looked down as he mentioned the mudblood incident. "I'm fine," she shrugged her shoulders. "I like Oliver Twist by Dickens."

Another thing that Humphrey loved about the snow was how beautiful it made everything. Ordinary scenes became picturesque with a blanketing of snow. He loved painting it, even though he had to bundle up tightly. Now he thought about it, he hadn't painted something in a while, too busy for it. He promised to himself to make time for it.

Humphrey noticed that Jamie seemed to sadden for a moment. Hopefully he hadn't said anything to upset her. "I would appreciate it Jamie, thanks. Always helpful to learn more useful spells." he said, smiling at her. She immediately cheered up when he said the word dragon. "Personally I think I would want to see a Hungarian Horntail, they are supposed to be one of the most dangerous species." It would be amazing to see one, he hoped he would be able to some day. He felt bad when she looked down after he mentioned it. "Sorry for bringing it up. I probably shouldn't have." he apologized. "Oliver Twist is a good one. As far as detective books though, I do love The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes."