'A few more feet' she thought to herself.

She jumped over a few old fallen trees as she continued on. She knew she had no fear of freezing, after all, she had been prepared. She had a winter hat on that warmed her head, a blue matching scarf around her neck loosely, a white winter jacket, pants, and snow boots so she could move easily. Her hands, covered in mittens grasped onto the tree trunk as she jumped over another old tree.

Once she reached the lake, she sped up and stopped once she reached the shore. She hugged herself with a small smile, it was beautiful. She took in a deep breath and shivered with a small smile at how beautiful then environment was. It was Christmas time, and there she was in Britain alone. Her parents had gone on their own back towards America, leaving her alone during the Christmas season. She knew that she was now an adult, 20, but it was her first Christmas without them.

"You're stupid" she said to herself softly. "Get over it"

He shivered as he walked out to what was called the crystal lake. It would be frozen over now, probably with some snow on it. Humphrey Williams was an artist, and he had walked out here to try and paint it while frozen. As he approached, he noticed somebody at the shore just standing there. She had what looked to be a very thoughtful expression on her face. Then he heard her mutter something to herself, but he couldn't make out what it was.

So, Humphrey approached her, his boots crunching down onto the hard ground, snapping twigs. Once he was next to her he introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Humphrey. What's your name?" he asked her politely.

After he introduced himself, he took off the backpack he had been carrying his painting supplies in. He assembled what he would place the canvas on. It was a simple stand that was easy to assemble. Next, he fished out a blank canvas and placed it on the stand. All that was left to do was paint. As he pulled out his art supplies he realized he had come to the right place, the crystal lake in winter was absolutely breathtaking. Humphrey just hoped he could get it close enough to capture some of it, because he knew he would never be able to capture all of the beauty of this scene.

She immediately turned around as she heard someone coming. As she faced behind her she saw a boy, a young boy walking towards the Lake alone? Where were his parents, she wondered.

As he introduced himself she smiled slightly.

"I'm Tess" she replied.

She lifted her brow as he took out all his supplies and amusement rose through her. He was practicing to be an artist, and seeing him set up showed he was a some sort of expert.

"An artists are you?" she said smiling.

"Yea, you could say that. I don't think I'm that good though. Sometimes other people really like my stuff though, so I don't know. Maybe I'm just too hard on myself. I heard this was a beautiful spot to walk. Those are my favorite places to paint and sketch. It really is a beautiful lake, the prettiest I've seen." Humphrey said. Looking around the area, he decided to move over a little bit to the right, because of the lighting.

"Okay, I am going to move over here. The light is better from this angle. That is the key to a good painting, getting the right angle of natural lighting. If it is in the wrong place it throws everything off." he explained to her. "You don't mind if I start painting while we talk, do you?" Humphrey asked her.

Well wasn't he a bit quirky, she thought to herself with a smirk. She took a few steps back and admired the scenery as he got down to finding the right angle.

"No I don't mind" she said.

She looked out towards the lake and reminisced about her times here, when she was a child.

"So what do you like to do miss...umm, what is your last name? I feel weird just calling you by your first name since you are a little bit older than me." Humphrey said. "Wait, that came out wrong, I'm not saying you are old. You look like you are in your early twenties." he said, stumbling to make up for his word slip there.

"Seriously, though, you do look really young. Pretty, too, I think. I'm just a weird, geeky Ravenclaw who likes to paint." he told her.

Tess looked at him and raised her brow before she shook her head and laughed amused.

"I'm glad that you think I'm in my twenties when I am in fact twenty" she said smirking. "And I'm not that old, thank you very much, a proud graduate of Hogwarts three years ago"

Merlin this poor boy was sinking deeper and deeper in the awkwardness. She let it slide, for now about her age.

"Well, I'm Tess Black" she said. "You are Humphrey what?"

"Oh, really. For some reason you seemed a couple years older. Maturity maybe, I don't know." he said. "In case you didn't know I am a very awkward guy. Only have one friend at Hogwarts. Pretty lonely at the moment." Humphrey told her.

"Humphrey Williams Miss Black. If I say something just try to let it go, because it is most likely an accident. I haven't been able to talk much recently so speaking is a little rough right now for me." Humphrey told her. Then he shut his mouth before he messed up again. He started his painting of the crystal lake, and let the brushes do the talking for him.

"So, if you can still stand me, do you want to talk a while, you can look at my sketchbook. I always carry it on me." He pulled the small sketchbook out of his pocket and offered it to her.

Well quirky was the right word, she thought with a small smirk. Maturity, that was a new one, perhaps she needed more sleep if she looked older. Did she have wrinkles? She touched her cheek softly at the thought.

"Sure" she said taking his sketchbook lightly and looking at them.

His comment made her pout a bit at how little friends he had. She remembered how she being in Hogwarts herself had been too shy to take advantage of the people around her. And as she had graduated, she never had someone that had gotten too close, she'd never allowed it.

Looking at the sketches she noticed how lovely it looked and smiled.

"You are very talented" she said softly.

As she examined his sketchbook. He began to paint with his colored ink. It was a little bit like a cross between water colors and actual paint. Humphrey had noticed that painting with ink was tougher because you couldn't make mistakes, or it was a lot harder to fix them. Mixing green and blue, he stirred until he found the right color and a decent consistency. It was an ice blue, with a hint of sea green visible through the surface of the ice.

"Thanks, I've always loved drawing. Just started working more with painting. I prefer to do scenery, but I will do the occasional abstract piece of art. They never turn out the way I hope. Definitely better as an impressionist and just straight capture of a scene though." he explained to her what he was good at and bad at. It made more sense to him to work off a scene, and maybe add your impression of it, at least it did to him.

"You have any hobbies Miss Black?" Humphrey asked her. Maybe she was into art, or books, something like that. He just didn't know until he asked and she answered.

Tess looked away from the book and nodded. This boy was sure curious, but it brought some entertainment during the wintertime.

"Well, I used to have hobbies when I was younger" she said smiling nostalgically. "Before I got into my profession, at least in Hogwarts I remember, I was a bookworm. I loved all kinds of book and absorbed them like a sponge. I now read for my profession, but now in such a variety as I did when I was younger."

"You love books, hmm, interesting. Because I am a complete bibliophile. You should definitely start reading fun stuff if your leisure time. I read a little bit of everything, well, more like a lot of everything to be honest." Humphrey said, he was so excited to find another bookworm.

"What is your favorite book? If you can manage to pick just one. Or top two or three, if it is too difficult to pick one." he asked, very curious about what her answer would be. Would it be a Healer book, or a Charms book, or something more fun. He was excited to find out.

He was sure excitable, she thought with a small smile. She wrinkled her nose as she thought, something she used to do as a child and she sighed.

"I think that perhaps it'd be Inferno, the Divine Comedy." she explained "I know it's a Muggle book but I find myself indulging muggles' creativity. And I have a soft spot for any Shakespeare"

She remembered when she used to go to school with a Shakespeare book in her hands as she rushed from one class to another. Good times.

The adult wrinkled her nose in a very cute way. She really was very pretty, and it made him blush just a bit to think that about an older woman. "That wrinkle of your nose is pretty cute Tess. I'm sure all of the men your age go crazy about it."

"Hmm, Inferno, I've heard that is excellent. Still need to get a copy and read it though. My current list of books to read is starting to approach two-hundred now. Definitely well over one-hundred, probably closer to one-hundred and fifty. Ever-growing thing though." Humphrey said, smiling at the talk of books. Most people didn't know much about them, and in particular Muggle books like he grew up with. This adult did, though.

For some odd reason at that moment he remembered how sad she had looked when he first arrived. "Oh, I almost forgot. Is everything okay with you?" Humphrey asked gently. "When I first got here-well...you looked sad. Almost as if you were about to cry.

Tess laughed softly and shook her head at his comment. Honestly first he was calling her old and now this? He was quite amusing.

"Charming" she said lightly. "My book list is forever growing as well"

At the mention of his observations she shook her head. Honestly as if she was going to talk to a child about her thoughts.

"I was just thinking about America that is all" she replied.

He could tell that she was bemused by where the conversation had gone. Honestly he hadn't thought she was that old. Sometimes he just blurted out what was on his mind and it didn't come out the way he meant it to. "Charming, haven't heard that word in a while." Humphrey said, grinning at her. "Have you ever read The Trumpet of the Swan by C. S. Lewis. One of my all-time favorites."

Tess just blew his question off practically, he knew she wasn't going to tell him what was wrong. "I grew up in America, didn't move to Scotland until I was eight years old. All of my memories, well the important ones, are with my parents in America. Ohio was the state, such beautiful country. Edinburgh is really cool, but my aunt and uncle aren't very...social." he told her. It was fact, and maybe if he shared a bit about her he could convince her to talk.

"Look Tess, I know you view me as a quirky little kid. But, you have to talk to somebody. With all the reading I've done, on other subjects than just fiction books as well, I'm smarter than I appear. Sometimes my brain just goes faster than what my mouth can keep up with." Humphrey told her. Maybe, if he stayed serious, she would start to view him as more than just a kid. A friend, possibly, and Humphrey needed people to look up to and learn from.

Tess laughed softly and patted his shoulder lightly, thankful for his sweetness. Still, she moved a few strands behind her ear and smiled at the idea of America. It wasn't a complete lie, she was thinking of her parents in America and how they were without her.

"I have read it, it's pretty good, not one of my favorites, but lovely nonetheless" she replied to his question. "And that's sweet, thank you for offering, I'll gladly take a young friend on."

She winked and looked towards the lake. He was too young to know the complications that came with life, and who was she to ruin his innocence and joie de vivre. No she wasn't that cruel.

"I'm from California, well I was raised there" she said smiling.

She patted him on the back, almost in a way an older sister would pat a little brother. It made him smile a little bit, but also irritated at being treated like a kid. "My very favorite is probably The Iliad by Homer, with a Midsummer Night's Dream coming in second. Trumpet of the Swan ranks third on my list." he said, smiling widely. "Take a young friend on, you make it sound like a job Tess." Humphrey said, winking at her to let her know he was just teasing.

Tess was still looking at him like a little kid. It was time to let her know he had deal with tough things too. "My parents died when I was eight you know. So it isn't like I haven't dealt with hard things in my life. I was at a Basketball practice, a muggle sport, and the muggle police came and told me they were killed in a car accident. I still don't know what to do without them. The aunt and uncle who took me in were my only family. They are very impersonal people. So, I turned to books for guidance, it's a poor substitute for a set of parents." Humphrey told her, tearing up while thinking about them.

"California, that is great. Sounds a lot more fun than Ohio." he said, grinning just a tad despite his tear-stained cheeks.

Tess pulled her hand back and looked towards the lake taking in all his information. Honestly, she didn't see why this child, would open up so willingly, it took guts, but it also took naivety. Ravenclaw, she saw, clearly not something they were known for, perhaps it was the Slytherin pride in her that thought this and she shook her head.

"Hm..no I haven't had time to read those, that is the Iliad and Trumpet of the Swan. But yes, I know all of Shakespeare's work" she commented.

Her voice faltered at him just talking so much about something so private. Sighing she hugged herself tighter and cleared her throat before answering.

"I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for your loses. But while you have suffered, and I'm sorry for that, I simply wanted some time to think, think about my family. That is all, and please, I know you want to know, but it's just part of my personality to keep things to myself. I am not an open book"

She sighed curled one of her strands of hair, as she did when she was thinking.

This lady, Tess, was clearly not one to talk about things this personal. He could see that, and it made him sad. Often this happened to people as they got older, they became more closed off. Internalized whatever it was they were going through. In Humphrey's opinion, he didn't really think it helped that much.

"Well, if you get a chance, I'd say go read them. The Trumpet of the Swan is considered a kid's story by some, but it can be read by all ages. Of course Iliad is meant for everybody. All of it, wow, if you had to choose one of his works, which would be your favorite?" Humphrey asked her, very curious now as to which she liked the most. He'd only read a couple Shakespeare works so far, but he'd loved them.

He watched as she sighed, and hugged herself. Then she cleared her throat, and said the polite thing. Sorry for your loss and all that. "Thanks, and I understand that. I wasn't planning on talking to anybody either. That is one of the reasons I came out to places like this actually, to think, and just paint away my emotions onto the canvas. Most of the time it helps." he said quietly.

Deciding to do something he had never done, he stepped in front of Tess. Humphrey Williams had never tried to intimidate a point into a girl before, but he did this time. "Listen, I know you said you don't want to talk about what happened to you. That is perfectly fine, but let me give you a word of advice. Don't bottle it up, let it out. Doesn't have to be to me, but you can't keep those words written on your pages closed to everybody. If you do, it will just end up hurting you. I tried to do that, and when I started opening up, even just a little, it helped." Humphrey told her, trying to sound older than he was. Next, he gave her a light hug, and then went back to his canvas. Let her think on that.

"Sorry, just had to say that." Humphrey said, after a solid two minutes of working on his painting in silence.