The Yule Ball, but Outside is Better (Satsuki)

Sora offered his arm to Satsuki, guiding her out the closest door and down to the Transfiguration Courtyard. It was quiet, with the snow blanketing the grass, but the walkways kept magically cleared. Almost like there was no one left in the world but the two of them...

"Is this okay? I don't want you to freeze, so we'll go back inside whenever you want," he said, worried about her clothing, as it wasn't exactly designed for cold weather. He would have offered his jacket, but it wasn't exactly designed to fit over an entire kimono.

"It's fine. I am used to cold actually," she replied. "Truth is, that my family was so ashamed of me, that I was forced to grow up at the north of my country in small village where winter was like ten months a year so I am fine in this weather," she explained as she looked up to stars.

"That's heavy," Sora commented, admiring the stars as well. "So I presume you are from Japan?" His inquiry was based off of appearance and name alone, so he could have easily been mistaken. He wondered why her parents would have been ashamed of her; she seemed like a nice girl, so it didn't make any sense. It wouldn't be right to ask, though. If she told him, that would be another story.

"Yes, unwanted kid, born into royal family outside of marriage," she almost hissed, her voice bitter. "Don't take me wrong, I love my country, I just hate my family," she added as she looked up to stars. She knew english well. At least good enough not to show her accent. After all she was sent here two years ago and wasn't home ever since.

Sora nodded, absorbing the girl's situation. Her life must be terrible, or had been... He wasn't sure, but he really didn't know how to ask that question. He could almost see the emotion on her words, and he knew it was a touchy subject as it was. Being a gentleman, and even just as a decent guy in general, he didn't want to push it any further.

"Are you enjoying your time at Hogwarts, at least?" he asked, hoping he wouldn't upset her more.

"It's fine. I got a chance to start fresh, so I am enjoying it. Sometimes I still think I should pick Slytherin in the Hatstall, but that's my only regret," she said, her voice dreamy and soft again. Like if the previous topic was forgotten. "But enough about me, who are you, stranger?" she asked with a smile.

"An orphan for life and a lover of knowledge who is uncomfortable in social settings," he replied, smiling widely at her. "I have nearly no money to my name and no home to go to over the summer, so I basically live in the library down the road from my orphanage. And yes, I know I'm a bit old to still be there, but I'm not technically old enough to go out on my own yet. Such is life."

After all these years, Sora had just come to accept it. He didn't hold a grudge against his parents, but he didn't care that they were dead either. Death is overall better than life, so he supposed it was for the best. He rarely thought about it, especially compared to the amount of time Satsuki appeared to dedicate to thoughts about her family.

Satsuki smirked. "And they say life is easy for kids," she said bitterly as she lied down to the snow. It was amazingly icy and she sometimes wished she could just lie there and freeze to death. Maybe it would be more peacefull than all the stupid problems her life was constantly bringing up.

"That's not uncomfortable...?" Sora asked, watching the girl lying in the snow. She seemed to enjoy it, although Sora had no idea how or why. It seemed the only thing for it was to give it a try himself, so he flopped down next to her.

The midway frozen precipitation soaked through to his skin almost immediately, freezing his back just as quickly. He didn't half mind it, although he definitely wouldn't be able to stay there for more than a few minutes. "Do you do this often?"

"When I have some time, yes. It's easy to get used to it. Snow calms me down," she said as she observed the stars again and again. "But I guess you have to do this more often to find beauty in it," she added after few long seconds of silnce.

"I'm assuming so," Sora replied, sitting up. There really wasn't much of a point in doing so, as he was already chilled to the bone and his clothes weren't going to dry any time soon. He nestled back into the snow, watching the few thin clouds travelling across the sky, always too transparent to block out the stars.

A random thought came into the Hufflepuff's head during this quiet time. "Satsuki, do you have any love interests, here or back home?" It was usually a harmless question, and it provided another path to getting to know this girl.