Wandering Around Finished

May had spent all of her free time here. And she had a lot of free time due to the fact that she hadn’t done nearly any work. Every time that she had sat down and tried it reminded her that this was real, and that she couldn’t go back. She was permanently embedded in a world that she hadn’t even believed in a few days prior. The homework reminded her that May’s mother sent her here with no proof that this was a real place and that she was likely tying to leave her, just like her father had. She was spiralling. May started to tear up. No. She wasn’t going to go to that place in her head again.

Stepping stones. That’s what she did when she needed to concentrate and not think about her life. May squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath, and started out onto the rocks over the water. This was the main reason she came here. She had gotten good and hopping from one stone to another, despite it's slipperiness.

When May was on the farthest rock out there she could, May crouched down and picked at the algae. The early moonlight was gorgeous on the rippling water and the area around the lake was empty to May’s knowledge. It was a comforting feeling, thinking nobody was there to judge you or be there if she made a fool of herself.

Now was the perfect time. May smiled gleefully, there was another clump of rocks just out of there small girl’s comfortable reach. May had put off trying to jump in fear that someone would see her slip or something. It couldn’t be that deep. May stood up, preparing herself to leap across the moonlit water.

Nova suddenly turned, splashing some of the water around her ankles to the damp grass above, realizing that she was not alone at the lake. She saw, not much farther down the lake from where she was standing, another girl. The girl began to hop on each rock with such balance and grace that Nova wondered if she was in an older year and practicing some sort of spells. No, there is no spell to help a witch or wizard fly unaided. I know that. Nova remembered her father telling her.

Nova walked over to where the girl had started her stepping stone journey and peered down at the slippery rocks below. Why not? Nova thought, pretending she hadn't broken countless bones over the years from jumping into activities she was ill-prepared for. Who cares, no one knows I'm a klutz here... Nova's smile quickly turned upside down as she felt her toes slipping against the slick rocks. ...yet

Nova could not regain her balance whatsoever, but somehow managed to jump from one rock to the next at lightning speed--her toes only lasted a few seconds on each rock before she managed to propel herself forward to another rock instead of face-first into the cold lake. She didn't even realize where she was headed until her hands landed on the back of the girl she had originally been looking at, bumping into her before Nova fell down onto the rocks with a thud. Luckily, Nova didn't fall into the lake, but her robes were a little wet and the palms of her hands got pretty scraped up.

"I'm so sorry-" Nova began, before the other girl even turned around.

May didn’t hear the girls footsteps behind at all. The little sound she did hear was the water lapping up against the algae covered rocks. May was about to jump when the girl collided with her. May hit the water face first with nothing more then a small yelp before she was under the water. May greatly underestimated the depth of the lake. She tried reach the bottom with her toes to easily push her back up, but it was to far down to reach, and May was now fairly deep underwater for no good reason. The long, thick robe didn’t necessarily help either. May started to swim upwards, but with every attempt her robe contradicted it with much more force.

May had never properly learned to swim. She could stay afloat for a short amount of time before touching the bottom again. That’s when she realized it was such a stupid idea to come out here. And that she was stupid for underestimating the water levels. May started to panic. She let out a stream of bubbles as she tried to swim up.

That wasn’t working. May opened her eyes to a dark, slightly green tint. She was still sinking, at a slower pace now, but sinking nonetheless. Swimming wasn’t working. She looked around, starting to get light-headed. That’s when her problem solving senses kicked in. She was standing on a rock that apparently was the equivalent of very long column by measure of the lake. She started to climb up the rock. It was slow, but more efficient then swimming upward. However, she lost a lot of oxygen and energy to her fight against the current that pulled her down. May was much closer to the surface now, but everything ached and felt weak. She was dizzy and she couldn’t see anything between the blurriness of the lake, and her vision dimming. Not having any air in her affected her bouency. She couldn’t see where she was putting her hands and feet as she climbed. Between all these problems it was hard to look at anything positively.

May was very close to the surface now, but her hands and feet lost their grip on the rock, and all the factors were against her as she started to sink downward, now almost completely unconscious

Stupid, stupid, idiot, those were May’s last thought before she blacked out.

"OH MY GOD," Nova screamed, realizing as the girl she just ran into was scrambling for a breath. Can she not swim? Or float? Has she never been in water before? Nova frantically thought before throwing off her robe and diving in. The girl seemed to have blacked out completely, and felt like a dead weight in the water. Mother always said I should be beyond excellent at swimming, not just excellent... Nova thought as she gasped for air while lugging the girl back to the shore of the lake.

After what seemed like eternity, Nova finally made it back to the lake, her clothes soaking wet and strings of hair covering her entire face. She kept huffing and gasping, still out of breath from the trek of carrying the girl over. Finally when she felt like she caught enough breath to think, she turned back to the girl and put her ear over the girl's mouth.

"Please breathe, please breathe," Nova whispered with eyes shut tight, concentrating hard on hearing any sort of breath. The girl let out a gasp and Nova shrieked and jumped back, her face having been so close to the other girl who she still didn't know the name of, and immediately fell back into the lake. Luckily it was by the shore, so the water only reached her knees, and honestly the water felt nice on her scraped up palms. Quickly regaining her balance, Nova shoved all the wet strands of hair from her face and stood up, feeling one hundred tons heavier from her clothes being soaking wet. She looked with wide eyes at the girl.

"Are-are you alright?" Nova said hesitantly.

May awoke with a gasp, spitting out lake water onto the ground beside her. She was soking wet, and her small body could barely hold herself under the cloak that was already to big for her and was now soaking wet. After another minute of gagging up water, May turned to her savior/pusher. She vaguely remembers seeing her at the sorting ceremony or through the halls why passing through classes. She was very beautiful in a simple way. With long light brown hair and a soft face.

May wasn’t really sure how to feel. If she was Josephine she would have been angry at the girl, and if she was Amanda she would have likely gotten up and started playing a game. May was embarrassed to admit it to herself, but she felt kind of like a princess. May had never felt that way before in her life. She gazed fondly at the girl in front of her before remembering that she was asked a question, and nearly drowned.

“I-I’m sorry!”, May squeaked. She said that so often these days, always screwing up in one way or another. “I’m so stupid!”, May groaned before falling back on her back, sitting up was just to much effort. May hit herself on the head, where she had so many times that a bruise has formed there.
Damnit! I haven’t even answered her question!, May thought bitterly.

“Y-yeah. I’m fine. Oh god, I’m so sorry. But, thank you. Like I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t there. I mean I probably wouldn’t have fallen in the lake-but that’s not what I-I mean!”, May said in flurry of mismatched “sentences”.

“What I mean is, I’d probably still be in the lake now without your help.” May said quietly, timidly sitting up to make eye contact. May even smiled a bit, which has been a rare occasion during her time at Hogwarts.

Nova took time to observe the goal. Her short hair clung to her face in a sweet way. Her skin was darker than the average Brit, reminding Nova of her mom's olive skin. Yet this girl did not look Iranian, but must be something besides English. Nova arched her brow at the girl sputtering out sentences awkwardly. This is not what I expected... Nova thought, but then again, what was she expecting from a girl looking at algae out on the lake. And I'm the one who almost drowned her, after all...

And right then, Nova began to laugh. And not just any laugh, an almost insane giggle. She couldn't stop herself, and she didn't even know why she was laughing. She could see the other girl looking strangely at her, after spitting out a string of never-ending apologies, and all Nova could do was laugh?

Nova finally caught her breath again and regained some of her composure. "Um yeah, my bad, seriously." Nova ran a hand through her hair, trying to shake off the excess water. Nova exhales a long sigh.

"So, my name's Nova. Nova Hamidi. Nova Anahita Hamidi if you're being technical," Nova grins, and extends a hand to the girl, hoping the girl will not only shake her hand but also use her for support so she can stand upright again.

May looked at the girl awkwardly. Everybody was so different. Nearly drowning in a lake had caused May's mind to analyze all the possible responses. She might've gotten a scolding, or someone would've insisted she had to go to the Hospital Wing. But laughing? It wasn't one she expected. The stream of giggles eventually ended and the girl introduced herself, and offered her hand.

May cautiously took her hand and stood up. She got immediately more dizzy, and her robes sagged. She dropped her robes off her shoulders and on to the sandy beach. She was so unsteady that she stumbled into Nova, her hands awkwardly bent up between the two. She pushed herself back, her face flushed red.

"I'm sorry! I'm just a little d-dizzy.", May stammered awkwardly. "I-I'm May.". May was standing somewhat awkwardly, her legs shoulder width apart, bent knees, and her arms slightly out, trying to maintain her balance. She must've looked so stupid. Can't decently swim, and now can't even stand. May hit herself on the head with her right hand. She started inch back to a normal standing position.

"May Lluvia." Her last name meant rain in Spanish. She was told her great-great-grandmother legally changed her last name, after conflict with her family, dividing her line from the rest. Thinking about it made her smile. May Rain. She was always fond of the pitter patter of rain, it distracted her.

She was so unsteady that she stumbled into Nova, her hands awkwardly bent up between the two.

Nova held the girl's arms steady, trying to balance her. Looks like I really messed up, didn't I... probably should take her to the nurse's, right? The girl pushed off of Nova, finally standing on her own, albeit somewhat awkwardly.

"I-I'm May... May Lluvia."

Nova smiled. "Nice to meet you, May," Nova said sweetly, tilting her head in pity at the poor girl still struggling to retain her balance. Lluvia... that's Spanish right? Nova thought to herself, trying to recall the tiny bit of Spanish she picked up while visiting Madrid with her family. My mother was giving a lecture, but halfway through my father and I got bored, so we went outside... but it was raining... and someone yelled something to us, what was it? They were motioning for us to go back inside, saying "Está lloviendo! Está lloviendo! Vuelve Adentro!" Lloviendo... Lluvias... I guess that means rain? I think?

"Lluvia... does that mean rain?" Nova said with a hesitant smile. "I don't speak a ton of Spanish, but my family traveled a lot because my mother had lectures all over the world, and so I visited Spain enough to pick up some Spanish. And France for French, and then my mother taught me German and Persian as well, but I'm still not as good as I should be at those," Nova spoke quickly, trying to provide a reasonable defense in case her translation was incorrect.

May's eyes lit up at Nova's knowledge. Living in England, May has come across few who even know hints of Spanish. May smiled. The girl seemed to be very smart, and those languages were difficult to learn. I'm surprised she's not in Ravenclaw, May thought to herself. She wished to herself that Nova was in Ravenclaw with her.

"Yeah! That's right! I don't think I've come across many people who even know how to say 'good morning', in Spanish. I've never traveled much. Or at all really. Gas, or planes were much too expensive.", May said quietly. Money was a sensitive topic for her, and she has really never opened up about it, so even this was a big step for her.

"But I've always wanted to!", May said, her eyes sparkling. "I've always wanted to go to Mexico, to meet my extended family. I don't have any cousins, on my mom's side, but I have plenty on my...", May choked on her words. She broke eye contact with the girl, looking down at her feet, shifting her weight in the muddy shore. "I-I think I might have some second cousins on my Mom's side.", May said, picking up before she had started to mention her..dad. May smiled back at Nova, her eyes slightly watery, but hardly noticeable. She hadn't felt so comfortable talking to someone during her whole stay at Hogwarts.

I guess the whole, 'saving me from drowning' thing builds some trust, May thought to herself, laughing the tiniest bit aloud.