Summer Camp Cabin ‘Lakeside’ Cabin PV Cl.

Time seemed to fly by so quickly. It only seemed like yesterday that Saskia first arrived in Hogwarts. But now, here she was, already having passed the first year of school and moving on to summer break. On normal circumstances, she would take the time to visit her family. More specifically, her father and her sister, Tamara. Her sister would be taking a break from her tutoring sessions, and while her father would still be at work, he would try to take more time off to take care of Tamara, especially since her mother was so busy with her own job. But she figured she could at least stay in Hogwarts and see what was there before she went back.

Thinking about her mother's absence, Saskia heaved a sigh. She shouldn't have been so disappointed that her mother wouldn't even try visiting her family at all. Saskia was used to having her be mostly unavailable in her life, but as much as she didn't want to admit it, it hurt knowing her mother couldn't even afford to stay for at least one day. Maybe she shouldn't have blamed her. Her job could have been stressful, especially considering she was constantly travelling. But there was another part of her that was aggravated. Couldn't she at least take the effort? It was always like this. Once in a blue moon, when she would visit, she'd tell her that she'd be back soon. That one day, she would stay for more than a day. And every time, the girl would get her hopes up until she realized that all her words were just falsities. Fallacies meant to cover up the inevitable truth. That was what really hurt.

It wasn't like Saskia to think so much about this. But ever since she started the investigation, she couldn't stop pondering on the possibilities. Would her mother even be related to any of that? It was laughable in theory, but it was very possible. And if it was possible, then she could cling onto that until she could find something else to think about.

Fortunately, there were other things that could put Saskia's mind to rest. One of the more notable ones was summer camp. She hadn't been to any kind of camp before, which made it all the more exciting to discover what it could be about. It sounded fun, and it gave her an opportunity to meet more people, and maybe some new friends. Plus, it was a nice way to take her mind off some of the stress she had from the end of the school year.

Carrying her trunk with her, Saskia walked towards the boat, which she presumed was where the cabins were. It was odd, thinking about having everyone all cooped up in one single boat, though she didn't have a problem with that. Boats were alright, and being able to see the ocean from where she was sleeping would have been really cool.

Once she entered the boat, she scanned around the narrow hallways, seeing which rooms were available. So far, she had no clue on which cabins were taken and which ones weren't, and while she didn't mind going over to each cabin to confirm that fact, it was too time consuming and overall inconvenient.

And so, the Hufflepuff walked onwards, dragging her trunk behind her. It wasn't long before something caught her eye. Two things, to be more specific. A surprisingly detailed drawing of a lake was pasted on one of the cabin doors, and near the drawing was a message that read: Cabin Lakeside open, only three spots left. Cabin Lakeside, huh? Well, that already got her curiosity, that's for sure.

The first thing Saskia noticed after opening the door was a girl by the top of one of the bunk beds, engrossed in a book she was reading. She didn't want to be rude by interrupting the girl's reading, but she had to call her attention somehow.

"Hello," she began, hoping that would get the girl to listen to her. She stepped closer in the room, still looking at the girl. "Do you mind if I join you?"

[quote]
Katrina looked up to see a Hufflepuff she didn’t recognize enter the room.

“Oh” Katrina exclaimed, “Um, sure you can join. No one else has yet.” Katrina checked the page number and closed her book. Trying not to tumble over her words Katrina spoke, “I’m Katrina. What is your name?”

Katrina slid off the top bunk and grabbed a quill from her wire basket. She opened the door and scratched out ‘3’ and put ‘two spaces left’. Returning to her bunk, she slipped the quill into the handy bin. Katrina saw the letter and sighed, so much for keeping it out of her mind.

During the middle of March Katrina had received that letter. It had informed her that a horrible fire had destroyed her house and her parents where not found. Liam, her unusually close brother to her, had been sent to the hospital. She would stay at her aunts for Spring Break, but she would have to stay at Hogwarts over the summer- for the rest of her family didn’t want her.

Katrina wouldn’t think of that though. “So, why are you staying for the summer?” Katrina addressed the new person. Katrina was determined to stay positive this summer, that also meant being social.

Lamik felt a bit conflicted. On one hand, the boy had waited quite a while to go back home- see his mum and dad, his little sister, his muggle friends. He couldn't wait to get his hands back on his computer and phone or have a room to himself at night for once. On the other hand, the summer break was extremely long and there seemed to be some interesting activities waiting for students who decided to stay. Evidently, Lamik chose to stay, at least for a bit. However, walking towards the boat with his suitcase in hand, the boy couldn't help but wonder if he chose wrong.

Lamik was snapped out of his concern though when he saw a familiar figure entering the boat. With a bright smile, he started sprinting towards the entrance, suitcase in hand. As he boarded it and peered inside, he saw the girl entering the door of one of the many bunks. Lamik walked through the hall and stopped when he was by it, only opening the door a few moments later- not even noticing the sign. "Saskia! Wanna share a-" He stopped when he saw another girl that he didn't know and waved at her cheerfully. "Hi!"

[quote]”Hi, sure we have room if you want to join our cabin.” Katrina addressed Lamik’s unfinished question. Katrina turned and gestured to the empty bunks behind her. She tore the paper from the door and tossed open a corner.

“Um, I would rather keep our room as clean as possible. ” Katrina felt color rise to her cheeks as she picked the paper back up and took a small basket from her trunk. She realized she was being hypocritical and again felt extremely socially awkward. “I believe this would make a decent rubbish bin.” Katrina spoke while tossing the crumpled paper into the bin.

“Oh, I also registered our cabin. But that also means that we can be pranked.” Katrina said with a glimmer in her eyes, “And prank other cabins.” Katrina may seem like the quiet and shy one, and she is. But when she makes friends, she trusts them completely. She is also a prankster, not that many people know. If you loose as of your socks at some point, only to find them all under your bed, it’s not the sock monster, it is Katrina. If you walk into your room to find everything coated in streamers, that was probably Katrina. If you take a bite of what looks like cake, and it turns out to be a frosting coated sponge, that again- was probably Katrina.

Katrina shook herself from reminiscing over previous pranks and brought herself back to earth. “We should plan some pranks, here” Katrina took a paper from her trunk and wrote on it, ‘Prank ideas:’, “I can leave this out and when we get ideas, we can write them here. Do either of you know a spell or something to hide this where only we can see it?”

“Lets head down to the lake. I heard there was an area for us to swim down there. We can meet back here later.” Katrina proposed that new idea while packing her things. She stuffed in her bathing suit and other necessities. “I also heard that there was a barbecue for lunch. I’m going to head out, see you later!” Katrina was so excited, but stayed in case they wanted to say anything before she was off.

Saskia was about to answer the girl's question when someone came bursting through the door. Upon seeing who it was, the Hufflepuff broke into a grin. She didn't expect Lamik to come over for summer camp, but she wasn't exactly complaining either. He was one of the more consistent friends she made over the school year, and seeing him again considerably brightened her day. If she was lucky enough, she'd be able to spend more time with him over the course of the summer camp, not including the fact that they would be together in the same cabin.

"Hey, Lamik. And yeah, we can share a bunk together, if that's what you were asking. You can decide which bunk bed you want."

She then turned her attention to the other girl, whose name was Katrina. "As he said, I'm Saskia. It's nice to meet you. And don't worry, we'll try not to set the cabin on fire," she joked.

Saskia's eyes lit up at the mention of pranking. It was a long time since she could actually pull off some mischief, especially considering how strict the rules could be at Hogwarts. The last time she made a prank, it was with her sister. Saskia was bored at the time, and she wanted to see how her sister would react. The prank may have gone overboard and had resulted in her father having to fix the mess, but it was still a success in her book. Of course, there was still room for improvement, and the idea of pranking would definitely make summer camp more interesting.

Saskia looked over at the paper Katrina was writing on as the girl talked about planning pranks. "Yep, that sounds like a good idea. There might be a spell to make the paper invisible, but it's not something that we're taught until later on," she replied, frowning to herself. "In the meantime, we can try to hide it somewhere no one else would know about or be able to access."

"That sounds good too. I'll finish unpacking and we can catch up with you at the lake or barbecue, whichever one you go to," she said, going over to the other bunk and placing her trunk on the floor, trying to sort out everything that was in there.

Katrina entered her cabin in her pajamas wringing out her hair, still wet from a shower. She noticed how unadorned the cabin really was. She reached into her trunk and found her old string lights, she was startled when they actually turned on. She went about the room attaching the lights along the ceiling and wrapping the rest around her bunk bed. Much better. What else shall I do? Katrina snatched some paper from her trunk and carefully tore it into four pieces and folded the edges so they were clean. Then she taped on to each of the beds- top and bottom. On hers, she wrote ‘Katrina’ and decorated it with intricate trees. Those would tell who’s bed belonged to who’s.

Katrina set out her blankets and fluffed her pillow. The room looked much better now. She took the photo and letter out of her wire basket and fastened them to her wall, so she could remember home. She then took out a brush and began to attack the horrible tangles left in her hair. Now this room really seems like a summer camp room. I wonder how Saskia and Lamik will react.

Katrina hopped down from the bed and looked in her trunk. What would they do tonight? Katrina figured they would probably just talk. We should plan pranks tonight! I can’t wait to surprise another cabin! Who should we target first? Katrina sat on the floor pondering about many things.

Lamik almost yelled from excitement when he was invited to join them. The boy rested his suitcase in the bottom bunk across from Saskia and flopped onto the bed, wiggling around a bit. When he heard about the pranks, his excitement subsided a bit. Surprisingly enough, Lamik was not a prankster. A mischief-maker at times, sure- but pranks weren't really his thing. When the boy broke the rules or did something of the sorts there was usually something specific that he wanted to get out of it. That wasn't to say that he wouldn't prank anyone, of course. If someone forced his hand he would definitely do his best to get back at them, so the boy wasn't completely against the idea.
"Sure. Pranks are fine."

When the lake was mentioned Lamiks eyes lit up again for just a few moments before a frown formed across his face. "I don't have a swimsuit. Didn't think I would need it for school." Lamik loved swimming- the feeling of diving through the water sometimes felt like flying. "But just sitting out by the lake would be nice, I think." He imagined resting for the next few months- no homework, no school, just fun and family and friends.


LATER THAT NIGHT

Lamik entered their room wearing a t-shirt and some sweat pants. He too had showered, but unlike his roommate, the boy wasn't a fan of pajamas. The soon to be second year was extremely tired, and barely even noticed the decorations when he came in, instead just letting himself fall onto his bed with a grunt.

[quote]
Lamik entered the room and flopped on his bed. Katrina wondered if he would be awake for much longer. Maybe Saskia would want to talk. Katrina hoped not, another awkward conversation in the dark would be uncomfortable - last time that happened she had made a fool of herself. She mentally shook herself, she needed to be more social. Maybe they could become friends. She decided that the string lights would cast enough light to keep her awake, she would try her best to be friendly.

She had heard today that someone she met this last year would join them on the 15th, Thora Larkston. Last time they had met Katrina was a total wreak, that was when she had just heard about the fire. I promised myself I wouldn’t think about that.

They should plan some pranks, but Lamik didn’t seem to excited about that though. They only had three, maybe he would lighten up; Katrina’s plans weren’t that extravagant. She wondered what the other cabins were plotting.What would they do? Would Katrina be surprised?Who’s prank would be better?

Katrina found herself lost in her thoughts again, it kept happening since the event. She reached across the bed and grabbed her book from this morning. So much had happened today since this morning She had been at the BBQ and mostly just watched people then she went and swam in the lake, until Charlotte got her foot hurt and passed out- then Katrina had left and spent the rest of the day alone. Katrina didn’t mind being alone, but she did want some friends this summer.

Again, Katrina was neck deep in thoughts, she opened the book and began to read. She didn’t really soak in what she was reading, just moved her eyes side to side. Katrina soon gave up and made a similar motion as Lamik did earlier- flopped on the bed. Maybe she would do an errand tomorrow, that could be fun.

Night was approaching, which meant that Saskia had to go back in the cabin. Today was rather uneventful, and nothing in particular stood out to the girl. There was the barbecue event and the lake, but it was mostly a chance to meet other people rather than do anything exciting. Saskia herself wasn't averse to making new friends, although for the most part, she ended up spending most of the day alone. Everyone else already had their own people to talk to, and while she could gather up the courage to join in some conversations, she felt it was better to take this opportunity to explore on her own. The campgrounds was a place that was still relatively unknown to her, and in these kinds of situations, it was helpful to figure out the layout of the place and get used to where everything was, in case she didn't want to get lost for the next event.

After taking a shower, Saskia changed into a shirt and a pair of shorts. She wasn't planning on going to bed just yet, and with the lack of a curfew (or at least that was what she heard about), she decided she would use that chance to explore the campgrounds again, this time, without having so many other people around and worrying about what the professors would think if she wandered off too far.

Still, she had to let her cabin mates know that she was leaving in the first place. It was the polite thing to do, and they had the right to know where she was. If they had other plans in mind, she would have also needed to stay behind if she needed to. Katrina did say they may have been planning pranks, though she didn't know when exactly the girl would want to plan them out.

Walking back in the cabin, the first thing Saskia noticed was the string of bright lights that hung around the ceiling and Katrina's bunk bed. The girl raised her eyebrows as she tried to take the rest of the scenery in. There were also some pieces of papers that were attached to the sides of the bunk beds, which she also noticed that one of them had already been labelled with Katrina's name. Saskia would probably have to label her bunk bed as well, but she figured she would want to do that later when she got back.

She had assumed the decorations may have been Katrina's idea, considering how the lights surrounded her part of the bunk bed, although she wasn't sure if Lamik had also taken a part in it. He did seem exhausted, which made that possibility unlikely, unless he was tired from having to help out with the decorations. But right now, they both seemed caught up in their own things. They were both in their bunk beds, and Katrina was also reading a book. It was safe to say that there wouldn't be anything planned tonight.

"So, I'm going to be heading out for a while. If you need me, you can find me outside somewhere, probably," Saskia said, hopefully loud enough that they heard her. It may have been something she needed to do a bit more often, especially with how Katrina seemed easily distracted by whatever she was reading.

Turning to the girl, Saskia added, "And nice decorations by the way, Katrina. They're really cool." She gave the girl a smile before turning back towards the door and walking out.

-Saskia Nicholson has left the thread unless she needs to be stopped-