Shadows at the Shore. PV Edwin Westbridge Finished

The choice to wear his blanket as a makeshift cloak was a decision that Edwin would quickly come to regret. Despite it being a thick blanket, it poorly covered the boy, the winds causing it to flutter back, only really offering his shoulders protection against the cool winds of November. However, he was not one to complain about something like the tempreature, instead he continued to trudge on after Meiyu, making no effort to soften his footsteps despite the late hour.

His attention had began to wander, staring off into the distance aimlessly as they continued their journey down towards the lake, not particularly paying attention to where it was he was being lead before a whisper from Meiyu disrupted the silence. He offered a small nod of agreement, before quickly realising that she would not be able to see that. After a moments delay, he whispered back, "Actually quite nice to be out, cool to see this place when it's so quiet. Though, bit too cold compared to the common room." His volume trailed off as he complained about the weather, potentially too quiet for Meiyu to even hear.

"That's the impression you got?" He snorted at her claim of him being someone who 'acted like they belonged to the shadows', not entierly sure how he'd lead her to that conclusion. "You found me snoring away in a common room full of people, and surmised that I 'belonged to shadows?' His tone was light hearted, finding the suggestion more funny than anything, but despite the light hearted tone, there was a slight edge to his tone, as if he did actually want to hear an answer to why he'd came across in such a manner. Whilst they hadn't far to walk, he practically stomped the rest of the walk, a grin playing at his lips as he observed, wanting to see if she'd react to his attempt to provoke at reaction.

As they finally came to a stop, Edwin wrapped the blanket tighter around himself with a scowl, more and more coming to regret his decision of not fetching something more practical. However, the scowl only lasted for a brief moment as he cast his gaze across the scenery before him. "It is quite nice." He muttered, his gaze lingering on the distant forest for a moment, before turning to face Meiyu, listening to what she had to say. "Lot of talk in my dorms is just quidditch, which I mean, it's fun sure, but gets a bit monotonous to listen to over and over again." He was sure they talked of other things, presumably girls, but Edwin hadn't paid attention to the conversations of his dormmates in quite some time, opting to spend as little time as possible in that room.

At her claim of him being unimpressed, he offered a small shrug. "Looks quite nice. Peaceful, as you say." He said. Whilst he wasn't unimpressed per say, he just wasn't quite as transfixed by the lake as Meiyu seemingly was. "What does that even mean? Someone who'd understand?" He asked, taking a few steps forwards, leaving him right at the very end of the shore, idly kicking a pebble out into the lake, disrupting the otherwise tranquil surface of the lake. "As I said though, I dunno about being unimpressed. It's just quite nice to look at, but I'm not sure about anything beyond that." He reached down to grab a pebble, turning it over in his hand, as if he was about to throw it out across the ponds surface, before dropping it with sigh, deciding he best not. It'd be stupid of him to risk making any loud noises, considering the time.

"You know what else would be cool?" He asked, before gesturing towards the forest. "I want to try and explore that one day, see if it's all that it's made out to be."

LOCATION | Great Lake, Hogwarts DATE | 1st November 2024 INTERACTING | @Edwin Westbridge

718 | WORD COUNT black plaid bj bottoms, brown cardigan| OUTFIT chaconne | SONG

Meiyu furrowed her brows, appearing displeased with the boy who made a conscious effort to stomp around as though his shoes contained a concealment of weights. "I guess that was wrong to assume considering how loud your footsteps are," she scoffed, her gaze briefly trailed to his shoes before returning to his eyes, which shone brighter with the moonlight, "It's like you're dying to get us caught." She huffed in slight irritation, yet was quickly comforted knowing it was highly unlikely that would happen, it was far too cold and too dark for anyone to bother coming out to the Great Lake at this time. It was tranquil, exactly what she desperately sought from their initial meeting in the common room, besides, the breath of fresh air laced with the salt water from the lake was an additional bonus.

"I heard the boys dorm stinks, doubt it's worth asking if it's true or not, you'll just come to their defence, or maybe you've not noticed the stench." She inquired, turning to face the lake once more, basking in its beauty as though it was her first time seeing it. The contrast from her first visit to her current was striking. Meiyu had first visited the Great Lake during the first few weeks, opting to spend time there after classes for the day concluded, it wasn't like she had the choice to loiter around with friends, she merely did not have any. There weren't enough intriguing first years that she could surround herself with without becoming quickly irritated, her dormmates on the other hand often became too much for her to handle, with the exception of Ula, who aided her in dying her hair. She kept her circle miniscule, preferring solitude than company, but sharing a moment like this, even if it came at Edwin's expense, was a new yet nice experience.

As Edwin moved closer to the lake, her eyes remained fixated on his body, monitoring his every move, slightly displeased that he opted disturb the once peaceful lake with pebble throwing, yet it was an instinctive behaviour. Meiyu had to remind herself at times that not everyone behaved in the same manner she did, appreciating beauty in scenery, she did not have a lake like this back home, yet, she too, committed more heinous acts while at the lake, almost smiling at the mere memory of her past assault at the lake. The back view of Edwin, engulfed in his blanket of fraudulent warmth made the situation more humorous.

"I thought you'd be like me," she began softly, her tone quieter than usual as she followed behind him to the edge of the lake, her gaze fixated on their reflections which were slightly rippled from the small waves. "A thrill chaser who needs grounding." She continued, not bothering to explain her figurative metaphor, smiling slightly at the reflection of herself. "It just reminds you that your problems really are minuscule in the grand scheme of things, the world is too big, either that or I've got growing to do." Meiyu joked light heartedly, noting slight height difference between them before diverting her gaze to the forest where Edwin had gestured towards.

The forest. If it weren't for the schools stupid rules, she would have already made an expedition into the place, ideally after dusk, but she could not risk that, previously hearing whispers from students on how dangerous the forest was which Meiyu concluded was fear mongering. "Do you think there's actually creatures in there, or is it another ploy to keep us out?" Meiyu piqued, tilting her head and gently squinting her eyes at the tree outlines coming from the forest, though the limited light made it hard to see as much as she would have desired to do so.

Meiyu was too preoccupied in her own thoughts, not noticing the further dip in temperature until she shivered slightly, her hands instinctively rubbing her arms to bring some type of warmth back, turning back to Edwin and scoffing at his appearance. "Are you sure you aren't cold with that on?" Though one thing was sure, she would not lend him her cardigan, despite it not providing the desired warmth she initially hoped it would. After all, she did suggest changing, which he opted not to do.

"Very wrong." He confirmed with a slight nod of his head, before letting out a small laugh at her claim. "Caught by what? Maybe if we were sneaking about the halls when I stomped about we'd of got caught, but here?" He gestured widely, once more looking out across the expansive grounds, pausing momentarily, allowing himself to take in the sight. It was unlikely he'd ever see the grounds of Hogwarts this quiet ever again, except perhaps if he took another late night excursion, but that didn't seem like something he would likely do again.

"Funny you say that." He drawled, pausing only briefly to consider the claim. If there had been any stench in the boys common room, Meiyu would be correct, and Edwin had simply failed to ever take notice of it. "I'd always heard the same things about the girls." Edwin continued with a shrug. He hadn't heard that, ever, but Meiyu didn't need to know that, and some child-like instinct had urged him to at least retort in some manner, and that was the best that he could come up with in that brief moment, creativity often not being his strongest area of thought.

Despite his earlier decision against doing it, he eventually did crouch down, searching through the pebbles besides the lake until he found a pebble that he was pleased with. As he stood back up, he glanced briefly over towards the castle, a conflicted look passing over his expression. Whilst it may be an incredibly idiotic thing to do, causing such an unnecessary amount of noise, he was tempted nevertheless. He'd seen muggles skip stones on a handful of occasions, and it had always looked quite fun to him, and how hard could it really be?

The rock broke through the waters surface with a loud plop, not skipping a single time, and instead sinking at its first point of contact. "Stupid rock." He scowled, crouching down to once again search through the pebbles as Meiyu spoke once more. "Grounding?" Edwin glanced back towards Meiyu, his confusion at the phrase obvious across his features. "Haven't a clue what you mean by grounding, I'll be honest with you." He stood once again, pebble in hand. "I guess you're right though." He said, his tone briefly somewhat serious. She was right that he did suddenly feel incredibly small when stood besides the lake, which in itself was small compared to many other lakes. This brief moment of philosophy did not last long in Edwins mind, not allowing himself to suddenly have some have some existential crisis whilst dressed in a blanket coat, and freezing to death.

"But," He began, once more attempting to skip his stone across the lakes surface to very little success. He glanced back towards her with a grin."You are incredibly short, so I'd reckon you've just got some growing to do, none of this philosophy stuff." Despite his claims of her shortness, he stood barley an inch taller than her.

"Both, I think." He looked over towards the forest once again with a sigh. "Can't have anything too bad if it's right there, what's stopping these terrible things from just coming out here?" He paused for a moment, before answering his own questions. "Teachers, I'd guess actually. They probably are part of that reason, but I still think it'd be manageable for anyone whose even remotely competent. I think they just don't want kids getting lost in there, but I have a great sense of direction, so no chance of that ever happening." Edwins sense of direction was, truthfully, quite untested as he had never really been left to go anywhere alone, or be placed in any situation where those skills would of had to be called on. Despite this, he spoke with an incredible amount of self confidence in his own ability to manoeuvre through a forest that was banned to even the oldest students at Hogwarts.

As the November winds picked up, further exposing Edwin to the cold, his attempts at hiding his reactions began to falter. He hugged his own arms to his chest, blanket-cloak tightly pulled around him to cover as much of his body as possible, and despite this, he was still visibly shivering slightly. "You know.. You might," He practically had to force the words out, visibly disgusted at having to admit that he may have been wrong. "have been correct, and just maybe this blanket cloak was slightly ill advised."

"Still though.." He took another step forward, his toes only centimetres from the lakes edge. "You been to any other places at times like this? I'm trying to think of other places that would be cool to see whilst it's so em-" His sentence was cut off by a shocked yelp, having made the ill-advised decision to dip one of his feet, protected only by a pair of slippers, into the lakes icy water . In a rather impressive display of bravery, he took a few steps back, wildly shaking his foot, as an attempt to get heat back into his toes. "Cold. Very cold. Too cold, in fact." He rambled incessantly, pacing back and forth along the shore.

LOCATION | Great Lake, Hogwarts DATE | 1st November 2024 INTERACTING | @Edwin Westbridge

1,137 | WORD COUNT black plaid bj bottoms, brown cardigan| OUTFIT chaconne | SONG

Perhaps her chosen companion was another bad decision Meiyu had a recurring theme of making, though, it wasn't until she noticed him taking in the beauty of the Great Lake at this hour that her perception changed. Naturally, she would never dare coming here with another soul, not at this time. The blanket of security Edwin's presence provided the girl reassured her, if they were to get caught, she would easily play a facade, sharing a wry story of how she had been forced to tag along with him. "You like to be right, don't you?" She piqued, her tone mimicking the solace the Great Lake brought, another assumption she had quickly made on the boy, not caring if those assumptions were fact or mere fiction she had concluded once more. Begrudgingly, Meiyu could not control the slight smile that came with her comment. It almost pained her to admit he was right, naturally, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of that. They were unlikely to get caught, she had never gotten caught coming up to the Great Lake, irregardless to what hour it was.

"The girls dorm does not stink, God, what kind of creatures are residing in your dorms to even start those lies?" She scoffed, inching closer to Edwin to nudge his shoulder using her palm, her movement clearly having no affect given the lack of strength she put into the action. As she watched Edwin briefly search for pebbles, Meiyu then diverted her gaze back to the castle, admiring the few lights emitting from selective windows, likely belonging to professors who had yet to fall into slumber. Despite her dislike for the institution thus far, she had appreciated the efforts of the professors, in better words, the lack of effort they had with her. At her previous school, numerous interventions were staged in hopeful attempts to navigate the young girl on a better path, encouraging her to make friends, much to her demise. By this point, she had been at school for around three months, albeit a distasteful memory she hoped she would one day forget, it was nice to be away from the prying eyes of her grandmother.

"Are your grandparents alive?" Her question coming out mumbled, too quiet for Edwin to hear given his preoccupation with throwing pebbles into the lake. The sight alone was enough to prompt an eye roll from the lioness, such a boy, easily distracted by mere objects like dumb rocks. Meiyu's sudden irritation quickly shifted once the rock immediately sank, the stoic expression she carried morphed into one of amusement supported with another smile at his failure, despite the confused expression he carried when he turned to her. "If you knew what grounding was, you'd be able to get the rock to do whatever it is you're trying to do." She responded, her brows furrowing in confusion as she watched him search for another pebble, pulling her cardigan sleeves over her hands then crossing her arms over her chest. "What are you trying to do anyway?" She glanced closer at his movements, not entirely understanding the objective behind aimlessly throwing rocks into the lake.

Edwin's comment on her height only prompted her to face him entirely, feigning laughter at his remark. "Very funny, Westbridge. I'll have you know the men in my family are tall, one day that will be me too." She huffed, despite the statistics likely being against her, Meiyu's mother was short, their own height difference not being significantly contrasting. Meiyu couldn't feign ignorance forever, she knew one day those she looked down on would grow taller, particularly the hideous first years she had already encountered. Besides, she was not into philosophy, her admiration for the Great Lake was far too sophisticated for a pea brained boy to even comprehend, particularly Edwin, given his earlier slumber on reading a dull book and choice in protective wear for the winter weather. Yet, as time passed, Meiyu realised that she too had not prepared as adequately as she had liked, the dip in the weather causing her to shiver briefly.

Meiyu turned to the forest as though searching for something or someone, squinting slightly once more yet to no avail, the forest was far less visible than it was during the day. "I'm sure the terrible things are actually the creatures in the forest, which we wouldn't be able to defend ourselves against if we were to come into contact with something." She spoke quickly, her interest for another adventure, this time into the forest, only growing more with her gaze fixated on the trees. The unattainability and rules preventing first years from going there had only made it more desirable, it was too tempting, the risk alone not being enough to urge her to go alone just yet. "I need to lure someone there with me, for safety, of course." Meiyu nodded, opting to spare Edwin her plans for childish deceptions in the case she were to ever get caught.

"I'm not giving you my cardigan, I'm also cold, if anything, colder." She scoffed once more, gripping the material of the cardigan she wore with her arms still crossed, slightly fearing that he would rip the cardigan from her in attempts to warm himself. Her gaze followed Edwin as he inched closer to the lake, idiotically dipping his feet into the cold water. Meiyu sighed, walking closer to him to grab him with a fist full of majority blanket, forcefully shoving him down after having to stand on her tip toes and use all her weight to push him down. She grabbed the blanket he clenched, wrying it open and getting in with him, seeking her own warmth rather than caring for his, wrapping the blanket around them to shield them against the harsh November winds. "Take your slipper off and sit with your legs crossed." Meiyu instructed, her tone firm and expression stoic as she embraced the new warmth provided by the blanket, contrary to to the image Edwin painted.

"To answer your question, I've not ventured far from the castle, I need to maintain balance between keeping up the good grades my family wants me to have and my little escapades. I do want to go shopping in Hogsmede though, maybe when it's warmer." She nodded, recalling how her mother had shared some stories about the shops in the town, she had imagined it to be better than the brief visit to Diagon Alley prior to semester starting, yet the winter season made sneaking out a little difficult during the day, besides, she couldn't go during the night. Her peculiar newfound fear of being caught, shattering the good girl imagine she wanted to maintain, had been enough to stop her at times, but nothing could come in between a girl and shopping.

Her assessment of him was perhaps the first that he could, begrudgingly, agree with. "Yeah, I do." He confirmed, biting back a comment about how he often was correct. His unfortunate choice of attire was likely enough to tell that would have been his ego projecting, rather than some accurate self assessment. Though, his attire had already spawned an excuse for if they were caught, as given what he was wearing, he hardly looked like somebody who had meticulously planned some midnight endevoaur. Instead, if they were caught, he would play the unwilling companion who had been dragged along against his best wishes.

"You would say that." He snorted to her defence of her dorm. "The same kind of creatures who made up the same lies about our dorm, I guess. Gryffindors," He practically had to spit out the word, still horrified by his unfortunate association with the house. "are hardly famed for their brains.. Not the most creative rumours on either side." He concluded, glancing back just as she gently nudged his shoulder, "So violent, so little class." He said with a grin, before returning his gaze to the lake, his eyes briefly drawn to the moons reflection. "That's nice." He muttered, his voice barley above a whisper, likely not even loud enough for Meiyu to hear.

As his pebble splashed against the water, the sound of a mumbled question drew Edwins attention back towards Meiyu. "You'll have to speak up, I'm hard at work here, and I can't hear you over it." Once more, he rummaged around amongst the rocks. He couldn't remember exactly where, when or even why he had seen it, but the memory of a muggle skipping stones was vivid in Edwins memory. It was such a simple, and stupid thing to strive for, and yet whenever Edwin had stood by any large body of water, he'd always felt the desire to try and replicate that memory. "No amount of grounding will help with this." He waved his hand dismissively, before yet another pebble sunk unceremoniously into the water, sending ripples out across the lake. He looked back towards her, appearing as a defeated man. "Some dumb muggle thing I saw when I was younger, this man threw his stone and it bounced across the water." He shrugged. "Just looked quite cool, wanted to give it a go, but these pebbles are broken.. or the lakes broken, that might be the issue." There was, after all, no chance that he could be doing any part of it wrong.

Her claim of her families height elicited a laugh from Edwin. "Okay, Xiang. If you say so." He doubted that during their time at Hogwarts she would ever grow to be taller than him, given that he also hailed from a family that was typically quite tall. His brothers had all been comparable heights to him when they had been his age, and two of them had grown tall. His third oldest brother hadn't grown overly tall, but Edwin hoped dearly that he was an outlier, and that Edwin would not follow in his footsteps.

"Dunno about 'terrible' things." He looked over towards the forest as she spoke. Having anything that could be described as terrible so close seemed irresponsible, but then again Hogwarts did have a spotty history, so he wouldn't have been shocked. "Probably got something secret in there, though. It'd make sense, like, they tell you all this horrifying stuff is in there so you avoid it, and then anything actually interesting won't be discovered.. I guess maybe part of that is also just me hoping that there's actually something cool around here." He theorised aloud. Whilst it was admittedly far from likely, it seemed just as far from being impossible, at least in Edwins eyes. "Good luck with that thought." He snorted at her plan, already feeling sympathy for the poor sod who she manages to drag along with her plan.

"You are not colder." He matched her scoff. "Not that I even wanted your cardigan." It wasn't overly common that his competitiveness reared it's head, but when it did, it was often over incredibly stupid topics. In this case, how cold they were. He hadn't long to dwell on his competitiveness, before he was subjected to a horrifying assault. "So violent." He echo'd his earlier comments, but his tone was lighthearted, amused as he was dragged to the ground. He did briefly scowl as his blanket was forced open, doing him no favours in his endeavours to stay warm, but he did follow her instructions, kicking off his drenched slipper and lowering himself to the floor. "Yes, sir." He drawled.

"That's surprising, to be honest with you. Even if you are actually studying, surely you still have far too much free time? I'd assumed you'd of adventured at least a little" He had no true understanding of any kind of pressure that came with familial expectation. Whilst his brothers had all had extremely high standards applied to them, Edwin had never once had any of that, likely in part because his parents had been significantly older when he had finally been born compared to his siblings. Given that his own family placed no pressure on him, the only studying he ever did came from his own volition, which was inconsistent at the best of times, and often only for a single subject. "Getting good grades couldn't possibly be taking up that much time, we haven't even started anything hard yet.. Besides, what's even going to happen if you get a slightly bad grade? They can't exactly punish you whilst you're at Hogwarts."

"Hogsmede sounds cool though, my brothers always used to mention it when they'd come home. But, are you sure you'd want to wait?" He asked, before continuing. "I think it'd be cool to see when it's snowy. You'll have tons of chances to go in the spring, probably, but it's only a small window when it'll be snowy."

"Doubt it'd be that hard." He shrugged. "You could try and just sneak in the huddle when all the older people are let in.. Though, now that I say that out loud, that's probably dumb." He could probably just ask his father, or perhaps one of his brothers, to take him to visit Hogsmede over the Christmas break, which wasn't too far away now, but where was the fun in that? It was childish, but even sneaking out to the lakes had created an unexpected thrill, a thrill that he wished desperately to recreate at some point.

LOCATION | Great Lake, Hogwarts DATE | 1st November 2024 INTERACTING | @Edwin Westbridge

1,241 | WORD COUNT black plaid bj bottoms, brown cardigan| OUTFIT chaconne | SONG

The boy's sense of pride that came with his response quickly irritated Meiyu, almost disliking the vanity that was portrayed, irregardless to whether her speculations on him were once more right or wrong. Fortunately, they were akin, Meiyu's mere observation skills fed her ego, more often than not deducing the right answers for personal gain. It was without question that her mood would sour, scoffing in response and turning her head away, gently grazing her feet against the mud beneath her shoes. The mere idea of abandoning him and running off to summon a professor, sounding more tempting, though, it would only cause her grievance also in return, considering she too, was out after hours.

"Childish of you to call girls creatures, I take it you have no sisters." Meiyu responded sarcastically, quickly finding her statements to somehow always end up being oxymoronic. Yet, she prided herself in intuition, halfheartedly reading into people and make baseless assumptions on them merely based on behaviour alone, that way, she was able to build a portfolio of those surrounding her, handpicking whom she desired for whatever immature plan she had in mind. With the latter's evidential hatred towards their common house, Meiyu's head turned back to his direction once more, her brows furrowing as he went on, clearly not shameless enough to hide his hatred towards the lions. "I don't like the placement as much as you do, you need to learn to internalise it, at the very least," She began once more, her tone almost serious, though a weak attempt of showing him sympathy. "That is, if you're capable of even doing that." She teased, another sudden shift in her mood, as the pair continued to loiter by the lake.

The shift to a lighter mood lasted barely a minute, despite her initial question being mumbled enough to warrant him turning back to her, quickly growing irritated with his preoccupation with throwing stupid rocks into the lake, though his failure with whatever he was attempting to do eased her irateness, kicking a few rocks over the edge and into the water. Clearly a boring pass of time. "I was wondering if your grandparents were even alive, unfortunately, mine are." She replied much louder than she had before, Meiyu's arms remaining crossed, not entirely caring if her grandparents disappeared one day. It would be more peaceful than dealing with the shackles of whatever legacy they pestered her about, starting with her own placement, she should reserve that treatment to her younger brothers, it wasn't like she could carry the family name anyway.

"Don't tell me you're a blood purist idiot who still believes in that bullshit." Meiyu gasped halfheartedly, albeit the gasp was highly exaggerated, it was almost obvious that his family would still follow those values, unlike her own. "Well, you look like an idiot, not to mention, you are an idiot if you think the lake is the issue." She grimaced, eyeing his movements once more, laughing slightly to herself with another failed attempt. Ignoring his laughter at her impending growth spurt that would obviously happen any day now.

"I dragged you along with me, you never know, maybe I'll force you to the forest next." She scoffed in response, Edwin had already become a pawn in her game, willingly or not. If she knew anything about anybody at this awful castle, it was the fact that the creatures roaming the castle were so desperate to prove something, even if the little lion with her refused to accept his Gryffindor placement. Admittedly, his spoken theory piqued her interest, the desire to discover something worth her interest, even if it was in the forest that she previously never cared for. Meiyu never bothered to delve into caring about such creatures other than humans, the lack of brain cells, akin to the students the castle housed, would only serve as useless to her, it wasn't like a giant could contribute anything to her life. "Besides, it's not like you have the skills to go up against whatever's in there." Meiyu pointed towards the forest, a place where she began to believe some students belonged rather than warm confinement of their dorm rooms.

As he painted a picturesque portrait of a white Hogsmede, she contemplated on seizing the moment and visiting next month, before most students returned home over the Christmas period. Having never previously visited, it sounded more desirable than the forest with its hideous creatures patrolling its grounds, primarily, due to the endless shopping opportunities, her eyes sparkling at the mere thought, as she looked at the glowing lake. "I think you're right," she spoke quickly, her tone bouncing with evident joy, not caring if he got another round of satisfaction for once more, being right. "I need time to recoup, find a new victim, there's far too much to plan, scratch the forest, we're going shopping Edwin!" Meiyu continued enthusiastically, her palms clasped with genuine joy, turning to face the boy, a rookie mistake, given it caused her enthusiasm to dwindle down the moment her eyes met his, trailing down to eye his clothes. Perhaps she'd need to find someone with a better dress sense.

"I stick to routine, wake up early, go to the boring classes, then do as I like, you'd be surprised how much you can actually get away with." She nodded her head as she spoke, reminiscing the little routine she had quickly began to adore, mostly her fruit selection for breakfast and lounging by the lake once classes were over, minus the boredom she faced with each day passing. Maintaining decent grades and having to inform of her parents, who naturally, would run along and tell her grandmother, more-so her people pleasing mother, was part of the deal she had deduced to ease the terror of her placement. She had already been disowned, partially. That wretched owl she received a month ago, one she kept for a reason she refused to bother even exploring. Edwin's lack of understanding had only bothered her, initially believing to be akin to the boy, yet, they were so different. To them, her placement in Gryffindor was disgusting, a tarnish to the Knight name, the words you do not belong there relaying in her mind, the same way it did when she initially read that letter. "It's not about being punished, it's having to deal with them when I go home next month, you," she spat harshly, no longer bothering to hide her infuriation, before continuing, "would not understand, perfect little poster child, aren't you?"

Edwin quickly proved to be a new spark of irritation towards Meiyu, his instantaneous rebuttal towards her comment about being colder and the audacity to believe she'd take off her cardigan for him of all people, what a joke. He was another foolish boy who resorted to name calling, though his quick thinking to listen to her instructions brought a warm sheepish smile to her face. A lap dog in the making! Pondering on the possibility of training Edwin into becoming her own little dog became a thought she wanted to test in the field, leaning over to pick his wet slippers and extend her arm back before throwing the slippers into the lake. "FETCH!" She loudly proclaimed, her smile morphing into a devious one, almost like she had become a reincarnation of a green grinch, not that he would even know the life changing reference.

Reducio

_meiyu

"You just..?" He simply shook his head, opting not to point out the hypocrisy in her comment. He had, after all, only referred to girls as creatures, as he had been echoing her exact words about the occupants of the boys dorms. "No sisters," He confirmed with a nod of his head "Got three brothers, though. All are quite a bit older, bu-" He cut himself off with a frown. "Dunno why I'm explaining all of that, to be honest with you. You have brothers, then? You seem like you'd have brothers." It was a gut feeling, similar to the one she had likely gotten about his siblings, and one that he could in no way logically back up.

"I do internalise it, trust me." Whilst he was very open about his dislike of the house he had been sorted into, his outward complaints did not even compare to what he thought on the manner. Almost any reminder of the house would send his thoughts spiralling downwards, reminded of his families history, how so many generations of tradition had been shattered within five seconds. The hat hadn't even deliberated with him, all of his brothers had mentioned that they'd almost had conversations with the hat, the hat dissecting them and almost explaining its choice. And yet, with Edwin it had simply declared him a Gryffindor without a moments hesitation. A moment of silence passed whilst Edwin lingered on this thought, before he broke the silence with a deep sigh, a scowl plastered onto his features. "Internalising doesn't even help, I'm just sat here all broody and stuff, it's dumb."

"And besides," He protested indignantly. "What kind of idiot do you take me for, to not be able to internalise?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he had realised that he had rather unfortunately set himself up to be insulted, letting out a small sigh of disappointment. "Do not answer that."

Edwin glanced towards her, somewhat surprised as she kicked a few pebbles into the lake. He mirrored the action, kicking out a single, larger pebble out into the lake with a surprising amount of force. "I'll stick to throwing them," He muttered, mainly to himself, the kicked pebble plopping into the lake with a louder splash. He had also kicked the pebble far too hard, considering his choice of footwear, a splitting pain running through his big toe. He made no sign of show of this pain, far too proud to show any sign of hurting himself by kicking a rock.

"One of them is, my dads dad. My parents had me when they were really old, so most passed away when I was fairly young." He explained, before he suddenly looked over towards her, his brows furrowed. "Unfortunately, you said?" Edwin had always been the favourite son within his family, something his parents had never once attempted to hide, so he had no concept of true familial expectations, nor pressure. Had a tutor ever attempted to apply pressure on him to work harder, they'd of been fired on the spot once Edwin complained, and so he couldn't even begin to sympathise with the sentiment. "What do they do for you to hate them so much?" He asked, his tone surprisingly sincere compared to the usual tones he spoke with.

"What do you take for me?" He gasped dramatically at her accusations of him being some kind of blood supremacist, feigning offence. "None of my family cares about that stuff anymore, it's all old fashioned stuff." It wasn't strictly true, as many members of his extended family did hold onto those values, but the core of the Westbridge family were mostly passed those views, though they did mind associating with those who still held onto them, and held onto some aspects of the beliefs, namely a distaste for squibs.

"It could be the lakes fault." He protested. "When I saw a muggle doing this, the water was much more still, and the lake was more of a pond.. That must be it. See?" He pointed out the water, which gently ebbed and flowed, barely even visible, especially in the dark.

"You didn't drag me." He snorted, before sparing a slight glance down to his outfit, which did not aid in his claim. "You were just as bored as I was, it was a mutually beneficial excursion that I so graciously agreed to come along with, no dragging involved." He snorted again at her claim that he would lack the skills to fend for himself in the forest. "Yeah, okay. I'm sure that-" He paused, a horrifying possibility dawning upon him. Her claim was potentially just a challenge to his pride, trying to lure him into saying he'd go. "Nope, not getting me." He would not allow himself to be so easily baited, his ego to be so easily shattered by such obvious bait.

"I usually am." He said to himself, as she began to excitedly discuss her plans for Hogsmede, plans that he had somehow roped himself into. Her enthusiasm for the trip was almost palpable, causing a smile to spread across Edwins face. "Sure," was all that he said to her declaration of them shopping, turning to face her, as she turned to him. He let out a laugh as he watched her gaze trail down his clothes, and the joy seemingly drain from her features. "Pinnacle of Wizarding fashion, I'll have you know." The combination of his red bed shorts, a school shirt and a blanket that was worn around his shoulders truly making for a bold fashion statement by the youngest Westbridge.

"So do I, although I do think my routine needs a bit of reworking.. Wake up, go to class, then do as I like, which just consists of a lot of wandering around. Which is nice and stuff, but you can only walk by the same paintings so many times before it starts to get a bit dull." A more diligent student may use that free time for studying, but Edwin was committed to leaving any of that work until as late as humanly possible."Going to try and find something more interesting to do in that spare time at some point, just not sure what yet."

"Perfect little poster boy," He echoed, loosely mimicking her tone. "Thank you for noticing." He drawled, before falling silent, casting his gaze back out over the lake. The moment of silence that followed was welcomed, once again trying to relax, despite the biting cold of the winds that bit against his skin, only thinly protected by the blanket, which seemed even less effective now that it was shared.

In the moment of respite, he was obvious as she reached for his slipper, simply starting off into the lake. It was only after he heard the cry to fetch that he noticed his slipper sailing through the sky, and his jaw, quite literally, dropped. His mouth hung agape for a moment, remaining in a stunned silence before he suddenly sprung to his feet, the blanket falling free from his shoulders.

Edwin had a mind that ran off of logic, seeking to understand things as facts rather than working creatively. Even in his finest moments his creativity was nothing to praise, and in his moment of need, all creativity left his body. "Oh, you.." He spat, but no insult, no clever retort sprung to his mind. He trudged over to the lakes edge, muttering angrily with each step he took, before shooting a final glare back in her direction.

"You.." Once again, nothing but angry, unintelligible mutterings as he finally stepped into the lake, submerging both feet. Given how close they had been sat to the waters edge, an idea began to take root in Edwins mind as he took another step closer to his slipper, which was thankfully floating on the surface close to the shore, likely not having to wade much deeper than his mid-shins, or knees. Instead of a full step, Edwin took only a half step forward before spinning suddenly, his hands both submerged into the lake. As he fully turned, now facing Meiyu, he ripped his hands out of the water, sending as large of a splash as he could possibly muster towards the girl.

"That'll.." He muttered, before taking the remaining steps into the lake, grabbing his soaking wet slipper, which birthed another idea in Edwins mind. If there was any on lookers, they likely would have been convinced that Edwin was destined to be some kind of pitcher or bowler, as arched his arm back. He then threw his arm forward, releasing the slipper with a single target - Meiyus face. The throw wasn't really hard, given it wasn't exactly aerodynamic whilst sopping wet, but it was a surprisingly accurate throw.

LOCATION | Great Lake, Hogwarts DATE | 1st November 2024 INTERACTING | @Edwin Westbridge

1,584 | WORD COUNT black plaid bj bottoms, brown cardigan| OUTFIT chaconne | SONG

With his verbal confirmation, Meiyu silently basked in a brief victory, lightly smiling to herself as a celebratory action as though she had scored a goal. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, the latter turning to question her instead of elaborating his own family tree. "I do, two younger brothers." She scoffed in response, highly discontent with the idea of being perceived by others; preferring to interrogate others for personal gain as a form of fun. In an ideal world, she'd have an older sister, sparing her from the treacherous responsibilities; evidently being little given her ripe age of twelve. Yet, the DNA piercing through her veins was that of few daughters with both sides only having one female in their respective families, leaving no doubt, she would be the only girl. "Do not make assumptions about me, even if they are right, forces me to deal with that little ego of yours." She declared in a louder tone, pointing her index finger towards him.

Evidently at unease, Edwin's expression which had morphed into a scowl had only pushed Meiyu further; the further revelation only prompting her mind to race with methods to upset the boy for his placement, despite sharing the same sentiment. The desire to tease lasted momentarily, she of all people, was not one to jest in this situation. Unfortunately for Meiyu, her tongue had a mind of its own, rushing to throw any remark with the open opportunity he had provided her. "You proved my point for me," she muttered under her breath with sheepish smile, her internal monologue dubbing Edwin as a himbo. "Given that you clearly do not look after your skin, learn to internalise better, rather than sitting around being broody, you'll age quicker." Meiyu reassured with two thumbs up, her stoic expression once more, taking its rightful place.

Preoccupied with watching the pebbles she kicked, she failed to notice the mime nearby until a flying pebble came into the corner of her vision. Scowling in response to the splash which disturbed the once peaceful atmosphere, Meiyu's head immediately snapped to the source of the sound; the inch taller blonde fool. It took herself a good amount of convincing — over the course of two seconds, to not pounce on the boy and scratch his face off. Fluttering her eyes shut to take a deep breath to ease the bubbling fury, only plaster an eerie smile on her delicate face. "If you don't learn to make less noise, I'll shove those pebbles down your throat." She hissed harshly, no longer caring for the volume her tongue settled with. It was, a free spirit, after all.

Unable to relate to the loss of any family member, the young girl opted to merely listen, her gaze fixated on him, until she was met furrowed brows relaying confusion to her previous statement. "I never said I hate them," she began with a sigh, immediately diverting her gaze back to the tranquility of the lake, post Edwin's pebble throwing terrorism. Despite frequenting the Great Lake, Meiyu had yet to grow tired of its scenery, the persistent beauty of the lake brought her serenity, immediately calming her irregardless of the situation.

In truth, at times, she did hate her maternal grandparents, occasionally her mother too. Moving to England had only forced them into her life on a more frequent note than it did in the years spent in South Korea, their presence almost resembling one of a parasite at times, more-so now with her placement in Gryffindor. "My grandparents, more-so my grandmother, was really unhappy with my placement, adamant that I've tainted the Knight name and brought them shame." Meiyu confessed with remnants of spite in her words, her heart aching once more with the painful reminder of the entire ordeal. What pained her more, was that the boy would not understand, especially given he was the youngest child.

Having only met this evening, one thing she would not take the boy for was dramatic, that was until he gasped at another accusation she made. No. She was never wrong, he was clearly dramatic. "That gasp alone tells me that's not what you think, even if it isn't related to blood, there has to be something you have a distaste for, besides being a little lion, of course." Meiyu laughed lightly, inching closer to him merely to gently flick his head with a small smile, before continuing, "little blood purist Westbridge, who would have known!" His immediate protest disputing the lake only worsened the situation, prompting a laugh from the girl as her gaze followed his point, eyeing the lake, the lack of visibility failing to prove his point. Having to squint her eyes to make anything visible, Meiyu merely shook her head in response, opting to toy with the boy further. Swiftly adding to Edwin's rebuttal, "How does it feel knowing a muggle succeeded where you fall short? Must hurt."

"Why thank you Mr. Westbridge," Meiyu chimed with jest, bowing down into a curtsey for the self-proclaimed saviour of her evening, "I'm sure something horrid would have happened to me had you not accompanied my escapade." A knight in shining armour would not support red shorts paired with the day's school shirt — which was arguably disgusting, if she had to actually think about it, typical boy. Irregardless, Meiyu was more than capable of defending herself, growing up with two younger brothers proved that, and if that didn't, it was the reminder of her previous assault in the very place they were now. She didn't need a saviour, although, the company had proven enjoyable; begrudgingly enjoying his presence far more than she wished to even admit.

His immediate reaction to her distaste in his appearance further soured her mood and overall plans for the joyous adventure of shopping. Besides, she'd given him the opportunity to change, one he dismissed out of pure laziness, heaven forbid his choice of attire come the day they would explore Hogsmede together. "It's already embarrassing for me enough to be seen with someone dressed the way you are, from today, all your clothing choices must be approved by me if you wish to even be in my vicinity." Unable to hide her distaste in his fashionable choice, evidently far worse than her combination of black pyjama bottoms and a brown cardigan which did nothing to keep her warm. Still, better than what he wore, finally noting the red in his bottoms, a grimace returning to her face one more as she reached over to lightly tug the fabric, emitting another small laugh from her. "Proud little lion, aren't you?" She perked up once more her brows raising up and down a few times, laughing in the slightest to herself, amused by his hatred towards his house, yet proudly wearing their colours.

Had he not chosen to mimic her once more, Meiyu may have suggested an activity to occupy his free time, allowing irritation to take over, she huffed in response, until tossing his slipper into the lake in a feeble attempt to train her potential pet dog. The devious smile which had formed, remained as her gaze fixated on the floating slipper in the lake, only noting his departure from the blanket once it had fallen; once more welcoming the harsh November Highland wind — immediately sending a shiver down her spine before she scrambled to wrap the blanket around herself in sheer greed. Meiyu's smile only widening once he glared back, waving mischievously in his direction, proud of her first step into his training. That was until, the bastard turned to splash water in her direction, prompting her to emit a scream and raise from her seated position and scurry a few steps back. As her lips parted to hurl insults at him, a flying wet slipper came into vision, directly making contact with her face.

Turning away in irritation with her head lower, she knew she had to act, luckily she was quick-thinking. Shuddering her shoulders to mimic the action of crying, Meiyu had to take a few moments to garner tears; nothing truly upsetting the girl enough to prompt genuine tears to ever fall. Although, growing up with brothers provided her enough opportunity to refine these fraudulent acting skills, almost Oscar worthy had she required to describe it herself. Once the tears begun to flow, she turned back to the boy in the lake, attempting to put on her best show as she stepped closer to the lakes edge. "Why would you throw that at me? It's just a slipper, there's no need to hit a girl." She sobbed with insincerity as she glared at Edwin with teary eyes.

With the brief silence that followed, she tossed the blanket off her and ran into the lake, rushing to get to him despite the lake almost resisting her with sheer force. Immediately, she was met with the cold water seeping through the bottoms of her pyjamas, the skin to water contact being colder and harsher than the air was. Desperately seeking revenge, Meiyu moved faster, not the most agile runner but soon reaching him, only to grab him by his shirt and attempt to push him down into the water. Strength not being her best ability, yet, an attempt had to be made, given she already drenched her shoes and the bottoms of her pyjamas.

In hindsight, she should have realised the water was nowhere near deep enough to drown Edwin, proving her entire revenge plan to be fruitless.

"I'm so wise." He muttered beneath his breath, as she confirmed his suspicions that she had brothers. Where she had previously levied assumptions against him, it felt like a minor victory to have made an assumption of his own, and to have been correct in it. Her having been, presumably, the oldest was not what he had expected, but a victory nevertheless. Her pointing her finger at him, brought about a small laugh from the Gryffindor, finding the hypocrisy in her statement to be amusing. "You've been doing that all night, though.." He paused for a moment, a grin returning to his face. "with far less success than me."

He missed her muttered comment about him proving her point, continuing his attempt at internalising his complaints, despite his previous issues with the method. Yet, once again, there was little success, his mind circling between the same ideas as always, why he'd been sorted, why his parents hadn't even mentioned it, was it just a mistake - the usual. His brief moment of thought came to a halt in time for him to hear her accusations, protesting against them. "I do look after my skin." He did not. Despite not doing anything that could even remotely be described as looking after his skin, his skin was remarkably clear, not a single scar, nor any sign of the spots or greasiness that would inevitably break out in the coming years. Much to his annoyance, no retort sprung to his mind, instead opting to simply raise his middle finger in her direction, another action he had witnessed muggles doing. Whilst he wasn't sure of any exact meaning, the implication behind the action had been clear enough.

"Because you've been so quiet." He snorted at her threats, taking a glance back towards the castle. He'd half expected for them to have been caught whilst sneaking through the castles halls, let alone last this long without there even being a sign of a professor approaching. Having gone so long without being caught did bring about a sense of invincibility to the Gryffindor, no longer making any real effort to conceal lower his tone. "We're fine, I bet. No one from the castle can hear us down here unless you start screaming."

Edwin was visibly caught off guard by her words, staring blankly back at her. "But you..?" He began, his voice trailing off as he glanced over towards the lake with a frown. How one could claim to be disappointed that their grandparents lived, and yet claim to not hate them was a mystery to Edwin. He had, on occasion, wished his brothers would disappear, but only in a moment of anger, and never once he was calm of mind, as Meiyu had seemed to be when she made that comment. Her later clarification did cause a gasp of horror from Edwin. "Oh dear," He hadn't considered his own grandfathers reaction to his sorting. His grandfather wasn't likely to send him an owl, but he would see him over the holidays, and have to explain his sorting.

It wasn't a moment to drift into his own self-misery, however, she had seemingly opened up for a moment, so Edwin looked back over towards her, his expression showing his best display of sympathy. "Um.." was all he managed initially, hesitating for a few moments, as he racked his mind for encouraging word. "Tell your grandmother the hats gone senile, and made loads of mistakes this year." He suggested eventually, giving her a thumbs up - a truly impressive display of his sympathy and ability to cheer somebody up.

"Such a violent person," He laughed as she flicked his head, glancing back briefly before returning his gaze to the lake, once again gently kicking a pebble out into the water. "I'm not a blood supremacist, I just don't like werewolves." He spoke quickly, frowning at his honesty. Whilst he wasn't ashamed of those views, it was rare that he was so open, as to just blatantly say it, often only hinting at his opinions. "Squibs too, maybe, my parents don't like those much."

"They can not." He protested her claim, but the grin persisted on his face. "Just see," Once again, his pebble simply splashed through the lake, failing to skip even once. "One of these pebbles won't be broken."

"You're welcome, Miss Xiang." He mirrored her curtesy with a bow of his own. "Without my excellent sneaking capabilities," He began, despite having been overly loud throughout their entire time sneaking through the castles halls, "I bet you'd of gotten caught.. No concept of volume in you."

Her evident disgust and disapproval of his choice of clothing only made him laugh further, after all, it was not as if he had been dressed to be seen, not that he was an overly fashionable individual at the best of times. "How is it embarrassing?" He, once again, gestured to the grounds surrounding them, void of any life. "No one is here to see, but besides," He looked over towards her, his eyes briefly flicking over her own choice of clothing. "Not like you're dressed much better than I am."

"But, sure, you can have a look at what I wear before Hogsmede." He glanced down at his shorts when described him as a lion, grinning at the comment. "Yeah, proper proud lion." Whilst he held a hatred for the house, he had always been somewhat fond of the colour red, so in some ways, his sorting was somewhat of a happy accident, his red clothing now making him appear like some Gryffindor patriot.

Watching as the mini-wave he had splashed over the girl crashed brought a victorious grin to the Westbridge's face, which was only made wider as his slipper flew straight into her face. That would of been it for his revenge, intent on returning back to the shore and forcing himself back into that blanket, regardless of if he had to wrestle her from it, or if she would of kindly allowed him back, as he had done earlier with her.

"Oh, and I'm too loud." He drawled as she suddenly screamed, something that he had warned her of earlier. He briefly looked again towards the castle, half expecting for her scream to have immediately drew attention, but, thankfully, it had not. As he stood in the water, he hugged his arms to his own chest, growing far too cold as he lingered in the lake, but equally routed to the spot, unable to decide how exactly he was meant to proceed. He had assumed she'd of taken the slipper more playfully, given that she had only just thrown it from him moments earlier.

He just scowled at her play for sympathy, as it was a method that he was not unfamiliar with, being the youngest similar. During his childhood, he had often gotten his own way by acting as she was now. "Such a drama queen," He sighed, watching as she continued her dramatics. "I'm not falling for it, don't bother."

Don't hit a girl. This was a lesson that he, and anyone with respectable parents, had been taught a million times throughout their childhood, and it was a lesson that she had freshly reminded him of during her attempt to gain sympathy. It was, however, a lesson that was awfully hard to remember when a girl was marching towards him at a rather shocking pace. "Are you not too cold?" He managed to ask, before she grabbed ahold of his shirt. Within the split second before she pushed him to the ground, a million different ideas ran through his mind, many of which involved him head butting her whilst she grabbed him.

In the end, he simply allowed himself to react, his hands darting forward to grab ahold of her cardigan as she pushed him down, pulling downwards as he fell so that she would join him in the lake. His back was greeted by the lakes floor far sooner than he had expected, grunting uncomfortably as he landed on the rock littered surface. It was, as he sat on the rocks, half submerged in the water, that the ridiculous-ness of the situation fully dawned on him, and he began to laugh.

"When I get ill, I'm blaming you." He said, his teeth chattering as he spoke, before splashing his hand playfully through the water, sending another small splash towards her.