Chance Meeting at the Lake Private Finished

- Interacting with @Kyle DeRook -

For a second, a small tiny moment, Lydia thought that she had actually managed to talk some sense into the boy in front of her; he did not react immediately to her words, the only audible sounds were the water against the rocks and Lydia's breath. Hear heart was still beating fast, the anger still there, even if slightly mitigated; the clothes, that now were completely drenched, felt cold against her skin, and she made a mental note to head back to her dorm before class.

Lydia could almost see the change in the boy's eyes as it happened; they filled with anger, a powerful, deep stare that sent shivers down her spine. She instinctively took a small step back, her right hand going for her wand without actually taking it out of the pocket of her robes yet; hey eyes moved from the boy's ones to the scars on his body as a frown appeared over her face. It wasn't that common to find wizards with scars, especially if they were as big as the ones the boy had; wizards' magic would heal any wound and leave no trace, unless one refused to use it and would let it heal the muggle way.

Of course there were exceptions, some things, bad ones, were able to leave scars.

Another chill travelled down Lydia's spine as she widened her eyes, the realisation slowly coming to her; between his nails that looked almost like claws, his behaviour and his scars -not to mention his comment about wolves- the Hufflepuff girl finally understood who -or should she have thought what- the boy in front of her was.

During the summer she had read a lot of books about Veelas and magical creatures and beings; her grandma believed that she should have known as much as she could about them, since Hogwarts had a pretty open policy regarding Half-breed and the other creatures. So she did that, she tried to learn everything she might have needed once back at school, and in that moment Lydia felt extremely grateful towards her Grandmother.

Once she realised that she had been accidentally provoking a werewolf -a temperamental one nonetheless- her first instinct was to run away, as fast as she could; she put that thought to the side though, as she thought that maybe that would not have been the best thing to do. After all when you meet a random, feral dog -or wolf- , running away is the last thing one should do.

"Look I- I'm sorry," she said raising her hands up, as if to show that she had no bad intentions. "I didn't mean- that was a bad choice of words on my part, I shouldn't have said that," her voice was a little shaky, if from the cold, or the slight fear she was feeling, she didn't know. Once she finished talking, her right hand moved back towards her wand, without pulling it out.

Just stay calm, and don't do anything stupid.

She said to herself as she tightened the grip over her wand, her mind racing through the various spells she knew. Which one would have been good to protect herself, in case she might have needed to? Lydia mentally shook her head, her eyes travelling back on the boy's face; she could feel the adrenaline rush through her body, a symptom that she was scared, but at the same time she was almost curious: she had never seen a werewolf, let alone talked with one; of course she had read about them, but reading and meeting one were two completely different things.

@Kyle DeRook @Lydia Cooper

"That's enough."

The voice was distant, yet directed clearly and coming closer. Pericles Dralt, second-year and prefect of Ravenclaw, was following a deliberate path down the hill towards the lake. He hadn't heard the verbal exchange, but he had caught the splash and come running. The young wizard was in sight soon enough to see a girl dragging herself from the icy waters. Had Lydia come up laughing, Pericles might have thought this was merely a romp between friends. He may even have turned a blind eye to the scene. But it was apparent that this was no game, and when he witnessed the aggressor swelling his stance in intentional intimidation, he called out. With the amount of brutes chucking their peers into the lake, or students slipping, Pericles was beginning to feel less like a perfect and more like a lifeguard.

There were no wands drawn as he approached, so his would remain pocketed for the time being. Doing otherwise would have been an open invitation for conflict. The boy believed in compromise, even in the face of something as outrageous as throwing a girl into the lake, at least seeing that she was well enough to be barging up to the other in outrage. He may have felt differently if they discovered Lydia could not swim. No one had the gall to try and bully Pericles, not even prior to his becoming a perfect. He did not despise bullying for any personal reasons. He simply found it boorish, in poor form, and what was more.... "The students of Hogwarts have enough natural enemies as it is," the Ravenclaw was saying sternly while he approached, focus fixed on the older-year lad. "We would be better off protecting one another, not trying to induce hypothermia in our fellow students."

His tone was matter-of-fact, dry, though it settled for something more neutral as his silvery stare slid towards the wet witch. "Hello, Lydia. Are you alright? What's happened to cause all this, then?" He was willing to listen to them both, though the flinty demeanor implied the prefect had more than likely made up his mind on how this would be handled.

Reducio

A roll was made to determine if rule-breaking was caught. Your character will (probably) be receiving a detention, which I'll provide more detail for shortly, but this role-play can continue in the meantime!

- Interacting with @Kyle DeRook, @Pericles Dralt -

The moment Lydia saw the Gryffindor boy getting ready to attack, she tightened the grip over her wand even more, her arm still by her side as she still did not take it out, as she got ready to defend herself. Over time, she had learned that whenever she had to face a dangerous situation, she would prefer to face the problem straight away, without running away from it; she had some kind of confirmation of her fight instinct, rather than the flight one, during the Blossom Ball. When those mosps had started to attack, she did not run away, but she actually started fighting those monsters.

So of course, even in this situation, Lydia's first instinct was to defend herself and not run away.

Then, a familiar voice reached her ears; she looked around to see where it came from, and she could see a familiar face get closer and closer. She let out a relaxed sigh when she realised that it was Pericles; the two had been part of the group of organisers for the Blossom Ball, and even though they hadn't talked that much, she knew he was a good person. Feeling safer, Lydia let go of her wand and wrapped her arms around herself as the wind blew, the cold clothes making her feel quite cold; she couldn't wait to go back to her dorm and change into dry clothes, since she had already once almost gone in hypothermia, and that had been horrible.

"Hello Pericles,"she said as she looked at the boy, before bringing her eyes over to the Gryffindor student once again. Just because a Prefect was now there, she didn't trust that guy enough to relax completely. "I'm alright, just a little chilly," almost glaring at the older boy, Lydia shrugged. "Well, I was walking down to the Lake to relax a little before classes started, when I noticed him punching a tree. I thought he might have needed a tissue for his hands, since they were quite bloody, but- he wasn't being too friendly about it, or at all," Lydia shook her head and then continued talking. "So I decided to leave him alone, since he clearly didn't need my help. I walked down to the water, sat there, and then he threw me in the lake! He's lucky I know how to swim, otherwise somebody else could have drowned," Her voice was clearly upset, and as she kept talking her eyes never left the Gryffindor boy.

@Kyle DeRook / @Lydia Cooper

It was evident that the boys were trying to categorize one another, as one does with the unfamiliar. To Kyle, the Ravenclaw was little more than a pale, gangly, glasses-wearing bookworm. Pericles drew in his greasy appearance, unkempt hair, bloodied knuckles and dramatic scars, observing how he aligned very well with his preconceived notion of a ruffian. An attempt was made to appeal to any sense of compassion or comradery the delinquent might posses, and when it was answered with seething vitriol, the prefect donned a disappointed frown. Hearing the school likened to a prison, he offered no outrage. Instead there came a gently pitying "That's unfortunate." Hogwarts had been a symbol of emancipation for the young pure-blood, a place where he was finally able to socialize and hone his abilities (and maybe dabble in innocent mischief from time to time). The stranger spoke like a common crook: as though society was his enemy, and he would never contribute to it in any meaningful way. By all accounts, he continued to play the part of the perfect "bad guy", but Pericles was patient. He liked to believe that everyone had positive potential within them.

Despite the Blossom Ball's ultimate fate, he had known Lydia joined its preparation with the sole intent to give the students a good time. Pericles paired his positive opinion of her with the tale she told, sparing another glance at the boy's bloodied knuckles when she mentioned he'd been pummeling trees. One didn't need much power of perception to know that something was wrong, but Pericles couldn't have guessed the current cause for all that rage. He could see the stranger was tensed to spring, like some wild thing backed into a corner, itching for an excuse to lash out. As much as Peri was prone to request both sides of a story, evidence was swiftly stacking up against this volatile stranger. The prefect tried not to let the thought of potentially losing a student to drowning impact his calm composure. One may perceive him weighing the situation, silvery eyes moving from one face to the next, this way and that like the tilting of a metal scale. Doling out detention wasn't his first priority in this situation.

Rather than remark out loud about the encounter, he turned to Lydia next. "Would you mind terribly if I spelled you?" he inquired politely, if very vaguely, adding "I promise you'll feel a great deal better." Her posture implied she was more cold than she let on. As soon as Lydia granted permission*, he withdrew his wand, wiggling it in a complex little gesture while incanting "Aer Calidus." Warm air tunneled forth, whipping at her wet robe, blowing hair and fabric free of frigid water. Pericles couldn't undo the insult, but he could undo the injury. "There." He tacked on one of those neutral smiles, which was extended to the other wizard present as he admitted, "I haven't learned any bandaging spells just yet. Please come with me to the infirmary, and on the way, maybe you can tell me about what led to your spat with the tree."

- Interacting with @Kyle DeRook, @Pericles Dralt -

Once she was finished explaining to Pericles what had happened, Lydia let herself think about what the Ravenclaw prefect had said: it was true that the students of Hogwarts seemed to have a lot of enemies; since the whole fire in the Hufflepuff common room, and the accident in the Slytherin one, the red headed girl had the feeling that something was not right in the school. That, plus the fact that the curfew had been extended, had only made her feel slightly less safe at Hogwarts, and with the need for finding out what was going on.

She was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a moment to register what Pericles had asked her; with a quizzical look, her right eyebrow slightly raised, she nodded, not really sure what the prefect would have done. The spell he used was one that she had not learned yet, and when the pleasantly warm air hit her, Lydia's whole body shivered, the hot wind giving her some warmth.

"Thank you so much Peri!" she said with a bright smile directed at the Ravenclaw, only to turn into a more neutral expression once she looked back at the Gryffindor boy. Pericles' offer was actually quite nice, considering how rude the other boy had been towards him, but Lydia was not surprised when the Lion boy decided to decline -and not in a polite way- the prefect's help and actually started to walk away from them. She shook her head as she tried not to roll her eyes, just as she felt herself relax a little at the thought of the irascible werewolf walking away. It wasn't like she had anything against werewolves, on the contrary she was actually curious and would love to meet another one -hopefully a friendlier one- but the Gryffindor boy just made her feel nervous and slightly scared. So the more distance between them, the better.

@Lydia Cooper / @Kyle DeRook

When thanked, the prefect's smile softened from something subtly tense, and he nodded Lydia's way. The witch was given a quick once-over to assess his work as he asked, "Better? It's good t'see you again, though I'm sorry it isn't under better circumstances." Her clothing no longer hung heavy with water, and her hair- though thoroughly tousled- no longer looked limp. He was more or less satisfied with his work and stowed his wand once more. The budding wizard evidently wasn't anticipating any need to defend himself, nor intending a show of force. He was however startled at the snarl which roiled from the third-year. Was he deranged, making animal sounds as he was? Pericles had yet to connect any dots. He had only met a werewolf once, to his knowledge, and the interaction hadn't gone anything like this. The expression lingered for only second or so: lightly arched eyebrows, a quizzical frown, and eyes wide with wonder. Then it drifted into gentleness again, as though Kyle were a fragile yet volatile thing, a glass vessel filled with gunpowder. "It isn't my job to 'make' anyone go anywhere," the younger lad reassured. He radiated patience, though there was something subliminal about the way he added "Everyone always has a choice. You could walk with me to the hospital wing, and maybe tell me about what has you so troubled, or we could discuss it in detention." Tolerant and unforceful as Pericles behaved, the fact remained that a student had been lobbed into the lake, and it was in his responsibilities to keep the peace. He tucked his hands into his pockets, that lazily lidded stare fixed as he called to the other boy's back, "Either way, I'm afraid you'll inevitably be stuck with me."