Cooling Off Finished

"Is it this way?" Serena mumbled as she wandered through the grounds of Hogwarts.  She had reached the lake, she knew that much.  However, the exact location of that one perfect spot that she had found was now a mystery to her.  The young girl came across it randomly in her explorations the other day.  It was a spot where she could overlook the beautiful lake, watch the sunset with a view of the castle reflecting off the lake.  It was a secluded spot, that required a little climbing as it stood close to a cliff and it was protected by a large tree - making it work well in the case of a light rain too.  The raindrops simply couldn't get through the tree. It was definitely a perfect location for her to sit and spend some time alone.

The only problem with the location was that it was so secretive that she could no longer find it.  Well that was one of the problems.  The other was that her sense of direction was so bad that she couldn't find it, because of her lack of skills.  Stopping, she sighed and looked around.  Serena spun in a 360 motion, trying to find something that would clue her in from any of the directions but seemed to fail. "Well this is disappointing..." She muttered under her breathe.  Wait- where even am I?  Trust me to get lost... What an idiot... She thought to herself, sighing as she hated on herself. 

Wait- what was that? Who's there? As she stood there, contemplating life, her ears picked up the sound of someone's laugh.  Curiously, she walked a little closer towards the sound.  It came from the direction of the lake.   Passing by the tree that stood near her, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure near the water.  Hu- a muggle?! Wait- that's Siege.  What's he doing?

Heading over to the Gryffindor that she recognised, Serena called out to him, "Hey, what's up?" She asked as she wondered why the boy was standing by the lake, all alone, in a muggle outfit, "What's with the clothes?" She asked him curiously as she got a bit closer.

Siege looked back at the girl, and looked back towards the sun-lit lake. 
"Hey, what's up? What's with those Clothes?" He would hear Serena say. He'd been meeting her a lot lately, somewhat random most of the time, though he wouldn't really be surprised by now, if he looked back randomly and saw her.
"Not much...Just wandered here is all...And I just got bored with my cloak thing...What a pain to wear it..."
Siege would look into the distance thinking about what he should do next. "How about you? What are you up to?" Asked Siege in return, taking his hand out of his pocket, raising it up to his collar, unfastening the button by his neck. What a pain, but I might as well...Seems like the water's calling to me, hopefully she just came to say hi, unless she's fine with me swimming around.
Siege moves on to the next, and the next, until his dress-shirt was unbuttoned and only a white shirt showed, below the dress shirt. "Plus, I won't be using these clothes a lot...Why not just use em today?" Said Siege care-freely, then taking off his white shirt, only his shorts remained, after he took off his shoes earlier. "Ah, this should be good...I'll be taking a swim, that good?" Said Siege, his backed turned towards Serena. His body wasn't smooth, no. It had numerous scars, some barely visible, some looked like months or even weeks old. One thing was for sure, his body was no stranger to pain...

Serena raised one eyebrow towards Siege, giving him a quizzical look as a laugh escaped her lips, "You got bored with the cloak thing?" She repeated, wondering how someone could get bored of it within such a short period of time.  Besides, she wondered why he didn't just take off the cloak and wear his uniform without it.  But they weren't in class right now so I guess there was no real harm in wearing non-uniform clothing.  

"Oh, I was just exploring," She replied with a shrug.  She hadn't been up to anything special, she just wanted to get out of the castle for a bit and thought she'd go sit by the lake in that one perfect spot again.  Well, that was the idea until she realised she couldn't remember where that spot was, "Nothing fancy, just looking arou-" She continued to talk until her eyes widened slightly.  Serena's eyes fixed onto Siege's hands.  They had started to unbutton... his shirt... Her entire body started to feel flush straight away.  What the hell is he doing?!? She internally screamed as she realised she was staring at him.  The same him that was now standing in a white shirt that shouldn't be seen by people.  He said some words.  About not using clothing.  However, her brain had kind of frozen over and she wasn't actually processing what he said.  Misunderstanding, she thought he said he won't be using any clothes - which made sense, given that he was currently undressing. "What's wrong with wearing clo-" Her eyes widened further as he took his shirt, leaving his chest exposured, "Wha-" She started as her cheeks went a rosy shade of red and her body started to feel very warm.  

Quickly turning her head away, her eyes darted around trying to look at anything else.  Literally anything but him. Look at anything but him, woman... Anything but his chest- his bare chest- wha- why- WOMAN! STOP LOOKING AT HIS CHEST! She screamed as her eyes darted all over the place but kept going back to him because she was feeling so awkward that she didn't know what else to do.  

When you talk to a person, you should look at them.  When that person starts undressing in front of you... what the heck do you do then?

She had no idea.  So she just stood there, her face getting redder by the second, her hands awkwardly fidgeting around and playing with themselves, her eyes darting around everywhere as she tried to look at anything but him.  Her mouth kept opening to say words but then just closed as she couldn't think of anything to say anymore.  Nothing came out of her mouth because every time she tried, she looked at him, and it made everything worse.

As her brain started to panic and her body started fidgeting awkwardly, she heard something about going for a swim.  It took her a few seconds to comprehend his words and things finally started to make a little sense.  OH RIGHT! THAT'S WHY! Her brain was still screaming internally as her heartbeat had shot up.  Serena looked at him, about to ask him why he had decided to go swimming - or if it was safe to do so, as she had no idea if the lake had beasts in it or not.  However, her eyes caught a glimpse of his back, as he had now turned.  She saw some scars.  She couldn't see them all, as she wasn't that close to him, but a few of the larger more noticeable ones caught her attention and made her frown.  

"Huh? Why are you acting weird?" Asked Siege, unaware of the awkwardness of the situation. "Well, anyways, I'm gonna go in."
Siege just walked into the water, making small waves, as his body parted the water. He began to try out strokes once he got deeper enough... It's quite cold...I like it, I've been sweating, so this is nice...Huh? Well, I probably should just dip in here and out...After all... I can't spend too much time here...I might catch a cold... 
Siege would rise up from the water, his head now visible from when he entered the lake. He could still stand up, he wasn't out far, though it was enough for him to enjoy himself. "Ah, this is refreshing! Been so long since I've swam!" Said Siege, swimming vigorously, looking like an innocent little boy for once.
I should come here more often...Wait...What's that?
A small dark creature darted from one place, only to disappear...It looked like an octopus, but it was all a blur.
What's an octopus doing here? Well...better go back up to Serena...
Siege merely swam back up, the creature still in mind, and began to walk towards his clothes on the ground. 
"Well, that was a nice swim...Though there was some weird creature that I saw...Anyways, let's head back" Said Siege, putting on his shirt, and started walking. "Come on...Let's go, I'm starved honestly" Said Siege, smiling back at her, and began to walk off.

"Wha- Weird- Me? Wh- Wait- me?" Serena managed to mumble out some words in total shock before it dawned on her.  He thought she was the weird one, "You're- You were- Argh!" Boys are stupid!! How was she supposed to tell him it was because he had decided to strip off his clothing without any sort of warning or indication as to what he was planning to do?  Had he said he was going to go swimming before the stripping, at least she'd have understood and expected it.  This, however, was totally unexpected.  All she had done was walk over to someone, say hi and then he had decided to start undressing himself in front of her for no apparent reason.

Sighing, she decided there was no way for her to be able to say that with a straight face.  She'd have died from embarrassment.  So, instead, she just gave up and decided not to question his words.  In her head, she was far more "normal" than he was - though she wasn't sure if that said much.  "Hey! Wait! Are you even sure that's safe-" She called out, trying to warn him.  What if there were giant man eating monsters inside the lake?  Perhaps only certain parts of the lake were open to swimming.  Serena reached out to try and catch his arm before he went in but it was too late.  He had just walked right into the water.  Without realising it, she had held her breathe from worry.  It wasn't until he claimed it was refreshing that she sighed a breathe of relief.  Perhaps it's okay to swim in... She thought to herself, wondering if she could try it sometime.  She enjoyed going swimming and went on a weekly basis before she started at Hogwarts.  Her former school made her go every week. It was part of class.

Sighing, she smiled slightly as she realised how innocent he looked.  He looked happy - and definitely less like a troublemaker in this one moment.  It made her see a slightly different side to him, if only for a moment.  Maybe he's a little bit more innocent than he looks, she thought noticing how much pleasure he seemed to get out of such a little thing.  Wait- stop looking at him! She scolded herself, wondering why she was even watching the half naked boy swim.  Instantly, she chose to look elsewhere. Looking up, Serena gazed at the beautiful clouds in the sky.

As she looked around, a small dark coloured object caught her eye.  It moved quickly, causing her to blink as her eyes quickly darted around trying to spot it again.  It was in the water... or so, at least she thought.  Perhaps not.  Perhaps it was just her imagination...  Either way, she couldn't see anything right now and didn't see anything clearly enough to be sure.  Serena bite her lip slightly as she worried if it was just a figment of her imagination or if it was really there.  Quickly, she looked over to Siege.  He was heading towards her, looking safe and okay.  "That was quick, you done already?" She asked as he approached her. Perhaps it was just her imagination or a tiny fish or something she had seen... "Eh- What was it? Eh- what- where are we- oh, okay." Serena replied in a daze, as she shook her head at her own thoughts and just decided to follow him.  She was so confused - a permanent state of being for her, it seemed.  She couldn't work this boy out at all.  His mind seemed to jump from one thing to another.  Every time she thought she understood him, he seemed to decide something else.  And who was so casual about seeing a weird creature in the water?! Sigh, Siege was definitely an odd guy - but she seemed to enjoy hanging out with him nonetheless.  Though it certainly made her very nervous at times - what the heck is wrong with him?

[END]