Closed Jerk! Open

He wasn't quite sure how the situation had happened, the events coincided together and had occurred rapidly. Before he could even begin to process what had happened, and only minutes earlier the Gryffindor had been having such a perfect day. Beautiful varied colors filled the the landscape as plants began to lose leafs, the lovely feeling of nature dying off gracefully, life slowly coming into autumn and preparing for the winter season. Alec had always adored they way everything looked in autumn, the reds, oranges, and yellows, pleasing to the eyes. The young artist hoped to spend his afternoon capturing the aesthetic wonders of autumn in his sketchbook. Specifically Alec hoped to draw the view of the landscape which jetted off from the lake. Out of all the views at Hogwarts, it was one of his favorites, he hoped to be able to do the land justice when he drew it.

When Alec had arrived by the side of the great lake he first took a moment to tie back his messy curly hair into a ponytail, in order to have it not get in his face, he spent his time sketching out the landscape from beyond in his sketchbook. A rough sketch, lines that looked like nothing in particular for now. Over time, the little details began to be added and everything was coming into place. In the back of his mind part of him wanted to paint the piece. However, it wasn't for here and now, and a thought that didn't matter when he hadn't entirely finished the sketch.

Being the impatient soul he was during the process Alec eventually stood up and began to walk around the edge of the lake as he completed his sketch. Really he didn't mind- it helped him better to see the details anyway, like that leaf in the lake. Wait- a leaf in the lake- he wanted- he should -he should add that right?! Alec was excited and after finishing up a few details rushed over, he wasn't paying as much attention as she should have and this was what ultimately lead to his downfall- the downfall of such a perfect day.

He missed the fact that a girl was sitting there. It went completely unnoticed by him in the ways of obliviousness that truly only Alec could have. And you know not realizing she was there he may or may not have run into her, his leg hitting her and causing the girl to jut forward falling into the lake. Of course it didn't stop there, Alec's foot had gotten caught and he tripped, finding himself falling face forward into the freezing lake water. By this point he hadn't quite realized what had happened, had his feet hit a rock was that how he tripped? It didn't matter this water was freezing, he needed to get out before he got hypothermia or something.

Quickly Alec made his way out and onto the shore, still soaked by freezing water, being out of the water didn't help. Alec dropped his sketchbook and pencil(both of which had taken a dip with him). Then Alec spotted something, someone, a girl struggling in the water. Immediately Alec was panic and alarmed. He had half the mind to glance back to where he could have sworn the boulder had been to make sure he hadn't done this but there were much more important issues right now. He was freezing, feeling the cool air against his skin as he was soaked in cold soggy clothes made him shiver. He rushed kneeling down at the edge leaning over to reaching for her arm, helping to pull her back up to safety on land.

“Are you okay? You're- you're not hurt, right?” The words left his mouth the second she found herself back on dry land and his eyes skimmed over the girl to check her for injuries, she had none, as far as he could tell as he let out a breath of relief.

Then she threw her head up and shouted.

"Did you push me?!"

His eyes-widened he was caught off guard and quickly flustered by the sudden accusation. “Huh?” His eyes fluttered. Surely it had been a rock he had run into. Quickly his eyes bounced over towards where the rock had been and it hit him... There was no rock there. “I- uh... No?” Had he really pushed her, should it be called pushing, was his flustered quick and nervous response brought on by panic not well thought out? Likely. Alec's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes settling on the girl he squinted as he looked at her and frowned. Alec was more confused than before. “Yes? Maybe? - I don't know!” He wasn't quite sure what to call it or sure if he was ready to let it sink in the he was the cause and she could have gotten injured. “It's not- I wasn't trying to do it... I was-” His mouth twisted, not quote sure how to explain he gestured over to where his soggy sketchbook and pencil lay in the grass.

His frowned deepened and he let out a sigh, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “I hope you're okay. Sorry. It was an accident.” His gaze fell towards the ground and he shifted from foot to foot like he really didn't seem to know what to do with himself in that moment.

Apologies for such a long post! I was having fun with writing and got carried away!
@Maggie Aelyn

A boy stared down at Maggie. His eyes were widened in surprise. “Huh?” This made Maggie even more pissed. How dare he push her and then act all clueless? “I- uh… No?” He furrowed his eyebrows. If it weren’t for that he pushed the girl, she would feel bad. Maggie has always hated seeing anyone sad, but she was too angry to care at the moment. «Yes? Maybe? - I don’t know!” He said. “How can you not know?!” Maggie spat. Her body was still too cold for her to be able to get up and leave but she got on her knees. Her face heated up when she realized the shirt she was wearing was now almost see-through. Embarrassed, she covered her chest. “It’s not- I wasn’t trying to do it… I was-“

He gestured over to a sketchbook and a pencil in the grass. Maggie gasped in realization. Her book! Her bag was still hanging by her side. With shaky hands, she looked through it and found… Her book completely ruined. It was soaked and the text smudged. Her eyes met his again.“Jerk!” Maggie hissed. He didn’t reply. Sure, she could repair it with her wand but she was still mad. Her wand was in her dormitory so she couldn’t use it right now anyway. “I hope you’re okay. Sorry. It was an accident.” Maggie was about to tell him to ‘piss off’ when she saw his clothes. They were just as soaked as hers. If he really did it on purpose he wouldn’t jump after her. She sighed.“Okay I believe you. I’m sorry for being rude.” She bit her lip. Slowly she felt her legs getting stronger. She took a chance and got up. Her legs were wobbly but she at least didn’t fall. With a little smile, Maggie held out her hand. “Maggie Aelyn. Ravenclaw.”

Sorry for such a short post. I didn’t have much motivation:)@Alec Mason

Her calling out to him, calling him a jerk, it had him flustered, he was trying to figure out the ins and outs of the situation himself. Having a hostile stranger beside him certainly was not helping. Alec eyed the stranger warily, taking a step back, eventually with Alec assumed enough insistence from him, they calmed down. Good. Alec wasn't looking to get punched at school for the second time- he really needed to spot finding himself in situations like these, he shook his head to let the thoughts go and focus himself on what was happening in the moment. He watched as she stood up and apologized for being rude. The Gryffindor was surprised but he nodded, accepting her apology.

After apologizing the stranger had a small smile edging on their lips as they held out their hand, introducing themself to Alec. Maggie Aelyn. Ravenclaw. Alec smirked and reached out with his left hand shaking hers. Alec always enjoyed meeting new people, though perhaps not under these particular circumstances. It was unfortunate. “Alec, Gryffindor,” a simple short introduction, it had been much longer once, perhaps it being as small as it was kept from overcomplicating the whole mess that is introductions. His eyes focused in on her book and he sighed, “It looks like your book is in pretty bad shape.” It could be fixed, it was just such a shame the effort of fixing it would have to be gone through.

The next priority was getting her dried off, he could worry about himself later, she must have been freezing(thought it wasn't like Alec was not freezing either), he reached for his wand safely stowed away in his wand holder in order to have it on him at all times. Pulling out his wand he made haste to attempt to cast the hot air charm on the stranger(hot air charm is used to quickly dry went garments, don't want to godmod so obviously feel free to auto-dodge). After he had done if for her, he would do the hot air charm for himself, and relief quickly flooded him and he found himself now not freezing with his clothes dry. “Your a first year right?” Alec asked conversationally, “I am going to hope your time at Hogwarts this far hasn't been as lively as this was.” Alec spoke his eyebrows furrowed, “can you not swim?”

@Maggie Aelyn

“Alec, Gryffindor,” The boy said as he took Maggie’s hand and shaked it. Maggie was incredibly embarrassed about how she treated the boy some minutes ago. She never thought of herself as a bad person but now she was unsure. An image of Alec looking almost scared of her was stuck in Maggie’s head. She wasn’t completely sure if he was scared or not but it still hurt her. Her eyes got a little glossy as she teared up. Scared Alec would see, she looked away.

“It looks like your book is in pretty bad shape.” He said interrupting Maggie’s thoughts. “Huh?” She gave him a confused look. He eyed the book in her hand. “Oh. Yeah. I’m gonna fix it when I get back to the dormitory.” She replied looking away again.
In her side eye Maggie saw Alec getting his wand. He pointed it at her and she flinched at the movement. “What are you doi-“ She started but stopped when she felt hot air on her body. A sigh escaped her lips and all her muscles relaxed. “Thank you.” She gave Alec a thankful smile.

Even after she was rude as hell, he was still nice. He used the spell on himself before he spoke up. “You’re a first year right?” Maggie was surprised he was still talking to her but she answered: “Yeah. I’m guessing you are some years older.” She didn’t need confirmation since she already knew the answer based on his looks. “I am going to hope your time at Hogwarts this far hasn't been as lively as this was.” His eyebrows furrowed. Maggie chuckled. “No, it has been awesome.” The answer came automatically but it was a lie. She loved Hogwarts but she felt homesick. And not ‘normal’ homesick. It was like an hand constantly were squeezing her heart. She missed her mom, her dad and especially her best friend.

“can you not swim?” Alec suddenly asked. The question caught Maggie off guard. “Swim? What do you- Oh! Yeah I can. I just panicked because of the cold water and… Um… I’m terrified of fishes and sea creatures.” She waited for Alec to laugh but he didn’t so she continued. “I have always been scared of them. I’m basically scared of the ocean. I know it’s weird…” She looked at the ground, embarrassed. Her face was hot and probably very red.

@Alec Mason

Alec had pointed out her book and was relieved when she said she planned to fix the water-soaked book upon going back to her dormitory. She was going to need to fix it if she ever planned on reading it again. Alec would have offered if she didn't know, he couldn't quite remember when first years learned reparo. He made an effort to at least help clean up the mess he'd created a little bit by drying the two of them off. It was a relief neither of them were soaked in water. Maggie was reactive at first, as anyone would be however once she realized what Alec was doing she would tell him thank you, a smile edged at Alec's lips and he nodded. Drying her off wasn't a huge deal, in his mind it had to be the least he could do in this situation.

Maggie confirmed she was a first year, and Alec nodded again as she made the assumption that he was some years older. “I'm in my fourth year,” he replied chuckling. Alec was happy to feel he had some veteran status at Hogwarts now. While he hardly considered himself capable of doing impressive veteran status worthy things, it was nice to know his time paid off in the form of a nonsense title he had given himself.

Alec joked, telling her he hoped he didn't run into eventful situations often like this, especially as a first year, it would leave a sour taste in your mouth with experiences all like such. She chuckled and he was surprised to hear her use the word awesome. He rose an eyebrow eyeing her curiously. A little over the top, sure, but it was nothing too drastic. Alec wasn't too great at the whole feelings things, unless he was around a person for a while he found it hard to pick out the nonverbal cues that led out to their real emotions. Somewhat frustrating when there were moments like these where he didn't realize something else was going on, the fact that awesome didn't seem like the word she would have really wanted to use to describe her time.

Alec had to ask if he could swim, it was only reasonably after seeing the way she struggled and flailed all while she attempted to stay afloat. Maggie said she could, simply that she had panicked. Alec nodded encouraging her to go on. Maggie had been surprised by the cold water, not to mention she was terrified of fish and other sea creatures. She had the liberty to panic, really who knew what was down beneath that lake, he would turn his head to eye it suspiciously for a moment before his attention went back to Maggie once more. She paused then continued. Maggie said she'd always been scared of sea creatures, she said she was basically scared of the ocean.

The older student frowned as he noticed the way her face looked, red and embarrassed. Alec bit at his lip nervously followed by shaking his head. “It's not weird.” Alec felt the fear was reasonable, though he didn't have it himself, it made sense. “You can't see what the creatures look like deep in the water.” Alec spoke then added, “you never know what might come after you.” Gently teasing her, trying to make a joke and lighten the situation in order to make her feel less embarrassed about it.

Alec took a moment to think before he grinned facing her with a confident air. “It's natural to be afraid of things, it's human nature, but you shouldn't let those fears control you.” Best piece of advice he'd ever given, though he was incredibly hypocritical, he was chicken and wouldn't follow it. Not if it meant the possibility of losing one of his closest friends. “Anyway, that's really not my place- what were you reading? Before the water wrecked it?” Alec asked curiously.

@Maggie Aelyn

“It's not weird.” Maggie looked up with a surprised look. "It's not?" She asked quietly still a little embarrassed. "You can't see what the creatures look like deep in the water." Alec replied. "you never know what might come after you." Usually, Maggie would feel scared by this sentence but now it only felt comforting. She hummed with a smile. "It's natural to be afraid of things, it's human nature, but you shouldn't let those fears control you." Maggie thought about his advice for a while before she replied. "Yes, you're right." Maggie wanted to thank Alec for comforting her but couldn't find the right words. She decided that if she ever saw him need help, she would help no matter what."Anyway, that's really not my place- what were you reading? Before the water wrecked it?" Alec asked.

Books have always made Maggie happy. It was her escape from reality. So when he asked this she smiled so wide her cheeks hurt immediately. "I don't remember at the moment, but it is a muggle book. My best friend gifted me it before I left. Don't recommend it though, it's incredibly cringe. Like in 'baby girl' nicknames and such." She laughs. "But if you enjoy that type of books you can borrow it after I'm done." Now Maggie was laughing so hard that tears rolled down her face. "Sorry, sorry." She giggled.