Calm Closed

“Who now? Still, Beatles... Insects are all terrible.”

Amaya grimaced. Then her eyes went wide as Briana began tugging at her.

Amaya shrieked, pulling away from what she thought of as Briana’s Death Grip before jabbing her in the stomach. “You don’t... You don’t get it. Not like the muggles’ idea of Mermaids... Let me explain this to you. Ever heard of Sirens?”

Amaya gave the Gryffindor a glare, reminding herself why she should stay away from the house. Stupid brash Gryffindors.

“Or better yet, Selkies? Mermaids are related to them. Mermaids, or Merpeople, are not as friendly as you seem to think. Unless you have a death wish.”

Amaya pur some distance between her and the other girl, before breathing deeply. “Fine. Up to waist. Only.”

Amaya moved closer to the Gryffindor girl, planning to use her as a flotation device if all else failed. (Hey, it wasn’t her fault that she was a Slytherin- Part of Slytherin is being known as having a high self-preservation sense- or what she thought of as common sense)

Planning to get her back for attempting to drag Amaya through the water, Amaya shoved Briana towards the water with a sly grin and a pleased expression.

Bri grinned at Amaya and laughed. "That's a fair opinion - bugs are pretty gross," she agreed. "But some time I've gotta show you their music. It's like classic - muggle, I guess - music. From all the way back in the seventies, too, I think."

The Gryffindor's tug was met with resistance and Bri frowned, turning back to face Amaya. "Aren't sirens just mermaids? And I don't think I know what a selkie is." The notion that mermaids weren't friendly didn't really click with Bri.

"You know," she said, rather matter of factly, "maybe the mermaids - or merpeople - are just misunderstood. Maybe they're only violent and mean because people don't get them." Briana rather liked that theory, and wondered absently if she would ever meet a mermaid to prove it.

Deciding that she was going to get the other girl into the water, Bri changed tact, and that seemed to actually work. "Yay!" she grinned. Amaya grabbed onto her, and Bri felt very important and brave in that moment. The girls began to wade in - robes and all, they would dry.

"We are going to go properly swimming at some point, just so you know," Bri said, trying very hard not to wince at the cold water. "The water's so nice - it'd be so much better—" The little witch didn't get to finish her sentence, because Amaya gave her a surprisingly solid shove, and over she went, straight into the water. Bri shook her head to get her hair behind her and then came up grinning, noting the Slytherin's pleased expression.

"Thought you didn't want to get wet?" Bri said with a small grin. Without leaving time for Amaya to process what that meant, Bri flicked water towards the girl - as much as she could at once. If she was going to get wet - though she didn't really mind - Amaya certainly was too.

On the banks of the Great Lake, tucked back by a small grove of trees, silent and observant on a fallen log, there sat a boy. He seemed an ordinary sort at first glance. A young lad with blond curls that were being pushed from his eyes every few minutes and a look of concern that seemed far too old for a child his age spreading across his face as he watched. Other students wandered to and fro across his visage, practicing spells, chatting with friends, avoiding enemies and making them. He wasn't concerned with their antics however. No. It was the two girls who's conversation and ever winding steps closer to the edge of the glassy lake that made his eyes narrow and fingers twitch.

Don't. Please don't.

He was used students teasing about it. Joking about going for a swim all while casting wary and knowing glances at one another. One can tease but one never follows through with a joke like that. You simply do not go into the water. It's a known fact. A rule. Something worth enforcing with good reason and quite possibly a rule in need of being enforced now. Every student knew that this lake -even in all its splendor- was a dangerous one.

Every student save these girls it would seem.

A push, a splash, a giggle and they were in.

If only they knew merpeople where the least of their worries.

Twigs and dried leaves still scattered from the year prior snapped under his feet as he stood, mind set and confidence gathered. True it wasn't very much confidence, Khris was still Khris after all, but it was enough. Enough to make him stand to his full and underwhelming height, square his rather narrow shoulders, take in a shaky and slightly asthmatic breath and... forward march.

You can do this. Be brave. It's your job. Ooohh gosh....

"Uhhh..."

Brilliant job, you. Do better. His mind berated while a quick and determined nod was given.

Khris cleared his throat, tugged at the hem of his school robes and tried again. "Um. Excuse me! You two! I'm afraid I must inform you that what you're doing is... Well, um. It's not exactly allowed. Swimming here. In the lake. In the Great Lake! Er... It's a rule and I- I- I really must insist that you get out for your own safety." Silver blue eyes darted between the two students. "I'm sorry but I really must insist as um... As prefect." A quiet and dull clink was made as he tapped the small badge pinned to his robes, chin lifting in a moment of pride for his role, awkwardly executed or not. "So... Yeah. Unfortunately it is against the rules to swim in the Great Lake and I'm afraid if you don't get out I'll have to report you to a professor."

Amaya had to keep herself from sighing st the other girl. Gryffindors.

She gave up on the argument, letting Briana think what she wanted to, and fought to keep from shrieking as she suddenly splashed freezing, cold water onto her. Amaya hissed, reluctantly placing her wand on the side as she prepared herself to dive in. Dripping and completely soaked, took a deep breath, before tumbling in, hoping that the splash from that would be enough payback. Though, her sister had always told her that when you are looking for vengeance or revenge, you should always double it. So once Amaya resurfaced, she sent yet another wave towards Briana, sending all of her force behind it.

That was when the shy prefect of Slytherin appeared, warning them about safety and professors and all.

Amaya nodded to him, and began to move out of the cold water. “Alright.”

It was a simple word, a simple word that spoke of her uneagerness to into too much trouble. She would rather not have a professor involved with her activities, though she was secretly relieved to know she wouldn’t need to go further into the Great Lake anymore.

Once she’d finished making her way out, Amaya gave the prefect a small nod accompanied with a minerature smile, with a touch of a amusement and a small hint of gratefulness. She knew she was shy at times as well, but she still found it amusing, especially because he was a prefect.

She’d heard tales of Grindylows and The Giant Squid, though apparently, it was semi-tamed and would allow students to tickle some of it’s tentacles should it be a particularly bright and sunny day. But the Mermaids were the ones she was personally more afraid of, a small part of her shivering at the thought. Amaya leaned into the warmth the sun offered her, closing her eyes for a moment to let it wash over her, before she flicked her gaze at both the prefect and Briana.

Amaya sighed, basking in the warmth before opting to sit down on the soft grass, lacing her fingers through it and straightening her posture as well as using her hands to prop her up. She looked back at the refreshingly cold waters once more, watching the small ripples that sent waves of comfort rolling over her and soothed her. She gave the prefect another slightly wary glance, before she gave up all attempt at being “polite” and stretched out, onto the grass, letting her robes dry off as she then gathered and gripped her wand tightly.