Finished Rewrite the Stars pv Alyssea

october 20 2023; interacting with @Clark Baird

Alyssea wasn't exactly ready to face the lake again, not after what happened two weeks ago. While most of the nightmares subsided and she started catching up on sleep, she couldn't bring herself to be anywhere near the edge of the water. Obstacles in racing included waterfalls and possibly the Herman the Squid (as Simon called it) and yet, she adamantly refused to get on her broom and fly over the lake with her team during practice.

But two weeks, she believed, was long enough and she should stop avoiding it. The grindylows wouldn't jump out from the water and take her, so she would be safe on the shore. Besides, swimming in the lake wasn't allowed and some fresh air outside of the castle's stone walls sounded like a nice idea for a Friday night.

She walked down the steps towards the boatshed and the dock where the boats arrived at the First Year Entrance. She expected it to be still, all quiet, but nope. Life had to throw something at her. What did it throw at her this time?

Definitely not a grindylow, thank goodness.

Instead, it was some kid wading into the water, bobbing up and down to keep their head above the surface. Alyssea pressed her lips. What the heck? It was either this kid wasn't there with the grindylows two weeks ago, they heard nothing about the disaster, or they just simply didn't care about potentially drowning and-or getting in trouble. When would the caretaker make her rounds?

Alyssea walked towards the shore, placing a considerable distance between her and the shoreline. She crossed her arms and yelled, "What are you doing?"

As he continued his bobbing motion in the water, he began to scream out, gurgling, slowly drifting under the water as if he couldn't bring his arms to function. Where was the ability to jump? That feeling just vanished from his legs. He felt like he was simply jello.

The water began to blur his vision, causing him to close his eyes to prevent it from potentially getting any worse. "HELP!" He would scream, but only bubbles would reach the surface. He drifted further under the water until his foot got caught in stalks of some form of underwater greenery.

His panic only rose, but no sound would be heard. Miniature popping of air bubbles at the surface of the water was rapid.

And then he saw black. His hearing went out in both ears. All feeling left him. His heartrate seemed to slow, his mental processing was not quite as rapid as it was. He was unconscious. It was at that moment that the bubbles on the surface would slow from its rapid pace, maybe someone would come in and save him. It wasn't the first time he nearly drowned in this lake.

Stuck in his state, unconscious, lack of feeling, lack of air. Someone needed to save him or he was a goner.

october 20th 2023; interacting with @Clark Baird

Of course, her yelling wasn't heard. Or, at least, the lack of response meant the guy didn't hear her. Before she could ask him again, his head disappeared into the depths of the lake and all that came up were bubbles.

If you told past Alyssea she would be scared of swimming in the Great Lake, she would've laughed. Her only fears were spiders and heights, not a lake. She was responsible enough to not swim in the lake since it said in the rules you shouldn't and she knew the limits of her body. There was no way she was scared of the Great Lake.

But she was and she froze. Her chest ached with the need for air. What was she supposed to do? By the time she could run back to the castle and get help, the boy would've probably drowned. The guy was probably a First Year and that made it even more annoying. But if she went in to rescue him, well, how would that turn out if she saw the grindylow again?

Screw it, she thought as she pulled off her robe and ran into the water. Her Hufflepuff loyalty won out.

Her eyes stung as she opened them and water rushed in. She squinted, trying to find him in the depths, blood roaring in her ears as beady eyes greeted her in the corner of her eye. She shook her head and dove farther down, finally catching sight of the guy. His hair may have been dark, but he was shirtless, so the last rays of light still managed to illuminate his figure underwater.

Alyssea looked down towards the lakebed. No grindylows, but definitely vines. She made quick work of untangling his legs from the vines and placed her arms under his before kicking up to the surface. Lifting people underwater was undoubtedly easier than lifting people on land.

When a pang of pain hit her lungs, Alyssea froze. She opened her mouth but quickly closed it as the water rushed in. Good thing she was underwater so nobody would see her tears. She bit her tongue and made one last push for the surface.

Sure enough, she got her head out and coughed out the water she'd previously consumed. The elbow of the guy she'd picked up jabbed at her ribs. With wide eyes, she lifted his head out from under the water and swam towards the shore until her legs could touch the ground. Luckily, it wasn't very far.

How are you supposed to help someone who just drowned? They don't exactly teach life skills in the Hogwarts curriculum nor do the English in primary education. So, she laid him on the ground and shook him. "Breathe, you idiot," she said between coughs.

Alyssea got up and ran to her robe, fishing out her aspen wand from the pockets and making a gentle swirl in the general direction of her soaked uniform. "Aer Calidus."

She returned to the guy and lightly hit his back until he coughed up water. Thank goodness. Upon closer inspection, the guy was no First Year. Alyssea vaguely remembered him from an excursion last month in the Hufflepuff common room. She bit back another rude comment, opting to be more civil considering he was about to die. "You okay?"

The part goblin was pulled out of the water, therefore saving him from drowning in an unconscious state- which was really dangerous. He had to thank the person who saved him from the watery grave. He spit out the water in segments as he was clearing his airway onto the saviors' shirt. "Thank you." He said feebly. Last time someone saved him, it was during his first year when he was wearing the exact same thing he was now, drowning in a lake because he was flipendo'd into the water.

He looked up at the rescuer's face. Nothing could prepare him for what he was about to see. "GARBAGE! ABSOLUTE GARBAGE!" He screamed out, his eyes widening, but realizing it could hurt the counterpart's feelings, he pointed his right hand behind her and gestured towards his father's Astronomy Tower.

Thank god the castle was in the background.

"Listen... Roadkill." He said, drawing a blank on her name. "I'm sorry for the whole mess in the common room the other day, I deserved getting pegged in the face with the book. Though, I will say, I did not deserve that damn black eye."

Was that enough of a 'thanks for saving my life' for her? Probably not, so Clark would follow up with a proposal. "Miss Roadkill, would you be so kind to join me to a date nigh-" He gulped, knowing what it would've brought. "night at Hogsmeade? We could piss off some prefects if they're patrolling?"

october 20th 2023; interacting with @Clark Baird

It was not worth it to jump into the lake and rescue Clark Baird.

At first, it seemed he would be civil, but then he started yelling out 'garbage' and Alyssea took many steps backward to let him scream his head off. With her arms crossed, she looked at the direction he was pointing to. The memory from a few nights ago resurfaced and she connected the dots. Right. Professor Baird had said, and she quoted, "You don't look like garbage." A strange comment to tell a twelve-year-old child. She could only guess now that Clark had called her that to him since he was yelling it out at her.

"Listen... Roadkill."

"Alyssea," she corrected him, arms still crossed and, frankly, unimpressed. She had a name for a reason. Then again, it's not like she ever told him her name after apologizing him about the thrown book at his face.

Alyssea shrugged. "You conjured up a snake, tried to push me over, and then punched Helena. I didn't give you that black eye, but I think you deserved it." She was not having any of this right now.

She walked over to her robe and started putting it back on, listening to Clark's absurd proposal of, a what? A date? She couldn't quite believe she was hearing.

Alyssea turned to him. "I'm not keen on being caught by prefects at Hogsmeade, thanks. I already almost got myself into trouble by fishing you out of the lake," she huffed. Sure, she had a fake permission form and had gone to Hogsmeade a few times, but annoying prefects? That was a death wish.

"Are you stupid? Don't you know swimming in the lake isn't allowed? And what makes you think I would want to spend time with you?"

With one last eye-roll, she turned towards the staircase back to the castle. "I'll find somewhere else to spend my Friday night."

Reducio

Action: Alyssea's attempting to leave, but honestly, she won't. Make up something good to make her stay

He was pathetic. The way he addressed such a beautiful and gallant girl who saved his life was... disrespectful. Admittedly, he wanted to react with more cruel comments but perhaps for once he should be nice. Last time he was nice, well, that he could think of was when he was saved by his knight in shining armor; @Gabriel Palmer. Or perhaps when he met @Keith Moore in Hogsmeade... he actually treated them properly, but if Clark couldn't manage to do so, he was going to blow this.

"Yes ma'am. I apologize for my crude comments, outbursts and illogical actions. I do hope you can forgive me." He paused and took an even deeper breath. "Alyssea." The part goblin held his breath and squinted his eyes, his brain playing the word 'Alysseamort' on repeat. He had to be decent for once. He could not let that slip.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out with me?" He said softly. His voice was as pathetic as his attempts to cover up his flaws. "I will find a good place for us to have dinner? Maybe in the Kitchens? Do you want..." Maybe he was pausing too often. He wanted to ask her what her favorite food was but instead stopped himself. He needed to at least be his own person and not solely horrid.

"Do you want an apple pie and a glass of apple juice?" He asked.

october 20th 2023; interacting with @Clark Baird

The formal address caught Alyssea off guard and stopped her in her tracks. She turned to see Clark's face, wondering if it was all sarcasm and sass. He even said her name right. But his tone of voice had been genuine and his face seemed serious... Keyword being seemed. Alyssea wasn't so sure.

Alyssea wanted to laugh but she bit her tongue. Clark was determined, and for what reason? What was he supposed to get out of befriending her? She patiently waited as he asked her questions. "Yes, I'm very sure, Clark. And also, what's wrong with the Great Hall? That's where we normally have dinner. I don't think the house elves would appreciate us being in their space to eat."

Apple pie and apple juice weren't an awful combo if she was being honest. They had different tastes despite being from the same fruit. Apple pie was awfully sweet and apple juice had a sour aftertaste. Honestly, that might've been the only nice thing Clark said this entire exchange.

Alyssea hummed. "That doesn't sound... bad. That's pretty nice." She crossed her arms. "Where would we eat if not the Great Hall?"

She had this weird feeling in her stomach that this was not supposed to happen. Was this a bet he was being put up to? What benefit would he gain from being her friend? Alyssea certainly saw no benefits in having him as a friend, only side-eyes and snide remarks from her peers about her taste in men. Heck, Helena would probably hate her for life or do the equivalent of blocking her.

Alyssea would just have to walk around the castle with her chin up. She knew herself better than anyone and she would not be swayed by some offer for a simple dinner with everyone's number one enemy.

With his question of due diligence, the apple pie and juice was a necessity for Clark's ideal date. However, yes, he did picture more violence and fun when asking someone out but it seemed she had taken that feeling from him. He felt he had to do the worst thing possible. Be nice. Be respectful.

He so desperately wanted to say what his mind wanted to reveal, but his heart wouldn't let him. His heart strings felt tangled. Trapped within the ribcage and confined for all of eternity. "Al-" He started, his mouth starting to dry a bit. He wanted to tell her that the great hall was not romantic enough but he couldn't figure out how to without needing to open his mouth and provoke the words to come out. He leaned into the water, gulping down the liquid, now beginning to feel like his throat was moisturized enough. "Uh, let's uh- do you want to eat it in the Kitchens? Or- or- the uh well right here?" He asked, struggling to think of romantic outings. "What do you say we do it out here, at midnight? I'll have a few candles out." Sure, that was a proposition. He asked for the date to be that very night.

He smiled at the girl before turning away, bashful at what he had just said and did.

october 20th 2023; interacting with @Clark Baird

It truly was a mystery how nice Clark Baird was being to her right now. Seriously. She knew him as a chaotic, attention-seeking gremlin that brought ill favour wherever he went; nothing good should ever come out of being near Clark. What was possessing him to be this way? A bet with a nice price on it? A demon? The need for actual friendship? Alyssea wasn't sure which one she liked better; they all sounded cursed. If she had to pick, the bet sounded like the lesser of three evils.

It was even worse when he offered a lakeside date with candles all set up by him. Here was Clark Baird, on the 20th of October, offering Alyssea Brown a midnight lakeside date with apple pie and apple juice. Quite lovely, right? Alyssea was probably hallucinating all of this. She was hallucinating and when she woke up, this whole thing would disappear. It wasn't real.

(It was very much real and she was disappointed when she saw Clark standing in front of her still.)

He left without giving her a chance to accept or deny the 'date'. Or maybe she had responded and had the answer obliviated from her memory. A midnight date by the lake? Alyssea had her fair share of rule-breaking but she had not attempted sneaking out past curfew in a long, long while.

Would it even be worth it? Maybe Clark was taking his revenge and getting her a detention by standing her up. Alyssea could do the same, too. What if he was going to push her into the lake while she couldn't see in the dark? At least she had the wand-lighting charm, but how fast would she be able to cast it in an extreme situation?

The inner conflict of how to deal with the proposal left Alyssea out by the lake long enough that the sun began to set. By that point, she was interested enough to entertain Clark's offer.

See you tonight, I guess, Alyssea thought as she returned to the castle. A light dinner should suffice.