The Dancing Squid

Staying at Hogwarts thus far, had been relatively uneventful, if you didn't count all the magic, the talking portraits and the ghosts floating past people like it was nothing of course.
Ruka had made a few friends, people he could chat with in his free time, but nobody quite as hands on and adventurous as Donny, the Hufflepuff boy who had taught him to ride a broom.
This was why, when he had received an owl from his friend to arrange a little adventure between the two of them, he had been ecstatic. He could barely contain his excitement as he skipped through the halls, sneakily avoiding a couple of professors on his way out into the grounds.
He had dressed in his usual Gryffindor cloak, but had opted for warm dark brown trousers and a grey hoodie that had belonged to his dad when he was younger. He wasn't sure how long they were going to stay out exactly, and eventhough it was quite warm right now, that could change in just a few minutes and he liked to be prepared. Also, the hoodie provided him with a large front pocket which had allowed him to sneak two bottled pumpkin juices from the Great Hall, so that was a plus.

He wasn't too far away from the lake when he heard the secret code they had agreed on, Donny's voice echoed by the wind and water, and Ruke snickered at the sound, so long so that Donny actually repeated the cry before Ruka managed to respond.
"Kaawkaaaw!" he yelled out, not too loud as to not attracked attention, and the sound unpracticed and most likely a bit ridiculous.
He skipped the last few metres to reach Donny, a wide grin on his face. "No brooms today," he pointed out cheekily, looking towards where there was one of the boats that had carried them across the lake to the castle upon their arrival. "Are we hunting for pirate treasure?"

Donny grinned widely at Ruka's arrival. "Good bird calls Ruka!" he said, laughing hard. "And no. Were just gonna explore the waters. I wanna see if we can find any creatures!" He said whipping out a his copy of 'Fantastic Beasts: And where to find them' and held it out in front of his face, shaking it in emphasis. "But, if we can't, than we'll just chill! Did you bring it?" he asked, referring to the pumpkin juice they'd discussed earlier. He'd brought some homemade pumpkin pasties that his mum sent him from home for the holidays. And some exploding Bon-Bon's he'd bought in diagon alley the day prior. Without Ruka having to answer, Donny saw the two lumps in his pocket, which he assumed were the drinks. "Oh, so we're both prepared! Well, might as well jump in!" Donny said, motioning to the wooden boat on the docs.

Donny sat down in the boat, waiting for Ruka to come aboard. It wobbled a little, shaking his ground as he stepped towards the seat. He shuffled his feet, and found a spare lantern in the corner of the boat. He pulled it up in front of him, beaming at Ruka awaiting adventure. "Well, I've got a list of animals for exploration," he said, pulling out a torn piece of parchment that was marking his page in his book. "So, I think we can find the main Grindylow spot, and maybe- just maybe we can get a glimpse of the mermaid habitat!" he said seriously off the top of his glasses, pointing at the the chapter on lake creatures...   

Ruka poked his tongue out at Donny for making fun of his bird calls, making ine lightfooted jump across a low bush to land right in front of his friend, glass bottles jiggling lightly in his jumper.
He watched as Donny pulled out his copy of Fantastic Beasts, beaming at the sound of his plan. "Awsome," he said, nodding excitedly. "I've always wondered what's under the surface. Some say Water Dragons!" He smirked, shaking his head at himself. "Well, I say Water Dragons." He chuckled before pulling out part of one of the juice bottles to show Donny that he had come prepared, grinning proudly.
This was the first properly mischievous thing he'd done since getting to Hogwarts and he was so glad he got to do it with Donny.
While Cassie was good fun and Roni sweet to talk to, Donny was... well, a proper mate, someone you could steal horses with.
He swiftly followed Donny into the boat, happy to be small and light which made it a whole lot easier to stay steady as he got both legs inside and managed to sit down properly.
He listened intently, looking over Donny's shoulder to get a glimpse of the pages he had sought out in his book.
"Grindylows are aggressive," he pointed out, tapping at the corresponding section in the text, his eyes glinting with adventure rather than fear. "So we better find those meremen, apparently they're the only ones who can tame the Grindylow!"

Donny smiled at Ruka's understanding for his inner nerdieness. "Right." he said shortly, focusing contempt on the pages of his book. He really wanted to have some sort of... well, successful adventure rather. Last time he'd snuck out to explore, he landed in the hospital wing with deep cuts, lying next to a girl with the same. "I've only ever seen a Grindylow once, and it wasn't fun!" he replied, remembering two summers ago when he went swimming in Ireland near his grandpa. Grindylows were quite the pesky sort of creatures, the ones that you run into when you think you've already made it to your goal. 

"I just want to get out of school really!" he said honestly, thinking about all of his homework. "Besides, I like the fresh air. When my mum wasn't home, I'd just go exploring the town!" he reminisced, looking back in his mind. He remembered the time he found a cat on the street. It was pregnant and ready to pop any moment, when he brought it in the house. Eventually, it did, on his mum's bed. She wasn't very happy. "So, you take this," he said, handing him a paddle, "And i'll take this!" he said, picking up his own...       

Ruka frowned a little as he listened to Donny talking about the Grindylow he had encountered once before, immediately curious about the event. "Did it attack you?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound too intrusive.

For someone like Ruka who had only ever lived around illusions and tricks, all things magic were marvelous and exciting; He had only ever seen those creatures in his books, so every first hand experience was worth being listened to.
He looked up as Donny admitted to just wanting to get out of school, and he nodded in complete understanding.
Hogwarts was amazing, there was so much to see and do, but most of the time Ruka longed to be outside, to set foot where he wasn't supposed to, to explore every nook and cranny he could find.
"I get that," he said, looking out across the smooth water surface. Right now nothing gave away that a whole lot of sea creatures lived somewhere inside there. "I used to sleep out on the fields with my dad. Sometimes everything within those walls gets a bit too suffocating."
People and homework and classes and even mealtimes; mostly he just wanted to know what was inside the Forbidden Forest and whether it was true that there was a hidden tunnel underneath the lake. "But tonight is about adventure and getting some fresh air!" He grinned as he took the paddle from Donny, waiting until they were both ready to start.
It took a while to get a good rhythm going - one that didn't turn them in circles - but eventually they moved their boat further towards the centre of the lake, the water still suspiciously smooth around them. Ruka looked over the side of the boat, watching his reflection carefully, trying to find any movement betraying the presence of a sea creature.
It was difficult to tell, the water was so dark it was impossible to see further than a couple of inches, and no matter how long he stared at his own disheveled hair, nothing seemed to be moved except for the tiny waves coming from their gently rocking boat.
"It's almost like it wants us to believe that there's nothing in the lake," he pointed out, carefully moving the two bottles from his jumper and putting them between his feet; should something drag them into the water, he didn't need any additional weight pulling him down!

Donny pulled the paddles through the thick, seemingly black water. He paddled and paddled, until at long last a found a spot, about twenty feet away from the lakes edge, it was perfect for exploring anything deep. The sun was faint, and lowering slightly, but his determination to explore was heaving a weight inside deeply. "And yes! It hurt quite a lot, the biting and what not... but Grindylows have instincts like any other animal I suppose." he said, panting and reaching out for a bottle pumpkin juice. He opened that glass bottle in which the refreshment was held. "Thanks by the way!" Donny said gratefully, putting up the bottle in cheers. "To us! To adventure! To freedom!" he said, reaching out to clink glasses with Ruka. 

After the cheers, he chugged down the juice thankfully, closing it back up after he was freshly hydrated. "So... what animal would you like to find?" he asked Ruka, smiling and clasping his hands together as he stared. He knew he'd caught him reading Fantastic Beasts the other day in the fields, he had to know something about magical beasts. "I know you love books!" he said, shaking his copy again, grinning with an exploding Bon-Bon popping on his tongue...   

"Ouch," Ruka said in reply, trying to imagine the water creatures he'd only seen in books so far coming at him with teeth and claws and a lot of bloodlust. Donny had to have been pretty shocked after an experience like that.
Watching his friend grab for one of the bottles, Ruka decided to do the sams, unscrewing the lid before toasting with Donny, solemnly repeating the words his friend had just said.

To freedom.

He liked that, it was a good thing to toast on. It entailed so many things, like adventure and friendship and the whole world right there at their feet. He would happily drink to that.
Taking a deep sip of pumpkin juice Ruka wiped away some remnants of it with his sleeve before closing the bottle again and putting it down by his feet.
He stared out across the lake again, watching the reflection of the sun slowly going down. The light was dim and the air was growing a little chilly, so Ruka was happy to have opted for his hoodie instead of one of his school shirts.
"Don't mock me," he told Donny, laughing brightly at the banter. "Not all of us grow up taming Grindylow in their spare time!" He pulled a face at his friend to show he was just messing around before giving an actual answer to the question.
It was true, he had been flicking through Fantastic Beasts more often than just on that afternoon on the Quidditch pitch, but mostly he had tried to find out things about dragons; He had come to develop a slight obsession with those creatures now that he knew they existed, but Cassie had already shattered his dream of finding one of those anywhere near the school grounds.
"I want to see a Kelpie," he said finally, flicking through the pages of Donny's copy of Fantastic Beasts until he had found the right chapter. He could feel the boat rocking a little bit but put it down to them moving around a lot so he decided not to pay it much attention. "It can take any form," he continued, eyes glinting excitedly. "But it's a water demon just like the Grindylow, and it can be found in Scottish Lochs." He closed the book again and reached down to take another sip of pumpkin juice. "But it does eat humans so maybe we'd be better off not meeting any of those!"

Donny laughed heartily, almost spitting out his current Bon-Bon. "Well, I haven't seen one of those, and apparently I shouldn't want to!" he said smirking, handing a pumpkin pasty to Ruka. They'd missed dessert in the great hall, so it was lucky Donny's mum was pretty convincing. He sat back and looked up into the sky. It was getting darker every minute, but he was sure they'd get a move on soon. "So... although were like best buds, I don't really know about you personally." said Donny, realizing that he hadn't even asked in depth what his like was like before Hogwarts. "But- If you want, I'll go first!" he said, trying to make himself comfortable. "I was born In May, May 1st and I was born in England." he said, thinking deeply about himself for once in a while. 

"My Mum works in the ministry, and my pa-Well my pa is in Azkaban prison." he said gravely, looking down as he said so. He hadn't really told anyone this very much, and it was a big step for his social life. "He was a famous Quidditch player-the Falmouth Falcons, but he injured when I was only a wee lad, says my grandfather, and he went crazy after his career was lost and-and..." he couldn't finish. He was mixed between anger and sadness, a longing for a father. He knew Ruka's father seemed like a nice guy, even if they did sleep in the fields...     

Ruka grinned as he took the pumpkin pastry fron Donng, taking one bite of it and closing his eyes to relish the taste. "God, that's good!" he said, quickly taking a second bite as if the pastry might vanish if he wasn't quick enough in eating it. He took a sip of juice just to wash down any leftovers in his mouth and then leaned back far enough to be more comfortable but not as far as to make the boat rock.
He nodded when Donny pointed out that they didn't really know much about each other, despite possibly being each other's best friend here.
It was true, they shared the same longing for adventure, a - for Ruka newfound - love for flying, and a similar sense of humor, but beyond that they really didn't know much about who they were and what life had had in store for them before Hogwarts.
He listened intently as Donny started talking about his life and his family, expression going from interested to tentative as his friend seemed to struggle for words. "It's okay," he reassured Donny, reaching out to squeeze the other boy's shoulder. "You don't have to continue. It's a lot all in one go." He smiled and offered Donny a bite of his own pumpkin pastry.
Food always helped.
"How about I take over for a bit, then, maybe, if you feel like it, you can tell me some more about your dad?" He smiled before clearing his throat, not too sure where to begin, but considering Donny had just openly shared that his dad was in prison after going crazy and committing... Some crime, of course... Well, Ruka didn't think there was anything he could say that would make Donny judge him.
"My dad celebrates my birthday on the second of August, but we don't really know exactly when I was born," he started, shrugging his shoulders as if it didn't really matter that much anyway. "I never knew my mum, she just left me outside my dad's tent and... Well, I don't really know what she did after that. My dad says she was a witch but he never really knew what that meant, so it was a bit of a shock for him when I first started showing signs of magic." He chuckled at the memory before focusing back on Donny with a smile. "He used to be in the circus, but when I arrived... They didn't want a baby around, so he had to quit. Gave up everything and raised me on the streets. He taught me how to read and write, some basic school stuff, and how to do street performances for some money. He's great, my dad, not a penny to his name, but he still managed to keep me fed and clothed. Much more than could be said for my mum, Lord knows where she is right now. Left behind nothing but a bracelet charm and, well, me of course."