Lake Party private Closed

Mac was running late.

He'd spent too much time on his casserole, which he was carrying in a flowery dish, his hands protected by two well-used oven mitts. His brown hair was a mess, as the time had gotten away from him before he could fully prep himself for the party. He was wearing a striped shirt and a pair of knee-shorts, along with some beat-up sneakers that may or may not have been the only shoes he owned.

He slowed his footsteps as he approached the Lake, seeing the mass of people who'd come to the party. A small crowd, maybe made up of five or six people, but still a crowd, nonetheless. He swallowed, wondering if he might just turn tail and flee back to Hogwarts; make up an excuse with Maggie, tell her he got sick to his stomach, which wasn't entirely untrue at that point.

Still, he steeled himself and made his way down the hill. No point in backing down, now. They'd probably seen him already, and he'd already told Maggie that he would be able to come.

The lake shimmered like glass underneath the light of the afternoon sun, a sight that was purely breathtaking. On another day, he would've stopped to admire it, maybe sit on the bank and put his toes in the water, but at the moment, he had a casserole in his hands and nowhere to put it. His blue eyes scanned the party-goers for anyone he knew, and was relieved to find Maggie and Tatiana. "Hello," he said simply to the others, his voice just a bit unsteady as he announced his presence. His grip on the dish tightened through the padding of his oven mitts. "I, uh... I brought a chicken casserole."

It wasn't that Fumiko hated parties. She's just haven't been to one that she genuinely enjoyed. With an influential aunt, Fumiko was forced into lavish social gatherings that required her to talk with other children that had influential parents.

If she wasn't acting like a snooty rich kid with those children she would've taken the nearest champagne at dump it all over their overly priced designer dress/tux they've been bragging about for at least 20 minutes.

She was genuinely surprised one morning to receive a party invitation. Especially from someone she barely knew. At first, she didn't want to go. Figuring out what kind of character she should play around so many new and different people sounded tiring.

Assuring herself she's attending because she wants to challenge her acting skills and not because she was too nice to reject such a nice invitation, she brushed up her outfit in case of fallen dried leaves, dust or ants managed to stick themselves on her on the way to the party.

' Now...have I seen that tree before...or was it..'

She looked back at the map she was given that'll help with directions to the party. Flipping it in every way possible, hiding her distress under that calm monotonous facial expression she wore. A rustle of leaves attracted her attention. A few feet away, a boy with oven mitts dashed through like he was rushing.

Assuming he was another one of Maggie's friends, Fumiko quietly followed behind him. Making sure she wasn't too far away to lose sight of the running boy with oven mitts.

Was this creepy? Well, she was too lazy to call out for the boy.

Walking steadily closer to the gathering, she felt shivers up her spine as memories of her previous experience at the great lake surfaced. She was sure no giant squid will be involved in this party and that the enemy of today, is the new people she'll meet.

From the distance, she saw the mitten boy already introducing himself at the gathering. Waiting for another minute behind a tree, she then walked into the gathering with a sweet smile like she didn't just creepily follow someone here.

" Hello ~ " she greeted sweetly at all the 8 people sitting on a blanket as she excitedly to sit down with them. " Sorry I'm a bit late..." she apologized, her head bowed slightly before lifting it up with a small smile.

Ah...great now she felt a bit awkward. She swore she never saw these people before. Excluding Maggie and Mitten Boy. Giving a sheepish chuckle, she said: " Well..it's nice to meet Maggie's other friends ~ My names Fumiko Tachibana " she introduced herself with a shy smile.

Looking around her area, her nose sniffed something lovely. Looking at Mitten Boy and the dish in his hands with a tilted head. " That smells lovely ~ " she complimented, hoping her hunger wasn't too obvious. ( she failed ) .

" So...Maggie, has everyone arrived? Or is it too early full introduction from everyone " She rather not make up silly names like Mitten Boy all day.

Carson was horribly late, and he honestly should’ve planned for it. It’s not that he tried to be late, it just, sort of, happened. He hoped Maggie wouldn’t mind, but if anyone asked, he had a list of excuses at the ready. He sprinted around the corner of a patch of forest to see a crowd of students gathered around a blanket. He quickly backtracked, allowing himself to catch his breath so he didn’t look like, well, what he looked like. After he’d caught his breath, he strolled up to the crowd, trying his best to look like he hadn’t just sprinted all the way down from the castle. He wore a black hoodie with khaki shorts that hit his knees. He had semi-long, white socks on and he wore his favorite pair of vans. In short, he dressed casual. Looking around, he guessed he’d dressed right, it’s how everyone else was dressed too. “What’s up Mags?” Carson asked, grinning as he greeted his friend. He nodded to Oliver, a boy who he’d met on the day of the Sorting, and said, “Hey Oliver!” he studied the other students, he didn’t recognize a lot of them, but then again, he had a horrible memory, so that was somewhat expected of him. “I’m down for a game of truth or dare, if that works.” Carson added as he heard Maggie mention the game.

Ziba took one last look at her outfit in the mirror. Maggie, a fellow Gryffindor girl she had recently met, was inviting her to a party by the Lake this afternoon. Since this would be Ziba's first party at Hogwarts, she wanted to make a good first impression, especially since there'd be a lot of people there that she didn't know. That meant she had to dress to impress. Not like her wardrobe was anything to brag about, though. All she had picked for today was her lucky yellow oversized flannel paired with a white camisole, denim shorts, and her favorite pair of white high top runners. She'd decided to keep her hair down but had a simple blue scrunchie around her wrist just in case.

Satisfied, Ziba checked the time and realized she was running late. So much for making good impressions. Scrambling, she grabbed her knapsack and made sure she had everything before sprinting out of the dorms, her long hair whipping behind her madly as she dashed around each corner.

When she reached the grounds, she could faintly make out another student ahead of her also running towards the lake. Well, at least she wasn't the only one late to the party. As the lake came into view, the sound of chatter could be heard amongst the chirping birds and rustling leaves. Looked like Maggie had quite a crowd gathered for today. Ziba slowed to a jog, suddenly feeling a little unsure of herself. It was intimidating to think that she'd be with a big group of strangers and the only person she knew was someone she'd met just once. Nonetheless, Ziba promised Maggie she'd be here so she continued jogging all the way up to the group.

Finally reaching everyone, she bent over to put her hands on her knees, catching her breath. "Sorry I'm late," she panted. "What'd I miss?" She stood to her full height when it was easy to breathe again, and perked up at the idea of playing a game. "A game sounds fun!" she agreed, eager to get going with an activity to shake her social jitters off.

He turned his head to see three different people approaching the little gathering. He felt a small wave of relief. At the very least, he could say that he wasn't the last one there. One of them introduced themselves to the others; she was a girl, about his age, with long dark hair. Her smile was kind, though perhaps a bit anxious. It was comforting to think that he wasn't the only one out of his element, here. He was completely unaware that she'd been following him, of course, but if he had known, it might've explained the persistent feeling of being watched as he came down the trail.

Looking around her area, her nose sniffed something lovely, looking at Mac and the dish in his hands with a tilted head. "That smells lovely~" she complimented. She looked quite hungry at the sight of the dish, which left Mac feeling a bit flattered.

After the initial terror of being spoken to at a party wore off, Mac felt relieved that someone had taken an interest in his casserole. He was afraid that it might go uneaten. "Well, you're more than welcome to have a piece, if you'd like." Then, realization came over his features, soon followed by mortification and despair. "Oh, I... didn't bring any plates." His cheeks flushed in embarrassment as he stared down at the hodgepodge of chicken and pasta in his hands.

"My name's Mac. Mac Murphy." He said quickly, followed by a smile and a curt nod. Though he was going to introduce himself to her regardless, bringing it up now was mostly a tactic of changing the topic of the conversation away from his own misfortune. "I would shake your hand, but..." He gave her a guilty smile as he held onto the dish that his hands were currently busy with, rolling his shoulders in a little shrug.

Nosily, he listened in to the others' conversations, trying to get a feel for what they were planning to do out here. A dark-haired boy sporting a pair of thick rimmed glasses mentioned Truth or Dare, to which the light-haired girl who'd just arrived enthusiastically agreed. Well, this was going to be interesting. He wondered how many of them would end up eating bugs or something by the end of the night. With a small smile, he set the casserole dish down on the blanket, right next to the chips. Though they didn't have plates or silverware, perhaps at the very least they could use it as a makeshift dip.

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Oh lord oh lord she was late, right? She spent the whole day trying to make what she was bringing. In a brown wicker basket with a blue cloth laid freshly baked cookies. Some were chocolate chip, some snickerdoodle, all types. She looked over her outfit. Her hair was in two loose braids and she wore a black and white striped shirt with overall shorts and black converse. Her bright brown eyes were widened with panic. She hated being late. She hoped she arrived just on time. She wiped a bit of flour off her face and rushed down to the lake, trying not to drop the cookies. She saw the party in the distance. She suddenly regretted coming. She was scared and shy. So many people had arrived already. She had to meet new people. Come on Min. You can do this. She took a deep breath and walked over to the group of people. She smiled and waved to everyone and placed her food down by the others. They said they were going to play truth or dare. May as well get to know people. She nodded with a smile while hiding her discomfort. ”Sounds fun.” she said softly.

[quote]Maggie was tremendously pleased with the outcome of the party, and as more and more people showed up, the biggger her smile grew. “Alright,” Maggie said, as an attempt to quiet everyone down, “I know that like, none of us really know each other, so I’ll give you guys a minute to do that...”. Maggie trailed off as the group broke into their own separate conversations. She walked over to Ziba, Carson, Christopher, Dan, Mac, and Fumiko, who had all sort of arrived in a clump. “Hey guys!” she grinned at them, taking immediate notice of Mac’s casserole. “Nice casserole, Mac.” Maggie said, grinning. Mac smiled back as he dropped into a small conversation with Fumiko. After a few moments of mindless chatting and small-talk, Maggie moved back towards the front of the crowd. “Now,” Maggie announced, “Who wants to go first?” Maggie asked, a wicked grin on her face. The sky was beginning to turn shades of purple, and it was getting somewhat hard to see everyone, which Maggie, luckily, had anticipated. She began hanging lanterns randomly on the branches of the tree they were gathered by, which cast a warm light on everyone there. Maggie grinned at the person who raised their hand, volunteering to be first.

“I’m down to go first, if that’s cool with everyone else...” Carson said, quickly scanning the group of students for any disgruntled faces. He, and everyone else, had arranged themselves into a makeshift circle around the picnic blanket, and the lanterns Maggie had put up had begun to cast a somewhat eerie glow over the group. Carson rubbed his hands together, his anticipation taking the form of a wide grin on his face. “Sounds fun,”, said a girl sitting near Carson. She had on a striped shirt and overalls, and her hair was in two braids that ran down her back. Most of the other participants seemed to have the same stance as this girl, and Carson couldn’t help but wonder what horrible dares and truths they were planning. “Alright, I know you haven’t asked yet, but I choose dare.” Carson said, a smug grin on his face, “Do your worst, guys.”, he challenged, grinning at them all. I mean, how bad could it be, right? It wasn’t like they were going to make him jump into the Great Lake, or something— he quickly cut himself off. He doubted that there were any mind-readers here, but he didn’t want anyone getting any ideas.

Sorry I haven't posted sooner, I went on a trip with my sisters! 
Amaya sped to the great lake, knowing she arrived later than she wanted to be. She wore a grey hoodie over her back, and ripped jeans, knowing these weren't usual "party" clothes. She had a rolled up piece of parchment in her hands, and as she ran, she gazed down upon it. It was of her, Maggie, and Tatiana sitting around the Great Lake, and she wondered if Maggie would like it. She knew people would probably bring food or better gifts, but she had spent hours on just this drawing. She looked down at it, and wondered it she should just throw it in the Great Lake to get it over with. The first time someone invites you to a party, and you drew them a frickin drawing She had a few different thoughts on how Maggie would react to it. She could hate it, or love it, or make fun of her, or never invite her to anything again... Yeah, she was nervous. Nobody had ever invited her to anything before, and she felt nervous coming with a piece of her artwork. As she approached the lake, she saw a bunch of people sitting around a certain area, and lanterns randomly hung in trees around it. She walked over to Maggie, and held out the drawing "Thanks for inviting me, I drew this for you" and as soon as she said it, she realized how dumb it had sounded.

Chris looked around the group as everyone was deciding who was going to take the first plunge. Not long after a Hufflepuff spoke out “I’m down to go first, if that’s cool with everyone else...” said the boy with glasses. He was tempted to go first himself and get it over with, but was obviously beaten to the gun by him, why not give the first dare instead? Chris looked over to him with a stern face as he asked around smugly for a dare, as if he was really asking for a hard one. In front of him was some chips laid out across the floor, perfect for eating on these occasions and maybe for something else. His gaze soon looked over too the lake, an idea soon springing into his head "Fine, i'll give you an easy one to start off with" says Chris over to him with a brief smirk, before picking up one of the bigger chips and extending his arm out "Dunk this in the lake and have a soggy chip for your troubles" he says while looking into his eyes, testing to see how brave this lad really was "And dont worry, you wont get any strange diseases from this"