My Bad! PV Aurora Finished

The September breeze hit Aurora's face harshly, and her eyes became sensitive to the sudden blow from the air. Her hair entangled itself as the wind pushed it around, strands of her golden locks flying in all directions. She had come to the Great Lake for the first time since school started, and she felt that with nature's presence, she could finally get a moment to herself. She loved Hogwarts so far, and was eager to learn and make friends, but at times it was hard for her to adjust to the sudden changes school had brought into her previously peaceful life.

Aurora looked over the view of the lake, focusing her eyes on the horizon where the sky met the water. She had a sudden urge to touch the surface of the cool water with just her fingertips, so she decided to make her way towards the edge of the lake. With each step she took closer to the edge, she held her head down, looking at the rocks so she knew exactly where to stand so she wouldn't trip. But as she held her focus on the path below her, she was entirely unaware of the girl that stood before her. As she came closer to the water, she came closer to the girl, and before she could stop herself, she had launched her own body as well as the one of the innocent girl into the chilled water.

Keen Eye Lovely Creature --- @Aurora Vaughn <~~~~~~~ Made by the amazing Scarlett Aden!

A pitiful squeak was ripped out of Rose as she was sent tumbling toward the lake. She had not been watching around her and was launched out into the depths of the black lake. The squeak was cut off as she hit the water awkwardly on her side.

It was freezing in the water, sending chills all over her body. So. Cold. Rose pulled herself toward the surface of the lake, gasping as she broke the surface. She swam toward the shore, her limbs feeling like they were pushing through mud. Once she was out of the water, her original panic at being knocked into the lake subsiding, she looked back to the girl that had done the crime, leaving Rose shivering on land. As she saw the other girl surface, she called, "Are- are you okay?" Yes, she was asking the girl if she was okay, even though Rose was the one being launched into the lake against her will. Her face was concerned.

"That's my bad, I wasn't watching- well, anything, I wan't paying attention at all," she stammered awkwardly. "I'm Rose. A Gryffindor. Second Year. Uh." It was weird how that could shallowly sum her up. She pulled her amber hair over her shoulder, starting to drain out all the water from her hair. "You're a first year, right? How do you like Hogwarts so far?"

Aurora's body submerged into the water, and even though her entire body now felt like ice, part of her never wanted to resurface out of embarrassment. How could she have been so blind and oblivious. She had not only pushed herself into the lake, but also another girl. Aurora was utterly mortified, and as she kicked her legs to push her towards air, she thought of countless ways in which she could apologize to the poor girl for her clumsiness.

She pulled her body to the shore, her dripping clothes holding tightly against her skin as she stepped onto the rocky land. She was now standing with the other girl, and they were both soaking wet, shivering as the wind hit their iced bodies. "Am I okay? What about you? I'm the one who pushed you in! Gosh, I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking." Aurora said in the most apologetic tone. She thought of how the girl must hate her, and Aurora had never felt more stupid. But, to her utmost surprise, the girl began introducing herself. This stunned Aurora, as she could not have been more astonished by the girl's reaction.

"I'm Aurora. I'm a Gryffindor too, and yeah, I'm a first year." She introduced herself quickly as the red-headed girl squeezed the water from her hair. "Hogwarts is nice, but definitely something to adjust to. I keep getting lost in the halls, and as you could probably tell, a little sense of direction would probably do me some good." Aurora chuckled softly, hoping the girl would smile back. "What were you doing out here by the lake anyways? I don't feel like that many people come here, even though they should, because the view is absolutely breathtaking." She looked over the lakes horizon once more, just like she had before she fell into the water. Now the sun was slowly setting, and the sky was turning into the same shade of red as the hair of the girl she had just met.

Keen Eye Lovely Creature --- @Aurora Vaughn <~~~~~~~ Made by the amazing Scarlett Aden!

Rose shivered again- she was still cold, and her clothes were clinging to her body, making her colder than normal.

The little blonde asked her if she was okay. "You're the one who willingly jumped into ice water!" Rose retorted with a laugh, seeming to warm the air. "Yeah, I'm okay." Rose smiled, though her chest was still heaving just a little as she caught her breath. Nothing could put a damper on this perfect day. Pun intended. "Don't worry- worse things have happened to me than being dunked, I don't mind." Rose was seriously one of the most chill people in the world about just about everything, especially on a day like today.

"I still get lost sometimes," Rose confessed, reassuring the first year. "Though I find it so cool, all the secret passages that nobody will ever know of, every little quirk of the castle. By my seventh year, I still don't think I'll know everything about this place." A dreamy look appeared on her face as she thought about it. Hogwarts, her home away from home. She might just become a professor the moment she graduated so that she didn't ever have to leave.

"You just answered your own question." Rose smirked. "I love the view, yeah, and I love how peaceful it is here, away from all the activity of the castle. You can actually hear yourself think. You know?" That was a shallow way of saying that Rose was very introverted and sometimes couldn't stand the presence of other human beings. And the lake was often her refuge, except for during the colder months, when she deemed the outside simply too cold for just hanging out, and would instead curl up with a book or a journal in the library.

"Were you expecting to be in Gryffindor?" Rose asked. "I mean, I never thought I'd be a lion. I thought I would be in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. I couldn't fathom how I was brave. But I guess the sorting hat knows best?" Of course it did. Though Rose's little brother had recently been sorted into Ravenclaw, which was the last house Rose would expect him to be sorted into. Including the houses from Ilvermorny- she would have been less surprised if the sorting hat yelled out a house from across the ocean than Ravenclaw. Rose had choked on her own spit in surprise. Maybe there was more to learn about that house after all.

As the sun was setting, the coldness of the breeze made Aurora shiver even more, her entire body still dripping a puddle below her feet. The one thing that was warming her however, was the very pleasant conversation she was having with the fellow Gryffindor girl. Both still soaked, they stood by the lake, sharing their thoughts about the inner-workings of Hogwarts and their lives as students. Aurora found it more than comforting that the second-year had gotten just as lost when she first arrived as Aurora was now, and Aurora could sense the love for the castle in the girl's tone and imaginative eyes.

"I definitely know. With so much going on everyday, I almost can't function without some time by myself, preferably in nature." Aurora longed for the times she could spend alone, taking long walks looking up at the sky through the view of the trees, listening careful for the sounds of nature's creatures.

"I thought you were pretty brave in the way you handled being thrown into the ice cold lake. You came out so graceful, almost as if you had jumped in yourself." Aurora smiled and let out a laugh.

"When I first arrived, I was expecting either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, so I'm pretty satisfied with the sorting hat's choice." Aurora couldn't imagine what it would be like to not like the sorting hat's choice, and in a way felt bad for Rose that she didn't get what she had expected. But Rose handled herself so much better than Aurora ever could, and Aurora admired how she looked at the positive side of things. "So, should we head back to the Common Room and put on some warmer clothes before either of us catch a cold?" Aurora didn't want the conversation to end, but the constant state of shivering that her body had now adapted to was getting slightly worrying.

"I- um, well..." Rose stammered when Aurora called her brave. Was that brave? Or was that just because she was having such a great day that being pushed into the lake didn't faze her? Graceful? Please. Rose was anything but graceful, except when she really really tried. Like when she was wearing a dress she didn't want to mess up. Or if she was with someone she really wanted to impress. Then she paid utmost attention to being graceful, and not tripping. But it was not uncommon for Rose to not pay attention and trip on her own two feet. Graceful was not the word. Rose smiled warmly and said, "Thank you."

Her breathing had finally leveled, though she was still shivering, and seeing as the sun was slowly setting, casting muted colors and long shadows on the world, slowly pulling the world toward darkness as it crawled under the horizon.

"That's a great idea," Rose agreed, crossing her arms in front of her to gather her body warmth in one location. "Let's go." Rose walked toward the castle, next to Aurora, and they walked toward the Gryffindor Tower. Rose had come this way too many times, from the lake to the common room. She had memorized it.