Closed Chilling in the Sun Open

Em stuffed some toast into his satchel, before leaving the barely occupied tables of the Great Hall. He passed through the great doors, passed by the house hourglasses, and headed his way out of the castle, and through the court yard.

Em followed a well-trodden pathway made by students, passing through the long grass on his way down to the lake. His mother had told him that the lake holds many secrets only few who go to Hogwarts discover. She told him stories about the merpeople had a village deep within the lake, and could sometimes be seen treading water, singing their beautiful songs just below the waters surface. She also told him that on clear fall, or spring mornings, sometimes the Giant Squid would accept offerings of toast from students.

Em thought about the stories his mother used to tell as he got closer to the water's edge. Although the lake hold many secrets, he was venturing to the water for a more practical reason: slugs.

Em grew up in a potioneer's household, and had come to enjoy the foraging associated in finding fresh potion ingredients. Em's family home was surrounded by a carefully crafted garden, that his parents planted themselves. The garden is meticulously maintained; which meant they always had to find slugs elsewhere.

Em made sure he had two empty glass jars, one for himself while at Hogwarts, the other to send back to his parents. He figured it would warm their hearts to know he was exploring the grounds.

As he got closer to the edge of the lake, the grassy hills turned into loose stone. The grey and black rock surrounded the lake, giving it a particularly untouched look. However, there were multiple well-worn banks made by students over generations.

Em got to the waters edge, and set down his bag. He sat down in the gravely-sand, removed his trainers and socks, and rolled up his pant legs. He leaned over, and grabbed his first jar. He waded out to ankle height in the brisk water.

Before he began his scavenger hunt, he looked around to take in the view. He breathed in the slight chill on the autumn air. His toed were numb from the cold, and the wet sand shifted between his feet. He felt at ease, until he saw another student in the distance.

He was very briefly startled, and gave a small exhale. Em cracked his neck, and smiled towards her, as she got a bit closer.

"Hey there! Sorry to intrude, I was just looking for slugs," He stated, casually holding up his jar.

Eirunn looked up as she realized the boy was speaking to her. "It's not a problem," she cheerfully replied. "What do you need slugs for? I think I saw some over here..."

She crouched down in the water, not noticing, or perhaps not even caring, that her robes were getting soaked. Rock, rock, algae - ooh, pretty rock! She quickly fished it out of the water and stuffed it into her bulging pockets. They were really getting quite heavy, but her new collection would be going into her trunk soon anyway. A squishy, elongated shape caught her attention on what of the rocks that came out of the water a bit. Slug!

"Here's one!"

She carefully brushed aside the water plant overshadowing the rock and scooped up the creature. Wading through the water, she brought the hand holding the slug up to her face. It was how a slug should be- fat, slimy, and a dull dark brown. "Do you want him in the jar?"

Really, she should have been watching her steps more than she was. The loch wasn't her coastline, and she didn't know the shallows as intimately here as she did back home. She was just reaching to put the slug into the glass jar, when the pebbles and dirt shifted beneath her feet and she fell into the water with a great splash.

Em watched as Eirunn procured a slug, and held it out to him. She had quite the keen eye for finding them, they like to blend in. "My Mother owns Potions-a-plentyin Diagon Ally, she forages all her own ingredients. But there are definitely no slugs in our garden, so I figured I'd send her some!" Em smiled, taking a few unstable steps towards the girl.

As he got closer, we watched as Eirunn lost her footing, and fell into the water. Em's eyes opened widely. He put the jar under his arm, and moved as quickly as he could to where she fell, noting that the water was almost knee deep in the path he took; soaking his slacks.

Em got over to Eirunn, and reached down and grabbed her hand, pulling her back up to her feet.

"Jeez, are you okay? I think I have a towel in my bag, come with me," he said, keeping a gentle hold on her hand as he made his way back to his stuff, and out of the water. Em could stand the cold, and especially cold water. But he couldn't imagine falling into the black lake to have been particularly comfortable.

Em knelt down, setting his jar to the side, and reached into his bag to grab his old grey towel. It was well worn, with a small tear in one end. But it was clean, and most importantly: dry.

Her robes now absolutely soaked, she shivered and shook herself much like a dog would. "Oh, no it'll be fine. I won't melt."

Eirunn sighed when she realized her hands were now empty. "Oh, I lost our slug! Hope I didn't squish him."

She waded back into the water and crouched down to look for the lost slug. The slug's disappearing act was quite thorough, unfortunately, and her search was in vain. The water only revealed floating plants and pebbles. No slug. "Sorry... what's your name?"

She glanced at the shoreline where the boy was pulling the towel out of his bag. I'm already wet.... what's in the deeper water? Maybe I can see a grindylow? More likely than a mermaid at least.

Shrugging off her robes and tossing them part way to shore, she headed into deeper water but making sure she could still easily touch bottom. She knew better than to go too deep. She'd need a boat for anything further. Technically can't say I was swimming then
Deeming that she had gone far enough, she took a deep breath and ducked below the surface. Opening her eyes burned a bit, the water far from clean, and it was much too murky to see anything with clarity. Disappointed, she resurfaced.

Em grabbed the towel, and turned around. He hadn’t noticed his companion leaving, as he was much too distracted.

Em watched as she waded out farther, and turned to ask him a question. Before he could answer, she tossed her robes, and went under the surface of the water.

Em was surprised. Both at her daringness to totally submerge herself, especially before classes, as well as her being impervious to the chilly water. His toes still hadn’t recovered from the numbness.

Em shrugged, and went over to grab her robe, to at least pull it out of the water.

He pulled the now sopping black robe, with yellow lining from the water, and brought it towards his bag, wringing it out in the process.

Em placed the robe on the ground with one hand, and used the now free hand to grab his jar again. His left hand was in a fist, not tight nor angry. Just restraining something.

Em waded back out into the water (though not nearly as far as the girl). He held up his fisted hand, and smiled towards the girl; whose head was now above water.

“It wasn’t all for nothing, I found a slug on your robes!” He laughed, putting it in the jar. “I’m Em! Nice to meet you! Though, I dare say it’s much too cold for a proper swim, don’t you think?” He yelled kindly towards the girl.

wc: 237

"Oh, good!" She laughed and clapped her hands, sending water droplets everywhere. "Nice to meet you Em! I'm Eirunn."

She trudged back to the shallows, the rippling water making it a mite difficult. As soon as the cool breeze hit her wet clothes, everything felt much colder and heavy. She scowled a bit, her nose scrunching into a displeased expression. Already she knew it would be likely she'd be getting a bit ill soon. Maybe I can find a Pepper-Up Potion before the worst of it hits... oh, but it was totally worth it!

She grinned and reached the shore, digging into her pockets and pulling out one of her new smooth rocks. "These have had to be here a while if they're this round. Unless someone already put them here."
She rubbed her fingers around it, around and around, her excitable mood calming with the repetitive motion. She settled to the ground and looked up at Em. "Have classes started yet? I can't wait for Herbology! Potions too, of course. I'm not looking forward to the textbooks though. Do you suppose we'll actually have to read them?"
She watched him expectantly, as if she hadn't just slung an entire barrage of questions at him.

Em watched Eirunn curiously. She was definitely a free spirit, not concerned with how she was viewed. She moved through the water, not letting her damp clothes or the cold bother her.

Em watched her a more the stone, and was brought back to a memory of his parents, Chica, and him having lunch on a beach.

The weather was cold, and everyone seemed miserable except for Chica. She kept bringing Em pebbles and shells, thinking it would cheer him up. Em felt a fondness set over him as he watched Eirunn.

Em looked at his watch. ”Classes start in about half an hour, and yeah, you’ll need to read your textbook,” Em chuckled, taking a few steps toward Eirunn in the water.

“I wonder what the lake was like when the Founders decided to build the school,” he mused aloud, crouching down and putting his hand in the water. “Do you think that pebble has been there since the founders first saw the Lake? Maybe Helga Hufflepuff herself held the same one. There’s so much history here. It’s a bit overwhelming,” Em trailed off.

”You don’t seem afraid or anxious to start classes at all, how do you do that?” Em asked, feeling naïve and vulnerable.

@Eirunn Byrne

"I don't know." Eirunn shrugged. "Mamai taught me at home. It's the people I'm nervous about... and the rest I don't think about. Besides, I can sneak out of the classes I don't like."

She grinned cheekily and stood, not bothering to wipe off the sand and dirt stuck to her robes. "I should probably check my timetable, then." She reached into the inner pocket of her robes. Her fingers brushed against soggy fabric and nothing more.

"Oh, I must have left it in my dorm... maybe that's for the best. It probably would have gotten ruined. What class do you have first? If we have the same class, would you want to sit together?"

She bent down to retrieve her robes. Taking it in both hands, she wrung it out, rather viciously, and draped the bunched fabric over her shoulders. She paused and flushed slightly, shuffling her feet. "Only if you want to, of course. You don't have to if you don't want to. I know I can be a bit... much."

Why am I like this? I should just stick to animals. They don't mind me so much. It's easier. She drew in a deep breath, trying to steady herself. Mamai had said that would help.

He let out a chuckle as Eirunn mentioned skipping classes. If he was brave enough, he might try. Though he knew his parents would punish him; and if he was honest with himself, he was too excited to attend class.

Stepping back to his bag, Em pulled out a copy of his class schedule and gave it a look. Luckily enough, he had herbology with the first year Hufflepuffs. They could collect a couple snails, and walk to the greenhouses together. Though, he truly didn’t quite know his way.

Before he spoke, he surveyed the area, trying to get his bearings. A bit beyond the path leading to the lake, Em saw the reflection of light off one of the windows of the greenhouses. It didn’t seem far at all.

He looked back at Eirunn, who had slung her recently wrung out robes over her shoulders. Em wished he had known a spell to help dry them, only just to show off a bit.

Stepping back to the lake, he crouched down, looking for more slugs.

”I’d love to sit with you, Eirunn. Luckily, it does look like we have Herbology together, here in about half an hour. We can walk to the greenhouses together!” He smiled, lunging his hand out, into the water, and coiling his slender fingers around a particularly juicy, and slimy slug.

Em held it up, triumphantly, before tossing it into his jar and resuming the hunt. “The Greenhouses aren’t far!” he stated, looking back at her a bit distracted.

“Since we have a few moments, and I need to find slugs, I wanted to ask you: have you heard any tales about the giant squid?” He realized it was a bit of a change in subject, but wondered if something like this would intrigue his new friend. “I brought toast for him, it’s in my bag if you want to try and rally it!” He offered, looking towards the deeper parts of the lake.

@Eirunn Byrne