A Ripple in the Water PV Nico Shymane Closed

Nico threw her oversized, fluffy scarf around her neck, covering her mouth. Small clouds floated through the fabric, fading into the thin air. She walked out onto the grounds her Slytherin robe moving in the cold breeze. She was yearning for some fresh air and with the sun out, there couldn't be a better opportunity than now. Across her shoulder she carried her brown leather bag. All kinds of artsupplies where hiding within, itching to be used. A ray of sunshine hit her face, melting the chill from the early winter season.

She walked around, figuring out where she'd head next. She remembered the view of the lake, one of her favourite spots. It was mostly quiet and quite desolate. Perfect. Slowely, she made her way to the deep waters, humming softly. Soft enough, so she could hear herself, and loud enough so other students wouldn't be disturbed or weirded out. She arrived at the path circling around the lake, not entirely sure where'd she have a sit down. Scanning her surroundings, she noticed a lone willow near the edge of the lake. She dropped down against the willow, the side where the sun hit her red hair. She fell at peace... It was so calm and quiet out..

She gathered her sketchbook and a black marker. Looking up at the lake, a golden shimmery line, sunlight, rest on the surface of the dark water. It looked scary but gorgeous aswell. Softly humming, she started to scribble away on the paper of her black sketchbook.

Not aware of the boy who was slumbering on the other side of the treetrunk.

After a while Erik awoke from his slumber. He woke with a stiff neck. Rubbing the pain away in his neck and the sleep from his eyes he started to look around. He couldn't have slept for long as there was still light, but it had become a bit colder. Not that it bothered him. He was used to far colder climates.

Suddenly Erik heard something. He heard soft steps and crunching leaves. Erik didn't move not knowing if it might be a magical creature and if it was he didn't wish to startle it. I haven't seen any of the creatures running around on the Hogwarts domain yet. However that doesn't mean it couldn't be one. Slowly and carefully he turned around as to not make a sound that could possibly startle the possible creature. When he looked around there was nothing to see, but the willow tree he fell asleep against. He started moving around the tree untill he heard soft humming. A girl? What is she doing here? It seemed that Erik wasn't the only one who had visited the lake. Not that it was a secluded spot or anything, but he was still surprised the girl had walked so far away from all the rest of the students.

When he had a good look at the girl he noticed she was clad in the silver and green colors of Slytherin. He didn't recognise her however. It seemed she hadn't heard him approach as she seemed to draw in her sketchbook. At least Erik thought that was it as he had a clear view from behind her. A couple of minutes passed as he watched her draw. Half bored out of his mind he decided to start a conversation. You're pretty good at that! Can you draw me next?, he said with a chuckle.

Suddenly she heard a voice from right behind her. 'WHOA!' And with that, her pencil scratched diagonally over the paper, nearly ripping it apart. As her body tried to get away as quickly as possible, she tripped over her scarf, nearly falling off the edge into the lake. After recovering from her clumsy fall, she turned around on her back. Oh. It wasn't a terrifying monster. It was worse. A boy.

She sighed and dusted off her clothes, putting her scarf back in place. Hiding half her face felt safer. Nico looked at her sketchbook that was now ruined. Great... No other choice but to get a new one. Feeling embarassed she put all her supplies back in her bag, standing up, her iceblue eyes glaring at him from behind her darkred hairbangs. 'Thanks... I suppose.'

Where did he even come from? There was no one around except her last time she checked. She noticed his Slytherin robe. 'Y..You know, it's rude to scare people like that.' Tightly she held her grip around the strap from her leather bag. The boy made her feel quite uneasy. Especially if they just appear out of nowhere without making a sound. Could he be a potential bully?

Erik bursted out in laughter at the scene that unfolded in front of him. After his laugh he noticed the girl was putting all of her stuff back in her bag. Oh, you shouldn't have to stop drawing because of silly old me. You were doing great. I'm sorry about ruining your drawing though. It is, well now was, really good. He paused before continuing. Yeah, I know I shouldn't sneak up on people like that, but technically you sneaked up on me first. When I arrived I was alone here on this secluded spot. At least I thought it was secluded.

He noticed she was awkwardly standing there just holding on to the strap of her bag. Well if you're just standing there you could potentially help me. That is if you are willing and able to. I was trying to find the enormous squid that I saw passing by a few times in the Common Room. However I haven't found any clue to his whereabouts yet. That counts for the merpeople as well. So I was thinking of taking a swim and see if I can find them then. You want to come with me? He looked intently and expectingly to the girl with the darkred hairbangs and the iceblue eyes as he waited for an answer.

Suddenly he realised he hadn't introduced himself to her yet. Erik took a step closer to the Slytherin girl. I'm Edrik Tharaldson, heir to the Pure-blood family Tharaldson. I come from Tønsberg, Norway. Who might you be and will you join me in my adventure? Erik put on one of his most irresistable smiles that always got him what he wanted.

Nico leaned abit back, as the boy started to get too close for comfort. He introduced himself and finished with a smile. A smile she wasn't impressed by at all. Looking over her shoulder, she noticed the dark murky water. You couldn't see the bottom but only shadows morphing vaguely. Who knows what dangerous creatures lurked just under the surface. No way. She thought of her mother that always worked in aquaria and was used to dark water. But Nico never really understood how her mom got into that job...

She looked back at Erik, abit nervous after examining the water. He still had the same spoiled grin on his face. It wasn't gentle or nice. It wasn't like with Hugh. Definitley, since there are no other students around or will be in a while. Her uneasiness got stronger but she tried to hide it in the best way she could. 'Well, Erik... I-I don't know... A squid, you say? I..I've never heard anything about squid. I have heard about merepeople but... Apparantly they're not so nice either...'

'Maybe it's better if I-' Nico leaned too much back and her foot slipped. Toppeling over into the water. 'AAH!' She screamed, uselessly trying to stop herself from falling before she got submerged in the cold lake water. Even though she wore all kinds of warm clothes, the temperature of the water surprised her immensely. Her body got in shock, she couldn't move, her eyes just felt heavy as she coudn't breathe. Her vision became blurry, before passing out. Slowely sinking down into the lake.

When Erik had asked her if she wanted to join him she first seemed to look behind her at the lake as if one of its inhabitants would jump out when she least suspected it. The moment she looked back at him she stuttered her way through to what seemed like a long winded no. He couldn't be really sure as Erik had a hard time reading the Slytherin girl as half her face was covered behind her scarf.

Suddenly the girl seemed to lose her footing and fell in the lake. Before she went down under she screamed. Erik wasn't impressed. He scoffed at the sight. If this is a prank for a first year it's not impressive., he thought to himself. He turned himself around as he spoke. Alright guys! You can come out of your hiding spot now! Your prank didn't work! You didn't fool me. He waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. Erik looked back at the lake. No sign of the Slytherin girl yet. Suit yourselves., he thought as he walked away. I'm not wasting anymore time here. As he walked away he couldn't shake off the irresistable urge to look back at the lake. Erik came to a halt and was thinking out loud. Ok, how did the girl look. Was she genuine? Did she actually seemed surprised or did it seem fake? If Erik was completly honest he didn't knew. That blasted scarf was hiding half of her face. However he had heard something in her voice when she went under. Fear. Genuine fear.

Without wasting a moment longer Erik sprinted towards the edge of the lake whilst throwing of most of his robes and shoes before diving into the water. The water was cold, but not cold enough that he couldn't move. He was used to swimming in far colder waters. However Erik had a hard time locating the Slytherin girl as it was very dark. After diving deeper and swimming to the location he saw her last he had found her, but it seemed he wasn't the only one. A group of Grindylows had taken a hold of her.

Without hesitation Erik pulled out his wand and he slapped and poked with his wand whilst trying with the other hand to pull the Grindylows away from the Slytherin girl. Finally after a short struggle they let go, but not without biting and scratching Erik everywhere they could. He grabbed a hold of the girl's arm and swimmed to surface with his lungs screaming for air. When he arrived at the surface he gasped for air. He dragged her on shore and gently slapped her cheek. Hey! Wake up! Come on now! Wake up! He threw his robes on her to keep her warm. Hopefully she would wake up.

Nico had no idea where she was. She didn't have the strength to open up her eyes. But she heard alot. Inhuman critter voices, they came closer to her. Something grabbed hold of her. It felt so surreal, as if she were in a dream. She noticed that the light around her seemed to fade slowely, the darkness slowely consuming her. Nothing mattered anymore.

Suddenly, a loud splash echoed from above. Whatever it was, moved quite fast. The sound of the critters, which was first calm and collected, now seemed to sound alarm. Nico's heartbeat slowed down, everything became hazy. Nearly ending up at a point of no return.

The creatures screeched, it sounded so painful. What was going on..? A hand grabbed hold of her arm tightly, pulling her to the light, leaving the mysterious creatures behind. The light became brighter and brighter... Until...

Sound was clear now, the light was brighter than ever. And... she felt warm. A voice called out for her. It was the voice of a boy. A boy? How... What... 'H-..' As soon as she tried to speak, she noticed the water in her throat. Naturally, she started coughing, gasping for air, slightly turning on her side, spitting out the murky water. It hurt, it tasted so bad. 'Ah...Aah..'

Carefully she opened her eyes, laying back down on her back, finally being able to breathe again. Nico glanced over at her saviour. 'E..Erik...' What, how did she know his name. Her eyes widened, her face turning bright red. Her scarf was gone, which made her terribly exposed. 'E-Erik! I-' Again, she felt the need to escape out of his sight. Hastly, she sat up scooting a meter away from him. But something was different this time. The fancy, clean boy from earlier, had scratches and wounds all over his body. They bled quite heavy aswell. 'Oh.. Oh my .. Erik are you..' Instinctively, she couldn't help but worry.

Erik couldn't help but feel relieved at the sight of the girl throwing up water. At that sight all the adrenaline he had had mere minutes ago seemed to vanish like snow in the sun. His legs gave way and he fell next to her on his knees. She scooted away from him, but Erik was too occupied to notice really. He was trying to breath in as much air as he could. He closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. His heart was racing. Suddenly he heard something in her voice that snapped him back to the present.

Oh, this you mean?, he pointed to the scratches and bitemarks. That's nothing. A few scratches. Nothing to worry about. He waved dismissively at her. Erik took a grim look at how his school uniform had been ripped to pieces and was drenched in blood at some spots. However it seems you owe me a new shirt and trousers and your name. He said with a light tone whilst locking his venomous green eyes with her iceblue eyes and he gave her a heartwarming smile. Are you okay though? Do you need to see a doctor or anything?, he said with a serious tone.

The Norwegian got back on his feet and started collecting his clothes that were scattered around. When he had collected everything he sat himself down underneath the tree again and spoke. Oh, yeah. Before I forget. Don't tell a living soul about what just happened here. I mean it. If word gets out of this event I will know who spoke about this. His voice had turned cold and stern.

She sighed somewhat relieved. The marks and bites still worried her. If they wouldn't be looked after, he would surely end up with some serious infections. Who knew what kind of diseases those creatures carried with them.

The moment his eyes met hers with that intense look, she froze up for a second. Odd... It didn't feel scary. Maybe a tad intimidating. But for some reason she wasn't that afraid of him anymore. Instead of a potential bully, she was now sitting next to Erik. The Slytherin boy that saved her life. The red in her face became intenser, making her blue eyes stand out more.

'I... I'm okey. Thank you... Thank you, Erik.' She looked down at what had kept her warm all this time: his Slytherin robe. 'I do owe you some new clothes. I'm sorry that they got ruined. Lookwise and scentwise.'

Nico still had to take in what just happened and carefully held the robe higher onto her chest. She pulled her legs in, making sure nearly her entire body was covered. It felt safe and warm...
After Erik collected all his scattered clothes and sat down by the tree again, she looked over at him. The tone in his voice had changed immensely. It was cold... The first Erik was back. Nico couldn't help but feel confused. Why... would it be a bad thing if people found out? Wouldn't it be good if people knew? That he saved someones life?

'Why... can't people find out?' Nervous she glanced at him, slightly curling up under his robe. Just a minute ago he seemed so heroic. Nearly straight out of a fairytale. And now... Her eyes couldn't help but stare at his wounds. Maybe they should go to the infirmary and let him get checked. He looked like a mess... A heroic mess..