[Lake] Slow Me Down

[Carolanne Roberts]

School was just starting to slow down. It was April and finals were approaching fast but Laney didn't care. She did enough studying already. Besides, she didn't want another chance encounter with Ash right now. Laney needed to unwind and she knew Ash would be in the library for the next week or more, so she found it smart to just stay outside of the castle. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Ash, she did, just not right now. It was a Sunday evening and classes started in the morning so he couldn't take it personally if she stayed away for a night.

Outside by the lake wasn't cold, but it was slightly breezy but at least the sun was still out. Laney had kicked off her sandals before she had even reached the sand and now held them by the straps in her right hand. Her dress was a bohemian style, loose yet flattering but if fit the occasion of a spring evening. She had a white knit short sleeve 'sweater' covering her upper back and her hair was let loose, not that it was long anymore anyway.

As she walked through the sand, she could feel the small diamonds of sand push its way through her toes. The way the sun hit the water was amazing and it made Laney stop to watch the sun find its way down. It'd be perfect if a certain Gryffindor was with her but she wasn't going to complain. It was her idea to spend the evening alone anyway.

Laney took this opportunity to reflect on the past events. So her brother was marrying her ex, when, she didn't know. No, she wasn't happy about it, but either would anyone else in her shoes. She knew she couldn't hate Ash forever but that didn't mean she couldn't be upset with him for a while.

Taking a deep breath, Carolanne sat herself down on the sand in an Indian style and made swirls in the sand with her index finger. The silence around her was calming and the breeze blowing through the trees was oddly musical. Laney's thoughts consumed her so much, she barely heard another student approach.

[Brandon Rosenberg]

It had turned to April already, and yet the famous ‘April Showers’ that happened, especially in Scotland were nowhere to be seen. Brandon didn’t care for the weather much, it could be raining so hard that it hurt when it hit your skin, but he would still go out in it. He found it silly to barricade yourself indoors in certain weathers just in fear of getting wet or hit with huge hailstones. Of course, major wind and such would make you take more time to get to places, due to fighting it and what not, but Brandon was not one to be held back. Today’s weather was nice, for a change. A slight breeze every so often chilled you down for a second as the sun beamed on to your back. Due to the weather, Brad had decided to opt for summer weather styled clothing, and wore three quarter length camo shorts along with a muggle band t-shirt reading ’30 Seconds To Mars’. He preferred Muggle rock bands to Wizard ones, although there were a few which were decent enough in his eyes. Complete with a pair of Aviator sunglasses with mirror lens on covering his eyes, his hair was slightly messy due to the random gusts of wind, yet still mostly in place. Having longer hair for a guy meant more care for it, and he tried his best with it. He liked to look at least half decent when he was out in public.

Glad that he had no homework set this week, being a newbie and all, he decided to take a stroll along the lake, and maybe even get a slight tan as he walked. The chances were slim, but at least he wasn’t deathly pale and looked like one of the Hogwarts ghosts. A little colour was always welcomed onto Brandon’s face, but not enough so he looked like he was crisping. Looking out over the lake as he walked, his sandals were less than manly, but hell, he had manly feet, so it evened out. He didn’t care what people thought of his dress sense, but it just made sense that if you planned to go onto the beach, not to wear boots or sneakers didn’t it? Besides, the air around your feet was relaxing and for once felt like they weren’t being suffocated in school shoes.

Looking over, he could of sworn he’d of seen a tentacle end pop up out of the water before gently returning itself back to the depths of the waters. Of course, he had heard rumours of the giant squid, but those were rumours, and he wasn’t sure if it was real. Utterly dumbstruck, he noticed he had walked near a girl who was dragging her finger along in the sand, and seemed to be off in her own little world. From above her, he could only see her head and the side of her face, and the sunglasses didn’t help his vision. Looking back over to the lake, he spoke.
“Did you see that, or did my sunglasses just deceive me?” he asked, still unbelieving of the creature in the lake. As the girl looked up to the direction of his voice, he looked back at her as he pointed out towards the lake.
“Blimey” he said. Noticing very similar distinctions between the girl and Maxi’s girlfriend. Okay, so he was going to play his cards right here, hopefully.
“So you’re the one who turned the Big friendly Giant!?” He exclaimed.

[Carolanne Roberts]

As she pushed the sand around with her index finger, she couldn't help but wonder what life back in her father's house would be like. So many memories were made there but almost all of them were forgotten by the young Ravenclaw. The divorce wasn't final quite yet but already Carolanne found herself pulling away from Ash more and more as the days passed. Maybe it was a good thing, the emotional boy always brought Laney down. At least Maxi would be happy with the absence of Ash, it even made Laney a little giddy.

A voice brought the girl out of her thoughts and she looked up to see a fellow Ravenclaw, he must've been new because she couldn't put a name to the face nor the face to the school. Laney couldn't help but chuckle at his statement.

"You're talking about Max, right? I guess you could say that I did, although I don't believe I'm the one that sparked it."

It was true and Laney knew it. If Girty hadn't kissed Maxi the two might not have been together now. Carolanne looked at the boy with a confused expression. How was it that he knew who she was? Did they know eachother? Maybe he was a friend of Max's. Lane held out her hand and gave the boy a proper greeting whether or not he knew her name.

"Laney Roberts," she said with a smile.

She raised an eyebrow in a curious way, "You a friend of Maxi's or was that just a lucky guess?" she asked with grin.

Remembering the boy had asked something before catching a glance at her face, she looked back at the lake and shrugged. She hadn't seen anything as far as she was concerned but the boy seemed interested.

"I'm guessing you're thinking it was the squid? It's possible but as far as I know, he's just a rumor. I could've been one of the mermaids," she suggested.

[Brandon Rosenberg]

The girl seemed to be concentrating hard on something that was more than likely bugging her. As she swirled her finger around in the sand, Brandon sat down next to her once he had spoken. Picking up a small snapped twig, he began stabbing the sand lightly, making the twig bend ever so slightly. After a few stabs, he decided to start drawing. Un-noticing of what he was drawing, he began to draw a heart, like a love-sick fool. Realising as soon as he finished, he wiped over the sand with a flat hand so it was now a blank canvas once again. Giving a small laugh at the girls questioning, he looked up at her for a moment.

“Yes I was on about Max, and you don’t think you’re the one that sparked it? Who else has the old git been with?!” he exclaimed. It seemed all that time with Max in Durmstrang, all the teasings (jokingly of course) about missing out seeing beautiful girls he had really decided girls were better. The poor lad must of gone through some very bad and confused times, in which he hadn’t had chance to ask him yet. Swapping the hand with the twig in over o the other, he wiped him sandy hand quickly onto his thigh before shaking her hand as she outstretched it. Picking the twig back out of his other hand, he began to draw what he imagined the squid to look like, and, of course, sinking a ship. He had gotten onto finishing the head before he spoke once again.

“Unfortunately, you don’t seem to have any psychic skills” he joked.
“Brandon Rosenberg”
“But I used to be best mates with the clown at Durmstrang, then everything sort of went haywire when he left. I was left to protect the battlefield on my own, so to speak” he smiled. It was true, since Maxi left Durmstrang, Brandon was the only one out of the popular trio who stayed there. Of course he had other friends, but they were no compensation for Max leaving.
Giving wide eyes when Laney mentioned the squid, he looked at her with a glint of horror in his eye.

“I hope so...every time I think about it, the thoughts get worse. I just don’t understand why a school would have a giant squid in its lake. It’s just crazy!” he laughed.
“So, what are you up to? Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m sure you didn’t come out here just to get sand under your nails”