[Lake] a world so cold [open]

[effie]

Effie had always expected it to be cold at the start of the year up in Scotland, but she had never expected it would be this cold. A thin film of opaque frost had coated the entire school and its surroundings and already she had managed to fall straight onto her bum as she stumbled out into the courtyard before quickly getting back into her feet and edging back onto the iced concrete. Flattening her hair down, her eyes flickered quickly as she looked to see if anyone had observed her bad luck and more so had she brought more than enough attention to herself. Luckily only a Ravenclaw girl and a Gryffindor boy had spotted her inelegance on ice.

Her features were un-expressive except the slight red tint that had formed on her cold nose and her slight embarrassment from the fall had made its way across her cheeks in the form of a diluted crimson patch. Pulling her arms further into her brown puffer jacket she walked past the couple looking rather sheepish before she quickened her pace as she headed towards the frozen blade of grass that were also coated in a delicate blanket of frost and crunched under her feet as if she were treading on shards of glass.

Her mind wandered through many different thought paths, of school and home mostly. She remembered a deadline for her transfiguration essay that she had two days to complete it in, plenty of time she thought but more than likely it would end up being last on the list of things to do and would be a last minute deal. She thought of her dear mother who would be fretting about her and her older brother, who was attending his last year at Durmstrang’s and how she hadn’t received a letter from him no doubt, and how Effie would be due to send a letter any day now. The poor woman worried too much and without her kids in tow she was a complete wreck, Effie was just glad that her father was at home to keep her company or she might have magically attached herself to either one of the three. She really did need to sedate herself or something or it wouldn’t be long until she had a heart attack.

The sky was a dull grey and rather unattractive, but Effie liked the dull weather and if she didn’t she would soon move away from where she lived and move somewhere like Australia if she wanted the sun and a tan. Effie had grown accustomed to the dreary British weather and she felt it part of the culture and she loved the imperfection, not to mention the rain. As she walked towards the open and nearer the lake she began to forget about the falling over incident and the only discolouration on her face that was left was the slightest pink on the end of her nose, a fact that always confused her as to why noses turn pink in the cold weather. Her dark brown eyes searched the horizon of the lake and scanned over the mountains from afar as she buried her hands deep into her jacket pockets and enjoyed the view.

[Kendal Montgomery]

Kendal was simply tired of just about everything. School was starting to wear on her. Of course that had more to do with school, this was her seventh year which meant that N.E.W.T.s were coming up and test mania had already started around the school. Two girls from her own house were already buying pepperup pills. Kendal doubted these were real pepperup pills but she felt that it wasn't her place to say it they would have to learn their lesson the hard way. This happened every year around test time, people so desperate to pass they would buy just about anything that would help them pass the test or make their study time have more impact.

On such a day while she was sitting in her common room cozy by the fire, a charms book laid out on her lap when a blood curdling scream met her ears. Suddenly the sound of footsteps heavy on the floor came from the girls side of the dorms. Kendal didn't usually care about the goings on with other students but this was different, it sounded like something bad had happened. That's when Marcia Long came out into view her face red and covered with boils. It wasn't a pretty sight and that was saying something since Marcia wasn't the most attractive girl in school to begin with.

Her friends crowded around her so curious about what happened. Seems as if she bought some dragon heartstring powder something that was supposed to help one with the memory retention. The instructions said to put the powder in some water and drink. Poor Marcia did just that and what she got in return was a face full of boils. Suddenly, the common room became packed students murmuring loudly about poor Marcia. Kendal thought she got what she paid for really, she wasn't nasty enough to say so so instead she got up and went to get her jacket, scarf, gloves, and ugg boots.

Giving Marcia a pitying last look she left. Her charms book upstairs on her bed not being used when it should be. The thought of trying to study outdoors didn't really please her. Outside was probably no better than inside. There was a thin layer of ice on the ground, and she shivered the moment she opened the doors. Every time she breathed in and out she could see her breath like a thick fog that hung there for a moment before disappearing. Being outside didn't give her a lot of places to be warm so she thought finding a place with a nice view would work just as well.

That one place was always the lake for her. The rippling water, the darkness of it. The scene soothed her senses. Making her way over she could see it come into view, but she could also that there was someone else there. At first it was a dim figure in the distance, then the closer she got the more in focus the other person became until Kendal realized it was Effie. At least this was another Hufflepuff, last thing she was in the mood for was running into some Slytherin who would find it hilarious to throw her into the lake just to see if she froze to death before making her way out "Oi Effie, enjoying the cold weather as much as me?" Kendal stood close to the other Hufflepuff.

[Dean Hogarth]

Dean Hogarth was outside. Yes indeed the pale skinned Hufflepuff was no longer within the confines of the castle walls and instead of the stale air of the library he had the fresh air of the Scottish highlands. It was not by choice that Dean was now walking with his head bend low, hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets as he braced himself against the harsh Scottish wind. His face was a picture of anger as he could not help but think back upon the look of horror that had passed over the face of Professor Owen as she accused him setting fire to the Herbology section of the library. Why would he set fire to the library? And also how was Professor Owen so blind not to notice the gang of giggle Slytherin’s in the corner.

With a face that matched the dull, overcast sky that hung over the castle that day Dean’s legs were on autopilot as he walked across the different terrains of the castle grounds, the sounds of the hollow thud of the cobbles were replaced by that of the crunching of gravel which quickly turned to the muffled sound of his footsteps on the dew covered grass. In fact if Dean has not zoned out of his own little dream world and snapped back to reality it was most likely he would have ended up hearing a new sound, the sound of him falling face first into the lake.

With a slight shrug to wake himself up Dean looked around at his surroundings and noticed that he was not the only person, heck not the only Hufflepuff to be standing at the waters edge. Straight away his natural instincts kicked in and although Effie was in the year as him the tips of his ears turned bright red in embarrassment.

“H-Hello guys.”

[nate]

Nate was out and about. He was insanely excited that the snow hadn't gone away yet. Living in the mountians most of his childhood playing and sloshing around in freezing drizzle and snow was just secondnature. Nathaniel breathed in the lovely frosty air and sighed it back out, so he could see the whiteness of his breath in the fogginess of it all. He had been standing out in the courtyard enjoying the weather and talking to a fellow Ravenclaw, when he noticed a Hufflepuff not to much younger than him slip and fall. He would gone over there to help her, but she looked real embarassed and looked tough enough to hop back on her feet herself. Her facial expressions looked as if she was happy about the weather just as much as he was, so there were no hard feelings.

Bidding goodbye to the girl he was having a not-going-anywhere conversation with he turned around to head to the lake. Maybe get some iceskating in if the lake had already frozen over or just to look at the breathtaking scenery. As he spun around to go that way he noticed the girl's face tinting as red as an apple. Feeling a bit sorry he watched as she went in the same direction he was going. Following in her footsteps he shadowed her all the way to the lake. Nate watched as she took a seat and another two Hufflepuff's walked up to join her. He really didn't belong in this picture, but why not make some new friends... that's what Gryffindor's did right.

Walking up he sat down next to Kendal Montgomery a seventh year he had an encounter with before. Saying hi he watched as a few of them shuffled around. He thought of a question to ask before they all got up and left, because he was such a strange kid that just randomly sat down with people. Shaking the thought from his head he asked,"Are you all enjoying the weather?" Smiling he turned to look at the beautiful lake.

[Haleigh Mains]

"We are." Haleigh answered softly, smiling as she joined them. Being there didn't seem to be any ill-spirited people present, her sudden appearance and the fact that she hadn't originally been included in the question shouldn't matter. This being the operative thought in her mind as she slipped her hands in her pockets, skin paled from the slight chill. The cold overall hadn't seem to have affected her much, save for the moccasins and the warm jacket; her headphones still held their place in her ears, though turned at a much quieter volume than what people typically encountered. She swung her other arm in a small yet graceful arc by her side, relishing the light feeling at the lack of her guitar. Haleigh smiled at the memory, thinking back to what songs she had practised earlier that afternoon. She could almost feel the strings against her fingers, fluttering at the pressure and reverberating a noise so sublime to her ears. Shaken from her reverie at the touch of another, though none of them she recognised, her lips parted in another smile. "Just transferred in. Haleigh." It was old news; so many other people were arriving weekly, dayly even, that new students weren't that big a deal. Or any deal for that matter.

Crossing one ankle over the other as she stood the Ravenclaw hummed softly to herself, teeth gently probing at her lip as her eyes flickered from each of the students present. Introductions were in order, were they not? Waiting patiently but not appearing to expect them at all--what did it matter to her if they didn't feel like telling her their name?--Haleigh breathed out in a small, relaxed gust, watching as the tendrils of her breath coiled and whirled through the air like smoke. She couldn't help but wonder if there was enough snow for a snowball fight, missing the days of winter and the warmth of staying inside brought.

[nate]

It had felt awkward. Nobody had said a word to his question... that was until a familiar voice answered that they all were enjoying the weather. The answer was put in the form of a question and it was too late or was it too early for mind games such as those. Nate shook his trying to understand and then also racking his brain for the name and picture to the familiar voice. He turned around and glanced up. It was a Ravenclaw girl and then he knew it. Haleigh Mains. She had just transferred in. Meeting students at the lake wouldn't have been Nathaniel's first choice of finding friends, but whatever suited her. He had heard just a tad about her on his usual walk around campus listening in to everyone's gossip, but also recognized her from a few recent classes.

Smiling as he looked down and then back up, he was for sure it was her when she took as seat and introduced herself. This is was quite unusual. Now they were introducing themselves. Nate figured she probably felt like a complete and total idiot at the moment, because everyone else that they had joined were Hufflepuff's and didn't sound, look, or act like they were liking the weather. "I think you're in one of my classes-" Nate began and thought about introducing himself too, just so she wasn't the only weirdo in the group that was slowly forming,"-Nate."

The others still hadn't said a word and he had a pretty good hunch of what the girl next to him was feeling. Did Hufflepuff's ever talk? He always wanted to know what other houses did for fun... Slytherin was obvious, but the rest... who knew? Ravenclaw's read and studied, Gryffindor's did everything... Hufflepuff's apparently did nothing. Snickering in his head at that he joked,"So I take it none of you are enjoying the weather..." They really weren't the sociable type.

[effie]

"Oi, Effie" made her turn around instantly, her messy dark brown locks covering her face from how fast she spun her head. A slight relief washed over when she saw it was Kendal and she exhaled before giving a small lopsided smile before she turned back to the lake.
"Don't do that again, you really scared me" she said as she nudged Kendal slightly, rocking on her heels sideways to do so and without taking her hands from her pockets.
"It's kinda nice for it to be so peaceful out here...compared to in there anyway" she replied raising an eyebrow towards the direction of the castle. She knew that Kendal would know what she meant, how could you possibly enterpret that any other way?

It wasn't long before it turned into a Hufflepuff Trio and Effie thought it hard to find someone as withdrawn as her but when she clapped eyes on Dean she knew he was ridiculously enclosed. She nodded at him as he joined them and they stood in silence for a minute. Even Effie didn't like this silence and as she concentrated on the rhythm of Dean's breathing she watched her own misted breath being exhaled from her before snapping out of her solitary mind.
"Hey Dean, I heard you were the one to come to for the whereabouts of the best quality Dragonfly Eggs?" she said in attempt to make conversation. It was falling on deaf ears as another student, from what Effie had seen a Gryffindor, the one who had seen her embarrasing fall in the courtyard just moments before. Her pale cheeks flamed pink and she attempted to hide herself in her coat and didn't move for a moment in sheer embarrassment before he introduced himself as Nate to yet another student who had turned up. This one Effie didn't know but her eyes flicked over to her and she was a Ravenclaw and was abnormally beautiful which made her flush even more. Kendal was stunning in her own right, but she was more of a classic looking beauty. Either way, Effie was a little jealous of both of them as she looked out onto the lake, biting down on her lip with her goofy two front teeth.

She decided it was enough hiding for now and that she was just being plain rude to everyone with her back to them. Turning on her heel she looked up to Nate who was extremely taller than her and she gave a shrug before offering a half-hearted humiliated smile.
"Effie. I, erm. I believe you have already seen just how unco-ordinated I am" she replied before looking at the girl next to him and giving a small smile.
"You're Haleigh, right?" her hand extended in greeting towards the girl. Effie looked around at everyone else before looking back to Nate and answering his question.

"Yeah, it's....peaceful out here" she replied, bobbing her head slightly before tucking her chin into the top of her jumper.
A splash distracted her and Effie turned back to the lake, taking the few steps and bending down as she overshadowed the splash where freshly cracked ice had appeared from nowhere. She looked around to see if anyone had thrown anything in like a stone but it seemed nobody was the culprit. Biting her lip for a second, she peered back into the black lake and was startled into falling backwards before dirty green hands pulled at her ankles and started dragging her into the frozen lake.
"HELP, OH GOD, HELP!" she yelped between blood curdling screams as she clawed at the grass, pulling clumps of grass blades out as she struggled against the force of the horde of Hinkeypunks that had captured her and had now dragged her under the frozen ice.