10,000 Emerald Pools

[Wyatt Finch]

Wyatt, finding himself alone, decided to go to the lake. It was hardly the ocean and hardly a place he could surf but it did the job when he felt like he needed to be near water. Now it was still too cold for the boy to actually jump in but there was always a good few rocks to skip along the lake so long as he didn't anger the giant squid that was rumoured to live in the lake even if he wondered if maybe the lake was too small for such a large creature. He didn't know, really. All Wyatt knew was that he would be finding himself alone a lot more than he ever had before and he would have to adjust. Not just because of his two best friends but because he had moved out of his Aunt and Uncle's home and would barely be seeing his parents. He was alone and he could feel the thoughts around him darken but he instead picked up a flat rock upon reaching the lake and skipped it against the water. The first rock made three hops before sinking down and the Gryffindor stared out onto the water and sighed, unsure at why he was so displeased with everything.​

 

[Bethany Zanders]

This year Bee was finding herself busier than ever with so many things on her plate. Last year she hadn't done too well on her OWLs, which were super important, so she had to work twice as hard in her classes this year to make the grades she needed for her NEWT year. She had a specific goal in mind for her future and she was not about to jeopardize that by failing a class she needed. It seemed like such a long time ago she had gone into Professor Kingsley's office and asked for advice as the Minister's wife her Head of House, but she had a feeling she'd need some more advice now that she was a lot closer to graduation than she ever could've fathomed. So with everything Bee had loaded onto her plate, she liked to take the little bit of free time she had and spend it outdoors relaxing. Today she was headed for the lake because it made her feel calm. It was no ocean, but the sound of the water was familiar and safe so she liked to go there. Over the break she'd gotten in an argument with her father and one of her older brothers about the possibility of her co-owning her brother's surf shop with him. While Bee loved the idea of working with her favorite brother, their father thought the surf shop was beneath her, and a waste of resources for the entire family. The fight had been exhausting for her not trying to choose sides, and still weighed on her heavily, which only made her want to seek advice for her future more, but for now she'd just try and clear her mind. As she walked up to the lake, she saw the boy who was scared of snakes and grinned excitedly. She wasn't going to scare him but she did like to tease him. "You're doing it wrong," she said as she walked up beside him, watching his rocks sink into the lake, not really truthful but still finding it amusing to criticize him. "Hi scaredy cat," she greeted him with an amused smile, coming in peace.
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[Wyatt Finch]

Wyatt had not expected someone to join him so as he turned to see who it was he rolled his eyes at the criticism. He rather liked the girl who had approached - even if she did find joy in practically causing him to have arrhythmia - so although she was critical and had a weird thing for snakes he did not mind her company. She was simple - or their interactions were - and to Wyatt that was all he needed to offer her a flat rock to give it ago. "Let's see your try then, Medusa." He didn't know much about his present company but because of how chilled out she seemed he thought that maybe he ought to try to be nicer to her now that the future with his best friends was in jeopardy so he didn't give an irritated look that he normally might have at being called a scaredy cat. It wasn't being foolish if it was for a smart reason and snakes were dangerous so he was fine in that fear. He justified it easily without any sort of fear about the mockery it might bring him because it was logical - something he was trying to be more these days.

Sorry, it'll get better!​

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bee was glad the boy had not taken offense at her opening remarks to him because sometimes people didn't take kindly to being insulted twice, but she liked that he was a good sport about it. Bee didn't know him very well but sometimes she could tell he was in a bad mood so she wouldn't bother him, but moments like right now when he was alone, it was hard to tell how he would react, so she was happy to catch him in a good mood, or at least not a bad one. The Gryffindor took the rock from him and flung it into the lake. Though she threw it as far as she could, it only skipped across the surface three times, the same amount Wyatt's did, before it plopped into the lake. She shrugged unashamed of her attempt and then looked around for other flat rocks to try out. "What're you doing out here all alone?" she asked conversationally, handing him a rock once she found one.
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[Wyatt Finch]

Wyatt watched as Bethany gave it a go and arched a brow at her after he saw it skip the same amount as his had. He had been expecting some unending rock skipping from the confidence she had in her abilities. "Well done," he said sarcastically but smiled as he accepted a rock from her. When he was asked what he was doing alone he shrugged and then attempted to do better than she did. He watched as it skipped four times but sunk quickly after - he began to look for more rocks as he said, "This is as close to the ocean as I can get so..." He shrugged his shoulders again and asked, "What about you?" He didn't really know much about her except that she was the leader of the SDA which he thought was cool but mostly he didn't see the point in it because he didn't expect a future when many of them would be duelling. Things seemed pretty peaceful in New Zealand so it wasn't like there was some battle they were training for. It just made them seem like they were on some weird wizard army reserve instead of students.​

 

[Bethany Zanders]

Bee chuckled as Wyatt sarcastically complimented her attempt at skipping the rock and watched him try again. "I've only ever been able to skip it across four times, my brother swears he did six once, but I've never seen it done before," she commented before she threw hers with all the might she could. Still three skips before it plopped below the surface. She turned sharply when the boy mentioned the ocean and eyed him with much more interest than before. "You like the ocean?" she perked up. It was a dumb question but she didn't know how else to ask it. Some people were terrified of it, with good reason, but not Bee. She shrugged and kicked around for more rocks as he asked what she was doing out here too. "Sixth year is kicking my ass so far and it's only just started so I just needed to get out and take a breather," she said with a chuckle.
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