Cooling off

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly was fairly salty after the Quidditch match. She knew a game shouldn’t affect her mood so much, but she couldn’t help feeling discouraged. To add insult to injury, it was hot and sticky outside, and it made her house gear feel extra heavy and disappointing. TIlly decided she needed to cool off.

The Hufflepuff had noted students swimming in the lake before, but she had a healthy respect for grindylows and other creatures of the deep. However, dipping in her toes wouldn’t be too risky, right?

Pulling off her shoes and hiking her robes up to her knees, Tilly stepped into the lake. She loved the rush of icy water around her ankles. Yes, wading in the shallows was the right decision.

@Sawyer Carnahan

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

The game had been short, and while Sawyer was pretty hopped up from the victory, he didn't want to just trudge back to the castle yet. Following the milling crowd out of the stands, he spotted the Hufflepuff he'd been sitting near, watching curiously as she split away from the crowd and headed to the lake. Interest piqued, Sawyer stuck his pennant in his back pocket, following along after her down to the shore.

"I know your team lost, but I don't think you need to throw yourself into the lake over it," He said sympathetically after a moment, watching her wade a few steps into the water.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly looked up to see the Ravenclaw boy from the stands. She snorted loudly at his comment. “Yeah, just in the process of drowning myself,” she said with a heavy dose of sarcasm. “Can’t take another Hufflepuff loss. Nothing to live for.”

The water was actually helping. Tilly walked in further, up to her knees. She wanted to throw off all her robes and dive in but figured that would earn her an awkward detention. Plus, she wasn’t sure about her ability to fend off aquatic creatures.

“Did you hear a shark and squid live in this lake?” Tilly asked. Her aunt Estrella had told her this, years ago. Tilly wasn’t sure that she believed it.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer snorted at the girl's response, toeing off his own shoes and rolling up his pants legs. He'd missed swimming a lot at home, and while he was a bit wary of what might be lurking around in the school lake, Sawyer figured it should be fine in the shallows. "I'm sure the team appreciates your commitment," He said, making he way closer to the girl. "I'm Sawyer, by the way."

Sawyer paused at the mention of a shark and squid in the lake, squinting out at the still water. "You think? Isn't this fresh water?" He splashed experimentally with his foot. There had been some rumours of something lurking in the lake, but Sawyer had yet to get a solid consensus on what it actually was.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly couldn’t help laughing at the Ravenclaw boy. “Fly or die, right? I’m the number one fan over here.” She jumped a little as a piece of lake weed brushed across her leg, but she soon got over it.

Tilly shrugged, smirking a little at the boy’s hesitation when she mentioned the shark and squid. “I’m not sure- it’s something my aunt told me. Honestly, she might just have been joking around.”

This was the perfect way to cool off from the summer heat. “I’m Tilly, by the way.” Obviously, she didn’t need to introduce her house.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

"I'm sure Hufflepuff would avenge you next year," Sawyer said mildly, flinching as well when the girl reacted to something in the water, relaxing when no sharks or squids miraculously appeared to eat them. "Yeah it's all fun and games until a student gets eaten by the school shark," He said gravely. "Though I guess we probably would have heard about that if it were a concern," He added, reassuring himself enough to move a bit further out and closer to Tilly. "Nice to meet you Tilly, sorry for your house's embarrassing loss today," He said solemnly, dragging his leg some behind him as he stepped forward, enjoying the gentle sound of the water moving. "There's definitely merpeople down there though, right?" Sawyer said after a short pause, watching the water resettling, eyes still trained on it.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Being eaten alive by a shark would be a bad day. That said, in a morbid way, Tilly couldn’t help being amused at the thought of students being picked off by underwater creatures. It might even be preferable to NEWT and OWL exams, with the way the older students complained about them.

Tilly shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “Well, it isn’t really your fault,” she said, sweeping her hands through the water. She loved the feeling of the cool liquid as it slipped between her fingers.

“I think there are merpeople, but I’ve never seen one.” Tilly wondered how many there were, and if she and Sawyer were being watched right now.

Toss it, she thought. Tilly really wanted to swim. No matter if there were merpeople, squids, and sharks, and she still had the majority of her clothes on. Holding her breath, she submerged herself in the water, all the way up to the top of her scalp. She swam all the way to where she couldn’t feel the lake bottom anymore. Tilly grinned back at Sawyer, treading water and absolutely soaked. She was curious to see if he would join her.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

"I think my cheering might have helped with the win," Sawyer offered, flicking some water off his hands. "It'd be cool to see one," He said, watching the water again as Tilly moved further out, apparently not caring much about getting her clothes wet. "I've got a mermaid scale in my wand, feels a bit weird to think maybe it could be one from the lake," He said. Honestly the idea weirded him out, but Sawyer was intrigued too. He'd never been a super strong swimmer or anything, but he had always enjoyed spending time by the water. He wondered how much that had to do with his wand picking him.

Tilly dropped below the water and Sawyer has to grin as she emerged soaking wet. "How is it?" He called, pondering if he wanted to join her before shrugging. He wasn't too far out that it was much of a chore to shuck off his robes, doing his best to toss them to the shore, though he was fairly sure he mostly managed to get them wet landing in the shallows anyway, before following Tilly into the deeper water. He didn't want to go far enough he couldn't touch the ground, but he moved far enough that it was up to his chest, the water still cold despite the Summer heat.

 

[Tilly Drage]

“Really? My wand has a mermaid scale core, too!” Tilly said excitedly. “I wonder if they could be siblings?” She reached for her wand to make sure it was still there. Being that it was stashed in a zippered pocket, she needn’t have worried, but it was a habit. She raised her eyebrows at the thought of her scale coming from this lake.

“I mean, it’s possible…” Tilly peered into the depths, unable to see anything. If the merperson who gave up their scale lived in this lake, Tilly hoped they didn’t decide they wanted it back.

Tilly turned herself onto her back, floating on the surface. Her robes and hair billowed around her. “It’s lovely and cold,” she said, happy with her decision, even if she had to trudge back to Hufflepuff House completely waterlogged.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer tilted his head consideringly when Tilly said she had the same wand core, glancing back out to the still mermaid-less water. "If it was made by the same guy that's pretty likely right? Though I dunno how willing I'd be to give a bunch of scales to the same dude if I had any, so maybe not," He said thoughtfully. "You think they fall off like hair does? Or if they gotta like, tug it out," Sawyer asked, grimacing and rubbing at his own scalp in imagined sympathy. Maybe somewhere out in the lake there was a merperson they both owed an apology to.

"Lovely and cold are not usually both synonyms for 'good'," Sawyer said, trying not yelp as the water slipped past his collar. It was definitely bracing. "Think we'll get in trouble?" He asked, grinning a little roguishly and trying to float onto his back. It was difficult still wearing regular clothes though and Sawyer mostly succeeding in getting water in his ears.

 

[Tilly Drage]

Tilly shrugged, throwing in her arms for a few backstrokes. “I know fish can regrow their scales when they lose them, but I’m not sure about merpeople.” She hoped that their wand cores would make them more favorable to the lake’s inhabitants. Kindred spirits, and all.

Embarrassed not to know what the word ‘synonym’ meant, Tilly kept quiet. Sawyer sure sounded like a Ravenclaw. He was nice enough, though. Tilly knew that house would have eaten her alive, not that the Sorting Hat had considered it for her.

Tilly beamed. Even the thought of getting in trouble was exciting to her. “The Headmistress only said we couldn’t go in to the Forbidden Forest…” she reasoned.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

"Oh. Yeah I hope they grow back," Sawyer said, taking a few bobbing steps closer to Tilly and immediately regretting it when he managed to step into deeper spot and get a mouth full of lake water. He spat it out sourly, flipping his now water hair out of his eyes and Tilly paddled around in the deeper water. "Okay. The water is less good if you swallow it," He said, making a face and spitting a bit more, if only for show. He was starting to get a bit cold, despite the warm day, but Sawyer didn't want to bail out of their impromptu swim just yet so he just steeled himself, trying to ignore the gross feeling of his wet clothes. "Ah, technically not against the rules, the best defense," He said with a lazy grin, trying to match Tilly's relaxed backstroke and mostly succeeding in just splashing water around. It was hard to swim in clothes.

 

[Tilly Drage]

“Yeah, you’re not meant to drink the lakewater,” Tilly chided Sawyer. The Hufflepuff had to admit she was starting to feel cold. And hungry. She held her body as upright as she could, moving her arms and kicking her legs slowly to tread water.

“Do you want to go raid the kitchens?” Tilly asked. It was hours until dinnertime, and all of this swimming had made her work up an appetite. And if they were lucky, the house elves would just throw food at them, given they would be a dripping wet mess.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer managed a laugh at Tilly's admission, clearing his throat now that he'd gotten the water out of his mouth. "Lesson learnt," He said gravely. He glanced over back at the castle when Tilly mentioned getting food. He could definitely eat, after the match and now their swim, but was weighing the pros and cons of having to squelch around the castle in his wet robes. At least the Dungeons were a lot closer than the tower. Far fewer stairs to slip on too. "Yeah sure, hope the house elves don't mind," He said, dragging himself out of the water and gamely fishing his robes he'd thrown out of the shallows to squeeze some of the excess water out. "Don't suppose you know any drying spells?" Sawyer said over his shoulder.

 

[Tilly Drage]

While Tilly was able to squeeze some moisture out of her robes, it was hopeless. She grinned sheepishly at Sawyer. “Nope. That would be pretty useful, though, wouldn’t it?”

She slipped on her tennis shoes, thankful that these at least were dry. “I hope they have something sweet and salty,” she said. “Maybe they’ll even throw food at us so we don’t muck up the place.”