Open Drowning Things Out

[Aine Thompson]

Aine was not especially sporty. She enjoyed watching sport - it was practically an obligation to watch AFL back home, what with her brother playing in the VFL as well - but certainly wouldn't play it, generally. It didn't help that the only real option for physical activity at Hogwarts was Quidditch. And Aine and flying did not go together. There wasn't running, or playing football or anything like that. Maybe the school should invest in that, Aine thought, surprising herself at the idea. She supposed trying to traverse the school was enough exercise.

But Aine actually did enjoy swimming, and would've gladly done laps in a pool if she could. Very slow laps, punctuated with doing idle flips and handstands, but still. Only that wasn't an option, either. So the closest option was slipping into the lake in her old school swimsuit, contemplating laps but not sure how badly the lake would sting her eyes. Maybe that was something to consider before this point. Too late now, she thought, instead just floating on her back and staring up at the mildly overcast sky. She tried to breathe slowly, clearing out her mind, but seemingly couldn't do so, instead just sighing and trying not to drop too heavily into the water as she did.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie was never one to not go outisde. It was warm but clouded over, but when rain or snow didn't always stop her, she did tend to just venture outside. She was often in the gardens or spending time near them, she still wanted to go into the forest to look at some of the flora but knew she'd need to do a whole lot to be able to do that. But Rosie today was just wandering around. Aurora was off practicing quidditch and Rosie had taken her sister's camera and was just exploring and taking pictures. Though she knew that Aurora had wanted to be just like Uncle Ty and take pictures with so much else on, Rosie knew Aurora didn't have time, so didn't mind when Rosie took it.

Rosie approached the lakefront and noticed someone was in the water, and after a moment she recognised her, the girl from the library that one time. The girl appeared to just be floating in the water. Rosie was glad she'd turned up, since there was no one else to watch the girl and make sure nothing happened until Rosie got there. She didn't say anything, just sat herself down on the ground and used her camera to take pictures of the area around her. She wouldn't disturb the girl, and while she'd planned to do more walking, could just as well use her time to make sure that Aine didn't drown. ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine had intended to maybe work on her backstroke, but she was really questioning what the point was. The lake wasnt exactly the pick of places to swim, now she was actually in it and thinking about it. And she knew there was allegedly stuff in it, like a giant eel, or mermaids. As mermaids were apparently real. 18 months into being part of the wizarding world and she was still struggling to believe a lot of it was real. Especially things that she hadn't seen. She didn't really have a right to be such a skeptic anymore but it was hard. She had to cling onto something, like a liferaft.

Aine slowly pulled herself up, cautiously kicking her legs on the spot to keep afloat as she looked around. The sun was too much in her eyes. She paused for a second when she spotted Rosie, wondering just how long she'd been there, and considering maybe she was getting in the way of photography. "Oh, sorry," she swiftly apologized, dragging her arms back and forth on the water's surface. "We're probably not meant to actually swim in here, huh."

 

[The Golden Eel]

The eel loath to give up the shallows to the land dwellers but surely as the sun's warmth began to wane so did it herald their return. The eel had been basking closer to the shore than it should have been this time of year, entire body tensing when something splashed nearby. It followed the shape as it moved through the water, clumsy as land dwellers tended to be. The eel knew it would have to retreat now before it was spotted but it could resist a slight flick of its tail, the resulting wave of water flooding towards the small figure it could see bobbing near the surface. Then, in a shimmer of scales and a flutter of bubbles, the eel shot away, descending into the darker depths of the lake in a glimmer of gold.

 

[Rosie Archer]

Rosie was content to just sit there, and take pictures of things she could see as Aine swam. It was after a little that she heard Aine speak. Rosie glanced at her and stood up. "It's okay," she called back. "I don't think it's forbidden....but I'm just keeping an eye out, in case...," she trailed off not sure if she would want to tell her exactly. As she'd spoken, just behind Aine she spotted a glimmer of scales and bubbles and gasped. "Aine! I think there's an eel behind you"! she called out, it had looked bigger than it should..what had that been! ​

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine kept treading water, a little confused as to why she needed to be watched. She guessed there must be weird stuff in the lake, like this eel people talked about in rumour, but she supposed it was similar to swimming in the ocean. Though at least in the ocean there were shark nets and she lived too far south in Australia to come across the really dangerous jellyfish. She was a pretty strong swimmer for someone that wasn't especially sporty, but that just came with the territory. "Maybe Brightstone should get like, a rec centre, with a gym and a pool or something," she rambled, thinking aloud, only just starting to get the sense that something was wrong. A wave hit her, and she frantically turned around. How were there waves in the lake? Aine's face was completely covered in water, and she spluttered and blinked rapidly, spotting a flash of gold through slightly blurred vision. She moved to rub her eyes, not that it helped as her hands had been in the water anyway so were already damp with lakewater. "Holy sh-" she spluttered, cutting herself off with a cough. Maybe she should've rushed for the surface, but she stayed treading water in the spot, trying to comprehend what she'd just seen. She'd heard rumours of the eel but just put it down to mythology, like the Loch Ness monster or something. "Was that the eel? People...weren't just making it up?" There would normally be a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, but Aine couldn't really work out what else it could be. "Or an oversized goldfish?"