Like Drops of Water

[Gabriella Tillington]

From the first moment Gabriella had laid eyes on the beautiful lake near the school, she wanted to go near it. In all honestly, she wanted to swim in it but she wasn't entirely sure if she would be allowed. The thought of not being allowed to go swimming for the next seven years was horrifying, though, and she didn't think the school had a hidden pool somewhere.

So one morning she decided she would go see it up close. She braided her hair neatly before heading out to the lake. Gabriella had always loved the sea, and bugged her dad about visiting the beach as much as she could. The lake was very different, but standing on the edge did make her feel calmer. She was still reeling from the discovery that her sister went to Hogwarts as well, and part of her expected Francesca to come to the lake as well. Did she like water too? Gabriella had no idea. She gazed at the water, wondering if there was anything dangerous in it that would hurt her if she tried to swim in it. You never knew, the forest was apparently dangerous too. As odd as that seemed to her when it was near a school.

 

[Akemi Tsukino]

When Akemi heard that there was a lake at school - a lake with actual waters and apparently a big one too - she had been ecstatic. She had been sad to leave Japan and it's bodies of water after all and hearing that the school could offer her a chance to spend time in a large body of water, the homesickness was lessened just a bit. Even with those in mind though, she haven't really been able to go there as she had been so busy in the past few days with all the unpacking and getting used to the castle. Now, though, now she could go check that lake.

It was a relatively comfortable walk towards the lake. Akemi would have preferred for someone to be with her but considering it was so early in the year, it was kind of hard to make friends that would probably actually accompany her to the lake. Especially so early. It wasn't long before she reached the lake though and once she saw the clear waters, she couldn't help her excitement. Thank the gods for spring and flipflops and dresses! Because Akemi ran towards the lake with much excitement and merely stopped until the water reached half her lower legs. The young girl raised her arms and closed her eyes breathing in the fresh air not caring who could see. There was water and she was enjoying nature. Right now she was the happiest she had been since arriving in this school.
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[Gabriella Tillington]

Gabriella was busy silently contemplating the water before her when she heard a loud splash. She looked up, startled, and saw a girl she recognized running into the lake. She took a step back, staring at her in amazement. Didn't she care anything could be in that water? Gabriella wanted nothing more than to get in it herself, but her careful and cautious nature prevented her from doing something like what the girl was doing. Gabriella watched her for a moment, it was one of the girls from her dormitory. She had tried her best to memorize their names, as she knew she would be spending the next seven years sleeping in the same room as them, and after a moment of thinking it came back to her. "Akemi." She called to the girl. "Be careful, there could be grindylows in the water." She felt a little lame for saying it even as she did, wondering if it would seem like she was just trying to ruin the girl's fun. But her father had warned her about grindylows before, and she had seen a picture in a book once. Though they were small, anything that could grab onto you in the water was a drowning hazard and she didn't want anything to happen to the girl. "Or maybe other creatures I don't know about." She added, feeling more awkward by the minute. Akemi seemed fine, standing there, and a part of Gabriella was itching to join her.