Shining Water

[Sophia Night]

As she moved around the edge of the lake (though staying far back from the point where the water lapped up against ground), Sophia thought that it was kind of nice to get out of the castle for a bit and just... go for a walk. And a nice, normal walk at that - Rory had tried to convince her to come out with her earlier in the week, but walks with Rory often meant splashing, and jumping in puddles, and wandering off to examine funny patches of rust or mould - what her sister seemed to find so grossly fascinating about such things, Sophia didn't know. She would rather stop to admire the flowers, or parts of the landscape that looked like they could belong in a pretty painting. Things which surrounded her right now. Continuing to walk on, Sophia sighed at the peaceful feeling such a pleasant day gave her.

 

[Aurora Night]

Off on another one of her periodic trips to the castle's outside world, Rory walked along one of the many paths that circled the Great Lake while kicking a stone all the way. She'd been trying to do that... studying thing today and it was hugely not fun, so instead she had decided to escape into the sunshine for a while. It was a break - breaks were good, right? Turning a corner, Rory saw someone up ahead of her that she actually recognised and, grinning, started running up behind them as quietly as she could. "Surprise!" she yelled, jumping up behind Sophia while using her younger sister's shoulders as a brief support. "Did you miss me? You know, I thought you'd want to come and play more often now that you're around all the time." Rory didn't mind the space she'd been given, of course, but she did think it was a little odd.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Having a target with red hair like herself was a strange reason to be excited, but Fleur liked it anyway. She had known who she was from the moment she had read her slip of paper, as the girl was a loud presence in the Gryffindor common room. She had been strolling around casually while keeping an eye out for the girl, though she felt herself smile as she finally spotted her near the lake talking to a younger girl. Fleur didn't think running over with her wand out was the best way to handle this, so she casually wandered over, though she had her hand on her wand in her pocket. When she came near, she smiled at the girl. "Lumos." He muttered under her breath before taking her wand out of her pocket. "Hey, sorry." She said as she tried to tap her.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia was lost once again, though at least she was outside. She had tried to find the gardens, but had ended up at the lake instead. She was trying to figure out if she should go back to the castle when she spotted a girl she knew. Sophia, a girl in the dormitory with her. She was about to approach when a bigger girl did so instead, and she got too shy. She watched as another girl also approached them, unsure of what was happening. From a small distance, she tried to catch Sophia's eye, in case she would rather hang out with a fellow first year than these older girls. Probably not, though.

 

[Aurora Night]

While focused on her sister, Rory saw another girl approaching along the waterfront. She recognised her from the common room - ginger hair always managed to stick out, Rory was very aware of this - but paid the girl little attention as she was sure she was just going to walk on by. She came closer though, and Rory eyed her curiously as the girl walked straight towards them. "Hey -" she tried to reply, before suddenly - "Nope!" Rory stepped backwards and away, grabbing Sophia's shoulders and swinging the younger girl around between them to act as a shield. It worked too - the lit wand came to rest at a spot just below her sister's collarbone, and Rory pumped her fist in delight. "I'm still alive! Good try though," she said to the younger girl with a grin. "I'll have to be on my guard now, you're around way too much for me to try and avoid you."

Out of Character:

I'm just so glad that I have really nice friends who wait until I've told them I'm going to work/sleep before they try to attack me
Daph informs me that she spent an entire morning pre-writing replies to other things in order to bury this topic in the Active Topics where she knows I live, and I'm glad she and Rowan have been going to so much effort to take me out of this game? Good effort guys, I'm almost sorry to foil your plans

 

[Sophia Night]

Sophia had been greatly enjoying her walk, until the sound of running footsteps came pounding up behind her. On instinct, her shoulders tensed and though it all happened too fast for her not to be surprised by the arrival of someone else - the fact that it was Rory who had announced herself thus didn't surprise her at all. "Ow, Rory!" she complained, turning to face her sister but taking a step away as she did so. "Why do you always have to do that, it hurts." Rubbing at her shoulder, she started trying to formulate a response to the older girl's question. "You're always with your friends... I didn't want to bother you." Rory talked about her friends at home so much that Sophia recognised each of them by name and knew that Rose knitted, Harley snuck out at night and painted on the walls (which Sophia did not approve of at all), and that Hayley was always carrying around a sketchbook - among plenty of other things Rory had mentioned over the years. Sophia didn't want to be a nuisance in the face of friends like that, but if her sister did want to spend some more time with her... "Hey, Rory -"

She was completely cut off as the older girl grabbed her shoulders and suddenly wrenched her around for no discernible reason. Sophia let out a small cry at the action, but blinked as she came face to face with a red-haired girl she didn't recognise - whose outreached wand was now resting against her chest. Staring at the lit end, Sophia took a moment to understand what had happened, but once she did squirmed out of her sister's grasp a little huffily. Rory had signed both of them up for the Assassin game without even asking if Sophia had wanted to join in, and even though no one had actually tried to attack her yet, she didn't like the constant sense of being on edge that came with it. That, mixed with her sister's lack of concern for her shoulders' well-being, made her think that she didn't want to see anymore of Rory for today, and seeing a girl from her own house and year a little way off, Sophia came to a decision. "I'm going to go play with my own friends, Rory, they're not mean to me like you are." She rubbed at her shoulder again as she walked off - her sister had always played slightly rough, but Sophia never quite seemed to get used to it. "Hello," she called out to the other girl as she drew closer towards her. "I don't want to bother you but... I'm Sophia - uh, if you didn't already know. We have classes together so I thought you might... you're Amelia, right? Um, would you mind if we talked for a bit?" Sophia bit her lip slightly. Her ruse to get rid of Rory wouldn't work very well if this girl said no to her, and she did genuinely want to make more friends here at school.

 

[Fleur van Houten]

Fleur hadn't run up to the girl or shouted at her, so she hadn't expected her to react so violently. She stared in surprise as she grabbed the younger blonde girl and practically used her as a shield. Surprised, Fleur pulled the wand back with a small laugh. "Well, that's one way to do it." She commented, hoping the younger girl was alright. She was about to ask if she was alright, but the girl told the older redhead off and wandered off. Fleur scratched her neck. "Uh, sorry I didn't mean to cause problems." She said with another small shrug. "I suppose I'll have to be sneakier if I try again." A little weirded out by the strange situation, she waved at the older girl. "I'll be off, I won't take up more of your time. For now, anyway." She added with a small grin before heading back to the castle.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia's mouth dropped open when she saw what happened with the older girl and Sophia. She took a hesitant step back as if she was in danger of being used as a shield next despite being far out of reach. She watched as her fellow Hufflepuff moved away from the other girls and approached her. Hesitantly, Emilia gave her a small smile. "Um, are you okay?" She asked afer the girl introduced herself. Her smile grew slightly and she shooko her head. "Of course I don't mind! I'm Emilia, you're right. Maybe we could take a walk when we talk?" She asked her, glancing again at the other girls near the lake. A part of her wanted to walk away from them so she wouldn't get caught up in any games.