Oh cool. So this place had some kind of lake. Zeke was relieved to breath some fresh air after all those information they forced on him. He was a wizard, that was kind of hard to take in.

He kept on walking until he reached the edge of the ground, then bent down. One push would send him straight swimming into the depths of who-knows-how-deep-that-lake-is.

Look around behind him, he saw a girl. Just one girl. He decided to try his luck at making friends.

"Hey there!" Uhh, what to call her? "Girl..." He finished softly. Zeke facepalmed himself in his mind as he tried to maintain a friendly smile on his face despite the obvious mistake he made. Oh well, at least she was a girl. The situation would be even more awkward if it had been a guy who he was talking to.

Gwen took a deep breath before turning around, ready to leave. As she started walking, she thought about finally writing that letter. Hmm... Yes, she had to send that letter soon. Maybe later that day. Her thoughts were, however, interrupted, by someone calling her.

That voice.

It was familiar, yet Gwen couldn’t figure out who it was. Hmph. ‘Girl?’, she enquired as she drew her attention away from the lake. ‘It’s Gw...’, she started saying, but stopped as she finally noticed who the other person was.

BLINK.

The sixth year remained silent, staring blankly at the Gryffindor. Zeke was the last person she was expecting to see that day. It was odd to see him again- there- at the lake. Although she had an attempt to ask him something, Gwen remained speechless, looking confused at Zeke.

Somehow, his breath stopped as the girl looked him in the eye. He bit his lip. Right, it was completely bonkers of him to call a girl 'girl,' no matter how correct that may be for a toddler. Gw...? Gwion? Gwawl? Gweneth? Gwenevieve? GWHAT? Why wouldn't she just say it?

"Gw..." he began to say, as if waiting for an answer. He couldn't stop looking at Gwhatever-her-name-was. Ugh. Blame those awfully nice eyes she had. And nose. And lips. And face. And hair. And everything. UGH.

Then he thought it best to speak again, because it was kind of clear she wasn't gonna say something. "Hey...my name is Zeke," he said sheepishly, still embarrassed for calling her girl. "And you are..?"

He continued staring. It may be starting to feel a bit awkward. And perhaps Gwhatever-her-name-was was starting to feel like Zeke was being rude. But he couldn't stop staring at this perfect creature in front of him who seemed to be just as confused and clueless as he was.

Gwen looked at Zeke, who seemed quite oblivious towards everything that was going on. Still... she had no reaction either. Really- she was surprised to see him there- after... what? two years of no Zeke around.

Great.

Now he didn’t even remember her name.

*eye roll*

‘Very funny’, Gwendolyn finally replied. Fine. Haha. Very funny. It is to laugh. Had he no other plan in mind than acting like someone who had amnesia?! Gwen bit her lip, trying not to laugh. ‘Come on-‘, the sixth year started saying something. Because his behaviour was just asking for a rude remark. Though she didn’t finish talking. Instead, Gwen remained silent, just like a moment ago. Despite the silliness, Gwen realized she had actually missed Zeke...

Ugh. Gwen wanted to roll her eyes at herself. She didn’t miss him. Not really. Maybe... ughh. No. Enough with this, the Ravenclaw told herself, before starting to take a few steps towards the castle. Seriously, Zeke was more immature than ever. ‘And it’s Gwen, by the way’, she said rather coldly.

Whoah. That attitude just backfired everything he thought of her moments ago. Was she naturally mean? Well, I guess a girl can't have it all. But Zeke couldn't help but feel like they met before. There was some sort of strange vibe to it. And then the eye-rolling began. He might have just offended her. "Oh, no. Nonono, hey. I'm sorry if I offended you in any way," he began to apologize standing up from his position.

He was about to go to her and apologize more, and explain what happened. But as he stood up, his feet got off balance. Yeah, bad mind-body coordination skills. Just as he heard her name Gwen, who began her way back to the castle, he completely slipped off and fell to the lake.

'SPLASHHHHHH!'

Screw this, he forgot how to swim too.

Hmph.

Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to go for a walk, after all.

It was confusing just seeing him back again, not to mention how weird everything was because he acted like an amnesiac. And it was even more confusing hearing him apologize. ‘Seriously, Zeke...’, Gwen started saying as she looked back at the Gryffindor.

Just as she turned around, the Ravenclaw saw him falling, a loud splash breaking the silence. ‘Hehe...’ Even under such circumstances, it was impossible not to laugh. ‘Are you alright?’, Gwen asked, trying to hide her grin. Next, she offered him a hand to get up- because he was probably not going to get up on his own.

Dying was not in his list of priorities as of the moment. He just survived some near-death experience that he can't even remember what, and now what?

'Oh merciful aquatic creatures, do not eat me. Tides don't wash me away.' Zeke began to think deathly thoughts in his mind as he closed his eyes shut, ready for the moment of truth. "POSEIDON!" he yelled underwater for some reason, and realized he could breathe all of a sudden. He slowly opened his eyes and then the sight of Gwen dawned on him, holding his hand. Ohh...

Zeke didn't realize that he grabbed her hand and pulled himself back up to surface. Breathing noisily, he stared at her, bewildered. As he completely got off that fatal body of water that he felt was swallowing him up before, he lay down flat on the ground, looking up the sky.

What. Just. Happened.

'Too much information. I think my brain's about to explode. But then again, I can still think right now. Which is good, I think.' Yeah, he was alive. Gwen saved him, thank goodness. But that grin on her face. DID SHE NOT REALIZE THE GRAVENESS OF WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! HE COULD HAVE DIED, FOR PETE'S LOVING SAKE.

He closed his eyes again, trying to calm himself down. Breathing as heavily as ever, but not uttering a single word. Gwen. Gwen. Gwen. Both the monster and the savior. Who was this girl?

Everything happened so fast, that Gwen couldn’t really think about what was going on. Zeke fell, now he was alright.... and that was about it. ‘Come on’, she said, trying to make Zeke take a few steps away from the lake.

Because he was clearly not capable of holding his balance.

Psh.

Not that she usually was, but that’s another story.

So anyway, once Zeke didn’t seem to be so pale and yeah, breathing again, Gwen looked at the Gryffindor rather confused. ‘So...’, she started saying, seriously hoping that he would get the idea and stop acting this foolishly. ‘What’s the matter with you?’, she said rather coldly.

She never thought she would wish for this, but could Zeke be back to his normal mean, annoying self? Because this... not remembering things... or pretending not to remember things- was far worse.

Truth be told, Gwen had lots of things she didn’t understand. Why was Zeke back? Did he go back to Durmstrang in the past years? She had known little about him even a few years ago- but now... it was just weird. Gwendolyn looked back at him, expecting Zeke to say something.

'What's the matter with me.... Why does she speak to me with that kind of tone? Gee, what did I ever do to her?'

Maybe it's time to finally explain. "I can't remember ANYTHING, okay?" He blurted out, now sitting himself up to look at her straight in the eye.

Wrong move. Those eyes just confused him more. If a few seconds ago, he knew what to say and what not to, now he just randomly said out stuff. "I can't remember a thing about my past. Amnesia, okay? I don't know what accident happened because those dang doctors won't tell me a thing aside from the payment I owe them. And I don't even know if I met you before. But I'd like to meet you over again because I think you're nice and beautif-" Wait, WHAT? What was he saying?

Zeke deserves some serious slapping to get himself alert of what's happening. It must be the drowning and all that's getting to him. He certainly should NOT have said that. For all he knew this girl could have been his enemy in his past life.

So- why was he behaving like this? The Ravenclaw looked at Zeke, as she heard him start talking.

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaat?

‘Anything?’, Gwen mumbled, trying to figure out WHAT he was saying and WHAT in Merlin’s beard was going on. ‘Nothing? People you used to know when you were here...’ Well maybe that wasn’t the smartest thing to say. For all Gwen knew, he was kind of unsociable. Hmm. ‘I don’t know... summer holidays? Diagon Alley?’, the Ravenclaw tried to enumerate some things she could associate to Zeke. It was only a moment later that she realized this wasn’t ‘Who wants to be a millionaire’ where you had to guess things.

Before she knew it, Zeke started babbling. Nice? Beautiful? Gwen decided to start talking before things got more awkward. Like things COULD get any more awkward. ‘We um... met before’ Obviously. Gwendolyn wanted to break the news to him: they really hadn’t been the best of friends. Though, it was probably not the best time for that.

Sigh. Zeke listened as Gwen began to tell him about stuff he had no memories of. Empty places, empty events, empty shadows of the past.

Maybe he should just walk away now. But Gwen had been the first he's met who actually knows him and his past. Why walk away at a chance like this?

"So you did know me before, huh?" He laid back down and looked away. "Is it okay if I ask a favor from you?" But Zeke continued on with asking, even without her approval. "Tell me more about....you know. Me. About my past. About how we met. Or how I was like before."

Yeah....was he nice? Or did he have friends? Where did he hang out most often? What did he like to eat? Stuff no one else could tell him yet because he hasn't found the right people.

It was probably a bad idea to visit the Lake on such a cold night. Despite having her sweater on, Kat still didn't like the cold. It was slowly killing her... slowly. Ugh she was going to hate these nights. However she did like being alone. Not the secretive type of alone, mind you. She liked the fact that she could think better when she was alone with nobody around her. Not even if she wanted to talk to Elise. Sometimes being alone did provide the Slytherin some comfort. Though that wasn't why she was outside at the night. Stargazing, remember?

Kat looked up and squinted while looking for her star asterism. UGH. It sucked being feets and miiiiiiiiles away from the heavens. Kat would've borrowed a broom from the broom cupboard but that would mean detention. And well... nobody could reach the stars up there even with a broomstick anyway. It was worth a try, maybe. Nope, no star in here even with binoculars in hand.

Before moving to another location, Kat stared at the lake. "Good evening, Bartholomew Henry," she greeted the Giant Squid in case he was listening there and being creepy. So now... another location. Move along.

Judging by his blank facial expression, it was obvious to see that Zeke couldn’t remember any of the things she mentioned. ‘Aham’, she said with a small nod, answering his first question. Mental sigh. Now even Zeke knew they had met before. At least she wouldn’t have to explain anything to him...

WRONG.

In the next moment, she heard Zeke ask another question. This was NOT happening.

Gwen stared at the ground for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. Go away? That would make things even more awkward. Stay and explain everything very shortly: they never used to be friends. Ugh. That didn’t really sound like a good plan. Think. Think...

‘Well...I-‘ Nonono. No subjective things. Keep things objective. Yes. That was a good idea. And try not to say ‘hate you’, Gwen told herself. ‘I don’t really know what to tell you’ Finee. That was a normal start. If anything could be called ‘normal’ in this conversation. What could she even say, anyway? She hadn’t know him that well. ‘I suppose you could say you were pretty much like all the Gryffindors’ That line sounded better in her head than out loud. Umm... go on, the sixth year told herself, trying to figure out what to say to fill the silence.

Hmmm.

She was under no circumstances going to characterize Zeke. Not now. Not ever. That was way too weird. What could she say, anyway? And what else did he want to know- how they met... ‘Umm...we met at the end of term feast. Third year’ End of story? Gwen hoped he wouldn’t ask for more information.

He listened intently as Gwen told him about...stuff. He waited eagerly for some information he'd been longing to hear about his past. But er, there was not that much. Maybe she didn't know him that well? Zeke restrained his frustration to the briefness of what she just said. HE WANTED TO HEAR MORE. NEEDED. Desperately longed.

So he sat up straight, looked at her again. "Isn't there....more that you could tell me? Not that I'm forcing you. But I've just been lost lately. I need someone to help me find my way back to being me." Whoever he was before.

Zeke stood up, walked to the spot beside Gwen and sat back down. What's up with him? Slowly, without even asking for permission, he leaned his head towards her shoulder despite the obvious cold shoulder she's been giving him the whole time, aside from the constant confusion in her. Rude girl. But really, what's up with you, Zeke?

Like she had expected, Zeke was not really alright with the very few things she had mentioned. Tough, Gwen wasn’t really sure what she could say. Truth be told, she knew little about him. And what was even harder than explaining was being nice to Zeke.

Sigh.

‘Fine’ Fine, she would help him with some more pieces of information. ‘But I don’t know what is relevant to you’ Umm. How to put this? ‘You should break the question’ The ‘What was I like’ one ‘into smaller ones’, Gwen suggested. Just as she finished talking, the sixth year noticed Zeke getting closer to the place where she was sitting. Erm. Instead of moving a bit further away, Gwendolyn remained motionless.

Zeke grinned as Miss Ice Princess finally let him do three things. First, she let him ask more about his past, and hopefully will answer those questions. Second, she let him stay beside her. And third, she let his head stay right where it was. Maybe Ice Princess could somehow turn to water at times.

"Thanks! Erm," where to begin asking? TOO. MANY. QUESTIONS. Oh Zeke. You and your first world problems. "Okay then. You said we met in 3rd Year, End of the Term Feast. Just tell me a story. How we met. What we talked about. How I treated you. How you treated me. The food, the people. Everything you could remember about that moment."

With that he just closed his eyes, ready to picture her words and form a scene in his imagination.

Well... breaking the question into smaller ones sounded quite intelligent. This was probably going to be easy. With questions like... which classes he attended, or where he used to hang out. Mhm. Normal questions... Gwendolyn listened to what Zeke was saying-

Errr.

What? Seriously?

Out of all the things he could have asked, it had to be how they met?!? ‘Umm... you were practically starving at the Ravenclaw house table’ To this day she had no idea why he hadn’t been at the Gryffindor table. Eh. Moving on. ‘We hadn’t talked much. Just an exchange of rude remarks aaand that’s about it’ Was this finally enough? ‘Really, just random questions like what plans we had for the summer’

As she finished talking, Gwen moved a bit, so that Zeke was no longer resting his head on her shoulder. ‘Next question?’

'Ehh. Rude remarks? I was rude?' he thought repulsively of his old self. But another idea sprang up to mind after Gwen destroyed his slight hope for a better personality from her by moving away. 'Maybe it's Miss Ice Princess who was rude. I could've been protecting myself from her icy coldness.'

"Your majesty," Zeke mumbled. Then realized she could hear him so he quickly tried to avert the subject before she could even ask what he was thinking. "Ohh, well erm, so weren't exactly friends?"

He picked up a tiny rock and threw it into the lake, making three perfect leaps before it was finally gobbled up by the silent waters. That hateful lake that swallowed him up like a hungry lion a while ago now looked so peaceful. I guess looks can be deceiving. Like how Gwen's mean attitude is masked by that angelic face of hers. Rawr, what are you thinking Zeke? He shook the thought off his mind as he finally heard his stomach complain.

Hungry. And starving. Probably just like that day when he first met Gwen. Maybe he was too hungry to walk over to his proper table and waste any more time.

"Adfgsakl;fueywqgfudshjkfdzcm." His stomach growled again like the lion he is. But Zeke tried to ignore it. He hasn't eaten all day. Plus he was shivering from the cold breeze that just blew. Aish, a disease was just waiting to happen. Be it ulcer or a cold.

‘You seem surprised’, Gwen commented, as she looked back at Zeke after she mentioned the fact that they didn’t get along. Like it was unbelievable for him to realize how rude he had been... and probably still was.

Luckily for Zeke, Gwen failed to hear him mumbling that ‘majesty’. Friends? ‘Err... no’ Definitely not friends, the sixth year thought as she followed the stone Zeke has just thrown in the lake. She suddenly started remembering the contest she and her bestie, Ari had started at the lake. Who would throw the pebbles the farthest. Aw. And now she missed her best friend. Too many of her favourite people were leaving. Ariadne and until today Ze---- Err... not like Zeke was one of the people she had missed.

A rather loud noise broke the silence. Zeke was... hungry? Hm. Just like he usually was. ‘Do you want to go inside?’, Gwen asked, ready to stand up from the ground. Meh. Zeke could go to the kitchen or something and she would be back to her Common Room. That sounded perfect. Though, she would feel kind of sorry abandoning the plan of helping Zeke with just some pieces of information.

Hmmm.

Gwen stood up and glimpsed at the lake before drawing her attention back to the Gryffindor. She had a better idea. ‘Meet me in the Great Hall?’, she said and started taking a few steps towards the castle, expecting Zeke to finally stand up as well.

Hm, so they weren't friends. Then why would she even bother to stay so long just to talk to Zeke and help him do stuff? Oh brother. Maybe she wants to be friends now? *grin*

Zeke was busy in his train of thoughts that he didn't notice the little Ice Princess stand up and walk away. As he woke back to reality the Gryffindor found himself alone. And hungry. Where did Gwen go anyway?

Nevermind. "Psh, your highness leaves her subjects when they need her most. What a princess," he mumbled under his breath. The fierce lion inside him growled again, complaining more loudly of its hunger for food. Well, better tame this monster. So he stood up and walked to the castle to the Great Hall. To find food. Or would the kitchen be a better place? No, better not mess with those little people there. Stay safe in the Great Hall, with great food. Yeah.

Presley sat up breifly and wrapped the little girl in a hug before going back to leaning on her elbow. "You are accepted. Just the way you are. They adore you." She realized that this was probably her fault that Awar felt this way, and she hurried to apologize. "I know I was really mean to you when you were sorted, and that was wrong of me. I hadn't ever paid much attention to Hufflepuffs, you know? I didn't know anything about them except for their colors were bumblebees and they generally didn't stick out." This was getting her nowhere.

"Anyway, Grandfather actually was the one to write to me and tell me to grow up. He told me that just because you had different strengths than me didn't mean I was better. Just different." She shrugged. "Maybe if it had been one of our dads then they would have been upset, but they've become a lot more accepting in their old age you know."

Awar nodded, appreciating the fact that her parents were more accepting now than before. She laid down on her back, "I miss my dad." She fished for another goodie in her bag.

A screen sits off to one side along with boxes of girls and boys bathing suits.

Gavin had been given permission to use the old supplies students had used a few terms before for this part of the seminar. So heading down to the lake he knew the items would be there waiting. "Those of you who wish not to use the bathing suits given and are old enough to know the charm, can feel free to use water repelling charms to keep their clothes dry."

Moving to the water's edge, he called in mermish so the merpeople would know they were there, and splashed a little in the water with his hand.

Feel free to post complaining, changing, using charms, etc. Have fun with it! You get to play your own merpeoples, there isn't anyone (that I know of) that will be coming to play with us. HAVE FUN! Gavin's around to give a hand in any way.

Presley nodded. Of course she did. "You know, Albus Dumbledore once said 'those who love us never truly leave us.' And I think you'll see your dad again, and I'll see my mum again. In whatever afterlife is waiting." She laid back down on her back for a moment. "I'm glad we had this talk kiddo. But now I've got to get back to homework. Unless you need to talk about something else?"

Alyssa listened as the instructor told them what to do. Not wanting to change into the bathing suits, she decided to use the water repelling charm instead.

Having done this many time before, Alyssa took out her wand, tapped herself with it and said, "IMPERVIUS". She watched as a beam shot out and enveloped her. She then holstered her wand and walked into the water ready to practice her Mermish skills.

But then she remembered something. Turning around she asked Mr. Higareda.

"Sir, do we have to fully submerge underwater? Will we be able to hear what the Merpeople are saying if we're not?"

She was wondering whether she needed to cast the Bubble Head Charm too.