Louis stood by the edge of the dark lake waters, hands buried deep in the pockets of his trousers. The day was bright and sunny, but there was a light breeze in the air to remind the students of the upcoming autumn weather.

Near the boy's feet bounced a playful white kitten with a pink ribbon tied around her neck, her bright blue eyes wide and curious as she chased the leaves that moved on the grass each time the breeze passed. Her tiny, furry white paws managed to finally catch one of the leaves, and she rolled around the ground like a tiny white ball of fur.

"Careful." Lou blocked the kitten's path as she rolled straight toward the dark water. When her back met his foot, she unrolled and stared up at him questioningly. The boy smiled as the kitten scrambled back to her paws, then lifted his left arm to check the time. Justine should be arriving soon.

Justine, as usual, was late.
And though she would have loved to pretend it was someone else's fault, the only person to blame was herself. She'd fallen asleep, right after class she'd gone up to her dorm, laid out all her things on her nice comfy four poster and completely knocked out.

So it was with great haste and little attention to her disheveled appearance that she made had made her way through the castle and was now sprinting (with her long legs Justine was a fast sprinter and she managed to cross the grounds with an incredible quickness), toward the edge of the black lake where Louis Bolton was set to meet her.

At the sight of his lanky form seated on the grass before her, Justine grinned brightly, slowing her pace to more of a fast walk, lest she frighten the boy with her stampede like running. "Louis!" Justine called out, plopping down on the grass next to the boy and taking long, deep breathes to calm her rapidly beating heart. "Bon jour, 'ello," she breathlessly said to the curious little kitten sitting near the Gryffindor boy.

"Vat 'ave ve 'ere?" Justine asked, picking up the kitten in her tanned hands and smiling brightly as it mewled at her.

Louis turned his head toward the newcomer as she plopped down beside him, seeming to come out of nowhere. Despite her running and hurried steps, he hadn’t heard her coming at all. “Bonjour, Mademoiselle.” He raised a curious eyebrow at her obvious lack of breath, “Alright there?”

The boy watched as Justine took a curious little Luna into her hands and beamed. “C'est La Petite Lune,” he said, gently scratching the kitten behind her furry white ears. “Got her with Paloma over the summer,” he explained. And speaking of his Spaniard friend… “Have you seen her again after the feast?”

After breakfast, the morning after the feast, bright and early Leo made his way out of castle and down to the Hogwarts Lake, carrying a fishing pole in one hand and a small bucket of bait in the other. Picking up a tune as he came down to the little dock Orsino had built just last year Leo stopped a moment to take in the sight of the beautiful and calm watered lake.

He stood still like that, just staring out of over the water for several minutes until he shrugged his shoulders and came out of his bubble. Getting an idea, Leo pulled out his wand and conjured up a small rowing boat. Fastening the boat with a rope to the dock, he sat down on the dock to inspect his fishing pole. It wouldn't do if the fish started to attack and the line was all in tangles.

Skipping rocks. That's what she was doing.

Derry hated the lake. She absolutely hated lakes, ponds, canals, rivers... any body of water really - not the sea though, weirdly - but that wasn't the point. This was a phobia that had reduced her to panic attacks in the past... but right now she was stood just a foot away from the edge of the lake and skipping rocks across the surface.

She had other things taking up space in her mind right now. The lake was just... there. And so long as it didn't come any closer she was fine with that.

Abby had just stepped out into the grounds for the first time and found herself down by a lake which looked beautiful but deep and she saw a student skipping stones beside the lake and she looked as though she was deep in thought and said to the girl "Hey that looks fun" Abby noted from the robes that this girl was a slytherin but she hoped that she wouldnt be rude to Abby

...

Derry hadn't been expecting anyone to talk to her. Her first thought was to tell the girl to leave her alone. But she couldn't push people away forever. And the kid looked new so... don't be mean.

Fun..? "Yeah.. I guess. Wanna go?" She tossed a round flat pebble towards the girl and turned back to the lake, throwing another pebble - skip.. skip.. skip.. skip.. skip... plop! Derry was getting the hang of this now... it was all in the flick of the wrist.

Abby looked at the girl and said "Yeah i guess so" Abby caught the pebble that the girl had tossed to her and skipped the stone across the surface of the lake and watched as it went and skipped quite far

Derry watched the stone... huh. "Have you done this before?" she asked, glancing back at the girl. Derry had sucked at this the first time she tried. But... huh. Beginners luck?

She glanced back down at the floor and started collecting more good skipping pebbles... Hmmmm... maybe she could transfigure a few... there weren't too many around here.

Abby looked at the girl and said "Yeah i have done it before" Abby knew that she had snuck out to the local lake sometimes to skip stones that her sisters didn't know about she wondered how they were getting on in there new house

Ah, well that explained it. It was a good way to relieve tension... cause you kinda had to focus a bit but you still got to throw rocks at stuff. Derry picked up some pebbles from the ground and started transfiguring them into skippable stones.

"Are you new?" she asked, skipping another stone. She looked new... young at least. Though Derry rarely paid much attention to kids from other houses unless they played Quidditch.

Abby nodded at the girl and said "Yeah this is my first year here so i thought i would try to find some places by exploring"

Yep, first year. At least she wasn't as shy as some of the others. Not that Derry minded - it usually meant they didn't talk to her - but they got in the way... they were all so... small. Or maybe Derry had just grown again. She was about five foot eight inches now. Which was kind of tall for her age... except all the boys in her year were about another foot taller than her so she forgot. Maybe that was an exaggeration... but not by much.

Exploring..? Hm. "Don't get too close to the big willow tree." she said. There. Imparting wisdom on the younger generation... "There's a reason it's called the whomping willow."

Abby looked at the girl and said "I will be sure to remember that if i find my way over there" Abby thought that the grounds looked huge

After a light breakfast Cassie spent the rest of her morning looking through clothes. She was sooo excited that the librarian man wanted to show her the lake and do that thing men like to do. Fishing, she had never done this before and it just seem like so much fun. Not wanting to show that she had never really been the outdoors type of girl she searched and searched trying on different dressed until she figured that might not be the right style. Nope she had to fit the outside type, but that didn't mean leave the style or the heels behind.

Making sure Gemini and Aries were settled in their kitty purse the three made their way down to the lake. She saw the man sitting looking at a some poly thing. Waving frantically with a big smile "Leo.. Leo Hello, I hope you weren't waiting long." A bounce in her step she make her way onto the dock. "This is soooo cute!" The dock and the swimming area she meant, but then her green eyes spotted a little row boat. "OHMIGOSH look at that boat. Are we going in it." This excited the Divination professor. It was going to be super fun!

Louis' little curious looks always made Justine laugh, and time was no different. "Bonjour jeune lion," Justine managed to say through her light laughter, waiting for it to subside before nodding her head and replying to his question. "Oui, I'm fine... I ran all zee vay 'ere, and I 'avn't run in so long," Justine said, with another short laugh, this time at herself and her being out of shape, but than, being prematurely aged last year had effected her natural athletism just a bit.

"A very little moon indeed," Justine said, nuzzling the kitten and bring the little white fuzzball against her neck where the kitten made itself busy batting at her earrings. "She is so sweet.. It is a she, right?" Justine asked, because it would been rude to look, obviously. At Louis next question the Ravenclaw frowned thoughtfully. Had she seen Paloma? No, she didn't suppose she had, which was strange considering they were house mates, and it was a shame too, as Justine had been hoping to befriend the other girl. "No, not since zee feast... She seems very nice, 'ow long 'ave you known her?" Justine asked.

Found her way? Yeah.. actually, Derry remembered her first year... "Don't worry, it's not as big as it seems. You'll get used to it." ... Maybe. Derry still occasionally found herself taking the wrong shortcut. But what could you expect with someone with such a bad sense of direction?

Abby smiled at the girl and said "I am sure i will get used to it eventually just everything is so new to me still"

Satisfied that nothing was tangled on the first fishing pole he put it aside to start inspecting the second pole. Leo wasn't going to be fishing solo today since he had somehow agreed during the feast or was it after to show Cassie the lake and teach her how to fish. He wasn't sure what he was expecting of the mornings little fishing trip so Leo decided to meet it with an open mind. Cassie seemed like a bubbly and fun woman to get to know from the impression he had gotten at the feast.

Leo finished the last inspection and was going to put everything in the boat, bait bucket included when Cassie decided to make her entrance. Her heels were the first thing Leo noticed. Oh dear. Those didn't fit on a boat at all. Shudder. Plastering on a beam Leo got to his feet. "Hello Cassie. I managed to keep myself busy." Pointing to her heels he said. "I'm afraid you have to leave your heels on the dock."

Gesturing to the little rowing boat excitement rising Leo explained. "Yes, yes, we are. We are going to row out a bit on the lake. Orsino says the fish bites well on far side."

Maddie wanted to SEE the Giant Squid. She'd wanted to ever since she'd heard about it and more so now that there had been some debate on what it ate. She still doubted it would go after a student but she WAS curious. So here she was, at the lake in hopes that someone would accidentally fall in. Then if they got eaten, she'd have her answer.

After a while of waiting, Maddison decided she needed a new plan. The first year wandered over towards the dock and got on carefully. Then crouching down, the small brunette moved onto her belly and peered into the water. Was there some kind of call you could use to summon the squid? Or maybe a hand symbol? Was it attracted to movement?

The small eagle began running her fingers through the water in hopes of getting its attention. Trial and error, this was.

He had kept himself busy well that was wonderful. Her smile still huge until he pointed at her shoes. Looking down she was about to go on about how adorable they were and how they were totes on sale when he said she couldn't wear them. WHAT!!! She looked down a few more moments, "Lesson number one Leo never tell a girl she has to part with gorgeous heels." She giggled pulled her wand and made them into the most adorable flat pink sandals. "Better?" She wasn't going barefoot in that boat. Nope Cassie did not do dirt on her freshly painted toes.

As she headed towards the boat setting down her kitty purse and seeing the two little heads pop out to look around she grinned. The five foot blonde was just super excited for all of this. Seeing the bait bucket she wrinkled her nose a bit. "What do we use that for?" She looked at the boat a little more curious now though.. Hmm getting into it was going to be interesting right?

She picked up her foot, but the boat moved a bit and she gave a small squeal placing her foot back on the dock. Then she tired again, but got nervous and giggled. "How do you get into it without falling into the water?" Her kitties were in the boat, but she was not. Leo would know exactly what to do to help though she was sure of it.

Louis nodded his head with an understanding smile. “It’s easy to lose endurance if you haven’t practiced in a while,” he pointed out, watching as Luna began playing with the French girl’s dangling earrings. At her following question, he nodded again. “Yep. My little girl,” he confirmed with a silly grin. What? He really loved his kitten like a child, don’t judge him.

Oh. Justine and Paloma hadn’t seen each other since the feast? Lou raised an eyebrow at this. Perhaps he shouldn’t have told Paloma about the room of requirement; he had a feeling she’d probably taken it as her own personal hiding spot.

“Since the end of last term. She was still in Beauxbatons, though.” Louis watched Luna absentmindedly for another moment before turning his inquisitive gaze upon Justine. He’d been meaning to talk to her about this… “Which school was it that you went to, again?”

The castle was big. Too big, in fact, for a tiny little thing like Dima. He'd gotten lost too many times to count, and after his fifth attempt trying to find his common room, he'd given up on exploring indoors. It would be easier to not get lost where he could SEE everything, right?

So he'd gone outside in search of something fun.

Then he'd spotted Maddie. She was fun!

"What're you doing?" Moving to her side, the first year flopped on his belly as well and peered into the water.

There was only so many times that you could run around the grounds each day before it started getting a little absurd. Toby was itching to expend some of his energy, but he'd already been moving pretty much non-stop all day. He'd tried to relax, but it simply wasn't happening. Toby was used to being in basically perpetual motion, but it had never been this bad before, not since he'd been a really little kid at least. Still... he'd had his morning run, and at least an hour of pogoing around the school. Maybe a walk would do the job.

This reasoning was what found Toby strolling around the grounds. There was nowhere in particular he was headed for, rather he was just letting his feet take him wherever.

It didn't surprise Toby when he ended up at the lake. It was sort of hard to avoid, after all. So big, you see. The Hufflepuff stood at the start of the dock for a little while, before deciding that standing still was almost as bad as sitting down. Maybe he'd pace the dock for a while.

As he stepped onto the dock, Tobias at last became aware of two small humans down at the other end. It was no wonder he hadn't seen them before, seeing as they were both lying down and stuff. Hm, maybe they'd be up for some socialising; Toby was eager to hear what the minds of tomorrow had to say. And it would be a good distraction from this awful awful energy.

So he started towards them.