A Day at the Lake

Step one of Dora's plan--the plan to get her out of the confining walls of Hogwarts, out of the library and out of her common room and dorm--was to go outside. She had, of course, been outside during the duration of her six years at Hogwarts--she did have to attend the mandatory flying class first year, after all--but she had not been outside very much for her own pleasure. If one didn't know any better--and if her skin hadn't been naturally tan--Dora could have been mistaken for a person allergic to the sun.

In order to carry out step one Dora had to collect the necessary items. A blanket, perhaps, to sit on, a book to read so that she had something to do. She wished for company, wanted to make friends, but as none were readily available at the snap of her fingers--or ever, for that matter--Dora made due with a book, while in the meantime hoping someone would approach her for conversation. Sunglasses, muggle by nature and a necessary item in her mother's mind, were the finishing touch. She was wearing her school robes, and while in the castle the remained closed and buttoned, hiding the fact that underneath she wore an outfit from her muggle life--a flippy skirt that hit at her knees in a shade of white only appropriate for spring and a rose-y pink blouse with a modest v-neck. While she tended to follow the rules to a letter, Dora figured that since classes were over for the day and she was on her own time currently, she could wear what she liked.

Having all the necessary items, Dora exited Gryffindor tower and headed to the lake. Once there she made herself comfortable near the edge, in the open, where she hoped a few feeble rays of sun might catch her.

The last lesson of the day had finally ended. Scorpius always found it difficult to pay attention at classes, especially the last classes of the day. He was an outgoing talkative person, and had never been studious at all. Of late, he was neither of those really. Life was definately getting harder for Scorpius, and it wasn't just the classes, which were a pain in themselves. He had always been told he had lots of potential, and yet he always just scraped through.

Usually, at the end of school hours, Scorpius would depart outside to the grounds with his friends until dawn. He did go to the grounds, but not with his friends, but alone, carrying a book to read. Anyone who knew Scorpius well would realize he had changed a lot during the past couple of months. Scorpius never read books! And yet, now it seemed to be his only hobby.

He arrived at the lake quickly, and was one of the few people there. As he arrived, he saw someone had taken the place he usually sat at. "Hey Dora," he muttered, recognizing her. They were in the same year, and yet Scorpius had barely talked to her. From what he remembered, she wasn't the most talkative type, and besides, Scorpius and his friends had mainly just ignored her. But those were the type of people he'd rather hang around with these days. "How are you?" he went and dropped his bag and book a little away from where she was sitting.

Dora had been caught up in her book, a muggle one that had been her mother's when she had been young, and was startled when she heard a male voice. She glanced up, seeing first the white blond hair that unmistakably belonged to a Malfoy. Dora had once seen the elder Malfoy's in Diagon Alley, when she was shopping for school supplies, and thought that if any of them wanted to deny being a Malfoy ti would be impossible. Except Scorpius' mum--she was clearly not a Malfoy by birth.

"H-hey," she said, placing a finger in her book to mark her place, and laying the book and hand in her lap. 'Great, Anderson,' she thought, 'Go ahead a stutter, just perfect.' She moved on in what she hoped seemed like a smooth manner, however, and spoke again quickly, smiling slightly, "I'm alright. How're you?"

Scorpius liked to converse with people, even if not in a great mood. He wasn't at all shy, though the same could probably not be said for Euphadora. From what he knew of her, she didn't talk to much, and was probably not the type of person to start a conversation. But that would of course, be quite boring.

"Oh I'm fine," he replied, not entirely honestly, but he wasn't about to tell her how he was really feeling. Well, he didn't quite know himself. "So what are you doing out here?" he asked, curiously. It wasn't really anything to be curious about, most students spent the day outside after classes, especially when the weather was good, like now - but Dora didn't. Scorpius knew her to be more of the indoor person. "You know, I've never actually ever seen you outside," he remarked.

"I'm usually inside," she admitted, laying her book on the ground beside her. She smoothed her skirt a bit and ran the hem through her nervous fingers. She was 16 years old, completely competent, moderately intelligent, and at least average looking--at least there was nothing horrendous going on on her face or skin--but she was a social wreck. How she had survived six years at a boarding school was completely beyond her.

"I just didn't feel like being inside anymore today," she continued. "Thought I'd give this whole outdoors thing a try. See what all the hype was about." She smiled slightly, a small laugh in her voice as she spoke. "What brings you out here?" She returned the question. Turnabout's fair play and all that, she thought to herself.

Scorpius smiled slightly at how nervous she was. He did consider it odd, that she had been in his year for six years and had never talked to her. He knew next to nothing about her, just her name and house, Gryffindor. Slytherin and Gryffindor traditionally had intense rivalry, which explained why he had barely ever talked to her in six years. He chuckled at her comment about giving outdoors a try before replying. "Well I always come out here after classes end. I can't stand the indoors," he explained. Clearly, they had opposite personalities.