A Turn About the Lake (Lexi & Open)

[Jacob Clark]

Having finished his breakfast, Jacob went to his dormitory in Gryffindor Tower to retrieve some things from his trunk. He stole a glance out the windows of the tower and caught a glimpse of the weather. It looked to be partially cloudy. The shine of dew seemed to make the grass and treetops reflect the pre-dawn light in a nearly iridescent fashion. The days were still warm for the most part, but there was always the threat of autumn rain.

Before he began his search, Jacob looked in the mirror to make sure he was still presentable. His hair was still sporting the wind-blown look, which is important when maintaining the appearance of a flyer. Jacob saw that his clothes were still clean and orderly. He was sporting a white shirt, subtly brown tweed pants, his maroon dragon-skin jacket, and matching boots. He cleaned his teeth, and began his search.

It didn’t take long at all for Jacob to find what he was looking for. He opened his trunk and got out the care-worn dark brown leather backpack, threw it over his shoulders, and pulled it snug around his arms. This little backpack had served him well through the years. He’d only truly needed it a few times when he’d needed help. As you see, the bag had magical properties that allow it to store many times more than it could possibly hold otherwise. Jacob thought for a moment if there was anything else that he’d need. He concluded that the content of the bag would be more than sufficient, and began his decent to the entrance hall to meet-up with Lexi for their walk.

He descended the dormitory stairs, walked through the common room, out past the fat-lady, down the staircase and all the way to the entrance hall. All the while, his shoes made a soft click as he walked, which echoed through the many passages in the castle. He had finally arrived at the entrance hall, where he waited for Lexi to descend. He looked around for her to arrive.

When he saw her he said, “All ready now?”

[Lexi Mara Kern]

Lexi made a dash around her room to sort herself out properly before going off for a walk around the lake with Jacob. He'd said not to hurry, but if she'd taken her usual amount of time to get ready he may have been waiting hours and she didn't think he'd have quite that much patience.

She decided to keep the jeans on that she chosen first thing that morning. She pulled a thick, chunky knit, teal cardigan over the top of her blouse. It fell down to her knees and was fantastically warm. The weather outside looked ok, but it didn't look unseasonably warm and Lexi, being used to the weather in the North, figured she should dress accordingly. She'd pondered taking a rain coat, but decided against it, it would only be a little water after all if it did rain.

After pulling the top chunk of her wavey, chestnut brown hair back from her face and fastening it behind her head so that it wouldn't bother her too much, Lexi dug about in her trunk for her sturdy walking boots. She'd needed them back home, spending days walking the cliffs and stoney beaches of her seaside hometown, now she figured they'd be useful for traversing the grounds and the surrounds of the lake.

Taking a quick final glance in the mirror to check she looked presentable, Lexi turned on her heel and headed down to the Entrance Hall. The stairs seemed fewer in number than they had earlier when she was anticipating food. Seeing Jacob already there waiting for her she grinned, noting the backpack he was carrying just like he'd said he would be. Lexi herself carried nothing save for her wand, she may not need it but felt much happier having it on her person at all times. Besides how much could they actually need on a little walk by the lake?

"Yep, I'm all ready to go. Lead on, know what way you were planning on heading?"

[Jacob Clark]

((Work is crazy busy right now, and that is traditionally where I do all of my posting. So I beg your pardon that I’ve been a little slow to respond recently, but little breaks are a little hard to come by these days. Thanks.))

Jacob waited patiently for Lexi to arrive at the entrance hall. There were more people awake at this point. The footfalls of sleepy students, doors opening and closing, and quiet voices echoed softly down the empty stone corridors. The sounds seemed mingled and less distinct in the entrance hall, there soft tone must have been the product of the sound bouncing off hundreds of surfaces on their way to Jacob’s ears.

When Lexi appeared in the entrance hall with her bright smile, Jacob couldn’t help but smile back as he had a general temperament that made him remain in a generally good mood. “Excellent. We’re going to go around clockwise, I think. My last trip was counterclockwise last year, and I was a little too tired to realize that I’d strayed so close to the Whopping Willow. Thankfully, everything turned out okay.” He opened the massive door to the outside and bowed slightly while indicating that she should go ahead through the door first, “Ladies first if you please.” He allowed her to go first out of the door.

The weather hadn’t changed from his earlier assessment, still partially cloudy and cool. He could feel the light breeze enter the door while they made their way out to the lawns.

The dew gave the lawn an unearthly quality that made it appear to be more of a giant spider’s web then a field of turf. “Look at all that dew. It makes the lawn look like a giant fuzzy spider’s web.” Jacob stepped out onto the grass and his boots easily repelled the wetness of the dew. A deviant thought of sliding on the wet grass ran through his head. He hesitated, but gave in after a few seconds. He ran for a few seconds, stopped abruptly, and started sliding. He let out a hearty laugh as he slid for a few seconds down the wet grass.

[Lexi Mara Kern]

"Oh, yes ok that sounds like a good idea." Lexi agreed as Jacob explained his planned route around the lake, she didn't much fancy passing by the whoming willow when she would perhaps be feeling too tired to make good judgements. While she wanted their walk to be interesting and possibly exiciting, she wasn't sure being maimed by the violent tree wasn't an appealing idea.

She smiled brightly at him again as Jacob held open the door and gestured for her to head out first. "Why thank you. Ever the gentleman I see." she skipped joyfully down the stone steps and jumped into the soft grass that had grown rather longer than it would usually. It was damp and sparkled under the morning sunlight, the dew drops twinkling like diamonds.

It seemed Lexi wasn't the only one to appreciate the view, Jacob commented on it looking like a fuzzy spiders web and Lexi had to giggle. "It's so pretty, I'm surprised though the gameskeeper doesn't normally let the grass grow this long."

Lexi's words trailed off as she watched Jacob take a sudden run and slide along the damp grass. She laughed more brightly and loud as she watched him before taking a run of her own, "Hey, wait for me." She called out as she too stopped running and slid along the damp grass, stumbling as her feet got away from her.