Sincerely, Me PV Finished

Amadea followed Cecily out to the grounds. Between her daily walks and all of the walking around the castle she did, Amadea was in surprisingly good shape. Of course, after walking up and down multiple and multiple flight of stairs, it paid off.

As she stepped outside, she paused for a minute and closed her eyes, taking in the sounds and smells of nature. As always, she was rewarded with the sweet smell of spring and the chirping of the birds as they prepared for the summer. She watched as a leaf tumbled across the grass as it was blown by the wind and landed at the trunk of a tree where a bird quickly snatched it up, carrying it to a nest. Amadea loved watching these small things happen; something about it seemed so wholesome and it made Amadea very happy. She didn't say this out loud, however, for fear of the others thinking she was some sort of hippie. She just appreciated nature...a lot. Growing up in London, she didn't have much nature around her. All she knew was the honking of horns and the hustle and bustle of a city life. While she loved how everything pulsed with energy and everything was so alive, she also appreciated the peaceful serenity of Hogwarts. The contrast was so stark different from what Amadea was used to, and as much as she missed London, she really did love the picturesque views Hogwarts offered. She didn't think she would ever tire of waking up each morning and seeing the most gorgeous sunrise on the horizon and the trees in the distance. Even the Forbidden Forest didn't look so foreboding in the daylight, not that she would ever think to go inside of it. It was forbidden for a reason, after all.

She realized she was stuck in her head, letting her thoughts wander to wherever they wanted to go. Normally, she wouldn't stop this, as she felt most creative and inspired when her thoughts wandered free, but today she reigned them in. She was with company and they probably wouldn't appreciate if Amadea spaced out on them, especially since Cecily had just said something. Amadea stared at her for a moment, letting her brain process the words, catching up.

She looked down and realized she had been standing in the same place as she had stopped when she smelled the air. Embarrassed, she began walking again, catching up to Cecily after a few steps. "It's a beautiful day," Amadea commented, trying to make some conversation. "Where do you guys want to go?"

To be honest, Ami hadn't been expecting the other two to take her suggestion seriously, but here they were, strolling across the lusciously green lawn of Hogwarts, robe sleeves fluttering and long hair blowing around wildly. Just three young girls, excited to go outside and free themselves from their schoolwork. Someone should paint the three of us, just like this- not a care in the world, just strolling through Hogwarts, Ami thought idly, tucking her hair behind her ears. They'd call it... Two Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw; the Beginnings of a Bad Bar Joke. She smiled to herself, the corners of her eyes crinkling with the tell-tale Duchenne marker.

"Where do you guys want to go?"

Ami looked at the grounds in response to Amadea's question and pointed at the Lake. "I've heard there's a giant squid in there, or something. Mermaids and grindylows, too. Want to go and check it out?" she suggested, shielding her eyes from the sun and squinting down at the lake. To her satisfaction, there weren't too many students down there, so the three of them wouldn't be bothered. "Unless you guys don't like squids, in which case, that's totally cool. I just wanted to go see if it was really real."

Cecily kept walking as the two Hufflepuffs caught up. Amadea posed the question of where they wanted to go. Cecily thought this was kind of a moot question, as she had grown up with the idea that the whole point of just taking a walk was to just walk and enjoy the scenery and-- if she was to be a bit clichè-- to stop and smell the roses. On the moor, when she would go wandering, she neverhad a particular destination in mind. However, if the other two girls were not as apt to aimlessly wander as Cecily was, she was fine with that.

Ami suggested that they check out the lake. "I've heard there's a giant squid in there, or something. Mermaids and grindylows, too." Cecily peered at the lake, shielding her eyes from the sun glinting off of the surface. She wondered what creatures were really below the still, calm surface. From a distance, it seemed as though the lake was just another normal body of water, but everyone at Hogwarts knew better.

"I just wanted to go see if it was really real," Ami was saying, referring to the squid. Cecily had heard tales from her brothers, but had yet to see it in person. Was it really as big as everyone claimed?

"Yeah, let's do it!" Cecily said, eager to be a part of some excitement at Hogwarts. Seven years would be awfully boring if nothing ever happened. On that note, Cecily started towards the lake.

As the girls stared down at the lake, Amadea couldn't help but to reminisce back to all of the other times she had been down at the Great Lake. There had been the first time, when she witnessed a girl falling into the water, the time when she came down for some inspiration, and that other time when Cecily had pushed her into the water. Accidentally, of course. It was arguable whether or not Cecily had pushed her, or if she had just fallen, like her clumsy self often did.

"If there are those creatures," Amadea said, "I was lucky enough not to encounter them when I fell in." She proceeded to tell Ami the story, hoping she found it amusing and hoping Cecily didn't think that Amadea blamed her for the incident. The encounter was honestly almost laughable, something that wasn't anyone's fault.

She began walking alongside the other two girls as they headed down to the lake. As they walked, Amadea began wondering about the creatures that inhabited the lake. Were there really grindylows and did mermaids actually exist? How giant was the giant squid exactly?

"I wish we could go explore the lake without putting ourselves in danger," Amadea commented. "Then we could see all the creatures that live in the lake!" Unfortunately, that wasn't possible. It also probably wasn't within the rules either. Amadea didn't think it would be a good idea to get in trouble after only being at Hogwarts for a few months, so she figured admiring the lake from a far would be the best thing they could do right now.

Ami giggled along as Amadea explained her unexpected encounter with the Lake water. "Geez, Amadea- I probably shouldn't be laughing, but that's hilarious." If it had been her who had fallen in, everyone in the general vicinity would just glance at her in confusion, then look away, because she probably would have fallen in of her own accord.

As the three girls neared the lake, Amadea commented on the option of being able to explore the lake safely, and Ami nodded along in agreement. "Yeah, exactly. Like, mini-submarines, or something, that we could go in to observe the aquatic wildlife beneath the surface," she said animatedly, her stride lengthening greatly in her excitement. Before long, the trio had reached the lake, and without hesitation or any sign of fear, Ami tugged off her sandals and dipped a toe in the water.

"I say," Ami said in her best mock-British accent. "I do say, dearest darlings, the water really is quite lovely today." She grinned at Cecily and Amadea, plopping down on the sand by the shoreline and sticking both her feet in. "Quite lovely," she quipped, still going on in her ridiculous accent. "Really, you girls should join me. Do you care for some tea, Cecily, my sweet?" She offered an invisible cup of tea, complete with saucer and all, to Cecily.

Cecily rolled her eyes but laughed along as Amadea proceeded to tell the whole story of their whole lakeside encounter-- the only other time Cecily had been down to the lake. If anyone asked, Cecily would easily own up to accidentally pushing Amadea, but at the moment, she would just let the other girl do the talking.

Switching topics, the two girls began talking about exploring the lake safely. Ami brought up the idea of a mini-submarine, at which Cecily laughed but admitted the validity of the thought.

"Too bad mechanics don't work very well on the grounds," Cecily said. "The closest I've come to exploring the lake was pulling Amadea out!"

They reached the water's edge, and Ami wasted no time slipping off her shoes and dipping her toes in the water. Cecily quickly followed suit. "I do say, dearest darlings, the water really is quite lovely today," Ami joked in a stuffy British accent. Cecily burst out laughing. The funniest part was that she wasn't half-bad. The Hufflepuff sat down and offered Cecily an invisible cup and saucer, claiming it held tea.

"Why, Ami, darling," Cecily said flamboyantly, drawing out the last word. "I would simply love a good cup of strong tea!" she continued, taking the invisible tea and sitting down next to Ami. Cecily glanced at Amadea-- who, she now remembered, actually spoke with a British accent. Doing her best impression of Amadea's voice, Cecily managed, "Oh, come on, sit! The water really is quite lovely," before dissolving into laughter again.

Amadea laughed along with the others as she recounted her traumatic experience of falling into the lake. Come to think of it, she had a lot of traumatic experiences involving the Great Lake. Maybe it was a bad luck charm. Or a sign. Either way, Amadea wasn't taking the hint. She was going to keep going to the lake whether it wanted her to or not. She loved the view and the feeling of serenity it gave her whenever she neared it. 

A mini submarine would be cool, Amadea thought. Anything would be cool if they could explore inside of the lake. They reached the edge, and Amadea immediately felt the nature flowing around her; the soft splash as the waves landed against the ground, the chirping of birds in the trees, and rustle of leaves as the wind raked through them. She loved the lake. 

The other two girls had slipped out of their shoes and were dipping their toes into the water. Ami offered Cecily a pretend glass of tea, trying to imitate a British accent. Cecily accepted, playing along, trying to mimic the accent as well. She was closer than Ami's, but still wasn't quite right. 

"Hey y'all," Amadea drawled, trying to copy an American accent, "The water is just so dope." She couldn't think of anything else that the Americans always said, so she stopped, giggling. Reverting back to her normal British accent, Amadea continued talking. "To be honest, your accent wasn't that bad," she said to Cecily. "Though Ami, yours could use some improvement." She giggled again. 

Ami could help but giggle hysterically at Amadea' attempt at an American accent- it was kind of scarily accurate, but actually being American, she couldn't help but correct her. "It's more like- yo, fam squad! What is up, homey! Yo, this water be so lit, it'll set all y'all roasts on fiiiiire!" Ami rolled her eyes, mentally cringing at herself, and explained, "That's how everyone talked in the 'hood. It was kind of weird, but also kind of hilarious. Here, Cecily, you're Irish, right?" Ami cleared her throat, paused, then cleared her throat again. "Nope. I've got nothing- absolute zilch, zero, nada. I can't do Irish."

Her carefree demeanor changed drastically, however, as she felt something nibble at her toes. Screaming, she immediately drew her feet out of the water and onto dry land. "Did you guys feel that, too? Or am I just going crazy?" Ami yelled, scooching back from the shoreline several feet. "Cheese!" Shivering, she pointed a shaking finger at something grey and shimmery in the water that seemed to swim back and forth. Even with all of her bravado about meeting the squid and entertaining the grindylows, anything she couldn't see face-to-face terrified her, because she couldn't beat it into submission if things got ugly.

Cecily laughed and fell back at Amadea's impression of an American accent, and even more at Ami's correction, using phrases like "fam squad" and "lit". American slang was confusing, Cecily decided, and refused to try to impersonate someone from the "'hood". "Here, Cecily, you're Irish, right?" Ami said, clearing her throat, opening her mouth, and then shutting it, claiming she couldn't do an Irish accent. Cecily smirked.

Suddenly, Ami screamed and shot away from the lake, yelling "Cheese!" and pointing to something silvery in the water. Cecily quickly pulled her toes onto dry land, but stayed close to the edge to peer at the thing, intregued. She could still see the shimmer through the murky water, but couldn't quite tell what it was. She looked over at Ami, who was pale and looked about ready to hit something or scream again, preferably at the same time. Amadea looked considerably more calm, but still a bit unsettled. All three of them had grand ideas about what they would do if they ever saw a creature in the lake, but clearly none of them ever really wanted to meet a creature from the deep.

Cecily scooted a metre back from the water's edge before saying out loud, "What do you think it could be?" Cecily's mind went first to a grindylow, but they were green, weren't they? Cecily decided to let the others answer her question before proposing an answer of her own.