"Sloane!" Sisse gasped, as her friend moved, only to vomit everywhere. Sisse couldn't blame her, she'd been there only weeks before. "It's okay." She tried to reassure her friend, laughing as Sloane tried to do the same thing at exactly the same time. She quickly dashed away her tears. "Thank Merlin you are alright!"

It was much easier to get ropes off a friend when she could do it herself, another thing that Sisse found herself grateful for. She scoffed. "Hardly! You scared us half to death!" Sisse scolded, suddenly feeling like her mother even as she pointed a stern glare at Sloane.

She looked behind them to the lake, sobering at the thought that the boys were still out there.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

It was Sloane's turn to scoff, "Please it takes more than a giant squid to get rid of me." She laughed, pushing soaking wet hair from her face, because it was the only thing keeping her from crying about it; Sloane did not cry in front of people no matter how scary it was. The petite Gryffindor wasn't even sure if that was what had grabbed her, but she was going with it.

Suddenly she remembered the kitten, the whole reason they'd gone out there and finally noticed the boys weren't with her on shore. Sitting up immediately, she looked out to where they were perched on the boat. "The kitten?" She squeaked, hoping the little thing was alright! Then she looked to find Calla flying to get Ned and Cam, which was a relief. Exciting indeed!

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Cameron watched from across the lake, waiting, waiting, waiting for Sloane to sit up or take a breath or something. He barely paid attention to the droplets of water that fell over his brow bone onto his cheeks, or to the unsteady rocking of the rowboat as Ned attempted to bring them to a still. He didn't even pay attention to Calla, who had begun her trek across the lake towards them.

Then, finally, she sat up. Cameron let out a breath that he wasn't aware he'd been holding, and suddenly his heart was beating faster than it was a moment before. The boat. The water. Ned. He took note of everything, from the missing oars to the unsettling ripples that filled the lake around them.

Luckily Calla arrived.

"We need to go," he said, "I don't think we have much time to waste." He took once glance down at the water, grimaced, and motioned for Calla to lower herself towards them.

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Normally, Ned would have laughed at Cam's retort, but the seriousness of the situation only had the right side of his lips quirking up into a strained half-smile. He leaned back in the half-sinking boat and allowed himself to catch his breath and stow his wand back where he usually kept it. Sure, they could probably use magic to propel themselves back to shore, but he honestly wasn't sure he had it in him to cast anything again, yet.

The next movement he made was to sit straight up and let out a sigh of relief when he noticed Sloane's movement on shore. "Thank Merlin." If she didn't wake up, Ned wasn't sure what they would do. Losing Sloane would--No, he couldn't think about that.

"Yes, who knows when it will be back. I think our jinxes likely only kept it at bay."

Once Calla drew closer, he reached out grab onto the end of the broomstick while simultaneously hooking his legs to the seat of the boat. Towing them would likely have to do since Sloane still had the rope on shore. Both him and Cam couldn't exactly fit on the broomstick with Calla.

The following 1 user Likes Edison Moony's post:1 user Likes Edison Moony's post
   Elsie Kirke

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Pretties by Bee <3 <3

Once Sisse dismounted, she hovered just long enough to see Sloane starting to stir ever so slightly before she shot back off over the lake, the edge of panic creeping back in at the thought of Cam and Ned left by themselves in the lake. She'd originally wanted to pull them back with the rope, but that wouldn't work now.

Upon arrival, she quickly followed Cammie's directions, lowering herself to dangle over the water. To get low enough, her toes hung in the water and her she could feel the water creeping up her skirt, but that mattered little. She was glad when Ned grabbed onto her broom without her asking, she wouldn't need to tell them what to do.

"Hold on to the front, Camron. I don't want you guys spinning out. I can't go to fast with you guys in the boat but I'll go as fast as feels safe. Keep an eye on the... whatever it is."

  

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look at the pretties mj made me!!!

Sisse didn’t respond, instead she threw her arms around her friend in a hug not caring that the water seeped into her own dress. She was just grateful Sloane was alive and she wasn’t going to argue with Sloane about the matter.

“The kitten’s alright.” Sisse assured Sloane as she let go of her, suddenly wondering just what Calla had done with the kitten. A small meow behind her answered the question and Sisse laughed. “See?” The little ball of fluff had walked over to them and was now attempting to climb up Sloane’s leg.

And the kitten wasn’t the only one left at risk, Sisse cast an anxious glance back at the lake, biting her lip as she looked for Calla and the boys. She relaxed only slightly when she saw Calla flying back toward them towing the boat, Ned holding tightly on tightly. They were still rather far out in the water for Sisse to feel they were close to safe.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Cameron did as Calla asked, not prepared to question the logistics of being hauled across the lake by broom and boat while a potentially deadly creature lurked beneath the surface. He could imagine the headlines now—"Gryffindor Grabbed By Deep Sea Creature While Being Dragged Across the Black Lake"... or whatever other coherent phrase they came up with.

Hopefully he was being dramatic—and hopefully Calla would hurry.

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Ned kept an eye on the lake, just in case anything decided it might disturb them and upend the boat once more. However, it seemed that they weren't to be disturbed. Perhaps the creature had decided that they were no longer a threat, or it had tired of its fun.

Once he felt the boat run aground, he climbed out and scurried onto dry land. With quick steps, he closed the distance between the rowboat and where the two girls sat. The relief was clear on his face upon spotting Sloane speaking to Sisse. She was alright then.

"Warn us next time you think you may drown, 'ey Bixby?" He tried to joke, but the smile that accompanied it didn't quite meet his eyes. Ned was far too worried about her health to be fully into it.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3 <3

Sloane swooped down to pick up the bedraggled looking little creature and found the poor thing was shaking. In fact, Sloane was still dripping wet and since she'd already fired off a spell today, if she was going to get in trouble for it, she rather thought she may as well do too and be dry for it.

Reaching into her pocket, Sloane realized her wand wasn't there just as the boys finally made it back to shore.

"Oh sod off, Moony." She retorted, though her voice was full of frustration she wasn't even aiming at him. "Sorry," She apologized quickly. "I survived, but my wand didn't." It was definitely lost in the lake and frankly, the squid could have it. Her mother was going to kill her already, what was a new wand to add to the mix.

Hopefully her mum would let her keep the kitten after all the trouble it had caused.

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"You sure you're alright?" he asked, watching as a steady stream of water dripped down as he tugged on the bottom of his shirt. Cameron wanted to go over and help her up, but she didn't seem in the mood to handle anymore concern for her safety. Instead he pushed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his own wand, fortunately still in-tact. There was no question that he was soaking wet; a peace of sea grass was wound around his ash wand, and he could feel a puddle of water resting in the bottom of his pocket. He didn't even want to look at his hair, but if Ned and Sloane were any indication, he was a total mess.

The summer breeze rolled off the lake, sending a chill down his spine. He cast a drying charm on Sloane, than himself, and then Ned before realizing that there was one other victim of the lake. He peered down at the kitten, its ears drooping and eyes wide. He cast the drying charm on it, watching its fur go from stringy and limp to fluffy and white.

"Looks like you've made a new friend," he said, cringing at the sudden memory of tossing it away from him in order to go after Sloane. Hopefully it wouldn't hold a grudge against him.

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"I'm fine," She promised, passing him an appreciative smile when he dried her off, which instantly made her feel a little better. She still felt the chill of the lake down in her bones, but wasn't going to say anything. Pride wouldn't let her admit she'd made a big mistake at this point. Not to mention the kitten looked far less like death now that it was dry.

Shrugging a little, Sloane cradled the kitten close, who seemed quite happy to be held as it nestled into the crook of the Gryffindor's elbow. "Looks like it. I guess I'll take it home?" She looked up at her friends with another shrug. If her mother wouldn't let her keep it, she'd owl around to see if anyone else could take it in. Once she was no longer under house arrest.

Speaking of, a shrill voice using her entire name across  the grass of the park had Sloane jumping up to her feet. "I probably won't see you guys until school," She laughed nervously as she went running across the park to her obviously worried mother.

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broke the rules to wrap, unless anyone else wants to add?

The following 2 users Like Sloane Bixby's post:2 users Like Sloane Bixby's post
   Cameron Gillenwater, Wallace Murphy

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