August 16th, 1894 - The Black Lake, Hogsmeade, @Lughnasadh

Matthew and Henry were much more excited about Lughnasadh than Sisse was. There were several reasons for this, and ones Sisse wasn't likely to easily divulge. The first was that she was, understandably, a tad wary around the Black Lake still. Scarred from memories of various misfortunes, not the least being the recent disappearance of Sloane. Second, Sisse felt that mermaids were not the most.... enchanting creatures, to put it kindly. And thirdly, well it would have been nice to round out her complaints in a set of three, but mainly it was because of the first two.

Yet here she was, wandering the stalls on Matthew's arm Henry trailing behind them. "I'd bet on him!" Her younger brother exclaimed nodding to a merman in the water when his siblings turned to look at him. Thirdly, Sisse added in her mind, she could not fathom the appeal of betting, least of all over such a small matter. It was going to be a long afternoon, Sisse internally sighed as her brothers began to consider the various inane attributes of the merpeople. Matthew looked askance at her, presumably regarding getting closer. "Go on ahead, I'll just wait here by the tree." She shooed them off grateful that they both forgot they were supposed to escorting her.

She sank back from the path away from the lake, standing between a stall selling small trinkets and a large tree, grateful for the shade in the summer heat. Like any proper lady she had her parasol open and lace gloves to protect her, but still the shade brought even more relief in the heat. The opportunity to promenade should not be this arduous, she decided as she tried to content herself with watching her brothers. Hopefully she might run into Sloane or Allie soon. Or perhaps they had better sense than her than to be talked into this.

Alvin Bixby

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Sloane had been far too eager to head to the park today for someone who shied away from even looking at the Black Lake. He could understand that though, as he too had avoided the park for the last year for the same reason. They'd had too many mishaps, too many close calls and tragedies here for him to be comfortable with it again, but Sloane had been adamant and Harry had offered to come with as well, so with two of them keeping an eye on here, it was likely to be fine.

The little festival for the mermaid races wasn't something Alvin remembered attending before, but he supposed it wasn't something he was interested in all that much either. Alvin had never quite had the same vices as other men, no gambling or anything of the sort and he'd given up drinking so he supposed being a spectator was the best he could do. It was fine, watching Sloane enjoy herself was worth it.

She had ditched him with Harry to go see something specific at a stall nearby and so Alvin wandered slowly behind, aimlessly looking around and just happened to catch sight of Sisse standing off to the side, looking a little out of sorts. He only hesitated for a brief moment before detouring toward the tree she had positioned herself beneath. "Everything alright?" He asked, looking around for her brothers or someone else, concern etched into his brows.

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It wasn't until a voice came up alongside her, sending her stomach leaping with excitement and nerves, that Sisse realized her attention had wandered from the event at hand to her thoughts. "Oh!" For a moment Sisse had to sort through why Alvin might be looking at her with such a worried stare, her own lips tilting into a smile at his mere voice before confusion colored it as she considered his question. "Yes, quite. I am sorry. I was lost in my thoughts." She explained.

"I didn't expect to see you here this afternoon Mr. Bixby." But I am glad for it. She thought, begrudging that she ought not say such a bold statement to him. It wasn't ladylike. Sisse could only hope he could read such attentions in her smile. Although given the broad smile now settling on her lips, perhaps she ought to guard against that as well - if Sloane's observations were to be believed. Yet she thought that Alvin deserved happiness and who was she to steal away a smile so freely given? Idly, her fingers twirled the parasol above them, the only outward sign of nerves.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

She seemed to shake herself well enough and though Alvin was still a little suspicious, he relaxed his features as she spoke. "Good," he managed a smile then, amused by her surprise.

"Yes, Sloane had been quite keen to attend today. I'm not sure why given our... aversion to the park." Perhaps she was fairing better at forcing herself to get used to it again. Alvin didn't exactly miss it all that much, so hadn't felt the pull to work on it. He could still feel the anxiety at the base of his spine, making him hyper-aware of the lake's edge. If he thought about it too much he could still feel the cold waves over his shoulders and his head as he'd tried to swim out, but hadn't been able to make a difference.

Her smile soothed it away though and he was able to dispel those thoughts for another time. "I'm glad she dragged us though." He said plainly, still a little unsure of where they stood, but figuring being more straightforward wouldn't hurt?

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Sloane had dragged him? It surprised Sisse given the events of the last year. Sisse certainly wasn't the only one who would wish to not be need the depths of the lake. Yet... had she mentioned Matthew and Henry were dragging her to this event to Sloane? Now that she thought it over she was pretty sure she had - if only to see her friend. Could Sloane have....? Sisse's cheeks warmed at the thought and the onslaught of nerves fully caught her in their drift.

But that smile... their eyes meeting. Her cheeks warmed for a whole other reason. "I'm glad she did as well." She'd intended it to come off happy, blithe. And yet it came off hushed, quiet, a truth lingering between the two of them.

"Is she with you?" Sisse asked, peering over his shoulder, wondering if her friend's bubbling personality would soon be bouncing into the conversation. Although given her suspicions, she rather was unsurprised to see Sloane nowhere within sight.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"Yes, she and Harry were looking at something in a nearby stall." Alvin looked back off in that direction, but only caught a swirl of her purple skirts. The pair of them must have seen something else that caught their attention. Alvin thought it was a little suspicious, he assumed Sloane would have liked to say hi to Sisse, but perhaps they really were distracted.

"I'm not exactly sure what they're up to." Harry was better to handle Sloane in the Park anyway. Alvin couldn't look at the lake for too long without getting the shivers and the memories of that summer day overwhelmed him. Even now he had to consciously avoid looking over at the water to keep it off his mind. "I'm not sure I've ever seen such an event, it's a little perplexing, but at least it's nice out." The whole mermaid race thing was weird, but he wasn't about to complain, not now. "Are your brothers around?" Alvin wasn't so sure what the Thompsett brothers thought of him and his sometimes-presence at events.

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"Oh, well I shall have to say hello when she comes to collect you." Sisse had the strangest sensation that Sloane was up to something? She couldn't have given Sisse a moment alone with Alvin on purpose could she have? After their conversation though it wouldn't have surprised her. Sisse suddenly felt warm at the thought, at what Sloane wanted her to talk to Alvin about.

"It is." She agreed, but having nothing nice to say, she decided to say nothing further of the event. Her mother's trainings had, after all, actually made a bit of difference over the years.

"They are." She told him, nodding toward the shores of the lake behind him. "They've gone to invest in the races. Truthfully I don't see the purpose in betting, is it a gentlemanly thing, or just a singular peculiarity of my brothers?" It truly baffled her, to waste money when the certainty of return was so low.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

Alvin hadn't the foggiest if Sloane would come around or not, or what she and Harrison were up to, but as long as they stuck together, he supposed he wouldn't worry. He glanced off in that direction again, but didn't see hide nor hair of them, so he supposed they had meandered off for the moment.

"Ah yes, I suppose it can be," Alvin had used to place small best on broom racing and quidditch games in his younger years, but that was before money became a little more precious and he had better things to do with it. Like save as much of it as he could. "Been a long time since I have, though." He admitted, scratching the back of his head with his good hand. Alvin had quit a lot of things in life that no longer suited him; drinking, gambling, painting things he hated. It was all of the better in the long run, but sometimes he itched for a drink. It had been the worst when Sloane was missing, but every once in a while he found himself thinking about just having even a pint. He wouldn't, but he wanted to.

"Harmless enough, as long as one is reasonable with it." People got into deep trouble if they were not very restrained, but he thought every once in a while ought to be fine. "Truthfully I wouldn't even know how best to choose in this case." The whole thing was very foreign to him.

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It struck Sisse as odd that Alvin did not partake in gambling, her brothers were so eager to that she had resigned herself to it being an occupation primarily enjoyed by members of the opposite sex, and yet... Alvin didn't. It was sensible, at least in Sisse's eyes, and that served to only highlight Alvin's attributes.

"I should of many other options that are a reasonable usage of money." Sisse sighed, looking after her brothers. It hardly seemed harmless when one invested money but never saw a gain from it.

"Henry was saying something about muscles?" Sisse commented, her mind catching up with her mouth a moment too late to catch the musing from becoming airborne. Her cheeks warmed. "Ah, not that I'd know anything about them - it." Her words stumbled and she found the space on the path just beyond Alvin's legs an incredibly fascinating place to look until the next turn in the conversation.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

"Yeah, I don't really know, didn't put any thought into it." No point since he was just here to observe and get Sloane out of the house for a little while. Alvin wasn't even sure he'd be able to go watch. The lake still gave him some anxiety and he hadn't thought about it until he'd been faced with it again. Maybe he could hover by the edges of everything; Sloane hadn't wanted to get any closer earlier, maybe that could work in his own favor.

He was distracted now, trying to shove down the memories. Sloane was fine, she was right around the corner with Harry and he didn't have to let the nightmares win, even if they hovered in his periphery at all times. "I only came to keep Sloane company." He added after a moment, absentmindedly as he caught sight of her laughing with Harry not too far away. It helped to soothe the unease that had bubbled up, though he couldn't quite focus on the moment.

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Sisse's heart lurched at the tug of emotion on his features, well guarded, and perhaps imagined but a thought crossed her mind. She knew she didn't like the water, but she had forgotten that Alvin had been the one to try and find her that day. He had every right to hate the water too. She looked past him at the dark depths of the Black Lake biting her lip slightly in thought.

"Did you know that Henry once tried to drown me in the lake?" Sisse asked before she could stop herself. Or perhaps she didn't want to. Perhaps she wanted him to know the pain this lake had caused her too. To acknowledge the shared wariness of its waters. She knew he'd seen the cat incident the summer after, remembered, vaguely, he'd been chaperoning Sloane that afternoon. But very few people knew of the scare she'd had before that and how Moony had dragged her from the depths. Few outside of family and the girls knew what had happened that day and Ned had been kind enough not to speak of the issue. Although Sisse's foolish crush in the months following that incident still warmed her cheeks with subtle caresses of embarassment.

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom