There wasn’t much of a need to stray far off the grounds on her day off to find some peace and quiet. Sophie had always adored the lands of the her mistress’ estate, never taking for granted the beautiful landscape that served as the backdrop. One of her favorite activities to do on her days off (apart from going into Hogsmeade for Zinnia) was to wander past the outer edges of the main property. On rather hot days, the witch brought a basket of sustenance, one of her favorite books and a sketch pad and pencils. Today, Sophie sought to spend the entire day on the luscious, grassy bank of one of her favorite little babbling streams. It was an offshoot of a river that Mrs. Dempsey had been so kind as to name after her mother, Lorraine Elyse - River Elyse for short, and had become a sort of place Sophie felt closer to her late mother.

It was the perfect kind of day to be able to take off her shoes and stockings, sit down on a blanket and dangle her feet in the stream whilst she read, or sketched or even slept. Sophie had been out there for quite a few hours before she dozed off in the dappled sunlight, with the chorus of birds chirping in the background.

When she awoke, the sun was still relatively high in the sky and something was rustling the grass next to her and something tickling her arm.

She found out what that something was when she turned her head to the side and came face to - snout? - with a particularly large stoat which had sought to partake in her plate of grapes. Out of sheer surprise, Sophie let out a shriek and flailed, upsetting everything on the blanket and pitching her hat into the stream. Acting entirely on instinct, she lunged after it; not exactly the best move seeing as she was now caught off balance. And given that she had situated herself on a small hill, her center of gravity was decidedly not center, and she went tumbling after her hat into the stream.

Now Sophie had occasionally taken to taking dips in the stream when the weather was hot enough, but never had she gone into the water unwillingly; and thus had very little time to prepare herself for the extreme cold that she was plunged in. Another series of shrieks echoed throughout the small valley as she treaded water and immediately swam towards the shore, muttering a variety of extremely unladylike curses as she did so.

Well, at least she had her hat. It hadn’t even been her best hat, and while Sophie was frugal, she wasn’t above buying a new hat for herself after having lost one to the water. Sweet Merlin’s Pants, why had she gone after it? All she had now was a complete matching set of water-logged garments. She let out a frustrated sigh. She might as well lay her clothes out to dry and cast some drying charms on the remaining ones. Napping was completely off the table now. Her desire for more rest had vanished along with the stoat who had scampered off whilst she’d been unwittingly baptized.

And of course, the harm in drying off without magic made itself known as soon as she’d laid out her corset cover and petticoats to dry. She’d just cast drying and warming charms on herself when there came a calling of her name and the rustle of bushes. Sophie squeaked and promptly dropped her wand in fright. She knew that voice, she knew that voice all too well, and it was headed straight towards her. It was about to emerge from off the pathway along with the speaker and see her in nothing but her corset and chemise and oh, she felt faint just thinking about it.

So there was nothing left to do of course, except scamper up the nearest tree and hide in its voluminous branches and leaves.