Daring Swims [OPEN]

[Mary Macdonald]

"Come on, Mary. Grow a pair." Mary told herself. If she wanted to be this new person, she couldn't just look the part. Mary had to be dangerous and she had to be interesting. There was only so much Lily could do for her. If people were really going to see a new Mary, they had to do it soon. She may have a whole year left, but that seemed shorter and shorter with every passing day. Mary had to make a name for herself if she was ever going to be labelled as anything. She took a deep breath and took her eyes off of her bare toes.

There were quite a lot people surrounding the Black Lake, trying to savior what was left of the summer sunshine. People were engrossed in their homework or joking around with friends. Mary recognized most of them as people who could easily spread rumors about how crazy she was or how reckless, something she actually wanted. She saw a few eyes on her, but ignored it. She was used to this already. She wasn't the same old Mary, she was a new Mary and this would have to prove it. It wouldn't just be her new make over that was different, she would be different too.

Before she could think about what she was doing, Mary leaped into the Black Lake off of the boulder she was in, diving straight under water. The water pierced her skin and pricked at every inch of skin that was exposed. For such a warm day, the water was ice cold. When she pulled out of the water, she saw multiple eyes on her. Her face turned red, but she held back the urge to sink her head under the water. Looking at the nearest group of kids staring at her, she splashed them with as much water as she could muster and forced a laugh.

"Take a picture, it won't blast your head off for staring for so long." Mary commented, feeling a weight lift off of her shoulders. She sighed and floated on her back, drifting around the part of the lake the students were surrounding. Oddly, she felt at peace. She could feel people whispering about her, but shew as glad she couldn't hear it. She let her body drift over the top of the Lake, smiling to herself. Maybe this new Mary was better for her. Maybe she didn't need to be so safe. She felt so free, she was prepared to do anything.

Mary neared a group of boys and smiled as they surveyed her and easily smiled back. "Come and join me, boys!" Mary called to them. They all shyly shook their heads. Mary let a carefree laugh escape her lips and slipped her shorts off of her legs and let it float next to her. The water was murky enough that you couldn't see anything. "How about now?" Mary suggested. Immediately, the boys started to talk amongst themselves, debating who would go in. Without thinking about it, Mary took of her underwear and flung it at the group and swam away, laughing.

[Nero Tiberius]

Are you brave enough to let me see your peacock?
Why yes, yes I am...

The last days of summer were upon them. "Them" being everyone at Hogwarts that is. Autumn wasn't such a bad time of year, but it most certainly ushered in the cold, and once it set in, it was there for the long haul. At least that's how Nero felt about it. He didn't mind the changes of the seasons but he was very opinionated when it came to the ability to enjoy the lake. He loved the cold, to feel the crisp frigid air shoot into your lungs, made you feel alive. But one thing that was for sure was you couldn't enjoy the lake like you could during the summer. The occasional swim being the main difference.

As Nero got to the top of one of the largest boulders that rested on the shore, that only the either craziest or bravest students dared jump off of, he saw someone else dive in from one of the smaller rocks. "Was that... nooo. Couldn't have been." he thought to himself. He could have sworn he had just seen Mary Macdonald dive into the chilly waters. He waited till the person came up and it was indeed her. Nero stood on top of his boulder with more then a surprised look on his face.

He could see that more than just a few people were surprised, and more then a few were talking amongst themselves. ""Come and join me, boys!" she taunted to the nearest group to her. They declined, and the next thing Nero saw was what appeared to be a pair of undergarments fly through the air towards them. Ok, now thats just mean, to tease that bad... Nero thought to himself. "Well, that settles it." He said to himself and took of his shirt. One thing Nero wasn't afraid to do was show off what a lifetime of physical training paid off for.

One thing that the Ravenclaw house was known for was their studious nature. Most of the time leaving the students of the house of average build. Those who played quidditch might have been a little more toned, but as far as strength went, Nero was near, if not at the top of that list. It showed visibly that he worked on his body and was proud of it. No illusion spells here, all one hundred percent blood and sweat had worked this body into the shape it was in now. One thing that you probably would never hear Nero say, was that he loved showing off his work all too much, probably the chance to do so rarely presented itself, but now was a perfect occasion.

"Hey Mary! Mind if I join?" He said standing on the edge of the boulder with his fists on his hips posing as statuesque as he could without laughing. Nero wasn't afraid that Mary had caught his eye before, more than once. They were more then acquaintances, but not really on the level of close friends. He suspected that if they were in each others houses, they would have been great friends though. At least that's how it played out in his head.

Without further thought he dove off the rock in a swan dive and barely broke the water as he entered the cold water. All at once he felt the pins and needles of the cold envelope his body. It was a refreshing feeling that distracted him from the cares of the day. There was no way to relax that could compete with a way such as this. He swam under water for a bit and surfaced a few meters from Mary and swept his hand back through his hair. "You know, its not very nice to tease the younger years. Or the older ones for that matter." he said with a smirk and a wink that clearly noted mischief.