Any reasonable person would have picked a more pleasant place to draw than the Black Lake—yet here Eddie was, in a small clearing near it, sitting on top of a blanket (charmed to be waterproof) with a warming spell cast around their vicinity. They weren’t alone, though. There was someone else in the area, standing much closer to the Lake, quite far from where the Ravenclaw sat. Their back was facing Edgar, so there was no use in trying to tell who the student was. Not that it mattered. The silhouette worked as a nice touch to the otherwise plain scenery, and that was that.
Eddie held up the sketchbook for comparison, inspecting the drawing with narrowed eyes —- just then, the other student made a sharp turn, locking eyes with them. With the sketchbook lifted in the air like that, it was undeniable what they had been doing. Blushing, they fumbled to lower the sketchbook; they ended up dropping it on the ground, papers flapping loudly.
She needed to breathe. It wasn’t often that Septima found herself incapable of handling the world around her. They had always prided themselves to be someone who was poised and calm when need be, but even they couldn’t deny that oftentimes she found herself ruled by her emotions. And as proud as she was to be a Snake, there were times when the Slytherin Common Room got suffocating. There was too much, but too little space. There always was.
So she found solace sitting by the Black Lake. There was enough room to breathe her. No bubble separating them from the rest of the world. It was just them, and the world around them. Until that was, they turned her head to look at the castle and instead saw another student — one wearing a Ravenclaw tie. Eddie Bones, Septima recognised. They were a student in her year. She straightened at the sight of them, before noticing the sketchbook they had. Their eyes narrowed in curiosity. “Edgar,” she greeted. “Drawing the landscape?”
