The sun blazed abnormally bright today, it seemed to June, as she squinted painfully at the aforementioned blinding ball of burning light. She lay stretched out on the grassy hillside near the lake, which sighed softly as it licked at the shoreline. The grass was lush and soft, cushioning her elbows, which she used to prop herself up. Her observation of the sun was beginning to make her eyes burn and water dreadfully, as well as make her blink harder than she could comfortable manage. Her neck also began to ache with the strain of bending nearly backwards as she continued her futile attempt to see beyond the unyielding screen of the sun.

After several more moments of painful contemplation, June decided that it was impossible to do her Astronomy homework during midday. She sighed, pulling her elbows out from behind her and letting her head flop back on the grass, which provided decidedly less cushioning than she had anticipated. She winced slightly at the hardness of the ground and sat up, blinking away the oddly colored patches in her vision, which were remnants of her staring contest with the sun.

June huffed a bit in frustration, wondering if she'd ever be able to get her Astronomy homework done. She'd been falling asleep abnormally early all week, and missing the "fascinating" and, more importantly, required constellations she was supposed to witness. June licked her chapped lips and gave the sun a resentful glare for good measure before rolling up her parchment, which only had a meager, hastily scrawled introduction on it. Despite her frustration, she didn't crumple the paper nor shove it into her bag, and instead, slid it carefully into her bag. She didn’t want to have to rewrite what little she already had.

For a moment, June simply hugged her knees to her chest, looking out at the lake. She wasn't sure what to do now. She'd skipped lunch to try and finish the homework, only to realize it wasn't just something she could look up in a book. She supposed she could still try to fake it, but somehow the Professor always had an uncanny knack for figuring out when she made up observations. June sighed and watched the lake a bit more, studying the shifting shadows on the water's surface.

A particularly large shadow caught her attention as it drifted like a large hulking ship beneath the tiny ripples of the water. She stared at it for a moment, wondering if it was the infamous Giant Squid that supposedly lived in lake. June had thought it to be a bunch of nonsense; after all, the lake didn't look nearly big enough to house a giant squid... but then again, there was always magic. June studied the shadow for a moment longer, as if drifted lazily past. She glanced to the sky for a moment, to see if it was only a passing shadow from a cloud. The sky was just as spotless and blazingly bright as it had been when she'd been trying to see the stars.

Tentatively, June crawled a bit closer to the edge of the lake, She let her feet hang over the tiny cliff and stared a bit harder at the shadow. She'd never put much faith in what the older years had told her back when she was just a first year. She knew for a fact that most of the time they made up things to scare the younger years… but still, she barely had any idea what the fact and what was fiction, even after seven years. June glanced at the rock nearby, which was about the size of her head. She lifted it, clamoring to her feet. It was heavy and she swung it in her hands back and forth a few times to give it momentum. After she judged it to have enough force, she let it fly.

It flew a bit off from her target, but the shadow was big enough that it still landed on it. The stone hit the water with a loud splash and a satisfying 'plop' sound. June watched the shadow as ripples from the stone broke the surface, disrupting the shadow's shape. After a moment, there was stillness. Then a large bubble broke the surface with a shockingly loud and angry pop, making June shriek in shock as she scrambled back from the edge of the lake.

She sat back, with a hard thump and pressed a hand to her chest to calm the frantic sputtering of her heart. "Well," she breathed. "I suppose there's something there at least." And immediately she looked around to make sure no one had seen her embarrassing reaction.

{{Wow, that was long... Usually they're not that long and my first post is usually the longest anyway... So... they'll probably get progressively shorter as the thread moves along... Don't be scared, people!}}

There were a couple younger years loitering about, though she doubted they'd paid her any attention. She studied their houses for a moment and decided that the Gryffindors were too unobservant in their surroundings and the Ravenclaws were too absorbed in their homework to have taken notice of her one-woman spectacle. June let out a breath in relief, shuffling idly through the things in her bag, trying to look like she had something to do. Feeling a bit self-conscious, she shifted slightly, looking out across the lake at the far, distant shore, which was merely a dark, shadowed line of trees on the opposite side. She felt a faint shiver travel down her spine as the trees across the lake swayed in a wind she didn't feel.

Why did the forest have to be so creepy, even during the day?

Just as June was satisfied that she had not detrimentally wounded her reputation, she was scared out of wits by the sudden low voice rumbling behind her. She jerked her head around, finding herself staring at the knees of one very tall Slytherin, if the green and silver edging on his robes was anything to go by. She looked up at him jerkily, feeling an ache in her neck that complained of having not forgotten the earlier abuse it had suffered. Colton Middleton, she realized staring upward, even as the sun burned her eyes a bit and cast a shadow on his face. She blinked at him in surprise for a moment before scrambling to recover her dignity. Hopefully he had just arrived and hadn't seen her acting like a buffoon, if only because he might somehow use it to torment her.

It seemed to a hobby of his and not one she particularly enjoyed. Oh, of course it was flattering to have the attention of a guy like Colton, after all, he was handsome enough... Oh, who was she trying to kid? He was hot and sexy in that dark, mysterious and scary kind of way. She enjoyed the jealous looks she got from other girls when he occasionally took the initiative to approach her, though it was rare and usually resulted in some sort of bickering argument over something stupid. But then, the Slytherin prince couldn't be seen consorting with that awful Grove girl, could he? After all, she was a Hufflepuff and though the Groves had quite an impressive pedigree, their unfortunate squib streak sent them on a road towards a steady decline in terms of prestige. According to the rumors, they were as bad as the Weasleys, who could at least produce magical children, even if they couldn't afford to raise them.

June decided not to give him a seductive smile, in case Colton's sudden appearance had attracted the attention of the younger years still sitting around the lake. It wouldn't do for people to think they were one friendly terms. And really, they weren't. He was utterly infuriating and a completely pompous prick, despite his ridiculously good looks. She couldn't stand half the things that came out of his mouth, and yet she annoyingly enough liked to watch the mouth that said them. Why did the hottest guys have to have the worst personalities? June took a deep breath, fighting back the ridiculous flush that was attempting to bloom on her cheeks. June gave him a scowl for good measure and drew a cool and unaffected air around herself like a protective blanket.

She studied the lake for another moment, pretending to be unbothered by the way his breath brushing past her ear sent a tingle traveling down her spine. He was terribly close and they were in a terribly public place. Her eyes darted to the Ravenclaws, who were still studiously huddled over their books. Merlin, it seemed that even fresh air and sunshine couldn't get those kids from the books! She wanted to check on the Gryffindors, who were more prone to gossip, but she couldn't see them without turning her head and Colton’s breath was still tickling her cheek as he spoke. She suppressed a shiver at his words. "My, you have a way with words." She whispered dryly, feeling her breath shorten at his rather descriptive invitation.

June turned her head a bit towards him, feeling dangerously close as she looked at him for a moment, but he pulled away and she pretended not to notice the faint tingling sensation that remained on her cheek. June shifted her attention a bit away from him, adopting a pose of nonchalance and annoyance. "I hardly think a day well-spent involves splashing about in merman feces, much less letting you get off on the idea of me being raped by the giant squid." She replied with a sneer, turning back around to look at the lake. She always secretly thought she’d have made a decent Slytherin, though she was a little put out when other people told her so. After all, it wasn't like there was anything wrong with Hufflepuff, even if the other houses treated it like the reject bin. She liked Hufflepuff, they were nice and friendly and unassuming. Well, except for her, but there were always exceptions to any house, she supposed.

"Besides, I think you've got your facts mixed up, it's not badgers that swim, but snakes. I'd bet you and the squid would get along great, considering you're both such slimy lechers and all." June countered, letting a slightly mocking smile slide across her lips. She turned to look at him again, hating him a bit for being so seductive and awful and hating herself a bit for finding it so attractive. She pursed her lips, thinking about what else she might have to do tonight. Nothing really, but she wasn't about to admit her pathetic lack of social plans. She took a deep breath, deciding to wait and let it play out. She wouldn't say yes. Not yet. After all, there were just so many reasons to say no, too.