'Yeah. Their name is Glam Rock.' Tamara grinned widely at the look on Ylva's face. A little gross-out never hurt anybody. 'And I'm Tamara. That's super rad that you catch your own meat. It smells great.' She'd love to hunt herself, but she just didn't have the patience. She'd only ever been fishing and that was boooring. Maybe she could get into trapping instead, there was still some summer left. And doing your own butchery was metal af.

She watched her new companion unpack dishes. 'Oh, cool, rocks!' She was a little disappointed that they followed it up with cultery, but it was really wicked looking cutlery, so not that disappointed. That two-pronged fork thing looked like it could do some damage!

'So you're a Ravenclaw?' Dumb question, Tam, they're wearing the t-shirt! She babbled on to cover herself. 'I haven't been sorted yet cause I'm brand-spankin new, they're gonna get me in before term starts though. Apparently there's usually a ceremony but I'd be like, twice as tall as anyone else there, so. The staff took pity.' She fiddled with her silly bands and snapped one against her wrist as she spoke, still feeling a bit self-conscious.

Ylva smiled widely. A hunting compliment, wow! "It a lot easier in my animagus form though. I'm a wolf. I usually go hunting with the whole pack at home. I just brought Magnus, though. He's the friendliest of all. I don't think it would end up well with Fenrir and all the horses." The timid girl was opening up slowly.

As she was peeling the best meat off the carcass, she listened to Tamara with a smile. "No, I'm actually a Slytherin in disguise. I want to know all their secrets" she winked, placing the back meat and leg on T's plate. "You're freaking cool. There's nothing to hide." The wolf girl shrugged. She placed her elegant long fingers, topped with natural long nails on Tamara's bands. "I know it's easy for me to say, but you should slay that ceremony. Besides, in what house would you like to be?"

Toru nodded a bit when Lily asked about their gender preference. “I-It’s okay… N-Nobody knows u-until they d-do…” The second-year was going to mention that the wetsuits were usually used to battle the chill of the lake, and could be used for recreational swimming or diving, but Flora answered before they could. “Y-Yeah… T-The wetsuits a-are because t-the lake is p-pretty cold for s-swimming. The average t-temperature is about 62 degrees F-Fahrenheit, but c-can get as c-cold as 42 d-degrees.” Toru’s eyes went wide when Zoe said the chill of the water never bothered her. The lake was always pretty chilly to them without their wetsuit and charms to keep warm. They did usually dive pretty deep though, but they would still wear their wetsuit regardless. Mostly because bathing suits in general were uncomfortable for them to wear since they were usually very gender coded. Regardless, Toru wasn’t entirely convinced Zoe wasn’t a water sprite or not entirely human since she was really incredible.

Blade’s inclusion made their cheeks go a soft pink color. “I-I can wait my t-turn…” Since Lily was currently petting the flying horse, they didn’t want to overstep their boundaries. However they were quite happy that their sibling was making sure they felt included. They looked up at Drew at his description of winter. “That was l-lovely. I-I will gladly trade y-your summers f-for my w-winters though.” They offered a shy smile at the older boy. Winter was the only season that they couldn’t swim, so by default it was their least favorite season.

The Hufflepuff curiously glanced at Mallowsweet and the foreigner. “D-Did you have a-a good s-summer, Mallowsweet?” Toru had always been interested in talking with the Centaur, and decided to take advantage of their small burst of courage.

'You're an animagus? That's amazing. That's gotta be like, the best.' Mar watched Ylva pick apart the meat, briefly distracted from what they were saying by shiny, tasty meat but catching enough of it. She wasn't sure if they were kidding about being a Slytherin or not. It could have been sarcasm because it was a dumb question? Welp.

She was quickly distracted from wondering if she was being mocked or not though. 'Oh. Thanks.' That meant probably no on the mocking? Could you really just infiltrate other houses by putting different shirts on? She smiled on afterthought as the right thing to do to accept a compliment.

She was a little taken aback when Ylva put their hand on her wrist, but not unpleasantly so. But she shrugged one-shouldered to their questions. 'It'd just kind of be awkward. I mean I could. I absolutely could. But it'd be like, also rude to the little kids who are actually starting at the right time. I don't like being mean to kids. And, uh, I don't really know about houses. I don't really care I guess, it's just basically a personality test it sounds like? And those are usually pretty dumb. I could just switch what shirt I was wearing and be all of them anyway.' She grinned.

Lily was still blushing at her small blunder. Whilst Zoe blushed too. She hadn't thought the wetsuits were just to swim in the lake.

Lily moved over to let Toru and Blade get close to Zephyr. "Thank you pretty horse for letting me pet you."

"Looks like it's your turn now, Ru," Blade said gently nudging them towards the amazing horse. It was their idea to come anyway.

Blade's thoughts slipped to his last winter. Part of it was camping as the snow fell. It was cold as hell but also beautiful. He liked the feel of it under his boots. Chopping wood in the winter wasn't very fun though and he needed the wood to keep the fire in his tent going. At times he changed to the threstral simply to stay warmer.

Seb had been trying to follow all the conversations surrounding the flying horse, but felt like he was coming up short. Clearly most of these people were friends, some even relatives or siblings. Did that girl really own a pet chicken? At least a chicken wasn’t as gross as the disgusting spiders his best friend kept as pets back home. The talk of the different Hogwarts houses both intrigued and simultaneously bored him, although he had wondered where he would fit in should he have ended up here. His own school did not sort students into houses but rather ranked them all against each other based on ability.

In a halfhearted attempt to not stare at Mallowsweet’s legs Seb began looking out over the water and started imagining what sort of things he would encounter should he go for a swim. Something one of the other students said about the water being frigid snapped him out of it. He should have known better. They were far north and the air temperature difference alone had him in his usual winter attire during summer. Then again, some people swam in the arctic ocean, so not swimming in this lake simply because it was cold sounded like a lame excuse.

It never took long for Seb to make up his mind. “Someone said swimming? Count me in.” He smiled in what he hoped was a charming way as he scanned the crowd. Best to be charismatic when inviting yourself to someone else's party.

“I’m an only child too,” Flora told Lily, “but Drew and his sister Bridget are sort of like siblings now that they live close.” She smiled and said, “I’d vote for Ravenclaw. It’s the second best house. Slytherin is best of course,” she laughed and winked.

Drew smiled at Lily and said, “Thank you, Lily. I didn’t know Grandpa as well as Flora here, but he seemed ready for a new adventure as he called it and was content now that his entire family was all back together.”

At Blade’s comment, Drew grinned and said teasingly, “Well Zephyr’s got two sides, one for each of you, and she won’t turn down both of you paying her homage at the same time.”

Nodding at Lily’s comment about swimming, Flora said quietly, “It’s not that I don’t like it, I just didn’t want to leave you out.”

“Swimming is fun, but I really want to try out the flobberworm racing at some point,” Drew grinned over at Zoe.

Drew blushed at Toru’s praise of his words about winter. “Thanks,” he said. “I guess I get my love of words from Dad. He’s a writer and I enjoy it too.” He smiled and said, “And I think it’s great that you want to try new things, like cheering for Greece. I’m really not a big Quidditch fan but thought I’d give this event a try. So I guess we’re both experimenting a bit this time.” He beckoned Toru closer. “Come on over and say hi to Zephyr.”

The horse gave a soft whinny and nuzzled Lily as she moved away and then turned her eyes to Blade again, whinnying louder and giving a front hoof a slight stomp of impatience.

“Uh oh, better come on over and take a turn too,” Drew said to Blade with a friendly grin. “And, Mallowsweet, you need a turn too. Maybe we can go check out Zoe’s flobberworms while the others swim?” he suggested.

As the other boy spoke up, Flora looked over and returned his smile a bit shyly. He looked rather exotic and his hair reminded the girl a bit of a lion. She wondered idly if he would be a Gryffindor if he was a student at Hogwarts. Flora wasn’t even aware that she was twisting the end of her hair and gazing at Seb.

"Yes, it actually is. It's so liberating." Ylva lmsaid and at the next thing. "But seriously, never try it or you will get your butt kicked. Twice. The houses are very protective of what is their own." She said and dug her teeth into the meat. "By the way, where are you from?"

Some convo about swimming drew her attention. She loves to swim. The only thing what made her hesitant is the slight smell of wet dog afterwards. "Do you have any special abilities?"

The thoughts of it being their turn to pet the Aethonan had them very excited, but they approached the much larger creature slowly to not startle them. They let Zephyr smell their hand for a few moments before gently moving to stroke down their long nose and cheek. Toru giggled a bit at the soft fur and cooed gently at the larger beast. “You’re s-so soft Z-Zephyr… I-I met a Hippocampus o-once, but y-you’re much s-sweeter than he w-was.” A small giggle escaped Toru’s lips, giddy at having their turn petting the soft fur. They would never be brave enough to ever ask for a ride though. Flying was almost as terrifying as cats. Well flying with magical things, airplanes didn’t bother them much, but they were contained and secured into a seat on a plane. Brooms, Carpets, and Pegasai were well out of their comfort area.

They peeked around Zephyr to glance at Drew. “W-We can be e-experiment buddies, if y-you’d like?” They added with a small smile. Toru listened to the older boy explain his love of writing. “B-Both my p-parents are shopkeepers on D-Diagon Alley. That doesn’t m-mean I a-am into s-sales.” They stroked the soft coat a few more times. “B-But I’m glad you l-like w-writing. E-Everyone needs a-a creative o-outlet.” Toru added matter-of-factly.

The conversation quickly shifted to swimming and Toru got very excited. Water was their element and sharing their love with others was exciting. “I-I can g-go get the e-extra wetsuits. H-How many a-am I getting?” They and Blade both had their own packed away in their luggage, but they would need to grab some for everyone else. Luckily they knew where they were, being a part of the swimming team here at Hogwarts. “U-Unless you t-think I should j-just bring them all over, Z-Zoe?” That way guests could come and go from swimming at their leisure.

A very familiar tap gently patted Sebakhin’s right shoulder. This being Nefri Sheba’s she was well prepared for her favorite victim to react by turning to the left. However, after 6 years, she had decided to switch things up and remain on his right side. Her long dark hair was neatly plated into a braid and she wore very casual, but warm, clothes. “Seba, you left me in Hogsmeade.” She spoke in very fluent English, though she did have an accent. The accusation was only half-hearted. In the summer she was accustomed to sleep in as late as she wished, and it took just shy of an act of the gods to wake her properly. In Seb’s defense he probably tried to wake her before giving up and heading to the camp.

Her deep brown eyes eagerly scanned the area pleased that there were more Princesses to dote on than boys at this gathering. Perhaps this would be the summer she would actually find love. The dark-skinned girl’s painted lips curled into a confident smile and moved to introduce herself to the group. “Good Mid-day. I am Nefri Sheba.” She put her right hand to her chest and bowed her head causing the braid to slip off her shoulder and dangle for a few moments. “Thank you for being generous and hosting this summer program!”

((OOC: Since she found out this was a camping trip, she did leave all of her pets at home. So she did not bring her spider pet along. Mostly for Seb's sake.))

Lily had an amusing thought of Sora from Kingdom Hearts diving into the lake with his keyblade when Seb said he wanted to swim. Mildly she wondered if she was the only one who thought his hairstyle was perfect for a videogame character.

“Judging by the smile, I’m guessing you’re happy they are close?” Lily asked Flora. She gave a shy smile to Drew. “Oh, well if he saw things like that, then I guess he got his wish with the family back together.”

Drew’s comment was of course true, yet a lot of animals didn’t like being touched at different places at once. Blade was hesitant and really wanted Toru to interact first, since it meant so much to them.

Lily sighed inwardly. It was sweet of Flora but it also made her feel bad. “Don’t worry, there’s lots I can do. Mom and Dad made sure I could swim well. But even a strong swimmer could be in danger with a seizure which is why diving is frowned upon unless they haven’t had a seizure in like three years. But still, I can always find something to do. Yet if we are going to just swim-swim I’ll be fine. And Marko will be close by too, so he can come help if needed.” She sounded very reassuring.

Zoe suddenly was beaming with pure joy. “Really?! Oh great! Hear that Bebe? Ye can watch ye’re siblings race! I have a cheerleading outfit for her too.”

Blade rolled his eyes at the experiment buddies. Teams annoyed him so he was predisposed to being annoyed at the idea of a team getting together to support a team. Fortunately Toru’s attention was focused on Zephyr and their back was facing him. The mention of how Drew became interested in writing at didn’t cause an eye roll. Blade’s biological grandfather was a muggle composer and he had been trained by him. Blade was a musical prodigy and knew many instruments and loved playing. So he could see how Drew was influenced and inspired by his father’s vocation. Still the boy couldn’t help a chuckle from Toru’s words of not being interested in sales. “Maybe it’s a bit of both,” he said mildly. “Inspiration because of personal interests. Some sales can be interesting. The muggle section is always an experience.” He typically didn’t help much on that side of the shop since he was still learning what those things were, but when he did it was always…er…different. Especially since it seemed the volume of muggle girls increased exponentially every time he was in that side. They seemed to love bumping into him, giggling, playing with his hair and buying anything he points at. The wizards didn't seem as bad though, at least he could just make something up when he didn't know what it was.

Part of Blade’s sceptical nature made him wonder if he was being set up to be kicked in the arse by a horse. He was slow to trust and quick to wonder about friendly grins. Still since Toru was now enjoying the touch of the mare, he followed to the other side and put his hand gently on the horse’s nose. “There, happy now?” he asked her whilst silently hoping to not spend half the day in the hospital wing.

“Oh ye don’t needa do that,” Zoe said to Toru as she flicked her wand. Soon all the wetsuits were lazily wafting their way across the lake by a summoning charm. “I know I could’ve made it faster… but it looks so pretty,” she said, “like dancing ghosts or something.” Once all the suits arrived near her, she magically propped them so they all looked like they were sitting down on a beach chair. She grinned cutely.

Lily watched in awe with the magic but soon was called back to earth with another arrival. This girl clearly knew Seb. She just sort of stared at the exotic girl.

“Hi! I’m Zoe Parker. Welcome. Hope ye enjoy all we have here,” Zoe said with her thick Scottish accent. “This is Toru, Blade, Flora, Mallowsweet, Lily, Drew and ye’ve met Seb… I take it.” She pointed to each person.

(if I missed someone pretend she said it lmao and I apologise.)

Seb caught Flora’s eye and unabashedly winked in her direction. Maybe it was brash, but he was accustomed to stares, especially abroad. Not that he minded. Attention was an affirmation he was doing something right. “I’ll need one.” He held up a finger to indicate his lack of personal wet-suit, when someone tapped his shoulder. Instinctively causing him to spin in the opposite direction.

“Ah! Sheba.” Using her last name to indicate his playful mild annoyance. “You take too long.” He held up a hand mimicking an invisible makeup-compact and began putting on fake lipstick and eyeliner. “Besides you wouldn’t wake up. Not even for breakfast.” He complained, quickly taking a step back to avoid being swatted at.

Antics were paused momentarily when Zoe commanded the wet-suits to float across the water toward them. They did sort of resemble ghosts but he wondered why anyone would think of that first… Tilting his head in consideration a bright red wet-suit floated past his face and diverted his attention. “Oh, I like this one. Last one in, is something! Isn’t that the saying?” He asked while already trotting back toward the tent he had previously set his backpack beside.

Oh. So the shirt thing was a joke. Okay. Why didn't anyone ever just say these things? She scratched her ear, glanced at Glam Rock to check up on them, and then dug into her meat. It was soooo good. She hadn't eaten rabbit since she was younger, and had forgotten a lot about it. Like chicken, but better! And the herbs made it amazing. She had to finish chewing before she could answer Ylva's question.

'America. Uh, the midwest.' She thought she had an accent, but maybe it wasn't apparent to everybody. 'I just moved here this summer. Hence the school transfer. What about you?'

The dark haired girl sucked her lips to make a small ‘tsch’ sound and gave a playful swat toward the Egyptian boy, but her dark fingers only the air where Seba had been standing. “See if I help you next time your friend comes by.” Nefri linked her thumbs together and wiggled her fingers in a spider-like way. Her tone and body language was very relaxed and airy which meant it was a false threat. Her dark brown eyes turned to Zoe and she gave a brilliant smile that stood out against her dark complexion. Nefri moved closer and gently took Zoe’s hand with a dreamy look in her eyes. “Zoe Parker, it is a pleasure to meet such a delicate oasis in the barren desert of life.” Her tone was flirtatious along with her impish smile as the Egyptian girl moved to place a delicate kiss on the back of Zoe’s hand before releasing it entirely.

Nefri glanced at the mentioned boys and gave them a polite nod of her head with her hand on her chest, but she looked excited when Lily, Flora, Mallowsweet, and Toru were introduced. “Ah, more Princesses.” She smiled and moved to each of the girls in turn and snapped her fingers to produce a small flower for each with a Muggle slight-of-hand trick she had learned to impress Wizarding girls. Most Wizarding families didn’t bother or understand Muggle ‘magic’ so it came off as impressive wandless magic, and most Muggle-born girls assumed it was real magic once they learned it was real. Half-Blood wizards were usually the ones who saw through her brilliant trick, but most don’t comment on it.

Regardless, she produced a calla lily for Lily, a soft pink rose for Flora, and brilliant white daisy for Mallowsweet. When the Egyptian approached Toru to produce a flower she paused a moment, tapping her cheek curiously. “You don’t seem quite like a princess, but it is knavish of me to exclude a sweet sunbeam such as yourself,” and snapped her fingers to produce a brilliant sunflower and tucked it into Toru’s hair.

Toru blushed furiously when it was their turn to receive attention from the older girl. “I-I’m non-binary a-and prefer g-gender n-neutral nouns a-and p-pronouns.” That seemed an appropriate answer to Nefri who gave them another bow of her head and a small smile. “I understand, sunbeam.” She added with a wink of her brown eye and glanced back to Seb who was making a racket about swimming. Nefri had never understood her friend’s fascination with water, but she knew she was hard to understand with her love for undesirable pets. Nefri turned back to Zoe and produced a full bouquet using real magic and smiled at her flirtatiously.

Toru was still a little overwhelmed at the attention from Nefri, her energy would take time to get used to before they would be able to open up to her entirely. Were all foreigners this overwhelming? They did stop Seb long enough to cast a small warming enchantment on the wet suit. It would feel as nice and cozy as if it came out of a dryer, even in the chilly water. They smiled softly at Drew. “T-Thank you f-for letting me p-pet Zephyr. She’s very s-sweet.” Before they moved to Blade and their tent to change into their wetsuit.

Zoe was politely keeping a distance from most of the students. She was now staff so surely she should be more er… “staffy.” So she never considered the swimming invite as including her. Maybe later, but thankfully the girl didn’t feel excluded.

“Rotten egg,” Lily squeaked softly finishing Seb’s statement.

Zoe’s face didn’t show a reaction at first. She blinked and looked at Nefri liked she wasn’t quite sure what was happening—which was pretty accurate. ‘Oasis in a barren dessert of life?’ What the hell did she mean by that? Slowly… ever so slowly the meaning dawned on the teen and her face when the brightest of reds, blushing so furiously that she could be mistaken for being sunburnt. Zoe had never been hit on by anyone—ever.

“Princess?” Where were princesses? Did Nefri mean her? Why? Was she off her rocker? Lily stood there with her mouth slightly agape as she was given a calla lily. The girl had never been given a flower by a nonfamily member before. Her puzzlement was extremely evident on her face. Why was the Egyptian girl giving people flowers?

Blade watched the scene in stoic fashion. He was mentally scratching his head unsure of what binary meant which would then make Toru non-binary. He was pleased that Nefri wasn’t giving him the same kind of attention she was dishing out elsewhere.

Zoe was so surprised by the flowers that she moved her mouth but no sound came out of it. She was overwhelmed by the intensity of Nefri. “I-I better c-check over there,” she stuttered and then hurried away as fast she could without looking like she was fleeing.

Lily coughed slightly. “Well…er… better pick a tent and change then. Flora, any preference?”

-- Once in the privacy of their own tent, Blade shook his head as he opened the bag to produce Toru’s wetsuit handing it to them. “I think that girl inhaled too much perfume or something. Drew might fancy her with her talk if nothing else. Poetic…I’ll grant that.”

((I gave a space to allow for timing since I wasn’t sure how Zephyr reacted with Blade.))

"Yeah well that's what these are for." Seb stomped the ground with his heel indicating the fate of any arachnid larger than a fly should any choose to approach him. He knew how much Nefri enjoyed them but even after six years he still couldn't understand what she found so interesting about the nasty things.

"Thank you." Turning his grin on Toru, Seb winked at them when they charmed the wet suit, although he had half assumed the suits would be permanently spelled. Anything that helped him stay warm was a welcome gesture. Hell if he were lucky some ladies may even share a blanket by the fire once the sun sank beyond the horizon and the air became chilly, at least by Egyptian standards.

After a moment of struggling inside his tent, the suit was a bit tight, Seb reemerged and trotted toward the water. The suit not zipped up entirely as he wasn't a fan of things to tight around his neck and he wasn't exactly planning on diving. A notion further affirmed once his feet hit the shore and a chill ran up his legs causing all the hair on his body to stand on end. "Wow! That's freezing! People swim in this, really?" He wasn't asking anyone in particular but he was being loud enough the entire camp could probably hear the ruckus.

Nefri watched the blue haired older girl dart off like a scared kitten. She gently cupped her own face and sighed wistfully as she etched into her memory Zoe's expressions of shock and surprise. She was like a fleeting fairy. The Egyptian grinned like a cat before turning her attention toward the tents. She had no intention of swimming, but she could never say no to basking in the sunlight in a cute swim suit. Nefri found an unclaimed tent and plopped her bag into it before climbing inside to dress. After a few moments she emerged in a ruby red bikini and a pair of sandals.

The dark skinned girl edged around the rocky coast and found a large rock that she could sunbathe on that had no chance of getting wet. She took her red sandals off and relaxed on the sun soaked boulder.

Toru flushed at Seb's thanks. Were all the students from Egypt charming? "N-No problem." They mumbled shyly and quickly slinked toward their tent to change. They chuckled at Blade's comment as they moved to change after putting up a privacy curtain. "I-I don't think s-she will b-be impressed b-by Drew's p-poetry." Considering Nefri was only excited about talking to girls and could identify them being on the spectrum, Toru assumed boys weren't exactly the foreigner's cup of tea. Of course it was none of their business really so wasn't going to say anything unless Nefri admitted it.

They pulled their swimwear on and added the extra little charm to both theirs and Blade's wetsuits before exiting the tent. "I-I'll be r-right back!" They had a brilliant idea and began bolting down the long pier casting a Bubblehead Charm before effortlessly diving into the frigid water. The cold water stung their skin for a few moments before they adjusted to the cold temperature and began swimming toward the Squid's normal haunt. It was warm enough that it would probably would want to bask in the sun, and it would be impressive for their guests to meet Hogwart's Great Lake's most notorious resident.

About 10 minutes after they vanished beneath the dark water, they rose above the water sitting on one of the massive tentacles. The massive squid moved into the shallows of the lake to get some warm sunshine. Of course the squid would be fascinating to watch and meet.

Nefri blinked when the water rumbled as a massive creature emerged from the depths with the small Sunbeam perched upon it's limb. Naturally the squid fit her category of "too many legs" and she thought he giant was precious!

(( lol hopefully Flora wanted a magical tent.))

Lily was shocked inside her tent. It had rooms! Once she selected her room, she then placed her magical chicken coop down. The coop had it all, built in magical heating and cooling as well as a magical little garden. The shop even told her light in the coop was spelled shine from the sun. It helped to be able to keep her chicken happy and outside even when she couldn't be.

Lily changed into a wetsuit with some difficulty. She removed Marko's harness but kept the working vest on which had medication in a waterproof container inside. She knew he would sit on the edge and wait for her, unless he sensed her in danger. She swapped her glasses for her special prescription swimming goggles and was ready to go.

-- Blade thought it was strange Toru put up a curtain. The tent had rooms but he said nothing as he debated what he wanted to do. "If you say so, sunbeam," Blade replied. He was staring at his wetsuit. So far the only thing he had removed was his coat. He'd been surprised when his new parents got him the top of the line cold weather suit. He could swim in the lake or anywhere for more days of the year than he'd been able to before.

He stared at the suit and was mildly annoyed when Toru spelled it. 'I can do it too you know,' he thought. He wasn't really used to people doing things for him and the acts didn't always meet with approval or gratefulness. He did want to swim, but not really with the gaggle of people. Turning into a thestral and flying or running off sounded very good too. He loved both. Maybe it would be best for him to let Toru swim with the group and they go on their own later. He wanted to swim with them, but it would also give Toru a chance to just be with others and make friends. "Er, I'm actually thinking of not going," he said. "Most of them seem more interested in chatting with you than with me for one thing..."

((ooc...sorry everyone. Life has gone crazy the last couple of days. I'm going to try to catch up but since I wrote some before I read the latest stuff it might not totally mesh. I was trying to write and respond as I went through the posts and didn't realize there were so many!))

Zephyr gave a soft whinny as she allowed Toru to pet her. Drew smiled as he watched his fellow student enjoy the time with the horse. At Toru’s smile and suggestion they be experiment buddies, he grinned. “That might be fun. And yeah, Dad helps but Mum says it’s in my blood because I’ve being making up stories since I was really young. I guess it’s a good thing that I like using words to try to create a picture because my drawing skills are pretty horrible,” Drew laughed. “That’s cool that your parents have a shop. Which one is it? I’ll have to look it up when we visit next time.”

Flora nodded at Lily’s explanation about swimming and smiled. “It’ll be fun to swim swim with the others,” she said. “And if they want to do more then we can find other things to do.”

Drew chuckled and said, “And with Marko along you can have a great game of Marco Polo.” He wondered if Lily would catch the reference, but knew that those who hadn’t been around Muggles wouldn’t really understand. Then as Zoe exclaimed excitedly about the flobberworm racing, he had to laugh. “I can’t wait to see your Bebe in her cheerleader outfit,” he grinned. “And save me worm 3 please. It’s my favorite number. Between that and if its wearing a green racing jersey I should have some good luck.” He winked at Zoe with a grin as nearly everyone knew the Slytherin youth loved his house color.

When Blade stepped closer, Zephyr gave an excited whinny and nudged her nose against his hand, begging for more attention while making soft whickering noises. When Blade obliged, the mare leaned into the pats in obvious enjoyment. Drew gave Blade a look, studying the other boy. “Have you ever been around horses before?” he asked. “Zephyr’s usually only this friendly with those that she smells a trace of equine on…or another equine.” His eyes met Blade’s. “And yes….that’s her happy noises. She’s pleased to meet you.”

Flora giggled in delight as Zoe summoned the wetsuits and positioned them. Looking at Lily she asked, “What color are you getting?”

Drew gave the new girl a little wave, still watching Blade and Zephyr.

“Hi,” Flora said to the new girl and held back a slight sigh. Obviously she knew the cool looking guy; probably his girlfriend. But then the boy winked at her!! Flora blushed and looked down, peeking back up to smile at Seb’s antics. “Let’s go pick our wetsuits…and our tent,” she said to Lily. Before she could go though the new girl came over and called them princesses and gave them flowers. Though Flora loved flowers, she was a bit unsure about this. “Um…thank you,” she said quietly and looked over at Lily.

As Toru left, Drew said, “You’re welcome, Toru. I’m glad you enjoyed meeting Zephyr.” He shook his head at the new girl’s tricks and placed a hand on Zephyr’s neck. It was all a bit overwhelming and he needed to center himself with the feel and smell of his equine friend. He hoped she would tone it down a bit before she freaked out the younger girls. Flora was looking pretty stunned and so was Lily. Even Zoe appeared not to really know what to do. The girls wiggling spider like fingers caused Drew to shudder. Merlin beard, he hated those things! If one showed up he’d be on Zephyr and away from the area faster than you could blink. As the others headed off to swim, he smiled at Mallowsweet, not willing to leave the centaur alone. Drew was fine with wandering around and checking things out with his friend if Mallowsweet wanted.

Once in the tent Flora looked over at Lily as she set her bag down. “What did you think of all that?” she asked, waving her hand toward the door of the tent. “Or this?” she grinned, seeing the girl’s amazement at the magical tent.

Flora readied herself for swimming and came out of her room of the tent, securing her hair in a ponytail as she walked. Smiling at Lily, she said, “Let’s go have some fun.” Exiting the tent, she looked around and spotted some of the others already heading for the lake if not in it. “Oh look! The squid has come to to play!” she exclaimed.

((This is a Supplementary Post because Toru wouldn't have left Blade hanging like that.))

Toru looked a little disappointed at Blade's commentary about not wanting to join them for a swim, but they also knew Blade wasn't a social creature. "I-It's o-okay if you wanna b-bail." They gave their friend a warm smile. "I know y-you're not into b-big groups." It was like pulling teeth to get Blade to even come down for family game night, and their family was pretty small, even including the red-head. "We can hang o-out tonight, r-right?" They asked in a small hopeful voice.

Charms to keep you cool on a blistering summer day were one thing, but charms concerned with keeping one warm were far and away from his usual repertoire of known magics. Making an attempt to actually learn something this summer, perhaps those sorts of charms were where he should start. After a few minutes the chill of the water around his ankles began to subside so Seb waded further looking for a good place to submerge. When suddenly out of nowhere a hulking forum emerged from the depths.

Seb’s eyes went wide as he lost his balance and splashed backwards onto his butt, the water washing up to his chest in the wake the creature had created. A shock of cold washed over him but went mentally unnoticed. Terror gripping his mind a moment before he recalled the stories of the massive lake dwelling squid. Still, it was unsettling to see the thing with his own eyes. More unsettling without any forewarning, and was that a student sitting on it?! Was it really that safe? How could anything with that many arms be safe...

Taking a precautionary glance around he felt a bit foolish in his reaction, but who wouldn’t be at least a little horrified honestly. Letting out a small huff when he caught the look on Nefri’s face that told him she was probably in love with the damn thing. Of course. Anything with more limbs than it had business needing. Whatever, as long as she didn’t try and bring one back with them.

Picking himself up Seb gritted his teeth and trudged further into the water. There wasn’t any point in turning back now. May as well take the plunge.