Infinitely Six

Polaroids and Birthdays

I woke up in the bunch of hay the next morning and had no clue where I was until I saw Sirius laying down next to me. I checked my watch. 4:23 a.m., it read. I rolled over and stood up, brushing the hay off of me. Then I yawned. I hid behind a pillar and quietly apparated away back into the girls' dormitory. I was then startled by what I had seen. All the beds were neatly made and empty. Only Iris slept in her bed. I grinned. It seemed like all the Mauraders were going to stay at school for Christmas. "OMG Christmas!", I thought, my eyes going wide. I tiptoed to the window, hoping to see fluffy white flurries of snow outside.

"Huh? WTF!", I thought, putting on a disgusted look. It was cloudy and looked cold. The ground was the same, no snow, no nothing, a couple of stray leaves flew by, carried by the wind. But there was something else I saw; something else that caught my attention. The Black Lake. There were black pebbles that lined the outer edge, kinda like a beach. I wanted to go and enjoy the crisp, cold morning, but I knew I had to move fast. I shook my head then looked down. I looked like a hot mess, still wearing the clothes I had worn from yesterday. I dug in my trunk to find a Christmas-looking outfit. I found a baggy red turtleneck and some dark green wide jeans. I also found a pair of Christmas socks and decided to wear my perfectly broken-in Doc Martens. I grabbed all of my clothes and went to take a shower.

I blow-dried my hair and brushed it out a bit, then parted it to one side. I slipped a green scrunchie onto my half-up-half-down ponytail but left two long bangs in the front. "I look like Snuffles", I thought. Honestly, I quite liked it. I looked down at my watch. "4:56", It read. No time to waste now. I had to go. "You need to work on your pebble-throwing skill, Violet", I heard my dad say to me in my head, the painful criticism that haunts me to this day; but I pushed it away. Today was Christmas.

I put on my Doc Martens and ran down to the common room, seeing that there was no one there. I sighed. I hid behind a curtain and quietly apparated to the only exit leading to the black lake, an archway with the words, "All is found", inscribed on the base of one of the pillars. But my breath was too taken away to notice it. The lake seemed to stretch as far as the world could go and the Alps seemed to almost scrape the sky with its snow-capped peaks. The forest to the edge added even more beauty as they were dark, lush, and full. I was excited.

There was a ledge nearby the Black Lake, and I took off my shoes and socks and put them on there. I rolled up my green jeans and picked up a smooth, flat, dark pebble. Honestly, it looked like caviar. I laughed, then pulled off my scrunchie and stuffed it inside my shoes.

I walked to the edge of the lake and watched the water brush the rocks that met at the edge. I picked up my head, then stepped into the water. It was cold, but I liked it. I looked to the horizon, the dewy morning airbrushing through my hair and sweater. I stepped back, got a grip for my feet in the black pebbles, then yeeted the small pebble in my hand into the water. It skipped on the water, creating ripples as it went farther and farther.

"LET'S GO!!!!", I yelled jumping up, then realizing in a split second that I was still in the water and my clothes would get wet. I summoned my wand and quickly cast, "Ernesto Momentum". I landed softly, almost like a leaf falling in a pond. I sighed in relief. I decided to get out of the water because my toes were starting to turn blue.

There was a ledge on a dam that separated the black lake from Hogwarts. Still barefoot, I ran to the shore of the lake, put on my doc Martens, then ran to the ledge, throwing my arms out and laughing to me, myself, and I. I climbed onto the ledge, looking down. Merlin, that dam was probably three stories high. I balanced myself just before I stepped onto the ledge, then walked across. The dam met just at the water which I splashed into the distance, hoping someone would splash me back. But I got no response.