A Secluded Spot by the Lake

Audrey ducked as he came closer to her, giggling as she shouted "Polo" back at him. He took one more stroke forwards and as she tried to move back he got her on the shoulder. "Well hello Marco." She treaded water as he opened his eyes and smiled, "I guess Hufflepuffs are the best finders."

Justin grinned widely as he grasped Audrey's shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked at Audrey; somehow, she looked even more appealing when she was wet. "Well, the finding comes with the territory," Justin said suavely. "Though it isn't difficult when the object you are searching for is as beautiful as you."

Audrey smiled, not blushing because she wasn't really a blusher and she really was pretty so it wasn't exactly a new thing to get complements, not that she didn't appreciate them all. And Justin was very complementary. "Why thank you. Now go and I'll count." She covered her eyes with a hand and started a slow count.

Justin waited until Audrey shut her eyes. Justin began to swam toward her and tapped her shoulder gently before diving under the water and surfacing a few feet ahead. He then began to swim slowly in zigzags in order to not disturb the water; if necessary, he would speed up though. For the Hufflepuff generally did not enjoy being found, but perhaps he would make an exception for the lovely little Ravenclaw in the water with him.

Audrey spun around when she felt the tap on the shoulder, her eyes still closed, and felt the gentle ripples as he swam way. Then again that could just have been the lake water lapping against her. She listened for a moment but couldn't hear anything out of the ordinary so she smiled and called out to him, "Marco."

Justin grinned brightly as he quietly swam to the shore of the lake. He had a plan that he didn't want Audrey to know. "Polo!" he yelled; using his experience from volunteering at the community theater for several summers as a boy, he attempted to throw his voice somewhere near the middle of the lake where Audrey was currently floating gracefully around.

Audrey heard a little splashing to one side of her but his voice seemed to come from a different direction. She cocked her head, puzzled for a moment before swimming a little in the middle direction before stopping and shouting out again, waiting to hear where he spoke from this time.

Justin watched Audrey around, searching for him. But the Hufflepuff didn't want to be found quite yet. Taking a deep breath, he plunged underwater and swam to edge of the lake. As he hoisted himself on the shore with his strong, lean arm muscles, he shouted "Polo!" He sat on the edge, his legs crossed, waiting for Audrey to come to him.

Audrey heard his voice more distinctly this time, and turned, swimming in a direction she thought lead to the side of the lake. She heard the water that moved as she swam hitting skin and reached out in front of her, tapping him on the knee. Her eyes opened and she grinned, "Hello Marco."

Justin grinned as Audrey tapped his knee. With a mischievous wink, he picked her up gently from underneath her shoulders and sat her on his right side. He put his arm around her shoulder and turned to face her. "Hello Polo," he said coolly. "Was I easy to find?" He didn't think that he was that easy, but he wanted to hear Audrey's response. He hoped that she was feisty and fiery, two of his favorite traits in a woman.

Audrey was surprised how easily he lifted her up next to him and sat down on her knees, smirking. "I wouldn't call you easy, and I hope you're not always that hard to get." She glanced at his hand over her shoulder and turned back to him, her fingers tracing the toned muscles down his side and brushing the top of his trunks.

Spoiler:

"It depends on the situation," Justin said with a joyful grin at Audrey's touch - boy was she good. "I can be easy or hard, whatever's best." He leaned over, twirling a piece of her hair in hand, then brushing a bit of it away from her beautiful face. His other arm made its way around Audrey's waist.

Spoiler:

Audrey turned slightly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and put her hands on his shoulders, fingers moving back to play with the bottom of his hair. "Duly noted, and I hope I wasn't too easy for you." She leaned in a little, her face dangerously close to his.

Justin hated feeling nervous; unfortunately, his stomach was a ball of nerves as Audrey leaned in closer. He could do this - he had gotten through being petrified by a basilisk after all. "It wasn't," Justin whispered back as he grabbed the back of Audrey's head and gently leaned in to kiss her.

Audrey let out a happy sigh and leaned into the kiss, letting her hands move up to rest on the back of his neck, one hand tangling the bottom of his hair. She pressed into the kiss for a moment before pulling back with a smile, her dark eyes glittering with a mischievous excitement.

Justin looked up at Audrey, a smile on his face. "You are...quite...delightful," he said slowly, carefully choosing his words in order to show his pleasure yet hide his sudden bout of nerves. Why, for the first time in many years, did he feel so nervous? It was just a kiss; not like it was his first one ever. He grabbed Audrey's shoulder and leaned in closer to her ear. "I hope that we can find time to do this again," he whispered. God, he sounded twenty times more suave saying it in his head than he did aloud.

Audrey smiled at him, her hand moving around to stroke down his cheek, "You're rather charming yourself." She leaned back slightly, not pulling away just sitting so she could see his face better, "If you want to do this again then you should probably ask me out."

"Well then, would you like to join for an outing in Hogsmeade this weekend?" Justin asked, moving his hand through Audrey's hair. "Or we could do a picnic lunch, if you prefer?" Justin felt very nervous, yet very excited that things were going so well with Audrey.

*Arthur would like to note his frustration with Justin for stealing his date idea.*

Audrey leaned back, her fingers tracing over his shoulder and chest, "Well Hogsmeade does sound nice, I think I'd prefer that to a picnic." She thought for a moment then nodded, "Yep, Hogsmeade works for me. So pick me up in the entrance hall around noon?"

"That sounds delightful," Justin said with a smile. "Do you prefer any particular type of flower? Or is there someone who would be willing to divulge this information to me?" Justin remembered his father's words of wisdom - always ask the girl what she wants because then you can't get it wrong.

Audrey smiled the question then looked thoughtful, "I'd say probably tulips or some other very colourful spring flower. No roses though." She nodded, "I'm rather impressed that you asked though." She looked up at the sun to gauge the time, "Well sadly I need to dash now." She smirked and put a hand around the back of his head giving him another kiss before grabbing her things and standing up, "I'll see you saturday." And she pulled her shorts on and headed back up to the castle.

"Have a lovely day," Justin said. He watched Audrey leave, smiling to himself proudly. He picked up his clothing and placed it in his bag before hopping in the lake again for a quick swim, for swimming allowed Justin time to get his thought in order and settle his nerves.

Jesse smiled at her approval, pleased that she was happy with their date. "Well," he began as he reached into the picnic basket. "We have some finger sandwhiches," he told her as he took out a few and set them down in front of them. How heterosexual. "Aaaand..." He honestly had no idea. The house elves had done a lot of the work. "Strawberries," he smiled as he took out the red fruits and set them up on the blanket as well. "Pumpkin juice." He looked into the basket and chuckled as he pulled out an ice cream sundae. There's some sort of charm on it so it won't just melt. Gotta love magic. "And some ice cream for dessert!"

Milli watched with a grin on her face as Jesse removed the food. It all looked really good and she couldn't wait to dig in. She grabbed a little sandwich and bit into it, savoring the taste. It's Hogwarts food, it's gotta be really good even if it is just little, obviously heterosexual sandwiches. "It's great," she told him. "Thank you." She finished the sandwich and took a sip of pumpkin juice. "How have you been? I haven't seen you lately," she said guiltily, knowing it was mostly her fault.

Jesse shrugged as he took a small bite out of one of the sandwiches. "Studying, mostly. Practicing my spells. No one seems to get why I take my studies so seriously, but I'm sure they'll understand next year when they're all racing to prepare for N.E.W.T.s, while I'm already well prepared." He smiled as he took a sip of his pumpkin juice. "What about you? What've you been up to?"