In the hope of a distraction

Lily had been staring at the same line of her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework for half an hour now. She had started off well with the essay on the Illegal Curses, considering her father was the only wizard known to have survived the killing curse, it was expected of her. Yet for some reason she had lost concentration and as she re read what she had written she realized she had repeated herself several times now. Giving it up as a lost cause and something she would finish tomorrow she rolled up her parchment and shoved it back in her bag along with her text book, ink and quill.

Pulling her cloak more tightly around her against the bitter winter wind, she sat back against the tree she had chosen to sit under, her eyes scanning the water of the lake. She preferred to be out here studying than cooped up in the library, even in the cold winter, there was something calming about watching the black water, if you watched for long enough you could occasionally glimpse a tentacle of the giant squid that lurked in the deep waters.

It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning its slow descent. It had been shining brightly all morning though its heat was lost to the north winds. Clambering to her feet she began to reluctantly meander slowly back towards the castle, part of her praying that something or someone would come along and deter her.