The Grounds

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Janet felt an arm wrap around her and she stiffened for a slight second before realizing it wasn't another jump scare. She then relaxed and allowed Dimitri to turn her away from the chain saw weilding maniac. She felt a rush of gratitude towards her friend as she turned her face away from the stupid clown. A moment later they were far enough away for Dimitri to let go and Janet to feel safe again. She let out a sigh of relief before a dark blush grew across her face. "Th-thanks for that."

Dimitri then asked if she was ok, only making her face grow redder as she nodded sheepishly. "Y-yeah. I'm okay." She let out a slightly shakey breath and smiled. "That one was the most scary so far by far. I'm not even scared of clowns.. I think it was the chainsaw. Just something about him running at us with a chainsaw freaked me out." She shook her head and continued on thier way, hoping for no more chainsaws.

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"Don't mention it!" Dimitri said, waving away the thank you. It was clear neither one of them had enjoyed that jump in the slightest -- not that you were supposed to enjoy it, but Dimitri knew what he meant as he thought it through in his head. Taking a moment, perhaps two, Dimitri's heartbeat settled back down in to mildly faster pace than was normal.

After all, anticipation got one's heart racing.

"Yeah, he was proper freaky!" Dimitri agreed, shaking his head as he followed after her once more along the path. They couldn't have too much further to go, of that much, Dimitri was quite sure, for the path had stopped from sloping so much on it's descent to the lake. Deciding not to say such things out loud, though, the Ravenclaw simply continued following the witch before him, eyes peeled for movement.

It came not too soon after in the form of two zombies coming out from either side of them. The strange groaning that came from zombies evident and eerie as Dimitri ushered Janet through them quickly just about managing to fend off the grabbing hands of both the actors in the process. Dimitri was not a fan of such things, but it hadn't been the worst, perhaps the path fizzled out of it's scariness after a while?

Or... that was precisely what he believed...

As Dimitri let his guard down, much too early, the pair were descended on by five people dressed as the vampires of their world, snapping, snarling and generally making the experience unpleasant as they cornered the two next to one another. If there was one thing Dimitri could not stand -- fictional or not -- it was the non-human beings of this world. For a moment, he stood frozen in place, his body not wanting to work in the slightest.

But, Dimitri was a Ravenclaw, and his eyes spotted the gap. Grabbing for Janet's hand, the boy pulled her from the fray of vampires, and out of the end of the path in to the clearing by the lake. It would be quite clear to Janet that Dimitri was shaking from the final experience, and the boy had quite forgotten to let go of her hand as he looked out across the lake, trying to steady his breathing once more.

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After a little bit two zombies lept out at the pair, one on either side. Janet squealed in both fear and excitment and did her best to avoid the reaching limbs of the two. She giggled afterwords, enjoying herself now that there were no chainsaws involved.

She could see the ending coming up and was starting to calm down when a large group of very real looking vampires jumped out. Janet backed up with a small gasp untill realizing they were cornered. She glanced at Dimitri, realizing this scared him about as much as her with the chainsaw. It was her turn to help out.

Fram her belt loop she pulled out her not-so-fake weapon that was a baseball bat wrapped in barbed-wire and held it out threateningly. "Ok, that's enough. Back off!" she yelled at the group in a growl. As one stepped forward to futher scare the couple she swung the bst, purposely missing by only an inch. "I said...back. off."

At this point Dimitri spotted a break in thier vamp wall and grabbed Janet's hand, pulling her through quickly. On the rest of the short walk to the lake Janet tucked the bat back through her belt loop with the hand currently not occupied by Dimitri's.

As they reached thier destination Janet glanced at the boy and gave his shakey hand a gentle squeeze. "Hey, you okay? So unfair, jumping out just when you think it's over." She gave him an encouraging smile and led them over to a patch of grass where they could sit down. She then looked out at the lake with a grin.

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The swinging of the bat -- Dimitri hadn't taken much thought to the weapon that Janet was packing, in truth -- was enough to break the opening. Dimitri had never been more glad of someone using their initiative, truthfully. It got them out of the sticky situation, that much was for sure.

As they moved in to the more open area by the lake, Dimitri sucked in the air hungrily once more. Calming himself down moment by moment as he did so. It was not a nice feeling, but soon he was settling back down in to normal breathing. His body gaining some composure once more, but it was much too late, it seemed, for a moment later, Janet was asking him if he was okay.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good now." Dimitri said, his smile a little thankful in that moment because she wasn't making too big of a fuss over it all. "Just wasn't expecting something so... real." He admitted with a sheepish smile, allowing himself to be lead over to a patch of grass where they both sat down, Dimitri undoing the button of his suit jacket as he did so to make himself more comfortable in that moment.

For a moment Dimitri sat quietly, looking out across the lake that had been lit up by multiple pumpkin lanterns, and some kind of smoke, or mist, had been made to sit on top of the lake, as if it were a bubbling cauldron, or something. It was, in Dimitri's mind, quite something to behold. Turning from the lake to look at the witch beside him, Dimitri took in the fact she was grinning to herself, and he couldn't help but feel like he was missing something...

Eyes casting back across the lake -- so as not to make his next question any more awkward than he meant it to be -- Dimitri asked ever so softly. "What's so amusing..?"

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Janet nodded in agreement. "Hey, man. I'm pretty sure everyone has something in there that would freak them out. I mean.. I don't know how I would have made it past the chainsaw freak. I'm glad you were there." Dimitri unbuttoned his jacket and looked out at the lake. Janet studied him for a moment before following suit, observing the night sky and the lake.

After a moment of silence Dimitri asked what was amusing. Janet frowned for a moment, before she realized he was reffering to her grin a second earlier. She chuckled softly and lifted one shoulder. "Nothing really.. I'm just enjoying this. It's a beautiful night though a bit chilly, and the lake is amazing with the fog, and the sky is so clear you can see so many stars." She turned her attention to the sky and leaned her head back, studying the sky before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, drinking in the clear air.

Janet suddenly became very aware of the fact they were still holding hands and blushed. She lifted her head and looked back across the lake, trying to will the heat in her cheeks to go away. She shivered slightly in the night air but smiled even still at the water, watching as a pumpkin bobbed in the lake. "I wonder what the squid is doing at the moment?" Janet wondered aloud, not turning her attention from the lake.

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Dimitri smiled as Janet admitted that she was glad he was there. They had helped one another through the jump scares one after the other. Without each other, they wouldn't have gotten through it all. "Don't mention it," Dimitri replied softly, because that was what friends were for, anyway.

The explanation of what had brought the smile to the Slytherin's lips brought a smile to Dimitri's. He liked that she was noticing the details, taking in the stars, and enjoying the evening. His own eyes moved to the stars, looking at them, but not really seeing any of the constellations he knew. Not that it mattered, the lake was much more beautiful that evening.

The shiver that ran through Janet a moment later was one that Dimitri connected with her early (unregistered) comment of it being chilly. Letting go of the witch's hand -- much more belatedly than he'd really realised had happened -- the Ravenclaw shrugged out of his suit jacket, and carefully placed it around Janet's shoulders to keep her warm. He was quite warm enough, and even in just a shirt, he would likely be warmer than Janet would be in her outfit.

Janet's question of the squid made Dimitri laugh softly, shaking his head at the question that had been raised. His eyes moved from the lake to the Slytherin witch, the amusement shining in the Ravenclaw's eyes. "The Squid?" He asked, buying himself some more time as he thought about it. "I'd guess... that he'd likely hiding from the Merpeople who are celebrating Halloween with us in the form of a karaoke party at the bottom of the lake." He suggested, lips brought up in to a smile that was barely contained in that moment.

It was a silly answer, but Janet hadn't specified that she'd wanted the actual answer to her question.

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Janet looked over as Dimtiri dropped her hand and watched as he took off his jacket. She smiled shyly as he put it around her own shoulder and gripped the opening, pulling around her a bit more tightly. "Thank you." she said softly. "This shirt was not the best choice for a chilly night, I suppose, though I hadn't planned to go outside." She chuckled and lifted a shoulder in a half shrug.

Janet laughed at Dimitri's answer and raised an eyebrow. "Aww. Poor squidy-poo, he just want's some peace and quit. Well, I'm actually not sure he's that anti-social. I feel like he would be down there celebrating with along with them in that scenario. But I think he's making little waves to watch the pumpkins move across the water." She giggles slightly and glances at Dimitri to see his reaction to this.

Janet's hands played with the grass beneath the couple, pluching a strand then taking time to shred it in little peices. Then, take another and repeat the process. She made quick work of the little game and a growing pile of the little grass bits sat beside her, the side opposite Dimitri.

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"You definitely hadn't thought about being outside in it, no." Dimitri chuckled softly, hoping his jacket would fight off some of the cold air from the evening. If not... well, they would have to cut this rendezvous short, and Dimitri wasn't sure that he wanted to do that just yet. This was nice, sitting out by the lake, admiring it's beauty with someone who didn't make you feel like you had to do anything in particular.

The idea that Janet came up with about the squid brought a smile to Dimitri's lips, amusement creeping in until he was grinning at the cuteness of the idea. Almost like a cat, slapping at a toy of theirs, that idea he could definitely get behind... "I like that idea. It's cute, and makes the squid seem much nicer than many would ever think to portray him..." Dimitri replied softly, seeing Janet looking to him for a reaction.

Dimitri's eyes moved back to the lake once more, for a few moments, before he noticed Janet's hands fumbling around with the grass by them. Curiosity piqued as to why, Dimitri picked up a blade of grass, and offered it to Janet as she finished another piece, a small smile playing on his lips. "What did the grass ever do to you?" He asked, teasing her slightly for her actions, but not completely meaning it in a manner that would suggest she should stop what she was doing.

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Janet smiled keeping the jacket wrapped around her. Dimitri commented that the idea had been cute and Janet grinned. “Oh, I love the squid. I come down here every once in a while and just watch him in the water. Sometimes he’ll put his tentacles on the grass and let me tickle them.”

She turned to look at Dimitri with a meschievious glint in her eye. “Have you ever swam in the lake? It’s really nice, especially when it gets warmer.” She watched looked back to the water, watching the floating pumpkins. With a small smile. “Playing with the pumpkins is something he would do.”

As she played with the grass she noticed Dimitri pick a piece and offer it to her. She grinned and accepted it, the blade long and perfect. He asked what the grass did to her and she giggled. “Nothing. It just is fun to shred. I’ve done this since..” she paused for a moment to think, “since my I saw my dad doing it at a family picnic years ago.” She smiled at the memories and began on his blade of grass. “It’s just something to do with my hands when I’m bored or nervous.” She looked up from the blade, cheeks red. “Not that im bored! I’m having a great time.”

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The idea of tickling the squid was... a little weird, Dimitri had to admit that much, but he guessed it was something that Janet liked to do, and he would never take that away from her. Differing likes between friends never hurt, after all. "Nice." The boy commented softly, not knowing what more to add to that sentence without it sounding like he was trying to over compensate for his lack of enthusiasm in that moment.

"I swim in the lake all the time. That's the one thing Hogwarts lacks, a swimming pool. It's the only form of exercise I enjoy, in truth, and it's a great sport because it tones your whole body up really nicely." Dimitri said, smiling to himself. "But, I definitely agree that it's better when it's warmer, otherwise you have to cast a spell to keep you warm -- or, for the more mad people, go in in just one of those Muggle wetsuit things. I can't see as that would keep you warm enough..." The Ravenclaw mused.

"Perhaps, we'll have to go for a swim together some time." He proposed -- and he meant it, it would be fun to explore the lake with someone, or simply just have company whilst he kept his fitness up. Though, of course, only if Janet wanted to do that.

The memory that Janet shared was one that made the Ravenclaw smile. He could see the significance of the activity. "Kinda cute." Dimitri mused, before picking up on the witch's words. Bored, or nervous. But, she'd quickly ruled out the former... Frowning slightly at that, and using the moment to look away to the pumpkins once more, Dimitri bit his lip for a moment, before asking ever so softly, so softly that it would allow Janet to pretend she hadn't heard, if she so wished.

"What's making you nervous?"

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