Written for the 'If You Dare' Challenge, Prompt #1: Glacier
& the A-B-C Challenge: Letter L. (Lysander / Lucy / Lobalug / Lake / Levicorpus)
A Glacier of Uncertainty
From his position on the ground, the grass tickling at his bare feet in the harsh winds, the boy pressed quill to parchment in a thoughtful movement and began to scrawl. His handwriting was impeccably neat, each word considered thoughtfully. They spilled out onto the page, his feelings and his thoughts scattered into sentences.
Love, love, love.
That was the only consistent word. Spread out among each page, present in almost too many sentences. Present even when it wasn't there, it simply lingered. In a thought, in the air, in a denial or a cleverly worded escape. He touched the feather of the quill to his lower lip and resisted the urge to chew at it, instead sucking in a deep breath.
He'd never felt this way before. It was a new emotion, one that made him feel stupid things. Made him want to do stupid things. Not that he was ever fully against stupid things - truth be told, he didn't believe in calling anything a 'stupid thing'. He'd skinny dipped in the very lake he was sat next to now, in fact, and not for a dare or to prove himself. Simply for the experience.
There was something about this word, love, that made him feel the way the lake had made him feel that night. It had frozen him to the bone, sent shivers touring through his body for days. It'd put him in the hospital wing and, truth be told, love sort of felt like it might do that to him too.
Staring out at the great expansion of the lake made him think of the infinity of it. He couldn't see the end. It stretched out for miles. Made him feel a little lost.
Love is like a glacier, his hand and quill decided. He wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but it sounded somewhat right. Cold, infinite, potentially terrifying. Beautiful.
"No it's not," a voice startled him, coming up from behind and resting beside him, familiarity cutting through the silence. "Love's not like a glacier at all. You're crazy."
Lysander blinked, twisting his body around to face her and setting the book, closed, down at his feet. "Hello, Lucy."
A smile lit up her face momentarily, the reflection of the lake shimmering across the freckles that dotted her pale face. She looked from Lysander to the lake, scrunching up her nose in that - damn cute - way she always did. "Not thinking of jumping in again, are you?"
He shook his head, clearing his throat. "No. The Lobalugs would probably get me, and I don't fancy that right now."
"Lysander," Lucy squinted, turning to face him momentarily and flashing an almost pitiful look. She couldn't resist the laughter that bubbled in her throat, though. "You know those only exist in the North Sea."
Again, he shook his head. "Not true at all. Merpeople use them, and there are Merpeople in this very lake." When she shot him another glance, he held his hands up in defence. "I'm the one who's been in there, remember. Stark naked and all."
Both of them laughed at the memory. Lucy had been one of the first to visit him, among his brother and his best friends, of course. Lucy sort of counted as a best friend, he supposed. Or she should. But it was different. They didn't hang out in the Ravenclaw common room or sip butterbeer in Hogsmeade together; no, they shared quick glances in the Great Hall. Lucy whispered snarky jokes in Lysander's ear whenever Lorcan showed himself up or Roxanne got too rowdy.
It was different, being with Lucy.
Looking out at the great expanse of water, its depths of unknown and uncertainty, Lysander struck an idea.
"I dare you to jump in," he proclaimed.
"What?" Lucy thought that maybe she hadn't heard him right. Or maybe he really was insane. As the wind whipped at her hair, the cold nipping at her fingertips, she froze at merely the thought of jumping into the lake.
"We can jump in together."
"I think you're actually insane."
"I'll use Levicorpus on you."
"You wouldn't," she told him, raising an eyebrow. He'd had worse experience than she with the Levicorpus jinx - it had been the very jinx that had sent him flying across the Great Hall and into the Slytherin table last year (Lorcan's doing, but admittedly not entirely on purpose). "I'll use Levicorpus on you."
"How about we both use Levicorpus on each other and see if we can make it in?" There was a sparkle in his eyes, an air of adventure and the need to experience - but not alone, this time with somebody else.
"Okay, you're definitely crazy."
"Was that an okay?"
And surprisingly enough, Lucy was the first to jump to her feet. Her shoes hit the ground with a soft thud and rolled to lie beside Lysander's notebook. She slid off her robes, goosebumps prickling at her arms. "Come on, then."
A hand reached down and hovered in front of Lysander's eyes, waiting for him to take it, to grasp this moment. So he did, hoisting himself up and shuffling to the very edge of the lake. He could feel the cold already, but it didn't matter so much now. With Lucy's hand tight in his, he felt like he could stay warm for an eternity.
"Ready?" he asked quietly.
She responded only with a kiss - a long, sweet peck to his rosy cheek.
They jumped. Into the harsh, sharp waters and whatever creatures waited among them. It didn't matter so much that the lake stretched out for so long, Lysander decided. It didn't matter that he could see the end, or even the middle. A little uncertainty could be good, once in a while, especially in love.