It was Friday afternoon. 

School had just started and Indica felt the need to come outside and relax.  It was still warm, September had barely started, and when she’d run into Eli and he suggested going to the lake, Indica was all about it.  She just needed to abandon her books and change out of her uniform.  If she wasn’t in class, she did not have any desire to be in the drafty, cold castle.  There was still sunlight and warmth!  She needed to get as much of it as possible. 

After dashing up to the common room, Indi dumped her bag on her bed and stripped straight out of her clothes, dropping them in an unceremonious heap on the side of her bed before bending to pick them up.  There might have been a time where her roommates might have found it horrifying that she was so… open, but years of knowing one another made quirks and idiosyncrasies seem less of a big deal.  Plus, Indi didn’t feel any of that overwhelming shame that most girls felt about getting changed in front of other people.  Her parents had made sure she was never uncomfortable with herself.  By extension, no one was afforded the luxury of feeling uncomfortable with her either. 

When one of the other girls finally cleared her throat loud enough that Indi finally caught on.  She’d only recently been told that apologizing after such a request had to be made, Indi carried on with it quickly before pulling out the shorts and shirt she wanted to wear and quickly pulled them on so her dorm mate would be satisfied.  She went back to her book, so Indi assumed she was. 

Unfortunately for her, Indica was heading out so she wouldn’t have much longer to reprimand her for her complete ease with the natural way of the world.  “Bye!” she trilled happily and jogged down the steps.  The castle was always just a little colder than one would expect and Indica wrapped her cardigan around herself as she descended from Gryffindor tower and through the halls as though she wasn’t even paying mind to where she was going.

She always ended up where she wanted to be anyway, so when she was walking out of the castle and down the hill toward the lake.  It was definitely a bit of a trek, but Indica loved being outside and spotting something green and curious along the way was usually the way of things, it hardly felt like it went by so quickly when she was approaching the lake front.  Eli was where he told her he’d be – the tree grove that was a personal, well guarded spot. 

“Well hello,” she called out as she continued her approach, the decline getting a little rockier and she started to turn her body to go down sideways.  “Fancy meeting you here!” she chirped as she finally jogged down the rest of the embankment and got up close, plopping down in the soft, patch of grass. 

Eli was always up for hanging out with Indica, or as he liked to call her rather inappropriately-- Indicush. That name didn't exactly fly with one of the staff members last year and he had gotten some points taken for it. To be fair, several of his nicknames for people had cost Slytherin house points when he uttered them in front of authority figures. But hey, if they couldn't laugh it off that was their problem. And people didn't tell him they had a problem with their nicknames.

Except for Alex. But she was a grumpypuss, and grumpypuss she would always be.

He waited at their meeting spot, rummaging through his bookbag when Indi approached.

"Well hello there!" He tilted his head at her before nodding approvingly, "Nice shorts." Eli pulled out some multicolored ink pens, "As a wise muggle sage by the name of Bubba Sparxx once said, 'Booty, booty, booty, booty... Rocking everywhere.'"

There were few people Indic knew who echoed her attitude on most things.  Eli was one of those people.  He appreciated American rap music, even the muggle kind, which Indica was extremely open minded toward, would smoke with her, and of course, there were obvious other things that they shared attitudes toward.  It was a good arrangement, since neither of them seemed to care beyond the point of them and had frequent, very pointed conversations, about anything and everything. 

So, when he commented on her shorts and the wise words of Bubba Sparxx, Indica nodded in solemn agreement.  “I believe it was one of his philosophical inspirations that also pointed out: when a girl wants in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face, you get sprung.” 

Glancing down at him, Indi tilted her head to the side and appraised pointedly.  “Doesn’t appear to have worked on you… yet,” she shrugged and plopped down next to him, sighing as she put her hands in the grass and stretched her fingers.  “What have you got in there for me?” she raised her eyebrows, a mischievous smirk on her face.