Rite of Spring ((Allison))

[Scott Ryder G7]

Scott suppressed a yawn as he threw his books into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Morning classes weren't his favorite, but he had learned to tolerate them. With a cup of coffee at breakfast, he was usually awake enough to last till lunch time. Today though, he was too late to make it to breakfast, which meant he'd have to find another way to stay awake for Herbology. At least it was a class that required a lot of hands on participation. That would help keep him interested and alert. Of course, he didn't really enjoy Herbology overall, and it wasn't one of his best subjects either.

Hurrying down the stairs from the boys' dormitories, Scott let out a yell of surprise as something darted past his feet and across the room. His eyes followed the ball of fur and he watched as he realized that it was a small kitten. Laughing to himself, Scott walked over to the fireplace where the kitten had managed to climb up onto the mantle. "What are you doing?" he questioned, reaching up and stroking the kitten's back. He was normally a fan of animals as long as they didn't seem threatening. This little guy didn't seem so bad. Scott hadn't seen the kitten around before, so he wasn't sure who it could belong to. Most of the pets had become common visitors to the common room. Everyone tended to learn which animal belonged to who.

"What's your name little guy?" he asked, checking the collar to see if there was a name anywhere. Just then though, he was startled to hear footsteps behind him. Perhaps it was the cat's owner. He turned, stuffing his hands in his pocket, and saw a younger girl approaching. He was almost certain that her name was Allison, as she was one of the girls in Flick's year. "Hello," he said quickly. His cheeks reddened a bit as he had been caught talking to the kitten. "Know who's cat this is?" he asked, turning back to look at the cute fluffy face.

((Note: Flick is Scott's younger sister who is a 4th year Gryff. She isn't a character that is role-played on this site though. She is just an NPC - Non-Played-Character. As well, the title of the post was just random. Couldn't think of anything else so I just went to my iTunes and picked a song. ))

[Allison Edwin G4]

Gus was like no other kitten Allie had ever known before. Instead of keeping his distance like most cats did when in Allie's presence, Gus never ceased to follow his owner everywhere she went. This morning was no different as Allie left the common room to head to breakfast. She had barely reached the Great Hall and as she turned to shut the door behind her, she found Gus standing at her feet. And so, Allie would not dare break her precious kitten's heart by leaving him behind and had proceeded to place Gus gently in her bag where he could sit comfortably and refrain from disturbing others. He remained there throughout the remainder of breakfast, enjoying a few scraps of toast every now and then as Allie gently tickled his belly and listened to him purr in delight of all the attention.

And so Allie had finished her breakfast with a clean plate, thanks to the appetite of Gus' small yet surprisingly pitless stomach. She had decided to take him with her to her first class, which was Transfiguration. She had never read of a policy that forbid animals in the classrooms, but she was almost positive that one existed. At the thought of the rule, Allie had simply shrugged her shoulders. Gus was bound to fall asleep any moment, as he always did right after he ate a big meal. Allie had no worries about getting caught with a slumbering kitten in her bag, and had proceeded to Transfiguration without a care in the world.

But Merlin did she regret it. Midway through class, the rat that was supposed to be immobilized and that Allie was supposed to be transfiguring into a goblet had somehow managed to run off of the table and onto the floor, causing Gus to perk up and pounce out of the bag and run after the critter. At first shocked at what had just happened, Allie had no time to realize that the Slytherin sitting a few seats down had set her up after seeing a tail swish from out of her bag and back in. Regardless of who had triggered the chase, Allie was nevertheless given a detention, much to the delight of her enemy. As the bell rang signaling the end of class, Allie had grabbed her belongings and dashed out of the classroom to find her lion-wannabe of a pet.

And now, as she neared the Gryffindor tower, she spotted a flash of orange fade into the doorway of the common room. "Gus!" she yelled. She recited the password and pushed her way into the common room. Upon entering she saw a boy about one or two years older than her, hovering over her cat. He seemed startled at her sudden presence, and slightly embarrassed. Perhaps he was so because she had caught him talking to an animal, but Allie thought he had no reason to be considering she talked to Gus all the time.

"Hello," she answered. "That's actually my cat. His name is Gus, and he's in big big trouble." The last bit was directed toward the now-cowering cat who, as Allie approached him, wrapped himself around the boy's legs. "Gus, please," she said, bending down to pick him up. He clawed at her arms, causing her to grimace slightly. "Ow, stop," she told him. Sighing, she turned to the boy once more. "I'm sorry, how rude of me. I'm Allison Edwin, fourth year. I do know who you are--" Was there anybody she didn't know? "Scott, right?"

[Scott Ryder G7]

Gus... that was an appropriate name for the kitten, Scott decided, nodding his head in approval as his embarrassment slowly turned into a small smile. "In that case, you have a cute cat," he said, watching as Gus hopped from the mantle and walked a figure-eight around his legs. Allison then bent down to retrieve the energetic cat, getting clawed in the process. "Wow, he's a handful," Scott added with a laugh as the girl apologized. "I've seen worse," he said assuringly. When she introduced herself, it confirmed that she was who he thought she was, and she also seemed to know him as well. Granted, he was one of the prefects, which meant he should be more well known, but that wasn't always the case. With his somewhat shy personality, not everyone knew who Scott was. Theo and Lori were more outgoing prefects, and Scott had gradually been starting to be a bit more outgoing himself. But then when the whole issue with Theo and Oscar had been uncovered, things hadn't been the same for Scott. It had come as a shock to both him and Lori that Theo was hiding the fact that he had a boyfriend, but Scott had never imagined that it would lead to his renewed isolation. Things were back to the way they always were though, and Scott was spending more and more time alone.

"Yeah, I'm Scott. You probably know my sister too. Flick," he said quickly. "Or... Felicity." He wasn't sure if anybody else but his family called her Flick. "She's in your year." Scott watched as Allison continued to wrestle with Gus who seemed unhappy to have been caught. "So why's he in such big trouble?" Scott asked curiously. "He's just a kitten, wanting to have a bit of fun." He smiled, reaching out to pet Gus who pawed at Scott's hand with his claws. They were sharp. Scott remembered learning a Charm that sharpened things. As well, they had learned the opposite charm to make things duller. "Here, let me try something," he said, hoping that Allison wouldn't mind. Scott took his wand and muttered the spell, tapping Gus's paws lightly. He wasn't sure it it worked or not, so he held out his forearm so that Gus could take a few swipes. "Look, no blood!" he said, happy with his handiwork. "You'll have to remember that Charm. I think you'll learn it next year though, but if you practise now, you will have a head start on the rest of your class."

[Allison Edwin G4]

Allie smiled at the compliment. "Thanks," she replied, patting Gus's head. She was proud of her cat, despite the many moments she wished he would be a little less energetic and more like the fat, lazy cats that sit around all day. But whenever a thought like that crossed her mind, Allie would just remind herself of how little fun cats like that were. Gus meowed gently into Allie's hands, resting his head in the bend of her arm. He was clearly worn out from his little escapade. Scott then proceeded to claim that he's seen worse, and Allie couldn't help but laugh to herself. This whole episode was Gus on a good day--wait till Scott saw him when he's had a bit too much cat treats. But Allie said nothing of this, because quite frankly, she had enough of dealing with Prince Gus for the day.

After Scott introduced himself, he proceeded to say that he was related to Felicity, or "Flick" he called her, a girl that Allie knew quite well. "Oh right, I know her. Nice girl." Allie smiled shyly, unsure of what else to say. Scott inquired as to why Gus was "in trouble," but before Allie could answer, Scott took out his wand and gently tapped Gus's paw. Allie flinched a little as he did this, nervous about what he was going to do. She felt very protective of Gus, because--believe it or not--he was a very sensitive kitten. But as Scott muttered a spell that Allie didn't quite catch, all that happened was a slight smoothing of Gus's nails. Allie had to admit that she was quite impressed.

"Smart trick," she told Scott, running her fingertip along the edge of Gus's claws. "Saves me from having to try and do it the old fashioned way. I get so many scratches from trying to smoothen out his claws that sometimes I wonder why I even bother in the first place." Allie laughed in spite of herself, when she suddenly remembered that she had not answered Scott's question. "Well," she began, looking down at her now-sleeping cat. "You see I took him to transfiguration with me today, hoping he would just sleep in my bag. And well.. he saw the rat I was supposed to be turning into a goblet and immediately took action." Allie sighed, stroking Gus's back. "He's quite the trouble-maker."