At the edge of the Forest

Samantha Quill was sat down on the ground, her back against a thick and gnarled tree trunk at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She would never go in, of course. Not only was she too afraid of losing house points but she rather preferred the arrangement of her limbs and vital organs the way they were.

Using her knees brought up halfway to her chest as a somewhat makeshift table, the girl had just finished writing out her Transfiguration homework and was starting on her DADA one. As she reached over to refill her quill with more ink, she noticed a flash of white between the trees at the fringe of the forest. She shuddered involuntarily.

The forest was famous for sheltering many magical creatures and not all of them were friendly to humans. She shouldn't have come here, she should have... But where else could she have gone? The library was anything but quiet, empty classrooms made her feel nervous and the area around the lake was always bustling with activity.

Something white flashed in her peripheral vision again. Was it her imagination or did the source of the flash seem closer this time?

I've got to get out of here... It could be a Centaur, or... an Acramantula... or one of those legendary Skrewts.

Panicking slightly, the girl got to her feet and started gathering her books and writing paraphernalia. She'd go back to the castle, to the library, to the Common Room, anywhere but here...

The white thing was definitely closer now. Samantha could see it was something small and able to streak across the forest floor at quite a speed. In fact, so fast did it run that she couldn't identify it at all.

Get a hold of yourself, girl. Just because it's small doesn't make it any less dangerous, her aunt's voice scolded in her head.

Clutching her books and satchel in front of her, the dark haired girl took a few steps back. She knew the proper thing to do was to tread softly and hide her presence as much as possible in case the creature was the unfriendly sort. Too bad the dry leaves on the ground weren't informed of such basic precautionary measures. They crackled loudly as she stepped on them, making the Slytherin flinch.

The flash of white was definitely nearing her and she couldn't blame it. She must have attracted it's attention pretty early on what with her clumsy footing and the fact that she had been absently humming when doing her work.

Suddenly, the white thing shot straight across the fifteen feet separating the girl from the forest fringe and came to stand right at her feet. Her whole body trembled.

The creature lifted it's pink nose up at her trembling frame as if to inquire what her problem was. It's soft brown eyes shone brilliantly at it took her in. Seeming to find her to its satisfaction, the little thing thumped it's hind legs twice before sitting down.

Samantha sank down to her knees in relief, satchel and all. It was only a little bunny rabbit - and quite a friendly and inquisitive one at that.

"Watch out, Samantha it has fangs!" yelled Cass, jumping out from behind a thick tree. "I joke, I joke." The fear on Samantha's face when she first saw something was truly priceless- it was hard for Cass to stop herself from laughing and breaking her cover.
"I've seen that one around. It's perfectly harmless," she said, matter-of-factly. "Infact, it defended Bradders when a Unicorn almost stood on him." Cass patted her Bradley's head, happy he was now safe. "You gonna keep him?"

“B-bradders..?” the girl stuttered. Who was this strange girl and what was she doing inside the forest? Weren’t students forbidden? Wasn’t she afraid? There was an eagle on her robes which meant she wasn’t a Gryffindor. Samantha’s head spun.

The little rabbit was now dividing his attention between the two girls, staring at both of them with polite curiosity.

"You look like you've been hit with a beaters bat across your noggin. You okay?"
Cass looked at the girl she knew to be a Slytherin- she'd seen her around in a few lessons, too. She'd come across hard as nails. She looked pretty plaintive, and plainly lonely.
"Bradley's my frog," she explained. "I keep him hush hush in the forest here. He's probably one of my best friends... eh, I'm Cass,"
she held out her hand.

"H-hello Cass," the girl squeaked, politely reaching for this outspoken Ravenclaw's hand. She must really look a state if the girl had no qualms pointing it out. Lowering her head, she let her hair fall around her face. And then it hit her.

“Y-you can keep the frog?..” she asked hesitantly, an idea forming in her head. Without realizing it, her eyes went straight to the rabbit now quite at ease between the two students.

Cass took a deep breath, the Samantha girl looked really on edge. Maybe she was worried about being so close to the Forbidden Forest or something. "Oh, no. Bradder's has been with me since I was small. I left him here because I forgot to notify the Professors that I was bringing a Frog. Well-," Cass lowered her voice to a whisper, "he's a toad, but he doesn't know it. Don't mention the 'T' word when he's around."
And then the name Samantha and house 'Slytherin' clicked.
"Hey! You're the girl with the whole cooking thing, aren't you!"
Cass grinned fondly. She wondered if she did a mean Califlower Pureé..

“Oh… yes, I bake mostly. I’d be glad to bake you something. But could you answer me this please,” the girl asked hesitantly, the idea had now taken full shape in her mind.

She couldn’t be seriously considering this. How could she? She’d never be allowed… and term would end in a few weeks. Where would she keep it?

The girl asked the next question purely on impulse:

“Theoretically, if we find a sufficiently safe creature… in the grounds…” she tried to phrase it diplomatically. “That is to say… it doesn’t belong to anyone, does it?”

Catherine stalked towards the forest kicking up leaves as she went. Stupid aunt. The Ravenclaw picked up a fist sized rock and hurled it, full force at a tree in the corner of her vision.

It skimmed past a Slytherin girl's head and Cat froze. "Shit!" She yelled. Oops- damn! She wasn't meant to say that! ARGH! "I'm sorry!" She yelled, scrambling towards the othe girl. "I'm so sorry- I was just throwing things- and- and I'm so sorry!"

Cat rounded the corner and saw that she was in conversation with Cass. "Sorry." She said lamely once more.

Samantha eyes widened in panic as a large rock came hurtling towards her. If it wasn’t for her body taking over, the thing would have hit her square on the head. Luckily though, it barely skimmed.

Her lavender eyes darted towards the fringe of the forest, could it be something from there? No, the thing throwing it must be situated behind her. She turned.

Only to see that it was a “thing”, it was yet another Ravenclaw. The girl briefly wondered if the Ravenclaws had a secret base in the forest.

“Th-th-that’s alr-alright,” she stuttered, scared out of her wits.

Cat moaned, covering her eyes with her hands. "I'm so sorry." She groaned, throwing herself down by a tree. "I'm just out of it today!" She pulled up a handful of grass. She rubbed her temples and looked up at the girl. "I am sorry." She said frankly. "I'm Cat. I've seen you around, don't think we've been introduced." Cat forced a small smile onto her face.

Samantha’s gaze had automatically fixed on the rabbit after it had been confirmed that no threat was in the area. The creature, though startled, seemed quite at ease now. It even walked up to the witch now flopped down beside a tree and sniffed at her inquisitively.

Tearing her eyes from the rabbit, she looked at the girl. “Hey Cat… sorry, I don’t know many people…” she trailed off. “And it’s alright…. About the stone, I mean.”

"Don't worry about Cat," said Cass, stepping out from the shadows of the foliage, "she's a bit of a live-wire, this one. Just keep a safety helmet on and you'll be fine."
Cass lowered her voice a little, "if you're thinking of making the rabbit a pet. Then no, I don't think there's anything against it. I'd go for it. I won't tell a teacher- how could I? I'm harbouring my frog in the Forest- they don't even know about it."
Cass looked at Cat- she could see she was itching to do a cartwheel. Like an addict, Cass scratched her hand. She did too.

“You mean I can… I can keep it,” the girl asked incredulously. Even before Cass could answer, a huge smile bloomed on her face. She could keep the little guy. He would be hers and no one else’s. She felt like doing cartwheels at the spot, skirt and all.

“Thank you,” she said gratefully to the Ravenclaw before stepping forwards and scooping the rabbit in her arms. Its tiny nose twitched with curiosity but it seemed to like being held judging by the warm and contented chattering that followed a moment later.

“I’ll see you later Cass, Cat, I have to get him inside… I have to… I still owe you desert, Cass. Drop by my bakery anytime and I’ll make you whatever you wan, promise,” and with that, the witch bounded off joyfully back to the castle, her satchel swinging on her back.

Cass nodded excitedly at the words of Samantha, and the promise of food- hopefully it'd be her favourite dish, not exactly a dessert, but hey, she ate it as a treat.
As Samantha scurried away, Cass petted Bradley, and tickled the ears of the wild rabbit.
"She'll look after you," she promised.

Cass plonked herself back down on the grass, and welcomed Bradley into her arms. She wondered where Samantha had got to. But seeing as she first met her in her bakery, she guessed that would be where she was now.
Kissing Bradley, and handing him some flies, Cass wondered if she'd bump into Sam again.