Daniel glanced at his wristwatch to determine how much time he had until his next class, and he was relieved to see that he still had two hours before he had to be in Charms class. He'd been looking for his cat in between classes since yesterday and normally he wouldn't be worried but she had been acting strange lately. He suspected it was old age.


The Hufflepuff had searched the common room area after looking under his bed in the dormitory, but she wasn't sleeping on the mat in front of the fireplace either. He entered the garden area, and the lavender and soft chiming of bluebells helped him relax a bit. When he heard a sudden meow, he walked towards the middle of the room as recognized the sound, and spotted his black cat doing her 'business' in the grass.

...............Ugh.

Brandon had Lots of Things on his mind. Mostly he was homesick. Or... family-sick. He missed his siblings, and secretly he even missed his stepmother. To fix this, he had decided to walk around with his cat. Lilith had soft black fur, a very rumbly purring sound, and a judgmental-but-caring-mom-cat look about her. She always made him feel better.

Another thing that made him feel better was this garden. It was quiet, and relaxing, and secret and special and... quiet. Not so crowded. Brandon got sick of being around so many people.

Spotting Daniel Yoon (a person he knew, if not a person he'd ever talked to), Brandon walked over to stand next to him. Only he didn't know what to say and he felt awkward about it. So he just stood next to him and followed his eyes to find what he was looking at.

...Or not.

Daniel turned his head to the side as he heard footsteps approaching and saw Brandon enter the space. His gaze was drawn to the cat in the first year's arms, and for a brief moment, he believed the kid had managed to pick up his cat. But, upon looking closer, he found that it was distinct from his own. Cat's eyes were a different color. Daniel turned to examine the spot near the grass and discovered his own cat navigating her way toward the corner where the stack of books lay around.

Knowing that his cat was safe and in the common room, the Hufflepuff ignored Brandon and the 'business' that his cat had done in the small garden before he walked over to the stack of books. He crouched down and began to pet his cat's head before picking her up. "They're a handful, right?" he said, breaking the silence.

Brandon sighed when Daniel walked away, understanding of why his cat was the priority but still disappointed. How was he supposed to ever talk to the older boy if he walked away? Nope, too scary. Fortunately, Daniel did end up speaking to him. "...I guess so? They are a lot to take care of but I'm used to it." Despite his opposition to getting a cat, he loved Lilith, and didn't mind taking care of her. He petted his cat in his arms, holding her securely. "It's more like an armful, if the cat is an adult." Yes, that was a joke. Please appreciate it.

Anyways, Lilith kept him company when he felt lonely, and that made up for any chores he had to do to take care of her. "Isn't this a lovely garden? It's like the perfect place to relax."

Daniel had barely turned around to look at the first year when Cat began to struggle in his arms. The sixth year tried to hold her, but he was eventually forced to squat down and place her on the ground. She was getting older, and he had noticed that jumping from greater heights was painful for her little legs' joints. He stood up and checked the scratch on his hand as the cat ran out of the garden. "Armful... very funny," he said, though he didn't laugh. That was not Brandon's fault. He didn't laugh much, to begin with. "Your cat seems like she enjoys being in your arms" He could be wrong though.

He tilted his head to look past Brandon and followed his cat with his gaze until he saw her climb onto the couch and curl up to sleep, at which point he let out a small sigh of relief. "Huh?" he asked when the younger Hufflepuff questioned about the garden. "Oh, yeah. I guess" he said, shrugging his shoulders. In his opinion, the library was a better option. And the garden at his home was larger and better maintained than this space, but he figured it was fine. "I don't spend much time in here. I was only here looking for my cat" he admitted and walked over to one of the workbenches. "How proficient are you at Herbology?"