Aside from the Music Room, one of Jude’s favourite spot to be was out by the Whomping Willow. Not TOO close to it but at a safe distance where there was no need to worry about being attacked quite suddenly or otherwise. It was a rather great day to be out here: the warm afternoon sun beat lightly down on his skin but Jude didn’t really care. It was best to soak up all the rays because winter would be here before they all knew it.

Currently, Jude was stretched out on his back, Ned the cat sitting on his chest. “Ned! You’ve gotten twice as big in the last year!’’ He was, of course, joking even though the cat felt as though it were about to crush his ribs. Ned simply purred and kneaded the boy’s chest with its front paws. “Ow ow ow.” The Hufflepuff winced as the claws dug through his shirt and into his skin. “I gather this is revenge for teasing… ow… you?”

Book in hand, Jackson headed for the outdoors for some reading time. Sunshine was good for the body, so his mother reminded him often. Approaching the Whomping Willow Jackson heard a familiar voice. "That's why I don't like those things." Jackson said pointing to the cat. "Such vicious little creatures.". Not that he had any good experiences with the animal recently. Norah had tossed the stray neighborhood cat on him the morning they were leaving for the train and he ended up sitting in his mother's "fix it" chair in the kitchen while she healed his scratches up.

Jackson plopped down near Jude and the cat, but a safe distance away in case the cat decided to pounce on Jackson too. "I hope the others don't get any ideas about getting cats." Jackson mused, more to himself than to Jude. He could see it now, all the younger cousins wanting cats and the house just milling with people and cats all the time. Surely his father would say no, right? A big fat 'NO'.

SPOILER!!: Jackson! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by QueenGinger

Book in hand, Jackson headed for the outdoors for some reading time. Sunshine was good for the body, so his mother reminded him often. Approaching the Whomping Willow Jackson heard a familiar voice. "That's why I don't like those things." Jackson said pointing to the cat. "Such vicious little creatures.". Not that he had any good experiences with the animal recently. Norah had tossed the stray neighborhood cat on him the morning they were leaving for the train and he ended up sitting in his mother's "fix it" chair in the kitchen while she healed his scratches up.

Jackson plopped down near Jude and the cat, but a safe distance away in case the cat decided to pounce on Jackson too. "I hope the others don't get any ideas about getting cats." Jackson mused, more to himself than to Jude. He could see it now, all the younger cousins wanting cats and the house just milling with people and cats all the time. Surely his father would say no, right? A big fat 'NO'.

Mercifully, Ned took pity on him after a moment, for which Jude was grateful. He’d need to examine his chest later on to ensure that the claw marks weren’t deep but at least he could now relax as Ned was just sitting there effectively keeping the seventh year from breathing properly.

Vicious?

“Ned’s not vicious,’’ Jude puffed out, staring up at his Housemate. “He’s just… enthusiastic?” His eyes followed Jackson’s movements, pleased to have more company. “What others?’’ he continued curiously. “Do you mean the other Hufflepuffs?” They both knew that the Common Room was always filled with the little furballs. Jude quite found all the meowing quite peaceful.

Just then, Ned hopped down from his chest to pad over to Jackson. The brown and black cat booped his head against the fifth year’s knee. “That means,’’ Jude began, flopping over onto his belly and grinning. “That he wants scratches behind the ears.” Both ears; even behind the one that looked as though piece had been chewed off.

Had Nora known at least one little fact about the Whomping Willow, she wouldn't be out here right now. As it was, though, not a single soul had bothered to mention to her that a whole tree was out here on the grounds that had no other purpose in life other than to smash her to a pulp. So during a casual walk out on the grounds to get some fresh air, Nora was heading in the direction of the Whomping Willow.

She wasn't even thinking about the tree. She was thinking about the mountain of homework she was avoiding by being out here. Specifically, she was thinking about how much she hated having to do the homework in the first place. If it was possible to peacefully approach the tree and measure the length of its limbs, it would be discovered that Nora was now around ten feet away from the length it'd take to smash her senseless. Still oblivious, the first year took another step forward.

Sometimes Maisey would just go for a walk on the grounds, especially on these nice fall days. Or you know, avoid doing homework. Both excuses were acceptable to her. Each time she had been out on the grounds she found something new. Or purposely found a new area to explore. There was so much to see and explore, it was really lucky that she had seventh years to do that. It would take all seven years, it felt like that to her anyway.

Today she was in a completely different area then she had been too. She spotted a huge willow tree just ahead. She loved a good tree to climb although willows wasn’t the best for climbing. As she made her way toward the tree she noticed that someone else had seen the tree too. ”Hey, Nora. What are you doing?” She grinned at the gryffindor, they were kind of becoming friends wasn’t they?

Just as she was about to take another step, Nora heard someone greet her, and she stopped in her tracks and turned around. Again, literally just outside the invisible boundary in between safety and getting smashed to a pulp. "Hey, Maisie," she said. Too bad she and her Slytherin friend didn't end up in the same house. Nora had oddly started making friends with the first years not in Gryffindor rather than the ones in Gryffindor.

"Nothing," she answered with a shrug. "I got tired of being inside and decided to see what else Hogwarts was hiding from me. This place is huge! It doesn't matter how much exploring I do, I still end up seeing new things." Her gaze traveled to the trunk of the willow tree. Maybe she and Maisey could sit below the shade of its branches and just escape the chaos of class and homework for a while...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Banana

Just as she was about to take another step, Nora heard someone greet her, and she stopped in her tracks and turned around. Again, literally just outside the invisible boundary in between safety and getting smashed to a pulp. "Hey, Maisie," she said. Too bad she and her Slytherin friend didn't end up in the same house. Nora had oddly started making friends with the first years not in Gryffindor rather than the ones in Gryffindor.

"Nothing," she answered with a shrug. "I got tired of being inside and decided to see what else Hogwarts was hiding from me. This place is huge! It doesn't matter how much exploring I do, I still end up seeing new things." Her gaze traveled to the trunk of the willow tree. Maybe she and Maisey could sit below the shade of its branches and just escape the chaos of class and homework for a while...

Maisey stopped walking when she caught up to Nora. She stopped next to her friend. Though if she knew they were towing the line of danger she would have pulled her away. But being the muggle born she was with no family or even older students as friends she didn’t have a clue of the dangers of said unknown tree in front of them. She really needed to make friends with an older student at some point. Even a second year work.

Beaming at her Gryffindor friend, ”This place is wild. Just when I think I’ve finally seen everything, something new seems to show up.” Weird right? Though there were a few times she had gotten right next to the forbidden forest and she had turned and headed back in a different direction. ”Should we move closer to the tree and check it out?” She was bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. Her signature mischievous grin on her face as she linked arms with Nora.

Nora paused in her steps and turned toward Maisey, a look of half-shock and half-wonder on her face. "Wait a minute. Are you...muggleborn?" she asked. She still hadn't gotten used to that term. She hoped it hadn't come out as an insult, because she certainly hadn't meant it that way. "I just ask, because I am, too, and I haven't met many muggleborns at all." Nora found herself unintentionally hoping that Maisey would say yes. No matter how many friends she seemed to make, she still had this sense of loneliness in the magical world. She still hadn't really connected to anyone that filled a void she'd left behind in the muggle world.

She nodded in reply to what Maisey was saying. "That's exactly the way I've been feeling for months know!" she said, an excitement showing up in her voice. There was somebody who understood her---really understood her! "I knew nothing about the magical world until I got the Hogwarts letter. I thought it was some kind of joke at first." She gave a shrug in response to Maisey's offer to venture a little further into the tree. "Sure. Why not?" she asked. Maybe they could sit against the trunk of the tree and share what they'd learned about magic so far... Without a second thought, Nora took a few steps forward, offically putting her right in the tree's range.