It was a beautiful, quiet Saturday morning at Hogwarts, when Rosamund Carstairs violently turned a corner on the ground floor hallway stopping inches short of colliding with a cold, hard wall. Her face was flushed, one hand holding her beret on top of her head the other holding her wand, erratically waved about in the attempt of pointing at a... flying chinchilla?

"Schrode, no, Schr—Stay! No! Come down here! For the love of—" It was at that point when her frazzled voice was cut off by a rather unladylike squawk as her shoe had the misfortune of meeting the uneven edge of a stone tile. It was only seconds after that said squawk was replaced by an oof as her face had a rather intimate meeting with the floor. The tan baby chinchilla stopped to hover over his owner with an expression that one might call smug, if rodents actually had the capacity to be smug. Schrode certainly did.

Lifting herself to her knees and elbows with quite a lot of complaining, the sixth year Ravenclaw raised her head to glare at her new companion. Four hours after she'd opened the basket to greet her new pet, and the little miscreant was already giving her cause for doubt, if not actual regret. 'He's perfectly well behaved' they said. 'The poor fellow was a magic experiment... But he's perfectly fine!' they said. 'Oh, he's just a little gravity challenged' they said. 'He'll make a wonderful pet for a young lady!' they said.

Well, Rosie had a thing or two to say about that. When she was finally on her feet, ignoring the bloodied scrapes on her knees and the dull, throbbing pain in her chin, she placed her fists on her hips and glared at the hovering chinchilla. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Schrode" she said in a menacing voice, slightly dampened by her pout and disheveled hair. "You can come down on your own, and we'll forget this ever happened and I'll even give you a few raisins" she said in a warm voice, punctuated by a little smile. "Or—" her eyebrows drew together, a scowl in place of the smile "I can keep chasing you until I eventually manage to full body-bind you and then so help me Merlin, I will put you in a box with a Geiger counter full of radium and a flask of hydrocyanic acid." She huffed for effect and narrowed her eyes at the blinking rodent.

The chinchilla remained on the spot for all of five seconds before it took off again in a fit of squeaks that sounded strangely like cackling, leaving an open-mouthed Rosie behind. With a loud inhale she eventually started the chase again until she saw another figure out of the corner of her eye. "Hi, hello, hey!" she said stopping short of bumping into the person. "Could you—erhm, help me, uh, catch my familiar?" she pointed after the small animal flying away.

Lua popped around the corner, arms full of books she’d taken to the courtyard in an attempt to study. But the homework session had quickly turned into a chatting sessions with similarly minded classmates, and the books had been rather neglected. Lua planned to make new parchment covers for them later, a sort of Lua-ish apology before she really tucked into her homework. She had all day tomorrow, Sunday, to worry about her essays.

A breathy “Ohhh,” escaped an animated mouth as soon as their owner’s eyes latched on to the sixth year hurrying down the hall. She had come to an abrupt halt, hair swinging messily, eyes wide with curiosity. Lua immediately recognized Rosamund Carstairs by her lovely hair. She closed her mouth and opened it again to ask the girl if she was ok, when the older student drew Lua’s attention upward. The Gryffindor couldn’t help getting distracted by the creature hovering above.

A chinchilla! Who could fly.

Her eyes darted back to Rosamund, who was sweetly greeting her. Thoughts of new book covers were pushed far to the back of Lua’s mind. “Hi!” she chirped back, shifting her books, taking a few steps forward, and offering a huge smile. “Yes, of course! He’s gorgeous! Or she!” She looked from the Ravenclaw, to the flighty chinchilla, and back to Rosamund for confirmation. "Do you have any peanut butter?” She asked earnestly, before shimmying a backpack off her shoulder and digging around inside. “Rodents love peanut butter. Dogs, too.” Cats, not so much, but that didn’t mean Lua didn’t have plenty of treats for mutant kitten Gracie Slant had let her adopt. Her hand grazed a muggle flashlight that didn’t work at Hogwarts, smushed paper ornaments, and several loose beads before she found the top of the little jar. “Here,” she said, extracting it from the bag, holding it up triumphantly to Rosamund. “But he’s getting away!” She pointed.

"He, and he is not" Rosie huffed, hands coming to rest on her hips while she narrowed her eyes at her familiar. "No, no I do not" she answered, turning to look at the younger student with a confused expression. She was not in the habbit of carrying around peanut butter... But if what the girl was saying maybe she should start to. She was sure the girl was a younger student, maybe a Gryffindor if her memory served her right. She had sure noticed her before, what with how unbelievably adorable she was.

"Thank you!" Rosie offered with a bright smile, taking a hold of the jar. She turned her head to realize that, yes indeed, Schrode was getting away. "You stop right there!" she threatened menacingly if uselessly after the chinchilla that disappeared after a corner. "For heaven's sake, this animal will run me into an early grave" Rosie complained, entire body sagging on a loud exhale. "Would you mind assisting me?" she asked the younger student with her lips pursed and eyebrows drawn at the middle as she was mentally formulating a plan. "If I can manage to pass him, I could cast a shield, so he won't be able to continue forward, you could block him on the other side and hopefully the confusion will hold him still long enough for me to body-bind him?" she tilted her head to the side, big eyes waiting expectantly for her reply.

"Oh, and I'm Rosie Carstairs" she added with a bright grin after a second, hand extended.

The Saturday had begun as usual for Aaron Doyle: pee, shower, toast.  He had been on his way back to the Gryffindor commons when his breakfast was rudely knocked from his hands by what appeared to be a careening ball of...fuzz.  Aaron whirled around in the opposite direction, glaring, but no giggling fourth years were hiding behind a suit of armor.  A slight tickling on his right hand pulled him away from eyeing the empty hallway.  The little creature was licking the marmalade from his fingers.  "Hey!" he shouted, pulling his hand away,  but the thing persisted.  It was rather cute.  "Oh, alright, fine."

Several seconds later, the pounding of running feet reached his ears, and Aaron turned to see two flustered girls, stopped in their tracks at the sight of him.

"Hi," he said.  "Do either of you lovely ladies know what the hell is on my hand?"

Easier said than done. Schrode was way too fast for her and it wasn't long before she completely lost him from her sight. Putting some effort and speed into her chase she finally turned a corner, having slight problems with hitting the brakes on her own feet and sliding a little further than she'd intended, she found herself faced with—oh, that little furball!

"That—would be a Chinchilla lanigera. A flying one. Or—long-tailed chinchilla—Schrode. His name is Schrode" Rosie said trying to catch her breath, slumped forward, hands on her knees. "Or Schrödinger, if he's causing trouble. Such as now." The Ravenclaw straightened her back and crossed her arms, looking at her pet with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. "Schrödinger, leave the man alone" she said menacingly, yet fondly.

Obviously, Schrode was ignoring her in favor of the boy's—fingers. With a little huff, Rosie shook her head, then took the few steps closer to the Gryffindor boy and retrieved her cantankerous pet. "Sorry about that" Rosie apologized with a little blush, holding the squirming Schrode under her arm. "He's a little trouble maker" she offered with a bright smile.

But because this was Schrode, peace and quiet couldn't possibly last too long. So through some feat of wonder, the little chinchilla managed to liberate himself from his owner and went straight for the other girl's... hair. Well, at least he was somewhat consistent. Rosie watched with her mouth open in disbelief, as the rodent nestled on top of the girl's head.

Concern, curiosity, and amusement etched on her face, Lua followed after the Ravenclaw, nodding even as she spoke. It would apparently take more than peanut butter to lure the chinchilla. “That sounds like a brilliant plan,” she encouraged, pulling out her own wand. If Lua hadn’t mastered a Shield Charm, well, there were other ways she could help. She’d played defense in amateur football games with her siblings and friends. With her opposite hand, she took Rosie’s, shook it dancingly. “I’m Lua!”

And then they were off, chasing the quick and clever creature like Alice going after the white rabbit. “I’ve had to chase some of my cats through London,” she explained breathily as they jogged around a corner, hair flying into her face. She pushed it back with the back of her palm, which clearly a commonplace move for Lua. “And a dog once. He has three legs, but it didn’t stop him,” she said proudly, and suddenly she quite missed Pirate, one of many four (or three) legged adopted family members.

They came around another corner, and were met with another entertaining distraction. Or… an extension of the distraction that was Schrode. Who seemed to grown rather tall and found his voice. Or just a Gryffindor to latch onto. Lua shook with a giggle. “I guess lions are more attractive than peanut butter,” she observed through her humor and heavy breaths. She patted down more wily hair and stepped aside to let Rosie rescue the boy’s hand.

It was a short-lived victory for the Ravenclaw, and a different sort of wonder for fourth year. Lua gasped and took a step back, as suddenly her vision was obscured by more than just her own hair. In a sense. Certainly more of her own hair. Her hands shot up, less out of fear than surprise, and the surprise became a thrilled laugh. “It’s lovely to meet you, too,” she announced, in lieu of a handshake with her new hat. Her hand patted somewhat blindly, distinguishing from her own jungle-wild mop and the soft fur of the rodent. “Do you like it up there?” She asked, her eyes darting up toward her forehead. “Aren’t you cheeky? My shampoo has avocado oil in it.”

To make things easier for Rosamund— or so she thought— Lua sank down, pretzeling her legs beneath her while her keeping one hand on her new, squirmy hat. She pointed subtly… ish… with the other.

Aaron laughed.  "It's Lua, isn't it?"  He had seen the eccentric little Gryffindor around the common room, usually chewing on the end of her quill or scrunching her brow at some homework.  Endearing.  "I can get him some more marmalade if you want.  He might leave you alone."  But the girl appeared to be having the time of her life, giggling and petting the little creature.  He turned to the Ravenclaw.

"Is that…a chinchilla?" he asked, cocking his head curiously.  Only having seen one once before at a pet store, he wasn't quite sure, and he went in to pet it, knocking Lua in the nose with the sleeve of his robes.  It snapped playfully, and he withdrew his hand, grinning widely. 

"Blimey, you're cute," he said to the animal.  He thought better of repeating the compliment to the girls, blushing imperceptibly.

At hearing the younger girl recall her adventures with animals throughout London, Rosie smiled brightly and turned to look at Lua making for short moment of imbalance, saved from another fall by mere seconds. "Just how many pets do you have" she asked chuckling softly, one eye still on her wayward familiar.

"I'm sure Schrode would disagree with that notion if faced with a real lion" she said with a frown directed at her familiar, hands menacingly set on her hips. With her pet retrieved and lost again, Rosie's face merely remained shocked, unblinkingly for a couple of seconds, until the cuteness of the scene unfolding in front of her had her giggling fondly. "She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. "Oh, Schrode... Looks like you managed to find the one person that will actually put up with your antics" she sighed deeply and raised her hands in resignation.

"No, don't encourage him" she added more seriously to the boy, her tutor face on. "He's already had enough treats for the day and we do not accept this sort of behavior. Do we, Schrode?" she pursed her lips and let out a little hmph. Honestly... "Yes, he's a chinchilla, albeit a special one. This little guy saved from some... sketchy breeders. So, he can fly—more like flaot. Basically he's... defying gravity" she gesticulated wildly, only to stop and burst into giggles at the last moment. She wasn't sure Schrode could pull the green make-up.
                                                 
When the young Gryffindor moved to allow Rosie to retrieve her familiar, she flailed about for a couple of seconds, berating herself for completely forgetting about the situation and eventually bent down to grab Schrode. "You are in so much trouble, Mister" she whispered to the rodent, currently tucked in her blazer. "I'm really very sorry—to the both of you. He's—he's just a few months old, and they're supposed to be skittish, but not this guy apparently..." she sighed and threw another glare down at her pet.

"Is there any way I can make it up to you guys?" she smiled awkwardly and raised her eyebrows in question.

“Lua Taylor,” she said, nodding ferociously at Aaron, as if she’d been fed too much sugar. Lua was just a very enthusiastic nodder, at turns overly animated or slow-motion-wonderstruck.

“Oooh, it’s always changing. Two dogs, more cats than I can count on one hand, my brother had a monkey for a few days, he was watching it for a friend who got busted for something. My dad has a very smart bird, and I have Lumos,” she announced proudly, failing to add who Lumos was, exactly.

While she was always for more marmalade, she though she should let the Ravenclaw answer that question. Lua knew all about spoiled pets… her own were an extension of the family, and managed to wrestle nearly a pantry full of food from the dinner table and secret hands on a regular basis. The dogs more so than the cats— who loved a good treat, but unfortunately preferred the live bird and fish variety.

Lua took a few steps backwards, giggling, as Aaron knocked into her.  “Lumos is different, too. I think that just makes them more special.” And she wore a dreamy look as she watched Schrode play with Aaron. “And if he does meet a lion, at least he can fly!”

Shaking her head as cartoonishly as she’d nodded a few minutes ago, Lua dismissed the girl’s apology. Who didn’t love cute animals? Everyone loved cute animals! She bet Professor Storm melted upon the sight of kittens… even if it was just on the inside. “This is better than doing more homework.” Lua much preferred adventures to sitting quietly. “Do you think you’ll be able to train him easily? He’s very smart.”