11:30 am, Tuesday.


"I know it's the outdoors, but it's not that cold out!" Eirene scolded, her voice a little muffled by her warm scarf. "I won't let the wind disturb you."

Eirene cuddled her scaredy-cat, Xanthe, in her arms, who was sniffing at the questionable outside air quality and squirming. She'd created an extra spacious compartment in her bookbag where her cat could lounge comfortably, curled up with his favorite blanket and gazing out a little flap window, but once she'd collected a bundle of herbs and tucked them inside another compartment, the smell had offended his delicate nostrils, and he'd squeezed out of the flap window and darted away from her once already.

Now, a second time.

Xanthe leaped out of her arms and ran down the path, stopping every so often to paw at the crooked cobblestones, which let Eirene catch up long enough to lose him again. Her bookbag full of herbs flopped against her shoulders.

"If I have to Accio you!" Eirene huffed, stopping in surprise as she noticed Lucinda underneath a tree.

The cat froze between them on the offending grass, looking up at the tree, and glancing at Lucinda.

Looking up the tree, and glancing at Lucinda.

Oh the choice! Dart up the tree while the person sat there, or find another escape?

"Lucinda!" Eirene called, her wand out. Xanthe sneaked toward the tree, his belly low.

"Catch him!"

In this moment, it didn't matter so much that Lucinda had left the SAWS protest early and hadn't even wanted to stand next to her.[1] It didn't matter that there were lots of rumors flying around about the Hogsmeade weekend that Eirene had mostly ignored. What mattered was her cat! And her studies. And figuring out why Professor Storm had seemed especially grumpy during today's Defense lesson.

Maybe Lucinda would know.

1.	We have not yet begun to burn

Lucinda was moping.

She had decided to go outside to relax, not wanting to be near the others of her house or in general those of the school, the smells of the students, especially those muggleborns or halfbloods with muggle parents that believe deodorant is the same as having a shower. It of course was not, they just smelled disgusting and she couldn't stand it right now, that was before even the noise of those in the halls.

The main thing was...how was she meant to just continue?

She struggled with the idea of after someone attempted to kill her, to just continue on life as if nothing had happened before. She had been trapped in a cage and almost put in a coffin, Greer had lost her wand and been burned by it. Someone was attempting to kill them, she still thought it was Feliks who was just allowed to do as he wanted, but if it wasn't, then someone who could defeat Ignan was around, if the person who was meant to defend them was worse then the person who had tried to kill them, were she and Greer even safe?

She was snapped out of it by the sound of a chase, she smelt a cat and looked down, spotting the creature on the ground and looking up to see a flustered Eirene running after, ah. This must be Xanthe. The cat smelled weird, she couldn't make it out...smells a tiny bit like a boys room?

Eirene called out and Lucinda reacted, the cat was running away it seemed, it was a good idea, a bid for freedom, but sadly she must capture the cat for Eirene.

She pulled her wand and swirled it around in her hand, with a clear tone she looked up at the trees for the spell to cast properly, soon the leaves formed together, leaning over and grappling eachother, forming a chain that soon spread to other leaves before with another spell, it dropped towards the ground to encapsulate the cat in a net made of the combined leaves, while not sturdy it should proove sufficient to allow Eirene to recover her runaway.

"That do it?" She asked softly.

Eirene stopped short, staring in horror when Lucinda raised her wand. Oh no! She'd meant catch the cat, truly, not Accio! him!

Cats hated to be Accio'd.

But the Gryffindor didn't Accio him. Lucinda waved her wand in a swirl, forming a soft net of leaves around Xanthe, who struck out with his little paws at the sudden capture.

The net gently dropped to the ground. Impressive! Eirene hurried towards her cat as Xanthe slinked away toward the tree again, his little paws slipping on the leaves that prevented him from climbing up the trunk. He circled the trunk of the tree slowly, rustling his leaf cage, and letting out offended meows.

Eirene tried to keep a straight face, she really did. She'd read so many articles about not laughing at cats, because it only encouraged their antics! This in mind, she knelt by the net.

"Which spell is this? Is it a variant of Necto Nassa? It looks fairly sturdy," Eirene poked at it, then withdrew her hand as Xanthe batted at her. She frowned, concentrating, and didn't appear to be listening for an answer from Lucinda.

She waved her wand carefully at the net, creating a sturdier cube shape out of the leaves. There! She smiled. That would hold Xanthe for a little while.

"Thank you," she stood and finally looked at Lucinda, who seemed a little off somehow. Quiet. Subdued?

"What are you doing out here?" Eirene asked obliviously.

The cat attempted escape, crawling to the tree, followed by just general cat...iness...either way it didn't escape the net that was made from the leaves and Eirene was soon over to collect her cat, turning it into a basket to carry the cat, which she supposed did make it easier to carry the feline escape artist although she wasn't that confident that the leaves would hold together under a dedicated cat attack.

"Um...Folium Insidiari. My mum taught it to me as she said it was a good one for botanists to know." Although she realized the girl likely wasn't listening, which for a Ravenclaw seemed highly suspect, she was pretty sure a Ravenclaw heard everything in the school, they probably counted how many seconds you washed your hands if they're close enough.

Although the topic was quickly turned to herself, which she wasn't that appreciative of, but she understood why Eirene would be curious, the last they spoke was...the rally? It seemed like that, and...a few things had certainly happened since then hadn't they?

She leaned herself back against the tree and put the flat of her foot against the bark of it to brace herself, leaving the weight in her spare, before giving out a small sigh, not a sigh of rudeness or annoyance however, more one of just exhaustion if anything.

"I'm just trying to...avoid the school really. I'd rather not have to put up with the kids who howl at me, or deal with the first years running around, the boys who always smell like a locker room, not to mention Peeves. I think he justifies any time away from the castle." She tried to not sound that rude although she certainly sounded a little tense at the entire situation, her frustration was easily evident in her tone however.

Eirene set her backpack and her cat-basket down on the cleanest patch of grass she could find and she stood there too, seeing as Lucinda was holding up the tree. Folium Insidiari! Did Lucinda want to be a botanist?

Eirene nodded as if she understood, but she didn't really understand anyone wanting to avoid school. Unless Lucinda meant the students and the poltergeists inside the school - and Lucinda had, actually, listed people specifically. People were always a problem.

"Oh," Eirene crossed her arms. "Well, everyone is in a bad mood, I'm sure. We all had to leave Hogsmeade early and no one seems to know what's going on. I keep hearing about a fire in the woods, as if the bomb at Zonko's wasn't enough."

She shook her head to dispel the memory of the stink bomb. She'd had to wash her hair about a dozen times back at the castle!

"But you had nothing to do with that. You left the protest early," she said more pointedly than she intended.

"They shouldn't be singling you out."

She frowned, a little worried that kids were howling at Lucinda. Lucinda wasn't exactly quiet about it, but had the whole school found out she were a werewolf, somehow?

What had Eirene missed?

"Why wouldn't they single me out?" She said gently as she rested her head back to stare skywards, it was likely a bad idea as it meant her hair would get stuck in pieces of bark or sap, she just hoped there wasn't any bugs in the tree right now to go after her, that would be a nightmare.

"I left early as you said, then a stink bomb went off, then a fire, and everyone went back early." The stinkbomb she only learned more recently, as much as she wasn't super into the idea of the protest, she had to admit that the idea of a stinkbomb going off inside the shop was rather funny with the prankshop being pranked itself, except during a protest she wasn't sure if it was a prank.

"I've been blamed and so it must be true..." She gave out a soft sigh and closed her eyes to avoid the sun a little. "A part of it is true anyway." She muttered quieter as she slumped herself down the main body onto the grass below and rested.

She wasn't sure if it was safe to really tell the other student of what had happened, but at the same time, what would the Headmaster do? What power did he have? And the Ravenclaw would do what they did best and shove their noses into others business looking for answers.

"I...was sorta...there for the fire..."

Eirene nodded as Lucinda plaintively mumbled and sighed. Lucinda's bad mood seemed entirely self-focused, as if she were so wrapped up in her problem that she could be talking to anyone or anything, even the tree.  Eirene glanced at the castle in the distance, wondering how busy the library was and if she might find Frank or Noriko there. If Lucinda didn't want to talk plainly, perhaps Eirene could convince her to study for a while, just to take her mind off things.

Lucinda sank against the tree and Eirene looked at her again, her brow furrowed. Wait, what was true?

A part of it?

The stink bomb, or...

The fire!

Eirene glanced around the field, then waved her wand at her backpack, drawing out a spare jacket she kept rolled up in there. She settled the jacket onto the grass and took a seat on the jacket, facing Lucinda. Eirene rested her hand against the leaf-cage next to her, letting Xanthe sniff at her as all cats did.

She looked at the Gryffindor expectantly.

"Did someone set that fire on purpose?"

A year ago, she would assumed Lucinda and her friends had done it, but Eirene liked to think she knew Lucinda better now.

"What happened?"

Lucinda squirmed slightly in her spot, not that she should really, and it would be good to get it out right? But she was insisting and she was making up her mind, as a result Lucinda gave a slight nod of affirmation towards the Ravenclaw, a soft and low sigh escaping her lips as she did so, she wasn't too sure if she could retell it to her that well, or be able to hold it together, but she's had worse questioning, she's been asked on her dating and sexual life by the Ministry infront of her parents, if she could survive that then she could survive this!

"Someone attacked me and Greer." She felt the weight come off her chest almost immediately, it felt good to get it off even this little bit, she wanted to let it sink in a little before she continued, but she felt if she didn't now she would freeze up and be unable to.

"We were trapped in silver...and they were going to kill us...but Ignan stopped them, they set fire to the forest to escape."

She hoped her memory was right, she mostly remembered panicking, having her mouth removed, and frozen into a grave but she didn't think that would be too helpful for the situation, it was already a lot to get your head around for the Ravenclaw.

She squirmed against the tree and opened her eyes once more, looking towards Eirene to gauge her reaction, she figured it would be to freak out or panic, she hoped she wouldn't, she needed some moral support right now and she'd happily take Eirene and her...fleabag living in the vine made cage right now.