Squelch. Squelch. Fauna's boots made a sickening wet sound as she walked through the Entrance Hall of the castle. One half of her mustard yellow coat was completely covered in mud, and her colorful mittens looked like they'd died a fuzzy death. Her jeans, also caked with mud, crinkled uncomfortably on her knees with every step she took.

Any student that caught a glimpse of her either burst out laughing or scurried away. Fauna kept her gaze forward, bent on reaching the Hufflepuff common room so she could shower and spend the rest of her Sunday in her pajamas. Mud streaked across her cheek and pieces of hair lay plastered against the side of her face, the rest of her hair resembling a bird's nest. Fauna had lost her hat to Radley's dog, though it wouldn't have helped her appearance at all.

Fauna neared the steps leading down to the Hufflepuff common room, about to pass by the Great Hall doors. Suddenly, a small figure stepped out in front of her, causing her to step aside. Tulo had suggested she keep her arm as immobile as possible for the day and she didn't want to jostle it just ten minutes after leaving the Hospital Hut.

"Sorry," She muttered to the young Ravenclaw, barely glancing at him.

Baxter had just owled his letter to the WCU about his and Sasha's suspicions in relation to Fauna Blake. He had sent one or two already that had yet to be answered and Fauna had yet to be questioned or removed from Campus, so he assumed that he was being ignored. Perhaps more students needed to complain? Whatever the case, he was determined to have the authorities look into it. He might even be forced to talk to his dad about it, even though he hoped it wouldn't come down to that.

He was on his way out of the great hall whenever he crossed paths with the girl in question. He paused, blinking at her rather haphazard appearance. "What on earth happened to you?" he asked, arching a curious brow at the Hufflepuff girl. She looked like a girl who had spent a rough night as a werewolf. But it wasn't the full moon- which made things even more curious.

Fauna paused, blinking in surprise for a moment. She spared the boy a glance. Baxter... Fox, was it? Probably related to her favorite Auror in the whole world.

Holding back a tired sigh, Fauna looked at Baxter curiously, wondering why he was talking to her like he knew her. They hadn't spoken before, and she supposed there was no harm in him asking. Still, all she wanted to do was reach the Hufflepuff common room and wash the mud and slush off of her.

"Fell on the ice," She murmured vaguely, about to take a step so she could move around him.

Baxter took a step to match Fauna's own. While he had her cornered, he might as well give her a proper interrogation about his suspicions. Others in the school were already starting to whisper that she might be a werewolf. He hadn't said much to very many people- but it didn't take much for rumors to spread like wildfire in their small institution.

"Fell?" he repeated. "What are you doing out on the ice this early anyway?" Baxter pressed. The hostility was somewhat evident in his body language as he crossed his arms- obviously doubting her explanation for what had happened whenever she fell down.

"It's not the full moon yet," he told her. "You don't need to be out in the grounds all night. I know you're a werewolf Fauna Blake," he said simply. "You don't have to lie to me about it. I figured it out. Sasha Schlagenweit and I know all about your secret." Bluntness was a lot easier for Baxter than pussyfooting around an issue or working his way up to it. "He told me you used to date Olivia Foley. You've been one all along and we all missed it. Unfortunately for you some of us are smarter than others. Quite unfortunate."

When Baxter stepped in front of her, she gave him an annoyed, surprised look, wondering how he couldn't see that she really didn't want to chit-chat just now. Her eyebrows shot up when he crossed his arms and questioned why she'd been out so early.

Fauna didn't have anything against third years, and hadn't minded that Winnie and a few others had attended her party last night. Sometimes, she even liked the younger years. But third-years weren't supposed to block her path and demand answers! She was a seventh-year, for Merlin's sake! Where was the respect? Plus, he was taller than her. That in itself was offensive.

Fauna opened her mouth, about to tell him it was none of his business, when he went on. She gaped at him, completely unprepared for his accusation that she was a werewolf! He mentioned Sasha, then Ollie...

"What... are you... what?!" Fauna spluttered at him, looking at him like he had three heads.

"Are you..." She paused for a moment, trying to get her thoughts together.

"I'm not a werewolf! Are you crazy?! I fell on the ice!" Fauna put her hands on her hips and glared up at him, wincing slightly at the sudden movement of her arm.

And what the bloody hell, Sasha! Her face flushed in embarrassment and anger as she started to process the rest of what Baxter had said.

Baxter had not genuinely expected Fauna to openly admit her infection after being confronted. Who was he? Just a third year. A third year with a father who couldn't even intervene anymore because of his problems with werewolves in the past. But still, coming up silly excuses like falling on the ice and calling him crazy wasn't helping. A truly innocent person would laugh, say something like Yeah, sure Bax, totally a werewolf! and then be on their way. Righteous indignation was, naturally, a clear indicator of guilt.

"You nearly got away with it, too," he said. "But unfortunately we have noticed the increasing visits to the hospital hut- likely for a wolfsbane potion- as well as the meetings with aurors. You basically run everything with SAWS these days- a very important cause for a secret werewolf, more important to a werewolf than it would be to normal witches and wizards who understand the dangers of lycanthropy. Your habits have changed. Sasha says he's never seen you out early mornings before. The longer you are a werewolf, the more animalistic a person becomes- especially if they embrace the disease. Up early mornings to trudge around the grounds for gardening? Or are you really hunting rabbits?"

"I've owled the werewolf capture unit," he told her. "We both have. We're going to get others to send in owls as well. Then they will send a representative, they will question you, and then you will be detained for the duration of the full moon. At which point you will transform, and they will discover you for what you really are." Because at this point the Ravenclaw boy was taking his 'discovery' as the truth, even though he had little physical evidence to prove his theory.

The kid just continued to throw more and more disturbing news at her. He'd mentioned her dates with Ollie earlier as some kind of proof, and now he was listing her visits to the hospital hut, her visits with Aurors - shite. Sasha again. And Sasha had told Baxter that her 'habits' had changed and that she often went out on the grounds early in the morning. None of this counted as proof, and if she'd been thinking clearly, she might have been able to keep her head and talk to Baxter calmly. But she just felt betrayed. The third-year hadn't gotten this information from his paranoid father, but from Sasha, and despite their arguments and misunderstandings, she was really hurt that he had some kind of vendetta against her.

That feeling of betrayal combined with Baxter's snotty tone caused her hands to clench into fists. Fauna gave him a murderous, outraged look. Sasha wasn't here. Baxter was here. So all of her anger was directed at him.

Then to find out they'd owled the WCU already!

"No, that's not going to happen! Because this is ridiculous!" She stepped closer to him, voice raised. There were so many things she wanted to say, but when she was this furious, all of her reasonable points jumbled together in her mind, and he'd made so many accusations that those began to jumble together too.

"What the hell is your problem! Do you and Sasha have nothing better to do than to screw with my life?" Fauna paused for a second, swallowing the lump in her throat, which just made her angrier. Her coat felt too warm and her hair was starting to drip mud. Ugh! Why did he have to confront her now?

"No one's going to listen to you, anyway," she said nastily, picking out the thing that always bothered her: not being listened to or respected. "You're just a third-year. Sasha's out of school!" Fauna made a scoffing noise. "They're going to see that you have this stupid... thing against me, and they're going to laugh, and all of your efforts will be a waste!"

She shook her head and kept glaring at him. "So go ahead, Baxter! See how far you get!"

Baxter was mostly amused by her tantrum. "I would like to point out, Fauna, that I do not have a personal vendetta against anyone at school. I have always been very reliable and trustworthy, and I have no reason to lie about it. If Sasha has something against you, then that is clearly none of my business. But whether or not someone has something against you- my suspicions still stand. And if you are indeed not a werewolf, as you claim, then you have nothing to worry about."

"If they investigate- and I am sure they will, considering my father is an auror. Regardless of his own personal issues, he's not a man to be trifled with. However, I am doing my best to take care of this situation without involving him. But if I find myself ignored, and the letters we have written disregarded, I'm not above going to extreme measures."

"But when the WCU shows up, you'll see just how serious I am. And you will realize exactly how far I have gotten with this. And I'll be sure to fill them in about you personal relationship with the werewolf girl they expelled. Nobody who is of sound mind would willingly get romantically involved with a werewolf- because it is dangerous. So either you're one too, or you are insane... Although, I suppose, the latter is equally likely as the first."

Baxter took a step back and smoothed out his uniform. "I'll be conducting my own miniature investigation in the mean time. But you can be assured I will make sure to keep things to myself and not destroy your reputation. I can be subtle and find the information I need. I intend to update the WCU on a regular basis with my findings. Eventually they will show up, and you will learn that lycanthropy is far more serious than you originally imagined."

As Fauna stood there, listening to him calmly and rather condescendingly tell her what was going to happen, she had to remind herself that he was a kid, younger than her, and it would be wrong of her to hex him.

But she really wanted to! Her hand twitched towards her coat pocket, and Fauna shoved her fists in her pockets as she glared at him. Her wand was right within reach. It would only take her a second. He continued to talk, telling her that she was insane for getting romantically involved with a werewolf, and Fauna picked that moment to glance around, noticing a cluster of students had gathered nearby, watching their argument (or more accurately, watching Baxter talk and Fauna fume). Damn! Too many people. Though she was in a foul enough mood to pull an Eddy and hex the whole lot of them, her common sense chimed in just in time.

Fauna was still incredulous, especially when he claimed he'd conduct his own investigation and assured her that he wouldn't destroy her reputation in the process. Honestly! He was a third-year! This must be what happened when Aurors spawned children.

"...Eventually they will show up, and you will learn that lycanthropy is far more serious than you originally imagined."

That was it. She couldn't keep fuming silently any longer. Face flushed, she shook her head, staring at him in disbelief. "You're the one who has a lot to learn, Baxter! Just because... I mean... just because Ollie and I are friends doesn't give you the right to... start assuming things. Merlin! Your own little mini-investigation? Good luck with that!"

She drew in a breath, heard the students giggling, and rounded on them. "Oh, sod off!" Fauna flung her hands in the air, satisfied when a few drops of mud went flying and one or two of the younger years scattered.

Fauna turned back to Baxter, torn between the urge to scream in his face or cry. "You... just... "

She pursed her lips, made a frustrated growling sound at him, and before she could think about the implications of that, brushed past him and stormed down the stairs.

Baxter didn't have much of a chance to reply to her final outburst before she stormed off down the stairs. No doubt he had pressed the right buttons. The girl had the audacity to growl at him- as though that didn't help to further his point. He made a note to put that in his next letter to the WCU. That Fauna Blake growled a lot when she got angry.

Those who had fathered looked at the two of them incredulously when she left. Baxter felt a little awkward under their gaze, and shrugged his shoulders before heading off himself. He considered- for a moment- following her, wondering whether or not she would go vent to one of her friends about how she had been found out. But that would be too much to hope for, and Baxter was fairly certain that he had pressed his luck far enough. Hopefully she wouldn't get the jump on him and decide to write to the WCU before they decided to take him seriously.