Care of Magical Creatures Nursery
 

Having spent nearly forever trying to find the CoMC classroom, Zoey stopped in the door to a large, stone building.

And what was this?

She leaned over a bit to get a look inside. They were... babies? Creature babies. She'd seen quite a few of them before but it didn't quite make sense to her as to why they were here. Looking around, she saw another girl looking around at the animals. Silly girl, why was she carrying books with her? Zoey had come bearing nothing but shorts, sandals, and the shirt on her back. Ohh, it was good to be around animals again.

It appeared to her as though they were supposed to take care of the creatures. Huh. So were they just supposed to call dibs or something? Whatever, she was in need of seeing a little unhuman-like creature.

She bounded off, eager to find something to take care of. Peering into the stables as she went by, Zoey looked for something- anything. She would know the animal when she passed it. Continuing on she passed one, two, three stables before-- wait, what?

She turned around at a noise coming from the third one. It was almost a bleat, like a goat or something- but not quite. No, it was a bit more like a baby crying. And there it was again! She looked inside, finding a small creature with big eyes and a little pudgy tummy. A tag on the side of the stable said 'Mooncalf'.

Yup. This one was hers, she called dibs.

Zoey stopped as another girl walked in briefly. She watched as she wandered around to six or seven crates before finding a little sleeping baby-animal-thing of her own. Then the girl left. Huh. You would think the girl would have stayed for a bit.

She shrugged and looked back towards her own crate. The mooncalf gave the same little bleat again and looked up at her expectantly. She gave a sarcastic sigh and smiled. "Well alright then." She reached out with one hand, letting it sniff her. After waiting a few seconds the mooncalf came willingly towards her nudging at her arm.

Zoey picked the little baby-creature-thing up and held it in both arms almost like you would a baby. Except this was different. Even though it was about the size of a sack of flour, the mooncalf weighed at least ten pounds. Maybe fifteen. It wasn't too much weight to bear but it was still a good amount, considering it couldn't have been more than a few weeks old. Gosh.

The mooncalf made a satisfied little humming noise and nudged her again. Alright, now what? Zoey looked at the label that said mooncalf again. Underneath, in little letters, it said female. So it was a girl cow. Hmm. Alrighty then. She nudged the girl's arm and hummed again. "Okay. Hungry?" It made another bleating-type noise in agreement. Guess that was a yes then.

Okay, so what did these things eat?

this is for you...you know who you are =)
 

He actually needed to see if it was all true. Though, he had no doubt that the truth had reached his ears. But, like with Kinsgley, he decided it was best to head over the Nursery and find out for sure. Hopefully, no nice Professor will greet him while in there.

That was certain. Because Saylen was the only one that could be in the Nursery and she wasn't nice.

Yes. Treyen was actually missing a Potions lesson for this. Surely, Lafay would understand. Ha. No, she wouldn't, but he didn't have the time if he wanted to attend the CoMC one, right? Phineas was far more important than a Potions lesson.

And...

...he stood still by the door. Slightly shaking at the thought of finding out that, in fact, Phineas was gone.

True.

Once he opened the door, he noticed the much-familiar cage, without the much-familiar Niffler. Saylen did it on purpose, he was most certain of it.

Do we need to point out that he actually felt nothing at seeing the empty cage? It was rather pointless, after all the bad news he'd been getting. He may need something stronger than the Healer now.

However, Treyen noticed a very little Niffler nearby, and he smiled at the tiny creature. Saylen was evil for letting this small Niffler all alone in this place.

There were not many things that could make Ellie happy. Two of them, however, were Quidditch and animals. So, she decided that she would visit the little creatures in the Nursery. Not her creature, per se, as she hadn't taken very good care of it, and didn't want to see its pitying face and feel guilty...if it had remembered her...or was still there even...Hmm...

On her way in, Ellie saw someone familiar, and a smile spread across her face. It was nice...not being alone, as she thought she would be.

Quietly, she sneaked up near him to see what he was looking at.

Awwwwwwww.

The baby Niffler was soo cute!

Didn't...didn't Treyen have one? Or...didn't have one... Had one that Saylen took away or something.. because... of something...

MAN, that conversation felt like it was soo long ago when she tried to remember the details. Yet, the memory of little Fletcher was clear. Strange how these things work.

Ellie kind of just...stood near to Treyen, waiting for him to notice her. She didn't want to scare him or something by talking to him. But if he took so long that she got bored, she'd let him know she was there.

She thought Treyen was pretty observent, though, so that didn't seem like it would be a problem.

Oh, but someone was in here as well. It's not like you couldn't hear people inside the Nursery, you know?

Except...he was still thinking it could be Saylen the one who could've entered. But...wouldn't she at least say his name. Instead of turning around and seeing who it was, he decided to...wait?

What if it was Jake?! Nah, the Niffler would've moved if it was someone evil. Someone evil. Why wasn't Treyen carrying around Thaddeus right now!? Oh, of course, he couldn't bring a Knarl to the Nursery. They'd get suspicious at everything.

From the corner of his eye he noticed some red hair, and a smile was plastered on his face without even knowing if it was Ellie or not. She wasn't the only redhead at Hogwarts. It didn't take long for him to turn around, though, "Ellie," he said, pleased to see her, except..."Why are you here?" that was the most important question, and ironically, he cared not for the answer.

"Phineas is...," his eyes landed on the little Niffler on the cage, "no longer suitable for the Nursery, I believe, so...he's gone," the eyes were still on the Niffler. Phineas will be forever missed.

"Hii," Ellie smiled when he addressed her. She walked closer to him. "I wanted to see the animals," she said, shrugging. Maybe a cute little Kneazle or something. Or a crup. Not hers, though.

Phineas! Right, that was the Niffler's name, wasn't it.

Wait. "Where's he gone to?" Did he run away? From Saylen, obviously, not Treyen. Or maybe he was sent to one of those places that specialized in Nifflers?

Animals? Really? Was she like Arya, then?

You know, come to think of it, the Badger trio was a very odd one. First, one of them wasn't even at Hogwarts anymore. Second, not all three of them liked Quidditch. Third, Arya truly loved animals. He had no idea if Aaron did the same, for the other boy loved Quidditch. And Treyen...he liked certain animals, not all of them, just the ones that belonged to him. Well, at least they were all Badgers, no?

But this had nothing to do with it, his mind was playing tricks on him ever since the year started. Maybe there was something in the cupcakes Kurumi made for him. He raised an eyebrow at the thought.

"Anyone in particular?" because Saylen could take them away. Really.

Eyes back on Ellie now, "I only know he's gone from Hogwarts," but there was some panic in his eyes...what if Phineas actually DIED under Saylen's care and she was covering it all up with saying he'd been shipped off? Oh, that was evil.

"It's all okay, really, we should be used to people or creatures leaving, no?" he chuckled, as if the comment itself could make all wrong go away. "It's not like it didn't happen before," he shrugged, and he was going to have a NEW Niffler now, because, yes, he'd decided to take this little guy or girl under his care.

Once he found a quill around this place, of course.

Then he remembered, "Actually, Ellie, I...," he started to say, tilting his head to one side, "I...," yes? "I meant to wait for you after Divination, but...I needed to get away from there, sorry." Not get away from the class itself. Bishop had been alright, it was Jake the one that had been over-the-top annoying.

Ellie shook her head, "No...just one to cuddle, maybe." For a while. Like...hours....until Saylen came and took her away. Most likely.

At least, that was the plan. But now that Treyen was here, it didn't seem so necessary.

"Oh." Well that was suspicious, wasn't it. But... he didn't seem to know much about it, so Ellie didn't see much of a point in asking.

She took her eyes off her friend after his 'people leaving' comment. She wasn't used to it. Was she supposed to be? Was he? "Yeah," she answered softly. She wasn't convinced of it, though.

And to move from one depressing subject to another... Ellie faked a smile for the sake of reassurance, because this was true, "It's okay." Honestly. She didn't even remember Divination, really. She remembered walking in, and leaving, and feeling ill. Ugh. She would've slipped in a 'next time', but....she didn't think there would be a 'next time'. For her, at least. "You're still going, then?" If he really liked the subject, the teacher shouldn't matter, right?

Which, no, that could not be said about Ellie's case. Totally different. Plus Treyen had said something about Bishop not being evil or something... Psshh.

Ah! But the cage had no lock. Waaaait a minute, was this the way Saylen took care of this creatures? Yeah, he was going to have that Ikenna dude talk to her about Security, because anyone could come and take one...away...

Perhaps...

Er, no, never mind.

He smiled. "Nifflers are my favorites, you can take this one," for now, "You don't have anything metal on you, do you?" she didn't seem to, then she could hold the Niffler. Which will remain nameless until he found a quill. He'd taken the little creature in his hands by now. Really, Saylen, anyone could come and take one away. "Do you...want to hold him?" or her, whatever, he...actually had no idea what it was, nor did he care, the boy was still in shock from finding out that Kingsley was gone, and that had been weeks ago! And now Phineas was gone. So, yeah, he had no longer a heart to care for this things.

He nodded. Yes. They were supposed to be used to people leaving. And many other things he wouldn't mention.

But Treyen frowned a bit, "I'm sorry...I didn't mean...I'm just...," upset? angry? He didn't know how to feel, everything had come unexpectedly.

He didn't finish his sentence, but he did manage a small smile at Ellie as he nodded once. She'd accepted his apologies. Apparently. "Well, yes, of course I am, I only hoped that--" Jake wouldn't go, yes, but he caught something, "Wait, aren't you?" if he remembered correctly the last they'd spoke she'd say she'll attend Divination this year, and if she said that she wouldn't then his heart was going to break, no?

Oh.

Ellie smiled at the Niffler. It was so precious and little. "Metal? Er..no." Just her wand. Which was not metal, she was pretty sure. Unless Ollivanders had taken a different turn on making wands, and lied to her. Which she totally doubted. "Sure," she'll hold him. And she cupped her hands together to accept the little darling thing.

"It's fine," she nodded. It didn't matter what he was going to say. It certainly wasn't his fault that everything changed without notice. It was partly Bishops, though.

"I.." Ellie brought her eyes back to Treyen for a second, before looking away again, "don't..think..I can?" She immensely disliked Bishop. And she disliked the feeling she had when she went to the first lesson. And she disliked being in that room without Reyn. It didn't feel right. It was different. Granted, less different than his office, but still different.

Even thinking about it caused that sick feeling to return.

Perfect. No metal or shiny things. Good thing Ellie didn't have a badge...a badge. He had an idea. And Cedric would be the one to suffer.

For a bit.

He smiled back. Creatures were special, weren't they? Well, maybe not a Cockatrice, but did that qualify as an animal? Treyen was pretty sure it was more along the lines of monster than creature.

Mmmmhmmm. Wait. Waaait. What?!

He...froze again. And he'd thought he wouldn't be able to feel anything in quite a while. His eyes were only focused on Ellie. "You don't think you can?" what had gone wrong? He didn't see anything going wrong in class, the only one who made a scene had been Jake. If something had happened at Divination that managed to involve Ellie somehow he'd have noticed. Yes. And nothing happened. Unless...she'd mentioned that she didn't want to go in the first place...she probably didn't feel good while sitting there in the classroom that had the possibilities of bringing awesome memories back, right? Like Peeves, for instance?

If she didn't go...then it only meant that he'd be seeing less of her, "I will miss you, but you already know that," he'd said that already, right? Actually, he was being selfish, because partnering up with Jake was something he could deal with while knowing she could be in the same room. She'd been the reason he didn't walk out of class when patience was running low on his side. He did frown as he looked down to the floor, there was no way he was forcing her to attend the lessons anyway, he couldn't do that. Both literally, and because it would probably make her miserable. That's the last thing he wanted.

"You don't have to go," he said, as if a decision had been made. And a decision had actually been made, he needed to head back to the Healer and ask for more chocolate and permission to stay there until his heart was feeling better. He'd thought that Divination could be the cure to it, but he'd been mistaken. It was a good thing he never shared that theory with the Healer.

The Lockhart boy took just one step closer to Ellie, "Are you alright, though?" he asked, a bit concerned. The look on her face said otherwise, so she'd better say the truth.

"I'm sorry," Ellie said, bowing her head. She knew she'd told him that she would. Lesson learned, don't promise things in advanced.

But, yeah, that was all she could say. And, "Thanks." For his permission for her not to go. Heh.

She braved looking at him again. She owed him that much, right? Eye contact. "In what way?" Totally legitimate question. "Physically..yeah." Duh, he could see that for himself. "Mentally... Yeah." Well, that was questionable. Apparently severe emotional damage could affect your brain. "But, I just..." she studied him. She'd known him for a while, right? And...they had gotten to know each other enough, now, right? And she trusted him. "I don't like change. I don't like endings." Which totally reminded her of Divination last term, which funnily enough, included Treyen. "And I don't think I'm happy...ever...since the beginning of term, you know? At best, I've been okay. Or contented. And only temporarily." Deep stuff.

He did ask. Now he got to bear her feelings. And she was making herself vulnerable. Honestly, she hadn't even talked to her dad about this. And her dad was practically her best friend. Congrats, Treyen.

Heh.

She...didn't really have to apologize, but he didn't say so either. His heart was actually glad she'd said so. He didn't comment, didn't even move. Until the 'Thanks' part came along, he did a little nod after that. He wouldn't force her to do what was obviously something she didn't want to be doing in the first place. It wasn't fair. To either of them.

He felt the urge to look away when her eyes were on him, especially since her question could hold many answers and he didn't have one. Treyen didn't look away, though, "I--," of course, she didn't let him finish, which is something the boy was utterly grateful for.

Okay, so, he thought her answer was going to be short, but he got the truth, didn't he? And all he could do was look at her as she explained. First, the pretty Healer had gotten her heart broken once, he knew so thanks to his visit. And now Ellie wasn't happy. This was a disastrous year. Yes. He wasn't precisely a happy Hufflepuff either. But the Niffler Ellie was holding could make a difference soon, no?

"I am not, either," he confessed, leaning against a cage that contained Merlin knows what creature, "But you should be happy, Ellie," he had other reasons, starting with Gilderoy, and in all fairness, she only had the Nolan thing. Maybe he should just take her up as a project, and try and make her happy, wasn't that what he actually wanted? Did he? Er, yeah, no. Yes, Treyen wasn't sure about that.

"I had actually thought that I'd give up Quidditch if I could have last year back," and remain completely clueless about this new beginning, "But we'll have to face something we don't want to eventually," someone else had said so, perhaps not in the exact words, but, yes. The boy straightened himself, as to look a bit taller, "There is nothing else besides Reyn's departure that upsets you, is there?" yes, he didn't call him Nolan this time.

He's not?!! "B-B-But.." how could he not be? "But you're so...composed and..." and not crying every five minutes and bursting into Bishop's office, and moping...

And, yeah Treyen, she was aware she should be happy. Which was why she was upset and not being happy. Strange, but true.

Woaaahh. Give up Quidditch? For last year? Well...last year was fun, without Quidditch.

Treyen spoke the truth. Gahhh. Whyyy? She didn't want to hear it. She wanted to hear that things'll go back to the way they were. She should look into getting one of those time-turners. They sounded pretty appealing at the moment.

Besides Reyn? "Just more people leaving.." Like...everyone. Everyone abandoned her.

What? He? Composed? Yes, surely on the outside, but Treyen was sure he was dying inside, especially after finding out that Ellie won't be joining him at Divination. "Actually, if I hadn't asked you...," he started to say, and then shook his head, he needed to rephrase that, "You aren't precisely breaking to pieces at the moment, Ellie," surely he could see there was something wrong, but she seemed okay.

People leaving. Well, no one liked that. And he'd been through that many times, for starters, his mom, though, Kaika was the one who got the worst, and then Aaron, and Tiberius. At a time when it seemed that most friends were leaving him, Simon stayed. Miranda also left, before her time. Now, Conan wanted to leave, which he found truly awful. Kapoor left. But Nolan, Kingsley, and Phineas, all at the same time? Gilderoy's image over the summer? Ema also left. It was...something you couldn't fight against. Perhaps that's why he should be used to it, not Ellie.

"I'm not leaving yet," he said, giving her a small smile, "So, you have one less person to worry about," as if she did.

Treyen had already given her the Niffler, "Is there anything at all I can do to make you happy?" because he was staying in Hogwarts unless he died, and that wasn't happening, the reading Jake gave him didn't say something about that, "And no, I won't let you get away with supporting three Quidditch teams," though, if that's all it took to get a smile from her, then he'd let her have her way.

Well... Ellie blinked at him.

"Yes," she said, putting the Niffler down for a moment. Did he expect her to cry 24/7? 23/7 was enough for, her, thank you very much, "because I'm exhausted. Do you know how tiring it is to cry?" Really, it was insane. And, probably the only way she'd gotten sleep at night, because crying was making her so tired. "Why do you think I wanted to come here?" Because animals had that way of making you feel better.

And ranting was happening in her head. Until...

Awww. She gave him a small smile before stepping right up to, and wrapping her arms around him.

Ranting over.

She even managed to giggle at that last bit, "It's fine."

Just a hug'll do.

Yes? Oh. She'd been crying? He was frowning even more, because he actually hated the thought of Ellie crying. It was almost as bad as thinking the Healer could do so as well. Heartbreaking, to say the least.

But, boys didn't cry, that's why he wasn't in the least tired. "I didn't know...," that she'd been crying, of course, how could he know such a thing? Treyen had forgot to blink, this news was in fact the worst he could've had all day. Well, no, the worst one was the one involving Phineas, but this was pretty close.

His eyes were on the Niffler that was put down moments before. That creature wouldn't suffer the same fate as Phineas...perhaps...he ought to talk to Saylen and see if he could keep it, like, for real.

Maybe his mind was tricking him again, but he swore he saw a small smile on her face when he looked up, and then...why was she moving--oh.

Noooo. No hugs. He could break to pieces right there!

Or not.

The boy had to return the hug, if only she was a couple inches shorter then it would've worked out better. Actually, he'd rather be a couple inches taller. Yes. His heart had managed to skip a beat, and he had no idea why, but paid little attention to it. 'It's fine'. Er, no, nothing is fine, it will be, eventually, not now. He sighed and backed away from the hug, even if he'd rather stay like that a while longer. "It will be, I know it will be fine, it just feels like the bad news aren't stopping Ellie," but at least the Healer was still around. At least Zookara and Lafay were still around. He shouldn't be complaining much.

He wouldn't admit it, but the hug actually made him feel better. Much better. He actually smiled, as he usually did, "Thank you," the boy said, before nodding once, "You...have the ability to make me feel better somehow," yes, because there were two things that remained constant from the time in the stairs and this one. Ellie. He only hoped he could do the same for her.

He didn't know... well that was pretty obvious.

But...no...why was he backing off... Treyen was a bad cuddle partner.

Oh, no, wait. It was cuz he was talking. Okay. That's alright, then. Ellie let her arms fall to her sides when he'd let go. Hopefully, the bad news will stop. Soon.

Ellie smiled a bit more. That was...weird. She didn't think she'd make him feel better. And she wondered if she could say the same. He did have a knack for making her feel worse. But... But she did usually feel better after talking to him. She supposed you always have to feel worse before you can feel better. Right? That was why medicine tasted so bad.

"You do too." Honest.

There. Another smile. That's all he cared for, really. And the forgotten Niffler on the floor was no longer forgotten, since Treyen managed to pick him up again.

Treyen's head was tilted to one side now. She was lying, for sure, there was no way he could make her feel better, even if he truly hoped he could. After all, the boy used to bring out the conversations Ellie wished never to have. Like minutes ago. And...the crying. Yeah. He raised an eyebrow.

"You wouldn't happen to have a quill with you, would you?" yes, random change of topic. Or not so random. He'd swear his head didn't seem to be focusing at all, he was supposed to be going to class after this and he only had his wand. Brilliant. Not.

"No? All my stuff's in the castle." What would he need a quill for? And where did his need for one come from?

He always left her with so many questions.

Or maybe she just questioned him too much.

But, yeah, she didn't think she'd need her bag here. "Maybe Saylen has one..." She probably did. And her office was, like, right there.

Figures. She didn't have a bag with her or anything, but she was a Ravenclaw, he sort of assumed she could have some parchment with her or something at all times. He'd assumed wrong.

He chuckled, "No, no, that's okay," he said, as petted the little Niffler, which shall still remain nameless. "I was just going to leave a note, you know, since I decided to take care for this...little...guy or girl," siiiigh, he didn't know what it was. Perhaps...a name that could fit both genres would be good, no?

See? It wasn't Divination, nor Nifflers, it was Ellie the one who made him feel better somehow. Well, her company, anyway. Very odd stuff. "I'll come back later and do so," he shrugged as he placed the Niffler back on its cage, something the little creature didn't seem to enjoy very much. "I will come back," he whispered to the little guy or girl.

His eyes were still on the creature and then he thought of something, "I think we need chocolate, Ellie," he started to say, as he turned towards her, "Or a chocolate gelato," or something gelato, or just something. Healer Moretti had recommended chocolate for heartbreak and it was kind of working. "Would you join me?"

"Aww, you're going to take it?" It was soo cute. And Nifflers just weren't meant to be kept in cages. Nor was any animal, really. Though, Ellie felt, some were more okay with it than others. It depended.

Gelato!? Ellie's eyes lit up. "Of course." GRIN. She liked chocolate. And she needed to try gelato. So chocolate gelato sounded excellent.