Closed Adventure for Two

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus had been nervous when his cousins had dragged him into the forest on his first day at Hogwarts, but at least he had known two seventh years were with him who would protect him, even if they also really enjoyed scaring him. Now, he was just with Addison, and together they only knew a handful of spells. But Augustus figured that if they went the same way he'd gone with the twins, nothing could really go wrong. They hadn't really seen anything scary back then, so he thought the odds were small that something would attack them this time. "Watch out for that branch." He said quietly to Addison as he pointed it out, neglecting to mention it had been one he'd tripped over on his first trip here. "Lumos." He said, lighting up the tip of his wand. He didn't have charms yet, but Theodore had taught him the spell earlier and he had practiced it on his own. "I heard there's many creatures here, though I didn't see anything when I was here with my cousins." He added, glancing at his friend. "But maybe we'll see something today, and I could tell the boys in my dormitory about it. Maybe I can be their friend too" He said quietly, looking around carefully for anything moving. "I heard there's unicorns." He said quietly, naming one of the less scary creatures, partly to reassure Addison and partly to reassure himself.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison skipped along behind Augustus, stepping over the branch he warned her about, clutching her notebook to her chest. "Hey, you weren't in that class," she admired, sticking close as she thought she saw something in the forest. She looked back to him. "I'm sure they will even if we don't see anything," She told him, "Maybe show them that charm! They probably don't know it yet," She reassured him, unthinkingly grabbing his arm and standing closer as she thought she saw movement in the trees. After a few moments, she let go, continuing on. It had just been a bird. "Oh, unicorns?" She scribbled it quickly in her notebook. "I've heard you can drink their blood to get life but as soon as you do you're cursed because you hurt something really pure," She told him matter-of-factly.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus nodded at her comment. "My cousins showed me." He mumbled. "They said it was an easy spell I should be capable of." He added. It was pretty easy now, but he hadn't been able to manage it in one go. Augustus shrugged when Addison said they would probably want to be his friend even if they didn't see anything interesting. "I don't know. Others think I'm strange." He mumbled. But her idea of showing them the spell was a good one. "Maybe I'll do that." He said, perking up a little. His eyes went wide at her next comment, and he nearly tripped over a fallen log as he looked at her. "That sounds dark." He murmured, intrigued. "Dark magic." He clarified. "But... why would you need life, if you're drinking blood wouldn't you have life already?" He didn't really get what that meant, but he was intrigued. but he was also unable to resist casting a glance around, as if worried any unicorns might overhear them talking about drinking their blood.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison smiled. "Your cousins sound pretty cool. My cousin is cool in his own way, he's just really nervous all the time. The boy I sit with in class? That's Casper." She hopped over a smaller branch. "Well, others are missing out then," She replied simply. She thought about his question. "Well, maybe you're weak and dying?" She offered. "I don't know. Or terminally ill. Something pretty drastic to drive you to drink unicorns blood. I'd rather ride a unicorn if they would let me." She stated simply.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus frowned a little as he tried to picture the boy Addison mentioned. "Oh." He said, nodding. It would be kind of nice to have a cousin around his own age, but he only had the twins who had always seemed so much older. There had always seemed to be an unbridgeable gap between them, even more so now that they were nearly adults. He nodded at her suggestions. "I suppose, but I think it would be difficult to capture a unicorn." He said quietly. "I think I would rather pet one." He added as Addison mentioned riding one. "Riding a creature with a horn like that seems like it could be dangerous." He added for clarification, stopping to look at a mushroom that was growing on a nearby stump.

 

[Addison Beckett]

Addison giggled and shook her head. "You don't capture it, that's mean. You make friends with it so it just wants to hang out with you," She decided, jumping over another branch. "You would have to be careful of the horn though, it could run you right through if you made it mad enough," She decided, pausing as she noticed a new path near where they were. "Hey, what about this way?" She asked, pointing towards it.

 

[Augustus Westwick]

Augustus blinked as Addison said they would have to make friends with an unicorn. "Well." He said, frowning "I think that would be even more difficult, they do not speak English." He informed her. It was difficult enough to make friends with people who understood what he was saying, a unicorn would be downright impossible. He nodded when she mentioned the horn could run one through. "I do think unicorns are supposed to be gentle, though." He said, glancing around in case he could spot one. Addison pointed to a different path, and Augustus hesitated. "That's a different path than I took with my cousins." He said eventually. "I'm not sure where it would lead."