Closed Catch More Flies with Honey

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke was at am impasse. If she was going to get this essay done on schedule and avoid having it run into her Arithmancy study time, she needed the book now. Big Douglas didn't care for her time management quandary it seemed, as he continued blinking placidly at her from his perch atop the bookcover, no doubt covering it in toad slime or whatever else toads exuded. "Ugh," Brooke said, wrinkling her nose as she raised her wand hesitantly. She could, of course, just levitate the toad away. Or vanish him. Transfigure him into a pet that wasn't so loathsome to look at. But she knew if she even thought about casting a spell on him Hester would no doubt appear to scream bloody murder at her for being a callous witch or something. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before.

Huffing and lowering her wand, Brooke crossed her arms, searching about the library for a moment before making her way past the selection of study tables to find Hester. "Your toad is in the way," she said shortly, stopping in front of Hester impatiently. "Can you move him. Please," she said, only barely managing to tack on the 'please' before giving Hester only enough eye contact to indicate she was talking to her (though of course who else would let their stupidly large toad wander willy-nilly around the library so it could inconvenience other people), before glancing away, eager for this interaction to be done with.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Coming to Hogwarts had been without question the most surreal experience of Hester's life, but leaving Hogwarts was coming close. The idea that soon she would be gone from here forever, returning to her normal life with an enormous seven year gap in the middle of it. Her brothers were all adults now, with lives and families of their own. She had only spent a few months with her parents in all of the last seven years, and there were so many things she struggled to tell them, stories that took layers and layers of explanation before you could even get started. How was she supposed to ever return to her old life with this chasm between her and her family?

She was going to return to the normal world, that was something Hester had made up her mind about a long time ago. She knew she didn't have to - it wouldn't be that hard to find some kind of apprenticeship working with magical creatures, and it was definitely an avenue she wanted to pursue after she had her degree. But she had been disconnected from the real world for so long that it ached, and she needed to spend some time there, remember who she was before deciding whether to live in the real world, the magical one, or somewhere in between. It was hard, preparing for NEWTs while knowing how little impact they would actually have on her future. She was doing her best though, absorbed in a book about experimental wand design using components from unusual magical creatures when Brooke's voice interrupted her thoughts, and she looked up stiffly to see her former friend standing over her. The subject quickly pulled Hester's attention away though, and she looked around in dismay. Since last year she had been more protective of Big Douglas than ever, not able to bear the thought of anything happening to him. She hadn't lost track of him in years, and now... "Where is he?!" She yelped, jumping up as she looked around in a panic.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

It shouldn't have surprised Brooke in the slightest that Hester would yell in the library and she barely restrained an eyeroll as Hester lept to her feet in a panic, deftly stepping back to try and stay out of the way. "Relax, he's just over here," she said, motioning the stack of books near where she'd been working nearby. "It's not like anything's going to happen to him in the Library anyway, I don't know why you don't just keep him in your dorm like a normal person," she added shortly, though she supposed there were probably a few more aggressive books or absent minded students that could do him a little harm. At least Hester hadn't immediately jumped to assuming Brooke had done something this time. She may not like the stupid toad, but she didn't actively wish it harm, despite what Hester apparently thought of her.

 

[Hester MacGillivray]

Hester relaxed as Brooke pointed out Big Douglas, hurrying to scoop him into her arms. She gave Brooke a pointed look, holding Big Douglas close as she made her way back to her desk. "Yeah, I thought that last year." She said bitterly. "I left him for a couple of minutes in the Common Room and Lysander stole him. No chance, he's staying with me." She said firmly, setting Big Douglas down on her own desk and rubbing his head affectionately.