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[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley strode excitedly towards the forest, with Rose at her side. Finally! She was doing this! It had been an embarrassment to her rebellious rule-breaker self-image that she had not been to a place that had Forbidden in its title before now. Also, she liked forests; peace and birdsong and trees to climb. Hayley had been planning to go exploring by herself, since there was no way she'd admit to her friends she hadn't been yet, until Rose had mentioned that she hadn't either. Then it immediately seemed like a perfect opportunity to get to know the Gryffindor better. Rose seemed like a friendly and fun person, and she'd invited Hayley to her house over the holidays purely on Harley's recommendation, without really knowing her at all. A little light rule-breaking would be just the thing to bring them closer.

Hayley reached the outskirts of the trees and plunged in without hesitation. The dappled shade was a welcome relief from the heat of this sunny day. The forest was a mixture of native New Zealand plants and European trees, Hayley noticed as she walked further in. She supposed the European ones had been planted for teaching purposes, since the school curriculum seemed to pay no attention to the fact that they were in the Southern Hemisphere, let alone New Zealand. And why was this forest Forbidden? It was lovely. Somewhere above them a tui called its warbling song; Hayley looked up but couldn't spot it. She supposed you could get lost in here, if you weren't paying attention. She glanced at Rose, grinning. "This is great! We should have come here way sooner."

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was eager to get into the forest. She had been ever since she had first laid eyes on it. She skipped every few steps, grinning happily. Things were even better because she was with her new friend Hayley. The two hadn't spent a lot of time together, but she was a friend of Harleys which made Rose feel like she was a friend of hers too. Hayley had been nice to have over during the holidays, especially because she could draw so well. Rose secretly hoped she would one day draw her the way she had drawn Rory, though maybe not as a dragon, but she didn't want to ask. Maybe if she made Hayley a scarf, she would get a drawing in return? It would be a sneaky thing to do it for that reason, though. But Rose already had planned to make her one, once it was less hot outside at least. She wondered if she could make a skull on it.

The forest was beautiful and Rose looked around happily. It was so green! The surroundings reminded her of the greenhouses, but even more wonderful. She couldn't help but wonder why they never went here during Herbology, there had to be interesting and magical plants in here, there was no way there weren't any. Maybe that was something for the later years, though. Maybe she would ask Professor Carter, though only if she could ask in a way that didn't let him know she had been here. Rose had no idea why the forest was forbidden, but after she heard Corrine talk hopefully about Gryffindor one day winning the House Cup she felt a little less good about getting into trouble. Though, this year was probably a lost cause anyway.

Rose blindly followed Hayley, trusting her to remember the way. She was too busy looking at everything to even remember they had to keep track of things like that. She looked at her friend and nodded in agreement to her statement. "Yes! Harley and Rory went without us last year, but they got caught. Hopefully we won't." She glanced around as if fearing she had just jinxed them. "I wonder if we'll find any cool plants, do you like Herbology? It's my favorite subject." She realized she didn't actually know that much about Hayley, that had to be remedied at once.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley grinned at Rose skipping. That was so cute! Not the most practical thing to do in the forest undergrowth (particularly for someone with Hayley's own poor sense of balance), but that only made it all the more endearing. Hayley wondered if Rose would do anything cool on this trip that she could draw. Having sketched Rory breathing fire after their kitchen adventure, the thought had been hovering in the back of Hayley's mind that it would be pretty awesome to draw all of her friends like that, in poses inspired by (though perhaps exaggerated from) their adventures. She hadn't been very interested in drawing people before, and she still wasn't entirely happy with her skill at likenesses, but she'd drawn that caricature of Odette, and Rory, and that weird girl by the lake, and discovered she rather liked it. And she wouldn't get better unless she practised. But she didn't want to draw her friends in cool poses just out of the blue. There had to be a story behind it.

Hayley wove around a fallen log, taking note of it as a landmark she could use to find her way back. The forest became denser and darker further in, the green-hued shade more pronounced. "Heh. I've never been caught," Hayley boasted, conveniently neglecting to mention that this was largely because she hadn't actually broken very many rules. "I'm sure we'll find heaps of cool plants. This is probably a magic forest, right? Maybe we'll find some of the stuff we learned about in Herbology." Hayley paused. She wasn't actually that enthusiastic about any of her classes, beyond the fact that they were learning magic, which was admittedly awesome. "Herbology's pretty cool, I guess. I don't think I actually have a favourite class. Charms, maybe? Or Transfiguration? That overtly magic stuff like you get in fantasy stories is still hella surreal to me."

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose follows Hayley without looking back, smiling. "I've been caught twice now." She told the Slytherin. "My own fault, though, I'm not that good at being quiet or sneaky. One time I was with a Ravenclaw boy and the other time was with Rory and Harley. Both professors were pretty nice about it. I'm sure Rory told you about how she and Harley ran off the last time." She never did grow tired of telling that story. "Rory has Charms as favorite too, I'm not sure about Harley. It's funny that you like both Charms and Transfiguration because Rory doesn't like transfiguration at all." She was rambling and decided to stop, smiling and shrugging. She spotted some pretty flowers and crouched down to pick two. She put one behind her ear and handed the other to Hayley. "Now we match." She said with a smile.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley sniggered. "Yeah, they told me. Rory's so proud of it, it almost seems like she's never done anything like that before." Hayley paused, letting Rose ramble, and wondering about Harley. Her best friend had never told her about a favourite class, but then again, Hayley suspected she had the same willfully negative attitude towards learning as Hayley did. Probably more so. The existence of real magic gave Hayley at least a little interest in her classes, but Harley had been brought up with magic, and thus was jaded to it.

Hayley accepted the flower Rose gave her with a smile and a giggle, and tucked it behind her ear. Flowers in her hair didn't really fit her style, but how could she refuse such a sweet offer? Besides, there was no one but Rose around to see. She didn't have to pretend to be tough out here. Hayley's thoughts turned back to Rose. Other than that she was adorable, she knew very little about the Gryffindor, but she was already starting to trust her. Rose's ramblings about Rory and Harley had not been helpful in that respect, though. Hayley wanted to know more about her new friend. "What's your favourite colour?" she asked abruptly. It seemed as good a place to start as any.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose shrugged at Hayley's comment about Rory. "Well I have never done something like that either, running away when you're caught seems sort of pointless to me. I mean, they've caught you already! They'll only take more points or give more detention." She hopped onto a fallen branch and watched it snap under her feet with satisfaction. She really loved being outside.

Hayley looked cute with the flower behind her ear. Though her style clashed a little with it, Rose felt like it suited her anyway. She was surprised but happy with Hayley's sudden question. "Okay this is going to sound cliched but it's red." She said with a shrug. "So I guess I'm in the right house! What about yours?"

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley shrugged. "It's the rebellion of the thing, Rose. You can't just come quuietly when you've been caught. If you're breaking the rules anyway you've got to make the most of it." The adrenaline rush of fleeing from the teachers, the sliver of a possibility that you might make it, that was the joy of running away.

Hayley snapped a slender twig from a branch as they passed and fidgeted with it, twisting it around in her hands and waving it lazily about. She wasn't at all surprised to her that Rose's favourite colour was red; she really should have realised that, considering the decoration of her bedroom. "I like red a lot too, but I think my favourite is teal. Not green, but, like, blue-green. And I am absolutely not in the right house. Slytherin f***ing sucks."

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose looked confused. "But what is the point of rebelling if you're already caught? The professors will just try harder to get you again and they'll be angrier. I don't like making people angry." She shrugged, adjusting the flower in her hair. "I mean, they're just doing their job, you know? I feel like most professors at this school are pretty nice." She didn't understand the impulse to run away, it felt unfair to her.

Hayley waving the twig around made Rose think of waving a wand around. She smiled. "l like teal too! I actually think it looks pretty good with red as well. I like green as well though." She paused, frowning. "I think I might like most colors, actually." She realized. She bit her lip. "Have you asked if you can change houses?" She asked Hayley curiously, she didn't think it was possible but if no one asked no one would know.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley shrugged. "For fun, I guess." She'd never really thought about it in that much detail. Running away was just instinctively what you did when you got caught. "I dunno. I haven't really had much contact with the professors outside of classes. Professor Pendleton was really good when he caught Odette putting up those evil posters last year, though."

Hayley laughed at how distracted Rose looked about her colour tastes. Absentmindedly she snapped her thin twig in half, then in quarters. "No," she said thoughtfully. "I haven't asked. I doubt it'd do any good, they seem pretty precious about their magic hat's decision-making abilities . . . but it's worth a try." But who could she ask? Professor Styx seemed the logical person, but he was scary and unsympathetic. Hayley had learned long before Hogwarts that teachers were far from helpful when it came to bullying, but Rose's optimism was catching. It couldn't hurt to try.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose nodded. "Professor Pendleton is great! He's so funny and cute, I like how he sings in class. The professors that have caught me so far were teachers in the older years, so I don't really know them either." She smiled. "He did deal with Odette well... I guess you're in a dorm with her, what's that like?" Rose didn't really know the blonde Slytherin too well, but she knew enough from the stories.

She nodded encouragingly at Hayley. "I admit, they probably won't let you change but there's nothing wrong with asking. Maybe you could ask Professor Kingsley, she's our Head of House and she's nicer than Styx. Maybe you could use the mean purebloods as a reason." She shrugged. "You should feel comfortable in your home. And it would be fun if you were in our dorm with us." She smiled and put an arm around her. "We would make pillow forts with the coolest decorative art on the walls."

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley chuckled at Rose's enthusiasm about Professor Pendleton. Yeah, she was right actually, he managed to make Potions almost enjoyable. "Ugh, don't even get me started. These days I pretty much try to avoid her, but after all that poop with Harley went down, and I caught her putting the posters up . . . let's just say going to bed was not exactly the relaxing experience it should be."

"Yeah, Professor Kingsley could be a good person to talk to. Maybe I'll ask one of the Slytherin prefects first, to see if it's even a possibility at all." Hayley shrugged. Talking about the mean purebloods to teachers felt too much like admitting weakness, but Hayley really didn't want to have to deal with it every day for another five years. She smiled up at Rory's arm around her shoulder. "Hell yes, we could make the best pillow forts! And it'd be so much easier to hang out with you guys." The idea of being able to share a dorm with people she trusted, to get to hang out with her friends all the time . . . Hayley couldn't imagine anything better.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

"Thanks for coming with me, Kalif" Professor Kingsley said to her colleague as they walked into the forest. Although he didn't teach the subject any longer, Kalif had been Cyndi's herbology professor once upon a time, and she trusted his opinion on such matters more than anyone else. She needed to check on the saplings she'd planted only some months before for her lessons later in the year. A can of magically enhanced fertilizer was in her bag along with a few other tools. She needed the trees at full size in three weeks and they were still quite far from that. "Did you lay into your house yet? Honestly, I have no idea what is going on with everyone this year, but it's the Gryffindors too. Did Justin tell you what my Gryffindors did to his common room? I was mortified..." she continued a steady stream of conversation as they walked.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was about to tell Hayley that she was the best at making pillow forts in the whole entire world and that she had made them with her sisters all the time when she heard voices. She stopped dead, her eyes widening when she recognized the voice as Professor Kingsley. Her mind immediately flashed back to the speech the woman had given at the start of the semester. Oh no! She would be so disappointed if she caught Rose now. She looked at Hayley in alarm, barely daring to breathe. It sounded like Hayley's head of house was there too, which made the situation easily ten times as scary. Maybe they would pass without noticing them if they stayed still enough? Rose could only hope so.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Kalif sighed when Professor Kingsley thanked him for coming along. Despite the fact he had not taught Herbology in years, it was still a strong knowledge of his. Most subjects were, the ones that he thought were useful anyway. He gave a curt nod when he was asked about his house. As soon as he came in, everyone was in trouble and only a handful had to suffer a one on one conversation with him, most of which either involved asking to patrol, or expulsion, or counseling. Kalif didn't really speak much since his eyes were on the forest as they went to check on some saplings. Kalif heard something and he held up a hand. He whisked out his wand and silently cast the spell to reveal humans around the area. "I'm afraid your saplings will have to wait." Kalif gestured to the outline of students in the area. "If they are in my house..." Kalif had enough nonsense from his house. He had enough stress, and stupid kids purposely going against his rules, that would not fly. The forbidden forest was dangerous for kids. After all, people were killed here. The last thing he wanted was to plan a funeral and deal with the emotional crowd that followed.
​

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley froze along with Rose when they heard voices approaching. Their eyes met in mutual panic. "Oh, sh*t," she murmured. Teachers. Rose seemed to be staying as still as possible in the hope they wouldn't notice, which seemed like a good strategy, so Hayley followed suit. They were in a forest, after all; the visibility must be terrible. The teachers clearly hadn't noticed them yet. It didn't occur to Hayley that there might be magical means of detecting wayward students. Her alarm rose as they listened. Not just teachers, but both their heads of house. This could not be any worse. Hayley hadn't really had anything to do with Professor Styx directly, but he was definitely terrifying. And he knew they were there. And he was already angry. "Come on!" Hayley hissed. "We have to run now. Styx will kill us. And you have to see what it's like to run away." Beneath her panic ran an undercurrent of wild, defiant joy. Now she could show Rose the adrenaline rush of rebellion, how exciting it was to flee. She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her along as she sprinted headlong deeper into the forest.

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose realized around the same time Hayley did that staying in place wouldn't really help. Professor Styx seemed to have sensed them. Did the man have supernatural powers? At least, more than they did? She wanted to get out of here just as badly as Hayley did, she remembered the disappointment on Professor Kingsley's face when she talked about her troublesome students in the house meeting. She gulped and nodded at Hayley's suggestion, letting the girl pull her along. She only got to make it a few steps, though, before her foot lodged firmly under a root and made her fall face-first onto the forest floor. She could feel herself dragging Hayley down with her, at least somewhat, before their hands seperated. "OUCH!" She gasped, a hand flying up to rub at her face and touch her nose to see if it wasn't broken. It wasn't, but it still hurt. Her ankle as well, even worse. She groaned and sat up slowly. Really, running was always a bad idea. "Oww..." She whined, no longer caring about getting caught.

godmod approved

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi felt the odd sensation of his spell even before Kalif confirmed that they weren't alone. She'd been so busy talking that she hadn't heard a thing, though Kalif obviously had since he'd probably only been half listening to her. Scowling at the man's back as she came to that conclusion, Cyndi followed him, hearing the familiar sounds of someone attempting to make a quick getaway. It didn't seem to have been too successful as almost immediately after she heard a pained sound from slightly deeper into the forest. The sound led them right to their destination, and the woman only took a moment to see a downed student before she jumped into action, dropping her bag on the ground before kneeling beside the fallen girl who she quickly recognized as a Gryffindor. A flash of anger crossed her face, her mouth in a thin line before she spoke. "What hurts?" she asked, using lumos to give herself more light to see.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

Hayley lost hold of Rose's hand as her friend fell. She ran on a few more steps, struggling to regain her balance, but her momentum carried her downwards. She crashed headlong onto the ground, swearing loudly and voluminously. Well, so much for that plan. They were definitely doomed now. Hayley raised her head from the dirt and leaf litter, and awkwardly twisted her neck around to see what was going on. Professor Kingsley was kneeling beside Rose, looking concerned despite her anger. She didn't seem to have noticed Hayley, but the young Slytherin was certain she'd lost her chance to escape. She couldn't see Professor Styx, and that was even more terrifying. Hayley groaned and got to her knees. They hurt, but not badly, and she had managed to protect her face with the hand that hadn't been holding onto Rose. It sounded like her friend hadn't fared so well.

 

[Professor Kalif Styx]

Kalif sighed, knowing that this would certainly be unpleasant. The auras around the students tried to run, and then trip. Almost anti-climatic. As Kingsley went over to her student, his own form walked around to the front of the students, ensuring that they cannot run. Kalif got out his wand and silently invoked Lumos. However, his face twisted into anger when he saw that it was someone from his own house. He barely recognized her, but it was definitely one of his. There was no denying it. "Did my warning fall deaf on your ears, miss Elridge?" If one more student fell out of line... His dark eyes glared down at the second year.
​

 

[Rose Holland]

The pain in Rose's face was slowly starting to fade, but her ankle still hurt quite a bit. She swallowed, feeling doubly guilty now that Professor Kingsley was being nice to her, at least nice enough to ask about her injury before yelling at her for being in the forest. "My ankle, a bit." She told the professor honestly. "I'm sorry." She added quickly, knowing it wouldn't do anyone any good but still feeling the urge to say it.

Hayley had gone down as well, judging by the colorful words she was using. Rose bit her lip, if the Slytherin hadn't tried to drag her along she would have gotten away. Well, maybe. Rose still thought it was a better idea to just surrender once you were caught, fair and square. This little incident confirmed it even more, she wasn't made for speed and stealth apparently. Professor Styx started to talk to Hayley and he sounded really scary and angry. Rose had to say something, she moved to get up first but then decided not to just yet. "Professor Styx, it wasn't Hayley's idea." She said quickly. "It was my idea, I dragged her out here!" It wasn't strictly the truth, but she felt like punishment from Professor Kingsley was less bad than punishment from Professor Styx would be for Hayley. "She mostly went along to keep me out of trouble." She added, trying to think fast. "You see, I'm kind of clumsy." She gestured to herself, covered in dirt and leaves. "I could have tripped and fallen into a pit or... or eaten by a..." She paused. "Bear?" She glanced at her head of house, hoping she would confirm or deny there were bears here, despite the situation. Maybe if they gave the students more information about the forest, less of them would be inclined to explore it. Though Rose knew not many stories would keep her out.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

The light from Kalif's wand helped to supplement her own, making it easy to see that there was another girl in the clearing. Apparently, Kalif recognized her right away as the woman heard him begin to speak to her. Professor Kingsley didn't feel bad for either girl, though she certainly hoped that neither of them were very hurt. As her student claimed responsibility for this forest excursion, Professor Kingsley glanced up sharply, her eyes flashing with anger once more. "So accompanying you to a place that is forbidden to you by the Headmistress makes more sense than say stopping you or going to a professor and letting them know what you're planning?" she stated, shaking her head. "I suggest you save it. Professor Styx and I have heard it all" she continued. "Really? A bear...there are far more dangerous things in here" she rolled her eyes as she muttered to herself, knowing that was the least of anyone's worries in the castle. Her wand dimmed as she cast a bit of non-verbal magic and then muttered the spell to conjure a bandage and splint which began wrapping itself tightly around the student's ankle and leg. "Let's see if you can put pressure on this" she said, standing up and brushing off her clothes before she held her hand out to the girl.

 

[Hayley Elridge]

A sudden light above her made Hayley look up, and there was Professor Styx. "poop!" she said in surprise, then immediately realised that was not a good thing to say in this situation. And realising shortly after that that was the first word she'd ever said directly to her head of house. What a first impression she must be making. "Sorry, Professor," she added hastily. "You startled me." Hayley mentally rolled her eyes as Rose started making excuses for her. It was a generous gesture, and she was grateful for the thought, but it could only make things worse in the long run. As Professor Kingsley's sarcastic response confirmed. Stopping Rose might have made sense if not for the fact that Hayley had wanted to come just as much, but to suggest that Hayley tell on her friend was an insulting thought even for a professor. As if Hayley would betray a friend. As if she had enough friends that she could afford to do such a thing even if she wanted to. But none of that was an appropriate defence in this situation. Instead, Hayley focused on the professor's irritable aside, hoping her (genuine) curiosity could deflect some attention. "What is in here, Professor Kingsley?" she asked. "This seems like a really nice forest, why is it forbidden?"