Open On The Loose

[Naveen Khatri]

Naveen swore under his breath as he gave up looking through every inch of the Hufflepuff common room and made his way out into the corridor. He has already torn his room apart, he'd have to apologize to Thomas later, but he couldn't find his cat anywhere. There was a volatile mixture of shame and fear brewing in his chest as he clicked his tongue and called out for his pet. "Cheddar, pst pst." he said gently, but with an undeniable sense of urgency. "Come on boy, pst pst." he continued and repeated as he walked down the corridor. He felt awful, Cheddar was his responsibility while Feta stayed with his sister. He knew the orange cat was tough to some degree. He had been found as a stray but years of living in luxury had probably dulled much of his survival skills. Coming to school for Naveen had been terrifying but the only thing that had really held him together those first bumpy months was his sister and his cat. As long as the little bugger didn't make it outside he was pretty confident he'd find him in one piece.

 

[Tabitha Gray]

Tabby wandered down the hallways without much direction, her bag thumping lightly against her hip. She wasn't really looking for anything, just trying to get used to being in the castle again. That's when she noticed a boy in the corridor, seemingly looking for something alive. Tabby slowed, watching him, and then wandered closer, expression unreadable but tone bright as she called out to him. “If it’s a snake, I don’t want to know.” With a castle full of students and their pets, she wasn't surprised that a few of them went on adventures without their owners occasionally, but this boy looked worried so Tabby felt obligated to sort-of offer assistance.

 

[Naveen Khatri]

Naveen was wrestling with his anxiety as he cycled through worse case scenarios but he was brought back to reality when he heard a girl call out to him. He straightened his posture instantly and the absurdity of her comment instantly grounded him. He put his hands on his hips and faced her. "A snake?" he asked incredulously. "Now why would I be looking for a snake?" he continued. "First of all, they're not allowed at school. Second of all, if I did have a contraband pet I think I'd be a bit more subtle when trying to find it." he huffed, his anxiety twisting into irritation. The girl didn't deserve his scolding but she had caught him at a bad time.

 

[Tabitha Gray]

Tabby shrugged at the boy's response and held up her hands in mock surrender. "I don't know your rule-breaking-to-subtlety ratio," she said. Merlin, now she wanted a contraband pet. Committing ethically-sound animal crimes sounded super fun. "Alright, alright. Focus, babes." Tabby snapped her fingers beside her ear, more to keep herself on task, but also to disrupt whatever tirade the boy was going on. "Animal or mineral of the non-snake variety. Can't have gone too far. What do they look like?" If she'd had a notebook, she would have been pulling it out right then. She figured whichever pet this boy had lost was probably fine, but Tabby was inserting herself into this search in the name of animal welfare. And also, because she didn't know how to leave now without looking like a jerk.