running barefoot

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

It was heading towards the end of april and an unnaturally cool day for this time of day regardless of this however briar was out in the grounds running. the gryffindor girl was glad that she didn't feel the cold easily as she wasn't in a mood to wear too many clothes, where as most of the other students were in their jeans and jumpers briar was wearing her running shorts and a simple singlet with a wolf face on the front. as she ran her bare feet pounded the ground. it had been a while since she had had a proper run barefoot and she had forgotten how much freer it felt having grass and soil beneath her feet rather than rubber shoes. the main reason that she had chosen to to without shoes today was that the top of her foot was still a little tender from where she had got her tattoo a couple of weeks before. nor her right foot showed not only the scars of her werewolf bite but also a tattoo of a werewolf. she was trying to push herself as hoard and far as she could go before having to stop dizzy and have a drink of water and something to eat, the problem with being as fit as she was though was that it took ages to get to that stage, she had been up at six, and after an early breakfast and a few hours studying she was in the grounds by nine pounding her way around the lake, across the lawn before she did another lap of the lake and repeated the route. now it was almost lunch time and there were quite a few people in the grounds each of them giving her odd looks as she passed them yet another time. by now she was just about reaching a state of tiredness. she stopped in the middle of the lawn before dropping onto her back her heart pounding and breathing heavy. she grass was moist from a shower that had happened earlier that morning, but she didn't notice as her skin was also damp from a film of perspiration. that was causing her shirt to stick to her. she just lay there for a few minutes wondering if anyone she knew was about.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Despite the fact that exams were darkly near, Minoas decided to take a break that day from his revision and spare some time to himself. Oddly enough, he didn't want to spend his time on a broom flying around. He preferred to find a peaceful place and relax. Just him and his thoughts.
He had remembered the tree by the lake, where Briar was waiting him and Madlyn to explain about thewerewolf-poster event. It was also a bit early in the morning so most students would be taking their breakfast in the great hall and the grounds would be quite. He climbed up the tree with his little journal in hand, finding a strong branch to stnd his weight, making sure that the thick foliage of the tree would conceal his presence.

His journal lists of the spells and the potions he had mastered. Ideas for his own spells and crafts as well as some sketches. He was in an artistic mood and he had decided to sketch something rather than play his guitar and gather unnecessary attention around him. He starting flipping through his pages as he was waiting patiently, silent in his hideout. Soon ripples on the surface of the lake, close to the shore, were announcing the appearance of his potential sketching models. Flying seahorses starting tentatively popping their heads out of the water, checking their surroundings. When the creatures were convinced that there were now threats around, the brave ones started hovering off the water, above the surface. Minoas started using a piece of coal for his sketch. He was using as his sketch model a seahorse that was hovering above the water with its tiny, transparent wings, for a long time as it was watching its reflection on the water's surface.

He wasn't half way through to finish his sketch when the flying seahorses started looking alerted and soon started vanishing beneath the surface. Irritated, Minoas tried to figure out whether they had spotted him or it was something else that got them scared away. He heard footsteps stepping on the wet grass and he tried to have a look from within his green fortress. He recognised Briar, running barefoot in what seemed a circle of the lake. He remained silent and watched as she was passing right down is tree, making him smile but not reveal his position. He kept watching her as she was heading towards the great lawn and he decided to follow her and catch up with her. He closed his journal, squeezing within its pages the piece of coal and climbed off the tree, landing on the slippery grass. Walking towards the direction that Briar had took, he spotted her as she had settled down on the ground. "Morning Wolfsbane. Early morning workout?" he greeted her as he catched up with her. "Aren't you a little bit lightly dressed for such a cool day?" he asked her as she was wearing shorts and he was dressed in a hoodie and a pair of jeans to keep himself warm.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was still lying flat on her back catching her breath. three hours of running and she was just about getting to the end of her capacity, which really wasn't too bad, though she would have liked to be fitter. her eyes were shut as the sun was nearly above her and would be shining into her eyes. after a few minutes she felt a shadow fall across her face. she opened her eyes and saw Minoas standing over her. "morning ... Minoas" she said still catching her breath. she smiled at the nickname he had given her, she had received quite a few nicknames, mostly dog, and Mutt, from the snakes but she didn't mind them. "I wouldn't ... call it ... early ... its almost lunch time ... early is up with the sun." she said.trying to force her breathing normal but not succeeding that well. Briar had always been a morning person, that was one thing that yea get used to in the wild, up with the sun and to bed not much after it set. "I don't get cold easily, especially running, i would have lest the jumper hours ago." she said sitting up so that she could see him better, "did you see that gossip mag a couple of days ago, what a load of rubbish" she said wanting to say something stronger. she reached for her bag that she had dropped a few feet away from her and got her water bottle she took a few deep mouthfuls and managed to drain it. "ahh, that's better." she said. feeling a little more refreshed.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas noticed that Briar was trying to catch up her breath. He sat on the wet grass just to regret it a few seconds later as he felt his bottom cold. He preferred to place his journal on his laps rather than on the ground. He had a look at his watch as she was mentioning that it was almost lunch time with a grimace as his jeans got wet. "Oh you are right. I guess I got carried away on that tree." he murmured pointing with his head towards the lake's direction.
"Good for you. I wouldn't go anywhere without my hoodie today." he said feeling comfortable within it.
"Is it a werewolf thing to feel warmer or just you?" he wondered if he was going to learn something new about werewolves. Most people might were freaked out to find out that their best friend was a werewolf, however Minoas was finding it really cool and always had loads of question to ask Briar about lycanthropy. He just didn't want to exhaust her with his curiosity and his questions' bombardment.

He couldn't hide his huge grin when she referred to the gossip magazine. It was true that he had read it earlier that morning. He almost choked on his pumpkin juice when he noticed his own photo in the pages. Other than that, he find it stupid but pretty hilarious. "Yes, that piece of nonsense. I can't say I didn't laugh with all those inaccuracies. Someone has a really wild imagination in this castle." he said with a smile as he glanced at the building. "I was almost convinced that it was your best friend Jaden but she seemed really pissed off so I doubt it. It could be an expanation though, why she did that with the poster. She looks a little bit manly anyways." he said with a chuckle, making sure that his vices about the Slytherin weren't overheard.
"I believe that my roomates will be afraid to shut their eyes and go to sleep from now on. They seem pretty convinced that you have turned me into a werewolf as well, except from the fact that I'm dating you of course." he said and he laughed as he was finding the one fact even more hilarious than the other.
"Anyway, what are you up to these days?" he asked as he had to hang around with his friend since their visit to the hospital wing after the Quidditch match.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar realised that he must have been out there for a while too, and when he pointed to a tree she guessed that that is where he had been "that happens to everyone" she said when he had said he had been carried away. she often lost track of time when she was wandering in the outside, she would go out after dinner and have to return to the castle when she realised how dark it had gotten. "I may put a hoodie on when i cool down but that will take a while." she said. maybe by the evening she would put on her scarlet werewolf girl hoodie. another acquisition to her wardrobe for this semester. when he asked if it was a werewolf thing she chuckled. "no, nothing like that at all, more a Briar thing, or maybe a being brought up by centaurs thing, though my night vision has improved greatly this last year" she said referring to her past, there weren't many people in the castle who knew about her childhood but her little brother was one of them.
when minoas said that he thought it was jaden who had written it she shook her head,"there is no way she would write that about herself. besides she seems a little lazy to write all that about everyone. I think it is just me she hates. or maybe just me and one other person now" she said. laughing. whoever it was who had written it had certainly succeeded in getting the snake girl mad. "well if anyone is annoying you now just threaten to bite them, my bite is meant to have some side effects when i am normal but not real infection." she said, she had read up on them t the start of the year and supposedly people attacked by an untransformed werewolf did develop some of the side effects, like love of rare meat and maybe even the illness but they didn't transform. "yeah, that was stupid. though I don't know how to tell Dee that he has competition" she said winking. they both knew what cow pat the story was and that he was her brother. as for Dee although at the start of the year she had got the impression that he was only writing to her out of duty, sympathy, or apology for what she had don't, but recently she had certainly felt that there was far more than that there now. she felt her legs start to cramp as the muscles started to cool down. "well I haven't been up to much. surprisingly most of my time is work. though on Brightstone weekend a couple of weeks back I met the beater for the Holyhead harpies who was nice. then in the evening I may have met up with someone, and had a rather enjoyable date" she said blushing slightly at the last half. she quickly turned away to stretch out a cramp in her foot wondering how long it would take for him to notice that now there was more than just a scar from her bite there, but a permanent picture of a wolf now over the top.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

He stared at her singlet and the depiction of a wolf on it.
"I love your tops with all that lycanthropy theme. Do you make them? I would like to have a t-shirt and wear it in the common room, boosting the rumours of my werewolf transformation." he said with a bemused smile.
He got goosebumbs and felt a chill spreading all along his body the more he was watching her bare arms.
He guessed that during her childhood, she was dwelling into frozen european forest with much less clothes so that would be nothing compared to what she was used to. He opened his journal at her reference on her improved night vision and he noted down with the piece of charcoal, in the section of his future potion making.
"Thanks for the inspiration." he murmured and bit his lowel lip as he was noting down.
"You can't be hated for no particular reason." he said with a shake of his head. "I believe that she's either jealous, I don't know maybe she likes your boyfriend or she would like to become a werewolf as well, or she might be interesting in you. There is a thin line between hatred and love." he shared a line he had memorized from a book he had once picked up. In this case however, he was more joking rather than talking seriously.

He laughed as he started finding the whole idea of pretending to be a werewolf, amusing.
"Shame that I prefer my steak well-cooked. It would be priceless to see their faces while eating rare meat." he threw his head back in a bray of laughter. Sheepishly his laughs stopped abruptly and he squirmed. "I hope he won't bite when he learns that he was a competitor." he rubbed his neck like it was the spot were he was going to accept the bite. He was comfortable being around Briar but about another, stranger werewolf it was another story.
He frowned as he as well was spending most of his time in revision. Deep inside him was hoping that she was going to tell him something exciting, forgeting all the time that she was actually a prefect who was supposed to be ruled abiding. "You really did meet her? That is awesome Bri! Meeting people from the job circle that you are interested in can be only in yur advantage." he exclaimed happy for her that she met a person that was into prefessional Quidditch. The idea of meeting a professional Quidditch player, made her reference to her date almost indifferent to him as he was imagining himself getting autograph from his favourite players.

"Unfortunately, I have nothing going on either. Just chose my electives. It took me sometime to decide but in the end I think I made the right choices, although Kingsley looked quite puzzled. I don't know why. Maybe she wasn't expecting my choices." he murmured, his gaze dropping down as he was swirling a tuft of grass around his index finger. He just then noticed the tattoo on Briar's foot. "Is this a real one?" he asked as he regained his enthusiasm with sparkled eyes.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled when he said she liked her tops. "thanks, I bought them last holiday, as I had warning that disorder would become public thanks to professor Le Fey. so I had time to prepare." she said she did like them tough, she had enough different one that she could basically wear them all the time exempt obviously when she had to be in her uniform for classes. "I wouldn't be spreading rumors about yourself that aren't true, goodness I got enough cr@p from it there is no point putting yourself through that if you don't need to. madlyn was right when she said more or less, as much as you find it cool, most other people wont, and i am not just talking in school" she said. she felt bad for causing him to be caught up in the rumours that were meant to be about her. but there wasn't much she could do. she knew that she wasn't the best person on giving him advice on that particular rumour but the situation when the had to face it had been different namely that it had been true about her but not about him. she was distracted when he thanked her for the inspiration, "inspiration for what?" she asked curious as to what she had said that could be classes as inspirational.
she shook her head at his suggestions as to why she was hated. "no it started before I even met Dee, and way before i ha the accident, and she didn't find out I knew him until Halloween at the earliest. though more likely the summer. and besides, from what i picked up overhearing their conversation, I don't think she is into guys if you get my drift." she said then realising what he had said after that she coughed on the mouthful of water she had just taken. "no way. I sure hope not" she spluttered, that was the last thing she needed.
she let the comment about the steak pass she didn't think of anything to add to it. "I think that as you are my brother there isn't much competition" she said knowing that most people wouldn't see him as her brother as they were not actually related but as far as she was concerned she had a brother and two sisters, one human, one part giant, and one centaur, mixed with her werewolfness it was a pretty awesome mix of people.
"yes I really did meet her, I think she must live somewhere in the village as she was heading home from training from what i can gather. she actually recognised m when i said my name, apparently my condition has gone further than just the school, apparently i made it into the daily prophet" she said realising that he hadn't picked up on the other thing that she had been up to that weekend.
she had forgotten that Minoas was in second year and should be picking subjects for next year. "what did you choose? I think i am pretty safe to guess care of magical creatures." but she wasn't sure what else the second year would have chosen. just then he noticed the inking on her foot. and she blushed slightly again. "yes Its a real one, do you like it?" she asked smiling, she wasn't going to tell him just now how she had come about getting it, but she would if he asked. it had been her birthday present of dee, she had been thinking about getting one for while, and when he had suggested it she had decided that it was more than coincidence and that had made up her mind.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

It was when Briar talked about something he didn't know that his smily face turned into a serious one.
"What? You were warned that your little secret was going to be exposed? Why you didn't tell us? We could have acted earlier and stop that Slytherin and her stupid plan." he said with a kind of jittery voice that they had the opportunity to prevent it from happening. Minoas believed that someone could change their future regardless if it was predicted by someone with divination skills. He holded head in hands and shook as Briar was bursting for the rumours and he murmured just a "I can't believe it. We lost the opportunity to bust her." among her words, still not getting over the lost opportunity.

He got over his shock with a laugh as he managed to finally listen to her as she was saying that the Slytherin wasn't probably into guys. "That is a little bit obvious." he commented and deliberately raised an eyebrow.
"I'm afraid she does. Take it as a compliment." he teased his sister as she coughed the water she was drinking after hearing his belief on why Jaden was so obsessed with her.
He took his journal in his hands again and he started swiftly browsing through it. "Nothing I just gather ideas for holidays. I was thinking of creating my own spells or potion and a night vision potion sounds really helpful." he said as he put the journal back on his laps.
"Good cause I wouldn't like to face a werwolf in love. Not until I have studied about werewolves in defence against the dark arts and I can properly face him off." he joked about Briar's boyfriend.
As she was describing her meeting with the professional player, he was imagining that happening as well to him in a few years when Briar would be a professional player as well. He was considering Briar being different in that case rather than now that she was a werewolf. Maybe because he was always starstrucked by the status of professional Quidditch players.

"That was the easy pick indeed. In the end I got magical creatures and ancient runes. I hoped I chose well." he talked about his choices, a little bit worried about the last one as he didn't know anything about runes but he thought that it would be interesting. "It's awesome!" he said about her tattoo with a grin. "When did you get it?" he asked, assuming that she hadn't it until recently.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar was a little surprised by his response, she had thought that she had told them about what professor Le fey had said at the ball. "It wasn't like she said that Jaden will find your secret, and put up posters for the whole school to find out on the first day back next term, it was more that someone will find out and you wont like them to. and she told me at the ball, the next day we were on holidays, and by the time we came back she had found out. how was I meant to know jaden knew Dee?" she said explaining her story. "and besides she hadn't wanted anyone to know and that included you." she said holing she hadn't offended him but it had been something she had decided on after she had been bitten, she wasn't going to tell anyone, other than the few professors who needed to know.
when he said tat it was obvious she shrugged, maybe it was, she hadn't really noticed much despite her exposure to life growing up she had remained pretty ignorant to many more human things. however when he made a joke about it she shook her head. "please don't even joke about that" she said she wasn't intentionally being a spoil sport but it was one of those topics that she didn't want to even think about in case it was true.
she was thankful to talk about his interest in her vision. "that sounds impressive though I don't know how much use it will be, my spit or blood will probably have more side effects than benefits" she said laughing he was certainly a rather enthusiastic young wizard.
his next comment twitted nerve inside her. werewolf in love was that what they were werewolves in love? "probably a good thing seeing as he is a good six years older than you" she said deciding not to think about that now, that could wait until the evening when she was not going to be distracted. "an interesting choice of subjects, care of magical creatures is good. the professors are really nice, though professor margera was the best, and professor Kingsley is nice though i don't know much about the subject" she said. she hadn't had a class with her step farther she would sometimes go and help him look after the animals after class. she subconsciously touched her foot when he asked about it, "I got it a couple of weeks ago on the brightstone weekend. It was sort of a late birthday present" she said her thoughts going back to the evening she had spent with Dee, it had been one of the best evenings she could remember, even the pain of the tattoo hadn't bothered her too much.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas shook his head as he wasn't really convinced by Briar's explanation.
"Ok I get it. You couldn't trust us with your secret that early but as soon as you've been warned that someone that doesn't like you was going to spill the beans and you didn't want that to happen, you should have tried harder to find that person out. I thought you didn't have that many people disliking you and it would be much easier to find out that it was obviously Jaden." he said, raising an eyebrow as he was kind of questioning how many people in that castle were disliking his friend. He could see that indeed she didn't really wanted to talk about the Slytherin's potential affection and he didn't commented further. He just let a chuckle as the thought of Jaden being attracted by werewolves in particularly, crossed his mind.

He rolled his eyes as he wasn't believing in his ears and what Briar was telling him.
"No way Briar. I'm not suggesting turning you into a guinea pig, for Hades helm!" he said as he wasn't going to accept a mere hair from her. "I was doing research. I actually found finally an interesting book for once in that damn library. A do it yourself book and from what I read the ingredients have to be related with the kind of potion that I'm supposed to make. So I have some ideas and I guess I have to start from owl feathers and other nocturnal creatures. Maybe I could use moonstone as well." he started raving but he stopped as soon as he realised that Briar wouldn't be interested in the details.
Tattoos became their new topic, it looked so cool on her in his eyes. Kind of wanted in some way to get one as well. "Did it hurt when you had it? I would like to have one as well but my mother is gonna hex me with the curse of repugnance." he said, imagining her getting really upset if she was going to find out that he secretly had a tattoo.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar felt like Minoas didn't believe her. "seriously by time she told me even if I dragged you out of the ball and told you there wasn't much we could have done,. seeing as it was so late, and the next morning we were on holiday; seriously ask your cousin, he was there with professor Le Fey. and I was careful, but I didn't know she would appear on the boat and know about Dederick's condition. If she knew about me for sure or if it was a guess used to ruin my reputation i still don't know for sure" she said. shaking her head when he chuckled as she knew what he was laughing about and wasn't happy about it.
Minoas's reaction to her suggestion made her smile. though she almost asked what turning her into a guinea pig had to do with anything before she remembered that it was a saying meaning test subject. she listened as he explained the about a book he had found. it sounded interesting though it wasn't her kind of thing. as long as she could brew one particular potion every month she didn't really much care for potions, they required to much accuracy and waiting, though she was studying the course at NEWT level. "that sounds interesting, and a good selection of ingredients too, how about something from a cat, they have good night vision" she said suggesting something, though she wasn't sure if a cat was a good idea or not.
when he asked about the tattoo she thought about Dederick, she couldn't help herself he was the one who had given it to her (figuratively speaking. The tattoo artist had actually given it to her). the truth was that she had ben a little tipsy when she had had it done which had sort of fogged out some of the pain, but it had still hurt as she hadn't drunk that much. "once again I am probably not the best person to ask about pain, but it was painful" she said as she had a high pain tolerance, it hadn't been too bad for her but she knew that by the look on his face he wanted one, and she didn't ant to encourage him is his mother didn't wand him to, that was one of the advantages of not having a proper family, there were no set family rules she had to follow.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Anyway. The damage is done now and I think you dealt with it pretty cool. You have to keep an eye though for her. Who knows what she might do next time. I wouldn't be surprised if she was going to find a way and turn herself into a werewolf, then publicly blaming you that you bit her." he said, knowing that what he had just suggested sounded too farfetched but the incident with the posters proved what a loose cannon was that Slytherin and that Briar should be expecting anything from her.
He chcuckled again when she mentioned that his cousin was there with one of the divination professors.
"Now I'm relieved that I have a reliable source. If you tell me that he had a woman around him, he probably wouldn't have paid attention." he remembered that time he was being taught by Icarus how to surf. He had let him alone, forgetting him as he was talking with a couple of girls that were asking for instructions. Minoas was carried away by a current but thankfully another experienced surfer noticed him and helped him get out to the beach.

He slowly nodded with a frown, indicating that he was processing her suggestion.
"Of course. A cat has superb night vision!" he glowed with a gratifying smile as he took his journey again in his hands. "Despite claiming that you don't like books, I knew that you are an egghead." he teased her as he was noting down in his long list, the cat. "Although, I can't imagine what I could take from a cat without harming the animal besides from hairs." he wondered loudly as he was looking at the sky like he was expecting an answer from the heavens. "Thankfully, my cat loses hair from time to time." he commented as he wouldn't like to pluck hairs out of his cat. He had several other ideas but he decided to add them later.
Although surprised that Briar found the process painful when she had a high threshold for pain, or that was what he believed, he wasn't really discouraged of having one in the future. "I guess I'll have to wait until I turn seventeen. Less nagging I hope." he said, knowing that even then he'll have to argue.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar nodded con-commitadly when her brother said that Jaden may find a way to turn herself into a werewolf and then blame it on her, she some how doubted it. there was a lot that came with being a werewolf Briar knew and she still hadn't faced most of that, as the people at the school were very liberal compared with a lot of older people. and if jaden was to become a werewolf that she would have to face what she had imposed on Briar herself and by that time she would be out of the school. she smiled though when he mentioned his cousin, if he was around a woman he wouldn't have payed much attention. Briar knew that if he had payed attention then he would not have understood much, that was one thing she was thankful with the way Professor Le fey had told her was that although it was confusing it was sort of in code almost. starting with a book and ending with her saying people will find out about her. but not mentioning what they would find out. "a reliable source for what?" she asked wondering what he had meant, though she sensed that there was things that had happened that had made Minoas say that.
she smiled when he confirmed that a cat has good night vision, she had had experience in the forest at night and she had seen cats fid prey far easier than she had, though when he called her an egghead she frowned, "what on earth is an egghead? it sounds like something firsties say to insult each other" she said forgetting that her brother was only a second year himself, he always seemed older than that. "whiskers, and i know it sounds gross but urine may also work" she added to his suggestion looking to see what he thought of them, the second one particularly. she wasn't really being fully serious, but they were valid suggestions.
when the conversation turned back to tattoos she smiled. she looked at hers again and her thoughts went back to Dee, quickly she pulled them back to now. "maybe once you are seventeen you will be able to convince your mother that it is your choice." she said wondering what he wanted. she liked hers, it was part of who she was, and it hid some of the scaring, though the look on the tattoo artists face when she had shown him her foot was okay so what do we have here, a girl with wanting a wolf, over some bad scars, when she had other scratch marks over her body it was like he was figuring her out. she didnt know why but he seemed a little tense when he was doing it as though he expected her to bite him at any minute.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"I'm talking about my cousin. He wouldn't be a reliable source to take into account if he was around a woman. You could have been screaming the world werewolf in front of him but he would have been so captivated by a woman's charm that he wouldn't have noticed." he said with a grimace as he could imagine that.
He thought for a moment the case of someone like professor Le Fey, telling him something about his future. Like Briar learnt that someone was going to learn her little secret. He was quite afraid to learn something about his future beforehand but at the same time, he would like to know if something really serious was going to happen to his loved ones.

He laughed as she looked puzzled and a little bit offened by the characterisation he had used.
"Not at all. It's actually a good thing. It means that you are smart, an intellectual person but you are right. Now that I'm thinking of it, it sounds a little bit weird." he admitted but the thing was that he used it in a positive way to show that she was smart, although allergic to books. His face and nose wrinkled and he shook his head.
"Now that is a little bit hideous." he said, wondering if she had picked that idea from her potions classes. They had already using disgusting things for their potions. He hoped that the ingredients that he was going to use in his future classes, weren't going to be that repulsive. "I want to believe that hairs will do the trick or I'll have to exclude the cat from my list." he said wondering which other animals he could use. Generally, he was against animals abuse. He was hoping that all those animal parts that were used in potions were taken from animals without making them suffer. He preferred to use provided ingredients from his hit rather than having to chop, dismember them or pluck the off himself.

He nodded about convincing his mother although he wasn't sure if he was going to be successful. "Or maybe she might have convinced me that I don't need to ruin my body with a tattoo until then." he said with a chuckle.
He liked the fact that a tattoo could express a part of himself in an artistic way. Still he hadn't any idea of what he would like to have. "I would like to have some kind of symbolism or a saying as a tattoo. I have no idea though. I guess I have a few years in front of me until then." he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled as Minoas talked about his cousin, she had thought he had been slightly more engaged than that when she had met him but she wasn't sure. and she hoped that not all boys were like that, she was pretty sure they went though as Dee seemed to like her, and she certainly wasn't pretty, not that she cared about looks anyway. "you should give him more credit than that, he was at least trying to work out what we were talking about." she said remembering his expression as they were talking.
she smiled once he explained what egghead meant. "nah, I'm not smart, I have just picked up a few things from here and there, you seem smarter than me" she said. she wasn't that smart she had just experienced a lot.
"It's not that bad, but maybe not the most pleasant idea, sticking with hear will probably be a slightly more stomachable" she said laughing.
she shivered slightly as a cool breeze blew across the grounds and hit the film of sweat on her arms. "that could always be the way it ends up." she said stretching her legs before they started cramping. "something symbolic would be good, less likely to change over time. I know the wolf isn't symbolic, but it is unlikely to change any time soon" she said, it wouldn't change unless someone found a cure to her condition, then she would like to keep it as a memory of what had happened to her

 

[Minoas Stratis]

He raised automatically an eyebrow when she said that his cousin was trying to find out what professor Le Fey was saying to Briar. "Maybe he had found out already. His best friend is a werewolf so he knows all the signs that would give away the secrets of lycanthropy. They say that's not difficult to figure it out. I had noticed that you were missing once a month but I didn't match it with the full moon." he admitted that had sensed that something was wrong but he hadn't guessed anything about her, being a werewolf.
"See? I'm not smart either. I didn't manage to see what had happened to you. I was thinking of following you but it seemed that every full moon I had extra homework to do." he said as everytime he was noticing that Briar wasn't around the common room or she was leaving suspiciously for all night long, he had to stay inside and work.
When she said that cat's urine wasn't such a bad ingredient he chuckled and shook his head.
"Would you try my final potion if I was going to use as a regular ingredient cat's urine?" he asked, doubting that she would answer positively.

He noticed that she was shivering and maybe her body's temperature was falling. He though of casting the blue bell flames but he didn't have with him a container to confine them and he didn't want to set Hogwarts grounds into blue flames. "I don't think that would ever change." he agreed about hers. "They haven't found cure for lycanthropy, have they?" he asked, not sure about the healers' progress on that. "I guess, even if a cure was found, you wouldn't be interesting to try it, would you?" he believed that Briar was quite enjoying it, mostly now that her first, painful transformation was gone. Besides, being a werewolf along with her boyfriend was giving her more common things to share with him.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar briefly closed her eyes. "I hope that he wasn't watching me that closely" she sad trying to make light of it but not really succeeding to. "I tried to be out of the common room a few nights a week, most of them for legitimate reasons. mostly prefect duties. or O was redoing one of my OWLS that i hadn't got a good enough grade in to continue to NEWT. and the nights i was actually away i just used one of those as an excuse, I think there was only one month when i actually said i was sick and in the hospital wing." she said she knew professor Kingsley and Aisling the nurse would have covered for her. if anyone had questioned the, though professor styx probably wouldn't have. "you wouldn't have been able to follow me, i usually end in my place during afternoon classes. when hopefully everyone would be too busy working to notice anything" she said. she wasn't going to revel where her place was, as she knew that he would try and get in there, and she didn't want him to put himself in danger, and she didn't want to be the danger.
"It depends on what the potion did, I wouldn't care what was in wolfsbane so long as it worked. " she said the ingredients were irrelevant compared to the use of the potion, though she had eaten some pretty unusual stuff when she was younger so it didn't really gross her out.
she smiled when he said that even if they found a cure to her condition she would not take it. "you know me far to well, whats life without a little danger, and adventure. sure it is painful and inconvenient, but I dunno its become so much of me i don't think i will be able to be me without it any more" she said not sure if he would understand or if it was something that you had to experience to understand.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"Whatever you were doing, did a good work." he had to admit to her as he hadn't suspected a lot. He had just noticed that she was missing sometimes when he wanted someone to talk and escape from his revision.
"Yes, that would explain a lot." he nodded as she revealed her smart plan of sneaking out when everyone were busy with their classes. He was right for calling her intelligent.
"To be honest, I've been wondering where you have been passing all those troubled nights but please, don't tell me. I know that I'll get tempted." he said with a grin, confirming himself his curious nature. He had some guesses about the location that Briar was spending her full moon nights. Forbidden forest was seeming the most likely candidate by far. He couldn't imagine, even under the effect of wolfsbane, the professors risking her secret by letting her staying within the castle's walls. Minoas wasn't the only student sneaking around.

He wrinkled his nose as his mind focused again on the peculiar ingredient that his friend have suggested.
"It's not the same. You take wolfsbane so you don't have to suffer. You have to." he pointed out that is different consuming a recreational potion from a medical one. "Anyway, I'll keep it in mind. Though I was thinking of being a thermal vision one but that would make visible only warm blooded creatures and I have no idea which animals or creatures have thermal vision." he said having only one kind of animal in his mind that would have such kind of an ability but he would prefer to stay away to it as he was scared of it to death.
He smiled when Briar proved him right for believing that she wouldn't have the cure for lycantrhopy if there was existing one. "Okay good to know. I won't waste my time on creating something like this." he said and his grin grew bigger. "I would like to be able to turn into something else, just to escape for a little while from real life. Altough I would like to become a werewolf, I wouldn't like to get bitten. So I was thinking a lot recently to try and becoma an animagi." he shared to her his latest thoughts. Actually he hadn't talk about it with no one else except from professor Weasley. "I'm planning to speak next year with the transfiguration professor, to tell me what I should do. I know that it needs a lot of dedication and I will still have my classes but I would like to give it a try." he said, quite confident that he could handle both his training and his studies.
"How's revision going? Getting ready for exams?" his reference to classes reminded him of the upcoming exams.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar shrugged when he said it was a smart plan to go into the cavern when everyone was in class. to be honest se didn't have much choice by about 2 she had so little energy that she had to crash and it made more sense to crash in the cavern than in the castle and have to go down later. "don't worry. that is one thing that I am not planing on telling anyone, I know how much you like exploring, lets just say it is somewhere safe that only i can access, and probably some of the professors and the house elves" she said. guessing that someone must go and tidy up as it was always clean when she was in there but she often ended up leaving it in a mess, with deep scores in the walls, and on more than one occasion scratches in the sofa leaking filling everywhere.
"it may not be exactly the same but if the attraction of the potion outweighs the unattraction of the individual ingredients people will use it, so something useful may get used even if it is made of disgusting things, besides wolfsbane doesn't stop the pain of the transformation, it just lets me keep my mind and not get wolf-mind" she sad explaining her statement, using her own term for the wolfs mind that she had only half gotten twice, once the night she had been bitten, and once when she had missed a dose of wolfsbane on januarys full moon. she tried to think of animals with thermal vision "I think snakes can see heat" she said putting another suggestion out there, though she wasn't sure exactly if they could or not. a moment later she got what he had just said. "an animagus, that would be awesome. do you have any ideas on what you would like to become?" she asked curious as to what he would be. "the revision is going quite well, thankfully upper years are more practical magic the theory so that suits me better. how about you, feeling swamped yet?" she asked wondering if he was coming along well with the studying, at least slightly better than she had come in second year, it hadn't been until last year when she had started working, this year when she had focused.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

He smiled as she renamed kindly his curiosity into likeness of exploring and he decided to bother never again his mind with the location of the place that Briar was spending her full moon nights.
He had for an instance though a funny picture on his mind of Briar turned into a werewolf, chasing and terrorizing the house elves that she had mentioned.
"Good point. Well, I could use a couple of extra ingredients to fix the flavour and make up for the disgusting ones." he said deciding that after all he might wasn't able to avoid cat's urines.
He felt a chill descending his spine when she refered to the reptile. He was afraid after all of a creature that had snakes instead of hair. "Thankfully, snakes part can be purchased. If I had to search for snakes and remove their scales or fangs, I was going to drop that idea." he said as he shook his head, trying to get rid of that idea.

He liked the idea of becoming an animagi and he had processed it several times before making up his mind. However, he had never thought of what he would like to turn into. "Good question Bri. I haven't actually thought about it. Do we have to choose or our body just selects it on its own?" he asked her, realising that he hadn't cecked the most important part. "These are great news. I was hoping for more practical staff this year." he said as Briar was giving him some hope. "Something like that. I have some hard time with history of magic although it's not that bad like last year." he admitted as they didn't have many dates or chronologies to learn. "I know. You love that course as much as I do so I won't ask you for help." he rushed to say in case she was thinking that he was going to ask for her assistance.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar smiled when he said that maybe he could use some extra things to mask the flavour. "sometimes that works, though sometimes it stops the effects, like wolfsbane is horrible bitter, so putting sugar in seems like a smart plan. but that stops it working." she said, she realised that she kept referring to wolfsbane, bit it was the only potion that she really cared about.
at the mention of snakes she saw him look uncomfortable. "snakes? you don't like snakes?" she said supposed that her brother didn't like snakes, she didn't know why, but she hadn't thought he was scared of anything. she knew her fear, and if she faced another boggart it would be either her brother or sister, hurt, bleeding after being attacked by herself as a werewolf. she shook her head trying to push the image of Minoas covered in blood and torn up.
"I really don't know much about being a animagus, that would be something to ask professor Black about." she said naming her transfiguration professor. "yes, this semester has been a fair bit more non verbal magic." she said taking her wand out as if to demonstrate it and with a flick and a little concentration small bird flew out of it and after looping around them a couple of times it headed away to the forest. "history of magic, my old favourite, so glad i could give that up this year" she said rolling her eyes, there was no way that there was anything other than reading and writing for that subject, the things she despised about a subject.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

Minoas was getting the impression as the conversation around potions was progressing, that his ambition to create his own potion wasn't going to be a fieldtrip. There were so many factors to take into account but he wasn't the kind of person that would give up at the first difficulties.
"Hmm I was suspecting that wolfsbane didn't taste that good, I don't know why." he said with a nod as that impression had came out of nowhere. "Maybe then, I could make it strong enough so that you'll have to consume only a small portion of it. Just a gulp or a shot would be okay even if it tastes really, really bad." he said, his enthusiasm was building as his idea was materializing in his head.
"I think I'll have to use you as a guinea pig after all. Not to make you try the potion but to give me ideas." he stated as he was inspiring him, opening his journal once more to note down his new idea.

He strongly shook his head negatively as she was asking him about his likeness for snakes.
"Not really. I don't know why, they just give me those chills." he revealed with a grim expression on his face.
"I don't know how I would deal with a boggart next year if it goes to turn into a giant snake." he told her, not knowing what could be his boggart's form. He hadn't faced one yet. "What could be your boggart? A well cooked steak maybe?" he joked, wondering about Briar's boggart. An attempt to get out of his head the thoughts about snakes. He watched with a grin as Briar was demonstrating non verbal magic. He watched as the bird flew out of her wand's tip, looped around them and then vanished towards the forest. "That's so cool! Well done!" he praised her as he could see that non verbal magic wasn't the easiest thing in the world. "We have been studying prank jinxes this year. Although we weren't taught how to use them, I practised some of them. I kind like the sea urchin jinx and the pumpkin head jinx." he tried to match up Briar's skills although he couldn't use those jinx on anyone except when he had to defend himself.
He was quite astonished when she shared that she had dropped history of magic. "You can really do that? When I will be able to decide it?" he asked, looking forward to drop the class.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

briar took another mouthful of water. her body had almost completely recovered from the run, a little food and she would be able to do it again. though she wouldn't she had other stuff that needed doing. she flexed her legs glad to feel that they hadn't cramped. "well you were right, I have some just brewed if you want to taste a little as proof, but i don't know what it does to normal people, nothing i think." she said. she wouldn't give him mush as she had brewed enough to last her a month but not much more. but a spoonful wouldn't make much difference. "maybe that will work, i don't know much about that that would be a question for professor hensel" she said, as her brother was just reaching beyond her knowledge of potions. she basically get told what to do and followed the directions, the theory behind it all was lost on her. "I'm not the one giving you ideas, you are the one getting ideas from what i am saying" she said watching him write down a few things in the book he was carrying.
when she asked about snakes she saw that he shivered and his expression lost the enthusiasm that he had had moments before. briar didn't mind snakes, she had grown used to them in the forest during her childhood. but she did see why people were afraid of them, "I know that you will be able to beat a silly old bogart. you have faced much worse things before. she said she had total faith in his boggart beating abilities. "if you have an idea of what it will turn into. then think about how you can make it funny, if you know that before then that will help" she said. glad that he managed to lighten the conversation with his joke about the steak. "a well cooked steak, now thats a scary thought, but no that isn't what my boggart would be. she looked away briefly deciding weather or not to answer truthfully. she decided that she would. "my boggart would actually probably turn into you or madlyn" she said looking at some grass that she was pulling out one blade at a time. "all covered in blood after being attacked by a werewolf" she continued, hoping he would pick up on who the said werewolf was. that was her fear attacking someone, someone close to her. when he congratulated her on her non verbal magic she smiled. thanks, it took a lot of practice" she said, thinking about how much time she had spent in the forest with aspen in the first semester just practicing spells, firstly making the birds, and then when she had gotten the hang of that trying to do it non verbally, which was a little hit and miss, but since then she had learned about non verbal magic in defence against the dark arts and managed to get it almost every time. "yeah the prank jinxes are fun, and i would have been really surprised if you said you hadn't looked them up" she said knowing her brother well. "after your OWLS, you only have to take the subjects you want to do. I am taking Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, defence against the dark arts, herbology, and one other. now what was it. right, care of magical creatures" she said leaving the most obvious one until last. she basically had taken everything she needed to t into the ministry, even though it had meant repeating defence against the dark arts, one on one classes with professor styx. because she didn't get high enough in her OWL to continue to NEWT level otherwise.

 

[Minoas Stratis]

"It seems that I'll have to bother the whole Hogwarts staff next year." he joked as two professors were refered during their conversation to whom he was supposed to seek for advice. "No thanks. It is pointless to take some from you. It won't have any effect on me and it is more valueable to you." he declined kindly her offer of some wolfsbane. "Yes but if you weren't talking I wouldn't come up with the ideas, so...keep talking!" he laughed as he closed his journal. He had already enough ideas. He didn't want to bother to much his mind with his extracirricular activities as his priority should be his revision for the exams. He was going to have plenty of time during holidays. Three whole months to experiment and dedicate to whatever he wanted.

"Honestly, I would rather prefer to face again an acromantula rather than a giant snake." he expressed his preference, shaking his head in the idea of a six foot tall serpent. "I haven't encountered before a boggart so I'm not sure. Either that about the huge snake or me splinching. I've seen once my uncle splinching his arm. It was really horrifying." he answered, wondering how he would manage to pass his apparition test if he was so afraid of splinching. "What funny I could make out of these two?" he asked her, expecting something good and creative from her. He listened to her detailed description of her boggart. Minoas reacted humourously once more.
"Oh...I can really think of thousands of funny things that could make that bloodbath amusing." he sarcasted as he couldn't think of something positive to turn into two mangled, dead bodies.

He frowned when she said that she was expecting him to be practising prank jinxes. He just realised that he was becoming predictable. "Don't rush to draw conclusions. I'm not planning to use them for no good. I have to know how to defend myself." he tried to justify himself but he wasn't so positive that he managed to succeed.
He liked he was learning about his later education. Picking only the courses that he liked was something that he wanted since last year when he had that history lesson about Salem. "I think I'm going to choose the same as yours. They cover a broad area of jobs." he said, not sure of what he would like to do when he was going to graduate. He had so many options in his mind.
"I can't wait for holidays. What are your plans?" he asked her, imagining that she was going to spend her time with her boyfriend.

 

[Briar Rowan-Cullen]

Briar smiled when he said that he would have to bother all of the staff next year. "you're not going to bother them all are you? though if it is related to classwork, or their subject i doubt they will mind" she said though there were some professors she wouldn't bother unless she had to. "I always brew a little extra, and if I do run out i can go to the hospital wing and get some" she said. the had people offering her the potion, from the hospital wing, and the healer at st mungos, had said if she ever needed some they would give her some. but she liked to make her own as she didn't like feeling that she was taking off them and relying on them, she liked to be self sufficient.
"if you can face acromantula, then a boggart will be a walk in the park, though i don't know what you could turn a snake into, maybe a twisted branch, splinting though i haven't a clue" she suggested. she thought for a moment and then said "probably you would start moving and laughing as it was a joke and fake blood." she said hoping that it was enough.
"hey, you were the one who said that you wanted to turn the heads of the people in the slytherclaw team into pumpkins" she said raising her eyebrows and smirking. "I'm not judging" she said. looking at him to see how he would react.
"they are a pretty general classes. but they get me where i want to be and thats all that really matters." she said thinking of her future. it would soon be wide open before her. and she wanted to be able to work at the ministry, and play quidditch professionally or the thunderers. "the holidays will be break, I have a lot on, I am planning on spending some time with the margeras, then going home for a while, then I am spending some time with Dederick, before returning to the margera's, and somewhere mixed in i have a couple of quidditch try outs? what about you? any adventures planned?" she said blushing slightly as she thought about Dee again.

Out of Character:

his boggart makes me think of this picture