Open Whiskers and... Nail Polish?

[Molly Burke]

It was another day into the second semester, sometime before dinner, the sky slowly heading into the sunset of the evening. The Hufflepuff skipped happily towards the student lounge, her cat curled up in her arms, as well as her struggling to carry a few nail polish bottles in her hands. As she entered the student lounge, she smiled happily when she noticed that there weren't many people around, which she was grateful for. Molly giggled as she took a seat on one of the comfy couches by the window, and placed her cat beside her, as she looked at her nail polish bottles. "What colour do you think I should do Gumdrop? This blue colour? Or this shade of pink? Or this other pink shade?" Molly says to her cat, knowing she wasn't gonna get a response from her. "It's a hard decision right? Wait! Should we do paint your small claws?" Molly asked Gumdrop as she turns to look at her cat.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke had been glad to find the Student Lounge relatively quiet for once, happy to settle in one of the couches to catch up on her OWL reading instead of trying to cram herself into a spot in the library. It always got extra busy in the second semester and she didn't fancy her chances finding a comfortable spot this time of day.

She was drawn out of her reading hearing someone talking to themselves, or rather, talking to their cat, she realized, looking over and recognizing Molly from Heta meetings. "That's a cute cat," she said, marking her spot in her book with her thumb. If only other girls in her year had pets like Molly, instead of pets like Hester. "I'm not sure cats like having their nails painted though," she added with a smile. It would probably be funny to see the young girl try though.

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly looked up immediately when she had heard a voice. She went wide-eyed as she had thought that she was the only one here around. But she recognised Brooke from Heta Omega. But didn't really know her well. The Hufflepuff smiled brightly at the older girl. "Thank you! Her name is Gumdrop!" Molly says as she giggles a little, as she pointed to the cat. "Do you have any pets?" Molly asked the older girl, trying to make conversation. She enjoyed talking and meeting new people. She frowned a little as Brooke had mentioned about the nails. "You think so? I think she'd look cute with pink nails" Molly says as she giggles a little.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke smiled when Molly mentioned the name of her cat, scooting a little closer. She'd always gotten the impression cats might not like her, thinking about one of her roommate's particularly odd cat that she'd had to put up with for several years now. It was like living with a tiny, angry person who got hair everywhere. But Gumdrop seemed sweet enough, she supposed. "No, not really. My family has an owl but I don't really think it counts as a pet pet. I don't really think I have time, especially not now I'm in my OWL year," she said with a sigh. She laughed quietly when Molly insisted Gumdrop would look cute with pink nails, no necessarily disagreeing. "Probably, you know her better than I do about what she likes," she said, resisting the urge to warn Molly about getting scratched. "Maybe you two could match."

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly listens when Brooke spoke. "Oh, I see. I guess owls can be cool. But I think cats are much cooler" Molly says with a giggle, as she looks down at Gumdrop, as she lightly pets her companion. "You can pet her if you'd like," Molly says with a smile, as she noticed the older girl had slightly moved closer. "What are OWLs like? Is it hard?" Molly asked the older girl, as she heard Brooke mention OWLs. Even though it would be a while until it was her OWL year, she was a wee bit nervous about them. She also thought that studying for them was boring. She looked down at her cat again. "Matching does sound cool," Molly says with a small giggle. She thought Gumdrop with painted nails would be funny, but she was still unsure if she wanted to paint her cat's nails. She also hadn't even chosen a colour yet for herself. She was always indecisive.

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke hesitated when Molly offered to let her pet Gumdrop, holding out a hand uncertainly. What if the cat didn't like her? It would be horribly embarrassing to get scratched. But it'd probably be worse to be seen chickening out from something as simple as petting a cat. Gently, Brooke extended her hand, brushing the top of Gumdrop's head lightly. "Oh, she's so soft," she said quietly, letting her hand settle properly to scritch the cat gently behind her ear. It was relaxing in a way Brooke didn't want to admit she probably desperately needed and she couldn't help but shoot Molly a quick smile. "I thought about getting a pygmy puff once, but it seemed a bit silly. Maybe I'll reconsider," she said, smiling back down at Gumdrop.

"OWLs are... A lot of responsibility," Brooke decided, not wanting to admit to anyone, especially not a second year, how much she was struggling. "But not so bad if you manage your time well," she amended, not wanting to scare Molly either. "Do you know what classes you want to take next year? You're going into your elective year right?" She asked, nodding when Molly agreed on matching nails for her and her cat. "I've been trying this new colour changing polish lately, I think there's some that even changes with your mood, it's fun," she offered, though she didn't have any of it with her.

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly giggled and nodded in agreement when the older girl had mentioned how soft Gumdrop was. She did agree that Gumdrop was in fact soft. She loved touching Gumdrop's soft fur, even though the fur somehow whenever. Molly listened as Brooke spoke. "Really? My friend has one. Her pygmy puff is so soft and small. Maybe you could still get one" Molly says with a giggle.

The Hufflepuff frowned a little. "Really? I'll keep that in mind. It looks hard though. Lots of people are studying and stuff. I dunno how they can keep all the information in their heads" Molly says with a frown and shrug. It indeed looked hard to her. There seemed to be lots of older students always studying and she had hoped that it wasn't that hard like she had thought it would be. Molly smiled and nodded. "Yes, I am! I'm actually not sure yet. I've been deciding on a few. I think I might go for divination, my brother says it's cool. Maybe muggle studies too. But I'm not sure yet." Molly says with a shrug and smile. There seemed to be a lot of subject choices, and Molly wasn't sure what subjects she wanted to take just yet. "What subjects do you take?" Molly asked curiously, maybe asking an older student might help her a little bit on deciding the subjects she wanted to take. Molly's eyes widened excitedly at the mention of mood changing nail polish. "That's actually a thing? That sounds cool!"

 

[Brooke Townsend]

Brooke wasn’t sure she had time anymore for caring for anything, even something simple like a Pygmy Puff. She’d even gone so far as to go to the shop to buy one once and she wasn’t sure a second year assuring her her friend had one was the encouragement she thought it was for Brooke to not think it was completely childish. Though, it was nice to pet Gumdrop for awhile. “I’ll think about it,” she said, scritching Gumdrop under the chin.

Brooke nodded when Molly mentioned all the people studying. It really felt like no matter how much she did right now, there was always more to cover and it was frankly exhausting. “I’d recommend getting used to studying now or it’ll be a nasty shock come 5th year,” she said, hoping Molly would listen. It sounded all very dry to suggest but it was easy to coast in your early years. Brooke had managed to stay on top of her own studies with little need for hard work and it had been quite the adjustment. “Muggle studies is a waste of time, you’ll never need it,” Brooke said earnestly. “Divination is… Interesting, but I’m not sure how practical it is either. I’m not totally convinced I’d be doing just as well just making everything up,” she said pensively. She’d stuck with it lest anyone think she was a quitter, but Brooke still had her doubts about its usefulness. “I’ve been taking Divination, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes,” she said ticking them off on her fingers before smiling at Molly’s excitement over colour changing nail polish. “I’ll see if I can find some and bring it up to the Heta club room sometime. What colour are thinking about for now?” She asked, nodding at Molly and Gumdrop.