The Griffin, The Witch And The Wizard

[Ian Gray]

Ian leant against a now very familiar corridor wall, drumming his fingers just below a portrait of three old wizards climbing an endless mountain. He knew waiting outside after curfew wasn't wise, but Loren was better at taming Felix than he was, and he didn't exactly want to risk his head.

He was always amazed that the room was as soundproof as it was. Once inside, the Griffin would immediately start shrieking until realising it was only Ian and Loren, and just outside everyone would be totally oblivious. Shrugging it off, Ian looked toward the candle beside him, his fingers drumming a bit louder on the portrait's frame.

"Hey!"

Ian nearly dropped his book-bag, which was filled with Felix's favourite-- usually rotting-- snacks as he spun around fearfully, fully expecting a Professor to be rounding on him. Instead, he found himself staring at the portrait where one of the three men were pointing their walking stick at him.

"Keep down that ruckus, will you? We're nearly at the top, now." He scowled, before jabbing his walking stick threateningly once more and resuming is climbing.

Ian scratched his head dumbly, before nodding. "Er... Right, sorry..." Trailing off, he looked down the hallway and saw Loren's approaching figure. Smiling brightly, he waved her over, before working on opening the entrance.

The door appeared, and Ian pressed his ear to it, hearing the faint squeals of the Griffin. Grabbing the handle, Ian pulled open the door and waited for Loren to reach him, holding it open.

[Loren Hayes]

Loren returned the wave and picked up her pace to a skitter as she rounded the corridor, seeing Ian already waiting. It had become quite usual now for them to meet at various times of the night, random days of the week outside the room of requirement in order to feed Felix yet still avoid anyone who might be patrolling.

At first - around two months ago when this had all started - Ian and Loren had been worn thin by worry and exhaustion, unable to handle the huge secret they had taken on. Of course, now they were practically masters on how to look after a temperamental Griffin that was locked in a room at the end of a maze of corridors, guarded by nosy prefects, teachers and ministry officials.

Ian was holding open the door for her, and she ducked inside, immediately covering her ears as Felix leaped off the bed, crying at the top of his voice. 'Shhh, Felix! It's just us - hush!'

The door was shut firmly. Upon realising that he was making a fuss over nothing (as usual), Felix became embarrassed and resorted to a few low growls in his annoyance, eying them accusingly as if to say his reaction had been completely necessary - they could have been anybody out to steal his treasure, after all. Turning on his tail, Felix walked to the window and lay down on a pillow of gold.

Smiling fondly, Loren looked at Ian with a roll of her eyes before tugging at his bag. A nasty odor wafted from it, and she immediately let go, deciding Ian would probably be best handling it. He was a boy, after all. 'The smellier, the better,' Loren said in reference to Felix's love of anything rotten.

[Ian Gray]

Ian sent Loren an amused look as she dropped the bag immediately, watching it swing lazily in his hold. The wafting smell which was surely causing both of them to nearly faint seemed to attract Felix, and the Griffin's head suddenly snapped up from his pillow as he pawed at the floor.

Finally, it tossed its neck before stretching warily and approaching Ian with a skeptical look. Ian nervously flung his bag open and had to avoid a close clip of the Griffin's wings. "I really don't see why you're not doing this," Ian said stepping backwards to avoid a snap of Felix's beak. "He clearly likes you better!"

Holding up a rotting carcass of something that was now too hard to define, he swung it in front of the Griffin's beak. "Come on, Felix. Be nice now..." He grimaced before throwing it up in the air, watching the Griffin tilt back and catch it expertly in his beak.

He reared back with a pleased look on his face, finally calming down enough for Ian to properly feed him. "Right, then," Ian said in a more relaxed manner, smirking at the displeased look on Loren's face as she stared at the mess inside his bag.

Felix fluttered his wings in a distressed way, and Ian wiped his hands on his robes, wrinkling his nose. "Do you think this is a good idea? What if he throws us off?" He pet the Griffin's wings soundly as it noisily ate it's meal.

[Loren Hayes]

Loren flapped her hand around in front of her face, trying to dispel the terrible stench that Ian seemed to have no problem in polluting the room with. 'Well of course he likes me more,' Loren joked, grinning as she walked over to one of the tall windows and pushed it open. A freezing blast of night air swept into the room, stirring the drapes of the bed and ruffling Felix's feathers, although he seemed to enjoy it. 'It's probably because I'm a girl.' She added distractedly as she hung out the window, inspecting the drop.

A slab of meat hit the wall near Loren's head as Felix shook the carcass around brutally in his mouth, enjoy the mock-kill. Loren wondered if the creature missed hunting real prey... come to think of it, had he ever hunted real prey? Or had he been locked up in that terrible room most of his life, guarding a key? Loren was reminded of the tunnel in the forest, and quickly pushed it from her mind. She had thought about the door with the distant music relentlessly for nights on end since they had come away from it, and several eerie thoughts had occurred to her slowly over time. Had that tunnel anything to do with why the ministry was here, and why, of all people, had it chosen to drag Loren and Ian down?

Realising Ian had spoke, Loren whipped her hair out of her face and gave him an encouraging grin. 'I'm sure he'll let us! He hasn't flown in weeks. I don't think he'd care if we - er - joined him.' She frowned at Felix suddenly. 'And he owes us. He's living better than we are!'

Approaching Felix, Loren gingerly placed a hand on the feathers on his neck. For a moment he stopped still, staring at her out of the corner of his eye coldly. 'Good boy...' Loren said meekly, daring herself to keep her hand on him, silently willing him to accept her.

Giving a quick squawk he returned to finishing up his dinner, dismissing Loren once more. 'Seeeee?' Loren grinned impishly at Ian, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

[Ian Gray]

Ian laughed slightly, wiping his hands on his robes with a careless wave. "This is probably the most mental thing I've considered doing in all my years at Hogwarts..." He opened his bag wide, before pouring its entire contents out onto the floor in front of Felix.

The smell only got worse, and Ian stumbled back, bumping into the window, before turning around and facing it with wide eyes. Placing his hands on the glass, he leaned forward and dropped his gaze. "I wonder how much better it'll be than flying on a broom." He said, a bit wistfully as his gaze trailed toward the Forest.

Chewing thoughtfully on his lip, Ian moved his finger over to where the Forbidden Forest was, tapping on the glass. Frowning suddenly, he swore he almost heard the music once more, an eerie melody flowing through the room for a brief moment. Dropping his hand, he looked back at Loren with a slightly puzzled expression.

"Hey, Loren? I know Felix is particularly sensitive to it... But--" He paused and turned toward the Griffin a bit worriedly. "I think you should bring the key with you."

[Loren Hayes]

Loren had pulled the front of her jumper over her nose and mouth to block the smell of Felix's dinner, but as Ian mentioned the key she let it slip back to her collar, frowning at Ian quizzically. 'The... key?' Loren's nose wrinkled in thought as she walked over to her messenger bag and rummaged through it, discreetly slipping something folded in a white handkerchief into her pocket. Over the last couple of days Loren had felt the key become distinctly heavier, and now as she walked back to Ian she could feel it hitting her leg, weighing her down. It was as if it were preparing for something - toughening itself up.

'I suppose we could use it as a reward?' She said, wondering if that's what Ian meant. 'If he does this for us, he can look after his key again...'

Felix seemed to hear them now, and upon the word 'key' being mentioned his head snapped round, his eyes fixed on the two students dangerously. Ignoring the rest of his food Felix marched over to the two of them. 'Good boy...' Loren cooed nervously as she raised her hands, beckoning him to accept her touch - however, to her shock Felix suddenly rounded on Ian, hitting the boy hard in the head with his beck, knocking him toward the window. He obviously thought Ian had the key.

'Hold him still!' Loren said as she walked around Felix. It would be hard enough climbing onto the sleek beast's back without Felix's tendency to overreact to nearly everything, and so smiled at Ian appreciatively as he placed his hands gingerly on Felix's neck, despite the likelihood they would probably be bitten off. Stroking the fur of his back, Loren breathed deeply, trying to ready herself for whatever Felix would do.

Loren bent her knees slightly before jumping and hauling her leg over Felix. The moment she landed on him he immediately let out a furious cry, rearing up and shaking his head wildly in an attempt to keep whatever was on his back away from his head. 'Ahhh! It's just me, Felix - calm down! Ian, quick - hurry!' Loren knew it would have been smarter to just jump off, but she had become too impatient to wait for Felix to cooperate.

Holding out her hand, she waited for Ian to get on behind her...