(Courtyard)You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie ran down from the castle, clutching her right cheek with her right hand. She didn't really know where she was going, instinct had just told her to turn and run.

It was well known, or at least Ellie thought it was, that Ellie didn't get along with animals, or rather animals did not get along with Ellie. She had been strolling down the corridor minding her own business, when out of the blue she came face to face with a cat. He was a brown cat, fluffy with big golden eyes. Ellie has stood there starring at the cat, thinking about turning the other way and retreating. The cat starred back, his tail rustled against the stone floor as it fluttered about.

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "No!" she said, pointing straight at the cat, which jumped up onto the window sill, giving Ellie a start and making her retreat a step. "You will not get me to move. I'm not afraid of you!" she said, unsure, gaining ground once more. She kept her finger pointed at the cat, and took another step toward him. He didn't even blink at her. Ellie took another step so that she was only inches from the cat. "Stupid cat." she muttered before planning to breeze on by bravely. But the cat must have heard her for he jumped at her, grazing her cheek with his claw. The cat ran one way and Ellie ran the other, coming out into the courtyard.

Ellie lifted her hand from her cheek and looked at it. Blood was ripe on her palm and she could feel it running down her cheek. She was out of breath and shaking. "Stupid. Stupid cat." she inhaled as she plopped down on the nearest stone bench, clutching her cheek once more.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn sighed and headed to the quiet courtyard, hoping to get some peace and quiet without Fay or Ash breathing down his neck. He wanted some time to think, since he couldn't manage to do that around his friends. Sighing, Bray plopped down on a cold stone bench, placing his books down next to him. Putting his elbows on his knees, he rested his head on his hands in his usual thinking posistion. When he heard someone cursing about cats, Bray looked up, his eyes narrowed in agitation.

It was a girl, not to far from him, and a Hufflepuff too. "Do you have a problem with.. cats?" He said, trying not to snap at her. Bray was extra sensitive to cats, because of his animagus form being that of a tabby. A small tabby too, causing him to be the butt of many jokes and sad puns. Looking at the girl more closely, he swore he saw a bit of blood from where he was.

Curious, Bradyn stood up and moved over to her bench to get a better look. Between her fingers that were tending the wounds, he could see spots of red and thin scratches. "Looks like you ran into a nasty one. Are you alright?" Bray looked at her cheek with concern, thinking that the scratches didn't look too deep. But that wouldn't stop the wound from stinging badly, and he himself thought cat scratches were almost worse than a dog bite.

[Ellie Rook]

Ellie twisted her foot in the dirt below the stone bench making a circle. She put her hands into her lap and starred into the dust she was making. She looked up started to hear a voice. Had then seen her sissy attack from a cat. It would be humiliating.

It was a boy, a few feet away. Ravenclaw, but not one she had become acquaintances. It seemed like her comment had offended him. Maybe he was a crazy cat enthusiast or something. Ellie looked at him as he came closer. "No, just animals in general." Ellie smiled, "We don't really see eye to eye."

As he looked at her, she put her hand up back to her cheek to hide the red scratches. As her fingers touched them, they burned with sting. She winced, but smiled. "Oh, I'm fine really." She was such a baby. "This stuff happens a lot believe it or not." [/i][/size]

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn stopped a short distance away from the girl, feeling like he embarrassed her with his concern. Taking his gaze off of the girls wound he nodded to her. "Ah, that's a shame. Usually I find that animals like me." Except dogs. He thought bitterly, but Bray smiled at her none-the-less.

Bray noticed her trying to hide the scratches, and he felt bad for obviously embarrassing the girl. Perhaps crooning over a random girl as if he were her grandmother was not a good idea. "Are you sure? Maybe you should see Nish to get them healing more quickly. Unless you want to walk around with your hand on your face for a few days, of course." He smiled, even though what he said might have sounded a bit harsh. Bradyn was just being his sarcastic self, and probably didn't even notice what he was saying. "By the way, I'm Bradyn Reed." Not really knowing what to do after that, he just held his hand out to her and waited for her to shake it.

[Ellie Rook]

"Lucky" Ellie said with a smile, but an obviously forced one. Ellie had probably had a run in with every animal she saw. She had been scratched, bitten, pounced upon, and once even picked up in the claws of a hippogriff and dropped into the lake.

"Ah, no." Ellie said, shaking her head. "It's fine." Ellie wasn't about to admit defeat. It was bad enough that she had gotten beaten up by a silly cat, she wasn't about to run to the nurse with her boo boo. Despite all the silly things that happen to Ellie, she strove to keep up her dignity, well, as well as she could.

"Nice to meet you." Ellie removed the hand from her face to shaken Bradyn's hand, but upon noticing the blood upon it, she stopped and looked at him with a smile, biting her lip with embarrassment. "Well, I'm Ellie." she said placing her hand into her lap. The cuts seemed to have stopped bleeding. "If you don't mind me asking," she said scooting over so he could sit. It was slightly awkward with him standing over her. "you seemed to get defensive when I said stupid cat? Cat lover are you?"