Whomping Willow & The Shrieking Shack

She sat down next to Cassi and smiled when a cup of hot chocolate was passed to her. "It's ok, I didn't mind waking up and yeah, I am excited" she said before she took a small sip. "I'm fine, are you?" she asked, wondering why she was awake so early.

"I've just been thinking of what I should give you for your birthday- I had my mum and dad Owl a few present possibilites- and save the rest for other people's birthdays to come, but I'm not sure which ones I should give you." Cass said all of this quite easily lying off the top of her head with a demenour of simple honest truth.

Well, not that any of it was a lie, but she certainly wasn't waking up ten times a night about it. Really, there was two strong contenders for Theresa's present. Hell, she should just give her them both and be done with it.
Cass took a mind-deep breath. Thinking at a fast pace made her zone out.

"Look at Alex," cooed Cass. "fast on. She reminds me of my brother so much sometimes." she looked away. "Then again, I see bits of him in you, in Professor Hunt, in Jasmeet, and Harmony Lupin and this girl in slytherin. I suppose you see someone everywhere when you want to see them," she shrugged.

Theresa excepted her excuse but it seemed like something was really bothering her. She didn't want to push so if her friend wanted to keep it to herself then it was fine. She just hoped that Cassi wasn't trying to keep too much to herself, sometimes it was better to let it go. She looked at Alex and smiled, she looked back sadly at Cassi when she mentioned her brother. She wish she could have helped her, it wasnt fair how they treated her brother at st mungos. "He will get better" she said, trying to comfort her as she put a hand on her shoulder.

Alex suddenly opened her eyes, hearing the low murmur of voice above her. "Whas' going on?" she mumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Glancing at the sky, she saw it was still dark out and they should all still be sleep. But oh well, she was awake now.

Theresa looked back and saw tht Alexandra had woken, she inwardly cursed, it must have been their talking. "It's nothing Alexandra, we just couldn't sleep so desided to have some hot chocolate" she said, she thought that Cassi would not want her to blab about the fact that she was upset about her brother so left it out.

"Mhmm...hot chocolate," said Alexandra a bit groggily. "Got any left?" she asked, sitting up. She knew that once she was awake it took her ages to fall back asleep, so maybe the warm milk and chocolate would help soothe her.

Theresa nodded "should be" she said as she put her mug down and got some for Alexandra. "Here" she said as she leaned forward to pass it to the girl. She looked up at the sky, she hadn't realised it until now but the stars seemed brighter. She had to try and camp out again, it was so much nicer then in her dorm room or the common room that she shared with some friends.

Alexandra accepted the steaming mug gratefully, feeling the hot mug warming her fingers. She blew on it a bit before taking a sip, then followed Theresa's gaze toward the sky. "Great night, isn't it?" she asked, staring up at the brilliant stars.

Theresa nodded as she picked up her own mug and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, I didnt know it could be this nice during the night, it would be good to do it again" she said. She put one of the blankets over her as she looked at the stars, wondering how they got so bright in a matter of hours.

"My brother isn't ill," Cass said finally, swaying in time with the wind. "Not the right kind of ill for St. Mungos. I lied on my student profile form. He ran away from home. My twin. He was always there, and now he's not."
"Beautiful view of the constellation Cassiopeia tonight, would you say?"

Theresa watched Cassi sadly, she really shouldn't have mentioned anything. She should have just pretended that she was still asleep or something. She looked up at the sky as she fidgeted with the annoying, ugly hat and smiled. "Yeah, it is" she said before she took a sip of her hot chocolate and held the blanket closer to her.

(happy 100th post, m'lovely!)
"Sorry. I wanted to tell someone I lied a little bit. Can't keep guilt well, me."
Cass' smile returned as she forgot about her brother.
"So you wanna tell me about Breeze?"

"Yeah, it is never good to keep secrets, they always eat you up inside" Theresa said as she tried to fix the ugly hat. She looked at Cassi, confused "how do you know about Breeze?" she asked. She knew that Cassi heard about Rain but not his friend Breeze, that was knews to her.
(A/N Yay!)

Theresa was right. Secrets ate up at you- well those kind of secrets. But it was in everyone's interest- no-one wanted to be friends with a notorious runaway madman. Not that many people knew it was her brother, or indeed, knew of any Alexander Marling leaving his family. "Oops, wrong name," said Cass, hiccuping from the Hot Chocolate, "Sorry. Rain. The boy from Durmstrang. Tell me all about him, and you and him..."

Theresa sighed "I havent sent him an owl yet, since he told me about that girl" she said. "I don't even know what to say to him, there is no way I can give him advise, stupid thirteen year olds" she said as she thought about her friend. "Just wondering though, how did you know about his friend Breeze?" she asked. She had to roll her eyes when she said the name as she looked up at the ugly hat, it was geting so annoying now. Sam and his friends thought it was cool to name themselves after types of weather at Durmstrang.

"I must have stumbled across it whenever you said it to someone, I guess," shrugged Cass, worrying she'd learnt something she hadn't. It sounded ominous. That definately was a codename. Maybe.
"Sorry," she said sincerely. "I didn't mean anything by it."
Cass stood up, her knees having large red marks where she had knelt on them. "The it's almost four 'o' clock. You'd better get some rest," she said.
Then I can swim out and get your present ready before morning.
"By the way, I'll make breakfast," Cass whispered softly. "My treat."

Theresa nodded "it's ok, I just cant see how they like anyone calling them by those aweful nicknames" she said. She tried to straighten the ugly hat she was wearing.
As if on cue, she suddenly felt like yawning "ok then, I will see you in the moring- actually later on today I supose" she said when she thought that it was already in the morning.

As if on cue, Theresa yawned. Cass knew it was time to get the ball rolling for tomorrow.
But the Whomping Willow was really beautiful. Even madder than a werewolf at full moon- rampant, and even the once-bruise on her stomach from the tree had made her appreciate the tree's awesome power, in a way.

She rolled up her sleeves, and took off her trousers to show swimming shorts. Slowly, hanging expertly on the branches, she jumped to the bottom, jarring only a slight bit from such a height. Using the Neanderthal method, she made a small fire, casting Protego around Theresa and Alex experimenting to see if it could stop the smoke from reaching them. She placed bacon and sausages ontop of a tray she had brought along- she'd be back in 20 minutes. And if that was too long, then she had a big packet of them left and hours till morning. This was just a practice.

Cass waded into the water, her five boxes in gold and silver all carried in a drawstring. She swam fluidly, eager to meet her goal, when something underneath her pushed her up.
Frantic, she stuck her head in the water, to see, for a split second, a tentacle.

The squid or the octopus!
Without even enough time to think, the tentacle lifted her up in the air, water spraying everywhere.
What is happening!?

But as Cass realised that she was indeed moving closer to the middle of the lake, Cass also realised this: the tentacled darling was carrying her to the middle!
As he lowered her back into the water, Cass yelled a grateful thank you and arranged the present boxes on the purple float she had in the bag too.
Bless that darn thing.

Theresa opened one of her eyes and looked around, she had the strangest dream about Lil Tom being in the Great Hall, eating a salad with a fish. She shook her head, in hopes of forgeting that very strange dream. She tried to straighten her hair but realised that she was still wearing the ugly hat. She yawned as she looked around and saw a fire. She wondered where Cassi was as she sat up.

Oh nuts. Cass could see the shape of one of either Theresa or Alex sitting up in the tree. She worried that she had been seen swimming. Quickly, hiding behind foliage, she wrapped a blanket she had dropped purposefully earlier, and turned the bacon and sausages over. She also dropped the shield charm.
Checking her watch and realising somehow the time had gone way too fast- it was nearing twenty past five- Cass began to climb the tree.
"Happy Birthday!" she said to the awake, and twelve year old girl in front of her.

Theresa squinted her eyes and saw Cassi by the fire, she could barely see and her mind was still fogged up with sleep but she managed to smile. She saw Cassi climbing up the tree and grinned at what she said "goodness, I cant believe I am twelve, I am getting waaaay too old" she joked as she pulled down the hat on her head slightly. The hat was so going to ruin her hair when it finaly came off.

"You're almost halfway to thirty," said Cass, shocked at that prospect.
"Anyway, birthday girl, I've got bacon and sausages cracklin' down there, if you fancy some- but if not, we can head to the kitchens, or wait for breakfast in the hall- its up to you!"
Cass grinned, then lost it quickly. She wished she had made a card for Theresa, but all of her focus had gone onto the present. She hoped Theresa didn't think she'd forgotten her birthday- seeing as she was going to have to wait to take Theresa to hers.

Theresa groaned as she pulled the hat as far over her face as she could "don't look at me, I'm too old" she joked. She looked down at the fire and noticed that it was to cook the food Cassi mentioned "sounds great, I'm all up for eating out here, what time is it anyway?" she asked as she pulled the blankets off her.

"Something like half five," estimated Cass, not daring to take her hands out of the blanket where Theresa would see her wet clothes.
She tugged the blanket closer to her neck- it was freezing.
"I'll go," she said briskly, "I'll plate everything up."

Theresa nodded "alright, I will just need to wake up" she said as she blinked a few times and pulled the hat out of her face. "I have never been up this early, it feels strange" she commented. She looked down and desided that she should get out of the tree in case she fell back or something. She climbed down and sat on the grass, yawning as she looked up at the sky.