eden pucey. (impressing) wrote in caged, @ 2013-10-27 18:59:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 97-10, [ log ], andrew kirke, eden pucey |
WHO: Eden Pucey and Andrew Kirke
WHAT: The great CATSEARCH of 1997
WHERE: Hogwarts
WHEN: 27 October 1997
STATUS/WARNING: Completed log/ G
“Heeeeeere kitty! Heeeeeeere angry cat!”
It was, Andy thought, an improvement on calling Puff “murder cat” or “suicidal cat.” Perhaps a joke about how the missing Puff had been drinking the water as it had “suffered too long” had been a little too far, and it was time for him to make up for being rude about Eden’s cat. Even if it did look borderline terrifying, which he’d pointed out to the blonde Slytherin at least twice in the past ten minutes.
“I mean, he’s not going to get into danger see?” Andy chirped the words at Eden as he turned a corner into a corridor close to the library. “Old Puff, I mean. If I was a cat then I wouldn’t mess with someone who had a face like his. Prob’ly run in the other direction if I saw him anywhere-” he hesitated, catching sight of Eden’s expression before falling silent. He smiled brightly, pleased for the distraction and the company. “Heeeeeeere cat! Puff-puff!”
Most of the time Eden didn’t get too frantic if it had been a while since she’d seen Puff. She was an old cat who liked to roam and find nooks and crannies to hide in at Hogwarts (and in all honesty, Puff wasn’t really a very personable cat, he preferred to use people’s trousers to keep her claws sharp), but since Slytherin had flooded and she and Vivianne suspected it was poisoned, she wasn’t taking any chances and she had welcomed Andy Kirke’s help...at first.
But the more he talked the more she wanted to drown him into the flooded water of Slytherin. Or let Puff use him as a scratching post. “Merlin’s soggy trousers, Puff is a beautiful cat,” she said glaring at him. “And she’s not angry either so shut it about that.” She moved a tapestry to look behind it to see if her beloved cat was behind it.
“He’s got a very strong personality,” Andy relented, still ignoring the fact that Eden was referring to the animal as feminine. “Can I say that? That’s not an insult, see?” He shrugged his shoulders as he stopped again, following Eden and failing to notice her glare. He prodded the tapestry half-heartedly as soon as she let go of it. “Well he’s not there.”
Another shrug, and Andy cleared his throat. “You really had him since you were three?” Trying to make conversation that wasn’t about the animal seemed a little too forced, but Andy was running out of non-insulting things to say about Eden’s beloved pet. “That’s old.”
“Yes, she was a present for my third birthday,” Eden said. Honestly Andrew Kirke was the most annoying person in this entire castle, why had she said yes to let him help her? Except that this was Puff which meant all matters should be taken very seriously. She stopped to look behind the next tapestry - still nothing.
“My gran gave Puff to me and she’s dead now,” she explained. Not that she really expected him to understand. He was completely thick. “You don’t have to look at the same tapestries I am, there are plenty more.”
Andy paused again. He wouldn’t admit it, but especially with the unpleasant lurking thought that it was his Mum’s birthday, he sort-of understood. Admittedly, it was an ugly cat. But even ugly cats could hold some kind of sentimental value, he supposed. “I get you,” he told her, nodding slowly. He gulped and then tried to think, take the whole missing cat situation from a logical point of view.
“Look, if I was a cat,” he started, careful to omit any mention of the cat’s lack of visual appeal for once, “And if I was making a bid for freedom? I’d stop for food. Especially if I was running away from water and stuff.” Andy gestured vaguely. “I’m sure Puff is great but he’s probably more into eating than tapestry, see?”
She didn’t want Andrew Kirke to get her she wanted him to find her cat. But whatever, ugh she knew better for next time.
But maybe - well maybe he did have a point, maybe he was hungry and she fed him in their room after dinner but maybe - well there was another place he could be. “Oh my gods,” she said right before taking off into a dead run with her shoes making click clack noises on the stone castle. He did like to troll some of the towers for mice.
Maybe there.
“OI!” Andy called out after her as she started to run, breaking into a run himself so he could follow her. “Where does that mean, does he have food places? D’you reckon he’s stealing the mice the owls like to eat?”
“Maybe,” Eden said, starting to pant as she headed up the first flight of stairs and then the next. “It’s quiet up there, sometimes Puff makes a little bed.”
“Then he’ll be there I bet!” Andy told her, jogging up the stairs behind her. He grinned in pre-emptive triumph, the prospect of having solved the cat mystery and therefore atoned for his sins in calling the cat all sorts of names making him smile already. He kept going up the stairs until they reached a door and he followed Eden, still grinning.
“If he’s there remember I worked it out, yeah?” Andy reminded her, just in case she forgot.
Eden rolled her eyes, it was just like a Gryffindor to try and take credit for something that hadn’t even happened yet and it was totally their house’s fault that Puff was even missing in the first place. Whatever. Gryffindors were the worst.
“I’ll remember,” Eden said her tone full of false sweetness.
She hurried up going up the stairs hoping that Puff would be there and then the two of them could spend the rest of the evening in the comfort of the dormitory especially after they’d both been literally flushed out the night before.
As they reached the door to the tower Andy pushed it open for Eden before calling out to the cat once again. “Hell-oooooo Cat! Puff-puff!” Andy chirped again, looking around the dusty room for any signs of life. The thought briefly crossed his mind that the cat might have died, and then he’d be confronted with a crying Eden. This was a more terrifying prospect than facing the beast itself.
He ducked behind a pillar after hearing something rustling, and sure enough there was a spitting beast in front of him. “Puff!” Andy was glad to have found the animal after all of that running, and he tried to reach out for it. “Guess who I found!”
Andy had found Puff alright, but as soon as he started to reach for the cat, it started spitting and hissing, arching it’s back ready to strike with claws out. Puff was not friendly, but the cat was especially not friendly to people it didn’t know and it was ready to defend itself and its territory with it’s claws. With a massive hiss, the cat reached out, touching flesh and letting out a yowl before darting across the room and behind Eden who let out an excited: “PUFF!”
She picked up the cat who started purring immediately and bumped it’s head against hers. “I was so worried,” Eden said, completely ignoring the Gryffindor boy who had helped her and his injury.
“OW!” Andy yelped as the cat scratched him, and he glowered at the beast as it was reunited with its owner. “Rotten animal,” he muttered under his breath, lucky that Eden hadn’t heard him. But he quickly recovered from his annoyance and made his way back to stand next to Eden.
“Sharp claws,” he remarked smartly. And then he remembered that earlier conversation with Tilly Dawlish. That, and the bizarre notion that he wouldn’t mind trying to impress the pretty blonde girl he was with even if it was Eden Pucey. “Don’t think I’ll get a scar, or it’d match my other one. On my right-” he glanced to see if Eden was listening, lowering his voice when he saw that she was embracing the animal. “Right arm.” He coughed and cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Hey, does he only like you?” Andy asked her. “That’s a bit unfair.”
“It’s not unfair,” Eden said, basically ignoring the boy. “Puff is mine, I should be liked best.” Puff was purring happily in her arms but when she turned to look at Andy, the cat started hissing and spitting again. She eyed him over and tried to comfort her cat.
Well she should probably thank him for his help.
“Thank you for helping me find Puff,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” Andy smiled broadly once again, although it briefly turned into a grimace as he glanced at the cat once more. The thing really didn’t like him, that was plain to see. “I’m, uh,” Andy hesitated, but nothing else came to mind. “I’m glad he didn’t top himself after all,” he told her, once again speaking without thinking it through.
Eden let out a loud sigh and decided that arguing with Kirke wasn’t worth the effort now. Gods he was sooo stupid. Instead she rolled her eyes and headed down the stairs and back to Slytherin, slightly out of breath.
Andy shrugged as she disappeared. “Bye Edie!” he called after her, but he got the sense that he wasn’t going to get her attention now that she had her cat. He frowned down at his scratched arm - the monster had drawn blood! - and then after a safe distance he too left the tower. Girls and their pets… he knew not to try be helpful next time!