Gwendolyn Morgan is a serial snogger. (harpy) wrote in enemies_rpg, @ 2013-02-11 22:04:00 |
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The snow crunched underfoot as Gwen opened the door to the pen, using her body to block the narrow opening and keep any possible escapees from fleeing. In the pen, the Win the War League's goats huddled under the cover of their shelter from the elements, save for the buck nosing around in some brush in one corner while keeping an eye on his trio of does. "Don't worry we aren't going to hurt your harem," Gwen said, her voice full of amusement as the billy goat scuffed at the snow with his foot and lowered his head as if to threaten her. One of the three does wasn't nearly as rotund as she'd been just days before, and beside her, keeping close for warmth and comfort, were her twin kids, long legged and full of life, who had been born over the weekend, largely unremarked in all the other excitement going on. She looked up at Millicent as she shut the gate behind them, the two girls were dressed warmly for working outside, in hats and gloves, with cover ups over their clothes for working the stock. Gwen liked working the small Hogwarts farm, it reminded her of home and she enjoyed being outside. She had become closer to Millicent over the past year working the farm, the two of them meeting at odd hours for kiddings and calvings combining Millicent's book smarts with Gwen's more practical and admittedly nitty gritty expertise. When they couldn't handle it they would call on Professor Lovegood for help, but Gwen enjoyed it, other than Quidditch it gave her days a sense of enjoyment and purpose. Although Millicent never doubted the older girl's patriotism or enthusiasm, she never expected the two of them to get along. But they did, and Millicent grew to appreciate Gwen's knowledge and entire attitude towards the war. Gwen's regard for the some of the rules and such, not so much, but Millicent could get past that. Millicent hung back by the gate. When the club first started, she was more wary of the animals. She was never skittish around them. She grew more used to them over time, and by now, she was mostly keeping her distance because she figured Gwen was much more useful than her. The club gave her a sense of purpose as well, and it was actually one where she could do something. For the most part, she had felt like she was wringing her hands, so getting out of doors and seeing results was a welcome change. And a welcome distraction. "Oh, they're so cute!" Millicent gushed in a hushed tone, even as the father was looking less than enthusiastic to see them. She wasn't the squealing sort, and even around most people, she probably would've been more matter-of-fact. She felt more comfortable around Gwen, though Millicent's wand was drawn. While she wasn't really scared of the goat, it just seemed more efficient to cast a spell on it if it decided to charge. "We should get some of the club members to see them after." "Definitely. Would probably be a good way to get more people to join. Come to Win the War League and pet the baby animals." Her lips twitched up at the sides as she shot Millicent a look over her shoulder, and she latched the gate to the pen so the goats wouldn't stampede out while they were trying to catch the kids and dehorn them. "Too bad Unicorns aren't useful, I bet that would draw loads," although she couldn't have anything to do with them anymore, a fact she sometimes, like now, forgot. She made her way over to the Mama goat, dipping her hand into her pocket for a tempting morsel of hay as a bribe, murmuring comforting words as she stepped to avoid the worst of the much in the pen. "We should muck out after we're done," she said. "With the snow melting and freezing it's making a mess." The goat stretched out its delicate muzzle for the treat, and Gwen rubbed its poll affectionately as it allowed her to come close. Out here she was down to Earth and practical, gentle even. It was a side many didn't necessarily get to see of her. Millicent let out a soft snort at the idea of using baby animals to attract new members. While she thought the club could always use more help, she wanted people to actually help, rather than just coo over baby animals. And with that thought in mind, she started walking towards Gwen and the goats. "Yeah," she said, in agreement to mucking the place, though she made a slight face. She had finally recovered from the chicken move the previous week. She mimicked how Gwen got past the father, a little more awkwardly but not timid. Although she travelled to visit her mother on assignments and had seen various locales and animals as a child, she never really had to spend too much time around them at all. She certainly didn't have to remove any horns either. When she got to where Gwen was, Millicent reached out to pat the mother goat on the head as well. "All right, what do you want me to do?" "Well we'll have to keep mum away while we're dehorning them," Gwen said. "But casting a silencing charm on them so their cries don't scare her will help." She did that first and then knelt down to pat one of the babies who skittishly stepped away from the large human in his pen. "You can either hold them and I'll dehorn them or vice versa. Depending on how dirty you want to get I guess. I can hold the first one. Do you remember the Charm?" She put her arms around the baby goat and picked it up, holding it snugly against her, her arm wrapped around its neck to hold it still. "I remember." Millicent knew it was something she wanted to do right and well, especially when she might cause -- at the minimum -- discomfort to the goat. Wand still drawn, she waited until the animal was secured in Gwen's arms before reaching gently but firmly for its head. She used her wand hand to brush back some of the hair surrounding the horns. At the opportune time, she said the incantation. She didn't squeal or dance or smile much at the accomplishment, but she left out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and she paused to look at Gwen and the goat before moving to the next horn. Gwen nodded at Millicent encouragingly as she did the first horn, her right hand soothing the trembling kid's neck as she held it snugly. "Good," she said. "We'll make a farm girl of you yet." She waited till the second horn was done before examining the little goat, then setting it down. It kicked off against her chest and sent her sprawling back down in the muck, half out of breath and laughing at the same time. "We should make everyone come down and do this," she joked, looking around for something to pull herself up as the mother goat fussed over the first kid and glared at them balefully. "That or putting their arm up a cow. It can be like an initiation. We lure them in with the cuteness and then 'bam' goat shite." Millicent had to lower her wand to let out a laugh at the farm girl comment before working on the second horn. It was more assured, and more businesslike than the first time. And when Gwen fell back into the mud, Millicent let out a half-laugh, half-giggle, because it was funny, but she also felt a little bad for laughing, and she wasn't entirely sure if it hurt. "I would not be doing this if we didn't have to," Millicent confessed, walking over to give Gwen an arm to pull herself up. "Some of it's surprisingly fun and relaxing, but I don't fault students for not joining the club either. We'll just have to lure them with more attractive speakers." The last part was said wryly. Gwen took the hand up and tugged herself up, getting Millicent only a little muddy in the process. She raised her eyebrows at that comment. "Well you did alright with Trudy's Dad, some might say he was a bit too attractive." Truth be told she wasn't sure that speakers were that big of a draw for some people, but she supposed it didn't hurt. By now Mama Goat was wise, but between the two of them they were able to corner the remaining kid, Gwen holding it again for Millicent to dehorn. "I don't know if we need more members or if we need our current members to do more," she said. The speakers didn't draw as many permanent people as Millicent had wanted. She was hoping they would ignite some inner patriotism that laid latent, and a speaker would just give it that spark. Millicent didn't mind the mud, though what part of her hand that did get dirty, she just wiped on her robes. This time, she gave the goat a small pat on the head before brushing away its hair again. "Some of them do a lot," she said with a shrug. She left the fact that some of them didn't unsaid, not necessarily out of tact, but to be concise. "A lot of them have homework, and--" she held off dehorning the goat to gesture at herself, as if to say Ravenclaw, "--I do understand that might come first." With that, she got to work. Gwen held the other kid tight as Millicent dehorned it and when it was done she set it down with a firm pat to the rump which sent it bounding back to its Mum. "You and your homework," Gwen teased. "There are other things in life you know." She reached for a nearby shovel and began to much out the worst of the muck, heaping it to one side where it could be used for later fertilization of the garden, there was straw nearby to line the pen although much of that would be eaten right away. "You should try and have fun sometimes." She threw one frozen shovel of shit and then another on the pile, and then leaned on the handle of the shovel, her eyes amused as she watched the younger girl. Despite her being head of the club, Millicent's muscles were far more used to carrying books than shovelling. She didn't look completely out at sea when starting at some of the muck near Gwen, but she was still obviously someone who didn't do this all her life. "I have fun," she replied, tossing some of it low towards the side, away from Gwen and the goats. In a wry tone, she continued, "My idea of fun happens to be taking points and putting people in detention. I always thought it's the same feeling as scoring a goal in Quidditch." "I think Quidditch is better." Gwen said, her voice teasing. "But I don't know, we could trade places for a couple of days, figure it out." She kept shoveling until the area was clean. "I could take you flying sometime, you could find out for yourself." Millicent let out a laugh that was sharper than it would've been a few months ago. One of the goats bleated. While in reality, Millicent still really liked being a prefect and the responsibility wasn't anywhere close to overwhelming, some of the little things were starting to grate and accumulate. "We should trade," she said in a way that made it sound like she wouldn't mind a few days away from students hexing each other. "I flew fine when I was in first year. I'm learning to Apparate, so it isn't something I need to be really good at either." Gwen set her shovel aside and came up behind the other girl. The goats nudged at her knees and she absently petted them. "It's not about being good at it," she said. "It's about enjoying it. Although being good at it is a perk." She considered her for a moment. "I don't know how you do it," she said. "I'd go spare as a Prefect. Not that they'd ever make me one." "It usually isn't this bad." Millicent paused in her shovelling to frown. While she understood the war caused stress, she said, "People are behaving horribly right now." Her features tightened slightly -- the face she made when something unpatriotic was mentioned during Win the War League meetings. "Well, they made you captain of a Quidditch team. And sometimes, I suspect students will listen to those than some of the prefects." A pause. "What does a captain do?" Gwen grinned widely. "Boss people around, run them into the ground, work them until they cry. You know, the usual things." She shrugged just a little. "Seriously though, I push them until I can't anymore. People might say it's just a game, but it's more than that to me, you know? It means something." She thought about how people were acting, she was disturbed by it as well, sure she had a reputation for being a trouble maker and a bully, but she'd never have done anything like this not to people who didn't have it coming. "You're tough," she said after a grudging moment. "Tougher than most. You shouldn't underestimate that." Millicent laughed, and then she nodded, conceding that a game like Quidditch could mean more to someone. "I don't, but I need to do something with it, you know?" she asked, going back to shovelling and tossing some more of the muck away. "I mean, this... I know it's something, but I can do more. And I will. But right now... it's--" She freed a hand to gesture at the muck instead of completing the sentence. "Some things are out of your control," Gwen said. "You just have to do the best you can about the things you can control." The goat nudged at her again and she reached back for her own shovel to help Millicent clear her area. "If you need help though, you let me know, all right? I can kick a couple of heads for you. Or if you just need someone to talk to." "I know, but we're at school. Some of these shouldn't be happening. And..." People needed to do more or get held accountable, but Millicent just stopped talking and gave her head a shake instead. She shuffled a few steps to let Gwen help. She had a closed, pursed-lip smile when Gwen talked about kicking heads, and then nodded. "Thanks, Gwen." "Yeah. Sure." She sensed it maybe wasn't a subject Millicent wanted to talk about anymore, so she simply bent back to her work while she thought. "They'll get caught eventually," she said. "Do something stupider than usual. Okay?" The kids and adult goats had settled in at the other end of the pen now, and she nudged the final pile of muck with her shovel's edge. Again, Millicent let out that sharp, wry laugh, and for a second, she looked calculating. "I'll think about it." |