Venomous

Laurel

October, 1890 

The first trial took a lot out of her, leaving Laurel once again covered in a vast number of bruises and scrapes. She had finally begun to fill out in muscle mass with all the dueling she’d been doing with Sebastian in her spare time, combined with the forces of Rookwood and Ranrok she’d been taking down across the Highlands, and was lasting far longer in her battles. But the last thing she ever thought she’d have to fight was a giant version of the pensieve guardians she had been dealing with up to this point.

When she finally made it out of Professor Rackham’s trial, she collapsed to the floor of the dilapidated tower, her body feeling far heavier than it had in ages. Professor Fig stood over her, glancing down with an expression of concern etched heavily on his face. Her chest ached a bit as she tried to force her lungs to inhale, and her limbs were sore from all the movement. But her joints ached far less than they normally did whenever she did anything that required physical exertion, so she counted that as a win.

“Are you alright, my dear?” The older man knelt beside her, his hands hovering over her worriedly.

“I will be.” The words were wheezed out between breaths as she finally sat up. “Might be sore for a few days, but otherwise, I think I’ll be okay.” Laurel winced, gripping her side where she’d been hit by the pensieve guardian.

“Oh dear, we’d better get you up to Madam Blainey.” Fig had latched onto her elbow, helping her to her feet.

“I’m alright, professor. Really. I’d rather keep things as simple as possible and just take a wiggenweld. I promise I’m not gravely injured.” She began digging around in the bag she had discarded near the portal, pulling out the little green vial and throwing the foul-tasting liquid back, screwing her face up at the flavour. “Besides, I’d really rather spend this afternoon catching up on my classes instead of lying in a bed in the hospital wing.”

Laurel threw the bag over her shoulder, wincing again at the sudden movement of the sore muscles in her abdomen. She was going to have to look at that later, assess the damage assuming there were no internal injuries. She shook herself mentally before grabbing onto Fig's arm, the older man apparating them as close as he could to the school grounds.

The professor cast a quick tempus charm, the clock-like display ticking in real time. He squinted as he examined it, his blue eyes suddenly going wide. He grabbed her arm, hauling her off through the archway leading into the school before gently nudging her in the direction of the owlery.

"You'd better get a move on, Miss Blake, or you'll be late to your beasts class. Professor Howin doesn't exempt tardiness for any reason." He turned toward the stairway leading up to the school as he called over his shoulder. "Meet me after classes to discuss what you saw in there."

She took off at a jog, her lungs still burning and her muscles aching from the battle she had just returned from. Laurel turned her head for a mere second, thinking she had heard her name being called. When she turned back, she gasped loudly before crashing roughly into her new friend’s sandy-blond haired counterpart, sending them both careening towards the ground.

“Good heavens, does no one watch where they’re going around here?” The boy below her sounded irritated, and she immediately took to pushing herself off of him.

“My apologies. I should have been looking ahead of me.” Her hand flew to her head, pressing against where she’d slammed into him.

He was quiet for a moment as she began to stand, her forehead throbbing painfully from the impact. “Wait a minute. Laurel? Is that you?”

She reached down and grabbed his hand, pulling him to a standing position. “Yes, sorry, Ominis. I was just on my way to beasts class. I apologize for running into you.”

“Where exactly have you been? Sebastian has been looking for you for days.” His brow furrowed over his cloudy blue eyes as he looked in her general direction.

“I’ve been off with Professor Fig, doing some important extracurricular work.” Laurel dusted off her clothes and shook out her braid before beginning to take a step towards the beasts classroom. “I’m running a bit behind, I’ll chat with him later.”

“Laurel, wait.” She was stopped in her tracks when he reached out for her, grabbing onto her robes. Her gaze was drawn to where he had brought his free hand to the back of his neck, a nervous expression taking hold of his features. “I wanted to apologize to you. For the way I reacted outside of the Undercroft. I should not have threatened you with expulsion, and for that, I truly am sorry.”

“Oh. Well, thank you, Ominis. That… means quite a lot to me, actually.” Laurel felt her cheeks beginning to warm, and she bit her lip, looking away from him. “Perhaps we can talk a bit more later? I’m really sorry to rush off, but I don’t want to be late.”

She reached down, picking his wand up off the ground and taking his right hand, placing it in his fingers. The action seemed to take the blond by surprise, his eyebrows rising up into his hairline and his cheeks turning pink. She couldn’t help staring at him for a moment longer, taking in the shock on his face as he flexed his fingers around his wand handle, before she took off at a sprint towards Professor Howin’s class.

She barely skidded to a stop just outside the awning where the desks were, scanning the tables looking for an empty spot. A small brunette, her hair cut off in a neat bob just above her shoulders, waved her over, a bright smile plastered on her face. Laurel made her way to the table, taking her spot next to the girl holding a creature that looked like a ball of grey hair. She had seemed to walk up in the middle of the professor’s speech, missing most of it and earning herself a side-eye from the older woman.

“Miss Sweeting, would you please assist Miss Blake with the lesson today?” The small brunette looked up as the professor spoke, her wide smile returning.

“Yes, Professor Howin.” The girl turned to her. “Hello. I’m Poppy. Poppy Sweeting.”

“Laurel. Laurel Blake.” She held a hand up toward Poppy in a small wave, not wanting to make the girl struggle with the beast in her hands. 

Poppy glanced at the professor as she walked away. “Don’t worry about Professor Howin’s speech. She over exaggerates sometimes.” She spoke the last words with a hand pressed to the other side of her face and through clenched teeth. She giggled softly, petting the puffball in her hands. “All the beasts in class are perfectly safe.”

The tiny grey ball of fur shot its extremely long tongue up, catching Poppy in the nose and pulling a shocked screech from her. Laurel laughed, perhaps a bit harder than she should have and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth. She caught some of her classmates, including a tall ginger she had come to know as Leander Prewett, staring at the two of them as Poppy righted herself.

“Miss Sweeting! Pay attention, please. The tongue of a puffskein can be a slippery devil.” The older woman ran over, grabbing the puffball and setting it down on the table before them.

“Uh… yes, professor.” The tiny brunette once again turned to Laurel, and she realized this was the first person she’d run into that she could actually meet at eye level. “Here, you can practice on Gerald. Just keep an eye out for his tongue.” She laughed, handing a brush to the blonde and stepping aside. “You can use my brush. Just be gentle. Oh! And think pleasant thoughts.” Poppy shrugged with a smile. “I like to think it enriches the experience.”

The fur was soft against her hands as she brushed him, the small, round creature eliciting a purr. “Oh, I bet you feel so much better, don’t you, Gerald? Look at all that loose fur! Do all puffskeins shed like cats?” Laurel looked to Poppy just as Gerald wrapped his tongue around her wrist.

“Oh yes, especially if they’re healthy. I think he might actually be hungry.” Poppy grabbed a bucket, holding it out to her, inviting her to take a handful. Laurel held the rounded bits of beast feed out to Gerald who eagerly began devouring them, hopping around happily. “What do you think the pellets taste like to Gerald? Pudding I like to think.”

“Mmm, I imagine they taste a bit like…” Laurel tapped her chin with her index finger before turning back to the brunette with a smirk. “Chocolate cake.” The two girls burst into laughter, each petting the small creature.

“Very good, ladies. Gerald looks very happy. Miss Sweeting, why don’t you show Miss Blake to the kneazles in the farthest pen? She seems well adept at caring for beasts.” Professor Howin took Gerald, walking away towards where Laurel assumed she kept the puffskeins.

Poppy took her hand, leading her off towards a pen in the back. “This way. The kneazles are over here.”

Two students were already standing near the pen as they approached, a Slytherin boy with his wand out, and a Ravenclaw girl who was giggling and watching him.

“Coupla’ kneazle whiskers oughta’ get me a few knuts, at least. Enough to buy something from Honeydukes.” The boy began using his wand in an attempt to pull the whiskers from the large, cat-like creatures, earning himself some hissing and growls. “Stupid thing”

“What in Merlin’s name are you doing?” Poppy let go of her hand, taking off running towards the pen.

The boy rolled his eyes at the brunette, dropping his wand to his side. “Ugh. Tsk, tsk, Peculiar Poppy. Worried about a worthless little rodent?”

“Her name is Persephone!” Poppy shouted, the boy standing over her with a sneer.

“‘Her name is Persephone!’” The Slytherin boy mocked her, his freckled cheeks pulling up as he laughed at her, the Ravenclaw with him making strange gestures in an attempt to exaggeratedly mimic Poppy’s distress as Laurel made her way up to them. The boy looked at Laurel, nudging her with his elbow.

“That’s really not funny, mate.” Laurel tracked him with her eyes when his smile dropped and he adjusted himself to loom over her. “You shouldn’t make fun of somebody for caring about a living creature.”

“Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it, new girl?” He scowled down at her, baring his teeth.

“That’s not much of an insult, is it?” Laurel cracked her knuckles as she glared up at him, clenching her hands into fists and raising them. “I’m more than happy to show you what I’ll do about it if you mess with my friends again.”

Professor Howin stepped into their line of sight, watching the group with her hands behind her back. The boy grumbled something before grabbing the Ravenclaw girl and walking away. Laurel lowered her fists, shrugging before turning back to Poppy who was petting the kneazle through the fence.

“Those two don’t belong anywhere near this class. Poachers in training.” Poppy shook her head, her brown bob swaying back and forth. “Persephone was onto them instantly.” She tilted her head up to Laurel from where she crouched. “Thank you again, for saying something to those brutes. You were an Augurey at noon, in the desert.”

“I certainly hope that’s a good thing.” Laurel chuckled a bit, dropping down next to the brunette and reaching a hand in to pet Persephone as well.

“It’s something my gran and I say. It means that something or someone is a welcome surprise.” Poppy’s smile was contagious, and the two girls turned their heads as they heard Professor Howin dismiss class. “Actually, Laurel, there’s someone I’d like you to meet. In the forest, if you’re okay with that.”

“Oh, sure. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Assuming you’re willing to be my friend, that is.” Laurel swept her braid back over her shoulder.

“Oh yes, very much so! Follow me.” Poppy grabbed her hand again, looking around before dragging her off down the path and into the trees. “I wouldn’t take just anyone there. In fact…” She looked over her shoulder at Laurel. “You’re the first.”

“Poppy, where are you taking me?” Laurel felt her feet catch, and she swung her free arm out to steady herself as they wandered into the treeline.

“Stay there.” Poppy dropped her hand, bringing two fingers to her mouth and whistling. The beating of wings against the air caught Laurel by surprise, and she turned in a circle. Her breath caught in her throat at the captivating sight of the large, winged beast as it descended to the earth in front of them. “Please meet Highwing. Isn’t she just magnificent?”

“She’s… amazing.” Laurel’s mouth was agape as she took in the stunning creature, her feathers easing into beautiful white hair.

“Go on, introduce yourself.” Poppy pushed Laurel forward a bit. “Oh. But do be careful. You must always show hippogriffs the proper courtesy before you approach them.”

Poppy pushed her closer still before taking a place beside her, looking to Laurel as she bowed in example. Laurel lowered herself slowly into a bow, eventually lowering her eyes as Highwing tilted her head to the side. The hippogriff eventually lowered her own head into a bow, bending one knee in response. She raised her hand, slowly as she got even closer to the winged beast, laughing lightly as her palm was met with the softness of feathers. Highwing took off, leaving the two girls watching after her in stunned silence, and Laurel knew without a shadow of a doubt that that meeting had solidified yet another new friendship for her.