Search for the search.

Teddy enjoyed the weekends because it gave her ample opportunity to get herself in some trouble. Honestly, she never minded getting caught by professors, as it usually resulted in detention. She had grown fond of detention- it gave her something to employ her time awhile, and she was able to spend time with the professors. Though she treated all of her peers with disdain, she had a special regard for the professors. She felt safe and valued under their care. Unlike the adults in her home, they noticed her, they interacted with her. It was a nice change from the hustle and bustle of home, all of which pertained to her elder sisters.

She had been unfortunate in not having stirred enough of a ruckus to get noticed by any professors thus far. Secrets had abated and she was getting a little desperate for a story. She had three major hits she wanted to make- find out more about Spice, the Dark Followers, and Potter's Army. But as exclusive as each was, how was she supposed to be privately admitted, given an opportunity to investigate each situation?

Her itch to do something had grown and she finally gave in. She snuck away from her table at dinner, hoping the few people who had even bothered to sit near her would not question her. She hauled up her Ravenclaw bag and left the castle, quickly crossing the grounds. She stood at the edge of the forest, having only briefly entered it once before. She glanced up at the castle, and with a determined scowl, entered the forest.

*

Dinner was of little importance when compared to the shortage of amphibians in Rudolph's supplies; an issue which he had deliberately ignored until he could no longer proceed with his work for lack of his usual test subjects. Few things irritated him more than to be prevented from carrying on with his studies (or in a broader sense, to be denied something that he wanted dearly). But his lethargy soiled any possibility of a preemptive strike, and the challenge of catching the stubborn frogs by hand was enough of a task to leave him feeling in need of weeks of inactivity at the mere thought of it.

So it was after a polite and nearly habitual, "No thank you, I'm not hungry" that Rudolph set out across the castle's grounds towards the Forest, a plastic container used in collecting living samples held close to his sweater-clad chest. And after weaving through the Forest's vast number of trees to stand as near to its center as he cared to be, he paused and immediately he began to inspect the surrounding area. The ground was soft with the previous afternoon’s rain, but he had yet to spy his target. The minute ticked past, but not even an earthworm caught his eye.

Rudy suspected it would be a long evening. And he was famished.

Here was Teddy's first problem - she had no idea what she was doing out here. Her plan had gotten as far as 'Go into the Forbidden Forest.' Well, she had done that. And now, though her footsteps did not falter, she was sort of flailing for a path to take. She had never gotten farther into the forest than where she could still see the treeline. Teddy was rational, yes, but it was not totally illogical to consider the possibility of dangerous creatures roaming the forest.

It was with this looming weight that Teddy continued, questioning whether or not it had been the best idea to enter the forest for the sole reason of getting in trouble. If a professor or prefect were going to bust her, the point had already past. She glanced back and saw that she could no longer see the grounds. She was officially the farthest into the forest she had ever been.

Her heart thumped and with a new found bravery, she stepped farther, quickening her pace, as though trying to hurry towards an escape, when she was leaving safety with each step. Trouble always fell on the unsuspecting- moving towards trouble must have the opposite effect. But as she continued, what could only be identified as panic set in, and she had just increased her speed to a mad dash, when she stumbled into a clearing and found her salvation.

At first, it was humiliating. Rudy Morrison was probably very disinclined to help her, as she had been pestering him for some sort of information on the Dark Followers, and when he had outright refused to speak, she had used her arsenal of witty names to try and goad it out of him. The longer a silent person stood against verbal tirades, the more they said when they finally exploded. So, Rudy was probably just about as happy to see her as she was to be in this forest.

But to be found in so embarrassing a state. Teddy's cheeks began to pinken as she righted herself, and she found that having company rid her of her fears of being devoured and forgotten. She must cover herself, though, cover the humiliation she had caused. She crossed her arms and said, as casually as she could possibly muster, "Fancy seeing you here, Morrison." Perhaps, if she pretended that she had not practically flung herself at Rudy's feet in terror, maybe he would believe it too.

With the toes of his heavy boots Rudolph knocked dollops of moss from his path, treading across the clearing at a crawl. Consequently, he unearthed a group of scuttling beetles - towards which he stooped, drawing nearer with mild interest. “Psh!” He softly mimicked the cry of a gun as he curled his index finger back, before flicking one of the insects from the dirt. “Psh!” He repeated the process, “Psh! Psh!” until the last beetle had flown from sight, and he gripped his knee with his free hand. Sighing, Rudy gazed across the forest floor and kneeled amongst the leaves in silence.

His eyes settled upon a near rock and rather absentmindedly, he burrowed his potion-stained fingertips beneath it and upturned the stone. But he was interrupted from his lazy examination of the creatures clinging to its flip-side by the unmistakable rumble of footfall. Alarmed, Rudy leapt with adrenaline grace to stand. Of course, the dangers that the Forest posed had not escaped his thoughts, but he could not have anticipated his reaction. The quickening pulse beneath his perspiring skin; the white-knuckled grip with which his fist had taken hold of his rock, as though on their own accord. It was thrilling!

Rudy lifted his arm steadily upward until his blunt weapon had risen well above his head and he inhaled sharply, locking the oxygen deep within himself in preparation. But the parting of rustling branches ahead did not reveal the monstrous beastie that his imagination had concocted, rather a pale blur of blonde as a much frailer and more recognizable being collapsed beneath him; a female whom he identified as Theodora Crewe, or “Teddy”. She was a particular breed.

“Hello,” Rudolph greeted the Ravenclaw with a stifled whoosh! of exhaled tension, shuffling backwards until he had just escaped her reach. And with a concealed flick of his wrist, Rudolph slipped his weapon behind the cover of his thigh. “You wouldn’t happen to have found any frogs down there?” He inquired with a standard smile, clutching his sample container ever tighter against himself; like a shield. If only it were capable of guarding him from Teddy's boundless questions, which he was certain would follow. He had, after all, intended to leave the Forest before dawn...

It was a conscious effort that slowly drained the color from her pale face, that tightened the hold of her arms, that adjusted the stance into one less on the defense, one prepped for the offence. She was suddenly very self conscious- she felt the tiny amount of skin that poked out between her white shirt and pants; she painfully remembered the zit on her jaw; she could see from the corner of her eye that one side of her hair had been terribly mused in her mad dash through the forest. The hair could not do, she must have looked absolutely ridiculous.

She raised a hand and quickly brushed down the blonde strands, the pinkness returning swiftly under her eyes and across her cheeks. She swallowed and quickly got that under control, willing her cheeks to take on their usual pale color. Her hands recrossed, and then she jerked them away from each other- crossed arms were defensive. Her hands settled on her hips, but almost immediately jerked up to cross again. So what if it was defensive; it's not like he knew that. She half-scowled at him, as though he were to blame for her indecision.

He responded casually, and her embarrassment took another hit. They must have both been surprised, but his did not register. She felt prickles of jealousy for his upper hand and knew he would pay for being so innocent from embarrassment. She dropped her arms and walked towards a fallen, mossy log, hopping above. Her confidence increased as she found how agile she was atop it and she strolled down the log, leaning forward to look at the awkward blonde boy - right, because she had a right to talk.

He mentioned frogs, and Teddy scrunched her nose. Again, she could raise her own confidence by reminding herself that while she might be no more awkward than the Slytherin, he was definitely the weirder between them. "Frogs? Is catching frogs some portion of the reindeer games?" Why she was taunting the one person that could currently make her feel some sort of safety in the forest, she didn't know? Teddy's pride had taken a hit, and must be recovered. She straightened up and said, "Or are you trying to earn a merit badge?"

The Ravenclaw exuded self-consciousness; a blatant trait which Rudolph was surprised to learn had an effect on his ability to perform for his newly obtained audience. While he examined from a safe distance Crewe’s abnormal, jerking movements in what he assumed to be her attempt to compensate for her prior inelegance, he was compelled at once by the undying urge to pull the hem of his hat further downward over his face.

His fingers twitched uncomfortably around his rock while the others grew tense in their curled position against his sample container. And for several beats, he had resisted - until the discomfort radiating from Crewe broke his iron will and as though in a panic, he dropped the rock at his side in plain view and pulled fiercely at his hat.

“Rudolph wasn’t invited to join in on the reindeer games,” The boy replied, having stolen back a segment of his earlier sense of calm. “It’s… you know – it’s in the song,” He added with an intentional stutter which only forwarded his act, and smiled bashfully, his temper flaring and winding ever tighter at his core all the while. Ravenclaws… Why was it that the House of the Intelligent always drew forth the worst of his impatience? It is their questions; their abundance of curiosity, Rudolph noted with contained frustration. If he were to have his way, the group would surely be exterminated.

His smile widened.

OOC: Muse fail. I apologize.

A feeling of smugness had entered Teddy's being at the joke she had made. The poor girl often felt strange bouts of doubt in herself, and to be able to feel superior in any way possible was enough to soothe her tempestuous spirit. It failed however, and a pink flush spurred in her cheeks as the smile drained from her face. She continued to stare at him, before she said in a dull voice, "Touche."

She straitened up and turned around on the log, her back facing the boy. She closed her eyes and took a small breath. Well, you won some, and you lost some. She opened her eyes and strolled down the log, refusing to acknowledge the Slytherin for as long as possible. As she got to the end of the log, her boots skidded across some moss and she slipped off the lug, but she caught herself before she fell.

It was then she heard a small ribbit.

She stooped down and glanced under a small indent in the earth beneath the log. She reached her hand inside and withdrew it with a fat little frog in her hand. She stood and held it out for Rudolph to see. "Lookie here," she said, her voice still low and almost monotone, to show her obvious disinterest in his dealings.