Just Another Day

Vivianna relaxed on a bench in the courtyard. It wasn't very often that she hung out here, but she had intended on going for a walk when she spotted her cat. Having not seen Strike for over a day, which wasn't very common, Vivianna had walked over to her pet. Minutes later, she was reclined on the bench, Strike curled up against her as she ran her fingers over his head.

Vivianna had always known that Strike was a very odd creature. The cat looked fairly ordinary, with its short brown fur and one black ear. He absolutely adored his owner, and most nights of the week took to sleeping at the foot of her bed. However, he was definitely not a people-cat. He had a tendency to hiss at anyone else who dared to approach him, and had bitten other students who cooed over his cuteness more times than Vivianna could count. Strike had also been known to go after the dragonflies and butterflies that decorated the Hogwarts grounds every spring. The semi-vicious cat even managed to kill the occasional bird, and always brought them to Vivianna as if he was doing something nice. Although in Strike's mind, he probably was.

Vivianna shifted to scratch her pet behind his one black ear and glanced around the empty courtyard. She absently wondered why the place was so empty. Usually it was filled with many gossiping groups, not that Vivianna was complaining.

There were few times when Kaiden Poliakoff was seen outside. It had been like this since he was a little boy, after he was attacked by a few forest animals when he'd wandered off by himself and had gotten lost. Now, he didn't exactly like being outside due to the fear of being attacked again.

That was one of the many reasons he refused to take Care of Magical Creatures. Of course, one of the few animals he still really liked were Owls, like his own owl, Vic. The animal was like his best friend, it was always around him when he needed it, and never wanted to leave him alone. It had been that way since he was about ten years old, and he'd found Vic on the outskirts of the forest.

He'd helped the owl get back to health and it never wanted to leave after that, so it'd been with Kaiden since then. After a short visit to the Owlery to spend some time with Vic, Kaiden decided to go outside, since he needed to get out of the castle more. He walked out to the Courtyard and looked around. The place seemed dead and he couldn't help but wonder why. The weather was getting better, so he'd expected everyone to be coming out more often. He guessed he was wrong, not a big surprise there, but still, this was a shock, even for him.

There seemed to be only one other person outside right now, Vivianna Varnes, he began to wonder how long that would last. He looked back toward the entrance and sighed, maybe longer than he'd want. Shrugging, Kaiden walked toward the girl, before spotting the cat that was with her. He stopped and thought for a second, it was only a cat. Cats are normally nice creatures, but with that fear of forest animals, also came a fear of domesticated animals as well. Plus, there was something seemingly off about that cat, and Kai began to double think the approaching the girl.

The sixth year shook his head and moved his bangs out of his eyes. He wasn't about to let some dumb animal stop him from talking to someone. Especially not a cute girl like her, and she was in his House no less. But he knew that she was in the year below him, making her a fifth year. Better than nothing, Kaiden couldn't help the smirk that crossed his lips before he put on a serious face and he walked up to her. "Hey Vivianna. You seem lonely." he said.

Vivianna watched as Kaiden Poliakoff entered the courtyard, so much for the place being empty. She didn't know the boy, as she hadn't ever talked to him beside perhaps a time or two in passing. He was a fellow Slytherin, and a year above Vivianna. She pondered for a moment over the fact that she'd never properly spoken to someone in her own house and so close to her in age, before shrugging it off. She did have a habit of spending most of her time outside, so perhaps he just wasn't an outside person. That would explain it easily enough, and Vivianna's distaste for the crowds in the common room probably didn't help much.

Vivianna looked back down at Strike who had turned to stare at Kaiden as if attempting to determine the possible threat as he approached. "Silly kitty," Vivianna murmured under her breath, "he won't hurt you." Strike shifted almost grumpily, but relaxed again when Vivianna went to scratch underneath his chin. Looking up, Vivianna realized that Kaiden was nearer than she had thought. She also noticed the look gracing his features.

When he commented on her lack of company, Vivianna wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or smirk. Going for the notably safer, and more Slytherin, route Vivianna smirked up at the boy and raised eyebrow. "Well hello there Kaiden," she replied slowly before lowering the eyebrow and adding, "if you wanted to join me, all you had to do was ask."

Swinging her legs downwards so that her legs were no longer resting on the wood, she gestured to the empty space next to her. Vivianna had been care to not jostle Strike during the process, and was rather proud of herself to see that the fickle creature hadn't moved.

Vivianna lent her head back so her neck would crack, which gave her a perfect view of the sky. "You know, you’d think more people would be out on a day like this," Vivianna stated, not caring if the other Slytherin was listening or not. It was surprisingly nice weather for this time of the year, the sun was out and everything. Vivianna kept her head tilted back, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face.

Though Kaiden had never really spoken to Vivianna, he knew that she was friends with Maura. Not that he really cared anymore anyways. He was surprised the girl hadn't tried to do anything to him for hurting her friend. He looked at the cat as Vivianna swung her legs down from where they were on the bench and he sat down in the spot next to her.

"Your cat doesn't seem like it likes people much.." he commented in a half mutter, glancing at the creature again. He didn't know what else to say as he stared up at the sky, thinking of some other topic to start a conversation on. He didn't know what else he was supposed to say though, so he just stared up at the sky for a while.

Then he thought of something. A smirk crossed his face again and he looked at her. "How's Maura doing?" The question lingered on his tongue for a moment and he almost immediately regretted asking it. He didn't care how she was doing. Well, he did a little bit. But he wasn't going to admit that.

Vivianna had been quite content just staring up at the sky, but then Kaiden had mentioned Maura. The girl had planned on lightly bringing her friend up in conversation. However, Vivianna figured now she’d just have to go for a different approach.

She lowered her head slowly, before turning it towards the other Slytherin. "You're right you know, Strike doesn't like people," Vivianna stated, petting the soft head, almost certain that the creature had noticed her tension and bared his fangs, "but don't worry, he listens to me." The younger Slytherin had always been abnormally fond of the Ice Queen B**** act; it never failed to send the first years running.

"Funny that you should mention Maura," she continued, almost thankful that Kaiden had given her the perfect opening. "You see, I heard an odd rumor that the reason Maura's personal business is all over the Daily Prophet, is because of you," Vivianna said, eyes never leaving Kaiden’s face. She wanted to see what Kaiden’s expressions told her, Vivianna was determined to catch him if he tried to lie.

Kaiden knew he would regret asking about the stupid Hufflepuff. He looked at Vivianna with a confused expression before he put a straight face on to hide the flash of confusion on his face. He hadn't even known that her personal business was on the Daily Prophet. So how could he have spread it? Someone seemed out to get her, and him in the process.

"I didn't say anything." He almost snapped. "I've kept everything I know about her to myself, I don't want Hunters after her, believe it or not." he added in a near mutter. He started to wonder who it had been that had told the Prophet about Maura and her Vampirism. Not because he actually cared about the girl though.

No, it was more about his own safety really. He wanted to find the person and make sure he wasn't involved in whatever he/she planned to do to Maura. He wasn't about to let himself get blamed for whatever they wanted to do.

Vivianna watched as Kaiden became confused, then defensive, and then worried. She was glad; the girl really didn't want to have to bother with planning revenge on him right now. There was someone else that she would rather focus on.

"Good," she said simply, tone suddenly a lot friendlier. Vivianna knew that he would understand the meaning behind the single word. "And I'll keep you updated," she added reluctantly. He might not have been the good guy in this mess, but he wasn't the bad guy either.

"I'm rather glad you don't have an issue with vampires," she stated lightly, "because if you have an issue with vampires, I have an issue with you. And you don't seem half bad." It wasn't intended to be a threat, although it had sort of come out that way. The Slytherin girl had just been saying the truth. There were far too many important vampires in her life for her to ever properly get along with someone who despised them.

He looked at the younger Slytherin and sighed. She would keep him updated, he really didn't care. "I don't care if you do or don't." he stated simply. Kaiden would prefer to be updated on whatever was going on, since it sort of involved him, but he didn't want to stay involved with Maura. It would make it seem that he wanted her back, which was the last thing he wanted. He just didn't care about the girl that way, or any way for that matter.

The Slytherin boy scoffed and looked at the sky again at her next comments about Vampires. True he didn't have a problem with them, but he didn't exactly like them either. Well, maybe he did. It was more of an admiration thing, which was sort of why he'd used Maura, he hadn't meant to - honestly he hadn't - but it had just worked that way.

Kaiden admired Vampires, they might not be human, or exactly the 'normal' everyone thought about in regards to humans, but they were normal in regards to other Vampires. That was what others didn't understand, and Kaiden had shown with Maura that he either didn't understand either, or he just hadn't cared enough to show he did. Honestly though, besides having that admiration for them, he was also afraid of them to some extent. He knew what could happen if he angered one enough, and he had before. If it hadn't been for the other Hufflepuff, the Prefect, he would've either been dead right now, or a Vampire like them.

He subconsciously put his hand on the left side of his neck where Maura had bitten him, but not enough to kill or turn him. He sighed and looked at Vivianna, "Anyone who had issues with Vampires is stupid..." he said softly.

Vivianna stayed still and silent, just watching as Kaiden appeared to disappear into his thoughts. When he slowly brought up a hand to the side of his neck, the girl frowned slightly in confusion, before realizing that must've been where he was bitten. Not crass enough to see if a scar had been left, the student continued to remain quiet. When Kaiden softly announced that vampire-haters were stupid, the girl agreed with a sharp nod.

It was then that Strike caught a glimpse of a small bird of the other side of the courtyard. Quickly leaping off the bench, the creature began to stalk it's prey. The cat managed to get only a few feet away from the avian by the time the bird realized it was there, and tried to take off. Strike had been expecting this though, and leapt two feet into the air, pinning the bird down. Cracking the feathered neck with a swift clench of strong jaws, the pet began to prance back towards the humans with the bird being carried between pointed incisors. Vivianna, who had watched this with amusement, let out a small irritated sigh. "No Strike," she barked out, aware that otherwise her cat would bring the dead avian to her. As it was, the four-legged animal turned tail and began to trot in the direction of the forest.

Stretching and making a short noise of contentment, the younger student turned to Kaiden and said, "you're a sixth year, what NEWT's are you taking?"