What did you do?

There was no Indian summer but for once, sunlight was raining down on the castle and Elijah was out in the grounds soaking up some of the sun. A few other students were scattered around outside laying on their robes and taking as much of the sun’s heat and rays in as possible. Elijah was lounging by the edge of the lake. His legs were dangling in the water and his trousers were rolled up to his knees. Nachash was floating on the water and the kitten that had accompanied him to Hogwarts was lying on his bare chest which was left exposed to be tinted in colour by the sun high above him and the other students.

The cat mewed and Elijah cracked an eye open at the small animal. He made a sound that sounded like a meow and the kitten seemed pleased with the sound. It got up onto its feet and licked Eli’s cheek before jumping onto the grass. The Slytherin exhaled and closed his eyes one more, allowing himself to relax. He could hear laughter around the lake. People were happy. Elijah hummed contentedly and rested his arms behind his head.

He heard Nachash hiss but ignored her. There were a couple of splashes and the cat mewed again. He felt something cold and wet hit his chest and he opened his eyes to see the kitten, a fair bit wetter than before, sitting on his chest. He watched Nachash sidle back into the water and Eli shook his head. He picked the cat up and screwed his school shirt up before plopping the kitten down into it the nest-shaped material. “There. Now shut up.” Eli said, closing his eyes again.

Ezra heard the laughter and play of people on the shore of the lake, sometimes in the lake itself. Cheeto followed him close behind, he followed him everywhere. Ezra sat on the edge of the lake, then dipped his legs in. It felt pleasantly cool. Cheeto jumped right into the water, splashing Ezra.

The small fox swam over to a curious long shape in the water. It was a snake. Cheeto approached the tail of the creature. He clamped onto it with his teeth and held down the other animal with his paws. It was a huge snake, but Cheeto was an idiot of a fox. He didn't care if something would kill him, he just wanted to do stuff. Like Ezra.

Ezra watched from the shore, thinking that Cheeto got a hold of some old litter from the lake. He really didn't see that it was really a snake. If he did, he would've jumped in after Cheeto and grabbed him away before the snake could eat him or something.

Nachash continued to lounge in the water, her long body stretching out fully for once. Her master was settled on the grass with that infernal cat bundled up in his school shirt. Nachash watched Elijah’s chest rise and fall and she felt her mouth twitch up into a snake-like smile. She closed her eyes and continued to lounge half-submerged in the water. Her tail was flicking idly and she could hear the Merpeople singing below the water. She hissed softly to herself and turned herself over a few times before returning to her original position.

It was then that she felt something curve over her tail and a loud hiss came from her mouth when teeth clamped around her tail. The cry was heard by Elijah who sat up on the grass. Nachash coiled herself around the foolish animal and squeezed tightly. Elijah got to his feet and pulled Nachash out of the water. She quickly sank into his skin, ripping herself away from the animal that had seen fit to bite her and Elijah threw the animal into the water. The animal landed with a splash and Elijah sat himself back down on the grass.

Nachash pushed herself out of Elijah’s forearm and nuzzled his neck with her head. He whispered a few consoling words to her in Parseltongue and kissed her head. She slid fully out of his skin and pooled on his lap in a great big bundle. Elijah smiled and ran his fingers across her scaly body, making sure to make his touch feather light as he ghosted his fingers across her tail. Nachash hissed softly and rested her head on his knee. “Relax my snake...” Elijah murmured in Parseltongue. “That flee-bitten piece of fluff won’t hurt you.” The kitten mewed indigently from her place in Elijah’s shirt and trotted proudly into his lap. Elijah smirked as the cat clamoured up onto his shoulder and she licked his cheek before laying in his neck.

Ezra saw what the boy had done to his fox. Granted, what Cheeto did wasn't right, but still. He rushed into the river and grabbed his fox and got out of the water. He made sure that Cheeto was okay, brushing feather-light touches across the fox's skin.

"Shh...it's okay", Ezra said, cuddling the whimpering animal, "That infernal hell-beast won't throw you around anymore. However, you were kinda at fault. You did bite the snake's tail and that was wrong".

Cheeto whimpered and shivered, nuzzling Ezra and licking his nose. "Shhh....it's okay....".

Nachash seemed a little traumatised by the experience of being bitten. Elijah had never really seen her get abused in that way before. He remembered the day they had met and the stricken look on her face had made him cast the spells he didn't know he was capable of casting.

The snake hissed softly at Elijah and slipped underneath his skin. She coiled herself around his arm and froze, as if she were just a tattoo. Elijah frowned a little and ran his thumb over the inside of his forearm where she had settled. There was no hiss in reply, she just was. The Slytherin closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them back up and lifting the cat off of his neck.

He put it down in his shirt again and got to his feet. He pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it at the lake. He muttered a spell and a burst of water rose up and splashed over the boy who had the fox. Well, unless he jumped out of the way that is. He deserved it, Elijah decided. Only an idiot would have that as a pet.

Ezra got splashed by a bit of water, as did his fox. He didn't mid it though, it felt refreshing. He cradled his traumatized animal close to him. He sauntered over to Eli, he'd apologize hoping for him to accept it.

"Look, man, I'm sorry about my fox. He's a bit of an idiot...It's the same reason that he got hit by a muggle vehicle".

He looked truly apologetic. His hood from the hoodie was pulled over his head and the fox he had was tucked inside. The poor animal shook and shivered.

Gryffindor, Elijah thought sarcastically. There was no other house in Hogwarts that would allow an idiot to have a fox. Elijah didn't believe that the fox was the idiot. No, it was most definitely the owner. It was never the animal -- always the one that looked after it. Nachash wouldn't have heart the stupid creature if it hadn't been dumb enough to bite her. It was basic common sense. She was an irritated woman and disliked other animals to the point of strangulation. She only put up with Ziva because the infernal Owl was the only way Elijah could send letters.

"I don't care!" Elijah snapped, his eyes flashing with anger. "It's a shame it didn't die because it would have made a nice ruff! If you're not careful you might find that your fox is no more. I certainly wouldn't let that flea-bitten waste of skin into Hogwarts."

"Hey you watch it!" Ezra's face went red with anger, he let Cheeto out of his hoodie and told the fox to leave. "If you ever kill my beloved Cheeto, you will pay dearly. With your life. An eye for an eye they always say". Ezra did believe in that saying, he certainly displayed that when he threw a rock into the windshield of the car that the careless muggle drove.

"You know what? I thought your animal was actually a piece of litter floating in the lake. I thought that Cheeto was trying to pick it up to take it to shore to be disposed of. Now I see that he just wanted to play with the piece of trash". When Ezra got angry, boy was he ever angry.

Elijah snorted loudly. He doubted highly that the idiot Gryffindor would be able to kill him of all people. He'd find himself in shit quicker than he could say 'Avada Kedavra'. Jen wouldn't leave him enough time to even scream. He definitely wouldn't be missed. Elijah wanted to stuff that stupid fox and give it to his mother for Christmas. At least it would be an interesting addition to her bedroom in Berlin.

"My animal a piece of litter? Oh please, you've got to be joking. Just because your animal should be an article of clothing doesn't mean you should be insulting mine. Perhaps you should sell it on before it gives you some sort of disease. I hear the plague is an awful thing." Elijah sneered.

Ezra sneered, "You wish. Cheeto's a clean animal, he's had his shots. Same can't be said for your glorified leather belt! I betcha it's infected with Salmonella, which I hear is much worse, as it makes you suffer for days on end while the Plague kills you faster." The small fox waited in the bushes for the fight to end, he curled up and fell asleep.

"I bet you have a stupid name, too. It's probably something like Melvin. Yeah, you look like a Melvin. Or a Bruce. Those are really unattractive names."