Keep Wiggling! PV Ileen Knight PV Aly Salinger

Interacting with | @Opeila Winters

Ileen had wrapped her arms around the slimy worm who was lolling languidly and relaxed and wandered around in the castle without a specific destination. The young girl had signed up for the errand as soon as she had heard about it. She valued the company of animals and was especially curious about the magical kind - in fact, she couldn't wait until she was in third grade and could finally take the corresponding class.
Eagerly to learn as much about magical creatures as possible she had not hesitated and volunteered to take care of one of the worms. For her, he was neither disgusting nor repulsive, but mainly fascinating. To make sure the poor creature wasn’t freezing she paid attention to keep him close to her body and thus prevent enough warmth to keep him comfortable and alive.

She looked down at the flesh-colored creature and wrinkled her forehead thoughtfully. She couldn’t say the creature the whole day. Maybe she should just pick a name. How about Paul?
Ileen narrowed her dark brown eyes and tilted her head. Yeah, he definitely looked like a Paul though she wasn’t sure if he was actually a boy. Did worms have specific gender?
Struggling with this issue she stopped for a moment and bit her lower lip. Well, would Paul care? Probably not. With a shrug the girl continued strolling around. “Well, Paul, I would love to show you my favorite places outside, but I guess it’s too cold for a baby like you, right?” She gently rocked him in her arms and patted the spot where she assumed his head. “But we could do a bit of sightseeing here. Or prepare you for a bath. Would you like that?”
Ileen wasn’t absolutely sure if worms liked water. But he would complain if not right? It was worth a try at least. The nearest place to get some water were the abandoned toilets. Couldn’t hurt to stop by there, right?

With an optimistic smile on her face she turned around and walked through the corridors, carefully taking care to hold the worm firmly in her arms without crushing it. Paul seemed to be too lazy to make any attempts to escape anyway.
But that was probably about to change when another strong personality joined the group.
An indignant meow made Ileen stop again and look back. Her small silver tabby cat, Liv, ran after her, her tail raised steeply and her ears perked up in displeasure. Her yellow eyes were fixed on the worm that had taken her favorite place and the fur on her neck was bristled.
A crooked smile twitched at the corners of Ileen's mouth when she spotted her companion and for a second she was quite touched that she had followed her here. That feeling lasted until Liv reached her, jumped up on her and clawed at her leg as she tried to climb up.
The young girl inhaled sharply and clenched her teeth together. “Ouch, Liv! What are you doing? Let go!”
But Liv didn't even think about it, but kept clawing grimly and meowing accusingly.
Ileen sighed and rolled her eyes. "All right, you little pest. Come with me then, but leave Paul alone. I know you don't like other animals." She hesitated. "Or people," she added, shaking her head. "Then hold on tight." With no regard for the cat hanging on her leg, Ileen tried to ignore the pain and hurried to find the abandoned toilets. She certainly made an interesting picture, with the worm in her arms and the cat stuck to her pants like an extravagant patch.

When she got there, she met another trio. Opeila, who also held a worm in her arms and was accompanied by her cat. But at least Loras was walking.
Ileen stopped and gifted the brunette Slytherin with a smile. “Oh, hi Opeila. You are on worm-duty as well?” Ileen had moved to Opeila’s dorm and they were friendly with each other though they hadn’t had much interactions after they had shared a tent during the summer camp.
Ileen had struggled after the fight club and Opeila had also been there so she assumed it wasn’t different for her. It was the first time this year they met each other one on one.
Ileen looked at her classmate attentively and tried to get a quick impression of how she was doing. Ever since she had decided to become a healer, she had made a habit of checking people for injuries. Both physically and mentally - both could be fatal and even if she couldn't necessarily heal it, it was an automatism she couldn't turn off. Of course, especially mental stuff was hard to tell if the other person didn’t want to reveal it - something Ileen could relate to. She wouldn’t tell anyone about her nightmares, but the shadows under her eyes told the story of her lacking sleep.

Liv was way less welcoming. Still hanging on Ileen’s leg she spotted the other cat. Ileen suspected that Liv had been chased away by other cats as a baby, in any case she met all others of her kind with open hostility. So also in this case. As soon as she noticed Loras, she hissed aggressively.

Word Count: 878/800

Interacting with @Opeila Winters and @Ileen Knight

Aly was not quite sure how she'd gotten herself into this mess, but then again, she couldn't exactly say she wasn't having fun.

The Hogwarts groundskeeper, a slightly scary-looking dark-haired man by the name of Mr. Céspedes, had put out a call for Hogwarts students to take care of some Flobberworms, and boy, had he owned ever so many of the slimy little creatures. Aly had nearly asked for two when she arrived to pick one up, but after being presented with her little ten-inch-long worm pal, she had quickly decided one was enough. The fat brown worm, which Aly had quickly nicknamed Frog seeing as its mucus-covered umber skin reminded her very much of a Chocolate Frog, had only come with her to one class so far today and it was already causing mischief. He had oozed all over the inner pocket of her robes, then when she'd put him in her satchel he had eaten part of her Charms homework after likely mistaking it for lettuce in the dark bag. So now Aly was forced to carry him through the corridors of Hogwarts with her bare hands, wishing very much that she had brought her protective gloves with her today. If only she had been so lucky.

Unfortunately, her hands were now covered in Flobberworm slime, as Frog seemed to excrete more and more of the goop with each passing hour. Even worse, it was thick. The young Ravenclaw knew that Flobberworm mucus was used as a thickener for potions, but until today, she had never truly understood why. Care of Magical Creatures had not always been one of her least favourite classes, but after this experience, it was sure shaping up to be if she ever had to touch one of these again.

I mean, I suppose it's not that bad, she mused to herself as she hurried along the second-floor corridor, hoping that nobody would come across the strange little curly-haired second-year carrying an even stranger little brown Flobberworm in her bare hands. That would be an odd sight, and an even odder explanation, for sure. But this slime is driving me absolutely bonkers! Isn't there a lavatory somewhere on this corridor? Somewhere for me to wash the mucus off?

It turned out that there were indeed some toilets up ahead on the right side of the corridor and around a bend in the hall, and even though she knew they were the abandoned ones Aly gratefully rushed around the corner, trying to not drop Frog or disturb him (if she did, Merlin knew how much more mucus he would make). As she turned round the bend to face the hallway outside the abandoned toilets, she let out a small "Eek!" of surprise. After all, she had most definitely expected this corridor to be empty. It usually was.

But instead of being empty, it seemed rather full, with two familiar girls and two unfamiliar cats.

Aly winced at the sight, preparing to turn right back around and flee around the corner, but then she saw that both of the girls- Opeila and Ileen, if she was remembering right, two Slytherins in Aly's own year at school with whom she'd never really interacted- were also each carrying Flobberworms of their own. Relief rushed through her as she realized she was not the only student oddly carrying one of the fat, slimy creatures about the school that day.

"Oh, thank goodness," she gushed, moving around the two Slytherins (and avoiding one of the cats, who was angrily hissing at the other from where it hung on Ileen's pants) to cradle her Flobberworm in one hand and grasp the handle of the door to the abandoned bathroom with her other. Hopefully, once inside, she would be able to get one of the sinks working enough to slightly clean her hands of the gummy slime residue from Frog. "Do excuse me- dearly sorry if I'm interrupting something- I just really need to clean my hands! They should call these things Slob-berworms, not Flobberworms, honestly!"

With a friendly smile, Aly paused at the door instead of pushing her way through, chuckling lightly at her own joke and eyeing the two Slytherins in the corridor. What were these two doing in here, anyway...?

Word Count: 711/800

Interacting with @Opeila Winters and @Ileen Knight
Had Ileen's permission to go out of post order and post before her.

Aly blinked at the two Slytherin girls in the hallway, who seemed to have ceased their conversation as soon as she approached. The door was heavy in her hand, its large wooden frame pushing against her thin arm as she struggled to keep it open; strength had never been her strong suit. What were they doing here? Er, at least, what were they doing outside in the corridor? Perhaps they had just stumbled upon each other?

As if to answer her unspoken question, one of the girls- Opeila, she was pretty sure, the one with the bright eyes instead of Ileen's dark brown- stopped staring and opened her mouth to respond. "I was gonna get this one some water," the girl said, with not much else for Aly to go on. She assumed that Opeila was talking about the Flobberworm in her grip... or perhaps she was referring to one of the two cats that were also populating this little meeting of second-years... but if she was, she didn't say so.

Nevertheless, Aly Salinger was used to being the most talkative person in a conversation. The door to the abandoned toilets was far too heavy for her to hold open, however, so she stepped out to join the two girls in the corridor for a brief moment, trying to ignore the Flobberworm slime that still coated her hands in a thick (and utterly disgusting) greenish layer. "I didn't know we were supposed to do that," the brunette Ravenclaw admitted ruefully, raising the drooping brown Frog in one hand to look over it. It didn't look thirsty or dry or dehydrated at all, but then again, how was she supposed to know? It wasn't like Aly was a Flobberworm expert or something. "But, er, I mean, if that's what you're looking for, I suppose these toilets are a good place to go, right? Nobody to yell at you for putting Flobberworms in the Hogwarts sinks... I hope."

Realizing that perhaps neither of the Slytherin girls had recognized her- it was to be expected, since Aly had never really interacted with either of them, only seen the two in corridors and shared classes with them from time to time- the curly-haired girl moved to stick out her hand for a proper shake. Where were her manners? Too late, she remembered the goo on her palms and fingers, and hastily snatched back the offending hand as quickly as she could so that neither Slytherin's hands got even slimier than they probably already were. They were both carrying these sticky worms, after all.

"Terribly sorry, I- er- well, slime on the hands, you know," Aly babbled, trying her best to not sound as though she simply didn't want to shake either of the girls' hands. The Eagle student hadn't grown up with much social interaction amongst her peers, but that didn't mean she didn't know how to properly introduce herself to potential new friends! "I just wanted to introduce myself. Alyssa Salinger- Ravenclaw! But you can call me Aly, everyone does," she added with a partially-embarrassed, partially-cheerful smile on her round face.

Then she turned and grasped the handle to the bathroom door again, shoving the solid entrance open with a little added force from one hip. When it had creaked open enough for people to pass comfortably through, Aly stepped into the bathroom and used her foot to prop the door open so that she could use her hand to gesture into the toilets. "After you," she continued, as politely as she could. "Those Flobberworms must be thirsty!"

Word Count: 595
Total Words: 1,306/800

Interacting with | @Opeila Winters | @Aly Salinger

Ileen slightly patted her own worm as she listened to all the questions Opeila had for her. Panic started to rise in her as she noticed she hadn’t thought about a single one of them - and most important: she had no clue herself. The mix of confusion and overwhelment was written all over her face, as she silently gasped for air. “I- I have no idea! I thought water would be great. Maybe giving them a nice bath? I wanted to try that.” She shrugged and grabbed Paul tighter as he wriggled in her arms. “I mean, it can’t hurt, right? If they don’t like it, we will notice…”

The cats were not happy with all the focus resting on the two worms and Live wanted to make sure to get back in the spotlight. Ileen knew Loras quite well. After all, she had shared a tent with Opeila during the summer camp and now they were in the same dorm. Somehow they had managed to keep Live and Loras apart so far, but that was about to change, although Opeila literally put her foot down to keep her cat away from Ileen’s
Liv seemed to think about letting go of Ileen’s leg to get to Loras but decided to stay there for now, only hissing at him.

The abandoned toilettes seemed to be a hot spot when it came to the worm-keepers. Another person joined their little group with a worm of her own. Ileen gifted her with a broad grin. “Hey there. Yeah, I also wanted to put Paul in a sink here… I don’t think anyone would yell at us for that. Should we make it a group activity?” Like this, probably one of them could watch the worms while the others could try to keep the cats apart…
Speaking of the cats. Liv wasn’t happy about the group increase and hissed aggressively at the young Ravenclaw as she came near to introduce herself.
Just as Ileen wanted to reach out to shake her hand, the girl pulled it back, but the young Slytherin smiled at her regardless, trying to cover Liv’s unwelcoming hello. “Hi. I’m Ileen. And this…” She shook her leg. “Is Liv. I have to apologize for her. She has no manners.”

Reducio

Sorry I was so slow! Should be back to normal pace now