Rose was on a walk through the school. With all the other schools at Hogwarts, the halls seemed to be infinitely more congested. The usually quiet daytime areas were now full of people, seeing as there were not just students from one school studying and spending time together, but nine. But as she was wandering through the halls, Rose saw a boy.
He was tall, with overgrown dark hair. He was looking at the paintings in the hall, and Rose had to wonder if perhaps he was lost. It was an enormous castle, and Rose couldn't blame him.
The painting was quite a beautiful one, and Rose stood beside him, admiring the painting as well. Streaks of clouds moved slowly over the horizon, depicting a beautiful midday sky, and sheep slept on the countryside.
"Hi," she said. He jumped, not realizing she had approached him. "Sorry- are you from another school? I haven't seen you around Hogwarts before."
He looked like a deer in headlights. "I... yeah," he said, and she could see him scramble for a reason to leave. "Um... excuse me, I have somewhere to be-"
And he sped away and ducked into the rehearsal room. Rose stood by the painting and stared at where he had disappeared. flabbergasted by the abrupt nature of his departure. Maybe he thought it was another corridor? Or maybe he just wanted to be left alone? The redhead stood there, in the hall, for a second, wondering what she should do. She probably should just leave the poor boy alone, but she was so intrigued by him, she couldn't bring herself to.
Rose looked down the hall both ways, finding it empty, and then her stature shrank, her hair shortening and fur growing all over, and her features shifting. Now a calico cat, Rose slipped into the rehearsal room after the boy.
He was standing at a grand piano when she poked her head through the door, not noticing her at first. What memories ran through his mind right now, brought to the surface by this instrument? As she pushed farther into the room, the door creaked a little, causing him to startle again. She froze as his head snapped around to look at her, but then relief seemed to flood over his face as he realized, perhaps, that she wasn't a person. Just a cat. He said something in what she was mostly sure was German, and Rose, in her feline state, just blinked her big green eyes at him.
"I guess you're likely an English cat, though, aren't you?" he asked, mostly joking to himself. Rose's whiskers twitched, in spite of herself. If only he knew that she actually did only understand English. She stood up, slowly making her way over to where he sat at the piano.
"I thought you might have been that girl in the hall." His voice carried a thick German accent, and Rose found his relief, as well as his belief that she might understand him better in English, endearing. He turned his eyes to the piano, lifting the lid and running his fingers along the keys before sitting down at the bench. His hands rested in his lap as he looked back at the door to the rehearsal room. Rose jumped onto the bench next to him.
"I probably should have said hello," he said softly. Rose wrapped her tail around her paws as she sat down, listening to him. His words, however soft, still echoed around the room, magnifying the regret in his voice. "She was very beautiful. And she looked very kind." He looked down at her, his brown eyes gentle and his voice still soft, though maybe a little ashamed. "I have to admit, I'm not very good with people, Kätzchen German for little cat / kitty / kitten. Never have been." He scratched the back of her ears, and she leaned into it. "I guess that might kind of be obvious. I'm talking to a cat," he laughed.
"I was thinking of playing something. What do you think, Kätzchen?"
She looked up at him as he smiled down at her. It was a little bit of a shy smile, but a real one, as if he enjoyed talking to her, at least in her feline state. Rose meowed, hopefully confirming that she thought this was a good idea.
He breathed in before the tips of his fingers met the piano and exhaled as the piece started, as if the music was inside of him and he was now letting it flow out.
The calico cat watched his fingers move masterfully over the keys, entranced by his skill. It was clear that he had been playing for a long time, though he couldn't be much older than she was. Maybe he was from one of those pureblood families that made their kids learn all kinds of skills. She wondered how many languages he knew. German and English, at least, as was clear. The nearest school to Germany was Durmstrang, and they spoke Russian there.
And suddenly, this boy she didn't even know was the most interesting person she'd ever met.
She wanted to know everything about him. Did he go to Durmstrang? What was it like? Did he like Hogwarts? Was he also up here, hiding from all the hustle and bustle of the castle? Did he like magical creatures, like her? Did he have a pet of his own? Was his dark hair truly as soft as it looked?
Wide-eyed and in awe, Rose couldn't help but watch him. His hands, how they danced, and his feet, pushing on the pedals below. It took a certain amount of skill to do both at once, and also to know when to use them. He seemed to sway with the song, guiding the ebb and flow of the music, but somehow the most entrancing thing about him was his eyes. Beautiful and brown. Deep, as if he had so much to say and so much he was thinking about.
She wished she could know what he was thinking about.
Rose knew it was a little deceitful to sit here, an animagus in her animal form, and pretend like she was any normal pet of Hogwarts in order to know more about this boy, but she found in this moment, she didn't care. The notes from the piano seemed to float in the air, filling her soul and refreshing her mind.
Maybe she was lying to him a little bit by not being her true form, but she was glad she had done it anyway. If not, she would have missed out on the beautiful song coaxed from his fingers, as well as his compliments of her. He said that she looked beautiful. And kind, which she valued much more.
Rose didn't know how long she had been sitting there, watching his eyes, watching his fingers, watching the little sunbeams that filtered through the windows, but it somehow felt like forever and only a short moment at the same time. The song ended, and he looked down at her. "I'm a little rusty, Kätzchen," he said. "But I hope you enjoyed."
The calico cat was appalled that was what he had called rusty, but wasn't sure he could sense her surprise. He swung his legs around to the other side of the bench and stood. "Thank you for listening to me," he said. "Maybe if I see that girl... I'll tell her I'm sorry for running away."
Rose meowed, and he laughed, a light and charming thing. He gave her one last gentle stroke on her head, and then left the rehearsal room, and Rose was alone once more.
