Get out of my tree!

word count: 563

Rowan slipped out of the castle doors without looking back. History of Magic was still in session somewhere in one of the classrooms. She could almost hear the annoying buzz of a professor explaining something about old wizards who invented Self-Stirring Cauldrons and whatnot. All boring unamusing stuff. It wasn’t that she couldn’t follow the class. She could easily, she just didn't enjoy the subject and found it quite tedious. To Rowan, sitting through something she found uninteresting felt like polite torture. So she just left, as simple as that. The grounds were quiet and empty at this time of day. Most students were in their classes and those who weren't just hid somewhere in the castle, in some deserted corridors or in the abondoned toilets where no one thought to look. Rowan tried all those hiding places but the grounds just felt different. Peaceful and quiet, just how Rowan likes it. She walked with the slow, unhurried pace of someone who had absolutely nowhere she needed to be. Eventually she could see the large tree near the edge of the grounds. Her tree. Well, not technically hers, but she’d been sitting there, skipping classes, long enough that it felt like it was. She even etched her initials, a messy "R.V" on it's trunk with a butter knife she sneaked from the great Hall. The tree wasn't remarkable or magical as some of the trees closer to the forest were rumored to be. The branches curved low enough to make shade, the grass beneath it was soft, and it was far enough from the paths that people rarely wandered over. It wasn’t scenic and pretentious enough to attract people looking for a pretty view, and it wasn’t close enough to the castle to be convenient, in addition to that it was fairly easy to climb. Which made it the perfect candidate. Rowan had been using it as her escape spot for months now. Sometimes she read there, sometimes she slept. Most of the time she just sat and watched the grounds, letting time pass without anyone asking her questions. Hands in her pockets, she walked while humming a sweet tune her mother used to sing. Her pace suddenly slowed down a few meters away from the tree. There was a silhouette sitting up there. Rowan stared at her for a moment, her green eyes narrowing slightly. …You’ve got to be kidding. Of all the empty space on the entire grounds, this girl decided that her tree was the one. Rowan exhaled slowly through her nose, not annoyed enough to make a scene but definitely irritated. This is ridiculous, she thought. She tilted her head slightly as she studied the girl from a few steps away. Rowan wasn’t territorial, exactly, but she did dislike interruptions to her habits. For a moment, she considered just leaving and finding another tree somewhere else. But she was never one to declare forfait that easily. So, she walked closer, the grass quiet under her muddy old shoes. She stopped under the tree and looked up at the girl, frowning slightly. "Well." Rowan said casually but loud enough to make her voice heard. "This is quite unfortunate. You're sitting in my spot." @Flame Afterglow

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word count: 330

Great. Rowan's eyebrow twitched, her smile never leaving her face. It was her tree, she climbed it first, claimed it first. The trunk was worn smooth from her shoes as she climbed it countless times. The leaves knew her ! Her hands in her pockets, she leaned back slightly on her heels, glancing up at the branch girl. She could bet on her life that this girl, sitting on her tree was a Gryffindor. It was almost ridiculous how you could tell right away that someone was a gryffindor. That specific look Gryffindors always had, like they were starring in their own movie and everyone else was just an extra. She'd seen it a dozen times already in just a few weeks at Hogwarts. Gryffindors walked around like they were destined for greatness, like the world owed them a dramatic arc and a heroic death. Main character syndrome, hero complex. Whatever you wanted to call it. They actually believed in all that noble, brave, self-sacrificing nonsense. It was exhausting to look at. “I don’t remember any announcements about a tree belonging to a snarky Ravenclaw recently.” Said the girl. Rowan's smile widened. Snarky Ravenclaw. Original. Not really. Rowan had been called much worse back at the church. A few schoolyard insults from a girl in a tree weren’t exactly life altering. “Do you have a name or should I keep calling you Snarky girl?” Rowan stared at her, her wide grin still on her face yet it wasn't a particularly friendly smile, it held no emotions as if it was a default expression, Rowan could say the meanest things while wearing a smile on her face. It was quite unsettling for most. "Rowan." She looked up. “You can keep calling me that if remembering a name is too much work for you." Rowan rested her hand on the trunk now as she searched for the initials she carved there. "R.V", she traced the carvings with her fingertips. "Do you have a name or should I call you tree rat ?" @Flame Afterglow

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word count: 250

Rowan didn't move from the place where she was standing. She just watched Flame climb down, jump, and turn to face her with all that Gryffindor energy. A fight, off course. That's how Gryffindors solved everything. It was so hard for Rowan to keep herself from rolling her eyes. Flame. Her name is Flame. Rowan bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "Flame". For Gryffindor. With the hair and braids and the attitude and the dramatic jump off the branch. It was so on the nose it almost hurt. Like naming a Hufflepuff Honey or a Slytherin Snake. Rowan wondered if the girl had chosen it herself or if her parents had just known what they were getting. She looked at the girl properly this time, she was a bit taller than her, which said something, because Rowan was already a bit tall for eleven, I mean she was a head taller than her female peers at least, and athletic, which almost made Rowan chuckle. It was so on brand for a Gryffindor it was almost funny: Brave, athletic, confrontational. Named Flame. Rowan half expected her to start flexing, but instead of laughing, Rowan just smiled. "Words," she said simply. "I don't fight over trees, that's embarrassing for everyone involved." She tilted her head, studying Flame like a puzzle she was already bored of. "Also, Flame? Really? That's... very Gryffindor of you. Very on brand. Did you pick it yourself or did the sorting hat just assign it?" Sorry for the late reply.@Flame Afterglow

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Code by Fawkes Chaos

WC: 208

Interactions:@Rowan Vexeley

DATE: March 2026 TIME:After lunch

Outfits:

Reducio

Light purple hoodie, shorts

Flame stared at Rowan. How rude of her to be laughing at Flames name and not even trying to hold it in! But when Rowan said she knew how to use her words and that she didn’t fight over trees Flame smirked. She didn’t know where Rowan’s headspace was at but what did that girl think they were even doing? This was literally the definition of fighting over a tree!

And to think of all things that Flame was originally going to try and become friends with this girl!

The last straw was when Rowan asked if Flame picked her own name. NOBODY insulted her parents. “Listen Rowan” she frites out through her teeth. “I don’t know who you think you are going around insulting people and then on top of that insulting their parents!” Flame had half a mind to just climb back up the tree to her spot but decided against it and just leaned against the tree trunk.

“Also whether I chose it or my parents chose it is none of your business.” To be fair, Flames parents had given her the name but Rowan didn’t need to know that. Flame waited for Rowan to respond, rolling her eyes at the other girls antics.