Lookin' Good, Feline Good PV M. Avery Closed

Ami would be the first person to admit that she wasn't exactly the most passive person in the world. She couldn't be, not with who she was related to and what her name stood for. Procoppio, a war name. An American war hero's name. Certainly not a passive, peacekeeper's name. The moment Max's last name left his lips, the Hufflepuff wanted to slap him hard enough that he'd fly straight through the atmosphere and into orbit. Why were last names such a huge deal in the wizarding world?

At the boy's mention of a hiding place, her thoughts immediately went to the secret passageways Kyden had shown her. She didn't want to show him that, though- that was personal, and probably way against the rules. They were already stretching the limits with a kitten, but going within the castle itself to conceal the poor boy? The secret passageways, she decided, would be a last resort. "What about those abandoned bathrooms? The ones on the second floor?" 

It wasn't her best idea, that was for sure. Unlike a large, dirty city with plenty of hidey-holes, there was no corridor or classroom unexplored within the grand castle they called their "home" during the school year. She could've suggested some more... dubious options, like the Whomping Willow (which she'd only heard about from her mother), or the Room of Requirement (the knowledge also obtained through her mother), but that was bothersome. To tend to the kitten in the Whomping Willow could only lead to disaster, while the Room of Requirement was ridiculously hard to find. The next best option was the abandoned bathrooms.

Well, certainly, they could simply smuggle the kitten back and forth between their dorm rooms. Somehow, that seemed to be both the safest and riskiest option- risky, in the sense that they would be seen together and people would suspect something was up, but safe in the sense that they would be able to keep an eye on the kitten. It was also potentially embarrassing, if they messed up their timing or schedule in transferring the kitten. 

And what would happen to him over the summer? With a practiced air that suggested previous experience in doing so, Ami absentmindedly lifted the kitten off the ground on onto her shoulder, where he explored her body by licking her ear and the bare skin exposed on her neck. Who would take the kitten home over the summer holidays? She couldn't, not if the rumors of a summer camp were true. If there were to be a summer camp, her mother would surely want her to attend. Would that mean she'd take care of a kitten during the summer, too?

God, why were animals so hard to take care of?

Listening to her suggestion, Max's lips parted thoughtfully and he let out a small exhale at the enormity of the situation. They could technically hide the cat in the bathroom and if anyone saw it claim it was an older year's pet - he knew for a fact that the professors couldn't keep track of every pet in the entire school. But there were so many seemingly extraneous factors that would come into play. How would they get the food? Steal from the Great Hall and sneak it to the bathroom? And how could they make sure the kitten didn't get out? A lock on the door?

Shaking his head, he watched Ami scoop the kitten up and made a small, almost unconscious sound of approval at how gentle she was with it. She was a Hufflepuff so he still wouldn't trust her about anything personal, but she clearly didn't want any harm to come to the little guy. "I suppose you're right," he said slowly, considering. "We could also start rumours that there's construction going on around those bathrooms so students aren't allowed near them." Not that many people used them anyways, but you never knew in a huge school like this.

"We can steal food from the Great Hall to bring him, and make sure we shut the door every time - as long as no one else goes there, it should be fine for the remainder of the year. Trade off nights or something." Better that than go on the same night and be seen together. He wasn't entirely sure what kind of rumour that would start, but he knew he didn't want to find out.

With those two things decided, he stood from the ground and brushed off his trousers, allowing the Hufflepuff girl to continue holding the kitten as he smoothed out his robes. The only issue would be summer, of course. It was fast approaching and he wasn't sure students who didn't own the animal they had with them would be allowed to bring it on the train. Not to mention he'd have nowhere to put an animal at his uncle's house. "There're stables here, right? I know they keep animals around for the older years to have their Care of Magical Creatures class. This little guy is too small to be with the bigger animals now, but maybe when he grows up we could put him there and he'd be looked after. We could train him to look after himself, and maybe by summer he'll be able to go there."

She let her eyebrows shoot to the moon and beyond at Max's further expansion of her god-awful abandoned bathroom plan. She wasn't normally one to lie, preferring violence, blackmail, and bribery to simply fudging through it, but she had to give kudos to him nonetheless. It was an effective solution, although one she was sure she wouldn't be able to pull off. Construction around the abandoned bathrooms? What for? To actually fix them up? 

"If we use the Abandoned Bathrooms, I'm sure I know enough people with loose tongues to feed this information to," she mumbled, running through her mental list of contacts. All schools had them, of course- the gossipers, the kids who never learned to keep their traps shut. The ones who always had tea to spill and shade to throw, the ones who would glare at you as you walked by with a Starbucks latte in their hands, peering over bright red heart-shaped sunglasses. You know, like Mean Girls.

Stealing, however... yeah, that was more in her territory. Shoplifting was, of course, severely frowned upon by her father, but that didn't mean she didn't do it. "I can rig a basket and a few of the thicker tree branches in one of the stalls to give him someplace to sleep and something to do," she added, running her fingers through the kitten's silky fur. Lean a few branches against the stall's walls to give him climbing space and scratching posts, and one of her older hoodies in a stolen laundry basket could serve as a more-than-competent bed. A plate and bowl for food and water, and he'd be all set.

Did cats need yarn balls? She was sure she could find one, if need be.

The stables! She'd actually forgotten about those. That was smart, though- if they took care of him well, and fed him his three square meals, she was confident that the little guy would grow big enough to at least be able to fend for himself around the castle. If she let a few rats loose in the bathroom, too... well, he'd learn to hunt and kill without too much trouble, she was sure.

Leaning over with the kitten in her arms, she let him crawl into Max's lap once more. "What are we going to name him?" she asked softly, studying the soft, grey furball. Several conventional cat names came to mind almost immediately-Smokey, Fluffy, Milo-but this guy was special. His name had to reflect it. Something powerful, something clever...

"Leo." The name was out of her mouth before she could even reconsider, and a small chuckle followed soon after. She shook her head in amusement, glancing at Max for his approval. He wasn't dull- that much was obvious. He'd catch on, and hopefully, appreciate her homage to the dead language. "Fitting, don't you think? He'll be quite the mighty cat once he's older- I think it's quite the suitable allusion."