Is this a cutscene Fin Closed

She had never understood why the castle had felt the need to design stairs the size of a house. Really, it was uncessary and gave her quite the workout stomping up and down from classes. Luckily, Elena Jangleton was not in a rush to get to another class although there had certainly been a lot of that this year with O.W.L season just around the corner so it wouldn't be too far off the bad to say she was tenser than usual snapping at anyone and everything who dared to deviate her off her academic journey to victory. Book bag slung over her shoulder, she perhaps failed to notice the elaborate doom rushing towards her as she muttered to herself abouts something that sounded suspicously like she was questioning the wisdom of her own choice to pack on a extra workload and it wasn't until she heard the sound of something rustling down the stairs that she frowned and looked up.

The girl froze wondering what in the name of Merlin was happening. There was Elsian Cox yet he seemed to be riding a couch of all things towards her and deseparate as he might be to attempt to utilize the non-existent braking function on it, no magic or physical capability would prevent this thing from meeting her head on. "Elsian! Wait just a mo-" Her words were drowned out in a shriek as her book bag went flying as the fifth year propelled by the momentum of the couch found herself flopping forward onto the sofa as it bounced bobbing up and down like a floating ship as the girl held on for dear life, a string of curses erupting from her mouth in a very unladylike fashion as her head swiveled to look at the boy who was laughing of all things.

"This is funny to you?!" She demanded before suddenly remebering who she was talking to and suddeny came to the realization she was trapped on a moving couch with no end in sight, her yelps bouncing around the walls as they had a few close calls. "Make it stop!" A silly request given that even the slightest moment would probably send them depositing onto the hard concrete floor, not a fate any of them desired. Elena decided she didn't even want to question how the boy had managed to coerce a couch into sliding down the stairs, it would have been more amusing to see him go flying back straight into a wall instead of joining him along for the ride.

The open space indicating the floor loomed out at them although as they picked up speed, it was clear it was not going to be a soft landing as she hissed at him in a undertone. "Elsian Cox, I swear by Merlin's blue flappy robes if this was your idea so help me, Godric." It very much was because the older year didn't know who else could conoct such a reckless and foolish realization as she glanced around the surrounding couch as another fact struck her letting out a undignifed yelp clinging to the couch trying to make herself as small as possible eyeing the thing that was currently taking them on a rollerocaster ride although she was concerned about another thing. "Where's that blasted bug of yours? If I see as much as a leg poke out from one of these cushion.." She let the sentence trail off not exactly wanting to finish the sentence not knowing which one was worse as her grip tightened bracing for impact and silently reminding herself to offer Elsian up as tribute to whoever would take such a crazy hooligan.

‘Wait just a moment’, she said. ‘Make it stop’, she said. Sorry, Elsi’s bad, let him just go ahead and lift up the cushion for the emergency brea- Did it LOOK like he could make it stop woman!?

This was a one-way ride, no room for snack breaks or stops, sorry, maybe next time people would go ahead and read the nonexistent fine print of the portable couch express instead of playing wanna be robbers and hopping onto Elsians couch illegally. Really the nerve of some people. What next? Whining for seatbelts? People were so needy.

“My bad, let me just get to the break.” He fumbled for the cushion between them, body jolting and shaking with the force of the stairs skidding against the couch. It pulled away to reveal! Nothing. He clutched the cushion to his chest quietly, staring back at his housemates with a blank look. “Oh darn. Guess I left it behind. Time for plan B I guess,” he went to stand, falling to his knees shakily as he went to stand; he would be flipping the couch. His plans and whatever horrified words or yells Elena may have said in the face of this spectacularly bad idea were drowned out by the horrified screech of Elsian as the couch shook and smacked into the stone wall. He tumbled, falling right into Elena and very narrowly dropping off the couch to end up in a pile of limbs he was sure would leave a few bruises; Elena just might make good on her threats at this rate. Hah, he was probably in danger.

“I’m innocent.” He pleaded ignorance. He could do no wrong. “And excuse you, Kitty isn’t a bug, she's an arachnid! There’s a difference.” He pointed out, voice only shaking slightly from the force of their collision and their bumpy ride. Painfully he clung to the side of the couch, pulling away from Elena to fling his torso over the edge of the couches top. The cushion was kindly left to Elena.

The couch slammed into the solid ground of one of the main floor levels hard. The slippery jinx worked wonders. They went sliding with no traction to stop and no end in sight that didn’t end in a crash or abandoning the couch express. They began to spin. It was horrifying. Exhilarating. And left him feeling very dizzy.

Any words were drowned out by the yells of horror and excitement. Maybe Elsian screamed, perhaps it had been Elena, or even screams of fear of other students running out of the way simply lost to the blur of their surroundings. It was likely a mix of all of the above in the face of their continued and seemingly endless peril of the deathtrap that was the couch express. He couldn’t be sure. He was pretty sure this would end up being a blur to the both of them. These questions would forever remain a mystery to both Elsian and the greater universe as they finally made impact with a wall.

Many things happened after that. The couch almost flipped over. They likely had almost run over a few people, yes, they, Elena was an accomplice now. And Elsians whole perspective had shifted with a loud yelp as the force sent him slightly into the air. He toppled, barely catching himself with his legs, both now thrown over the side of the top of the couch and his head now partly hanging off the edge of the seat.

“Huh.” Elsian blinked at the ceiling. “That was easier with the sled.”

Silently, he made a pantomime motion of reaching for an unseen break between them and pulling it into gear. It fell back to the couch limply. The boy's head turned slightly towards his companions' direction, green eyes sparkling with mischief and face twisting into a small grin.


“Wanna go again?”

He had the sheer audacity of attempting to be sarcastic or perhaps that was how she saw as he made a show of looking around for a force that could stop the couch from it's joyride of terror. "Maybe that would have been a good thing to think about before going through with this absolute dimwit of a plan, you dingbat!" Elena shrieked out as the couch bumped and bobbed jostling them against one another as the Gryffindor plotted just what jinxed and spells she would have liked to use. Granted, she could have used a spell or two to put this to an end but when you were on an object skidding at the speed of light, it was more likely to lose your wand and right now, Elena's focus was not on flying off hanging on for dear life wondering what crime against humanity she had commited to have Elsian Cox rope her into one of his other half-baked plans doing her best not to slap him although the temptation was there, she would not deny.

Innocent, he said. Elena almost laughed out loud at the sentiment."She could be a fire-breathing dragon for all I care, I don't want to see an inch of spider anywhere on this couch." The Gryffindor repeated as she turned her head, eyes widening in horror at the upending collision in front of them. A few seconds before the dreaded moment, the girl thought if she wound up in the hospital wing with Elsian Cox, she might as well take him with her, the couch finally tumbling end over end propelled by the momentum as the girl went sprawling as the couch bucked it's particpants grunting in pain as she did so. One moment, she had been walking up those very steps and suddenly, they were back to square one in a very uncermional fashion and it was safe to say Elena Jangleton was fuming at the sheer inconvenice this had brought on although in her books, that was a very huge understatement.

"No, I do not want to go again!" She almost shouted scrambling to her feet dusting off the front of her trousers wondering how any reasonable person could even have the audacity of considering reliving that prospect once again. Then again, Elsian was not reasonable as the girl waited for a moment for him to gather his senses before striding up to him, anger and force radiating off her as the girl jabbed a finger into his chest glaring up at him. "I'll tell you what I want, I want you to take this couch of yours and these half-baked ideas and stuff them in some dark, dusty place and maybe after that, you'll have more than just an empty, thick-headed skull." She didn't expect him to heed her instructions at all as her eyes darted out for Elsian's partner in crime, much more smaller but all that more capable of causing fear.

First, it had been the spider fiasco and now, the couch ride. "Elsian Cox, I am warning you, I am this close to turning you into my personal training dummy for Charms." She held up a few fingers spread apart to show him. Elena Jangleton could be quite the terrifying prescene when angered or frustrated but to some, it didn't quite work. She didn't loathe the boy per say, it was more of a test of her patience of having to put up with his pranks and he seemed to thrive off the hostility she gave him which only made her bristle even more. Elena swayed a little as everything went dizzy for a second before returning to normal as she got acclimated to being on her steady two feet instead of clinging on for dear life down several flight of stairs, it was a surprise they had even made it through, not that Elena considered that an achievement in any sense really.

Ah. There it was.

The yelling.

He winced, cupping his hands over his ears and staring wide eyed at the older Gryffindor as she for all intents & purposes blew up at the boy. Elsian, against any better judgment went to defend himself, working words past his initial surprise and the smile trying to curl its way onto his lips though not before Elena, all spite and radiant anger rolling off her in waves as she jabbed a finger into his chest like a scorned mother berating a child. “Hey!” He yelped, tumbling off the couch in a heap of bad balance and pointy, jabbing fingers.

Elsian whined, rubbing his head as he sat up to lean against the couch.


It wasn’t fair.

He’d gotten away with this sorta thing for years. Elsian had succeeded in avoiding any lectures or detentions for 3 years; always sneaky enough when it counted, always having serious luck when getting away, always timing his little ‘adventures’ when he had the best chance of getting away and now his unexpected partner in crime was giving him the dressing down of a lifetime. She wasn’t even a prefect! Just a 5th year on the quidditch team! You’d think she had a better sense of humor than this, jeez.

“Kitty wasn’t even on the couch!” He complained. She couldn’t get cross with him if this was about Kitty! “And it wasn’t half baked,” he mumbled, glaring at the girl's shoes as he rubbed the bruise on his arm, “it’s faster than walking.”

A familiar weight settled on his back. Kitty. Silent as ever he could feel her crawling up his back, poking and prodding, one little arm beginning to crawl onto his hand that was pressing at a bruise gently. Oh, bad idea. He gently pushed her back, feeling her skitter up to his neck instead and carefully brought a hand to the back of his hand as if to rub his head, face betraying none of the nerves he felt quickly cupping a hand over Kitty's back to hold her in place as he brought up his other hand to hold the spider at bay between gentle fingers. It made him look like he was laying about, relaxing into the back of the couch; he hoped it didn’t send the older student into another tiff. He had a feeling it would annoy her but at least Elsian was trying to be nice about the whole scared of spider's thing!

Still…

This was annoying. It felt like he was getting yelled at by his mum or a teacher. She was only a year older than him, right? Wasn’t like she was his keeper for bloody sake, she just needed to loosen up.

In a practiced move he pulled his backpack off his shoulders, trying his hardest to not be obvious with Kitty in his hands as he twisted to use his body as a makeshift shield and quickly ushering Kitty into the large, empty bag. He left the top open, and you could see her tiny little legs sticking out through the side if you looked carefully but it was better than nothing as he stood, propping the bag onto the couch behind him out of Elena's immediate sight.

“It’s not my fault you tumbled onto the couch.” It was grumbled under his breath, the boy obviously sulking under the barrage of threats and scolding.

It was a weak excuse though. Even to Elsians ears and he was the one sulking! A little thread of guilt making itself known when he thought that maybe he’d actually hurt her, charms or not, it was still a couch. Typically his pranks and little adventures didn’t actually hurt anyone, but could he really sit here and act annoyed if he’d been the one to start this whole thing? He let the words sitting on the tip of tongue hang there before thinking better of it; he could nit-pick, start an argument, threaten her back maybe but what good would that do?


Instead, he looked at her and sighed, “I’m sorry.” It was obviously dragged out by the little frown on his face and the pinch of his eyebrows, begrudging, but still sincere. Another flash of guilt when she seemed to get dizzy, slightly swaying on her feet. “Are you okay? I enchanted the couch to be softer but-” A skittering shadow moved near the girl's feet, behind her. He froze, throwing a tiny glance at the bag.

No spider.

“But it was totally my fault and I am sorry.” He rushed, a strained smile as Kitty prodded one shoe with a tiny, furry leg. Kitty was worried, she was worried and that was the most adorable thing he’d seen in his whole damn life but now was so not the time, nor was this the right person! “And you don’t have to worry, Kitty is hiding right now,” he offered, just barely keeping the tightness out of his voice as he went to grab his backpack.

Kitty froze. He prayed to whatever gods were listening she played along.

Kitty skittered away from the girls' shoes, away, away, away to a far wall and around a corner and Elsian could have cried tears of joy for Kittys love of hide n seek. With any luck she’d think Elena was it and immediately come to him when he ran by.

“I’ll do better!” A total lie. He couldn’t even be bothered to pretend otherwise as he quickly folded up the enchanted couch back into its original single cushion to stuff away into his bag and get the hell outta there before she thought to drag him to a teacher or something. He’d been about halfway done, halfheartedly listening to anything Elena had to say as he tried to hurry when a tiny, very familiar figure rushed back around the corner full speed ahead right. For. Elena.

Wrong role. Wrong role!

She went to jump. In a moment of hysteria mixed with a sick sort of humor Elsian laughed, throwing himself to his feet and trying to drag Elena by the arm out of the way. He was not fast enough. And as a latch ditch effort to deter Kitty screeched, “Kitty no, Elenas it!”


She flew through the air, all 8 of her spindly legs stretching out in triumph as she sailed onwards.


Right onto Elenas arm.

There was no god, only suffering.

If the situation wasn't so charged up as it was, Elena might have even allowed herself a laugh or two at his fall from grace but right now, she was concerned with figuring out just how many brain cells Elsian Cox had left behind before he had mounted his rollercoaster from hell.

The answer put quite simply was, all of them without a single one to spare.

"Faster.." She repeated. "You ever thought about unplanned side effects your half-baked plans might have?" She had a feeling that he had already come to the conclusion that was none of his concern but Elena Jangleton was about to make it very much his problem.

Perhaps it was a good thing she was not a prefect, the amount of points Gryffindor House would lose would certainly soar into the triple digits if it were up to her.

"Well, it's not like I could get out of the way, could I?! Pardon me for not being aware that some maniac on a couch was going to be making his merry way down the stairs unlike the hundreds of other students who prefer the usage of their feet."

Oh, she had plenty more to say but at the same time, the girl felt a spark of sympathy as his tone switched from justifaction to apology.

Her expression switched from sheer outrage to suspicion, this was the first time she'd heard of Elsian admitting to his own faults. Oh, he would admit responsbility all day long but this had a stroke of emotion to it or so she thought.

With the boy, it was hard to tell whether he meant it or it was a grand plan to something far more nefarious.

"See, that's what I'm worried about. She hides too well." Elena added on casting an eye around them almost as if afraid the eight-legged nightmare would leap out of nowhere to make her regret she had even come within shouting distance of Elsian.

He was overcome by a fit of laughing as his hand shout to grab her by the arm, her expression registering confusion. "What are you-?!"

His yelp followed by her eyes snapping to a sudden new weight on her shoulder and suddenly, it all clicked into place as her vocals manifested into a high-pitched yell of terror.

"GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" It was all she could say as the situation descended into chaos, her hands swatting wildly at the montrosity that had haunted her the first time they had met.

"DO YOU EVER GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT THAT BLOODY THING?!"

Oh she hid great. The problem Elena seemed to not quite grasp however was Kittys lack of wanting to stay hidden, like now for example. Because apparently his spider had a god complex when it came down to being seeker and hunting down the poor sops that had been claimed as hiders in her twisted spider brain. It was like the most intense death game of hide & seek tag to go down when Kitty was involved. God help anyone who was afraid of spiders. Those poor first years hadn’t stood a chance.

This is what Elsi had wrought.

“No.” He sassed, throwing himself out of his stupor to make a grab for the spider, “sometimes she free roams or stays with friends.” It wasn't even a lie.

And oh, how his ears rang with the older girl's screams. Pitchy and echoing loudly as they bounced off the castle walls. It’d be a miracle if they didn’t hear her from the other floors! Quite the sight they must be, what with Elena losing her absolute mind and Elsian scrambling…once again, to get Kitty off her newest ‘friend’. In fact, quite a few of the stragglers were already gawking. Oh, he hoped nobody got a prefect.

“Just waIT!” He grabbed Elenas arm, struggling to hold the flailing limb still enough to make a grab for Kitty as she crawled and skittered around Elena in a way that surely was doing nothing to soothe the others' nerves. “WAIT!” A miss, a jump. Kitty ran all along Elena's back and around to her front where in a moment of boldness tried to crawl up to the girl's neck before seemingly thinking better of it and crawling down to the girls' knees. Elsian fumbled around, trying to follow but it was hard when everyone was panicking, turning this way and that, especially when one was said spider.

“Hold still-!” Kitty leaped, skittering up her owner's front when he skid to a stop in front of the older Gryffindor, crawling up and around his shoulder to hop on his head as he clumsily let go of Elena's arms to blindly grab at Kitty. She jumped again, sailing through the air right onto Elena's head and against all odds…paused. Paused in spidery smugness of her new perch; time seemed to slow to a crawl for him as he paused, an odd look aimed at both Kitty and the panicking girl.

A thought formed.

He gave it a second to think over. 2 seconds. Eyes going from Elena to the still half formed cushions on the ground.

“Sorry.”

And shoved the girl backwards. Hard.

There was little doubt she’d topple onto the cushions. And when she did? Well, he’d rather beg for forgiveness than ask for permission with this little stunt if it meant a chance at getting Kitty off the girl without as much flailing around. It worked like a dream. A crappy dream, but nevertheless a dream. Kitty did not like the fall. Hopping off the girl's head and onto one of the cushions near the girl's leg.

Elsian took a step forward. Kitty tensed.

Another step. Tiny legs stretched out. “No.” He warned. “Kitty.”

She bolted, scrambling over the half formed back of the couch. “NO!”

The fact the spider had the capacity to make any sort of friends was astonishing to her. The sheer reveleation anyone would be okay with a eight-legged demon crawling all over them was something she simply could not comprehend as Elsian tried to resolve the nightmare unfolding around them.

She screeched as the spider jumped from one place to another. "It's sort of hard to do that when she's skulking around here and there!"

Oh, Elena Jangleton was going to let Elsian have it but probably not the best idea to explore that particular route with a spider that was now perched on her head almost like a seat of power for the blasted thing.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hex the blasted thing!" She yelped out as her hand fumbled around in her robes for her wand dead-set on using a few spells that came to mind for this sort of situation.

A momentary look of confusion registered at his muttered apology followed by shock as the boy shoved her and down she went with a yell onto the cushions that supported her fall grunting as she crashed against the softness.

He most certainly haad a death wish.

Good news, spider was off her head. Bad news, it had pulled a disappearing act yet again disappearing into the dark escapades of the couch.

She made eye contact with it as it perched near the cushion.

"Elsian Cox, I might forgive you for pushing me but I swear by Godric Gryffindor himself if that horrendous thing as much as twitches in my direction, I might not be in a very forgiving mood."

Reasons…oh reasons reasons reasons…

There was no time. He chose action over words as he shoved the other. As she fell over with a yell, he could almost see a vision of her screaming her head off at him, maybe threatening him with a hex held at wand point by the scruff of his shirt. Who could say. All he knew was that he better hope her patience held up.

Because when nice people finally blew up-

Well. Better left unsaid.

“Because you’re a good person and don’t want to hurt an innocent, lovable pet?” He posed to her hopefully, peeking over her with a wincing grin as he stepped forward.


He paused, biting his lip to hold back a bark of strained laughter. He shouldn’t find this funny honestly. But in its own twisted way it kinda was. Like seriously how unlucky was the girl? It wasn’t like the spider was constantly glued to his side, but it seemed like Kitty had a way of making her presence known around the other Gryffindor. Maybe she liked her? He wouldn’t be surprised. Kitty seemed happy enough to take a temporary shine to new people while they were shiny unknowns. He could only hope this changed with time for Elena. The poor 5th year obviously wanted nothing to do with her. Which, y’know, couldn’t relate, Kitty was adorable and better than any owl or toad, but to each their own.

Even if their taste was questionable.

He said, “she was just worried is all, since you also crashed.” A pause that likely wasn’t anywhere near comforting. “I think.”

If he was totally honest he was kinda lying any time he told people she was harmless. That she wouldn’t bite. In his defense she hadn’t up to that point, but quite honestly at this point…now that he thought about how Kitty had been following Elena that first night…

Kitty might’ve been stalking her?

Maybe. He was pretty sure Kitty wouldn’t do anything, even if she was stalking the older student, but there was no way in hell he was admitting he didn’t know if Kitty just liked her because she was new or if said spider was play hunting her for practice.

Oh no. No no.

Kitty twitched. One spidery leg sticking up from behind the couch…Suspiciously closer to Elena than before.

Ok no, that was enough, Kitty was seriously playing with fire now. “Nope. None of that.” he hissed, crossing the space in seconds as he threw himself over the side of the couch, barely avoiding crashing into Elena as he did so. She was so focused on Elena at that moment that she perhaps hadn’t even thought to keep her own owner in mind. Huh, that whole hunting idea was starting to become an alarming possibility.

“Nope, not happening.” He grunted, fingers scrambling to keep hold on the spider as gently stern as possible with all the squirming the large spider was doing. He could feel her tense, as if trying to jump, and flinched lightly when she almost escaped from his grasp, hands flying a little but towards Elena with the force. Unthinkingly he said, “wow she really wants to get to you.” Not the best thing to say but hey, it was the truth.

Throwing all his fake innocence into a single look he grinned winningly at Elena, holding his wild pet to his chest as if it would help keep the spider at bay. It would not. “Just means you're great with anima- um, with pets!” He shuffled back, resting on his knees as he grabbed the side of the couch, shoving it forward and watching as it began to magically fold in on itself. He’d gently shoo the other off as it got closer to where she’d been pushed if she hadn't moved already. Soon enough it was a single cushion he was able to quickly snatch up with one hand and shove into his bag messily as he stood, grin only slightly strained around the edges.

“Sorry for pushing you.” Kitty squirmed in his hand, little legs sticking out menacingly between his fingers as she strained towards her new favorite obsession. Because that's what this was. An obsession. Why was his pet so weird? He took a step back, “and for hitting you with a couch.” Another small pause as he fiddled with his backpack strap, hand going behind his back with Kitty immediately when for a horrible, heart stopping second Kitty almost fell out of his grasp. He really hoped the other didn’t point that out. “And for Kitty crawling you.”

A sunny look towards her as he reached the edge of the hall right next to him. Time to make a break for it. “But hey! It was fun right? And just shows how great you are with pets, very nice, great really, but I should probably put her away now. Ok? Ok. Bye bye.”

He disappeared around the corner, already beginning to rush off with his hurried walk turning into a jog. He’d escape unless the other was quick on her feet and stopped him. He hoped she didn’t care enough or was too happy to see Kitty being taken away to stop him for a ‘talk’.

Elsian, for all his recklessness wasn’t stupid. The boy knew any ’talk’ was likely a threat if not a lecture, followed by a possible detention. Yeah no. Not happening.

Well, Elsian Cox had gotten one thing right, Elena thought to herself narrowing her eyes at him as if pondering whether to leave him to the whims of anyone who was sure to come investigating the cause of this ruckus by now, she was quite frankly surprised an armada of professors hadn't descened upon them by now.

She couldn't help out, let out a brittle laugh at his words. "Innocent? Lovable, that horrid thing?" The brunette concluded her words in a shriek pointing an accusing finger almost bristling in outrage that Elsian would refer to it as such. It was not cute, it most certainly was not innocent if any of the horror stories she heard about the eight-legged abonimations were true.

"You know, I have an owl who would very much like to convert her into an afternoon snack if he found out what you've put me through today."

Well, that also probably wasn't a very appealing solution to Elsian but Flutters was hardly to discriminate, maybe she should start bringing her owl everywhere to dissuade Elsian and his spidery sidekick from thinking up any bright masterplans that might go terribly wrong.

They never seemed to go right.

She flinced as the spider just barely was able to be held back by Elsian's firm hands as he inched his way back towards a grand escape although the brunette was much too focused on not getting greeted with a leaping spider in the face.

It wasn't until he had put a safe distance between himself and Elena that the girl came to the realization and it dawned on her.

"Oh, not so fast, buddy." He might have been quick but Elena had been in plenty of intense situations and she wasn't about to let the boy weasel out as easily after the hell both of them had experienced together.

He was fast but her wand was faster.

As soon as she rounded the corner panting, her eyes were already set on her target. "Immobulus!" She cried out hoping the spell would hit the boy square in the back to freeze him in place tempoarily so they could have a talk.

There were going to be some rules set here and if things didn't go to plan, well, she could always arrange to ambush him at a later point but she put her faith in her spellcasting.