Puff, Puff and Away
"I didn't know Hogwarts even had that many pygmy puffs."
Do you ever feel like a misfit?
✪ Everything inside you is dark and twisted ✪
Word Count: 650
The broom Poppy held, scratched softly against the stone floor, dragging along with it a growing clump of pink and purple fluff...er...fur? The truth was, Poppy was rather found of Professor Townsend. She enjoyed the woman and her classes so much that when the call came for help de-fluffing, there wasn't a question in her mind about whether she wanted to help only a matter of when she'd find the time.
As it turned out, her cousin had had his own plans to help, making it a...somewhat natural choice for them to work together. For Poppy, it was guilt and the feeling that she had some making up to do to the boy.
When they'd first been sent off to Hogwarts, her parents had warned her to keep her distance. For a long time, much longer than should ever have been the case, the little girl had obeyed. While her cousin, who'd already lost so much, had tried to connect, she'd been polite but distant. In her mind, if she could only do as she was told, it could ease some of the new tension that existed with her parents.
The last month had proven that so painfully wrong and forced her eyes open to things she didn't want to see.
Nothing would make it better; she was only making her school life worse and hurting those around her in the process. Reconciliation was the hope as the pair made their way down the corridor, trying not to miss a single spot. A particularly hard swing saw light puffs flying and sent the girl into a fit of sneezing. It had the unfortunate ripple effect of sending more puffs flying, undoing the neat little pile she'd created.
"Ugh," she said, wiping at her nose when the sneezes subsided. "You...you might have been right about using magic instead."
It really would have been as simple as a few well-cast scourgifys but...despite her best efforts...Poppy still harboured deep-rooted hesitation surrounding her magic and casting it outside of her classes. In emergencies, she found it easier to pull out her wand, but this...was a bit of spring cleaning, and...and the broom she'd grabbed from the closet back at the top of the corridor...it...it was doing the work.
The only problem was the fine hairs that flew, imperceptible unless hit by the light pouring in from the windows at just the right angle.
Did those count? Would such small fibres still be enough to trigger the woman's allergies? Poppy couldn't say she fully understood how it all worked, but the girl supposed it was worth being thorough just in case.
The small girl looked back down the corridor, wondering if they would have to start over. Already, they'd made good progress, and it seemed a shame to have to start over, but after her little sneezing fit, she was less certain about the integrity of their work. She swept the clumps of fur a little further along, trying to see whether it could all be salavageable. They still moved along with the broom, some tufts getting caught within the bristles of the broom, but as Poppy continued toward another window, she could see the particles flying again.
She sighed.
"Let's just...see what it is when we get to the other side." May as well finish what they'd started.
She took another step, her fingers tapping lightly against the broomstick. "Anyway," Poppy forced herself to say. "How...how have things been going for you? I know th--that we haven't had many chances to talk – my fault, I know – I just...I'm sorry. It...it really wasn't about you." Not really.
How did she explain that she'd been too busy trying to please her parents to remember the basics of being a human being? Was there a way to make it sound better than it was? Less severe, perhaps?
Encyclopaedia ✿ Metamorphmagus ✿ If the sun shines, that's reason enough.