somewhere only we know [alice]

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The grounds, Lysander thought, were strangely empty. True, it was early in the morning - the sun had not yet risen - and it was Saturday, but more often than not the boy had a little bit of company when he was out walking. Iago, ever the king of drama, was currently protesting at the rope that was looped around his neck as a makeshift leash. The half-Kneazle's bright green eyes were mutinous as he stared at his master, and Lysander rolled his eyes. Yes, his pet was smarter than your average cat, but that didn't mean that he was going to trust the silly thing to wander the grounds on his own, especially when the lake was nearby. Knowing his pet, Sander thought with a smirk, he would jump into the lake and then meow indignantly until someone came to fetch him out. It wouldn't be a horrible burden - Iago's meows were pleasant to hear, and had a pleasant hue about them as well - but he doubted that anyone else would like to be woken before the sunrise by the caterwauling of a half-drowned half-Kneazle.

Settling down on the grass near the lake - near Albus Dumbledore's tomb, he thought with a half-smile - Lysander pulled Iago into his lap, turning to face the eastern sky. Just a smudge of color was appearing there, heralding the dawn to come. The world was right, and the sun was rising, and there was hardly anything more that he could ask for. That, of course, didn't stop him from asking. Please give me back my brother. And then the cat, damn him, leapt from Lysander's lap and into the blackness of the night, disappearing like a slick of oil into the inky blackness, rope collar laying useless at his owner's feet.

@alice

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It had been a ritual of Alice's for a long time to take her cat, Oscar, out to the grounds with her every Saturday morning to relax and write in her creature journal. For a long time Alice had kept her own records of magical creatures she had either stumbled upon herself or interacted with in classes and she would take every Saturday to write about them or go back to past entries and edit certain details. Oscar would accompany her attached to a small leash and harness as they walked through the grounds, the sun slowly beginning to show beyond the horizon. Alice knew they weren't particularly allowed to be wandering about the grounds without a partner, but... this was tradition. She hadn't gone out to do it in a while and she figured it was high time. She just figured she wouldn't let James, Carcer, or Abigail know... what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. Then she thought for a moment about how Carcer would likely agree to go with her and she had a moment of regret in not asking him but... she noted it for next time.

Alice's favorite spot was near Albus Dumbledore's tomb; there was a bench there that she and Oscar usually sat upon that overlooked the Black Lake. It was also the perfect spot to watch the sunrise. Alice was just about to cross over the path to the tomb when a furry creature came running at her. She halted immediately and stared down at it, recognizing what it was immediately. A kneazle. Or, a half-kneazle by the looks of it. Alice made no effort to hide the small that spread across her face. She knealt down slowly and offered a hand out to it, to which it just stared at her. Then Oscar hissed at it, just before pouncing at it and causing it to run back the way it came. Alice, being the animal lover she was, couldn't let it run off all by itself so she followed it. Right in the direction of the tomb.

The half-kneazle seemed to have stopped near a person, by the looks of it. Alice tilted her head and kind of squinted in the half-dark sky light. She didn't recognize the back of the head right away, so walked slightly around to get a good look at the person's face. She looked down immediately when she got close enough to see who it was. Lysander Scamander. Son of her father's good friend, Luna, whom Alice was going on an expedition with this upcoming summer. Alice looked down at Oscar who was still hissing at the half-kneazle. Finally, Alice spoke up. "Is that yours?" She asked, trying to sound as uninterested as possible when it all truth... she was very interested in the half-kneazle, as they were her favorite kind of animal.

@lysander

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Lysander was beginning to remember why he named his half-Kneazle for one of the greatest villains of all time. Iago was truly one-of-a-kind in his desire to make Lysander work as much as humanly possible to find him whenever Iago inevitably escaped. Finding a black cat in the early morning on grounds as huge as Hogwarts’s was going to be…frustrating, to say the least. Letting out a heavy sigh, Lysander stood up and grabbed his wand, quickly casting lumos so that he could see further and more clearly. Luckily enough, he didn’t need the spell for long. Iago, looking properly chastised and deferent, wound himself around Lysander’s ankles, blinking up with wide, innocent green eyes.

Scooping up his half-Kneazle, Lysander prepared himself to return to the castle. He did not want to have to lost (and subsequently find) Iago any more times, especially considering that the second and third times might not be as quick as the first one. Before he could, though, he was stopped by the sight of another person. He didn’t want to be rude, but he didn’t want to talk that much, either. He recognized the girl – Alice Longbottom. Her father was the headmaster, but more importantly, she was a friend of his family’s. His mother was going to take Alice backpacking over the summer. Alice was accompanied by a cat who did not seem to be pleased with Iago’s appearance. Probably because he was jealous; all cats tended to be jealous of those smarter than them. That was the way cats were. Kneazles, on the other hand, were superior in intelligence, so they never had that problem.

Lysander blinked owlishly at Alice, unsure of why they were speaking after six years of barely acknowledging each other’s existences. Still, it was only polite to answer. “Yes, Iago is mine.” He nodded down at the hissing cat. “I’m assuming that one is yours?” He looked up at Alice, and then back down at the squirming half-Kneazle in his arms. Lysander continued to rock back and forth, unsure of what to say, what to do, what to feel. He cleared his throat softly, blinking again and wondering where this conversation was going to go.

@alice

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A part of Alice was wondering why Lysander Scamander happened to be out in the darkness by himself like this as well, but she couldn't ask that without sounding like a hypocrite so she kept her mouth shut. Alice had always been a quiet, shy child around others so before she had entered Hogwarts she did not speak much to Auntie Luna's boys. But she knew of them fairly well, and had spent quite some time with them whenever the two families managed to get time to be together. But then Alice went to school and when Lysander joined her a year later and was sorted into Ravenclaw, she had instantly become jealous of him. She had spent her childhood dreaming about the house and while she was proud of being a Hufflepuff now, she had spent so long resenting anyone in the house of Ravenclaw and therefore she had spent so many years resenting Lysander as well.

Alice bent over and picked up the Scottish Fold cat at her feet, suddenly dawning a more self-conscious look upon her face as she looked over Lysander and his half-kneazle and then averted her eyes from him. She stood in front of him in silence or a moment. She didn't know what to say to him. She had been so cold to him over the years, not talking to him. But then again he had never really instigated any conversation either... So Alice swallowed her pride. "Yes," she replied hesitantly, scratching Oscar in her arms. "His name is Oscar." The cat gave one more indignant hiss at the half-kneazle and then calmed down and accepted Alice's scratches. "I... didn't know you had a half-kneazle..." she spoke slowly. "Kneazles are my favorite," she finally added.

@lysander

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Oscar’s meow was beginning to hurt Lysander’s ears. It was the color of tar and seemed to ooze through the air despite the sharpness of it. He took a deep breath, trying to shut out the mewling cat. Thankfully, he shut up when he was picked up in his owner’s arms. Sander wasn’t sure how much longer he could have taken it, especially without telling Alice he was a synesthete. That would have been weird, because then she probably would have asked what color her voice was, and he would have to tell her the truth. Goodness knows she would think he was weird if he proclaimed that her voice was silver, and he didn’t want to fracture their fragile truce.

“My great-grandfather bred Kneazles.” Lysander informed the Hufflepuff matter-of-factly. “Apparently they’re too intelligent for young wizards to control appropriately, according to the Ministry of Magic.” She probably didn’t need to know that, but he had said it anyways. “My grandfather gave me Iago when I was about to go to Hogwarts. My brother got his when he was younger.” He was rambling. Alice claimed to be interested in Kneazles, but he wasn’t sure how far that interest extended, so Lysander made and effort to wrap up his diatribe quickly. “If you’d like one, I can ask my granddad about it. You can talk to Iago sometime, if he likes you.” There. He had offered…something. The first step to getting to know someone, his father always said, was to make them like you. He wasn’t sure how well that was going, but he was trying.

@alice

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Alice's eyes flickered briefly from the kneazle at Lysander's side to his face, and for a moment it seemed that he was slightly bothered by something. But perhaps it was just Alice's presence in general. Alice's reputation with Ravenclaws wasn't exactly quiet; in fact it was pretty widely known that Alice disliked ravens quite a bit. Perhaps that was why Lysander seemed to be acting strange around her. That, and the fact that the two had never really spoken face to face before. Alice didn't think much of it.

Alice looked back at Iago as Lysander rambled out some Kneazle facts. She watched the Kneazle as she listened to the Ravenclaw, intently as Alice could for someone who didn't normally speak to Ravenclaws. Kneazles had always been her favorite since the very day she had stepped foot into the Magical Menagerie when she was very young. While Alice was beyond thankful she had Oscar in her life, a part of her had always wished for a Kneazle. Which was why when Lysander made such an offer, Alice's attention shifted immediately back to him. She met with his eyes just a moment, her grey-blue eyes wide with excitement for a brief moment. Then she became quite embarrassed and looked away again.

"Wow," Alice said as she looked down at her feet, thinking of a proper, polite response. "That's... that's very nice of you." It sounded forced, but Alice meant it. She wasn't the best at communicating with others; she hardly ever communicated with her own brothers. But Alice had never felt like she wanted to be kinder to a Ravenclaw before... Lysander seemed like a nice enough raven, and if he liked animals as much as she did then he couldn't be all that bad. Could he?

@lysander

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The darkness made everything blurry around the edges; Lysander’s vision was probably as near to perfect as it could be, but he still had a difficult time making out shapes in the gray of dawn. He swore he could see movement in the shadows, but he never heard anything, never saw something more than a flicker. He didn’t want Alice to think he was crazy or a coward, so Lysander swallowed down his paranoia to focus on her again. Apparently while his mind was wandering the fact that he had offered to acquire her a half-Kneazle had registered, and for a moment, the darkness didn’t matter; the gray-blue of her eyes was startling. Just as quickly as he was able to register the blur of color, it was gone.

Her voice was liquid mercury dripping through the air into his ears, slick and silver and intriguing. He liked people with intriguing voices, and Lysander vowed to find a way to make Alice talk to him again. He would honestly sit and listen to her insult him, just so he could figure out her voice. Of course, he would much prefer to puzzle it out when they were talking about Kneazles, or something equally interesting. Like unicorns. “It’s no trouble, really. My grandfather enjoys passing on his father’s work, and I do too. I wish I had gotten to meet him.” He blushed, realizing he was probably boring her again. Then, for perhaps the sixth or seventh time since they had begun speaking, Lysander saw something shiver out of the corner of his eye. “Did you see that?” He asked abruptly, whipping around to see if he could find the strange creature that kept moving. Iago was still in his arms – Lysander had almost thrown him in his haste to turn around – and he assumed Alice still had Oscar under control. What, then, was lurking in the darkness?

@alice

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Alice was watching Lysander carefully. It wasn't often that she talked to people whom she had scorned in the past and they treated her nicely. It was a little odd to her that Lysander was being so nice, but then again they had never truly spoken like this before. He looked distracted, though. Like he saw something that alarmed him. But when he seemed to refocus back on their conversation, Alice pushed it to the back of her mind. "I don't blame you," she shrugged casually. "I love your grandfather's book." She was quiet again for another moment, debating whether or not she should keep speaking. In the end, she decided it best. "I actually read that book so much as I kid that I wore out my first copy," a slight chuckle escaped her lips.

When Lysander shifted quickly and asked if Alice had seen something, Alice's brow immediately furrowed in confusion and slight worry. "No?" She said, turning to look around herself. She held Oscar closer to her chest. "What is it?" She asked, trying not to sound as worried as she really was. They were, after all, not supposed to be out here alone. What if one of them had been followed? But... they were both pureblooded so they really had nothing to worry about, right?

@lysander

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Lysander was glad that someone else loved his grandfather’s book as much as he did, and he grinned at Alice. “It’s one of the best books ever written.” He bobbled his head up and down in a fast nod. “When I was little I wanted to write a sequel, but now I don’t think I do.” He shrugged his shoulders quickly, an abrupt up and down. Lysander had learned early in his school career that he was not a write; he couldn’t make ugly words beautiful the way his grandfather could. Setting his sights on something different than his grandfather was probably good for Sander, either way; he wanted to make his own mark on the world, not ride on someone else’s coattails.

Perhaps he was going insane, the Ravenclaw thought when his companion said that she hadn’t seen the beast slipping through the shadows. The more time that passed, though, the more certain Sander was that someone, or something, was watching them. “I don’t know.” He breathed quietly to Alice. “But I think maybe we should move.” Dumbledore’s tomb was nearby, and part of Lysander wanted to go there, as if the memory of the great wizard would protect them. The more rational part – the Ravenclaw part – told him that they needed to return to the castle, as quickly and quietly as possible. He didn’t know who or what was following them, but it was sure not to be good.

@alice

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Alice smiled slightly at Lysander as he grinned about his grandfather's book. "I agree," she nodded once. She watched him as he explained he used to want to write a sequel and something in Alice stirred. She bit her lip. "Well," she began. "I kind of have my own creature journal..." she said, speaking slightly slower than she previously had, as this was a very private subject. But Lysander was a fellow animal lover, the grandson of New Scamander, and son of a very beloved friend of both Alice and her parents: Alice for some reason felt she could tell him this. "I kind of just jot down my own learnings of creatures both magical and non. I could show you sometime." Her tone was slightly hesitant, but she found herself actually meaning it.

When Lysander spoke again of something in the bushes behind them, Alice turned and again saw nothing but turning back around and looking at Lysander, she was certain he wasn't lying. "Okay," she spoke slowly again, unsure of the situation and what to do. "Uh... let's start to head back. We aren't really supposed to be out here anyway..." the slight fear was beginning to show in her tone as she held Oscar closer to her chest.

@lysander

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Lysander had honestly not expected for Alice to talk about a creature journal. It was the kind of thing that he imagined people kept private, like any other sort of journal, and he allowed himself to be touched by the gesture for just a moment, a smile tugging at his lips. “You ever see a unicorn?” He asked, paying rapt attention in case she should answer him. Unicorns had been Lysander’s creature of choice ever since he had learned to cast a Patronus, but he had the unfortunate affliction of being male, which wasn’t exactly conducive to studying the animals. He would take whatever he could get, even if that was a secondhand account.

He noticed how Alice gripped her cat more closely to her chest, and Sander began to worry the slightest bit about Iago. The Kneazle in him would probably keep him safe from more basic, non-magical predators, but he wasn’t certain if going toe to toe with an unknown force would be the black cat’s speed. “Imagine what your father would say if he found us breaking the rules.” He happened to know, through his mother’s stories of her time at Hogwarts, that she and her group of friends – the headmaster included – hadn’t always been the best at following the letter of the law. He began to walk towards the castle nonetheless; somehow, he thought breaking the rules was a little less permanent than dying.

@alice

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At the mention of a unicorn, Alice's face actually lit up. "Yes!" She said excitedly, hugging Oscar a little tighter which caused him to meow in frustration. "Yes, I have!" She thought back to when she had met on in the woods only a couple of months ago. "Carcer Hagrid, in my house, he actually introduced me to one." She continued, her voice a little more calm as she readjusted Oscar in her arms.

Alice actually felt her face get a little hot when Lysander mentioned what her father would do. Honestly, he would probably give them a good talking to and move on but the idea that she would have been caught out on the grounds with Lysander was a little embarrassing. "Heh, he would definitely have quite a bit to say." She began to follow him, still holding Oscar close to her. "Even though our parents did much worse when they were our age," she said with a light laugh. It was funny, actually. Alice was the age her father was during the Battle of Hogwarts and Lysander was the age of his mother: it was funny for Alice to think about, how things worked out.

@lysander

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Lysander tried his best not to turn green with envy when Alice said she had met a unicorn. If he got his way, unicorns were going to be his life’s work; he wanted to begin a breeding program that would help save the endangered species. The fact that Alice had been introduced to one by a male made him even greener. He had always been told that it was near impossible for him to meet one of the magical beasts because he was a male, and it simply wasn’t fair! He huffed softly. “My Patronus is a unicorn but I’ve never gotten to see one.” He explained, hoping that Alice didn’t mistake his frustration for rudeness. He thought it rather funny that unicorns preferred females, because Lysander…didn’t. As friends, maybe, but otherwise, no.

“They’d done more by the time they graduated Hogwarts than most people do in a lifetime.” Lysander agreed, wondering why his voice sounded so wistful. “It’s kind of weird, when you think about it. Practically half the kids at school are the children of war heroes.” He paused. “I guess that’s why they’re so worried. Because they know what it’s like to have your childhood taken away by a war you never wanted.” He had certainly spent more than one sleepless night wondering what was going to happen. It was true, he wasn’t a child anymore, but there was still so much innocence left to lose. “I’m sorry. That’s sad.” He didn’t like making people sad, but melancholia was sometimes healthy. It definitely served to put the world into perspective.

@alice

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Thinking back to the day in the words when she had been introduced to a unicorn by Carcer had Alice feeling significantly more at ease with the conversation now. For some reason, the half-giant always seemed to have that effect on Alice whether he was near or far. "My patronus a raven..." she said a little sheepishly to the Ravenclaw. Irony at its best... the girl who wanted to be in Ravenclaw was stuck with the patronus of a raven. "Well, hey, you should talk to Carcer sometime. I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you meet one. He's a guy too, after all," Alice suddenly spoke slightly more excitedly. "He's half giant too. So, if the unicorns don't mind him, I'm sure they wouldn't mind you?"

The Hufflepuff nodded fondly as the two of them spoke of their parents' achievements in the old battle. She turned to look at Lysander as they continued on walking. "No... don't be sad," she said quietly, her brow wrinkling a bit with the awkwardness she was feeling in the conversation suddenly. "It's okay. My dad... he kind of always taught us to be prepared for anything. And while I don't think he ever meant to prepared for all of this... I think his stories, and your mum's stories... I think they have helped us." Her eyes were now on the path ahead of them as the sun slowly began to rise. "I mean, just look at what Abby and James started... I feel like the stories we were all taught growing up really helped pave the way for groups like Phoenix Rising." Of course she was referring to their parents involvement in Dumbledore's Army, which one day led to the Order. History did sort of repeat itself, after all.

@lysander

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When Alice admitted the identity of her Patronus, Sander bit his lip, thinking as to what it could possibly mean. All Patronuses had meaning, and he was determined to figure out what Alice’s was supposed to say. “Maybe that means you’re destined to fall in love with a Ravenclaw or something.” Lysander mused. Oh. That sounded oddly like a pickup line. At the thought of talking to Carcer, Sander blanched. He hated that he needed help with an animal that was, supposedly, a part of his soul. But he needed to find a unicorn, just to see what would happen, and if that meant asking for help, then Sander would ask. “I’m half-Gryffindor, and that’s not much different.” He deadpanned. That wasn’t necessarily true – Sander didn’t understand Gryffindors at all – but his brother was one, and people always said that twins were joined at the soul, so that was close enough.

“Did they prepare us, or did they doom us to repeat their mistakes?” Lysander challenged Alice. He didn’t believe that, of course, but he was always a fan of playing devil’s advocate to make someone construct a more solid argument. Alice was right in saying that his mother’s stories had prepared him for all that was happening, but they also preached ideals that might not be entirely sustainable. Everyone could not love everyone else; history proved that again and again. Sander paused, though, at the mention of a…group? Was that what Phoenix Rising was. “…What do you mean?” He finally asked, unsure of what else to say. Students banding together to fight their oppression was all well and good, but they had Aurors for a reason. They had adults who were trained to protect them, and shirking that so they could play hero was upsetting, to say the least. People died in the war his mother and Alice’s father had fought in. Did they not realize it, or were they simply so block-headed that they believed they could cheat death? Sander wasn’t sure which option was more upsetting.

@alice