I'm Sorry That I Couldn't Get to You** (POET)

[Deleted]

@poet
Say Something by Christina Aguilera
Song she sings is Drops of Jupiter by Train
<3

This year was starting to be quite the horrible one. Addilyn's happiness was fluctuating, and she wasn't exactly sure why. Her older brother had finally confessed to her why he had been so distant, and now they were starting to get closer. However, even that stopped. After Addilyn told Grey about Theodosia, she hadn't seen him again. Even during meals, he was there, and then he was gone. Addilyn didn't know what was going on or why he was doing this again. It broke her heart. And then finally, pure excitement to see her sister Claire, but apparently Claire wasn't excited to see her. They immediately got off on the wrong foot, having not spoken for months, and she told her that their parents wanted her to talk to Addilyn about her grades and that she needs to concentrate more. That had just immediately set Addilyn off, but she felt like there was something else going on. Claire wasn't acting normal, and Professor Jakebson hadn't even told her anything. The only good thing coming out of this was Edmund, her best friend. They had just begun dating, but...with everything else going on, Addilyn felt like he was being put on the back burner and that also made her feel guilty.

It was late in the afternoon, about four o clock. Everyone was getting ready to get to dinner, but Addilyn wasn't hungry. She also didn't want to see Grey, and then not be able to talk to him again. It was breaking her heart every time she caught sight of that brown hair. She decided to walk. Just walk. And as her feet brought her along the different parts of the grounds, she wanted to sit. She knew the perfect place where no one would be, no one would bother her. The Forbidden Forest.

As soon as Addilyn got there, she sat down on the grass near the edge of the forest and looked up at the castle. This place was so beautiful, it was everything she had imagined and more, but this year, it wasn't treating her very nicely. She felt like giving up. There was nothing else she could do to help anyone. Addilyn criss crossed her legs. Her eyes began to fill with tears, and a few fell as she began to sing softly to herself.

Now that she's back in the atmosphere
With drops of Jupiter in her hair, hey, hey
She acts like summer and walks like rain
Reminds me that there's time to change, hey, hey
Since the return from her stay on the moon
She listens like spring and she talks like June, hey, hey

Tell me did you sail across the sun
Did you make it to the Milky Way to see the lights all faded
And that heaven is overrated...

She gasped when she heard a noise coming from the trees. Her heart began to beat fast; Addilyn was completely frightened. Maybe she shouldn't have come here. Her eyes widened, and then she tried to catch her breath as she saw what it was. A dog. Addi closed her eyes, calming herself down. She sat up more, and smiled softly at him. Wiping a few tears away, Addilyn held out her hand. "Hi puppy..." She spoke quietly as not to frighten him, making sure he wouldn't try to attack her.

[Deleted]

Poe had taken an extra shift at Hogwarts to allow someone to take the day off. In light of what Claire had said about letting his trainees out of his sight every once in a while, Poe had chosen one of the more remote posts. Patrolling the Forbidden Forest wasn't something that a lot of Aurors volunteered for - most of them had gone to Hogwarts, and remembered the horror stories of the going-ons in the Forest. Still, Poe didn't mind it. He hardly ever got a chance to wander around in his Animagus form, and since no one else was in the Forest, it was the perfect time to stretch his dog legs. Besides, he was more certain in his ability to deal with any unsavory characters in his Animagus form - people felt bad about cursing an animal, worse than they would about cursing a human.

His patrol was almost over, and Poe was just doing one last cursory check of the perimeter when he smelled something odd. A person. Most students didn't come to close to the forest - again, a fear thing. He trotted over towards the smell, and found a girl sitting there, crying. He approached cautiously, ears pricked forward. The girl was sad, obviously, and there was no greater comfort to a sad person than an animal to cuddle. Cats were probably preferable in a lot of scenarios, but no one could say no to a big, lovable dog. He trotted over the last few steps to the girl, woofing softly as he approached the girl. She had been singing, before, but when she noticed him she greeted him. Poe gave her his best goofy puppy grin, and then plopped himself unceremoniously in her lap, tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth as he waited for the girl to do something.

[Deleted]

@poet
<3

Addilyn laughed softly at the dog. He looked like he was smiling. She loved animals, she always had. Addi didn't have any at home, herself, but if her parents ever allowed them, she would get a puppy. Her favorite breed was a Great Dane, but a dog that big probably wouldn't be best in their family of five. So, Addilyn made note to get one after she was living on her own. That was a great deal away, but hey, a girl could wish, right?

The dog then plopped itself down in her lap and she laughed again, wiping away the last few tears she had on her face. His tongue rolled out of his mouth and Addilyn smiled brightly at him. Taking both of her hands she began itching the dogs ears, and then rubbing his belly. "Hello, you. You're so cute." She continued rubbing his belly, and after a moment took her hand to just pet his fur. He was an adorable dog, however she wasn't sure if he had an owner. His coat was brindle, and he was very gentle. "Dogs always make me feel better."

[Deleted]

Poe let out another soft woof when the girl started laughing. His tail started wagging, though it was kind of ineffectual, considering his tail was just a stump. He had to admit that, even though he was a human, he definitely enjoyed dog-like things like ear scratches and belly rubs. Even being petted was a nice feeling, especially if the person already knew how to pet dogs – long, smooth strokes from the top his head all the way to the base of his stubby tail. Poe moved his head to rest on the girl’s shoulder, moving his paws around a bit so that he could maintain the position comfortably. He was glad to hear that dogs made her feel better – he always liked improving somebody’s bad day. Poe turned his head to the side a little, licking the girl’s ear. It wasn’t the best tasting, but no one ever said comforting a crying child was easy. He barked softly, encouraging her to continue and say what was on her mind.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@poet
<3

This dog was too much. He was super adorable and comforting her as if he knew something was wrong. At least, that's what Addilyn thought. He scooted up more and put his head on her shoulder, and Addilyn smiled. When he licked her ear she giggled and shook her head. Addi continued rubbing his belly as she began to speak.

"My brother, Grey, isn't speaking to me anymore. I'm not sure why. A girl was bullying me...almost drowned me. And he said he'd talk to her. But now he ignores me and is constantly running away...and my boyfriend, well, my best friend who I'm dating, doesn't want me to tell anyone that we're dating because he thinks his family will judge him." Tears began welling up in her eyes again, and Addilyn sniffled. She couldn't believe she was saying all of this to an animal. "I know you can't respond to me, but if someone saw me, I'd be made fun of forever. Venting to a dog..." Addi shook her head at herself.

Then there was Claire. "And...then there's my sister. I haven't spoken to her in almost two months. We used to be so close. She used to owl me every week. And she's an auror, you see. She's stationed here at Hogwarts this year. We just had a really big argument...she is acting weird and I knew something was wrong. But she told me that our parents want her to be hard on me about my grades; which are perfect mind you. I'm also a Beater on the Quidditch team, and I'm on the School Choir but apparently that isn't enough. But her doing that to Grey, my brother, ruined their relationship and I don't want that to happen with Claire." Addilyn looked down at the dog, her tears now streaming down her face.

[Deleted]

Poe had a feeling that he was getting into more than he could handle when it came to comforting this girl. For one thing, as soon as she started speaking, he heard a name he recognized. Grey. That was the name of Claire’s younger brother, wasn’t it? Well, maybe he was wrong. It was totally possible that there was more than one boy named Grey in the school. When she said that she wished he could respond, Poe wanted desperately to shift back into his human form, but that would have been an even worse situation, and extremely difficult to explain. Besides, only three people had ever known that Poe was an Animagus. One of them was dead now. The other two were people he trusted implicitly – his best friend from childhood, and Harry Potter himself. It had been Harry who had helped evaluate Poe for the Concealment and Disguise portion of his Auror examination, and the secret had been kept just in case it was needed in a moment like this. As far as Poe knew, there were other Aurors who were Animagi, but most of them were pretty open about it.

He turned his attention back to the girl who was speaking, and his stomach dropped. An older sister who was an Auror, and an older brother named Grey? The coincidences just kept stacking up, and Poe was becoming more certain that this was Addilyn Slater. The name at the end of the girl’s soliloquy proved his suspicion, and Poe made a soft snuffling noise. Oh, Claire. She was doing the exact opposite of what he had hoped when it came to being stationed at Hogwarts; she wasn’t opening up to her family, but rather, pushing them away. That wasn’t good, not good at all. Poe leapt off of the girl’s lap – there was one sure way to chase the blues away, and that was to run around like a fool. Exercise released endorphins, after all. He barked, the first time he had actually used the full power of his dog’s voice, and then began trotting in circles around Addilyn, hoping she understood the nonverbal message.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@poet
<3

The dog sitting in her lap had made a small noise that sounded like a huff, and she gave him a look. What was that for? She was so confused. This dog did not act like a normal dog that she had been around before. He looked like a normal dog, had the features of a normal dog. His eyes were a little different, but she liked looking into them. And hey, venting made her feel at least slightly better. Even if it was to an animal and not a person that could answer her. Addilyn tilted her head at him. "You're different. I'd like to keep you, but you probably have an owner." Addi felt sad; she had always wanted her own dog.

Then he suddenly jumped up and barked at her. Addilyn's eyes widened and she jumped. Her breathing hitched, and she gave the dog a confused face. Swallowing, Addi wiped the tears away from her face. The puppy began running in circles around her, and she was so confused. Addilyn stood up and held her hands up in the air. "I don't understand! What's wrong?"

[Deleted]

Poe’s muscles tensed slightly when the girl proclaimed that he was different. Obviously he was different than a normal dog, since he was just a human masquerading as one, but he had hoped that it hadn’t been that obvious. Evidently not. He’d need to start observing dogs more, or at least being less purposeful in his actions so that the risk of him being anthropomorphized was lower. At least Addilyn realized that he was taken, though not exactly by an owner. If she had tried to make him her pet…Well, that would have ended badly for all involved parties, because Addilyn would have been heartbroken when her puppy ran away and only managed to show up when he wasn’t in the same room as a certain Auror. Not that anyone had ever realized that yet.

Poe let out another bark when Addilyn asked what was wrong with him. It wasn’t what was wrong with him that mattered, it was what was wrong with her! Well, he had to just hope that he had made enough of an impression on her that she would follow him. With not even a moments warning, Poe began running across the grounds towards the castle at the fastest speed his canine legs would allow. Hopefully Addilyn would run after him, and then feel better once she got her body moving.

@jill2

[Deleted]

@poet
<3

Addilyn was so confused. Between heartache, tears and having absolutely no energy, this pup was giving Addi a run for her money. She sighed loudly, a small snarl on her face. This was not what she was in the mood for. Addi wiped away her tears and sniffled, and wiped her pants, letting the grass and dirt fall back to the ground from where she had previously been sitting.

Suddenly, the dog bolted. Addilyn's eyes widened as large as they could go. "Hey! Puppy!" Growling to herself, Addilyn shook her head and began to run after the dog. He was definitely a lot faster than she was, but she ran fast enough where she could still see the dog. As soon as they got closer to the school, Addi stopped running. She was in shape, but she wasn't much of a runner. There was a small bench and Addi walked over to it slowly, slouching as she sat down. She shut her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to get her breath back to normal. She opened her eyes, looking at the sky, unaware of where the dog may be now. "Okay, dog! I'm done running!"

[Deleted]

Addilyn was running to catch up to him, and that was really Poe’s only goal. The fact that it brought her closer to the castle and away from the boundary of the forest wasn’t bad, either. The girl hadn’t been able to catch up to him, which was good, considering Poe’s plan was to run back into the forest to transform back into his human form and meet the next Auror who was supposed to be on shift. Hopefully she was too tired to catch up to him, because Poe really did need to get away. Addilyn sat down on a bench that was randomly placed on the ground, and Poe trotted over to him. He reared up on his back legs, placing his paws on her knees, and gave Addilyn one last lick on the face before backpedaling away from her. Time to get back to his duties, instead of mucking around with a sad girl. Poe barked one last time, turned tail, and streaked back to the forest, too quick to be caught by any human, let alone an exhausted, crying girl.

@jill2