I've Caught A Mouse! ** (CLODAGH)

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

Mannix was walking around downtown doing last minute shopping for Christmas. He had most of the family done, just needed a few more things here and there. The other necessity would be wrapping paper, tissue paper, bags and tape. He had none of that at his cottage, so he figured now would be the time to get it all and get it all wrapped before Christmas Day. Mannix assumed they'd be going to their parents house, although he wouldn't mind his family joining him at his place.

Cooking a large dinner wouldn't be his favorite part of it all but that wasn't too big of a deal. He loved his family and having them around, whether he be going crazy with cooking or not. Although he did have a house elf, Mannix tried to never make her do anything too obnoxious and large like that. With large eyes, Mannix glanced around from shop to shop, trying to guess at which one would have what he needed, smiling at passerby's.

[Deleted]

@jill4

Half an hour.

That was all Clodagh had. Half an hour of daylight. The sun was already getting dangerously close to sunset and she was, understandably, starting to freak out. It wasn't under fault though... Well, not entirely. She'd been meeting with a publisher. She'd sent them a copy of one of her children's stories, and they'd loved it. They wanted to publish it, so she'd had to meet with them to discuss a contract. Then they'd wanted her to meet one of their illustrators about what sort of art to do for it.. .And basically time had escaped her. To make it even worse, she'd been leaving when she saw Aerick, the charming American that made her face turn red and heart flutter irrationally, so she had to duck out of sight before he spotted her. She would have loved to talk to him, but she was already short on time, and she did not want to make an even bigger fool of herself around him then she already did.

She was moving as quickly as possible to try and get back to the Cauldron in time, when she spotted her brother Mannix. Oh. Crap. The sight of her sibling flustered the already incredibly flustered girl enough to trip on one of the cobblestones, and send the manuscript in her arms flying, the pagers scattering across the ground. Her face immediately turned beat red as she scrambled to gather them up. IT would have been faster with magic, obviously, but for some reason logic was thrown out the window whenever she got nervous. All she could hope was to get the pages gathered up, and duck out of sight before her brother spotted her...

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

It wasn't the sound of papers flying through the wind that caught his attention, it was a large flop that sounded like someone hitting the cobblestone. His eccentric, awkward self, still smiling, turned around and looked a bit further down the walkway. Mannix's eyes widened as he saw who it was, his younger sister, Clodagh. Why had she fallen? That seemed like a funny thing to do, especially when it was so cold outside and she had so many things in her arms.

Mannix happily walked over to his younger sister and bent down, picking up some of her photos for her. "Clodagh, why are you on the ground?" He had a pile of papers in his hand and stacked them all together. Clodagh had thankfully gotten the rest of them, and as Mannix looked down he began reading exactly what she had dropped and he grinned wider, giggling. It was one of her stories. "This is an exceptionally bad thing to lose, Clodagh."

[Deleted]

@jill4

Clodagh froze when she heard her brother's voice. Happy as a ray of sunshine, without a care in the world. Her eyes closed momentarily, and she sucked in a sharp breath. "Tripped." She managed to answer as her eyes opened again and she finished gathering up the pages closest to her. He'd retrieved the rest of the script and she glanced up at him just in time to realize he was reading it. Immediately her eyes went wide as saucers and a look of absolute panic replaced the previous blush. "It's not done yet!" Well.. it was actually, but the words just came out naturally. Despite trying to publish her work, Clo had always been self conscious about it, and always panicked when someone read her work, especially in front of her!

Struggling to her feet,the papers in disarray in her arms, she tried to reach for the remaining pages, but almost lost the ones in her arms in the process. Oh dear heavens, she was a mess. His giggling wasn't helping her nerves, and she turned her head to get another update on the sun. It was setting fast. Once sunset started it was usually pretty quick. "I- thanks. Sorry, I'm in a big hurry." She started to say, but she was speaking so quickly her words seemed to meld together and it'd be a miracle if he managed to decipher what she was trying to say.

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

His eyes wide as he listened to her simple response, Mannix shook his head, laughing to himself. What a ditz she was! Always falling and tumbling around. Poor little Clodagh. Mannix grinned widely at his sister. "Tripping isn't fun, you really shouldn't do that anymore! You've just got to walk one foot in front of the other, Clo." His eyes glanced down at her slowly as he stopped reading the words on the page. "It's seems done to me. Also seems quite nice, I'd love to finish reading it, it's rather interesting." She had always been so embarrassed about everything she did, it confused Mannix to no end. Clodagh was a talented woman, he hoped she could see that.

"Goodness you're a mess!" Mannix shook his head, bending over to pick up the papers she had dropped once more. He couldn't ever remember her being such a way as a child, but maybe she always had been and he hadn't realized. There were many papers, and he held a hand up to her. "I'll get them all, Clodagh. Don't want you dropping the rest on the ground." He heard a few words come from her mouth, but they didn't make much sense and Mannix assumed he had either missed a few more or she had been stuttering out different things. Mannix stood up, the smile still visible and tilted his head. "I'm not sure what you said right there, but I'd like to walk you home!"

[Deleted]

@jill4

Clodagh let out a sigh. If only she could stop tripping! If it was that simple, like a switch she could just flip off. Oh, she'd love to get over her total and complete awkwardness and inability to handle the most mundane of human activities without making a fool of herself. As he went on to compliment what he'd read and that he'd like to finish it, she turned an even brighter red with embarrassment, if that was even possible. Apparently it was. "Later, please? Just.... just not here!" Not in front of all these people. Not on the street where anyone could see. Not when she was right there, squirming as he read. And definitely not this close to sunset!

Mannix held out a hand, stopping her from gathering up the pages again, and making it clear he intended to carry them for her because she currently was incapable. It wasn't her fault! She was panicking, and in a hurry! But with him deciding that it meant...

Oh god...

As he so cheerfully explained what she was already dreading that bright red blush vanished, all the color draining from her face. "I-" she started to try and say, but stopped. What was she supposed to say? This was her brother for crying out loud! "It... You don't have too. I-I'm sure you have more important things to do...." She stammered, thankfully she managed to slow down her speech enough to sound like a normal human being. But, knowing her brother, she knew that wouldn't deter him. Taking another glance over her shoulder to check the sun's position, she realize she didn't have time to argue this, and it'd be faster to just accept it. "It's.. it's just the Leaky Cauldron." She finally muttered, admitting where she was going. Thankfully it was just down the street and around the corner. Only a few minutes if they stopped dawdling. And she really, really, needed to stop dawdling.

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

Mannix couldn't help but look around as his sister frantically stated that he couldn't finish reading it here. What in the world was so wrong with here? It was a beautiful place, quite contrary of many other places they could be, and he silently wondered if Clodagh had an issue with the current area they resided. He shrugged, but nodded his head. "Well alright, Clo, I suppose we can go somewhere else to read it." He shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself about her reaction. What a day this was!

Clodagh then mentioned the Leaky Cauldron and Mannix held up the papers. "Ah! Yes! The Leaky Cauldron! Perfect!" He grinned widely, holding his hand out for his sister to begin walking. Mannix went forward and started to speak again. "You haven't need to fret, sweet Clo, we'll be there soon! And don't worry, no more of these words will be seen by my eyes until we're there."

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@jill4

Ugh, Mannix was being.... Well Mannix! And that meant awkward like her, but more..... exciteable. To the point where he sometimes missed social queues. And right now, when Clodagh really was in a hurry? She really wished he wasn't so.... well dense! She really didn't have time to try and sort this out today. "Okay, fine. Somewhere else." She was really, really getting anxious now. She could see a few of the earliest rays of light starting to disappear...

Taking a shaky breath, she took his offered hand. How could he be so.... happy right now when she was freaking out? At least they were moving now though, which put... some of her anxiety at ease. But she really didn't have time to spare, so they couldn't afford to waste any time. "Mannix... please. It.... Now's not the time. I can't... I can't explain right, okay? Can we just... hurry..?"

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

"Good!" He grinned, walking along with his sister, happy as could be. Nothing really bothered Mannix, he was such a happy guy and enjoyed life so much that it would take quite a bit for anything to make him angry or upset. Smiling wider when Clodagh took his hand, if that was even possible, he laughed at her question to hurry. What was she in such a hurry for? He rose an eyebrow at her and scoffed, but keeping the smile on his lips. "Well, you are pushy at night time aren't you? Jeesh!" Mannix stuck the stack of papers inside of his coat and let go of Clodagh. "Fine, I'll race you!" Laughing hysterically, Mannix jumped and started to run off, towards the Leaky Cauldron.

[Deleted]

@jill4

Clodagh let out a deep breath. Her brother's excitement just wasn't good for her current anxiety. Her heart was beating a thousand beats a minute (an exaggeration, obviously but it was still fast.) and she was convinced it'd beat right out of her chest any second. Seeing the daylight disappear.... it was like watching a bomb count down to zero. Also an exaggeration but that was really how she felt. She didn't even know what was going to happen. There was no way to get rid of her brother at this point. He'd notice if she disappeared. He'd ask question. He probably wouldn't even let her disappear on him.

Swallowing she nodded and raced after him, feeling to anxious to even talk. That anxiety was put a little to rest as the cauldron came into sight but heightened as she saw low low the sun was. Minutes, at most.

She'd been running behind him up until then. Somehow she got ahead when they got through the doors and up the stairs, her brother right on her heels. Pushing the door open, she didn't care in that moment that Mannix had come in, or that she slammed it shut behind him. She leaned heavily against the door, her eyes wide and... fearful as she looked at the window as the light started to fade. "Mannix... please... please don't tell anyone..." That's when she felt the first spasm of the transformation and glimanced. She hated this part. Feeling her body betray her, acting against her will.

[Deleted]

@clodagh
<3

The running didn't take very long. They got to The Leaky Cauldron without losing too much energy, and Mannix enjoyed running. Not as much as many other things including finding different magical creatures, but running released good chemicals in the body and made you happy! Not that Mannix could be any more happy than he already was, but Clodagh seemed to need some happiness in her life!

They ran up the stairs into her room, Mannix following right behind. He watched as Clodagh slammed the door behind him. "Woohoo, Clo!" But what shocked him was the tone of her voice, and his eyebrows scrunched up. Don't tell anyone what? His own questioned was answered as he watched his sister. She was...slowly transforming. Smaller and smaller...

[Deleted]

The first time she'd turned into a mouse it had been utterly terrifying. Not understanding what was happening. Her bones shrinking and bending. Dark fur covering her body. Even now, after changing every night for months it was still terrifying. It wasn't what she wanted. How would you like having your body act against your will every single night? And to make it worse she was a mouse. The one who cursed her had probably done that intentionally. Get her as low on the food chain as possible. So just about everything she ran into, including humans, would try to kill her.

Clodagh forced herself to look away from her brother, unable to bear seeing his reaction as he watched her change. The transformation was quick, and once over a petite field mouse remained where Mannix's sister had previously stood.

@jill4

[Deleted]

@clodagh
OOC: If you want to end with your next thread you can <3
<3

A mouse. Quite the contrary, but Mannix would never imagine his sister was an Animagus! And of all things a mouse! But why had she been so nervous about all of this? And running away? He scrunched up at his face as he looked down at the small little mouse on the ground, who looked away from him. Mannix changed his expression to a smile, and he immediately sat on the floor, criss crossing his legs.

"Well, Clo, I will say this is a shock. You're so cute!" Laughing to himself, he held out his hand. It wasn't just magical creatures Mannix liked, he loved almost all creatures. Even those that were half human, considering this one was his little sister. "Come here, would you?!"

[Deleted]

@jill4

Cute?! THAT was his answer? His sister literally just turned into a mouse, obviously against her will, and his reaction was to think she was cute? A mouse! A freaking mouse! Cute! If she were human she might have huffed in frustration and chastised him. But seeing as she wasn't, and she refused to do anything else that he might deem 'cute' she just looked back at her brother, those big eyes not blinking as she stared. This was.... it was so embarrassing. Having her brother see her change. Having him here and not be able to tell him anything. As he asked her to come, she just kept staring, for several moments, before finally inching closer....

The whole night passed by pretty uneventfully. She couldn't tell him anything as a mouse, obviously. Sometime during the night they both fell asleep. And when the sun finally rose, Clo finally changed back. It was... a long morning, to be honest. Explaining everything she could to her brother. About turning into a mouse every night. About it being against her will. About not knowing how to stop it. Obviously there were parts she couldn't explain. Things the curse prevented her from sharing, but he got the gist of it.

And thus a second person learned Clodagh's secret.

(eeeend.)