metamorphmaga | hunting unicorns

As spring approaches and the snow begins to melt, Jenny and Emma take to spending their free afternoons outside, practicing flying or doing homework on the lawn or just generally enjoying the sunshine. Their spot of choice is not, as such things go, all that far from the forest, and for Jenny it becomes something of a game: see if you can spot a unicorn. She never does, but she never gives up hope. Someday.

After about a month of this, Emma decides to leave the lawn early- she's finished her letter to her parents, and wants to drop it at the Owlery- so Jenny is left to her own devices. Bored, she examines the forest. It's only supposed to be unsafe at night, right? It won't hurt to go wander around a little in search of unicorns. She won't go very far.

And if she's lucky- unicorns.

Half an hour later, Jenny is deeply regretting her idea. She is completely lost, and the forest has gotten much darker and gloomier. She would go back, if she had any idea where to go. She's taken to making little piles of rocks, to attempt to mark her way; unfortunately, so far all this has told her is that she is definitely going in a circle.

The next time she re-encounters a pile, she branches out to the left instead. She's pretty sure she came from that direction, so maybe-

Cold.

Jenny is friends with Miranda. Miranda has been compulsively researching Dementors all year; she knows what it means, this cold, the screaming terror. But it's so much worse than anything ever, ever said it would be. She's frozen to the spot, unable to move, brain screaming in terror.

And then the Dementor appears. Slowly but visibly, it approaches her. Is it bigger than the books said they should be? She thinks it is. It's already looming and it's not even close.

Frantically, crazy with fear, Jenny does the only thing she can think of- she shifts away her mouth.

The Dementor stops, seeming to hover in place. Jenny stays frozen in place. The Dementor doesn't seem to be planning to Kiss her... but it's not moving, either, and she's still stuck.

Oh, God. Now what?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

metamorphmaga

"...noooo." Shiver.

From:

chanuphis

Pat, pat. "You're probably positively sick of the stuff now. Do you want us to sneak you some green beans and eggs and toast?"

From:

metamorphmaga

Tiny smile. "Sick? Of chocolate?"

From:

parental_guidance

"Never," Emma says with an encouraging nudge. Jenny smiles! She approves of Jenny smiles.

From:

metamorphmaga

Jenny cuddles back into the Emma/Karen pile in response. To Miranda, she adds, "Thanks, that's sweet. It's still chocolate, but... something different would be nice. If it's not a big deal to grab something."

From:

chanuphis

"I'll see what I can do - it might not be hot food, though, probably a lot easier to wrap a muffin in a napkin and put it in my sleeve."

From:

metamorphmaga

"That's fine. You're already being nice and bringing me things."

From:

pleating

"I wouldn't stop eating chocolate a minute sooner than I had to, I don't know where Miranda's coming from talking about green beans."

From:

metamorphmaga

"The chocolate is pretty great!"

From:

pleating

"And you have a medical excuse. Chow down."

From:

metamorphmaga

Jenny does, in fact, chow down. She's still much more subdued than usual, but the chocolate and the hugs/knee pats are definitely helping.

"So are you all famous now?" she asks Miranda once she finishes her latest chocolate bar.

From:

chanuphis

"We're not supposed to tell reporters or anybody who might, but I bet it gets out sooner or later. Any ideas on cool media names for me?"

From:

metamorphmaga

"Dementor Killer? Mighty Rescuer?" She suddenly grins. "If you were still in Australia, you'd be a rescuer down under!"

From:

parental_guidance

"A what...?"

From:

witch_please

"Beats me."

From:

chanuphis

"Yeah, uh, huh?"

From:

metamorphmaga

"Awww, really? No one? It's a kid's movie, it's got cute talking mice and stuff."

From:

parental_guidance

"Sorry... I mean, I don't even know how to get a movie to play."

She knows what they are by now, courtesy of Jenny, but technology is still rather beyond her.

From:

pleating

"A movie is like a... photograph with a plot?"

From:

chanuphis

"Yeah, I've seen movies, just not that one."

From:

metamorphmaga

"The mice travel all over the world to rescue people! And in that one they go to Australia to rescue a boy from a hunter, and so they are Rescuers, who are Down Under."

From:

chanuphis

"How do mice rescue anybody?"

From:

metamorphmaga

"Mostly by getting larger animals to help. Birds a lot, for some reason, there were eagles and some big white birds. But, I mean, also movie stuff. Pulling tricks on people?"