Re: The Whomping Willow

**Krasimir Svetkova** December 6th 2010, 1:54 am

"Haunted, huh?" Krasimir looks quite interested. In fact, he was. He loves haunted houses. Ever since he was a boy, in fact. Imagine the happy look that crossed his face when he saw his first real ghost! "Maybe I'll have to check it out sometime. Even if it isn't all that interesting."

Jesse St. James December 6th 2010, 2:15 am

Fred chuckled. "I'm sure you'll find it interesting if you're into that type of thing," he says, smiling at Kras' expression. "I guess it was sort of cool the first time George and I explored it, but after six years of being here it's sort of lost its novelty."

**Krasimir Svetkova** December 6th 2010, 2:21 am

"I suppose that vould happen, but I think it'll be vorth checking it out at least vonce." Krasimir totally makes a mental note to do that now. Maybe he'd ask Viktor to come along with him. Viktor was adventurous.

Jesse St. James December 6th 2010, 2:25 am

"I suppose it is. Wouldn't go alone if I were you, of course. It's a lot better if you go with a friend," he says with a nod because he can't imagine doing anything without George, and now that his twin is home sick, he's had Alicia replace him and wouldn't want to do anything big without her being there with him.

**Krasimir Svetkova** December 6th 2010, 3:38 am

OMG OMG OMG I'M SORRY!!!! I FORGOT TO REPLY. AHHHHH!!! *flails*

"I'll definitely find a friend to take along then." Krasimir nods, deciding he will ask Viktor to see if he'd like to come along. He shivers, pulling his jacket tighter around him. "I think I'm going to head inside. It's time for something warm to drink, plus I should get this fixed up." he points to the cut on his forehead. "It was nice meeting you, Fred."

Jesse St. James December 6th 2010, 3:41 am

hehehe *got distracted by SPN anyway* XD

"Yeah, Pomfrey should be able to help with that if you want to have her look at it," he says to be helpful, though it doesn't look too bad. Kras should be fine. "Nice meeting you too, Kras. See you around." And with one last smile he turns and walks back to his common room to go plot and such.

**Krasimir Svetkova** December 6th 2010, 4:01 am

Hehe.

Kras ~~skips~~ heads off to the hospital wing then back to his dorm.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 2:16 am

Lily is here, standing just out of reach of the waving arms of the Whomping Willow, looking at it curiously. She's never quite figured out why such a dangerous thing would be in the middle of a school, she remembers back in first year when Benjy Fenwick almost lost an eye thanks to one of those branches... Pulling her bare hands back into the folds of her cloak to protect them from the chill, Lily begins to circle it slowly.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 2:21 am

James was out strolling the grounds as he liked to do whenever he wasn't raiding the kitchens or practicing Quidditch. The sun was just starting to fall, the early evening setting in and bringing the wind's bite along with it. He glanced up the hill toward the Whomping Willow, when suddenly he noticed someone standing there that cause a smile to stretch across his face. He'd know that flowing red hair anywhere. Walking up behind her, but not too close in case she's holding a mallet or something, he stops and crosses his arms, following her gaze up toward the tree. "Wouldn't step much closer if I were you. You can hit good, but that tree can definitely hit better." He grimaced a little, remembering once a few years ago when Peter hadn't properly gotten to the knob and James had taken a confident step forward too soon, ending in a branch to the stomach for him, and a few broken ribs. Not a particularly fun week after that.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 2:27 am

Lily doesn't even bother turning around; she'd know that voice anywhere, bane of her existence that it is. "I'm aware of that, Potter," she says coolly, continuing to study the tree. The branches wave menacingly at her, but Lily pays them no mind; she is out of reach. "It's weird," she mutters aloud, because she likes thinking things through aloud and she can't help herself, even though she logically knows it's probably only going to encourage Potter and she would do better to remain silent. "Why is it here? It's not that old; can't have been here much longer than we have... why would Dumbledore put it here?"

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 2:37 am

James smirked at her answer, taking a few steps to stand beside her. Though, not right beside her. He's not dumb. James cleverly left just enough space between them that he is out of arm's reach, which is good enough, because he can't see anything in her hands at the moment, and that's always comforting ever since that one day in the potions room. He shrugged at her question, though it wasn't directed at him to answer, persay. That didn't stop him from doing so. "Well, you know old Dumbledore. Always doing things for his own secret reasons, nevermind if we get it or not." He couldn't tell her it was because of the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack, the one that he and the Marauders unfortunately had to use monthly to help take care of their dear friend Remus. Lily didn't know about Remus as far as James knew, and he'd sworn since he found out to keep his friend's secret. And he would never betray his friends.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 2:48 am

Lily spares half a second for an irritated glance at Potter, who clearly has employed the same tactics of minimum safe distance as she has with the Willow. "Exactly, but it has to be a pretty important reason, for him to go sticking something so ridiculously dangerous in the middle of the grounds, so what is it?" she wonders, her green eyes fixing keenly on every detail. She takes a few absent steps to the side to get a more rounded view, inadvertently taking her nearer her stalker. She thinks she sees a strange shadow at the base of the tree and she frowns, zeroing in on it.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 3:03 am

James shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I dunno. I'm sure you'll figure something out." And in fact that was exactly what he feared, that Lily would figure out exactly the purpose of the tree and how the passage beneath it was there and where it led to and who used it every month and why. He knew she was smart and he knew that once she wondered about something, she would keep on thinking until she worked out the answer. He just wondered how long that would take. Lost in his thoughts and worries, he hadn't noticed as she had taken a few steps toward him, staring intently at something on the tree. Laughing slightly at her extreme concentration and calculating stare, he spoke up. "Not sure you can use Legilimency on a tree, Evans, but a valiant effort none the less."

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 3:13 am

"I'm sure the tree has more of a mind to read than you do, Potter," Lily returns, but her voice is distracted and lacking the usual heat. She chews her lip and leans forward as far as she dares towards the shadowy spot. "It's almost like there's a... hole." Her mind whirs and ticks over as she weighs up the evidence. A hole in the ground, and a tree so dangerous that nobody can get close to it... "It's a tunnel, I think!" she declares.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 3:19 am

"Oh, harsh, Evans. You really can't think I'm that stupid, can you?" He pauses. "Don't answer that." He knew exactly what she thought of him, though he hated she felt that way. James's stomach clenches a bit as she noted that it was a hole, then deducing that it must be protecting a tunnel. He looked at the back of her head, a little alarmed by what she was already putting together about the tree, but smoothed his expression over with ease and calmed himself down. "So some stupid badger or fox or something has built a home down there, so what?" He notices where she's leaned forward to, just a foot or two closer than before, but that was enough. James and the other Marauders knew the perimeter of this tree's reach better than anyone, and he knew Lily had moved a little too close. He reached out and touched her elbow, tugging her back a little bit. Sure she was rude to him, but he quite cared for her and didn't want her getting hit by the Willow.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 3:27 am

Lily's mouth is already opening to answer that, but she snaps it shut as he retracts the question. Well, as long as he already knows. She's so caught up in her musings that she hasn't really noticed herself creeping just a bit too close, and the way one of the largest branches of the tree is groaning slowly into action to crush her. "No, don't be stupid; even if a fox or a badger could move quick enough to get in there, they wouldn't build a nest there. Their young would be too unsafe." Then she feels his hand on her elbow, tugging her backwards. She spins around to remove his testicles forcibly from his body with her boot, but before she can speak or kick, a rush of air passes within centimetres of her and she feels the ground tremble as the branch slams into it. Her eyes wide, she stares at Potter, who has essentially just saved her one helluva headache.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 3:37 am

James hardly blinked as the branch pounded into the ground, something he was so used to by now that it didn't bother him much. A smirk spread across his face as he noticed her change in expression, one of rage to one of realization. "You're welcome." He looked back at the tree again, staring at the tunnel that he and his friends had climbed down into time and time again. "Alright so maybe it's not a fox or a badger. But something's got to live in there or else it's just an empty hole, and that's pretty useless if you ask me. Not like anything could get close enough to dig it. Maybe it's just a sinkhole." James knew it was a stupid suggestion, but he was desperate to get her further from figuring it out. Perhaps he'd simply have to distract her. Wheels in his head started turning, and as nice as a good snog sounded, he valued his life more than the tunnel's secret, so he'd have to figure out an alternate plan.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 3:44 am

Lily stares for several long seconds. "Thank you," she finally says, before she whips about, long hair flying around her, and refocuses her gaze on the hole she's found because she doesn't want to see that infuriating smirk. Better to just pretend that the last ten seconds never happened. "That makes no sense, though. It's got to be a tunnel, it looks like it might even be big enough to fit a person; the tree is a guard, I'm telling you," she insists. She looks around for more clues, still thinking thinking thinking and ignoring the presence of the male standing by her as best she can. "And that means, there's got to be some way to stop the tree - freeze it or move it or something."

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 4:07 am

James dodges his head a little to the side, to avoid being whipped in the face by Lily's flying hair. He listened to her theories, getting more and more nervous as she talks, because the more she says, the closer she gets to having it all figured out. Does she have to be so damn smart all the time? James is legitimately worried now, not just because she's asking about the tree, but because of Remus. What if she figures it out? What happens then? He honestly had no idea. "Oh, sure. I'm positive the Whomping Willow would just love people shooting a few spells at it to make it still. Go on, try it, hit it with an impedimentia, locomotor mortis. Let's just see how great a great hulking mass of killer foliage likes our little sticks being waved at it." He spoke good naturedly despite the biting nature of his words.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 4:17 am

Lily turns her head to stare incredulously at Potter. She has to admit, she's a little surprised by the way he challenges her thought processes. "Potter, were you dropped on your head as a child more times than I'd assumed? Why would I use Locomotor Mortis, the leg-locking curse, on a tree? It has no legs," she says, very slowly because she's concerned he won't keep up with the lesson if she moves too fast. "Hmm, what about..." she whips her wand out from inside her robe pocket and points it at the waving branches of the Willow. "Immobulus!" And since Mya is lazy and going with the movie version of events instead of looking around for a rock or a cat to throw at the knot, the tree freezes. "Told you," she says, an air of cold triumph about her.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 4:24 am

James simply blinks back at her, smirking and shaking his head as she talks slowly at him. "Well, legs are limbs, and branches are limbs. Why not?" It made perfect sense to James. He glances back at the tree as she takes her wanted out, hoping rather desperately that nothing will happen no matter what she tries. Childishly, he crosses his fingers in his pockets, holding his breath as she flourishes her wand. Ah, shit. It worked. I'll have to remember that though, instead of waiting for Petter to get up the courage to scamper over there to that stupid knot. "Yeah, yeah. Okay so maybe it can be frozen and there's a big giant hole, but it doesn't mean the spell will stick and it definitely doesn't mean we should go poking around in that hole. I don't want to have to pick up your brains off the grass when the Willow bashes it in, because heaven knows there are a lot of them."

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 4:32 am

"Guess I'll just have to be quick, then," Lily says, smirking with the residual satisfaction of her success and the way Potter looks both surprised and just a little frightened. Really, she'd thought he had stronger nerves than that. "Oh well, see you 'round Potter. Unfortunately," she adds. She glances at the tree for a second, making sure it really has remained frozen, then dashes across the slight smattering of snow towards the hole. Out of the corner of her eye, she spots a tiny flash of movement as the tree begins to come back to life, and she does not hesitate. Lily slips into the hole, sliding down a small dirt chute and landing in a dark tunnel. She reaches for her wand again, lighting the tip and wondering if Potter will follow, or if she's free of him for now. She straightens up; she's only just short enough to fit and she can see down the passage that she'll have to crouch, and steels herself to follow the tunnel to the end.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 4:42 am

James rolled his head back on his neck, groaning slightly as she took off toward the trunk. He takes off after her, looking up nervously because he knows the tree only stays still for a few minutes before it comes back with a vengeance. And right on cue, it starts moving again. Luckily, Lily saw it and jumped into the hole, and James rushed after her, nowhere else to go. Losing his footing right at the edge, he slipped and slid his way down into the tunnel, catching himself at the bottom and springing back to his feet. The entrance to the tunnel was wide, just enough for him to stand, but as Lily had already noticed, it grew much smaller further down, which was just great for the others in their canine and rodent forms, but not exactly easy for a fully grown stag to prance down. Poor James always traveled the tunnel crouched over in human form. He brushed some dirt off the front of his shirt. "Meant to do that." He reached up and ran his hand through his hair, tugging his wand from his pocket, he lit it, looking around at the familiar wall, relieved that he didn't let Peter carve their names on the walls like he'd wanted to that one day.

**Lily Evans** February 5th 2011, 4:50 am

Lily sighs, not even bothering to turn around as Potter blunders down the slope after her. "Sure you did, Potter. Well, come on then," she sighs, because it's not like she can just send him back where he came from. Well, she could, and hope for the best that he can't get his wand out in time to immobilize the tree, but then Dumbledore would have questions if they found his body splattered all over, and she's probably out of bounds right now. She starts off down the tunnel, trying to ignore Potter behind her, her eyes keeping a sharp lookout for any changes and making sure she doesn't hit her head on any of the pieces of rock that jut out from the tunnel walls and ceiling. The tunnel shrinks as she goes on and Lily sighs, crouching over and wrinkling her nose because she's essentially now sticking her butt out while the cretin of her worst nightmares follows along right behind. She moves quickly, not wanting to be in this position for a minute longer than she has to.

**James Potter** February 5th 2011, 5:12 am

James reached out for her, but she had already started moving down the tunnel. He was going to offer to go first, one so that if there were spider webs, he would get the face full of them rather than her, and two so that she wouldn't have to wiggle her butt in his face and expect him to not look at it. But she went on ahead, and all he could do was follow behind her, attempting to look around past her or at the ground, feeling a bit guilty looking at her butt for too long. James almost speaks up that it takes a sharp turn just ahead, but holds his tongue, realizing that his knowledge of the turn would betray the fact that he'd been in here before. He knew he had to play along as if he were just exploring it for the first time with her. Suddenly he reached out, grabbing her shoulder lightly. "Oh, look out." A large rock was sticking out of the wall, this one with a particularly razor sharp edge on it that he'd cut his arm on countless times before. You never thought you were as close as you actually were, and didn't realize it until it was much too late. She might've been fine, but regardless he didn't want her hurt.

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