By the lake

5:31 AM Saturday

The usually lazy Elizabeth Lyonheart never woke up this early in the weekends, on the contrary, she'd often find herself wake up at around three in the afternoon seeing her bed all messed up as though people have tried to ransack her room but today was an exemption. Adonis, her ferret, had ran off and she had been looking for him everywhere. That bloody thing, it had been missing for the few days that have passed and when she found him one evening, Kratos was exceptionally loving to her but then he decided to run off again.

"Bloody thing." She muttered as she continued to search for the little thing as her messenger bag was secured on her arm.

As Elizabeth's thoughts ran wild, her feet led her to the lake. Ah, the beautiful putrid lake. It was so beautiful--it was disgusting. As she ventured near she heard little whimpers and as she inspected the lake closer she found her beloved ferret nuzzling with--another ferret with--oh my something else.

"Well I'll be damned. My ferret's a father." Elizabeth murmured as she sat down across the small family of ferrets as she observed them silently, thoughts of torture and pain currently at the back of her mind.

No one should be outside at 5:31 am. That was the time that was blinking on Elijah Krum’s watch which lay strewn across the grass near the lake. One would expect to find the 6’0 fifteen year old curled up around the balls of paper and sketches which lay around on the grass but instead there was a fully grown Siberian tiger lounging on the green without a care in the world. It was deep in sleep and didn’t look as if it was ready to wake up but no doubt it would stir in a while.

Elijah had been given the night time rounds and had been sent off to look for students who had decided to break the rules. He’d ended up by the lake and had spent a while sketching and had really started to lose track of time. He’d gone for a run in his Animagus form but that was it, afterwards he’d wandered back and had fallen asleep. He’d not intended to spend the night outside but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant or uncomfortable. The grass had gotten a bit dewy but apart from that it was comfortable enough.

He began to stir as he heard some sort of noise. This wasn’t something he would have been able to pick up from a distance in his mother form but of course, as a feline he was able to hear it. This didn’t stop Elijah from wondering if he could have heard it anyway though. His magic liked felines quite a bit so what was stopping him. The cat got to its feet and shook its fur before making its way towards the sound. Elijah pushed his nose through some grass and found a small family of ferrets doing god knows what. He frowned a little and heard a voice that rang out clear. He glanced up and saw a student there looking at the ferrets.

Elizabeth was enjoying her time and in solitude as Adonis moved swiftly from his family and went towards her and hopped unto her lap. A small smile etched across her doll-like features and smiled, she just loved it when her little ferret just went all lovable on her, it made her think about Claudia and Evanette, she wondered how they were doing.

Her small hands continued petting Adonis and pondered about the possibilities that lie ahead of her as an individual in the Wizarding society. What path should she choose, and where did her loyalties really lie? As a pure blood, her opinions led people to either hate her or like her for it. She wasn't prejudiced. She doesn't love muggle-borns, doesn't hate them either, thus this what made a few of her own people from her clan be inspired and follow her road although she doesn't blame pure bloods for hating them either. She sighed and closed her eyes as she continued to pet Adonis which was when she heard not really realizing that she was being watched.

She was happy for her little boy though, he finally got himself a family! Smiling to herself she placed him down and scooted nearer, cupping her cheeks whilst resting her elbows on her legs, thinking about what to name her new little pretties.

Elijah decided right then and there that he hated ferrets. The bloody things looked weird and they even sounded irritating. It reminded him why he didn’t get pets often. He stuck to cats because his magic loved them and snake(s) because Nachash wasn’t someone you could be rid of. Elijah growled at the little animals and lifted a paw off of the floor to cover his mouth in an almost human-like action. He put his paw back down on the grasp and looked up at the girl again. He didn’t know why she liked Ferrets. It was beyond him. Although one could ask why he liked cats but he didn’t have an answer for that one – he doubted he ever would. Ferrets were just weird.

Elijah settled himself down and put his head on his paws. His tail flicked in the air as he watched the girl. A ferret scampered into his line of vision and he batted the strange creature away with his paw. He hissed at it and laid his head back down on his paws again. Eli closed his eyes and decided to wait for the girl to realise he was there. No one could rightly miss a tiger of his size unless they were blind or just stupid.

These were the moments in her life where she considered sacred. Sure they were just ferrets having kids but still, the reason why she absolutely adored them was due to the sentimental value they held for Elizabeth. Claudia and Evanette had always told her she was just as active as one at times, not to mention they tend to get really lazy as well, some of the many attributes she possessed. They gave it to her two years ago, during her birthday or during some other random special event that she forgot and she just took care of Adonis ever since.

She was about to get up but that's when she heard a growl. Her eyes widened for a moment and she stopped breathing. What in Merlin's name was that?! She looked around scared, yes as she didn't want to move, she was frozen on the spot and when she saw a tail flicking in the air, her eyes went just as wide.

"What the..." Elizabeth slowly got up and saw an adult Siberian Tiger and furrowed her brows. "Who are you?" Were the first three words that sprung to her mind.