Wandering (Nagini)

[neville]

It was a wet, rainy day outside. While most Hogwarts students were taking shelter inside the castle, Neville was doing exactly the opposite. You see, rainy weather was a happy occasion for Herbology nerds like Neville. Some rare plants were very hard to spot unless they were wet. Since Neville couldn't just dump water on everything as he went along searching, rain was the best thing.

So after classes were over for the day Neville climbed the stairs to Gryffindor tower and entered the common room. Of course, Dean Thomas had given him the password, because he had forgotten. Once he was in the common room Neville ran up to the boy's dormitory, threw his books onto his bed and quickly pulled out his bright yellow raincoat from his trunk. He hurried back down toward the front doors of the castle, afraid that the rain would stop if he wasn't quick enough.

Once Neville was outside he put on his bright yellow raincoat, earning snickers from a few Slytherian girls. He would have normally been bothered by this, but today he had to hurry and look for plants. Neville headed toward the Forbidden Forest, deciding that it was the best place to start. He made sure to look out at the grounds before he entered the forest; it was called the Forbidden Forest for a reason. Once he saw that the coast was clear he pushed aside some undergrowth and dove into the forest, determined to find some plants that would earn him some good marks in Herbology. What Neville didn't consider, however, is that other things were hidden inside the forest besides rare plants.

[nagini]

And I wished he would come back

For he seemed to me again like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true] NOW CROWNED AGAIN ! Nagini was not particularly fond of the rain. It dampened the smells around her and made the earth whisper beneath her scales. as though the land itself moved with her. Worse, it brought with it a certain chill that, despite her ability to live even if she got to cold, was never comfortable for her. Opting to abandon any hunting for this evening, Nagini ate a rat she had holed away for just such an occasion, and found herself a place to coil up tightly and stay as dry and warm as possible. She had just tucked her nose amongst the coils when she felt the rumblings along the forest floor that indicated a lumbering creature was drawing near. Uncoiling herself slightly, Nagini raised her head over top of her tree-root roof to see what sort of beast was headed her way, in case she had to flee it. What she found was a human, crouched down amid the tree roots and picking away at the rabbit food growing at its banks. Curious about the man creature, as very few wandered out this way, Nagini slithered a bit closer, carefully creeping up to taste his scent. He was of wilderness and man, this one. Covered in the scents of earth and rain, even his human smell was muskier and more natural than those humans she often found herself with. They rolled in something stinky those females, and the males were no better. The stink varied among them all, but there were very few without it. Her Master had told her it was a human custom, to mask ones scent with something attractive to the other sex. Nagini had told him that humans are attracted to corpse flowers. She liked this human though - he reminded her of the Master, before the sickness took hold, before he disappeared and returned. This was a good human, one with ground magic, and she wondered if he, like her Master, could hear her. Raising her head, Nagini called out a greeting to the boy, hoping he would know her words. It would be nice to have a human to talk to while she waited about here in the forest. She'd grown rather used to it, after all these years. It was to the point speaking with her own kin felt odd at times. Tag: Neville Longbottom

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[neville]

Too absorbed in his little scavenger hunt, Neville did not notice how far he had traveled into the forest until he stopped to look up at the trees. They leafy canopy over head was very dense, and barely any rain was coming through into the forest. No wonder Neville wasn't getting pelted with rain anymore. He had never come this far into the forest before. Well, maybe once. It was in his first year for detention, but that had been against his free will.

Neville was just about to walk back the way he had come when he noticed something; a small, shiny green plant up against the base of the tree. In an instant he was on his hands and knees, digging in the dirt, trying to uncover the plant. He was almost done digging the whole plant out when he heard something... was it the wind? He kept digging, but then it was louder and more... inhuman. Neville abandoned his digging and slowly turned around. There, right in front of him, was a long, green snake. Its head was raised, and it was looking directly at Neville.

Neville's first thought inside his head was to run away, screaming at the top of his lungs. But instead, Neville stayed on the ground, his eyes locked with the snake's. Running away wouldn't do him any good; it would probably just chase after him. So Neville stayed as still as possible, hoping the snake would think he was sunflower or something. He was wearing bright yellow, after all. And he had brown hair. Of course he could pass as one in the eyes of a snake.

But would a snake normally hiss at a flower? Neville didn't think so. The way the snake was looking and hissing at him though... wait a second... If it knew Neville was a human then it would have attacked or ran away already. But it kept hissing the same thing over and over again, as though repeating something to him. Was it trying to get his attention? Was it trying to say hello? Neville mentally smacked himself; snake's couldn't greet people! But, still...

Neville slowly raised his hand, watching closely to see if the snake would tense up. When the snake didn't, he moved his hand back and fourth. He was waving at the snake.

[nagini]

And I wished he would come back

For he seemed to me again like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true] NOW CROWNED AGAIN ! Nagini waited for the human to notice her, calling out again when he failed to do so, and watching as he turned around slowly, as though not knowing what to expect. Nagini thought perhaps that this human had indeed understood her call and was wondering what had spoken. When the boy finally took note of her, Nagini instantly noted his change in scent went to fear. The snake lowered her head a bit to appear a bit less like she was going to strike, feeling an odd twist inside her she had no name for. Had she been human, Nagini would have recognized the cruel sting of disappointment. She could not help but give one more try - after years of talking with Tom, Nagini often tested other humans to see what sort of things they would have to say. This little earth-flavored two-legger seemed uneasy, but when he moved it wasn't to chase her off or run away himself, which was the usual course of action for humans not tied to her Tom to take upon seeing her. Instead, the boy's hand rose and moved in a swaying motion Nagini recognized as a human form of greeting. Pleased by this, but starting to see this human did not understand her in her true language, Nagini communicated the only way she knew how, when dealing with deaf two-leggers. Raising her head again, Nagini dipped it twice as though 'nodding' to Neville. This was her way of trying to say that yes, she had said hello and understood he was saying it back to her. Flattening herself back to the ground, Nagini wondered what more she could say to the boy. She liked his scent, and it was nice to be near a human again even if he couldn't understand her. As though to make up her mind for her, a cold wind blew through the forest, making Nagini most unhappy. Moving forward slowly so as not to alarm him, Nagini settled herself by the human's side, using him as a shield from the wind, and his personal heat to warm herself. Tag: Neville Longbottom

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[neville]

Neville knew he was acting ridiculous. Waving to a snake? Was all of that pumpkin juice he had drank this morning going to his head? Snakes couldn’t talk. Snakes couldn’t interact with humans. But snakes could bite. And he should have been running for his life. But still, he waved, acting like a complete idiot while doing so.

Then, unable to believe his eyes, the snake started to raise his head. Or, her head? Neville couldn’t be sure what gender the snake was. Still the snake raised its head and slowly nodded back and forth at Neville.

If he wasn’t already kneeling, Neville probably would have fallen over from shock. There was no other explanation; this snake was trying to talk to him. What else would it be doing? It had hissed at him, and had nodded. Snakes definitely didn’t not. But this one had…

Neville was just mulling over what to do next when a cold breeze stirred the forest air. Shivering, Neville wrapped his arms around his damp raincoat, wishing he had worn a sweater underneath. When he looked back down, the snake was slithering towards him. Neville tensed up, not daring to move a muscle. Was the snake going away? Was it sick of Neville already?

No, instead the snake curled up beside Neville, using his body heat as some sort of furnace. He should have been terrified. He should have pulled out his wand and hexed the snake on the spot. But here’s the thing, Neville wasn’t as scared as he should have been. It actually felt strangely soothing to be this close to the snake. He also felt giddy knowing that the snake had taken a liking to him. “So…” Neville mumbled, looking down at the green reptile. “You’re really smart, right? Well, can you understand what I’m saying? Sorry to say, but I had no idea what you were saying before.”

[nagini]

\

And I wished he would come back

For he seemed to me again like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true] NOW CROWNED AGAIN ! Nagini felt a small surge of something in her mind - a feeling that had once been alien, but was now a frequent part of her since her master had change her. She had learned the name of this surge from her master - it was smugness, pleasure found from ones own predictions. She had sensed this earth-scented human was different from others of his kind, regardless of whether or not he could speak to her. He had proved it by waving, and proved it further by allowing her to settle close to him for warmth. Pleased with her earth-boy, Nagini coiled up tighter beside him, and was rewarded by the thunder of his man-voice. She had learned to interpret many human sounds before she had been changed, but after it she found she could 'hear' humans inside her mind, as though their thunder translated within her and granted Nagini the understanding of everything they said, whether they spoke the tongue or not. This proved very interesting when she had first discovered it and lead to a lot of snakey-headaches for a very long time before she managed to cope with the change. Learning to understand human words had been a sudden and confusing side-effect of whatever the Master had done to her, but though she could understand words, sometimes concepts and ideas escaped her, proving the language barrier still remained in some senses. Lifting her head, Nagini nodded, as she knew for a fact she was much smarter than her fellow snakes. When he asked if she understood him, Nagini nodded again. The next part was a little more difficult. He was sorry - a concept Nagini still had trouble fully understanding - and his words weren't yes or no. So, Nagini shook her head no anyway, to show it was okay he had not understood her, and hissed slightly to try and tell him as such before remembering she could scream at a human and they would still be deaf. So, Nagini rested her head in the earth-boys lap, as she did with her master and her hatchling-humans, to show she was pleased and content in their presence. Tag: Neville Longbottom

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[neville]

"Oh, well that's good that you can understand me," Neville muttered a little nervously, wondering if the snake was already forming opinions about him in its head. He wondered how smart the snake really was. Besides being able to talk to him, could the snake read? Or did it have a name? Could it brew potions? If it could, then it would be a live-saver during Neville's next Potions Class. Wait, now he was being silly. Snakes couldn’t be that smart. But he never could be certain. His little green friend was full of surprises, and he was curious to discover what it would do next.

Surprisingly, Neville didn't tense up when the snake rested its green head onto his lap. Neville even enjoyed the snake's company a little. The snake was easier to talk to than humans. It wasn’t insulting him, or calling him mean names like “S’longbottom,” a name that some kids had taken to calling him lately. Instead, the snake just seemed to enjoy his presence, and Neville was the same. Slowly and cautiously, he raised his hand and rested it on the snake's neck. Well, he thought it was the snake's neck, but he couldn't be sure. Its whole body looked like its neck. "You're really nice, you know that?" Neville said, looking down at the snake and smiling. His plant search was completely forgotten at this point, and he hadn't even noticed it was no longer raining. "Do you have a name?" Neville asked suddenly, honestly curious.

(OOC: About the S’longbottom thing, I honestly couldn’t help myself. xD And AHHH this is so short I hate it but my muse it dead, sorry. -.-)

[/blockquote]

[nagini]

And I wished he would come back

For he seemed to me again like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,10,true] NOW CROWNED AGAIN ! Nagini gave one of the soft hissing sounds she had learned to create for Reaper, a long and soft sound that was a bit alien on a snake, but was somehow oddly soothing. She had crafted the sound while Reaper had been very young, as a way of communicating comfort whenever he fell or stumbled while terrorizing around as a toddler. She opted for the sound because she could sense the boy was nervously accepting of her, with a slight scent of sadness. She knew that scent and disliked it, as it usually meant something bad had happened to a hatchling. Nagini was quite pleased when Neville laid a hand on her, and she wriggled forward a bit, then back before settling in under his hand, communicating she was rather fond of being stroked. As Neville asked her another question, Nagini was pleased to translate what it meant. From what the snake could tell, the human boy was as fond of her as she was of him, which was a good feeling. It meant she might not have to be alone the whole time she watched the great stone nest where the humans dwelled. Upon the second question, Nagini raised her head from Neville's lap and dipped it twice to indicate that she did have a name. How she would communicate to him what it was, left her in a bit of a trick. Thinking on some of the ways she communicated with Reaper, Nagini realized she had no way to tell what her name was - it had to be spoken by a human for a human to know it. That didn't mean she could not communicate a question of her own though. Stretching her neck forward, Nagini nudged Neville in the chest twice with her nose, before leaning back to look at him, her tail curving on the ground into the symbol Reaper had shown her, meaning 'to question'. Nagini was uncertain if the boy would understand, but it would please her to know the name of the earthen hatchling whom she now kept company with. Tag: Neville Longbottom Notes: I loved it! XD I lawled <3

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