What was that (Mio)

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia was walking through the forest as she normally did during the evenings when she wanted to get away from all the loud noises and riff raff of the castle. She saw a big tree and decided to climb it. She got about 10 feet off the ground and she almost slipped. She quickly grabbed a thick broach and wrapped her legs around the trunk to keep from hurtling to the ground. After a few seconds of unrelenting fear that eventually did in fact relent, she began climbing again. She was maybe 7 or so feet of the ground now, thanks to her little journey down the tree trunk. After a few minutes of enjoying the peace and quiet, she heard a sound. She looked around and didnt see anything at first. She jumped down from her branch and landed in a low crouch and looked around some more. Just then, she came face to... well... chest with an older boy.

[Endymion Snape]

A large feline was making its way through the forest, chasing after animals, but never killing any. Mio wasn't here because he was hungry. he simply had wanted to get away from everything and transfiguring into the powerful leopard was his way of leaving everything behind. It was a pity that his friends could not go running with him today, but they where busy somewhere else. He came to an abrupt halt, when he scented a human close by and he quickly prowled closer. It was some Hufflepuff girl that was climbing a tree and for a moment, Mio wondered if she had a death wish. When he saw that she was about to jump back off, he turned back into his human form and approach her. "You shouldn't be out here alone. Death Eaters are everywhere these days." he told her, looking around to see if anyone was close by.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia looked up at the boy and took a step back realizing she was still just a few mere inches from his chest, "I guess you are right." She said in her french accent, "How do I know you are not a death eater?" She asked staring up into his dark brown eyes

[Endymion Snape]

Mio chuckled at that and shrugged at her. "You won't." he said simply with a slightly crooked smirk. "I could be a death eater and out to kill innocent little Hufflepuff's like you." Mio continued on, slowly advancing on her, the amused smirk still in place.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia giggled softly, "Well if that was the case you would have killed me already. Or at least began to torture me before killing me. Isnt that right?" She said softly, "Im Sophia. Sophia Mckinnon." She noticed he advanced on her so she took a step back and ended up against the trunk of a tree

[Endymion Snape]

Mio crooked his head to the side while he pondered her words and shrugged. "I guess you're right. Then again, I don't pretend to know what goes on in the head of death eaters." he snorted and shook his head. "Haven't seen you around before ... I'm Mio, erm ... Endymion ... Snape, but everyone calls me Mio, or Snape when we don't get along." he told her.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia froze at the mention of his last name, "Snape... I met your sister Violet. She kind of yelled at me... made me cry a bit..." She said biting her lip gently

[Endymion Snape]

When his younger sister was mentioned, Mio simply snorted and rolled his eyes. "My stisters are good girls, we're just all very tense right now, so you shouldn't take personally when someone snaps at you." he told her. He knew that especially Vio could get downright nasty if the mood struck and he did not even want to know what had happened between the two young girls. "Anyway, she didn't attack you, as I can see, so just forget about it. ... You're new here, right?" he asked. Usually Mio remembered faces quite well, but this girl didn't ring a memory.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia smiled and nodded when he said to just forget about what had happened between her and Violet, "Alright then." SHe said cheering up a bit. When he asked if she was new, she nodded, "Indeed I am. Just transferred from Beauxbatons."

[Endymion Snape]

"Ah alright. I still remember the Beauxbatons girls from my fourth year. They are very classy. Bad timing, though, isn't it?" Mio chuckled a little. "I'm sure France would be safer at this time. Why did your family move here?" he asked her, walking around the girl to lean against the tree behind her. Mio knew that many people had fled the country when Voldemort took charge, but he wouldn't want to give up his home that easily.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

"Um, my father wanted to relocate. get away from a bunch of bad memories." She said biting her lip as to not start crying at the thought of her mother, "My mother commited a heinous act of suicide and my father wanted to get me away from the bad memories but continue my education. So.... here we are." She said, her big blue eyes following his movements

[Endymion Snape]

"I'm sorry to hear that. About your mother." Mio said, for a moment thinking of his own mum, but then quickly pushed the thought aside with a shake of his head. "Britain is not safe right now, with Voldemort and his followers running around, but I guess of all places, Hogwarts is still relatively safe for us." he continued. There had been incidents, sure, but at least the Carrows and deatheater students had not yet started killing people.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

"Thank you for your condolences, Endymion. I know what happened with your mum as well, Mio. Violet told me... well she shouted it at me. Im really sorry." When he mentioned the Death Eaters she blanked a bit, turning white as a sheet, "Well I guess I will just have to make some friends that will protect me and I them, wont I?" She said trying to lighten the conversation a bit.

[Endymion Snape]

Mio tensed when his mother was mentioned; it was still quite a sore topic for him and he tried to avoid thinking about it as much as possible, so just made some sound deep in his throat in reaction to her words. That's why he was grateful when she quickly changed the topic towards the deatheaters. "Mhm ... yes you should, having friends is more important than anything at the moment and I know that I can trust my friends. They would do anything for me and I for them." he said, images of all his friends appearing behind his eyes. "But you should also learn to defend yourself. It's not good to always have to rely on others to save the day and who would want a weak friend." he smirked slightly and winked at her to let her know that he was just teasing a bit.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

"Unfortunately, I have not made many friends. Well, there is Vincent. I suppose he is a friend. At least I think he is." She said blushing a bit and playing with the ends of her hair, "But I could use some more. As for self defense, I am not very good at that. I hate the idea of fighting with magic. It kind of frightens me a bit. I mean, you could kill someone with just a swish of your wrist and a shout of a single spell, poof, you're a murder." She said smiling at the wink. Who knows, maybe Mio could be her next friend.

[Endymion Snape]

Mio shrugged at her. "You just arrived here. It takes a bit time to build a friendship, I'm sure you will find friends in no time, though at the moment, everyone is very careful with whom they trust. Everyone could be out to get you, you see?" he explained to her. Most people tried to stick with friends and family members, so they would not become a victim to the deatheaters. Mio had to laugh at her next words though. "Fighting with wands scares you? With what do you want to fight then? I mean there are a lot of people here that carry other weapons as well, daggers, swords and so on, but I doubt that would be any easier for you." he said, raising his brow at her. She was small and didn't seem very strong, so a weapon like a sword was quite out of question for her. "Your wand is the only thing that will keep you alive in a battle, so it should become your most trusted friend." he continued, pulling out his own dark wand.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia pulled out her wand and looked at it. She held a stick in her hand. A stick that could mame, injure and murder others like her. She shivered a bit with fear but then calmed down as he spoke, "I understand that. I just.... what did I do to deserve such a power as this?"

[Endymion Snape]

Mio shook his head at her. "You're looking at it the wrong way. Of course you can use it to hurt, but that's what you should not do!" he told her, putting his wand back into his pocket. "You have to think of it as your protection. As the shield you use to defend yourself and your loved ones. The device you will use to heal a wounded friend." Mio started pacing in front of her. "You don't have to use your wand as a weapon, you can use it as a shield and as a way to heal, it's up to you. But to be scared of it, is stupid. Not everyone needs to be a warrior, but you need to be able to defend yourself."

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia watched him as he paced and listened to each word he spoke. "You are correct in that. It all depends on how I use the power. That is what defers us from the death eaters, right?" She asked, a bit of light returning to her bright blue eyes

[Endymion Snape]

Stopping his pacing, Mio turned to look back at her to give her a short nod. "Exactly. Death eaters abuse their power to hurt people. Your fists can hurt people as well, can't they, so can your words, yet you are not afraid of them, correct? It's all about how we use our power and I plan to use it to protect my family and to bring down Voldemort and his death eaters." he told her.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

"I agree, I plan to do the same. Well, what little friends and family I have, I shall protect them to the best of my abilities none the less." She said smiling, finally back to her normal happy self. She giggled softly and looked up at him, "Thank you Mio. I am no longer afraid."

[Endymion Snape]

Mio chuckled and nodded back at her. "That's the spirit. We can't give up now. We will regroup and then give them the fight of their miserable lives till they crawl back into the holes they came from." he said, smirking and reached over to ruffle her hair. "And no need to thank me, that's what I'm there for, motivational speeches." he joked.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia giggled as he ruffled her hair and smiled softly, "Would you care to walk back to the castle with me?" She asked softly, looking up at him as he was about a foot or so taller than her

[Endymion Snape]

"Nope, not at all. These days it's best to always stick together in groups, then they won't attack you that quickly." Mio said, staring to walk back towards the castle. "Well, come on!" he called over his shoulder with a grin.

[Sophia Mckinnon]

Sophia giggled and ran after him, tempted to jump on his back for a piggy back ride but then decided against it. She smiled and walked alongside him, twirling a bit with happiness, "So tell me about you. What makes Mio.... Mio?"

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