Unexpected Legacy ◇ Fred Weasley ? {Somewhat Rewriting}

◇Chapter 5◇

   “Arresto Momentum!”

   This gave Cory enough time to drop to his knees and cup the creature in his palm safely. He opened his hands to see how the green bean looking animal was fairing. It was shaking in terror and tears were spilling from its cheeks. Cory felt a stab of guilt and decided to attempt to calm it.

   “Hey,” Cory said, catching its tearful gaze. “I’m really sorry, it’s just that you jumped on me and tried to hurt me, ya know, so I was just retaliating, but thank Merlin that spell worked because I wasn’t sure it woul-” Cory paused when he noticed its eyes narrowed at him after his atrocious attempt at an apology. He let out an awkward laugh and used his free hand to sheepishly rub the back of his head and said, “Yeah… heh, I’m not very good at reading social situations or understanding emotions-” the creature gave a nod to this and raised its hand as if to say 'Amen'. “-and I felt guilty when I saw how terrified you were, but I was terrified too."It tilted its head at this, curiosity glinting in its eyes. Cory noticed this and nodded. “Yes, I was scared too. I mean, imagine having something unknown to you jumping on your face-” it looked down in shame. “-but, that doesn’t give any excuse for my actions. I almost killed you! And for that," he dramatically placed his hand that didn't hold the green bean lookalike over hjs heart. "I am eternally sorry.”

   After a few seconds of silence, the creature climbed out of the boys hand and up his arm all the way to his shoulder. It motioned for Cory to put his ear to its height, so he obliged its request.

   “Thbbft!”

   Cory jumped at the sound of a raspberry resonating in his ear. He turned to glare at the creature, but stopped when he noticed it was smiling and it proceeded to let out an adorable, high-pitched laugh, which caused the blond boy to laugh as well.

   He stopped laughing, but kept a smile on his face, when he felt something slip down his arm and fall into his palm. Cory took a long look at the creature before asking, “You’re a Bowtruckle, aren’t you?” It nodded. “Are you a boy, or a girl?” It gave Cory a deadpan expression. “Oh, right, if you talk, I won’t understand you. Hm… I got it! Put up one arm if you’re a boy, or blow a raspberry if you’re a girl.” It put up an arm. “Okay! This is progress! But… I really should be heading back…” The bowtruckle let out many sounds of protest. “Well, I can’t stay here, and they don’t allow anything other than cats, owls, and toads… but I suppose that hasn’t been enforced…” He made eye contact with the small boy’s brown eyes and asked, “So, what do you say? Wanna go to Hogwarts with me?”

   The bowtruckle didn’t hesitate before nodding vigorously.

   “Then I guess we should give you a name, so…” Cory trailed off. “how about… Mropy?" Raspberry. "Guhentz?" Aggressive raspberry. "Hm… how about… Kipo?" … the small creature nodded, seemingly pleased. Kipo. Cory liked it.

   "Well then, Kipo,” Cory said, feeling elated. “Should we head to the castle?”

   Kipo nodded and they started their expedition to the school, and was just about to go to Care of Magical Creatures, but remembered that it was cancelled.

   Stupic over dramatic rat-

   Approaching the entrance Cory heard a buzzing come from behind him, but when he turned to look, the hums disappeared. Weird…

   Cory looked down to Kipo, disregarding the odd noises. “Well, I can’t bring you back to the dorms, so… you’re going to need to hide somewhere, okay?” Kipo nodded and had a thoughtful expression on his face before he posed like a scientist who had an epiphany. He crawled around Cory’s robes until he happened upon the pocket that held his wand. “Are you sure, Kip?” He got a chirp from Kipo. Cory shrugged and proceeded to wander through the corridors until he happened upon a familiar alcove.

   Cory sighed. “You can come out for a little Kipo. Nobody will bother us here, hopefully,” Cory said, muttering the last part under his breath.

   Cory waited for Kipo to crawl onto the ground before dropping into the alcove. Cory just sat there, staring at the wall opposite him until Kipo’s rapid chirps gained his attention. 

   “Yes, Kipo?”

   The bowtruckle pointed to Cory’s frown and back to his own and raised his arms as if asking Cory ‘What’s wrong?’. Cory smiled softly at the amiable animal.

   “I’m fine, I just… I don’t know,” Cory’s head lulled to the side and Kipo replicated his action. “I just don’t know what to do. It’s my first day at this school and I really like it here. I have friends, no glares constantly being thrown my way, and none of the teachers seem to harbor any disliking towards me… well, not yet at least. I guess I’m so used to not having any semblance of kindness being aimed my way in a school setting and it’s… weird.” Cory looked back at Kipo and scoffed. “And now I just talked about my problems with a new friend… I guess it was nice to vent my frustrations a little.” Cory lowered his hand and used his pointer finger to pet Kipo making the bowtruckle let out a cat-like purr. “Thank you for being an attentive listener, Kipo.”

   Kipo chirped when Cory pulled his hand away, so Cory lowered his hand again only to have Kipo’s small body wrap around his finger. A smile graced Cory’s face at the affection he was receiving. 

   The two lost souls stayed in the alcove until it was time for Cory’s fourth class, but in that time, they created a bond that would never be broken. Even in death.