I'm Not A Monster

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Today. Was. The. Best. Day. Danathon made his way outside to one of his favorite activities: feeding the Blast-Ended Skrewts. People were so mean to the poor little creatures. Sure, they had singed his arm air off more than once, but they didn't deserve to be so hated! "Hey, guys!" Dan said excitedly as he approached them with the large leaves to feed them. After he was done, and got burned once or twice, no big deal, he turned to walk away and slipped on one of the large leaves. Soon he was face-planted in the mud and as he tried to get up, he noticing his nice white shirt was now dark, dark brown. He sighed, "Dangers of the profession, as mom would say." He shrugged and pulled himself up, wiping off as much mud as possible.

He tried to clean it off with magic as he made his way towards the school entrance, but he wasn't sure which spell to use. That was one of Dans problems, school always came second. Soon he entered the entrance hall, looking worse than he had before considering he had dyed the mud multiple colors with magic while trying to remove it. Now he looked like a yucky rainbow monster.

ALIETTA MARIE KRUM

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

Alietta had always been a fan of Care of Magical Creatures as well. Thus her excitement upon finding a dragons egg left abandoned in the Forbidden Forest during a forbidden walk last year. Since finding it, the egg had hatched and Ali found herself the proud mother of a baby dragon. She had yet to name it. She had yet to actually tell anybody about it besides Chaunce Lloyd, who had helped her with the creature as much as he could when he wasn't busy with work at the Daily Profit. The dragon was safe and secure. Using magic, Ali was able to make sure that he wouldn't leave his little area, but she knew that he was getting restless. She was getting restless too. As soon as she graduated, the two of them would be out of here, off to bigger and better things... and places. Where both of them could fly with a little help from one another.

She wasn't surprised when she stumbled out of the forest covered in mud and dirt. It was rainy season, after all and the entire forest was covered in mud. She didn't mind though. She would make up some excuse when Katrina and the other Slytherins would ask how she got her one of a kind, made in Paris blouse dirty. She was helping the Care of Magical Creatures professor feed his charges. She was doing extra work to help her grade. Not that she needed to help her CMC grade. She was doing extra work in Herbology to help her grade. There. That worked. That even involved dirt. Ali hated plants. So she walked up the stairs to the entrance of the castle with mud covering her jeans and designer blouse, with her excuse ready to fire when asked. She was surprised, however, to see a young man entering at about the same time with what looked like a bad series of spells to try to cover up something. "Did you fall into Unicorn vomit?" Ali asked, unable to help herself.

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Dan whipped around when he heard the girls voice and gave a good, well-mean scowl, "I didn't fall in it. The unicorn chose me to give its vomit blessing to. Obviously," he tried to keep a straight face but it didn't last very long and he started laughing loudly. The girl was Alietta Krum, a charming Slytherin in his same year. They had talked a little in the past, but they weren't that close. Just as close as being in the same class would make two people. He always thought she was pretty, it was easy to notice pretty girls. But Dan was shy off the Quidditch pitch and never made moves on anybody, plus, the last few years of school were busy, what with centaur wars and animals being treated badly. Oh, and those things called O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S... those things made it a little busy as well, though Dan barely noticed. He had a way of barely passing all of his classes, by a sliver. His father, the Oh-So-Brilliant Ravenclaw, made it a point to rub his 9 Outstanding O.W.L.S in his sons face.

Danathon raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed her own getup was covered in mud as well. His eyes narrowed, "Were you stalking me!?" he asked her, trying to form a serious face but, once again, probably just looking like he was having a brain cramp. Danathon made it a point to be as silly as possible, unless the situation had to do with his love for animals. Then you never knew what mood Dan would be in.

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

Ali appreciated that the young man went along with her snarky remark and wasn't offended that she was teasing him like half of the other Gryffindors would be. Being a Pureblood Slytherin of course, Ali wasn't fond of many Gryffindors. She was used to being around them because of her cousins and even her siblings, but she still believed that most were too cocky and full of themselves. And his comment about her stalking him sort of only added to her assumption that they believed that everything was about them (a trait which, admitting, Ali had as well, but she used to her advantage seeing as she was a Veela). She chose to ignore that for the moment, though. "Well, aren't you lucky then?" She teased further when he continued talking about Unicorn Vomit.

"No. I was not stalking you. I don't even know you." It was the truth. While a lot of people knew Ali, mostly because she was a Veela and thus everyone wanted to know her, Ali didn't really bother to remember most people. Not unless they made a lasting impression on her. "I was doing extra work for Herbology." She admitted, loving the way that her excuse sounded coming out of her mouth. It was so realistic. Ali was the type who would put off making sure that she would pass a class until just weeks before the end of the year.

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

"I am lucky! Have youever been giving the gift of the unicorn vomit?" he laughed as he used his hands to try and scrape the colorful mud off his shirt. It was working fairly well, and he was living the colorful splotches all over the entrance hall floor. He sighed, momentarily serious. "But seriously, do you know any spell that could help us clean this off? I guess we could go the hold fashion laundry way. My mum taught me how to do that, I think I could manage with a washboard in a pond or something." He laughed aloud at the thought of using a washboard, that would look incredibly silly. He frowned suddenly. This girl probably didn't even know what a washboard was. How did wizards wash their clothes?

"Well, I'm Danathon, but you can call me Dan!" he held out a hand to her, "now you know me. But I'd like to know you my fellow mud clad friend." He raised an eyebrow inquisitively at her, hoping she'd give him her name, even though he already knew it. She happened to be the sister of one of his closest friends, Adelina Krum. He wasn't sure what their sibling relationship was like, but it was better to hear both sides of the story of possible. "Herbology is a great subject! I was feeding the blast-ended skrewts, meself."

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

"No. I can honestly say that I have never been covered in Unicorn Vomit. You can keep that for yourself." Ali smiled and watched him peel the mud off of his cloths. "Oh the House Elves are going to love cleaning this mess aren't they?" She smirked and watched the rainbow bunch of dried dirt fall around him. Did she know a spell that would help? Possibly. Would she share it with him? Probably not. "Um, what's a washboard?" Ali asked and raised her eyebrows. She grew up in a magical house hold with a very rich, famous father. They had House Elves to spare. Ali never had to lift a finger. And, if her father had his way, she never would have to. "Just leave it out for the House Elves." She shrugged.

Dan. Interesting. "What? You really don't know me?" Ali sighed. She had been slipping with her social obligations lately. First year boys probably didn't even know her as anything other than that Veela girl. When had her life changed so drastically? Alietta Krum used to bounce from boy to boy at parties; she would be the one who started the party, and the party would follow her wherever she went. A part of her was sad that that part of her life was ending. But she had other things to worry about now. "I'm Ali." She said in a low, uninterested voice. "Herbology is kind of dull actually. That's why I put off all work until the end of the term. But blast-end skrewts are a lot more fun." She admitted.

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Danathon frowned, "You mean you can't help me out?" he asked before removing the frown from his face and replacing it with a face of defeat, "I'll have to beg the elves for forgiveness." He tried to plan out how he was going to do that. Hi, I'm sorry about the colorful mud... I hope it doesn't dye the floor? He sighed, he shouldn't have even tried to remove the mud in the first place. It just made things worse. Or, he should have resigned to sleeping outside.

Dan raised an eyebrow at her, "You live in a house with Elves don't you?" Yup, this was definitely Adelinas sister. Though, Addy was a lot more proper than her older sister. Dan found that to be amusing. Especially since it meant they didn't know what a washboard was, "Well, it's this board with little bumps in it that you use to rub your clothes against with soap to remove dirt and things. I've never actually used one, only seen them in the movies." He facepalmed himself, "Aw, it's a muggle thing too, movies." He said.

Dan chuckled, "Of course I know who you are, Ali. We've been in school together for seven years," you toyed with more than half of my friends hearts, he thought. "I just didn't want to be impolite by blurting out your name without asking for it." Guess this girl wasn't anything like her sister. She was more harsh, brash and outgoing. Pretty, too. Not that Adelina wasn't, but there was something even more enchanting about Ali. It was probably the bad girl thing she had going. Or the fact that she said the skrewts were fun.

"Right!? I personally don't take any of my classes seriously except for Care of Magical Creatures but... I gotta pass, right?" he sighed. School was not his thing.

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

Ali tossed the young man a funny look when he said that he would have to beg the elves for forgiveness. "House elves like to help. And the ones at Hogwarts aren't slaves. They get paid if they want. They need a job to do to get paid for." She insisted. Ali was all for House elf liberation... if they wanted to go. The few that her family had had been with the family for generations and were quite fond of each other. And of course, they were given decent conditions. But the purpose of a House Elf was to serve its master. What else would they do? When it came to Muggle Movies, Ali was just as clueless as she had been about the washboard. She had seen half a dozen or so, but none that she knew of had a board to wash cloths on in the film. "I never paid attention in muggle studies." Ali shrugged.

When he insisted that he had known who she was, Ali raised her eyebrow. She supposed that after having been around no one but Katrina, Chaunce and the Dragon lately, she wasn't used to proper introductions or any sort of proper conversation. She saved that for her parents and sister. "I wouldn't have blame you if you didn't know me." She admitted with a sigh, but she was glad that he had. Maybe she hadn't been slipping as much as she thought that she had. "I'm used to people knowing me whom I swear I've never seen in my life." She added.

Okay. Maybe the two of them had more in common than Ali would have ever thought. "Exactly." She nodded. Care of Magical Creatures was the only class that she ever even made an effort in. It was the only class she wasn't doing extra work for.

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Danathon glared at her, "I know that, Ali. I just prefer not to leave giant messes for them to worry about. I suppose, they are used to worse things, though." Dan commented, lightening up toward the end of his sentence. She was right, of course, the elves did this for a living. But that still didn't mean he should take advantage of them and make a huge mess. He sighed, the whole house elf situation was a very completely one. He was indeed happy that the famous Hermione Granger had started campaigning rights for elves in the first place. That was one thing he most admired about that era, you know besides the whole saving the world from evil death eaters and the dark lord and whatnot. That stuff was important too, he supposed.

Dan shrugged, "That's okay, my life is basically muggle studies at home 24/7." He was happy about that fact. He was able to keep up to date on both worlds without having to ask anyone too many questions. It made life a lot more simple for him in some cases, but a lot more difficult in others. Like when he was trying to have a conversation with someone who didn't understand muggle stuff.

"I'm not used to anyone recognizing me. I tend to keep myself, especially in group settings. But it's pretty fun to watch the people at parties. I've seen you there more than once, I'm sure," he said with a smirk. He had seen her, that's for sure. Flirting and messing around as much as she could. She was a very... special personality. But he didn't mind, it was fun to watch.

"You like creatures too, then?" he was surprised, Ali didn't ever seem like the type to care about anything other than herself. He didn't mean for that to sound rude, but at least it one only in his thoughts. She just had a way of making sure she was noticed, unlike Dan who spent time on the sidelines.

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

Ali could understand how people would be upset with the treatment of House Elves, but it wasn't as if Hogwarts employed them as slaves. Hogwarts was far to liberal for that, something that her father had been sure to comment on when her parents decided that she would attend the school along with her cousins seven years ago. He had a nice time during his year spent here, but he much preferred his Alma Matter. As did her mother. But neither parents could agree. So Ali and her siblings got shipped off to Hogwarts as a compromise. Ali liked that the House Elves here were paid. And she knew (from frequent trips to the kitchens) that each and every one was friendly and always so eager to help a student who wandered into their quarters. It was a nice place to go when Ali felt the need to be mothered a little. As a child, her house elf always played with her when she was finished with her chores. Ali was quite fond of her. Perhaps she would take the elf with her after graduation. "I think, as long as they like it. Let them do it." She said.

"Oh. Are you Muggle Born?" Ali asked, not even wondering if the question was rude to ask. She could have used a worse word. And she hadn't said it in a rude sort of voice, she was just curious. She couldn't imagine living with muggles. She was too accustomed to magic. Ali smirked a little when he brought up parties. Yes. She had spent a lot of time at them, and she didn't regret a second. "Well, it's always good when you put yourself out there. You never know who you're going to meet. Or what sort of adventure will come along with it." She insisted. Ali loved adventure. When he asked if she liked creatures, Ali nodded. "Actually I do. The only class I managed an Outstanding in." She admitted with a smile. "I just think that everyone of them is interesting in a new, surprising way and I like to figure it out." She said.

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

"You're absolutely right." Dan nodded, feeling a lot better about leaving such a mess. At least the House Elves enjoyed their jobs and enjoyed serving others. Dan didn't spend a lot of time down in the Kitchens. Its not that he didn't enjoy the house elves, he just knew other magical creatures needed more attention. Ones who couldn't speak for themselves. The house elf situation was much better now than it had been years ago and Dan knew he didn't need to make much of an effort on that front. They were well taken care of.

Dan shook his head, "Mums a muggle. Dads a wizard. So, a half-blood I guess." He answered with a large smile. She didn't seem to dislike that fact, unlike some other purebloods he had met. Especially ones from her house, but he tried his best not to judge others based on bloodline or house.

"Adventure is important, I agree. And so is meeting new people. I prefer to meet new animals instead, however," he laughed, "I'm glad you appreciate the uniqueness about them! It's always exciting, learning about a new living thing in the world. That's one reason I like herbology too but alas..." he sighed, shaking his head, "that subject can get absurdly bring at times. Unlike creatures, who often keep me entertained." A large smile took place on his face, he didn't meet many people who enjoyed the subject as much as he did but Ali seemed interested. Maybe not as obsessive as he, but interested.

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

Ali shrugged. She really wasn't in the mood to talk about house elves, so she was glad that they were able to come to a decent understanding on the subject. She brushed her hair back and looked over the guy. She had seen him before. They had been in class together since their first year. He was decent looking, which was enough for Ali to ignore that fact that he was a Gryffindor. House order was starting to seem so silly now that they were getting ready to graduate. In the real world after school was over, Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't just walk around Diagon Alley hating each other because of the color of their ties. Life went on, and often, you weren't able to chose who would come in and out of your life, you just had to make the best of it. "Are you sure we were at the same parties? I think I would have rememberd you a lot more..." She said.

"So you don't even need Muggle Studdies then. Lucky you." She smirked. Her parents cared very little about muggle objects, but her extended family were always curious. When he continued to talk about creatures, she nodded. Ali had a very personal connection to magical creatures that no one else except for Chaunce knew about. She was a Dragon mother after all. Though she couldn't just whip that little fact out to make her point. "It's like every creature is different and it's so interesting studying them and figuring out what makes them different and seeing how they communicate and interact with each other."

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Danathon took her comment about how she should remember him as a compliment, he smiled. "Oh, I was there, trust me. I'm just really good at... not being noticed. I have a way of hiding out and just watching the scenes unfold. I blend in well in a crowd." Unlike you, he though. Ali always stood out to him, more than anyone else in her house at those parties. She didn't seem to care what anyone thought of her as long as she was having fun, which is probably why so many guys fell for her. Dan couldn't lie, he had noticed her before in a physical way. Meaning that he found her beautiful, just like he found her sister beautiful. It wasn't like he could just ignore the fact that there were pretty girls walking around. But Ali was different she was... enchanting and mysterious. Which is mainly why Danathong kept his distance. Girls like that where too high maintenance.

"Yup, I took muggle studies once just to kind of help out my classmates. It was fun but, it made me a little too homesick." He admitted. He wasn't ashamed to say that about himself, because it was true.

Danathon nodded in excitement as she spoke about the differences in animals, "I know! It's also fun to learn a little about their culture and communication so that you are able to speak with them, in a sense." He was happy as a clam, discussing animals with this un-expectadley kind Slytherin girl. He opened his mouth to speak again but as he did so a group of Elves ran up to him and started fussing with his clothes and the floor. His eyes widened as everything within a ten foot radius was cleaned, and they quickly ran off again.

Danathon stood there with wide eyes for a good several seconds before looking down and noticing a blue shirt where his white one used to be, "did they... did they just magically change my clothes?"

[ALIETTA MARIE KRUM]

She nodded when he said that he liked to hang in the background. A year ago, she wouldn't have understood that at all. But ever since she had found her dragon egg and had been raising the dragon that hatched from it, Ali had tried to hide in the background a lot of the time. If she wasn't front and center, no one would have any reason to suspect that she was doing anything even a little bit illegal on school grounds. There was no way that she was going to lose her Dragon. Even if that meant skipping parties and actually doing some of her school work. Anything to stay out of detention and still be able to sneak put when she needed to.

She could understand how taking muggle studies could make someone from a muggle background homesick. "It must be crazy for your mom to have you and your father be able to do magic when she can't. I bet it was a shock when she found out." She said. She enjoyed the conversation about creatures, she hadn't really been able to talk about creatures since the last family holiday her family had spent with the Weasleys and Hagrid had also been invited. That had been a fun day. She learned so much. "Especially since now two creatures are alike. Everyone had something unique." She added. She laughed when the elves ran up and changed his shirt. "They must be tired of the mud."

[DANATHON DANKS CARMICHAEL]

Danathon nodded, "Luckily she found out before they got married, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She still marvels at it and shakes her head in disbelief sometimes, but she's pretty understanding." It was true, is mother was one of the few muggles in the world who would be able to join the wizarding community comfortably. The hardest thing about it was the fact that now she knew there were two governments within her home town and double, maybe even triple, the amount of danger than she originally realized. Dealing with one government was bad enough, but dealing with two was just plain crazy. She was incredible interested in magical creatures though, and was happy to learn about new species she had never seen in all her years as a veterinarian.

Dan nodded, "a bit odd for the elves to come out in the open like that, they must have just been watching and waiting for us to move." He laughed at the thought of a bunch of elves creeping around the corner and staring at his conversation with Ali. He wondered what other times they were creeping on students, waiting for something to clean up or some way to help. The thought made him shiver. He shrugged it off and smiled back at Ali, "so, what creatures are your favorites, so far?"