a taste of home//open!

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi strode gleefully down the west corridor of her school, becoming reacquainted with the statues and paintings along the way. These halls had become her home away from home, and wandering through them helped ease the pain of homesickness.

As she made her way to the kitchen, Lexi recalled many times in the past years she had done the same. It was quickly becoming a tradition; a quick bite in the kitchen and some friendly conversation with the house elves, who were always delighted to see her, then it was off to the pitch to practice. Tonight was going to be no different than in past years. The last time she had gotten to ride her broom was in the final match between Hufflepuff and Slytherin, who had beaten the badgers soundly, and fairly.

She was missing the welcoming ceremony, but that didn't bother her. It was always too crowded for her tastes anyway. after she tickled the pear in the painting and it swung open, she was greeted by many excited house elf voices. She smiled and stepped through the portal, the house elves immediately converging on her with trays of goodies and greetings of delight. She surmised that these happly creatures may have missed her almost as much as she missed them.

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

Pavlo hurried down the stone hallway that led to the kitchen. The feast was beginning but he had just been asked down to check on a house elf that had apparently burned itself rather badly making that evening's meal. Normally Winifred would have popped down to take care of things but she had been called to patch up a couple students who got into a spat on the train.

Stopping in front of the painting of a fruit bowl, he realized he had never been in the kitchen here before. The house elves would typically bring the staff their meals in their offices if they had to miss the regular time, so he had never needed to. He shifted a little awkwardly, remembering what he had been told. "Just tickle the pear..." he mumbled to himself before glancing around to make sure nobody was watching. Not because he didn't want anyone to see how, he just felt rather dumb tickling a painted pear.

He did so anyways though, and was startled a bit when the pear laughed and turned into a large green door-knob. He blinked a few times before cautiously opening the painting turned door. Stepping into the enormous kitchen, he had to pause for a moment to take it in. It was as big as the Great Hall and also had five tables, but the similarities ended there. All manner of cooking utensils hung from the walls and covered the counters, many still in use, and an enormous fireplace stood at the opposite end of the room from the door. To top it all off was quite possibly the largest gathering of house elves he had ever seen.

It seemed he had entered unnoticed in the noisy kitchen because most of the elves either had their backs turned to their work or were talking to...a human. A student sized human whose back was to him. He watched for a moment before clearing his throat to get their attention.

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi really enjoyed talking to the house elves. They were always so friendly and accommodating. For example, right now they were busy presenting her with tray after tray of goodies. Those without trays were excitedly asking about her holiday and hugging her legs.

Then she heard a throat clearing behind her and jumped, startled. When she turned around, she found Professor Ponikarovsky, her Care of Magical Creatures instructor standing in the doorway. Her first thought was to make a run for it, that maybe she could get away. That was a dumb idea, though, as he knew exactly who she was, and the repercussions would catch up to her, whether she got away or not. She smiled sheepishly instead, having been caught in the act of not being where she was supposed to be and knowing it. It wasn't the first time, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"Um, hullo, Professor P. I didn't see you there. Have you come to the kitchen to see the house elves, too?" She wasn't going to mention skipping the welcoming ceremony to go play Quidditch, as that was generally frowned upon, which she had found out first hand the past two years.

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

He restrained a smile as Lexi addressed him. "Yes I have. One specific house elf actually. Apparently they burned their hand rather..." he trailed off as one of the elves grabbed his robe and started dragging him back towards the fireplace. One house elf sat on a stool, eyes shut tight and clutching its little hands to its chest and shaking. Kneeling down, Pavlo gently tried to coax her to let him see the injured hand, to no avail. The house elf just shook its head, its own ears batting it across the face as it did. He could see the tiniest bit of blood dripping from one of the hands, which made him think it may be more than a little burn.

"Lexi, you seem to be on good terms with everyone here. Come give me a hand," he called to her. "Then we can go back up to the feast. Everybody down here really outdid themselves I saw, you wouldn't want to miss their hard work." A few of the nearby elves smiled and glowed over the praise. He finished that off with a smile to Lexi that said he was well aware of what she was actually doing.

[Lexi Knight]

A look of concern crossed Lexi's face as Professor Ponikarovsky mentioned an injured house elf. These small creatures were her friends, and seeing her friends hurt upset her greatly. She watched, her face growing white as one of the house elves dragged him over to a small house elf.

She stood in the background, fidgeting. The sight of others in pain always caused Lexi to feel nauseated, and this time was just the same. She could see the house elf guarding her hand, and it made her think of all the times her father had asked her to help with a sick dog or cat. Almost every time, she had ended up bolting away from his office, tears streaming down her face.

When Professor P. called her over, however, she immediately rushed to his side, and placed her hand gently on the female elf's shoulder. "It's alright, Kitty," Lexi said, doing her best to console her friend and also to calm herself, as she was shaking. Showing fear to the elf probably wouldn't cause her to trust the professor, so she had to do her best to hide it. "Professor P. is here to help. Can you tell him what happened?"

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

The house elf hesitated for a moment before slowly and reluctantly extending her arm and opened the injured hand, all the while keeping her eyes closed. Not only was the hand burned but there was also a deep gash. "I'm just going to remove some of the blood. Won't hurt at all," he explained, as he pulled out his wand and siphoned off the excess blood. It was still bleeding a little but he could at least see it now. "You picked up a knife that got hot somehow didn't you?" She gave only the smallest of nods to his question.

With a wave of his wand a small bottle and a tiny tin appeared beside him. "Ok, Kitty is it? I'm just going to pour a little potion on this to clean it, I'll heal the gash, then I have some paste for the burn. It may sting a little but shouldn't be bad," he told her before beginning. Popping the cork on the potion he dribbled it on her hand. It smoked a little before he laid the tip of his wand on her hand and healed the laceration shut. He finished by dabbing some of the orange burn healing paste on. "Just let that set for about half an hour then wash it off and your hand should be good as new. Feel better?" The elf opened her eyes and cautiously wiggled her fingers for a moment before nodding and looking back at Lexi, obviously relieved.

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi smiled encouragingly at the house elf, hugging her lightly around the shoulders and speaking consoling words to her in a soft voice. "See, Kitty?" she said. "I told you Professor P. would help. He's great with all magical creatures." She was reassuring herself as much as she was the house elf, but that bit of information was something she should probably keep to herself.

The house elf sniffled and smiled at Lexi through her tears. "Yes, miss," she said, voice still quivering. "Kitty made a silly mistake. She is sorry, and promises it won't happen again!" Lexi recalled all of the "silly mistakes" she had made herself throughout her lifetime, some of them left scars like the on on the left side of her face. She had been riding a broom at the age of four, too young to know how to properly handle it, and had crashed into the fence, tearing a large gash from the corner of her eye to her nose. Her mother had refused to heal it, thinking maybe it might stop her daughter from being reckless. It hadn't.

Lexi let out a small laugh and hugged Kitty again. "Mistakes happen; you don't have to be sorry!" She looked over at the Care of Magical Creatures professor. "She's going to be okay, right Professor?"

[Prof. Pavlo Ponikarovsky]

Smiling reassuringly at the elf, he nodded in response to Lexi, "She'll be just fine. Once the burn is done healing it will be like it never even happened."

Waving his wand, the potion and tin disappeared back to their proper place, as he stood up. "Well, we can get back to the feast now can't we? Since I know you weren't planning on skipping and were just paying a quick visit. Somebody seemed to think you might miss it but I couldn't believe that," he said in an ever so slightly sarcastic tone. "5 points to Hufflepuff for helping me though!"

[Lexi Knight]

Lexi's sheepish grin reappeared. Professor P. was giving her an out, and that was one of the reasons he was one of her favorite professors. He cared about his students, which was more than she could say about some professors she'd had. "Thank you, Professor," she said, trying to convey without words how grateful she was that he wasn't just not taking points from Hufflepuff for skipping the ceremony, he was giving her points. She really wanted to practice on the Quidditch pitch, to dart through the sky, but she supposed she had better go along with the professor.

She gave the injured Kitty another hug before standing up. The house elf tried to cling to her, but a few soft-spoken words had the elf smiling and returning to her work. She brushed off her robes and offered the professor another guilty smile. She still couldn't believe she was getting off the hook so easy. She started walking back to the portal to the kitchen, then paused and looked back to Professor P. "Professor?" she asked, timidly. "After the feast, would it be alright for me to go practice flying my broom out at the Quidditch pitch?" She could only hope he might say yes, though she might be pushing her luck.