welcome to LA

[ivan bentley oldham]

Finally Ivan felt his frame being lifted out of the bathtub. If they were going to adult school next year he'd probably have to get used to doing this himself. His mentality might occasionally have been little more than that a ten year old boy but soon that would have to change, he would have to grow up and act his size, not his age. He looked twenty, had a twenty year old voice, and yet still didn't understand things, couldn't write to save his life and had no real friends to speak of, only people who liked him as a dog. So it probably came as no suprise to hear that Ivan had no intentions of leaving his charge just yet. Or for a very long time for that matter. In his eyes he was still too green to go it alone, and as far as he knew, familiars were supposed to stick by their bosses side unti the witch or wizard died. After that he'd stopped reading, not wanting to know what happened to him in that event. Hopefully there were years before that happened anyways.

Finally the towel was wrapped round him and Ivan couldn't help but enjoy the attention. "No turning me into a puff ball this time." Ivan said though he wasn't exactly the boss here and the only way of stopping that happening would be to turn into his human form once again so only the hair on his head could be made a mess of. It would be much faster to dry though he thought. "Actually you know what, let me do it!" Ivan said yanking the towel out of Rosie's hands with his teeth before taking a few steps away from her, changing as he did so until he was Ivan the man, kneeling on the floor with just a towel conserving his dignity- though Ivan had no real grasp of dignity really.

He did the same actions with his hands that Rose did on him when he was a dog, the only problem with doing it this way was although it was faster, the towel was too small to cover him all at once and so, with little concern for that Rose could see, Ivan started drying his head, making sure to flatten his hair as he moved down to his neck and then chest, not at all bothered that whilst those parts were covered, everything else was on show. "Bah you don't realise how cold this floor is until you have feet and not paws." Ivan said as he dried his arms and then stomach. "See, I can do it myself." Ivan said with a hint of pride, to be honest he could do the whole lot by himself but it was more a case of whether or not he could really be trusted to do it or if he'd just do a half arsed job of it like a kid would to get out of it quicker.

Finally all that remained to dry was between his legs and down to his feet and with the aid if the bath tub to lean on, that was done in a matter of moments. "Finished." Ivan said holding the now soggy towel out to Rose and still not bothered that she could see parts of him that probably weren't appropriate viewing material for her - well the way he thought about it, in his dog form he ran around butt naked anyways so what difference did it make. "Don't worry about Hector, I'll piss on his leg tomorrow and you'll be even." Ivan said with a big grin as he took a moment to stretch, enjoying the new shape his human form gave him. When the stretch was over, Ivan bent, picked up his clothes and inspected them. Yeah they were pretty aweful. "Sorry." He said finally, meaning the clothes and not getting messy in the first place.

[rosemary arlene oldham]

Rose let the towel go as he grabbed it in his teeth. She turned around quickly as he changed. She took off her skirt and her stockings while he dried himself, trying not to think about looking at him, even though she wanted to. He was quite good looking in human form, though she never told him. Sometimes when he was in human form and the girls gawked at him it was a bit annoying, but she'd learned to get used to it. She never thought he would have a crush on a human girl. It hadn't even crossed her mind that it was a possibility. She threw on her quidditch tee and her comfortable jeans and turned around, only to see that his bottom half was no longer covered. She moved her eyes quickly to his face, not wanting to be so tempted to look down. She went to the sink and washed her hands, without looking in the mirror. If she was to look in the mirror, she could probably see how tired her eyes looked, and she hadn't even begun studying.

At the mention of getting even with Hector she turned, fuming a teeeny bit. "You'd better do no such thing! I'm going to try to be friends with him, and that won't help. Ivan, please change back. I love you, but not when you're completely naked." Shei reminded herself next time she bathed him to bring along a fresh set of clothes for Ivan as well. She didn't want to be stuck in that sort of situation. She didn't know how mom did it. Mom had gotten used to bathing him in his human form, but it was completely awkward for rose. She didn't mind it when he was dressed. He was like her older brother, because he was older than than the two of them, and even though he thought like a ten year old, he still knew how to guard and protect her like any other brother would. Besides, it was easier when he was in dog form not to feel her cheeks burn in embarrasment whenever she thought about how cute he was.

"It's okay, I know you just wanted some fun. I'm sorry for freaking out on you. I've been kind of tense lately." She spoke honestly and patted him on the shoulder, wishing he would change. She remembered that she was with Ackey now, and that looking into being with anyone else right now was not going to work. She had to be faithful to Ackey, even if he wasn't being faithful to her. She sat down on the toilet seat and grabbed the shampoo and conditioner she had left on the floor. She wasn't a little girl anymore, but she kept feeling like hiding under the covers more and more these days. If someone she spoke to so little thought that she could improve, than maybe she should. Good, better, best, never let it rest, till your good is better, and your better is best, was what drove er. If she could do better she would. But maybe she was just too uptight. She needed to listen to Ivan. He'd teach her to have fun again. That's what he did best.

[ivan bentley oldham]

The whole time ivan had been wandering about drying himself, his collar and leash had been hanging off him, swinging round, not he seemed to notice- he was too used to it to pay it that much attention. He sighed as rose patted him on the shoulder, of course he knew he needed to change back before they could walk back to the common room and dorms but still, he liked being human every once in a while, never the less he did so, dropping the clothes on the floor and his hands turned into paws once again. "Right, come on, let's go, if we're gunna get through those books we're going to get a squidge on." Ivan said stretching his front legs out as though the bath had made him stiffer not more comfortable. He padded over to the door, leaving all his things for Rose to carry as he scratched at the door before remembering it opened inwards not outwards making it even more difficult to get out of. He turned to Rose, sniffing in the air, yes he definitly did smell like strawberries, fantastic, he'd fix that later when he found something to rub against, a tree perhaps, even sap would smell better than strawberries on a male dog.

"Meh Hector needs someone to piss on him, might as well be me, plus he's probably got his head so far in the clouds he doesn't know who I am anyways... and if I did it in boy form it'd be even funnier!" Ivan said chuckling to himself as he thought about it. He'd done it in the past to a Slytherin - though in dog form of course and the boy had nearly fainted with the shock of it. "Remember when I did it to that stupid slythie that time? Did you see how high he jumped!?" Ivan said thinking to himself he'd have to go find that boy again one day though that would be hard since the little blighter had taken to openly avoiding Hufflepuffs in the off chance anything he did to them got back to Ivan.

"What's for dinner as well? I'm starving, not even one treat stick today, can you believe that?" Ivan said. It was funny because in dog form there were many things he'd eat - including dog treats that he wouldn't even touch in human form, the taste buds seemed to work differently in a human tongue making bones and raw things taste repulsive if he was a boy and most days he preferred to sit with the rest of the humans at the table and eat whatever was on the menu rather than sitting on the floor with all the other pets with stupid dishes that slid around all over the place - even if it was easier to beg for left overs as a pooch.

[rosemary arlene oldham]

Rose followed him, letting people pet him on their way back. Hector was going some rough times, she understood why he had been so distant to her. But he had stuck a chord, and now that she knew what was going on, she wasn't going to not talk to him the next time she saw him. It was obvious now, he needed a friand, maybe even if he acted like he didn't want one right now. She would have to take things slow. It would take a while. She wondered what he had gone to rehab for but he thought better about asking some of the other older girls for gossip. She hated gossip. But she knew it was true if Ivan knew about it. He wouldn't lie to her, and it was some pretty serious stuff. She would never wish that on anyway, being separated from her boyfriend, even if it was only Ackey, who wasn't being all that faithful anyway. She wanted someone to really love her, with his actions, not just a bunch of fluffy words. She wanted more than the stuff that came out of his mouth. She couldn't remember the last Hogsmeade weeked he'd asked her to. She shrugged, Ackey was Ackey, and she'd stay with him until someone else proved he was better.

"No, seriously Ivan. Don't do anything, it's all right." She said as she left his clothes in a heap on the floor for the house-elves to get and grabbed her brush. She began to brush her hair and stared at all the books. She had been a little crazy, to think that studying was the answer. She still did, but she thought now, she had been a little overboard. She had taken him way too seriously. Everyone struggled in one subject or another. Still, a bit of hard work wouldn't hurt her. Maybe they didn't have to read all the books by Saturday though. She just had to read enough to be more knowledgeable about the Potion they were going to make in class. She hated feeling so tense when she entered the room. She felt like one mistake would make everyone, even her housemates, laugh at her. As much as she wanted to please everyone, she always hated being laughed at. It always made her feel inadequate and stupid. If studying hard and not wasting so much time was the answer, than so be it. She tossed him some of her brother's clothes, and opened up a book, and sat on the bed.

"Oh, I'm not sure what we're eating, but you're free to go down. I need to study first." Dinner lasted a few hours, she could always go down later....or not at all. She had to get the Potion down perfectly in the morning. She sorted all the books back into piles, from potion, to transfiguration, to charms, and then pulled out some parchment and a Self-Inking quill to write with. Maybe if she wasn't so dimwitted, Ackey would pay attention to her. If the new showier clothes and make-up weren't doing the trick, maybe some better grades would. She really didn't know what to do with herself anymore. He always seemed distracted. Ivan always shrugged it off and told her he wasn't worth the time, but she wanted someone to notice her, and if Ackey was her boyfriend, he should more than notice her, he should love her, or at least that was the way she saw things.

[ivan bentley oldham]

"I spent the whole day without you, I'd rather stay and study and pinch something later than leave you to face it yourself." Ivan said honestly as he looked over his shouder as Rose followed him the short hop from the bathrooms to the common room. He coudn't shrug his shoulders in dog form but he felt like doing it. "Even though you left me this morning, how the hell you managed to get out without me hearing you shall remain a mystery but there we go." Travis said as she slid open the portrait to the common room, Ivan making no trouble of getting through it before Rose had a chance to, weaving through her legs expertly so as not to trip her over with his own impatience. "See? I'm better than Ackey, I bet if you asked him to stick around and study with you rather than have dinner and eye the other girls he'd say no chance." Ivan said holding his head high with a note of seriousness. Dogs were supposed to be a good judge of character and Ivan definitly didn't like Ackey's character. The only thing that boy was out for as far as Ivan was concerned was a quick snog behind the whomping willow.

Ivan paused mid step, as though he'd heard something that needed his attention, but no, he was soon moving again, traipsing up the steps to the girl's dorms. There were specific times of day that Ivan was shunted out of the girl's dorms - same as with the bathrooms, the peek times when the girls were getting changed, it wasn't so much that he was shunted out, that he left by his own accord, pretty sure that no one would feel comfortable changing infront of a dog that could indeed become a full grown man at any given moment - not that in a fight he'd have much to defend him against the destructive abilities a wand would have - plus he'd learned his mistake before, hanging around too long and being nudged out with a spell of some kind or another by someone who was only half dressed and therefore not covered enough to take Ivan outside in any other way. Ivan took the clothes he was offered, pulling the shirt over his head. Ok so Rosie's brother had had a slightly skinnier frame than Ivan's natural one which made the shirts rather fitted but Ivan didn't care, to be honest, close fitting close was a price he was willing to pay to be able to be decent in human form every once in a while.

The trousers went on next, if there's one thing Ivan couldn't understand, it was underwear and so Rose had given up some time ago trying to get him to wear it when it was obvious he wasn't going to find it at all comfortable. Finally socks found his feet, it was true, in human form the floor definitly was cold and after that, boots. The boots proved that Ivan would be staying in man form for just aittle longer - being a boy had other good points as well, not only did people do more than pat him (they'd even try and talk to him even though they knew they'd get nothing out of him) He could also see in glorious technicolour, something he couldn't do when he was little more than a pooch. Of course dogs can't see in colour so finding out that Ivan could only see it in human form probably came as no suprise to most, and if they were going to be reading books - some of which had pictures as well, then the ability to distinguish different colours and what not would be rather helpful, that and the fact he'd had enough of being a dumb dog for today.

Ivan put his fingers through his hair in the exact same way he'd seen Ackey do a million times, his hair and gone totally flat to his face and it was so long at the front that being totally flat meant it got closer to his eyes than he was comfortable with, hiw it was alittle bit scruffy - still strawberry, and otu of his eyes, Ivan was ready to go. He sat on the edge of Rose's bed and tied his laces, still receiting the little rhyme for how to do it in his head though he had gone beyond the point where he still really needed it. Finally rhe black boots were secure and Ivan led out on the bed stretching out and putting his hands under his head - something he'd copied from Rose herself, the motion of which made his shirt ride up ever so slightly to reveal a thin slither of skin from under the navy bue tshirt. "So what are we starting with?" Ivan asked as he watched Rose from where he led on the bed, not caring that his boots were on it in the least.

[rosemary arlene oldham]

She knew Ivan would want to stay and study with her. He was her familiar after all. But she liked giving him the option. She never used him as a slave, or someone that had to be by her side twenty-four seven She laughed a little when he spoke of Ackey. He was right though. She didn't think Ackey ever studied. If he did, it was never for very long, she knew that. Part of the reason she wanted to skip dinner was so that she didn't have to see him looking very chummy with another girl. She didn't have the patience to deal with him tonight. It was different from last year, he was never interested in anything she was. He was always going on about Quidditch and flying and brooms, things she could care less about unless she was going to use a broom to sweep her floor with. She knew Ivan was right about him, but she kept her mouth shut, not wanting to give him the satisfaction right now. Ackey would have to break up with her, or give her a serious reason to break up with him, that was just the way it was right now.

She watched he flopped on the bed, full belly-flop style But she couldn't believe he asked what they were starting with. Was he serious? "Potions, Ivan! I've collected seven books for us to get through on the Drought of Living' Death. I've got to get it right tomorrow." She picked up a book and handed it to him, and took one for herself. She was really serious about studying, but she could tell Ivan wasn't, and it was getting her upset. Everyone said she worried too much, she studied too much, she revised too much, and never made any time for herself, but she had to do things right this year She had to be the best she could be. Something other than an O on her potions was not satisfactory to her. She had to get it right. She had to be so comfortable with this potion that it would just flow out of her tomorrow. She had to memorize the ingredients, memorize the steps, and learn about it as much as possibly so she could be completely focused on it the next day. She had to show that stuck up Head of Slytherin that she was just as good at potions than his own Slyterhin pupils.

"Okay, this potions is supposed to make someone sleep. My last one only made someone yawn. I need to get this right." She said firmly, flipping through a page as she watched someone cut the beans and squeeze the juice from them to put into the potion. She was counting on making it perfect, without any mistakes tomorrow. She didn't want to have any more house points taken for her stupidity, or lack of knowledge about the potion. She wanted to show people that she wasn't stupid, that she wasn't dim-witted, like Hufflepuffs are type-casted to be. She could do anything she wanted She could be anything she wanted. She wanted to be a Healer, so she needed good Potion grades. She could do this, even if it took her all night, she would get it right.

[ivan bentley oldham]

"Ok! Easy tiger." Ivan said rolling his eyes. He was sure if he was given the chance that he could nail it but then again he'd only ever watched a potion being made and it was probably a lot tricker than it looked or the classes wouldn't be so hard to pass. He sighed as he picked up the first book. A very aged one with a tattered cover and very scrawly text in it. Ivan didn't think much of trying to wade through that and so swapped it for a slightly newer looking one in which the text was about bareable. "Seven books is just taking the piss I'm sorry. Let's be honest you can know to much sometimes. I think it's more a case of revision than having to learn new things." Ivan said and in all honesty he was right. There was no way Rose would get through all these books in time, she didn't even need to do it.

"Look, you know what goes into the potion and you know what order, it's just getting the timings right and practising the technique and you can't do that through reading. Do you not think it might be a good idea to go find out what days the revision clubs are or when the potions room is actually free? Then you can practise it first hand instead of filling your head with this junk." Ivan said, knowing he had a point and that Rose probably would be reluctant to listen because she'd already convinced herself that reading was the only way to do it when infact there were many other ways she could have gone about it that would have been better. "Honestly you'll be wasting your time if you try and get through even one of these books. It's not like you're doing an advanced level in this one potion." Ivan said thinking that would be the only reason anyone read more than half a book on the potion after being taught it in class to the same level as everyone else.

"You don't have to be the best at everything ya know, it's bareable to be average - I mean look at Joey, when was the last time he got above average in anything other than oggling girls... and boys." Ivan joked trying to bring abit of humour to the situation. He could understand Rose's frustration, he'd been there to witness how her potion had gone before but seriously, thinking this was the way to go about it was wrong and it seemed that only he could see it. Ivan turned and layed out flat on his side, watching Rose with a small smile knowing she'd probably shout at him for being bold enough to tell her she was wasting her time learning too much and not physically practising the thing she was having trouble with.

[rosemary arlene oldham]

Rose was more than upset at the fact that Ivan wasn’t taking this seriously. Sure, he wasn’t responsible for her work, but he could at least empathize with her in the fact that this was a serious issue to her. She picked up a book and began reading. She was convinced she had to read cover to cover all of these books in order to get a better grade when she did the potion again. She could live with being so stressed out about the class. She didn’t think the reason for what Hector said was that he was just really moody about being away from his boyfriend. She thought he was absolutely correct. If she was struggling, she couldn’t just let herself struggle. She couldn’t bare the tension in the air every time she entered the classroom. She hated being laughed at by her Slytherin classmates when her potion was less than satisfactory. She needed to be perfect, she needed to show she could get a good grade so that others could see that she was not a lazy person. She wasn’t afraid of work. And if working harder could help to achiever her goals then that was what she was going to do.

She slammed her book shut and listened to Ivan, glaring at him for smiling at her. He hadn’t even read the whole of one page, and he was telling her to stop already. He didn’t think reading was the answer. What he was saying was making real sense. But the classroom wasn’t available, and the revision club only met every other week, and this was the off week. She folded her arms as he laid on his side, obviously trying to get her to relax. It was not going to work. How could she relax? How could he want her to relax? She felt like exploding! She felt like everyone expected a lot from her. Her brother was a doctor, her father was a doctor, her mother was a nurse. They all expected good grades from her. They all expected her to be a Healer. Her professors expected good grades from her. She was feeling a lot of pressure and she didn’t know what would make it go away, but relaxing did not seem to be the right answer. She didn’t know how it could possibly solve any of her problems.

And then he was telling her that average was okay. Average was okay?! What kind of crack was he on? Had he found firewhisky somewhere? Being average was not okay. Anything lower than best was not okay. Even as she thought about what he was saying, her mother’s rhyme rang in her head. “Good, better, best, never let it rest, till your good is better and your better is best.” She had to do her best. Average was not her best. She had to be the best. He didn’t get it. And if Ivan didn’t get it, she didn’t know who else could. She couldn’t just sit and do nothing, and waste more time. She had to do something about this. She didn’t deserve the privilege of relaxation until she felt she was doing her best.

“The revision teem meets next week. Too late. And the classrooms are closed. I’m screwed Ivan! I’m tired of being embarrassed in class, I’m tired of not being able to make a decent potion, I’m tired of people thinking I won’t be anything but average. Do you think that’s all I’ll be? Average? Maybe average is okay for Joey, but it’s not for me.” She took a book and stood up, and went over to a small window seat, trying to hide the tears of fear, hurt, and anger that trickled down her cheeks. She was tired of being taken advantage of by Ackey, by her teachers, by her classmates. She wanted to prove she was somebody. She wasn’t just average. She was better than that. She knew she was. She was, right?

[ivan bentley oldham]

[i wanna apologise right now for how naff this post is, honestly couldn't think of a thing so it's just waffle.]

Ivan instantly regretted opening his big mouth as soon as Rose started reacting to it – or more rightly over reacting to it. She had a habit of doing this, thinking she was being just and infact taking it just alittle to far. Seven books was over the top by any standards, even the headmaster would have thought twice before picking up seven books and making the goal of trying to read them all before the next lesson. It was entirely impractical. Ivan knew that but he felt guilty for even suggesting it anyways. He sighed as Rose picked up a book and made for the window seat. Typical that she’d take what he’d said the wrong way instead of agreeing with him. He rolled his eyes, picking himself off the bed and walking across the room to where Rose had taken a seat. He crouched down infront of her, putting his hands on her thighs as he looked up at her with his big blue human eyes, his face a picture of apology.

“I know how you feel Rose, I really do, but you can’t keep stressing yourself out about it. Of course I don’t think you’re going to be average for ever, I just don’t think anyone can be perfect at everything, and your perfect at most things so really... it’s not so bad.” Ivan said with a shrug. Even now he was trying to make light of the situation even though it probably wasn’t wanted. “Besides, who said you couldn’t just as a professor for help? That’s what they’re there for, student mentors, they have a purpose as well Rose. It’s not to much to ask for more help than what I can give you know, no loss of honour in it.” Ivan said as he tilted his head to one side, the same way a dog would do when it looked at it’s owner because it wanted something, attention. He sat on his bum on the floor, so close to Rose that he could rest his head on her lap with ease. It might have looked abit odd since he was still in boy form but that was Ivan – Ivan was odd by nature, or at least he was since he’d met Rose who had literally turned him into what he was now, a familiar.

Ivan had nothing more to say on the matter now, he didn’t want to spend his time reading and he didn’t want Rose to waste her time on it either – cramming hardly ever helped anyone, he didn’t want her to feel even worse when she discovered it didn’t really help her either. “I read somewhere that people learn in different ways, ever thought that professor what’s-his-face just isn’t teaching you in a way that suits?” Ivan asked as he pouted and raised his eyebrows at her, an expression that really meant nothing other than he was slightly bored of arguing with her. He could understand why Rose wanted to do well, after all her whole family were rather accomplished, but not everyone could be perfect, not even if they had a familiar.

[rosemary arlene oldham]

Rosemary knew there was some wisdom in what Ivan was saying. Seven books before Monday was really not an achievable goal. She was reaching for the stars with the kind of action she was taking. She just wanted to prove that she could be just as good as anyone else. She didn’t want to be considered average or less than average in any area of her studies. If she was really honest with herself, she would say that she was really just afraid of no one loving her because she couldn’t do the things that others could do easily. She had never really had a steady boyfriend before Ackey, and calling the relationship she had with Ackey steady was pushing the truth a little. She wanted someone to love her like he first had when they had first met and were going out. She wanted friends who cared more about the real things instead of clothes and who was doing who. She wanted her parents to be proud of her, she wanted her brother to be proud of her. And most of all, she didn’t want Ivan to leave her when she went on to University. She wanted Ivan to be with her forever. She wasn’t stupid. She thought sooner or later, he wouldn’t want to be with her anymore because she was struggling to do well in Potions.

She laid the book open in her lap as Ivan came over to her in boy form. There was something about his boy form that Rosemary could never ignore. Maybe the fact that he was actually part human was harder to ignore when he was in his human form. He looked older, and she knew he was wiser. She knew what he was saying made sense. She knew he was there for her, to guide and to help her. Merlin, she didn’t know what she would do without her familiar sometimes. And even though she would hate to admit it, sometimes she felt like her brother’s death, so many years ago, had a purpose. And that was to bring Ivan to her. She was one of those people that believed that everything had a reason. There was a purpose for everything. And as much as she still missed her brother and wished he was here, she was glad that Ivan was with her in a way her brother could never have been. She sighed deeply. He was right, she could always ask for a tutor or mentor for help. There was no shame in that. Though she didn’t think she could ever go to the Potions Master himself. He was much too scary for her liking. But he was right. Trying to cram in this information was much too hard and impossible.

“You’re right. I’m sorry for getting mad at you Ivan. I’m madder at myself than at anyone else.” She spoke honestly, finally giving in. She couldn’t do it alone, she needed help. She needed his wisdom. She would go to maybe the prefect and ask about the student mentor thing. She leaned down and gave him a gentle noogie. She closed the book. A growl came from her stomach. She hadn’t realized how hungry she actually was until now. She had eaten next to nothing thanks to her freak out at lunch, and she wasn’t much of a breakfast eater to begin with. She knew Ivan was hungry as well. She was glad she had gotten him all clean though—at least he smelled good, and his hair was all nice and shiny now. She had way overreacted before and wanted to make it up to him. He was always so kind and thoughtful to her, although that was what he was made to do, she was always grateful for his friendship. He and Joey were the only two friends she really confided in. She was glad that he was there for her, at least for now.