Can You Be My Witness? (Axel/Open)

[Danica Krizova]

Danica sat a good thirty feet away from the tree, her arms wrapped around her knees.

There had to be a trick to it. It was triggered, it seemed, everytime something moved. Even a leaf falling would send the tree into a frenzy. But what was its purpose? There had to be something it would stop for.

She was watching the tree so intently that she never heard anyone come up behind her.

[Axel Malfoy]

Axel had his hands shoved in his pockets as the wind pushed against his small body. The common room had gotton crowded, and, sick of Slytherins for an evening and still not on speaking terms with Noah, Axel thought he could use some fresh air.

He was walking along the path way that went to the Whomping Willow. Up ahead, he saw the tree swinging his branches around wildly. Axel also saw a girl in his year, Danica, watching the tree with a strong focus. He wondered if she noticed him walking toward her.

A few steps away from her, and she still didn't move, Axel let out a little smile. "What'cha doing?" Axel snuck up on her, smiling good naturedly before taking a seat next to her.

[Danica Krizova]

Startled, the young brunette jumped, her hands going to her sides and she turned and saw Axel, a Slytherin boy from her year. They had Potions together, and she partnered up with him once.

"Don't do that to people! It's not funny," she told him, watching as he sat down next to her. She softened though and gave him a smile. "I'm trying to figure out how it works. Do you know? I mean, the school wouldn't have put a killer tree here for no reason, right? It's not even guarding the forest or anything. So what makes it stop?"

[Axel Malfoy]

Axel felt a little bad about making Danica jump. "Sorry," he apologized. He turned to the tree and watched it sway and swing around. He remembered Noah talking about the Whomping Willow being planted when he was younger.

"No idea," Axel shook his head. "Maybe it doesn't stop." He suggested.

[Danica Krizova]

"It's okay," Dani told him. "I should probably be paying more attention to what's going on around me anyway. At least, that's what my mum says. I get too focused sometimes. And not focused enough sometimes. I guess it depends." She wasn't really aware that she was babbling... she just talked.

"It stops," she said. "I've seen it quiet before. And I've seen Madam Pomfrey walk away from it and make it stop. I just haven't figured out how, yet."

She smiled at the Slytherin boy. "What are you doing down here?"

[Axel Malfoy]

"Nothing wrong with being focused," Axel said. If he was more focused, maybe he'd get his schoolwork done once and a while. He smiled as she babbled; he didnt mind, since he was usually abnormally quiet.

"Why would Madame Pomfrey go near that thing?" Axel asked. "It seems awefully dangerous." He watched as the tree continued to swing violently.

"Just walking," Axel said. "Avoiding fellow Slytherins." he added as a sidenote.

[Danica Krizova]

"See? I don't know, but it's driving me crazy. I can't figure it out." She sighed and shrugged.

"Well, I can't blame you for avoiding the other Slytherins. They're not always so nice. Do you want someone to walk with?" She would have gotten to her feet and walked with him that instant if he said yes. She liked company.

[Axel Malfoy]

"Neither can I," Axel said after seriously thinking about it. "Maybe it's some sort of charm that we learn later..." After all, they were only first years.

"Yea, Sslytherins are pretty bad all the time...well most of them," Axel said. He knew there were some okay kids in his house, he just didn't know them personally. The only friend he ever had in Slytherin was his brother, Noah, but Axel was sure that relationship was over, ever since their argument about their father.

"Um, sure," Axel said, standing up and offering a hand to help her up. "I'd like the company," he added with a smile. and the chance to get away from that tree.

[Danica Krizova]

"I hate that they save all the good stuff for us to learn until we're older. It's just not fair," Dani complained, knowing there was nothing she could do about it. She shrugged finally.

After she took his hand to stand up, she gave him a look. "Right. Not all Slytherins are so bad. You're okay. And I like Cameron. He's a sixth year, but he always stops to talk to me."

She brushed off her robes. "Okay, where are we walking to?"

[Axel Malfoy]

"Yea, I guess Cameron's pretty cool," Axel said. "There's a couple that are all right, but..." but Axel was just too shy to talk to anyone. He spent the better part of his first year glued to the hip of his older brother, and now that it wasn't the case, Axel realized that he actually didn't have that many friends of his own.

"Um, I walked here from the castle," Axel said. "So, toward the lake?"

[Danica Krizova]

Dani nodded. "We can go towards the lake. It's too bad it's warming up... I always liked the lake better when it's frozen and we can skate on it."

Danica, of course, had an opinion about nearly everything, and she usually shared it quite easily.

"Come on," she said, taking Axel's hand and starting to walk away from the tree, which was still waving it's branches wildly as a pair of butterflies flew around it.

[Axel Malfoy]

"Really? I like it warm, then you can go swimming," Axel smiled. "Also, I'm abnormally small, if I fell into a freezing lake, I'd get hypothermia in a good two minutes." Axel chuckled at this. His mother used to always comment on how little Axel was.

Axel looked back at the tree as they walked away, secretly glad he was getting away from it. It scared him being close to it.