20 March 1889 — Hogwarts, Ravenclaw Tower, Fifth Year  

If there was one thing on this big blue planet that Poppy hated most, it was spiders… They had too many legs, too many eyeballs, and way too much fuzz to be natural. They had gangly limbs that twisted in a tortured looking way when they ran and with those pinchers? There was no way she could get anything done when one was around. Unfortunately, today - in the Ravenclaw common room - there just happened to be one such unfortunate.

Poppy Dashwood was petrified in place. Neither she nor the creature, massive as it was, dared to move. They both waited with baited breath to see what the other would do. Would she reached her wand and stun it long enough to crush it with a text? Would she place a teacup over it and wait for it to suffocate and die miserably? Would she burst into tears and wait, rooted in place until someone happened along to save her? Poppy figured her most likely option was the latter; she had a debilitating fear of spiders and today's terror was just not helping their case any.

It was a black lace-weaver spider; common in this part of England she knew and potentially dangerous. The bite could cause swelling, localized pain and even nausea for three days even if they weren’t particularly aggressive. Still, Poppy wasn’t going to take any chances. She knew she had to do something before the thing decided to make a run for it and get lost in the common room couch forever. There would be no studying in here if that happened! With a terrible wince and a deep, deep breath, Poppy snatched a water goblet (the closest thing at hand) and covered the spider with a shriek. Fortunately, or perhaps rather unfortunately, the Ravenclaw common room was deserted.

Poppy had to admit, she was surprised. She had only ever known the common room to be this truly empty on one other occasion and that had been during a Quidditch match! Biting her lip she looked around and decided she simply couldn’t live like this, with that thing in here still. Making a split second decision, Poppy vacated the room and peeked out into the hall leading away from their tower and up to the Astronomy classroom. Also empty. Frustrated, she traipsed down the spiral staircase and finally spotted someone at the very bottom. “Oh, you there!” She called, desperation hinging in her tone. “Please, can you hep me?!”

Before he could answer, Poppy reached and grabbed the young man by the hand, completely unaware of his visage or if she even knew him, and tugged him towards Ravenclaw tower. She yanked him up the spiral staircase urgently and rambled out soft apologies. “I am truly sorry about this but it’s urgent! Please!”

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Owen Beauregard (but like, this is more her face lol)

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© Fox

It was unseasonably warm today and Owen could easily see why most of his peers were outside today. He was however, milling around the corridors looking for his Care of Magical Creatures textbook that legitimately had all of his notes in there for his NEWT exams and he would very much like to pass that class without his twin's help.

He remembered having it at Astronomy last night and so he was hoping that retracing his steps would help him locate the critical book. Of course he had no ideas his search would be so thoroughly derailed that he would find himself inside the Ravenclaw common room not for the first time. Lottie might kill him if she found him in there.

"Miss Dashwood, you do know I am a Gryffindor, correct?" He chuckled, grin evident as she very firmly dragged him up the stairs into the house common room. He only knew this because he had indeed been in there before, but generally tended not to tell anyone when or why. His brother's death hadn't exactly been the reason he would have liked to have to been allowed in another house common room. "Whatever is the matter?" He was both amused and mildly alarmed by her insistence.

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Poppy didn’t fully register the fact that she’d grabbed a boy by the hand until it was too late. It felt strange not having a glove between them; too intimate and certainly improper, but she didn’t find she minded all too much. Especially as realization dawned on her that it was actually Owen Beauregard’s hand she was holding. A small flush heated Poppy’s face and the fifth year quickly released him, glad they were already too far on the way for him to hesitate now.

The two of them clambered into the common room then and Poppy eyed Mr. Beauregard. “Yes!” she replied, breathlessly. “I am so terribly sorry for the inconvenience but, please!" She paused a good five feet away from the beastly thing and pointed one delicate little finger. “Can you get rid of that thing on the cushion near my text!”

Poppy waited with bated breath, hoping the boy might comply with her request and not simply admonish her for being childish and potentially loosing both of them house points for sneaking him inside what was, decidedly, not a common room he ought to see. She didn’t care about all that right now; not when there was a huge spider about to climb all over her homework! It looked even larger under the goblet she’d trapped it in and Poppy felt herself shiver and take an involuntary step back.

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Owen Beauregard (but like,  this is more her face lol)

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© Fox

Owen nearly laughed as she let go of his had as if burned by it, the heat rising in her cheeks had him pressing his lips together in an effort not to let the chuckle out. "Do you ah, mind telling me what it is you have trapped there?" Owen was always wont to play the knight in shining armor, if given the chance, but he liked to go in prepared.

She seemed quite terrified, but he really hadn't any idea what she might have beneath the indicated goblet. He wasn't usually one to underestimate women, his sisters had proved him wrong time and again there, but it could be just about anything in reality. A bug, a mouse, some magical creature that didn't belong inside. "Why don't you take a few deep breaths," He suggested to Miss Dashwood, eyeing her carefully. The last thing he needed was for her to collapse on him, then he would have two issues to contend with and the latter would prove much harder to explain away his appearance in the Ravenclaw common room.

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Poppy chanced a glance away from the goblet to cast her gentleman savior a grateful look. He was going to help her, how marvelous! She sucked in a deep breath, per his request, and let it out shakily. “It’s a black lace-weaver spider. A bite isn’t terribly dangerous but could cause swelling and nausea.” Poppy hiccuped in a small noise, and took a second step back.

She wondered if Mr. Beauregard would find it odd that she knew exactly what kind of spider was under there. In her defense, she only knew as much because she made a frequent study of various potion ingredients and species common to this part of the world. The lace-weaver spider wasn’t too terribly common in their studies, but its legs could be used in an anti-paralysis draught. She eyed him again and waited, with bated breath, to see how he would handle the whole fiasco.

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Owen Beauregard

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© Fox

Well that was really specific. "And a levitation spell wouldn't have worked, right out the window?" He quirked an eyebrow and a charming smile at her. Not that he minded taking care of it, but she had options. Alright, well maybe she was a bit too scared to think about solutions like that, but weren't Ravenclaws supposed to be the smart ones here?

"Well if it's not dangerous really," He shrugged and looked around for a book of some kind to slide under the goblet so he could take care of it. Just because he had already suggested using magic, did not mean that was how he was going to handle it. No, Owen did do magic very well, even something as simple as a levitation charm, and so he rather thought if it was going to be the one to handle it, he should probably do so the old-fashioned way and just move it himself.

"Got something I can slide under there?" He asked. Looking around again, but unsure of what he could actually use, lest he ruin something.

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Poppy frowned as the Gryffindor pointed out an obvious solution to her otherwise mundane issue. No, a levitation spell out the window would not have worked because for one thing, the windows were closed and she was not about to attempt opening one of them and risk falling to her death, and secondly because even the thought of managing the squirming, creeping, nasty little thing long enough to shoo it out the window to its death was too close for comfort for Poppy. Instead of articulating these thoughts though and snapping at her savior, the girl just smoothed her dress and shook her head. It was worse to make a bad impression than to not make any impression at all, she supposed.

When the boy next asked for something to slide under the goblet, Poppy had to really resist the urge to put her hands on her hips. If he was just going to tease and make her do all the leg-work, what had she called him in here for at all?! “I suppose not,” she replied, looking around. And why did he want to move the nasty thing? He needed to kill it, not relocate it! “Can you just… move the goblet and squash it with your shoe?” Poppy tittered from the fringes. She wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing that thing was out there seeking revenge. Besides, any squish marks were easy enough to clean up. That she could do handily with her wand and just not look at it (or sit in that spot ever again).

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Owen Beauregard

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© Fox

Owen realized he was truly on his own here, so he simply shrugged, moved the goblet and with his quidditch reflexes, gently grabbed the spider from the sofa with his bare hands. He had to wonder if the arachnid was as scared of him as Miss Dashwood was of it. He really had no intention of squishing the poor thing, as suggested, so relocation it was.

"Alright well, I suppose my new friend and I will be off then. If you could just get the door?" He motioned toward the exit with his head as he started that way, careful not to jostle the spider too much. He'd rather not get bitten by something today and wind up in the hospital wing... again. The nurse was far too familiar with his face.

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Poppy watched, curiously as Mr. Beauregard made his move. He walked over to the couch, incredibly confidently if she cared to notice, and— Poppy could’t help it. A shriek ripped out of her vocals as the Gryffindor actually touched the creepy crawly! Her hands quickly came up to cover her mouth, aghast, and Poppy darted even further away as he invited the thing into his hands. He’d picked it up! He’d actually picked it up!

Poppy watched with every fibre of her being, willing Mr. Beauregard to stay as far away as possible. (She could practically feel the thing crawling all over her at the sight of it moving around in his hands!) She did as he requested however and opened the door to the common room, holding it ajar for him. She didn’t know if she would manage to say anything as he inevitably neared and she felt her stomach turn over again.

A terrified little “thank you” just barely managed to squeak out, instead of the proper appreciation her savior was was due. Poppy felt her cheeks warm, but she had no inclination of doing or saying much else until that thing was gone. For now, it was all she could do to not tear her gaze away lest the spider decide to jump for its freedom before it had been cleared.

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Owen Beauregard

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© Fox