Howling For You

"No," Charlotte answered flatly with a frown and a soft sigh of defeat, obviously her tactic did not prove a success as the bloke continued to evade the truth. She was exhausted from a long day of hiking and in no mood to continue trying to pry information from this 'Max' guy, it was even more grueling than pulling teeth and she hadn't the time for this shite.

"I didn't follow you, I was hiking..." Char's frown deepened as she abruptly stood up, moving back over near the camp fire. There was no point in her hovering over him, he didn't waver in the face of her allure, which shouldn't have surprised her, she wasn't gorgeous, she was far from veela and it was often a fifty fifty chance with most men whether or not they would submit to her mysterious charm. The auburn-haired witch shrugged, rummaging in her worn out backpack for a bag of marshmallows and plucking a nearby twig from off the ground. "Scourgify" She cast a cleaning charm to rid the stick of any filth before jabbing it into a fluffy, white marshmallow and dangling it over the fire to roast.

"I hike these woods nearly every night and on the weekends I usually camp out here. I just happened to stumble upon you... I promise I don't usually run into bloke's getting sick in the woods and scaring the living piss out of me. Thought you were under some nasty spell or something." She told him truthfully, her tone even and detached as she let out a hallow laugh. Just like him she had her secrets and wouldn't give them up so easily. "Want one?" Charlotte then offered, her tone more friendly and light as she held up the gooey treats along with a box of graham crackers and chocolate frogs from Honeydukes.

Char plunged her stick into the fire, dragging it against the charred ground and watching the embers rise like dust into the air as she pondered just how she would answer Max's question, how much of herself she'd give away. She wasn't sure if it was the fact that they were secluded, out all alone in the wilderness and away from the school and their peers that gave her the added nerve needed to tell him or if she just deep down longed for an ear to listen to her problems but something about the strange boy made her want to tell him, which was odd being that Charlotte was normally very secretive. She didn't gain the reputation for being mysterious by telling everyone her personal business...

Her moss, green eyes flickered over to him as she said truthfully, "Looking for trouble I s'pose." Charlotte shrugged, gazing back down into the fire when she was unable to hold his piercing gaze a moment longer, her courage faltering.

"I like to come out here to escape from everything, mainly myself. I can't be depressed if I'm roasting smores and keeping up my guard against completely mental boys in the woods like you now can I?" She winked playfully, to lighten the heavy mood a little, she didn't want to scare off her company so quickly by being dark and morbid. Guys didn't tend to dig the sentimental, sappy stuff.

"The thrill of always being on the edge of danger, that something sinister could be lurking just around the corner... It serves as a much needed distraction." She said quietly, sobering up a little as her eyes finally found the courage to meet his pale, blue ones behind a pair of spectacles once again, the glass reflecting the orange of the campfire in its surface.

"What about you? Do you always come out here...for your condition?" She wondered curiously, seeing how much information she could slowly pry from him. Perhaps if she kept giving a little of herself it would encourage him to do the same.

Charlotte nodded at vague talk of his sister, obviously still not ready to divulge his secrets, in the meantime she thought they should have a bit of fun, might as well enjoy each others company and the wildlife while they were out here.

"Do you want to see something really wicked, well possibly," She grinned with a small shrug, rising from the campfire and brandishing her wand for protection. "You can never tell with them, they're rather shy but still they're routine-oriented, they like to come back to the same clearings, at least I've noticed. Something in the wild flowers or some other rubbish, I dunno, I'm not a magizoologist just a hiker." She told him, gathering her auburn hair into a low, messy ponytail and casting her patronus to lead the way. "Expecto Patronum" She commanded confidently for she had performed this spell often while wandering the dark forest.

A wispy, glowing, white bear encircled her, stalking protectively like a mother beast protecting her cubs. "They like the warmth and light from patronuses I've also noticed, go ahead cast yours and we'll be on our way." She encouraged before heading off into the looming, lightless treeline without a single hesitation of fear. Char turned back to glance at Max over her shoulder. "It's only a short walk, think you can manage it?" She asked with a raised brow, scanning over the boy with the mysterious condition that he seemed to have recovered for the most part from.

"Unless you want me to carry you. I could probably piggy-back ya." She teased with a playful smirk, her emerald, green eyes glistening with a childish sort of excitement rarely seen in her orbs as of late. She was happy to have someone to keep her company on her small quest.

Char peered over at the sight of the wispy wolf and just then all reason and logic hit her like the Knight Bus, piecing all the mysteries together as she halted in her steps. "Merlin..." She cursed in shock, fixing him with wide, emerald eyes and slightly parted, chapped lips.

"You're a...you're a bloody werewolf!" She hissed, as if there were others around that would overhear them despite them being utterly alone in the vast wilderness.

"That explains...everything." Charlotte slowly began piecing his mysterious illness together before glancing up to the sky for the final proof and found it in the bright, full moon. He had been undergoing a changing.

"You selfish, loathsome git!" Charlotte roared, abandoning her destination as she had been about to show him a majestic, wild unicorn, or hopefully a unicorn, but screw it that didn't matter now as anger swept over her along with the horrific shock, creating intense outrage. "You could have killed me!" She accused, swiftly closing the gap between them, the soles of her leather boots crunching loudly against the dead leaves before she pressed her brandished wand roughly against his pale throat in warning. Her green eyes blazed even in the dim light of his patronus, seeing as hers evaporated with her anger and lack of proper concentration.

"Why didn't you bite me? How did you resist it?" She demanded of him to divulge his secrets or else she would force it out of him. She wasn't playing around now that she realized this strange boy was far more dangerous than she had anticipated and traces of fear flickered within her gut at being alone in the middle of nowhere with him. Adrenaline kicked in, making her act like a raging lunatic. It was in that moment that she realized she had never truly wanted to die, even as she so recklessly sought out danger, when faced with the possibility of death she found her urge to survive intense and fierce as ever. If she had really wanted to end her pitiful existence she would have offered to him her flesh to bite right now, let him devour her beyond turning point. Werewolves were known to do that, that's why they were so rare. They couldn't control their urges, oftentimes going too far and sinking their teeth into their victims with a little too much enthusiasm resulting in death. So how was it this seemingly ordinary boy could resist his dangerous infliction? She wondered and she would find out, she would take the answers from him, already hexes on the tip of her tongue.