Hamsterbation

[Aubrey]

Aubrey watched her pet hamster chew on a sunflower seed, content and happy in his clear hamster ball. Her assignment for 'Care of Magical Creatures' was apparently to pay 'special attention' to the care she gave this little jerk. She was half tempted to get a cooler pet out of the classroom, but she supposed she should leave those for the poor people who couldn't afford their own pet year round. She was nice like that.

But what did "special attention" mean? There wasn't anything terribly interesting in what she did for her DJ. She cleaned his bedding when it stinked, she gave him food and water, and if she felt like it, she brought his ball somewhere with her. She doubted he was smart enough to care who was feeding him, and besides, he was mean sometimes. Definitely not familiar material.

Aubrey sighed, twisting the lid off of the hamster ball and sliding him out and into her hand. He was smart enough, at least, to not bite the person holding him. He seemed to understand that that would mean his own possible death. Or maybe he was just in a good mood. Whatever the case, Aubrey was hesitant as she raised her other hand and pet the back of his head.

"Hello, DJ Hammer Time. How are you today?" She said, voice quiet so no one would hear her talking to a rodent. Her face grew warm. She couldn't imagine what would happen if another Ravenclaw saw her doing this. She'd much rather be caught masturbating, or, or watching Spongebob Squarepants. Only crazy ladies talked to their pets, unless, of course, they were familiars, and, of course, again, her hamster was not a familiar or even anything close to it. He was a hamster. A pet to appease an unhappy child at a pet store. A throwaway gift.

DJ Hammer Time, of course, did not respond to her either. She set him down on the seat next to her on the couch she was on, allowing him to scurry around. She would keep an eye out for cats, that was for sure, but for the moment, he was probably safe. She dropped a couple yogurt treats for him to find near her, and watched as he explored.

He was cute, sure, but he wasn't anything special.

[Aubrey]

The next day.

Aubrey sighed as she lay on her bed, a notebook out in front of her as DJ Hammer Time scurried around on her bed. It was an odd, dumb assignment, especially for someone who had a pet as lame as DJ Hammer Time, but she was a Ravenclaw. She would see it through to the end, and better, she would do it well. She glanced down at the paper below, where she had scribbled some notes. Well, perhaps "scribbled" wasn't the right word... Her handwriting was meticulous, neat, and very within the lines. Occasionally she became passionate about the subject she wrote about but here, now, there was possibly no way she could feel less passionate.

Stupid hamster.

The paper listed out neatly a little schedule, showing when and how she maintained his cage's cleanliness. Underneath the chart was a small list of snacks that she had fed him, with notes under each one stating his eagerness in eating that particular treat. The notes mostly consisted of her stating that he ate each treat like a fat pig that was afraid it would disappear at any moment. The Djungarian hamster had, at no point, seemed like he was enjoying one treat over the other.

She watched, unamused, as the hamster scurried back over to her and poked at her fingers, no doubt looking for more treats.

She felt the corner of her mouth twitch, but she stayed resolute in her decision to not become affectionate. He was just a hamster, after all, a rodent. Disease carrier. Cat food. Pathetic.

She pet him slowly, running her index finger over his back.

[Aubrey]

The next day.

Aubrey glanced from her textbook to her notebook, jotting down things here and there carefully as she took notes. The notebook wasn't widely accepted at Firefox University, even in these modern times, but the notebooks she kept (and her journal, of course, which was something else entirely) were all for her own use. Her assignments were done on parchment, with quill, as was required, but she knew better than to try putting ink to to parchment on top of her bed. Tiny black spots on the spread from where her quill had jabbed through the fabric-like paper... No thank you. The notebooks would do just fine. And using pen made her feel so professional. She liked it.

DJ Hammer Time, her hamster, scrabbled from one shoulder to the other, but she hardly noticed. He had been out for hours now, running around her and over her arms and even her head at one point. She would never tell him, of course, but it was nice to have a companion for note-taking, one that was warm and fuzzy and not cold and book-shaped.

"The moon will be..." She mumbled, and jotted down something else in her notebook. She was dressed rather sloppily, but considering she was in her own dormitory, she felt it was acceptable. Her blazer was on her pillows, folded neatly, and her white button up shirt had a few buttons skipped, revealing skin underneath. Her shoes she had discarded next to her bed, and for now her thigh-highs were still on.

Aubrey loved uniforms. She wasn't sure why, or if there was any real significance in that fact, but she did. It made her feel more controlled, and honestly soothed the anxiety she felt about dressing for the public. The uniform took care of that, let her not worry, let her simply follow directions carefully. She was good at those, and so, she was good at her uniform.

DJ Hammer Time rustled behind her right ear before nestling into the collar of her shirt, and Aubrey let a small smile loose as she leaned her head, nuzzling at him a little with her ear.

[Aubrey]

The next day.

Aubrey sat, once again, scribbling in a notebook in a chair near the unlit fireplace. DJ Hammer Time was nestled up, happily chewing at a nutty treat in her breast pocket on her button up white shirt. Her blazer was unbuttoned due to the heat and for comfort, and Aubrey scribbled away, barely paying attention to her surroundings as she wrote.

Dusty blushed as she looked up at the older Ravenclaw, a blush creeping upon her face as--

Aubrey felt a presence behind her and promptly slammed the notebook shut, turning angrily to face the intruder.

No one.

She sighed. She was a little paranoid. Honestly, it wasn't smart for her to assume privacy just because it was common courtesy, even if she was in the least sociable house. Slytherins were always networking, Gryffindors were always bonding, and Hufflepuffs were always doing... whatever they did. She closed her notebook, sticking her pen into her stationery bag. She lifted DJ Hammer Time gently out of his temporary nest, looking at him, already more fond than she had been when she'd initially started the assignment. Who would have thought just spending time with a rodent would make you attached?

It was a stupid attachment, and she knew it. Any Ravenclaw would know, of course, how pointless it was to get attached to a rodent. How pointless it was to get attached to any living thing, really, but for people the thought was generally forgotten. Her hamster, however, would not last anywhere near as long as say, a real friend. No, a real person. She could consider the hamster a friend.

She pet him as he scraped his teeth lightly against one her cuticles. She wondered if there was magic to extend a pet's life. Wizards and Witches lived longer as a general rule, after all, and people's pets seemed almost immortal. She thought about it, deciding it was a valid thing to research.

[Aubrey]

The next day.

The book on hamsters that she had special ordered at the bookstore in town had come today. She'd ordered it when she'd first received the assignment, and was pleased at its prompt delivery. It was a good establishment, and she had decided recently that she would be making more use of its services very soon, especially once classes got into full swing. Anyway, DJ Hammer Time was stuffed safely into his hamster ball and rolling around the table in a sort of "track" that she had made for him out of books and pencils, and she plopped the (surprisingly heavy) book on hamsters onto the table and began to read.

She made quick work of the foreword, the table of contents (She always read those) and the introduction before skipping forward to the Djungarian Hamster section, which is what DJ Hammer Time was.

She was surprised to learn that DJ Hammer Time's ancestors were from Russia, or at least the countries around Russia. They could have even been from Northern China. She'd suspected, of course, with a breed name like 'Djungarian', but it was still a bit of a weird thought. How did hamsters even survive in the wild? Though she adored DJ Hammer Time, she could not imagine him surviving for very long against any sort of predators, the cold, or even bugs.

She was a little disappointed to learn that Djungarian hamsters in the wild change the color of their fur when winter approaches. As far as she could remember, she'd never seen it. Then again, when did she get DJ Hammer Time? It felt like she'd had to clean his cage for forever, but then again, he had been a present. What holiday was he a present for? Something bothered her, making her think it was either Easter or Christmas. If it was Easter (She had no idea why her parents celebrated Easter) then it was possible that she had just not had the opportunity to witness it yet. If it was Christmas, then it was right out.

She felt bad. She wouldn't even know when his birthday was. She shifted her socked legs against each other, rubbing the fabric against her skin absentmindedly as she continued to read her book. DJ Hammer Time scurried around, bumping his ball into her various books.