"Come on, I'm asking nicely. Please?"
I hated being ignored. She must have known this; she didn't even turn her head my direction. Instead, she stared under half-lidded eyes out the window.
She had gorgeous eyes and I reminded her often of the fact. At the moment they were highlighted beautifully with the dying sunlight. The sun was painting a beautiful picture as it set; already it was half-hidden behind the mountains beyond the Forbidden Forest. If I hadn't been so desperate for an answer I might have been tempted to admire the view.
"I swear, you hear me? I swear it won't happen again!" I cried.
She continued to ignore me. She knew I hated it when someone wouldn't even look at me.
"I know I made a mistake. I know, really, I do."
I tried to edge into her line of vision but she moved as well, in the opposite direction, avoiding me.
"It won't happen again. He was just so convenient, you know?"
Again, I stepped into her field of vision. She turned her head away.
"He was just there at the time and I needed—,"
She huffed, finally turning to give me a scathing glance.
"Really! You've got to believe me. He was just a one-time thing."
With a sharp jerk of her head, she turned away again. Clearly, I hadn't been forgiven yet.
"I won't do it again, I promise."
I wasn't above pleading, not with her.
She continued to stare in the opposite direction.
Sighing, I realized that perhaps, I wasn't using the right tactics.
Slowly, I brought my hand up and brushed her smooth shoulder. She stood as still as a statue, but was much warmer under my fingertips. Slowly, I brought my hand down her back in a light caress.
There were footsteps behind me but I didn't turn away from her.
"Hey," Ron said, tossing his books onto his trunk and kicking off his shoes near the foot of his bed. "Has she forgiven you yet?"
"No," I answered. "But she hasn't bitten me either."
"Ah. That's got to be good luck then," He agreed.
Her pale feathers were soft beneath my fingers and she began to lean into my hand as I reached to scratch the back of her neck.
"I'm really sorry, Hedwig." I whispered to her. "I won't ever use Pig again."
With a quiet ruffle of feathers, her equivalent of an avian sigh, her head swung to look at me. I stared into her golden eyes, watching her silently.
A moment later she blinked slowly and I heard a soft hu-hu as she stepped onto her perch and obediently raised her foot. Her talons curled politely as she waited.
With a smile I opened the package in my hands.
Immediately, she pulled her foot back in and stared at the package with great interest.
I slid one of the mouse-shaped treats out of the envelope and into my palm. She leaned toward me and waited until I extended my hand to her. With careful precision, she picked the treat out of my hand and snapped it down.
For a moment she looked quite pleased, then she hopped off the perch and onto my still-extended forearm. She walked up to sit on my shoulder. I could feel her feathers ruffle my hair, her warmth against my cheek.
With a sudden, jolting nip to my ear, she took off, out of the window and into the dusky air beyond.
"Ouch!"
I belatedly rubbed at my ear, watching as she faded into the shadows of the forest.
"She bite you after all?" Ron asked, thumbing through a new Quidditch magazine.
"Yeah," I said as I sat on the edge of my bed, still rubbing my sore earlobe.
"Women," Ron sighed. A page turned.
I silently agreed with his sentiment.