I'm a horrible updater! So, so sorry! This is moving slowly but surely. I'd love to hear your thoughts ;)

The next day, Rolf snuck up behind me and took my wand away from me while I was sitting down to breakfast. I didn't pay too much mind, since I figured he would give it right back after teasing me for a few minutes. I'd learned enough about him during the last few days to realize that he liked toying with people.

My lack of reaction seemed to amuse him greatly. He twirled my wand through his fingers and leaned against the kitchen counter, surveying me over his glasses.

"You'll get this back after training," he said simply and went into his room and shut the door, while I sat at the table with my jaw hanging open. My heart pounded, and it was such a strange feeling to know that I was alone in an unfamiliar place without my wand. I thought back to all the things I'd learned in Defense Against the Dark Arts and my mother's lectures on how I should never let a stranger handle my wand, and I could have kicked myself. I definitely did not like being so vulnerable.

I let him know it too, once he came back out of his room. I crossed my arms and gave him the darkest glare I could muster, hoping that I didn't look like a spoiled child.

"You will give that back," I stated, knowing full well that the unspoken 'or else' was an empty threat.

"Of course I will," he responded and gave me a cheeky smile before filling a mug of coffee.

"I'm going to need it, you know," I said. That much I knew to be true.

"Of course you will."

"So why did you take it from me?"

He set his mug down carefully and slowly came over to me. He pressed his palms against the table and leaned down so that his face was level with mine so that I had to look him in the eye. It was rather frightening, but not in the way one would expect. This close to him, I could see that there was a haunted, almost manic look in his eye that a casual observer wouldn't be able to see. It sent a shiver up my spine. He didn't seem to notice.

"Let's be clear, Ivy Brown," he said quietly. "You are working for me. I know exactly what I'm up against out there, and you don't have a clue. Not a goddamn clue, missy. And I don't expect you to, but when we're out in the jungle and it's you against the elements, you're going to have to look to me, you hear?"

He paused and I nodded, swallowing thickly.

He continued. "And don't think for a moment that just because you work for me that means I think you're worth less than me. In fact, it's the opposite. You are my partner from here on out, see? And partners have to trust each other."

Again, I nodded my understanding. He continued to search my face for a moment before backing away, satisfied that I understood. He held out a scarred hand. "Partners?"

I reached out to grasp it and smiled weakly at him. "Partners."

He went back to his coffee and took a look out the window to study the weather.

"All right then," he said. "Hurry up and eat so we can go."

For the next two weeks, Rolf spent a lot of time forcing me to run trails through the jungle, stopping every once in a while to instruct me on different creatures we passed. Some were magical, and some were not. He particularly liked showing me the crocodiles and laughed at me for jumping every time they snapped their jaws. I would always instinctively reach for my wand and lament the fact that he'd taken it from me, and he always would wait until the absolute last second to throw a Stunning Spell at them. Once he'd stunned one, he would straddle it and open its mouth wide and make me run my fingers along its teeth. He would go on and on about the strength of their jaws and the way they open their mouths to cool themselves off. One time, he pretended to snap its mouth closed on my arm, which made me mad. But then he got up and wagged his finger in mock disapproval. "You don't trust me yet, do you, Partner?"

I got up and he began to walk away as if in disappointment, leaving me with the stunned crocodile. I then watched in horror as he flicked his wand over his shoulder and the animal revived, and became very, very angry. It snapped its jaws and made a strangled growling noise that made me freeze in terror. It took a few steps toward me with its mouth opened wide, and as soon as I thought I would become dinner, I felt a hand grip around my arm and I was being Apparated away.

My feet hit the ground and I backed away into a tree, breathing heavily. Rolf was doubled over, leaning on his knees, unable to contain his laughter. "You're something else you, know that?"

"How so?" I asked through gritted teeth. I could feel my face beginning to grow red with anger, and as much as I wanted to yell at him, I knew that he had been making his point about trusting him. I clenched my fists and waited for his response, prepared to bite my tongue off in an attempt to not say something I'd regret.

"Most girls would have screamed or run away. You just stood there. No sense of self preservation at all." He shook his head in amusement. "Full of surprises, aren't you?"

"What was I supposed to do?" I asked him.

"Exactly what you did," he said. "Never turn your back on a predator."

"Oh."

He rubbed his hands together. "I think that has earned you a reward!"

I looked up at him hopefully. "My wand back?"

"Ha! So eager. Not yet. But there's something I want to show you. Come on." And with that he started running.

Again.

He took me through a particularly dark part of the jungle farther north of where he'd taken me the first day. The trail was overgrown with bushes and clearly not many people seemed to go this way anymore. When I stopped to think of it, Rolf was probably the only person to go out there. He kept a steady pace though, and I struggled to keep up, but I could feel my body becoming accustomed to the paces he was putting me through, which was a relief. As soon as we passed through a patch of trees that had fallen in the way, I felt my ears begin to ring, and my skin tingled, and I called out to Rolf in panic.

He turned and smiled at me before digging in his bag and he brought out a pair of large, red earmuffs, much like the ones Professor Sprout used when she had her students work with Mandrakes. I put them on and immediately the ringing stopped, though the tingling feeling did not subside.

He pulled aside some branches and ducked underneath another fallen palm tree and when I followed him, I saw that he'd brought me into a small clearing, maybe twenty feet wide at most. I couldn't hear anything, but my skin was tingling more than ever and I looked down to see the hair on my arms sticking up. I looked over to Rolf who grinned and pointed up. The jungle ceiling was completely covered in brightly colored feathers and I realized that he must have brought me to a Fwooper colony and the tingling feeling was explained. Henry's squawking itself was enough to give me goosebumps, but an entire group of them was overwhelming to the senses.

Pink, green, orange, yellow… The view was almost blinding. I looked down again and I saw that the forest floor was also covered in feathers that had fallen and Rolf was bending over and inspecting some of them.

I lifted my face to the sky once more and recognized Henry swoop down to land on my shoulder. It really was breathtaking, and the enormity of what I was seeing began to settle on me. I wondered how many people would ever get to see this.

A few more Fwoopers flew down to land on the ground next to Rolf. He stroked their feathers fondly. More and more birds came down to observe us, and we observed them too. Some were multicolored like Henry while there were others who were mostly orange, or mostly pink with patches of green. The variety was fascinating and I could see that Rolf was rather pleased with himself that he'd brought me here as a reward.

After several minutes, I could feel my ears begin to burn beneath my earmuffs and I exchanged a look with Rolf signaling that it was probably time we should leave. He carefully wrapped his handful of feathers in a handkerchief and put it in his bag before taking my hand and Apparating back to the start of the trail near the little cottage. The sky was tinged with orange; I hadn't realized how late it had gotten and I was thankful that he'd chosen a faster method of getting home instead of making me run some more.

He casually threw an arm around my shoulder. "Did you enjoy that?"

"Very much," I said earnestly. "Thanks."

He held the front door open for me and grinned. "You're quite welcome."