Reconnecting Flights PV Aaron Jones Finished

Summer break was right around the corner, and Aaron was more than ready to get out of this castle. As he headed to the owlery, he did his best to avoid eye contact with anyone he passed and avoid familiar faces entirely. It was getting to be an exhausting routine of his, actively suppressing his extroverted nature. It had been easy at first, but now he was itching to just go home and talk to his family about anything that wasn't school related.

The thirteen-year-old eventually made it to the owlery. This was pretty much the only place he could be found outside of his dorm and classes lately, not that anyone had noticed as much. Everyone was consumed with studying for exams and getting excited about summer break and camp. He couldn't fault them for that. He wasn't even sure he wanted his unhappiness to be noted. He didn't. That's what he decided as he climbed the steps of the tower.

When he got to the first-floor landing, Aaron smiled broadly because there was his owl. Chae was there taking a drink from the bird bath. His worries left for the time being as he approached and she took notice of him. "Hello!" Aaron greeted. Chae hooted in response, ruffling her snowy wings as he got close enough. He scratched her head.

"Did you have a nice night with the others? Not still fighting with that big brown fellow, are you?" Aaron went about chattering to his owl, confident that she could understand him, but knowing he couldn't exactly get answers out of her. Nevertheless, he always told her about his day or his classes. It had been a while since they had flown together - that had been their favorite bonding activity up until - well, he had stopped flying. So now, he made sure to visit her every day he could here, even if he didn't have letters to send.

Aaron jumped when he heard a voice and saw a figure out the corner of his eye. As he turned his head, though, there was a relief seeing a familiar face. He offered a slightly subdued smile to Santario. "Thank you! She is really pretty, isn't she? This is Chae-rin, but she also answers to just Chae." His brown eyes took in the Slytherin girl in front of him and noticed a bit belatedly the lizard face on her shoulder. His smile grew at the realization. "Oh, it's Kahlan! I haven't seen her in a while!" He had met San's lizard towards the beginning of the year, but apparently Kahlan had to mainly stay in San's dorm during the cold months. And then these last few months of slightly warmer weather, Aaron hadn't been very attentive to if San had her around more. "Is she enjoying the warmer weather, then?"

Yes, he had purposefully pretended to not hear the question about how he was, instead commenting on her animal.

@Santario Martin

Santario smiled brightly as Aaron introduced his owl while she walked towards one of the school owned owls. “Chae-rin a name as beautiful as she. Kahlan is very much enjoying the warmer weather! On warm sunny days, I take her out in the courtyard so she can get some real sunshine and not just the heat rock.” Santario extended an arm towards a somewhat large grey owl who hopped onto it. Reaching up, she would gently give the bird a few gentle strokes with her index and middle fingers.

“My grandmother wanted me to get an owl, and there were some gorgeous ones there, but when I saw the lizards and this little lady, I just knew she had my heart.” They had been a great pair in every sense. Kahlan either sat on her shoulder while she was studying or curled up next to her while reading before bedtime when she was not in her little terrarium. “She almost had a heart attack when she learned the shop was selling spiders. It was quite the spectacle.” She suppressed a shudder just thinking about the creepy crawlies. Truthfully she hadn’t had an issue with spiders before, not until the attack on the Slytherin common room, and she had one latch to her face.

Unfortunately for Aaron, Santario was not someone to just let things go unless someone outright told her to. “I hope your brother liked the photo album I sent you?” A small disarming question accompanied by a soft smile. Those sharp sapphire eyes of hers observed Aaron carefully as she moved with the owl on her arm over to a free window. “I have not seen you as much. What have you been up to?” She looked down at the owl as she started attaching her letter to it while hopefully giving Aaron enough comfort to not ignore her question this time.

Now that her hands were free, she reached into a pocket and produced some owl pellet treats, giving a few to the owl in front of her. “Fly well, little guy.” She whispered before directing her full attention back to Aaron.

"My brother and I chose Chae over the winter break. She was an early birthday present," Aaron shared the story of his owl in response to San sharing her story of Kahlan. "The catch being I had to owl home more often, since I was slacking a bit at the beginning of the year," as he went on to explain this, he realized he had been slacking in owling his family the last month, too. His parents had no way of contacting him unless he contacted first, because as a muggle family, it's not like they had a family owl. The term ended in just a few days, so he wouldn't bother sending any letters now - he was already in too deep. But he knew exactly what to say if questioned - he had been busy with exams.

Aaron's attention was recaptured by Santario's next question, and he resumed the slight smile on his face. "He did. My whole family did actually - they were amazed by the moving photos," Aaron shared, his smile a bit more genuine at the mention of the photobook she had sent him. It was a treasured article now - he had even brought it here to school for the year, so he could show others and enjoy the memories himself. It had been a little while since he had opened it up, though he knew exactly where it was in the school trunk of his dormitory.

Santario went on to mention how he had not been around much, and before he could avert his own eyes, she looked away first. He watched her work on attaching a letter to an owl as he mulled over his response. "Just schoolwork," Aaron eventually said, offering the same answer he would give to his parents. "Had to buckle down for end-of-the-year exams and all."

When Santario produced some owl pellet treats, Aaron saw Chae react. She fluttered her wings from her spot on the birdbath next to him, her sharp eyes glued on the Slytherin girl. Aaron had run out of treats a couple days ago, and clearly Chae missed them. "Do you have any extra?" Aaron asked, placing a hand on his owls back and stroking her feathers calmingly.

@Santario Martin

Santario nodded as Aaron explained why he got his owl. “That makes sense since they wouldn’t be able to owl you first unless they purchased a home owl.” Truth be told, Santario had never really thought about how difficult it must be for muggle families to stay in touch with each other when one was away at Hogwarts. That had to be rough on the parents; the kids could easily get lost in schoolwork, activities, and friends. The parents, however, just had to deal with an empty nest which was a little sad.

A smile spread across her lips when Aaron said his whole family liked the photo album. “Oh, I am glad! I developed those myself.” In fact, she had done so with Thomas in one of the unused at the time classrooms that Professor Jensen had helped her turn into a dark room. A nod accompanied his excuse, which she could not deny. End of year exams were rough, and even she had been absorbed in them.

As the owl ate its treats and flew off, Santario turned to Aaron and Chae, who she locked eyes on. “Yes, actually, I usually bring some extra as sometimes the others who pay attention get jealous.” Santario reached into her pocket and produced a small handful while walking over. Holding her hand out with the pellets to Chae, her eyes switched to Aaron. “You know I will not profess to know you that well, because put simply, I do not. However, you do seem different than when we met. You do not talk as much, and you seem… less happy. I know things like the blossom ball can change you, but holding things like that is not good.”

She had no idea if it was the lingering effects of last year that still bothered him or if it was something else, but this was not the Aaron she had come to know. “No one else is here; you are free to speak. We’d hear the door open long before anyone else hears us.” Santario was also not the same girl that Aaron had met initially; each of them had become a little harder and a little more withdrawn over the past year, but at some point, they all had to open up to someone.

"It's really impressive that you're able to," Aaron complimented, when Santario explained that she had developed the photos herself. He thought she was a really good photographer, not that he was super familiar with photography or other photographers to compare her to. But still, those pictures were really good! "Maybe you can show me how you do it sometime. Must take a lot of skill!"

As she confirmed having extra treats, it seemed like Chae understood. Aaron watched her yellow eyes stay focused on the dark-haired Slytherin as she approached. "I ran out a few days ago," the Hufflepuff explained. "Thanks for sharing," he said, grinning half-heartedly as she offered the treats to Chae. The owl happily accepted them. She was a gentle eater when it came to treats, so Aaron wasn't worried that she would hurt the Slytherin girl or anything. He turned his eyes away from the owl and back to Santario when she spoke again.

Aaron resisted the urge to turn and look away, though his expression grew a bit more serious than the silly grin from before. Different, eh? She was the first to mention this to his face. She was also the only person he'd been around alone in a while. He couldn't hide behind pretending to hear his name called from across the hallway, or claiming that he had to get to his next class or mealtime. He had hesitated too long, and any excuse he tried to come up with now would be pretty obvious.

"It's not the Blossom Ball or anything. That was ages ago, last year. I'm not upset about that anymore," he said, which was true. That certainly wasn't what was bothering him, but he knew that's not what she was saying. Santario was just saying that he seemed the same way now like he did back then. Which was somewhat true. He was feeling a similar sense of guilt... At this point, he did look away, stalling for time. His eyes turned back to his owl, who was suddenly looking back at him. Her head tilted unnaturally 90 degrees to the left, giving him a familiar look. The young boy resisted the urge to chuckle or roll his eyes at her dramatics.

Santario invited him to talk, but the invitation irked Aaron more than anything. He didn't fully understand why, but he knew he didn't want to share his failure with her. And as he turned back to look at her, a thought long forgotten struck the thirteen-year-old and his eyes seemed to widen for just a moment. "I- W-Well, it's really not a big deal... I've gotta go, so- I'll, uh, see you later," as he spoke, he started to stumble over his words and his eyes immediately turned to the stairs where the exit was. Forgetting to even say goodbye to his owl, Aaron immediately took off down the stairs, acting as though he had somewhere important to be.

@Santario Martin

“Sure, we can work something out.” Sometimes, Professor Jensen helped her set up a darkroom in an unoccupied classroom in the castle when she needed to have something to focus on, and there was, of course, the possibility of inviting Aaron and his family to France. She would have to okay it with her grandparents, but there was plenty of room. She had never actually thought about inviting anyone to see her home in France before, and the thought was strange, but somehow, she thought it would make life a bit more tolerable while she was there if she had some company, even if just for a day.

“It is no problem at all” A few strokes would be given to Chae’s side feathers as she ate while she observed Aaron and listened to him. He looked away, and she assumed whatever would come out of his mouth next would be a lie, but she would patiently wait and allow him to construct whatever tale he wished to spin with as neutral of a face as possible. In time there it was. No big deal as big a lie as any and one she often told herself.

Santario offered Aaron a slight smile that did not quite reach her eyes as he tumbled over his words. “Of course, enjoy the rest of your day.” With that, she would watch him take off down the stairs in full retreat. Santario once more turned her attention to Chae, pulling some more treats from her pocket. “Don’t fret, little one. He’ll remember next time.” When the treats were gone, she would give the bird some final strokes before taking her own leave of the owlery.

Santario Leaves Topic