Sincerely, Me Finished

Ami trudged up to the Owlery, finally remembering to send her parents those letters she'd been meaning to send since the beginning of time. Tapping out a rhythm on the walls absentmindedly, she dragged her fingers along the cold stone of the castle, climbing up the winding stone steps. She heard someone humming inside the Owlery, and slowly pushed open the door.

"Hey, Amadea," Ami called out shyly, sliding into the Owlery silently. "Thanks for helping me, again, with the whole Trophy Room Catastrophe. It means so much to me- thank god you and Lucy were there to help me out." Ami looked down and saw that Amadea was holding a letter, and trying to make conversation, she asked, "Um... if it's not too personal, who're you writing to?"

She tugged on her hair, fidgeting with her letter to her parents (respectively) behind her back. Was her question too rude?

Amadea was startled. She didn't expect anyone else to be up here as well. She turned around to see the girl from the trophy room standing there. Ami was her name...right? Amadea cleared her throat.

"Hi," she said. She cracked her knuckles, trying to think of something to say to get out of this very awkward situation. Thankfully Ami asked her a question about the letter she was writing.

"I'm writing to my parents," she answered. "They aren't used to not having me around, and obviously I'm not used to being away from them so it's definitely a change to be here at Hogwarts. I just was updating them on what's going on at the school and how nice it is and everything. They're not wizards themselves...my great grandmother was the most recent witch in the family tree. So they don't really know that much about the magical community or the culture of it or anything so I'm sure they'll probably have some questions about it and everything..." Amadea trailed off, realizing that she was rambling. This was probably the most boring conversation the poor girl had to listen to. She shut her mouth and waited for Ami to say something. She noticed that Ami was hiding something behind her back. Her curiosity got the better of her and she pointed toward it, hoping it wasn't intruding. "Is that your letter?" Amadea asked.

Cecily stopped short when she heard voices in the Owlrey. Slowly opening the door, she saw two Hufflepuffs, both holding letters. She recognised Amadea immediately from the empty classroom, but was unfamiliar with the other girl. She heard them discussing who they were writing letters to, and Cecily almost left the room in immense awkwardness; she had not, in fact, come to the Owlrey to write a letter at all. She had come for the view. Yes, she was in Ravenclaw, and yes, their Common Room was in a tower with a spectacular window looking over the grounds, but she always found it more pleasant to watch the view in solitude-- even if it was in a gloomy, slightly damp room full of owls, animals usually made better companions than people.

Cecily had spent quite a bit of time in this tower throughout her time at Hogwarts, but she didn't often run into people here. She was taken aback by the sight of two, and slipped past the two, trying to be silent, to sit in the window, looking out. She knew Amadea and the other girl would just finish their conversation, send their letters home (or maybe not home), and leave. This could all be accomplished without direct contact with Cecily, besides maybe asking her to move so that they could release their owls. Even then, though, Cecily didn't have to say anything to them. She knew she was being rude, and if she were home, her little sister would adorable chide her to "be more nice." Cecily opened her mouth without turning, but just bit her lip without saying a word and tried to tune out their conversation. She took a shaky breath, watching little two-legged ants crawl around the school grounds and the streaky white clouds drift in the wind.

Amadea looked around as she waited for Ami to respond and out of the corner of her eye spotted a figure standing at the edge of the room. She beckoned the other girl to come over and realized it was Cecily, the Ravenclaw she had met in the classroom. She smiled shyly again, feeling a wave of awkwardness roll over the room. The girls stood there, and Amadea, unsure of what to say went over to the owls. She never touched them for fear of them hurting her, but she loved to admire them. They were so regal and she loved looking at their piercing eyes and the curve of their feathers. It might be weird to others, but she didn't care. If she were an artist, she would love to paint the birds, but alas she was not. She decided to point this out to the two girls to break the silence.

"Owls are fascinating creatures," she began. "I really enjoy studying them; they're such fierce creatures. I might get one as a pet. But I also might get a hedgehog because those are adorable and I've always dreamed of having one. What kind of animals do you like? Do you think you'll get one?"

"Is that your letter?" Amadea asked, and Ami instinctively looked down at the letters she was holding. "Yeah," she said quietly, fiddling with said letters. "I felt bad that I hadn't sent my parents letters yet, so here I am. Imagine- I already sent one to my best friend, but my parents haven't heard a word from me. I'm a terrible daughter," Ami laughed, tugging on her hair nervously. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a Ravenclaw girl slip in, and nearly slip out. The girl seemed to decide to stay, and she went to go sit in the window, enjoying the spectacular view. Amadea seemed to know her, so she went over to her, talking about owls and pets. Ami shivered at the thought of pets and distracted herself from it by going to pick two owls; one to send to her mom in London, and the other, a huge, muscly owl, for her dad across the ocean.

She whispered the respective addresses to the owls and set them free through the window, smiling as they spread their wings to fly away into the clear, blue sky. Something about owls just screamed, I'm so much smarter than you! and Ami just couldn't put her finger on why. Maybe it was the regal feathers, or the never-wavering glare of the fiercer ones- who knew?

Cecily looked over as a familiar voice began speaking in her ear. She hadn't even noticed Amadea was one of the two other students in the Owlrey!

"Owls are fascinating creatures," Amadea began. Cecily turned her head to watch the friendly girl try to make conversation. The Ravenclaw girl was usually unsocial, but didn't particularly feel like talking today more than usual. However, for the sake of her friend, she would humour her. Now the Hufflepuff was on to hedgehogs, because "those are adorable and I've always dreamed of having one. What kind of animals do you like? Do you think you'll get one?" Amadea finished. Cecily considered the question, then answered quietly.

"I would love to get a hedgehog. They're super cute. But they only live four to six years, and I don't want to have to watch it die. I'm not that morbid." Cecily said. "But I might get an owl. Or a cat. I've never had a pet before. My parents didn't want something else to take care of," she admitted.

Cecily, though seemingly disinterested, was actually very excited to get a pet. She had always wanted one, but much to her disappointment, her parents always refused; they claimed that they had too much on their hands already, especially with at least one boy off to Hogwarts at all times and an even younger kid than Cecily to take care of. Cecily never gave up, though. Once, she had found a black-footed ferret on the moor, and had kept it in the room she shared with her sister for a month. But when her sister found it in her bed one night, she immediately told the Quinn parents, and the ferret--whom Cecily had dubbed Kieran--was removed from the house at once.

Cecily shook herself out of her thoughts enough to notice the other Hufflepuff standing a short distance away. Looking around Amadea, Cecily managed a small smile for the girl. "I'm Cecily. And you are...?"

Amadea nodded along as Ami explained her letter. Amadea wished she had friends back home that would want to receive her letters. Alas, she did not, and had to be satisfied simply updating her parents on the happenings of her life at Hogwarts. She watched the owl fly off with Ami's letter attached to it. She watched as it flew into the night sky, watching until it was only a speck amongst the rest of the stars shining in the sky.

Realizing she was probably being a bit rude, she turned back to the two girls. "You're not a terrible daughter!" Amadea assured the Hufflepuff who was tugging on her hair nervously. "Your parents understand, I'm sure. I'm sure they know you're busy." She gave Ami a reassuring smile, hoping that she would relax. As she finished speaking, Cecily came forward and answered Amadea's question about animals, talking about hedgehogs and lifespans and other things Amadea had never considered before. Of course Amadea wasn't as quick thinking as her fellow Ravenclaw friend...friend? Acquaintance? Amadea wasn't sure.

"Hedgehogs are adorable," she agreed with Cecily. "I would love to have a hedgehog, even if their lifespan isn't that long. Back home, I have a dog. But here maybe I'll get some other animal. I'm not sure yet. I want to make sure that I have enough time to care for it along with balancing homework and my classes, you know? I wouldn't want to be a terrible animal mother!"

"Ami. Uh- yeah, I'm Ami," Ami smiled, waving to the Ravenclaw at the window. "Nice to meet you, Cecily." She kept her distance while Amadea and Cecily continued their discussion about pets (specifically hedgehogs, for some odd reason), not wanting to intrude, and never quite being one for pets, herself. Maybe she'd get an owl, in the future, but as of right now, her main focus was trying not to flounder miserably in her studies.

"Lovely weather," she remarked casually, realizing too late that she probably sounded like an old lady who just watched the weather channel all day. "I hope it won't rain anytime soon. That would certainly ruin my day." Tugging on the ends of her hair, she leaned against the wall, staring out the window of the Owlery. That gorgeous color of blue, dotted with clouds drifting aimlessly in the wind, over the dark and lush forest... Honestly, Hogwarts could be on a postcard, if it wanted to. But no, the magical community would stay hidden from the Muggle world for now- the magical folk were good at staying in the shadows, considering Ami hadn't caught wind of any of them until her mom decided to finally tell her. 

Cecily only half-listened to Amadea going on about hedgehogs, dogs, and schoolwork; she observed the other Hufflepuff-- Ami-- instead. The girl was tall, with wild red hair and dark eyes. She was very thin, skeletal even, like she didn't usually get enough to eat. There were callouses on her fingers, most likely from playing a stringed instrument, and the way she held herself and fidgeted with her hair suggested that she wasn't quite completely confident. She made awkward small talk about the weather as Amadea finished her speech, but then, most of the first-years seemed awkward, so Cecily thought little of the trait.

"I hope it won't rain anytime soon. That would certainly ruin my day," Ami said, nervously tugging at her hair.

"Really?" Cecily responded, turning away from Amadea, too late realising that she had not responded to the girl. The Ravenclaw inwardly winced at the social faux pas that was, while not unusual for her, rude towards her new friend. Still, it was too late now, so Cecily simply shrugged it off and continued. "I love the rain, personally. It's like it resets the world. It washes off all of the bad or whatever, you know? I'm not sure if that sounds weird, but I don't know. I just love the rain. Plus, it's fun to dance in." Cecily looked out the window wistfully. The change of scenery was exciting, but the Irish girl nevertheless found herself longing for the wide-open moors of her pre-Hogwarts life.