Letters to home open Over

Verla rushed into the room, hoping to find her friends here. One of them was here at least and she smiled at her as she panted. "Hey, how are you? Did you sleep well?" Verla asked since they'd only seen each other last night. Verla smiled and then sighed, she was stressed out about her new potions assignment. All the questions weren't in the lesson, and they were hard to find anything connected to them.

Verla sat down and took out her book and her homework and began to work, being around a friend and some birds made her feel just at home. It was nice. She wondered what Rosie was writing to her parents. Probably directions how to owl her. Maybe all the friends she has made so far in her first year. Verla wished she had someone to write to. She missed her parents dearly, but now she could live with the fact that she wasn't wanted. 

She shrugged to herself and kept working on her homework, then she let out an UGH! Because she could not find anything. "Hey, do you know if the Queen of Poisons is Belladonna?" Verla asked, hoping that she would know it.

 Howie walked up stairs of the West Tower, hoping he was going the right way. The castle was vast and he had yet to memorize much about its layout. The trick steps and rotating stairwells didn’t do much to help either! Fortunately for Howie some helpful portraits gave him directions, he hoped he wasn’t too late.
  Howie pushes open the wooden door and knew he had found his way. That’s a lot of bird... he let the thought trail off. Closing the door behind him he saw Rosie who had her letter in hand, and Verla sitting on the floor with her books.
  “Hello there my fellow Huffles!” He called out announcing his arrival. “Sorry I’m late, got lost as usual, dang stairwells shifted on me halfway up! Got your letter Rosie?” Howie dug into his robes and pulled out his letter, tightly rolled and tied with some string. “Here’s mine! Took me ages to write. Wanted to make sure it was perfect and to leave proper instructions on how to write back.” Then it dawned on him. How do you get these owls to do your bidding? 
  His thought was interrupted when Verla asked a question about potions. “Sorry Verla, I haven’t had that lesson yet. And...umm..I hope you checked the ground before you sat down. These owls are messy.” He said with his usual big grin. 
  Turning back to Rosie he asked, “So Rosie...uh...how do we get these buggers down from there?” Howie looked up at the owls just in time to avoid another bombardment. 

When Verla rushed in, Rosie smiled and waved her hand in greeting. "Hi there, Verla." There seemed to be a definite change in energy from the previous day. "I slept well, Verla. I had dreams of owls and letters all night though." As Verla sat, Rosie cringed. It was pointless to comment about the poo everywhere. Verla was already sitting in it at this point.
She turned her back to the door and looked up. How on Earth were they supposed to send these letters? She glanced at the wall. There was some alcoves carved into the wall with owls nested inside. She scrunched up her nose, noticing the smell of the place for the first time.
She didn't hear Howie come in and turned when her spoke. "Hi, Howie." She chuckled. "This place is a maze." She turned her eyes to Verla and shook her head. She was second to answer. "No sorry. I haven't studied that one yet, either."
She held up her letters in response to Howie. "I wrote three. They're actually fairly short. I really only want to know where I stand with my family. I think I got across what I needed to." She pointed to one in an alcove. "I imagine we just use one of those." She pursed her lips. "How do they know where to take the mail, though?"

Sophie slowly, but surely, walked up the staircase to the Owlery. She had a cute letter for her owl to deliver, and wanted to give a few some treats. After all, they were taking everyone's mail to and fro, so Sophie thought it would be nice for them to get a few treats.

As she pushed open the door to the chilly Owlery, she saw a few fellow students. All of them, seemed to be in Hufflepuff. Though Sophie always wanted an excuse to make new friends, she also had trouble talking to people from other houses.

She hummed quietly, and stood inside, just to hear one of them speaking.

"I imagine we just use one of those. How do they know where to take the mail, though?"

Sophie blinked. Had the other students never sent owls home before? Perhaps she was an outcast to many people, but not knowing how to send an owl? It was very odd. Well, she was one of the closest people to owls and animals, and she grew up with all types of animals, so, perhaps she was pretty biased.

"Well," Sophie finally spoke up. "Usually, you can just tell the owls where, or if you own an owl, they most likely know where to go." She shrugged her slender shoulders.

She walked deeper into the chilly room. She wished she had put on her robes, as she was simply wearing a tee-shirt and shorts. At least the robes covered her arms and legs. She approached a beautiful snowy white owl. The owl clicked their beak expectantly, and held out their leg.

"Hey there Kiyoko." The snowy owl ruffled their feathers, but underneath their wings, were midnight black markings. Sophie handed out a small treat to the owl, and the owl took it. 
"Got this letter, take it to the department of Auror's, dad's office. I expect he'd like to know what's going on here." She tied a small letter to the owls leg. The owl soared off through the open windows, and flew until out of sight.

"Just tie the letter to their leg, and they'll know where to go."

  Howie smiled at Rosie, hoping that she wasn’t too stressed out about sending off her letters. He couldn’t relate, but tried his best to empathize with her. It must be so hard for her to not know where she stands with her parents, and poor Verla being completely outcast from her’s. Howie hoped their plan wouldn’t result in pain for his new friend.
  “Right then...I’m sure they will be happy to hear from you. I know I would be!” He have her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder. Howie followed her finger with his gaze as see pointed up at the alcove. He was about to answer when a noise from across the room drew his attention.
  The owlery door opened  and Howie turned to see a short, thin, blonde haired witch enter. She must have overheard them as she soon offered her knowledge on how the owls would find their way of you just told them where to go.
  Howie turned back to Rosie, “Well, I guess that’s it then!” He said with a grin. He looked up to the owls, still not quite sure what to do. Raising out one of his arms, he said, “Oi! I need to send a letter home!” To his surprise one of the birds swooped down and landed on his outstretched arm. “Wicked!” He cried out with amusement. “Give it a shot Rosie!”
  Howie looked over his shoulder to the blonde.  “So..just tie it to their leg? Looks like you got your own there. Mind showing us how it’s done.”

Rosie smiled at Howie as her squeezed her shoulder. Yes, she still blushed when he was kind to her, but she was beginning to get used to it. The shade of pink that her cheeks turned grew paler every time. However, her blush deepened when the other student spoke up.

She turned her now pink face towards the girl. She was short and very thin, but pretty. Rosie was absolutely embarrassed. She felt like a bad witch, or at the very least, inexperienced (which she was). "Oh! Um... Thanks." She paused, feeling as if she needed to explain herself. "This is my first time sending an owl..." She trailed off as she pulled out her father's letter and unraveled it. She dug in her bag for her pen and pulled it out. Her pen made a satisfying click when she pushed the plunger down. You didn't get that with a quill. Quickly, she added a post script at the bottom of the page.

P.S. If you respond, tie the letter to the owl's leg and just tell him to go back to Hogwarts. He'll do the rest.

Gripping her letters tightly, she hesitantly walked toward one of the owls that she had pointed to earlier in the alcove. She looked over her shoulder at Howie and Verla for... something... assurance? Courage? Whatever it was, she took a deep breath and turned back to the task at hand, feeling foolish for being so nervous next to the seasoned witch. Yes, she had plenty of reasons for her nerves but the other withc didn't know that.

"Hi there, fellow. I need this delivered to my home."

The owl quirked its head at her as if to ask where that might be.

"Right... 1206 Fogdale Lane in London."

The owl offered its foot and she was able to tie all three letters to it. They were small letters after all. Only a few lines, at best. She turned towards the other girl. "Like this?"

Howie reached into his bag and pulled out his pen as well, scribbling down his address on the letter he had wrote to his parents. He had tried to get used to the quill, but had had enough of the spilled ink and broken feathers. This was the one area that he felt muggles trumped over the wizarding community. He too gave his pen a satisfying click. Quills are rubbish!

Howie’s gaze returned to Rosie, who was now blushing as she explained to the small blonde about never having sent an owl before. As he fumbled with the string, trying to attach the letter to the owl’s leg, he shot the blonde a cold look. Thanks for the help. He thought irritably. 

Finally getting the letter attached, Howie walked over to one of the open windows. The sun was rising higher in the air, warming the owlery a bit. It was a nice clear day, perfect weather for a flight he hoped. “Alright little buddy, out you go.” He called out to the bird as he stuck his arm out the window. With a few flaps of its wings, the owl shot of towards the horizon.

Turning back towards his friends he spotted Rosie attaching her letters to another owl. She looked back at him over her shoulder, a somewhat nervous look on her face. Howie gave her a big smile and a reassuring thumbs up. “It’ll be alright Rosie.” He called out to her. 

"I don't have any one to send a letter to since, well you know." Verla looked down. She chuckled slightly, almost like a silent scoff. Humphing her shoulders as she did. What to do, what to do? She asked herself.

She only came here for her friends. She didn't feel quite as lonely. Ollie began playing with one of the owls. "Ollie, unless you want to go for a ride and find your way back here, I suggest you not play with the birds." Verla told him. She could just see him being plucked from his spot and falling from the air. She wouldn't know what to do then. She was already nervous, so she pickedhim up and put him back in her pocket. It was the last thing she needed was him out of her sight, since Dorothy Do thinks she knows everything, she envied the girl. How she could be just so chipper in all situations. In a duel, she could be smiling with ease as she defeated her opponent. In a battle, she could be chipper as someone died "there there" she'd say "you'll die quickly, I promise." Verla scoffed at that thought, she hated her guts.

Rosie bit her bottom lip when the girl didn't respond. Maybe she didn't hear? Or maybe she had figured out that all three of them were muggle born and she didn't wish to speak to them anymore. The thought made Rosie frown. She shook it off. The girl hadn't made a comment about Rosie, so she would choose to believe that she just hadn't heard her. Besides, she had friends that accepted her. She smiled at Verla as she put Oliver in her pocket. Verla's family situation saddened her, but she seemed to have accepted it to some extent, so Rosie didn't comment on it. She wouldn't harp on what they couldn't change. Instead she would be there for the girl.
Her eyes met Howie's when he called out to her and she nodded. "I think I'm beginning to believe that, Howie." She turned and offered the bird her arm. He (Her?) flew onto her proffered arm. She flinched a little as she felt the talons in her skin. She made her way over to the window next to Howie. She turned her head and met his eyes with a smile before turning back to the owl and petting his head. As she lifted her arm, the owl took flight. As he flew, the sun glinted off the white paper and she sighed with relief. She watched until the bird was out of sight. Soon, she would know where she stood, for better or worse.
When the bird was to far in the distance to see, she turned back to her new friends with a big, bright smile. "Where to now?"