Treat to Share PV George Finished

The owlery was cold, even in the summer. Scotland's winds did not let up during any season, and at this altitude, they hit their hardest. George's shoes clacked on the cold stone stairways, missing the sun that he'd left behind on his way in. He was not excited to reply to the letter that Cadmus had just delivered to him in the Great Hall. But it demanded a response, and so a despondent George marched up the stairs, a zombie animated by a duty to not completely ignore his family members.

He crested the staircase with a sigh, though he froze in his tracks when he saw a familiar face seated at the windowsill - playing with his owl. The Hufflepuff paused a moment and then tucked his letter away inside of his robes. "Hi Alan," he said quietly, moving closer to join his friend - and his owl. Cadmus seemed to sense that George had a letter with him, leaning over to eagerly peck at the boy's robes to get at it. "Ow! Not yet, you feather-brain," he chided, scooting back to let the owl dote on Alan and earn some more treats instead.

George eyed Alan suspiciously as the owl was fed another treat. He, too, was considering all their chance meetings, albeit with a different lens than Alan. "...Are you waiting for me, or do you just come up here to give my owl treats?" he wondered. "No wonder he is getting so fat."

That comment was followed by a dangerous game of poking the owl in the belly, resulting in a few nasty scratches and bites for George's finger - which he then brought to his mouth to literally lick his wounds. "He's the laziest owl alive. He never leaves Scotland."

Alan hummed as he stared at his ink stained fingers. He'd have to scrub them later to get the ink off. His quill's tip had bent as he was writing a letter for his mother today and had created a mess on his desk and fingers. Ever since he was a writer, he used up a lot more quills, especially now that he was also practicing so much. He heard the shuffle of steps and looked up to see George enter the owlery, surprise shone on the fifth years face, before his face lit up into a smile at seeing his friend. "Hey George!", he greeted the other boy. He probably would have hugged him, if it wasn't for the threat of angering Cadmus and feeling his wrath.

When George asked him something Alan furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion. "Why? Did you expect me to be waiting here for you?" he wondered as he tried to scramble for a memory of them agreeing to meet up. I mean they probably had intended to meet up more, but he had no date or place in mind, so it was a little confusing. But he shook his head, gathering his thoughts to speak and reply to George. "I've sent off an owl to my mum, she's been worried I wasn't studying enough for the O.W.L.s and asked if I had chosen my subjects for the next year yet...", he said in a voice that could have sound annoyed, if it wasn't for the warmth in it as he spoke of his dear mother. "Sorry about feeding Cadmus, it's become a habit and he is very persuasive", Alan chucked as he watched the bird on its search for the letter.

"You sending him off?" he asked, but then grimaced at the idiotic question. What else would George be doing in the owlery then to send an owl to someone? "He's not that lazy, he's flown to London before!" the Gryffindor defended his feathered friend, "He just enjoys the occasional mice cracker, nothing to judge there! The fifth year spoke in mock shock, but the mirth in his eyes was a give away for his silly nature.

George's suspicion was short-lived, discarded with a shrug in a smile as Alan reminded the Hufflepuff of his harmless nature. Being up here to feed treats to Cadmus and send letters to his mom was a very believable explanation. It was almost a little Jake-y, but in a less embarrassing way. That thought made George wrinkle his nose. It was weird. "I didn't expect it. But maybe I should have," he said with a shrug. "We always end up sending letters at the same time. Our parents must go on similar schedules."

His mom was busiest during the week, so she only sent letters on Friday, or the weekend. His dad was... never busy, he thought, but he didn't write as frequently. Sam wrote when it suited him - at complete random, but if he was left without a response for longer than a week, he would send a piece cut off from one of George's old stuffed animals like some kind of mafia ransomer. "Well, did you study enough?" George teased, smiling up at Alan. He would be surprised, if he did. He had enough going on without studying. "I have everything all planned out for mine, it's in my journal."

George glanced down at Alan's letter before quickly lifting his head again to preserve his privacy. "Yyyes," George said, raising an eyebrow at the odd question. "I generally do that when I come up to the owlery. I don't just come up for the pleasant atmosphere and aroma." It being ice-cold and smelling of owl droppings reminded him again of their time in the tea shop. They really should have a house elf up here that just makes hot chocolate, or something.

"When did he go to Lon- oh, yeah," George said, rubbing his chin.

"Well, he goes to Walkerburn most of all. I've got to write my parents a letter because... we're working something out," he added quietly, his gaze cast down for a few moments until he shrugged the discomfort off again. While he was moping, there was something on Alan that caught his eye.

"You've got ink all over your fingers. You've got to work on your grip - and you can't put your hand down on the page or you'll smear the wet ink everywhere," George lectured Alan. Although he had not been a writer for a long while, he still considered himself an expert on the subject. He did keep a journal, and regularly wrote essays and even articles in it just to keep his mind sharp. He hoped one day he could have a shot at writing for the Prophet, although these days he would rather see their institution burn to the ground before a word of his was printed in their pages. "Can I borrow this?"

He reached out to pick his owl up off of Alan's arm, freeing him up as the Hufflepuff boy reached into his robe and found the sealed envelope he had tucked away. Cadmus snatched it eagerly and took off - he'd gotten his owl treats and attention and was glad to be back to work to avoid spending time with his most hated enemy, his owner. George watched the owl fly away. There was something bothering him, clearly - the way he frowned as he watched the owl fly. Perhaps he had sent something he would regret. "Bye Cadmus."

Alan sighed. Yeah... My parents are writing even more than usual, thinking I am slacking off so shortly before the Ordinary Wizard Level exams, which I am not, just in case you are wondering!" he explained , directly trying to defend himself so George couldn't even begin to think that he was lazy or an idiot. He wasn't however sure why he cared so much, then again maybe it was just because Alan wanted to be understood? Clearly this was a natural reaction to anybody.

"I did study enough! Which is really annoying, I'd much rather do more fun stuff than sit around and reading lecture books," Alan groaned. "How about you? Are you prepared for all your classes?" The fifth year stared at the Hufflepuff with wonder. George had already planned out everything? But it was two whole years until he had to make those decisions! "What's your plan then, hm?" he asked curiously, wondering which subjects were of interest to George.

Alan had hoped that George would just let it slide, but instead the other boy had a smug reply ready, causing the upper year to rub his neck sheepishly. "Well... uh- I mean yes, that makes sense, of course you'd be sending letters but in my defense your pet does live here, so you might just have wanted to pay him a visit or something!" the Gryffindor argued proudly. George's letter seemed to be important however and Alan tilted his head slightly in worry. "Everything alright?"

Alan would find himself one of the school owls, trying to spot a specific one. It kind of looked like a reverse snow owl, being mostly black with a few white feather markings. It was a very pretty owl and he had dubbed it Trouble. It was rare for him having to go for a school owl, since usually his mother used her own owl to send him letters and he immediately responded to send a letter back with Ivy before she could leave. However this was one of the rare occurrences in which he had been too busy to reply to his mother instantly and thus had waited for Trouble to return from another errand. Simply because his mother had told him that he got along well with Ivy. "Go off now, Trouble" he whispered as he raised his arm, once he had tied the letter to the owls leg and given him one of the crackers. With a big flap of wings that blew the hair out of Alan's face, the owl was sent off and on its way to London.

George commented on his fingers being covered in ink and Alan grinned. "It was truly Tiger's fault! He doesn't like how much time I've spent writing and studying and decided to use my quill for target practice as I was studying!" He said in what would have possibly sounded like annoyance if it wasn't for his facial expression and endearment for his cat.

"Oh, you must be nervous..." George said, with a sympathetic frown. Exams were always the worst time of year, when all the time spent goofing off in class suddenly caught up with you all at once. Potions and transfiguration - both considered essential subjects - required such technical knowledge and exactness that they were no fun at all to perform. Only a school like Hogwarts could manage to make magic boring. George shrugged. "Am I prepared? No. Am I finished studying? Yes. If I need to memorize any more magical laws I'll turn myself into a teapot."

George chewed his lip a bit as Alan asked him about his plan. It was more of a partially-formed set of expectations than a plan. And maybe they were unambitious. Really all he cared for was the get his NEWTs in Charms, and perhaps Defense Against the Dark Arts. The rest were secondary, although they would affect his career options, he had been told. "I'm going to take Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts... and realistically, probably Potions and Transfiguration, just because they're useful and important. I just hate them. History of Magic, as well, because I think that's important for some jobs in the ministry. I might ask if I can take Muggle Studies as well for a laugh."

All in all, quite a full plate of ambitions. He shrugged helplessly when he was done over explaining himself, hoping that Alan's curiosity would be sated and he was sufficiently impressed. Then the Gryffindor asked if he was alright. He looked out at the sky, pursing his lips.

"No, to be quite honest. But I don't really want to talk about it right now." He paused before he began to talk about it. "My parents are upset with one another. And now they're upset with me, and so is Sam, because I haven't been doing my Muggle homework and I haven't been writing and that's part of why they're fighting and... it's so annoying. I wish they could just... stop for a minute."

George let out a long sigh. He smiled and laughed when Alan talked about Tiger, cheered a bit by the anecdote. "I haven't seen Tiger in a while. I'll have to come visit him when we are on the train," he suggested. "You can buy me some more candy, from the trolley this time."

The fifth year sighed at the mentioned about him having to be nervous. "Well yeah, but also no, I studied a lot for this and I have always managed to keep my grades up despite everything else but OWLs are something different entirely, because I have no idea what to expect!" he admitted. "Also please don't turn yourself into a tea pot, at least choose something more fun like an animal or something," the Gryffindor snickered.

It was interesting that George seemed to already have his life figured out. "Wow that is a lot of subjects," Alan said, being slightly impressed by George's ambitions. Then again Alan was also not one to talk. He was putting more on his plate than he should have to handle to satiate both his parents requests and his own wishes. His parents were open with his choice to focus on magizoology but they still told him to focus on an Auror career set as well, perhaps as a fail safe since it was far more difficult to have a breakthrough when caring for magical animals. He knew his parents just wished a comfortable life and Alan knew that his particular skill set was something the Ministry of Magic would pay a lot for to get under an employee contract... Alan sighed.

"Muggle homework? You are doing that even at Hogwarts? That's fascinating, how does Muggle homework look like, is it- ah, I am terribly sorry, that isn't the point," Alan had asked impulsively when George had brought up his Muggle homework, sparking the Gryffindor's interest. "I am sorry to hear about your parents and your brother, do you want to grab a hot chocolate at the kitchen? I feel that always helps calm my nerves when I am worried about something," he offered the boy, a little nervously.

"Oh Tiger is always around, but he doesn't really enjoy the owlery after an owl tried to nip at him, he is probably prowling around somewhere though," he offered with a smile and nodded nervously. "Oh sure, I'd love to hang out and I will buy you all the candy you could wish for, I need to enjoy the unlimited supply of candy while it lasts, before I am back home with my parents nagging at me to eat less sugar! Perhaps you can visit?"

George reached out to give Alan an awkward arm-touch, which turned into a soft nudge on the shoulder to prevent it from lingering too long. He did not know why he felt so keen on that physical contact, but he certainly regretted it immediately. "Haven't you done any practice?" he wondered. Surely there was some kind of practice test? George had begun to realize what a privilege it was to have a teacher for a parent. His mom could source a practice exam for every subject available in the muggle education system. Oh, if only she was a Hogwarts professor... "I can't be an animal! I'm not an animagus. And if I cast some sort of transformation spell on myself, I might be a ferret forever..."

He wiggled his fingers and took on a spooky tone at that. What a terrible fate that would be. George put his hands on his hips and sort of tilted his head back, shaking his head softly like it was absolutely no big deal that he intended to take on advanced classes in so many challenging subjects. Of course, he may very well crash and burn in them, but it was an ambitious attitude. The slight sting of regret tickled his tummy when he heard Alan's reaction to his 'muggle homework'.

"Oh, um... it's not important, really. You'd find it boring," George insisted. If George found it boring, Alan would be put to sleep by it. The next word's from the Gryffindor's mouth had hardly come out before George replied "yes."

No, no! Too swiftly! Run it back!

"I think I have some time for that," he said coolly, looking around the owlery as if he were considering all the other social offers he was entertaining. But then Alan offered him all the candy he could wish for. Clearly, Alan had an interest. Why else would he be showering George with so many sweet treats!

"Oh, visit your... house? In London, right?" George asked, taken aback by the generous offer. He thought Alan had offered it before, but he had never considered it seriously. It could be a good escape, if he was able to get his parents permission. "I'll have to ask my mom and dad if I'm allowed to stay over... my dad is in London right now, though, so he will probably let me."

”Of course I’ve practiced, but how can I know I’ve done enough? I need my grades to be great, not just for me but also so my parents don’t ask questions,” he explained softly, blushing ever so slightly at their brief physical contact. “I’m quite good at transfiguration, so if you ever end up transformed into an animal and can’t reverse it, just… nod your head in the rhythm of your favorite song and I’ll rescue you!” Alan promised sincerely before frowning. “What is your favorite song?”

“Are you sure? Can I see it?” He asked in regards to George’s muggle homework. But perhaps George didn’t want him to see it, because wizards were known to not know much about muggle stuff. Was George thinking he wouldn’t understand it? Suddenly Alan was the one fidgeting around nervously. “S-sure… let’s go grab some then,” Alan grimaced as he recognized the fleeting stutter. Somehow it was extra embarrassing in front of George, so without much thinking and just trying to escape the situation, he turned around and grabbed the badger’s hand as he made a swift exit from the owlery, heading for the stairs with a blush gracing his cheeks.

“Yeah, London,” he muttered faintly with a light smile. Though the fact that George seemed to want to visit him during summer made him quite happy and perhaps it would have calmed him, if it wasn’t for the fact that he realized in that moment that he was holding George’s hand as he was walking. “Ah, sorry,” he whispered as he let go after a few more seconds passed with him awkwardly staring at their hands. “I hope you didn’t mind…”.