18 Mar 2023, 15:21
After Curfew
Interacting with @Enrico Gathorne
Nora crept up the long, winding steps that led up to the west tower, careful to make no noise. While there seemed to be no one up there, she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending her first year at Hogwarts in detention. Sure, she'd snuck out after curfew before, but never at Hogwarts. Usually, she stayed in the dorms, too worried about getting caught. But not tonight. Tonight, Nora had gone farther than she ever had, up all the way to the owlery. She had no big purpose, really, but she'd wanted to stretch her limits and thought it would be nice to visit the owls.
The one thing Nora hadn't expected, however, was how cold it was up here. When she'd left, she'd only grabbed a sweater, her contacts, and some slippers before closing her bed canopy and heading out. That was her only mistake. Now, she wrapped her sweater close around her, hoping it would be a bit warmer in the owlery. Spoiler, it wasn't, but as Nora approached the arched entrance after her long climb up, she was relieved to see a bench she could sit down on. She'd put her purple hair up for the climb, but now she put it down, realising it actually offered a bit of comfort to her frozen ears. Slinking back into the walls as to not be seen, Nora observed the owls.
There were hundreds of them, flitting around, swooping in and out. You could tell which ones were school owned by how worn they looked, the muted dullness of their feathers. On the other hand, the more exotic ones, with the glistening feathers and shiny beaks, were clearly owned by the students and were much less active than the others. Nora noted that many of the smaller owls had wandered the floor, pecking at seeds from the cracks in the stone. Bending down to stroke the feathers of a particularly beautiful one, she noticed that some of the birds had begun to take a liking to her. After one nudged it beaked against the side of her leg, she soon settled against the cold floor (despite its filth) and resolved to stay there, if only for a few more hours.
Last edited by Nora De Carie on 15 Jun 2023, 23:05, edited 9 times in total.
20 Mar 2023, 22:19
After Curfew
Dialogue:#f58300
Interacting with: @Nora De Carie
It was late, like really late. At this hour, Enrico would usually be already sleeping, comfortably tucked in his bed all warm and cosy, while not allowing his dormmates to sleep peacefully by snoring throughout the entire night and making the weirdest of noises shifting from one position to another. However, that night was different. Despite the cold weather of Scotland, it was uncomfortably too warm underneath the bed sheets. The fire crackling sent waves of heat, and after an entire day out, Enrico appreciated it. But when sweat was drenching down from his forehead and his back was sticking against the baby pink-striped button-up pyjama, he couldn’t take it anymore.
One would ideally try to help themselves by drinking a glass of water or wash their face… but Enrico resolved most of his problems by doing things he was not meant to be doing. So he put on his comfortable puffy shoes back on after a few hours of attempting to sleep, and carefully tried to tiptoe his way out of the common room trying too hard not to further disrupt the sleep of his fellow Hufflepuffs. Unsurprisingly enough, he failed. On his way out of the barrel door, Enrico hit a golden plate and dropped at least a dozen cookies, that all made a horrible sound that ached his heart as he saw them break into pieces. He almost cried but knew that he had probably alarmed a couple of students at the very least, so he hurried his walk outside.
His breaths were heavy and his mouth started to salivate as he passed by the kitchens, he could smell the honey and jam, the fresh bakeries and fresh fruits. That would have made for an interesting trip in the middle of the night, but not as risky seeing as the kitchens were not so far away from the common room. He kept on walking against his heart’s (and stomach’s) desire, until his feet took him to the courtyard. His eyes were constantly on the lookout for any authority that would punish him for being out at this lonely hour. And it didn’t have to be an alive soul to snitch on him.
Eventually, Enrico got lost in his pondering and completely phased out of what he was supposed to be doing. He usually didn’t worry much about being caught as that was part of the thrill, but the darkness that the night brought with it sent shivers down his spine, and he started to realise that this was probably not the best of ideas, especially when he found himself a bit too distant from the castle, and close to the Owlery. There was no point in making his way back or else everything would have been a complete waste of time, and so he marched onwards.
He wasn’t so quiet while climbing up, and perhaps he should have been. Physical exercise was not his forte, so the breaths only got heavier. At one point, a furious own spread its wings right across his face and slapped his cheek while he was making his way up, almost knocking him off his feet. Enrico couldn’t help but let out a loud squeal in panic.
“You stupid, stupid bird!! How are you even allowed to carry let- AH!”
Enrico yelled as he spotted a girl sitting down on the ground within the tower. A cold breeze passed by reminding the Hufflepuff that this was enough chill to send him back to the common room to warm up comfortably again. But now it was a bit too late.
“Who are you?! And why are you here?!” He asked arrogantly as if he had any right to be there himself.
21 Mar 2023, 01:14
After Curfew
Interacting with @Enrico Gathorne
Nora bolted up from her spot on the floor, startling the surrounding owls. Near the doorway stood some Hufflepuff boy, probably a first year or second year. He had come up the stairs just a second ago, but Nora already disliked him. What was I doing here?, she thought, more like what was he doing here. Sure, they were both out of bed past curfew, but she was there first, and it wasn't like he'd caught her sniffing his grannie's underwear drawer.
She did notice the boy was shivering in the cold, but Nora had little sympathy for someone who had acted so rude. Like, really, calm down and get a hold of yourself. She dealt with enough arrogance and pure-blooded superiority in her own house to have to deal with drama from other houses as well. Weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be nice?
"And why shouldn't I be?" Nora said haughtily, raising an eyebrow. She knew it was a bit much, but just the boy's presence made her grumpy. A few of the owls who were still there approached her, but she paid them no notice. Instead, she glared at the "Hufflepuff". "I was, after all, here first, so maybe you should be the one apologising to me."
The owls no longer interested her. The Hufflepuff had soured her night, and she didn’t like company at this hour anyway. In a split second, she decided, brushing past the Hufflepuff and strutting out.
Edited to close thread after @Enrico Gathorne went inactive.