THE OWLERY

Caroline Yashnid was chilling up here, amongst all of the bird poop. Sure, it wasn't the most sanitary place to hang out, but if you sat in a windowsill, it was bright, and didn't smell as bad. Plus, nobody older than first or second year came up here often- sending letters to your parents was "uncool" after then. Yeah, after being at Hogwarts for the short time she had, she had figured out the greatest spots to study in.

Indeed, Bianca being the unpopular American she was, crept up into the Owl Tower, with a scroll of parchment rolled together. She chose a beautiful black owl that was spotted wife, and sent the letter off to her Mommy and Daddy. She looked over at Caroline, and nodded and said hi to her. She had obviously forgiven and forgetten about the whole ordeal earlier.

And speaking of uncool, Louise Digandi happened to be tying a letter to the foot of a barn owl off on the opposite side of the tower. She was humming a little tune that managed to catch itself in the stitches of her Slytherin scarf, tightly coiled around her neck, mouth, and nose.

"Hi!" Caroline said to Bianca. After all, the girl didn't seem too nasty, and she was closer than the other Slytherin. "How are you?"

"Hi, Louisie." Bianca said, acknowledging the presence of her first-cousin. "How are you?"

After giving the owl a gentle lift from its perch, Louise turned to her cousin, cheeks puffing toward her eyes. "Hello, Bianca!" She had chopped off the long strands that formerly framed her face, leaving a bowl-shape falling to her earlobes.

Caroline shrunk back, looking a little indignant. How rude, talking to that other girl instead of replying to a direct question!

And indeed, Bianca turned back around to talk to Caroline, again. It looked as though she thought she had a little system going on.

"Sorry, Caroline. I'm pretty well, actually. I'm just a little home is all." she admitted.

Fishy, but acceptable. Caroline thought, studying Bianca. "Oh, that's understandable. I don't really miss my mum, except for her desserts, but my dad I miss loads. What about you?"

"My mum's desserts are awful!" chirped Louise, ignoring the fact that she wasn't really IN the conversation. "She burned ice cream once! Called it... flan?"

"My mum's a real baker for a living. She has a shop in Bath.. Her desserts are really, really good. Her meals are.. okay. Other people rave about them, though."

Bianca twirled around back at Louisie. "Isn't there something called Deep Fried Ice Cream? I've had it once or twice in a Mexican restaurant, back in New York. It's awfully good... if you like caramel, that is." And she turned back to Caroline.

"Wow! I didn't know your mom made a business out of that!" Bianca said thoughtfully. "My mom is an actress, but Louise knows all about that."

"Yeah!" Caroline said, not seeming all that impressed. After all, that Dusty kid from the train was an actor too, wasn't he? "She does deliveries, birthday cakes, and all that. She said it all started with addictive brownies. I think she put pot in them, but that's just me, you know.."

"Wait, what's pot?" she asked, sounding truly curiously.

"You don't know what pot is?" Caroline asked, looking dumbfounded. Her parents had told her about drugs, and how to say no, and all that. "Pot is like.. Well, marijuana. It's a drug that people smoke and get addicted to, and it kind of makes them hallucinate and be happy and stuff.. Like alcohol, except smoking it."

"Hmm... I see." Bianca looked deep in thought. "So, it's basically like a really bad cigarette?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Caroline said, nodding. "But, back to the brownies! I have some, if you want. My mom was all like 'give them to cute boys.' and I just gave her this look, because that's just.. odd, coming from your mom, right? And then she changed it to 'give it to people you want to be friends with' when Dad came in the room.."

"I'd love some!" Bianca exclaimed, smiling at her. It was nice to thinking she was making a friend at this school. "I haven't had any good brownies in a very long time!"

"Yeah, here." Caroline fiddled in her sack before pulling out a slightly smushed brownie in a plastic baggie. "Sorry about that- my History of Magic book was on top of it.."

Bianca held the bag up by her fingers, studying it with a surprised expression.

"Do you usually just carry brownies around with you?" she asked.

"Oh, uh, yeah.." Caroline said. It was just second nature to her, being the daughter of a pastry chef like that, but she figured it did seem a bit weird to other people. "It's just a thing."

Leah strutted up here swagged up in sweatpants and her hair up in a high yet loose and messy bun. She had an envelope in her hands, and looked a tiny bit awkward being so tall and lanky. She looked for an owl- her brother's, and realized it was probably gone finding orders for nerdy shit and stuff like that. So, she went up to one of the school owls, and prepared the letter.

"You're in our grade," Bianca called at this strange girl. "Do you hang out with Matilda? I see you with her, sometimes."

Louise had meandered over to where her owl had previously sat, and was trying to spot the speck it would've left in the gray sky.

Leah turned, the envelope still in her hands and not tied to the owl's leg yet. She then chuckled and scratched her head with the envelope. "Yeah, we're cousins."