Owls and Friends

Darcy knew it was about time she sent a letter home. Her parents would be wondering how she was doing. And after all the letters she has been getting at breakfast, she figured it was about time to start replying them. Otherwise, they might get a bit worried. And she couldn't have that, could she?

She ascended the stairs, which had gotten a bit icy during the first frost of winter. She could barely wait for Christmas to come. She really missed her parents, and though Hogwarts was great, there weren't a single one of them she looked upon as a close friend. And after almost half a year, that was a rather depressing thought. She sighed to herself and walked into the big, oval room.

The owls were sitting at every level of the room, some in the windows, some on wooden stakes stuck in the walls. She didn't have an owl, but she wished she did. She'd really like one. But she didn't want to use money on animals. Honestly, she barely had enough for herself. Her family was a rather rich one, though, given the linage. She smiled, thinking of her Veela blood. Being half a Veela had its perches, and almost none bad. Though her temperament could be a bit shifty sometimes.

She called down an owl and tied the letter to its foot when she heard footsteps behind her. She looked up and saw a person entering the owlery at that moment.

This thread is open to Kynan Walters, Cassandra Periwinkle and Evan Williams as well as anyone who'd like to join

Cassandra was in a rush, and as she lept up the stairs to the Owlery, she tripped and fell. Ow. Her wrist was burning and might be sprained, but she ahd to get this message sent ot her mother ASAP. She could grab some ice from the Hospital Wing right after this she supposed. Blinking away tears that formed instantly, she tried to regain composure and gathered together her books and materials.

She quickly ran up the rest of the stairs and then dropped her books with a thud, wincing at the sudden noise. Oh dear, she bent over to pick them up, then immediately dropped them again. Well, they could stay there for teh time being she supposed. It wasn't like anyone would care, right? She snatched the troublesome letter that had caused all this out of her bag and darted through the half closed door, noticing another student already in the Owlery. Cassandra remembered seeing her somewhere, but couldn't quite remember where. Maybe she was a Gryffindor too? But since Cassandra was a First Year, well, it was doubtful she'd seen the girl before. It didn't matter much anyway. All she had to do was send this little slip of paper and then she'd be out of here.

Cassandra had never been good with animals, and owls were no exception. Charms and spells had always been more her forte. She sighed annoyedly as the birds kept fluttering out of her grasp, refusing to let her put the note inside the metal cylinder on their legs. She glanced around, wondering how much time she was wasting chasing around uncooperative birds.

After his sister had advised him more than once to write to their mother, Kynan climbed the steps leading towards the Owlery. In his hands, he held a letter which he had written last week but was too lazy or distracted to ask for directions to the Owlery. He would've asked his sister to go mail it for him but maybe he would sound desperate or something. Shaking his head, he opened the door leading to the Owlery and entered.

There were two girls there- Kynan didn't know any of them but he'd seen them a few times in the common room. Apparently, one of them had just tied their letter to an owl and the other one was chasing an owl. He decided to leave them to their business and looked around. There were owls everywhere! For a moment he wondered if his sister's owl was here. "Julia," Kynan called softly and suddenly, a grey owl landed in front of him and held out its' leg. He tied the letter to the owl's leg and said, "Take it to mum." and the owl flew away.

Kynan walked to the window and watched the owl fly away and disappear in the horizon. He felt a bit homesick but shook his head and realized that the two girls were still there.

Evan was making his long way to the top of the owlery tower. Why couldn't they make this tower a little less high? But he was climbing these stairs not to send a letter, he just wanted to sketch some owls. He really like these noble night creatures. He saw them only in a Zoo before, and he was quite impressed by how useful they can be. Hm, what's it? A book? Maybe someone lost it when was climbing these endless stairs? It's quite easy to trip here. Evan picked up the book. Maybe the person who lost it is still in the owlery? He reached the top of the tower and opened the door.

He saw three students there. They all were not Ravenclaw first-years, that's for sure. Oh, wouldn't it look silly to come here to draw some birds in such a cold weather instead of sending a letter? These birds are new and interesting for me, but most of the wizards got used to them. I think I'll come later. He was about to turn away, but suddenly stopped. Maybe one of these people lost the book he's just found? He entered the owlery room with lost book in one hand and a sketchbook in another and coughed to draw attention.

Darcy looked at the girl who entered and was about to say something, when the girl turned her back to Darcy to fix her letter. Darcy blinked. Okay, fine. If she didn't want to talk, that was cool. But it annoyed Darcy, more than she'd care to admit. She turned to her own owl and was just about to send it out of a window when footsteps once again reached her ears. A guy showed up. Another Gryffindor. She'd seen them both in the common room, but only for a few seconds.

And he didn't want to talk either. Darcy sighed softly to herself, sent the bird out the window and turned, looking at the two of them. She felt her temper raising. Honestly, wasn't the whole point of the houses to feel at home? And here she was, standing all by herself, between to Gryffindors who didn't want to speak. She took a steadying breath and was about to say something when another set of footsteps took her by surprise. She looked on as a Ravenclaw entered the room, looked as though he wanted to leave and then decided to clear his throat.

Darcy instantly smiled at him. Finally someone who had a friendly inclination. She looked at the other girl in the room and decided that she might have to do some talking herself. "Do you need some help with that?" she asked, walking over to the girl, motioning to the owl. Without waiting for a reply, Darcy got the owl to land on her arm and presented it to the girl with a smile. "And hello, to you guys too. I'm Darcy," she said, showing them a dazzling smile.

Stupid...charming...little...Cassandra smiled at the girl.  Her temper flared once, then immediately calmed to a low, constrained burning fire.  She'd always been good at controlling herself.  And this half breed, obviously part veela, was no exception.  The girl looked pleased with herself and apparently glad that the Ravenclaw boy ahd entered the room.  Obviously he was Ravenclaw, who else would come up here with a notebook to examine the owls' feeding habits or draw every feather pattern?  She continued to smile at the girl in front of her and nodded to her.

Cassandra tilted her head and smirked inwardly at the girl.  She said, "Yes, thank you.  I was having...some troubles catching it with my wrist." She slipped the message inside the tube and the owl flew out the window, gladly it seemed.  Dismissing herself from teh conversation, Cassandra then turned to the boy who'd just entered, ignoring the other one.  

He was obviously Ravenclaw, holding a textbook in one hand and his notebook in the other.  Odly enough, the textbook was very similar to her own, with the same silvery, pale periwinkle blue symbols that she'd etched on hers drawn on his-wait a second.  That was her textbook.  She gasped.  How dare he steal- She smiled forcedly and walked stiffly over to him, planning to take it back.

As Kynan was about to walk towards the door, it opened and a Ravenclaw boy entered holding a book. The boy cleared his throat. Kynan looked at the two girls. One went over to help the other girl and then stood up to intrduce herself. The other girl walked over towards the newcomer with a bit of a forced smile.  Kynan felt like he was about to get into a fight or something.

But then the first girl smiled, the one who called herself Darcy  and she got Kynan's attention. He found himself staring at her- her hair, her eyes, her smile. It made him ignore the Ravenclaw boy and the other Gryffindor girl, it made him want to impress Darcy, to make her see that he was better than the Ravenclaw boy who she had just smiled at.  "H-h-hi," Kynan said, surprised to find himself stammering. He was acting like his sister when she was a first-year. He himself never stammered! What-? "I-I-I'm Kynan."

Evan examined the students closer. Griffindors. Two girls and a boy. He suddenly realized that he could have just disturbed some secret meeting. He felt really awkward because of that.

But then one girl said hello to him and he realized that that wasn't any secret meeting at all. They were here just by chance.  Darcy? Nice name. Nice manners. Hello, Darcy! Isn't it your book? I've found it on the stairs. Evan lifted his arm trying to demonstrate the book. Damn it! Wrong hand! I can be so clumsy sometimes! Instead of found book he showed Darcy his sketchbook.

But then he saw that another girl was walking to him. That's not a good sign. Maybe there are some secrets involved after all. He lowered his sketchbook hand. He was frightened. Maybe she thinks this sketchbook is enchanted in some way? Maybe she thought I want to make a quick magic portrait and didn't like the idea? Evan looked at Darcy, expecting some help.

Darcy smiled at the Gryffindor girl, but she noticed the cold aura she was emitting. And Darcy didn't like it. She didn't mention it, and simply helped her in silence. Then she looked at the boys, one of them introducing themselves as Kynan in a quite clumsy way, but Darcy was young enough to believe that Kynan was just a regular stutterer, she had met quite a few of them. Of course, she didn't know the stuttering was caused by her in most scenarios.

"Nice to meet you, Kynan," she said smilingly. She then looked at the Ravenclaw who looked as if he'd rather be anywhere else. She didn't want him to feel uncomfortable, though. "No, it's not mine," Darcy said softly after having studied the book. It was obviously not Kynan's, and when the Gryffindor girl, who had still not introduced herself, started walking towards the Ravenclaw, who hadn't introduced himself either, Darcy noticed how his uncomfortableness was added up. He gave her a pleading look.

Darcy frowned. The girl couldn't want to hit him, right? She wasn't cruel, right? Darcy quickly walked up to the Ravenclaw, taking the book from his hands in a very friendly manner, before presenting it to the Gryffindor girl. "I didn't catch you names," she said pleasantly, lightly, trying to ease the tension. She then looked at Kynan. "Are you all first-years?" she asked. They looked to be so.

Cassandra pressed her lips together tightly.  Why did this veela have to interfere with everything?  Obviously she wouldn't have hurt the boy.  She just wanted her book back.  Her temper flared again.  Meddling little half breeds, thinking they can poke in everyone's business.  Stifly she accepted the book with a nod and another forced smile.  And now the veela girl wanted them all to introduce themselves and be friends.  She'd probably have to deal with this in the Common Room and Dormitory as well.  

"My name is Cassandra Periwinkle.  And yes, I am a first year."  She noticed one of the boys hide a smile at her last name.  Why did they always have to do that?  Did they want her to practice her newest spell on them and become human icicles? Ignoring that, Cassandra studied the two boys. SHe already knew everything she wanted to know about the veela right now, but wasn't quite sure if anyone else here was even worth her time.

The Ravenclaw boy looked terrified of her and Cassandra couldn't help but smirk a little.  Her pale, slim fingers brushed over every inch of the book, making sure he had not damaged anything.  If he did, there would be hell to pay for it.  She looked up and stared at the Ravenclaw boy critically.  He was obviously another First Year, and a muggle-born as well.  Cassandra wasn't a hater of them, and didn't call them Mudbloods or anything, but she'd always made certain to ignore them if possible.  The other boy, the one starstruck because of that half breed, was probably a half-blood or muggle born also.  Now who was best to talk to?  All had...less than pure blood, for lack of a better term.

Darcy smiled at Kynan. That's good, right? he thought to himself, wanting to be really sure. Suddenly, the Ravenclaw boy talked to Darcy and held up his hand, showing a sketchbook. Then the other girl introduced herself before Darcy took a book from the boy's other hand and gave it to the her. Cassandra Periwikle, Kynan thought and couldn't help grinning a bit at the name. Then Cassandra looked at him so he tried to keep his face blank. But the surname was kind of funny...

He rested his back against the wall as he saw Cassandra look all mean. What was her problem exactly? Kynan looked back at Darcy and realized that she had asked a question. "Y-y-yeah," he said, wondering if he looked and talked like a starstruck idiot.

Spoiler:

Angry-looking Griffindor girl came nearer, making Evan's fear of her much stronger than his admiration for Darcy. He really wanted to become invisible or apparate somewhere else. But these actions were not possible for him due to his lack of knowledge and special Hogwarts enchantments. The situation was desperate, but then Darcy suddenly appeared between Evan and the other girl, took recently found book from his hand, and gave it to the other girl. Phew.

Darcy asked Evan and the girl to tell her their names again and whether they are first-years or not. "My name is Cassandra Periwinkle.  And yes, I am a first year," answered the girl, who presumably lost her book on the stairs. Despite the fact she introduced herself, she didn't look too friendly.

Oh. Darcy saved me. She is so nice. Too bad it wasn't her book. I would gladly give this book to her. I would gladly give her all my books. All of them. Evan shook his head. He was surprised by his own ideas. What? Give her all my books? That wasn't right. Wasn't right at all. Evan examined the girl more closely. Can she use some kind of charm now? This could explain everything. Evan frowned a little, guessing what charm could it be. He was pretty good at charms after all. And then he realized one very important thing. I still haven't introduced myself! Oh, how rude. Darcy will never forgive my rudeness. He was sooo nice and I.. I'm soo soo rude. He looked at Darcy and said, "H-hello. I'm Evan. Evan Williams. N-nice to meet you." He paused. There was something else he had to say. Were all of them first-years? It seemed so. "Y-yes, I'm a first year," he mumbled.

Kynan, Darcy, and Cassandra. Now Evan knew names of all students in the owlery room. He also returned that found book. Things got better. And in the moment he thought about this, his sketchbook slipped out of his hand. And so did some pencils. No, no, no! Not pencils! Evan wasn't sure whether pencils were allowed in Hogwarts or not, he just automatically put some of them in his bag when he left Eastwood. Okay, they are first-years, neither of them can be a prefect. I just need to pick up my pencils quickly.

Darcy smiled at Cassandra, choosing to ignore the unwelcome aura oozing from the girl. She smiled back at Kynan, and then frowned slightly when she noticed that Evan had a stutter as well. Maybe they were nervous? Darcy was slightly nervous about Cassandra, but she kept that well hidden behind her smile and her courage.

"I guess we're all in the same year then," she said, and noticed an aura of uncomfortableness sweep over them, just as Evan lost his pencils. She blinked, curious about why he had chosen to take with him pencils. She liked quills better, but she didn't say anything, just bent down and picked up one that had fallen next to her feet. "Here you go," she said with a grin, her words ringing in the open room. It was actually getting a bit too awkward for her.

"So," she said, trying to think up something to ask them, and then went back to them all being first years, saying: "What classes do you guys take? In case we're in some of the same ones."

Maya made her way over to the owlery. It had been a while since she had graced the place with her presence. She started to feel guilty at the thought. She had continued to receive weekly letters from her brother, keeping her updated on life back at home, but she had just been too busy to reply. In short, Maya knew that was a lame excuse, but classes, homework and meeting new people had taken up a lot of time and after doing all that she was really just fit to sleep.

She could hear voices emitting from the owlery as her footsteps echoed around her with each step she took. As she got nearer she could see the outline of a brown haired boy taking up most of the entrance to the room. He seemed to be picking up..pencils? Maya guessed that he was obviously a muggle born if he was busy trying to smuggle them into Hogwarts.

Maya looked on past the boy and recognised Kynan talking to the other students with a strange expression on his face. Cocking an eyebrow she turned her attention to the other students, also Gryffindors. She didn't recognise one of them but thought she had met the blonde haired girl briefly before, she tried searching her brain for a name. Darcy, she remembered meeting her at the first year party. Maya could feel some tension in the air as the looked between the two Gryffindor girls, staring icily at each other.

What was up with the invasion of the owlery? It was usually empty when she came and she enjoyed the solitary feeling, with the owls for company hooting every now and again. It gave her plenty of time to think, which was sometimes hard to do with such a busy schedule.

She wondered if any of the students had noticed her yet, deciding to make her presence known she approached the boy "Sorry can I get by you?" She asked politely, trying to brush past him.

Cassandra rolled her eyes as yet another girl tried to enter the Owlery. It was supposed to be empty this early in the morning, but apparently everyone else had had the same idea. Cassandra didn't like being grouped with the same people who'd made a mistake, and that only made her even angrier. Now this girl, a Slytherin by the look of her, wanted to get in and join the party? At least she wasn't susceptible to the half-breed's charms, which was a high point in Cassandra's day so far. She nodded to the new girl and stepped to the side, pulling Evan along with her.

"Of course you can come in. We didn't mean to bother you." she smiled at the girl and tilted her head to the side, examining her. Her appearance was far too casual and relaxed for Cassandra's taste and she now wondered whether it had been best to let yet another person in the Owlery who might dislike her. Oh well, too late now.

Cassandra turned back to the Ravenclaw boy and leaned down and swept up the penciles into her hand. Straightening back up, she handed them to him carefully. She might be cold and unapproachable, but she wasn't going to let this boy make a fool of himself because the veela girl had charmed him.

Kynan could hear the Ravenclaw boy introduce himself but he didn't hear the boy clearly. Sullivan Tillian, he thought to himself, still staring at Darcy. Got it. He heard something fall to the floor but didn't bother looking- he had used pencils half his life until his sister Aylee had gotten him to write with quills. Then Darcy suddenly talked, saying something about classes. Kynan could't even hear Darcy clearly. But his mouth somehow did because in a second he was listing all of the classes he took really fast, "Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures. You?"

Then a different voice got his attention. It wasn't Darcy's, not Cassandra's, neither Sullivan's, but Maya's. Kynan's head snapped away from Darcy and looked at the door, where Maya was trying to get past Sullivan. Cassandra walked to the side and pulled Sullivan with her. "Hi Maya," Kynan couldn't help exclaim and smile, suddenly ignoring Darcy. Or anyone else, for that matter. "How are you?" He had met Maya a few times. Well, almost all the time because the two somehow kept bumping into each other. Okay, this seems like another time, Kynan thought but didn't waste time thinking about it. Maya's company usually made him far more happy than he usually was- glad to have a friend around.

Accidentally dropped his pencils, Evan suddenly got a more important thing to do than thinking how beautiful Darcy is. A second later, however, he realized that he should think about Darcy after all. And about that strange feeling. She's definitely using some kind of magic now. The fact that I know about it should help me to resist it, that's for sure. Even if don't know what magic it exactly is, I can take some precautions. First of all, I shouldn't look at her that long and avoid eye contact if possible. Secondly, I shouldn't listen to her too closely and think about something else when she's speaking. Evan was proud of himself. Reading about mind charms wasn't a waste of time after all. He picked up a pencil, smiling. He would have never guessed that dropping pencils could help him to clear his mind. It's like being awake finally.

Evan leaned down and picked up his first pencil. Three more left. Straightening up, he saw Darcy handed him another one, "Here you go," she said friendly. Two more left. Evan was sure Darcy most likely didn't intend to affect him with magic in any way. She didn't know he'd come and she didn't cast anything in his presence. And now she picked up his pencil. Well, she seems to be a nice girl even without all this magic obscuring my mind. "Thanks," replied Evan, smiling at Darcy, but avoiding her eyes just in case. She asked what classes everyone took and Evan was about to answer, when he suddenly heard another girl asked if she could get by him. He completely forgot that he blocked the entrance. But before he could react, Cassandra pulled him out of new girl's way and said, "Of course you can come in. We didn't mean to bother you." Than Cassandra picked up the last two pencils and handed them to Evan. Good. No pencils left. He quickly put them into his pocket and said, "Thanks."

In the next second the Griffindor boy, Kynan, turned to the new girl and said, "Hi Maya." Maya. If this guy really knows her and doesn't have a tendency to mix up names, she's probably called Maya. Everything got better again. Evan knew all the names, had all the pencils back, and had his... Wait. Sketchbook! The sketchbook lied where Evan was standing less than a minute ago, near the doorway. It wouldn't be that bad if anyone stepped on it, but it would be definitely better if not. Evan, however, decided to remain silent and leave things as they are. One footprint and some dirt on my sketchbook. I can live with it.

Darcy turned towards the sound of the voice of a new girl. She looked on as people moved. She moved a bit too, giving more room to everyone. She smiled at the new girl when she walked in, and quickly learned that she was the Slytherin girl Darcy had met at the get together in the courtyard for first years to settle more in.

"Hello Maya," she said pleasantly, wanting the girl to understand that Darcy did indeed remember her, and that she was glad to see her there. Darcy was surprised at Cassandra's nice tone and helping picking up pencils, and Darcy decided to behave pleasantly towards her as well. Perhaps Cassandra just wasn't a fan of big crowds and had a hard time trusting people. Darcy decided to play it nice. Maybe, after a while, Cassandra could be a good friend?

She gave a smile at Evan and said: "Sure, no problem." And then she turned to Kynan again. "I take Transfiguration, Herbology, Divination and Flying, of course," she said kindly. Then Darcy noticed the book still lying on the floor. She blinked and saw Maya moving towards it. Not knowing if the Slytherin girl had seen the book or not, Darcy quickly said: "Watch out for the book!" It wasn't a stern tone, or an angry one, just a very rushed tone. Darcy hoped Maya didn't think Darcy was a bossy girl. So... "I mean, if you didn't see it. It would be a shame if the sketches were destroyed, right?" she said lightly, smiling at both Maya and Evan, whom the book obviously belonged to.

Maya grimaced to herself as an influx of eyes watched her when she made her presence known, she had come here for herself and some private time but seemed to walk in on a first year gathering.

Maya stared haughtily at the Gryffindor she didn't recognise, she didn't like the look she was giving her.  She had come to send an owl to her brother and now had to deal with this girl who was radiating hostility.

Her words didn't match her stance though and Maya matched her politeness when she replied. "Your grand, you didn't bother me." She watched as she bent down and picked up the boy's pencil, who she had just previously dragged from the entrance. She glanced once more at the boy but he remained silent. Maya thought he looked a bit nervous and wondered what he was doing here, she actually wondered what they were all doing here, but chose not to voice her thoughts.

Maya averted her gaze towards the other Gryffindor and smiled at her with affection, glad that she recalled their last meeting. Maya looked back at Kynan, who no longer had a blank stare on his face. She was glad that he was here. A friendly face among all these people, whom she didn't know. She smiled, relieved, when he spoke to her. Out of all the places she had run in to him, this one made her happiest. "I'm good thanks Kynan." She replied from the doorway, "What about you?" She asked slightly distracted as the girl, Darcy called out to her.

"Oh sorry," she automatically said. She bent down and scooped up the sketchpad , glancing at the intriguing art. "Nice sketches." She commented, handing the book to Evan, guessing it was his since he had all the pencils.

Maya made her way into the room, trying to ignore the fact that everyone seemed to still be staring. She took out her quill and ink from her pocket and began scrawling the name on the front, it was imperative that she sent this now, it was her sole reason for coming her.

Not looking directly at the veela girl, but instead, the new Slytherin girl, Cassandra replied, "And as to what classes I am taking, Flying, Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts or DADA, Transfiguration, Potions, Divination, and Care of Magical Creatures, or CoMC."  she decided she had to be a little polite, not answering the girl's question might leave a bad impression upon the others.

"No problem, you're very welcome," Cassandra said to the Ravenclaw boy.  Then she looked at the Slytherin.  Obviously she had taken an instant dislike to the veela, and for that Cassandra liked her even more.  Kynan knew Maiya, or was it Mya? too it seemed, and that was a very interesting thing.  Kynan seemed to snap out of the veela girl's charms when Maya came in, obviously he liked her.  It was in the way he stared at her, similar to the way he had looked at the half-breed, but with more familiarity that was comforting and better in Cassandra's opinion.  However, by her glance, Evan was still starstruck by the other Gryffindor.

She smiled at Maya as she handed the sketchbook to Evan, along with compliments about his unique...art.  Cassandra said, "Yes, they are very interesting, aren't they."  The work was sloppy and drawn quickly, but she could see that they showed a unique and very strong interest of each thing that had been drawn.

"I'm good," Kynan shrugged and realized that it was a bit silly, the two of them asking how they both were from the other side of the room. He watched as Maya gave the sketchpad, which was on the floor, to the Sullivan boy and then scribbled something on her letter until Darcy started listing her own subjects and got his attention again. Flying, flying, I forgot to mention flying, dammit! Kynan thought, a bit madly as he nodded and heard Cassandra list her own subjects. He stood there, not even knowing what to say.

Spoiler:

Evan nearly accepted the fact his sketchbook was probably going to be stepped on. Maybe I could use this footprint as a base for some abstract drawing? Just need to pick the right name. "Price for carelessness", perhaps? Then Darcy warned Maya about it, and Slyhterin girl picked it up and returned it to Evan. He gave both girls thankful look.

Seeing Darcy's face again reminded Evan about her question, and he replied, "I take flying, DADA, CoMC, charms, and astronomy." He saw Darcy only during flying and now was a little upset with it as he really liked the girl. God, what an inconvenient list of subjects! Maybe I could drop charms or DADA for some other classes? Evan wasn't sure if this sudden affection was caused by strange mind magic, incredible charisma, or the fact Darcy helped him with a book, a sketchbook, and pencils.

He noticed Maya entered the room and began writing something. Obviously, she was about to send a letter. Evan was sure most of them came here for the same purpose and said, "Well, let's return to our letters then. Sorry, if I disturbed your plans somehow." Evan looked guiltily at Darcy, as he was concerned about her time the most, and was surprised by her beauty once more. I should certainly draw her one day.

Darcy looked on and paid attention to what the others were saying. She would be sharing quite a few classes with Cassandra, clearly, and given that fact, it was time to drop the prejudice against the girl. But she hadn't exactly behaved in a nice manner towards Darcy, and Darcy couldn't understand why on earth the girl seemed to dislike her so. Had Darcy said anything to offend her? It was actually a bit frustrating.

She'd be sharing Herbology with Kynan, but it seemed as though the only subject she'd be having with Evan was Flying, which was obligatory for the first years, so both Cassandra and Kynan would be taking that subject as well. And Maya too. "Hey, Maya, we're discussing what classes we take. I never got around to asking you which you take at the assembly for first years earlier on. So, which are you taking?" she asked curiously, hoping that she'd share some classes with Maya as well. The girl seemed really nice.

Darcy grinned at Evan when he looked slightly guilty at her. "Oh, no, don't be so on my behalf. I've sent mine off. But I'm sorry if I've kept you guys from getting to send letters, I just want to get to know people here. So I hope you're all okay with that?" she asked, suddenly very aware of the fact that some of them might actually be on an important mission here.

Darcy also got a glimpse of Evan's paintings and she smiled. "Yes, they really are amazing. I mean, I can't even draw around my own hand without it looking messy," she said with a grin.

Maya merely nodded as the nervous Ravenclaw kid gave her a look of gratitude. She thought that it was nice that everyone else chipped in with comments.

She needed to send this letter now and still hadn't finished writing it, she began to think desperately. Her brother was clearly waiting on a reply the last two weeks. Leaning on an unoccupied window sill Maya took in the full effects of the clear morning. Enjoying the cool breeze on her face she tried to finished off the letter, trying not to be too rude.

"Huh?" she looked up at the mention of her name "oh right, classes." She remembered the topic they were talking about. Well I take "Astronomy, CoMC, DADA, transfiguration, potions, charms, herbology, of course, flying." she listed off a bit distractedly. Maya had only recalled seeing Darcy in her flying lesson but maybe she was in more. Maya had a terrible tendency to overlook things and was very unobservant at times. She made a mental note to keep an eye out for the girl in any of her other classes. After all, they were all first years and would be spending the next 7 years together.

Now that the room full of people (and plenty of hooting owls) had her attention, noticed that everyone's eyes were directed at Darcy. The two boys were starting at her, they're mouths gaping with blanks expressions on their faces. The other Gryffindor girl was still looking at her, but she thought maybe her glare had softened. Maya looked once more at Darcy and finally took in her striking features. Maya was about to comment on this, but suddenly bit down on her lip. She didn't want to offend anyone or get herself into trouble, she returned to her unfinished letter once more.

Cassandra could see that everyone was about to go back to their own letters and business, and for this she was glad.  But then, Darcy started asking Maya more questions about the subjects she was taking and Cassandra rolled her eyes.  Could the veela not stop chattering on about things, trying to get everyone to be BFFs as muggles said?  

Catching some movement out of the corner of her eye, Cassandra watched Maya's eyes flicker from Kynan to Evan to her, and then back to the veela girl, Darcy something or other.  Cassandra saw her bite her lip and hid a slight smile.  Obviously Maya was curious about the half-breed, as she'd probably never encountered a part-veela person so far in her life.  Maya probably didn't want to seem rude and ask a bunch of questions, but Cassandra was certain she'd want to know, if she didn't already.

Moving silently with a swish of her robes on the floor, Cassandra stood slightly behind Maya and directly next to her.  She spoke quietly, she only Maya would be able to hear, not that what she was saying was offensive at all. "That girl, Darcy," here Cassandra inclined her head towards the said person, "She's part veela, so she possesses some of the traits a veela might have...I believe you know what I mean."  Cassandra didn't mean to be rude either, but she was certain that Maya would want to know.  And besides, she had phrased it politely.