A letter home...

Mary gulped and made her way up towards The Owlery, too aware that the last time she'd been here, she'd ended up in a terrible quarrel with a girl from her own house. She even clutched Padfoot so tightly, he gavean annoyed mewl. She shrugged and muttered a 'sorry' to him, before she continued up the road. Arriving at the doorstep, she climbed the last few stairs until she got into the owlery, where about 10 owls in various sizes were hooting excitedly at the thought of having a chance to send a letter. Some of them even nipped her cloak softly, and she had to keep away from the many beaks that gathered around.

Looking back, she spotted Sam and a smile widened on her face. "They sure are eager, aren't they? They're all so excited, just because we're going to send a letter," she said softly, and stroked Padfoot again before putting him back on the ground. Pulling out her quill and a bit of paper, she began writing at the beginning of the letter.

Dear mom, dad and of course, Ellie.

I've had a marvelous time at Hogwarts so far, the teachers are always so kind, and now I've even found myself a best friend! I think both I and Padfoot are having a great time here, and I'm hoping to learn loads more before the end of this term! Of course, the homework's quite hard, but I'll manage.

How are you all? Anything special happened at home? Any-

She cut off and got a a thoughtful look, unsure of what to write next. Instead, she spent some of the time thinking by letting her gaze flicker between Sam and the owls gathering around them.

Sam glanced at each owl, trying to find which one was Alvin. Soon though, he found him fighting over his attention with a particularly big owl the size of his bag - which was pretty big. He called over to his owl and set him on his shoulder.

Sam picked up a quill and wrote:

Dear mom and Dad,

I've been enjoying it here at Hogwarts - it's really quite amazing! I haven't seen Robin much, but I have made myself a best friend! So mum, I'd like my 20 galleons in cash please.

As I know you'll be grilling me about this 'best friend' I'll tell you about her. Her name's Mary Swale and she's great at just about anything - but you'd expect it from a Ravenclaw, wouldn't you? I've taught her a few things like precision in transfiguration, and I taught her how to fly and play Quidditch! It was really fun to teach her.

So enough about me, what's new at home? How's all your jobs going?

Sam paused, looking up and glancing at Mary. "I dunno what to write them more," he mumbled, looking at his letter again.

Mary continued thinking for a moment, gasping at the huge owl that appeared. "T-that's Alvin, now isn't it?" she said and grinned broadly as she admired the richly coloured coat, as well as the sharp eyes that followed whatever seemed to happen around them. She smiled at Sam's comment and shrugged. "Neither do I. I'll just finish it up," she said quickly, feeling sad at how short her letter turned out.

She finished it with a quick last sentence, ending with the question and signing it with the four-lettered word 'Dove'. Then she put aside her quill by the side she sat, and walked over to one of the handsome owls nearby.

Realising she'd forgot to tell Sam something, she looked up while the tied the letter to an owl. "I completely forgot to tell you, you can call me Dove if you'd like. That's a nickname I got from my sister, before I went to Hogwarts. The first thing she learned to say besides 'mama' and 'papa' was Dove, and so she began calling me by that name," she said, missing her sister ever so slightly.

"Yep, that's Alvin," he stated, letting his soft golden-brown feathers touch his skin.

"You have a sister?" He asked, surprised, "You never mentioned that... Dove."

He smiled at her softly, and then looked back at his letter.

Anyway, I gotta go now.

Love,

Samuel Potter.

The only reason he didn't just put 'Sam' was because his parents like to use his full name instead of just a nickname.

Mary had soon finished tying the letter to the owl and walked over to a window, releasing it and watching it's soundless wings carry it over the lake, towards a small town at the outer part of London. She smiled and leaned against the side of the window, admiring the gorgeous sunlight that shone through the window. She sighed softly and turned, listening to Sam's comments.

She admired the owl with awe and smiled, walking over and attempting to stroke it's soft feathers. However, the owl made a sharp growling sound and she was smart enough to retreat before it bit her. "Yeah, she'll be arriving at Hogwarts in about three years of time," she said, and couldn't help but smile when he used her nickname. She'd always been very uncertain about using the name before, although now it seemed a bit more natural.

"Is he usually very badly tempered?" she asked cautiously, making another attempt at stroking the the owl, but this time being a bit slow reacted and ended up being bitten in her index finger. She could feel it bleed a little and immediatly curled her hand over the tiny wound, stopping the bleeding. However, she continued smiling and had an amused look in her eyes when she studied the owl again.

"Bad tempered?" He laughed, "No, not at all, it's just that he's mean towards everyone until I tell him to not hate them."

He looked at the owl, "Now, Alivin, this is my best friend, and I would appreciate it if you were nice," he told him sternly. The owl gave him a grumpy look. "Alvin..." The owl blinked back at him and gave what seemed to be a sigh in owl-language. "Good," he said firmly, "now let her stroke you. And don't bite her."

He prodded him along to Mary and waited for her to stroke his precious owl. He could still remember the day he bought him.

*flashback*

Sam giggled in a child-like manner. "Mommy, I want an owl!" He said, only five years old.

His mother smiled softly at him. "Sure, sweetie, Robin'll take you," she gave his seven year old sister some money and a stern look.

"Come on, Sam," she said, smiling slightly at his innocent figure. She lead him to Eeylop's owl emporium, "choose the one you want."

Sam nodded solemnly at Robin and looked through the owls. One caught his eye in particular. It had a shiny beak and ruffled golden-brown feathers. The owl seemed to smile at him.

"Robbie I want this one!" he exclaimed in glee, happy to find an owl he liked.

*end flashback*

He snapped out of his trance.

Smiling softly, Mary attempted petting the owl again, glad to see that the owl allowed her to pet him. "Such a beautiful bird," she commented and smiled sweetly, almost regretting her family didn't have any owl at all. Padfoot came over and stroked her leg though and she smiled softly, lifting him off the floor and allowing him to nuzzle her neck softly.

"We always bond very tightly with our animals. More than we can possibly imagine... How long have you had him?" she asked, assuming the owl were quite a few years old, to have reached such a magnificent size. Her own cat had been a kitten when she got him half a year ago, and still looked quite tiny compared with many other cats. He nudged her happily and batted her nose playfully, before Mary let him back down to the floor.

"What did you write in your letter? If I may ask? You remembered to ask for those 20 galleons, right?" she said and chuckled, remembering the dare Sam had with his mother.

"Yeah, he is..." he said softly, running a hand through his soft feathers.

"I've had Alvin since I was five," he stated, "almost six years then. How long have you have Padfoot?" He asked her curiously.

He rolled up his letter and tied it to Alvin's outstretched leg. "Be careful, don't hit any trees," the owl blinking in solemn understanding, "and be back by three days."

The owl flew out the window.

"I just told them I made a new best friend, and how awesome she is," he grinned at her, "and the 20 galleons? Of course I remembered them! I asked for them in their next letter!"

Mary smiled. "He's a very dear friend, I can tell that much," she said and made another stroke with her long fingers, the bleeding in her index finger finally stopping completely. "I've had Padfoot about 6 months. Honestly, he wasn't very old when I got him. He actually vanished on the train, and I had to search every place and ask everyone I met if they'd seen a kitten anywhere," she said and smiled. "He's a lot calmer now though. He prefers to be free to go around the area as he likes though. I wouldn't put him in a cage, or he'd spend the next days hissing at you every time you look at him," she said and chuckled at Padfoot's expression.

She blushed softly when he said he'd written about his 'awesome' new friend, although didn't say much about it. She couldn't really find any reply to it, so she merely chuckled. "Good to be to some use," she said and smiled widely.

Sam smiled at her. "He really is," he told her, his eyes never leaving the window until Alvin vanished out of sight.

"Six months? Cool. Wait, you were the person on that train who lost their kitten? My sister told me about that," he smiled. "I wasn't on the train, I came for the second lesson of all classes," he quickly said, before he got her confused about why his sister heard about it but he didn't.

"Some use? You were more than some use! You were a great use! And the galleons are only a small bonus!" he exclaimed, "Before you came, I was this shy little kid who was afraid of people because I thought I was a monster! You were one of the best things that happened to my life - even if I've only known you for a few days!" His whole face turned a dark shade of red at that statement.

((Remember how I said he should have an innocent crush? Well, I think about now would be a good time, but since it's innocent, he wouldn't act on it or anything. But I'm not gonna do anything without your 'okay'!))

((Sure! It'd be fun P: Mary's quite ignorant to love right now though, so she'll probably see him as a friend for years to come...))

Mary laughed softly. "I'm not surprised. That's probably how I got to know what her name was too, I just asked random people and picked up names from various discussions I passed by. I ended up finding him sitting in the lap of a third year though. He looked rather pleased with himself," she said and cast a rather scornful look at Padfoot, who'd started grooming his face.

"I came early. Although I didn't get to grab any classes before the second term came around, for some reason," she muttered and frowned, thinking of all the things she could have learned, and which she didn't.

She couldn't help but smile softly, and managed to hold back her blush at his comment. "I'm glad we both got something useful out of it. Actually, I think the fact that we met one another means more than we understand right now," she says and smiles. "I hope we'll be friends, even after Hogwarts. I don't want to see us fall away from one another, as soon as we finish our last year," she muttered sadly, voicing the thoughts they both had thought by the lake.

"I hope we'll be friends, even after Hogwarts. I don't want to see us fall away from one another, as soon as we finish our last year," she muttered sadly, voicing the thoughts they both had thought by the lake.

His stomach had butterflies fluttering inside them, and for some reason, he loved the fact that she wanted to stay with him after Hogwarts. He successfully fought down a blush when he realized what he thought, but he still felt quite weird.

"I hope so too," he said, "maybe we can even be neighbours, or work the same jobs. What do you want to be when you grow older?" He asked her, curious.

Mary smiled and nodded. "I think that would be nice," she commented and smiled softly, settling down on the floor beside him and plugging her ears when the owls hooted like mad. Incredibly enough, she caught his question. Once the owls seemed to settle down again, she removed her hands and looked at Sam again, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

"I guess that's why my mom forbids birds in our house," she said and laughed. "As for your questions..." There was a very odd silence between the moment she'd said that, and even the owls fell unaturally silent. As if giving her time to think. "I'd sort of like to be an auror... Or maybe I'll even end up with something within Quidditch, even if it seems rather farfetched," she said and smiled broadly, glad that she was able to hold such conversations with someone other than her mother or father.

"You'd make a really good Auror. And Quidditch isn't farfetched at all!" He exclaimed, feeling the need to comfort her, "You'e already a really good flier!"

He put his arm around her, making his skin feel tingly. Why did he feel that way? He never felt it before...

He pointed to the air, "I can see it now! Mary Swale, star player of Puddlemere United!" He exclaimed, grinning. "But seriously, you'd make a kick-ass Quidditch player!"

"I want to get into Transfiguration someday," he told her, "I don't know what I want to do, but I'm sure it'll be transfiguration."

He noticed that his arm was still around her. He also noticed she didn't say anything about it. He found down a blush that was luckily covered by his longish hair.

Why am I feeling this way? he asked himself.

Mary couldn't help but feeling overly flattered by the fact that Sam kept praising her for things she'd never imagined would be opinions for her. "The task of an Auror seems exciting... Besides, it'd be interesting to try it, at least," she said and smiled, knowing that she'd easily get the right subjects required to become an Auror. "Thanks, Sam," she said, accepting his praise and allowing him to put his arm over her shoulder. She thought of it as a sign of friendship, and didn't care much about what others thought.

"I hardly know who Puddlemere United are, although it sounds nice," she admitted, although her voice had a tone of joke to it. "Honestly. I can probably make it just fine at the Ravenclaw team, although I doubt I'll ever become anything great internationally," she said, with a quite certain tone covering her voice. She was more obessed with the possibility of becoming an Auror.

At his mention of wanting to do something with Transfiguration, she snapped her fingers and looked at him, seemingly with an idea formed in her head. "You should be a Hogwarts teacher! Professor Potter, master within Transfiguration!" she announced her idea quite willingly and smiled broadly.

"An Auror, huh? My great granddad was an Auror," he remembered, "he actually died only a few months ago. I think you'd not only be able to be one, but I think that someday you'll manage to be head Auror!"

"You don't know Puddlemere United?" He asked, frowning in concentration, "maybe your dad knows them, you said he like Quidditch... Who knows, maybe it's his favorite team! Hey, you can add that to your letter!"

"Professor Potter..." Sam went into a trance at the phrase, "I really like it. Maybe I will be the Transfiguration teacher someday..."

Mary raised her hand and flicked away a strand of hair that happened to get in her eyes and sighed. "I know. I read about it in the newspapers," she said and paused, biting her underlip. "I think it came as a shock for most of us," she commented, lowering her head slightly. "It was probably hard for your family, right?" Her voice had been lowered to a whisper, assuming he'd be sad about it.

"He probably does. He's played on a team, I remember... Although he quit due to an injury and became a doctor instead," she said and shrugged. "Since you're a bit more known to the Quidditch world, maybe you know which team he was on? His name's Thor Swale," she said and smiled gently. "He used to be a seeker," she said, remembering what her father had told her earlier.

Mary smiled softly at his trance, and was reminded of her own, when she saw the golden Snitch. "You should. You're a brilliant teacher. Believe me, I'd know," she commented and added a smile.

"Hard on my family? It was horrible on us! We all had a major cry about it. But I guess since he's the oldest out of all of us, he knew he wasn't immortal," he said, "and he achieved his life goal - letting all his children live in piece without Voldemort on the rise - and it was forty years ago, he completed his life ages ago..." he trailed off, remembering his happy great granddad, Harry Potter, always smiling.

"Thor Swale, seeker..." He trailed off for a moment, frowning in concentration, "er... I think I know him. I think he worked for the Wimbourne Wasps. Or was it the Chudley Cannons? I can't quite remember."

He looked over at her in appreciation. "You really think I'm a brilliant teacher? Thanks!" he exclaimed. And he didn't know what inclined him to do it, but he hugged her.

His heart was beating faster than every and his arms were tingling. Butterflies fluttered in his stomach lightly and he wondered what was wrong with himself. He didn't dare mention this to Mary, or even react to what was happening. Because how could he say that she was giving him these odd reactions without sounding weird?

Mary looked at him sadly, and shuddered at his words. "I can understand that. My own grandpa died during the Great War. I wish he'd survived, so I could have met him," she murmured sadly, finding it slightly awkward that they were discussing death and tradgedies. "Harry Potter achieved more than any person could dream of," she muttered, and added a sad smile.

Listening to the opinions Sam mentioned, her eyes lit up as he mentioned the Chudley Cannons. "That's it! He mentioned something about cannons, although I couldn't remember the first part of it," she muttered, ashamed that she'd forgotten something that had been of so clear importance to her father.

She laughed at his comment, and accepted his hug happily. At least they had a friendship that allowed them to hug one another, without making the situation seem odd or weird. "'Course I do! Without you, I'd probably never have learned how to fly," she said and grinned broadly, most particularly proud of the fact that she'd managed to learn that skill, to some decree of course.

"Flying's easy! I just gave you some motivation for it and I taught you the basics," he explained, letting go of her. The tingling sensation was gone.

"I can teach you more if you like, now we have time..." he trailed off, "in fact, we can head off as soon as you finish your letter!"

He looked at the colourful owls again. He spotted a tiny one being - for lack of a better word - bullied by some bigger owls. He quickly ran towards the owls and grabbed the small one.

He looked at them sternly, "now, don't bully other, smaller owls, because someday they might just grow up to do the same thing to you," he told them, giving them a hard look.

The owls had the grace to look... ashamed, you could say. Well, as ashamed as an owl could look. He stroked the small owl's pure white feathers absentmindedly and smiled slightly.

((She already finished her letter, but okay c: ))

Mary smiled and nodded. "I think that would be a good idea! Although I really have to head back to our common room and finish the last part of my essay... ANd it's getting rather late, so maybe we could try it at dawn tomorrow? I do believe we don't have classes just then," she mentioned, hoping he wouldn't be angry because she didn't wish to do it now. For one, it WAS getting dark, and for two, she had something important to do for tomorrow's lesson.

Finishing off her letter she merely sent an owl out from the window before she heard some squeals and shrieks, and turned around to see the owl getting bullied before Sam jumped right in and helped it out.

Smiling, she walked over to him and looked at the white owl, tilting her head slightly to the side before she petted the owl softly, stroking it's tiny feathers. "As white as snow," she murmured. Glancing over her right shoulder she noticed Padfoot staring at the owl with a very hungry look in his eyes, and she shuddered. "You don't dare, Padfoot. Or I'll make sure you'll never have another treat again," she threatened, and the cat settled down and pouted, looking in a completely different direction.

((I was thinking they could do it 'tomorrow' instead, because then he'll have his chance to ask about what Alena told him during the night.))

Sam tried not to feel downhearted at her statement, that she didn't want to learn Quidditch today, but reminded himself that she had good arguments supporting her answer, so he smiled at her, showing her that it was okay.

He chuckled when Mary made the threat to Padfoot, and watched as Padfoot pouted and turned to the other direction; he looked back at the tiny owl, "hey, do you have a name?" he murmured, and at the 'shake' of the owl's head, he said, "well, we can call you Hedwig II because you remind me so much of what my great granddad used to say about his old owl. Is that alright?" He looked over to Mary, question in his eyes.

((Oh sure, do you want to start the thread, or should I?))

Mary smiled and looked at the small owl, tilting her head and touching it's soft feathers again. It was very young, it so seemed. She wouldn't be surprised if it grew up to be a very large and magnificent owl one day. "Yeah, sure! I almost predicted you'd call her that, considering she's as white as the Hedwig I've seen portrayed in books," she said and smiled softly.

At the moment, the sun was slowly setting, to a fantastic display of colours, both in red and orange flaring up on the sky, as if someone had just thrown an 'Incendio' charm over the entire sky, painting it in the colours of a flame. "It's getting late though, I have to hurry if I'm going to finish the last part," she said and sighed. "See ya tomorrow though?" she asked and looked at him with her head slightly tilted to the side, before she began heading down the stairs from the Owlery, Padfoot following closely.

((You can start it, if you'd like.))

"Yeah," he smiled slightly, "see ya tomorrow."

((There you go! And I'm sorry about the short post, I just needed to end it somehow ))