Needing Space {OPEN}

Aylee followed the steps up towards the Owlery. In her hand she clutched a small messenger bag and in the other hand she held a letter that she was hoping to deliver to her mum. She hadn't written for some time and wanted to make sure that her mum knew that she was OK. Her mother could really over-react sometimes. Once, she had called the police when Aylee was home late from school. It was a bit silly having the police over at your house, talking about a 'missing daughter' and then the daughter enters the house, yelling, "I'M HOME!". The police had told her mother to be more careful.

She grinned at the memory, remembering her mother's astonished face. Shaking her head, she opened the door to the Owlery and entered. Aylee had bought an owl a few days or weeks ago. She had named the owl Julia, after one of her favourite characters from a book. Grinning, she called the owl by the name once or twice before the grey owl flew down towards her. Once again, Aylee re-read the letter.

Letter:

Shrugging, Aylee folded the letter and put it in an envelope. Then she tied the letter to Julia's leg and watched the owl fly away. Sighing, she sat down, not wanting to go back to the castle just yet. So instead, she sat down against the wall, legs crossed, thinking about... nothing, really. She just stared at the hundreds of owls there were.

Severine made her way up to the Owlery. She didn't really know why, she just felt an urge to go there. When she arrived there, she saw familiar looking girl watching the owls fly back and forth. "Hey Aylee," she greeted with a wave towards the Ravenclaw girl.

"H-h-hi," Aylee said, looking up. She didn't know Severine much, but she liked the Gryffindor girl. She flashed Severine a small smile and looked back up at the owls. She didn't feel like talking much. Ever since her incident with Sydney, she didn't talk to anyone much. She wasn't even her usual happy self anymore. She was being the same person she was when she first arrived. Shy, quiet, and really low self-esteem.

Severine noticed that Aylee was bit more quiet than she used to be. "You alright?" she asked concerned. She paused and watched the owls swooping back and forth before turning back to Aylee. "I don't know about you but I don't believe watching owls can make you fly," she joked pathetically, attempting to make the girl smile

Aylee shrugged at Severine's question. She didn't know herself if she was alright or not. She had made a fool out of herself, so if she was alright or not, it was a perfect mystery. Closing her eyes for a moment, she remembered when she was in a situation like this a long time ago. I'm being stupid, Aylee realized. She shouldn't be hiding like a fool. But she couldn't help it. I AM a fool...

Sighing, she looked up at Severine when she heard the girl joke. It was a bit funny but Aylee wasn't in the mood to laugh. She still attempted to smile a little.

Severine's own smile fell when she saw Aylee give a weak and hesitant smile. She sat down next to her on the ground. "I know we aren't exactly the closest people around, cause frankly I don't like the idea of having people so close. But...you do know you can get whatever it is off your chest right? I won't judge, we all have our scars." Severine smiled sadly as she thought of the scarred flesh on her arm.

"I think you will," Aylee answered quietly, sighing. "I just feel so stupid right now..." She buried her face in her hands, not crying. Somehow, she knew how vulnerable you could be when crying- she had learned that back in her old school. But this isn't my old school! Aylee thought, letting a small tear trail down her cheek. She bit her lip, hoping that Severine couldn't see her face.

Looking the other way, she made sure that her hair covered her face before rubbing her eyes. This was stupid. So stupid to cry.

Severine noticed the wetness of the girl's eyes before she turned away, her dark hair a curtain between them. Severine laughed humourlessly, "No matter how stupid you think you've been, I've been far stupider." She paused and took a breath. Absentmindedly, she trailed a finger up and down her arm.

Aylee took a deep breath. "I-I heard Sydney and Leo talk in the Common Room late at night while I was reading," she explained slowly and quietly, letting another tear trail down her cheek. "So... I kind of listened to them until Sydney found me..." she hesitated then continued. "And then James entered the Common Room and asked what was going on. And Sydney accused me of spying. I kind of ran out before they could yell at me or something..." another tear fell down her cheek. "And they all hate me, I just know it! I am such a stupid, annoying, selfish brat!"

She started sobbing and put her face in her hands. Aylee remembered when she had heard Ella yell that at herself last year. She remembered how she had comforted the Slytherin and told her to not be what the others wanted you to be. But it was useless repeating it to herself. Shaking her head, Aylee found herself leaning on Severine's shoulder and sobbing as hard as she could.

Severine patted the sobbing Aylee comfortingly while she thought over it. She had heard something about Sydney and Aylee no longer being friends but didn't think much about it. "Sydney was over reacting," she heard herself say. She turned to look at the Ravenclaw, "We can't simply just turn our ears off and not listen. You shouldn't have eavesdropped though."

Aylee was still sobbing and Severine paused for a moment before suggesting softly, "I think you two need to sit down and talk. Without killing each other, of course."

"I know," Aylee muttered darkly as Severine pointed out that she shouldn't eavesdrop. "I don't know what made me do it..." she hesitated for a moment. "I guess I wanted to see is Sydney would say anything about me..."

Then she shook her head at Severine's suggestion. "She'll try to strangle me," Aylee muttered.

"Not if you strangle her first," Severine suggested before shaking her head. "I think you two should really sit down and talk. Someone can be there to restrain the two of you if things get serious or you can master the shield charm, then talk to her."

Katerina continued to walk up the never ending staircase until she finally reached the top with a letter in her hand, realising the two students she stopped and looked over at them. "Hello girls, is everything okay?" She asked with curiosity.

She walked over to Aylee and wrapped her arms around her, whispering into her ear. "Okay but if you ever need someone to talk to, let me know. I'm all ears dear". She unwrapped her arms and smiled at Aylee. Looking over at Sévérine she simply told her to be happy and be nice to Aylee. Katerina walked over to an owl and petted it as she gave it a letter.

Severine was vaguely taken aback. "Be happy?" she murmured to herself. Could the professor read minds? Was she referring to the scars. She look back up at Sydney.

"If you want to talk to Sydney, I am willing to stand there to restrain you two."

Katerina listened to to the girls talk whilst she fixed up her clothes and eyed the owls. Not fully understanding the girls she decided to stay a little while longer, to sort of grasp the conversation. "Are you girls hungry?" She asked kindly, feeling a little stupid from asking such a random question whilst they were mid-conversation.