Waiting for Crackers (Alex)

[ara]

A

ra had sent out a letter to her mother and father about how her year was going so far. Sure, she was going to see them for Christmas break, but she just liked waiting in the Owlery for her small, black little owl to give her replies. She leaned against the wall as she waited. "Come on, Crackers, where are you?"

Yes, she named her owl Crackers. She'd named him when she first got him in her first year. Back then she thought the named Crackers was cute, and even now, she couldn't find any other name that she thought fit her little midnight colored owl.

She liked her parents when they were talking through letters, but when she actually saw them and had to speak to them in person, it was just a little awkward. Ever since Ara's sister had died, they'd never gotten over. And they hadn't been the same since. Every time they looked at Ara, they saw her sister in her, and that brought back the memory of her. That, in turn, made them depressed all over again as if it had happened yesterday, even though it happened so many years ago. But through letters, Ara felt more comfortable with them.

She eventually started humming to herself out of habit and boredom, and she didn't even think about tune she was humming. She didn't even notice someone else had walked in and was watching her.

[/blockquote]

[truphear]

The sealed parchment loaded into a tube flipped casually through the air as he tossed it, catching it as he went. There were a few things he was missing, so he made a note to his family for them.. or that was the story he would tell should the document fall beneath prying eyes. The real message was hidden between the lines he wrote. Should his letter reach home, he would have a permanent way out of here without every alerting anyone to his absence. He could even leave from the comfort of his own dorm bed, if he so chose.

Bounding up the steps with his robes sweeping behind him, he would hit the top of the steps with a gentle tapping sound as his shoe hit the stone. It wasn't until he reached the top however that he heard the humming of something, or someone. Turning a weary eye, he'd spot a girl leaned up against the wall waiting for something. He sighed quietly, though still audibly, as he hoped to send out the letter in secrecy. Altering memories was a difficult process, he didn't want to have to do it if he didn't have to.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked abruptly, cutting into her song. No manners were used, but it was not his intent to seem rude. A simple question that could be answered hopefully without any sort of hostility. "Lost your owl? Or waiting for a parcel?" he asked as he walked over beneath the perches and raised a hand into the air. With a gentle whistle, a large bird descended from a perch, but it was no owl. Instead a red tailed hawk sat perched on his arm, a small letter pouch attached to his mid back.

Alex stroked the birds head affectionately a few times as he placed the tube inside the pouch. He'd whisper something to the bird and offer it a treat which he retrieved from his pocket. With a screech of approval the bird spread it's wings and took flight, just as simple as that. Turning his back to the girl, he looked out the window now, watching the sky. "Alexander." he offered his name, figuring he could make some sort of attempt to be "friendly".

[ara]

When Ara heard the voice she turned suddenly, seeing a boy behind her. From his stance and expression she knew he was Slytherin, before even looking at his clothes. But, he didn't come right out and say something nasty, so she didn't have the right to be mean to him just yet. Now, if he discovered she was a "mudblood" well, then, she doubted he would start out a conversation this nicely.

"I'm waiting... and hoping my owl didn't get lost," she admitted. Crackers wasn't the smartest owl on the block, and he wasn't the fastest either. But she had faith in him, due to her optimism, and smiled at the Slytherin boy a moment before he introduced himself.

Usually you do that with an outstretched hand toward the person you are introducing yourself to. But considering that Alexander was Slytherin, she supposed that this was as friendly as he could get. But why show her a friendly side? Oh well, she shrugged it off. At least he wasn't being a jerk.

"I'm Ara," she returned, hoping he wouldn't ask about her full name. She only like the first three letters in her name, and that was it. If anyone called her by her full name, she wouldn't reply.

[truphear]

He considered what she said for a moment, but it was highly unlikely that the Owl had gotten lost. They had a magical sense of direction that always seemed to point them to the right place, no that was perhaps one thing she could easily rule out. He assumed she was just uneasy about it, maybe? Alex truly didn't like Owls much as a whole so he couldn't truly sympathize with her feelings, as if he'd ever truly externally do so anyhow. Letting his eyes lazily sweep the horizon once more, he turned to face Ara. "Hm." he spoke slowly as he brought a hand to his chin in thought.

"It could've easily just been delayed by a storm. Where is it coming from?" he asked with a thoughtful look on his face. Perhaps if he knew where it had to come from he would know what sort of weather that it was facing on the way here. It could've even been from another country for all he knew, but that was more information that allowed him to see more about here without having to directly ask these sorts of things. He always felt that a conventional conversation was lame, the old hello how are you and where are you from nonsense.

"I'm sure it was most likely held up by the ministry is all. They've been snooping an awful lot lately." he said bitterly as he ran a hand through his pocket. "Have I seen you around here anywhere? You look familiar to me but I can't figure out why I should feel like I know you." he asked as he leaned his head to the side somewhat. Maybe she knew someone that he did, or perhaps they had a class or two together. He took Professors Magyn's Defense against the Dark Arts class which usually held two different years in the same class.

His voice remained as calm and emotionless as always. Sometimes it was down right eerie how he didn't seem to be able to sound like what he was asking or talking about was truly interesting. Most assumed he was slightly off his rocker.

[ara]

This was an interesting boy... but maybe that was the way a normal Slytherin acting on a regular basis. She'd never held a conversation with a Slytherin before, not that didn't involve the word mudblood. She could only guess that Alex acted more normal around other Slytherins, not Ravenclaws.

When he suggested a storm, she only shrugged. "I wouldn't be worried about a storm. I don't think there is one, but Crackers is tough enough to take on a hurricane and a twister if he wanted to. And even though he's a tough little feather monster, he's not very bright..." she admitted.

But he'd asked that mostly as a way to get where she was from out of the answer, that must was pretty obvious. And she didn't mind telling him. She smiled at him a little, as if that could somehow make a Slytherin smile back. But you never know, smiles can be contagious. Like yawns.

"And since you asked, I sent him to London, where my parents are. But who knows where that stupid little feather ball went through to get there and back. He gets lost all the time," she smiled at the thought and giggled a little bit, too. "What about you? Where's yours headed off to?"

She looked at him closer when he said she was familiar. She wasn't very good with faces. Sure, her eyesight was 20/20, but her dyslexia didn't only scribble up her words. Sometimes it would make her mix up faces, too. She could easily be in a bunch of classes with him and not even have realized it. She was better with voices, though, and she actually did find his tone a little familiar. "I'm not sure. If you're a seventh year, then we might be in some of the same classes. I don't usually talk that much to people who aren't in Ravenclaw like me, though."

She didn't want to make it sound like she didn't like Slytherin. Sure, they weren't the friendlies of people, but they might still be offended. And she rarely made friends who weren't in the same house as her, so technically it was the truth. She just left out the part where she tried to avoid Slytherins. But Alex didn't seem like he fit into the Slytherin stereotype as much as most of the others did.

[truphear]

Alex laughed quietly, an amused smirk on his face as he listened to her speak about her bird. A storm would be the least of ones worries he supposed, no animal would be dumb enough to fly through it anyhow. He did find it comical though that she insulted the birds intelligence a bit. They often said that our pets took on some of our qualities, normally he would've made a mean joke about that here and now but he supposed that would come off as down right rude. Even being a Slytherin, he didn't always feel the compelling urge to be nasty to everyone.

"Most Owl's don't seem to be, at least the ones belonging to Wizarding families. They've lost most of their instincts and become more like the company they keep." he said ashe watched for some kind of reaction to his comment. Making an enemy out of everyone was never a wise thing to do when you had his ambition, allies made things easier. Even a normally emotionless boy like him however couldn't resist smiling back at Ara as she smiled at him. "What? Is something funny? Is there something on my face?" he asked as he raised a hand and wiped at his chin.

Alex had never actually seen much of London, he only went to take the train here every year. He was never really all that interested either, often going as far as ordering his school things shipped to him so that he didn't have to visit diagon alley for the things he couldn't get back at home. "Perhaps he just needs a little more training." he said shaking his head. Was he still blabbing on about an Owl? How odd, he normally wouldn't have even kept up this conversation very long. "Aurelia? She is heading home to Romania." he said with a stretch.

"Ah, so you're a Seventh Year Ravenclaw." he said with a nod which made sense as to why probably didn't interact much. She had been in one of his classes though, he could recall it more vividly now. "It would make sense that we haven't interacted much then." he said with a smooth grin. "It's a shame sometimes really. Not everyone in your own house is quite as interesting as people would seem to think." he started as he thought about that comment. To be quite honest, he was tired of the standard snobby Slytherin.

"If you don't travel outside of your circle, you'll miss out on all the good stuff. Something like that." he said laughing. "But I guess it's not everyday you hold a conversation this long with a Slytherin eh?" he could have been offended, but he chose the latter route and decided to take no offense.

[ara]

Ara was almost surprised to hear him chuckle when she spoke of her bird's not so intelligent decisions. She'd never really spoken to a Slytherin before. Picked on maybe, but she'd never actually talked to one before. Alex seemed... normal, almost. It was kind of strange. Most Slytherin boys just shoved her around, which was easy because she was so thin and short, and picked on her parents for being muggles, the usual. This boy didn't know about her parents, or he would probably have it in for her as well.

Ara only guess that Slytherins don't smile much. Alex seemed kind of different when she did just a little smile to him. Is there something on my face? She laughed a little then. "No, there's nothing on your face. I just wanted to see how much you fit into the Slytherin Stereotype," she admitted. After saying it a few times, The Slytherin Stereotype seemed to have a sort of ring to it, so she figured she'd stick with it. If the Slytherins didn't appreciate her creativity, then they can just add it to the least of things to pick on her about. She didn't care anymore, and frankly she never really did care about what they think of her... or what anyone else thought for that matter.

She only nodded when he said his owl was off to Romania. She'd never been there, just seen pictures of it. But she liked its name. Romania. There was something about it that had a kind of ring to it than she enjoyed. The owl's name was neat, too. Aurelia. Maybe she'd mention her likings of Alex's owl's name some other time. Right now, though, she just looked back up and waited for Crackers to appear from far away like he usually does. Hopefully he won't run into the window again...

She only listened as he spoke of the Ravenclaws and Slytherins and then smiled back at him. "No, I guess I don't," she nodded, "At least not ones that don't involve not so nice words and getting shoved into a wall once or twice..." Seeing on how Alex replied to this, she'd either move him up or down on the Slytherin Stereotype Scale. Hopefully he would react like a normal, at least relatively friendly person would, that way she knew he wouldn't completely despise her just because the rest of her family were muggles.

[truphear]

Alex was not surprised at all when she made her intentions known, it seemed everyone was waiting for them to show their "True colors". Whenever he engaged someone in this school it was like they were expecting the other shoe to drop, like he wanted something from them or like he was going to hurt them for no reason at all. Was he arrogant, self righteous, and taught to loathe mudbloods? Sure, however he was not so open with his disdain for such things, he treated others kindly to keep up a false image. Someone in that forsaken house had to be seen as someone to be respected.

"The Slytherin Stereotype huh? And do I pass this little exam of yours with flying colours?" he asked with a partial smirk on his face. Part of him was irritated by it, yet another part of him was amused at her audacity. She was essentially cornered in the Owlery by him, she had nowhere to run. While he didn't know the extent of her magic, he was confident in his own abilities almost to a fault. Yet his hand would leave his wand where it lay, resting calmly in the sleeve of his robe. "I would hate for such a nice conversation to end so abruptly due to misconceptions." he said with a laugh.

"You can't let them or anyone push you around." he began slowly as he thought about what he was saying. Was he seriously going to offer her encouraging words? Of course, why not? It wasn't like she had done anything to offend him, she was a witch on the recieving end of a bunch of moronic bullies. "Even if you don't want to a risk a bigger fight, you're going to get it eventually anyhow. Some of the members of this house are crude, you have to show them who has the "bigger bite" you know?" he said as he stared blankly for a moment.

"Never let anyone make you feel inferior." he said darkly, his tone sounding like it was filled with hurt, longing, and sorrow. It took him a moment to realize he had gotten a bit bitter there, he looked back to her and laughed.

[ara]

Alex was definitely an interesting fellow. And by the way he spoke about the Slytherin Stereotype she could tell if he really wanted to pass her test with flying colors or not. It was very rare to find a Slytherin student, especially of his age, and not immediately get a bruise on her somewhere, or had the word "Mudblood!" shouted to her from behind. Not that she listened to anyone who bothered to mention that word. She just tuned them out.

But, she had to be honest. Truth was one of her most popular character traits. "No, actually, I'm not sure where you are on the Slytherin Stereotype scale yet," she admitted. She watched his reactions slowly, and examined the way he moved. Either he was just a misfitted sort of Slytherin, or maybe it was because he was trying to be something he wasn't. But why act different around Ara? She was nothing special...

And was he... giving her advice? That definitely moved him down on the Idiot Scale, and more in to the "maybe he's actually a decent guy" scale. She narrowed her eyes slightly as he spoke, but she couldn't decide if he meant what he said or not.

"I never said I let them get to me," she admitted. "Actually, the only reason they push me around is to try to get me to say something back to them. I ignore their insults to the point where they decide to shove me into a wall..." She smiled at him slightly then, almost sneakily. "But they haven't done any of that recently since I shot one of them flying down the corridor."

She sighed as she remembered it. She'd pulled out her want and they'd tried to take it from her. Luckily, though, she managed to zap one of them and send them soaring into the wall down the corridor before they could pull it from her grasp. That was about a week ago now, and they hadn't put their hands on her since. The verbal insults, however, hadn't changed.

[truphear]

Alex found it humorous that she was so blunt with him, as if it didn't bother her that he could turn against her at any moment. The thought of someone who wasn't truly afraid of him or weirded out by his normal vacant expression seemed to stir some sort of interest in him. Straightening his robes as he normally did to keep his anxious hands busy, he smiled at her slyly and laughed. "There is a scale now is there?" he said as he looked directly into her eyes, as if seeking some sort of answer he couldn't find from her body language or words. She seemed.. quite high spirit to say the least.

"Of course, I never assumed you had. But everything eventually gets in." he said with a passive tone, showing neither care nor hatred of any sort. He was used to all of the walls students in this castle seemed to have. They were all guarded, awkward, or just plain out stubborn and untrusting. It was like everyone single one of them had some sort of past they were ashamed of, afraid of, and this was the only place on earth they could escape these problems, at least for the school year. He didn't have a truly astounding up bringing, but he didn't try and run from it either truthfully.

Her final statement answered and confirmed his thoughts, she was indeed quite high spirited. Normally most would find aid or fight back, yet she suffered their crap with a smirk knowing that she was winning. No reaction was the best weapon against someone who did everything they could to get some sort of cry, scream, or insult. It was normally assumed that one would get bored and go away, however that was untrue for most. "Yes well I do believe that would do it. But then again, that could also just insight some other sort of retaliation." he said as he thought about it for a moment.

"If you'd like I can keep an ear to the ground, let you know incase your revenge is coming." he said with a smirk. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why he was being so kind to her, why he hadn't just joined in the fun of picking on her like the others. Perhaps he was simply just too reserved, maybe part of him cared for others yet, or he simply just didn't have the right motive for doing so. "Was the hexed person a man or woman? I'm sure you know feminine revenge is often worse.."

[ara]

Ara smirked slightly at his mentioning the scale. The way he straightened his robes was strange... what was running through his head as he did that? Maybe she was making him nervous or something. She really hoped not.

"Yes, there is a scale. One that I invented and only my friends and I use. You're free to make a Ravenclaw scale if you wish." Ara wasn't sure what it was exactly that she liked about him. Maybe the fact that he wasn't immediately insulting her, but there was something more to him that she couldn't exactly put her finger on.

Of course, he had that Slytherin sort of appearance, but his actions definitely didn't match very well. By looking at that smirk you'd surely put him pretty high on the Slytherin Scale, but then when you start talking to him you realize that that smirk is probably just to fit in his the other Slytherins. She thought of this until he started talking again.

He looked at him curiously then for a moment. He couldn't possibly be serious... could he? He would keep an eye out for the jerks who bullied her? This time she couldn't stop the surprise on her face. But he seemed serious enough. She hesitated a moment before replying. Could she really trust this guy? He was Slytherin after all, but he'd proven today that that didn't have any affect on his trustworthiness. "You're... serious?"