Letters and Secrets

Chloe fought back a shiver as she stepped into the owlery, hugging her school robes tighter to stop the cold from seizing her so badly. She glanced up towards the assortment of owl species, most of them were huddled against the icy weather. It took awhile for her to spot the one she was looking for, a beautiful barn owl with his head tucked under his wing. She wondered if perhaps she should use one of the school owls instead, turning to look at them. She had just managed to coax one down before she heard a soft screech from right behind her, was Tawny who had woken up and was clapping his beak expectedly. "Oh, Im sorry I thought you were asleep" Chloe giggled and dug into her pocket pulling out a couple of owl treats which he ate happily before nibbling her fingers affectionately. "Are you up for a job?" She asked pulling out a letter, he clicked his beak a few more times before taking the letter "its for my dad in St. Mungos.. give it to his nurse, there's a note in there for her okay?" Tawny took off out the window, Chloe stood there watching as he disappeared into the sky.

It was so damn cold outside, even for a vampire who was always always cold no matter what. Seriously it was freaking ridiculous, he wondered how these students who were warmblooded could handle his weather so well. It was okay for him because he was always cold, he had to get used to it, so this weather was fine. Of course he always felt like this cold and icy. But when others whined about it being so cold, he couldn't do anything besides listen to what they say. It was really hard not to tell them that it wasn't that cold and that they should just deal with it.

The further up the castle he went, the colder it got and he it began to make his injuries sting. His left arm was pulsing badly from the three large gashes on it from the werewolf scratching him a few nights ago. His side stung as his shirt began to stick to the deep cut there. He was grateful that he was wearing a long sleeve shirt to cover up his arm and he was somewhat grateful of the bandage that was covering his side too but it didn't help that it was sticking to him as well. He was making his way up to the Owlery, not really because he had something to send, but more because he was going to pay a visit to his owl. He really cared for his pets and didn't like to leave them alone to much. So he came to visit his owl pretty often.

As he entered the Owlery, he noticed there was a girl there who probably had just went her owl somewhere with a letter. He looked at her for a moment, trying to put a name of hr face. He knew her she was in Hufflepuff like he was, although she wasn't in his year. She was a fifth year, he believed. He looked away from her quickly and turned to face the owls. Ryo couldn't make out his owl within all the others so he decided to call it with the whistle he had taught it as a call command. A high-pitched and short whistle. His owl flapped her wings and flew up to him. "Hey, girl." he said softly, petting her gently.

Chloe seemed completely lost within her own world as she stared out of the window, she wasn't even paying attention to how much she was shivering. It was as if her mind wasn't connected to her body, but far far away, perhaps it had gone with the owl she had just sent.. or maybe someplace else entirely, either way she hadn't even noticed that somebody else had come in. Lucky for her this person didn't mean any harm to her, or maybe he just hadn't noticed her yet, it wasn't until he spoke that she was pulled out of her daze. It took a moment for her to remember what she had been doing, but she turned back towards the Hufflepuff boy. She recognized him from the common room, though the two had never spoken before, she offered him a friendly smile trying to act as if she weren't uncomfortable with the horrid weather. "H.. hello" she managed through chattering teeth, she laughed at her epic failure of pulling off the comfortable act "s.. sorry" she chattered, hugging herself "itttssss cold up here" she rolled her eyes, embarassed by her obvious weakness. "I'm Chloe.. I think we're in the same house.. right?" she asked, trying very difficult to keep all shivering to a minimum.

She was managing okay as long as she smiled, and kept her teeth clamped down tightly enough they didn't move. She only just noticed that he didn't seem to be shivering in the slightest and she wondered if it was a guy thing perhaps. She glanced towards the owl he had been speaking to, "sending a letter?" she asked, realizing only too late that it was his business "oh.. sorry I didn't mean to pry" she said a blush coming to her cheeks.

The female owl perched herself on his injured arm and he winced at the pain, causing him to make a sort of pained grunting sound. The owl seemed to feel his discomfort and she lifted herself off of his arm. "Sorry Izu. I probably should'be given you my other arm in the firat place." he told the white owl and she merely made a sort of purring and screeching sound. He showed her his other arm and Izu happily set herself down it. Izu had been with Ryo since a couple years back when he found her outside his house with an injured wing. She couldn't fly or anything and he felt bad about no one wanting to help her so he decided to being her into his house.

It took her a few months to get back to her normal condition and when he was going to set her free, she refused to leave his side when he took her to the Forest where he assumed she had come from and he decided to keep her. Thinking of a name for her was hard because she seemed to be very picky about the name she wanted. But as soon as he mentioned Izusu she loved it, so that's why he called her Izu, it's just short for Izusu.

Suddenly he heard the girl that was also there begin to talk and he turned to her. Her attempt at trying to look like she wasn't cold amused Ryo and he simply smiled at her trying not to reveal his fangs. "Hey. Cold up here isn't it?" he asked her somewhat jokingly. It seemed that Izu didn't like the fact that he was talking to her and she began to ruffle her feathers, making a low gargling noise at her. "Whoa, Izu be nice. It's not like she's gonna harm you." he told the owl, gently petting her head with his injured arm, trying his best not to wince at the pain he felt at the movements he made with his left arm.

Chloe nodded with a slight smile at his mention of it being cold. "Yeah, I've never really liked cold weather too much" she said with a shrug. She turned her attention to the owl who was fluttering and beginning to look disgruntled from her owners attentions being pulled away "oh.. she's beautiful.." Chloe had never before come into contact with an animal that didn't like her, so it was slightly surreal but she understood at the same time "I'm sorry Izu.." she commented with another smile as she clasped her hands behind her back to show that she had no intentions of attempting to touch or harm either of them in any way.

She glanced back out the window, the sky was starting to darken. "It's getting late.." she commented before turning her icy gaze back on him with another smile "I should probably head to the common room.." she would have suggested he come with her, but that seemed kind of precosious, besides.. he had come up here to visit his owl, she felt a little like she was intruding on that.

The boy shrugged slightly at her comment of not liking the cold that much. "Eh... I don't mind it that much." he said. "I mean it's not like I feel anything else." he muttered softly to himself. He chuckled slightly at his comment and shook his head. He looked at her as she commented on Izu. "Yeah, she is. And would you believe that I found her injured outside my house about two years ago?" he asked Chloe. Izu didn't seem to like the fact that Ryo was telling that to a complete stranger(to her) and she pecked at his injured arm that was still petting her. He immediately winced at the peck because it landed right where the claw mark was and it opened the wound again. "Damn it Izu." he muttered softly, hoping the girl wouldn't notice the fact that he was bleeding when the blood stained the long sleeve shirt.

It also seemed that Izu didn't like the girl mentioning her name, and she made a loud screeching noise aimed at the girl. The screech seemed to affect some of the other owls in there and they began to flap their wings in surprise, causing many feathers to fall everywhere. The white owl flew off from Ryo's arm and she began to fly around in circles, showing her discomfort at the fact there was a girl with her owner. "Izu, calm down!" Ryo ordered her in a stern tone, and the owl immediately flew down onto a perch near her. "Good girl. Now stay there." he said in a softer tone. Izu ruffled her wings and glared at Chloe. "Sorry I don't know what got into her." he apologized to her.

Ryo glanced outside when she said it was getting dark, and he sighed. "Yeah, you're right." she mentioned that she should get back to the common room and he smiled slightly at her, still trying to cover up his fangs, and glanced up at Izu. "I'll go with you. I doubt Izu wants me to be around her right now, after I spoke to her in the tone." he said, noticing that the owl didn't even want to look at him. "Besides, right now I'm pretty sure it's past curfew and the Prefects are out there looking for student that aren't in their common rooms right now." he sighed.

Chloe rolled her eyes in a playful tone at his mention of not being cold "well that makes one of us" she noticed the bird next to him getting more and more annoyed and fidgety as he spoke to her, it was one of the reasons that she was willing to leave so quickly, besides the encroching darkness. She watched as the bird pecked at her owner, she couldn't believe how jealous the creature was getting, her own owl would have never acted so rude in front of company, she kept all of this to herself, however, trying to show the fitting owl as much respect as she could in the limited time they had met. She watched as the other owls were started to get wrestless around them and winced as Izo took off, worried that she might be attacked. She moved closer to the door within that moment, watching as he moved with her.

Once they were out of the owlery and she was no longer in danger of having her eyes gouged out, she returned to her normal friendly self. "I think we'll be okay, there are still a few stragglers heading to their common rooms" she observed as a group of 3rd year gryffindors were rushing to their portraits to get there in time. She glanced back to him "Believe it or not I'm actually really good with animals" she said with a smile.. "Care of Magical Creatures is one of my favorite classes" she continued, it was only now that she realized that his arm was being stained a slightly darker color, she paused "a.. are you okay?" she asked, now focussing on his arm.. "did she bite you that hard?" she asked in complete disbelief.

Even after they left the Owlery, he stared back toward the door, wondering what had gotten into Izu at that moment. She had never acted like that before and he wondered if it was just something that had to do with this girl. Izu was actually a very gentle owl, who usually didn't mind anyone being near him. Maybe it was just the fact that she was human that upset Izu? Usually any girl that was around him was either a vampire or a werewolf. Those people were Sayuri, his sister, and Rise, the girl who he beloved he loves, Izu is very comfortable around the two of them, so he assumed that she would have been the same with any girl, regardless if race. He began to wonder if Izu was protecting her in some way, trying to keep her from finding out that Ryo was a vampire, so that she didn't freak out about it. He could understand that, but then if that had been it, why had she pecked him when he told her about how he found her?

As she mentioned that there were still some students that were heading toward their common rooms, he looked down at the group of young Gryffindors that were hurrying to their common room. He smiled slightly at the fact that they were third years because it reminded him of his third year Gryffindor friend, Hitame. He hadn't seen the little girl in a while, and began to wonder how she was doing. But Chloe's sudden words brought him back and he saw her staring at his arm. He looked down at it as well and he swore under his breath. The blood had stained his shirt faster than he had expected and he hid his arm behind his back quickly. "Don't worry about it. She just re-opened a wound I had." he told her. "W... we should head to the common room now." he said, trying to change the subject.

Chloe looked doubtfully "are you sure? We won't get in trouble if I'm taking you to the hospital wing, that looks pretty bad" she commented again, her empathetic nature shining through as she tried to get a better look at his arm, which was difficult because he kept it away from her. She chewed on her lip, her eyes full of worry over his bleeding limb. He said that it was an old wound that she had pecked open "you know the nurse can fix it right?" she was okay at healing spells, but she never attempted anything unless she was overly confident that should could fix it without making things worst.

She had always had an interest in medicine and taking care of other people, but after the attack on her parents over the summer that slight interest had turned into a needed passion. She figured if maybe she knew more then she would have been able to save them, she would have been able to help. Chloe hadn't realized how dangerously close her memory had drifted to that horrible night, she actually flinched away as if avoiding getting hit by something and shuddered. She had been balled her hands into tight fists without realizing it and her nails were digging into her flesh causing her to bleed. She turned back to him, blushing horribly at the quite sudden reaction to seemingly nothing, most of the students didn't know about her parents and she preffered to keep it that way. The only person she had told was Hanna, her Ravenclaw best friend. She smiled slightly "s.. sorry, uh.. it's the uh.. blood" she said thinking up something on the spot, when in honesty the sight of blood didn't bother her in the slightest.

The boy bit the inside of his lip hard when she suggested going to the hospital wing. "No. No, it's fine. I don't need to go to the hospital wing." he said, laughing awkwardly and smiling. He forgot that he was trying to hide his fangs from her and when he smiled they became exposed. It was only for a few seconds before he cleared his throat. "Uh... yeah I know she can." he said. "But I wouldn't be able to explain how I got the wounds." he thought out loud somewhat softly. He would get in trouble if the nurse asked him what happened and he told her the truth. It's not like it was any normal injury anyways, it was claw marks made by a werewolf, how was he supposed to explain that he was in the Forbidden Forest and was attacked by a werewolf? He would surely get punished severely for even going into the forest, when it was off limits. Not to mention he would end up getting Evalyn in trouble, because she had been in there with him during the time of the attack. He couldn't allow her to get in trouble too.

He brought his arm from behind his back and looked down at it, noticing that the blood was spreading out fast and that most of his sleeve was covered in his blood. He muttered something under his breath, feeling his eyes turn a shade of red at the anger he felt right now and he began to think of what he could do to stop the bleeding before it got worse. He didn't want to lift his sleeve there because he would risk her seeing the large gashes going sideways on his arm. He moved his arm back behind him and that was when he noticed her flinch away from nothing. Ryo stared at her with his red-ish colored eyes and tilted his head slightly wondering what was causing her to flinch. He heard her say it was the blood, and he looked at her skeptically. If it had been the blood she would have flinched right at the moment when she saw it, but she hadn't. Whatever, he wasn't going to question it and he nodded at her. "Mm... okay. Well we should head to the common room quick. There's no need for me to go to the hospital wing for this." he said softly.