The Strain of Two Completely Different Worlds.

Dear Rafael,
Everything is...alright I suppose. As much as they’ve threatened I don’t think social services will do anything – not now Jaret is back in school. The headmaster decided that permanent suspension was too harsh so he let him back on the basis that if he’s caught breaking school rules one more time then that’ll be it. I managed to convince mum to come home and look as if she lives here so when social services came round they wouldn’t put us all into care. Raina and Nicolai helped me clean so it wasn’t the bombshell it had been. They really miss you, you know. I miss you. It’ll be Christmas soon though so you’ll come home, right? I got a few more shifts at Markies so I’ll be working over-time for the next couple of months. Mrs. Houseman doesn’t seem to mind looking after Raina but she won’t let Nicolai in the house. Last time she did he broke her lamp apparently so to be honest I don’t blame her. Thank God she hasn’t asked us to pay for it, eh? Listen, I’ve got to get dinner on. Nicolai is bringing a friend home and Jaret forgot his lunch money this morning so he’s starving and complaining loudly about it. This bird also looks bored of waiting. Write back soon, yeah? I miss you. – Mynah.

The owlery floor was covered in a thin layer of straw that did nothing to alleviate the pain in Rafael’s backside. The floor was cold, hard and he’d been sitting there for too long. He’d come down to the owlery that morning with the hope of finding a letter in the beak of the owl he’d sent off the day before. He was overjoyed to find that there was one and he did all he could to stop himself from picking up the owl and hugging it until it flapped its wings and scratched at him with his talons in an effort to make him let go. He instead ruffled her feathers and gave her a treat.

The cup of tea that Rafael had brought with him was now cold and the mug had been dirtied by the less than sanitary conditions on the floor. But still Rafael did not move, preferring to read and re-read the letter that his sister had sent. He knew that he’d have to write back but he was running out of parchment. He didn’t have the heart to rip paper from his journal but the leather book had pages he could use. It sat in his lap now, waiting patiently for him to pick it up and scribble a few words down inside. He was worried and he was infinitely glad it was there to make him feel... less alone.

Rafael put the letter down by his side and opened up his journal. He clicked the pen and scribbled down a few words he thought captured the situation at home:

They need me.

He dated the page and closed the book with a sigh. What was he going to do?

Going to the Owlery wasn't a usual thing for Sammy to do, but she had to send off a letter to Sophia. It was about Ne'Os again, so it was an important letter. Unfortunately when she got there, a guy was sitting on the floor of the Owlery. He looked upset, but all that Sammy could think of was how awful that floor must feel. Today Sammy was wearing her Hufflepuff robes with some black sneakers. She had the letter in her left hand and a note pad in her right hand. Sammy walked to an owl, then sent it off, she watched it for a second before turning around.

"Um...don't you think that this floor is abit hard to be sitting on? You must really be unhappy to be sitting here." Sammy said, clutching the note pad in her right hand and walking closer to the guy.

Sammy was unsure if the guy would take her words unhappily or just not talk at all. Either way she would try and be as nice as she could be. Lately it was like she had been slowly turning evil. Everything that people would say or do would get her angry, and it wasn't even that time of the month for her yet. So she just stood there, grinding her teeth, and waiting for the silly boy to answer her.

There was a misplacement of colour in the Owlery. The Tower was akin to the one in London, the one where many people died at the hands of the axe man. But it wasn’t as eerie as the Tower of London. At least in the Owlery there were no ghosts, no weary eyes watching you as you walked past the cells that once housed their bodies. In the Owlery you could be at peace. But the peacefulness was broken by your own mind and in this case, Rafael’s mind.

The Gryffindor heard an owl hoot above him and he sighed. He reached down and picked the letter up; folding it back up into the rectangle it had been delivered in. He slid it into his book and closed his eyes, letting his head tip back against the cold stone wall. He sighed quietly and drew his legs up to his chest. The book fell against his abdomen and he let his eyes drift up to the upper levels of the tower.

Rafael heard the hinges squeal and he looked down towards the door to see a young blonde wearing Hufflepuff Robes walk in. He liked Hufflepuffs, they were nice, and they weren’t nearly as boisterous as Gryffindor’s or Slytherin’s. They were like Ravenclaw’s in that respect. When she spoke to him Rafael was a little stunned. He felt his cheeks flush with blood and he looked about himself, realising that he was on the floor. He’d recognised the fact that it was cold and his bum hurt but his mind had been elsewhere so he’d put it out of his mind.

“Oh...” was all Rafael got out at that moment in time, “Y-yes,” He stuttered, his shyness appearing in his words, “Yes...I suppose it is... I mean... I-I am... I...” He felt his cheeks flush again and he raised his hand in greeting, “Hi,” he said with a small shy smile.

Sammy couldn't help but smile at his shyness. She also felt like she needed to help him. He looked unhappy and Sammy liked to help people. "Listen, I can tell that you atleast need someone to talk to. So if you like I would be willing to listen if you would like." Sammy said crossing her arms with her note pad in between her arms. She could tell that whatever it was that he was stressing over, he wanted to talk to someone about it, he just didn't know who. "I'm a good listener, or atleast my friends tell me I am. I am good at keeping secrets, and I love helping people. But I will more than understand if you would rather be left alone." Sammy said, subsiding the feeling to tell him that he was a weak little nothing that needed to die. Something was wrong with Sammy and she knew it wasn't her Evil side, she had already delt with that.

The hurt from the floor was spreading through Rafael’s lower back now and he didn’t want to get stiffer than he already was. He placed the journal on the floor and got to his feet. Rafael stretched, feeling his joints pop. He reached down and picked his journal up off of the floor as the girl began to speak. Rafael placed the book in the pocket of his trousers and bit his lip, wondering whether he should speak to her about his predicament or not. He’d spoken to Sophia but that had stabbed him in the back. He couldn’t help but feel slightly deserted by her even if that mightn’t have been the case. But Hogwarts was a lonely place this year. “Um...I’d just...rather not talk about it I guess,” Rafael said awkwardly, his words coming out awkwardly, “I...What brings you to the owlery?”

Sammy sighed at his uncomfortableness. All she wanted was to help him, but he must not want it. So she sighed and turned towards the door, but not to leave. "Um...I came here to send a letter to someone who use to be a friend, I'm trying to get her to understand my feelings about someone. But that is all I can really say about it." Sammy said turning back to face him. She could only hope that he wouldn't ask to many details about it, or she would get into trouble. She decided to change the subject quickly. She opened her hufflepuff robes and grabed her wallet out of her inside pocket. "Would you like to see some pictures of my kids?" She asked him opening the wallet and watching the inside pictures unravel and hit the floor. She sure had alot of them.

The Owlery was beginning to let the chills from outside in through the alcoves where the Owls sat. Rafael rubbed his forearm, trying to circulate some heat through it. He’d chosen a well-fitting pale blue sweatshirt to wear and he’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbow. The dark jeans which were raggedy at best weren’t helping him stay warm either but he’d dealt with worse colds than this. This was just breeze compared to some of the winters they’d had at home without enough money for the heating bill. Rafael nodded when the girl spoke about her letter and left it at that. When she took her wallet out, Rafael’s eyebrow rose slightly in question and he stepped forward when the pictures tumbled out yet still managing to stay connected to the wallet. He kept pictures of his younger siblings in his wallet because not only did he miss them but he really did think himself the parent sometimes. But the few pictures he had paled in comparison to these.

Rafael stepped forward and bent down to pick up the dangling end. He looked at the children and couldn’t help but smile at their smiling faces. Innocence was such a beautiful thing. Raina still had that innocence but only just. It was beginning to dissipate now. She was getting too old. She was beginning to understand their situation and when she did she’d get angry like Jaret and like Nicolai was becoming if the smashed windows were any indication. Rafael didn’t want that to happen, ever. He had promised her that he wouldn’t although he hadn’t exactly told her that. “They’re beautiful,” Rafael complimented, looking at the girl. “There is a lot of you in them. Don’t take this the wrong way but ... aren’t you a little bit young to have children?”

Sammy couldn't help but smile either when he said that they where beautiful. They sure where beautiful. But his question about her being young to be a mother wasn't a surprise. Alot of people asked that when they found out about the kids. "Yes I am young to have kids, but that isn't even the odd part. The most oddest part of it all is that I am a vampire. If you didn't already know, vampires arn't suppose to be able to have kids. I have gone to doctor after doctor to find out why it is that I can have kids but they don't ever figure anything out." Sammy said sighing after she finished talking. The images of Ne'Os and her kids having fun started rushing thru her mind. She really wanted that life back.

Sophia is a vampire. Rafael thought when the girl mentioned her race. Rafael didn’t know a great deal about vampires but he knew the basics. He knew, however, that they could reproduce without a hitch, as long as it was with a mortal. Although...if he was a vampire that would be ... odd. Rafael stopped himself from telling her that he did know. He was a seventh year. He admittedly didn’t know much, or he couldn’t recall much, but he’d studied them in Defence Against the Dark Arts. He knew what they could and couldn’t do. “That’s not so unusual...” Rafael said thoughtfully. “Vampires are becoming accepted members of society now. Segregation isn’t as common...they’re accepted. Sort of.” Rafael knew there was still a lot of prejudice. The Herbology Professors for example, they weren’t fond of werewolves or vampires for their own reasons. “There’s nothing really...bad about vampire reproduction it’s just...tricky I guess.”