Hello, how are you...

[Aylen Hawkins]

Dear Mom, Dad and siblings,
I'm sorry I didn't write sooner. Guess what? Aidana and I got sorted into Gryffindor! I know we were all expecting Ravenclaw, but I think Gryffindor was best for us. I mean, we were more likely to rush than to think things through. I don't think would have done as well in Ravenclaw.
Aidana and I are doing fine. Our grades aren't too bad and everything is great. There was a bit where Aidana had to go to the hospital wing, but everything's fine, now. We're making a lot of new friends.

Aylen signed the letter and sighed. What a lie that was. Something was wrong with the school, and he had no idea what to do about it.

[Astra]

(OCC: Heh heh, kinda have no idea what I'm doing. If this thread was meant for a specific someone else to respond to, or was continuing some other thread, just let me know and I'll delete)
Amaia ran in, holding a piece of parchment and tears streaming down her face. So blinded by tears, she ran straight into Aylen, not even realizing for a few seconds that what she had run into was alive. When she finally did, she wiped away her tears, composing herself so quickly and completely it was difficult to believe that she had been anything other than perfectly happy a few moments before. Well, now that I've been sufficiently embarrased, what else could go wrong?.... she thought. An apology was attempted. "I'm so sorry, " She began, her voice clear and unshaking, and decided it was best not to try explaining. Walking over to an owl, she pulled out some paper and scribbled something sloppily onto it, then decided not to send it. The next thing the piece of parchment she had been carrying knew, it was on the floor in several scraggly pieces, and Amaia was staring at a wall, wishing very much to blow something very large up.

[Aylen Hawkins]

(ooc: It's okay. Nothing specific is happening. I was just sending a letter.)

Now he had written the letter, it was time to send it. Just when he was about to whistle for his messenger hawk, someone bowled him over. "Ouch..." he muttered.
It happened to be a girl that ran into him and her expression changed so quickly it gave Aylen whiplash. "I'm so sorry..."
Aylen only stared. "Uhhh." The girl scribbled on a piece of parchment, but it was soon on the floor in several pieces. The wind played with them for a bit, tired of them, and picked them up out the open window. "Can I help you?" he asked hesitantly.

[Astra]

Amaia looked up at him. He was familiar, she thought, trying to clear her head. Aylen. He was Aylen. The one from the common room. "No." She responded flatly and irritably to his question.

She sat down and pulled out several more sheets of parchment paper, one of which was already written on, some more ink, and began to write once more, this time in far more ledgible handwriting. Several times she consulted the one with writing on it, turning it upside down and every which way as if that would help her in some way. Several times she wrote something and scratched it out, then tore the new paper up and began again.

"Do you ever think...." she began, looking up at Aylen, "that there is something very wrong... happening..." she finished lamely. Her quill was dripping large splotches of ink onto the blank parchment. "It's... there, here.... the world. Are bad things happening in this school, Aylen? I've only been here a couple of days, I haven't seen anything, but I haven't been here long enough..." she trailed off.

She suddenly realized that she had crumpled the parchment with writing on it into a wrinkly little ball. Uncrumpling it, she looked hopefully at Aylen. "Does this... make any sense to you? It's from my mom..." she asked handing him the parchment.

It seemed little more than gibberish. The first sentence read "you're brother is dead", and this was apparently the happiest, clearest sentence in the entire message. The rest went on to document about 12 other deaths, then degenrated into warnings about shadows, to be afraid of shadows, run when there is silence. The world had gone wrong, there was danger in the school. All of this was punctuated frequently by random words and letters. It finished up by requesting a response, a position, and a warning to be careful because something or other was watching.

[Aylen Hawkins]

Aylen's eyes widened with every sentence he made out. It didn't make much sense, but everything seemed to fit. "Shadows," he muttered. "Forest...Danawi..." He looked up at Astra. "Something evil is trying to destroy the school from inside out. It's turning everyone against each other. Even my sister...she's not the same." He looked over the letter again. "Your brother, what does he do?" Aylen trailed off.

[Astra]

"My borther doesn't do anything, he is...er... was only five years old. The real question is, what did my father do...? Strange things didn't happen to my family until he disappeared around a year ago. After that, my sister, Kali, she--I'm sorry." Amaia interrupted herself, feeling stupid, embarrassed, and very unlike herself. "You don't need my problems. I'm sorry, I'll go." Tucking one of her red curls behind her ear, she began to pick up her things and stuff them back in her bag.

[Aylen Hawkins]

"Oh, no. It's alright. We all need to let it out, sometimes. So, if you need to, you know. I'll listen." He shrugged. "I have my twin sis here, so if I need to, I can always unload on her."

[Astra]

"No. It's really not alright. It's not important."she turned to leave, deciding it was better to go now than to explode from embarassment. At the last moment however, she turned back. "When you say shadows," she started hesitantly, "what exactly is it you mean? You can't mean literal ones...."

[Aylen Hawkins]

Aylen frowned. "If only they were literal shadows. Nevermind, I wouldn't be able to explain it right anyway. You should just know to watch yourself, alright? I don't know who to trust anymore."

[Astra]

Amaia shrugged indifferently at Aylen's suggestion, disappointed at not learning any more. She hated not knowing. It made her feel helpless. "Don't worry, I have been watching and will continue to."she replied. "Anyway, I now have a terrible need to go do something mindless. Very mindless, since I no longer have a broomstick. Like wander around and see just how far off from my destination I can get without trying, or drown myself in ice cream." She turned away and began to head out.

[Aylen Hawkins]

"You like flying?" Aylen asked. "You could always borrow a school broom, you know." Aylen sighed and grinned. "You know, I think we could both use a break. Do you want to meet me at Hogsmeade and wander?"

[Astra]

Amaia smiled-- a warm, genuine smile that had always been among her best physical traits. It had never occured to her that she could use a school broom, and Mom would never know the difference. Flying was one of the things that she lived for: the speed, the wind, the freedom. The thought of being able to again was like finding 1000 galleons on the street with her name on them.

Aylen mentioned Hogsmeade, and she smiled brighter. She had never been to Hogsmeade, in fact never even heard of it. But it sounded good, and that, at the moment, was the important part. Amaia nodded in reply, adding "I'd love to!" to emphasize the motion.

[Aylen Hawkins]

(ooc: Continued in Visiting Hogsmeade.)