Keeping up with the relatives // Francis&Isabelle

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis didn't really like sending owls. He'd much rather just give his parents a phone call, but he'd discovered quite soon after arriving at Hogwarts over six years ago that electrical items just didn't work inside the castle grounds, no matter how much he tinkered with them. After years of not hearing from her son while he was at school, Francis' mother had told him she'd had enough, bought him and owl and ordered him to write to her now and then. Still, the barn owl, Crispy, had formed a place in Francis' heart, and he didn't mind coming up to the owlery so much any more.

Looking down at the owl, Francis gave his head a quick stroke before holding him out towards one of the windows. "You know where to go," he said as Crispy turned his head towards his master, blinking his large amber eyes once before stretching his wings out an taking off from Francis' hand.

Francis watched him go for a moment or two before turning back to the door, ready to make his way back down through the castle to the Hufflepuff common room.

[Isabelle Sinclair]

*enters the Owlery, sighing*

*has been quite bored with studying and decided to send a letter home asking for magazines and other distractions*

*is already looking into the Owlery to find the nicest looking owl while wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck to block the chill*

*doesn't see the other boy coming out and bumps into him*

Oh, sorry... I didn't see you there.

[Aurora Brightmore]

*Rose rushed up the stairs, carrying a few heavy packages. Not paying attention she drops one of the packages and bends to pick it up loosing her footing ans falling up the stairs.*

Bugger...Wish she could have waited for this blasted thing til CHristmas but NO...she had to have it today.

*Continueing up the stairs she entered the owlery, slipping on the wet straw and falling with her packages flying into the air. She looked up to see two people standing there and her cheeks grew red, her bangs growing to cover her eyes.*

This...is just not my day.

[Isabelle Sinclair]

*turns her attention to the girl who has just come up the stairs*

*watches packages fly everywhere*

It seems that we're all bumping into each other.

*picks up one of the packages and hands it back to the girl*

*bites her lip, shyly*

I don't think we've met?

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis saw the other girl coming and stepped aside, but somehow she still managed to walk into him. What was it with people in this place? Rolling his eyes, Francis scowled at the girl and brushed past her, only to be hit in the face by a parcel as another girl went flying. "What the...?" Francis cried, grabbing the parcel before it hit the floor. "Seriously, it's not that hard to look where you're going!" he growled, looking between the two girls.

Still, he wasn't a complete git, so sighing, he reluctantly held a hand out to help up the girl that had fallen over. "Are you alright?"

[Aurora Brightmore]

*Rose stands up, brushing herself off. She takes a deep breath and takes the package back with a smile.*

I didn't mean to interupt anything if I had. My mother's been yelling for days for me to send her presents.

*Her bangs shorten again, her blue/gray eyes shinning bright.*

No, I don't believe we've met. Aurora Brightmore, though everyone calls me Rose. Ravenclaw seventh year. And you are?

[Isabelle Sinclair]

*smiles at the girl, she remembers her now*

My name is Isabelle Sinclair. Sixth year Ravenclaw. I'm sure I've seen you in the common room.

*turns to the boy*

Not interrupting anything that I'm aware of.

*smiles kindly*

Who are you? Haven't I seen you on the grounds with muggle contraptions?

[Francis Eric Thorne]

"Oh no, you didn't interrupt anything. I was just trying to leave actually." He would have left already if Aurora (or "Rose") wasn't standing in the doorway. Girls were always so mindless of everyone else.

Crossing his large muscled arms over his chest, Francis shot the girls an irritated look. "Yeah yeah, and I'm the bad tempered, bad mannered Hufflepuff seventh year who'd really like to get out of here so I can stop freezing my bum off up here, alright?" He looked pointedly at Aurora, blocking his way out, and coughed suggestively.

Hearing the first girl talk, Francis looked at her icily. "Yeah, you might have. I hope that doesn't bother you..." He let his voice trail off a little menacingly. Anyone who knew him at all knew it was stupid to even suggest that muggles were inferior when Francis was around. There was nothing that got him angry quicker.

[Isabelle Sinclair]

*looks gratefully at Aurora for blocking the door, this was more excitement than she had seen in weeks*

*frowns a bit as the boy goes on a rant*

*cheers up as she hears the questioning tone in his voice*

Actually, some of those things seem rather frightening. So complicated. So many pieces. I rather wondered what you interest could be in them. My parents aren't really mechanics so I've never seen the insides of most things.

[Aurora Brightmore]

You don't have to be so rude. You could have just asked me to move, simple as that.

*catching his eye Rose stepped out of the way. She pushed past him and whistled sweetly. A white snowy owl with black specks flew down and perched on her arm. She tied the packages to his leg and watched as he flew away. Another whistle brought a rather large brown barn owl down. She tied a specially wrapped package to his leg.*

Petey..take this to Chris...

*She turned around and leaned against the wall looking at the two.*

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis raised an eyebrow as the girl - Isabelle - talked about his contraptions. No one had ever called them scary before. "I just like... fixing thing," he said with a shrug. It was the only damn thing he was good. "Doesn't do much good though. Things won't work in this bloody place," he grumbled. He loved going home so he could actually feel like he was part of the twentieth century. If any of his friends from home could see how he lived here, they'd think he was living in the dark ages.

Francis glanced at the other girl as she sorted out her packages. He didn't actually mean to be rude, but he was so used to it, it was hard to get out of the habit. "I'm... you know... didn't meen to be short with you," he mumbled, looking down at his feet as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his school trousers. He hated the uniform here, especially the robes, but he'd got into trouble enough over the past six years to know not to flout the uniform rules too much.

[Aurora Brightmore]

*Rose sighed. She hadn't ment to be snippy.*

Don't...worry about it. I should be used to it by now. The younger generations these days seem to be getting much more rude. But as the elders we must trudge past it.

*She runs a hand through her hair, watching as the pieces of black fall infront of her face as white as the snow she knew was coming.*

Well, at least my mother wont be showing up in the fire tonight.

[Isabelle Sinclair]

*picks out an owl, an nice brown one with white spots, large wings*

*gives him her letter and whispers her parents' names to the owl before letting him go out the window*

*turns gracefully around to face the other two students again*

Doesn't seem to be much point in trying to fix something that you know won't work. Besides, we don't really need those machines, do we?

*holds out her wand*

This is a lot more reliable, even away from Hogwarts.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Immediately, on hearing Isabelle's response, Francis iced up again. "Yeah, well that just shows how narrow minded you are," he said coldly, the glare returning. The people here thought magic was everything and just dismissed everything else. True, Francis could see the benefits of magic, like accioing things when you couldn't be bothered to get up, but there was no subsititute for actually getting stuck in and doing something properly. There was so much satisfaction in taking something apart, understanding how it worked then putting it back together - even making it better than it was before.

[Aurora Brightmore]

*Rose lowered her head.*

Just because we have wands, doesn't mean muggle contraptions aren't useful. I mean, they make some pretty nifty things. Have you ever gone walking around muggle London?

*She pulls her cloak tight around her, playing with the ends of her hair.*