A touch of home

Amber felt a little guilty, compared to Ainsley it was like she was heartless. Her parents had crossed her mind occasionally, but she had mostly been too busy with everything new that was happening around her to really miss them. The letter in her hand suddenly didn't feel like enough, but she honestly didn't know what else to write.

"I understand... and I bet she misses you too, but now you can send her lots of letters and tell her about the magical things you're learning and seeing and I bet she really likes that!" She said, still trying to make Ainsley feel better.
 
Ainsley smiled a little shakily, heart swelling at Amber's reassuring words. "I've.. never been away from her..." She said quietly after a long moment, still smiling sadly. "I don't... want to seem like a crybaby. But I never went to school, I've never not had her with me, even for a day, I've never been away from home this long already, and it's... so long until we get to go back..." Ainsley trailed off, realising she didn't know where she was actually going, or why she was telling Amber this.
 
Everything about Ainsley suddenly made more sense to Amber. If the poor girl had never been away from her mother for even a day, it was no wonder that she was so upset and nervous in an unfamiliar place without her.

"That must be really hard, but I'm sure she'll write back soon and that way you can still talk! And... here at school there's so much going on that I bet time will fly without you even noticing and then it'll be christmas break before you know it."
 
Ainsley couldn't quite believe Amber, but the thought was nice, so she clung to it. "I... mmm, yeah, the holidays will... happen." She said slowly, staring off into nothing. "I just... I keep... needing to ask her things, important things, and she's not... here..." Ainsley's free hand bunched in the fabric of her skirt, trying to keep herself calm, and a weak, low keening noise escaped Ainsley, her thoughts slipping back to home, longing to be there again, where things were comfortable, and normal, and made sense.

But... she wasn't there. And Ainsley's mothers words came back to her, when she had reminded Ainsley of how important it was that she learn to pay attention to other people, and take an interest in their lives. Ainsley was so used to whole conversations involving noone but herself and her imagination, it was hard to consider how to approach conversation with other people, but mum had said it was important for making friends, and Ainsley had promised to try. So she returned to engaging with Amber, looking directly at her for only the second or third time since they had met. "What is your home like? What about your parents? Where do you live? Did you go to a school before this? I only talked about myself. I'm sorry."
 
Amber faltered, not sure what to do. "You could ask me things you would normally ask her, but I don't really know that much." She admitted.

When Ainsley asked her a bunch of questions, she felt slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't that she didn't want to talk about her life, but they came at her so suddenly that she didn't really know what to answer first. "Um, well... " She looked down at the envelope she still had in her hand. "We live in Pleasant Point, which is kind of small and there's not many people my age but my grandparents live there and my aunt. She's my dad's sister and she taught us things, but not magical things cause she's a muggle, and she looked after me and my sister when my parents were at work." Amber shrugged. "They're pretty busy."
 
Ainsley shook her head, shifting awkwardly. "I'm... I mean, I ask my mum... how to talk to people, and... she does all that kind of thing for me... I don't... usually talk to anyone else, and there's so many people here, all the time... it's..." Ainsley shook her head, trailing off, unable to figure out how to finish that sentence. She was getting a little frustrated with herself, wishing she could just communicate as easily as mum seemed to.

Ainsley smiled a little hearing about Amber's home, imagining her back there in a tiny town with her family. "Your home sounds so nice..." Ainsley said softly, relaxing a little. "Little towns sound so nice to live in, did you have lots of friends?"
 
Amber wasn't sure how to reply to the first part of what Ainsley was saying. She had never had much trouble talking to others, and found the idea of asking others how to do it strange. It seemed like a hard way to live, and she couldn't help but feel for the girl. "It's okay, if you don't want to talk to anyone you can tell me and I'll try to talk for us both?" She suggested, not sure if it was the right thing to say in the situation.

"And not really, there weren't many other kids my age and because I didn't go to school with them I never really got close to anyone... I would have preferred a city I think." She smiled brightly. "But now that I'm here, I want to try to make lots of friends!"
 
Ainsley's eyes widened and she smiled, grateful for Amber's kindness. With a friend like her, maybe things could finally get easier here. "Really? Oh, thank you, thank you so much, yes, please, I never know what people expect when they have conversations and I feel like I just... keep getting it wrong all the time, and that never happened before, mum always understood me but now I don't know what I'm doing..."

Ainsley smiled warmly, reaching over and taking Amber's hand with her free one, other arm still supporting the owl. "I'll be your friend! And you're so kind and sweet, I bet everyone else will want to be too!" She squeezed Amber's hand encouragingly, hoping this was how it worked when you encouraged a friend.
 
Amber smiled. "I already made one friend," she said, looking down at their hands with a giddy feeling in her stomach, "and what friends do is help each other out! So I'd be happy to help you talk to people as long as you help me with scary animals." She said this with a joking tone though she wasn't joking entirely. "But I do have to say that you're doing great with the talking thing, I never felt like you were getting it wrong at all!"

She looked again at the letter in her hand and at the owl Ainsley was still holding. "Can we post this?" She asked carefully. She didn't want the other girl to think she disliked their conversation, but she would really prefer to get out of the smell of owl droppings sooner rather than later.
 
Ainsley beamed, so happy she felt like she was floating. "Of course! Yes! I'll always always help you with animals!" She smiled warmly, squeezing Amber's hand again. Ainsley's smile faded a little as she thought about talking to people. "I just... I don't know what to do, or how to... do things, other people seem to always just know, but I only... know what I know from books, and from talking to mum, but she always understands me and other people don't, so I just... talk the only way I know how to talk, but people look at me strangely, or... make fun of me, and I don't know what to do about it..."

Ainsley started a little, having forgotten all about what they were doing. "Oh! Yes, of course, here..." She let go of Amber's hand and took her letter, gently attaching it to the owl's leg. "Alright, have a good flight, and please hurry!" She smiled, giving the owl a last gentle pat before it took off, soaring away with Amber's letter.
 
Amber frowned. "If anyone laughs at you or is mean you should tell me, we will then report it to someone, okay? I won't allow it." She said firmly.

She couldn't help but look relieved as the owl left with her letter. "Oh, thank you so much. You're really good with animals, much better than I could ever be I think."
 
Ainsley beamed, grateful to Amber for her support. "Okay... thank you." She smiled warmly, taking Amber's hand and squeezing it again. "And the same to you... If anyone's ever mean to you I'll be on your side, okay?"

Ainsley couldn't help but giggle, ginger hair tossing about slightly as she shook her head. "Don't be silly, you can be great with animals too! They're much easier to be friends with than people, you don't have to talk to them, just be kind and gentle, and they'll always love you..."
 
Amber smiled. It was so nice to have a friend! Ainsley didn't seem like much of a threat to anyone that could possibly be mean to her, but it was still a nice thought. "Thank you." She said softly.

But she couldn't help but silently disagree with Ainsley's stance on animals. The last thing she wanted was to start an argument with her new friend, but she doubted any animal could be as easily befriended as she was saying. They didn't understand humans, let alone understand what anyone was saying to them, and they were as likely to bite someone as to be nice to them. If an animal had sharp claws or teeth, it was better to just stay away. Especially if they were also dirty.

So, instead of going into that. She decided to change the subject. "Shall we go down?" She said as she gestured at the door. There was a hopeful note in her voice, as she felt more than ready to get out of the stench. Amber hoped that it wouldn't linger on her clothes, she did not want to smell like owl droppings.
 
Ainsley looked up at all the owls one last time, taking joy just from the fact that they were there, before turning back to Amber. "Alright... shall we go try to find the library now?" She said happily, linking arms with Amber. "I think it's on our floor. I mean, the same floor as our bedrooms. I think... it's so hard to keep track of anything here. There should be maps. Or signs. Or maps and signs..."
 
Amber smiled, eager to get to a part of the castle that wasn't inhabited by animals. At least, she hoped the library wouldn't be.

"Sounds good!" She said happily as she linked arms with the other girl. "We'll just try to find it, and ask someone or a portrait the way if we can't."
 
Ainsley smiled, leaving the owlery arm in arm with Amber, excited to see more of the castle and hopefully start learning her way around. "Ask a portrait...?"
 
Amber nodded eagerly. "You know, the paintings! They're everywhere and they're generally very helpful if you ask nicely. They know the castle better than anyone, cause they've been here for ages. I'll show you." She said happily as she led Ainsley away from the owlery.
 
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