Closed Up Where The Wind Is

[Eris Athanasiou]

It was still a little odd to be at the school, Eris had heard so many stories but to be there herself was another thing entirely. She'd heard the story of both her sisters' sorting's, yet the experience had been so different to what she'd expected. That and she'd been placed in the dungeons. Like a criminal might she add. Now the Slytherin had no qualms about the house or whether or not it fit her, but her only issue was really that you couldn't just open a window if you wanted to hear the wind.

That was part the reason why the first year had braved the walk up to the owlery, not because she wanted to send a letter but because she'd been told by her sister that that's one of the windiest places in the castle. Some of the owls were curiously watching Eris as she peaked her head inside their living space, some of them were quietly sleeping and some were just there... Taking a step inside the place seemed empty so she walked to one of the windows and opened the shutters, peeking her head, or half of her body more accurately, outside. Thank Merlin she'd braided her hair, because otherwise it'd be in knots in seconds. Her sisters hadn't lied, it sure was windy up here.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ had tried his best to memorize as much of the school as he could, noting the details down in the long letter he had addressed to his siblings. He had thought of writing them each separate letters, but that had seemed a bit tricky. Instead, he had written a long letter that he had now rolled up to a neat cylinder of parchment, addressing one part to his mum, and one part to his siblings. He had tried his best to describe the different corridors, down to each torch and portrait on the walls. He knew it was probably a little silly to add such detail, but he wanted his siblings to feel included in all aspects what was happening here. AJ had never been anywhere on his own before. It felt strange, even if it also felt kind of nice. He was pretty sure he had never kept his things this neat and clean before, it helped that there weren't five other people getting their hands all over it.

The steps up to the Owlery were narrow and small, and AJ made sure to hold onto the wall with one hand as he made his way up. It wasn't the most practical place to send mail, but he supposed it made sense for the owls to be up so high. He entered the owlery, but before he could notice any of the owls, he saw a girl hanging out of one of the windows. It looked like she was falling, so AJ hurried over and grabbed the back of her robes. "Merlin!" He called, pulling her back. "You could have died!"

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

The wind was rather strong, more so than Eris had anticipated so she had to hold onto the frames of the window tightly. It was nice though and she closed her eyes, listening to the sound of it. Just as she thought she was getting into a peaceful state of mind, with nothing but her hair and skin touched by the wind and the sound of it all around her she felt her robes being tugged on and then someone's voice pierced the peaceful bubble. Her eyes shot open in alarm as someone was talking about dying. Eris' hands almost slipped off the window in her hurry to pull herself back inside with the pull from whoever was grabbing onto her robes. She bumped the side of her head onto the frame lightly though, letting out a small wince as she turned around to look at who'd been talking and pulling her robes.

A frown took over the first years face as she pondered who could have almost died? It wasn't until a few seconds later that it dawned on her that she'd been halfway out the window and it probably looked to anyone walking in after her like she was, well falling out of it. "Oh, no no I had it covered. I was just listening to the wind." She said as if that would have explained anything. "I had it completely under control, no dying involved." She said with a slight smile, trying to assure the boy she'd been fine.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ's heart was pounding in his chest as he watched the girl carefully, just to make sure she wasn't hurt. He blinked at her when she spoke, sounding completely unconcerned. He stared quietly for a moment, trying to comprehend it while his pounding heart started to slow down. "Wait, what?" He asked, a slow frown appearing on his face. "You were listening... to the wind..." he stared for another second, clearly completely weirded out by her. "And you needed to be halfway out the tower window for that? You looked like you were seconds from being a pancake down below!" He said, gesturing to the window. He felt like he was at home, scolding one of his siblings for doing something dangerous. But even there he never had anyone nearly fall out of a window because they wanted to listen to the wind. What on earth was this girl even talking about? "I can hear the wind from here." he added, crossing his arms.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris watched the boy's reaction to what she'd said, not fully understanding the aspect that what she'd just done might have been dangerous. To her it was just means to an end, to hear the wind better. She tilted her head a little as the boy frowned and seemed to cling to her listening to the wind, she didn't like feeling like she was being judged for what she did. "I was listening to the wind." She repeated before he started about the way she'd done it. Glancing behind her she considered his words and then as she turned back to the boy he was saying he heard the wind from where he was. Before she realized she was doing it Eris crossed her arms, accidentally mirroring the boys stance, and raised a brow. "Yes I leaned out the window. Yes you can hear it from here, but you can't feel it and it doesn't sound the same." She said holding her ground. In her eyes there was nothing wrong with what she'd done. "And for what it is worth I wasn't seconds from being a pancake, as I said I had it under control." She wasn't sure if she should explain the why's of what she'd been doing. Not for now at least, not when it felt like she was being scolded for it. "Have you ever stopped to listen to the wind?" She challenged.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ kept on staring at the girl like she sprouted a second head when she just repeated she was listening to the wind. Like that made any more sense the second time she said it. He frowned as she explained that it didn't sound the same, he still thought it was an incredibly dumb reason to hang out of one of the highest windows in a very tall castle. "Alright, you can't feel it. I grant you that. But there is a big upside to listening from here and that is that you also can't fall out and die." He told her with a slight roll of his eyes. "Sure, you did." He muttered when she said she had it under control. His frown deepened when she asked if he had ever stopped to listen to the wind. "Well, no. I know what it sounds like. Like. Woosh." He added a dismissive hand gesture to the sound. "I'd rather listen to music or something."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris fought the physical need that was overtaking her to roll her eyes. She only just managed so when the boy finished his speech with one of his own. When he doubted the fact she'd had it under control the urge to roll her eyes took over, she let go and rolled her eyes. She decided not to argue further, this boy seemed dead set on the fact she had been about to die and if that was how he wanted to see the situation so be it. She did however make a little click sound with her tongue against the her mouth's roof when he said he'd never listened to it because he knew what it sounded like. His dismissive hand gesture made her narrow her eyes. "Sure, that's because you haven't stopped to listen. Perhaps you don't care to listen to it. Some of us do, some of us find comfort in it." She left out the part that some of them hoped to hear voices they'd lost carried on by the wind. "Yeah because that is so easy nowadays without electricity in this castle, besides music just distracts you and blocks one of your most important senses. Hearing." Merlin her own sister had walked into traffic and nearly got run over because of headphones once.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ was quickly losing patience with this girl. His heart had slowed down by now, and the initial shock had worn off. The adrenaline that had coursed through his veins at the sight of (what he thought was) someone falling out of a window was swiftly being replaced by pure irritation. How could she act like he was the unreasonable one, when she was hanging out of tower windows to hear the wind? "There are radios here, you know. And If stopping to listen to the wind makes me make dumb decisions like that," he gestured to the window, "then I am definitely not going to do it," he said in a huff. Hearing she found comfort in it made him soften slightly, but only slightly. He knew that being at Hogwarts was scary and unfamiliar for all of them. It was why he had written a letter so long he had already planned to find a sturdy owl to carry it. But at least he hadn't endangered himself or anyone else to find some comfort. "And you can't listen to the wind outside on the grounds? Or, I don't know, open a window in the common room? You scared the crap out of me, you know. Even if you're not worried about your own safety, you could be more considerate of others."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris' eyes narrowed furher when the boy called her decision dumb and in extension her. The nerve he had. What was he? Her father, well hopefully not because unlike herself right now that one was very much not alive. "Then don't." She stated, shrugging. It was his choice not to and it was her choice to do so. When he mentioned opening the window in his common room Eris let out an involuntary snort, yeah that'd been the only thing she'd asked of the hat. To be somewhere where she could do that. The irony of fates. "Yeah well funny you'd say that because that was the only thing I asked of the hat. To put me somewhere where I could do that, because it is important to me. To hear the wind, to be able to listen to it whenever. However the Hat seems to have a sick sense of humour and sen me underground, to the dungeons." She said tilting her head, yeah sure it might be a good house for her eventually but it didn't cancel out the fact it lacked one of the things she held the closest to her heart. "The dungeons isn't exactly somewhere where the wind will follow you." She muttered. The last bit of what the boy had said did make her wonder though, what she'd done had seemed perfectly rational to her. Perfectly safe. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Eris finally said, it hadn't been her intention to worry or scare anyone after all. "I'll try to be more considerate in the future."

 

[AJ Carpenter]

Strangely, arguing with this girl felt familiar. It was a little like going back and forth with his siblings at home, though he obviously didn't really know this girl. He grimaced when she talked about being put in the one house that was in the dungeons. He hadn't paid close attention to anyone's sorting but his own, and it made him glad all over again that the hat had listened to him and put him in Gryffindor. "Oh." He said, feeling bad for her suddenly. He could easily imagine being in her shoes and not being in the house he wanted. Though he personally thought he had a better reason for wanting to be in Gryffindor than 'listening to the wind'. He was ready to continue arguing with her, though, when she suddenly apologized. AJ's mouth closed with a snap as he took that in for a moment. He hadn't expected that. This interaction was no longer anything like arguing with his siblings, they never said sorry this quickly. "Right." He said after a moment, shifting gears. "That— uh, apology accepted," he cleared his throat. Suddenly, this felt awkward. "And I'm sorry the hat didn't listen to you. That sucks." He said as he focused his attention on the parchment roll he had come to deliver. In the shuffle of pulling her away from the window, it no longer looked as neat as before. He tried to straighten it out. "I just came to send this," he explained, feeling more awkward for having said it. It had been easier to just argue.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris pursed her lips together as her words dawned on the boy, yep he'd told her to do the one thing she physically couldn't. Not unless she wanted slugs in the common room, which no doubt if traced back to her she'd have to get rid of too. No thank you. As he looked ready to keep going but her apology seemed to shut him up, she hadn't meant for that to happen, it made a sudden feeling of smugness rear its head. She'd always liked proving people wrong or just catching them off guard and him seemingly out of sorts after she'd apologized surely pleased that part of her. She gave herself a mental high five but schooled her features into neutrality. "Good, would hate to start off on a bad foot." She said as he accepted her apology. Upsetting people this early on did no bode well with minding her own business. "Eh it's alright, at least I'm in the same house as my sister," Eris said, it wasn't all that bad. "Well one of them anyways." She added as an afterthought. "Right, sorry. That is what the tower is for I suppose, sending letters I mean." The Slytherin said awkwardly, casting a glance at the owls around them. For some reason she didn't really know how to act now that the argument was seemingly over, so awkwardly she just stood in her place. Trying not to look the boy's way.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ shrugged a bit when the girl said she would have hated to start off on a bad foot, biting back a comment about not hanging out of windows then. He had accepted her apology, now he had to stop sniping at her. He moved over to one of the owls, calling down a bigger one for the long letter he had to send. It landed a lower perch. "Well, that's good." He told her as she said she was in the same house as her sister. "My siblings are all at home, I'd love to have some of them around." He said as he attached the letter to the owl's leg. He couldn't help a slight snort when she said she had forgotten what the tower was for,glancing at her over his shoulder. "I suppose you thought it was the wind listening tower?" He asked innocently, hoping she could take the joke. If not, he didn't regret it. It was funny.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris played with the sleeves of her robes glancing back and forth between the boy and random walls of the owlery, simply because staring at him would have been creepy and just walking out would have felt rude. When he spoke about his siblings the Slytherin looked his way fully. "It has its perks, having some of my sisters her I mean." She admitted out loud, though she was glad they weren't around to hear the confession right now. A small grin made its way to Eris' face and a glint of mischief entered her eyes as the boy made a joke. "Oh actually when I was climbing up I was sure I was heading towards a tower that served as a prison for a princess. I was sure I was on a rescue mission so imagine my surprise when all I saw was just some birds." The brunette shook her head slightly, still smiling.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ secured the letter tightly, then gave the owl a treat. It always helped things go more smoothly. He carried it over to the window and released the owl into the night sky. He watched it go for a moment, then turned back to the girl. "How many siblings do you have?" He asked, as she talked about having some of her sisters here at Hogwarts. So far, anyone he had asked had only had one or two, but it sounded like this girl was from a big family as well. He laughed at her joke, deciding to go along with it. "The princess prison tower is actually the next tower over, I heard." He said, gesturing out to where they could see what he thought might be the Divination tower.

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris smiled at the question of her siblings, ready for whatever reaction the boy might have though he sounded like he had at least a few siblings himself. He'd mentioned them in plural after all. "Six, five sisters and one brother." She said nonchalantly. "How about you? How many do you have?" She returned the question. Eris grinned looking at the tower that the boy was gesturing to. "Hmph, I guess my rescue mission was a failure this time then." The first year said with an audible sigh.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ's eyes widened a little when the girl said she had six siblings. He had never met anyone with more siblings than him, and he got a strange surge of competitiveness about it. He managed to push it down, because fighting with someone about who had more siblings was just... well, silly. But it still surprised him. "Oh, dang. I have five." He said with a small smile. "Never met anyone who beat met to it before," he joked. "Two brothers and three sisters." He added, as she had specified. He shrugged a little at her joke, deciding to offer a tentative olive branch. "Maybe we can rescue her together sometime." He suggested. "You know, in case you need backup. Or someone to pull you back from a window."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris was surprised how close in number their amount of siblings were and as he said he'd never met anyone that beat him on the amount before she laughed softly. "Well if we want to get technical, they are actually my cousins. My father's adoptive sister, my aunt, adopted me when I was a baby. So technically I don't have any biological siblings, but they are my siblings in every way that matters." It wasn't like family should be bound by DNA anyways. "I'll hold you to that offer then, always good to have back up" She said with a nod and a smile. "I'm Eris by the way," Eris added after she realized she hadn't introduced herself yet.

 

[AJ Carpenter]

AJ listened as Eris explained her family situation. It sounded complicated, but he understood what it was like to grow up with a lot of kids in a house. "Hey, adoption totally counts." he told her with a shrug. "Beat me fair and square, I guess." He grinned, again thinking it was silly to think of this as a competition. "Do your siblings drive you mad sometimes too? I'm honestly glad to get a break from them for a while." It was kind of true, but kind of a lie as well. He glanced out the window where the owl was still visible in the distance. He missed them a lot. He turned back to Eris again. "AJ." He said, gesturing to himself. "Nice to meet you."

 

[Eris Athanasiou]

Eris smiled and then she laughed a little at the thought that they were literally comparing the amount of siblings they had like it was a competition. It was silly, but also kind of nice in a way. Not many people she knew had as many siblings as her. "Oh all the time, that's why I like to escape whenever I can. I love them, but its chaotic and sometimes you just need a little room to breathe, you know?" She felt guilty admitting it partly, her sisters were the only true family she'd ever known. Her aunt and uncle, they were emotionally absent more often than not and her parents, well she never got the chance to meet them properly. She smiled at AJ as he told her his name and nodded. "Nice to meet you too," Eris agreed, even if their meeting had started in rather unfortunate circumstances.