Posting A Letter {Lauri}

[Katherine Finnigan]

Katherine jogged up the numerous stairs toward the owlery. Her brunette hair loosely bounced as she hurried upwards with a pale blue envelope being clutched in her left hand. Her mum always demanded to know anything and everything that she possibly could when it came to the goings on of her daughter's life. As such, Katherine sent home a weekly report just to keep her mother from sending post during every single meal. It was just easier to keep her parents in the proverbial loop as far as grades, social life and anything else they might think was important.

The strong, pungent scent of owl droppings and feathers hit her nose almost instantly as Kat reached the top step. The afternoon sun was shining brightly through the tower windows and the soothing cooing sounds of the owls floated through the warm air. Stepping in through the door, the brunette Hufflepuff looked about to find an owl suited to send off her letter. Of the school owls, she did have a few favourites. For short reports home, which was the common thing, she preferred a small barn owl named Pippen. He had an affinity for sweet breakfast bread. Her much longer letters, like the one today, she liked to send with a large, strong black and brown owl that went by the name of Argon.

Moving through the various perches, she scanned her surroundings for the familiar bird. He was sure to be around at this time of day. It was a rare event for other students to send mid-day letters home...especially on a Sunday when they could be sleeping in. As she searched, her hand clutched the hefty letter tighter. If only she could just send post home once a month...like most normal kids. Sighing softly, she found her preferred letter carrier. Kat patted the bird gently and scratched under his beak as she cooed, "How are you for a delivery? All ready then Argon?"

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri had been awake for quite a while now. The night before, Lauri had stayed up in his bed writing down a piece of music for his friend back in Finland until around 3:30 in the morning. He was confident to finish the piece, but was about to pass out and went to sleep instead. When he woke up, Lauri started to work on it right away and got it done in an hour and a half.

As he walked up a large set of stairs he had out the music and read over it carefully. The combination of the musical notes and stairs made him a little dizzy so he put it back into his envelope and sealed it. Walking into the owlery, Lauri saw a girl with her owl. Honestly, he had not been expecting to see anybody in there. He smiled shyly and looked around for his owl.

"Hiski," Lauri said, holding out his arm once him and his owl made eye contact. A light brown tawny owl flew down from a ledge and onto Lauri's arm. Lauri led the owl over to the window and secured the envelope to his talons. He stroked the head of his owl and sent him flying out of the window. He kept a gaze out of the window for a while until he turned around to look at the girl again. He had defiantly seen her before. She was a Hufflepuff.

[Katherine Finnigan]

The massive bird gave a soft hoot and nipped lightly at Katherine's index finger in answer to her gentle questioning. Perhaps that was what made Kat prefer Argon over most of Hogwarts' other owls. He had an actual personality and he was quite polite...unlike a few who she'd learned never to use again. But that was a whole other story which she didn't care to think about that that particular moment.

Carefully afixing the letter to the large black and brown bird's right talon, Katherine smiled warmly at the creature. Some might have mistaken her fascination with the owl for sheer adoration...but, then, they wouldn't be entirely incorrect either. Allowing the enormous bird to settle himself onto her shoulder, which made her feel a little silly but was most convenient, Katherine headed for the Northern most window and gazed out it.

Katherine patted the bird once more and let him take off. His wings spread out to full length and the bird soared across the sky majestically. "Safe travels Argon," Katherine whispered softly as she watched him disappear over the trees and hills. With her letter posted, she turned to exit the tower only to find that there as another occupant. She recognized him as being a fellow Hufflepuff but she couldn't quite put a name to his face. Nervously, she averted her eyes and tried her best to remember his name so that she didn't come off as rude for not knowing it.

[Lauri Ylönen]

Now, Lauri and the girl made eye contact and he casually turned and looked out the window and saw Hiski and the girl's owl off in the distance. He finally thought of something to say and smiled when he turned back to her.

"Parents?" he asked her nicely to see if she had sent off a note to her parents. It was small talk, yes, but Lauri was a shy boy and couldn't really think of what else to say. He tried not to be awkward as hard as humanly possible, but he looked up and around the room a little bit. "You're in Hufflepuff, right? I am sorry, I don't know your name," he said with his Finnish accent.

[Katherine Finnigan]

Try as she might, Katherine kept coming up blank every single time she tried to recall the boy's name. Oddly enough, she felt absolutely horrible about it. He was, quite obviously, in the same house as she was but she simply could not remember his name. It was really botherng her. Though, as badly as she felt for not knowing his name, Katherine would have felt even more rude if she simply walked out without saying a single thing. They had, after all, made eye contact.

Fortunately for the Hufflepuff girl, his voice rang out first. Glancing back toward him, she nodded and softly replied, "Yes. My mum expects a weekly report...and if she doesn't get it, I'll be sure to hear from her constantly until she does. And you? Letter home?" It might not have been the best thing in the world to say but it helped a little. At least she felt a little more confident with a bit of small talk to start off with. It was, at least, better than awkward silence.

"Oh, yes, you're quite correct. I'm in Hufflepuff...seventh year to be exact," Katherine replied. Though she wasn't sure why she felt it was necessary for a formal introduction, she took a few steps toward him and held out her hand, "Katherine Finnigan...but you can call me Kat if it's easier to remember. Oh, and no worries and no apologies necessary. I'm just as guilty for not recalling your name."

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri smiled and looked down at his feet for a few seconds as she was talking and also took a step in. His parents liked to hear from him, but he didn't want to write too much and his owl could only go so far.

"I sent a message to my parents 2 weeks ago," Lauri answered her. "It takes my owl a while to get from here to Finland and back, then he gets a break. I sent a message back to my friend, Eero, with sheet music to a song I wrote last night." Lauri laughed at himself, realizing how pathetic and a little bit obsessed he was with music. He stepped in and shook her hand politely. "And hello, Kat, I'm Lauri Ylonen and I am a sixth year Hufflepuff."

[Katherine Finnigan]

"I wish I could only write every two weeks...or three," Kat mumbled under her breath. She didn't like being bothered to write home at least once a week but her mother was persistent. Nonetheless, she shook that thought and listened to everything that the Hufflepuff boy had to say. She had to admit, though, that she was quite impressed with the fact that he actually wrote music. Very few could brag about that.

Smiling brightly, she shook his hand and replied, "It's an honour and my pleasure to make your acquaintence Lauri. So...you actually write music? That's quite impressive actually." Katherine felt sort of as though she was babbling but she really was, sincerely, in awe over the fact that he could write music. He was, in fact, the first person that she'd ever met who could do something of that nature. Then, of course, there was his interesting accent that had her quite intrigued and eager to hear him speak more.

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri looked down again and rubbed his hand on the back of his neck shyly at Katherine's kind words. He smiled and looked back up to her and felt a little bit bad that she had to write to her parents once a week. Lauri would have gotten sick of it really soon.

"Thank you," he told her after the compliment about him writing music. "I have loved music since I was years old and I have a band back home in Finland. We all love to play music. I can play the guitar, but I mainly just sing."

Lauri didn't want to sound self-absorbed talking about himself, because he wasn't even close to being self absorbed. He tilted his head to the side and he could feel the ends of his hair reaching past his tee shirt and extending onto his arm when he asked her, "What about you? Do you have any hobbies or talents?"

[Katherine Finnigan]

"Oh, no worries. I was just being honest. I really like music and you're actually the only person who I've ever met that can actually write it," Katherine said with a bright smile, "I just hope I don't sound like some insane fan girl already... I think that would be a bad thing." She couldn't help giggling a little at her statement but it was the complete truth. They'd just barely met and she was already babbling on like there was no tomorrow. It was something her mother always noted...so Kat was quite conscious about it.

The more Lauri went on about his playing guitar and signing in a band, the more intrigued Katherine was. She couldn't sing to save her life and musical instruments were completely out of the question. The best she could do was listen to music and belt out lyrics while in the shower...where there was no one to criticize her singing. "I'd love to hear something someday...if you have time, I mean..." she commented apprehensively

After he asked of her hobbies, Katherine went on to reply, "Quidditch. Well Quidditch and good old English footy...but I'm better at Quidditch. I can play just about anywhere...but my specialty is chaser. I'm an avid follower of the Irish national team too. Hope to play for them someday...if I'm good enough."

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri grinned at Kat as she spoke. He was flattered at how nice and fascinated she was. Lauri began to warm up to her and became less awkward and shy. He looked her right in the eye when she spoke now instead of up and around the room. Sometimes though, he would see an owl fly about and it naturally caught his eye.

"Nah, you don't sound like an insane fangirl," he told her. "It is nice to hear that you are interested in it. We have made our own cd for fun, but we have not really published it or anything. My friend at home are trying to look into it so when I come home for summer."

When she spoke of quidditch though, Lauri was actually quite amazed. He knew that a lot of witches and wizards in the school could fly on a broom, and a handful could play quidditch, but not Lauri. He had no coordination on a broom whatsoever.

"Quidditch!" he said. "I love to watch that sport, but I can not even ride on a broom so well. I give you many props. I'm sure if you're as good as you sound you will be able to play on Irish team." Lauri had been trying hard to speak the best english that he could, but didn't even notice it when he left out "the" on his last sentence right before Irish team.

OOC- Omg lol I kept looking at your signature and I was like. Ahhh I know who that is, but who? Then I realized! She played on wrong turn!!!

[Katherine Finnigan]

Katherine felt much better knowing that she hadn't come off as an obsessive type fangirl or something like that. In fact, she was quite relieved to be told that she didn't sound like one. Her smile grew just a little more as he continued on to talk about his band actually having a CD. Though she wasn't really one for a lot of muggle things, her granddad did introduce her to muggle compact disks. It was so much easier than waiting around to hear her favourite wizard rock groups on the world wizarding network radio.

"That sounds absolutely delightful...having your own album, I mean. If you ever do decide to market it, I'd love to purchase one," Kat said in a cheerful tone, "I'm sure your group sounds brilliant. Though, I should probably ask what genre of music you play..."

Her ears took in every syllable and intonation Lauri made as he spoke. Kat adored accents and, since his was one of the most unique she'd heard at Hogwarts, she was quite keen to hear him talking. Even with the few missed words or left off letters, she soaked in the sound of his voice and accent. Maybe she was a little out of her mind but she almost couldn't help it. It was a borderline fetish...but not to the point that she was mental over it.

A light pink colour found its way to her cheeks when he said that she sounded good at Quidditch. Katherine had always prided herself upon her Quidditch knowledge and abilities so it was one of the highest compliments one could pay her. Practically beaming, she replied, "If you'd like, I can always have a go at teaching you to ride a broom. Nothing too hard or anything...but just the basics."

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri smiled at her acknowledgment of his album. He and his friends have been waiting for somebody to listen to it or even want to listen to it. Lau very much appreciated her enthusiasm.

"Thank you very much," he said happily. Maybe sometime I will lend to you if you would like. And as for genre, we do rock mainly but we get in a lot of nice and gentle song too." Lau's group in particular had one song that they really like. They edited it and DJ-ed it up by themselves and they wanted that at least to get broadcasted on the muggle, and secretley on the wizard radios. "My group is back home in Finland now trying to send in our song "In the Shadows" onto radio. I hope they succeed." He smiled at her and his green eyes seemed to get a little lighter.

When she offered to teach him some broom riding he got a little excited. Being taught by a student who was, apparently, a really good quidditch player would be something Lauri needed, but then again something that would make him feel quite embaressed. He blushed a little bit and rubbed the back of his neck.

"You would really teach me how to fly on a broom?" he asked with a bit of happiness in his voice. "That would be a lot of fun! I'd have to warn you that I am quite bad though..." Lauri smiled sheepishly and looked at her.

[Katherine Finnigan]

"I know muggle devices don't work inside the castle but I do have my little CD player in my trunk. So, if you have time, perhaps I could always bring it outside...you know, to the pitch, and we can both listen to it. I know it might sound a little insane and all but I'd really like to ask you questions about the whole writing process and what sorts of things inspired you to work on certain songs," Katherine stated, now quite excited about hearing the music Lauri and his group had created

Thinking about it a moment, she brushed a few defiantly stray pieces of hair behind her ear and went on to add, "Rock music is probably the best to listen to while flying. It's very freeing. At least, that's how I see it anyway." Sure, her father always let her listen to whatever she wanted to...but her mum did think that a lot of the music that Kat fancied was pure rubbish. That was what made her listen to wizarding rock music even louder while she did her workouts and practiced her Quidditch drills.

"Of course I'd teach you all about flying on a broom Lauri! It would be my absolute pleasure to...whenever you have time for it," said Kat enthusiastically, "And don't even worry about how much or little you know about flying. We can always start from the basics and work our way up from there." She gave him a very warm and encouraging smile so that he didn't feel so nervous.

[Lauri Ylönen]

Lauri nodded at Kat. That was something that quite sucked about the castle. Her idea was clever though, she was interested in hearing Lauri's music, while Lauri was interested in seeing her fly and showing him how to. Putting them together was something that would have taken him a while to think of.

"That would be a great idea!" he said. "When do you think would be good time to do that? Rockin' out and flying, heh, sounds like a good time!" Lauri grinned, he was quite excited because he now was really looking foward to it.

He thought about what she said about rock music being freeing. He agreed. It gave people away to relive stress or just have a good time. "I agree about your views on rock music, and thank you so much for agreeing to teach me to fly! I bet we will both have fun, me falling of would make you and I both laugh." He grinned at himself and shook his head.

[Katherine Finnigan]

Katherine was very glad to hear that he approved of her idea. She was fairly witty at times but never so much that she would fit in with the Ravenclaws. They were just too bloody smart for their own good sometimes. Still smiling brightly, she put her index finger to her chin to think about his question. She had nothing else to do for the afternoon but she wasn't sure what his schedule looked like.

"Well, I'm free the rest of today. So whenever you can find the time is perfect by me," replied the Hufflepuff girl with a friendly smile, "Though, I have to warn you, I haven't done any of my stretches or jogging yet today so I might have to do that first...just to get all warmed up. It's a habit really."

A warm breeze blew through the tower window and reminded Kat that they were still standing in the middle of the owlery. She giggled lightly at his comment about falling off but she completely agreed that they would both probably have an amazing time just listening to music and flying. His passion and hers. "Alright then...whenever you're ready for your flying lessons..." she said, letting her voice trail off as she took a short glance toward the door and then looked back at Lauri.