Just a letter to say "hi".

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe walked up the stone steps of the Owlery, hunched over to stop the hail hitting her in the eyes.
She reached the top and felt the many stares of the owls turn her way.
"Akai," she called. A beautiful barn owl flew down from his perch and landed in front of her.
She smiled, she loved that owl.
Zoe ran the back of her hand down the smooth feathers on his back. He chirped happily at the attention.
Zoe stopped stroking the owl and started rummaging in her cloak.
Akai turned his head to see why she had stopped stroking him.
She pulled out an envelope and Akai hooted, happily. He always loved delivering letters, just for the flight.
Zoe smiled as she watched Akai dance around, happily.
"Okay," she said, "that's enough. Now, calm down and let me tie this letter to your leg."
Akai seemed to understand, and held out his leg.
Zoe tied the letter to him with a piece of black ribbon, then picked him up and carried him to the window.
"There you go," she said, and she let him go.
With a gentle push, Akai took off.
Zoe watched him until he was a mere dot against the snowy grey sky.

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie looked at her clock and smiled happy. She had now a free time, before Potions, and she had decided to make a visit to her owl, Eleäen, that her grandparents had gave her on her last birthday.

She climbed excited the steps of the tower and greeted the knight in one of paints that greeted her back with a amused "Hello for yourself too, miss!". Kathie shocked her head, giggling silently and continued her path until she finally reached the owlery.

Kat hand't even entered the owlery when she saw her owl flying at hight speed to meet her and landing softly on her shoulder. She felt Eleäen pushing softly some of her hair, happy to see her owner

"It's nice to see you too, Eleäen" she said amused, entering at the owlery. What she didn't know was that there were already there someone else...

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe turned as she heard someone approaching.
Her head jerked upwards as an owl flew from one of the perches.
She heard someone talking and thought she recognized the voice, although it was hard to tell over all the hooting and ruffling of feathers.
She turned back to the window and put her hands on the ledge.
It was cold, but not unpleasant.
She hung her arms over the ledge and watched the many students rushing to get inside, out of the horrible weather.
She laughed. She loved this wintry weather. She preferred it to the hot, Summer sunshine, where everything was hot and stuffy, and it was impossible to settle anywhere, because of the irritating heat.
She let the hail fall onto her hands and she examined it before it melted. She brushed the pool of water, where the hailstone had once been, off her hand and looked out over the forest, where she could see trees stirring in the wind.

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie looked around and noticed, for the first time, she wasn't alone. There was already another person that she recognized immediately. She was Professor Black, her Dragonology teacher. Thinking for herself, wandering curious why the professor seemed so deep in thoughts, she stared back at her owl and smiled.

"Do you want to have something exciting to do, Eleäen?" she asked the owl.

Eleäen let out and excitement peep and Kathie could swear she had nodded in agreement. She smiled, took a small piece of parchment and wrote:

Dear grandparents,

Hi there! How are the things going there? Wonderful, I hope. I'M loving being here at Hogwarts, though I miss you two badly.
Yesterday I receive my first Auror Studies assignment and, could you two believe it, I got an O!
I hope hear from you soon.

Love,

Kathie.

She finished her letter and tied it up at Eleäel at it's leg. "Now make sure they write me a really big letter" she said winking and starting walking to the window.

"Excuse me, Professor. Could why?..." she asked referring if the professor could let her owl go through the window

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe heard the same voice again. She turned around and saw Kathie holding an owl.
"Hello, Kathie," she said, and politely moved out of the way so the owl could fly.
A strong gust of window caught Zoe's hair and it covered her face. She brushed it back and looked at Kathie. She smiled and let her hair fall down her back.

[Kathie Caldwell]

"Hello Professor" she greeted back with an warm smile.

Kathie looked at her owl and winked at her and she saw the amused look on Eleäel black eyes.

"Don't forget what I told you... One big and heavy letter from them. If you noticed that grandmother made cookies... Well, you also know what you have to do" she said smiling and letting her owl fly away.

She saw Elenäel disappearing on the distance and stared back at Professor Black.

"This view is beautiful, isn't it Professor?" she asked looking through the window and felt her eyes stop when she sight of the big and dark forest. "I'm curious... Professor Black, do you knot what kind of beings live in the forest?" she asked

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe watched Kathie talk to her owl and smiled. She used to demand big letters from Andromeda when she was in school, too.
She looked at the forest subconsciously as Kathie commented on it and nodded.
The next question took Zoe be surprise.
"All sorts live in the Forest, Kathie. There's Centaurs, Werewolves, Acromantulas, Fluffy the Three Headed Dog," she paused to think of what she could add to the list, "a wild turquoise car, thanks to Ron Weasley, thestrals, unicorns, trolls, and dragons often stop by, aswell," she trailed off, "but, there are too many things to name."

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie hear attentively Professor's Black answers. She had already heard that in the forest lived centaurs, werewolves, unicorns.. but and wild car? That was so funny. She smiled amused and turned back again to the professor.

"An wild car.. that's is so exciting! Though, I don't quite appreciate the idea of Acrumantulas" she said making a funny grimace.

She wasn't afraid of them, though she didn't really wanted to be served as their dinner or lunch... That wasn', indeed, in her future plans.

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe chuckled at Kathie's surprise at the mention of Arthur Weasley's car.
"Yes, Ronald let it loose in the Forest in his second year," she laughed.
She listened to Kathie's comment about Acromantula.
"I agree," she said, "the idea of bumping into a giant spider in the middle of a very big, very dark forest is rather disturbing."
She thought about her own experiences while she was at school. Never again... she thought, shivering.

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie laughed lightly when she saw the look on Professor's Black Face. She also didn't quite loved the idea of a meeting with acrumantulas. She heard amused her explanation about the wild car her smile grew.

"Is fluffy friendly?" she had remembered the mention about the three head dog and was, again, curious. "How did he end up leaving there?"

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe stared at Kathie while she asked her question.
"Hmm...I don't think Fluffy is friendly, although I have never come across him, myself. He ended up there because he was guarding something on third floor, but now there is nothing to guard, he was released into the Forest, as most dangerous creatures are."
Zoe thought about Norbert (or Norberta). She hadn't been released into the forest, but she was much happier with the other dragons.

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie nodded in understatement and stared again at the forest. It was a shame she didn't have anything she could use to make explore that place without being caught, of course. She had a strange felling that Professor Black knew more things about that, she even git the strange idea that she had herself going there when she was a student.

No way... They chose for Professors role model students, right? Those people who never had done any prank or trouble at school, right? she though. However, for some reason neither her believed on her statement.

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe saw Kathie's nodded to show she had understood, and then mirrored the young girl in looking at the Forest.
She found herself daydreaming about her students years, and what she could have done differently.
She stood there in the silence, thinking about her past and bettering it in ways, although she knew her past wouldn't change.

[Kathie Caldwell]

Kathie felt a little awkward to be here, next to Professor Black without talking about something in particular, and suddenly she saw something moving on the forest. She took a closer look and she could bet it has something human-like, with dark robes.

She continued looking curious and suddenly she saw it staring back at her. Kathie felt her heart miss a beat and almost jumped scared, moving away of the window. What was that?... and it saw me...

"Er.. Professor, did you see that too?" she asked staring confused and scared at the Professor Black.

[Professor Zoe Black]

Zoe didn't move her eyes. She was looking straight at a cloaked figure in the Forest. She squinted so that her eyes would adjust, but she couldn't see any clearer.
She noticed Kathie looking at the strange silhouette as well.
It turned it's cloaked head and looking directly at the Owlery, although Zoe knew it wasn't looking at her.
She felt the aura around Kathie tense, and realized that it was looking at Kathie.
She stood, her eyes following the figure, as Kathie spoke.
"Yes, Kathie, I did," said Zoe in reply to Kathie's question. She had a pretty good idea of who it was, but wasn't going to make her suspicions known until she proved her theory.