Killing Time {Open}

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Tay sat at the top of the owlery, guitar in hand, strumming mindless tunes, her mind focused on some far distant place. Home... her mind was focused on home. She couldn't wait for the summer to start so that she could just go home and curl up in her own bed, and spend endless days just killing time and acting like a fool with her brother. But it seemed like the summer was taking forever to get here, just to spite her.

It had been a long year, and a very confusing and complicated one, and all she wanted was for it to end so she could take the summer to chill out and forget, and then she could start anew in September with all the memories thoroughly locked and boxed away in the back of her mind. Next year was a new year, and she was determined to make it a better one than the current one had been.

Sighing, Tay leaned her head back against the wall behind her and she continued to stare out of the window. At some point, she started singing the song that her and her brother had made up over the Christmas break, and Tay wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to what else was going on around her.

...That probably explained why she didn't notice when she was no longer alone in the owlery.

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

 Brylyn slowly trudged up the stairwell to the Owlery, she hated sending letters at the end of term. It meant that she was heading home soon. But she wasn't ready to go home. Hogwarts was exciting, full of unexpected adventures and fun. And while she liked going home, it turned into a family visit. Everyone she hadn't seen the entire year had to see her within those few months off. Sure she loved her family, and it was nice to no longer have homework but all her friends were here. She hardly ever had time to see them during the summer break. To much family oriented items on the itinerary. 

Plus side, she could see how pregnant her mother looked. She could hardly wait to be an older sister.  Who wouldn't? Being an only child had perks, but She had enough of the perks now. She wanted a sibling, boy or girl. It didn't matter!

As she neared the Owlery, she could hear the normal sounds of rustling wings and the hooting from owls. But there was a tune underneath it. Guitar if she wasn't mistaken. She didn't know anyone who played, and quietly crept the rest of the way as to not disturb the player. 

Peaking into the Owlery she noticed a girl, propped and playing, seemingly lost in her own world of music or thought, maybe both. She slipped in quietly, leaning against the stones, which felt cold to her skin. It was catchy, the girl was good. She would give her that. 

As she stopped playing Brylyn knew she was busted for standing like a creep. Instead of being awkward about it she clapped and said brightly,"That was really good, your talented."

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Tay was completely absorbed in her playing, just staring out of the window and over the grounds, seeing but not really seeing. She was more absorbed in her thoughts than anything else and she didn't even pay attention to what it was that she was actually playing. She was vaguely aware that she'd started singing softly, but as far as playing, her fingers did the work and she didn't even have to think about it at all. She wasn't as good of a player as her brother, but she wasn't terrible either.

As the song neared it's end her voice trailed off and her fingers slowed to a stop over the strings as she pulled herself from her thoughts. She didn't pull from the quicken enough to be aware of her surroundings or the fact that she was no longer along. It took a second for her brain to catch up with the sound of clapping, and it was only when a voice spoke up that she reacted.

Tay swung her head around to look for the source of the sound and wobbled after having spun a little too fast and too far. Her arms windmilled but she still toppled backwards off the ledge. She landed heavily on the ground, her guitar falling on top of her and conking her right on the forehead. "Oomph!"

Tay blinked in a bit of a daze. She should have known that it would happen. She never stayed upright for very long before she ended up on the floor. At least these injuries seemed mild compared to most that she gathered over her previous tumbles. She had a feeling that she was going to have a rather nice bump on her head in a few hours though.

She glanced over to where the voice had come from and grinned. "Hey... Sorry, I was too busy falling to catch what you said." She shook her head and pushed herself into a sitting position, glancing around at the mess on the floor. Great place to fall... The owlery... Where at the owls were... And everything that came with such birds. "Nice..."

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

Brylyn was impressed with this girls ability to play guitar. Not only being able to play, but sing as well. It was obvious that the girl didn't hear her approach and for that she did feel bad. The normal person would walk back out and try to be louder while walking back into the room, or maybe even say something ad to not embarrass the other person. But Brylyn? Why would she do that? She wanted to see the show.

Then it happened, her clapping added with her voice set of a chain reaction. The girl spun around and while in the process of trying to look at the intruder fell in a spectacular fashion backwards of the ledge onto the ground of....the Owlery. Brylyn immediately felt terrible and wished she could have reacted like a normal person and let the girl know she was there rather than creep on her.

Quickly Brylyn rushed over to the side of the ledge,peering down at the girl, extending a friendly hand to help her up. "I am so sorry I startled you." she said apologizing trying to help the girl up.

As the girl looked back to her, a grin across her face, Brylyn felt somewhat relieved to know she okay, at least okay enough to allow a grin across her face. "I just said you were wonderful. I enjoyed your performance. Sorry for intruding on it once again." she said repeating herself.

Brylyn was impressed with the girls ability not to freak out whilst sitting in bird excrement. She personally would be up and running to a cleaning station to remove whatever the birds may have left upon her. But maybe that reaction was soon to come. 

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

It took a minute for Tay's mind to catch up with everything that had just happened in the last few seconds, but when it did, several things happened at once. She laughed, and then she realized that she'd just landed flat out of the floor of the owlery. Delightful. She tried not to think too much about that, but judging by the mess she could see on the base of her guitar, she really didn't want to know what her back and butt looked like.

She pushed into a sitting position and immediately wished she hadn't. "Eww." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Tay wasn't unfamiliar was falling into unpleasant things, but being covered in owl droppings really wasn't how she wanted to be right now. She looked at the other girl's extended and and grimaced, glancing down at her own soiled ones. "You might want to retract that offer."

Tay was a little taken aback at the positive comment about her playing. She usually didn't play in front of anyone. Now and again she would sit in her dorm and play, but usually it would be if Millie was there, as her other dorm mates seemed to be stuck up and nagged at her every time she so much as strummed a note. She didn't play often in school, but she made up for it over the holidays with her brother. Overall though, she just really wasn't used to people hearing her play, and definitely not used to feedback like this. "Thanks." She smiled awkwardly, not sure what to say to it.

Leaning her guitar against the ledge, Tay pushed herself to her feet, wincing as her hands squished on the ground. "Urrgh." She curled up her nose. "I don't even want to know..." Her back was no doubt covered in mess, but what she couldn't see couldn't bother her, or at least that's what she tried to tell herself.

"Getting back to the castle is going to be fun..."

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

Brylyn was more impressed with the girl at her ability to laugh at the situation. There was no way she would be laughing. In her mind she could see herself sitting there crying. Yes, crying would fit well I to her schedule at that moment. Looking down to the girls guitar she noticed that too had bird droppings and she felt worse about startling the girl. Thankfully it wasn't broken or she would have probably cried out of guilt.

Brylyn shook her head. She wouldn't retract her offer. "I think it's okay, I startled you.its my fault your down there in this lovely decoration of the Owlery anyways. Least I can do." she told her keeping her hand extended to the girl. Besides there was water and soap back at the school. And she could summon a wet snd soapy rag from the kitchens as well. No issues there.

Brylyn never understood why truly talented people were so hard on themselves. This girl looked absolutely stunned she would think highly of her playing. But if there was one thing Brylyn didn't do it was lie to people on stuff like this. She was to opinionated to give false hope. As the girl thanked her she nodded her head, a smile on her face. "No problem. Only speaking the truth." she told her positively.

Watching the girl stand there she stifled the desire to laugh. She felt terrible that is girl was in this situation, especially knowing it was her that caused it. Then she thought again, Filch would have a fit if he saw her roaming the halls like this. Reaching for her wand in her back pocket she extended her arm, pointing it in the direction of the castle. "Accio dishcloth." she said waving her arm. It took about a minute but finally she seen a blob of color flitting its way across the grounds. As it zoomed into the Owlery she snatched it out of the air an handed it to the girl, it was damp without soap, but it would help somewhat.

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

It was nice that the girl was offering to help her up, but Tay was pretty sure one owl dropping covered gal was enough for now, so she'd spare the other girl the grossness of having the stuff on her hands. She just smiled and shook her head, starting towards her feet.

"Dishcloth? Think one can handle this much muck?" Heck! She could probably summon her towel and it wouldn't have enough space to get her clean. For several long moments nothing happened, but eventually something could be seen flying towards them. The blond snatched it out of the air with ease. Had it been Tay that needed to catch it she would probably be back on the ground by now. The girl had really good reflexes though. Taking the damp cloth, Tay smiled at the other girl. "Thanks... do you play quidditch?"

She rubbed her hands firstly, hoping to get rid of as much of the stuff from her hands as possible before she even bothered thinking about the rest of her. So long as her hands were a little cleaner she could cope with the rest. She was just glad that she'd landed on her back and not...

A shudder passed through her. That was just too awful a thought to even consider. Hands clean, Tay paused, not quite sure what to do nedt.

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

The girl was to kind. She was the reason she was on the floor after all. Startling the girl into flailing onto bird excrement. The least she could do was help her up. But once again she refused, helping herself quickly get up. Although she wouldnt say so, she was gad. She didn't want the lovely owlery decoration on her own clothing or hands. It was another reason she hardly visited the owlery. Who wanted to visit that, step in it? Her owl came to her every once in awhile ensuring she wrote her family. But otherwise it was rare for her to come up the stairs here.

"Well it is a good start for the clean yourself up." she replied a grin creeping its way onto her face. She was sure the only way to completely rid herself of the droppings was to shower and change. She was pleasantly surprised as the dishcloth indeed zoomed towards them. Sometimes her accio abilities not up to par. But then again she did pride herself on her duelling abilities. So some spells came easier than others. At her question she shook her had. "No, I dont. Just occasionally good at spells with somewhat good reflexes." she answered with a grin.

She watched as the girl cleaned her hands, then stopping, apparently curious on where to start. It was a legitimate question droppings indeed on the girls backside. Instead of worrying about it she extended her hand and said,"I am Brylyn."

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Tay was slightly surprised to hear that the other girl didn't play quidditch. Most of the time, people with reflexes like that were proud to say that they'd made the house team and they were some really popular quidditch wiz, but not this girl... Tay would love reflexes like hers. Heck! She's be happy with a bit of balance. That would do her nicely.

Brylyn. It was a name that Tay was pretty sure she'd heard somewhere around here before, but she wasn't sure who from or why. Probably just in passing in the corridors or something. Friends did tend to shout for the attention of other friends and such like. Tay extended her own hand. "I'm Tay." At least her hands were clean now.

Frowning, Tay tried to peer over her shoulder before looking back to the other girl. "Please tell me it's not in my hair." With her luck though it would be. She didn't think she'd clattered from the ground that badly, but it would be just her luck that she'd be covered.

Tay slowly and carefully tugged off her jumper. She didn't like the top she had on underneath it, which was why she wore the sweater in the first place, but she'd already packed up most of her clothes, just wanting to get home and start the summer already.

She glanced at the back of it when it was off and groaned. "Oh god... I think I'd rather have fallen in dog dirt!"

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

Brylyn could see the surprise when she answered that she didn't play quid ditch. It wasn't that she didn't like the sport, on the contrary she loved it. But she preferred flying around without the stress of winning a quidditch game, leave her to cheering and you got yourself a number one cheerleader though.

Brylyn shook the girls hand firmly. Tay was unique. Not something often heard of. Bryan always enjoyed unique names, made them easier to remember too. Ad who didn't like that. "A unique name for a unique girl." she said in a complimenting fashion releasing the girls hand. Then with another smile she added,"Pleasure to meet you Tay,"

Seeing the girl frown, Brylyn heard her question and a subtle frown crossed her face as well. That would be terrible to have the excrement of a bird in your hair. Walking behind her she sighed in relief. Although down her back it had just missed her hair. Gathering her hair she spun it together and rested it on the girls shoulder. No reason for it to somehow land in it. "I think you are sat. But best you keep it over the shoulder or it could land in some. You have a lot from the bottom down and a smaller amount on your upper." she told the girl.

As the girl removed her jumper, half the battle was won and Bry smiled. "That must feel better." she commented lightly. She knew she would be running towards the dorm room to change, kudos to the girl for sticking it out. Then as she spoke, Brylyn laughed. "I think that would have smelled twice as bad though. At least this smell is bearable."

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Tay couldn't help but grin. "A unique nickname, you mean." Technically, Tay was a nickname for her since it was a shortened form of her middle name, since she absolutely hated the name Abigail. It just didn't suit her at all. "Brylyn's a rather unique name as well."

Tay hoped like hell that the owl muck wasn't in her hair. She didn't think she could be dealing with that. She'd been in some pretty horrid situations and dealt with some pretty awful things thanks to her clumsy nature, but bird droppings in her hair?

Brylyn headed behind her and moved her hair out of the way, and Tay let out a sigh of relief to hear that it was excrement free. The first thing she could think of to do was to just take her jumper off and get the stuff away from her. Part of her wasn't overly bothered by the stuff on her trousers, but her back was a different story. At least she could turn her jumper around and tie it around her waist so that it hid some of the marks. Especially since she had to walk the entire length of the castle to get to her dorm to change. "It feels a lot better, and at least I can cover the rest with it."

"Hmm, true. Maybe I should just be glad it was own droppings, even though there are loads of them." At least with dog poop it was usually just...you know... a poop. Not loads of little droppings all over the place. That was the one down thing about owls.

Sighing, Tay tied the jumper around her waist and looked down at herself. "I'm going to need to unpack my case again to find something to change into... do you think they'll be able to get this stuff washed before we go home?"

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

"Is there really a difference? Name or nickname? All the same." she returned with shrug of her shoulders, flashing a large smile at the girl. The name Tay suited the girl, she doubted she would call her anything else ever. She guessed her own name was unique. "Nothing special about it really. My mom couldn't decide on a name, Lynn or Brie, so instead she combined them to this name. Touched with a unique special she thought she was a genius." she told the girl with a laugh.

As she gave the girl the once over, clearing her hair of any bird decoration that they so wonderfully left everywhere she giggled as the girl sighed in relief. She too would be extremely relieved. But she probably would be crying. Pushing her own thoughts away she stood there, offering the girl a smile of encouragement. The worst was over. She had none in her hair, clean hands and her covered jumper was off. It was a win in her mind. Nodding her head as she spoke she replied, Very true. And if you would like, you can borrow my button up plaid shirt. Might now be your style, but its available for your use." She was wearing a long sleeved black shirt under it anyways. No harm in lending it to a girl in need.

"Yes that is the downfall. Since is the owlery, there is a mass horde of owls and their droppings. But if you step in dog poop, you know right away." she said wrinkling her nose. The smell of dog poop wasn't a fond one, she had stepped in the neighbour dogs a week prior to returning to Hogwarts.

"I don't know why they wouldn't be able too. They would probably be more than happy to help out someone in need. Overly helpful little guys they are." she said voicing her thoughts to the other girl. She had yet to see a house elf turn down a task.

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

Brylyn had a point, there really wasn't much difference between name and nickname. Point was, that was the name that people knew you by. "At least I'm not eleven any more when I used to insist on being called Frazi..." Her voice got quieter the more she said of that. It was a terrible, terrible nickname, but she used to insist on it. These days, it was only her brother and Millie who could get away with calling her that.

Tay looked down at her own terrible top and up at the shirt the other girl wore over her black one. It was actually a nice shirt, not overly girly or frilly or anything like that, which was always a good start. Tay and girly just didn't work. "That's pretty tempting actually..." She sent the other girl a lopsided smile, "Though there's a risk of owl dropping getting on the bottom of it." Considering how much was on her backside, very possible, and while the shirt didn't appear to be overly long on the other girl, it likely would be on Tay, who was a rather short person.

Tay nodded as she examined the back of her sweater. The house elves probably would clean it pretty quickly for her, though it seemed like a lot to ask. Then again, they always did managed to make sure that everything was back to their rightful owners. She was pretty sure that last year she'd got to the last night and automatically thrown her clothes from that day in the hamper, and she'd gone to sleep thinking that she wasn't going to be able to wear her favorite hoodie again till the following September, but lo and behold her clothes were there, washed and folded neatly on the end of her bed by the time she woke up the next morning.

"What do you think it's like for them?" Tay mused, heading back to her guitar and picking it up, examining the mess. "I mean, they must work here all the time, doing all the little chores that no one else thinks about, and we all take for granted. Do you think they have their own little rooms here? A dorm with a load of little beds in and living quarters and everything? The whole nine yards, so to speak... I've always wondered why Hogwarts needs Filch when there are house elves around..."

[Brylyn Abercrombie]

Brylyn listened as the girl spoke of a time when she insisted upon being called Frazi. That was quite the nickname. She tried thinking back on her younger days of nicknames. For the most part she had always been called her full name or Bry. Her mother and father enjoyed calling her missy. But that was a term of endearment they told her. It would always be used in such sentences as, look here missy. "I can't say I have an interesting previous nickname. My parents called me missy, but that wasn't so much a nickname as it was a scolding when I was misbehaving." she responded with a laugh and slight shake of the head.

As the girl considered her offer, Brylyn chose for her. Shrugging it off of her shoulders she held it out to the girl, a smile playing On her lips. She didn't mind if it was to get somewhat dirty, nothing that couldn't be washed out. And knowing the house elves it would be washed and returned to her by morning or the following evening. They were clever little buggers. To smart if you asked her, but it made them that much more enjoyable. "No worries. I don't mind." she assured the girl, giving a sincere smile.

Bry mulled the question over. What would it be like for a house elf? Her own personal opinion would be that it was a slave labor position, forced to cook and clean and take care of someone who potentially doesn't respect you. She shivered at the thought of it. But the house elves at Hogwarts on the other hand seemed more than happy to help, always cheerful. Their positive attitude despite their lives was admirable. Then again, Hogwarts would be a better place to work than the Blacks or own pureblood elite family. That would be terrible, being treated like vermin. At least Hogwarts elves were appreciated and often thanked.

"For me personally I think it would suck. But I am anti cleaning and anti cooking. I couldn't imagine always doing it and being happy about it. But they seem genuinely happy. Always ever so helpful and friendly. It's strange really. I would assume they have their own bunker, I can't imagine they would like having their own rooms. Probably one large dorm room, each with a small dresser for their trinkets." she commented. Then she laughed. What would Hogwarts be like without filch. Perfect? Probably. "They keep him around to scare students probably. Or he is blackmailing Dumbledore." she joked.

[Abigail 'Tay' Frazier]

"I can't say I have an interesting previous nickname. My parents called me missy, but that wasn't so much a nickname as it was a scolding when I was misbehaving."

Tay winced. "Ah, for me those were the 'Abigail!' moments." She shuddered, the sound of her own name sounding foreign on her tongue. Most of the time they were the first name moments when she was misbehaving, but if she was ever in serious trouble her parents wasted no time in bringing out the whole 'Abigail Taylor explain yourself right this instant' line.

Tay had to admit that she was relieved when Brylyn lent her the shirt. She absolutely despised the one that she had on at that moment, but her mother had insisted that she pack it to bring back to school with her after christmas as it had been a birthday present from her grandmother. Oh joy, oh joy. The woman was almost 90 years old and her taste in clothing reflected that. She might have been a woman who, in the day, loved frills and flowers, but Tay was not that kind of person at all. She was more of a tomboyish, rock chick clothes kind of girl, and frills looked ridiculous on her.

"Thanks." She took the shirt with a grateful smile and tugged it on, buttoning it up over her own shirt. Now she at least felt a little more normal than she did in the overly girly top underneath. She glanced down at her already soiled jumper and folded it in half, then used it to try and wipe some of the mess off her butt and the backs of her legs. She grimaced when she got some on her hands again, and grabbed the dishcloth that she'd put down, using that to clear her hands and wipe some more of the muck off her trousers. "Aaaand now I'm just succeeding in making my trousers wet." She shook her head. This just wasn't a good day for her. It hadn't been a particularly good year either.

The conversation drifted to that of the house elves as Brylyn commented on all of Tay's mindless musings about them. She listened and nodded, agreeing. "You have to wonder though, do they stay in the castle or somewhere outside of it, and if it is in the castle, then how come no one has every stumbled across it before?"

Filch... he was the bane of Tay's existence. He always seemed to catch her after she'd made some mess or another, and he almost always tried to get her into detention. More often than not the professors took pity on her these days, knowing how much of a clutz she was. If she got a detention for every time she fell over she'd never see daylight. Actually, it would probably be no different, since half the time she ended up in the hospital wing anyway. She was sure she knew Madam Pomfrey better than any other student in this whole school did!

"Blackmailing Dumbledore... he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who could be blackmailed really, does it? I mean, unless it's a 'I know you actually despise lemon drops and your favorite sweet is actually blood pops' or something." She grinned. She'd once been stupid enough to accept a blood pop from someone, not actually realizing what it was she'd been given. Even now she couldn't get the cold, coppery reminder of the taste of it out of her mind.

Tay tied the arms of her jumper around the neck of her guitar and picked it up, turning back to face the older Gryffindor. "So, are you looking forward to the summer?"