Broken Wing - Open

[Vanessa Sanderson]

Sending a letter was supposed to be easy, and Vanessa had done it time and time again, so it wasn't as if she didn't know how to use an owl, but what she found that day as she tried to send a letter was more than she had bargained for. While looking for her little Puffy, a school owl she'd claimed as her own over the years, she found another owl laying on the floor, hooting and sqwaking terribly. "Oh!" She exclaimed as she ran over to the bird, and squatted down, stroking the head of the bird softly.

"Don't move... it's ok," she whispered wondering what she should do. Starting to hum softly, she wanted to sooth the bird slightly to calm it so that she could figure out something to do. As she looked it over, it seemed as if the wing wasn't quite right, but that could have meant a number of things. Filtering a hand through her hair, Vanessa shook her head. Did she carry the bird to Davenport? Did she not move the bird and go and get someone? What did she do?!

((open))

[Connor Manning]

It seemed to Connor that all he did lately was send letters. He sent them to his mom and dad, his sister, even an occasional note or two addressed to his sisters boyfriend, a guy who Connor had gone used to hearing about from all members of his family. With Valentine's day, and lessons, and other things going on, Connor found himself in constant correspondence with people from back home. He didn't mind it, though, because around this same time last year he hadn't really had anyone to turn to or talk to and relied heavily on his family. He had been just about friendless with the exception of a few random people he had managed to befriend. Everything about this year was different for Connor, but he did still like to keep in contact with everyone.

" Harold? " Connor called out as soon as he entered the owlry, calling for his wise old looking barn owl. Instead of seeing the bird fly towards him, Connor instead caught a glimpse of a girl crouching down on the ground, a horrid screeching sound coming from somewhere close by as well. A look of confusion crossed the boy's features, and it took him a second to figure out what she was doing. " Erh... " He said, trying to announce his presence without being rude or anything.

" Are you.. is it... okay? " He asked, making his way over to the girl and crouching down as she was. It was then that he noticed a small owl to be the source of all the noise. " What happened? " He asked, looking down to the bird.

[Vanessa Sanderson]

Vanessa's humming stopped when she heard another's voice calling out a name. Whose name it was, the Hufflegirl didn't know, but she wondered if this person would help her with the little owl. However, when she thought about it more, Vanessa worried that the person who was now in the owlery would think she had done something to the small bird. Opening her eyes wide, she looked up at the kid who came in, hovering over her and the bird and she started to shake her head and shrug. "I...I... don....don't know," Vanessa stumbled over her words nervously, stopping any soothing she was trying to do for the poor bird and getting up, quickly backing away from the injured bird.

"I just found him..." she whispered. Did the guy think she had anything to do with the bird being hurt? She'd never... but at the moment, she didn't really look too good hovering over the bird as she was doing so. Pushing some hair nervously behind her ear, she sighed and felt a bit distressed. It wasn't usual that she felt distressed... well, except when it came to other people, especially those she didn't know.

"Can... can you... I want to help," again she stuttered and shrugged. She had just been trying to send a letter... Vanessa just hoped this boy didn't assume her the culprit of the incident.

[Connor Manning]

Connor's brow furrowed slightly at the sounds of the bird's squawking, not only was it like nails on a chalkboard, it looked like the owl was only doing so because it was hurt. His eyes looked back to the girl who was now standing up and backing away from him. Did she think he would injure the bird further? A look of concern crossed his face, wondering why the girl was currently stuttering at him. " Yeah, uhh... I don't know what to do... " Connor admitted, folding his letter to his sister in half and putting it into his back pocket. He bent down even further, placing several fingers on top of the owl's head, petting it lightly in a soothing manner.

" I wonder what happened to it... " He wondered out loud, giving the girl another glance. He finally recognized her to be a sixth year Hufflepuff by the name of Vanessa. At least... he thought it was Vanessa. Or something to that effect, he wasn't positive as he had never talked to the girl before in his life.

Connor looked down to the bird, noticing how its wing looked a little crooked, the feathers splayed out in the wrong directions.

[Vanessa Sanderson]

As the boy started doing exactly what she had been doing, Vanessa sighed in relief as it didn't seem that he thought she had done anything. That was a huge weight off her chest, as she really didn't know how she'd prove that she wasn't the one who'd hurt the bird. But at the same time... he too, didn't know what to do. This was a horrible predicament for sure.

"I'm not sure... I came into the owlery to send my letter, and it was on the ground hurt. It's wing looks broken or something," Vanessa said softly as if not to alarm the bird anymore than it already seemed to be alarmed. She knelt down near the bird again and reached out, lightly touching it with the tips of her fingers. "Do you think it like hit one of the perches trying to land, and missed or something?" Vanessa said looking up at the perches and all the other owls.

[Connor Manning]

Connor wasn't a bird person. He had an owl, but he didn't know all that much about the species in general. He continued to stroke the bird's feathers lightly, hoping that it would calm it down a little bit. It appeared to be working a little bit, and the owl's screeching settled slightly in small whimpers instead. How on earth an owl could whimper, the Slytherin would never know. He looked to Vanessa as she talked, wondering if she was on to something in guessed that it had mislanded something or other and injured itself. " Maybe... it does look broken, though. " He mentioned with a small nod, agreeing that it didn't look all that great.

" There's this spell... I can't remember it exactly, something about keeping a limp still for it to heal. I wonder if it would work on a bird's wing... " He trailed off slightly, curious about whether or not it would be effective enough to help the bird. He couldn't really think of a reason why it wouldn't be able to work, but Connor didn't know anything about owls or how to heal them or help them. " D'you know whose it is? " He asked, shushing the bird as his fingers gingerly touched its wing, trying to find what was wrong.

" I'm Connor. You're... Vanessa, right? We have some classes together I believe. " He said when he finally realized that he hadn't properly introduced himself. Or sent his letter, for that matter.

[Vanessa Sanderson]

Vanessa nodded when Connor nodded and sighed, not trying to freak out but she couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor creature. However, when Connor said something about fixing it themselves, Vanessa's eyes widened in fear. "Oh! I dunno about that..." she whispered before he was even finished and shaking her head. He then asked her if she knew whose bird it could be. "I don't know," her shoulders lifted into a shrug and she gently shook her head again.

He knew her? Vanessa felt bad for smiling kindly, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't sure of anyone in her classes and only knew really Felicity, Celina and Drew, and Jason.... though, even they hung out limitedly. She was content with being by herself: enough said. "Umm... oh yea, hi. I've seen you hanging out with Felicity, Drew and Celina in classes..." she nodded again, but then her attention was brought back to the bird.

"We should take it to the hospital wing... or... or Davenport?" she asked, not knowing if that was the right answer. "We can't just leave it..." she whispered.

[Connor Manning]

" Oh, " Connor said, feeling a little bit deflated that she wasn't taking to his idea as well as he thought she would. " But what if it's a simple fix? Something that would only need to be remedied by keeping the wing straight? " He knew his voice didn't sound all that reassuring or confident, but Connor couldn't think of anything else to do. Was there a hospital for owls? Probably. Around Hogwarts? Probably not... The only place he could think of would be to Professor Davenport. Would the woman be able to help the small owl? Connor was sure she would, but getting down to where ever the woman would happen to be might prove difficult with an owl in tow. Then again... they could always have the woman come to them.

Connor's mind was wandering around feeling lost, thinking of ways to not only find someone to help, but also bring them up to the owlry. He had almost forgotten that he had introduced himself and he was confused why she was talking about Celina, Drew and Felicity. It took him a couple of seconds before he knew what she was talking about. " Oh, yeh. We're friends. " He shrugged his shoulders, knowing now was not the time to go into his currently strange relationship with Celina. With Drew and Felicity, though, he felt comfortable in calling them friends. He wasn't extremely close to either of them, but they were friends.

" Davenport, I think... how do we find her? " He asked, also agreeing that they couldn't just leave the animal.