Casey walked the familiar path to the Owlery, she easily spotted her tawny owl Gwen and a small smile played lightly on her lips. The faithful, seeing its owner, flew over and landed on Casey's outstretched arm. "Hello there" she said quietly stroking Gwen's beak. For the moment she had forgotten the letters she always sent dutifully to her father were in her pocket as she stood content with the way of life. She sighed softly, "Sometimes I wish you could talk..."

Circe wandered up to the owlery wiht a letter clutched in her hand and some bacon wrapped in a napkin in her other hand. She was going to send a letter bach to her mum,she really missed her. She marched up thte stairs , her black and white converse making hardly any noise at all on the stone steps. The girl opened the door which made some of the owls flutter their wings in surprise.

She was about to call her owl down when she saw another girl in there as well.
"Oh hullo."She smiled slightly.

Casey looked up as she heard someone step in. When she saw it was a girl she felt herself relax a little, not quite realizing how much she had tensed up. She continued to stroke Gwen, "Hullo..." she said shyly. She managed to put on a small smile trying not to seem mean or anything. She was just shy...

Circe smiled and brushed her bangs to the side."What's your name?"She asked curiously, feeling that she should probably keep the conversation going. The girl looked really shy. She looked around for her owl before giving the girl a curious look.

Casey felt small amount of gratitude towards this girl, glad that she had decided to keep a conversation going. Standing in complete silence was always awkward. And it saved Casey from having to summon up the nerve to ask questions. "I'm Casey.. What's yours?" it was the least she could to ask the girl's name.

"Nice to meet you."She smiled and put the letter in her other hand, so she could shake Casey's hand."I'm Circe,that's a really pretty owl by the way." She nodded and brushed her bangs to the side once more."What house are you in?"

"Nice to meet you too." Casey said as she shook Casey's hand. "Thanks! Her name is Gwen.... I named her after a character in one of my favorite books." She explained rather lamely. She wasn't quite as shy around Circe anymore, but still rather quiet. She looked down at the ground, and brought her eyes up to look at Gwen and then Circe. "I'm a Hufflepuff, 5th year. What about you?"

Circe smiled cheerfully at Casey." That's awesome,what book?"She asked curiously." Nice nice,I'm gryffindor 6th year." She looked at Casey and then at her owl. Just as she was about to call her owl,it came and swooped down stealing the piece of bacon in her hand.
"Oz!."She said in surprise as the brown and black horned owl perched itself on her shoulder, munching on the piece of bacon. His yellow eyes staring intently at the other owl,his feathers ruffled."Um..this is Oz."

"Well it was so much one book, I named her after Gwenhwyfar, King Arthur's wife and Lancelet's lover. I've always loved the tale of Kind Arthur." Casey explained stroking her owl lovingly. She watched as Oz swooped down, she had always loved animals, birds in particular. "He's pretty cute"

"Omygosh really? Me too!"She smiled happily at Casey. They seemed to have something in common which was always good."Thanks, I just got him last year my other owl,Bert, he went missing when he was delivering a letter for me...it was really sad cause I had had him for a long time, but Oz is a pretty good owl."She smiled once more and stroked his feathers aswell.

Casey smiled, at least they had something in common. "It never grows old really, everyone has a different way of telling his tale..." She added. "That's sad! I'm really sorry. But at least Oz is a good owl. I love Gwen, if she went missing I don't think I could really deal with that..." she said as stroked Gwen lovingly, smiling at her owl

"Yeah."She smiled."I find it so fascinating!" She nodded and looked up at her owl. She took the other piece of bacon out of the napkin and gave it to Oz. He munched on it happily.'Yeah it was really hard to deal with, but I Guess with time you just learn to let things go."

Casey nodded in agreement, "it really is quite fascinating, I would love to go back in time just to see King Arther and his Companions." she admitted. She looked at Gwen, studying her for a second. She just couldn't imagine not having her, it would be like a two-year-old losing a teddy that they had dragged absolutely everywhere with them. "Still at least you have Oz now, he seems like a good owl"

"Oh me too!"She said smiling."Yeah it would be really interesting."Circe nodded and smiled once more, still petting Oz."Yeah he's a really good owl, I'm actually just sneding an owl out to my mum, I'm getting really homesick and I miss her alot."She nodded looking down at the letter in parchment that she held in her hand.

"Oh really? I'm just sending a letter home to my father... Where's home for you?" she asked, her smile had faded a bit at the mentioning of homes, mothers and fathers. But she tried not to let it show too much. Her owl peck her arm persistently, "Ouch Gwen! stop it!" she said harshly trying to slip her a treat in order to get her to stop pecking at her arm. She pulled up the sleeve of her shift, her owl had formed a bruise on her already very bruised arm. She quickly pulled her sleeve back down, hiding the bruises.

"uuumm,well I was born and raised in canada so really that's my home and I didn't really want to leave but since I was 11 I've been in Dublin."She smiled and nodded."What about you?"
She watched as the owl pecked at her arm and frowned. She didn't really know what to do, but frowned even more when she saw the bruises on her arm. Circe could tell she was hiding something because she pulled her sleeve down really quick.
"Ummm...why do you have bruises on your arm?.. I don't want to be nosey...but I don't think you're supposed to have those kinds of bruises...they look kinda harsh."She said calmly but still really concerned about Casey.

"Canada huh? What's it like there? I've seen pictures, it all looks beautiful. I have to say I'd rather live in Canada than here in England.. but that's just me." Casey stated, "Born and raised in England, I live in a small town just outside of Norwich, not far from the coast or the river"
Casey looked up at Circe trying to think of some reasonable lie. "It's nothing really.. I fell off of my bike and hit my arm against something over the holidays. They're almost gone..." she lied, her voice surprisingly steady and calm.

"Canada? Oh it's amazing, lots of snow... I honestly love the snow...you should go there."She smiled as she stroked her owls feathers."That's really awesome!"

Circe raised her eyebrow slightly as she told her what had happened. She didn't believe her.
"Are you sure?"She asked."They don't look like those kind of bruises to me...are you sure you don't want to tell me?"

"Maybe I'll go there after I get out of here..." Casey stated as she thought of all the possibilities that she had once she was out of school, "I love the snow too... but sometimes it just gets so cold!"

Casey shrugged, she wasn't really sure what to say, nor did she really trust herself to speak. She rubbed her arm absentmindedly, avoinding eye contact with Circe. "Well...." she said slowly, not really knowing where she was going with that so she just shut her mouth before she said anything that she would regret

"Oh I know!."She laughed." it gets to about -40 ceclius sometimes, it's really crazy!" She nodded and looked at her. Circe was really concerned but she didn't really want to be nosey.
"Honestly..you can tell me, I won't say anything if you don't want me to...I'm really trustworthy."She said calmly."It's just that...people shouldn't have bruises like that.."

"Gosh that's freezing!! I think I'd like die from frostbite... I've never been good in cold weather..." Casey said laughing slightly.
She looked down at the floor, shuffling her feet, her owl Gwen persched on a shelf just by her head. "I... I know I shouldn't have bruises like that... but I... I don't know... It's not that I don't trust you... It's just... He'd kill me if I ever told anyone" she stammered, not looking up

"Ah you get used to it, after a while and really it's not that cold."She laughed.

Circe looked at Casey briefly before she too looked at the floor.
"Well he wouldn't find out that you told me, because I wouldn't say anything."She said still in the same calm voice.

Casey shrugged, "I suppose that would make sense.. but I still think I'd die before I got used to it" she said with a laugh

"But... But what if ... what if he did find out.." Casey managed to say, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. "What if he did find out... he'd beat.... me... he'd kill me" Her voice was small and her hands were shaking, she was doing everything she could to keep her voice somewhat steady.

" I think you'd be fine...just wear a parka!"She laughed but then the grin off her face slid away.
"He won't find out, I can promise that he won't find out...you need to tell me cause then I can help you."She said firmly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Oz flew up onto the shelf with Gwen."Who's doing this to you cause I know for a fact you didn't fall."

Casey suddenly felt small, like a little girl who just wants her mum. She hesitated for a second, not sure whether to tell Circe or not who beat her. She wanted to, but she was scared. She was terrified of what would happen should he find out, but Circe had promised he wouldn't find out.
"My.... My.... "She hesitated, trying to summon what little courage she had, "...dad." Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she could hardly stop it from shaking.

Circe wanted her to tell her because then she could try and help her. She waited patiently as she tried and felt really sorry for her. She didn't think anyone should have to go through anything like that.
"I see."She said gravely.'"Why does he do stuff like that? Seriously...no one should have to go through that."
Circe didn't think that freaking out as she said that it wasa her dad would help Casey much so she tried to stay as calm as possible.

Casey managed to pull herself together, at least a little bit. She hated, more than anything, breaking down in front of people. She hated the feeling of being weak and powerless, yet it was a feeling that she felt almost every day.
"Because... he gets drunk every night... and he.. he blames me for..." but Casey couldn't bring herself to say it. In truth she, too, blamed herself for her mother's death, though she had never quite admitted, and believed that she really deserved what her dad did to her. "I deserve it..."

Circe looked at her,a concerned looked stretched across her face.
"Blames you for what?"She asked raising an eyebrow."Don't say that...you don't deserve it, he shouldn't be doing this to you it's not right not right at all."

"Because... Because it my fault that my mother's dead. It's my fault" Casey said defensively, "And I do deserve it... if it hadn't of been for me she'd still be alive"

"No! No!"Circe said, her eyes widening a bit."You don't deserve it! No one deserves that! It's not right and he shouldn't be doing it!"

Casey looked up her eyes brimming with tears that she was trying to blink back. "He doesn't mean to... he doesn't know what he's doing..." she said quietly, defending the man who had caused her so much pain over the years. "Even if I didn't deserve it that wouldn't stop him"

Circe brushed her hand through her hair uncomfortably. She didn't want to see Casey like this at all.
"Still."She said quietly."You don't deserve it, not one bit...you shouldn't be defending him and even if he is drunk of whacked in the head that's not reason to defend him."

Casey looked down at the floor, a single tear rolled down her cheek and fell to the floor. She never cried in front of people, she hated it, and she hated being like this in front of Circe. "You won't.. You won't tell anyone will you?"

Circe shook her head slowly.
"I won't say anything I promise."She smiled slightly."But you have to let me try and help okay?"

Casey looked up at her, she had managed to rid herself of tears. "How... how can you help?" she asked

Circe brushed her bangs to the side.
"Ummm well to be honest I don't really know...but I'm gonna try."She said.

Casey shrugged but smiled, she still felt that she did need help, nor did she believe that what her dad was doing was wrong. But she couldn't bothered to argue. She held out her arm and Gwen fluttered down onto it where Casey attached the letter to her leg.

Circe smiled slightly. She didn't want this to be happening to Casey but she didn't really know what she could do to help her. She really wanted to help though.
"Oz, come here gotta send a letter."She called over to her owl. He flew over and landed on her shoulder. Circe attached the letter to his leg."Send it to mum kay?"
The owl hooted and flew off out the window. Circe looked around, not really knowing what to say anymore.

Casey's owl took off to give her letters to her father. When she was gone Casey looked up at Circe, "Why... Why would it make any difference to you if my dad hit me or not?" she questioned curiously. She wasn't trying to sound mean or anything, but no one had ever tried to help before, no one had ever cared. Why should people start caring now?

Circe watched the owl fly out of the owlery before hearing what Casey had asked. She didn't answer right away.
"Well, because I care and I don't think it's right...you shouldn't be treated like that and yeah, I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore."She said looking at the floor.