Detention with the Owls

Robert glared at the door of the owlry waiting for the two girls to show up for their detention. They were late but he didn’t expect anything else from a pair or worthless students that had nothing better to do than waste his time. He was about to go on a rampage and hunt the two girls down when he heard the muffled voices and shuffling of feet making there way up the steps of the owlery.

He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare at the back of the door, waiting, ever impatiently for the two girls to finally arrive.

“I’m glad you took your time, I hope this isn’t an inconvenience for you,” his voice was laced with sarcasm, as the two girls entered through the door. “I mean, I enjoy waiting around all morning, it’s not as if I have anything better to do with my time.”

He turned his back to them and walked around the corner in the owlry to a table on which sat a large tub and a set of cleaning supplies. He assumed the two girls had followed as he began to explain to them what their detention would be.

“It has come to my attention that the school owls are in need of some care of their own, frankly a lot of them stink, and it is now your job to change that fact. I have left you a tub which you will have to fill with water and then clean the owls with.” He turned to face the girls and then pointed at several rows of perches, “I have done you a favour and found you the dirtiest owls, and lucky for you they are not happy about it, in fact I doubt they will co-operate very well. But you’ll just have to deal with it.”

A rather vicious looking owl that was sat nearby on one of the perches that Robert had indicated screeched in disapproval and glared at the three people in the room. It was as if it knew what was coming and it definitely was not please about it.

“I have more important things to be dealing with, so I will be back to check on you in my own time, don’t even think about messing around or doing a poor job, because otherwise I will just find you more owls to clean, there are plenty of them.”

Robert then marched passed them, flung the door open and stormed down the steps, he hated dealing with the students at the best of times and recently he just wasn’t in the mood to deal with them at all.

Hester arrived at the owlery and checked her watch. It was very early and he hadn't given them a time to arrive so she didn't understand why he was saying that they were late. She bit back a retort; it wouldn't do to make him even more angry.

She followed him inside and listened carefully to what they had to do.

It didn't seem too bad. Well, a little disgusting and, ok, perhaps quite dangerous, but they were just owls. She liked owls.

Hester grabbed the tub and filled it with water. She then reached out gingerly and gripped the nearest owl by its beak and claws. It struggled and scratched at her hand but it couldn't bite her.

She dunked it in the water and had to let go of its claws to clean it, trying to get the grime out from in between its feathers. It scratched and flailed but she didn't let go.

"There there," she cooed softly, trying to calm the bird down. It didn't work.

She scrubbed for a good five minutes on just that owl and then lifted it up and gave it a sniff. It protested feebly. It didn't smell as bad as it had before, but she gave it a bit more of a wash before letting it fly back to its perch.

She reached out and grabbed the next owl, receiving a large scratch on her arm. She bit her lip; it really stung. But she ignored it and began washing the next owl.

When Lavender arrived at the owlery, apparently she was late, Hester was already there. They listened intently to their instructions before setting to work. Lavender watched Hester first, unsure in how to go about their task. Once she'd seen enough she began to do the same, trying her hardest not to get scratched. Though she seemed to fail at this, gaining several gashes on the inside of her right forearm. They didn't hurt that much though. Lavender's eyes darted to Hester as a bird scratched the red head, it looked a lot worse than her own.

"Are you okay?" She asked, taking the other girls arm to get a better look at it.

"I'm fine," said Hester, trying to hide her arm. She hated having a fuss made of her and Lavender had already had to deal with her in a state before. "Are you ok?" she asked, noticing the other girl's cuts.

She kissed her on her forearm and then shrugged.

"Come on, let's get this over with quickly," she said, yawning. She had stayed up too late last night what with every Gryffindor girl in Hogwarts (so it seemed) deciding that they would stay in the common room.

She began to clean the next owl, again cooing softly to it. This one seemed to like the noises she made and was a lot calmer than the previous one. Still dangerous though.

Lavender let Hester take her arm away, though reluctant.

"Yes, I'm all right," She smiled thankfully at the older girl. Lavender nodded in agreement with Hester's last statement about being quick before grabbing another owl and starting to clean its feathers. She glanced at the red head, who seemed to have picked a calmer owl. When Hester yawned she couldn't help but feel a little guilty. "Sorry for keeping you out late," Lavender gave the red head a frown.

Hester finished washing the owl, making sure all of its feathers were pointing the right way and keeping a firm hold over its beak so that it couldn't bite her. She gave it a quick dry with a towel and then let go of it, ducking out of the way as it flapped its wings right in her face.

"Nah, it's fine. It was the Gryffindors' fault," she said with a smile. "I loved being out with you. I would suggest doing it again, except I really don't want to get on the wring side of the caretaker again."

She grabbed a hold of another owl, her third so far. She checked her watch. It had taken them ages even to do this much and breakfast would be nearly over. She rolled her eyes and began to clean this one.

He was evil. Even worse than the first one she had got a hold of.

She scrubbed at his feathers, dodging his nips and bites and trying to stop him from flying away.

Lavender took the towel after Hester was done with it and tried the owl before basically chucking it away from her so it wouldn't attack her with its wings. She grabbed another owl just as Hester had before beginning the process all over again with a tired sigh.

"I would love to do it again, but yes, annoying the caretaker isn't such a good idea. Maybe we can find somewhere else to go, where we won't get caught," She muttered the last past, so if the grumpy old man were to return he wouldn't hear her. Lavender turned back to the owl she was attempting to clean, it wasn't very fussy but it was very dirty.

"How many are there left?" Hester asked, but then she saw that the owlery was full of the wretched birds.

She tried cooing again, but the owl was having none of it and managed to free its beak from her grasp.

"Oh gah! What the hell?" Hester exclaimed as the bird bit her sharply on her palm, drawing blood. "These owls are nightmares!" She wiped the blood onto her robes and thrust her hand (and the bird) back into the bucket of water.

Lavender was about to answer when her current owl squealed loudly, it also looked like Hester had answered her own question anyway. Lavender had just finished the next owl when Hester was bitten on the palm.

"They are aren't they?" She looked worriedly at the red head, who merely wiped the blood onto her robes. "Are you sure that's okay?" Lavender nodded towards the hand in question, ignoring the fact her current owl was beginning to nibble at her robes. She didn't care about that, she just wanted Hester to be fine.

"It's fine," said Hester, hiding her hand. "Seriously. If it makes you feel any better, you can look at it when we're finished."

She smiled reassuringly at Lavender and continued washing the owl. This one was so coated in grime that Hester wondered whether it had always been this colour. She would have believed that if she hadn't been able to see a glimmer of white where its feathers were the correct colour.

She sighed and kept on washing and fighting.

Lavender sighed, dropping her shoulders in defeat, though smiling slightly when Hester gave her a life line, so to speak.

"I'll hold you to that," Lavender turned back to her current owl, who was a lot more calm the previous ones. It just sat there and let her do all the work, though she was slightly thankful for that. Lavender glanced at the read head bside her every so often, just to keep an eye on her.

Hester frowned as she grabbed a hold of what felt like her millionth owl. Her hand stung sharply in the soapy water and she winced.

She wondered whether the teacher would come back soon. It felt like they had been there for ages and ages.

She rinsed the bird, snapping sharply at it to "Stop pecking at once!" when it tried to nip her. She glared at it, feeling grumpy and unhappy. It didn't help that she was sleep deprived and hungry as well.

She let go of the owl and reached for another one, receiving another cut on her arm from its sharp claws.

"I bet Mr Campbell sharpened their claws especially," she muttered to Lavender.

Lavender nodded as Hester spoke, she was probably right.

"I wouldn't be surprised," She dropped the nice owl and proceeded to grab another one, this owl was also quite calm. Though it flinched every now and then, mainly when Lavender cleaned it's feathers. She wanted to know when the caretaker would be back, they'd been there ages she was sure. But being with Hester did make it a lot better than it would have been with anyone else, or own her own.

Hester frowned at the next owl.

"Come here, you stupid bird," she said, annoyed. She was worried about Atlas and Leo. She hoped that they would stay up her sleeve in safety and not come creeping out and get eaten.

She grabbed the owl and wrestled it over to the bucket of water.

"There, there. It's just a wash," she hissed. "I swear, if we have to stay here much longer I'll go mad," she said to Lavender.

Lavender watched Hester struggle with her next bird, wanting desperately to help, but knowing she should get on. Plus Hester would insist on doing it herself, persistent as she was. Lavender liked her even more for that.

"Me too," Lavender nodded at Hester's comment about going mad. Surely the caretaker would be back soon. "What do you want to do when we're done here?" She asked, plunging another owl into the warm water.

"Oh, I don't- OW!" Hester shrieked. "Bloody owl..."

She realised that she was getting more and more dramatic, probably from the lack of sleep the previous night.

She pulled at the protesting bird's feathers, trying to be gentle without getting her fingers bitten off in the process. She didn't want to hurt the owls, but the owls sure as hell wanted to hurt her.

"I've got lessons today, but I'd like to get something to eat before them," said Hester, finishing off cleaning the owl. She dried it with a towel, trying to get the water off its feathers. The owl's claw tore a huge gash in the towel and Hester threw it across the room (the towel not the owl).

Lavender jumped slightly when Hester yelped in pain, it was a noise she didn't want to hear. It made her feel the pain too. She contemplated asking if the girl was okay, but knew her answer would be similar to those she'd already given earlier.

"I meant other than lessons," Lavender stuck her tongue out at the red head with a grin. "Something to eat sounds good. I had an idea..." She trailed off. Would Hester really want to spend that much time with her. "Do-do you want to eat with me, in the kitchens?" Lavender looked away from the red head, focusing back on the owl in her hands.

Hester attempted to dry the owl with the remainder of the towel. It was difficult to say the least.

"That-" she blushed. "That would be great."

She smiled at Lavender.

"I'd love to have breakfast with you."

She gave up trying to dry the owl; if it was going to fight so much then it would be its problem if it caught a chill. She let go of it, letting it fly away, dodging away from its claws.

Then she reached for the next one.

"I wish the teacher had told us how many we had to do," she said, quietly in case he was near by and heard her.

Lavender grinned when Hester agreed to have lunch with her, it made her day to say the least.

"Great," She glanced at the red head before turning back to the owl she was dunking in the water, it was still pretty calm about the whole ordeal. Thank goodness. Though Hester wasn't having much luck finding the nice owls, she seemed to only grab the horrible ones. "Yeah, I wish he had. This is actually quite exhausting, let alone monotonous," Lavender began to dry her current owl, with much ease.

Hester frowned. Perhaps Lavender was just... A bird person... Or something. Well, Hester wasn't, and these owls were vicious.

She scrubbed the owl she was currently holding clean. She had long since lost count of how many she had done and she was sure that their first lesson of the day would have started already. She hated missing her lessons; there was so much she needed to learn about the wizarding world.

The owl in her hands shrieked as she accidently got water in its eyes.

"Oh my gosh stop it already!" she yelled, trying to stop the owl from flapping all over the place. She grabbed the scrap that was all that was left of her towel and attempted to dry the creature. In the end she gave up and let the bird go.

"And now I have to do another one," she muttered.

Lavender watched Hester struggle, she was desperate to help in some way but didn't know how. She sighed and grabbed another owl, this one wasn't as calm as the last two. Then it hit her.

"Oh! I remember now! Hester!" Lavender turned to the girl beside her. "To calm them down, just rub behind their ears," She gave it a go on the owl she was holding, though with great difficulty, and the owl stopped flailing, going into a more sleep like state. "It doesn't work on all owls, you could try though," Lavender smiled, hoping it would work for Hester and hoping she'd helped.

"Seriously?" asked Hester. "Where'd you learn that?"

She grabbed her next owl and, after much struggling to even reach its head, she rubbed it behind its ears, just like Lavender had done to hers.

It calmed a little, but not much. It was still hell to work with. At least it wasn't trying to scratch her skin off any more.

"Perhaps you really do just have the owl 'touch'," she said. "My Dad's a bit like that with cats. They'll try and kill someone else but they just curl up and fall asleep on him."

Lavender smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up as Hester said she had the 'owl touch'.

"I get it from my brother, he's quite good with all animals really," She smiled at the thought of her brother, she missed him. Pushing these thoughts to the back of her mind for another time, she looked at the door. "Where is he? We've been here ages," Lavender rolled her eyes. Maybe the man would be in a better mood when he got back.

Hester scrubbed at her owl, wishing that the guy would return.

"I'm starving!" she complained, her stomach rumbling loudly as if to prove her point. "Seriously, I think we've been punished enough."

She found her scrap of towel again and dried the slightly better behaved owl, even though she was sure that by now the towel would be making the owls even more dirty.

Lavender nodded in agreement about the red heads hunger, she was quite peckish too.

"Yep I think we have," She dropped the owl she'd just cleaned to pick up yet another one. This one wasn't as happy as the others, and rubbing behind its ear didn't help. Lavender shoved it in the water, fed up and not wanting to see another owl ever again. "Have you eaten in the kitchens before?" She asked Hester, looking at the girl with an admiring smile.