Jupiter | Harry James Potter

xi ; the owlery

"Well, that's why! Jove's skittish, mate, you just gotta do it. Can't give her time to overthink it." Ron shrugged, walking back over to his bed casually.

"How do you know she just didn't want to?" I asked, and Ron rolled his eyes as he rolled under his quilted blanket. The lights flickered off instantaneously.

"Jove's mad for you. You're about the only person who doesn't see it." Ron said with a laugh.

"You're lying." I muttered, then looked to the right of the room, where Dean, Seamus and Neville had all sat up in their beds.

"It's pretty obvious." Dean said with a sigh.

"Even I can see it." Neville said, earning a snicker from Ron.

I stared at them, my mind going fuzzy. Was Jupiter actually 'mad'? I didn't see it, but apparently everyone else was in agreement with Ron. Maybe I was too busy being mad for her to notice.

- JUPITER -

I walked up the stone steps to the owlery, my letter for Sirius clutched tightly in my hand as I gripped the railing with my other. I had to hold my breath every time I went up to the owlery, seeing as it was at the very top of the West tower.

The Owlery presented itself as a circular stone chamber, chilly and breezy, its windows devoid of glass. The floor was completely strewn with straw, owl pellets, and the remnants of mice and voles they had consumed then regurgitated.

Countless owls of various breeds rested within the Owlery, their perches extending to the tower's summit. The majority slumbered peacefully, yet sporadically, I noticed a piercing amber eye fixed upon me with an intense gaze. I quickly spotted Hedwig and hurried over to her, carefully moving my feet so I wouldn't step on the droppings all over the floor.

There were footsteps behind me, and I didn't think anything of it until I heard them quickly stop, then heard them turn on their heel.

"Harry?" I called as I turned to see him quickly walking back down the stairs. He froze, and faced me, an embarrassed look on his face.

"Hey, er- Jupiter." He said, and he hid something behind his back as he walked up the stairs again.

"What're you hiding?" I asked him as I slowly backed into the owlery.

"Nothing." He muttered quickly.

"So it's not a letter?" I sighed, crossing my arms. "You came to the owlery for a gab, then?"

Harry blinked, just standing opposite of me for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's to Sirius, isn't it?" I sighed, rolling my eyes at him as I turned my back to him and walked towards Hedwig. "I suppose we can both just use Hedwig to send our letters to him. Even though you promised you wouldn't do anything else."

"I didn't promise that. I promised that I wouldn't blame myself, that's it." Harry said, quickly walking to catch up to me. "And besides, that's not really what the letters about."

"What's it about then?" I asked him as I tied my letter to Hedwig's leg.

"Er- nothing. Just catching up." Harry said hesitantly. I tried to ignore his eyes on me as I tied the string as quickly as possible. "Yours?"

I had confessed to Sirius my odd yet intense feelings for Harry. I wasn't sure who else to go to. Hermione just tells to tell him, and I wouldn't dare go to Ron, he'd just blab to Harry. Sure, I talked to other people in our year, but I had been so preoccupied with the family aspects of my life, that I'd forgotten about the social part.

"Same. Catching up." I said, holding my hand out for his letter. He placed it in my hand, and it felt oddly heavy. I wondered what he had been writing about as I tied it. Possibly about how embarrassing last night was.