Re: The Owlery

[Nymphadora Tonks]

Nymphadora strode ahead, and waited until Lily walked through the door and they could walk side by side before she kept going. She beamed as Lily said her friend's name and exclaimed. "Ted? Ted Tonks? He's a cousin of mine! Not sure how close, but we've met briefly a few times. My full name is Nymphadora Tonks, by the way. By Merlin, Nymphadora is just such an awful name. " Casually she turned to an almost hidden flight of stairs, taking them extra slowly. "This is...a bit of a shortcut, but mostly it's just less traveled. You're really a friend of a Marauder and haven't snuck into the kitchens before?" She couldn't keep from asking, it seemed a curious circumstance.

[Lily Evans]

Lily mis-stepped in her surprise and grabbed the railing to keep upright. "You're Ted's cousin? Wow, I half expected he was kidding. He told me once he had a younger cousin coming here, but he usually doesn't talk about his family all that much." Lily chewed absently on her lip as she walked beside the younger girl, still digesting the new information as they headed down the quieter set of stairs. "Oh! Well, I'm not really friends with the Marauders, it's just that Remus and I are rather close. We're prefects together," she explained. "I don't know, he's quite a bit different from his friends in a lot of ways. When we're patrolling the halls we're more likely to be talking about books than anything else," she confessed. Of course, if she'd really thought of it before, she might have wheedled the trick to getting into the kitchens out of him long ago.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

Nymphadora burst out laughing, and nearly tripped before she steadied herself. "Heh, sorry, not that funny...just...oh our family. I don't talk about it much either. We've got some bad eggs who think we're bad eggs. But joking? Nah. I'm not a Tonks to joke about. " She struck a pose she hoped was impressive and humorous. It ended up being mostly humorous and she shrugged, grinning. " Ohh...I see. Remus, not the Marauders. Hm. So. I'm helping a prefect sneak into the kitchens? Shouldn't have said my name I s'pose. " Smirking, she turned away and continued walking.
"Books are all well and good but I prefer flitting about the castle, myself. Seeing all the nooks and crannies. It's a fascinating place..with lots of fascinating people. People-watching is fun too." And people-charming, for the occasional magic prank.

[Lily Evans]

Lily laughed along as Nymph explained her family a little bit, finishing off with a pose. She looked away, under the pretense of watching her step, and considered. Just Remus? Was it really just Remus she was friends with, of the four of them? True, at the start of the year she'd have said so without a second thought, but weren't things different now? She couldn't say much for Pettigrew and Black, they might have been alright except for their stupid pranks that went too far, but they still weren't really 'friends'. And Potter... Well, maybe they were friends now, or maybe they were just friendly, but it had definitely changed.
"Well, maybe Potter's not quite so bad," she admitted aloud, at last. "But certainly Remus and I have always been friends." She shook her head, laughing again when Nymph wondered about sneaking a prefect into the kitchens. "Well, I'd not worry too much about that - I'd only be taking myself down with you if I reported you, right? People watching is interesting, too, I suppose. You sure learn a lot about them that way..."

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"Yeah, I s'pose you would be taking yourself down. Huh. Goodie! As for the Marauders, they're legend. You're on good terms with even some of them, sounds cool to me. I wish I knew them." She kept quiet as they turned down a few more empty hallways, Giving a brief two-fingered salute casually to a stack of barrels she let the only sound be their footsteps on the stone floor until finally pausing in front of a fantastic painting of a bowl of fruit. Blasted barrels. Where's that painting...Oh. Here it is.
"Have you seen this painting before, Lily?" Nymphadora turned to her new friend, smiling slightly. "Personally, it's one of my favorites in the entire castle." She reached up and let her fingers lightly skim the surface of the painting, and tickled the pear. It began to giggle, then transformed into a doorknob.
Nymphadora's eyes gleamed and she grinned. "After you."

[Lily Evans]

Lily chuckled. "Something tells me they'd be thrilled to know they're still the height of cool. If I ever get the chance, I'll introduce you. Have to warn you, though, you'll probably come to realise they are actually complete prats once you get to know them," she warned with a little grin. They were prats, but not so bad, really. Lily raised her eyebrows as Nymph made an interesting hand gesture at a stack of barrels. "Long standing feud with those barrels?" she wondered, almost missing it when Nymph stopped in front of a painting.
She stopped and turned herself around to face it. She shook her head 'no', she hadn't seen it before. Not being much for art, herself, she gave the bowl of fruit a cursory glance and wondered what was quite so special about it. The unasked question was answered a moment later when the ticklish pear -Lily giggled along with it- suddenly became a doorknob.
"Oh, neat!" she enthused. Grinning back at the other girl, she made a little 'why, thank you' bow and turned the doorknob. "Wonder if the pear likes that," she muttered, pulling so that the portrait swung outward on its hinges, revealing the entryway to the kitchens. "Brilliant," she breathed, and didn't have to be asked twice to climb through.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"Poke those barrels and you get doused with vinegar. At least, it's happened to me before." Beaming, she walked in after Lily. "Ah, it's brilliant here. " Her gaze roamed around the room at the busy house elves and currently empty long tables like those in the great hall. The smell of food wafted temptingly through the air, making Nymph's stomach grumble.
"Would Miss Nymphadora and her friend like anything?" A little house-elf stood in front of them, looking expectant. Kneeling down, Nymph replied "Two mugs of hot cocoa would be lovely. And..maybe a couple of fresh rolls if you've got them handy?"
"Of course, miss!" Looking cheery, the elf darted off and Nymph turned back to Lily. "They're sweet, the elves. What do you think of the kitchens?"

[Lily Evans]

"Charming," Lily said with a laugh, imagining an unexpected vinegar shower. She looked around at the kitchen, her eyes widening with interest as she watched the sweet little house-elves darting about here and there. They all looked busy, but happy, and Lily filed that thought away for quiet times later when she could ponder the unsettling politics of slavery when the slaves seemed perfectly content with their situation.
"Hello," she said, blinking at the house-elf that had popped up in front of Nymph to see what the two girls wanted. The elf zipped off to fetch the hot cocoa and rolls, and Lily resumed taking in the details of the kitchen. "I think they're brilliant," she grinned, moving in to take a closer look at the four long tables. "D'you know how these work? They're just like the house tables in the Great Hall - we must be directly underneath, then. Some sort of transference magic, I suppose," she mused, looking around to Nymph to see if she had any ideas.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

Nymphadora looked at them, curious. She's wondered before, but never pondered aloud with another person. "Probably. If these imitate the ones in the Great Hall...and that's just above here...." She walked around the tables with her hands in the pockets of her jeans, cloak swishing around her ankles. "Of course there must be some connection, aiding the magic of getting the food to the right place on the table." Nymph looked up at Lily. "What time is it, do you know? I don't think it's near meal-time, but if it were we could see what happens. I've always been curious as to how the magic works but I've never been here close enough to dinner or anything." The house elf returned and handed them their drinks and food, and Nymph smiled at her. "Thank you very much."

[Lily Evans]

Lily nodded, also wandering between the tables as she thought about the possibilities. "There must be. Not sure what exactly, though. Oh," she checked her watch, "I don't think so, not for another hour at least most likely. I guess we'll just have to plan for it next time."
The house-elf returned with their drinks and rolls then, Lily smiled as she took her share and tried a sip of cocoa. "Oh God that's good. Thanks. Oh maybe you'd--" she began, but was too late. The house-elf had bowed and scurried off before she could ask her question. Lily turned to Nymph and shrugged. "I was going to ask how they did it, with the tables, but maybe next time."

[Nymphadora Tonks]

Glancing at the retreating elf, Nymphadora shrugged. "Next time. " She tore a chunk of bread from the roll and gulped some of her cocoa. For a while, she said nothing. her mind had wandered off down corridors and was imagining running through the school and ways to terrorize a poltergeist. "Hey, Lily?" She finally said. "Do you think you could introduce me to the Marauders? Not necessarily NOW I mean, just sometime. Or at least to Remus, because you said you weren't really friends with the others." A slight smile had crept its way onto her face. "Please?"

[Lily Evans]

Lily nibbled on her roll and sipped at her cocoa for a few minutes, comfortable in the silence that had fallen between them. She got herself thoroughly lost in her own thoughts during that time, and responded to Nymph's voice with only a vague "Hmm?" to begin with. Blinking, she came back to reality and turned her head towards her. "Oh, sorry, million miles away just now. The Marauders? Yeah, sure, no problem. I could let you know when Remus and I have Prefect duties together next. Or you could just stop by the Gryffindor table with me sometime," she suggested, smiling with a little twinge of irony as she added, "I don't think they're ever that far away, you'd most likely be in luck anytime there's food."

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"Anytime there's food....hm.." Nymphadora sipped her cocoa with a smirk. "Sure they wouldn't mind? Though perhaps it would be nicer to meet Remus on his own...he seems like the sensible one. It'd be interesting to see how he acts around friends. Some how I think he might be the only one that changes. Potter and Black seem like perpetual causes of mischief. Though, honestly..." She paused, grinning at Lily. "I don't mind mischief at all. Hope that's alright by you, prefect. You seem alright, at least one not to judge after one has snuck you into the kitchen and convinced an oh-so-stubborn house elf to give you cocoa." The confidant sarcasm matched her grin perfectly. Nymph decided she might've found a friend in Lily.

ooc: Sorry for the delay in replying!

[Lily Evans]

[No worries! XD I think we're all a bit pressed for time lately!]

"I don't think they'd mind at all. Probably best not to approach in the first ten minutes of a meal, though; you might get bitten," Lily cautioned with a soft snort. She took another long drink of cocoa, thinking over Nymph's next words before finally swallowing and smiling. She casually bypassed the mention of how Remus is with his friends, she didn't agree with the amount of rubbish he let his mates get away with but she wasn't about to say anything that might come off as disparaging against one of her oldest friends. "Whatever you like, I'm happy either way. And he is definitely more sensible than the other three. For the most part, anyway," she added, a little line appearing between her eyes, because hadn't Potter managed to give a couple of uncannily accurate impressions of a mature and sensible person of late? She shook her head and laughed. "You're not trying to blackmail me, are you? I should've known, free cocoa is never free. No, really, there's a difference between having a laugh or sneaking into the kitchens and doing something stupid and cruel that could get yourself or someone else hurt, right? Some of the people around here are really just tossers about that kind of thing." She shrugged and drained her mug, enjoying the feeling of the warm, chocolatey goodness as it slid down her throat and into her tummy. She smiled again at the girl across from her, enjoying her companionship.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"Never blackmail, that's just rude. And cocoa should always be free." Nymph grinned. "There is definitely a difference between sneaking around and bullying or something. Harmless pranks are the only fun ones. I admire the audacity and cleverness of the Marauders..but i've heard that some of their pranks...before I had heard of them, weren't as simply funny." She considered the momentary look of contemplation that had crossed Lily's face, and she hesitated. "Hey, Lily, after you said Remus was the most sensible one...you looked like you were rethinking something. Mind if I ask what?" Now that she thought of it, Lily spoke kindly of Remus much more than the others...but wasn't it someone named Lily that James Potter was so famously keen to be noticed by? Nymphadora wondered what exactly was between them, she was sure many people wondered.

[Lily Evans]

"Pretty rude, yeah," Lily agreed with a little grin. "I'd say all forms of chocolate should always be free, but my health and my desire to continue fitting into my robes disagree. She tucked her hair behind her ear and picked at her bun for a few moments, decimating it into little puffs of baked goodness that captured her attention until finally she looked up and shrugged with deceptive lightness. "Nothing earth-shattering, really, Nymph. I still stand by it that Remus is the most sensible of that lot, it had just occurred to me that Potter's not actually been all that bad this year is all. Little uncanny, really - I can't help but think that whenever they've gone all quiet like that, it means a giant load of chimera dung is about to explode all over the castle or something," she laughed, because history would put the odds in favour of that happening even if Lily didn't honestly think it was quite so likely anymore.

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"I don't have to worry about my form, thankfully. " The words spilled out before Nymph could stop herself, and she was abruptly silent for a minute, then relaxed and resumed her smile. She listened intently to Lily and when she mentioned the possibility of chimera dung, Nymph's eyes widened. "What? Did that happen? Because that's...I mean, it's brilliant but it's absolutely disgusting!" Her face radiated an expression of absolute shock and wonder. "I didn't know they were ever quite that bad!...or daring. "

[Lily Evans]

[Sorry it's been a few days. I tried to reply once a couple of days back, but it turned into this whole saga with a blackout at work and completely screwing up the last day before the holidays. -_-]

Lily blinked, put off by Nymph's strange turn of phrase, and her abrupt silence. She thought that was a fairly odd way to put things; most people would be likely to say something about not having to watch their figure, Nymph not worrying about her 'form' didn't quite fit. "Right," she said slowly, the little line reappearing between her eyes as if she wasn't quite sure how to respond. "Well lucky for you, I guess?"
She shook her head, holding back a smirk at the wide-eyed expression on the other girl's face at the mention of chimera dung. "No, they haven't. Well, it wasn't exactly dung, it was bile. And it wasn't from a chimera. And maybe not the entire castle, but near enough. It did explode, though," she said, recalling a fourth year incident with an alarming amount of worm bile and a timing system that had had invisible bombs of the stuff going off at random intervals for about three days. She shrugged. "That stuff's not bad, really. It's annoying and foul, sure, and nobody actually likes getting caught up in it, but it's fairly harmless in the end." It's all rather clever, really, she added silently. Then Lily smiled. "I don't think there's much of anything they've not been daring enough for, so far."

[Nymphadora Tonks]

"Bile....throughout the entire castle? " Nymph's eyes widened and she gave an involuntary shudder. "Yuck! Brilliant and harmless, but yuck. " When she tried to picture the scene, she just shuddered again. Hopefully my hair hasn't done something odd after picturing that in my mind... "After that awful image I sort of hate to ask...but what are the worst they've done? And the best. I mean, they can't all be creature bile scenarios. " Though impressed, Nymph was still determined to hear of any logical, decent things they had done. Well, logical and decent as school-wide famous prankster's ever are.

[Lily Evans]

Lily laughed, although there was a look of sympathy in her eyes at the obvious disgust Nymph had for that kind of prank. To be honest, Lily always thought she was lucky to have a strong stomach, or she might have been sick. Her eyes narrowed slightly, zeroing in on Nymph's hair. Was her vision playing tricks on her, or had the colour sort of washed out for the barest half-second the way some people's faces did when they were ill?
"Are you alright?" she wondered, concerned. She fell silent, wrinkling her nose as she thought and still keeping a curious eye on her new friend. "Erm, it's hard to say, to be honest. I mean, the worst they've done doesn't really fall into the category of pranking in my book, if you know what I mean. And the best..." she thought some more, running through the years in her mind in the hopes that some memory would jump out at her. "The singing dishware was pretty neat, I suppose. Kind of like Beauty and the Beast, actually."

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