Chase moved into the owlery and looked around for people. Nobody. Cracking open the letter he had recieved he read the first few sentences.

My dear boy,
Chase. I knew the day would come when you would go to hogwarts. I also knew that I would not be there to see you off. You may wonder why this letter is coming to you, after all I was killed. I wrote this letter years ago, when I first went to the seer. He told me what was to happen and I wrote this letter with you in mind. I never knew for a minute though, how I would die. That he refused to tell me. But congradulations. I'm glad you chose Hogwarts. I knew you would.
Always on your mind,
Mum.

Crumpling up the letter he sat down on the ground and leaned back on the hay. What a perfect way to say goodbye... He though. Sarcasm in your thoughts went a long way.

Scarlett had returned to the Owlery to make sure that she had left no pictures behind. When she arrived she saw the new guy sitting on the ground looking rather dispondent. She thought perhaps the crumpled letter in his hand might have something to do with. "Hey Chase," she said.

Chase looked up at her and stood to be nice. "Hey..." He spoke a bit better than he felt. Why didn't his mother just tell him what was doing to happen. Words that she used to use came into his head. 'We make our own destiny Chase... You know that.' "How are you?"

"Better than you it seems," Scarlett said gently. She thought maybe a small task would take his mind off his troubles. "Um actually I am lookin' for any pictures I might have dropped in here. The lawyers settled my parents' estate and my mamma left me a big box of pictures that spilled when they arrived. I thought I got them all, but I'd be awful sorry if I missed one ya know?"

Chase laughed a bit. "Perhaps you are..." He said, a tinge of something on his mind that he just couldn't place. When she said she was looking for any pictures she might have missed he raised an eyebrow. "Why not just summon them?" He asked with a slight smirk. The summoning spell was a spell that his family was known for, that way they never had to actually go back to get someting. Even in an awkward position they would simply summon it - whch is odd because you would think someone would wish themselves away from awkward situations no? Taking out his wand he thought of the perfect way to phrase it. "Accio Scarlett Carrington's forgotten photographs..." Chase moved his wand only slightly while he spoke but more after he did... Nothing came. "I think you got them all."

Scarlett laughed when Chase made the suggestion of summoning. Her family had not told her they were all witches until just before Scarlett had started going to Hogwarts. She thought all the muggleness had worn off from her after being here for so long, but every once in a while something like summoning a lost item got past her. "Silly me. You're right," she said. He performed the spell and nothing happened. "Well I guess I did get them all," Scarlett agreed. "Thanks so much for givin' me peace of mind." Scarlett looked at Chase closely. She knew that whatever had been troubling him when she walked in was none of her business, but that had never stopped Scarlett from nosing around before. And it didn't stop her today. "I could see that what ever you were reading did not bring a smile to your face. If you want to talk about it, I've got time." Scarlett made offers like this all the time. She was a very good listener, as most at Hogwarts could attest, but she was almost never offended when someone wanted to keep themselves to themself.

He shrugged, slightly annoyed with himself. "My mum died the day I got my Hogwarts letter." Chase said sitting on the sil of the window that many birds were flying in and out of. "Werewolf went after my sister and mum saved her. My sister's four you see, so she was scared as hell and crying and -" He paused and shrugged. "I, being an idiot and thinking my mum could handle him, took my sister into the vault." Chase looked at her. "We live in this huge manor and incase anybody's in real trouble, you lock yourself in the vault." He explained. "So I locked Callie in and went back to make sure my mum was okay - walked in on the werewolf ripping out her heart." Taking the letter out and uncrumpling it he showed it to her and let her read it. "Then today I got this..."

Scarlett listened with growing horror to Chase’s story. She took the crumpled letter from him and offered it, reading it through tear blurred eyes. It must have been so horrible for him to see that happen to his mother. She blinked a few times and cleared her throat. “Listening to your mother probably saved your sister’s life. What happened to the werewolf?” Scarlett asked thinking that if he had seen it kill his mother then there would have been no one to protect him after it was done with its gruesome feast.

"One of the dementors that guard the Manor finally found it." He said with an uncharactaristic shrug. It just looked odd. "I don't think it's gone though... Probably got away when dad came home." Chase's eyes rolled slightly when he spoke of his father. "Aweful man..." He whispered.

For a moment Scarlett didn’t know what to say. She had heard Chase mutter something unkind about his father, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask why he had said that. Some questions were just too rude. So she decided to take the conversation back to its original subject. “I got a letter like that from my Mamma too. It was on my last birthday. I guess she had set something up so the letter and my gift would come on the right day. I felt so strange after I had read. It felt like hearing a ghost.”

He nodded, noting that she was wondering why he had spoken ill of his father. "That's how I feel... It's just so - odd. As soon as I told myself she was gone..." Chase shook his head. "She is gone. But the letter just kind of hit me hard y'know?" He asked. He also knew of Scatlett's suspicions that he was a bad person, but he ignored them. He just didn't care. "And, to answer your unasked question, my father is a horrible person. I won't elaborate now, but perhaps later."

Scarlett nodded when he said the letter from his mother had hit him hard. Scarlett knew that. Her letter had come just as she was beginning come to terms with her parent’s deaths and it had hit her like a ton of bricks. “You’ll cherish it though, that letter, that last echo of her.”

When he told Scarlett that his father was a horrible person she didn’t know quite what to say. She had loved her own father dearly, and she missed him very much. But she knew she had been lucky getting the best father in the world. There must be bad ones if there were good ones. Finally she found something to say, “At least you are free of him ‘til summer.”

"Eventually..." He said regarding what she said about cherishing it. Then when she went quiet, he forced a smile. "I believe, because you don't know what to say, your father is -or was- a delightful man. With that in mind I hope I'm not offending you by not liking my own..."

"Not at all. He's your dad. You can feel anyway you like about him." Scarlett gave her best social smile, known to fool the most sharp eyed spinster into thinking she agreed completely with there ultraconservative views. But privately Scarlett found it strange for someone to dislike his own father.

"Mostly his attitude towards me as a person, his constant hate for whatever draws my attention, and his forbidden attitude. The fact that he completely plays by that line 'takes candy from a baby' also fits into it. You may say these are normal things, but dear daddy takes it to far." He paused. "Much."

“I can see where that would make you hate someone. Are you afraid that if you like Hogwarts he’ll sweep in here and pack you off home or to another school?” Scarlett would fear that all the way to her Gryffy core. She had made friends here and put down roots. To be yanked out now would cut deeply.

"I suppose..." He said with a slightly terrified look. "Hadn't really thought about that..." Chase cracked a grimace and gave a slight laugh. "Thanks. At least I know you're good to help bring fears into people!" He wasn't trying to be rude.

Scarlett bristled at his words. She put her hands on he hips and her eyebrows furrowed. “I was just goin’ off information that you gave about your father. Pardon me if you imagination does not extend far enough to see what is really bad in this world. If all he has really been takin’ from you is a surf board then may be he is not as evil as you think he is. Maybe he just wants you to pursue things a little more worthwhile than surfin’.” Scarlett didn’t know what it was about Chase that got under her skin so badly, but she was fixing to loose her famous temper.

"Ouch." He said with a sigh. "That smarts." Chase put a hand to his heart when he said her speech hurt him. "That's just all I'm willing to give up to someone I hardly know and -at least by the looks of it- isn't o inclined to like me any time soon." Chase called down one of the barn owls and took a second letter out of his pocket. "To my father please. Summerview Manor." He whispered as he dangled something unseen in front of the bird. Whatever had been in his hand was gone after the owl left.

"Well Mr. Summerview if you are only willing to listen to things that are pleasant you are going to have a very quiet life. I wish you well with it." Scarlett wasn't sure what it was about Chase that made her distrust him. He seemed like a nice enough fellow, but after she spent any sort of time with him at all he began to irritate her. She thought it was his pampered aristocratic nature that so closely mirrored her own when she had come to Hogsworts.

"My father would kill about that." Chase said, he back ever so slightly turned. "The simplest of words gone astray and he wouldn't take a second look at the situation. He is Mr. Summerview." Chase cringed slightly. That had always bugged him. "I'm just that kid that ruined everything... I'm just Chase. And even if there are hostile feelings between us Scarlett I would ask you to please call me by my first name."

Rain flew in with a gust of wind. For a little Rainbow owl, Rain sure could fly fast. A little orange blurr attatched to the owl's talons, Miu plummetted to the ground and felt her now human feet touch the ground. "You ever need a rush... Have an owl hold you in it's claws and fly you over the Black Lake!" Miu had been mostly speaking to herself. Her hair was done up in a bob-style and she was wearing a long purple - almost black - dress. With a slit up one side and only a single sleeve, Miu looked at Scarlett. "Hello Scarlett!" Miu's heels were a solid black color and her normally orange hair was colored black. Her eyes were a simple blue color that she had forced. But everything tied in. She almost looked like a different person, and if it hadn't been for her voice, she would have been. Miu's gaze moved to Chase. "Summerview."

Scarlett wasn't quite sure what she would have replied had Rain not dropped Mui between them. When Scarlett heard the way in which Rain called Chase "Summerview" she began to understand why he might rather be address by his given name. Scarlett had to admit that most of the ill feelings she harbored for Chase stemmed from Mui's reactions to him. Scarlett kept meaning to ask the orange haired girl what lay between her and the new guy, but there always a lot of people about.

"Hi Mui," Scarlett greeted the wickedly dressed girl. "I like what you've done with your hair," Scarlett said, patting her own raven locks.

To Chase she said, "As you will Chase." Scarlett wanted to ask what he had ruined, but he'd already said he felt he had shared enough. It was probably true given that everytime he told her something about himself it made her more weary of him.

Miu came in and Chase almost cursed. He probably would have if he wasn't wondering so badly why she had changed so. "Hello..." He said trying not to refer to her by her last name because he hated it so when others did to him. When Scarlett agreed he flashed her a faint smile. "Thank you very much."

Miu ignored the boy in the room whom she had addressed by his last name. Moving to Scarlett, closer that is, she hugged her slightly, whispering in her friends ear as she did. "Don't fall for his tales... They are merely that... Stories." Miu moved away again, it was easy to tell that she had a few emotions stored away, real ones, but that was only because she had to keep her eyes the same color. "Thanks Scar." She replied with a smile about her hair.

Scarlett’s brow furrowed when she heard what Miu had whispered. She looked at the newly transformed girl whom she had come to regard as a friend, and she looked at the sad stranger. He was galling it was true, but she had seen the letter for herself and if it was a forgery then he had gone to a lot of trouble to win her sympathies. Scarlett didn’t think that was the case and she wondered why Miu would tell her he was a liar. Something strong and unwholesome lay between these two and Scarlett wasn’t sure she wanted to get any of whatever it was on her. She back away from Miu’s embrace saying “We should talk later.” She gave Chase a consoling look and said, “I am sorry to hear about your Mamma.” Then she headed for the door that led down onto the grounds.

Miu followed. She wasn't about to stay alone with that retched boy. Following Scarlett to the door, she found her way out first, probably by some fluke. God. She could barely stand even seeing that guy! Finding herself outside and on the grounds, she fell to the grass. Breathing quite deeply and waiting to see if Scarlett was actually coming out or not.

Scarlett came up to Miu seeing that they were finally alone and said, "Ok spill what you know about this guy." Scarlett was curious beyond bearing and she was not going to take no for an answer. Chase irritated her, he haunted her common room, and he was dating Cassie who she's come to think of as more than just a friend but a protege. She needed to know what she was dealing with.

Chase saw the duo disappear and go outside. Watching them for a moment he pocketed the letter again and took a breath to calm his nerves. The letter had put him off somewhat, and now he just wanted to find Cassie. But Chase didn't move. He hadn't quite the heart to move yet. So the boy sat there. With a dismal look on his face. And a letter crunched in his pocket.

Miu lay back again and breathed like she never had before. Deep but shallow breaths moved from her lungs and filled her gut with oxygen it didn't need. Her eyes were still the light blue. He hair was still dark. But she smiled at her friend. "I would have thought that you, of all people, wouldn't fall for such things." She spoke of Chase and his act. Miu sat up, then lay back down again, as if weight was holding her down and making her breath the way she was. "Chase is an actor Scar. All of the Summerview's are. They act and scheme their way into anything and if you've fallen for this then you will, in time, fall for the rest of the act."

Scarlett felt like a rug had been pulled from beneath her feet. Two realizations hit her at once. The first one was that she had trusted again so easily both Miu and Chase. The second was that Miu did not really know her at all. Scarlett had assumed that she was friends with the girl, but really she didn’t think so. How could someone be friends with a person that could not feel? Scarlett backed away from the newly black-haired girl and put on her own game face that was nearly as smooth as Miu’s. “Of course you are right. I was taken in by his sob story.”

Miss Miu Mari Mopolis-

Miu shook her hair a bit. It had become habit. "Scarlett. Dear. I know you're trying so hard to keep cool, as in how your arranging your facial features, but it's me." Miu rearranged her own features and blinked away the blue in her eyes. She was sick of it. "I make it my job to tell when someone is lying to me, or faking a face. It's what I do." She was speaking of both things when she said it was what she did. "You really do believe. I can tell, and that's not horrible I suppose... It's just." Miu looked at the girl. She was somewhat a friend. If the definition of a friend was someone to hang out with, but not reveal anything to, then she definitely was a friend. Sadly, the definition of a friend was someone to talk to. Someone who could make you feel better in times of crisis or need, and the only person who did that for Miu, was Miu. "Have I ever told you about my Uncle?"

Scarlett kept her express to one of mild intrest. "The blankness of my features are called manners, and I don't think you want to find what happens when I stop bein' polite," she drawled lowly. "And since you asked so directly I will tell you, I do believe his story."

There was a long pause as Miu seemed to consider something. Then she asked a question, to which Scarlett replied, "No you have not, but I would very much like to hear about him."

Miss Miu Mari Mopolis-

Miu smirked slightly. Faked. The words had been going through her head ever since she had found out that a Summerview, and one of the ones she hated the most at that, was coming to Hogwarts. "My Uncle is the last living member of my family." She spoke with a slight distaste in her words, but it was nothing she couldn't overcome to get to the point. "Uncle Depri." She moved her neck only to hear it crack twice. "Is... Special." She chose her words carefully. She wasn't going to give everything away, she would do that at some other time. Many others knew of her Uncle. They thought she hated the [Censored Word]. "He... Er, changed me somewhat."

“I take it you are not tryin’ to tell me he was the stylist that did your hair Miu. Look if you are in some kind of trouble I will help you, but stop pussy footin’ around. What is this change?” Scarlett found that she really did want to be Miu’s friend. Scarlett had always been one for taking up impossible tasks.

Miss Miu Mari Mopolis-

Miu saw a broom fly overhead and made sure her eyes went back to blue again. "No. No, I'm not." Though she was different, the girl was trying to be as polite as possible. She had thrived on her manners before she left and she didn't want them to slip away... No matter how much everything else had. "And... It's not exactly trouble for me... Not yet at least." She paused and watched the person on the broom disappear before taking a breath and speaking again. "Not from him... But, you see. He is one of those touchy areas that Summerview and I -er, debate- on."

Scarlett was so focused on Miu that she was oblivious to the broom that flew over. “Well we all have a crazy uncle or two,” Scarlett said patting Miu’s shoulder. “It’s actually pretty horrible for Chase to say bad things about your family, but I guess you do the same to him. Do y’all have some kind of blood feud goin’?” That was something that Scarlett could understand. Being from the South where blood feuds were somewhat common Scarlett wondered if there was some kind of land dispute that lay at the heart of this problem.