He watched as his owl took off towards his parent's home.  They didn't live terribly far away, and Isaac had made arrangements to have his weekend duties covered the following weekend so he could go for a visit.  His father's health was deteriorating, and rather quickly.  It seemed there was little that could be done by either magical or Muggle medicine, something that often irritated Isaac.  He felt there should be more the Wizarding world could do, and trying to explain to his Muggle mother that magic didn't always provide an answer was no easy feat when he questioned why it didn't himself.

Truth be told he wasn't particularly looking forward to his visit.  He was sure it would be the same as always...He would watch his mother wear herself out trying to do it all.  She would see to his comfort while taking care of his father and keeping the house in perfect condition.  She was going to make herself ill and then they really would be in trouble.  But, he couldn't force help on her so things would have to continue as they were for now.

Leaning on the ledge of the window he stayed there for a moment, trying to clear his mind.  Classes were a welcome distraction, but on the weekends he had to try a bit harder.  Morrigan had suggested he do yoga with her in the mornings, which he laughed heartily at.  The thought of him trying to bend into a pretzel in various ways was laughable, and for a moment he had been convinced his usually sane redheaded friend had completely lost her mind.  Instead he had chosen research and long walks, and for now it was working.

Pax walked up the stairs to the owlery with a number of things weighing on his mind. Funny; he had thought that once he had written the events of the past couple of weeks down that we wouldn't have to worry about them so much. And yet Ollie Foley's exclusion from school, the efforts of Profesor Mainwaring and SAWS, and that terrible incident in the hospital wing the previous week, were still nagging at the forefront of his mind.

It occasionally got to the point where it was getting tricky to concentrate on his homework, and having to work longer on his homework sometimes felt like it got in the way of having fun. Pax hadn't had the chance to do much work on the dollhouse he was making for his little sister, nor had he had time to round up interest for a game of Dungeons and Dragons like he had hoped, and most of all he felt as though he hadn't made any proper friends yet. There were a number of classmates he got along with, of course, and he liked a lot of the other Hufflepuffs. The members of SAWS were very nice to him, especially Fauna Blake; he looked up to her a lot and she looked out for him. But being on friendly terms with people just wasn't the same as having someone you could tell your worries to.

For now, he told his worries to his mother, father and grandfather, along with the news of how his classes were going and the like. He hadn't felt much better after writing the letter, but maybe he'd feel better after he sent it. Reaching the top of the staircase, he started to walk up to one of the owls who wasn't currently sleeping, when he saw that he wasn't the only one there. Instinctively, he hid the envelope behind his back, but then realised the other person was a teacher. Pax bit his lip anxiously, worried he was intruding, and suddenly uncertain as to whether students were allowed up here after all. 'Um... is it all right if I use one of the owls?' he asked hesitantly, producing his letter.

The sound of a young voice drew Isaac from his thoughts and he turned to face the speaker.  The boy was a first year, although his name escaped Isaac at that moment.   Normally he didn't know much about the younger students since they couldn't register for his class until their third year.  He seemed a bit unsure, and Isaac gave him a friendly smile as he asked his question.

"The ones perched on that wall belong to the school," he told him.  "They are for general use.  The ones over here belong to students and staff, so I wouldn't recommend using them without asking permission first."

It was one of those unwritten rules.  It had been that way years ago during Isaac's school days and probably would continue to be that way long after he was gone.  It wasn't a typical beginning of the year, with what happened in the hospital wing and everything else that was happening.  Yet, it was quieter then last May, which Isaac wasn't likely to forget any time soon.

"Writing home to fill everyone in the current Hogwarts events?" Isaac asked, making light conversation.

'Heh, yeah,' Pax smiled sheepishly, reaching up to tie the letter to one of the owls on the wall the professor had indicated. Said owl snapped its beak at him irritably; Pax promptly moved on to the next one instead. 'I probably should have written sooner but I didn't get around to it... Plus I was wondering if I should tell them about some of the stuff. I don't want them to worry. But I guess they'll have heard anyway...' The inferno in the Hospital Wing had almost certainly made the Daily Prophet, not that Pax had had the heart to check. 'Mostly I think they want to know how I'm doing with classes and being away from home. It's really different from being at muggle school. I think Mum might've liked it better if I'd gone to a muggle secondary school, but they don't teach potions there.'

Finally managing to attach his letter to the owl's leg, Pax grinned triumphantly and tried to coax the bird out of its hole. The owl wasn't terribly keen to move however. Pax sighed and let it be for the moment. Remembering his manners, he turned back to the teacher. 'Were you sending a letter too? Or are you up here to make sure the owls are okay?'

"It sounds a bit like our Mums felt the same way about suitable schools," Isaac noted as the boy attempted to coax and owl out of it's nesting place.

Moving towards a container on the wall, he took an owl treat from it before crossing to stand next to the boy.  It was sometimes a painful lesson to learn that most owls would do anything for a treat.  Isaac could still remember the countless bites he had received when he was in his first year at Hogwarts.  His father had always handled any communications sent by owl, so they had been quite foreign to him at the time.

"Here," he said, holding out the treat, "try giving it this."

'Were you sending a letter too? Or are you up here to make sure the owls are okay?'

"I too was sending a letter home," he told him.  "I'm planning to visit next weekend and I needed to send word."  He wasn't sure how much to say to a student.  His personal and family issues weren't something the students needed to concern themselves with, yet he knew he wouldn't deny anyone conversation.

Pax, as instructed, held the owl treat out towards the bird, jerking his hand back a little each time the owl made a move for it, attempting to entice it out into the open. Finally, the owl hopped onto Pax's forearm, causing the boy to wince a little at the sharpness of its talons. He fed it the treat, more as a peace offering now than anything, and proceeded to carry it carefully over to the window.

'Must be nice to get to visit home,' he mused as he crossed the owlery floor. 'I kinda wish I could go home sometimes. Not that I'm homesick or anything,' he added quickly, with the distinct air of someone making a conveniently precise denial. 'It'll be great when I'm in third year. That's when we get to go to Hogsmeade some weekends, right?' He grinned at the thought. 'My grandpa's in Hogsmeade, I'll get to visit him.'

Holding his arm over the stone ledge and shaking it slightly to encourage the bird to take off, Pax shot a sheepish grin at the professor. 'I'm not used to owls,' he admitted, though it was probably obvious enough that he didn't need to. 'We don't use them a lot at home. Mum's family is over lots, and they're all muggles and don't know about magic so owls might be kinda suspicious to them... Hey, you said your Mum feels the same way mine does about schools,' Pax remembered. 'Is she a muggle too?' He had forgotten what his dad had told him, that not everyone liked discussing their bloodline with strangers.