What's In A Name? (Shilo)

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia was intensely excited for today; today she was allowed to take home her owl! She of course had picked out her owl with Imogen before she left for Hogwarts, but the owl she had picked out had been a bit young to leave with an owner. Ophelia had fallen intensely in love with the weeny owl; she had hopped right on Ophie’s shoulder and settled in nicely. She had felt heartbroken when she learned she had to wait a whole month to take her home. Finally, the day came, and Ophie came skipping into Diagon Alley. She already had a name picked out for her owl and she couldn’t wait to see how the owl responded to it. She opened the door to Eyelops and brought out her order slip. She beamed at the owl as it was brought out, twittering around in its’ cage.

She thanked the man and brought out her new owl into the sunlight. “I think I am going to call you...Rainbow,” she said, smiling at the owl. The owl, in response, started hooting madly and flapping its’ wings. Ophelia looked at her owl in concern, setting her cage down and biting her lower lip with worry. “Oh...oh no I’m sorry, what’s wrong?” she asked worriedly, looking around to see if anyone could help.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo had taken some time to himself for the day. Last weekend his step sister was diagnosed as a psychopath, and his mum and step-dad were taking it quite hard. He on the other hand, had known about it for quite awhile. Although he had never mentioned anything to his parents, he wanted them to find out on their own in their own time frame. His sister, Merlyn, was of course, completely unphased by the diagnosis and couldn't care less about it.

His father and step-mother took his son, Silas, for the afternoon, giving Shilo some time to free roam and go over his thoughts alone. He had just gone to Diagon Alley and walked around. He bought a few things here and there for Silas, and even a couple of things for Merlyn. A couple hoots brought his eyes up from the ground, and he rose his eyebrows at the owl and girl in front of him. He walked over and listened to the owl. Shilo had learned at a young age that he had an affinity with owls, and he always loved them, even the one he had himself.

As the owl spoke to him, Shilo glanced at the girl and laughed quietly, shaking his head. "Miss, I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Shilo Steinmetz. And I'd also like to let you know that, your owl isn't too fond of the name you've chosen for it."

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia was surprised that someone actually came over to help; she gave him a grateful smile. “Hi Shilo! I’m Ophelia Teller,” she said happily. Realization dawned over her when he said that her new owl didn’t like its’ name. Frowning, she peered into the cage. “Oh I’m so sorry! Don’t worry your name will not be Rainbow then,” she declared, and the owl hooted in what Ophie felt was a happy manner. She straightened and looked back up at Shilo. “How did you know that?” she asked curiously. She fished through her bag and pulled out the box of Owl Treats, and stuck one into the owls’ cage. “There, I hope my apology is accepted,” she told it with a grin. “So...can you tell what her name is?” she asked Shilo after a moment. Perhaps this owl already had a name and would like to stick with it. In that case Ophelia would be happy to call her whatever she wanted!

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo tilted his head downward as she introduced herself and he gave her a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Ophelia. Seems like this may be your first owl?" Shilo himself has had quite a few in his lifetime, but the current one he has he loved dearly. He watched Ophelia as she apologized to the bird and gave it a treat. It made him smile, and the owl was definitely much more happy with some food. With a tilt of his head, and a raised eyebrow, he smiled. "This owl doesn't have a name, but it's also a he, and apparently he'd rather something more masculine." Shilo chuckled. This particular owl definitely had it's own sarcasm and wit. His blue eyes grazed over to Ophelia and he smiled gently. "I can understand them, owls."

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia looked from Shilo to her owl, then back to Shilo with a laugh. “Perhaps Rainbow is a bit unusual for a male, though there are some boys out there that are just girls in boys body,” she said with a laugh. She was, of course, talking about Imogen, formerly known as Ignotius. She highly doubted Shilo meant anything offensive though, so she turned back to her owl. She unlocked his cage and let him hop onto her arm. “Hm...what about, Hopper?” she suggested, laughing as he continued to hop onto her shoulder. “Is that an affinity? I’ve heard those are really rare - that’s so cool!” she exclaimed. She’d never met anyone with an affinity for animals before, but she sure was glad that he happened to understand owls, otherwise the poor fellow would have probably never stopped screeching in complaint. “And yes, you’re right; he is my first owl. I got him so I could write to my friend Im; she’s the new Charms teacher at Hogwarts,” she explained.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo nodded his head at her. "That there are. But, this owl is just a boy as a boy, as he told me. Just what he would prefer is all." He smiled, letting her know he meant no harm. He knew that there were people who didn't define their gender, or who defined it differently. He hadn't meant anything by that, he was just literally telling her what the owl had said. "Yes, an affinity. It's quite amazing, at times. I've got my own owl at home, so it can also be helpful." Shilo wasn't generally open about his affinity, but if there came a time where he needed to be, he would. "Hopper is good! He likes it, too." Shi tilted his head and held his hand out to the owl so it could lick his fingers. His eyes went back to Ophelia. "Well that's nice of you, I'm sure she'll enjoy Hopper here."

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia returned his smile; she knew he had meant no harm and they didn’t need to discuss the topic any further. “Yes, Hopper will come in handy. I think Imogen might be a bit lonely up at the school being the new teacher. I can go visit her obviously during Hogsmeade weekends, but if it coincides with my weekend on at the hospital I can’t go,” she explained, gently stroking the owls feathers. “I just hope she’s being fair to her students. She loves Charms so much and she’s going to be an amazing teacher. She just has some old...grudges against Gryffindor,” she said sadly. Imogen had every right to be wary of Gryffindors, after how that boy treated her. But she hoped that Im would not take it out on her students. Unless one was the boys child, but she hoped at 24 he didn’t have a school aged child yet. “Can you explain to me how this owl affinity works?” she asked him, sounding curious.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo nodded his head. He assumed it could be difficult with friends when they all had such different work schedules that seeing one another was rare. He watched as Ophelia pet her new owl, and it made him smile. Shilo tried his hardest to always make sure he gave his own owl as much attention as possible. With such a busy life and a five year old, though, it wasn't the first thing that was always on his mind. His eyebrows rose at her comment about Imogen not liking Gryffindors. "Well...whether she likes them or not she has to treat them all the same. That's life." Shi hadn't meant for it to be rude if it was, but he had no filter. Whatever he thought came right out of his mouth. Sometimes it was a good trait, and sometimes a bad one.

But he smiled all the same and nodded his head. "It's sort of like, well, they speak to me. They can tell me what they want and I understand what they're feeling, and I can talk to them as well."

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia nodded in agreement with Shilo, then sighed. “If it were only that easy. She had some tough times with Gryffindors while we were in school, and I know that’s where it comes from. However, I’m sure she’ll learn that not all people in one house are the same, and have a marvelous time teaching,” she declared with a small smile. “I just go about my job at the hospital as the Welcome Witch and maintain my happiness. I love working at Saint Mungos, watching the Healers work their magic...literally!” she explained to him, then clapped her hands together. “That’s brilliant!” she exclaimed when he described his affinity, and Hopper hopped up and down and hooted in agreement. “What’s he saying?” she asked him eagerly.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo listened to her explanation of her friend but decided not to comment, which was smart. When he got going, he wasn't nice. And that was a subject he couldn't stand; people judging others on one label. Complete stupidity. "Welcome witch? What do you do there?" Shilo wasn't very interested in healing ever, so he didn't know what came with the job. "I'm a social worker at the orphanage here." He looked up at her, his face calm and collected.

The owl hooted and Shilo rose an eyebrow. "I think...he's saying I should ask you out to dinner." His eyes slowly turned back to Ophelia, dancing with amusement in them. Shi smiled.

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia beamed as Shilo asked what she did as a job. “I welcome and check in the patients who come in, and make sure they’re going to the right ward,” she told him happily. “I also check in on any patients I notice don’t get a lot of visitors and bring them flowers or something to cheer them up. But that’s just me, it wasn’t part of the job description,” she added with a giggle. Her eyes widened at the mention of the orphanage. “I’ve been looking into volunteering there! Will you help me?” she asked him excitedly. If possible, her eyes got wider as he asked her to dinner. She felt her cheeks pinken and she giggled again. Hopper hooted from her shoulder and she smiled. “Well, if Hopper thinks it’s a good idea, then why not?” she said, accepting his offer.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

"Well that's very nice of you, Ophelia. Not many people are sweet enough to do something like that." Shilo smiled at her. He would imagine it nice to at least get some flowers while in the hospital, especially if you don't get visitors often or at all. "I'm sure I could get you in. The orphanage is always looking for extra help. And the children would love you I'm sure."

Ophelia said yes to him taking her out to lunch and he nodded. Shilo held out his arm for her to grab. "Where would you like to go, my lady?"

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia beamed as she took his proffered arm. “We should go somewhere where an owl on my shoulder wouldn’t look weird,” she said with a light laugh. Hopper hopped and hooted in agreement, or at least what Ophelia assumed was agreement. Her eyes lit up when Shilo told her he could definitely help her get started volunteering at the orphanage. “Oh fantastic! I love kids, so I’m happy to help in whatever ways I can,” she told him, beaming. “Oh, and so you know I have no food allergies, and will eat pretty much anything,” she added, laughing because she knew that probably wasn’t helpful in picking out where to eat.

@jill12

[Deleted]

Ophelia Mae Teller
<3

Shilo smiled as she grabbed his arm and he began walking her to his favorite place. "That's a good thing that you're not picky. There's a perfect place a couple blocks away with an outside eating area." It was a smaller pub of sorts, not many people had heard of it but he enjoyed it quite a bit and took Silas there often. "Loving kids is always a plus, makes it much easier to hang out with them for long periods of time. Do you have any children?"

[Ophelia Mae Teller]

Ophelia nodded happily in agreement as he took her to the pub with the outdoor space. “Oh how charming! You order for us since you love this place,” she told him, taking a seat at one of the tables, Hopper still on her shoulder. “And make sure to get a little something for Hopper too,” she said, gently stroking the owls feathers. She shook her head at Shilo’s children question. “No, not yet. But hopefully in the future,” she said, smiling again. “I’d like to adopt for sure, there are just so many children out there that need happy loving homes, and I hope to be in a position someday when I could provide that. Perhaps if I find the right person that’ll happen,” she said, giving a little shrug of her shoulders. “What about you, any children for you?” she asked. Shilo seemed young, but her mother had been quite young when she had given birth to her brother Octavian; she did not judge.

@jill12