Apologies PV Allie Closed

Receiving an owl wasn't too out of the ordinary for Allie, as she often received owls from her family members, updating her on the odd things going on in the Muggle world that she was missing out on or some family events, but it was out of the ordinary for her to receive an owl from someone here at Hogwarts. 

She ran her fingers gently over the feathers of the snow owl and gave it a pinch of her food as she took the scroll from its leg. Unfurling it, Allie skimmed over the words that were written up it with careful ink, as if whomever sent it was almost hesitant with their words. Allie read the message with one brow raised in confusion until she read who the message was from. 'Mari? What could she possibly want to say to me? I already apologized for the whole incident on the train and I haven't seen her since she was rude to me in the library when I was just trying to help her out with her homework. Oh well, I might as well go see what she has to say and get this over with.'

Allie made her way down the halls to the area where Mari had requested for them to meet. Allie took her time getting there, still hesitant on exactly what kind of situation was waiting for her once she and Mari came face to face with each other.

She was late.

Mari had finished her toast and had proceeded to eat three more pieces while she waited. Upon reaching for her fifth piece, she hesitated and turned to pour a cup of orange juice instead. There were some healthier options, of course, like eggs and pieces of fruit, but Mari's Mum wasn't here to lecture her about nutrition and, quite honestly, she was in the mood to eat her feelings of anxiety.

Come to think of it, it was a wonder that Mari hadn't gained more weight since she had started at Hogwarts. She scanned the rest of the Great Hall, analyzing students, wondering how they, too, did not seem to be any bigger. Maybe their mums had some way to force them to eat healthy at meals, even though no parental supervision was present. Or maybe, whoever made the food cast a spell right before making it magically appear to make it less caloric than it would be in the Muggle world.

Hogwarts was a strange place. Anything was possible.

Allie didn't say a single word when she approached, and Mari had to force herself not to scowl as she nodded to the empty seat across from her. Old habits die hard, it seemed. Even though she knew she did not have a real reason to hate the Ravenclaw, Mari couldn't help but feel an irritation still lingering as she looked into the the girl's eyes. She shut them in order to stop the feeling. Now is not the time to yell, especially with all these witnesses around you.

When she opened her eyes, Mari chose to look down at her orange juice as she carefully crafted what she would say next. Her nerves were strong and anxiety was mounting; she hoped she could get this over with, quick. In Mari's point of view, the chance for friendship was over, but she could not live with the guilt of having not apologized. Without a further thought, she said hurriedly, "I sent you an owl to meet because I just wanted to apologize for my behavior on the train and in the library. I know it's been a few weeks, but I've had time to think things over and I see that I behaved most unfortunately. It was not kind of me."

A little too many words, but not bad. She could have been worse. A small grin creeped onto her face as she added, "And if makes you feel any better, I told my dad what happened, and he told me I was quite foolish for my behavior. Mum did too. My eldest younger sister just told me about her latest boyfriend and Lucy sent me a picture of a 'friendship unicorn.'" She opened her bag and retrieved the drawing, hastily colored in by her six-year-old sister, then handed it to Allie: "Here. She said it's for you."

Allie entered the Great Hall slowly, peering around at the other students that were sitting in there, her gaze pausing briefly as she spotted Mari, seemingly debating on continuing to eat another piece of toast before deciding on drinking something instead. 

Allie debated on just walking right past the other girl and completely ignoring the request to meet, but she knew that if she did that then it would probably eat at her to know what Mari wanted to talk about so badly with her that she had to send an owl instead of saying something to Allie's face like she usually had. 

Allie let out a small sigh before continuing to step forward down the rows of tables and past the other students, some of which stopped their conversations briefly to watch Allie walk by. When Allie came to stand in front of Mari, she took a brief look at the empty seat that Mari had motioned towards. Should she take a seat or should she continue to stand? If Mari was going to yell at her about something or scold her, Allie preferred to be standing so she could make it out of the Hall sooner rather than later if she started crying, but then again, Allie was almost hopeful that Mari wasn't the kind of person to cause a scene in public.

She took a seat at the bench and then placed her hands in her lap. She watched Mari for a few moments, seeing how the other girl was probably trying to find a way to phrase whatever she was going to say. Allie was taken back a bit by the girl's apology and looked at the drawing of a unicorn that was obviously done by a young child. She took the drawing hesitantly in her hands and continued to look at it before glancing up at Mari over the paper. "Thanks and I forgive you for what happened on the train and in the library. I know that I can be a bit overbearing at times, so I also apologize if I did something to step on your toes or made you upset without realizing it."

Mari was quite pleased that Allie had chosen to take a seat at the bench; she knew Allie had every reason to just spit in her face and be on with her life. To be quite honest, she hadn't been certain Allie would show up in the first place. Hence why she had eaten four pieces of toast to cope with her nerves. Mari was also quite pleased to see that Allie had taken Grace's drawing, though she caught a glimpse of hesitation on her face. She knew it would make Grace quite pleased to hear that the girl had accepted a friendship unicorn and would just omit the fact that Mari had little desire to actually be Allie's friend, let alone the fact that Allie didn't seem too thrilled about the friendship unicorn in the first place. Grace was six. She needed some censorship from the realities of life, anyway.

What Mari hadn't been expecting, however, was Allie to admit that she could be overbearing at times. If Allie had any hope of being Mari's friend, these words were actually the most likely way she could do so. Mari knew she was quite awkward and hated it, but what she most hated was being wrong. Although she knew secretly that Allie had no reason to apologize, it did bring her great comfort to hear that Allie felt apologetic in any way. It would maybe be for the best if Mari could befriend someone who didn't make her feel like a complete dunderhead all the time.

She smiled warmly at the girl and took a careful swig of her orange juice as she pondered what to say next. Just because Allie had been kind did not mean that Mari's awkwardness would be cured. She picked at her nails as she said quietly, "You know, I'm not very good at Charms. If I had been smarter, I would have accepted your offer for help in the first place. This latest homework has my head swimming...I just can't get the locking charm down. Have you done it yet?"

Mari took another swig of orange juice to try to calm herself, though the sugar probably just elevated her anxiety levels further. If she was lucky, maybe Allie would know how to cast the spells properly and help her out. Or she would disregard the apology, instead remembering Mari's temper in the library, and spit in Mari's food while running out, cackling at how much of a sucker Mari was. There was only one way to find out, however: sip that orange juice and wait.