Disappointment Open Closed

@Juniper Yu

Henry wasn't in that warm of clothes, he was in his casual outfit so the bitter December wind was definitely nipping at his neck as the cold shot down his spine yet the twelve year old was rather jogging across the grounds with a letter stuffed in his jacket pocket. The letter was a response to his brother which confirmed that he would be returning home for the holidays not to see his father who never gave him the time day and probably didn't know the first thing about him. It was definitely not to see his twin sister who ignored him and all good days only insulted him whole on bad days would scream at him all night while during the day disappear to somewhere Henry didn't know.

The real reason he was going home for the holidays was to see his best friend, if it wasn't for her then 100% Henry would be staying at Hogwarts for the Christmas break. Instead he was going home with only the expectation of meeting his best friend's family and also seeing his older brother who he hoped would let him stay with him instead of going to his father's home.

Henry stuffed his hands in his pocketed and hoped that his brother would get his letter and allowed him to completely avoid his father all winter break. As he approached the steps leading up to the owlery, they were slippery with fresh ice as usual which meant he would spend more time than usual climbing the steps to mail his letter.

Henry carefully and rather slowly climb the steps as he kept his hands deep in his pockets and head down crashing his hair to fall over his eyes. Jumping a bit from one foot to the other as a attempt to stay warm but when he neared the owlery that was when the twelve year old stopped in his tracks and looked ahead.

Another is in the owlery? And their crying? I should leave... I should turn around and go... but my letter? And Arthur will be expecting a reply.... also who is crying in there? Maybe they need help? Maybe I could help them? I can't help them! I suck at that stuff and will probably screw it up! Their better off alone then talking to me.... but... what if?

Henry looked back at the owlery and took a breath before taking the final steps to the owlery and passing through the entrance when he saw the girl.

Henry took a breath before taking another step forward and giving her a small smile as he spoke " uh, are you okay?" Henry eyed the letter in her hand and figured she probably got some bad news before speaking in a rather low voice, "I didn't hear anything, I just hear crying and thought you may want someone to talk to?"

@Juniper Yu @Henry Knight
banner by juniper yu

Scarlett was dreading coming home for the holidays. She usually loved it - the girl had supportive friends, both Muggle and magical, as well as the coolest aunt ever. Christmas was always fun at Godric's Hollow. However, after the revelations where her parents made their sudden appearance and thrust themselves back into her life, Scarlett had not been looking forward to going home and confronting them after the ordeal about the Beckett New Year's Gala. She had stormed out angrily after they had told her the family would be attending, but the problem still loomed. And they were telling her that they could very well move Scarlett to Ilvermorny if she continued to misbehave. What a bunch of fuckers. Scarlett didn't take blackmail very well and the thought itself made her want to punch something.

On that day, she had decided to go for a walk around the castle. There were plenty of people in unorthodox places she could stumble across and talk with, maybe meet someone. And if that failed, she could just go and take a wander around the Grounds, the place she loved to be at. The Giant Squid rather liked her. As she passed the Owlery, Scarlett had a spur-of-the-moment thought. She had those quite often. Maybe she could somehow nick some parchment and find a quill somewhere, and write to her aunt about trying to convince her parents into not letting her attend the upcoming gala. Her parents didn't trust Fiona, even though Scarlett's father was literally Fiona's brother, but they would listen to a level-headed adult Auror rather than a schoolgirl with a temper.

She pattered up to the Owlery, but stopped when she heard voices. One was recognisable - Henry. Thankfully, the two of them were slowly reconvening and on good terms. The other wasn't familiar, but seemed to be cursing and crying, the signs of a sob session. Usually, students at Hogwarts would be sobbing in the Abandoned Toilets, but the voice of the crier was definitely in the Owlery. That was new. It sounded like a girl as well. Scarlett paused on the steps. Shit. If she turned back now, she would be a heartless monster. But she could very well sound like a heartless monster if she went and confronted/comforted the kid. She couldn't even handle her own emotions, let alone someone else's. But she would try.

Gritting her teeth, Scarlett forged up the stairs like a knight on a mission. A small Asian girl was there, the one crying and being angsty. Henry was there as well, talking. Scarlett took a deep breath and tried to summon her inner therapist. You got this.

"Hey there," said Scarlett, focusing on a quieter voice. She glanced at Henry and gave him a little nod. "You don't look like you're okay. I mean, I've never met you but - but I know how all of - of this feels like, I guess."

"And - um- it's totally alright for people to cry. Everyone's done it," Scarlett took a breath before sitting down next to her. It would be awkward for therapists to be towering over you. "If it helps...punching something or doing something physical really helps. Like your - er - pillow or something. Though if you're really not the type, you can write in a diary, or walk around outside."

She gave the girl a little awkward pat. "What's your name?"

────── ☆ ───────

hex code: #475c5f

Interacting with @Henry Knight and @Scarlett Aden
───────────────────────────

The sound of footsteps would go unnoticed, so deep the girl was in her despair. Even when Juniper heard the voice ring out in front of her, she did not immediately look up or attempt to hide the fact that she was crying. They always asked the same questions, said the same things. Are you ok, what's wrong, do you want to talk about it? And of course with the identical questions came identical answers, always the same lies pre-programmed into her system. Yes, I'm fine, everything is fine. She didn't have the energy to put on a smile and lie. The truth played through her mind over and over again, a looped record of Juniper's unhappiness. No, I am not ok. No, I'm not going to talk about it. No, I will not stay at Hogwarts for Christmas. She wanted to go home. In the end, all Henry would hear was a choked "No" between her sobs, the rest of the words lost in the storm of confusing thoughts.

For some, the intruder's words and seemingly kind intentions might have brought relief, but for Juniper, his presence only increased the weight of the burden on her shoulders. She despised the thought of anyone seeing her like this - vulnerable, weak. Useless. Did she really owe him an explanation just because they had been unfortunate enough to cross paths at that exact moment? That was fucked. Everything was fucked. She exhaled, a long, shuddery breath that turned into a cloud of mist due to the cold.

Perhaps there was another reason why she was so reluctant to reveal the cause of her tears to Henry - the fear that he would deem it pathetic or label her as an oversensitive drama queen. Telling him that her holiday was ruined sounded bratty, and explaining that she was homesick felt childish. Hogwarts had its fair share of bullies and gossips as well. What if he told everyone about this afternoon's events? How he had found her sobbing borderline-hysterically for seemingly no reason? There was something humiliatingly cliche about being discovered crying over a letter, and having one person here to witness the mess she had turned into in the last few minutes was already too much for her to bear. She squeezed her eyes tight, praying that she and Henry had been the only ones insane enough to send a letter on such a freezing day.

However, the odds were clearly not in her favour that afternoon, for another girl arrived on scene, offering more sympathetic yet useless words. (Juniper sincerely wished they would all shut up and leave her alone. Why must they all say the same thing?) She flinched away reflexively as the newcomer sat down next to her, head snapping up and shoulders tensing. Despite having stopped sobbing soon after Henry's arrival, her eyes still burned with hot tears and she hastily wiped at her eyes and cheeks with the sleeve of her sweater. A futile attempt at regaining her composure.

Juniper would barely register Scarlett's suggestions, catching only a few bits and pieces here and there. She was staring at her shoes, the faint ringing in her ear never faltering or letting up. How was it that her mother's letter had affected her so deeply? Perhaps it was the previous weeks of excitement and anticipation, of looking forward to going home after a term that felt far too long. Perhaps the bad news had brought her crashing down too fast and without warning. Perhaps it was the not knowing why Madeline had broken her promise, the lack of explanation in the letter. Or perhaps it was all of it combined.

She came to her senses with a sudden jolt as someone patted her awkwardly and turned to watch her as Scarlett opened her mouth to speak, looking mildly startled. "-name?" Juniper blinked, confused. It took her a few seconds to realise that Scarlett was asking her for her name, still caught halfway between the real world and her confusing haze of emotions.

"J-Juniper," she replied quietly, cursing herself for the involuntary stammer. It appeared that one of the aftereffects of having a good cry had lingered - a temporary stutter breath, punctuated with hiccups. The Slytherin wrapped her arms around her knees and leant against the rail of the staircase, suddenly feeling exhausted from her emotional outburst. "S-sorry ab-bout th-that."

@Juniper Yu | @Scarlett Aden
_{Sorry for the wait, I totally forgot it was my turn}

Another entered, the owlery seemed to be quite popular that day. Henry glanced at the third person and recognized then as Scarlett Aden, it was definitely a good thing that the two were on better terms now and especially in the owlery with what Henry saw as a delicate situation. Henry just nodded at her before turning back toward the girl whom was crying just a minute ago and answered no to being okay.

The twelve year old let Scarlett have a go at comforting her since he wasn't that sure what to of or how to do it. Listening to Scarlett's words and watching the girl, Henry felt bad for her but also knew physicality isn't for everyone and hearing that Scarlett's suggestion mostly involved it, Henry decided to jump in and add in a low and rather comforting voice " or you can always take a few moments to yourself and breath? Or if breathing isn't for you, then trying something physical like Scarlett suggested? Or if there's somone at Hogwarts whom you trust, you can always talk to even sit with them in silence? That can always help-" before stopping and feeling like he said the wrong thing since he wasn't sure if the girl had any close or best friend types at Hogwarts.

Feeling rather stupid, Henry decided to keep his mouth shut as he let Scarlett continue talking to her and something worked since she said her name or maybe it was Scarlett asking her name since she responded by saying; Juniper. A name that Henry found quite pretty as he approached her a bit more before saying in a rather low voice " Juniper is rather nice, uh I'm Henry and that's Scarlett," the twelve year old hoped that the red head didn't mind him saying her name for her as he approached Juniper still and bent down to sit on the step of the owlery near her before looking at the girl and trying to figure out what to say.

After a moment, Henry finally spoke " don't be sorry, just take a moment and take a few breaths it might help," giving her a warm smile before glancing over at Scarlett and giving her a look which meant 'I have no idea what I'm doing, please help' before looking back at Juniper as he snuggled with what to say or what to do next but keeping his eyes contact with her and his face in a comforting manner as he waited for the next thing to happen.

@Juniper Yu @Henry Knight
banner by juniper yu

Goddamn it - the girl was one of many at Hogwarts who didn't appreciate being comforted and didn't appreciate the great lengths Scarlett went to in an attempt to make others feel better. The ones that were snarky, the 'I-don't-need-your-pity' ones. Scarlett paid no attention to the fact that she was part of that very group. The girl had snapped her head up as Scarlett sat down, which was awkward enough. And she obviously didn't want to be seen crying in front of them, which was understandable. A few choked out words, tears, it was all the same, every time someone cried and someone comforted. At least this sob-fest was in the Owlery and not the abandoned bathrooms.

"No worries," said Scarlett, leaning back and forcing herself into casual mode, even though that was hard with crying people. Perhaps a sense of normality would help more in this situation. "Nice name by the way. I'm Scarlett, as Henry already said."

She decided to continue to speak, though that might've proved for disastrous results - prodding was, as Scarlett had discovered, not very appreciated in the Hogwarts community, what with the number of traumatized students here. "Someone send you a bad letter or something? A Howler?"

────── ☆ ───────