Closed Big Talks in the Small Hall

EmmaLee stared intently at the large upper windows of the Great Hall from her seat at the Hufflepuff table as she absentmindedly spooned scrambled eggs into her mouth. Every once in a while, a fellow Hufflepuff would nudge her and try to start a conversation or bring her into one, but she ignored them. She was watching for the morning post owls. Forget that they all rushed in at exactly the same time every morning, so they weren't likely to come even a minute earlier than they usually did. If the determined little puff stared hard enough, they would come faster, yes, hopefully with Stephen's reply and not her own letter back to her....again.

"EMMALEE!!" A brunette girl across from her yelled, leaning over the table and snapping her fingers right next to EmmaLee's nose, then waving that hand in front of her face, fully determined to get her attention. "EARTH TO E! COME IN!" She continued to call, until EmmaLee turned from the windows to the girl, an irritated pout on her pale face. She girl chuckled and sat down, finally the object of EmmaLee's attention. "Do you realize that you have been eating air and ignoring us for the past ten minutes?" The girl said, quieter with an amused grin and gesturing to EmmaLee's empty plate. EmmaLee blinked widely at the girl, looking from the girl to the platge and back, before chuckling a little and putting her spoon down.

"I'm sorry, Lila. Thank you." EmmaLee said sheepishly. "I'm waiting for an important letter."

"Well, you can't will it to come any sooner. So you might as well just be patient." The girl, Lila, said with another laugh as she turned to her other friends and continued whatever conversation they were having before trying to get EmmaLee's attention.

As if prompted by the irony, the post owls swooped in at the very moment. One eagle owl wavered out of the pack and tottered towards EmmaLee, looking rough and out of sorts with bent, messy feathers. It landed with a couple of unsteady hops onto her empty breakfast plate and dropped a similarly bedraggled little letter at its own feet.

EmmaLee's eyes welled up with frustrated tears as the owl shook itself a little, nipped up her weary bacon offering, and flew off back the way it came, presumably to rest and mend itself in the owlery. EmmaLee stared at her own glittery blue handwriting for a moment before snatching the letter up furiously and stomping out of the Great Hal, causing the chattering Hufflepuffs around her to jump in surprise and stare after her with confused faces, murmuring if they should follow her or not. Seemingly, they chose not.

Her sudden fury dissipated as quickly as it had come with the clanging thud of the Great Hall's massive door closing behind her. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes again as she was at a loss for what to do. This was the fourth time she had tried to send this letter and it kept coming back to her. It was as if something was interfering with the delivery. She clutched the envelope delicately in her hand as she wiped away the tears and searched around the Small Hall for an answer on what to do now.

Eyes still glittering with tears, she settled on flinging herself on the hearth of the fireplace like a despondent Disney princess, letting the letter flutter to the floor, a little to close to the fire for comfort, but EmmaLee was too angry with it to pay attention.

~Unreliable flying rats.~ She thought, angrily, then took it back because it was quite clearly not their fault that something was attacking them between Hogwarts and Ilvermorny and they had to turn back. She was just had an ill temper when thinking about how upset Stephen probably was and what he must think of her not replying for this long.

She hated disappointing her friends and was always terrified that if she became unlikable in any way, they would all abandon her. She put her chin on her arm, pouting at the fire, and sighed, but it turned into more of a sobby hiccup instead. What if Stephen hated her now? What if he thought she must be just like that rude girl from before? Her thoughts spiraled downward until she was a hiccup-y, sobby, frustrated mess on the hearth and floor, not giving a care who saw her in this state.

@Mellani Miller