| ————— | Julia could finally breathe after the hug bombardment ended. She stepped back and surveyed her family. Maybe she imagined it, or maybe she was just tired, but she could've sworn she saw a look of grave tension pass through the adults. Was something wrong? She didn't have time to linger on the thought, as that's when Eliana, Julia's mom said, "Why don't you kids go to Julia's room and do something? I'll call you down when lunch is ready" Eliana was smiling as she spoke, but it looked forced. Julia couldn't understand. Why? What was going on? She wanted to confront her mom, but she could see the unsuspecting Emmeline and Orla looking at her expectantly, so she decided to drop it and instead said, "Of course!", then looking at her cousin, "I hope you brought your chocolate cards. I have stocked up during the term." Julia smirked and walked towards her sister and cousin as they started filling Julia in on well... everything. It felt good to be back with her family, she felt a feeling of warmth filling up the small empty space in her body, she didn't know existed. She started walking out of the room, but not before shooting Eliana a look. A look that said I'm onto you. I let you off the hook, but not forever Julia's face reflected determination as she smiled. She was getting to the bottom of this.
Julia made her way up the stairs with 2 people screaming into her ears. She laughed, not comprehending anything. It felt good to be back. Whatever drama was going on, she was ready to put it behind her to enjoy some time with her sisters and cousin. But that didn't mean she'd forgotten. Julia was finding out what was causing this stress and sadness in her family. Her thoughts shifted to her grandpa. Was it him? No. She couldn't afford to wander down that path. She had to cling onto whatever happiness was left in her life, hoping, things would get back to normal. She wanted to talk about it with her sister and cousin, but they seemed so blissfully unaware, she didn't want to ruin that. Julia chose not to linger on such thoughts and turned her attention back to her sisters. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down guys. You're seriously going to break my eardrums!" They both laughed, once more, filling Julia with warmth. "Alright! We'll pipe down. You wanna play exploding snap? Em brought her cards along since our 'magically' disappeared", Orla said, looking pointedly at Julia. Smiling as innocently as possible as she could, Julia said, "I wonder where they went..." Emmeline shook her head, rolled her eyes and said, "Cousins these days". They all laughed feeling the old sarcasm sessions come back. For a moment they were quiet. Too quiet. "Uhhhh guys? Is it just me or are the parents too quiet?" They all shared worried look and listened carefully. Usually, even from there in the room, they would have hear their parents laughing, joking, and talking with each other, but right now they had really listen to hear them. They strained their ears and finally heard some hushed conversation. Once more, they shared a look. This wasn't like them. They never were quiet unless it was serious. Em quickly ran to her trunk and pulled out 3 extendable ears and handed them over. They couldn't catch the whole conversation. But they got enough. Eliana had just said something they couldn't make out, then Estoria, Julia's aunt, spoke with a air of tragedy, "Much as I don't want to, I think we need to tell the girls tonight". And the last thing they heard was the slight murmur of agreement.
The girls made their way down the stairs to dinner, an air of gloom above them. They hadn't felt like doing much since The Revelation, as they called it. It was clearly serious, but they were about to find out just how much. After listening to the adults, Julia's thoughts on it being her grandpa just went higher, but she didn't share that with her sisters. They were worried enough already. As they reached the dining room, a big room consisting of a blue wallpaper with white vines, a ginormous dining table, and black, glass, shelves filled with random things here and there, Julia thought of confronting her mom. But before she could do or say anything, Estoria shared a look with Eliana an said "Come on girls, take a seat. We have... news to tell you". She never specified good news or bad, but her tone said it all. They sat down and served themselves some food, but no one seemed to be eating apart from little Evelyn. After a few minutes, Eliana cleared her throat and said, "Girls... I'm afraid your grandpa has been admitted into St. Mungo's... He's extremely ill... we can go to see him tomorrow, but the healers tell us it's... extremely serious". Extremely Serious. Extremely Serious. The words rang in Julia's head, waiting to be comprehended, but they weren't. Her grandpa was old, and now, being admitted into Saint Mungo's almost sealed the deal. It meant death was coming. And it was going for her grandfather.
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