mail and males
Lily had spent her first Sunday breakfast at Hogwarts starring at the windows. We all knew she was waiting for a flock of owls to arrive with mail in hopes that her sister, Petunia, would write back. Everyday this week she had written a letter to Petunia and no response.
We all tried to encourage the idea that Petunia wasn’t ignoring her, it just takes time. I said that owls take awhile to reach their destination, Mary said that she was just taking time to write out a thoughtful letter. Marlene went a different route and said the the owl might have gotten lost and died. That night we had a conversation with Marlene about what thoughts not to say.
“Lil, you should really eat something” Mary stressed.
“I can eat after post arrives” she kept her eyes fixed on the windows. Mary and I exchanged looks.
“We can’t go out and explore the castle if your whining about an empty stomach” Marlene said in her most supportive voice. She handed Lily a piece of toast with jam on it. “Come on Lily, who wants the toast!” Marlene spoke the same you would with a baby. She ‘airplaned’ the toast up to Lily’s mouth and practically shoved it in her face until Lily had to take a bite. We all laughed and Lily finally took her eyes off the window and grabbed the rest of the toast.
“What parts of the castle should we see first?” Mary asked
“Anywhere but the dungeons, I don’t fancy seeing any more Slytherins than I have to. No offense Lil” Marlene added the last part out of respect. Even though we all hated Severus, she continued to see him. It was an annoying habit she had, but we chose to ignore it.
“You just don’t understand Sev, he’s really nice!” Lily stressed. The three of us shared glances. While Severus is nice to Lily, in the week we’ve been here, Severus had called all of us names and openly talked about cursing my brother and his friends.
To save us all, a flock of owls flew into the great hall. Once again I find myself loving the creature. It has perfect timing.
James and clan were walking in when our family’s owl, Foggy, landed in front of me with four letters. We each got two, one from each parent.
“Thank you kindly” I scratched Foggys head while untying the letters. He ate a bit of our meal then left to the owlery. I handed two letters to James as they sat down. To no one’s surprise, the black family owl came with another letter to Sirius Black. He didn’t even open it. To everyone’s surprise an owl stopped in front of Lily. She squealed while opening it.
“Is it from petunia?” Mary asked eagerly. Lily didn’t say a word, she read the letter thoroughly then set it down and picked her breakfast up. We got the hint: that letter was not from Petunia, instead I assumed it was from her parents.
I opened my own letters
My love,
How is your first few days at school? We miss you here! Gully and I have practically cleaned the house four times, we don’t know what to do without you here! ahora recuerda, si tu hermano te da problemas, escríbeme y yo me encargo. Please write back and catch me up with your first week at Hogwarts!
I love you with all my heart,
Mum
* * *
Hazel!
My sweet I have missed you loads. The house is too quiet, I am counting down the days until holiday break. Don’t forget to use the special school supply and to have as much fun as you can. Of course there’s the classwork as well but eh. The only thing you’ll ever have to do to make us proud is to be you!
Love you sweets,
Dad
My mother had taught me Spanish and French at a young age. Do not mistake this for any pure blood supremacy, I honestly was just fascinated by the languages. My parents are the types of people who were meant to have kids. They loved us with everything they had. They may be older than most parents but I think that just makes it better. I never felt unloved or unworthy with my parents, they were just people meant to be parents. Unfortunately not everyone’s parents are like that, which makes me lucky.
The four of us explored around the castle for twenty minutes before we got lost and spent the next forty minutes trying to find our way to Gryffindor tower. We decided against any more explorations and have a calmer Sunday instead. Lily went off to see Severus, Mary convinced Marlene to let Mary give her a makeover, I escaped to the common room in fear I would be next.
I sat by the window and read through the book of charms. Magic was an interesting subject, especially when you can finally do it. Every so often I would take my wand out and practice a spell or charm. It turns out I’m pretty good at charms.
I hadn’t realized how late it was until I was interrupted by James
“Learn anything cool?” He asked
“Some things”
“You’ve been here all day and only learned a few cool things?”
“I haven’t-“ I stopped myself and looked outside to see the stars and the moon. It was so pretty outside, especially the full moon. It looked like a crystal in the sky. James laughed as he watched me realize I have been here all day. I saw his friends Sirius and Peter stand behind James, giving us space.
“Where’s Remus?” I asked him. He looked back as if also noticing Remus wasn’t there.
“No idea, the kid disappears every chance he gets. I’m not entirely sure he wants to be friends with us.” He looked sad about that idea
“Maybe he just needs time. He’s from a muggle home right? Imagine learning magic exists then goes to school with loads of kids who already knew about magic. It’s a lot to adjust to”
He nodded “I am getting a little concerned, he normally comes back by now. We were going to go look for him in a bit”
“He didn’t tell you he was leaving?”
“He’s not overly great with conversation skills” he joked
“Maybe he’s homesick or had to go to the hospital wing. He would’ve been caught by the prefects if he was just walking the corridors”
“You’re right! We should go see him and make sure he’s ok!” James started to leave but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“If he’s sick, you should let him rest. Go see him in the morning if you must.” I knew I had shattered James’ joy but he had to wait or else the prefects would’ve caught him too. He also understood my point about leaving the poor kid be. He nodded then looked out the window.
“Hey look it’s a full moon” he noticed.
“Yes, it’s so pretty”