Emma decided to heed her parents warning and for a couple weeks, stayed away from Lucas. Although she hated the uncertainty her mums letter had brought her she couldn't think of any way to respond. George had sat and watched through the evenings as Emma tried to write a decent response to her mother without giving away how horrified she was that she had somehow known the gender.
'isn't it just what you say when you don't know someone's name?' George would ask
'No, not in this context. I never mentioned that it was someone I knew It was just if she knew the name, it could have been for homework or something like that.' Emma would explain in a hurried voice, trying to reassure not only George but herself that her thoughts were entirely rational.
Two weeks after her mother's letter George strolled into the mostly empty common room and threw himself onto the sofa facing the lit fireplace. Emma was sitting on one end of the sofa with her eyes closed when Georges landing startled her back into reality.
'Any ideas for the letter today? Attempt ten, right?' George asked propping himself up using his elbows.
'No,' Emma responded rubbing her eyes 'No letter tonight.'
'What? But we always try to write a letter on a weekday! We're close I can feel it.' George said trying to keep Emma's wandering gaze
'Sorry but I'm not feeling up for it tonight.' Emma said throwing herself from the overstuffed sofa cushion she had been sitting on.
'Okay, what do you want to do instead?' George asked turning over and lying on his back, letting one arm rest on his chest and one arm dangle off the sofa
'I'll probably just go to my room and… study, I guess.' Emma said
'What!' George shouted shooting up to a sitting position and staring at Emma 'But we always spend our evenings together! It's practically a tradition.' George said without a hint of sarcasm
'I'm sorry, we can hang out later but I'm going to do actual homework rather than trying to write that damn response letter.' Emma said rushing to the staircase that would take her to her room
'Wait, Emma come on.' George said getting up from his seat
'hold that thought, we can talk later, I promise!' Emma called back to George as she ascended the stairs.
What Emma hadn't told George was just that morning she had received another letter from her mother, it hadn't been delivered by Rufus as he had remained at the school with her, and her parents didn't have a spare carrier pidgin lying around as far as she was aware. She was yet to open the letter, she had woken up with it left on her windowsill, no bird no explanation as to how it got there. Just a letter addressed to her in what was clearly her mother's handwriting.
As she jogged up the stone staircase leading to her room all she could think about was the letter awaiting her and what it would say. The letter was where she had left it, under her pillow, without any hesitation she ripped open the envelope, it read:-
Dear Emma
Hey baby, your dad and I got worried when you didn't respond to our last letter. We hope everything is okay, we haven't heard otherwise from the school. If something is wrong please let us know and you can come home, there are people at that school who aren't your speed. Maybe it would be good for you to come home for a week or two and not have to wait until Christmas? If we don't hear from you in a day or two we'll contact the school about bringing you home early.
Lots of love, mum and dad xx
'No, no, no!' Emma kept muttering as she ran throughout her room grabbing paper, ink, a quill, an envelope and wax to close. Once she had everything she needed Emma simply scribbled 'Im fine don't pull me out of school lots of love Emma' on the piece of paper before messily shoving it into the envelope and sealing it. As she was moving so fast some of the wax trickled onto her hand, she quickly pulled it away, waving it frantically to cool it down before running out of the door to head to the owlery.
As she ran into the common room she caught the attention of George and Fred who were sitting together on the sofas.
'What's the rush?' Fred asked
'Have to send a letter!' Emma replied without even looking at him. Before anything else could be said she left the common room. As she rushed down the stairs she passed Aggie, who looked questioningly at Emma.
'You alright there?' she asked with a small smile
'Follow me.' Emma said without stopping her decent. Aggie simply followed, she didn't need to be told twice. All that she knew was her friend was in a panicked serious state and that's all that mattered to her.
'What do I need to know?' Aggie said catching up to Emma as they rushed through the mostly empty halls.
'Parents, trying to pull me out of school. Send letter, Before too late.' Emma said through huffed breaths.
'Let's do this.' Aggie said as they got closer and closer to their destination.
They were making good time when suddenly they heard a crying coming from a storage room.
'Em, stop!' Aggie shouted upon hearing the sound 'someone's crying' Aggie pointed to the storage room the sound was coming from 'Do we have time to try help?' she asked looking very serious.
'Augh! Barely!? But come on, if you can make it like thirty seconds long then it's okay.' Emma responded while continuing to jog on the spot slightly.
Aggie knocked gently on the door and called out 'you okay in there?'
The crying stopped but the person was still sniffling
'I'm fine' called out a broken lying voice. It sounded almost familiar, but the crying distorted it, so Emma couldn't tell who it was.
Aggie opened the door and inside, huddled up on the floor was Lucas. He was still wiping his tears but as soon as he saw Emma new tears stated emerging, sticking his long brown hair to his face where strands had caught a drop.
'Lucas, what's wrong?' Aggie asked crouching to be on his level
'Please be quick.' Emma said a little too harshly. Aggie shot Emma a nasty look.
'Don't be a jerk, if you're in such a hurry go send your letter and ill sort him out.' Aggie said
'Sorry, Thanks, Sorry!' Emma called already half way down the hall. She sprinted to the owlery, gave Rufus the letter and told him to fly as fast as she could. She wasn't sure if he could understand but it gave her racing mind some comfort, after that her mind went back to Lucas. Why had he been crying in a storage room? The crying was more concerning that the storage room, but she never knew with that boy. Not that a storage room would have caused him to burst into tears, either way she needed to go and see what was wrong.
Upon arriving back where she had left Aggie and Lucas she found Lucas passed out, with Aggie checking his pulse.
'I leave you with him for five minutes!' Emma called out from the other end of the hall
'I didn't do this! He wouldn't stop hyperventilating, I think he passed out.' Aggie explained
'You think?' Emma mocked, close enough now to see Lucas' chest rising and falling with every breath
'Come on just help me get him to the nurse.' Aggie said standing up. The two girls heaved the Lucas to the nurse who put him on a hospital bed and told them to go back to their common rooms. Fred and George were no longer on the sofas, so the girls went straight to their room.
As they lay in bed waiting for sleep to take them they chatted.
'So, why was Lucas upset?' Emma asked
'I don't know. He passed out before he could tell me, I tried to calm him down, but he just wouldn't listen. I have the worst feeling it has something to do with you.' Aggie said
'Why do you think it has anything to do with me?'
'He seemed determined to talk to you, and when I opened the door he started crying again when he saw your face. It's just… weird.'
'You can say that again.' Emma sighed
'Well, no matter what it is, we can help him through it. And if it has something to do with you I can help you through it! I'm always going to be here for you, you know that right?' Aggie said
'Yeah, I know, and I'm here for you, always.'
That night the two girls went to bed thinking about Lucas and what could have upset him so much. Maybe it was because Emma had been avoiding him, but it could be anything.
Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying, as always, I appreciate a review! I'm sorry I'm not uploading much and I'm sorry nothing much happened this chapter but you're just gonna have to bear with me. Until next time!