boundless (Amit Thakkar x OC)

Christmas (or, embarrassing family)

After weeks of studying and preparation, the winter exams were finally behind the students of Hogwarts. Immediately diverting their attention to plans for winter break, the Great Hall this winter morning came alive with owls carrying correspondence from home.

Emilia gave her mothers' owl, a Boreal named Hubie, a gentle stroke down his back before hugging her family's letter to her chest. She had missed them dearly and was more than happy to finally be going home.

Finishing her breakfast (and long gab with Poppy), Emilia started to leave before she noticed Amit sitting at the empty Ravenclaw table, staring at a letter in shock.

Emilia approached tentatively. "Amit? Is something wrong?"

Amit handed the letter off to Emilia. "My parents don't want me to come home."

Emilia balked. "What?! But you said they've missed you all year!"

"There have been goblin loyalist sightings close to where we live. They want me to stay here until the authorities have dealt with them." Amit swallowed, slumping into his seat.

His downcast expression broke Emilia's heart and spurred her to blurt out "Would you like to come visit my house until you can go home?"

Amit snapped up to face Emilia. "...What?"

Emilia short circuited. "I mean- nobody should be alone on Christmas, right? I just... need to send a letter to my family... to check if we have room."

That was probably too much information. Amit didn't seem to notice.

"Me too. I ought to tell my family where I'm going." Amit said tactfully; then, much less tactfully, "And... that you're a girl." His face betrayed that he was dreading doing so, an expression Emilia's face was surely mirroring.

Emilia gave Amit a tight smile before tossing back his letter and bolting out of the Great Hall towards the Hufflepuff common room, her cheeks and ears on fire.

Plonking into her desk chair, Emilia stared at the parchment despondently. Her owl Lila watched patiently as Emilia struggled through her letter, trying to sound as innocuous as possible. Finally, she wrote:

Dear Mam, Dad, and Pa,
One of my new friends is facing the prospect of having to stay at school possibly all Christmas break. You all have taught me the importance of being a good neighbor, and I ask that you seriously consider allowing my friend to stay with us. It would make all the difference to him.
Love you,
Emmy

Emilia was satisfied. She handed the sealed letter to Lila and watched her fly away. The gravity of the situation slowly sunk in, and her anxieties returned tenfold; if her parents accepted, Amit, her first and only crush, would be spending an undetermined amount of time, with her family, in their tiny cottage.

Emilia felt that she had to lie down.

Two days later, just before the break began, Emilia was awoken by Lila and, to her surprise, family owl Hubie. Emilia gingerly accepted the letters and decided that since her mother relished a bit of gossip and her father had sent two letters, she would open her grandfathers' first.

All it said was,

We're alright with hosting one more.
I hope for my sake he likes hunting.
See you soon pearl

Emilia saw a long break ahead of her.

The train's rumble began to slow as the view from the cabin changed from marshy woods to a large meadow, signs of a hamlet off in the distance. Emilia grabbed her fluffy winter coat.