The Mystery of You

chapter seventeen: the long-awaited letter

I awoke from my slumber far too early. The sun was barely peaking into the window as I sat up on my bed. I stood up and felt the weight of the past few weeks on my shoulders. My fear had only continued to grow since I arrived at Hogwarts. I got ready for the day and decided to take a walk to the lake. The quiet morning hours always felt so peaceful despite any anxiety or exhaustion that I might have been facing.

I stood at the mouth of the lake and took a deep breath. The morning air was so cold that I could see my breath flow from my mouth and dissipate in the air with the colors of the sunrise behind it. I could not put into words why I was so nervous about more attacks from dark wizards, but there was something in my gut that would not settle and seemed to get more and more potent as time went on.

A shiver ran down my spine and I wrapped my scarf around my neck so I would not feel such a chill. I heard footsteps approaching me as I rubbed my hands together to make them warm.

"Hi, Willow," a voice said from behind me.

"Hi, Everett." I stayed where I stood without moving toward him or turning to face him.

"I wanted to tell you that I was sorry. I shouldn't have fought Sebastian or grabbed your arm. I am sorry for all of it." He waited for my response, but I wasn't sure how to respond. My heart hurt knowing that he had the capacity to treat someone the way he did.

"I-I guess I am still a bit shocked. I didn't expect you to get as angry as you did. You seemed like a completely different person than I believed you to be."

"I know and I am sorry about that," he said as he stood next to me while looking at my face to see if I would forgive him.

"I just am not sure how I feel about you or anything anymore." I showed no emotion on my face as I spoke.

"I-," Everett said before being interrupted. Instead of being interrupted by Sebastian, my owl flew in and passed off a letter to me. The writing was Anne's.

"I have to go. I have been waiting for this!" I ran off to the Slytherin common room and waited at first. I eventually became so impatient that I knocked loudly on the door to Ominis and Sebastian's room, effectively waking up each student inside. The door creaked open.

"Starling?" Sebastian said while wiping sleep from his eyes.

"I have it. I got the letter from Anne!" I said with tears filling my eyes. I had not realized just how much I was hoping for a response. I did not know if I would get one but I had only hoped. Sebastian quickly shut the door and grabbed Ominis. By the time the two of them were out of their dorm, I had found a cozy spot on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Took you long enough," I said while I rolled my eyes.

"Sorry, Ominis decided he needed to look perfect before gracing you with his presence."

"Hey! Who was it who fixed his hair five different times in the mirror before deciding it was good enough?" asked Ominis. I laughed as they both sat on either side of me. I went to open the letter and Sebastian looked at me nervously.

"It will be okay," I said to the boys as I continued to open the letter.

"I hope she is doing all right. It will be nice to hear more about how she is faring." I positioned the letter so that Sebastian could easily read it over my shoulder as I read the letter aloud.

"My Dearest Willow," I read. "I cannot tell you how much I miss our laughs back in Feldcroft during the hot summer months. I hope that you are taking care of our boys. I know that you must be. Sebastian has been writing to me for months on end and your name has appeared many times." I stopped and looked at Sebastian as his face turned pink with embarrassment. I smirked and continued. "I know that you must have a lot of questions for me now that you know. Please know that I love my brother despite any issues or shortcomings. He means the world to me. I do feel I would benefit from a visit with you. I would not mind seeing my brother and Ominis as well. If you all are free this weekend, would you like to come up and visit St. Mungo's? It has been too long since we have seen each other. Give my love to my brother and to Ominis. I know you must be alluding to my brother somewhere in the comment about 'dumb boys'. I knew it would happen. I cannot wait to hear it in person."