Nīpan

dinner and chess

"How has school been?" Their father asked them after he finished chewing his stew.

"Good Father, my marks are perfect," Emerald tells him with a proud smile. Her father barely looked at her before sliding his gaze to Theo, completely ignoring her.

"Theo?" Theo gulps and shoots an apologetic look towards Emerald. She gives him a reassuring smile before frowning at her lap.

"Um, great Father, but I'm not doing as well as Emerald, that's for sure."

"Well, if you can't even do better than your inadequate sister, then maybe you shouldn't be going to school at all, hm?" Theo glared at his plate and cleared his throat loudly.

"Yes, Father," he grit out. In reality Theo was third in his class, only behind Malfoy and the Granger girl, but Father wouldn't hear any of it and she knew that, so she stayed quiet. She pushed her peas around her plate, bored out of her mind. She didn't notice it was making little scraping sounds until her father slammed his fists down on the table, causing the wine to slosh in their glasses.

"Merlin, Emerald! If you're so miserable why don't you just leave the table instead of making a huge scene?!" The eldest Nott roared. Emerald's eyes widened as she stared at her seething father. His eyes, identical to hers, were dilated and filled with hatred. She blinked to break the eye contact. Unsure of what to do she pushed her chair back as softly as she could and started to exit the dining room, but not before looking back to make sure that's what he really wanted.

But her father had already moved on, asking their house elf, Melody, for some more wine. Tears pricked her eyes and she dashed to her bedroom as fast as possible. How could she be so stupid? She should have been quieter, she should have congradulated Theo.

Now she was stuck here until he was called out. She knew he would place locking charms on her doors, it had happened many times before. So she sat on her bed and cried, she cried until there were no tears left.

Twila began to paw at her face after a while and licked the tear stains off of Emerald's face.

"Good kneazle," she cooed while scratching under her familiar's chin. When she glanced out of her window she noticed a barn owl waiting on a perch. She scrambled to let the bird in, and once the hatch was undone she untied the letter from its talons and gave it a treat kept in a jar beside the window.

Her tears slowed when she noticed Cedric's handwriting on the front. Smiling slightly, she slices the envelope open and pulls out the yellowing parchment.

Sweetheart,

It's only been a day and I can't seem to stop missing you. I miss your bright smile, your soft lips, and above all, making you scream under me. While that may be improper I can't contain myself, I miss you too much. Please let me know when I can see you.

I love you,

Cedric

Emerald started laughing at his inability to contain himself for even a day. She turned sad once more when she realized she'd have to wait until she was free again to respond. Father moniters her owls, it's a miracle how this one wasn't intercepted.

He would've definitely loved the part where Cedric mentioned their sex life. He'd have been ecstatic!

She made a note to tell Cedric to be discreet when writing her. He always addressed himself as Marcus Flint in past years, so she didn't understand why he didn't keep that up. Then again, the thought of Flint writing that letter, real or not, made her skin crawl.

A loud crack interrupted her thoughts, and she jumped as Melody apparated into her room.

"Goodness Mel, you scared me!"