It was early in the year but Noelle was still heading to the owlery. She didn't visit the place often. Her parents and her didn't have the best relationship at the moment. She was mad at them. They were mad at each other. It was just a very stressful situation. She owled them closer to the holidays to let them know she was okay and if she would be staying with Noah or what not.

So it was unusual that Noelle was making her way to the owlery today. She proceeded up the stone steps of the tower with a little red envelope in her hand. Written immaculately was the address of someone she'd never written to. It was top secret business. Something that no one knew of, not even Noah.

But it was for good cause.

Peeking over her shoulder, she headed into the owlery to search for Blue.

The Owlery was a good place to go and think about stuff. Especially when she had too many thoughts to be around people, you know? So Emmeline had made the short journey from Gryffindor Tower to the Owlery Tower fully expecting the second tower to be full of owls, but not people. She could even tell Minerva what some of her thoughts were sometimes, 'cause her snowy owl was beautiful AND a good listener.

As the Gryffindor finally made it to the top of the 5 zillion stairs, she was so lost in thought that she had pushed the door open and stepped inside without fully registering the older girl's presence until it was too late. Uh oh... She had been somewhat avoiding Miss Ava and Miss Noelle as much as possible this term 'cause of the incident in Diagon Alley last summer. Plus, things were still kind of rocky with her and James, so seeing his big sister was kind of...awkward. But she had already come inside, and she wasn't going to make some lame excuse and run away from people like James had done to her at the feast, so she took a deep breath, pasted a smile on her face, and chirped: "Hiiii, Miss Noelle!" Her eyes dipped to the RED envelope clutched in the older girl's hand and she blurted out, "Why're you sending a Howler?"

The owlery could be a place that wasn't that clean. Owl droppings and such. Feathers floating. If you were crafty, you could use the feathers for something. But Noelle wasn't crafty at all.

She headed for the brown and white barn owl with the piercing blue eyes. She'd used him whens he sent letters out. She smiled as she reached him and liked that he knew her now. He perched himself on her arm and gave her finger a little nibble, begging for a treat. "Don't worry. I bought you one. Pip didn't come with me today though. So you cant nip her." She said to the owl and reached into her pocket with the hand holding the red envelope and grabbed a treat which the owl took eagerly. "I need you to...."

She paused when she heard the door open.

Turning around, she saw Emm. She wasn't exactly thrilled to see the girl that ran away with her brother. Although, she'd been somewhat avoiding the girl, she wouldn't admit that out loud. But now, the girl was here. In front of her. Alone.

.....

"Hello Emm." She said cooly and turning back around to whisper to Blue if need be. Only Emm saw the envelope in her hand. "It's none of your concern. Thank you. She said to Emm before continuing to talk to Blue. "Okay Blue, I need you to take this. Be gentle. Be quick. Ill give you more treats if you hurry back safely." She called and the headed to the window with the owl before lifting her arm. The owl spread its wings and lifted off.

.... Now it was just Emm and her. Alone.
Awkward

There was a weird sinking feeling in her stomach all of a sudden. Emmeline wasn't sure if she was angry or sad or ashamed, or some mixture of all three feelings. It was bad enough that James almost definitely blamed her for getting them caught; she didn't want to be blamed by Miss Noelle for other things too. Especially when Miss Noelle didn't know aaannnything about it, other than that they'd actually done the running away and stuff. Which wasn't much, really.

She folded her arms across her chest and said back quietly: "Fine. You don't have to be so mean about it." She walked closer to the shelves, scanning them for Minerva 'cause now she definitely needed someone to talk to. Only she couldn't help adding: "I didn't make him run away, you know. He was going to whether I went with him or not." Not that she held herself blameless for that whole thing. She didn't, and she hated herself a bit for her participation in it, especially after Cami had been so nice all summer afterwards. But James -- it hurt too much to say his name out loud -- had made his OWN choice, too. And she wasn't going to blame herself for HIS part in it, nope. Even if she had sold him out or something instead of going with him, she had no doubts at all that James would've managed to run away by himself anyways. Plus, he definitely didn't listen to girls, which Miss Noelle should know by now. See, she was kind of angry too.

Noelle watched Blue fly off in the distance to make sure he was headed the right way. She definitely would treat that bird when he returned. It would be a long journey. She'd get him the extra special treats he liked. The fancy ones.

But once he was gone... Noelle didn't feel the need to stay here much longer. She heard Emm's comment about not being mean about it. She decided to ignore it. Emm surely came up here for a reason, and since she was already scanning through for something, Noelle started for the door. Her hand was on the knob when she heard Emm. "[b]You don't think I don't know that?[b]" she said before turning around, hand still on the knob.

'I know. I know hes not happy. I know that he will probably try to run away again. I know that he hates me as much as he hates our family. And I hate that as much as I try, there's no getting through that thick head of his." She blurted out. Had she been keeping that in for too long? Probably. "But it doesn't help that you ran away with him. Did you even try to make stop?" Not that she really could have done anything. James was thick headed. "Did you know that for the 10 days you two were missing, how we felt looking for him? Or that I went missing for 6 months before my second year of Hogwarts with my best friend who was a boy. And all I could think was that you two were in the same situation I had been in?" She asked quietly, looking back to the door.

"I'm not mad at you Miss Emm. I'm mad at myself. Im mad at James. Im mad at my family. Im mad at a number of other things. Im glad you were there. Because at least he was probably somewhat more conscious with you there. But i'm still not happy you two ran away." She had every right to be. Did Emm really think that it would be rainbows and sunshine when they got back?

Gaston leaned against the door for a few moments to catch his breath. Merlin, that was a lot of stairs! Now he remembered why he hardly ever came up here! Oh well, he supposed it could be worse. At least his office wasn't on the first floor like his wife's. He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her and the others on that floor having to climb so many stairs just to mail a letter. And speaking of Rosalyn... his thoughts turned to the conversation they once had in this very room so long ago, the one when she agreed to give him a chance.

As he ventured farther into the owlery, his eyes searched the room for the fat barn owl that once played a part in their story, but it was nowhere to be found. His heart sank. He hoped it wasn't sick... or dead. Maybe it was just out on a delivery? Instead he found a strong-looking eagle owl perched nearby. Oh yes, this one would do nicely!

He started to tie the letter in his hand to the owl's leg, but it gave him a sharp poke with its beak. "Ow! What was that for?"