This early Monday morning Fauna sat sleepy-eyed at the Hufflepuff table, chatting about her classes for the week and what Storm had planned for the troublesome fifth-years and seventh-years. One of the third-years had just suggested that he'd probably lock all of the students in the Defense room together and tell them to duke it out, Tri-wizard Cup style, and that the last one standing would be given a goblet full of poison so Storm wouldn't have to deal with them anymore.

"And we wouldn't have to deal with him!" The third-year declared, waving his spoon in the air and sending droplets of oatmeal around the table.

Fauna cracked a smile and glanced at Adelia, glancing up as the owls flew in and dropped off the morning mail.

She was not surprised when three letters dropped into her lap, two from her mum and one from an owl she didn't recognize. Fauna made a face at her mother's handwriting, thanking her lucky stars that Catherine didn't know how to send a Howler and had to settle for scolding her the muggle way. This one, she was sure, would be about the detention from last week. The second letter she didn't even want to guess.

Saving the worst for last, Fauna put the notes from her mum at the end of the pile and glanced at the unfamiliar envelope from a wizard postal service. She was used to getting letters from strangers ever since the Prophet had interviewed her about SAWS, and the amount of owls she received had only increased after the Mixer that she'd helped set up. Some of the letters were complimentary. Others were not. Fauna had gotten into the habit of skimming, just so she could throw anything hateful into the fire.

When she glanced at the return address, time seemed to stop.

Malcolm Blake.

The name was rarely uttered at home, but it hit Fauna like a bludger to the gut.

She shook her head in denial, a sick, jittery feeling sneaking up on her.

Fauna stared at the envelope. She didn't look up at anyone yet, attempting to act like this was a perfectly normal letter from someone she knew, because some of her housemates liked to ask her what the 'werewolf news' was whenever a strange letter came in.

In a way, she did know him. The return address was the same as... Adelia's. Her friend sitting across the table from her.

A wave of nausea washed over her as she opened the envelope with trembling hands. Fauna skimmed the writing, trying to guard herself from whatever he had to say. It had to be a mistake. Still, she saw evidence that made her face pale. Names: Moira Jane, her older sister. Your mum. Anne. Addie and Alfie.

No.

A second letter underneath the first slipped to the floor, but Fauna didn't reach for it or open it. She continued staring at the words in front of her, reading them, then stopping, then reading them again. The letters mixed themselves up in front of her eyes, and for the life of her, she couldn't remember all the tricks she used to accurately read a page of text like everyone else. Her shaking hands and the stinging in her eyes didn't help. But she knew enough, saw enough. She knew but didn't want to believe.

Fauna finally looked up. She immediately sought out Addie, though everything in her didn't want to.

"Addie," she said hoarsely, sliding the letter towards her and nearly tipping over her glass of milk. "This..." she swallowed.

"This isn't funny."

Her throat constricted, "What is this." It was more of a statement and less of a question, but Fauna kept her eyes on hers, wounded but determined.

A few of the Hufflepuffs seated next to her went quiet as they realized that something bad was brewing.

It had to be a sick joke. A crazy coincidence. His name. Moira's reaction at the train station. Merlin, she'd met him! She'd met him before boarding the Hogwarts Express and she hadn't even realized it. He knew all the details. He knew everything.

She'd known nothing. But it was all becoming clear now.

Breakfast, the most important meal of the day seemed to be the last thing on the mind of Adelia Delacroix. She had watched, participated all too willingly and engaged her brother innocently (as well as unknowingly) in a farce – her appetite had waned from the moment they had woken up this morning from the Christmas holidays. Malcolm had given fare warning that he was going to tell Fauna finally and well, it was clear Addie was more than just sick to her stomach. There had been a little bit of a spat between father and daughter all before the spectacle at the train while they were riding from Portsmouth to London. Her opinion was as it had been a year ago: Why was it that he now chose to tell Fauna instead of letting her know, deceiving the poor girl. Malcolm had gone silent and in return, Addie had stared at the window, quite irate by it all.

Fast forward back to the moment – she sat there, poking at her oatmeal as her blue eyes kept a steady gaze on her sister as well as Alfie, who was cutting up over at the Gryffindor table. As she looked back to Fauna, she was smiling at her and in return, Addie gave a weak one back. Nice brand of comfort, indeed.

Addie could hear the hooting of owls coming in. She knew Aeolus would give Alfie his mail first, but that seemed to hardly matter as she saw an unknown owl dropping Fauna some mail. The writing that she knew belonged to Catherine was there, but . . . Her eyes looked in horror as Fauna picked up their father’s mail. She snapped out of it for only a moment as Aeolus hooted and pecked down on her wrist to alert her she had mail. Addie looked at the bird, grabbed the letter with the same handwriting, petted the bird and shooed him off as she ripped her own letter out of its envelope all while Fauna read hers.

Adelia:

I was wrong to have treated you so poorly the other day, love. You are your mother in so many ways – levelheaded and most certainly brutally honest. What I’ve done in me past will always haunt me and what you’re sure to go through here soon will be even more of a nightmare than what I should ever have put you through. The letter Fauna will be reading is my reveal and within that reveal, the lie exposed as truth. My darling . . . I know the words of “I’m sorry” cannot even begin to justify what I have done to you, Alfred (who himself is finding out the truth), Fauna, and Moira. I was a fool and rightly shall ever be.

Be strong, be courageous, but above all, be a sister as you always have been.

My undying love,
Malcolm

"Addie … This isn’t funny … What is this."

Oh, hell. Her blue eyes glimmered for they were clearly forming tears as she dropped her own letter into the oatmeal in a blow to the heart, looking over at Alfie, who clearly was looking back at her and then Addie looked to Fauna. Her throat was itchy and suddenly dry – she could not find the words to express what she felt. A ‘sorry’ was not in order currently as she did not intend for that to be the initial response. She felt hawked as Fauna’s eyes bore into her, demanding Addie to speak. Tears fell as she took the letter from Fauna, knocking the goblet of orange juice down as she pulled it up to read it. For once in her life, she hated herself for this and her father’s lack of consideration as well as dishonesty.

You HAVE to speak … sitting here isn’t an option, you know that she told herself, even as the reassurance provided no comfort either. The orange juice eventually spilled off onto her lap, causing a squeak of shock as if she had been electrocuted. Addie finally looked back into her sister’s eyes and realized sooner or later she would have to answer for this. So . . .  what to do, what to do. Her lips were drying up too so that was a sign a remark was in the works. And so . . . she spoke.

“It’s … not meant to be funny, because I didn’t find it funny when I heard it for the first time,” she remarked softly, shifting uncomfortably before continuing her little eulogy. “I can’t even tell you that I’m sorry because it’s not what you want to hear, I imagine. I can’t tell you I’m sorry on behalf of my father because he’s the one who led us into this lie to begin with all those years ago. If I’m sorry about anything it’s because I feel that I’ve deceived not only you, but me and Alfie for a year. And I’m sorry in the sense that now . . . I’m going to lose my best friend, who before I even ever found out this mess, loved so much like a sister.” The tears continued to fall as Addie soon fell silent – oh, why had she chosen to wake up and get out of bed today?

As Addie looked back at her, tears in her eyes, they reflected the horror in Fauna's own. She waited for her to say something, to deny it, to tell her she was sorry for playing such a sick joke on her and that it would never happen again.

Fauna didn't want the real answers. She glanced down at the letter in front of Adelia, written in a scrawl that matched the letter she'd pushed at her. Addie knocked her glass of orange juice over but neither of them did anything about it. They sat there looking at each other, caught in a miserable limbo that depended on their inability to speak. Truth threatened to overwhelm them both.

Finally, it came out. Addie told her the words she didn't want to hear, but had to hear, and they settled on her shoulders with an unbearable weight.

Fauna sucked in a breath and focused on breathing. With her throat constricted, her heart pounding, and the sweat that had broken out on her back, such a simple thing was not easy. She was sorry. Addie was sorry for deceiving her. There was so much pain between the two of them that the apology couldn't even begin to heal them. It just left a sour taste in Fauna's mouth. The Hufflepuffs on either side of them had gone very quiet, some pretending to focus on their breakfast, others openly staring. But the silence spread until it reached the ends of the table, where even the first-years sensed that something was not right.

"Why would you do this to me. I haven't done anything to you!" Emotion made her voice seem louder than it really was. It stood out like the wrong note in a song, where laughter and chatting and teasing rang out all around the Hufflepuffs, and here there were only tears.

"I don't understand," her voice caught in her throat and she shook her head. "Why. I thought I could trust you," she told her, hands clenching the bottom of her seat. "I thought that... that something bad was going on in your home-life and that was why you never invited me over, and I wondered dozens of times if I should say something to someone, and help you. And then I thought, other friends have been over to her house. Met your parents. Maybe it's just me."

The words spilled out as tears sprang in her eyes, running down her cheeks. Fauna made no move to wipe them away, and kept all her attention on Adelia, as if they were the only two in the room.

"What is so... wrong with me that you would lie to me like this?" Her shoulders shook and she let out a raw sob. "Why. Why couldn't we just be... half-sisters and... be open about it from the beginning and... why'd he have to disappear? He chose your family over mine. That was it. He was done and we were cut off. And now..."

Now he was still making the same choices. He didn't want anything to do with her! He never had! She was just this burden that made things awkward for the family he really loved. He didn't want her. He wanted her and Addie to stop being friends so that Addie wouldn't talk about Fauna so much and bring up this bad reminder.

That's what she believed in this moment. She didn't have the strength to fight against that kind of brutal logic. She covered her face with her hands and cried, blocking out the heavy silence around her and the whispers that had started. The idea of standing and running out was even too much. Fauna just wanted the Great Hall to fade away around her, and most of all, not to see Adelia or the letters that had caused this.

(mild language warning; few possible f-bombs)

Her eyes were watering enough to feed a small ivy plant while her ears burnt from the whispers. It seemed as though now Addie would forever be perceived as the anti-hero in this damned ordeal. She could only bear only a moment to look over at her brother to his head buried in his arms, sobbing no doubt, as his friends attempted to cheer him. How unfair was it then that Addie had to endure this mess single-handedly. Her heart was slowly beginning to shatter; she wondered if she'd be able to keep her own emotions in check.

The answer was no - Fauna's unintentional (yet the bitter venom still flowed into Addie) bite & bark sent Addie into a defensive mode. "How...how dare YOU. Ye think I've known this since we first came here!? I was always like you! I wanted ye over but noooo. It was always a 'no, luv' & so until I bloody found out, I was like ye were on th' matter: clueless." She was getting riled up & within her, something did snap when she heard Fauna talk about ther father picking her mum over Catherine.

"Woah, woah, WOAH.  Y'know not what you are sayin' - at least not bloody c-co-completely! That IS my mum y'talkin' about! She didn't know a thing about y'mum until our Da, being the git he was, fessed it up. So, if'y'n don't mind, leave me mum of th' feckin (the 'in' emphasized) equation, Fauna."

She felt her lips trembling - Addie had never once grown to use such coarse language on a person, especially to someone she deeply loved. "I...I don' know why h-he did-didn't stay, but I wish he had," was all Addie could find to muster as she, like her fellow two siblings in this room, buried her face into her hands & began to cry.

It was for the first time that she felt utterly alone & deserted. And Adelia Delacroix did not like these feelings. Not one bit.

Fauna was starting to understand that Addie wasn't the one at fault, but she was unfortunately the only one in front of her who could explain her... their father's actions. He'd sent letters instead of talking to her in person, and left Adelia to deal with the aftermath.

Really nice.

She lifted her head up as Addie snapped back, blinking away the tears as the words hit her. Fauna just needed to be angry right now. She hadn't had any preparation for this, and though Adelia was the one in the middle here and suffering as much as Fauna was, she had known the truth a year ago. She had continued the lie, and Fauna couldn't forgive her for that immediately.

"Oh come off it, Addie!" Her voice rose. "I didn't say a damn thing about your mum. All I said was that he made a choice, and you know what, it's the truth."

She fell silent for a few moments as Addie told her that she'd wished he had stayed, and started crying. Fauna wiped at her face, glanced at Alfie in the distance, and felt horrible.

That burst of guilt only made the pain worse. Fauna stood up, mouth trembling. "Yeah? Well... I'm glad he didn't stay. Good riddance. He's a fecking wanker, so have fun with that."

She gathered up her things and turned around, ducking her head in a futile attempt to hide her eyes and the red splotches on her face. On shaky legs, she began walking towards the exit.


((Addie- feel free to stop her or shout after her if you'd like!))

It was becoming more evident that the young adult drama unfolding betwixt  two siblings were becoming a warfare of words. And emotions. Addie felt her blood pressure rising which meant her cheeks were reddening by every word Fauna was saying. Deep down somewhere, she knew her sibling hadn't said anything about Anneliese, but when the heart bleeds, it never really knows what others say. It warps what is really said versus formidable false factoids.

Then, it seemed when they were in agreement that Malcolm was an unfaithful son-of-a crumpet eater & more, Fauna called him a wanker. Of course, Addie couldn't agree more but found this too inappropriate as it provided an opportunity for Fauna to slip away. Normally, she allowed it due to it was someone else's malark causing the issue. Not this time.

"You...you know what? You think you-"

Her words stopped mid-sentence as Fauna was doing the all too familiar 'duck & run' scenario. Addie was not going to allow her words to be ignored. She jerked herself back out of her own seat all while other people from other houses likely began to watch the potential catfight to ensue.

Her hand gripped down as hard as it could to state 'you had better stay until I'm finished. or else.' Addie was staring at the back of Fauna's head but she was going to get her two knuts in - one way or another..

"Ye know, for someone who always had no issues hearin' me out, ye certainly don' wanna hear now, d'ya!?" she hissed angrily as she felt the hairs on the back of her head prickle. It was clear she was piping peeved. "Yer opinion of him might be accurate but I sure as hell am not happy ye runnin' off like m'feelings have no bearing!" The next comment shot off before she could have time to withhold it.

"Some sister ye are, Fauna Blake. Ye ought t'be ashamed! I'd tho't ye'd support me. Guess I was a fooll t'think so." The grip loosened as she cut in front of her to look at her eye level. The eyes spoke more than just anger - they brimmed with confusion & certainly there was hurt.

Fauna had hesitated only for a second when she'd heard Addie begin to speak, and then she'd continued walking away, unable to handle this any longer. Running away was her default defense mechanism, and Fauna wasn't exactly proud of it, but it was what she needed to do for herself. She didn't want to blubber and yell in front of the entire Great Hall, giving the gossipers a good show. Escape was at the forefront of her mind, which  meant Addie's words and feelings were pushed to the background.

The sudden grip on her arm stopped her in her tracks. Shock and hurt flickered across her face as Fauna turned around. Who did she think she was! The fingers digging into her arm set off something in her, this sense of deep anger and outrage. It wasn't Addie's fault, really, but the idea that anyone thought they could just make her listen reminded her way too much of all the teasing and insults bullies threw at her.

Everything Addie said went through a haze of building anger, and Fauna went very still, glancing up to glare at her. If a glare could say 'I hate you', this one would.

She didn't actually hate Addie, or course, but the wave of  negative emotions clouded her judgment. Fauna was so wrapped up in what she felt that she didn't see the pain and confusion in her half-sister's eyes. Addie wanted to be heard, that was all. As the grip on her arm loosened, Fauna took a breath, regaining some of her composure.

But not all of it.

"Let. Go of me," she growled at her. Her eyes were dry now, but her cheeks still had faint splotches, and her heart still raced.

"I'm not your sister," she hissed back, realizing then that hers was the only voice echoing in the Great Hall. Almost everyone was watching them. She'd wanted to avoid this!

"It doesn't matter that we're related, because I don't care. I don't want anything to do with you right now! And you know, that's obviously what he wants. He wants us to not be friends because it's too... annoying to hear about me. This is the easy way out for him."

Fauna paused for a second, then went on. "So yeah, you are a fool, and no, I'm done being ashamed. You should have told me sooner - he should have told me in the first place - but it's too late now."

Fauna pushed away the impending guilt and gave her a cold glare. The things that she'd said were harsh, but she didn't regret them, not yet. This was what she'd been so afraid of before, and one of the reasons why she ran away from problems so often. She didn't like hurting people. Right now, however, it was all she seemed able to do.

She had always been taught family was family, no matter the reason or cause. Fauna was her sister & Hades be damned if she thought she would easily squirm out of this all because she wanted to deny blood ties. The excuse that soon uttered from Fauna's lips sent the conversation from hurt & confusion into a rightful drama llamas sequence of - you guessed it - drama. "OHMYGOD, FAUNA. Are you listening to yerself!?" she scoffed, as if Fauna was under the influence of a Confundus charm. "If he reallllly wanted us to not be together, don't you think he'd have made me go to another school, say like Beauxbatons as Mum's mum suggested?" Duh.

Then with her low profile growl (Addie still found it quite threatening inside her mind) to let go, she dared to laugh, which sounded awfully darkly as it came out. "Get a grip; This isn't all about you for once. If you would snap back to reality & realize we're not the only two suffering, ye would notice Alfred's lost his ability to fawn all over you." Ooh, that stung inside her but she was irate & well, seeing Fauna walking off (again - it was becoming tiresome) on her, Addie was uncertain how much longer she could take this form of brutish, stone cold love.

It didn't take long for her to blurt out her next comment as she had heard it in her mother's native tongue of French & well, her dad's Irish. She had giggled at it when she was little until she was told what it meant. "Oh, go flush yourself, FAUNA! Maybe you'll become friends with MYRTLE!" she shouted, which drew attention.

The icing was now at hand as she wanted her point taken seriously on Faun's running off. Addie was quick to pull out her wand & aim it to utter a non-verbal tripping jinx. Sure, it worked as she tumbled downward - there was a little self-satisifaction on Addie's part. What she didn't count on, however, was her little stint was about to be exposed. If only she knew...



(godmod approved by Elle!)

Fauna had had enough. She knew very well that poor Alfie was crying and that this wasn't all about her. She knew, though she didn't want to admit, that Malcolm could have had other reasons for sending her that letter other than the paranoid assumption that sounded like it came straight out of her mother's head.

But she was done. Finished. Sick and tired of standing there and making a big dramatic scene with Addie. She was sick of hearing the arguments and hurt feelings fly between them.

"Oh, go flush yourself, FAUNA! Maybe you'll become friends with MYRTLE!"

Face burning (and her right eye twitching), Fauna yanked her arm out of Addie's grasp and turned around, about to walk away again.

This was her first mistake.

Suddenly, her knees buckled and she crashed to the floor. Fauna put her hands forward, trying to soften the fall, but her bum hit the ground first. A sharp pain went up her side and she winced. The visual effect might have looked hilarious (indeed, the snickers were starting in the Great Hall), but falling on her arse hurt. She almost wished that overly zealous Ravenclaw first-year had given her the bum cushion treatment!

Tears pricked in her eyes as she sat there for a second. Fauna wanted to bawl, to scream, to rage. She had felt the effects of the Trip Jinx many, many times before, and often on the stairwells, where falling was more dangerous. The difference was that Addie had never used the spell on her before. She was used to it from bullies. She was not used to it from her own housemate!

Something in her snapped. Scrambling up, Fauna ignored the dull throb of pain shooting up her back and strode towards Addie. She didn't reach for her wand. She didn't look around to make sure no professors were watching.

Fauna gave her a strong shove, hoping to send her back at least a few steps.

"What the fecking hell!" She shouted in her face, voice raw with anger and hurt. "Screw you! Just- go jump in the lake!"

It was a juvenile insult, laughable even, but the first that came to her mind. And it was said with such conviction and venom that even most of the students who had laughed at her fall weren't laughing now.

"I never want to talk to you again! So you can just take those letters and stick them-"

Fauna didn't have the chance to finish that sentence.

"Screw you! Just- go jump in the lake!"

"As refreshing as that sounds, I think I'll pass."  Tulojow's tone was as calm and conversational as if she were pondering the viability of a book recommendation.  Her fleece-lined, leather clogs had barely whispered against the stone of the Great Hall floor as she'd approached the pair.  With the way the pair had been going at each other, it probably didn't matter much - Tulojow could have worn tap shoes and they wouldn't have noticed her approach. 

Of course, Tulojow was well aware the comment wasn't directed at her but why offer simple, self-righteous disapproval when a cheerful misunderstanding could get the point across in a much more effective manner. 

Pensively, she peered out the window as if doing so would gather her important information but, of course, she couldn't see the lake from where she stood.  "Besides, given those two inches of ice, I'd probably have to cut a hole through the ice first.  It seems that'd deter from the dramatic, impulsive impact of the gesture."  She looked back at the two young women.

Tulojow ran her hands through her long and slightly salted hair that, now as it was worn down, fell well below her waist to draw it over one shoulder and out of the way as she perched herself on the edge of a table.  She said nothing more, the stark pleasantness of her expression so glaringly contrasted to the anger and fury in the two girl's faces that it really wasn't necessary to speak.  Either one of them would take the initiative to speak first or they'd both stalk off in their own respective directions.  Hopefully, they would be wise enough not to choose the later.  After all, at some point their individual brooding paths would lead back to the same dorm room.

A familiar voice sounded and Fauna risked a glance at Tulo, one of the few people still on staff at Hogwarts that Fauna trusted completely.

Her breathing was shaky and her face was still fixed in an expression of turmoil and anger, but she stepped back from Addie, letting her arms fall to her sides. She'd actually pushed her. She'd never pushed, or even really yelled at someone like that before. Tulo's presence sobered her, and though the words were smart-alec, Fauna wasn't paying attention to those anyway.

"Tulo," Fauna tried to speak through the block in her throat. "I just... I can't... I'm sorry, but-"

She threw a glare at Addie. "She wouldn't let me leave!"

Of course, that didn't warrant pushing someone, but Fauna couldn't resist trying to excuse her actions. She felt both embarrassed about and justified in her anger. Tulo hadn't shown any sign of disappointment yet, but the idea that she might have let her down, or made her think less of her was panic-inducing. It was one thing if one of her professors had caught her and stopped her. Tulo was like family, so if she was mad, Fauna didn't know what she'd do.

She had surprised herself when Fauna fell on her bum & it was as if her actions had been broken by reason as well as compassion. Addie began to go assist her when Fauna returned the crass favor by shoving her & telling Addie to go jump in the lake. All kind bets were off. Again. "Maybe I will & you'll miss me, wishing you hadn't said it," she responded icily, her blue eyes seeming to suddenly have taken upon a frosted blue hue to match her words.

Addie was about to leave herself when Tulo showed up. She blinked as if she  didn't quite get Tulo's sarcasm (at the moment, she was truly lost) as well as listening to Fauna whine how it was *all* Addie's fault. How freaking childish. "All I did to you is make you listen: true, a few unconventional means for which I am sorry, but don't stand there acting like you're some patron saint. You hurt me - really bad, so why don't y'see that? Is it because I'm the messenger? You just go an' kill me, sibling relations or not. I am a person & I have feelings too, darlin'," she responded to both parties before sniggering a little on how Tulo's method of how she would have to effectively jump in the lake.

Cor, that woman made her smile when the rest of the world went to Hades. Addie was glad though it had been Tulo - just imagining the same scenario with another teacher (Addie blushed - Granda Jimmy's voice of approval for this said professor rang in her ears) could have ended up in a catalyst series of events. A duel to the death, sealing the two of them in a room until they got along or worse... Shaking her head, Addie looked back to Fauna.

"I know you aren't expecting much, but I am sorry I hurt you & your bum." A pause. "But you really ought to not be so thick headed sometimes. It's annoying."

The older woman was, as of yet, oblivious to what had precipitated the confrontation between the two girls but knew it had to be something significant.  Both of them were level-headed and mature young women.  This type of conduct from either of them was peculiar at best and concerning at worst. 

Her gaze shifted between both of the women as they defended their action.  Neither of them were immediately forthcoming with the reasons behind their actions and it was unclear whether that was an indication that they preferred to not have supervisory adult intervention.  Of course, there was only one way to really find out. 

"Why were you trying to leave?" she asked, arching a curious eyebrow in Fauna's direction before glancing at Addie.  "And, why was it so crucial to make her listen that you felt compelled to use unconventional means?"  She glanced between the two before arching an eyebrow.  "Or, has shoving and recommendations of swimming resolved the matter enough to permit you to co-habitate in Hufflepuff peacefully?"

Fauna was not placated by Addie's response, and she gritted her teeth, hands clenched at her sides. She looked away from her housemate and focused on Tulo, who was stuck in the position of trying to understand why they were upset. At the comment of 'co-habitate in Hufflepuff peacefully', Fauna let out a snort, and then glanced at Tulo apologetically.

"I don't want to talk about it here," she told the Healer, voice strained. She also didn't want to talk to Addie any longer. "She... she thinks she can just fling this news at me and that I'm going to be all snowflakes and rainbows about it, and... I can't do that!"

Actually, it had been Malcolm who had flung the news at her first by sending her those letters, and then Fauna had brought it up at the breakfast table. But Fauna wasn't thinking about that. She was angry at Addie for a number of things, and she needed space and time. Neither of which she was getting in the Great Hall.

Addie felt even more guilty than what she would have if it had been that she flushed one of Fauna's animal hats under peer pressure. It was not helping either that Tulo was being a mother hawk; Addie just wanted to be like Fauna & leave. But no - she couldn't nor wouldn't allow this situation to be left to royal rumble in the common room. Rainbow & snowflakes - she snorted at that a little more than just loudly.

"REALLY clever one, Fauna - a real breadwinner. Yer now just being a rightful ignoramus! Is that cutesy owl hat I gave ye givin' that kind o'advice?! Snowflakes an' rainbows - what's next? Gumdrops instead of raindrops?" she soon retorted, quite amused by what she had said & truly the thought of gumdrops instead of raindrops.

Addie's eyes looked to Tulo, knowing the wizened witch was still waiting for her own personalized answer. "The reason is because she found out I'm her step-sister & somehow she's Cinderella & m-er, our da is the wicked stepmum. I know I was wrong to provoke & rely on unnecessary means to get her attention, but really..." She looked to Fauna for a moment to redirect the next words to her before going back to Tulo. "You don't want to listen to me, only your own thoughts & perceptions." Addie felt sick at her stomach & sheer gloomy filled. "I just wish he had told sooner, Madame Tulo. I wanna t'find a reason for her to understand that, but apparently, tha's not gon' happen, is it?"