Greetings and apologies

[Katalina Harker]

Kat had just left Caysi and ran up to the owlery to send a letter to her mum, as well as one to Lily. She thought she'd start with the easiest of the two first...the one to her mother. Pulling a piece of parchment and a pen from her bag she sat on the cool stone floor and began to write the letter.

Hiya Mum!

Glad to hear that Rena finally got to come home.  Though the sucky part is that I won't be able to stay at the house now.  I'm going to be staying with some friends for a few weeks over the break and then I'll probably go to Grammy and Grampy's house so that I can at least see you and daddy for a bit before I have to go back to school.  Oh, I almost forgot...will you meet me at Obsidian so that I can buy a birthday gift for a friend?  Just let me know if you can.  I would love to see you before I go to my friends for the summer.  I love you mum!  Give daddy and Rena all my love and tell them that I miss them terribly.

Love
Kat

Katalina folded the note up and addressed it to her mother. She then fastened it to the leg of her owl, Lavender, and said her mothers name. Kat wathced as her snow white bird took flight and conintued to watch until she could no longer see her. No use in stalling...you're going to have to write it eventually! she thought to herself and then got out another piece of parchment to write a letter of apology to Lily. A lump grew in her throat, which meant tears weren't far behind, but she swallowed it back. She'd had her fill of tears over the last two days. Kat thought about what she needed to say to her friend and began to write.

Lily,

I'm so sorry that I bolted on you the other day.  I'm not really sure I can explain the reasons behind why I left so suddenly, at least not in a letter.  If you'd give me the chance then I'm more than willing to apologize in person.  Again I'm so very sorry about just disappearing like that and I do hope that you can forgive me. 

Your Friend
Kat

P.S.  I'm glad that things are working out for you so well.  I know how hurt you were when he left and I can tell that nothing makes you happier than the fact that he's back now.

Kat had to wait for Lavender to return before she could send the note to Lily so she stood up and paced around in circles for a few minutes before sitting back down. It was too quiet up here, which gave her too much time to think on things. Tears started in a slow little stream down her cheeks and she thought Ugh! Where do they keep coming from? It cannot be humanly possible for one person to cry this much! Kat wished her owl would hurry up, but it seemed like it was going to take its sweet time. She rested her head up against the wall and began to hum to herself hoping to cause some sort of distraction, but the tears kept coming in a steady little stream.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily made her way up the stairs to someplace she hardly ever was. The owlry. She did not go there since she did not own an owl, or ever send one to anyone. The thought of borrowing one for a bit was a bit nervwracking, but needed to be done. She had no other way of helping Blake get in touch with Josh. She wanted to keep him as safe as possible and out of sight of Cloe.

As she reached the top of the stairs, she could hear someone was up there. Great. I am going to be busted before I can even do anything. Some help I am. When she finally entered the room, she saw Kat was up there and she was crying. She rushed to her friends side and pulled her into a hug. "What is wrong? Honey did you get bad news from home?" she asked, concern in every word she spoke.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat was taken aback slightly as she didn't realize that anyone had entered the owlery. Oh great, just what I needed right now...oh stop it Kat, she's just concerned. Quit thinking about yourself you selfish git. she berrated herself quietly. Kat hugged Lily back and was actually glad that she was here so she could apologize to her in person. "No, no Lily. I'm fine. It's just been a rough last few days. Nothing major." She sat up and wiped her eyes for about the billionth time today. "I actually have a note for you. I was just waiting for my owl to get back from a delivery to my parents." She handed the note to her friend, hoping that Lily would accept her apology and forgive her.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily was shocked that Kat had a note for her. She took it tenderly and opened the parchment. She read over the information that it contained and then looked at her friend. "Honestly, I am not mad at you for leaving so fast. On the other hand, I should be appologizing to you! I was the one who was so absorbed in my own life that I was not a good friend and included you - or realized your pain. I am so sorry."

 

[Katalina Harker]

Oh crud! Why is she apologizing? Kat thought to herself, feeling guiltier than ever. "Lily, please don't apologize. If I would have had the chance I would have acted the exact same way that you did. You have been wanting nothing more than to see Blake ever since he left. I should have been a little bit more supportive than that. I do hope that the next time you see him you'll apologize to him for me." Kat almost pleaded with Lily, more tears managing to escape no matter how much she protested them.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily moved to hug her friend, realizing the pain she was in. "Honey. Ok, we will call it a draw. We are both sorry. End of discussion." She smiled at her, hoping to get her to smile too. "Now, do you want to talk about it? I do kinda understand the pain you are in. Not exactly, but pretty close."

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat forced a smile, knowing that it probably looked pitiful, when Lily hugged her. "Yeah...we'll just call it even." she said swallowing back the lump that was growing again in her throat. She looked at Lily and said, "Not much to talk about I guess. Just more or less something that I'm going to have to sort through on my own. Try to figure out how to make it not hurt so bad. Things will fall into place soon though. I'm sure of it." Some of what she was spouting off she believed, but other parts she was lying even to herself. Wiping her eyes and regaining some composure she asked Lily, "So what brings you up here today? Writing to Blake?"

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily looked at the floor just a bit. "Well, I was going to look and see if I can find an owl to use. Or borrow. For a bit. Blake needs to get in contact with Josh without Cloe finding out." She blushed a bit, then continued. "I was thinking I could borrow a school owl to use."

 

[Katalina Harker]

"Oh." said Kat before a thought popped into her head. She might as well help someone out since she wasn't doing herself much good at the moment. "Hey Lily...would you like to borrow my owl? She's really good and fast too. She might be able to help." Katalina pointed up to her snowy owl, Lavender, so that her friend could see which one she was talking about.

 

[Lily Drage]

"Really? You would let me do that? You are AWESOME!" Lily replied with a smile on her face. "That is amazing! Thank you so much! Do you mind if I take her to the forest or would you rather I bring the letter here to send it out?"

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat jumped a bit at Lily's enthusiasm, but gave a small smile at how happy it seemed to have made her friend. "No that's fine, I mean you can take her to the forest." She stuck her hand in her bag and withdrew some owl treats and handed them to Lily. "Lavender likes these. Just give her one when you send her off and one when she gets back."

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily took the offered treats and put them in her bookbag. "Thanks. I will remember that. You have no idea how much this means to me. And to Blake. I will make sure he knows that you were kind enough to lend him Lavender." She smiled at her friend. "The only bad part is that it means he will be leaving again, but at least this time I know where he will be. Even if it might be half way around the world." Lily made a funny face. It was a kind of a cross between pain and hurt and love. She wanted Blake to be safe and happy but still didn't want him to go.

 

[Katalina Harker]

"Yeah, I know it'll suck not having him close, but like you said the upside is at least knowing where he his...knowing that he's safe." Kat paused, sighing loudly and then added, "So, urm, where exactly is Blake staying right now? Is he staying in Brightstone still? It must be horrible not getting to spend time with him since we can't go back there for a few more weeks." Just then something dawned on her. "Wait...how are you going to get Lavender to him if he's still in Brightstone? Lily, exactly where is Blake right now?"

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily turned about 3 shades of red. "Um, well," she stuttered out as she looked down at her feet. "He's not in Brightstone anymore. And I will be able to see him very soon." She looked out the window of the owlery toward the forest, wondering where exactly he was inside the trees, and what he was doing right now.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat listened to what Lily was saying, though none of it made very much sense. Feeling confused she asked, "Well then where is he...." Her voice trailed off as she followed Lily's gaze and then it clicked. Kat gasped and said, "Oh Lily please tell me he's not out there. Its dangerous in the forest." She shook her head trying to make sense of the connection that she'd just made.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily bit her lower lip. "Um, well," she stammered out again. She knew it was dangerous, but so was risking Cloe at this point. Until he was able to contact Josh, this was as close to safety as he could be. "Yeah, he is. But only until we can get Josh to come get him and keep him safe. He can't go back to Cloe. She is a monster that kept him locked up in a room at his grandparents since she took him away! She has been in New Zealand looking for him. She knew he would come here. I am going to borrow the sorority's tent so he has somewhere safe to be. He is not too far into the forest, so hopefully the nasties out there will stay away from him." She spoke frantically, her face showing her concern for both him staying away from Cloe and for him staying safe in the forest.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat felt really bad for Lily and actually felt sorry for Blake too. Afterall he had no choice in having to leave last year, his mother dragged him off to Merlin only knows where. "Well...I guess as long as he isn't too far in there then he'll be alright. I've been in there loads of times and nothing bad has ever happend." she tried to reassure her friend, but then another thought came to her. "Oh gosh! What if one of the professors find him in there?" Kat hated being pessimistic, but she was trying to think of ways to keep Blake and Lily from being caught or hurt. Lily finally had back the person that meant the world to her, something that Kat only dreamed about, and she wasn't about to let her friend be hurt again.

 

[Lily Drage]

"Well, that is just something that we will have to deal with when it comes. I don't know where else he can be that she won't find him." Lily took a deep breath, then continued. "I guess its a good thing that Lavender is a fast owl then, huh?" She smiled at Kat, hoping to relieve her friends tension on the situation. "It will be fine. It has to be." She shoved the treats in her pocket, then put her arm out for Lavender. The owl hopped up, a bit tenitively, and Lily took another breath. "Thanks hun, I need to get going before it gets to dark out." She looked at Kat before she headed towards the door.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat sighed and she knew that Lily was right, there wasn't anywhere else for him to stay. "Yeah she's really fast. She can get to Durmstrang and back in about 10 hours." Kat bragged about her pet. She stood when Lily did and dusted herself off. Kat grabbed her bag and followed her friend to the door and then added, "I'd better get going too. Will you tell Blake i'm sorry for...well lets just say that if looks could kill then he'd be dead right now. Some of the looks I was giving him the other day weren't quite so pleasant." Her face went pink and hot, feeling very foolish at the moment.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily stopped and looked at Kat. "Really? I don't think either of us noticed. Actually, I don't think we have noticed much of anything since then anyways." She held the door open, balancing the owl carefully before heading out. "Hopefully she will be back with us shortly and then Josh will meet us soon too." She looked at her friend, and smiled. "Thanks so much Kat. This means the world."

 

[Katalina Harker]

"Your welcome Lily! And...please be careful...both of you!" Kat said giving her friend one last glance before heading off for the castle. After a few feet she turned slightly and added, "Willl you let me know how things turn out?"

 

[Lily Drage]

"I will keep you posted hun. Thanks!" With that, Lily took off running, stopping by a nearby tree to pick up her bookbag and the tent, before taking off for the forest.

 

[Katalina Harker]

Kat watched Lily as she strolled to the forests edge before turning to head off for the castle, hoping to get back before the dark so she wouldn't get in trouble.