Closed Looking Out For Family

[Professor Landon Carter]

Landon knew Sophie had been going through a tough time. The loss of someone very close affected people in many different ways, and it affected Sophie the worst he had ever seen. He knew he had been neglecting her and he couldn’t help but feel bad about it. Being a professor and a Head of House was busy, and at times Landon had to admit that he forgot about what had happened. He didn’t know enough about her father to feel some sort of emotion towards his death, and he also didn’t see very much of Sophie at Hogwarts since he no longer taught her and she wasn’t in Hufflepuff House, so it was easy to have it slip his mind. What made it worse was that Landon didn’t know how to cheer people up. He was always the bubbly type, avoiding any sort of angry or sad confrontation, but he knew he had to be the bigger person in this scenario and look after his niece, whether he would be good at it or not.

That morning at breakfast Landon was delighted to see Sophie from the Staff table. He noticed she had been skipping a few meals and so the sight of her made him smile. She sat alone, and so he knew it was the perfect chance to approach her, and hopefully since she was well enough to come out and eat something, she wouldn’t be in such a bad mood. Landon dabbed his face with his napkin before standing up and unfolding his sleeves. He hadn’t spoken to Sophie in a while and wasn’t quite sure what he would say to her. He began approaching her however, beaming as he did so. "Sophie!” he exclaimed once he got close enough. He took a seat next to her at the Ravenclaw table. "How’s my favourite niece going? Keeping up with your studies okay?”

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie hadn’t been out for breakfast in a while. It was always too early to eat in the morning, and she couldn’t even remember the last time she felt hungry. But there was no point in her hiding away in her dormitory anymore. It seemed that people were always in and out of it anyway with everyone’s different schedules and whatnot, so it was hard to ever get some alone time. She decided to join in with the norm today, seating herself at the Ravenclaw House table in the Great Hall and pouring herself a glass of pumpkin juice. She then placed a single fried egg on her plate, staring at it, feeling as if it was staring back with its big yellow yolk. She didn’t feel like eating it at all. Her stomach felt numb. She became distracted however as she heard her uncle’s voice approaching her. Uncle Landon. Professor Carter. What was she meant to call him? She hadn’t spoken to him in some time. Not since he got that promotion. As he called her his favourite niece she couldn’t help but sigh at this, feeling as though it definitely wasn’t true. Charlotte was always his favourite, and it was very obvious. "Good.” she said simply before looking up at him. "Did my mum put you up to this?” She wanted to be straight with him and for him to be straight with her.

 

[Professor Landon Carter]

Sophie was definitely not the happy girl Landon had always known, and he wondered how long she had been like this, whether or not this was an improvement from last year, and how long it would be before she became better. Would she ever be the same person she was before? He thought that perhaps she looked different too, maybe cared less about her appearance, or maybe he was just overthinking it. It was no surprise to Landon when Sophie asked her if her mother had spoken to him. It was normal for her to speculate, but Landon shook his head. "Of course not.” he said softly, giving her a reassuring smile. He shifted a little in his seat and cleared his throat before speaking again. "I’m sorry I haven’t spoken to you much these past couple of years, especially since both of us spend most of our time here. I guess I just want you to know that I have been thinking of you, and it saddens me to know that you aren’t your best at the moment. I know your mother has been trying to help you as much as she can, but just know that I am always your uncle and you can always come to me if you think you don’t have anyone else.” Landon hoped Sophie understood his words. He would never know what she was going through, even if he did lose a parent or a friend, but was hopeful that things would soon turn around for her.