Passing the message

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo sat by herself at the Hufflepuff table, staring down at her cereal as she played with her food, unable to stand what was happening with her group of friends. When she broke up with Jess the year before, she expected the pair would have a few issues getting back to their usual familiar routines and behaviours, but the fact that she'd barely spoken to the third year for nearly five months was getting ridiculous. She hadn't seen her in classes, and as far as Geo knew, Jess was keeping herself closed off in the common room. Part of her wondered if there was something else going on, something that she didn't want to tell her friends. Not even Elly had heard from her. Her absences weren't going unnoticed by the remaining members of the group, and Geos anxiety was reaching a point she could no longer deal with, she knew she was going to need to come up with a new method of contact.

More often than not, Leila would also be found with the Gryffindor, and so Geo couldn't even ask her what was going on. Geo's blue eyes scanned the Gryffindor table for someone that would be able to help, maybe get a message to her friends. Did she really want to find out whether it was her that had caused Jess to miss so much? She hated the thought of it, but regardless, if her friend was in some sort of trouble she had to know one way or another or she wasn't going to be able to help. Her eyes fell on someone that she'd not really thought about since his rejection at the Brotherhood, but with a spark of an idea the Hufflepuff jumped up from her table, abandoning her breakfast almost untouched, and headed across to the Lions. "James?" She hoped the older boy would remember her from when she stayed with Jess last summer, although unaware of what Jess had told him about her, Geo was cautious that he might have been angry at her upsetting his sister.
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[Professor James Cade]

James didn't really know what he felt lately. The news of his father's death had hit him hard when he first heard but he had been coping with it a lot better than he ever thought but the same could not be said of his sister Jess. Even though they were both in Gryffindor James had barely seen his sister since the news hit. Jess was pretty much shutting herself in her dorm which was the one place James couldn't reach her. James sat alone at the Gryffindor table trying to eat breakfast though his appetite eluded him recently.

After finally giving up on his breakfast James was about to push his plate aside and make his way out of the Great hall but was stopped in his tracks by someone calling his name. "Hey Geo," Geo had once seemed quite fond of James but after he refused her entry to the brotherhood she had been distant. James knew the previous year she and his sister had been dating but last he knew they had broken up and had gone back to being friends. As long as Jess was friends with her James would be right with her though he was curious to see what she wanted. "What's up Geo?"

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo, upon realising James was about to leave, rushed over to catch him before he could. "Hi." she replied, hoping that he wasn't about to leave for class or something important. Quickly she took a seat beside the prefect, hoping that he wasn't going to tell her to leave him alone. Where was she meant to begin? She felt as though she and Jess had grown apart slightly over the last few months, and unsure of how much she was meant to tell her brother, Geo was hesitant in her approach. "Have you, um, spoken to Jess recently?" she asked, looking up at him with a nervous glance. She knew she was going to need to be honest with him if she wanted James's help, but it wasn't like she could just blurt out things about her best friend to him if he wasn't aware. "I'm worried about her." Geo admitted, looking away from the Gryffindor for a moment, "I just wondered whether she's okay.." she trailed off, hoping that James knew what she was hinting at. She didn't want to pressure the older student with details of their previous relationship, and of course he probably had much more important things to be doing than checking up on his sister, but Geo wondered whether she'd said anything to him, and with both Jess and James in the same house, whether he knew what she could do to help. She missed having her friend around, and she hated the thought that Jess was unable to talk to her.
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[Professor James Cade]

James had to admit that he hadn't seen a lot of his sister lately but it wasn't that surprising since she had taken the news about their father particularly hard. James had hoped that she would seek comfort in her friends, Geo being a good friend of hers last he knew even despite their recent break-up. "I haven't seen her actually, she hasn't been in the common for a while I just assume she's been hiding in the dorm," James sighed sitting back in his chair. He wanted to be there for his sister but it was hard when she closed herself off in the one place he couldn't get to her. "She took the news hard you know? Dad was a flawed man but Jess idolised him even after everything he did," James sighed.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo actually felt the colour drain from her face as she heard James's words, and looked at him blankly for a few seconds before she said anything. Was she missing some context here? Geo had barely said a word to the Gryffindor as semester, and the seventh year seemed to indicate that something had happened to a member of their family. Even though Geo didn't know her own parents, she still knew what it felt for them to not be around, and hoping she wasn't correct in her theory of what James was talking about, she had to make sure. "James, what do you mean?" she asked nervously, willing him in her mind not to describe her fears. "What news?" Perhaps he didn't want to tell her if something bad had happened, but if Jess was avoided her for more reasons than she initially believed then she was going to find out why.
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