Open This Shows Them

[Professor Minnie Calida]

With the party still on going, Minnie had been unable to hold it back, she had to send the letter owl telling her parents immediately. They hadn't let her practice over the break, claiming that her recent spate of losses meant she was bound to lose in this game. But she hadn't. She hadn't lost. She'd managed to catch the snitch, their team had done it, they'd won. Minnie had thought she could hold it off until the next day, but with the celebrations and her own excitement any of the books and revision that she had had planned for this night would have to wait until the next day. So, if she was to spend tomorrow studying and catching up she had to use tonight and what was left of the pre-curfew time to send the letter. So she'd excused herself from the party, grabbed some parchment and a quill and headed to the owlery. ​

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Minnie had changed obviously after the game, but where she always tried to present the most perfect version of herself, she had let her hair sit more naturally, sit a little messily. She had a smile that she couldn't wipe off her features. She just felt so proud of herself, of what she had done. Minnie walked into the owlery and went to the cleanest of the window sills and used the stone surface to write the. letter. To say to her parents, "despite what you felt, we won" she would be rubbing it in their faces. She knew they would send back something that would dash all of her current joy but that would be later and for now she would just herself feel that joy. She paused for a moment, and read back over what she'd noted. She noticed a mistake in it, and where she'd have started over in any other occasion instead Minnie, just. scored out the mistake and put the correction next to it before continuing the letter. Tonight, she could just herself exist without needing to be perfect. ​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric had watched the match, of course he had. He always said he didn't care about Quidditch, but his brother had been playing. Of course he'd been watching. But that didn't explain why for most of the match he'd been watching the Ravenclaw seeker instead, but he decided not to linger on that. She hated him, anyway. There was nothing to be done about that. But the moment she'd caught the snitch... he could still picture it. He had felt happy for her, even if it had meant Connor's team had lost before he had actually gotten to do anything. He felt a bit guilty for that, but it wasn't like Connor could read his mind. To make up for it, Eric had immediately written about the match to their mother, writing about Connor playing in a way that made it sound a lot more active than it actually had been.

With the letter in hand, he headed to the owlery. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. But as he entered, he immediately regretted the decision. Why was Minnie here? Wasn't she supposed to be celebrating? She looked like she was celebrating, if he was honest. She was smiling, and she just looked... joyful. He realized she was writing a letter right there. It struck him as odd, she usually had things planned out. But he realized that the longer he was standing here, just looking at her, the weirder it was. Eric hesitated, then spoke. "Shouldn't you be partying?" He asked gruffly, moving along, avoiding her gaze for now as if he didn't care what she was doing, as he looked for an owl.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

The last person that Minnie had expected to see when she looked towards the door of the owlery was Eric. She felt a look of surprise cross her features which was quickly dissolved by the overwhelming feeling that had started when she’d caught the snitch. Just joyful, and relaxed. But she didn’t know how to be around him anymore. She wanted so badly to make it up to him but she never knew how. Feared she’d make it worse. Minnie had written and rewritten her rose to him so many times but he wouldn’t know what it said just yet - saying any of it to his face filled her with fear, thinking if she apologised in person he would reject her. Their last interaction had been with Simon, and that had been weird, she couldn’t have said in front of Simon that she didn’t trust him, but Minnie certainly trusted Eric more. Her expression remained warm and full of the easy joy she’d been feeling since the game. Was this how some people felt all the time? ​

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At the words she gave a little smile, ”I am..we are..I just wanted to send a letter home, do it now before the reality of all the missed revision I have to do comes back,” Minnie’s tone was light and warm, she spoke to him in a friendly manner. Even if she had wanted to be short with him, it wasn’t something she could’ve managed that night. But Minnie really wouldn’t have wanted to be. ”I’ll regret this in a few days, but I just want to rub it in their faces,” she joked lightly, but she finished her letter with a quick sign off and was quick to put away the ink and quill. There was a lightness to everything she was doing, unable to stop it. ”What are you doing?” she knew the obvious answer and she didn’t want to pry but she had missed Eric’s company and she didn’t want to pass up this opportunity now, maybe it would help mend things between them.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric had no idea where he stood with Minnie these days. He had all but convinced himself his chances of being around her were over, especially after the weird way he had behaved when she had been talking to Simon. But seeing her now, relaxed and happy, Eric felt like he couldn't just stay away from her like he'd promised himself he would. It took a bit for her words to register, he was too busy staring at her. When he understood what she was saying, he nodded. "Good." He said. "Rub it in." He hadn't made a secret of his dislike of Minnie's parents, and he was glad she was telling them about the things she was doing right. "Don't regret it. You earned it." He added, finally looking away. He knew he had to apologize for his behavior, but... he didn't know how. Eric wasn't someone who was any good at apologies. He'd never really done them correctly, only when teachers or his mother forced him to. "I... am posting a letter." he said with a small shrug. "I'm telling mum about my brother's Quidditch debut. Bit... exaggerated, as he didn't do much more than take to the air before you caught the thingy." He said with a shrug.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie knew that he probably would appreciate her rubbing this victory in her parent’s faces, even if it was such a small victory and had taken her so long to get to. She knew Eric didn’t have a very high opinion of her parents, was vocal in his dislike for them, so she had been sure as she’d said it that he’d appreciate it. She gave him a little smile in agreement. Before scoffing a little at the second statement, ”I won’t regret saying it, but god, I already know what their reply is just going to be,” she stopped herself from saying anything more, she wasn’t going to spend this night thinking about the harshness of her parents and instead she just focusing on how good she felt, how good the victory had felt for her. She just let herself for a moment in all this joy enjoy Eric’s company. ​

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Minnie wanted to apologise for what she’d said now, but knew she’d never get the words out and even though she was feeling pretty good the thought of rejection..from Eric was enough to stop her. They’d just remain in a weird space, where at least she felt pretty certain that he wasn’t made at her any more. She gave a warm expression as he spoke of what he was doing, feeling a little tinge of jealousy with how close Eric seemed with his family. ”Aw, he’s one of the beaters right?” she asked, fairly certain of it. Unsurprisingly she had made it her mission to know all of the teams players. ”He seems really good, so I’m sure that if the game had been longer he’d have done all the things you’ve written,” she complimented. She folded over her letter and vaguely began looking for an owl to use. ​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric shrugged a little as Minnie said she wouldn't regret saying it. She had said earlier that she would, and Eric had the feeling she would feel bad about it once the euphoria of winning left her. "Just ignore their reply." He adviced her, though even as he said it he knew he would never just ignore a letter his mother sent him. But his mother was awesome, and Minnie's parents were not. Eric turned away from her, mostly so he would stop staring. He called an owl to him, then nodded. "Yeah, he joined the team this year." He said quietly. "Only reason I went, really. No offense, but Quidditch is pretty overrated." He neglected to say that he'd gone to most of Minnie's matches, and that he had mostly been watching her during this one. That wasn't something he would ever admit to. "But I think he would have." He agreed. "People underestimate him, he's kind of... weak. Cries a lot, he's way too sensitive." Eric knew he could say this to Minnie, she was the last person who would go out there and bully his brother. "But he's good at sports. He was on the rugby team before Hogwarts." He attached the letter to the owl's leg. "I used to be too, but that's a long time ago." He added, his voice taking on a somewhat wistful quality. Then he shook his head. "I'm not really good at team sports." He said with a shrug.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie smiled a little, ”Maybe I’ll burn it without reading it.” she replied. She knew no matter how good she felt right now, she wouldn’t ignore the letter they’d send back. She would read it, hate and feel bad and then get rid of it, but the words wouldn’t be easily forgotten. She listened as he talked about his brother, watching him call an owl to him and laughed lightly at his statement. She disagreed about it being overrated, she loved quidditch, she liked flying. It was perfectly rated to her. Minnie called an owl over to her as Eric went into more detail about his brother. She knew that some people might find his words harsh but she knew that it was just a show of how much Eric cared. She was sure the boy was capable, but from what she’d learnt about Eric, she was sure he was a good brother. ”He’ll be a great quidditch player,” Minnie told him with a sure tone, looked towards the owl as she attached the letter. She was a little surprised when Eric admitted to having played rugby at muggle school, but it was quick to morph into a smile as he admitted to not being good at it. ”Team sports are overrated anyway,” she retorted with a smile at him. She let the owl with the note go and watched it for a moment before looking back at him.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric smiled back as Minnie said she might burn her parent's response without reading it, but he felt like he knew Minnie well enough to tell that wasn't really going to happen. She was hyped up from her win now, but that wasn't going to last forever. He nodded in agreement as Minnie said Connor would be good at Quidditch, wondering for a moment what if would have been like if he'd tried out for the Gryffindor team. Then he would have the sport in common with both Minnie and Connor. He felt a strange longing for that, but pushed it away. He didn't actually care about Quidditch. He laughed softly as she said team sports were overrated, mirroring his own words back at him. But then reality came crashing back down, and he remembered they weren't actually friends. Eric let the owl go, watching it for a moment before glancing at Minnie. He had run out of words. "I... gotta go. " He said, moving his gaze away from her as he headed to the door.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie gave a little smile as he laughed at what she said. She knew things were not entirely right between them yet, but it really felt like it could be, that her rose might help push that beyond them being a little awkward and perhaps they could just manage to be friends again. She wanted that. She watched him let the owl go and forced a little smile as he said he had to go. She knew she probably should head back too. There was a party going on that she was missing. ”Okay, bye Eric,” she wanted to say that she would see him later but she couldn’t. Though she was sure that this would make her note well received she didn’t want to push it. She’d give it a few minutes before she too left. ​