<div class="floatleft">(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/Mab_faerie/Elliquiy/Beauxbatons%20Academy/emilie_zps977a0893.jpg)</div><strong>Character Name (PC/NPC):</strong>Emilie Callahan (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=193964.msg9475925#msg9475925)<br/><strong>Year/House:</strong>1st Year<br/><strong>Relationship Status:</strong>Single<br/><strong>Wearing:</strong>Well-loved Travel attire and messenger bag. (http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=110834464)<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Bern Carriage<br/><strong>Date:</strong>September 1st<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Felix Bellgard(NPC) (http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/Mab_faerie/Elliquiy/Beauxbatons%20Academy/Felix_zpsea9f0f9a.png), Poe(NPC) (http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/Mab_faerie/Elliquiy/Beauxbatons%20Academy/Raven_zpsd6dd06f4.jpg)<br/><br/><hr/><br/>"What time is it, Felix?" Emilie asked, glancing impatiently towards her uncle and then back again as other students filed into the carriages one by one. Her jaw set ever so tightly as she watched mothers and fathers fretting about like worried hens, kissing cheeks and straightening ties. Where was her own mother now? Off sight-seeing no doubt.<br/>"Ten past the last time you asked me that." Felix replied with a short lived smirk. Emilie shot him a scowl and crossed her arms over her chest, settling in an unpleasant demeanor like an old pair of shoes.<br/><br/>"Look, why don't you just hop in the carriage and get settled in? If they miss you then it's their own fault." Felix suggested, seeming completely unfazed by their current circumstance.<br/>"They promised they would be here to see me off. Flew all the way out here for it and everything. What kind of family trip involves abandoning their only child on the eve of her departure?"<br/>"I think you're being too hard on them again, Emilie." Felix said, softening his tone in the hopes that Emilie might soften her anger in turn. She wasn't usually the disgruntled sort, but it seemed that time and again her parents so often chose their own affairs over anyone else that it had left little room for her to feel otherwise.<br/><br/>"You're right, it's not as if they're living overseas and this is their last chance to see me for possibly the next seven years--<em>OH</em>, wait. They<em>are</em>." Even sarcasm wasn't enough to lighten the mood for Emilie. She wasn't sure what she had expected of her parents, being that they were traditionally the 'show up late and leave early' sort, however considering the event she'd hoped that perhaps things would be different for a change.<br/><br/>"Some people never change." Felix interrupted her thoughts as if he'd read them.<br/>"Yes, I suppose you're right." She agreed, glancing down at her belongings and offering a smile to the tiny baby raven nestled in the small cage at her feet. The Raven had been a gift from Felix who promptly scoffed at her insistence on naming it Poe. He wanted her to name it after a famous Wizard poet. She told him he ought to buy himself his own bird to name.<br/><br/>"This may not be the best time to bring it up, but I wanted to tell you something." Drawing her attention away from the quiet bird, Emilie glanced back at Felix with a perplexed expression.<br/>"Is something wrong?" She asked, wondering where his usual smug grin had disappeared to.<br/>"There's been talk, you know. Of you. Of the lineage... My mother, she wants to make you an offer. To return to the Bellgard family."<br/>"Funny that, I don't recall joining nor leaving." Emilie smirked.<br/><br/>"You know what I mean. My sister is a proud woman but being disowned like that..." He trailed off for a moment to collect his thoughts before adding, "My mother says that you being pure blood, it's a waste of talent to not have you in the family."<br/>"But Felix, I'm not pure blood. My father-"<br/>"Emilie, please. Just because he can't cast a spell doesn't take away the fact that he's a wizard. She says that so long as you're not a squib too-"<br/>"My father is NOT a SQUIB!" Emilie glanced hastily about, lowering her tone to a harsh whisper to avoid causing a scene, "My father is not a squib. He is a muggle. I am<em>not</em>a pure blood. I'm sorry, but your mother has been misinformed."<br/><br/>A cold silence fell over the two of them for a moment, broken only by the occasional cough born of the cool fall air. At long last, Felix spoke.<br/>"Then you don't believe the stories from your Nan, either?"<br/>"That's... another matter entirely." Emilie replied, rather defensively.<br/>"But you just said he's a muggle and that's far from what your Nan goes on about. So what is he, Emilie? Is he a muggle or is he not? Is she wrong or is she right? She can't be<em>neither</em>."<br/>"But she might be both! Honestly, what<em>year</em>do you<em>live in</em>, Felix?! Are we really standing here having a conversation about whether your mother thinks I'm a pure-blood enough to allow her disowned daughter back into the family?"<br/>"Funny, I thought we were having a conversation about your grandmother, who, for the record, doesn't think your father is a muggle!"<br/>"Well she doesn't think he's a Wizard either!" A concerned glance from a nearby carriage attendant caused Felix to clear his throat and lower his tone.<br/><br/>"Alright, fine. You win. Just... think it over, okay? I think it would make your mother very happy to be a part of the Bellgard family again."<br/>"Even if I were a Pure-blood,<em>which I'm not</em>, how exactly do you expect my mother and I to come back anyway? By abandoning my father and Nan? You should know that's out of the question."<br/>"Don't shoot the messenger. We'll talk about this later, it was bad timing, I know. I apologize." And like clockwork that familiar sly smile was back on Felix's face and the unpleasant topic was laid to a temporary rest.<br/><br/>Another ten minutes of awkward silence had passed before Emilie resigned herself to her fate,<br/>"I guess they're really not coming, are they? I should probably get going then."<br/>"Things happen. I'm sure they're really sorry about it."<br/>"Yeah, I'll get an Owl by tomorrow, I bet. Lots of excuses. Wonder which one they'll use this time. Probably traffic. There's always traffic."<br/>"Hold on, before you go, I've got something that will cheer you up."<br/>"Is it another riveting conversation about my lineage? You're really good at those."<br/>"No, fresh out. But this will have to do." Reaching into his pocket Felix retrieved a small golden pocketwatch (http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p121/Mab_faerie/Elliquiy/Beauxbatons%20Academy/3628073-large_zpsfa617490.jpg) and offered it to Emilie.<br/><br/>"It's a pocketwatch." Emilie announced with little enthusiasm. "Is this the part where you tell me to stop asking you for the time?"<br/>"No, actually. If you try the latch you'll see it's broken. Won't open."<br/>"<em>Wow!</em>A broken pocketwatch." Emilie feigned delight with an awe-filled gasp, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you don't know how to lighten spirits, Felix. This, this is<em>grand</em>."<br/>"Yeah, shut it, brat. I'm not finished. I bought it at Hogsmead when I was visiting overseas. I told you about that place, didn't I? The cute little trinket shop I went in? I saw it next to the til and the shopkeep offered me a discount-"<br/>"Whatever you paid, it was probably too much."<br/>"It's a mystery, Emilie-"<br/>"I'm pretty sure it's a pocketwatch."<br/>"No, I mean the mystery is that it refuses to open no matter what spell I try on it."<br/>"Have you tried a hammer?"<br/>"Come on, Em. I'm giving you a mystery here. You love this stuff!"<br/>"Mysteries? Yes. I do love mysteries. But this isn't one of them. This is a rusted watch."<br/>"Take it, won't you? Take it, solve the mystery and think of me?"<br/>"If you insist on being the uncle that reminds me of broken accessories, I suppose I will just have to abide."<br/>"Go on then, I hear there's<em> terrible</em>traffic ahead." Felix smirked and knelt down to help Emilie gather her belongings.<br/><br/>"Oh, one last thing before you go-" Felix began as Emilie was halfway to her carriage.<br/>"You<em>do</em>realize the carriage<em>will</em>leave without me, don't you?" Emilie warned, a smile playing at her lips.<br/>"Look, I know you tend to be all about books and logic and following the rules-"<br/>"You know me so well, Felix, you could write a book."<br/>"But would you just try to have a little fun while you're there? Skip a few classes? Break a few rules?"<br/>"Are you encouraging me to be a delinquent? I'm pretty sure that's against the rules. If it's not against the rules then it<em>should</em>be against the rules."<br/>"I'm encouraging you to be a teenager. Unlike the fifty year old woman you seem convinced you are."<br/>"I was hoping I could just skip that part and dive right into being middle-aged." Emilie laughed but her joke seemed to fall short when met with the sincerity of Felix's gaze.<br/>For some reason, Felix was actually being serious. Emilie wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that. Clearing her throat, she managed a reply,<br/>"....I shall do my best."<br/>"Thanks." Felix nodded, offering his niece a brief hug in reply before tacking on, "Oh, and do try and manage a date while you're there!"<br/>"Oh my goodness, look at my broken pocketwatch! Is that the time? I dunno, the case won't open. I should be going though!"<br/>"I know you heard me!" Felix's shouting fell on deaf ears as Emilie stepped into the carriage, smiling to herself at her uncles eccentric absurdity.<br/><br/>The moment she stepped within the confines of the carriage, all aspects of Emilies confidence and offhand wit seemed to vanish completely. The anxiety that she had done her best to shove down into the places she couldn't reach up until now came rushing back in spades, eager to fill every crack and crevice, consuming her entirely until she was nothing but a mouse of a girl.<br/><br/>For all intents and purposes, Felix and Nan were the closest thing to 'friends' and confidants Emilie had ever known. Now Nan was half a world away in Ireland and soon enough Felix would be back to his work in France and she'd be stuck at Beauxbaton alone. All prior attempts at friendship before that point had failed miserably and in theory it was through no fault of her own.<br/><br/>Running through the list in her head once more, Emilie went over all the 'steps' she had taught herself when it came to interactions with other people. Smiling, polite laughter, nodding to show understanding, asking questions but not prying, being supportive without being overbearing. It all seemed very complex and complicated and was probably the reason why she only had 2 actual friends, both of whom were relations and didn't technically count.<br/><br/>Besides, It wasn't as if she could just start off a conversation with 'Hi, I'm really bad at making friends and people are confusing. The only reason I'm talking to you is because my uncle said I have to try to be a teenager, but I find the idea appalling. Do you have any tips?'. Yeah, that seemed like it would go over<em>really well</em>.<br/>Perhaps if she simply treated everyone like they were Felix, it might work out better? Emilie got the feeling that most people wouldn't take being snarked at quite as well as Felix does.<br/><br/>"Whew. Okay. Well, it's not like we have any other choice, do we Poe? Let's just... try not to be hated." Emilie murmured to the cage and smiled at the tiny raven who appeared to be staring back at her with a rather quizzical expression. Apparently he didn't understand people either. Well at least that made two of them.<br/><br/>With no other option, Emilie moved through the carriage and took the first available double seat, setting Poe down on the seat facing the aisle and claiming the window seat for herself. With Poe settled in, she turned her attention to the old pocketwatch, turning it over in hands a few times and trying the clasp once or twice in vain. Maybe she really<em>would</em>take a hammer to it later.