Piles [Scott]

[Yumi Hart]

Ignoring things isn't the best thing that a person can do. While she was in school, Yumi can remember ignoring so many assignments she's suprised that she even made it through the years, and even then when she dropped out ti wasn't because she was so far behind. But ignoring that wasn't anything. It's the big things things that you to remember not to ignore. Ignoring your children is one of the big things. Ignoring your boss is another, that is if you want to keep your job.

But ignoring your mail? Yumi never would have thought that ignoring your mail was something to remember. And this was wizard post, so there was bound to be absloutly nothing here. Sure she had recieved a few notices that there were things for her to pick up from the post office but Yumi just ignored them. She had three kids and a job, when did she have the time? Never, that's when. it was just a few letters from her family, she would assume. They could deal and wait a lfew days.

Well a few days turned into a week, and a week turned into a few weeks, and then a few weeks turned into a few months and now a year and a half later Yumi was finally on her way to pick up her mail. The only reason she was bothering was because she had gotten a rather nasty letter from whoever worked at the post telling her that if she didn't come and pick up the mail they would-...Well they were trinyg to seem threatening. But Yumi just assumed she better pick up the letters and be on with her life until they send another foul letter telling her to pick up her forgotten mail.

Walking in with Fabian on one side, Mia already in the post office and Emily trailing behind her Yumi can already tell the person she has to go to to deal with this problem. It wasn't because there was a large sign saying, 'AMELIA HART, PICK UP YOUR MAIL HERE!' No, there was a man with a large pile of boxes, letters and packages and such. To add onto that the man standing behind the pile was looking around at every person that walked in the post office with an angry look, waiting for Yumi.

Yumi bit her lip and walked over to the pile. Looking up at the man she let out a sheepish chuckle. "Uh-..I think this is for me.." She mumbled. "I'm-...I'm uh Yumi Hart." She added and looked down at the pile. It was all from her family on the Knox and Hart side. Months a years worth of birthday cards and gifts, christmas letters and gifts, letters to see how the family was and many other things. Opening one box she could see a sweater for Fabian which would undoubtedly never fit him now. Looking around Yumi can see Mia leaning against the wall, ruffling hair into her face only to blow it off for some form of amusement. Fabian was walking over torwards Yumi, and Emily was walking around in circles counting the steps.

"Merry Christmas from Grandma," Yumi says wryly to Fabian and hands the open box over to him. He raised an eyebrow and looked at the contents and snorted. "Told you, you should have come and picked up the mail." He said to Yumi. "Shush you." Yumi chuckled softly looking through the pile.
"Person."

Looking over her shoulder Yumi can see Emily pointing at an elderly woman walking into the post office. Yumi knew how Emily was and thought nothing of it, and besides she'd probably only do it that once.
"Person."
Closeing her eyes, Yumi looks over at Emily who was pointing to the person who walked in. "Emily Rose." She says sterly. Emily just looked over her shoulder and grinned. "Don't do that. It's rude." Yumi said, but Emily just kept the grin in place. Yumi raised an eyebrow, then shook her head. "No." Then went back to sorting through the mail.
"Person!"

Yumi sighed then put down the letter and turned fully around. "Emily, I told you not to do that." She turned to Fabian and nodded to the pile of mail as if asking him to make sure no one disturbs the pile and walks over behind Emily.
"Person!" She shouted. Yumi grabbed holdof her hand and pulled her beside her. Emily got a little weirder with each day, almost like she was growing younger with each day.
At least she's happy.
"I'm sorry-" Yumi starts, looking up to the person that Emily had been shouting at but was cut short when she saw who it was.

[/blockquote]

[Scott Hunt]

Scott had been reminded the hard way just why he stayed away from people. He'd been paying the price for his ineptitude for five months now and he was rapidly reaching the end of his tether.
Apparently grief is all part of being human. Apparently so is pain. Love. All of those other things that people are supposed to feel, but that Scott never really had, or at least he hadn't for a long time at the start. Now he could feel them though and now he didn't want to be human.
But, regrettably, he still was and regrettably, he still had to do the usual human things like leave the room he'd procured in the Leaky Cauldron every now and again. Like go to a post office for God's sake.

It seemed so very very ridiculous to go to a post office when his world was in the process of ending. He should be lying around in abject misery and waiting for existence to just stop, because his world, his life was over.
He did wish that it would hurry up already though, because it'd been five months now and he was getting really sick of feeling this way.

"Why are we here?"
Apparently, his daughter felt the same way.
Scott spared her a brief glance, the way she trudged dutifully along next to him with her dark brown hair spilling out over her shoulders, hanging over her face because no one had brushed it back, and he had to look away again, straightening up and turning his eyes back to the street instead.
"Send a letter to Aunt Marcie, remember?"
"No," He could feel her watching him now, looking at him like he was planning something different, as if he was going to leave her behind this time, "You didn't tell me that."
"Well, I'm telling you now."
"I don't want to send a letter to Aunt Marcie. I want to go and see Mum."
He had no reply to this and she fell silent, for which he was grateful. He was very glad that she knew not to push his limits, even if she was six and no six year old should probably learn that so fast.

He didn't really want to write to his sister-in-law either. It was pointless, he'd never liked her all that much in the first place, they'd just sort of tolerated each other for Jamie's sake, and he doubted Jamie would care whether they tolerated each other anymore.
Because Jamie never cared enough, about anyone, anything. If she had, then she would have listened to him. She would have, she would.
He was deluding himself all over again.
It'd been nine and a half years since he'd been around here, but it might as well have been no time at all. He was still pretty much the same, now that all of the changes Jamie had made had been reversed. The only difference was that he was older, and in a lot more pain than he could have thought possible, with a six year old girl following him everywhere because he supposed he couldn't just leave her like he'd left everyone else.

Holding the door open for Louisa, he contemplated just catching her by the hand and turning around but decided against it. They were here now, might as well do what they came to do.
"Go and pick an owl," He nudged his daughter lightly between her shoulder blades, handing her the pre-written, overly polite and empty worded letter.
There was a time when she would have loved being able to pick an owl, she still should love that, but she still didn't smile. It'd been five months since she'd smiled anyway, so he hardly thought that freedom of choice of owl would make her happy.

Folding his arms awkwardly across his chest, he stood stiffly and waited for her to hurry up so they could leave, stubbornly ignoring the existence of everyone else.
Even that irritating little girl who kept shouting. He resolutely tuned her out, clenching his jaw with the effort it took to keep her tuned out.
He was probably seconds away from stopping, when he realised he was being spoken to by someone else and reluctantly refocused again.
Then he wished he'd stayed tuned out as he realised who was speaking to him and his jaw clenched further.
He remained silent.

[Yumi Hart]

Emily stood there silent, biting on the inside of her cheek. A habit she probably picked up from Yumi herself. Glanceing down at her daughter Yumi saw that Emily was looking back and forth between Yumi and Scott. Her eyes were big and round and there was something about just her facial expression that yet again reminded Yumi of Rowan. "Hi Uncle Scott." Emily said, her blank face breaking into a grin.

Yumi was unsure of how to react to her blissful ignorance. Yumi's mind travled to The Diary of Anne Frank and that famous line written so many years ago. 'I believe that there is good in everybody..' Emily thought that Scott, along with everyone else, was her best friend. Yumi thought that she would have grown out of this phase once she had passed the age of six, but this trait undoubtedly remained in Emily's system.

Looking back to Scott she could see his stone-cold expression set in his face. Clicking her tounge agaisnt the roof of her mouth Yumi stood there, just looking over at the man standing in front of her. When Yumi had first heard of what had actually happened with him, Rowan, and Charlie Yumi had instantly blamed him for Rowans death. There was no reasoning behind it, and time upon time she has told herself that things like this just happen. It's no one's fault. If a person is meant to die, they die. No one person can be at fault unless they are the ones taking the life. Scott hadn't murdered Rowan.

"Hello Scott," Yumi said. Her voice sounded...different. There was no trace of anger or resentment lace through. But nor was there much pleasure of happiness. It was jsut a casual greeting that she normally gave to everyone. In the past few years that she had come to terms with everything that had happended and started to think clearly she had seen that it wasn't his fault. But no one knew that she had thought it was his fault to begin with, so this little bit of information is useless to Yumi. Though, Yumi still wasn't to sure about Scott. She wasn't sure if he hated her or he was just like this. Sometimes Yumi thought it was the first, but she could never tell.

"Been a long time," She commented in the same casual tone as before. Yumi half expected him to say 'Not long enough' or a snide remark along those lines.

[/blockquote]

[Scott Hunt]

"Emily," His lips barely moved with the acknowledgment of her existence, expression devoid of a smile as usual.
Scott had rarely smiled. He'd never been one of those incessantly cheerful people and he'd never been much for smiling at all. Now he was even less.

He had nothing against Emily, nothing against Yumi or any of the rest of their family. It was only his guilt that made him so cold towards them.
He was cold towards pretty much everyone, but his guilt about this made him even more so.
He'd lived with the death of his little cousin on his conscience for ten years, and it'd hurt him everyday.
It'd been his mistake that had cost him his life. He'd try to help too many people at once. He'd messed it all up and the blame was all his. So what, he'd managed to save Charlie, but Charlie had meant nothing to him. Why should Scott care whether he lived or died? He really didn't. The only reason he'd done that was because he'd wanted to save his best friend the loss of his cousin.
He'd thought he was saving Rowan at the same time. He supposed he had. He'd saved him from Death Eaters, only to let him fall into the grip of Order members. He should have known, saved him. He should have done something at the very least.
And it'd eaten him alive ever since then.

And that was why he was so much more antisocial around Yumi and Emily. The family that Rowan could have come home to, the family he deserved, and that Scott had put a stop to.
He'd never been good at handling his own conscience.

"About nine years," he agreed out of manners, shortly and in a clipped way as if to say how unwilling he was to be having this conversation.
He spared a glance towards Louisa, who was standing in front of a group of owls with her head tilted up and just staring at them. She was going to be a while. Great.

[Yumi Hart]

Emily looked up at him with her head titled slightly to the side. To her, that type of greeting was out of the ordinary. She wasn't used to that. Normally the people she said hello to would say it back with a grin or hug her, or both. But just having her named said...That was weird for her. Yumi begged her silently that she would hold her tounge and not question it.

Yumi exhaled slowly looking around the post office. She could see Fabian still sorting the mail, and then Yumi saw Louisa looking at some owls. She wasn't quiet sure of the relation she had, or was supposed to have, with her. As Scott had just demonstrated, they couldn't even talk to each other without getting tense. Turning back to Scott just as he said 'nine years', Yumi was at a roadblack. What was she to say now? What could she say now?
The fact that yes, all facts proven he was the reason Rowan was dead. Had it not been for him and the damned plan Rowan would probably still be here. Yumi wouldn't have to be sturggling with their child alone, along with her two others. Yumi wouldn't have to be trying to get through each day knowing the man she loved was gone, had been gone for ten years, and would always be gone.

Sighing again, Yumi nodded her head. "Nine years it has been." She agreed softly. Looking down slightky for a few moments, clicking her toune against the roof of her mouth. "What have you been up to?" Obviously, Yumi had forced out this question just because she wanted to be polite. She could hardly just stand there in silence in front of him.

[/blockquote]

[Scott Hunt]

Scott firmly ignored Emily, slipping his hands into the back pocket of his jeans as casually as he could and tilting his head back as if he was perfectly at ease.
It was more so he could have just a moment to collect himself and not have to look at them.

They had tortured him. Thoughts of Yumi and Emily, but most prominently Rowan had tortured him for ten years now, behind closed eyelids and in his waking thoughts...it made no odds as they were always on the periphary.
It'd been why he'd left all those years ago, one of the reasons anyway.
After everything had gone so wrong when he'd only been trying to help, he couldn't stay. He'd saved a life, at the expense of another, which was never his intention. His own cousin wouldn't speak to him because of what had happened to Rowan, Jack wouldn't speak to him because of the pain he'd caused with his methods of saving Charlie, Rose wouldn't speak to him for just vanishing when she needed him, and for the pain he'd caused everyone else. The only one there for him had been Jamie, and Jamie hadn't wanted to stay in one place either.
It seemed so natural to get away, and to get away with her.

And then, even though the objects of his torture were still there, still darting in and out of his sleep, his thoughts, his life...it hadn't mattered so much because for once he was the one with the life and he wanted to live it.
He'd married Jamie, which he never intended to do, almost straight away after they'd left. Louisa had been born six years ago, which had also not been something he'd intended to do. He'd just gotten so caught up in really living that everything had happened in what felt like a blink of an eye.
Jamie had died a few months ago, which he'd also never intended to happen.
But just like he couldn't save Rowan, just like he couldn't save himself, he couldn't save her either.

I got married. It was the most perfect few years of my life. I had a daughter, which was also perfect. Then I failed again and my wife died because I did nothing to stop it, and now everything's ground to a hault and I'm back in the same rut I was in ten years ago, all over again, and this time there is no hope.
He didn't have to think about an answer for long, it was there already, automatically. He couldn't say it though. Never.
"Travelling," He grunted hoarsely, "And yourself?"