Even after having been at Hogwarts for five years, this being her sixth, Alice couldn't help but feel sentiments of homesickness. She missed the familiarity of walking into the Logan kitchen, her nostrils immediately catching the scent of cinnamon, the cinnamon of the candles. Her mother would always burn candles when she cooked; it was something that had become a normal occurrence, and now the young witch missed that smell, that familiar feeling of home. She hadn't seen her mother or her father in quite awhile now, nor had she gotten the opportunity to write to them. Things had just been so busy. So busy that she didn't even have time for her family? Alice questioned her own motives and only ended up with an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She wasn't fond of feeling queasy, so gathering a piece of parchment and a quill, the young woman decided to quell her misgivings by writing her mother.

Dear Mother,
How are you? I'm sorry that I haven't written much, especially due to my absence this summer. I dearly miss you and Father and desperately wish to hear from you soon...

As the couple lines were tidily scrawled on the page, Alice paused for a moment, putting down her quill. Why was this so incredibly difficult? It wasn't as if her parents had disowned her; they just hadn't seen her in awhile. Alice had always been an emotional individual, and such feelings seemed to be taking hold of her at the current moment. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. Why can't I do this? she thought silently to herself, gazing at the largely blank sheet of parchment that sat in front of her. They're my parents. They love me. Yet try as she might, Alice couldn't push the unsettling feeling that lurked in her stomach away. Thus, she signed the short message with Love, Alice and tied it with a small piece of gold ribbon. Something was better than nothing.

Wiping her eyes one last time, the young Hufflepuff climbed out of the common room through the portrait hole, instantly hearing the click of her Mary Jane shoes in the corridor. Everything else seemed dead silent, and truthfully, it unnerved her. She knew that plenty of other students were around, yet it most certainly didn't seem that way. Click - click - click. As she made her way to the Owlery, her footsteps seemed to become rhythmic as her mind whirled with a myriad of thoughts. She was only mailing a letter, for Merlin's sake! Why was she acting so paranoid? Perhaps it was because that so many things had been bothering her lately and she was forced to keep aforesaid things hidden. Or perhaps it was just her nature. Either way, Alice had now reached the stairs leading up to the Owlery. Quickening her steps, she practically ran until she reached the top.

Great wizards, it was even quieter up here. Not being able to stand the silence, Alice hastily adhered her message to a tawny barn owl that she usually assigned delivering her messages to. He always completed his job, yet not without an ornery goodbye. As she turned to leave, the owl nipped at the young woman's fingers, then proceeding to fly off. Alice didn't want to linger any longer - she carefully headed back down the seemingly endless flight of stairs in pursuit of heading back to the Hufflepuff Common Room. However, that was halted by her lack of focus; in her hurry, she neglected to watch where she was going. Thus, she ran right into someone...a someone that she hadn't talked to in years. "Um..hello Alice."

Severus Snape. Alice hadn't conversed with him in what seemed like ages, a fact that she somewhat regretted. They had dated briefly around four years ago, but that had only lasted until Severus had broken it off. Alice was still a little bitter about that. "Severus," the young woman spoke stiffly, her eyes raising to settle on his face. He had changed - they both had. "What are you doing here?"