date: 25 November 1997 characters: Padma Patil & OPEN location: Hogwarts private/semi-private/public: Public. summary: Letter writing is not a lost art. status: Beginning.
The first light flakes of snow were falling, or were they merely the loosed downy feathers of the owls coming and going in the upper reaches of the owlery? Breath fogged on her lips, Padma decided it did not matter. If it were not snowing now, it would soon.
Hair loose under the bright cowl she'd purchased last Hogsmeade weekend, Padma scanned the rows of huddled, hooting owls for her own temperamental creature. Rupa knew a long journey was ahead of her, no doubt, but Padma had a pocketful of treats to tempt the bird to carry her thanks to her grandmother, her wishes of safety for her mother, a shread of her heart home to India.