As the rest of the school had inconveniently caught on to by this point, Trish and Ed had not been their typical, fun-loving selves lately. Though it was true their tension had been a long time building, it wasn't until the ball things came tumbling down one by one. Ed had said the final word a few days later, asking his best mate for peace and distance, and she agreed to what she later found would be the most painful days of her young life. There were times she felt sick, but nothing would happen because she hadn't eaten enough to throw up. Other times she felt utterly furious. Mixed in between all that were hours she'd cry on end, moments she'd slip away from everyone else to a quiet nook somewhere outside the castle walls, and instances she'd sit at her journal staring blankly at the page as if willing her best mate to contact her. When he finally had written in her journal, it was to reprimand Ursula for leaving potentially threatening messages. The familiar penmanship sent her heart racing, but true to her promise, Trish tried to be brief in her thanks. She apologized again because it felt appropriate, and much to her dismay, found Ed didn't want to hear it.
Needless to say, she was in the midst of a bittersweet twist of fate by the time she'd made it to dinner on Saturday evening. While Ed's remarks had been forced at best, they still left her with hope this would all iron itself out. She needed her best friend back. There was no ifs, ands, or buts about it. As further proof of that, Trish compared his absence to every terrible thing she'd experienced in life thus far. Nothing seemed to add up, not even that one time she'd managed to get her dad so furious with her that he took away her summer holiday completely. Those days it had been difficult to correspond with anyone, let alone Ed, yet it wasn't anything compared to this, compared to knowing this was the result of something she had no control over, what her mate had chosen for himself.
Needless to say, seeing Ed at dinner was a blessing to the desperate girl. He sat a ways off from their group, but it didn't matter. Ed was there, and she could glance his way on occasion when she felt he wasn't looking. Trish pretended to be attentive to the other Hufflepuffs at the table, but truthfully she couldn't think of much else but what she might say if given the chance. The girl wanted nothing more than to march up to Ed and throw her arms around him. She wanted to give him the biggest hug in the history of hugs, and beg him to come back to her. If she thought she could make good on her promise, Trish even considered the potential of giving up relationships altogether if that's what it took. She couldn't bear the idea of losing Ed.
Unfortunately all her best laid plans and wishful thinking was interrupted by something rather unexpected: a delivery from one of the school's house elves. They were rarely seen outside of the kitchens during daytime hours, so that alone left her at a complete loss. She thanked the house elf prior to taking the letter and rose in her hands. Without so much as a warning, the note unfolded itself and fluttered just out of her reach. It began speaking the words written on the parchment aloud, causing Trish to stare at it similarly to a deer in headlights. When she realized it was from Sirius, however, she smiled slightly before smelling the rose delivered with it. If it was that boy, Merlin only knew it couldn't be too serious. He was a relentless flirt who likely only had the intention of cheering her up.