Preemptive Condolences

[Thom Pettigrew]

Miss Winthrop,

For your cousin, if you would be so kind. I hope you're well. When this Ministry disaster calms down and we've gotten a chance to get everything back to normal, I'd love to take you out sailing again. Late April, perhaps? We'll keep the date flexible, of course, until something definitive happens in the news. Do you have anyone you think might make a better chaperone than August? He's good at staying quiet enough, but I fear he doesn't much care for sailing.

Sinc.,
T. Pettigrew

The enclosed letter for Hannah, with a flower twist consisting of two white poppies and a red carnation:

Miss Hannah,

I know you must have heard about the Ministry ordeal, and I know you have a rather large family--I hope no one close to you is involved. Unless it happens to be your father. Both of my younger brothers are at the Ministry, and I've no idea how they're faring. I sort of think (and certainly hope) that this is all just a false alarm--that they've locked the building down as a result of some sort of accident or drill, and that everyone will come out of it without a scratch, but of course it's impossible to say. I'm glad that it all happened so far away from Hogsmeade and Irvingly, though, for obvious reasons.

I'm honestly not sure if my mother has realized that two of her three remaining children are missing. I'm sure she's read the paper, but she's been--sort of scattered, on and off, and I'm never sure how much she really takes things in anymore. Anyway, I've been afraid to bring it up, in case she hasn't realized and my telling her would only make her worry. I'm not sure what to do.

Sinc.,
Thom