Glasshouse

I'm a Stark

I'm a Stark

Margaret Stark took one last, scrutinizing look into her handheld mirror, before she clicked it shut and let it slide into her handbag. It was ridiculous to feel nervous and she knew that. But still: She hadn't seen her uncle in quite a while and she wanted him to know that she cared enough to make an effort. She had even straightened her hair and put those stupid contact lenses in. That endeavour mostly ended with her still having one contact in, while unable to either remove or add the other one. And without her glasses on, she couldn't see well enough to really do anything about it.

Still, today she had dared anyway. She and her Dad had made a pact for their time together on this business trip: Try and find the courage to do ONE thing you are anxious about. So her Dad had called his friends from Manhattan. From before he knew about being a wizard. Before Hogwarts. And today he was meeting them to reconnect, talk about old times and (Emmy had insisted) get at least a little drunk.

And Emmy had actually called her Uncle Tony, told him she was in Washington and free for the evening. Much to her enormous relief, he had immediately agreed to jump on a plane and meet her for dinner. She shouldn't have doubted him, Emmy logically knew that, but she hadn't seen him in so long that she had needed to prepare her heart for disappointment anyway.

"Miss Stark?", Jackson, her bodyguard for the night interrupted her thoughts carefully, "We are here."

Absentmindedly, she nodded at him and he exited the car to open her door, carefully helping her and her high heels out of the car.

Maybe she had overdone it a bit, she nervously thought and straightened her cocktail dress with a quick brush of her hand.

"If you decide to wear a dress, you own it. You are never overdressed. Make anyone else feel underdressed instead. Chin up!", she could hear her Mum's voice in her head. Even after years without her, Emmy knew exactly what her Mum would have told her. What she DID tell her, when Emmy was still a child, conscious of being tall and lanky. Her Mum would tell her to own it. "You got the genes of the tall Weasleys. I don't know why that skipped a generation. Look at you, luv. Don't slouch. Don't feel awkward. Stark men might be short, but you are a Weasley, too."

Emmy sighed, when Jackson carefully walked her through the doors of the small, cozy korean restaurant her Mum had loved so much. She hadn't been here in so long and she knew Uncle Tony would appreciate the gesture.

"Weasley. Table for two?", she told the young woman waiting to seat her. Chun-ja, her name tag said.

"Of course, Miss, your guest has already arrived.", she smiled warmly at Emmy, but looked slightly confused at her having an escort. This was not the kind of high end place where personal security was normal.

Chun-ja led them to a private booth in the back and the moment Emmy came into view, Uncle Tony jumped up from his chair, raced towards her and engulfed her into the biggest bear hug imaginable.

"I am so happy you called.", he said quietly and hugged her even more.

"I am glad you had time.", Emmy smiled back, as he let her go. She actually had to look down. When had she gotten taller than her Uncle? Even without her heels.

"Wow, honey, look at you!", Uncle Tony laughed, "Way to make me feel very, very old."

"You are not old, Uncle Tony. You're just a Stark man.", Emmy echoed her Mum's old saying and Uncle Tony laughed again, when he pulled her chair back. Chun-ja had already wandered off and Jackson had blended away into the darkness behind her somewhere.

"How are you, Emmy? How is life treating you?"

"I'm good! Life's good."

"Yeah? Things at Hogwarts are better, too?"