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Easter
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 05-16-15 18:38
Fritz's mother pulls a tray out of the oven, on which are several golden "Ostermännchen", or Easter men with raisins for eyes and dough arms clutching a hard-boiled egg. She's made five total: one for herself and her husband, one for Otto and Fritz, and one for Coco.
While the Easter men cool, she joins her family at the breakfast table, where each setting has an egg in a chrome holder, and there is a large loaf of sweet bread and various types of jam. Mitzi Schnackenpfefferhausen eyes the men at the table knowingly but plays along with the trick they've played on her.
Fritz tries to hide his grin but he's not doing a very good job at it. His mother picks up her spoon and starts tapping at the egg. Rather than chip away at the shell and reveal the soft part of the egg, her spoon goes straight through it. Fritz and Otto snicker and then laugh aloud when Fritz's mother picks up her egg, which has a big hole in the bottom and is totally empty.
"It never gets old, does it?" she asks them, as Fritz slides over the egg in his holder, which hasn't been touched.
"The temptation is always there when someone leaves the table," he tells her. "How many times have you done it to me over the years?"
"Plenty," she says with a smile. Mitzi works on her new egg and takes a bite once she gets past the shell. After she swallows, she asks, "When will you see Coco?"
"For lunch," Fritz replies.
"Don't forget her Männchen."
"I won't. She might have to share it with the dogs, though."
The conversation turns to Coco's studies and her job, which in turn has Fritz thinking about house hunting. He's still on the market for a new place, one that will suit not only his needs, but Coco's as well. She's gone looking with him at some of the houses on his short list, but like Fritz, she's not in a big hurry to find the house of their dreams. They both know they will find it eventually.
Selective
Author: Travis
Date: 05-16-15 19:30
Travis runs a hand over her face, tiredly asking Morticia, "Why, Mum? Why?"
"He's on the verge of asking you, Fifi. Of course I'd invite him and his mother to Easter brunch."
Hand now covering her face, Travis sighs. "How many times do I have to tell you, Mother, I am not romantically involved with Ogden Fitzmorris nor shall I ever be?"
"And yet Ogden seems to be spending vast amounts of time with you," Morticia smugly points out.
"Not at my invitation."
"Nova and I were thinking mid-Autumn when the leaves have turned and the air is crisp. The colors are so lovely."
"What are you babbling about?"
"The wedding, dear."
"Bloody hell, Mum!"
"Why are you taking that tone with me, Fifi Sequoia Ravenclaw?"
"You've practically got the wedding planned when I've not even engaged. Not engaged to Ogden and never shall be."
"Your sister was never this difficult about getting married."
"You have selective memory on all those men with whom you attempted to couple her. Lisi ONLY stopped being difficult when she met someone on her own and fell in love with him."
"I don't follow the point your making, dear."
"Of course you don't."
"What exactly do you mean by that?"
"You have selective memory, selective hearing, and you purposely twist things to suit whatever it is your wanting, Mum."
"Have I ever mentioned your penchant for exaggeration, Fifi?"
Travis grips her mother by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eye. "Get this in your head, Mother, I am not interested in Ogden Fitzmorris. I will never be interested in Ogden Fitzmorris. Any wedding Nova and you are planning will be for some other bride."
"He's been such a help with all that trouble you've had with your business. Ogden is sweet to take up so much of his time, and money I might add, to assist you. He's rather smitten with you and has been for years. Why must you resist?"
"Ogden is a smarmy, manipulative pig. He's also elitist and believes he's entitled. I've told you these things, Mother."
Morticia reaches out to pat Travis's cheek. "You're simply being overly resistant to his charms and stubbornly digging in your feet rather than admit my invitations to Ogden have helped put you two together."
As a bell loudly rings Morticia cocks her head. "As everyone else has arrived I expect that's Nova and Ogden. Do stop scowling. You will not ruin Easter brunch, Fifi."
Watching her mother glide off to answer the door and greet more guests, Travis wonders if telling her mother she has been amassing a growing pile of proof that Ogden is behind all of the vandalism and destruction would finally get the point across to Morticia that Ogden Fitzmorris is definitely NOT suitable son-in-law material. Glaring daggers at her mother's back, she decides saying something would most likely not do any good as Morticia's selective hearing would kick in. Spinning around, Travis stalks off in the other direction, giving serious consideration to leaving before she has to say hello to Ogden and his mother.
Past and Future
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 05-17-15 12:55
The trees outside Westwick Grove were decorated with Easter ornaments, some of which Rowan and Willow had made themselves from blown-out eggs. A green egg, alternately painted and lined with glitter, was Rowan's favorite out of the ones she'd made. It hung within view of her seat in the dining room, where the family was seated for a midday Easter meal.
"I trust your classes are going well?" Linden asked of all three of his children.
Rowan and Willow merely nodded their heads, but Ash spoke up and said, "My NEWT preparations are well underway. I've also begun looking at apprenticeships and entry-level positions at the Ministry of Magic."
Ash had no plans to attend St. Emrys University. Higher education had not been an option when he'd first attended Hogwarts, and though he had adapted reasonably well to the modern world, he still possessed the old mindset of joining the workforce after graduation. Despite his certainty in not continuing with his education, Ash hadn't yet fully decided on what he wanted to do upon leaving Hogwarts. There were many avenues that appealed to him, so he supposed it just might hinge on whatever job offers he received.
"I hope you association with me doesn't cause you difficulties," Linden said, frowning slightly.
"I would hope to be judged by my merits alone and not by my family's name and accomplishments, or lack thereof," Ash replied.
Other than the Rita Skeeter article published last year, which had caused a few social problems for the family at Hogwarts, Rowan hadn't given much thought to what having formerly dark wizard parents could mean for her own future. She knew it wrong to judge a book by its cover, but people did it all the time. After all, Rita Skeeter's loyal followers did think she was a Death Eater in training, and she most certainly wasn't.
"I'm sure you'll do great," Rowan said, smiling at Ash. "Who wouldn't want to hire you? You're smart, you're dedicated, you're…"
Ash held up a hand. "While I appreciate your support, you and I both know that it won't be your opinion that counts." He reached for his glass of sparkling pumpkin juice and suggested, "Let's stay positive and see what happens, shall we?"
Rowan nodded and looked over at her father, whose gaze was somewhere across the room. He was lost in thought, thinking about the bad decisions he'd made in his youth and how they had affected his family in adverse ways. He had vowed to do right by them ever since coming back, but even he couldn't change a past that could surely still haunt them.
Three Friends at Easter
Author: Isolde
Date: 05-18-15 18:01
After a day of Easter visits to both sides of the family, Isolde and Pyrrhus decided their evening meal would be a quiet one. They invited Azaelia over, though, because she and Robert still hadn't reconciled, and they knew that she was lonely. Azaelia's father had only recently been sentenced to many years in Azkaban, and now her mother was under the Ministry of Magic's scrutiny. It seemed unlikely that she hadn't known anything about her husband's dealings over the years.
Isolde stirred her spoon through the hearty pea soup she had made at the last minute. The color was an unpleasant shade of green, and the taste wasn't any better. She should have stuck with leftovers, or offered up snacks since they'd probably eaten more calories today than was typical, thanks to the various family gatherings they'd attended.
Azaelia didn't seem to mind the soup, or she was too distracted to care. She sighed into her bowl, scooped up a large amount of the chunky green liquid, and then shoveled it all into her mouth. A little dribbled onto her chin, which she promptly mopped up with a napkin.
Py put his spoon down and nudged the bowl away from him. "He's an arse."
Isolde raised an eyebrow but didn't need to ask who exactly was the arse, even though the statement came out of the blue.
Azaelia also knew who Pyrrhus meant. "He says he's not investigating Mum," she began, "but how can I be sure?"
"Have somebody spy on him," Pyrrhus suggested. "It's the only way you'll know for sure, unless you think you can trust him."
Isolde frowned. "I don't agree with him for lying to you, but I can't imagine he would deliberately go against your wishes and investigate your mother if he knows you don't want him involved. I think he wants to get back into your good graces."
"He does," Azaelia admitted, "but that doesn't mean I can just take him back. He knows how I feel about keeping secrets. I know it's not the same as carrying out an affair or committing murder, but his betrayal cuts deep all the same. He was supposed to be someone I could always trust."
"So are fathers," Isolde said.
Pyrrhus, who had experience with secret-keeping fathers, remarked, "In theory."
"I just don't know what to do," Azaelia said, sighing again. "I didn't think we would be estranged this long, but the only reason we are is because of me."
"You make it sound like you're at fault, and you're not," Py said.
"You just have to decide if you can forgive him for what he did, or if it's a deal breaker," Isolde added, "and you take all the time you need to figure it out. If he really wants your forgiveness, he will wait as long as it takes."
Azaelia nodded her head and attacked her soup again. How she managed to get every bite down was a mystery to both Isolde and Pyrrhus.
End Of The Day
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 05-18-15 18:49
Remus hands drinks to Sirius and Ted Tonks then drops into a chair. "Where do they get the energy?" he asks.
Ted, ale to his lips pauses in taking a drink. "I've long wondered that myself."
Sirius, eyes on Mira, James, Zaria, Teddy, and Hope gleefully running around the lawn, intones, "They'll not sleep for at week at this rate. At least Regulus is, " he cocks his head at sound coming from inside and amends what he was going to say, "was sleeping."
As the men are seated on a patio near the house while the Drucilla, Tonks, and her mother Andromeda are across the yard near a part of the garden, Sirius gets up to go check on his youngest son. Exiting the house with a now smiling and burbling Regulus, Sirius finds it hard to believe the child's first birthday will be here before they know it. Even harder to believe is that the twins's ninth birthday is only a month away and in the fall Zaria turns four.
Where did the time go?
All those years in Azkaban time slowed, every second feeling a millennium. Now, the minutes fly by far too fast.
Sirius sets Reg down on a blanket that had been spread out earlier. Reg is soon happily gumming one of his toys and drooling over the cat the Lupins added to their family a few months ago.
Back at his seat, drink in hand, Sirius asks Remus, "Is being only three days past the full moon part of why you're so tired?"
"Yes, though I think I might be with this lot," Remus nods towards the frolicking children, "even if we weren't. Don't tell me you aren't shattered."
"I'd tell you I'm not but you'd know I'd be lying. Mira alone wears me out."
Ted chuckles, "Girls will do that to you. Be thankful she's not a metamorphmagus."
Sirius pretends to shudder. "The small amount of Veela in her is sleepless nights enough."
As if hearing her name, Mira breathlessly dashing up. "What's so funny, Daddy?" she asks of the three laughing men.
"Reg and the kitty were being silly," Sirius says rather than saying they were laughing, in a way, about her.
"I'm thirsty," she tells him, grabbing at his hand.
"You aren't tired? Not ready for bed?"
"Now you're being silly, Daddy."
This has Ted and Remus laughing again, though they quickly suppress it when Mira gives them an indignant glare. Sirius gives them each his own look then gets up to get her something to drink. No sooner has he gotten a drink for Mira then the others are clamoring for drinks at well. When he rejoins Remus and Ted he holds thumb and forefinger pressed together. "Came this close to putting a drop of sleeping potion in each."
This has them all snickering again, enough so that across the lawn Drucilla, Tonks, and Andromeda watch their husbands, discussing just how much the men have had to drink at this point.