D'Eath London Home

Lorcan left the willowy blond soaking in his tub, up to her neck in bubbles. He was already showered and dressed in an expertly tailored charcoal grey suit with an impeccably white silk, open necked shirt. He refused to dress in anything but the best handmade tailored Italian suits. He fasted the cufflinks into his shirt. Square black onyx stones set into platinum. Each onyx square bearing a small diamond set into the center of it. The light touch of men's cologne he added was because the blond had given it to him. A rare scent, but he like it because it was a blend of exotic spices that he enjoyed. It reminded him of a scent he'd purchased years ago in Belgium and hadn't been able to find again.

He had taken over a two story muggle penthouse in the heart of the wealthy section of London. The nice thing about being a wizard was that he could create as many rooms in it as he liked and not have any of the muggles be any the wiser. He had gutted out the time honored old school elegance and had brought in new contemporary design. Clean lines, Light colored walls, Fine art on the walls, contemporary sculptures, A showplace of elegance and wealth by every measure.

He didn't know how the children would respond to the fact that he was providing safehaven for the blond now. But in all truth, he didn't care. He had a mutual arrangement with her that worked for him for now. And the fact that she had a similar arrangment with his son should have probably bothered him, but he actually was slightly impressed that the boy was capable of making an arrangement with her and had lived to notch it into his belt. He almost looked forward to the raised eyebrows at the breakfast table this morning. An amused smile passed over his face briefly as he stepped out into the hallway and closed the bedroom door.

He looked up and saw the butler catch a glimpse of him. The butler hurried off to order breakfast to be set out at once. The morning had begun. As Lorcan passed his children's bedrooms, he rapped on their doors with a sharp military staccato. Morning had started again, and he expected their presence. He proceeded downstairs, never breaking stride, and went into the dining room to the head of the long dining table where the butler was pouring his tea. Lorcan sat down and picked up the morning paper.

"Will your guest be joining us this morning, Sir?" the butler asked.

"Yes. She will," Lorcan replied.

"Shall I seat her at your right, Sir?"

"No. She is not my guest. She is a resident here now. She shares my room. Seat her as such."

"Yes, Sir." The butler said, making sure he placed the crystal vase with the single red rose at the seat opposite Lorcan's, the seat usually reserved for the mate of the host. The butler disappeared, and Lorcan opened the paper and began to read while he waited on the rest of his family to appear.

The ceiling of her room was completely and utterly dull and boring. Why was she even laying on her bed staring at the ceiling? Good question. She was bored, that was the simple answer. The girl had been awake for quite some time now, not able to get any sleep for various reasons, and she really didn't have much else to do. The fifteen year old had been reading one of her books for a while, but soon she had grown bored of that, and since she didn't have anything else worth doing, and she didn't want to get out of her room, she decided to just lay there and stare.

Even music couldn't get her out of that boredom she felt. That was a new one, usually music got her out everything and made her feel happy all the time. Guess music wasn't always the answer to everything. Damitrius let out a quiet bored sigh as she rubbed her eyes and turned herself over on her bed. She stared at her wall for a long moment before she heard a sharp military staccato, her father of course, and she sighed again.

Careful not to get the black and red dress she had decided to wear ruined, Damitrius lifted herself from her bed and dusted whatever invisible dirt would be on her dress. She quickly fixed the black headband with a red flower she had and she looked at herself in the mirror. She literally thought she looked like some little doll thing the way she was dressed, but she had made a bet with her younger sister and she had lost so this was the punishment she had to endure. She just hoped she didn't start to like dressing this way.

Slowly, she opened the door of her room and looked outside, wondering if anyone else was already heading out of their own rooms. The girl actually wondered why she was being so cautious now, if soon everyone would see her in the horrible clothing she wore. Now the only thing Damitrius hoped what that no one thought she looked cute. She preferred to he laughed at instead of being called cute. She made her way to the dining room quickly, at a half skip, and she walked into the room. Her eyes immediately fell on her father and she smiled a bit at him. "Good morning Father." she said softly as she took her place at the table.

"Good morning, my dear," he said, seeing his 15 year old daughter come in. "Its good to have you home for a few days. The owl arrived with your mid-term grade averages this morning. Well done. The report was a good one. You're welcome to see it if you like. They're your grades--I hardly see reason to keep something from you that you already know. " He took a sip of his tea.

"Oh, that reminds me. I'm glad to see you taking an interest in the apothecary. I am considering making one of the apartments above the shop into a space for family members' use. It might be nice to have somewhere a bit closer to the shop than here. A new business sometimes requires very long hours. And an apothecary can have demands after hours that, for example, Madam Malkins will not. Any of you might be called to be there at some unpredictable hour to supply a healer or an unwell witch or wizard. Hence. my thought about one of the apartments upstairs.

"I find, though, that I have no time for getting it cleaned or furnished either one into the sort of living space that our family is entitled to. I seriously doubt that Alistair has any sincere desire for decorating. If you'd like to look at the space, you can choose to take that on as part of your duties for now, if you like. I'd prefer to have someone more familiar with our tastes than to hire someone, and I'd like it completed by the start of the summer. However, you do have the right to turn it down, should the space not appeal to you. If you think it does interest you, I'd like you to check it out and let me know if you're up to the task or not. You know the shops to use for furniture and the like, and you know to bill my accounts there. What do you think?"

Playing with a strand of hair that was over her shoulder, she looked up at her father as he mentioned her mid term grades. "Thank you! I tried my best." she smiled at him. "Hmm, no it's alright. I don't need to see them." she added softly. She was glad she had done well on the mid terms, they hadn't been hard but she had been worried that she hadn't passed. Well now that worry was gone and it showed that Gryffindors were not stupid, as Damien had said while they were at the apothecary. Of course she wasn't going to say anything to him about that, it was best not to fight with her brother while they were at home with their father.

"Well Damien isn't. He seems to not want me there at all. I understand why and everything but I think he should keep our differences as a school thing, and not a work thing. I don't want anything to go wrong in the shop because of any bickering that could happen between us." she wasn't trying to get Damien in trouble or anything, he was a Slytherin after all and she couldn't ask him to change his views about her since she was in the house he was supposed to hate, but she didn't want their house pride getting in the way while they were at work. "An apartment above the apothecary sounds like a good idea. Especially with all the things you mentioned, it'd make things easier." she said softly, playing with her hair again, making her headband fall forward onto her face a bit.

Fixing her headband back up on her head, Damitrius thought about her father's offer for a moment. "Sure! I'm up for the task, and I'm sure I'll be able to have it finished by the summer. I'll check the space out as soon as I can." she told her father softly. It was a good thing she knew what most of them liked, and it would be quite easy to decorate the space her father was thinking of. "But only for those of us who are working there, right? Or just for the family? Like Alexis or Christina?" she asked him the sudden question, that occured to her.

"Do not trouble yourself about Damien. Whether you work there or not is not his choice. I own Slugs now. The choice is mine. If Damien has an issue, he can talk to me. Its that simple. There is no need for any arguement about it between you. Refer him to me. I would expect him to know better than to make a spectacle of himself about a family matter in public. An apprenticeship is a time honored tradition. How will you know what you'd like to do for a career if we do not offer you an opportunity? I do not expect you to work at Slugs for the rest of your life if that is not your interest. What I expect is that you choose what you do well--whatever that is." He drew a key ring out of his pants pocket and handed her a key ring with several keys on it. The key ring was gold. The fob was a golden script D that was encrusted in diamonds.

"Your set of keys to Slugs," he said. "You will find that each key has a small semiprecious stone in it. The keys with the diamonds open the shop and the cellar. The colored stones open the apartments upstairs. The black onyx one opens the cabinets in the store.

"You will find the key with the ruby opens the largest apartment upstairs. Architechturally, I think its the one that is also the most interesting, but there are interesting elements in all of them for the most part. Whatever apartment you choose, you will probably want to add a few extra bedrooms. I have no issue with any of our family members using it. Family is family. There is an enchantment that we can use to make a relatively small place have a great deal more space on the inside if we choose. It is much like the spell that is used on wizarding camping tents. Do not let space considerations concern you. That is easily altered...." As he spoke the family butler entered and set out pots of coffee and tea and a crystal pitcher of orange juice.

"Breakfast will be ready momentarily, Sir," the butler said, pouring more tea into Lorcan's cup as a warm up.

"Thank you," Lorcan said. "Garth?"

"Yes, Sir?" the butler asked.

"Are you familiar with the space enhancing spell?"

"Yes, Sir. Certainly, Sir," he replied.

"Then you would have no issue in assisting my daughter with adding rooms or doing some structural remodeling on an apartment above Slugs. I want a family apartment above the store."

"Excellent plan," the butler smiled. He looked at Damitrius. "It would be my pleasure Ms. D'Eath--whenever you should need me and however I can assist you. Would you like tea this morning?"

A few minutes ago there had been a knock on her door and she knew it had been her father. But she still hadn't been ready to go outside of her room. Although she had been awake for a while as she was still accustomed to do, she hadn't been in a rush to get ready, and she had just sat in front of her mirror, just staring at her reflection. The only thing she had done was change from her pajamas to the outfit she'd decided to wear. It was a black and white striped tee shirt with black jeans. She had never been a big fan of fancy clothing.

When she had heard the knock of her father, she had been applying a light touch of makeup. Knowing her younger sister, Damitrius would be the first one to head down to the dining room. She hoped that wouldn't be turned into an issue, since she knew her sister didn't like her much anymore. She still wondered what she had done to make her sister hate her. She just didn't get it, was being a werewolf that bad? Did everyone not like her anymore because of that accident? She was still unsure of what had happened that night but she was sure she hadn't wanted to be turned into what she was now.

Sighing, the girl thought she was finally ready to go down to the dining room and she opened her door. Alexis looked down at herself once before making her way downstairs. She wondered if everyone else was already down there and she had been the only one who hadn't come down when she heard their father. As soon as she entered the dining room a soft sigh of relief escaped her lips, okay so she wasn't the last one to come out of her room, that was good.

"Good morning father. How are you this morning?" Alexis asked her father happily as she smiled at him. She looked over at Damitrius as she took her seat at the table and smiled at her. "Good morning Damitrius." she said softly.

"Good morning, Lexi," Lorcan said. "You're just in time. I was talking with your sister about a project I am giving her to do betweeen now and the summer. I want her to take one of the apartments above the apothecary and plan for a family space there. If we are going to do this shop, we need to do it well, and that means we need to be avaialbe or hae someone available at all hours. Fortunately or not, we will be necessary. But we will be necessary at all hours. Witches and wizards are not always able to anticipate when they will need a potion or a tonic or an ingredient for healing purposes, for example. You are all about to find out that there are times when one of you is rousted out of bed for a desperate customer. I expect you to serve them well. And that is my thought behind the apartment.

"As for you, Lexi, you are accomplished at sketching. I would like you to begin to prepare me some sketches. First, the wizarding community expects tradition in Slugs and Jiggers. But that does not mean it needs to be dirty and dingy. I would like something that is the tradition they expect, but that also has the warm and welcoming atmosphere the brings in business. Can you do that? Give me your ideas.

"And second, they expect their potionsmakers and clerks to wear traditional robes. But I do hate wizarding robes because they're boring. Unflattering. Either do some research or do some designing and give me some sketches for robes that will reflect the elegance and the professionalism that this family symbolizes. Something that is fashionable and impresses.

"Did Alistair give you keys for the shop? If not, I have a set for you."

"Hm? Oh yes, please." Damitrius said to the butler's offer as she looked through the key set her father had just given her. She tried to memorize what key worked for what in the shop. She didn't want to waste anytime when she was over there looking for a certain key when she could probably learn what each one was for now. At least her memory was good for that. She smiled a bit at the butler when he said it would be his pleasure to help her in the remodeling of the apartment. "Thank you." she smiled at him.

As she saw her older sister walk in, the smile she had drained from her face and she felt her eyes narrow a bit. "Good morning." she replied back to her sister, not looking at her. She was trying to be nice to Alexis only because they were in the presence of their father and she didn't want to look stupid in front of him for fighting with her over something that happened three years ago. Even if it did happen that long ago, Damitrius still felt that Alexis had been stupid to let herself be turned into a werewolf.

She and their father began to talk about things for the apothecary and Damitrius couldn't help but wince a bit. So now she would have to see her sister more often, because there was no doubt that she would be around the shop quite a bit to do as their father told her. Great, just great. Well as long as she didn't appear at Hogwarts as a Professor or something she would be fine. Seeing her at home was one thing, but seeing her everywhere she went was something completely different. Still she wouldn't like being near Alexis longer than she should have too.

"Ahh really? Well that's a good way to keep her busy, and with her artistic view, I'm sure she'll do a very good job." Alexis said with a raised eyebrow at her sister. "And it is a very good idea on your part father. It is very true that we will be needed at all times and having an apartment above the apothecary might be a very needed thing. It would make it faster for us to arrive there and be able to help whoever needs something." she said softly.

Alexis gave her father a small nod. "I can definitely do that. The tradition they would want is with all the ingredients for potions and just whatever would seem like Slugs and Jiggers, but we should be able to make it seem nicer and more attractive to customers and still have it seem like the old shop everyone knows. I'll see what I can come up with and I shall show you immedately after." she told her father as she already began to imagine some sketches that could possibly show what her father wanted.

"The design for the robes can be rather simple. If each of us gives one thing we love the most and a favorite color, then we can modify the robes to show more about our likes and things of the sort, just as ling as it isn't inappropriate, it would unprofessional to have something inappropriate on a robe. But doing something like that, it would be like having customized robes that show what we're about and it would also keep the customers happy because we will be, after all, wearing robes as they would like us too." she explained.

"Oh and no, he has not given me the keys to the shop." she said softly.

Lorcan was pleased that his daughters were onboard with what he wanted for the shop. He got out another keychain with a white gold D, in a different typeface from Damitrius's, but set with as many diamonds. It had white gold keys with the same gemstone codes. He handed her the keychain. He watched the butler see to his daughters' breakfast needs, pouring Demetrius's tea for her. Then the butler turned to Alexis.

"Tea, Ms. Alexis?" the butler asked.

"I do realize you have the cafe to run, but, as part of this family, I do expect you to support our efforts to turn this around. And in turn, if you need support for the cafe, it is only fair that we support you. That's how good business runs. I like your ideas about the shop and about the robes. I look forward to your sketches. You might do well just to take a trip to the architectural salvage yards. You will find all sorts of interesting bits and bobs there. Look for stained glass windows, antique lighting fixtures, old cabinets, stately old funishings. It will give elegance that cannot be merely conjured. It will give a solid foundation of stability. You might do well to find even one large impressive key item to use as a focal point. I've seen seating areas of antique furniture used, or fountains, or large impressive bars from old pubs redone as customer counters...its only as endless as your imagination.

" If you find something you like, send an owl back here so that we can pay for it or put a reserve on it so that they will hold it long enough for me to pay the balance. And watch the price. If the price is too high, let me know. I do not believe I will have a difficulty in getting it lowered. Beautiful as you and your sister may be, sometimes men of business simply do their best to take advantage of young business women--because you're young and because you're women. We may well have to teach them about dealing with any D'Eath family member. I have no problem with that whatsoever.

"Now--I do see that the feud between you two is alive and well. If you must feud do it here. Do not do it in public. Ever. Wherever you've played that out, stop it. Stop it today. You're business women now. I don't care if it looks like theatre. You do your fighting here. In the safety of our home. Nowhere else. Do not let me hear that you've been going at each other elsewhere. Am I making myself very clear on that? I have a plan for this family but I am not prepared to unveil it all right now. Suffice it to say that it would do all of us well to appear to be united whenever we are in front of others. Questions?"