- Spoiler:
Thierry - 20
Fauve - 18
Caelum+Cepheus - 11
Gabriel - 11
Marko - 10
Alice - 9
Petre - 9
Giorgi - 8
Josif - 7
Felix - 7
Micah - 5
Gussy - 5
Stelladora - 3
Ophelia - 2
Max - Just born.
Birds of every size, shape and colour flew past the windows of a manor house buried deep in the northern reaches of Scotland. It was early, the sun having only just risen, and the inhabitants of the grand abode lay in their beds oblivious to the world beyond their duvets. The creatures that inhabited the woodland surrounding the structure had only just risen from their own slumber, each one labouredly going about their business as they struggled to shake off their fatigue. The same could not be said for those still slumbering within the walls of the manor house. Only the staff was awake at such a time as they made a last-ditch attempt at getting the household ready for their Master and Mistress’ friends to arrive. The rooms in the wing their friends usually resided in were polished to perfection and the well-dressed Elves had run themselves ragged as they fought to prepare the house as behind them the children tottled leaving a mess in the areas they’d only just finished cleaning. The Elves were at the end of their tethers with the children but wouldn’t dare snap at them for fear of angering the Master. Instead they picked them up and put them back into their rooms, a game the children adored playing - an excitement the Elves couldn’t pretend they shared.
It was inevitable really that one of the children were to wake up and wreak havoc and though Elijah expect it to be Cepheus and Caelum, it was instead their youngest - Max - who Mira had given birth to not two weeks prior. Sighing heavily, the man lifted his head from where he’d buried it in his wife’s hair and looked about his self, the world focusing as his eyes became used to the bright sunlight that was filtering in through the windows. He rolled over, extracting his arm out from beneath his wife and rubbed his face before pulling back the covers and throwing his legs over the side of the bed so he could sit up. Elijah threw his arms up into the air as the whinnies became louder and he stretched before throwing himself up to his full height and wandering through the adjoining door to the nursery where his young son was sobbing, his face screwed up, coloured an unsightly shade of red. Elijah stifled a yawn and ran his fingers through his hair before leaning over the cot to look at the boy that was kicking at the covers that had obviously made him far too hot. Elijah reached down and pulled them back, putting the child out of his misery and immediately the cries stopped, replaced instead by sniffles. Elijah chuckled and reached down, scooping the boy up out of the cot and cradling him against his chest.
“There, that’s better isn’t it? Was that really all it was about? You’re going to be as pedantic as your blooming mother, aren’t you? Mmhmm, I thought so.” Elijah shook his head and moved across the room to the tall windows where from there he and his son could watch the goings on as the animals paraded across the grass - everything from the tallest of the deer to the smallest of the field mice. Elijah could even see to the village that was beyond the perimeter of the trees though granted he could not see much of it, only the church spire, but it was enough. However, something else spotted his eye - or rather, someone. He narrowed his eyes a little and watched as a young woman walked through the gates, joined not a second later by a man whose stature Elijah recognised immediately. The man sighed long-sufferingly and looked down at his son who had fallen back to sleep again, evidently not as overheated as he had been before. “Welcome to the mad house I suppose.” He smiled, though it looked more like a grimace than anything else. He’d told them. But did they listen? No, of course not. Why would they? It wasn’t as if he was their father or anything!
“He’s not going to be happy, you realise.”
The young woman told her elder companion as they walked side-by-side down the gravel path that was flanked by the large expanses of lush green grass. She nudged him with her elbow to provoke a response and the man looked down at her, raising a dark eyebrow questioningly before shrugging his shoulders, deeming that an appropriate response to a statement he did not hear. Fauve Krum huffed in dismay and crossed her arms over her chest before elbowing Thierry once more, this time quite a bit harder than she had the first time, causing him to yelp and halt to melodramatically check for any injuries on himself. She ignored him in response, picking up the pace as the house neared. Thierry pursed his lips and jogged after her, throwing his arm around her as he caught up. He squeezed her against him and pressed a kiss to her temple in the hope of plying a smile out of her - something he was pleased to find he was successful in doing.
“He’ll be fine. He’ll be too preoccupied trying to keep everyone else in line to worry about us.” Thierry assured her. Fauve bit her lip and shook her head in disbelief, making the elder of the two chuckle. “Come on Fauvie, he’ll be good with it. You’ve been in Bulgaria for Merlin only knows how long; you deserved a boozy night out. I’m shattered, anyway. Which room is closer, yours or mine? I -” Thierry was stopped mid-sentence by a rogue yawn. “- am ready for a kip and a half. When are Kendall and Athena supposed to be getting here?” Fauve shook her head and took Thierry’s hand, leading him up the steps onto the patio. Thierry froze and Fauve, unable to pull him with her, was pulled back against his chest. She scowled at him before following his eye line up to the terrace where Cepheus and Caelum were stood with matching backpacks on their pyjama-clad backs bursting with all manner of explosive devices.
“Caught ya.” Thierry called up to them with a smug smirk on his face. The boys frowned, realising they were defeated, and trundled down the stairs onto the patio where they came to stand before their elder siblings. “What have you got in there - a hundred galleons worth of gunpowder? You’re really taking blowing up Kendall seriously, aren’t you?” The boys nodded eagerly and Thierry looked at Fauve who wore an expression of disapproval. The boys looked from Thierry to Fauve and found the scepticism and disapproval and found that it was probably not a good idea for them to set up the fireworks outside...just yet. “C’mon, Dad’ll go ape shit if he sees you two out of bed. Get all this off and go back to bed. You can blow up Kendall later, okay? Let’s at least do it at a civilised hour.”
The boys reluctantly agreed and the four hurried inside, parting on the grand staircase as the blondes went left and the man and woman took a right, heading up to Fauve’s room as it was hers that was the closest of the two. Fauve opened the door and found that, much to her delight, her room hadn’t changed much at all since she’d been gone. It was cleaner, that much was clear, but it was mostly the same. She felt Thierry’s hands on her waist and twisted round to see him taking his glasses off and putting them on the dresser that was pushed up against the wall by the door. He smiled wearily at her and yawned before directing her towards the bed. Fauve only just managed to pull the covers back before the weight of Thierry behind her forced her down onto the bed. She frowned playfully at him and closed her eyes when she felt his breath hot against his ear as he chuckled. Fauve turned around in his arms as they settled against the pillows. She curled in close to his chest and Thierry drew the covers up around them, folding his arms around the young woman and inhaling the sweet scent of her hair as he allowed himself to drift into a deep slumber. Not ten minutes later soft snores began to drift from both of them. They didn’t have a care in the world.
Alice Krum peered at herself in the mirror of her vanity, pulling her face this way and that as she brushed her long blonde hair free of knots. She smiled once she was done making faces at her reflection and hopped off of the stool. She looked up at the clock mounted on her bedroom wall and frowned, trying to deduce what the numbers meant, but understood that if the small hand was on a number, that was the hour it was. The small hand was on nine. Alice nodded, though she did not know what it meant, and crossed the room to her wardrobe which was adjoining her large, expensively furnished bedroom. At once, her House Elf appeared beside her, his arms laden with clothes. The girl and the Elf smiled at one another and Alice took a pale pink dress from the elf before turning around and heading towards her bathroom for privacy, calling her thanks over her shoulder.
When the blonde emerged from her bedroom she found her father wandering down the hallway with Stelladora on his hip. She smiled at him and Elijah knelt down to press a kiss to her forehead. He inquired as to her health that day and she responded in kind before following her father down the hall. Breakfast, Elijah explained, was something they were all in need of and explained that Mira would be done in a moment with Max and Micah. Felix would no doubt emerge from his room and Irina would be dealing with her sons though Elijah was anxious to check on the woman. Alice was content just to hop along next to him, her socks already having slipped to around her ankles.
Elijah entered the dining room with his girls and directed Alice to sit next to Petre who, along with his other brothers, was already in the room as well as Cepheus and Caelum. The table had been elongated the night before and the French doors had been opened earlier that morning to let in some of the warm breeze and the natural light. The table at this point was ridiculously large but it was necessary because of the number of people it had to cater for. Elijah placed Stelladora down in his chair at the head of the table and walked over to Irina whose cheek he placed a light kiss on. She smiled at him and patted his cheek before looking at him for a long moment, taking in his aged visage.
“Your father will be here this afternoon,” She told him gently. “I trust you can be civil with him long enough for him to come, have tea and leave?” Elijah shook his head and Irina laughed. “Well do try, my sweet boy. He is your father after all. He’ll want to hear about everything you’ve been doing, as well as see his grandson. Don’t deny him that. I do believe one of your cousins will be joining us too. Merlin only knows which one. You’ve so many. And what of your sister?” Elijah shook his head and kissed Irina again. He poured her out some orange juice and left her there, picking up Stelladora again as he walked out onto the patio in search of Cepheus and Caelum who he found to be prancing across the grounds with Gabriel, all three of them looking thoroughly guilty.
“I do hope you’re behaving.” He said to the boys as they bounded over to him. “No explosives, please?” Cepheus glared at Caelum who had managed to keep a straight face at his father’s words.
“None, Papa! We’re just playing, is all. When’re Kendall and Athena getting here?” Caelum responded chirpily.
“Soon enough. I don’t think they’ll want to miss breakfast.”