No place like home

It was way past morning when Alice finally woke up. The only reason she had managed to pull herself out of bed was the hunger that now made her stomach growl loudly. Putting on some comfy clothes and pulling her hair up in a lazy ponytail, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. She had finally felt some relief from her constant headaches and she truly hoped it would stay that way. Today was, after all, the day everyone would come over and they would have a family dinner. As much fun as that sounded, she knew that patience was a skill she would need to survive the whole thing without a scratch.

That was something she was usually very good at. Alice could be patient and polite and charming in almost every situation. It went against her nature to be rude or harsh. But lately it had been the quite opposite. She found that patience and understanding were skills that she used to posses but not anymore.

Opening the fridge, she frowned when she didn't find anything appetizing. Where was everyone anyway? She couldn't have been the only person in this house. Taking an apple, since there was nothing else she liked, she sat on the kitchen counter and started eating it.

It was way past morning when Alice finally woke up. The only reason she had managed to pull herself out of bed was the hunger that now made her stomach growl loudly. Putting on some comfy clothes and pulling her hair up in a lazy ponytail, she headed downstairs to the kitchen. She had finally felt some relief from her constant headaches and she truly hoped it would stay that way. Today was, after all, the day everyone would come over and they would have a family dinner. As much fun as that sounded, she knew that patience was a skill she would need to survive the whole thing without a scratch.

That was something she was usually very good at. Alice could be patient and polite and charming in almost every situation. It went against her nature to be rude or harsh. But lately it had been the quite opposite. She found that patience and understanding were skills that she used to posses but not anymore.

Opening the fridge, she frowned when she didn't find anything appetizing. Where was everyone anyway? She couldn't have been the only person in this house. Taking an apple, since there was nothing else she liked, she sat on the kitchen counter and started eating it.

Neville shivered as he came into the living room from being outside in the Greenhouses. It was so cold. He smiled as he saw Hannah fusing over Frank who had just arrived from wherever he was in the world before he came. Frank was also shivering under a wool blanket with coffee in his hands.

“Kingsley said he’s in for it. I haven’t heard much else from anyone besides Susan and Ernie. Ernie said they are running late. Amelia won’t come out of her room and Drew is off somewhere with that silly Crup puppy,” said Neville hanging his coat up and taking off his shoes then slipping into his slippers.

“That’s alright. I believe Alice is in the kitchen,” sighed Hannah. “Just leave her be mum for now. None of us are getting anywhere this early in the morning,” said Frank. “Frank can you help me get your great-grandmother’s portrait over the fireplace?” asked Neville heading into a spare room that his gran had claimed as her sewing room many years ago. Frank and Neville lifted her on top of fireplace. She glared at Neville.

“At last something besides that stuff room. You guys keep my cooped up there all the time,” complained the portrait. “I hate to tell you Gran you choose to be kept in there and some people don’t like your comments,” said Neville. “I would have liked to get a piece of that boy last night. I would have chewed him out like his coward ancestors,” snarled the portrait. “Who?” asked Frank. “Andrei Dolohov,” replied Neville.

Finishing the apple did next to nothing to ease her hunger or the coldness that she now felt. It was so damn cold everywhere. Making herself a nice hot cup of chamomile tea, she couldn't help but overhear her parents talking in the background. Yet she still didn't move from the kitchen. She needed some time for herself but she knew that today this wasn't an option. So Alice decided she would take every chance she could get.

Then she heard another voice in the house and she sighed. Looking down, it was obvious the first thing Alice had to do was change her clothes. She was always the type to be conscious about how she looks and what she wears, especially if their guests had started arriving. "Mom, dad, I'm going to chance really quickly!" she said shouting out loud so she was sure they could hear here.

Running upstairs, she quickly found herself in her room and lost in front of her open closet. She finally pulled out a sweatshirt and some jeans, that at least should keep her warm and cozy. Looking at her desk, she saw the black snake necklace and bracelet Andrei got her. Without much thinking, she put them both on as it recently became an essential part of her everyday clothes. After fixing her hair a bit, she was finally ready and headed downstairs into the living room.

Neville picked up the Daily Prophet and lounged on the couch. He just nodded when Hannah said she was going to go to the store. Frank left to go upstairs to unpack. Neville just let himself enjoy the last few minutes of his quite time. It’s surprising how much you think about in one night. He knew he was fighting a battle unlike any he had dealt with before. Parenting a teenager was its own battle.

Last night while in his study it gave him time to think, as much as he dislikes Andrei and was worried about Alice; he finally understood something Susan had been trying to tell him for years. He had to let go, he was holding on too tightly. He would still do what he thinks is right but will only step in if he must. He knows that Hannah is going to struggle with it as is he but he knows they’ll manage. They have to.

As he was certain Hannah was gone he flicked his wand so the brochures he had picked up looking at places to go for spring break. He wanted it to be a surprise for Hannah and Frank since Alice

Alice was done with changing her close and was one her way down the stairs when she ran into Frank, who was pulling his suitcase upstairs. "Frank!" she shouted enthusiastically and jumped into her brother's arms leaving him no choice but to drop his bags. "Oh...sorry" she said quickly apologizing and using a levitating spell to get his bags where they were before. Hopefully he didn't have anything breakable in them. Now that her big brother was here, she couldn't keep a grin off her face.

"Did you just come in? I'm so happy that you came!! I mean I knew you would, it's Christmas after all. But I also knew you were quite busy with your job so I wasn't sure" said Alice. Since Frank's job required a bit of secrecy, she often didn't know where her brother even was in the world. He wasn't allowed to tell him family. So obviously that made staying in touch and writing letters that more difficult. But Alice had always counted on the holidays to have everyone together, and her brother hadn't disappointing her this time either.

"Come let me help you with that" she said going upstairs and taking one of the bags with her wand. This whole drama that was happening with her parents made her miss her brother even more. She knew that at least he would understand her, he always did. "I really missed you, you know" she said honestly gazing at him. "It's good to have you home again. It's rather empty when you're not here" she admitted. Or lonely more like it.

Neville was reading when he saw something that caught his eye. He walked over to his window and saw a flash of light. He had heard Ernie telling Susan about the same thing in the Highlands of Scotland. He took a quite note of it; it was probably just a strong solar flare or a power surge somewhere. It was nothing to worry about.

Frank smiled at Alice. He had seen a teenage girl in France that had reminded him of Alice the other day. He had nearly called out Alice but stopped himself. He had missed being home but he knew forming a career was important. “It’s good to see you. Being all over the world can be lonely too,” he said.

"Hogwarts has been really weird without you actually. I didn't think I would miss you, to be honest. But I did" she said with a teasing smile. Even though she hated being apart for such a long time, she was proud of her brother and his career. "So how are mom and dad today? In a good mood?" Alice asked trying to test the air. Perhaps if everyone was in a good mood these next few days the could actually have a normal Christmas. "You missed a few things" she said with a sigh.

"Your little sister got into the Hufflepuff Quidditch team by the way! Chaser!" said Alice with a huge and proud grin on her face, trying to change the sour subject of her family drama. "Mom still doesn't know I'm playing because she would freak out so don't tell me. Dad supportive as long as I don't break a bone during my first game. Which of course I couldn't promise." she said with a laugh. Alice bit her lip thinking about something. She really wanted someone to talk to and usually her brother was the one to go to, but this time she was worried he wouldn't understand or would maybe judge her. She just gave him a confused smile and continued walking towards his room.

“I never thought I would miss Hogwarts. You think Hogwarts has drama when you are in a workplace it is twice as bad. It’s ridiculous. It doesn’t help I have to live with my coworkers then worked with them all day long,” sighed Frank. He loved his job though despite how annoying his coworkers are and how stressful it can be. “Mom went out shopping and dad is reading the paper. Dad seems to quite today. He and I brought great-gran into the living room,” said Frank.

“I won’t tell. You have to be careful though; you can get really hurt playing Quidditch. Being on the Quidditch team is a great experience, something you should do if you can fly,” said Frank. He had loved being on the Quidditch team, if he hadn’t been on the team who knows if he would be as good of a teammate with his coworkers. He learned a lot more from Quidditch then he did in classes.

“Dad under a lot of pressure Alice and it’s coming out in ways he does mean. He’s not used to having some many financial things going on and having so many projects. There are a lot of things going on right now people don’t want to admit are going on,” said Frank. He saw no reason to lie about or hid things form Alice.

Alice chuckled at the thought of her great grandmother finally being moved into the room she likes the most. "I bet she was happy about that. Hope she didn't give you too much trouble, I know how she can be a handful". Listening to Frank, she was happy that the house seemed to be quiet. Even though that was not the Christmas holiday she was used to, it was a lot better than shouting. "He is?" asked Alice, not really surprised that her dad wasn't into the cheerful spirit just yet.

"Don't worry I will be careful. Haven't had an accident yet so hopefully it will continue like that. And I really do love flying, and this gives me a chance to improve a lot" said Alice with a big smile on her face. She was always so enthusiastic when talking about Quidditch.

"Oh" she said nodding her head. She never really though about it that way. Thinking about how much that was true and how her dad must be so stressed about the Leaky Cauldron and everything else, she felt immediately guilty. And here she was so wrapped up in her own issues not to even notice. She sighed and realized how selfish it was of her. "I guess I don't really help either" she said with a guilty expression on her face. Without saying anything she just came up to her brother and rested her head on his shoulders and wrapped her arms around him. Alice loved her brother of course but she was never so affectionate towards him. She just couldn't help the feeling that he was her only friend left at the moment.

“Alice don’t think like that, trust me I did the same thing to mum and dad. All teenagers bug the heck out of their parents. Have you been the Bones lately, it’s a screaming match. I went over there before I came here to drop something off and poor Ernie looked like he wanted to kill himself,” said Frank “I didn’t see Amelia though I don’t think she was home. It sounded like Jessica and Susan fighting,” he added.

“Someone is affectionate today. I still remember when you would shriek when you were little when someone try to hug you and mum would get mad at the person thinking they were hurting you,” he said with a laugh. Being older had some perks; he could remember all those embarrassing moments from Alice’s early childhood.

Neville heard a pop and Ernie appear. He could tell Ernie wasn’t too happy. Neville knew just how feisty Susan could get and he understood what it was like to have a teenage daughter, let alone two. “Having a bad day?” asked Neville. “Amelia has locked herself in her closet and won’t come out. Jessica and Susan have been fighting all this mornin’. I’m not sure where Drew ran off to with that Crup puppy Susan got him,” said Ernie his accent coming out on certain words. “I suppose with Amelia it has something to do with her date last night,” said Neville. “Of course it does, last night she curled up into a little ball crying about some guy had totally ruined her date,” said Ernie. “At least you didn’t find one of your employees in your daughter’s bedroom,” said Neville. “I’ve seen much worst then that,” Ernie stated shuttering a bit. “Oh joy,” said Neville sarcastically.