DInner with a Friend

"As a matter of fact," Khaat said, leading the way to the dining room, "there is a house in the next block. It is about the size of this house. It seems to be sandstone, I think, but it does appear to have some really wonderful likes to it. Looks like it would not take much maintenance either. It's just one block behind this house.

"Oh, and I do agree with you that handcooked food is much better than conjured. That's why I was very specific to make sure that we do everything in Sparks by hand and not conjured. By the way, I didn't conjure this either--just its delivery to the table, but I dont even allow that in Sparks. I only conjure an occasional cup of french roast coffee. My biggest weakness, I'm afraid.

"And we know all about those false reports in the papers. They've been saying just really weird things about Lupins in those rags for decades. Trust me, you are among friends tonight. Come in and sit anywhere you want at the table."

"I don't need much of a luxury. Just a house with 3 bedrooms and everything for basic uses kitchen, dinning room, lounge room and bathroom." Gabrielle replied not really sure how big was this room from the inside though from outside it looked more then satisfying. "Oh and i have enough money to finance and maintain it for sure..." she added knowing her calary was more then sufficent for the purpose.

"French roast coffee? Didn't know you serve that at Sparks.." she commented knowing it's been a while since she had one. Last time she was in France was last summer with her nephews,neices and other familiars.

Gabrielle chose a random place at the table.Any was fine as long as she didn't look streight into the wall because for some unknown reason she liked to have look on everything at all times. "Don't mention it. I would already be under alot of treatments if i gone insane each time they said i was insane.." she added commenting with sarcastic voice.

"Well, we make all sorts of coffee drinks at Sparks. Includiing espressos, if that's what you're looking for. I like exceptionally strong, black coffee, and I make sure that we offer french roast as our regular blend for those who prefer good strong coffee instead of a lightweight or medium weight blend. We offer those too, but I would never choose those. I do drink espresso at times too.

"If It clears up raining before the end of dinner, we can walk around to the house that is for sale. You could at least get an idea about it from the street lights. It wasn't up for sale when I was looking. But I really did like the lines of this house and how close it is to the main street in case I need something fairly quickly. "

Her parents sat at the table, and Robert asked Khaat, "Shall I open that lovely french wine, Dear?"

"Oh, please," Khaat said, "Would you?"

Robert opened the french black wine that Gabrielle had brought and poured 4 glasses and handed one to each person. He smelled the wine and sipped it appreciatively. "It smells wonderful. I haven't had this in...well, longer than I want to admit. This is a very pleasant surprise. Thank you, Gabrielle. It brings back a lot of very pleasant memories."

"Indeed it does," Khaat's mother said, smelling hers as well before she sipped at it, and remembering as well as Robert had. "Thank you, It is quite lovely."

Khaat loved the aroma as well, She could smell the richness of it and the smoothness of it, and when she sipped it, she could see that it was every bit as good as it smelled, "Oh, how wonderful! This could easily turn into my favorite wine. What a wonderful treat. Thank you."

"Espresso is italien if i am not mistaken. I drank it maybe once or twice and it was probably on my honeymoon alot of years ago..Remind me to come to Sparks for my morning coffee since sometimes i need it for 48 hours." Gabrielle said knowing that her work could drag for two days if she was too slow with it.

"Yeah that would be wonderful thank you Khaat. Don't worry with a good offer i am sure that the owner will sell it. Since i am probably going to be in Britain for a fair bit of years more i need something more comftable then my appartment." she said liking this neighbourhood for some unknown reason. It looked safe for when her kids would come for holidays.

Gabrielle took one of the four glasses Khaat's father was giving around. "Maybe since Fleur and Bill's wedding Mister Lupin? I think she brought some of these for it thougn that was like 20 years ago." she suggested trying to remember the day. Only thing that occured to her mind was that she was bridesmaid with Ginny and that it was interupted by Death Eaters.

"I can tell my parents to send you some from France if you seem to like it. They have a wine celler full of it...And i don;t seem to be seing your housband anywhere Khaat.Is he planning to join us?" she asked remembering he wasn't here.

Khaat was impressed. Gabrielle knew her coffee. "You are quite correct. Espresso is made best from Italian Roast coffee and served with a twist of lemon peel in a demitasse cup," she said. "And you are welcome to stop by Sparks any time. By the way, Rob makes some excellent scones of just about any flavor, although it does vary a bit by the day." She sipped on her wine and said, "I think a walk after dinner would be wonderful. Don't be surprised that Rob missed dinner. With Sparks being such a success, he doesn't get to have many dinners at home at the moment. We do enjoy it on his days off, though."

"You have an excellent memory, Ms. Delacour. I believe you are correct," Robert said. "And, yes, I would be interested in getting some of this for myself. However, I have more than enough money to pay for whatever quantity I could get. Perhaps we could work something out where your parents could help me buy some. Your parents have excellent taste. And we do appreciate superb wines in our family. I am glad to hear you might be considering moving into the neighborhood. I think Khaat could use some friends a bit closer to her."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow at Khaat actually knew about espresso. Even though herself drank it every day on her honeymoon in Venize, she never really stopped to think or look how it was served. "Don't mind if i do. A housband that cooks. Well that's a rare sight to see.I don't think i ever actually met him anless he passed by me somewhere and i didn't take time to notice it." she said thinking a bit though nothing new occured to her mind.

"It's been long since then. But it was my only sister's wedding so how would i ever forget it." Gabrielle said though what made her remember it was it being ruined. "Don't know what you mean Mr. Lupin though it would be a gift if it's one or two boxes. But if it's for selling it at Sparks or somewhere it would be basiclly like him exporting you importing so yeah you could make a good buisness out of it." she said not sure what Khaat's father meant.

"Well it's mostly so i can spend more time with my children. Since for the obvious reasons i can't leave Britain for the next few months. Derek hates me and Alice avoids me. That's how much of "good" mother i am.But i would be glad to have new friends since all people i see are Jemma and my shadow body guard and now you and aurors. Ofcourse there are a few people that bug me on my job though for personal reasons." Gabrielle replied taking a sip of her wine not sure why did she just pronaunce that on loud.Felt rather strange to tell these things to someone.

'How old are your children, Gabrielle? I have converted my basement into a 'hangout' space for them, with music, places for playing music, watching movies, even an old fashioned soda fountain with snacks and sodas. Your kids are welcome to come and 'hang' with my kids any time. It is very rarely quiet here at this house, and I'd love to have them come over. Maybe if they made some friends, it would help them feel more comfortable with you. I...I guess I'm offering to help you with them if I can."

"Oh, and about the wine, Daddy was just offering to pay. I don't think he wants to go into business selling it, but he does love the finer things in life, and he just didn't want your parents to feel obligated. Do they ever get back to England at all? I haven't seen either of them since my Hogwarts days. It would be nice to see them again. I..missed the wedding, as I recall. I was going through a tough time then. And I am very sorry I missed that."

"Well Alice is eleven now and Derek is twelve.Your basement? Well they are at Hogwarts i don't know if i can get them out apart for holidays. Not sure if that's allowed especially for first few years of it. I know seventeens have that privilegge.Kids? How many kids do you have again Khaat?" she asked expecting a surprising number which would make her get surprised even though she already heard it, but didn't remember.

"Oh no don't be silly. Consider it a gift i'll write to my parents to send you a box or two. By the way i didn't know women can drink while pregnant Khaat. My housband used to remind me that every day." she said taking another sip of her wine. "My parents? No i don' think they are ever planning on coming back here. Though who knows. As in for my sister Fleur well she lives on the coast nearby with my brother in law. It's not so near, but it's still England.And do trust me you wouldn't enjoy it so much. It turned into a World War.." she said having voice like she was purposly overreacting, but it was the best description for it.

"I'm letting her have a taste," Robert said, "But a taste only. She knows better than to drink more than that. You are absolutely right. It's not a healthy thing for a pregnant woman, but she isn't going to drink enough of it to actually harm her. I think Khaat is getting a bit used to me being so watchful over her. She is my only child, so I claim full rights to be a pest about her pregnancy."

Khaat smiled, "I'ts okay, Daddy. I don't mind. Well, as far as kids in the house. Well, lets see. There is Miseria, although she is at Hogwarts. There is Emily, Edward, Eli, Fauve, Gar, and Jinx. Miseria is pregnant and due about the same time I am. So that puts us with 6 kids, and 2 on the way. It can sometimes be a busy house. I don't see them much most days because at their age, the last place they want to be is here. However, when its cold and rainy, they all gather in the basement. And the kids range in age from about 16 to 6. At least for now. Fauve is the 6 year old and is Eli's adopted daughter. She is an absolute joy. Oh, and Daddy's neighbor, Steven Walker, has a son, John who is 10, and another young boy named Andrew that Steven is the guardian for. So they are around when Andrew isn't in Hogwarts. John is around a lot, but Andrew's schedule keeps him more restricted. He's only 11. My upstairs looks ridiculous. I've had to continue adding bedrooms magically until the hallway is nothing more than one door pressed up tight against the other. And everybody is starting to put signs on the door so they can find theirs easily without getting them all mixed up. I think I have 8 or 10 bedrooms squeezed up there right now, and there's probably four or five bathrooms squeezed in too. I used to have all those kids and just one bathroom. And that was just not a good combination. "

'I think you are to the point where you need to actually expand the house soon, Dear," Robert told her. "Magc can only do so much. I think perhaps enlarging the house and the yard might be a worthwhile thing. I heard a rumor that the house directly behind yours is going to soon go on the market. Maybe we need to look at buying it and letting the house expand a bit. Get rid of that overly crowded thing going on upstairs."