Let's Call It Family Bonding...

Khaat watched her mother take Eli's cigarettes as he surrendered them to her. Well, the boy was trying to do the right thing even though she was sure it came with untold mixed emotions as well. And it raised mixed emotions in her. Khaat loved Eli just as much as if he had been her own son. She was sure he was not fully aware of that little fact, and perhaps it was better that he did not. IF he had, Eli would more than likely be uncomfotable. He needed parental intimacy in the worst way. It was probably, when one got right down to it, his biggest need. But, it was also his biggest fear. And she didn't want to trigger that to him.

She saw her mother return to the table, Eli's cigarettes in one hand and her glass of wine in the other. She has recognized the clear signs of unwelcome family members arriving and beginning to try to turn Eli's world upside down. Khaat's motherly instincts were raised. She watched the scene play out and wanted to go over. Brian went over to Khaat and reached his hand out toher. She took it and got up and left Rob. Brian took her over to a table for the two of them. She took a seat there at his direction. He sat beside her.

"You can't really help him, Babe," Brian said. "If he's man enough to get into this situation, he's man enough to absorb the consequences of it. Leave him alone. Maybe it means he will learn to think before he decides to risk procreating without thought the next time the opportunity comes up." She rolled her eyes at him. She knew her ward. That just was not gonna ever happen. Eli was very wise in a lot of ways, but he really was a slave to his emotions. He let Fauve get away with bloody murder. He never had the guts to be consistent with her. Fortunately for him, Fauve was remarkably well behaved despite Eli's best efforts to make her a delinquent. But Khaat also knew that Eli didn't have any ability to deny himself any sort of pleasure--of any sort. Booze, cigarettes, women, it didn't matter. If he wanted it, he just did it.

If there was one family member that Elijah could have picked to do the ‘let’s meet the girlfriend’ thing then it wouldn’t have been Elisabeth. As much as he loved Harry, it wouldn’t have been him either. Harry would have settled his gaze on Elijah and his eyes never would have left the Slytherin’s face as he asked Chase seemingly innocent questions. Harry was regal, prim and exactly what Marina would have wanted in a son. But Harry knew exactly how to push people. He was subtler than his younger brothers in that respect. It was the twins that he would have rather seen but he had a feeling that they were there. One thing he wouldn’t be able to do, however, was find them. They were always heard before they were seen.

Elisabeth was a hard nut to crack, especially when she’d already pre-determined her opinion of someone. The twins were just was bad but they were flighty so their opinions would sway often. But they were perceptive, that was what was good about them. But like he’d already decided, the twins were here somewhere...they were just bopping around biding their time so they could make him look like an idiot. For eighteen-year-olds they sure did act like six-year-olds on sugar. Elijah pursed his lips and looked around in a vain attempt to find his cousins.

“I knew him a little. His mother avoided us as much as possible. His nanny, however, liked my mother’s company. So she visited us on occasion and brought Elijah with her. I am younger than him so I did not know him when he was very small. My brother’s would be good judges of his character for that point in time. But if Henry’s recounts are anything to go by then he was a gem.” Lis lifted her hand and pinched Elijah’s cheek, grinning toothily at him. “They used to carve their names in the trees of the orchard across the road. Everyone had his initials on it. They spent a day in the field.”

“I thought you said you were younger. How can you remember that?” Elijah asked, rubbing his cheek as he continued to look around for her brothers.

“Euan likes to recount your escapades when he misses you -- which prompts me to remind you that you’re coming to ours for Christmas. No whisking your daughter away to France or your son as it now appears. Mother would like to meet them.” She turned to Chase. “You are invited too of course. My mother loves to fill the house although you will be quite overwhelmed I think. Is there any family you would like to invite?”

Elijah bit his tongue and turned his head back around so he was in the conversation again. “Khaat and Rob...” He said, relieving Chase from the need to answer. “Jen, Christophe, David, Pierre, Robert, Katherine, Brian and Michael. Do you need me to repeat that?”

“Michael, Brian, Katherine, Robert, Pierre, David, Christophe, his babies, Jen, Rob and Khaat plus you, Fauve, Thierry, Cassidy, Camille and Chase.” Elisabeth repeated without missing a beat. “That young man looks like he’s ready to pop. Mother will no doubt have a nursery spare.” She looked at Chase and smiled cheekily. “It is where she keeps the twins... speaking of twins, do you know if you’re having multiple? It’s always a fun thing to ask. Twins are on the Harrow side of course so unless he’s got too much of the Krum genes, it’s a possibility!” She grinned. “I want to help you...Henry professes he will never get married so I’m out of options there. The twins are too immature and Adam is an ass so he doesn’t count. I’m left with Elijah and his balls of steel.”

Elijah flushed pink and cleared his throat. “Thanks for that, Lis...I’ll uhm...keep that in mind. Don’t mind me asking but what are you even doing here?”

“I wanted to see you of course! Your precious Harry has been moping around and the twins are starting to play tricks on mother. We’re bored... when we’re bored we come and see you.”

“Yeah okay...see, this is my problem, Lis. If you’re bored and you’re here to see me...where is everyone else?” Elijah asked, taking his glass of wine off of the bar where it had been put.

As Elijah said that he felt hands go up under his armpits. He was lifted up off of his feet and Elijah found himself being transported away from Chase and his cousin. Elisabeth smirked and Elijah’s eyebrows shot to his hairline. He looked up and saw a flash of mint green and another of hot pink, both of which clashed horribly. Elijah was dropped abruptly and he hit the soft leather of one of Jen’s couches. He blinked rapidly and looked up to see two familiar faces staring down at him with matching grins.

“Look at him...he’s beautiful don’t you think Euan?” Finn cooed, cupping Elijah’s face with his hands and squeezing. Elijah scrunched his face up and pulled it out of Finn’s hands.

He felt fingers pinch his cheek and he opened his eye to see Euan staring down at him. “Look at those eyes Finn! He’s gotten so pretty! He’s got his daddy’s eyes!”

Elijah couldn’t quite believe he was in his best friend’s presence again. The two gangly boys bounce away and Euan scooped Fauve up from where she was. He wrapped his long arms around her and gave her a bear hug. The little girl protested quietly, prompting Euan to coo over her, much in the same way he had with Eli. “Look at her! She’s prettier than her daddy isn’t she, Finn?” He asked, holding Fauve out for his brother to take. His mint-haired counterpart took the little girl and the two began to pass a giggling Fauve between them. Then, Elijah remembered that he was her father and not an innocent bystander. Elijah jumped to his feet and caught Fauve mid air between his cousins.

“She’s not a tennis ball you idiots!” Elijah snapped, glaring at Finn who smirked innocently. Euan shoved Elijah playfully.

“Lighten up, moody. She loved it. Didn’t you Fauvie?” Finn leaned down and kissed the little girl on the nose. She smiled widely and Elijah rolled his eyes, nudging Finn away with his hip. Elijah turned around and he collided roughly with someone else. Hands grabbed his upper arms to steady him and he stared up, something he rarely had to do, at Harry, one person he didn’t think he’d be seeing. Elijah’s cheeks flooded with blood and pulled away from Harry.

“Surprised to see me, Eli?” Harry asked lightly with a small smile. His silver eyes sparkled and Elijah cleared his throat. Harry took Fauve from Elijah and tickled her stomach. “She’s a sweetheart isn’t she? Here, I’ve got something for you, missy.” Harry’s hand went to his back pocket and he took a small purple velvet pouch with golden embroidery out. He held it out to Fauve and she hesitantly took it into her hands. She played with the drawstring and shook it. Elijah watched transfixed as Fauve tugged at the drawstring and took a locket from the bag. It looked expensive and exuded expense too.

“Thank you!” Fauve whispered. Harry smiled and helped her secure it around her neck. “What is the bag for?” She asked.

“To hide your spoils in. It’s bottomless and especially for you. Put your precious things in there. What do you have that you love?”

Fauve bit her lip before answering, “Papa!” Harry looked at Elijah and smirked a little. Elijah flushed. “And Twist. Twist’s my kitty!”

“Oh yeah? That’s great. I don’t think you should put your papa in the bag though, or your kitty. Has your papa gotten you anything pretty before?” Fauve nodded slowly. “You could put that in there.”

“Harry-“

“Eli, she’s wonderful.” Fauve was returned to Elijah’s arms and Harry smiled. “You are very lucky. How have you been?”

“Harry, what are you doing here?” Elijah asked.

Harry smiled a little, “You have time I hope?”


Jen had seen the two boys appear in the Club but the eldest of Elijah’s cousins, she’d missed. Jen picked up a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses. She walked over to where Brian and Khaat were sat and pulled up her own chair. She sat down and poured some wine into the glasses. She nudged them towards the two people and put the bottle down. “Is no one going to bail him out? I think they’re quite suffocating for him...” She smirked. “Would you let Abbey dye her hair mint green, Khaat? Someone should really tell their mother.” Jen laughed and topped her glass up a bit more before picking it up. “Personally ... I think it suits them but perhaps not someone that needs to be taken seriously.”

Khaat had to agree with Jen. The cousins were like relatives from Hell. What was it with Eli's family? Did arrogance just come too thick in the gene pool to be quelled? Why did they all reek of shades of Viktor? Now she knew where he'd gotten it. It was clearly genetic. She looked over at her father who'd been watching all this very calmly. He'd rather let Eli battle the lions alone, but he had no intention of letting Fauve be thrown in with him. Khaat made a very quick flippant gesture to her father that she knew he would understand. She had decided to toss her father into the ring with them. Let them chew on him awhile.

He rose, not wanting to show the slight smirk of amusement that threatened to break free and he walked over to them. "Fauve, darling," he picked her up, his great love for the little girl more than apparent. He kissed her on the cheek. "Come see what I' can conjure. I have a new game for you. Lets see if you can figure it out. Thierry, you want to come?"

He took the two children in tow to his table with Kate and flicked his wand twice. Each flick created a separate item. Two enchanted puzzle boxes. One was a shimmering, glittery orange tabby kitty that was curled up, sleeping, and the puzzle itself breathed as the kitten slept. The other was a shimmering glittery puppy, that was sleeping like his feline counterpart. "There's one here for each of you. Inside the puzzle is something special. But in order to find it, you have to figure out how to open the box. I know you're both really smart. But are you smart enough to do this?" he eyed them with a challenging smile. Khaat watched the two children sit down, each in front of a puzzle box. Robert left them sitting with Kate and went back to rescue Eli. At the moment, he didn't have the slightest clue how the heck he was going to do it, either.

"Eli, my boy," Robert said, "I really do need to talk to you." He looked at the relatives, feeling like he'd rather box their ears than to actually deal wit them. "You'll excuse us for a moment, I"m sure," he said to the relatives as a rather semi-diplomatic excuse to rescue him. He turned Eli and gave him a slight shove towards the table where Fauve and Thierry now sat with Kate. As they got out of earshot of the newcomers, Robert hissed very softly at Eli so he wouldn't be overheard, "How the hell do you keep getting into these things?"

Bulgaria was Elijah’s home just as it was his cousins’. To see them out of their country was an odd occurrence and Jenifer’s club no less. Elijah didn’t have contact with them outside of letters and he didn’t talk to Adam full stop. Elijah frowned at Harry, bringing Fauve closer to him. He angled her away from his cousins and felt Thierry take a hold of his trouser leg. “Answer the question, Harry. You don’t just visit. None of you do. Especially you.” Harry smiled that innocent yet patronising smile again and attempted to reply but Elijah cut him off. “Just- don’t answer that, okay?!”

Fauve was pried from his arms by Robert and Elijah watched the man take his children away. Suddenly feeling without anything to shield himself with, Elijah crossed his arms over his chest.
“Would you believe me if I told you we missed you, Elijah?” Harry soothed, reaching out to touch Elijah. Elijah jerked away from his cousin and Harry bit his lip. “Elijah don’t be like this. It’s natural for people to miss each other.” He touched Elijah’s forearm and once again his cousin jerked back away from him. Harry sighed. “I’m not going to hurt you Elijah...” He tried one last time to at least initiate some physical contact between them but Elijah grabbed Harry’s wrists and forced him away.

“Back off, Harry.” He hissed, stepping further away.

“Elijah-” Harry stepped forward but retreated half a step when the man that had taken Fauve away, returned. Harry plastered a smile on his face, albeit a strained one. “Of course, sir. We will be at the bar Elijah.” Harry waited for the two to walk away before turning around and walking to where Elisabeth was still stood with Chase. He leaned down and kissed his sister’s forehead. He wrapped an arm securely around her waist and held his hand out for Chase to take. “Hello. I’m Henry. I tend to prefer Harry, though. You’re Chase I believe?” The twins bounded over and Euan took up residence beside the redhead. The two stuck out both of their hands, saying their names in time with each other.

With the shove, Elijah wandered towards the table Fauve and Thierry were at in a daze. He turned when Robert spoke to him and wrung his hands together. “It isn’t as if they asked them to arrive,” He was quick to defend himself. “They’re just a bit...in your face I suppose. It’s a shock to see them.”

"I know," Robert said. "They're about as subtle as a root canal. Come pretend like we're talking about something important. Make it at least look good for a few minutes. Actually, you can thank Khaat. She somehow decided you needed rescuing. And my guess is that Jen might have felt like getting you out of there too. You seem to have a way to get all sorts of women to just naturally want to take care of you.

Khaat was keeping an eye on the rambunctious twins and then noticed, behind them as Fishbait came back in. Khaat felt like the hackles were raising up on the back of her neck. She laid her hand down on the table to snatch up Brian's wand, but he simply picked it up casually and put it back in his coat. "Down, Girl," he said in a whisper in her ear. "Leave the boy alone. If he hasn't learned his lesson, I'll give Michael first crack at him. It at least ought to be worth the laugh factor." She nodded, resolving to let Michael just keep hexing him. Michael never missed a chance to do that. She looked over at him. He was sitting and studying the twins, and keeping an interested eye, somehow at the same time, on Fauve and Thierry as they seemed to struggle with even finding the first step to cracking the puzzle box. So far, they had only managed to turn the boxes over and over again in their hands. Michael was amused. At this rate, they'd get them open on about graduation day. As he recalled, it had taken him years to get open his first puzzle box. He had received it when he was about Fauve's age for his birthday from his grandfather. As the story went, his grandfather had bought the thing in some little obscure shop in Hong Kong. He'd finally figured it out just a few days before he was supposed to leave for his first year at Hogwarts. Damned thing had taken him years. Hm..did he still have that particular puzzle box? He wondered. He looked over at Thierry who seemed to be just plain ticked at the box now.

"Patience, Lad," Michael said, smiling. "You're not going to let that box get to you, are you? You mean to tell me you're not smarter than a box?" Thierry scowled at him and looked towards Eli, as if he hoped Eli would come and at least get him started on unravelling the mystery of the box.

Chase found her face going red at Elizabeth's invite to the Christmas party. She shook her head and smiled though. "I'm afraid I don't have any family, or I would invite them to come. I lost them this summer." She said with a small forced smile. "But I would be delighted to come to your party, it sounds like it would be a great way to find out more about Elijah's family, he doesn't talk you all very much." She said giving him a warm smile. The conversation just kept going on, and Chase found herself getting a bit more flustered. "Erm, no not yet, I'm afraid I don't even know what the gender of it is yet, but we like to call it a her anyway. I have a strong feeling it will be a girl, and the second I can find out, I will." She said with a small smile. "My family doesn't have any records of twins though, so it would only be Elijah's side that I might have that from." She said with a light smile.

Chase suddenly found Elijah being floated away across the room, and then looked at Elizabeth. "So erm.. what brings you here? If I'm gauging Elijah's mood right, you don't see him very often do you?" She asked realizing that this was becoming a Krum family reunion now, and she wasn't quite sure what to do with herself. Suddenly another man walked towards them, and introduced himself as Henry, or Harry is what he perferred. She took his hand and shook it. "Yes, I'm Chase Moor." She said with a small smile at him. "I'm afraid I don't really know your relation to Elijah, he doesn't talk about his family much." She said with a smile.

Chase looked at Harry, and then at Elizabeth and smiled slightly. "It is kind of odd, I never expected to meet a lot of Elijah's family here today, I'm not quite dressed for the part I don't think, we just finished cleaning up this place, and I'm still dressed in my working clothes." She said blushing, knowing that this was true. This place was much to fancy for her sweats and tank top, which were covered in dust, and she had her hair tied back in a ponytail still. "Forgive me, but I think I may go change really fast." She said and then was suddenly surrounded by a pair of twins, each of which said their names at the same time. "Oh! Hello, I'm Chase Moor." She said with a grin at them, her eyes wandering over the group who suddenly surrounded her.

They were all beautiful, each one of them were like supermodels, and she found herself exhilarated to be in their presence , each of them saying something to her. She was the center of attention all of a sudden and it made her feel weird. It was like they were all the dangerous, but beautiful people you met on the street, the ones who were gorgeous, and so dangerous they would kill you in a manner of seconds. Like that one book from a few years back, called Twilight. The vampires were beautiful, and made you feel like you were tiny in comparison, but were dangerous blood suckers. Who knew.. maybe THESE people were blood suckers. At least real vampires didn't sparkle though... Chase realized her mind had wandered and she forced herself back into the conversation again.