"I know," Abbie giggled bluntly when Callie called her cute. Addison eyes his sister warily from where he stood, next to his mother.

Aiden's mother, Amelia, was usually a rather strict woman. But her impatient quality sometimes overruled it; obviously, the woman didn't want to wait around long for the children to greet each other with small talk. "Aiden," the woman said quietly to her oldest son.

Aiden turned at the sound of his mother's voice addressing him. He little boy took a few steps towards her, leaving Abbie the closest Everett to the group. "What, Mum?" he asked, his voice purposefully sounding more adorable than usual. Aiden was hoping his mother was going to say something good.

"We're going to go now. I don't have time to wait around; I was supposed to drop Amy off at Grandma and Grandpa's ten minutes ago." Amy was another of Aiden's sisters - she was ten.

"Really?!" Aiden squealed. "Thanks! I'll be good, I promise." The little boy giggled. "Tell Amy to have fun!" Then, the eleven-year-old rolled his eyes. He knew exactly what his grandparents were doing. They were his mother's parents, muggles. And at about this time when Aiden himself was ten, they'd insisted on having him come stay with them for a month.

Of course, the time spent there wasn't filled with any of Aiden's usual activities. It had seemed to him like they were trying to push the magic out of him by forcing him to act like a muggle, rather than a wizard. And then, before he'd left, they'd actually talked to him about it! His grandparents had tried telling him that he shouldn't come to Hogwarts.

Aiden couldn't even imagine how his life would be different if he'd listened to them. He wouldn't be standing here, at Issy's house, for one.

"Oh, I will," Amelia laughed.

"Your suitcase is inside." The woman had left it there after stepping out of the green-flamed fireplace. "I love you; come home whenever you want."

"Abbie, it's time to go!" Mum said. The six-year-old girl turned away from the older kids, who she was fascinated by.

"Fine," the girl grumbled.

Addison handing the still-squirming Minkus to Aiden before muttering a quick good-bye. Abbie didn't even address her brother as she left him for a month.

Once his family was back inside Issy's house, the short boy hopped down the stairs and stood in his circle of friends. A huge grin was on his face.

Gavin barely had time to raise his eyebrows when she pushed him into a chair and commanded him to drink. He took the glass, but as soon as she stepped away from him, he stood up again. "Aw, shucks, Issy," Gavin took a gulp of his lemonade. "I always love it when you call me a mess," he told her, a bit sarcastically. Then he grinned - he wasn't serious, of course. He wrinkled his nose when she said she could've sent a carriage, but in a flash it was gone. He didn't want her to think that what she had just said was awful to him - even though it kind of was. "No, no," he said quickly. "I walked like a big boy," he turned his glance over to Sammy and grinned. "Unlike Sammy, who needs a carriage or else his ballet feet would get dirty."

Quote:

He looked around once more, stiffling a yawn, when he suddenly stopped short. His eyes widened slightly, and a big grin flashed on his face. That messed-up hair, that untucked shirt, those crinkled, loose pair of pants and those mud-caked shoes: only one kind of person would wear such a formal attire in such an unpleasant and unpresentable manner. Gavin Lupe. He bounded down the steps and pushed through the rest of the people, stopping right in front of Gavin and grabbing him by the shoulders. "Gavivi!" he announced, pretending to air kiss him on this cheek and that. "Dahhhling," he said loudly with much emphasis, "Don't you look smashing?" He meant that literally. Smashing. Smashing pumpkins? Mud-cakes? Ironing boards? Take your pick. He flung a hand over his friends shoulder and smirked when he greeted Issy. He wasn't about to let everyone know that he was bothered when Gav called her little cabbage. He had bad memories. Instead, he let the smirk off by saying, "Gav, have you bathed recently?" He also wrinkled his nose for effect. When he was punched in the arm, he rubbed it gently and muttered a small 'ow'. "Hey! You told me you'd send the wedding rings over. You never did. Now she's run off with the muffin man. What d'you say to that?" He shook his head and clicked his tongue, feigning disappoinment. As they walked back towards the house, he noticed Callie waving at Gavin. He hissed at her, then muttered in Gavin's ear. "Snark at 12 o'clock. Mayday, mayday, red alert..."

Gavin grinned widely when Sam suddenly bounded over to him. Mocking air kisses, Gavin pushed Sam away, laughing. "I do not," Gavin retorted, about the 'smashing' part. "I look like an average joe," he nodded confidently. He hated being called the pretty-boy - it annoyed him like crazy even though most people didn't understand why. Oh, he had his reasons.

When he heard the question about bathing recently, Gavin threw out his hands like he was free from handcuffs. "Nope, and if we're rooming together, you'll be in for a rough night," Gavin replied, throwing his blazer at Sam. He looked thoughtful for a moment before replying simply, "Well, she'll eat the muffin man soon, so I guess once they get a divorce on account that he's been eaten, well, there's my chance."

Quote:

She was waiting and looking at the land on the left side of the terrace, when a some what familiar voice came from behind her. Not talking to her, but definitely talking. She turned to see Gavin, a friend of Issy's, there and already starting the jokes. She had met Gavin a few times, but she guessed she hadn't spent as much time with him as Issy or now obviously Sam had. She smiled and waved at Gavin as he came up.

Gavin glanced over at a girl that was waving to him and waved half-heartedly back. Who the heck was she? Looking back at Sam when he whispered the snark thing to him, Gavin laughed. "I'll watch my back," he reassured Sam, clapping him on the back.

Gavin caught sight of Sabrina when she showed up and narrowed his eyes. Lois Lane? What was she doing here? Either way, he ignored her, giving a shrug as he picked up his one bag that he had. Hey, he packed light.

Quote:

Meanwhile, Fredreich was marching up the stairs with an armful of Callie’s luggage when he noticed that Samson and the disheveled formal-wear boy were towing behind. He glanced over their luggage before nodding. “Thanks for helping. That’s pretty cool of you guys.”

Following Fredreich upstairs, Gavin nodded. Opening his mouth to say something, he stopped when Sam butted in.

Quote:

Plopping down on the bed, Sam kicked his shoes off and looked around. "I think this is gonna be a good summer," he piped up, grinning again. He stood up, and threw an arm around Fredriech in turn. "Well, Freddie, me and Sherlock here would love our company during our stay. You seem like a good person," he added, nodding his head.

Staring at Sam, Gavin blinked. Why was Sam being so talkative? It was like they switched roles - Gavin was the quiet one and Sam was the talkative one. Weird.

Picking up a pillow, Gavin hurled it at Sam's face. "Shut up for a minute, will you?" Gavin grumbled over to him, hauling his bag onto one of the beds. Standing up again, Gavin raised an eyebrow when Sam decided to 'half-hug' Freddie. "When'd you get so touchy-feely, Watson?" Gav asked bluntly. Glancing at Freddie, he seemed to study him, not saying anything for a moment. Ahhh, so this was who Issy was talking about. Gavin smirked. He didn't know why Issy would go after Sam when this buff dude was staying at her own house. The wonders of girls...

"I'm Sherlock," Gavin finally said, plopping down on the bed. "So, where's the bathroom Fred the man?" He gave a sigh as he pulled off the drooping tie. "I need to get out of these straightjackets."

OoC: It seems Callie isn’t very liked. =/ Awww haha. And Gav’s comment about why choose Samson when Issy could have Fredreich? Cracked me up. Heehee. One cannot explain the tugs of… like? XD

At Sabrina’s mention of inviting everyone to her house the next summer, Issy found herself suddenly giddy with excitement. Her summer hadn’t even ended, let alone the school year, and already she was anticipating the holidays following her second term. Nodding eagerly at Sabrina, she worked on another cookie.

“That sounds like a fab idea, Sabs,” she crooned eagerly.

Then, she waved the girl off as she decided to follow the boys in with the luggage. There stood Aiden, grin plastered on his face. Issy bounced towards him with a cookie in hand, matching grin.

“Here, Aiden! Eat! Eat, eat!”

She was more than enthused to have Aiden here, too. They didn’t get to see each other as much at school, so it was nice, she decided, to have him around. Maybe they’d finally get to spend more time hanging out.

If Callie didn’t try hogging him.

Juni, Issy noticed, was being exceptionally quiet. Which really wasn’t anything new, except that she seemed to be on the fringe of things. Gently, Issy nudged her friend and tipped her head. “Hey. Want me to see if there’s anything in the kitchen that isn’t chocolate?”

In her excited frenzy of having all her friends over, Issy had forgotten that Juni hated chocolate. And when Lorelei had suggested chocolate chip, Issy had eagerly agreed, moving onto other matters of subject.

With Gavin, Samson, and Sabrina gone, Issy glanced at her remaining friends, pouring a drink for herself. They should probably help with the rest of the remaining luggage, too. She could also show them where they’d all be staying.

…yeah. She’d get to that.

After eating a few more cookies.

Besides! No one else seemed to want to move or leave, so she decided this to be fine. Sitting down, she crossed her ankles, munching on her third cookie.

Nonchalantly, Fredreich watched Samson and Gavin. They seemed… close. Was close the appropriate word? It seemed to understate the boys’ relationship and his only thought was to smile and shake his head lightly, and so he did. It wasn’t his business to go poking through. If these were boys Issy considered her closest, then what room did he have to go poking around at them, huh?

With Samson’s arm around him, Fredreich could only chuckle. Hadn’t Issy described him as a non-touchy person? He half shrugged.

“Me? Good person? I suppose I’m just… me, really,” he replied. Fredreich thought of himself neither good nor bad – he just existed.

He did laugh, though, as Gavin tried to smother the younger boy. “Bathroom is right out this door, take a right and it’s right there.” They were right next door. Quite convenient.

Matti beamed at all of Issy's friends, a bit surprised she had that many, because if he recalled, the exact words out of his sissy's mouth was, "having a few friends over for a bit this summer," this didn't seem like a few. And some of them didn't pack like it was only for a bit. He shrugged it off, oh well, more people to play with, and that made him happy.

As Fredreich brought out the cookies, Matti could barely contain himself from eating more than one at a time. He really wanted to, but knew the cookies were for the guests, not him, even tho he had more right to the cookies than any of them, except Issy of course. "Isissy what're we gonna do now?" he asked, looking up at her and making a mess of his cookie all over himself.

Emma-Lee smiled, and nodded to each one in turn, "Yeah Issy my holiday hasn't been going so hot, sisterly troubles and all, I'm surprised my parental units didn't ask you if she could come along, just for the socialization. Ah well, it doesn't matter, what all have you got planned for us, anyways?" she said, realizing she really knew very little about any of these kids.

She was going to reach out for one of the cookies, but her keen intellectual sense told her not to, for they contained impure chocolate chip cookies. When offered the plate of them, she simply shook her head, "Sorry, Fredreich, but no thanks, I'm not much of a... junk food fan. The lemonade, sure," she said getting herself a glass.

She didn't really realize or remember it, but her bag had fallen from her shoulder to the ground, and only when the others and Fred () mentioned the luggage did she realize it and pick it up, "No need, just tell me what room I'm in, it's not much, I'll get it." she smiled at him, and realized that she, who was at least half a foot taller than the tallest kid here, besides Fredreich of course, had the least amount of luggage, except for maybe... whats her face. Dangit. She forgot again. This was going to be a long first few days, what with asking names and all.

Matti smiled, and looked at Issy before taking another cookie, "If Emmyily doesn't want her cookie I'll eat it," he said quickly and grinned, showing the crumbs stuck to his teeth, and began nibbling happily again. Sugar was the last thing this boy needed.

"It's Emma-Lee, you can call me Emma if you want, but no, I'm not going to have any cookies, they're... inor-" she stopped, not wanting to sound rude, "...unhealthy," she decided was the safest route to go. She took a drink of her lemonade and smiled, "It's good, you may have just got me hooked on something," she said, nervous about moving anywhere with her luggage in an unknown house, so fancy as this she didn't want to make a fool of herself amongst such... wealthy people.

Aiden snatched the chocolate chip cookie out of Issy's hand, his grin widening. He'd always loved cookies, so of course, he would never object. He was a little careful, though. Ever since last winter, when those boys is the bathroom gave Aiden a cookie that turning his hair various colours, he'd sniffed his cookies before eating them. Having bubble gum pink or sunshine yellow hadn't really bothered him, but he constantly had to answer students' queries about what happened. That had gotten old.
After giving the chocolate chip cookie a quick whiff, Aiden decided that it was safe. He took a huge bite and began chewing.
"Thanks, Isabella!" the eleven-year-old said after swallowing. Though she seemed to prefer being called Issy, sometimes, her full name came out when Aiden was saying it. The boy liked long names; they were fun to say.

"Thanks for inviting me," the kid said, his voice naturally squeaky. Aiden giggled loudly; his mother had been constantly reminding him before they left to use good manners. Aiden appeared to be making his mum proud.

The short little boy hopped down the few stairs that stood between him and his friends. He plopped down on the ground, as Issy had, between Callie and Juni. "Hey guys!" Aiden squealed, though his mouth was full of another bite. Okay, so maybe he wasn't taking the manners thing too seriously.

OoC: Okay, cheeldren. Cos I'm lazy and I want to get this moving along we're gonna fastforward. Essentially, Issy takes everyone to their rooms and they're given a couple hours to unpack and unwind.

So.

Rooming situations

First floor

Issy's bedroom: Issy, Juniper, and Sabrina
Mattio's bedroom: Mattio and Aiden

Second floor
Left Guest Room: Callie and Emma-Lee
Right Guess Room: Samson and Gavin

So. With that in mind. Uhh. We move on! ^_______^

Time: 7:00 pm dinnertime


"Lorelie, you've got something veggie, right?"

Issy peaked into the kitchen, eying the display of food. Potatoe soup and roast chicken and salads with mixed vegetables on the side, a rice dish and something that looked like burgers but couldn't have been. At the far end of the counter might even have been a pasta dish.

"I told you I had a handle on dinner," the woman replied with a smile. The woman wasn't old - she was probably in her late thirties but her bolnde hair was already lightly greyed in places. She wore it in a tight bun at the back of her head with a very motherly appearance.

Lorelei was as great as a chef, really. Issy would swear so.

"I'll talk to your friend tonight. Find out what she likes. Dislikes. What would be good. This can tide her over."

Smiling, Issy crossed her arms over her chest. It had been a while since she'd seen this much of a food spread - with Daddy gone often and Mum on some of her business trips, feeding only Tomas, Fredreich, Lorelei and Issy was an easy feat.

"Everyone will be down in a bit," she told the cook, before slipping out of the kitchen and wandering into the dining room.

Twelve chairs were seated around the long table. Five down one side, one at either end, for the eleven people. She felt a giddy bubbling rising again. It would be nice to have so many people at a meal again.

Sliding into the dining room, Fredreich leant up against the door frame, watching Issy curiously.

"Studying the table?" he inquired, a smile in his voice, chuckling as Issy jumped. "Shouldn't you be off, rounding up your friends?"

Issy nodded. "Yes. I s'pose so. Shouldn't you be changing?" she teased, eyeing the clothes Fredreich had worn earlier that day. He still had dirt smudges on the white shirt.

The boy just shrugged. "Eh. At least I'm not naked."

"...yes. Thank Merlin... for that..."

With those parting words, Issy made for her room.

When Aiden had come back into the lovely house, his suitcase was no longer where his mother had left it beside the fireplace. Someone, Aiden wasn't sure who, had moved it to his room. He was bunking with Issy's little brother; Aiden was quite pleased about this. He didn't really know Samson or Gavin, the other two boys staying for the summer, and Issy's brother seemed like he'd be fun. The eleven-year-old was quite eager to make friends.


Aiden was seated on the carpeted floor, watching Minkus do figure-eights around the furniture. The boy was trying to think of a polite way to ask what his roommate's name was. He was sure Isabella had mentioned it (multiple times), though he couldn't remember.

After a moment, the squeaky-voiced boy settled on being blunt. "What's your name? I forgot." Aiden giggled, feeling a little bit embarrassed. The prairie dog continued to run around the room.

Matti, who (for extremely obvious reasons) was Aiden's roommate, was very bored. He didn't need to unpack, and waiting for the other boy to finish was just... so tiring. He was laying on his stomach on the bed, feet swinging off the edge of the bed, his little face peering over the edge and following Aiden around as he got settled in.

As soon as he was spoken to, Matti's face lit up into a mischievous grin and he was sitting in normal crosslegged position on his bed faster than one could blink. "My name's Mattio, but you can call me Matti, or just Matt.... but I like Matti best." he said nodding with the last word out of his mouth.
Emma-Lee was just sort of standing there, in the middle of the room, absorbing all the colors, or lack thereof, and scents in the room. She didn't move or acknowledge right away she'd even heard Callie speak. She was kinda just staring off to one corner in the room, as if intently listening, and one might think she was simply ignoring her roommate. But she wouldn't do that, not until she knew if Callie was worth ignoring yet.

"Yeah, been done for a while, just sorta... getting used to the place." she said truthfully. Slowly, she moved her head and smiled down at Callie, letting out a small chuckle, and turned in a full circle, staring the room up and down. It was just so... magnificent... so huge, her room was maybe half this size back home.... and she'd had to share it with her sister for the majority of her past.

Emma-Lee didn't really have much to unpack, exactly. She'd stashed her bag under the bed, with most of her belongings in it. As she thought of it: it wasn't her house, she didn't need to be taking over the place. She'd simply just get out what she needed from her bag, when she needed it. She had, however, washed her face and her hands, feeling the need to freshen up, after being outside in the hot sun all morning, it made her feel... gross.

Samson rolled his eyes as he listened to Gavin and Issy's exchange. "Yeah right, Gavi. I wasn't the one who wanted to send a carriage, mkaay?" He shrugged. "And besides, that carriage is way better than having my mom drive me over."

He shuddered at the thought. Eugh!

Sam simply snorted when Gav pushed him away, not returning his air kisses. "Yeah. My foot looks like an average Joe. You're... an average Nick. Probably an average Kevin. I dunno." He gave a shrug, then looked at him from head to foot, and sniffed his hair. He deftly back away and shook his head. "Eugh. You bet we're rooming together. You're sleeping on the couch." He caught Gav's blazer, and held it at arms length as though it were some kind of infested rug. He threw it over his shoulder anyway. "Well, yeah, I guess you're right. He's all blueberry. She'll have him in... oh, I dunno. A week. Maybe less. Then I'll probably get word from home, then I can send over my sister and we can have the wedding right here!" He clapped a hand on his friend's back and chuckled. If he was serious, the idea of having Gavin Lupe as a brother-in-law and a Carla Carswell Lupe, didn't seem so bad.

"Go easy on her, tiger." He nudged Gav's rib gently, and smirked.

Samson rolled his eyes as Gav clapped him on the back. "Yeaahh. But we'll be watching her back, mostly. I have a lot of plans brewing in my head for her," he told him in a low voice, giving a mischevious grin. All he lacked now was a rubbing-hand gesture, an evil laugh, and a thunder clap in the background.

As soon as they reached the room and Sam was settled, a pillow hit his face. "Oomph!" was his muffled response, throwing the pillow over his shoulder, then lying down with arms outstretched. He had stepped from Fredriech already, and now had his eyes closed. "Eh, it happens. I get sugar high, rarely, that's why my mom never, ever feeds me anything sweet. Especially cookies. But I can't help it! Everyone loves cookies. It'll wear off soon, though." He stiffled a yawn, then watched in silence as Gav introduced himself and went for the bathroom.

"Hehe. Straightjackets." He chuckled lightly, then tried to fall asleep. He was tired.

=====

A few hours later, someone was calling him for dinner. He rolled over the bed, then finally opened his eyes and sat up. He ran a hand through his hair and groaned sleepily. "Coming, mom..." he mumbled sleepily, then got out of bed, crawling on the floor, then rummaging through his bag for his slippers. Eh. He didn't need to change into anything fancy. He was sure Issy wouldn't mind.

He climbed down the stairs, taking two at a time, then looked this way and that, wondering which way the dining room was. He then heard Issy's familiar voice through a door, somewhere down the hall, and he walked over, or rather slid over, dragging his feet after him. Where was Gavin? Where was Sabrina? Where were the rest of the guys? Oh, except Callie. He hoped she'd drowned in the pool or something.

Issy suddenly appeared out of what he decided was the dining room. He grinned at her, then waved. "Is it dinner time yet?" He asked, patting his tummy gently, pouting a bit just for effect. He wasn't really hungry yet. The sugar rush still hadn't completely worn off.