They ARE "disgostingly" cute tho<33
 

Paulie noticed the weird looks Zara was making in response to Louisa's ravenclaw vocabulary. He looked at his daughter with a little smile and pointed his finger at his temple as he twirled it in a circular motion. Crazy. Yep. Although this crazy lady WAS slicing Zara her piece of cake, so she couldn't complain about that.

Tino did NOT want to be fed. "NOO!" He swatted at Mum's spoonful. SORRY, MUM. He knew how to hold a spoon and he was a big kid who could feed himself. Nevermind the fact that at least half of each spoonful of his single-scoop strawberry dish landed on the table... or his clothes. The point was, he was doing it HIMSELF. Pink ice cream dribbled down his chin as he stuck his spoon back in the dish for another bite. Big kid.

Paulie, on the other hand, both literally and figuratively ate it up as Tori fed him a bite. He grinned wide and happily took the pats on the cheek. "Mmmmm, thanks, love." What? He liked being spoiled by his main squeeze, too. Paulie was basically a big kid himself.

It was back to his mint chocolate chip ice cream now, which was over half eaten already. His mouth was filled with a large scoop of the minty treat when Tori casually mentioned Louisa's having marital problems, threats of violence, and cat pics. And Louisa wasted no time in spitting back some remarks to that. UM, Paulie was curious about this, though! Couldn't Storm be, like, a normal kid and talk KID things with Zara? Paulie glanced at his daughter. "Zara, don't ya wanna go eat your cake next to your pal Storm?" Hmmm?

He ate another spoonful. "Haven't seen ol' Myth in a while." Just saying.

Tino's small motor skills were still being honed and all, which was why a moment later, the tip of his spoon caught on his bowl. The obvious solution to this was to pull it up with MORE force, which ultimately resulted in a mini catapult of sorts. WSSSSSHHHHHHHHH. A decently-sized bit of strawberry ice cream soared through the air, a mini cannonball of pink sugar, to land RIGHT on mummy's pretty, red hair.

Zara let out a loud giggle at her dad's antics. Louisa wasn't CRAZY.... was she?! But maybe the big words she used were made-up, even though they didn't sound like crazy made-up words. At least she was FINALLY getting some cake, which she tucked into without further ado. She couldn't look at Tino while he was eating, either. He was SO GROSS and WASTEFUL of the sugar!!!

"Yesssssss!" she agreed when Dad suggested she move to sit by Storm. She made a big show of picking up her piece of ice cream cake, parading SLOWLY around the table WITHOUT dropping it though she came close to dropping it all SEVERAL times and then successfully setting the cake and herself down beside Stormy.

Who she was now watching with big eyes, trying to take just as small of bites of ice cream, like the little copycat she was.

"Totes jokes," Tori sing-sang, though her smirk was just broadening because Louisa was CLEARLY in one of her moods today. How did she ever work with the public (much less, IMPORTANT government officials or whatever) when she had such a tone all the time?

Tori flicked her hair over her shoulder in a dismissive way and concentrated her attention on her own children, watching Zara first as she practically skipped about with her piece of ice cream cake. Tori only almost had a mini heart-attack about four times as she watched the girl take a day and a half to move around the table.

She was so busy watching her daughter, in fact, that she failed to notice her son getting wilder and wilder with the strawberry ice cream, until...

PLOP!

...Tori felt the catapulted cannonball land in her hair. "EEEEEEEEEEEK!" she squealed, in a tone nearly identical to Zara's from earlier as she reached up and felt the ice cream in her hair. Hastily, she began grabbing napkins to try to get it off--- though it would probably be easier if SOMEONE ELSE were to scoop it off her head for her.

"Tino! PAULIE!" She wanted to glare at them BOTH but was afraid to turn her head in case the ice cream MOVED and SLID DOWN HER or WORSE! "WHY WEREN'T YOU WATCHING HIM?!"

She wasn't angry; she was just disappointed. Loudly disappointed.

Louisa didn't find it useful to stoop to Paulie's sense of humour with his daughter, so she just ignored the gestures and whatnot. He was harmless, anyway, it was his wife that needed the attention and maintenance if need be. ahem.

Storm's head whipped towards uncle Paulie when he suggested Zara joined her at the table. "Uhm." She was about to say she was able to interact with Zara from across the table quite fine, but it was too late. Her small friend was already waddling over. Storm, who was secretly a caring child, made sure Zara climbed up on the chair without harming the plate, the ice cream or herself. She would like the credit of how Zara made it all the way here with 0 incidents, thank you.

The ice cream cake on her plate had gotten soggy and unappetizing already because she kept poking at it with her spoon and fork without taking a single bite yet. She raised her gaze from the mess in her plate just in time to see precious Tino fling his ice cream at his mother-- who erupted in rage like a dragon in response. "HAHAHAHA," Storm laughed heartily, clasping a hand on her mouth after realizing how loud her laugh must've been.

Louisa was side-eyeing the untouched plate of her daughter, about to start a spiel about wasting food (which would've been directed at Paulie more so her daughter) when the tragedy happened. While she did not find it funny, Storm's reaction caused her face to beam. "Now now, Storm. We don't laugh at other people's misfortune. Especially when the ice cream almost matches their hair colour," she had the tiniest of smiles on there. Ah, bless that child for being so hilarious.

"Do you need help, Tori?" Or maybe her loving husband will swoop in and save the day? Louisa would just sit here and watch and judge as always.

There, perfect. Problem solved. Zara was moving over to be with Storm, which ought to allow the grown-ups to have a proper conversation. Well done, Zara. Well done, Paulie!

Paulie was scraping up the last of his mint chocolate chip ice cream when he saw something shooting through the air in his peripheral view. He turned his head to Tino, but the source of the ear-splitting shriek came in the opposite direction. It's source was from the OTHER side of him.

He whipped his head around in Tori's direction.

Immediately following the scream came HIS NAME in the form of a scream. Or a yell. Yes, a yell was more like it. A yell was more demanding than a scream, and this was certainly demanding. The thing was, it was hard to take this demand completely seriously when there was a lump of pink ice cream sitting atop Tori's head while she barked out his scolding.

The laughter bubbled up in his throat and escaped past his lips in a genuine chuckle. "Oh, Merlin's beard," Paulie said through chuckles. He WAS reaching for the napkins, though, okay. Dutiful husband. "'S mummy wearin' an ice cream hat, kids?" In contrast to Tori's frowny face, his grin was wide as he began wiping up the little mess with the napkin. Or. Well, kind of cleaning it up. Gosh, was it like seeping into her hair or what? Hard to tell with red hair, y'know.

Tino's whole head lifted to watch the ball of ice cream catapult into the air, his mouth hanging ajar slightly in the process. Aw, Dad was TOO tall. He couldn't see past Daddy to find out where the little cannonball had landed.

Not that he had to wait long to find out.

Mummy's yell was LOUD and prompted him to scooch over closer to Dad in order to use him as a base from which he could steady himself on the bench as he peered around to see MUM WITH THE CANNONBALL ON HER HEAD. It was glossy and beginning to drip.

Hearing the laughter that was already echoing to his ears only made his chunky chortle even louder. "Mummy! Hat!" He pointed his little finger at his mother, delighted by the fact that HE had graced his mum's head with a funny, new ice cream cannonball-turned-hat.

Oh noooooo, Mum was wearing an ice cream hat! Zara's mouth made a perfect O as she watched the disaster befall her mother, as though watching a broom wreck in midair at a Quidditch match. But what could she do about this mess?! It was all Tino's fault! In fact, she felt a little bit smug that her stupid younger sibling had ruined everything.

So she did what Storm did, only she couldn't bring herself to laugh at Mummy. It seemed too mean, and Mummy DID have pretty hair. She just smiled in her direction, weakly, and ate some of her ice cream cake, her big eyes now STARING at her mum AND her dad. Was she going to have a symbolism in her head? Zara's mouth twitched at her dad's and Louisa's jokes; she couldn't help it, but she WAS grinning now.

Tori wanted to SCREAM! She was seeing red, or rather, PINK from the strawberry ice cream starting to drip down her face. "Paaaaaaaaulllllieeeeee!" she squawked, closing her eyes and resisting the urge to stomp her feet and bang her fists on the table. But she was not four years old, or even two, like her son who was ENJOYING THIS WAY TOO MUCH!!! And then there was Louisa, who was ALSO ENJOYING THIS ACCIDENT!!!

"Please, Paulie, get thissssss OFF me!" Now she was hissing, and veering more toward anger than just disappointment. Calling it an ICE CREAM HAT is NOT helping!!!

uncle Paulie's joke made Storm giggle louder actually. Even though technically he said 'mummy' and Tori wasn't hers, but still. An ice cream hat was hilarious. She did pipe down when her mother lightly told her off, although there was something to her voice tone that made Storm question the real meaning behind this guidance her mother offered.

Okay, wow, so much screaming it was as nerve-racking as dragging nails against a blackboard. Although Louisa had to suppress a smile at Paulie's nonchalant attitude. Oh Merlin, seeing how laidback he was and how shrill she was just made sense to the statement 'opposite attracts'. Not that she was jealous at the way they fit together like yin and yang, no, no, she was just making observation like the Ravenclaw she was.

"I'm a little bit disappointed I scared the Quill before this," Louisa joked. It was definitely karma because Tori was poking at Louisa's completely wholesome but different style of marriage.

"Mum, I'm done." Storm announced after she had played enough with the ice cream cake on her plate, maybe took a lick or two from the spoon but nothing else. "Hey, do you wanna go play outside?" Storm turned her attention towards Zara finally.

Okay, okay, okay. Clearly Victoria Bunbury Foster was NOT in the mood for her hubby's jokes. But it did elicit a little amusement from the kids, which Paulie didn't miss. "I'm gettin' it, love! Gimme a sec." He grabbed a fistful of additional napkins and began cleaning up the 'ice cream hat' with more focus.

Oh! Ya know what, he was a wizard for a reason. He slipped his wand out from its holster, gave a little flick, and scourgified the sticky strawberry mess that had been tainting Tori's hair. Ta-da! See? He had it handled. "There! Ya look great. Shoulda licked it off ya!" Granted, if he had done that, there would have been a high probability of Tori actually biting his tongue off. Paulie wanted to keep that tongue. TORI surely wanted him to keep that tongue, too.

Tino had been so delighted by the catapult and Mummy's ice cream hat that his own strawberry ice cream had really lost its appeal. The melty, organic pool of pink in front of him was evidence of this. He peeked forward, a childish grin on his face as he peered over at his older sister to check her reaction.

friends ;________________; bless this mess
 

WoWOWOWOWOwowoWOWOw, Louisa. "You. Are. Not. Helping." She hissed at the other woman through her clenched teeth. Was it possible to get a brain freeze if the ice cream was applied externally to one's head? Tori certainly FELT like it was possible now, as a throbbing headache began developing in her frontal lobe.

She tried to sit as still as possible so Paulie could clean the ice cream hat off, and now mentally fired off curses to anyone who was even LOOKING her way. This did, unfortunately, include her husband, so it was a good thing her wand was in her purse and not in her hand at the moment. She thought of a sharp retort to Paulie but instead went with, "Couldn't have used your WAND like a bloody WIZARD, could YA, Foster?"

She huffed and pushed back from the table. "Excuuuuuuuuuse me, you lot. Keep an eye on the kids." Tori grabbed her purse and may or may not have whacked Paulie in the head with it as she passed by on her way to the restroom to check out her hair.

Wow, Mum was a LOT. That was a LOT to watch, and Zara made sure to lean forward and exchange a glance with Tino. Oh look at that fat baby. He was TOO HAPPY about this. Zara crossed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her baby brother, making sure he saw this goofy expression before she returned her face to normal. Had to look cool for Stormy, right?

"Daaaaaaad, I'm done too," she echoed her friend, even though she secretly wanted to sit there and stir her ice cream and cake into puddles for a little longer. The salted caramel flavor was weird and salty. Did Stormy know it was salty when she picked it? Huh. It needed some fruit or chocolate to make it better, Zara thought.

BUT NO MATTER, HER FRIEND WAS ASKING HER TO HANGOUT. "Um, yessssssssss," the little girl breathed as though she were meeting Britney Spears for the first time and had no idea how to ask for an autograph. She. Was. STARSTRUCK. "CAN WE GO OUTSIDE?" Wait, better to rephrase that as asking for forgiveness rather than permission. "WE'RE GOING OUTSIDE DAD, OKAY?" Okay cool bye. Bye Louisa. Bye errybody.

Zara hopped down from her seat and grabbed Stormy's hand with one of her sticky ones. "LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!"

Harper / Sarah
 

Harper definitely needed a moment away from everything to see her best friend, and get away from her family. It was like everyone and everything had annoyed her since she had gotten home.

So she was more than thrilled to be meeting Valencia for ice cream. It was much needed. They really did need some time catch up. Between OWLs, the crazy term, and boys she really needed to talk to her best friend.

Valencia smiled and waved Harper over when she spotted her. "Hey!" she exclaimed happily. "How have you been? How's the family? Did you get your OWL results yet? Tell me everything."

Harper barely got settled down before Valencia started asking all of the questions. And all of the questions. The newly sixteen year old laughed, amused by all of the questions. "First of all no, no OWLs results yet. I only took them two weeks ago." She wasn't really ready to see what those scores were yet. Even those Igor had assured her that she would be fine. "My family is great. We'll be adding another Phillips to Hogwarts next term. And me... I'm fine... I think. How about you?" Yes she was quickly changing the subject because she really didn't know how she was doing.

Valencia nodded. "I couldn't imagine waiting to take them." she said. She, of course, had taken them at school. She'd been preparing for months and her attempts to commit things to long term memory seemed to have worked. She felt ready at school.

"Is Ariel old enough already? Wow." she replied. "My cousin Blake is starting this term too. It'll be nice to have more than just Anna and I."

She wasn't sure what to make of the quick subject change, but she wasn't going to pry. "I'm good. Royse seems to be getting on well with my family, which is great. One of Connor's friends has also been staying with us. Maybe you remember her? Emma?" So maybe "one of Connor's friends" was vague considering Emma was probably his best friend.

Open!
 

Connor left campus to help take care of Emma and the baby. He called it helping and an obligation, but really, he just adored the kid and kept looking for excuses to come back home. Plus, he should probably see his parents more often, right? That's what normal university kids did.

Not that he was any amount of normal.

On his way home, he decided to make a stop to do a little shopping to surprise everyone. Maybe he could bring some ice cream back?

That's when he spotted Nova. He offered her a little wave. "Taking a break too?" he asked.

Even though she was walloWING, Nova was still aware of her surroundings. Even if she wasn't observing as closely as she usually would, movements and comings and goings were still registering in the small part of her brain that wasn't focused on how much university sucked right then.

So she was plenty aware of Connor, and her demeanour brightened a little when he waved. "Something like that," Nova admitted, tapping her spoon against her lip. "How have you been?"

Connor made his way over to her. "Better than last year." he admitted. "It's nice to know my sister is okay and I like my classes a bit better than this year." he said with a small smile.

"How have you been?" he asked looking her over. She seemed... distracted.

"Sit," Nova suggested as Connor got closer. "That is, if you've got time?" She added the second part of the sentence quickly, realising that he probably had places to be and people to meet with, and wasn't here to act like a ten year old spoilt brat like she was.

Not that she was spoilt. Nova put the spoon down as he spoke. "I'm really glad, Connor," she said genuinely, with a small smile. "Are you seeing more of your sister?"

At his question, though, Nova shrugged. "I'm doing okay. Same old." Except it wasn't, but she didn't want to seem like an idiot to him.

Connor offered a small smile and took a seat across from her. "Yeah. I'm done with classes for the day, so I've got some time. I was just heading home for dinner." There was a few hours before then, so he was fine.

He nodded. "I mean, when I can. She's still got another year left after this one. But at least we can keep in touch now." Unlike last year. "How are your siblings?" he asked, interested. It was one of the things they bonded over last year. Mutual worry had that effect.

He nodded slowly. "Same old is better than doing terribly."

rororororo (& resident gryffindor terrible mean older person)
 

Bernie had JUST gotten her ice cream, a big bowl of only Merlin knew what with loads of toppings and syrups and candies piled on top. In fact, she could hardly be seen behind it as she carefully, C A R E F U L L Y carried the bowl with B O T H hands over to the nearest table. Hopefully no one was in her way because she couldn't very well see them from behind here!!!!

"Don't mind me," the fifteen year old called out cheerfully, slowly sliding her bowl onto the table and scooting her bum into the booth behind it. She dug her spoon out from the mountain of ice cream and leaned around, grinning at whoever was across from her.

Then she realized who it was.

And her grin faded.

"Oh." It's you, was clearly written on Bernie's face as she tucked into her day's worth of calories. Um. What should she say to make this less awkward? Bernie couldn't exactly MOVE her ice cream pile NOW. It was already melting!! Without making eye contact, she said instead, "How's Phoebe doing?"

The terrible older Gryffindor who Kinsay did not like did not go unnoticed! In fact, Kizzy noticed her right away. What she did not do, however, was draw attention to herself. The last thing she wanted is to find herself in another situation that would make her cry. Especially not when she was meant to be enjoying ice cream. So it was a great UPSET when the older girl sat down at Kinsay's!!! booth.

............

Kiz gave her a big ol' frown and a stink eye she wasn't very good at giving the stink eye just so that Bernie knew she was unwelcome. "Hi," she greeted the girl who had so rudely decided not to greet her. James' were incessantly well mannered, it was a curse. "Phoebe's the best. We're going to the beach." She picked at her ice cream, keeping her eyes on the older girl all the while. "Why are you sitting here? You don't even like me." Facts.

Ooooooookay so they were good now or-----? Bernie eyed the girl but didn't reply just yet, because y'know, her mouth was full of ice cream.

"That sounds funnn," she trilled after a bit, putting some more ice cream in her mouth so she wouldn't have to talk that much. Then Kinsay went and HAD to address the ELEPHANT in the room, and Bernie nearly choked on her bit of ice cream.

Geez. Kid was direct, wasn't she?

"I never said I didn't like you," she stated, still swirling her ice cream with her spoon instead of making eye contact. "I believe it was YOU who called ME meanie head or doodoo brain or whatever?" Now Bernie peeked at Kinsay with one of her blue eyes. "Also, I just happened to sit here by chance, okay? I couldn't exactly see around my ice cream." She gestured to the mountain of deliciousness.

Now, would Kinsay be able to let this bygone be bygones, orrrr would she ruin Bernie's appetite?

No! They were absolutely not good. Kinsay still hadn't forgiven Bernie for taking her wand the first week of school and for making her look silly in front of the ENTIRE class. The younger Gryffindor was also still upset about the game room incident and how terribly condescending she was in other lessons too. Basically Bernie was terrible and Kinsay didn't understand how Phoebe could even be friends with her!

Still, the younger girl grinned and nodded because the beach IS fun. Especially with her family because they were the nicest. Unlike some people. Just saying.

"Sometimes people say things with their actions," Kinsay gave Bernie a knowing look. She knew things. "No. I never said that! I said you were being mean and horrible," she corrected matter-of-factly. And as it stood, she wouldn't take it back either. Maybe it wasn't the best moment, but it didn't change that Bernie was being mean and horrible! So, justified.

"If you eat too much, you'll get a brain freeze." That was a big mountain of ice cream. "Or cavities." Which was, arguably, a little worse.