"Blimey, Raye, I don't know what to do." 19 year old Kiseki Ueda sighed, running his pale fingers through his scraggly, dark brown hair. Something was bothering him big time, and he desperately needed to talk to anyone who would listen. Though he didn't have that many friends, he had a very large family; however, all of them were out, except for his eldest sister, Raye. She and her husband, Scorpius Malfoy, were both home at the Malfoy Manor.
Raye sat on the couch opposite Kiseki, setting down a tray of tea and gingerbread cookies on the coffee table between them. "I'd help, but you haven't told me what's wrong yet."
Kiseki looked at her through his fingers. "Oh. Right. Sorry." From his pocket he removed a copy of the Daily Prophet. He had it folded to the final section of the paper, which discussed things like marriages and births in the wizard world. Glaring to the side, he thrust it into his sister's hands. She took it politely, tucking a strand of her short, layered dark brown hair behind her ear. "Second paragraph, sentence 3," Kiseki muttered. Raye gave a small nod to her head, scanning the article. Her eyes widened. At first glance, it appeared to be just another wedding discussion, but when she read into it…
"Drew… Kiseki, is that, YOUR Drew?" she asked quietly.
Kiseki nodded grimly, rubbing his temples. After he came out that he was gay at the age of 13, he'd lost a number of the few friends he had, but his best friend, a black haired Hufflepuff named Drew, remained loyal to him. So loyal, in fact, that he decided to date Kiseki. They decided to end their romance, though, 2 years ago. "It doesn't bother me so much that he didn't tell me about the wedding- he probably wanted to spare me the pain. What hurts is that he's married to a woman. I don't know why it feels so wrong, it just… does," Kiseki murmured.
Raye moved the Daily Prophet down to her lap to reveal the sympathetic expression on her face. She climbed over to sit beside Kiseki and hugged him to her, kissing his head. "I'm sorry, buddy… Heartbreak hurts, I know," she said softly.
Kiseki let out a shaky sigh, leaning into his sister. "I just want something to take my mind off him. A job, some form of big news, even a war… ANYTHING."
Raye chuckled quietly, stroking his hair. "I could give you a little mission, if you'd like." Kiseki said nothing, but shifted his eyes upwards. "Scorpius and I were going to go out today, since it's our anniversary-"
Kiseki's emerald green eyes widened. "Oh, my gosh, I totally forgot, I'm sorry…!"
Raye swatted at the air. "Don't worry about it. Anyway… We were going to take the girls with us, but I'm sure they'd love to spend a day with their Uncle Kiseki… If you want to, of course."
Kiseki's head snapped upright. "Yeah, of course I want to! Th-that'd be perfect."
Raye smiled at him, getting to her feet. "Excellent. I'll go fetch them now, they should just be getting up from their naps… Eat some of those cookies, Kiseki, you're too thin."
"Says the girl who would still be anorexic if she never got pregnant," Kiseki mumbled. Raye either didn't hear him or dismissed the comment as she left the room.
"Here we are, the Leaky Cauldron…" Kiseki huffed that afternoon. He'd only been in charge of the 3 year old Malfoy twins, Lucia and Lucina, for about 45 minutes, and they'd already worn him out. Raye was certainly right when she predicted they'd love to hang out with their uncle: they pounced on him like he was a new puppy and wouldn't stop hugging or climbing all over him. He recognized that it was all in good-heartedness, but they certainly were becoming obnoxious very quickly.
"Oh YAY! Dat seat, o'er dere, DAT'S da one weh want," Lucia declared. She slid her tiny hand away from Kiseki's and dashed toward a table in the corner of the dining area. "No, no, don't!" Kiseki called after her. He cried out when Lucina bolted after her sister. They both skidded to abrupt halts, Lucina falling into Lucia's back as they nearly collided with a waiter, a tray of empty glasses in his hand. Anticipating that the man would drop the glasses, Kiseki flinched, and immediately ran over to them. He gripped the twins' shoulders, and they stared up at him with innocence twinkling in their big blue eyes.
Kiseki turned to the waiter frantically. "I am SO sorry, th-they just slipped away really fast…"
The waiter shook his head, smiling kindly and switching the tray to his other hand. "It's quite alright, no harm done. Kids will be kids. Speaking of, are these little angels yours?"
From the look on Kiseki's face, the waiter might as well have asked his gender. "Oh, no, they're my nieces."
The waiter nodded, still smiling. "Well they're adorable. Now then, sit down, make yourselves comfortable! My name is Cyrus, and I'll be your server today. Could I start you off with drinks?"
"Apple juice!" the twins exclaimed, bouncing into the booth. Kiseki gently slid in next to them.
"A butterbeer, please," he requested.
The waiter named Cyrus nodded, his smile still unfaltering. "You got it! Would you like that butterbeer nonalcoholic?"
Kiseki looked at the twins, then partially glanced back at Cyrus. "Of course."
"Well, you never know. There are some real irresponsible blokes out there that'd get drunk even with little ones… Not that you came off as that type of person, but… Two apple juices and a nonalcoholic butterbeer, you say? Coming right up." And with that Cyrus scurried off, the glasses nearly falling off his tray. He returned no more than 5 minutes later carrying the drinks. This came off as odd to Kiseki: normally the workers at wizard pubs and restaurants would use magic to transport drinks and trays.
"Thank you mista!" the twins chimed, firmly gripping their glasses with both hands and immediately bringing them to their lips.
Cyrus's smile, which had still never left, deepened. "They really are adorable. Now, I'll take it you lot need some more time to decide on your orders?"
Kiseki looked at the twins. "Do you know what you want to eat?"
They both nodded sharply. "Mommy a' Daddy take u' here ALL da tiem," stated Lucia matter-of-factly. "Me wants mac 'n cheese!" she exclaimed.
"I wan' chicken nu'ets," Lucina indicated.
"I'll just have the soup of the day, please," Kiseki told Cyrus. Cyrus fumbled inside his waist apron for a pen and notepad, and quickly scribbled down their order.
"Will that be all?"
"Yes, please."
Cyrus saluted. "Alrighty! It should be done shortly." And off he ran, disappearing into the kitchen.
The twins had been drawing on their placemats, but quickly tired of that and decided to talk Kiseki's ear off about things only they truly understood. It was all Kiseki could do to respond with short replies like "Really?" and "Oh, I see!" He couldn't help but smile, though: the twins, especially Lucina, inherited a streak of that stubborn Malfoy pride, so they certainly did not like everyone. As pathetic as he was sure it sounded, it felt reassuring that he'd been given their seal of approval.
The girls simultaneously cut off their chattering. Before he could question it, Kiseki saw- well, heard- why: the sound of clattering dishes came from the kitchen, followed immediately by a man's voice yelling. Kiseki flinched as he made out the words "WORTHLESS MUDBLOOD!" The twins' eyes watered and they scooted closer to their uncle.
After a few terribly silent seconds, Cyrus emerged from the kitchen. He was no longer grinning; on the contrary, he looked on the verge of tears. You couldn't really blame him, though: his front was soaked with what appeared to be a very hot liquid. He speed-walked over to Kiseki's table. "Chicken nuggets and mac 'n cheese for the little cutie pies…" Cyrus said in a distant voice, sliding the plates of food to the twins. He turned to Kiseki and gave a small bow, looking truly ashamed of himself. "I apologize, but your soup will be a few more minutes…" It was then that Kiseki noticed it wasn't just a liquid coating Cyrus's shirt and apron, but some pieces of carrots, chicken, and celery as well.
He turned on his heel, but Kiseki called after him, "Hold up a moment, er, please…" Cyrus immediately stood still, except to turn away. Kiseki slapped his pants pockets, quickly removing his wand. "Tergeo," he said. The spilled soup vanished instantly, and Kiseki fumbled to put his wand away.
Cyrus stared at him blankly. "I… Thank you very much, my good sir… I must be getting back to the kitchen now, be back shortly." He spun around and hurried back to the kitchen, Kiseki unintentionally gazing after him.
"Were these two well behaved for you?" Raye asked an hour later as the twins refused to be pried off Kiseki's legs. He smiled gently.
"As far as three year olds go, I suppose." He gingerly stroked the tops of their heads. "They're really sweet kids though, Raye. You and Scorpius are lucky."
Raye grinned affectionately, finally pulling Lucia and Lucina away from their uncle. They tried squirming away for a moment, but soon pouted in defeat and snuggled against their mother instead. "Thanks, Kiseki. Hey, you know, Raito and Presilla were going to head out to Diagon Alley tomorrow, to get Jasper ice cream or something. Maybe you could go with them."
Kiseki nodded, a miniscule smile forming on his mouth. "Yeah, I'll see about that. I'll call Raito, figure out times… Thanks, Raye. It means a bunch."
Raye gave a small shake to her head, kissing her youngest brother on the head. "It's nothing. If there's ever ANYTHING you need, I'm right here. Love you."
"Love you too." Normally, this would've made Kiseki feel reassured and comforted, but in this case, the word "love" just reminded him of what he had all too recently got hung up on.