On the second floor of a half-timbered Tudor with dark wood and white brick in the town of Alcester in Warwickshire, England a slender, slightly muscular girl slept. The mound of cotton sheets she was wrapped in contrasted her bronzed leg that dangled over the side of the bed, her toes hovering inches from the hardwood floor.
"Lyla!" a strict yet musical voice from the ground floor called up to the sleeping girl "Lyla Esmeralda!"
Lyla groaned and lifted her hand to her face to push her long, wavy brown hair away from her hazel green eyes. She sat up, setting her feet on ground and cracking her toes. Then she yawned, stretched and, as she did, the intricate golden tattoo of a Yellow Reaper on her shoulder did the same.
"LYLA!" the voice was right outside the bedroom door now and the drowsy girl, Lyla, got up to open it
"I'm awake" she said groggily opening the door to the round, rosy woman with sharp blue eyes on the other side and then turning her back to her to start picking out her clothes.
"Why don't you wear clothes when you sleep?" her mother, Hannah, asked exasperatedly as Lyla slipped into a bra, her tattoo pawing playfully at the straps.
"It's August mum!" Lyla said as she walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth
Hannah sighed, "Okay well Jerry is ready and raring to go to the match so let's get a move on" She snapped the door shut behind her to give her daughter some privacy as she finished getting ready.
"Well, I took a stroll on the old long walk
Of a day-I-ay-I-ay
I met a little girl and we stopped to talk
Of a fine soft day-I-ay-I-ay
And I ask you, friend, what's a fella to do
'Cause her hair was black and her eyes were blue
And I knew right then I'd be takin' a whirl
'Round the Salthill Prom with a Galway girl"
The cheerful, booming voice of a large, muscular, dark-haired Irishman carried up the steps as Lyla walked down into the kitchen. Her brother-in-law, Jerry, was singing loudly, completely decked out in Kelly Green. Jerry was so Irish that he probably bled green and pissed pure beer; he couldn't be more excited for the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.
When Lyla hit the landing, he grabbed her and twirled her around several times before letting go and sending her stumbling into the fireplace. Lyla laughed, stabilizing herself on the mantle and then giving Jerry a small shove.
"Ah, you're a pain in me arse Lye!" he picked her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes "IRELAND FOR THE WIN!"
"IRELAND FOR THE WIN" Lyla cried in response, pumping her fists in the air triumphantly.
"IRELAND FOR THE WIN" chimed in another voice, emerging from the living room. The tall, teenaged boy with the same coloring as Lyla but with light brown eyes as opposed to her hazel ones, bit into a piece of buttered toast. "Took you long enough to wake up sleeping beauty" he said, jutting his angular chin at Lyla, his half masticated piece of toast bulging into the side of his cheek.
"Good morning to you as well, brother dear" Lyla said, sauntering up to her baby brother, Steven, and standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Eat" their mother said, thrusting a plate of toasts with an array of jams on them into Lyla's arms. She took a piece with strawberry jam on it.
"Where's Vanessa?" Lyla asked her brother-in-law after her older sister.
"Ah, she's sleepin' still" Jerry said, snatching a piece of toast off the plate "She's stayin' home wit yer mum to do...I don know, baby stuff"
"When do you all want to leave?" Steven asked no one in particular
Hannah finally sat down with a steaming cup of black coffee in her hand. "Alicia left with your uncle at four-thirty this morning to get the portkey. So they should be all settled by now. You could leave any time now."
Steven whistled in disbelief and shook his hand like he was trying to shoo a fly, "Blimey, four-thirty, that's the pits"
"Yeh," Jerry chuckled "Glad you finally passed that aparition test, are yah?"
Lyla smirked and picked up another piece of toast, "Only took him about three times" She winked playfully at her younger brother, who scowled back at her.
"Can we just go already?" he groaned
"Yeh, sure" Jerry replied, gulping down what little was left in his coffee mug and bending down to kiss Hannah briefly on the cheek "Tell Nessa that we left and I'll see er soon, pick up some of the victorious team's stuff for er" He pounded the shamrock on his chest and grinned even wider.
"Sure thing, Jerry" Hannah bemusedly replied, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly.
Jerry headed toward the door and Steven turned toward his mother to kiss her on the cheek before heading out the door. Lyla stood up from the table and knelt down to kiss her mom as well.
"Love ya, mum" she said, smiling down at her
"Love you too," Hannah replied "Watch out for Alicia, alright?"
"No problem" Lyla replied, waving as she exited out the door behind her brothers, the three of them turning simultaneously on the spot and disappearing.