deck the halls with rice and shinies

ch1 - candles, credence, and cookies

Amycus knew that taking his sister to the store to pick up a Christmas gift for Maisie would be a nightmare, but so far all she'd done was hammer in the point. Alecto had thrown a tantrum when they arrived at the shopping center and Amycus refused to carry her, then when he finally relented, she began another tantrum five minutes later because she wanted to walk.

Now she was in the middle of tantrum number three, splayed across the ground in a department store and screaming at the top of her lungs. Amycus registered a few dull smacks as Alecto furiously assaulted the tiles below with her shiny shoes.

Not wanting to see his sister so upset, Amycus attempted rice (which Alecto was far too upset to be calmed by, and it just wound up being thrown in his face) and shinies (which met a similar fate) before, as he reached a finger out to brush some of his sister's hair from her face, she abruptly seized it and gave him a puncture wound. Then a few more, until her brother's poor finger was just an unfortunate, bloody mess.

But it seemed to calm Alecto, and after a few moments, the two siblings left the store, Alecto having graduated to sucking on her finger the way she did when she was upset or tired. Amycus guessed she was both.

They made their way to a candle boutique, where Amycus was dismayed to learn that the candles didn't taste like their source items. Gagging a bit as he put back an apple pie candle, he tried to think of smells Maisie liked. He knew she liked his own, but the boutique didn't sell Amycus candles. The Death Eater was so deep in thought that he didn't notice as his sister, having lost interest once she learned the cookie-scented candles didn't taste like cookies, bolted from the store.

Finger returned to her mouth, Alecto wandered through the shopping center, pausing only to peer into the occasional store window, and at one point she entered a store containing pet supplies, thinking they may have chew toys. Unfortunately, they were sold out, which would have led to another tantrum if Alecto hadn't gotten distracted.

Standing beside a store kiosk was Alecto's Auntie Dragon, accompanied by her adopted son and his emotional support Maledictus. "Auntie Dragon!" Alecto shouted to no one in particular, then darted out of the store, nearly knocking over a pair of sniffy old ladies.

Meanwhile, Amycus, having finally managed to lick every candle in the small boutique, had realized that his sister had wandered off. 'Hmm, if I were Alecto and I were tired of looking at candles, where would I go?' he asked himself. Instantly, he thought of the pet store, thinking she might have gone to procure a chew toy. But by the time he got there, Alecto was gone.

He hunted for her, and Alecto hurtled through the center corridors, dodging a man with a large tub of fried chicken as she flew at top speed towards Dragon. She came closer and closer until she could hear what her auntie was saying.

"Alecto, it really is great to see you, but I think you should —"

Wham! Alecto hadn't even realized she'd made it to her destination until she slammed directly into Credence and sent both of them to the floor. Both were entirely unharmed, just a bit stunned from the sudden impact, but unfortunately for Alecto, Ella, toting a shopping bag and her son Draco, had seen everything.

"Alecto Carrow, you apologize to him right now!" said Ella, as Draco grinned and murmured something about Alecto getting in trouble.

A shrug from Alecto. "I didn't do anything. He was standing where I was running! I didn't do that!"

"And if you hadn't been tearing through the shopping center like a 'sniffy old lady' was after you, you would have been able to get out of the way in time. You were the one who was running around. All Credence did was stand there."

After she managed to upright both of the fallen and make sure they were all right, Dragon turned to Alecto. "Dearie, do you know where your mommy and your brother are?"

Alecto frowned. "Maisie is at home. Amycus is in that store over there, licking all the candles. They don't taste very good."

Dragon gave Alecto a slight smile and extracted a shiny cookie from a bag, which she handed to her. "Don't worry, Alecto. You just stay right here with us until we can find him."

A quarter of an hour later, the caterpillar tongue arrived before Amycus himself did, showering Dragon in a wave of gratitude before scooping his sister up and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "How long has she been here?" he asked.

Dragon started to tell him it hadn't been very long, but Ella, emerging from another store, spoke before she did. "Your sister ran through the shopping center at top speed and took Credence out while she was at it."

"But he's fine, as is she. Nothing to worry about, Amycus," Dragon said.

"Are you sure?" Amycus asked as he used his tongue to remove a small string from his sister's hair.

"Positive."

"Hey! Awecto never said she was sowwy!" shouted Draco.

"No, no...it's fine, she doesn't need to," Credence slowly backed away from the screaming toddler.

"And that, Draco, is a perk of being a Death Eater. She needn't waste time on frivolous things like apologies unless she wants to. Besides, we grew up in a dark household, and even if she wanted to, giving an apology would be immensely difficult for Alecto, as she never learned how. Now, I am sure my darling Maisie is expecting us back soon, and I hate to keep her waiting."

As Ella said something to Draco about poor influences and Dragon escorted Credence and Nagini to a store selling potion ingredients, Amycus sighed and carried Alecto outside so they could Disapparate. It looked like they'd be back, and hopefully their next trip would be more productive and much less eventful.

-end-

i couldn't even tell you what this is.