Aria
Thunder ripped through the quiet in the Cornoctes' Flat rousing me from what may have been a good dream. Honestly the more I tried to remember the more it faded away. Glancing across the room I stared at the window with sleep fueled confusion before I remembered that I was in Rose's bedroom. Rose didn't actually have a window in her room, instead her father had installed an enchanted window frame like the ones that the Ministry has in its offices. While the sounds of a promising thunderstorm could clearly be heard, the window displayed the clear sky and back garden of the Forst house.
Rose for her part was fast asleep and completely unaware of the summer storm attempting to drown London. I just smiled as I crawled out of bed and out the door. Glancing to the right I noted that Dae's door stood ajar. Dae was awake again, no one in this flat ever sleeps with an open door. Quietly I retrieved a glass of water, and a small vile stored above the sink, before poking my head into his room. Sure enough, Dae was sitting on the edge of his bed watching the lighting crack the sky.
"It's a better view if you come into the room you know." The boy spoke softly without looking away from the sky. Silently I accepted the invitation and sat beside him. From the corner of my eye I could see the contented smile on his face as he watched the world blaze with light before dropping into the amber glow of the street lamps below. "I wish you could see it Ari." He sighed earnestly "The way the strings of magic are stirred up by the elements, it's times like this that I actually enjoy being a Sentiomagi." I smile as I reach for the blanket to throw over my shoulders. Damian has tried to describe his extra sense to me a few times over the years but it really is like explaining what the night sky looks like to a blind person. Rose and their father have also done their best to describe it as well but it seems to be slightly different for each of them.
For Rose it's not quite so strong. She generally doesn't give it too much notice unless confronted with complex displays of magic or she is searching for something. Their father seems to be able to tune it out as easily as one might close their eyes. Which is a trick that Dae hopes to one day master. His "eyes" are always open. A lot of it he can ignore but at night he has described it as trying to sleep while the wireless is on and fairy lights keep moving around the room.
"How long have you been up?" I ask before taking a sip of water. He shrugs like he doesn't know. "Have you slept at all tonight?" Closing his eyes he lets out a tired sigh
"A little." We sit in silence for a while longer before he holds out his hand. "You might as well give it to me now." He chuckles though there is little amusement in his voice.
"I had figured I would wait a while longer before trying to get you to drink it." I reply as I place the vile of sleeping draft in his hand. Dae grimaced as he stares at the offensive purple liquid in the glass tube. "I'll let you sleep late tomorrow if you drink it."
"I'll hold you to it." He whispers as he pulls the cork free. "I'm sorry for anything I say in the morning." I watch as he dumps the contents down his throat before giving an involuntary shudder.
"I won't take it personal." Offering him the rest of my water, he takes it gladly in an effort to remove the taste from his mouth. Two minutes later he is fast asleep. Eclipse chirps from his place on the pillow as I drape the blanket over his master. "Come along then. He won't be happy when he wakes." I whisper as I stretch out a hand to the mostly black ferret. Seconds later he is perched on my shoulder as we make our way back to the kitchen where I leave the glass and the empty vile in the sink. Tessa will see it when she goes to prepare the morning tea before she leaves for St Mungo's. Hopefully she will be able to convince her husband not to try and wake Damian before he leaves for the Ministry.
Finally I make sure Dae's door is closed before making my way back to bed. Rose is still sleeping soundly through the continued bouts of thunder with a stuffed hippogriph loosely held in her grip. It's not too long after I tuck in that I'm back asleep.
"Aria sweetheart." Tessa gently nudged me from my sleep "I'm on my way out now. Thank you for getting Damian to take the sleeping draft. Please help Rose get ready for the day when you get up and don't let that boy sleep too late." I nodded mumbling an acknowledgment as she kissed my forehead and left. About an hour later the sun shone through the false window signaling that it was time to rise for the day. Eclipse protested at first as I crawled out of bed and dressed for the day. Though once I mentioned breakfast he perked right up. Rose took some prodding but soon enough she was out of bed and on her way to the loo to wash up.
I was just finishing making tea for myself and hot chocolate for Rose when she wandered into the kitchen. "What do you want for breakfast Rosie?" The younger girl yawned as she thought of her reply.
"Could we do eggs and toast?" she paused for a sip of her chocolate "Oh and sausage and maybe some scones, the kind with chocolate shavings and raspberries in them." My surrogate little sister smiled with pleading eyes
"You want to go to Aunt Maddy's Café don't you?" I teased before checking the jar, where her parents leave money in case we should venter out for food at the Leaky Cauldron or the Cafe. The small vessel contained five Galleons, four Sickles, and six Knuts. More than enough for Brunch at the Home and Hearth Café. Rose nodded vigorously. "Fine, lets go wake your brother and then we can be off." Rose suddenly looked less enthusiastic but in the end her stomach won out over her wish to let the sleeping dragon lie so to speak.
Rose took a moment as we entered her older sibling's bedroom to consider the best method of rousing him from sleep without being yelled at or hit with a pillow. In the end she chose to crawl into the bed and give him a big hug. Dae for his part seemed more confused than angry at being woken in this manner. Taking a minute to figure out what the warm heavy weight was that felt the need to pull him form his dreamless sleep. Eventually though he returned the hug. Blinking the sleep from his eyes he looked from the eight year old, who was doing her best to look cute and innocent, to me standing in the doorway.
"You promised to let me sleep in." He stated as he fought off a yawn or at least gave it a valiant effort
"And I kept my word." I smiled "We gave you an extra half hour." He just rolled his eyes
"So why are you waking me now rather than waiting another half hour?" this time the answer came for Rose's stomach. All three of us turned our heads to look at source of the groan. Damian sighed "Where are we going?"
"Aria said we could go to Aunt Maddy's!" The hungry little girl all but cheered. Dae groaned as he rubbed his temples
"Rosalie, please don't ruin my ear drums first thing in the morning. I may yet need them." He growled as he stretched, several of his joints making audible pops and cracks as he did so. Finally he looked back at me with a pleading expression "Could you two please leave now so I can get ready for the day?" I raised an eyebrow in response "I promise not to go back to sleep. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be out. You can even go ahead if you want."
"No, we can leave together." I smiled as he scowled "I'll find a way to make it up to you later." He simply rolled his eyes as he crawled from the covers, shooing us from the room. One of these days I'll have to think of something I can do to make up all the hours of non potion induced sleep Damian feels I have stolen from him. By the time I reached the sitting room Rose was working on lacing up her trainers. Dae followed a few minutes later doing his best to appease his little sister's demands that he lace is boots faster. Another two minutes and a trip through the Floo later, we found ourselves on the wizarding side of the Bakery/Café.
Xander noticed us as we stepped out of the hearth and signaled us to take our normal spot in the corner farthest from the high magic areas. Damian slumped into his usual chair and did his best to look awake while Rose bounced in her seat. I pretended to read over the menu as Xander and Tobin make their way to us with our usual orders. As the food was passed out Xan pressed a strong cup of tea into Dae's hands and took a seat beside him.
"How did you not sleep last night?" the Slytherin boy asked "We passed out a few minutes after we got home." Dae grumbled that he did as well at least for a couple hours. "There was a storm in London last night?"
"Quite the light show. You should have seen it." Damian yawned into the mug as he tried to sip its contents. Tobin had taken the seat across from me and was attempting to eat while trying to figure out how Rose could swallow her food at such velocity and still enjoy it.
"Slow down Rosie," I chided the eight year old "You don't wan't to make yourself sick."
"You're one to talk." Xander threw in as I tucked into my stack of pancakes. I stuck my tongue out before continuing. He flashed me a smile then turned to Rose and Tobin "Rose, when you're done if you want to, you can help mix more pancake batter. Tobin, would you mind keeping Aria company for a bit until Dae wakes up?" Sure enough the boy in question was slumped against the side of his high backed chair. Rose inhaled her food and was half out of her chair before it registered to Tobin what Xander had said. As the cousins made their way to the kitchen, I excused myself long enough to grab a pillow from the bench in the window. Taking another moment to place it under Dae's head and brushing a few wayward strands of hair from his face I returned to my meal. Tobin ducked his head and looked embarrassed about something while playing with his porridge.
"Knut for your thoughts?" I asked as I returned to my half eaten breakfast. Tobin seemed to give it some thought before he responded
"How did Xander know there was a storm in London? Xan told me that Damian can sense magic, but does he feel the weather to?"
"No." I paused long enough to remind him to eat "Dae is a light sleeper at best. Thunder and heavy rains tend to wake him. Then his condition makes it hard for him to go back to sleep. Most times he just sits and watches the lighting until his body's fatigue catches up with him. Normally he's pleasant in the morning, even if he is half dead."
"Why is was he scowling then?" the boy asked timidly before taking another mouthful
"I got him to take a sleeping draft last night. They tend to leave him feeling ill. He'll be fine after his kip." Glancing at the boy sleeping in the chair next to me I amended "Well, after some tea and lunch that is."
"So did Xander rope you into helping or did you volunteer?" I asked over my tea
"Volunteered." Tobin paused to sip his own cuppa then continued "Xander said I could stay home if I wanted to, but I thought this would be more fun." timidly he took another sip of tea before nibbling the end of his toasts. It didn't take the Wizengamot to guess that he isn't a morning person. Tobin looked torn between ready for a kip himself and retreating to find his friend. As uncomfortable as he looked with being left alone with a near stranger, he seemed more ready to find a corner to sleep in than run back to Xander. He had all but finished his tea, and though he was trying to be polite, I've known Dae too long to not see the signs of fatigue painted across his face.
"Did you and Xander have any plans for today?"
"Um..." the boy shrugged "Probably go back to Xander's house and do our summer homework."
"If you'd like we could drop Rose off with her brothers at Gran's house and help you two get it done faster." Tobin looked flustered at the offer
"We wouldn't want to keep you from doing anything you planned for today." Aside form the waver in his voice Tobin sat perfectly still. Not a single physical sign that he was actually uncomfortable. Well, maybe that was the wrong choice of word considering his posture was flawless. Something Dae and his siblings seemed incapable of on their best days.
"It really wouldn't be any trouble. If Damian had his way, he would just sleep all morning and spend his afternoon on his broom or in the pond."
"Sounds like a good day to me."
"And not at all a waste considering our summer homework is done." Damian stretched out his back and shoulders before taking a sip of his now cold tea "You are more than welcome to join us." he took another second to get his bearings "Who stuck the pillow under my head?"
"Xander." I replied simply to which he nodded in acceptance. Tobin on the other hand raised an eyebrow at me.
"Thanks. Anyway, like she said, if you want we can help you two finish up faster so we can move on to relaxing." Tobin was saved from having to decide by the return of Rose and Xander. Rose was speckled with batter though it looked like most of the mess had been taken care of before they returned.
"That would be fine." Xander answered for Tobin as he placed a plate of scones and bacon in front of Dae, and a fresh pot of tea on the table. "The only reason we held off was so we could do it together. Otherwise I would have had it all done in the first week." Rose made to quickly snatch one of her favorites from his plate but her brother caught her wrist.
"Rosie, don't take food from other people's plates." Damian scolded before releasing her and offering her the treat "Just ask."
"Sorry." The younger girl mumbled around a mouthful of pastry "So what am I going to do while you all do homework?"
"Well you could tag along and sit with us or floo over to Gran's." I offered. Rose didn't take long to decide that she would rather have the option of swimming and flying while her grandmother spoiled her over watching us do school work. Even if she had to share some of the attention with her little brothers.
A few hours later found me splashing in the pond with Rose and Max, the youngest of her three brothers. While Damian was helping Amos, the older of the two youngest Cornoctes, learn to swim. Xander and Tobin had opted to stay home after our attempt to alleviate the majority of their school work. Tobin needed a break from all the attention, not that he would say it outright. The family is a bit much though for someone that isn't used to so many boisterous people. I'm sure the thought of two days in a row of it gave him shivers.
It's times like this that make it hard to be jealous of Dae and the others for having such a big family that is always around. Dae's mum and mine had been best mates before she died. So It's not surprising I guess that I have been all but adopted into the Forest clan as a result. Still It would be nice if Dad wasn't gone on assignments so often. It's one thing to be accepted into a family, it's another to be able to spend time with the ones you have left in your own.
"Aria, I sent the others on ahead." Dae's voice broke through my thoughts. He had taken a seat beside me. "Knut for your thoughts?"
"Just thinking, I'll probably wake you up latter to talk about it."
"We could just talk about it now and I could sleep latter." he gave an unconvincing chuckle
"We both know better than that." I replied as he put an arm around my shoulders "You will probably be up anyway and this way you will at least have something to do." He just rolled his eyes
"Come on Ari. Gran will have supper ready soon." I was about to protest that I wasn't really hungry when my stomach voiced its opinion on the subject. The tension broke and we laughed as we made our way back up to the house. Later that night when I was ready to talk, Dae was waiting.
A/N
So Damian here. Sadly in real life there is no Aria to do the writing for her chapters. Well not strictly speaking anyway. Seeing as this is a work of fiction, I took the liberty of not having my mother and sister die when I was four. However I feel that lead to circumstances that shaped who I am today. Thus Aria came to be. That part of my life would have been far better if I had had someone close to talk to. That being said this chapter was posted on what would have been my mother's 50th birthday. So this chapter is dedicated to her.