Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the Wizarding World. If I did, I most definitely would not sit around for hours writing fanfiction.
My family isn't necessarily crazy. For the most part, my parents have got their offspring under a reasonable amount of control, considering they've got five children, including a set of twins. No, the Thomas family is quite tranquil for such a large clan, it's our company that cause most of the chaos. Our cousins are Weasleys which is explanatory just by the name, and our closest friends are Finnigans, who have a knack for pyrotechnics and experimentation. But for once, it wasn't the Weasleys or the Finnigans or even the Longbottoms that were causing hell to break loose in our humble abode. This time, it was all Thomas.
My mum immediately set to work on the three boys, and Seth came to sit next to me as we watched the night's drama unfold. She cleaned off the mud with a wave of her wand. Seth watched her as well, before turning to me and grinning, then gesturing towards the twins and his own brother, Liam.
"Ye should have seen it when Max burst into feather. It was the funniest thing I've seen since Hugo Weasley tried to punch Malfoy in the face last term. Axel started it all though, a first. Amazing what they get themselves into without wands. Axel tried to knock Max off of his broom earlier. Naturally that started a row, Max accidentally used magic, turning Axel's hair ginger. Axel didn't like that. Alas, the game began, and he tried to retaliate. Somehow Liam got caught up in their shenanigans, I really don't care how, but Axel passed Max a Canary Cream instead of a Pumpkin Pastie when they went in to have a rest. I nearly wet myself when I saw."
He was laughing openly now, as was I. I'm not sure whether I was laughing at the story or because I felt like there were Doxies in my stomach, but I was doubled over. I was in a daze through most of the story, intoxicated by his laughter, his grin, his slight accent, his hazel eyes, and his lean arm muscles, and of course his odd minty smell. I'm surprised he hadn't noticed.
Liam and Axel were back to normal by then, but my mum's face was screwed up in concentration as she tried various spells to return Max to his previous state.
Professor Longbottom spoke up between her spells, "Actually, Dean, I think both of you should be here for this..."
Mrs. Longbottom nodded in agreement. Corbin and Alice just gravely hung their heads, while standing extremely close to each other, holding hands, and whispering, my brother a little in front of her. As a Thomas kid, I know by the way he was protecting her that whatever they had done, it was somehow partially my brothers fault, and that he was about to take full blame.
My mother, always patient, said over her shoulder, oblivious to my professor's tone, replied, "Okay, one second, Neville," then continued throwing spells at her youngest child.
Seth furrowed his brow together, as did Aunt Angelina, no doubt getting the same vibe I was. Uncle George just leaned back in his chair watching Uncle Seamus and my mother's attempts to restore Max to human form. That's when my mother whirled around, her silky shoulder length hair flying around with her.
"George! You created those Canary Creams back at Hogwarts! You can fix this!" She moved towards him, wide eyed.
He raised one eyebrow and simply shook his head with a sort of smirk playing on his lips. It was silent. "There is no cure for Canary Creams, you just have to wait it out."
My mum seemed to just accept this, her shoulders slugging a little in defeat, "How long will that take?"
His wife was looking at him a bit impatiently, a difference between her and my mother. She got impatient much faster. He simply answered, "That could be anywhere from five minutes to an hour," he shrugged.
My mother turned back to Uncle Seamus and the boys, "How long has he been like this?" She inquired in her most law enforcement-like voice.
"'Bout five, maybe ten minutes," came Seth's voice.
"Well," my mum said with a sigh, "I guess we just wait, then" She then plopped herself down in her favorite chair, completely forgetting that there were still two other Thomas children that needed to be dealt with, but my aunt had something to say. She always had something to say.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait! You are telling me, that both you and Dean work for the bloody Ministry of Magic and you are both stumped as to how to cure your son from a -no offense, love- stupid joke sweet, made up by two idiotic seventh years from about twenty five years ago?"
My mum seemed to ponder this, then said, "Well, yeah. I mean, we have the training and N.E. to do it, but let's be honest. Magical Law Enforcement would never cross something this simple -sorry George- and as much nonsense calls I get during the day, I've realized for some things you've just got to wait it out," my mother commented, her legs crossed in the chair.
That's the thing about being the offspring of parents that enforce Wizard law. They know how to come at you from virtually every angle. My dad, being a Hit Wizard, could get quite aggressive with his punishments and knew how to break you, while my mother, working for the Wizard Law Enforcement Squad, knew what was going on even before you did. Being sneaky got you nowhere but grounded. You couldn't win in my house.
Seth raised his eyebrows at me, though I have no idea why, so I just shrugged as my mum said, "So, what happened with Roxy and Fran? What's going on now?"
"They-" but Aunt Angie was cut off by her own sister.
"Is this Magic or Muggle makeup?" My mum interrupted, somehow already across the room inspecting my sister and my younger cousin's face with her skilled hand. It was amazing how absorbed the whole room was whilst all of this was happening. Hannah Longbottom sat watching her friend's daughter and niece in mild amusement. Her husband still looked grave, glancing at his daughter and Corbin every few seconds.
Corbin and Alice were still absorbed in each other while it looked like Alice was crying silently. Liam and Axel were whispering loudly, no doubt trying to figure out a plan to keep from being punished. My dad and uncle were talking, probably about the pub they run together on the weekends, and Seth and I were watching my aunt over dramatize the scene before her. Uncle George just sat with his hands behind his head, completely entertained.
"It's Mag-" Uncle George grinned, it was rare anyone could get a word in with his wife, and he knew it. Only he and my mum were able to penetrate her ranting.
"Magical." My mum decided. She stood back, and did a non-verbal spell at Roxy's face first, a cloud of pink ascending around her head, then doing the same to my sister. After a moment, their faces were back to normal, Roxy's long burgundy hair shinier than ever, and Fran's long dark braid neatly placed to hang over her right shoulder. My mum was an artist. Their once matching grins turned downwards and they both looked quite put out.
"They-"
"Did the same thing we did Angie. Accept they used their own wands, versus their parents'" My mum rolled her eyes. "They are thirteen year old girls, what do you expect for them to do? As long as they don't go out in public like that, it's no big deal, no need to get your knickers in a twist."
"But-"
"We know they aren't supposed to use magic outside of school, but honestly, do you think they'll really listen. I've got five children, Angel, five of those little buggers."
All of my siblings and I, save for Corbin and Max, made offended faces. Seth snickered.
"I should know. You've just got to pick and choose your battles or you will crash and burn. It's just makeup, it comes off." My mum then turned to the girls. "Go upstairs, no more magic or I will take your wands." They scurried up the stairs quickly, not looking back.
She then turned to Uncle Seamus, whose attention had been grabbed at the word 'bugger'.
"They can stay here for a little while, I know you want to get back to Lavender," she smiled sweetly as Aunt Lavender had just given birth to their only girl a few days before.
"Thank you, Olivia." He said gratefully, turning to Seth and telling him to bring the twins a little later then patted Dean's shoulder before throwing some Floo powder into the fire, stepping in, winking at his son, and saying "Finnigan Place!"
With that, he was gone. My mother turned to the boys, exclaiming, "Go out to the Quidditch Pitch, and take the bird with you, please!"
They walked out stiffly, trying to avoid any too sudden movements, Max followed them, losing three feathers and chirping.
My mother was clearly the master at controlling children. She made it seem like an art. Perhaps she was just tactful about it, making it seem like an easy life, dealing with crisis every day, or maybe it was a learned skill…
The night wasn't over, though. My mother stood up and went over to her husband. They knew Corbin was going to be on defense by his stance, so, they took a strong stance as well while remaining neutral to keep things as calm as possible. When Corbin was in trouble, my dad took the stand, as it was more effective because they were close in height.
"Right, what's going on Corbin? Why exactly are the Longbottom's here on your first night back from school?"
It was a tribute to our family that my parents' two eldest children were both in Gryffindor house, because the words that escaped my brother's mouth were words only a Gryffindor would be able to speak so clearly to his parental units while simultaneously breaking all hell loose.
"Alice is pregnant; they overheard us talking about it," He said simply.
I gasped, wide eyed.
"Bullocks," whispered Seth.
"Literally," I replied, turning my head towards him for a brief second.
"Bloody hell!" said Uncle George.
"Merlin's Pants!" exclaimed Aunt Angie.
"Shit," said my mum, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"WHAT IN MERLIN'S NAME DID YOU DO!?" My dad roared, startling everyone. It was so weird seeing and hearing him like that, because my father did not yell. He could be scary as shit, but I don't think I'd ever heard him actually yell before.
"We know," Corbin and Alice said, hanging their heads.
My mum, I could tell, was fighting with herself. Probably between hexing and yelling at her son, crying, and keeping her magic under control. She finally said, "I think we should all sit down."
I got up immediately; I did not want to be there for that conversation. Seth followed suit, and I said "I really don't want to hear this, can Seth and I go for a walk?"
"Of course, love," my mother said in a strained voice.
"We'll be leaving too," said Uncle George, looking both amused and nervous while motioning for my aunt to leave as well.
She got up quickly and they made their way to the fireplace, Uncle George was already gone when my aunt turned back around said, "Erm, you can just bring Roxy back when you are ready, or she can spend the night like we planned, if you'll still have her."
"Of course," came my mum's weak voice, her fingers on her temples now.
Aunt Angie vanished with a wave and look that clearly said, 'Good luck!' before disappearing into the Floo Network.
I grabbed Seth by the arm, hard, so as not to make it seem too friendly and pulled him out of the room, and out of the house.
We got out of that house as quickly as we could manage and began walking along the long lane that led to our Quidditch Pitch. It was getting darker and it was a bit breezy, but it felt good to be out of the house after sitting for so long.
"Corbin is really in for it this time," Seth said incredulously.
"Yeah," I agreed. "I mean, did he not understand the talk? It's not like we are Muggles. There is a very simple charm that prevents these sort of shenanigans from occurring. What was he thinking? What were they thinking? I never thought Alice to be the type to… - you know."
"Well...I guess when you're in love..."
I didn't reply to that comment.
"Right, what do ye think your parents will do to him? We know your dad will go into a rant about 'responsibility'," He joked. I snorted.
"Well, there really isn't much they can do. You can't very well ground someone who's going to be a father, now can you?" Merlin that was weird to say. I laughed a little wryly, "Yeah, he'll be 'going to his room' for that one."
I thought for a moment and rationally thought about what they would do. "They would take away his wand if he wasn't seventeen, but as he is seventeen, I honestly haven't a clue."
Seth chuckled, "Do you even care?"
"Not really, no. I'm shocked, and disappointed especially since both still have a year left at Hogwarts, but at the moment I sort of feel indifferent, it's really weird." I thought about it a bit. "I mean, we are pretty close. I suppose that will change now."
Seth mumbled something under his breath. We subconsciously turned away from the Quidditch pitch where we could hear the boys yelling, and walked towards the small pond on the west side of my house.
"I doubt it, he's your brother. He'll just be a dad, and you'll just be an aunt, but he'll still be your brother, and don't forget he hasn't always been the nicest brother either. Remember in fourth year on Christmas Day. We stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas and you and Corbin got into that huge row about Fran. He called ye some pretty mean stuff that day."
"I remember that. We threw hexes at each other. I was going to use an Itching Jinx, but then somebody," I looked at him pointedly, "disarmed the evil little cockroach and I couldn't because that wouldn't be fair."
"An Itching Jinx?" Seth said playfully, "he was going to put ye in a Full Body Bind or worse and you were going to use an Itching Jinx?"
I blushed at my realization of how naive I could be sometimes. While I tried to recover, I thought for a moment. He stepped in when my own brother was going to curse me. I was no expert, but I knew it was odd that someone else would step in between a siblings' quarrel. I tried to remember if he had ever done it other than that time, and realized he'd been doing it all last year as well.
He must have taken my silence for stewing anger though, and said, "I was only joking, ye know. It was really noble of you not to do real damage." He winked at me and smirked a little, but I just ignored it as I felt my cheeks burn.
I quickly replied so that he wouldn't think I was actually angry, "I know, I was just thinking that you weren't always the best 'best friend' either." I flipped my shiny long braid over my opposite shoulder, feigning an attitude.
He laughed at that, shoving me a little. I shoved him back.
"Like when? I don't recall a time when I was ever the opposite of a just and loyal best friend."
I laughed wryly at his attempt at being innocent. "Let's see," I began counting on my fingers, "First there was the time in fourth year that you summoned my diary from the bottom of the girls' dormitory stairs," I looked at him pointedly, he smirked. "Then there was the time when you got detention because you decided it would be amusing to put various potion ingredients in my hair and watch the effects unravel," I raised my eyebrows, and widened my eyes, he just chuckled. " then there was the time you hexed Fred-" I exclaimed, adding a third finger.
"He was taking the Mickey out of ye!"
"He's my cousin, Seth! It's what we do!"
"Alright, so I've overdone it and slipped up a little."
I snorted at that. He just grinned though before sitting down, I sat down next to him. Our hands brushed each other's and we both looked in the opposite direction. He laughed and I snapped my head around, trying to find the source of his amusement, but he was looking right at me, so I innocently asked what was funny.
"Nothing, it's just...when did we get awkward?"
I went rigid. He noticed it too. Damn. I decided to play dumb for as long as possible. I cocked my head to the side a bit, heart racing.
"Don't play dumb, Cressida, you know what I'm talking about." Damn it! I sighed and realized my time for keeping my feelings for my best friend a secret was up. There was no way out. He was serious. He'd even used my name, rather than my nickname. The charade was over. I looked down, into my lap, summoning my courage. Then began playing with the hem of my purple tee-shirt, suddenly realizing I really liked the color.
"I suppose...about fourth year. When our year began dating each other...it got awkward, because I was with you all the time, so it was almost like we were dating. It was around that time when your relationship with my brother changed, you guys weren't attached at the hip anymore…and we changed. Everything just...changed."
He was looking at me funny, but then turned his head back around. I felt his hand cover mine, and I looked at him funny, and then turned my head back around; another awkward moment.
"I'm taking Advanced Potions next term," he said suddenly, and I was thanking God that I wouldn't have to go on with the conversation.
"Oh?" I said, sounding interested so that the dialog would move farther away from our 'moment'.
He nodded, "Do you know what we learn about in sixth year for Potions, what one of our lessons is on?" He was giving me that look again, and I knew our previous conversation was not over. I mentally groaned, "Amortentia."
"What's that?" I asked, genuinely confused.
"It's a love potion, a strong one. It smells differently to each person according to what attracts them. I've read about it, and before your brother burst into a canary in the middle of our dining room, I was brewing it."
Why the hell were boys so damn…open sometimes? Fear was making its way back into my system. I stayed silent so that I wouldn't retch.
"Generally, a person smells three things when they come into contact with it." There was another pause and I still refused to speak. "Me, I smelled Irish Morning Tea," I grinned at my half-Irish best friend. He was so proud of his culture that I wondered vaguely if he was making that first scent up just to play his Irish card.
"Those honey biscuit things that are always at breakfast when we are at school," these were definitely not things I would think a bloke would smell in association with attraction. I cocked my head to the side in amusement.
Honey biscuits? Really, Seth?
He smirked at me, seeing my obvious bewilderment, "and you."
If my facial expression was funny before I could imagine what it looked like at that moment. My eyebrows were probably beyond my hairline. Seth was making me extremely nervous, and as my best friend, he knew it, which was why he was grinning at me in the manner that he was.
"Really?" I somehow managed to croak. He never took his eyes off of me.
"Really." He said confidently. He was looking at me as if he was waiting for something. It had been a whole minute and he cleared his throat before and said, in an almost accusing tone, "Do you have anything you want to tell me, Cress?"
"I've never made Amortentia." I said, the romance of the night completely going over my head in my utter nervousness and shock.
"I mean, you are supposed to say, 'Gee Seth, I fancy you as well'" He said irritably in a high pitched tone that was supposed to match mine, British accent included.
So he knew. Wow, that was a blow for my ego. Apparently I'm not too good at hiding my feelings. I am my mother's child though, so in a situation like this, when cornered, I got defensive.
"What if I don't?" I visibly shook his confidence.
What is wrong with you? He just confessed his feelings for you! Are you mental? Why would you do something like that, you idiot? Are you completely stupid? What has happened to your brain? You should be locked up in St. Mungo's; thrown into Azkaban; made to spend your life as old maid. What have you done, you cruel, psychotic, little heifer?
My conscience got too me, and I felt more than a little bad since he was spot on about my feelings and quickly, before the Johnson in me could do more damage, I cleaned up, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I do. You're right."
I was breathing really hard by then, and I wanted to run away, but couldn't, he would catch me, no doubt. So I looked down, and asked a little angrily, "How did you know?"
What he said next though, truly made me angry, as he was so casual about it, "I read your diary, duh."
"WHAT!?" I roared. He however, was calm. He knew I wouldn't be angry for long.
"When you caught me the first time, I simply waited a while, and was much sneakier about it. At last year's Christmas party, when we came home, the downstairs toilet was occupied, as was the corridor toilet on the second landing. I didn't want to use your parents' so I used yours."
"YOU WENT IN MY ROOM!? YOU WENT THROUGH MY STUFF!?" A duck that was floating on the pond flew away at the volume of my voice.
"Shh…calm down will ye, I didn't pry through your things. I summoned it, duh."
"You know, I would really appreciate it if you would not 'duh' me." I said with an attitude.
"Alright, I'm sorry," He was obviously trying to please me, as he would normally make some snarky remark in response. We were back to silence though.
"So…" I began, now fully appreciating the fact that my feelings for my best friend were reciprocated. "How long have you fancied me, then?"
He was eager to answer the question, as if he'd been waiting for me to ask him this, "I've no idea. I know it's been since last year, but I don't know whether I fancied you fourth year. It was a confusing time for me, you see."
I was a little put out, I fancied him since as long as I could remember, "Oh."
"Why? How long have you liked me?" I wasn't about to tell him that I 'had it bad' since the day I was born, so I said, "Since we were twelve." That seemed like a good age, and he bought it.
Why do I keep doing that?
It was silent for another moment, before he broke the silence again. His inner lion was on fire this evening, "So, what do we do now?"
"I've no idea, I've never had a boy fancy me since you and my brother take joy in scaring them all off." I said grudgingly.
He was looking at me again with those hazel eyes, "I was only jealous you know. I didn't want you to date anyone."
I snorted, "Obviously," I was going to say more but when I finished my one word answer, he moved towards me so quickly I couldn't have moved if I tried. His lips were on mine faster than you could say Quidditch, but they were gone just as quickly.
I was at a loss. There was nothing to think. When it came to my brain functionality you could roll the credits because I wasn't processing anything.
"We should go back now," he said abruptly, grinning, "it's getting late."
Indeed the sky was now darkening and stars were shining brightly above us. He stood up, and held out his hand to help me stand. When I grasped it, the awkwardness that had been there over the last few months was still there was still there, but it was different. We started walking back to the house in silence, though he was grinning and I was smirking. We bumped hands a few times, and ended up holding hands as we walked back into what was surely a homicide scene.
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