Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter- JK Rowling does
A/N: Enjoy :)
"Good morning, Mum," I said to Mrs. Shunpike as I entered the kitchen a few days later. I flushed, but not because I was embarrassed, but because I was deliriously happy. My mum looked up at me and smiled warmly. I could see Abby playing in the snow, making yet again another snowman. She had been making a snowman everyday for the past three days and now had a growing brood of snow-people. I got myself a cup of tea and sat next to Mum. I giggled even when I thought of the name. Stan, who was on the Knight Bus, had thought my adopted name for his mother was extremely embarrassing and each time I used it he would blush and turn away. Baby. Mum and I sat in silence and slowly sipped our tea and watched Abby through the kitchen window. "What time do Maddie and Tyler get in?" I asked her, feeling rude to break the contented silence. Mum swallowed her tea and placed down her cup.
"They get in at 4, Stan's coming with us no matter what. I told them to catch the later train because I knew Stan would be heart broken if he didn't get to meet his precious baby brother and sister at King's Cross station." She smiled and then she suddenly looked around to see if anyone was listening and leaned in close to me. "I didn't tell him but Maddie is bringing a boy home with her. They've been dating all year apparently. It seems pretty serious, but I wouldn't judge it until I've met this boy." She whispered and then let out a laugh. I remembered when I had taken Stan to my house for the first time. That was disastrous and I really hoped that didn't happen with this poor boy. I took another sip of my tea and looked to the snow people that Abby was making again. It seemed she was making her family. There was a small one with twigs in the head for the hair, I considered to be her. A taller one had a small smirk on his face I had guessed to be Stan and today she seemed to be putting the finishing touches on her mother.
"Oh!" I said remembering what I wanted to say to Mum. "I know you are going to take this the wrong way and you are probably going to refuse me but I want to pay rent. It doesn't feel right to be living in your house and not pay you anything," I told her. She opened her mouth to speak but I continued, cutting her off, "I know you are going to say that I'm like you daughter and I don't need to pay you anything but I would feel like I am freeloading, that is what I feel like. If I paid you money I wouldn't have to pretend that I was looking for a flat," I said chuckling softly. Mum stared for a while and then nodded slowly.
"Well we don't want you to have to pretend to search for flats. The horror!" She laughed and I giggled too. "I guess 50 dollars would be sufficient." She sipped her tea again and I thanked her. I didn't press for her to go any higher on the price like any decent person would since really I couldn't afford anything more than that. I got dressed quickly and took out the package I had gotten from Diagon Alley just the day before from my secret hiding place under my bed where I kept my tampons and diary. I unwrapped it from the careful packaging. I had spent an hour the day before at the junk store, browsing and re-browsing the aisles. I had finally spotted what I was looking for. It was a journal, much like the one that Stan's father had owned. Instead of being black and leather though, it was brown and had a clasp that required the secret password to open. The pages were gold lined as his father's had been. The pages instead of having plain black lines were instead enchanted to change to the owner's feelings. The pages were a pale yellow, from what I could tell meant happy, or that I had to go pee. I wrapped it with a swish and flick of my wand. I manually tied a bow on it to make it look homemade and then shoved it under my bed as I heard Abby come up the stairs.
Stan came home at the normal time and we quickly ate in silence. I was nervous, what if they didn't like me? What if they demanded I get out of their house immediately and never speak to their brother again? I settled into a daydream where in fact this did happen and Stan and I left the house hand and hand. I sighed happily and looked over at Stan who was so excited he couldn't stay still for long. He would pace around and check his watch every few seconds. Abby had been doing the same as her brother but instead of looking at her watch she would glance at her bare wrist, following her brother's movements. I stifled a laugh every time she did this. Mum seemed to be the only one unfazed. She slowly folded laundry and I was so restless I even offered to help. We left the house at 3:30, the three of us side-along apparated to an alley outside of King's Cross Station. We quickly passed the barrier to platform 9 ¾. I felt oddly sentimental. I remembered when I had left from the station in the summer of my 7th year thinking I would never be there again and yet here I was. Stan seemed to be thinking something along the same lines. The train came to a halt in front of us a few seconds later. Other bustling parents hurried towards their children while the Shunpike's and I stayed near a towering clock, which I assumed was where we were supposed to meet them. Then out of the crowd came a boy with Abby's hair color and Stan's famous blue eyes, he had no luggage except a small bag that hug over his shoulder. His hair was windswept and he had Stan's famous devilish grin on his face. He looked almost like Stan when I had first met him with the exception of the blonde hair. I had to look back and forth between Stan and the young man to see if it really was him. Mum ran forward pulling the boy in a hug while the rest of us hung back. Tyler came towards us and gave Abby a bone-crushing hug, which she laughed at. He turned to me with a question in his eyes. But I heard a squeal and saw Abby turn and run to a black haired vixen with blue eyes and big red lips, attached at her hand was a boy about 17 with brown hair and matching blue eyes. He wore a nervous smile and waved faintly at Tyler, Stan and me. Abby threw herself into her sister's arms and the girl smiled warmly and gave her back a small hug. I looked at Stan who after hugging Tyler looked at Maddie and smiled. Then he spotted whom she was holding hands with and the smile slipped off. It was replaced with a glare. He stayed silent as the other half of the brood walked over to us.
"Brooke, this is Maddie. Maddie this is Brooke. Her boyfriend, Nick," Mum said with a big grin. I introduced myself again and Maddie wore the same expression that Tyler had been wearing. Did I have something in my teeth? Nick turned to me.
"Hi, I'm Nick," He said sticking out his hand to me, which I shook gratefully. He was a cute kid. Stan looked at Nick as if sizing him up.
"I'm Stan, Maddie's older brother. You might have recognized me from the Daily Prophet?" He said sticking out his hand to the boy. I saw Stan clench his hand on his a little tighter than necessary.
"Come off it, Stan. I'd already pulled the whole 'My brother's an ex-death eater' on him. It didn't work. And besides you don't think I'd already measured him up?" Tyler said mischievously, patting Nick on the back. Everyone laughed.
"Tyler! Guess what!" Abby said, looking up to her brother. Tyler smiled at his sister.
"What?" Tyler said.
"Brooke taught me how to play quidditch and now we can have a match later tonight." She said smiling. Tyler's head snapped over to look at me.
"What can I say? She begged me." I said laughing and the memory. He didn't laugh but look confused. Maddie stayed silent and looked the same way towards the ground. I started to have a sick feeling in my stomach. My they really didn't like me.
"I'm sorry," Nick started. "Maddie didn't tell me that Stan had gotten married. How long have you two been together?" He scratched the back of his neck nervously. Wait, what?
"We're-" I started out but Maddie cut me off.
"You didn't tell me you were married! Congratulations!" She said throwing her arms over her brother. I stared in horror. I felt Tyler tap my back.
"Well then I should greet you properly dear sister," He said promptly pulling me into a big hug. Wait, WHAT? I struggled out of his grip while Stan did the same with his sister.
"You're married?" Mum asked shocked. Stan and I stared at her, unable to speak.
"Mum, we're not-" I started but was cut off again.
"Wow, she must really like you if your already calling her 'mum'," Maddie said smiling proudly at me. Abby looked in confusion around at everyone.
"Brooke and Stan are not married. They're not even dating." She stated to everyone. I knew I loved Abby for a reason.
"Yeah." Stan said looking over at me for conformation. I couldn't help it a giggle escaped my lips and soon I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. No one seemed to catch my humor. I suddenly felt strong arms encircle me.
"Look at what you did! You made her cry!" Stan yelled at his family. I opened my eyes and had to hold back another giggle.
"I'm laughing, you idiot." I told him gasping for breath. And then Tyler, dear dear Tyler, began to laugh too and then Nick joined in with a booming guffaw. Abby started to giggle soon joined by Maddie and Mum even cracked a smile. We attracted a few mean stares from other onlookers as we exited the barrier between the two stops. I looked over at Maddie who was frowning once the laughter had stopped.
"But seriously who are you?" She said with her brows furrowed. She looked at me and I turned to glare at Stan. Stan shrugged his shoulders and turned to his mom.
"I thought you told her about Brooke," He said in a normal tone. I gasped they didn't know anything, not that I was staying at their house or my impending relationship with their older brother. How could they not see how important this was?
"Well, I'm… I'm…" I started unsure of how to finish. Should I just come out and say I was Stan's girlfriend? Wait. No I couldn't do that because technically I wasn't Stan's lover. Well, his dad thought that so did it really matter? I shook my head mentally and looked up to see all 6 pairs of eyes staring straight at me. Stan looked the most interested. "You know what I am!" I snapped at him.
"I'm just as curious as everyone else really," He said shrugging.
"Stan and I are…" I shook my head and started over. "Stan's mother is like a mother to me. We have kissed too many times to count!" There I told them with out actually telling them. I applauded myself and my clever save. Maddie smiled. She had probably guessed what was going on all along. The apparation home was surprisingly mild. I think my nerves had something to do with the magnified sense of turning inside out on the way to King's Cross station and I easily made it back to the Shunpike's. Stan appeared a few seconds after me with Tyler in tow and Abby came with Mum. Maddie and Nick had both passed their apparation tests the year before so they arrived separately. Mum opened the door for us and shuffled to the kitchen to make dinner, I made to follow her but Tyler stopped me, a devilish grin on his face.
"Up for a quick game of quidditch? I'm a Beater on my house's quidditch team. Nick is on the Ravenclaw's team, he's captain and a Chaser. If you played seeker, Abby is the keeper, and I convinced Stan and Maddie to play we'd almost have 2 full teams," He said leaning towards me. I was surprised at how tall he was. Not as tall as Stan or Nick, but at least an inch or two taller than me. Ten minutes later I met the rest of Stan's family outside in the snow, Maddie's face was tinted with pink already and unlike mine it looked good resting on her face. Tyler came out with various fruits. Apples played the bludgers, a grapefruit for the quaffle and a kiwi for the snitch. I laughed and I enchanted the fruits to fly into the sky as I had before. I transfigured the near tears and they erupted into goals on either side. With Stan and I as seekers we started the game. Abby on one goal and Maddie on the other while Tyler and Nick played the conjoined positions of Chasers and Beaters. Mum came out sometime later to watch us, she was wrapped in a big crocheted afghan and sipped on some tea. I began getting cold very quickly, my ears were freezing and my broom screamed each time I moved in protest. I was handed this one as Tyler took the broom I had been using before. The handle of my broom was missing and it had to be at least 20 years old. I flew around slowly and looked for the brown snitch. Tyler scored with the grapefruit and Mum erupted into a fit of claps. We played for half an hour, and it was reasonably slow paced since I couldn't see the kiwi anywhere. Nick was too afraid to do anything to Tyler despite their age difference. He hit bludgers in the opposite direction and let Tyler fly by without much protest. Finally after my hands were frostbitten, and the sky turned pink with the fading sun we decided to call it a day. Neither Stan nor I could find the kiwi and we considered the game a tie. We all rushed inside to the warm house where 6 hot chocolates beckoned us. I quickly slurped down the hot chocolate and burnt my tongue in the process. Dinner probably would have been good had I been able to taste it. After dinner I offered to wash everyone's plates glad to have the warm water wash over my hands. When I returned to the living room I found Maddie and Nick squashed together on the couch though there was plenty of room. The both held books in their hands and seemed deep in thought, I think Nick was unconsciously stroking her hand. They were so cute. Stan sat with Abby at the coffee table and they were playing a game of Wizard Chess and I couldn't help but notice that Stan glanced towards Maddie and Nick every few seconds. Tyler and Mum were sitting in chairs pulled in from the kitchen and were deep in conversation. I smiled at how homey everything felt. A small fire was on in the fireplace and I knew this was what I had dreamed about since I was a child.
"Hey," I said softly to Stan as I took a spot next to Abby's. I didn't want to talk too loud and break the atmosphere.
"Hey," He whispered back staring into my eyes and I blushed and turned away.
"Why do you always stare at me like that?" I said looking at the chessboard. Stan was losing pretty badly; all he had left was his king and a bishop. I chanced a glance his way and he was still staring at me, I let my eyes fall to the board again. Abby's queen had just massacred his bishop.
"I can't help it, your eyes are so pretty..." He said trailing away and I couldn't help it but my mind traveled to what I had read from "12 Fail Safe Ways to Charm Witches". I began to giggle but Stan remained stony faced.
"I'm serious!" He said defensively. Abby put him into checkmate and the game was over. He sighed and I could tell his mind wasn't all there.
"Hey, what's the matter?" I said moving over to his and nudging his shoulder.
"It's nothing, really. I'm just thinking about things," He said vaguely. Before I had time to ask him anything else he had jumped up. Maddie and Nick were wrapped in each other's arms now, their books forgotten.
"HEY!" He yelled and I had to resist the urge to scream "HO!" He quickly placed himself in between the two teenagers making sure all body parts weren't touching.
"Hey!" Maddie said this time obviously annoyed. "We are of age you know!" She punched her brothers shoulder s little harder than necessary. What was I doing when I was 17? Oh yeah, making out with Stan and running away from home.
"Stan," I said jumping to the defense of Maddie. Nick just looked flustered and went back to reading his book. "Do you remember what YOU were doing when you were their age?" I said raising my eyebrows. His own eyebrows furrowed and the suddenly raised so high I couldn't see them behind his hair.
"You, Me, OUSTIDE! We need to talk!" Stan said gruffly to Nick. He quickly walked out the back door and Nick, who looked like he was about to have a heart attack, followed. When the door was shut everyone else burst into giggles. Abby, though, was hopefully oblivious.
"What was he doing when he was 17?" Maddie asked as I stole Nick's spot. I shrugged.
"Oh you know…" I said vaguely and smiled.
"Are you the same Brooke he used to talk about?" She said and I nodded. She pulled a face and mimicked a deep voice. " 'And then she said that one line Meg Ryan said and it was so believable! But she's so nice. I wish you guys could meet her. Oh… no, she's not my girlfriend.' But then he stopped talking about you. Seems like you got back together though." She smiled and I blushed at the mention of Sleepless in Seattle. He told his family that? The boys came back in a few minutes later. Nick, pale and shaken, took a seat across the room, steering clear and not looking Maddie in the eye. Stan came back next with a smile on his face. He sat at the coffee table and I kicked his back with the top of my shoe.
"What lies did you tell him?" I asked and he shrugged and smiled at me.
"Only the truth, darling." His grin got wider. Sometime later, Abby could take it no more, stifling yawns every few minutes she went to bed. That left the older kids up. Mum went up to bed next and it was unreasonably quiet. Maddie and Nick, still on opposite side of the room, continued to read their books while Tyler talked to me about all his friends and about Professor McGonagall's impending retirement. He talked so much I could barely get a word in edgewise. Unlike he siblings, Maddie seemed content not to say another word the rest of the night and same as Nick. Stan was obviously bored but didn't want to admit defeat and head to bed so he played a game of gobstones by himself.
"When are you going home?" Maddie asked suddenly putting her bookmark into her book. "I don't mean to be rude but I want to go to sleep and I don't want to be rude and leave with out seeing you out." My mouth opened wide (Hey, maybe I was a part of the family now?) and Stan seemed unfazed. He continued to sulk and didn't even look up when he answered.
"She lives here. We sleep together." He said and flicked one of the gobstones. Oh great.
"You sleep together?" Maddie said sounding like a fish out of water.
"Yeah, every night. How long has it been? A month, a month and a half?" He said again. Maddie made gasping sounds and Tyler just looked impressed. Nick decided he didn't want to be a part of the conversation and sank deeper into his book, his ears a light pink.
"I always knew you'd get some." Tyler said patting his brother on the back. I sighed.
"No, we sleep in the same room." I said exasperatedly. Stan still said nothing. Maddie's expression slackened and she headed down the hall and turned to the right where I guessed her bedroom was. "C'mon, Stan. Let's go to bed, you have to get up early." I pulled him and he put down the stones and followed me out. I could hear Tyler laughing with each step I took. I quickly changed into my pajamas and found Stan lying on my bed with a book in his hands. I cleared my throat but still he didn't move.
"How am I supposed to get to bed if you're lying on it?" I asked throwing my arms up in mock exasperation and sat on the side of the bed. I threw my legs over his so we were sitting parallel to each other. He put the book down on the side of the bed, letting it slip from his fingers. I heard it settle with a muffled clunk on the floor.
"We could give my little sister something to gossip about and sleep in each others arms," He said looking into my eyes again. My heart beat fast even though I knew he was joking.
"Fine!" I said slumping down next to him. Ha! Now he would get flustered and retreat! Stan got up and I grinned at my victory. I closed my eyes until I felt him move next to me once again. What? My eyes flew open and there was Stan, his neck was at my eye level.
"Tricked you! I was just grabbing an extra blanket." He said but his voice didn't sound like he was joking at all. He threw the blanket over us. I didn't say anything because my throat was so dry. When I finally got my mouth to move again he had already put his arm around me, drawing me in closer so our skin was touching. I was shell-shocked and couldn't move, not that I would have wanted to if I could. He smelled so good and it was cold out and he was so warm and it just felt so… right.
I woke up the next morning with the sun in my eyes. Stan was gone for work already and I wondered if everything that happened last night was real or just a dream. I got up and walked over to the closet door to change. I picked out my clothes and when I closed the door, a piece of yellow paper caught my eyes. A sticky note hung from the closet door.
I wondered if it was a dream too, it's not.