December 25, 1889 - Lukeson Home, London

Christmas for Lucille had never been a particularly merry time, what being an only child and all. Her friends often spent it with their own families but Lucille and her mother had been left to their own devices. Sometimes they spent part of it with the Scrimegeour half of the family, but in recent years it had only been the two of them given the circumstances. In fact Lucille often looked more toward the season of balls that happened then to the holiday itself. This year was to be a total reversal, she was looking forward (although with a bit of trepidation as well) to dinner with the Lukeson family - the only family she had left. She couldn't look forward to the balls and social events this winter because of her mourning period. Indeed all of it seemed rather topsy-turvy to her.

Lucille and Ace hadn't seen much of the Lukesons since they had moved to Flint Manor in the country side, but for the holiday season they had taken up residence in the Flint Townhouse. Despite this they hadn't seen the younger Lukeson siblings since they had returned from Hogwarts and this was the very point on which Lucille worried. It was worrisome enough to spend the holidays with someone else's family when you didn't know what to expect from their traditions, but it was even more nerve wracking when you hadn't met their siblings since eloping with no news with their brother. Not to mention that Lucille was worried if she'd even manage to get a bite down to eat in the first place. It would be terribly rude to be sick in front of everyone. Ace had tried to quell her fears which is how she had managed to appear calm enough for her new family to smile and greet them all and to be led to the table where brunch would be served.

After the merry greetings of Christmas they had all finally settled into their meal and Lucille looked up to address Ace's siblings, "How has school been?" She tried to smile as if she were only at ease, but also felt that they might think if she were too at ease that she had somehow seeped into a place they felt she didn't belong. Her stomach roiled as the servants brought out the first meal. It was going to be a very long brunch.

  

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Thank you MJ for an amazingly Lucy set!

King Lukeson had always loved his family. He was raised as a gentleman, courteous and respectful. His mother knew the value of a young man whose politeness could bring the good kind of attention, and he was nothing if somebody who wanted to please his parents. After all, they were two of the people he held most dearly on his heart. So were his siblings, of course, which is why he was so excited for Christmas - that time of the year when they all reunited, without school to worry much about. King missed days like this, in which they could be together as a family... days in which his anxiety didn't come to play, but instead only lingered in the background, far, far away.

Ever since Ace eloped with a woman named Lucille, King had heard even less from him. There was the usual exchange of letters, albeit lessened with time constricts and whichever numerous problems. He had tried his best to know more of the lady who now carried their surname, and though at first the young Hufflepuff was a mess of worries with not knowing how society would react to their marriage, he welcomed the happiness in his brother's life. So long as Ace was happy, he too could find such good feelings on his heart. There was of course Jolie, Syb and Avril. He had found it easier to remain in touch with Avril, not to mention attending Hogwarts with the rest of his siblings - life somehow helped making things simpler.

It was with newfound ease that King welcomed the lack of extraneous feelings. Christmas was a time of merriment, one of happiness and family. He found a chair for himself at the table, after welcoming all who were to attend their 'small' celebration. Turning to Ace, King raised a glass that had just been filled by a servant. "These are better times, don't you think? I can only smile at the thought Lucille is now part of our family." King winked, hiding back a chuckle before taking a sip. For as much as he could be, oftentimes, nervous and quite timid, he wanted this quietude to be a part of him. Perhaps one day.

  

In all honesty, Ace was nervous. Worried if his siblings would accept his beloved wife. That they would all get along. His main goal was to make sure Luce was happy. He did love her, after all.

But with making her happy came comforting her while he was already nervous. He had to put on a brave face and remind himself that there was nothing to worry about.

He found King's response to Lucille's question to be a bit odd, but he gave a subtle shrug to his wife and raised his glass to the toast.

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Magic by MJ!

Finally the holidays were here and Guinevere could spend some quality time with all of her living children. She always missed her younger children when they were off at school. Most of her children were Hufflepuffs and that made her all the more proud.

The toast was a bit out of place, but Guinevere raised her own glass and sipped. "I would also like to hear about all of your time at Hogwarts. Favorite classes, favorite spells, which teacher you like most. Go on, all of you." She encouraged, hoping it would help take some of the spotlight off of dear Lucille.

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MJ made Magic!

It was weird for Avril to be sitting at the table with her family, in the same spot she'd sat the previous years. Last year, they'd thought her mother was dead, and she hadn't been married or pregnant.

And she'd had one of her memorable visions - she only remembered it because of her dropping her drink - of being married to someone she didn't know. She didn't remember what the guy looked like, but assumed it had been Warwick.

Her brother hadn't been a werewolf, nor married, Rosie wasn't a year old, and Sybille had just started Hogwarts. God, how a year changes people. She almost wished time would just... stop and give her a moment to breath before continuing.

She wondered if this is how her mother felt while they were growing up. She wondered if she'd feel the same, watching her children grow up.

Speaking of Sybille, she realized that her younger sister - though not the youngest - was absent from the table and wondered what she was doing that would make her miss brunch on Christmas.

Avril almost hoped to not see her sister, just so she didn't have to deal with anger towards her for having not said anything about her being pregnant. She dismissed that thought almost immediately, she missed her sister and could only see her on holiday. Unlike her other siblings that she could meet with whenever.

Well, King and Jolie she could meet and talk with more often - but they were still in school.

"You know what my favorite courses were." she replied, much like her mother, she hoped to make Lucille feel less intimidated by the larger family.

And hopefully take some of the pressure off Lucile meeting her purist husband.

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MJ made Avril's set!

Sybille was late to Christmas brunch, she knew it as she sped through the halls from the kitchen, hoping no one had noticed her tardiness. Flour was mixed into her red locks from where the dough had puffed up and a bit of icing streaked across her cheek unbeknownst to her. She had gotten caught up helping cook making the Christmas pudding this morning and then she had wanted to make a cake for desert for her family, hoping to surprise everyone with the beautifully decorated creation. But she hadn’t expected icing it to take too long. Not being able to use magic at home when she had gotten use to it at school had definitely not helped. At least she had remembered to leave her apron in the kitchen, she doubted anyone would have appreciated that.

Reaching the dining room doors Sybille slowed and quietly slipped into the dining room hoping no one had noticed her absence as she slipped into her seat at the table. What had they been talking about? Sybille didn’t know, but she didn’t dare remark and call attention to herself.

  

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This was utterly boring. But what could he expect from this family? Why hadn't his father found a better match to a more fitting bride and family? Oh well. But what was utterly shocking was the second youngest sister marching in as an utter mess. Worse than a kitchen maid. At least they knew how to clean up. "I didn't realize that the help was invited to dine with us." He muttered.

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Magic By MJ

Jolie hadn't been surprised when her younger sister showed up late, and covered in flour. She had been, in all honesty, relieved that Sybille had decided to join them at all. Even though they didn't get along, she hadn't wanted her younger sister to make a bad impression on their new family.

It was the first Christmas meal with Lucille and Mr. Nott. She wasn't going to say anything about the state of Sybille's clothes, at least until Avril's bastard of a husband said something.

He was bastard because of his comment about her sister's clothes, not for any other reason. As far as she knew, anyway. She turned her eyes to him and glared.

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At first Guinevere hadn't even noticed her young Sybille enter the room. Then she heard Mr. Nott's comment. Looking around with a hint of confusion, her eyes widened in slight horror.

"Young lady. Not only are you late to dinner while we have guests, but you are filthy. Get yourself cleaned up. We will discuss this after dinner." She stated sternly. Enough was enough. This baking fantasy was taking on a life of its own and she could not let it go on any longer.

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MJ made Magic!

For a moment it appeared that nobody had noticed her, for a moment it seemed like everything was going to go exactly to plan, for a moment it appeared Christmas morning was exactly as it should be. Then Mr. Nott spoke. It wasn’t very loud, but it traveled down the table. Warmth flushed Sybille’s pale cheeks and for a moment no one spoke as the awkward silence descended on the table.

Then mother spoke, her sharp tone jarring against Sybille’s memories of her mother, against how her mother had been since she returned. Cheeks down a deep red Sybille was mortified. Part of her wanted to slink away and do what was asked and part of her wanted to yell at her mother. Looking around at all the faces turned her way Sybille knew it wasn’t the time or place. Everyone seemed to be on edge with Mr. Nott and the new Mrs. Lukeson around. Sybille wasn’t sure why they were worried about Lucille, she seemed sweet enough, but Mr. Nott - he seemed as friendly as a hungry werewolf.

“Yes mother.” Sybille slipped sullenly out of her chair and left the dining room to find the housekeeper. Mrs. Yates always knew how to fix a mess like this and Sybille wasn’t going to add to her injury by looking for nanny to help the situation.

  

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Lucille smiled at her brother in law’s toast and raised her glass in response before taking a small sip of water, she’d lost her taste for wine with her present condition. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ace give her a small shrug and she looked at him with a look that told him she felt sure it would be all okay. At least she hoped it did.

Conversation turned to classes and school and took the pressure off of Lucille as chatter resumed. That was until Sybille slipped into the room. She looked a mess, flour showing in carefully plaited red hair, white smears on her face. Ace had told Lucille that the girl enjoyed baking and she imagined these were the signs of such an activity.

It seemed as if everyone would let this pass and Lucille was equally inclined to continue the pleasant vein of conversation that had begun instead of saying anything (after all it certainly wasn’t her place) when Mr. Nott’s comment floated through the silent air. Lucille stiffened, worried about what was about to happen. She caught Jolie’s look at the man, but then Mrs. Lukeson’s voice echoed harshly across the table. In the months that Lucille had gotten to know her mother in law she had never heard such a tone from her. It seemed rather unfair, knowing how kind Mrs. Lukeson always had acted toward her children, that Sybille might be reprimanded in front of everyone, in Lucille’s opinion it would have been more polite to try and continue on. For a moment she thought of saying something to intercede on Sybille’s behalf but it was not her place. Instead she watched as Sybille slipped out of the room cheeks as red as a dragon’s flame.

An awkward silence had settled into the room and Lucille once again found herself looking for ways to return the conversation to something pleasant. “The food is wonderful.” She commented blandly into the silence as she took a dainty bite of goose feeling her stomach roil instead of enjoying the meal.

  

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Thank you MJ for an amazingly Lucy set!

Oh Merlin, Ace dreaded that this would happen one of these days. Father had slightly encouraged it, Ace had fully encouraged it. Mother had never readily expressed encouragement in Sybille's hopes and dreams. Ace knew about how much the woman really hated this trait of the young Hufflepuff, but was shocked that this had been the straw that broke the camels back.

But then he glanced at his brother-in-law and it seemed to click. Mother was certainly tense with that man here. She had never been fond of purist views, and having him here made her tense. More tense than even aunt Jade and grandfather. Then again, she was raised with those two. This man was new territory and it made mother tense.

If only father were here. Things would be less tense, he was so sure of that. He had always seemed to be the one that knew how to keep everyone at peace. But, could Ace really do that for his family? "Indeed. So, has anyone brought back any interesting stories from Hogwarts? It feels like far too long since I was last there."

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Magic by MJ!

It hadn’t taken Sybille long to locate Mrs. Yates near the servants stairs helping the footmen prepare for the next course. The woman had taken one look at her, whipped out her wand, and sent Sybille back to the meal much more respectable.

However, Sybille, realized as she stood outside the doors to the dining room, it was much more difficult to enter again after such a scene had been made. It almost made Sybille want to cry. But then all her family would see was the little girl they still thought she was and she was determined to make sure they saw who she had grown into. Steeling herself, Sybille stepped back into the room, chin up, not looking at anyone and headed to her seat as dignified as her twelve year old frame could be. This time hopefully no one would make any further remarks.

  

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Enough had happened since King less decided to speak. His sister coming in late, covered in flour - she never disappointed -, followed by a commentary by Mr. Nott that made him want to glare daggers at the older man. Instead, the Hufflepuff kept to himself - these families reunions were, frankly, an invitation for his anxiety to slip in, and he'd rather remain silent for as long as possible.

When he noticed conversation had watered down, he thought it a good idea to reply to Ace's question. Better to have good attention on him than terrible attention on anyone else. "Not in particular, brother. Though I've been wondering if it would be possible to invite somebody here for the next vacations." He tried his best not to blush. It was a conversation better fit for a less intimate moment, with other people all the same, but he needed to get over some of these feelings - especially if he wanted to work as a hit wizard in the future.

The following 1 user Likes King Lukeson's post:1 user Likes King Lukeson's post
   Chrysanta Ruskin {Ocean}

This really was an odd family. At least his mother-in-law had the good sense to actually discipline her child. One of her other ones was outright glaring at him, which caused him to raise an eyebrow of challenge towards her.

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Magic By MJ

Upon Sybille's return, Ace gave her a sympathetic smile. He looked at King for a moment as he thought on this. "Who would that be, King? It hasn't been that long since I was in Hogwarts. Perhaps I knew them." He said with genuine curiosity. It was nice to hear that his brother was making friends and not getting too nervous to talk to anyone. Still, the tension was thick in the air, and Ace didn't like it. He looked to Lucille with a small smile before deciding that perhaps a good announcement could benefit this tense dinner. "On another matter, Lucille have an announcement to make."

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Magic by MJ!