count your many blessings [lance/closed]

[Deleted]

It was Thanksgiving Day. To most everyone, that didn't matter, since the British obviously didn't celebrate American Thanksgiving, but it mattered to Georgie. She couldn't have classes off, but Georgie wanted a proper Thanksgiving. She had gone to the house elves the day before to ask if they could prepare a turkey, and they promised that that day, for dinner, there would be a turkey for Georgie. She had spent most of her classes that day contemplating what she had to be thankful for, which was...surprisingly difficult. There were a lot of things, of course, but at the end of every thing there was to be thankful for, there was a but. Her parents had come back, but her father was dead. She had an amazing best friend, but Max had tried to kill herself. She had her brother, but Lance seemed more interested than ever in staying away from her. Georgie wasn't even sure whether she should expect him at Thanksgiving dinner. She had told him about it, and hoped that it was invitation enough, but she didn't know anymore. When she entered the Great Hall that day for dinner, Georgie was surprised to find that there was a small table off to the side, with the turkey at the center. Sitting down at the table, Georgie folded her hands. She didn't normally pray before dinner, but they always said grace before Thanksgiving. It was tradition, and that wasn't going to stop just because they were having Thanksgiving for the first time in years, at their school.

lancelot ray linley

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Entering the Great Hall on a Thursday, there was no reason for Maxima Greyback not to sit down at the long table with the rest of Slytherin House. Like most everyone else, she planned to eat her dinner and then return to her Common Room to tackle some portion of the mountain of assignments that had piled up on her ever since she had been in the Hospital Wing.

Max had followed a group of her classmates through the doors and was fully prepared to file over to where she normally sat, until she noticed another table, much smaller than the rest. Sitting there, apart from everyone else, was Georgiana, whose head was bowed as she sat before a roast turkey.

Turning away from the other Slytherins, Max crossed to where her best friend had chosen to sit. It didn't make sense that she was sitting alone, with her own food. Even with her disinclination towards drinking or being anywhere near water, Georgie still sat with the other Hufflepuffs at their table.

Georgiana's head was still bowed—in prayer, Max realized, although she had never known her to be religious—when she approached the table, so she sat down beside her and said nothing, waiting for her to finish so that she could get some sort of an explanation for what was going on.

@georgiana
lancelot ray linley

[Deleted]

@georgiana & maxima ruqayyah greyback & lancelot ray linley

isaac rubbed his hands together as he walked into the great hall. he felt like he was starving, it had been too long since breakfast even though it had only been a few hours ago. it wasn't often that he didn't feel hungry and today was no exception. he glanced around looking for somewhere to sit at the gryffindor table when his gaze was suddenly caught by something off to the side. georgie, lousi' girlfriend was sitting at a table on her own. he frowned slightly and rubbed his hand through his hair. it didn't make all that much sense, usually louis seemed to sit with her during meals but he couldn't see his best friend around anywhere. yet. he walked back around the gryffindor table and started to make his way to the round table that had it's own set of food. turkey? thanksgiving. well that made sense. he hadn't even known it was today, it wasn't like he'd ever seen anyone celebrate it before. there was more open seats at the table so he assumed it wasn't an exclusive dining experience so he took one of them, georgie had her head bowed so he didn't talk to her in that moment, looking passed her to raise his hand in a wave to maxima. he had heard about what had happened, it was horrible. he couldn't ever imagine feeling like that. he doubted that she wanted to hear he was sorry for what had happened so he wouldn't say anything. he waited till the blonde's hair raised and he smiled slightly. "hey you guys."

(mod audrey we really should plot these two .. xD x x x)

[Deleted]

@georgiana & maxima ruqayyah greyback & @isaac

Thanksgiving. It seemed a little strange to be celebrating it this year, so soon after their dad had died. Lance was having a difficult coming to terms about how he felt about all of it. He had been hard pressed to resist his parent’s return, to reject them the way they had left him and Georgie on their own. But then their dad was gone, just like that, without seeing him again. Now he felt like he needed to step up again, like he had all those years ago, and help his sister and mom figure out what they were going to do now; as a family. He hated including Barb in that, but she didn’t deserve his animosity anymore, not after all of that. It wouldn’t be fair to her or Georgie.

Back to today though. Georgie had invited him to eat Thanksgiving dinner. Lance wasn’t sure how she was going to pull it off, maybe bribe the house-elves, but if she wanted something she could get it done. He had thought about not going, only for a split-second though, but realized that wasn’t who he was. Even though their mom was back, she wasn’t at Hogwarts. Georgie still needed him, and he still needed her. So here he was, heading into the Great Hall for dinner, unsure of what to expect, and instead being pleasantly surprised with a small table off to the side where Georgie, a turkey, Max, and a boy that looked vaguely like Isaac from the back were. As Lance approached, his suspicions were confirmed about the boy being Isaac, and he noticed Georgie praying. She had started without him. Quickly he passed by Isaac and Max and sat down next to his sister, hoping she’d realize he was there, ready to start, grace and all, when she was.

[Deleted]

Georgie hadn’t realized that her head had been bowed for long, but when she looked back up, there were three other people at her little table, including her brother. Georgie looked at him for a full second before she finally found anything to say to him. “You came.” Because after everything he had said about their parents, she hadn’t been sure. Then, turning to Max and a boy she vaguely recognized as a friend of Louis’s, Georgie smiled. “Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.” She said, not even flinching as her Southern twang came on full force. She wasn’t sure whether or not her guests had any familiarity with the holiday, Georgie decided to give a brief explanation, even though the name of the holiday seemed to say it all. “Thanksgiving is the day of the year where we pay special attention to everything that we have, and are grateful for it.” Georgie took a deep breath, and glanced at her brother again. “Since last Thanksgiving, Lance and I found out that our parents are alive, but then we lost our papa again. And it’s been a hard year, but there’s still so much that I am thankful for.” She was thankful that she had her mother back, and thankful that Max was alive. She was thankful that she was in love with Louis Weasley, and most of all, she was thankful she wouldn’t ever spend another Thanksgiving alone. “Before we eat, I’d like to say grace.” Even though Georgie had prayed before, she thought it was important that the whole table said grace together. She extended her hands to Max and Lance, gesturing with her head for Max to take Isaac’s hand and knowing that Lance would know to do the same. “Thank you for the wind and sun and pleasant weather,” which wasn’t exactly true, since this was Scotland, but Georgie didn’t care, “Thank you for this our food and that we are together.” Georgie squeezed both of the hands she was holding briefly before releasing them. “Let’s eat.” She could badger – ha! Badger – them for what they were thankful for after they had all gotten a slice of turkey.

maxima ruqayyah greyback
@isaac
lancelot ray linley

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

From the corner of her eye, Max saw that Lance had come to the Thanksgiving table, too. It only made sense that he would be there, though, when Georgie noticed him, she sounded oddly surprised by his presence. Max listened as Georgiana wished them a happy Thanksgiving, and she grinned at her friend's use of the word “y'all”.

“Thanksgiving is the day of the year where we pay special attention to everything that we have, and are grateful for it,” explained Georgie. She and Lance had a lot for which to be grateful this year, Max thought, upon which Georgie elaborated. “Since last Thanksgiving, Lance and I found out that our parents are alive, but then we lost our papa again. And it’s been a hard year, but there’s still so much that I am thankful for.”

Georgie could say that again. The year had been beautiful and terrible and terrifying and every other possible adjective—all rolled into one.

“Before we eat, I’d like to say grace.”

Silently, Max took her best friend's hand and listened, bowing her head. “Thank you for the wind and sun and pleasant weather,” said Georgie. “Thank you for this our food and that we are together.”

With a quick squeeze of her hand—as well as of Lance's, probably—Georgiana signaled that they were free to eat. Max carved a slice of turkey for herself and set it on her plate. “Happy Thanksgiving,” she smiled. For good measure, she tacked on, “…Y'all.”

lancelot ray linley
@georgiana

[Deleted]

@georgiana & maxima ruqayyah greyback

While Lance had intended on showing up from the start, apparently his sister had other thoughts. He wasn’t that cold was he? Maybe a little bit as of late, but there had been a lot weighing down on him, more than before all of that happened. From the way Georgie worded it, Lance could feel the guilt digging into him. He needed to do better than that, because this wasn’t him; not normally, not ever. Luckily Georgie kept talking before he could even think of saying something, continuing on to explain what Thanksgiving was about. The second half of the description switched out the earlier pain of guilt with a stab of emotions. In a way, Lance was positive that Georgie was stronger than he was. She dealt with so much more than he could even imagine. He never would have been able to sit here and say that without having to get up and walk away. Not this soon, maybe never. Lance managed to nod his head once as she said she wanted to say grace, reaching out to take his hand in the process.

He couldn’t have put it better himself. Quite literally actually. Lance didn’t think he was good at the whole saying grace thing, mostly keeping it to the basics and not being very original with all of it. Georgie always figured it out though. The best part of it all though? Max adding ‘y’all’ to the end of her ‘Happy Thanksgiving’. That took the cake, or turkey, keeping to holiday themes. Laughing slightly, Lance reached for the stuffing, hopefully giving the other two enough time to get whatever else they needed. The turkey looked great though, but he’d have to wait his turn. “So this is your first Thanksgiving, Max?” He looked over at his sister for confirmation, just in case he had missed something in years past. Usually he was pretty on top of things. “Looks like the house elves know what they’re doing though.” Lance stated as he scooped more food on to his plate.

[Deleted]

Max began carving the turkey immediately, wishing everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Georgie let out a snort when Maxima said the word ‘y’all’. “Never say that again!” She said with a chuckle. It sounded so strange with a British accent, and it was just…uncomfortable, but in the way that was funny, instead of just downright squirm-inducing. When Max finished carving her slice of turkey, Georgie reached over to grab the drumstick, handing the carving knife to Lance instead so he could get a slice while she and Max ate their respective portions. After grabbing her turkey, Georgie bit her lip. There was so much food, she didn’t know where to start! She decided to just follow behind Lance, grabbing stuffing, and then mashed potatoes. When Lance commented that the house elves had done a great job, Georgie nodded enthusiastically. “I made puppy dog eyes at them.” She said sagely. It wasn’t a skill she liked to use often, but Georgie had a mean puppy face, which was probably going to get a lot more use now that her mother was returned and their relationship was beginning to resemble that of a normal mother-daughter pairing. After biting a chunk off of the drumstick, Georgie turned to Max. “What are you thankful for this year?” She had a feeling that she and Lance would need a little more time to summon the thankfulness needed for this exercise.

maxima ruqayyah greyback
lancelot ray linley

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

Georgie ordered her never to say “that”—“y'all”, in other words—again. Holding back a laugh, herself, Max eyed her best friend, attempting to look as though she was offended by it. She wasn't in the slightest, though, and was forced to concede, “Yeah… It only sounds okay when you say it.” Such a twangy, American word didn't roll off of her tongue very well.

She then turned to Lance, who had asked her if this was her first Thanksgiving. “Yeah,” she nodded. It was, though Max wondered why Georgie and Lance hadn't celebrated it in years past. They probably hadn't wanted to seem so different from everyone else before now, she guessed. Their relationship with their mother was far from “normal” by anyone's standards, but she—or their now-actually-deceased father—might have been the reason why they wanted to embrace their past.

Lance was right that the elves had done an excellent job of preparing the food. The food at Hogwarts was never bad, though it seemed as though it always tasted ten times better when it was a special occasion. Still, Max shook her head, amused, when Georgie claimed that she'd used “puppy-dog eyes” on them. She would have paid to see that.

“What are you thankful for?”

Max didn't know what to say. The words brought too many memories to mind. It felt like she had just gotten discharged from the Hospital Wing the previous day, though it really hadn't been very long since she had been recovering from poisoning herself. She answered quietly, hoping that it wouldn't ruin the mood. “Being alive.” She paused and tried to smile. “And, um… I'm thankful that I've got such good friends.” (Mostly, it was just Georgie, but Lance counted, too.) “And… I'm thankful that you've got your mum back,” she added. Even if Georgie's original discovery of their parents' being alive had driven a wedge between them, Mrs. Linley had seemed normal when Max had met her at Mr. Linley's funeral.

lancelot ray linley
@georgiana

[Deleted]

@georgiana & maxima ruqayyah greyback

The chuckles continued as Georgie reacted to Max’s ‘y’all’. She was kind of right, he didn’t really want to hear that again either. There was a certain degree to which he had grown tolerable to other students trying to mimic him and Georgie. Most had given it up after their first few years but every once in a while there was a shout towards ‘the American’, in which a few heads would always turn because there were more than just him and his sister. This year seemed to be different though with the introduction of the other two schools.

Georgie handed him the knife and he cut a few large slices off of the turkey. The thing was huge so there was going to be no holding back on his end. He could also stop by the kitchens later and see if the house elves could set anything that remained aside for him, so he could have turkey for the next few days as well. The week of turkey that followed was always the best part of Thanksgiving after all. His sister’s jibe about making puppy dog eyes at the house elves to get this made him raise his eyebrows. “You can do that when you’re not trying to bite someone’s head off?” He chimed in, jokingly of course.

Lance took a bite of his turkey as he listened to the other two talk. For some reason he figured Max would say she was thankful to be alive. Scary ordeal to go through he assumed. There had been a few things as of late that he wished he had never had to hear, and that had been one of them. He continued eating though instead of commenting, since now wasn’t appropriate for that, even more so when she added that she was thankful that they had Barbara back. He swallowed the bite he was on, immediately picking up his glass of water and slamming it back. He knew that was going to be brought up at some point, so why was it bothering him? Today was the only day other than the funeral that he had to be civil about it. “What about you Georgie?” Lance turned to look at his sister. He’d definitely need a little more time to think about what he was thankful for now.

[Deleted]

Georgie rolled her eyes when Max agreed with her on the subject of the southern slang. “Of course it sounds alright when I say it. I grew up saying it.” It rolled off of her tongue, unlike it did on Max’s. The whole point of slang and dialect was that it was natural and not forced. At least Lance was getting a good laugh out of it – Georgie was happy that she could make him happy, especially considering how miserable the pair of them had been lately. Max admitted that this was her first Thanksgiving, which wasn’t surprising, given that she wasn’t American.

Her brother began to tease her about using puppy dog eyes, and Georgie shoved at him. She regained her composure, though, and began to speak. “The best dogs know when to bite and when to use their eyes.” Georgie said sagely, even though there was exactly zero about her reactions to people that was calculated or scientific. She wasn’t one to think before acting, which was why sometime she was surprised she hadn’t been put in Gryffindor, like Louis. Maybe impulsivity wasn’t a requirement, but it did seem to be a common trait among a lot of Gryffindors. Ah well – Hufflepuff suited her just fine.

Georgie paused in her eating to listen to Max say that she was thankful to be alive. The Hufflepuff then promptly shoved another bite of food into her mouth, because she wanted to seem busy and distract herself from the tears prickling at the backs of her eyes. Georgie managed a smile when Max said that she was thankful she had such great friends, but the smile faded when Max mentioned Barbara and Lance slammed his water glass down. Georgie looked over at her brother, but didn’t say anything, until he asked her what he was thankful for. “I’m thankful that I can remember how to be thankful.” Georgie said quietly. There were some people who were always whining about their lot in life, so Georgie was glad that occasionally, she could remember that, while things could be better, they could also be a whole lot worse. After Georgie’s words, that left Lance as the only person at the table not to say what he was thankful for. Georgie wasn’t going to push him if he didn’t want to say anything.

maxima ruqayyah greyback
lancelot ray linley

[maxima ruqayyah greyback]

“Of course it sounds alright when I say it. I grew up saying it.” The eye roll that Georgiana gave her for that one, Max had to admit, was deserved. American slang didn't sound the same with her accent, just as she found it ridiculous to hear Americans try to mimic any of the varied accents that actually existed in Britain. (Georgie and Lance were excluded from that observation, however. They might have been American, but they had gone to Hogwarts for years.)

Max listened as Georgie and Lance conversed with one another. At Georgie's comment that “The best dogs know when to bite and when to use their eyes,” Max nearly snorted, glad that she hadn't had food in her mouth.

“You're trained,” she nodded in agreement. She had gotten accustomed to jokes about dogs and wolves from her family, since those were usually Jamie's expertise, but she wasn't as used to them from Georgie. Having a stepfather who was a veterinarian also helped to back up her claim, she thought.

She hadn't realized that she had misspoken about for what she was thankful until she had heard the slam of Lance's water glass against the table. He changed the topic quickly and asked Georgie the same question.

“I’m thankful that I can remember how to be thankful.”

A lot had happened to break all of their spirits. Max smiled a little bit at Georgie to encourage her and then looked over to Lance. “Lance?” she asked, more gently than usual, hoping that he understood that she hadn't meant to upset him. “What about you?”

lancelot ray linley
@georgiana

[Deleted]

@georgiana & maxima ruqayyah greyback

Georgie only solidified his comment on being a vicious little puppy; all in god fun, of course. He laughed as she pushed him. This is what they were supposed to be about, not whatever their relationship had been lately. “You’ve really thought about that haven’t you?” He added as he took a sip of his drink. Georgie definitely knew how to utilize both her eyes and her bark, as strange as that sounded. He’d been the victim of both at some point or another. Lance liked to think that it didn’t actually work on him, but he knew that wasn’t true. He looked at Max as she said Georgie was trained, raising his eyes a little. “House trained maybe, but she needs a few more years before I can leave her on her own.” Funny how true that sounded. Lance wasn’t ready to let his sister run off just yet. Especially now that there were other circumstances thrown in the mix.

Finally the question turned to him. And what a tough one that was. Everything that had happened lately had completely driven any ideas of being thankful for things out of his mind. Lance wasn’t incapable of creating an answer, rather he didn’t know if he even deserved to give one. Georgie had, but he saw that as a cop out; being thankful that she could be thankful. That was an easy answer. He was positive he couldn’t even do that. “I don’t think I can be right now. Thankful about anything.” He took a deep breath before taking another large bite of his turkey. “Ask me again next year. Maybe I’ll have a better answer.”

[Deleted]

Georgie raised one shoulder in a shrug. “I like my metaphors to be accurate.” She said with a little bit of a smile. Max said that she was trained, and Georgie was about to open her mouth to disagree when Lance did it for her. “He thinks that he’s staying with me because I need it, but really it’s because he needs it.” Georgie told Max in a faux-whisper, though the opposite was clearly true. Still, Georgie thought that it would make Lance laugh, and the objective of any loyal dog was to please its master, so…Yeah, that was where Georgie started taking the metaphor a little too far.

When Max asked Lance what he was thankful for, Georgie gave her a sharp look. She had purposefully avoided that, but apparently Max hadn’t realized that. Lance answered anyways, though, saying that he couldn’t be thankful at the moment, and Georgie nodded. “That’s okay, Lance.” She said softly. She had really been pushing the whole thankful for being thankful thing, but it was obvious her older brother needed more time. And, in the interest of becoming a better sister, she was going to give him as much time as she could.

“Let’s eat.” Georgie suggested, already picking up her knife and fork so that the sound of chewing could hide anything that might begin to resemble an uncomfortable silence. Maybe it wasn’t the best Thanksgiving day, but Georgie was still thankful for it, and for the people sitting at the table with her that gave her something to be thankful for every day.

maxima ruqayyah greyback
lancelot ray linley
(le end)