Castle On The Hill [Alice, Philip, Natalia & Andy]

[Deleted]

Andy wasn't very close to Alice, but she knew that things were hard for her too right now. She had a father in the hospital too, after all. Plus, she was her sister practically, so she figured it was time to make an actual effort. She asked Phil to invite Alice out to dinner in Hogsmeade, and Andy invited Natalia. She didn't know how Nat an Alice got along but... she wanted to have a gathering with the adopted siblings, aside from the youngest who was seemingly rather busy today.

So, she scheduled this little gathering at the Three Broomsticks for dinner today. It was after the carnival, so things weren't as busy around here anymore. Andy was incredibly nervous, and showed up before everyone else to grab a table for them and... basically to psych herself out. She told herself that she had come early to prepare but... there really wasn't much to do. So now, she was just pacing by the door waiting for the other three to show up.

She hoped this wouldn't end in chaos.

@philiplongbottom
@natalia
@alice
(any order, guys :). Finally doing this!)

[Deleted]

Natalia was going out to dinner. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she had gone out for a meal, due partially to the fact that she was working more than usual now to make up for the time she had taken off to deal with her family members' various illnesses, be they mental or otherwise. She didn't want to fall behind the other trainee healers. That didn't matter, though. This was going to be the first semi-official gathering of all of the Longbottom siblings (both those adopted into the family and those born into it) since New Year's Eve... and everything else that had happened thereafter. Natalia had spent an embarrassing amount of time picking out what to where, considering she was only meeting Andy, Alice, and Phil, but eventually had decided on a nice set of dark blue robes that were different from her standard black or her healer uniform. When she arrived at the Three Broomsticks, Natalia immediately spotted Andy - a skill that she was beginning to develop no matter the size of the crowd. Nat made a beeline for her sister, bending down to kiss Andy on the cheek before taking the seat across from the Gryffindor. "It's good to see you." No matter how long it had been since Natalia saw her sister, whether it was three days or three weeks, it was good to see Andy.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@alice

[Deleted]

Alice had somewhat adjusted to life being less than normal since her family had adopted the Lestrange sisters. Their family had grown and Alice could really see how happy everyone was. Up until when her father got sick of course. Now, with their father at St. Mungo's and their mother spending most of her time between there and the inn, it was like the Longbottom family had banded closer together. Even though she wasn't that close with Andromeda or Natalia, she did feel... closer to them somehow. Perhaps it was all they were going through together, but whatever it was, Alice found herself oddly at peace with it. Even if she didn't always show it.

When Alice had been invited by Philip to dinner in Hogsmeade, she had cleared her schedule. Not that it consisted of much other than work these days... Alice had ended things with Carcer. She had taken her father getting sick horribly, and she took a lot of time off from studying magical creatures and furthering her own work to be with her father and help her mother at the inn. Things had started to feel like they were weighing down on her and she ultimately decided she wanted to be alone. She had always done better alone anyways. Aside from her family, she had nor wanted any other obligations.

Alice walked into the Three Broomsticks and scanned the restaurant for only a moment before spotting her adoptive sisters sitting across from one another at a table. In the back of her mind, Alice wished her youngest brother would be in attendance to ease the inevitable tension but... it was getting better. It wasn't hard to stand next to Natalia anymore, and sometimes Alice spoke directly to her. The two girls were just rather quiet by nature. Alice walked up to the two girls and flashed them a small, brief smile before taking the seat next to Natalia so Philip could have the seat next to Andy. "Hello," she greeted them simply as she sat down.

@philiplongbottom @lestrange @natalia

[Deleted]

@lestrange
@natalia @alice

Phil looked up at the clock inside Honeydukes, 5:05 all ready? He quickly went up to the counter, paid for his gifts, then hurried out the door. He wasn't sure what it was, he just couldn't seem to be on time recently. He had never had this problem before, though the more he thought about it the more he remembered the lackadaisical culture of the Brazilian wizards. If there was one thing he was going to miss about Brazil, it was a nap every day.

Pushing open the door of the Three Broomsticks, Phil only had to glance around the room once before a smile it up his face, his eyes catching on his sisters. And Andy. Better not to think about that one too hard. He walked over to the girls and sat down in the empty seat next to Andy.

"Ladies, I come bringing gifts!" He pulled out several wrapped boxes, each about the side of his palm. He handed one to each girl, Alice got Vanilla flavored chocolates, Natalia got chocolate with caramel in the middle, and Andy chocolate on chocolate. "Sorry I'm late." he said after he had dived out the candy, then kissed Andy on the cheek. "Did you order without me?"

[Deleted]

Andy let out a relieved breath when Nat was the first one to arrive, leaning into her sisters kiss on her cheek. "Natalia, hello," she said with a soft smile. "Excited you could make it. I hope Alice shows u-" she paused, just as she saw the eldest Longbottom walk into the pub. She found them, sitting down, and Andy nodded in greeting.

'Hello," Andy said back, and then she wasn't quite sure what else to say... thank goodness her darling Phil showed up only moments later. Andy started to stand as he arrived but then just took her seat. He pulled out... chocolate? Andy smiled, shaking her head. "Leave it to you, Phil..." she muttered. Did she really deserve such an angelic specimen? Nope.

"No, we haven't ordered yet. It's just us four today," she added, since the youngest couldn't make it. "And we haven't been waiting long for you, don't worry," she added. She turned across the table to the older girls. "How is work, you two? Is being an adult... fun?"

@natalia next!

[Deleted]

Natalia was surprised when Alice showed up before Phil did. If she had to pick which of the four of them wouldn’t have showed up, it would be Alice. Not that she expected bad things from Alice, but that the Hufflepuff girl was definitely more… reserved, it seemed, when it came to family matters. Or maybe she was just reserved when it came to Natalia, thanks to all of her history with James. It was no matter, though, because Alice was there, offering no more than a simple hello. Natalia smiled politely, wishing that she had been able to talk to the other girl more before things soured. They had had one conversation, but that had been months ago, before everything changed. Luckily Natalia’s worry about awkwardness dissipated with Phil’s arrival. The Gryffindor boy produced chocolate from inside of his cloak, and Nat’s heart melted a little. “Shouldn’t we be the ones bringing you gifts? It’s almost your birthday, you know.” Natalia was using the word ‘almost’ loosely, considering that she probably wouldn’t see her younger adoptive brother until after the day. “Speaking of which, happy early birthday.” If she had had more forethought, Natalia would have brought Phil’s gift with her, but as things were, she would just have to owl it.

Andy asked how work was, and Natalia offered a shrug. People at St. Mungo’s seemed to be torn about whether to treat her with contempt due to her surname or pity due to what her family had been going through. Natalia would have figured that both of those emotions would have bene resolved by now, since she had been a Lestrange since before she had joined the healer’s program and things were beginning to quiet down after January had ended… but that didn’t matter, and she didn’t want to worry Andy. “I’ve been trying to do some research on dreams.” She offered, her gaze drifting to Andy, and then to Phil – she had walked in on both of their dreams, meaning that Alice would be the only one who didn’t understand the significance of the comment. Nat glanced at the other girl, biting her lip. She didn’t want to patronize Alice, but she’d also rather keep the fact that she could appear in others’ dreams under wraps, and saying as much in a crowded pub probably wasn’t conducive to that end.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@alice

[Deleted]

The awkwardness in the air between Alice and the Lestrange sisters was thankfully short lived as only moments after she had taken her seat and greeted her adopted sisters, her younger brother showed up and Alice couldn't have been happier to see him. It had been weird not seeing him for so long, what with her being graduated and then his being in Brazil. They had always spent their lives together whether it was at home or at school, so it was odd to actually be so far apart from him. She couldn't help the smile on her face when Natalia and Andromeda also greeted Phil. Especially when Natalia made a comment about Phil's birthday coming up. That made Natalia really seem like... well, like part of the family. And familial things really went a long way with Alice. "Thanks Phil," she nodded at him once in thanks for the chocolate.

Alice shrugged just as Natalia did. She didn't have much to say about work at the moment. She was still technically in an internship to become a magizoologist, having to collect small works for a portfolio to present and get her license. It was all a bunch of mumbo jumbo that Alice honestly didn't feel like reiterating at the moment. Especially since she and Carcer broke up only... days ago. She bit her lip and tried not to frown at the thought of her half-giant ex-boyfriend. She was glad, instead, when Natalia spoke about doing research on dreams and at this, Alice was glad for the distraction because she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Research on dreams?" She asked, unable to hide her curiosity. She had thought that Natalia was a healer in training. Was that a hobby she did on the side?

@philiplongbottom @lestrange @natalia

[Deleted]

@lestrange
@natalia @alice

Phil settled his arm around Andy and glanced at his sisters. Had there ever been a time when Alice and Nat and Andy had all been together when someone hadn't been hurt, dying, or worse? He wasn't quite sure he remembered it. A smile turned the corner of his mouth up and he took a content breath. How did he end up with such an amazing family. It wasn't perfect, by any means, but it was pretty great. Nat mentioned his birthday, which he was trying to forget, but he didn't want her to know that. He kept his smile in place. "Thanks Nat, that means a lot." It didn't feel right having a birthday if his dad couldn't be there.

Nat started to talk about dreams and Phil felt his worry fall away and his smile widen. Research on dreams? Try research in dreams! But there must have been a reason why she didn't mention more so he played along with Alice and leaned forward, interested and excited. "Yeah, what sort of research on dreams?" He asked, sincere and playful. Maybe she had discovered something new since she had visited his dream. So far it had only happened once.

[Deleted]

Andy's focus had somehow fallen on Alice as Natalia exchanged a happy birthday to Phil. Alice looked... There was something wrong with her. Andy had no idea about her breaking up with Carcer, so she was worrying about what could be wrong. Natalia mentioned dream research and Andy let Phil and Alice handle asking what. Alice didn't know anything, as far as Andy was told... Andy hoped they wouldn't awkwardly sit here and keep a secret from the blonde. Either a subject change was in order or Alice needed to be let in on the secret, right? Alice didn't say anything about her own work... And Andy didn't realize she hadn't taken her eyes off the girl for several moments. She was worried about her. Not just because she looked a little upset, but because she didn't know her that well. She felt bad about that. She was her sister AND was dating her brother. She should at least make more effort than this.

@alice
@natalia
@philiplongbottom

[Deleted]

Her comment about dreams seemed to have been the only conversation hook that had caught on to anything, which meant it was probably going to be what they talked about unless Nat could find another subject. She had been the one to bring it up, though, so Natalia couldn’t blame her siblings for being curious about the whole thing. Andy was oddly quiet, so Nat nudged her sister’s foot under the table before answering Phil and Alice’s questions. First, Natalia turned to the Hufflepuff girl, lowering her voice. Phil and Andy didn’t need to hear her, because they already knew. “I keep… finding myself in other people’s dreams.” That sounded slightly better than ‘walking in on’, since the latter implied there was some sort of intention behind it, and thus far, Natalia hadn’t been able to control much of anything when it came to dreams. She was hoping to change that, but it was hard when she didn’t know it would change. Natalia let her voice return to its normal volume when she spoke again. “I’ve mostly just been seeing if people have ever noticed… strange things in their dreams before.” She said, once again edging around talking about her ability with too much openness or volume. “And dream interpretation. Even though most of that seems like it’s made up.” Nat said with a shrug. “I’m thinking maybe I’ll look for books on meditation next.” A meditative state could be described as dreamlike, right? Maybe that was the next avenue she needed to explore.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@alice

[Deleted]

Alice glanced at her brother when she saw him move, his arm going around Andy. The gesture made her smile slightly. She was so glad to see her brother so happy, and she was glad that Andy was too. Even though Alice had really held a lot of animosity toward the Lestrange girls at first, she knew that they had been through a lot and she was glad that they, too, seemed happy now. As she watched the two for a moment, she thought she noticed Andy staring at her a bit too long but Alice blinked and turned to look at Natalia and pretended not to notice. If Andy noticed something in her face, Alice tried desperately to hide it now as she raised her eyebrows at Natalia's words.

"What?" The Hufflepuff asked quietly in disbelief. "Like... actually in other peoples dreams?" Alice glanced at her brother and Andy and they didn't seem as surprised as she was. Did they already know? Alice looked back at Nat as she explained further. Suddenly Alice found herself wondering if Natalia had ever walked into one of her own dreams, or if she did what would happen. "Has... anyone ever noticed?" She finally asked a little hesitantly then looked over at Andy and Phil. "Have you two...?" She felt she didn't need to finish the question.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@natalia

[Deleted]

@lestrange
@alice @natalia

Phil wasn't originally going to talk about it too much, but honestly he thought Natalia walking in dreams was the coolest thing ever. Plus she told Alice about it first. So when Alice asked him if he knew about Nat's dreams... Well it was pretty cool.

"Actually, I found out just a bit ago, she was randomly in my dream and we had this great conversation and ate dream cookies. It was a little strange when I figured out it wasn't just a dream and she was really there... in my dream." He shrugged, but was still smiling. Dream walking. How cool was that?! He glanced at Andy, not really sure if she had known about it before now. He hadn't talked about it with her because it wasn't his secret to share.

His attention turned to Alice. Would she be upset that she didn't know about Nat's gift? Probably not, Alice was pretty level headed, most of the time.

[Deleted]

Natalia nudged her under the table and Andy nudged back, trying to signify that she was okay with just being silent for now. Natalia explained what was going on and Andy looked to her sister, trying to show silent support that Nat was talking about this strange new thing. Alice, of course, was surprised and Andy's attention turned right back to her. Phil said that he had experience Nat in his dreams, which Andy did not know, and she turned to him and gave a little nod before turning back to Nat and Alice across the table. "Yeah, I have too.Only once so far," she answered. She was trying to gauge Alice's reaction... she hoped her sister wouldn't freak out.

"I'm sure it's.... I mean it's a new thing," she turned to Nat, "right, Nat? And it's all sorts of confusing and crazy right now," she explained, reiterating what Natalia had basically already said.

@philiplongbottom
@natalia
@alice

[Deleted]

Natalia flinched a little at Alice’s disbelief, glad that it was quiet disbelief and not something that would attract the attention of all the other patrons. Nat hesitated – should she have apologized for not telling Alice sooner? It wasn’t like she had intended to keep the other girl out of the loop… it just was that they weren’t that close and there hadn’t been any way for Nat to tell her. When the other girl asked if Nat was really in others’ dreams, the Ravenclaw nodded. At first, she had thought it a strange coincidence, but it had happened enough times now that there was no way that she just so happened to be in someone’s dreams the same night that she dreamed of them. Nat felt even worse for Alice when she realized that both Phil and Andy had experienced her ability firsthand. Was she supposed to offer to try to go into Alice’s dreams? This all felt like one big social faux pas that was going to put her in Alice’s bad book again. Natalia struggled for a moment to find something to say, when she was saved by Andy. “Crazy is definitely a word I’d use to explain it. And confusing, too, hence all the research.” Nat sighed. “Not that that’s been much help.” Finding out that her situation was truly unique hadn’t been fun. “I think that it might have had something to do with the stress of January…” Nat offered. She didn’t need to say why she had been stressed – between Andy’s hospital stay and Neville falling ill, there had been a lot going on to stress her and apparently bring up some latent psychic ability.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@alice

[Deleted]

Alice had always been very quiet in school, and she had always kept to herself. Because of that, she spent a lot of time reading and studying. Even the stuff that wasn't related to magical creatures, she felt she had a pretty good handle on. Though, she had never heard of anything such as dream-walking. She was a little worried if Natalia had ever walked into hers, but the way that Phil and Andromeda described it, it seemed like they were both aware when Natalia had entered theirs. An even weirder fact. Alice remained silent a moment as she bit her lip as Natalia took her turn to speak.

After a moment, and Natalia mentioning January, Alice found her voice - she didn't want to talk about January and their father, so she kept the topic on the research. "This has never... happened to anyone? Right?" She asked, uncertainly. She was sure it hadn't, but what did she know? She looked from Natalia, to Andy, then back to Phil. After a second, she looked around for the nearest waitor. "I don't know about you three, but I need a drink," she said with an awkward, light chuckle.

@lestrange
@philiplongbottom
@natalia