Whomp.

[Kida Frost]

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Since Aeon had moved out, got married, started his life and had children of his own Kida wanted to make sure that they didn't lose contact, Every Week the two would get together and Have Dinner, or at least some form of meal together, whether it was in the Castle or at home, with the children or without, but without fail it was a weekly event.
Tonight Kida had invited Aeon over to her house, Icarus was home so she had someone to min the kids whilst the two caught up. Tomorrow was Kida's day off so she had spent the morning Training in Tuscany with the children spending some time with their Grandmother, Kida wondered if Aeon would be interested in having a Holiday with her in Tuscany and all the Kids, Something different, Kida could still train but since she wouldn't have to factor in Travel time from Tuscany back to New Zealand they would all benefit from the Holiday.
Kida was standing in the Kitchen drinking some Wine whilst dinner was cooking, she could hear Icarus up stairs with the children giving them a bath; it had taken some time for Kida to feel less defensive about her children, since she raised Scarlet by herself and Icarus had been away for almost the entire first year of Leonidas' life she didn't like handing over her children even to their own father, but as time passed she felt more at ease.
Saving a plate of cookies which had slowly started to shake themselves off the table she heard a knock on the door and made her way to the foyer cookies in hand.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Despite moving out of Kida's place and living in his own house with Brodie for the past couple of years, Aeon still felt like he had never left. At first things had been different. Seeing his cousin only once per week was a dramatic change from seeing her around the house daily, and he had enjoyed having some time away from her, but now that she too was working at Hogwarts it was like they still lived together. The main difference was that this time, they got payed for it. It wasn't too bad, they had fun and at times it was like they were students again. At the start of the year they literally were, which had landed them both a probation. Since then, he felt like he was stepping on eggshells around the school. It wasn't as enjoyable as it once was.

So, the wizard was happy to leave the castle and spend dinner at Kida's instead. He was getting sick of seeing the same halls and classroom over and over again, day in and day out. He'd spent seven years at the castle just as a student, and he'd already spent another two there as a professor. While he enjoyed what he did, he found he just wanted to be at home more and more often, spending time with his own children instead of other people's bratty kids. At the very least, he was prepared for when little Lysander and Ellie hit their teenage years. He couldn't help but wonder whether or not he would still be a professor by the time that came around, or if he'd have moved on to something else. Curse-Breaking was an occupation he'd always had an interest in, but it was too dangerous and he couldn't risk it no that he had a family of his own.

With a faint pop, the wizard appeared at the end of his cousin's driveway and began the walk up to her front door. As he approached the deck, the sound of something thumping loudly in the distance became quite audible. Kida had both her backyard Quidditch Pitch and cottages behind the house, but Aeon wasn't so sure what exactly was making the sound. Perseas had graduated and could use magic outside of school now, so perhaps he was getting up to no good. Whatever it was, it wasn't stopping. Shrugging, Aeon ignored it for the time being and knocked on the door. As soon as Kida opened it to let him in, he smiled. "Hey hey. I hope those are for me." He started, reaching out to take a cookie from the plate she held.

 

[Kida Frost]

Offering the plate to Aeon she let him take as many cookies as he wanted 'Don't spoil your appetite dinner will be ready soon' softly closing the door behind Aeon the ground tremored a little more but just as before she continued to ignore it, her main focus was not burning dinner. 'Follow the cookies' she said as she walked to the kitchen waiting for Aeon to follow, her house hadn't changed from when Aeon was living there, the only difference was different people were living in it now, but her kitchen was still full of food. 'I would invite Sern down, but I think he's in Tuscany for the night, I sent him to check out the pitch and see if there was anything that needed fixing, one of our last games I may have got a little bludger happy' a small giggle followed, Kida placed the cookies in the middle of the kitchen island before returning to stirring the potatoes on the stove. 'and I believe Perseus is out with Ashton, Ashton either wants to get him to working for him so he doesn't have to clean tables, or they're bonding in the only way Ashton knows how' The Witch shook her head, Ashton at Perseus' age was a lady's man she hoped her other half-brother didn't go down the same path but if it was he choice what could she do, she wasn't going to kick him out from the flats out the back, she just had to hope he'd find his way eventually; Changing the subject Kida glanced over her shoulder at Aeon 'How are the children? Any progress reports, either of them rolling over by themselves, do you have them on solids yet?' tapping the fork on the side of the pot Kida felt the ground rumble again she hoped it would stop soon the children needed to get to sleep.

Brushing her long brown hair out of her fact Kida turned and leaned on the kitchen island to catch up with Aeon, although the two taught together they didn't necessarily catch up, Kida stayed in the castle for a brief moment when she was teaching and then was back with the Kids or training so it wasn't like the two shared a meal apart from the food fight they accidentally participated in when Kida had gone shopping and found some de-aging potions.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Summers grudgingly only allowed himself one from the fresh batch his cousin had baked, deciding that dinner was probably a lot more worth getting full on. Just. He wasn't entirely sure what she was preparing yet, but having lived with her for years, it was bound to be something he enjoyed. As the man stepped across the threshold however, he felt a slight shake beneath his foot, a vibration rippling through the floorboard. What on earth was that? He cast a curious glance toward Kida, but she was already retreating into the kitchen. He threw off his jacket, a vibrant dragon-skin that he favoured due to both its high price and visual style, and followed after her, tossing it across the arm of the couch as he passed through the living room.

Entering the kitchen, Aeon propped himself up onto the countertop and listened as Kida spoke about his brother. He frowned, disappointed that he still didn't get to see him often now that he was back around. What kept him satisfied was knowing the life ring around his finger had remained white since they found him. "Aren't you always bludger happy, though?" Summers grinned. He didn't like to play Quidditch with her, for multiple reasons. Being hit by a bludger was one of those. It just wasn't any fun. Hearing that Perseus wasn't going to be around for dinner was a small relief. He was an okay kid, just not one of his favourite people. "I'm glad he has such a great role model in his life. Ashton's really going to keep him on the right track." He commented, trying to keep his tone from sounding too sarcastic. Neither Ashton nor Perseus were people he would comfortably want to say, babysit his children for a few hours. As much as he loved them, he didn't view either as responsible.

At the subject change, Aeon let out a small sigh. Parenting was a whole 'nother topic he did not enjoy. "They more so tumble than roll most of the time, but they've both started taking their first steps. You know they're one now, right? They've been on solids for quite a while." He replied, a little confused. They'd been on solid food for about half a year now. Then again, he didn't talk much about the children to her unless he really needed advice on something. She had experience with two kids of her own, but he and Brodie were fine on their own. As the ground rumbled for a third time since he'd arrived, Aeon raised his eyebrows, glancing back up towards his cousin. If it was basically just the two of them there, what was causing all the noise. She didn't seem fazed, but he wanted to know what was making enough of a commotion to rumble the entire building. "Kida, do you notice that sound at all?" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the side as she leaned next to him. It was like there was a giant, animated sledgehammer constantly pounding the earth outside.

 

[Kida Frost]

Commenting on her with bludges Kida chuckled, he wasn't wrong, it was her job to hit them around, but some days more then others Bludgers just came closer to her then others, and as a Beater that was a perfect situation 'Sometimes the other Beaters don't like it when I hit the Bludger to their players so they wreck my stadium instead' The Beater shook her head at the thought of what happened 'You should have seen the last game, I'm pretty sure I destroyed someones broom from a Bludger impact, they were so interested in getting passed the Quaffle they didn't even realize I was close by, It was funny to watch it shatter right in front of their knees and split it two, I think they tried to reattach the two pieces and continue to fly' chuckling at her self again she leaned over the kitchen island and gave Aeon a playful nudge 'When will you let me take you out onto the Pitch, flex those old quidditch muscles, I could have you pro in no time' she smiled knowing Aeon wouldn't step onto a pitch with her anymore, it was rare he would even just fly around with her.
Aeon made a sarcastic remark about her half brothers 'I can't control who or what they want to do in their life, I just keep them alive and fed, like I did with you, If you want to take over being Perseus' role model, be my guest' Turning back to the stove she continued on with her cooking, draining the potatoes and putting them back on the stove the Witch turned and pulled a masher from the draw and started to Mash the potatoes, with each mash the ground shook a little and she rolled her eyes but continued to cook.

Speaking of the children made Kida turn around to face Aeon again 'Oh, Are they saying anything?' Aeon made the remark that they are one now and she rolled her eyes 'They're your first children, they have no one to chase after so they may not chose to walk for a long time, and they could absolutely hate solids, you never know' she poked her tongue out at her cousin, with Leonidas being over two now, she had one Daughter almost ready for school and a Son who was discovering that he could break things, but if she told Aeon he would probably flee the house as fast as he could. Turning back around again she moved some pots around and continued her cooking.

Kida wished she had timed how long it took Aeon to ask about the vibrations in the ground, although they did live in New Zealand and Earthquakes weren't a rare thing, continuous tremors like this would cause some alarm. The Mother moved towards the oven and pulled out a roast and placed it on some alfoil, wrapping it up to let it settle 'Oh, I think there's a Whomping Willow in my forest somewhere.' she said non-nonchalantly, she turned the stove down to low to let everything simmer while the roast had some time to rest. Turning back to her cousin she reached for a bottle of wine sitting on the counter 'Wine?' she asked with a smile.

 

[Aeon Summers]

"Never again." Was Aeon's only response to his cousin urging him to get back on the pitch. He shook his head and smiled, passing over the topic of her half siblings and shrugging at her comments on his children. "Ellie keeps calling Brodie and I dude instead of dad, and Lysander says dog, so it's going well, I think. Fortunately, turns out they like solids, so there's that. It's a shame we didn't have children closer in age, like we were." He said, drumming his heels against the cabinet door as he thought back to their time in school. "Scarlet and Arianna will have graduated by the time the twins start. Hopefully Leonidas looks out for them, at least. I'm hoping they take to Transfiguration as naturally as we did. Found out I'm directly descended from Falco Aesalon the other day, so it explains a lot. Aeon Aesalon has a nice sound to it. I like alliteration." He beamed proudly, it was exciting to find out about his roots, even if it was within his damned mothers side. There wasn't much known about his ancestor aside from being the first known animagus, but it was hard to believe he was anything like the modern day Lancasters.

The wizards eyes followed Kida as she prepared their food, the thumping sounds not seeming to want to cease any time soon. Her response to his question, which he hadn't thought too much into, left him shocked. He sucked in a quick breath of air, his hand covering his mouth. "Merlin, what." He responded in a muffled voice, before lowering his hand once more. "Please tell me you're joking. A Whomping Willow, Kida? Do you know how rare and...amazing they are? Why do you have one just sitting around in your forest? How long has it been active like that?" The animagus jumped down from the counter top and started heading for the kitchen door, no longer all that hungry. "Come on, I've only ever seen a sapling when I took Emeric to a fair in Bulgaria, this thing sounds far more matured. We have to go check it out!" The excitement in his voice was evident. Their meal could wait for later. "We'll take the wine with us, of course."

 

[Kida Frost]

Not being able to contain a giggle at Ellie calling them both dude, 'Aweh dude that's awesome' she mocked she pressed her lips together to smother a laugh. Aeon continued to talk about his kids, she agreed with him, she wished they were born around the same time 'Well I mean We can always plan for thirds' she joked, she had Scarlet at such a young age, she was almost 10 before Aeon had his children 'Leonidas will be two years above him so they will have plenty in common, I think Leonidas will be interested in Transfiguration, like both of his parents, Scarlet likes the idea of it, but she seems to be more into Quidditch like her mother' Kida flicked her hair over her shoulder in a smug self-praising kind of way. Aeon explained his descendant and Kida blew a raspberry 'Well aren't you fancy' she wiggled her head to poke fun at him, Kida knew her relatives were Squibs so she hadn't ever looked into her family history.

Aeon seemed to get over excited about the news of a possible whomping willow in the backyard, he was rambling about how amazing they were but she decided to grab a wine glass out of the cupboard, as she was about to uncork the wine Aeon had taken it off the bench and said they could take it with them, she looked at the bottle of wine and back to her glass and pouted at Aeon 'but, Wine?' she said her voice carrying a hint of sadness. Aeon's excitement made her shake her head 'Okay, Okay' she walked around her Kitchen bench and picked up her wand and headed to the front door which oddly enough faced the back of the house, pausing she grabbed her Forearm strap from the coat rack and slipped it on her arm as she walked putting her wand sideways in her mouth while she adjusted the straps. Opening the Door with her spare hand she let Aeon walk out first and clipped her wand in before following him out and shutting the door behind him 'I've seen...' she paused as the ground shook again 'It's been happening for about a month or so now, probably after the last time you visited? I've seen a few tree's that had been knocked down when I fly over, so If it is where I think it is It'll be' Kida pointed slightly off to the right 'Over there'

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon was out of the door the moment his cousin had opened it, skipping over the porch steps entirely in his haste, all the while trying to clumsily slot his arms through the sleeves of his jacket. By the time he'd managed to get it into a comfortable position, Kida had joined him, pointing out the direction of the Willow. Again he was off, not bothered to check if she was keeping up or not. He had to see the tree for himself. "I can't believe you just ignored this, like it's no big deal. Kida, it's a very big deal. Didn't you take Herbology?" He asked, shaking his head. No, she hadn't, he realised. That aside, a mobile tree was astounding to most people. "Did you sit there and think, gee golly, there's a magic tree in my forest, but I'll just keep on keeping on and maybe it'll just go away?" The man stopped at the forest's tree line, looking over his shoulder at Kida. "Explain to me your thought process here."

 

[Kida Frost]

Watching Aeon rush made Kida laugh, he was so eager to see a tree that may not even be a Whomping willow at all. He raced off again and she kept her pace, while he told her off for not being more enthusiastic about a tree 'Aeon we were in the same class together you knew I took Herbology, we worked together' she said keeping close on Aeon's heels as he made a straight line for the forest 'Aeon I have two Kids, a Quidditch Team and I teach Care of Magical Creatures. I hardly have time to even see my Husband' she added, listening to Aeon carry on a bit more she rolled her eyes 'It may not even be a whomping willow, it could be a troll stomping about, and even if it is a whomping willow, It would only be a b.. she paused as she almost bumped into him as he suddenly stopped at the treeline which separated her House from the few acres of forest land she had behind her property. '..aby' she finished, Aeon asked her to explain and she rolled her eyes again.
Grabbing his wrist she dragged him into the forest 'My Thought process is, if it is a Whomping willow, it's not going anywhere, so there is no rush because it'll still be there in a few months time. AND it's only just become Active, so IF it is a Whomping Willow, It may just be big enough to knock down tree's around it, so it'll chill eventually. AND It's not dangerous because the children don't go into the forest' Dropped his wrist she jumped over an older fallen tree, she half wondered why they didn't just fly here or take Animagus form, but when Aeon is excited he charges forward with no second thought, she knew he would just be thinking about the Whomping Willow and that was all.

Kida paused for a moment to regain her balance as the ground shook, she took a few more steps forward and the ground shook again but this time sending a tree down towards them. Kida dived to the side and rolled to stop herself from being crushed by a rather large tree, she looked up and saw a branch of a tree slowly move back, the tree it hit was at the edge of it's reach, Kida brushed her hair out of her face, the forest was thick so the view of the Whomping willow was still difficult to see, it had really reached out to knock the tree down 'Well i'll be, You were right, I have a Whomping Willow.. You know come to think of it Remus wrote this down in one of his journals that he had found one and planted one in the forest..' she braced herself for her Cousin to punch her in the arm for not telling him.

 

[Aeon Summers]

Aeon considered Kida's justification for a moment, eventually shaking his head, still unable to believe how unconcerned she was. He couldn't imagine being as busy as her, he had a hard enough time keeping on top of what little he had to as it was. "Okay, true. But if it was a troll?" He questioned, following after her at the tug of his wrist. "I hear Jacqueline might be stepping down from her position, you should consider applying for Transfiguration. We can be Team Transfig." He commented, hopping over a fallen trunk as she released him. Shoving his free hands into his pockets, he continued trailing alongside her. "You know, I don't even remember what your husband even looks like. With how little he's around, I used to think maybe he was dead." The wizard said aloud. He'd always wondered why Kida had married Icarus, with the way their relationship worked, there didn't seem to be much of a flame. He was an odd guy.

The ground shook, and Aeon stopped walking to steady himself. Glancing up to his cousin, he caught her diving aside, just ahead, as a tree was thrown in front of her, glimpsing the retreating branches of a willow. Once he was sure she was fine, he stepped forward to try get a better view of the willow from a safe distance, whilst Kida explained reading about Remus planting the sapling there. "You knew he'd planted a Whomping Willow in the forest and didn't think your Herbology-loving cousin would be at all interested in your findings?" He said, turning to her with an expression of disbelief. "Any other secrets while we're here? No Philosopher's Stone hidden in the basement? Devil's Snare in the garden?" Part of him was annoyed that she hadn't thought to mention this before, but given the life she led, he didn't entirely blame her for it slipping her mind. Besides, the wizard was too distracted peering through branches to get a look at the animate tree to think about it too much.

 

[Kida Frost]

Kida paused when Aeon brought up the idea of it possibly being a Troll 'Do you think a Troll would sit still in the forest, It would have come out and asked to have some mashed potatoes.' she joked resisting the urge to give her cousin a shove. At the mention of Transfiguration coming available she perked up 'Really, Team Transfig you say, I'll have to go have a talk with the Headmistress about that' she said losing sight of the task at hand momentarily. Aeon mentioned Icarus and she shrugged 'Maybe he is, He hasn't replied to Owl's in a while, but he did go travel to get recipes from all around the world for this restaurant that he wanted to open.' she shrugged 'I wonder if he's been to Quidditch Practice lately' she added 'He'll return for his Son and his Family eventually, I mean it's not like the authorities wouldn't let me know if he had been in an accident, This is what happens when you're busy Aeon, you lose track of time, and what's in your forest' she joked. Kida deep down did want to take a break to find her estranged husband but she had too many tasks to do and not enough time to spare.

Dusting herself off as she stood she looked at Aeon with a blank expression as he berated her for not informing him 'I don't remember everything that was Written in His journals, You go have a look if you want, but i'm pretty sure that room is cursed' she huffed. Aeon kept on going about other secrets and she smirked 'I thought you knew I had Devil's Snare in the basement, keeps the rats out, I also have a Vampire friend in the Forest, also I'm the True Leader of the Scitoari and I'm not actually a Muggle Born' Moving towards Aeon she picked a few more leaves out of her hair 'I'll tell you about the rest of my secrets later, But for now, Do you have any suggestions about what we should do with Mister Baby Willow here'
Taking a few steps forward she tried to get a closer look but as soon as she got within striking distance a branch flew down and tried to take her head off, she ducked and the branch whipped over her head before she retreated back to a safe distance 'I think I shall call him Mister B. Whomp.' she looked towards Aeon next to her to see his reaction.