Closed Basic Ground Rules

[Molly Burke]

In all honesty, Molly hadn't been sure if she had made the right call in applying here as a nurse, but throughout the time she had studied being a nurse in the muggle world, she did enjoy it. The job was fairly similar, but with magical properties and practices instead. However, she was pretty sure her dad and uncle were pleased she applied here, hoping that she would at least keep an eye on her youngest cousin, but she didn't like the idea of being a babysitter, even though she loved her cousin.

But here she was, in the student lounge, waiting for her cousin to arrive. She had thought about bringing her sister along, but she knew the girl would be just fine, and she pretty much had been at Hogwarts for a while now. Molly was pretty sure her sister would be annoyed at Molly if she had dragged Fiona into this. It had been weird being back here, and she only just graduated from the place three or four years ago, which didn't seem that long ago. She walked around the student lounge, it pretty much looked the same as the last time she had been here and remembered. Lots of memories flashing back at her.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan had been at Hogwarts for almost a week, and so far, the boy had enjoyed it. Classes hadn't started yet, which he was grateful for. He was kinda dreading the idea of classes. While he didn't really like the idea of classes, he still wanted to do somewhat a decent work on his classes. Declan was a wee bit confused, however, when his cousin, Molly, had asked him to meet her in the student lounge. He wasn't sure if it was to hang out or if it was completely different reason. He hoped it was so that he and his two other cousins could hang out. But when the Gryffindor had walked into the student lounge, his other cousin, Fiona, was not anywhere to be seen. Maybe she was running late? "Hey Molly! Are we hanging out with Fiona as well?"

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly grinned once she saw Declan arrive, though she quickly shook her head at his question. "Nope, just gonna be us today. Thought maybe we could hang out a bit before you officially start your school journey, I guess," Molly says with a small smile and shrug, but she could tell by the way Declan had furrowed his eyebrows, that it had seemed to be somewhat lying to him. Well, okay, maybe she was telling him a little white lie about why they were hanging out. She knew she had to give her cousin at least some ground rules, if she didn't, her uncle and dad wouldn't be impressed with her about that, though again, she wasn't her cousin's babysitter, so she didn't really understand why she was doing this either. "C'mon, lets sit here" Molly says with a small smile, as she gestures to one of the couches.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan narrowed his eyes as Molly had explained about their family member not turning about, he didn't believe Molly at least one bit. "Why do I feel like you're lying?" Declan says with a tilt of his head, wondering why his cousin had not turned up, now it had felt like this was some sort of set-up for Molly to give him some sort of serious talking to. He eyed one of the couches she gestured to suspiciously. "Hmm, alright?" Declan says suspiciously as he then slowly takes a seat on one of the couches. "Come on Molly, what's going on?"

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly sighed; she knew she wasn't the best at lying. She was terrible at it actually. "Okay, fine, I didn't ask her to come. I just wanted it to be the two of us today. Happy?" Molly admitted to her cousin. She knew she'd get caught in her little white lie anyway. She watched as Declan reluctantly took a seat in one of the couches that she had gestured to. It wasn't long before she took a seat at the opposite end of the couch. "Nothing," Molly says quickly at his question. Though she knew the way she had said it would make Declan suspicious. She placed her hand on her forehead before she began to sigh again. "Fine- Fine- I'm gonna have to talk to you about your spider- Hey- No, don't look at me like that, Declan," Molly began, interrupting herself when Declan glared at her at the mention of his spider. "The person you should blame about bringing this topic up is our dads, not me"

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan frowned when Molly mentioned that she hadn't invited Fiona over. Which wasn't a total surprise if he was being honest. Fiona didn't seem to be in the mood for hanging out with them these days, which confused Declan, but it was whatever. "Makes sense, she's been a moody pants for ages. She'll ruin the mood with her grumpiness and all," Declan mutters cheekily with a shake of his head. He wasn't sure what was going on with his cousin. Declan frowned a little when Molly spoke, and then suddenly glared at her when she mentioned Little Will. He immediately knew where this conversation was going. "It's none of their business. Little Will just likes to explore! That's all," Declan says in defence. He knew he wouldn't be able to escape this conversation.

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly knew that ever since Fiona had found out about why their parents had divorced, it had put her in a funny mood. Fiona hadn't been the same since then, and Fiona hadn't even mentioned anything about their mum once since. Molly understood. The topic was a sensitive thing, and the family had avoided the topic of their mother entirely. She frowned a little. "Fiona's just um... going through something, yeah. So maybe just be a little nicer to her, okay?" Molly explained to Declan with a shrug. She knew Declan hadn't known the actual details of everything, and she wasn't really sure if she would be the one to tell him.

Molly frowned at what Declan had said. "You're saying leaving your tarantula unattended is him just exploring the castle?" Molly scoffed at her cousin and shaking her head. "Declan, it's understandable if it's once in a while. But you're losing that darn tarantula every day," Molly says with a shake of his head. "You should be glad that our dads think you've lost that thing a couple of times. They'll lose their bloody minds if they find out you lose him like once a day"

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan looked at his cousin with a frown. "Girls are weird. Were you like that when you were Fiona's age?" Declan asked with a shake of his head. The boy didn't understand girls, and they seemed moody and weird all the time. He wondered what Fiona was going through. Surely he'd be able to help Fiona, right? Whatever it is, it sounded like it was some sort of deep secret that they didn't want to tell Declan, which made Declan frown in thought.

Declan glared at his cousin. "Pshhh, I do not leave Little Will unattended", Declan says quickly and dismisses that fact with his hand, though they both knew that was a lie. And Molly was right, if either or both of their dads knew that Declan couldn't take care of his tarantula, he wasn't sure what they were going to do. Molly had given him a look when he dismissed her with that fact. "Okay, maybeeee I don't pay attention where I place him and I get distracted... But it is true he likes to explore!" Declan admitted a little, hopefully trying to make his way out of the issue.

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly let out a gasp. "That's not something you ask Declan," Molly says with a frown, her hands on her hips. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't, but that's none of your concern" Molly says with a shake of her head, a frown still appearing on her lips. Sure, she was going through her own stuff during her own fifth and sixth years, but she wasn't going to bring all that up to an eleven-year-old. He wouldn't understand, not yet anyway. "That's a conversation for another time, and when you're like way older" Molly says, trying to dismiss the topic.

Molly gave him a look. "You're such a liar, Declan," Molly says with a shake of her head. She narrowed her eyes a little when Declan mentioned not paying attention to where he placed his companion. "Declan, what do you mean you get distracted when you have Little Will with you?" Molly says slowly with a frown. "So you just place him anywhere as you please and go on with your merry day, hoping he turns up? That's insane," Molly says with a shake of her head. She honestly doesn't know what she's going to do with her cousin, and she knew there was absolutely no way he was going to listen to her.

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan let out a dramatic gasp, making out a teasing offence to what Molly had said. "Moi? A liar? I don't think so," Declan says, as he declines on that fact. And even if the boy did lie, it would in fact be little white lies. Declan frowned a little at Molly's question. "What? I always end up finding him eventually. Sometimes I see my friends and I accidentally put him down somewhere without even realising," Declan says with a shrug. Maybe it was a bad idea to do that, but he felt bad for Little Will being cooped up in his cage. It didn't seem fair that Little Will had to be stuck in his cage pretty much all the time. That's why Declan tried his best to take him out and about. "And you're the one to talk, Molly" Declan says with a small frown, narrowing his eyes a little. "You too lost your cat a few times when you were at school"

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly shook her head, trying her best to hide her smile at what Declan had said. Her cousin may be infuriating, but she did find the boy amusing, and that's what she loved about her cousin. Their arguments were usually silly like this, but Molly didn't mind the silly banter they had with each other. "You finding him eventually is you spending most of your free time looking for that spider. It's concerning at this point," Molly says with a frown and a shake of her head. Declan is slowly making her lose her mind. Molly gasped, narrowing her eyes back at her cousin, like he was doing to her. "Excuse me? You leave Gumdrop out of this," Molly says with a frown, pointing at her cousin. "And it was a few times, not every darn day like you do with that tarantula of yours," Molly says with a shake of her head, emphasising the word 'few'. "And for your information, she's a cat; she'd find her way back to my dorm. You're tarantula has no idea where your dorm is, so he's walking around aimlessly"

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan huffed. "But you started it! You brought up Little Will" Declan whinned with a frown. He couldn't believe it. He knew he was pushing Molly's buttons, maybe a little, but he wanted to avoid the conversation, but he knew he couldn't. He didn't even know how he was gonna keep an eye on his tarantula. "Okay fine, we get it, it was a few times" Declan mutters with a shake of his head. "At least my pet has a normal name" Declan says teasingly, as he pokes his tongue out towards his cousin and folds his arms. Who even names their pets after food? It was such a weird thing. "You know you could've just pretended that you gave me a lecture about Little Will, and we could've gone with our day. Our parents would've believed you"

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly shook her head. "And as I said, blame our parents, not me. But also, we wouldn't be having this conversation if you took better care of your tarantula," Molly says, as she spoke to her younger cousin. Was she this annoying to Nolan whenever she asked him where Gumdrop ended up being. If so, she was going to give her brother a massive apology. Molly narrowed her eyes at her cousin. "Hey! I was a child naming a pet, I was thinking about food when naming my pet" Molly groaned a little, shaking her head. She didn't even know why she was explaining herself to an eleven-year-old. Molly scoffed softly. "You know how bad of a liar I am, they'd find out somehow. It's not good to lie either, Declan"

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan sighed dramatically at the mention of him being an irresponsible pet owner. "Alright, alright, I get it, I should take better care of Little Will, blah blah blah," Declan says with a frown and shaking his head. He did understand that he lost his spider, like pretty much every day. But he couldn't help it. He felt bad for Little Will to be stuck in there all day. What if Little Will was missing out on something really important in the world that was going on? He didn't want his spider to miss out. "Well, you were the same age as me when you got your cat. There were wayyy better names out there than Gumdrop," Declan emphasises with a shake of his head. He wondered, though, if Molly did miss her cat. Her cat had been with his uncle while Molly was away here working. "Yeah, well, technically I wouldn't call it a lie, I'd call it like a little white lie or something"

 

[Molly Burke]

Molly sighs for a moment. "Just- Please- take better care of that darn spider- I mean it, Declan" Molly says sincerely with a small smile. She understood what it was like to have a pet of his own at that age. It was an exciting thing. "I'm not saying to like, not take him around with you. Of course, you can take him around. Just at least be mindful of where he is," Molly says sincerely. She doesn't even know how to deal with this boy. She was more worried for the safety of the spider, worried that he would be accidentally stepped on, and Molly knew that wasn't a pretty sight to see, nor a topic that should be brought up. "Yes, alright, Gumdrop might not be the greatest of names, but it suits her okay?" Molly says with a small smile and a shrug. She couldn't wait to see her cat during the break, though. She knew the cat was getting older, not as young as she used to be. "Yeah, yeah, but I still wanted to talk to you about your spider anyway. I know how exciting it is to have your first pet. I was the same way with Gumdrop. All I'm saying is just be at least more mindful of Little Will, okay?"

 

[Declan Burke]

Declan slouched a little, a little embarrassed. He guessed Molly was right. "Fine- Okay, I'll try a little harder to look after Little Will, but I can't promise that. But I'll try," Declan says reluctantly, emphasising that he'd at least try. He knew there were going to be cases where he'd lose his spider yet again, but he guessed he had to try and prevent that a little less. Declan smirked in victory when he had at least been right about the name of Molly's cat. He frowned a little at what Molly had said, though. He guessed that she was right about that thing. "Okay"