Closed Connecting Pieces

[Lucy Holland]

"Okay, and then these here!" Lucy said emphatically, pressing a few more legos into the wobbly structure in front of her. The toys had been a birthday present from Charlie and though they didn't do anything magical, Lucy absolutely loved them. You could build just about anything out of legos, and she had spent hours doing just that. Usually Dad was her main building companion, but secretly Phoebe was the person Lucy liked building legos with the most. She had a creative and interesting mind, and she always thought of such funny and weird things to build. Today they were making a robot that would pick things up with its claws, though Lucy thought she might have to use her imagination for that bit. "Those bits are the buttons on it, and then you press them and the robot does things." She explained, pretending to press the buttons as she did. Lucy had no sooner "pressed" a button, however, than the wobbly robot gave a mighty sway and toppled over, pieces scattering everywhere. Lucy whimpered in surprise and felt tears spring to her eyes, looking at all the scattered remains of their hard work. She looked up at her big sister hopefully, waving her hand in a gesture to demonstrate. "Can you fix it?" She asked, pretending she was holding a wand of her own.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

It was still strange sometimes, how quickly Lucy was growing up. Phoebe still distinctly remembered her as a baby, a pink, wiggling, crying thing that had frankly intimidated her a bit. Now she was six, which felt like it had happened in a flash. It was always fun to watch her youngest sister and hang out with her, Lucy was always surprising and it never got boring. Phoebe wondered how different it was for her to grow up with sisters so much older than her. All of Phoebe's childhood memories were with her sisters around the same age as her, she couldn't imagine not having three other girls hanging around at all times. She tried to make up for it by being extra cool now, though she wasn't nearly as good at it as Charlie was. It made her feel fond, seeing Lucy play with the toy Charlie had given her. Building with legos was fun, and Phoebe enjoyed seeing what they could come up with together. The robot they had been making was pretty cool, and Phoebe nodded along with Lucy's explanation. "Right, what kind of things?" She asked, wondering what she would come up with. But as Lucy tried to press the button, the robot fell over and fell apart the pieces scattering. Phoebe smiled slightly when Lucy asked if she could fix it. "I'm sure we can fix it together." She told her, grabbing her wand. With a wave of her wand, the lego pieces all flew back together, the robot assembling again in three separate pieces. The legs, the upper body, and the head. "You have to do the last part yourself." She told Lucy. "Then we can see what we can make the robot do."

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy's tears dissolved quickly as she watched the robot reassemble itself with a quick wave of Phoebe's wand. She looked up at her sister with an awestruck smile, quietly wishing she could have a wand of her own. She knew she would get one when she went to Hogwarts, but that felt like it would take forever. Looking back at the robot, Lucy nodded quickly at Phoebe's instruction, gripping the pieces and quickly reassembling them. For a moment she had considered putting the robot's head on its butt instead as a joke, but there weren't any connectors in the right place, so she settled for reassembling it correctly, setting the robot down carefully once she was done. "Done!" Lucy said cheerfully, looking back up at Phoebe. "If it got good at grabbing things, I think it could sneak into the kitchen and steal the ice cream!" Lucy announced, the idea coming to her at once. Sure, it was chilly in the middle of winter, but there was never a bad time for ice cream.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe had to admit that the look of admiration on Lucy's face was pretty gratifying. She loved impressing her younger sister with her magic, especially as she knew she only could for a few more years until Lucy was going to learn magic of her own. Phoebe nodded in approval when Lucy put the robot together again. Her eyebrows raised slightly at her next suggestion. "Is it a robot made for stealing then?" She asked her sister, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "If it is, we have to be stealthy and careful..."

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy giggled when Phoebe asked if the robot was made for stealing, shaking her head immediately. "No! It's a robot made for making sandwiches, but she couldn't eat the sandwiches because she's a robot, so she decided to do crime instead." She explained seriously, carefully moving the robot's arms as she spoke. "So I think she could go and steal some ice cream and maybe robots can eat that! Or we could help her with it." She explained, thinking that maybe liquidy things would be easier for robots to eat than sandwiches. And much yummier for her to eat. She nodded when Phoebe said they had to be careful, though she didn't know what the other word her sister had used meant. Lucy secretly sometimes thought Phoebe was the cleverest person she knew, she definitely knew a lot of clever words. "And sneaky!" Lucy added, wanting to get her own suggestion in there and be clever like Phoebe. "Sssssssh." Lucy added, though she had spoken much louder than Phoebe had.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe nodded when Lucy explained her logic about the robot. She loved hearing how her mind worked, even if she couldn't always follow it. "Crime's a decent alternative." She commented, glad her parents weren't in the room as she wasn't sure they would approve of that message. Phoebe smiled. "Maybe we can share the ice cream with the robot." She told her. She smiled slightly when Lucy said they had to be sneaky too. She clearly hadn't understood what Phoebe meant, but that was okay. Phoebe tended not to dumb down her words around Lucy, as she would learn most if Phoebe just talked the way she usually did. "Stealthy is another word for sneaky." She told her. "So yes, extra stealthy and sneaky." She smiled mischievously. "Let's go."

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy nodded when Phoebe agreed with the robot's backstory, glad that she was on board. Lucy liked making all of her sisters proud of her, but Phoebe was especially clever, and that made it feel special. "Yeah!" She said in excitement, trying to think of what ice cream might do to a robot. If it got all frozen... "And then if it got too cold it might turn into a penguin!" She explained in delight. Lucy listened seriously as Phoebe explained the word she had used, nodding as she filed it away to use later. If she kept listening to Phoebe maybe she could know that many words one day. "Yeah!" Lucy whispered loudly, walking the robot in front of her as she sneaked and stealthed towards the kitchen.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe nodded when Lucy said the ice cream might turn the robot cold enough to turn into a penguin. It made sense in some universe, Phoebe was sure. "Maybe." She said, wondering if she should transfigure the thing into a penguin to make Lucy happy. It would definitely help her score some cool points in her sister's eyes. She quietly followed Lucy, making a show out of tiptoeing sneakily. When they arrived at the kitchen, Phoebe opened the fridge. "What's your favorite flavor?" She asked Lucy, sure that her parents would have some stocked.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy was pleased when Phoebe took the sneaking seriously, making sure she was as stealthy as possible as she sneaked with her big sister and her sneaky robot into the kitchen. Mum and Dad were nowhere to be seen, and Lucy silently celebrated a successful mission as Phoebe opened the fridge. "Mint choc chip!" Lucy whispered in delight, deciding that Phoebe was definitely her favourite sister. Today, at least.

 

[Phoebe Holland]

Phoebe grinned at the young girl's choice, giving her a thumb's up. "Good taste, kiddo." She said, taking out the mint chocolate chip ice cream. She grabbed two bowls and scooped ice cream into both of them, adding a bit of whipped cream for good measure. If Lucy had a sugar high after this, it wouldn't be Phoebe's problem. Besides, her parents were used to having four kids running around, they could deal with a slightly more energetic Lucy. Phoebe sat down on the kitchen floor, patting the spot next to her. "Let's eat it here, for ultimate sneakiness." She said with a smile.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy bounced slightly on the balls of her feet as she waited for Phoebe to finish filling the bowls, lunging for one of them as soon as she was finished. "Thank you!" She added, remembering her manners before it was too late. She nodded at Phoebe's suggestion and wiggled onto the floor next to her, wasting no time in cramming her face full of ill-gotten ice cream. She knew Dad would be mad if he saw this, upset that she had spoiled her dinner, so the more she could eat as quickly as possible, the better.