Closed Family Night

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli had grown so accustomed to family dinner's at Monty's one to two times a month that they were barely even planned. Often she would just pack the kids up and take ingredients from their farm over. No matter how long the rive was seemed things were fairly happy for the family as they gathered once more at Grandpa Monty's for dinner.

Saveli arrived, grocery bags in one hand and locking the car with the other. She waited patiently for Reuben in the foyer as well, him running behind outside for one reason or another. "We're here." She called out once the other pair had arrived safely in the entryway of the house, smiling as she looked for Monty who was surely expecting them. "I brought some of our own roast to cook, thought it would be a nice change. And potatoes from the garden!" She said with a smile.

 

[Ainmere Pendleton]

Ainmere was so hungry her stomach was practically eating itself at this point. Breakfast seemed like it was ages away from now, and it was nearly noon and they hadn't even cooked anything - but Grandpa Monty would have snacks no doubt! He always had snacks. "come on dad, you're going so slow! Mom's already inside! They're gonna eat all the good snacks!" She whined, tugging at her father urging him to tie his shoes quicker so she could get somewhere with food.

Once he had tied his shoes was done and the girl could walk in with her father, she skipped to her grandpa's side. "Granddad!" She said excitedly, as if she hadn't just seen him a few weeks ago. "Do you have any peppermints, mum and dad have been starving me!" She whined dramatically.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

If Reuben tied his shoelaces any faster, he was going to get blisters. He pulled himself upright, wincing as his back clicked, and grabbed his wand. These kids were ageing him prematurely, there was no doubt about it. Or maybe he was actually just getting old, for real. Ainmere was almost old enough to go to Hogwarts, for Merlin's sake!

He hurried up the front path. Saveli had already gone inside with Rion, who was attempting to slide out of her mother's grip. "Hi, Monty!" Reuben said, slipping off his shoes. "How are you? Sorry we're kinda late, got stuck in traffic." Even after all these years, Reuben felt a little nervous around Saveli's dad. He'd known Reuben since he was an annoying little eleven-year-old, and somehow, Reuben still felt as though he needed to prove he'd changed, that he was now a mature man, a good husband to his daughter, a good father to his grandkids. He'd probably never stop trying.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Perhaps it was because Rion hadn't slept very well the night before, but today the car journey was particularly disorientating, and she arrived unsure whether she felt more like lying down or throwing up. She let go of her mum's hand to rub her eyes. Oh, no! This would mean Ainmere got to eat all of the best snacks. Grandpa Monty always left little bowls of nibbles scattered around the place before tea, and Rion didn't feel like eating any of them. It was so unfair.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Until Ainmere and Rion had been born, Monty had never imagined the words 'family dinner' would induce in him anything besides anxiety. Growing up, meals had been a tense affair, forced, wrought with the fear of knocking something over or speaking out of place. His stepfather didn't need a great motivation in order to berate him; any trivial one would do. It had been awful at the time, of course, but it was even more upsetting now that Ainmere was the same age he had been when the verbal abuse began. She was so small. Monty would have relived every moment of it before he said a single unkind word to his grandchildren. He would make sure, to them, the words 'family dinner' had a place only in their fondest memories.

He was busying himself in the kitchen with dessert when Saveli arrived. Drying his hands on a towel, he went out into the hall. "Oh, how kind of you," he said, offering to take the heavy bags. "Thank you. That's wonderful. Hello, Rion. Where's-" A loud crack interrupted as Reuben and Ainmere appeared by the front door. At once the house flourished with all the chatter, humour, and excitement that his family invariably brought with them, and which heartened him in ways unparalleled. "Starving you? Have they? I suppose there might be some peppermints in the living room - you'll have to go and find out." He had turned the television on to keep the children occupied before tea - although Rion didn't look as if she felt like watching TV at present. She had been growing out of car sickness, but Monty still kept a bed made in the spare room in case she wanted to lie down when she arrived. He suggested this now, and then, when Rion had gone upstairs, he took the food into the kitchen to see what Saveli and Reuben had brought.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli didn't argue much that Monty spoiled the girl's, in fact she rather cherished the fact. Saveli had had a rough time growing up so to see her children lack those experiences was heart warming at the least. She gave a small side eye to her daughter who claimed she was being starved, and tugged gently at her ginger locks. "You want to starve? I'll make you hunt your own food next time, lass." She said jokingly. Knowing full well she wouldn't do such a thing.

Once the girls had given Monty a hug and gone off to do their own thing, she entered the kitchen with Monty and Reuben for some grown up talk. "This was one of two summer's ago calves, grew quite large, I'm happy with the turn out. Could feed our family for a month." She exaggerated only slightly. "And I brought some potatoes, and carrots, figured we'd through it all in a pot and have it cook as a roast and I brought some green beans to make for the side if you'd like some. Oh and this!" She pulled from the bottom a homemade pie, pumpkin in flavor.

 

[Ainmere Pendleton]

Ainmere scrunched her nose up at her mom. "Bet I could hunt just fine!" She sneered with her tongue stuck out. The girl searched the house for some sweets with a grin on her face, her missing front tooth a trademark of hers since the previous Wednesday. It was one of her few baby teeth that had been left behind, this one knocked out by a girl in her grade after a scrap she'd gotten into - she was surprised Grandpa Monty hadn't said anything to her, she bet he'd be proud she won that fight. Once she had some sweets, enough for her sister when she felt better, she went upstairs to join her.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben fought an instinct to follow the girls upstairs, and then an instinct to disappear into the living room. Logically, he knew he wasn't intruding on Monty, but he couldn't entirely shake the feeling that he was. After a moment's hesitation he followed Saveli into the kitchen. He had nothing much to contribute - Saveli had prepared all of the food herself - but he was determined to make himself useful somehow. "If you need any help, I can, uh... peel stuff?" he offered. "Or I can just provide moral support, I mean, stand here and look gorgeous. I'm really good at that. Just direct me."

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Saveli had gone to far too much effort. She knew Monty had plenty of food for everybody, but she seemed to enjoy providing her own from the farm, and it was only for this reason that he did not protest her bringing so much. He suspected that she liked to feel as though she was helping him. Bringing herself and her family over for dinner almost every weekend was the only gift he needed, but he did not tell her that.

"Ooh, pumpkin?" he said. "That looks incredible. I taught you well." He pressed his lips together to hold shut his smile. He had never taught Saveli to cook a pie in her life. Wherever she had learned to cook, it wasn't from Monty. His culinary skills were, on a scale of fire hazard to Michelin restaurant, somewhere a little above Ava's and quite a long way below Saveli's. He turned to Reuben and laughed. "I'm sure you can peel potatoes and look gorgeous at the same time, Reuben. Or perhaps you could do the drinks?" There were a selection of glass bottles on the counter: elderflower, ginger, and dandelion and burdock for them, and lemonade for the youngsters. Monty didn't mind if Reuben helped at all; it was just nice to spend time with him and Saveli together.

Soon enough the kitchen smelled of roast beef, rosemary, and carrots. They used magic to cook the pot partially, and then left it in the oven to finish while the girls were upstairs. Then they went into the living room, where the television was quietly playing re-runs of an old sitcom, and settled down on the sofas. "I bought an 'escape the room' game to play after dinner, if you think the girls would enjoy it. How are they getting on at school, anyway? How are you? I don't think I've asked."

All godmodding approved

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli knew that she wasn’t required to ever bring anything to Monty’s. He was happy to spen time with her, nd she was happy to spend time wit him. However, she always wanted to provide as much as she could for him because he had given her so much growing up. If the former Sytherin were honest, she felt like she’d never be able to repay Monty fo everything he’d done for her - but she could definitely try.

Laughing at Monty’s one about teaching her, Saveli began to set everything out and start the cooking process. The kids were very good at entertaining themselves at this age and for the most part didn’t need anything from the adults at they cooked and talked. Now seated in Monty’s living room, a glass of wine in hand, Saveli smiled. It was so relaxing to be in his home.

”They’d love it. Rion seems to really love using her brains, I think she’ll be a fine Ravenclaw just lie her grandpa.“ Saveli remarked with a smile. “They have been doing okay in school. Ainmere got into another scuffle recently unfortunately. She’s not much for leaving bullying up to authorities. Other than that classes are well.“ She sipped her wine. “What about you, what have you been up to?”

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty blushed. Rion, a Ravenclaw... He couldn't pretend the idea didn't fill him with joy. But she would do any house proud. "Oh?" he said. Ainmere was heading further and further in the direction of a Gryffindor. It was curious how different the girls were, in spite of being born eighteen months apart. "Did she get into trouble?" He did worry about that one, though he knew it wasn't his place to intervene. "Oh, er - I'm building a clock, actually. Well, it's not very exciting. I used to build all sorts of magical clocks, years ago, but the few I kept were destroyed in the fire, and I got discouraged. I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Perhaps one day I could build one for you - if you'd like me to."

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, home for a few days on a suspension." Saveli felt a heat in her cheeks of embarrassment over her daughters behavior, but she knew that Ainmere meant well. It was just trying to convince her that she needed to control those impulses. "A clock? I would love that, I know exactly where it could go in our entryway!" She said with a smile, glancing at her husband. She was quite pleased to just sit and talk about nothing with her family like this. "Have you considered going back to teaching at the school. When I told the girls you taught me they got awful jealous that grandpa Monty wasn't their teacher you know."