Closed Holidays at Home

[Alice Briar]

Alice was a bit nervous about having Elliot over, but she was excited as well. As tiring as her family sometimes was, she really did love them and wanted them to meet Elliot. The boy had been a bit nervous about it all, probably both because of her mother and her sister Diana, but she hoped that she could reassure him. She also hoped Diana wouldn't be too annoying, though that was a slim hope. Alice had welcomed Elliot when he had arrived and given him a tour of their home. She'd shown off her father's greenhouse, as well as her own bedroom. Though she made sure to keep the door open to avoid any awkward questions or jokes from her family. When it was time for dinner, Alice quickly pecked him on the cheek before taking his hand. "I'll hex Diana if she bugs you too much." She told him as she lead him through to the dining room. Then she sat down, making sure Elliot could sit next to her. She smiled at her parents. "It smells great, dad." She said, looking over at the food curiously.

 

[Elliot Briar]

There was no getting around that Elliot was worried about this. He'd spent longer than he wanted to admit agonizing if he should wear a tie or not, only giving up on it when he realized he'd run out of time to deliberate and was going to be late if he didn't leave immediately. Be late for being early. But still. He was glad Alice took the lead when he got there, trailing around after her as she showed him around. Her dad's greenhouse was especially impressive and Elliot hoped maybe that would be an easy topic to talk about if he needed to fall back on it at dinner. Alice's room was also a different sort of interesting, something weirdly personal about actually getting to hang out in a space that was all her own. Door open, of course.

Sitting at the dining table, Elliot let his hand linger in Alice's as they got settled, wondering how long he could hold onto it under the table under the guide of moral support before they both needed two hands for other things. He could probably play off eating with just the fork for awhile by being American, but Alice didn't have that excuse. "It does, and uh, thank you again for having me," Elliot said to Alice's parents, hoping he was coming across as sincere. He could swear he could feel Diana's eyes on him looking for any sign of weakness, even with Alice's reassurance and the certain he was probably imagining it.

 

[James Holland]

However many times it happened, James didn't know if he would ever get used to meeting his daughters' significant others. Especially not now. Alice, who had been his little girl for so long, now Head Girl, mere months away from her graduation. Lucy was settled in the same high chair her older sisters had all once sat in, and it boggled James' mind, how quickly his older daughters had grown into mature, capable young women, finding love and beginning their adult lives.

If James thought about his daughters for too long it brought a tear to his eye, so having dinner to focuss on was a welcome relief. "Thank you. All the vegetables are from the garden, of course." He added, removing the lid from the casserole he had made as the main affair, though the table was well-laden with several other side dishes for people to pick from as they pleased. "Help yourselves!" He said happily, standing up slightly to cut a small portion for Lucy. "So Elliot, any plans for after Hogwarts?" He added, curious about the young man his daughter had found companionship with.

 

[Lucy Holland]

Lucy liked when her big sisters came home to visit. She would get lots of cuddles and kisses, and sometimes presents! And Dad always made a big dessert for after dinner, which was always yum. Today Alice had brought a friend for dinner too, and Mum and Dad seemed happy, but Lucy didn't know what to think about this stranger yet. Alice was spending lots of time with him, and Lucy wanted that time too. But now they were all together, and Dad had given her a big slice of... something. Lucy grabbed a fistful of the warm food curiously and shoved it in her mouth, face falling as she tasted it. "Yucky." Lucy announced firmly as she pulled the fistful of unpleasant food back out of her mouth, most of it dripping back onto the tray of her high chair. "You wan dis?" She asked Alice's friend, holding out a slimy fist full of mashed up spitty food towards the boy.

 

[Diana Hollis]

Diana had honestly expected not Elliot and Alice to last, and it was a bit frustrating to her that they had. Alice always seemed to have everything go so perfectly, and even her Hogwarts relationship seemed to be pretty much perfect. Besides the fact that Elliot still seemed a bit like a weak-willed dweeb to Diana, but that was besides the point. Of course their parents were completely charmed by him, but Diana still wasn't convinced he was good enough for her sister. She rolled her eyes when her dad couldn't resist reminding them all that the vegetables were from his garden, but mostly watched Elliot closely as she took a bite from her food. Dad's question was one she was curious about too, but Diana couldn't stop herself from commenting before he could answer. "Well, he has a year to go before graduating, unlike Alice." Diana said pointedly. "He has some time to think about it and explore his options, in all areas." She looked at Elliot and raised her eyebrows a little. "It's not that easy to date while one of you is at Hogwarts, you know." She added lightly.

 

[Claudia Holland]

Claudia wasn't sure if she would ever get used to meeting her daughters' significant others, even though Phoebe was now living with her girlfriend it was still hard to remember sometimes that almost all of her children were adults with their own love life. Lucy was thankfully still years away from any of that, but all four of her other daughters had brought home a person or two. Even Alice now, who had been her baby for so long. It didn't surprise Claudia that the sort of boy Alice would date was someone kind and easygoing, at least from what she had heard so far. It seemed to Claudia like Alice's boyfriend was a good match for her, and she was happy to have him over for dinner. He thanked them for having him over, and Claudia smiled at the boy. She got the feeling he was a bit nervous because of her presence, and couldn't really fault him for that. But she hoped she could reassure him and make him feel at ease. Especially if he and Alice continued to be serious. Claudia grabbed some of the food and smiled at her husband, then listened curiously as he asked Elliot a question. Claudia frowned at Lucy as she offered Elliot her own half-chewed food, and reached over with her wand to clean up the mess she was making. "No, Lucy. That's your food." She told her youngest daughter. "Elliot has his own, see?" She pointed at his own plate. Then Diana made her frown as well, and she looked at her daughter. "Oh, but Phoebe and Charlie made that work, as did you and Cole, remember?" She asked her, both cheerful and pointedly. "I'm sure they'll be just fine."

 

[Alice Briar]

Alice made sure to sit next to Elliot and squeezed his hand as they sat down. She knew this was going to be tough on him, as her family was very curious and there were many of them. She was glad she had picked a day neither Rose or Phoebe were visiting at least, to make it a little less overwhelming for Elliot. But Diana was usually there, so there was no planning around her. Alice took some of the casserole and started to eat, glancing at Elliot with a reassuring smile as her dad asked a question. At Lucy's antics she couldn't help giggling a bit, but Diana just annoyed her Her mother already cut her off a bit, but Alice couldn't just keep quiet. She put on a bright, sunny smile. "Thanks for worrying about us, Diana. But it is not necessary." She said brightly. "Especially when you still have so much of your own to figure out."

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot was quietly impressed that Alice’s dad was clearly a good herbologist, though it did make his next question feel somewhat daunting to answer. He was almost relieved when Alice’s youngest sister held out the glob of food to him, grateful for the time to think of a way to word his answer that wouldn’t make him sound like an idiot. “Oh uh. Thanks, Lucy, that’s very sweet of you,” He said, glad when Mrs Holland politely deterred Lucy from insisting. At least there was one of Alice's sisters he wasn’t totally scared of interacting with.

He was less lucky with Diana, who hadn’t lost her knack for barbed comments in her time away from school. “My family lives in the States so I’m uh. Fairly used to the long distance thing at least, ” Elliot offered, aware that he was skirting dangerously close to what was clearly some sisterly squabble he probably didn’t want to step foot in. “But uh, to answer your question, Mr Holland, I’ve been learning a lot about wandlore and I think it might be something I’d like to... Pursue.” Elliot had been mulling the idea for awhile, working at Ollivander’s had definitely sparked the interest, but this was really the first time he’d really shared that idea so succinctly. For now, Elliot was just relieved he had an answer, or least a better one than admitting he was probably going to work in a shop for awhile and read a lot of books before he could really call anything a career.