One Last Call

[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia was glad the term was finally over, she was heading home the next day and the young girl was looking forward to it. She really was, she was looking forward to seeing her brother, to seeing her parents and everything. While Lydia truly did love Hogwarts, she also missed going home, she missed hanging out with her family and spending time with them. They were her family after all, and she missed them when she spent all of her time here at the school. She was looking forward to spending the holidays with them. She was looking forward to being able to just relax and not have to worry about what homework was still to do. She'd done fairly well during the semester, she was pretty proud of herself for all of that. She was sure she could do better, but that didn't matter, the term was ending and that was all that she could do. She knew her family would be proud of her, that and she was on the quidditch team, and she hoped that would make her brother proud. But she had one thing that she still needed to do before she got packed away and ready to leave, her family had given her the task of asking her cousin Stefan round for Christmas dinner, they'd asked Ailsa's family to come round, and she had said she would ask Stefan.

So, there the girl was, heading towards the library, looking forward to all the holidays might bring. Knowing that it would be great fun, she couldn't wait to open all the presents on Christmas day and she was looking forward to helping her parents with cooking and decorations. She knew her brother had moved out, but she knew he would be spending all of the holiday with them. She stepped into the library it was a short walk from the Hufflepuff dorm, and after a brief conversation with one of the other librarians, she made her way towards the area that she had been told her cousin was in. It was quiet, few students were in the room, since clearly it was the end of the semester. Lydia finally spotted her cousin, "Stefan!" she called before running over to him, and going straight in for the hug. Lydia was a fairly small girl, she wasn't tall, much like how her brother had been at that age, so it was easy despite the fact the Lydia was 12 for her cousin to lift her off the ground and return the hug.
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[Stefan Archer]

Stefan was happily keeping himself busy, things in his life were not simple, not that they had ever been simple, but it was always something keeping them complicated, and Stefan was beginning to realise that he needed to start seeing someone about everything that had happened to him in his childhood, it was all good really, he was doing well, but Stefan still had nightmares and flashbacks, occasionally he still had days when he didn't want to get out of bed. There were still bad days, but he pushed through them like he did with everything else, but he needed to deal with them better, rather than just letting them boil over and saying that things will be fine, when they very often weren't. He was doing better than he'd ever been doing in his life, and he wanted to continue to heal and this meant he needed to start seeing one. He was just now debating whether it should be a magical person or a muggle person, he was thinking magical, just because of the stuff involving magic, he didn't think it would work as well trying to talk about a private school without talking about the magic, so he was pretty certain that magic was the way to go in this. However, he was nervous about it, Stefan hadn't really been good about talking about it, and he doubted he would be now.

As he continued to work in the nice silence of the library the man, was just putting the books on the shelves, he knew he could use magic for this, but Stefan enjoyed just being able to do it manually, he liked being able to do it by hand. He liked the work, and he liked taking his mind off things that would otherwise stress him out. Stefan was startled out of his work daze when a voice called his name, he turned round just in time to see his younger cousin wrap her arms around him in a hug. Stefan laughed slightly at this and then wrapped his arms around her back, lifting her off the ground and hugging her tightly, he pulled away from the hug and adjusted Lydia so that he was holding her, and she was balanced on his hip, "Hey little sis, good to see you," His aunt and uncle had encouraged him to call Tybalt and Lydia brother and sister, just a way of bringing him more into the family, they would never be parents but they were closest thing Stefan would ever come to real parents. He bent down and picked up a book, placing Lydia down on the table before putting it away on the shelf, "To what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked her brightly, smiling at her, she came round to visit fairly often and he was always happy to see her, but he was a little curious why she wasn't busy packing up to leave Hogwarts for the holidays.
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[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia was always happy to spend time with her cousin, and she was always happy to help him out during her visits to him. She had gained a brother through him, and she was always thankful of that, Lydia allowed herself to be placed on the table, and watched him place the books on the shelves, she picked up some of the books that were in front of her and handed them to him as he continued to place them up on the shelf. Lydia grinned happily at his question, "Mum wants to invite you and Kate over for Christmas this year," She told him happily, after all the years they had known each other, most of the christmases they'd spent at Stefan and Kate's place, this was one of the first times they were having it in her parents home. She liked spending time at her cousin's house, he had all the space in the garden which they hadn't had growing up, and now that her family had a large house for themselves with a garden protected by magic she liked her own home just as much. It was easy to when there was all the space that she needed to practice, so Lydia like the rest of her family was looking forward to hosting christmas at theirs.

Lydia held out more books to him, "The parents have invited my other cousin's family, Ailsa's family, so they wanted me to tell you that before you make a decision," She was essentially repeating what her parents had told her to say, she didn't know why it was necessary for her cousin to know that there would be more people than normal attending this christmas celebration, but she had been told to do it, so she did. Lydia was really hoping that they would come, she really loved spending time with them, and Christmas was a time for family, all parts of it. Because of Lydia she'd already introduced her cousin to her other cousin, so she assumed that it would all be fine. Lydia grinned slightly at him, while holding the books for him to take, "I really hope you can come!" She told him excitedly, knowing that her saying that would likely do nothing to help him be able to come, but it made her feel better about it. Lydia got herself down from the table and then began to just help him place the books away on the shelves, "Couldn't you just do this with magic?" She asked as she bent down to place one of the books in it's place on the bottom shelf, wondering why her cousin didn't just use magic to do this, when it would be so much simpler and quicker.
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[Stefan Archer]

Stefan hadn't been expecting the invite from his aunt and uncle, he hadn't really decided whether he and Kate might host something this year as they usually did, but he was actually fairly flattered by the invite. He smiled at his little cousin brightly, knowing that he couldn't make the decision there and then, he had to talk to Kate about it, but smiling his thanks at the invitation. He had to see what she said about it, they did usually spend it with his family, but they were a couple, they were married, so it made sense and was the most logical thing that he talk to her before he made any major decisions they were in this together. They would always be in this together, or at the very least Stefan hoped they would be. He gave his cousin a non-committal shrug as she continued on, talking about who else had been invited, which didn't surprise Stefan in the slightest really. He'd met Ailsa on a few occasions, and knew that her sister was coming to the school come the next term, he liked Ailsa and he was sure he'd like her sister, the brother he hadn't met before but from what he'd heard from Tybalt he too was an alright guy. Stefan couldn't help but smile at this, he couldn't believe all the people he was suddenly surrounded by.

Stefan took the books from her, placing them on the shelves where they were supposed to be and smiled his thanks at her, "Thanks for the offer Lydia, thank your parents too but, I'll have to talk to Kate about it first before I give you a reply," he told her with a smile. He hoped they would be able to come, he loved spending time with them, but Stefan knew that he would have as much fun if they in the end decided to just have christmas alone or with her family. In any of the situations he knew he would be happy and he was just thankful to be surrounded by those he loved at a time of the year which was usually pretty hard for Stefan. He grinned slightly at her, taking more books from his cousin, just laughing lightly at her in a friendly manner of course, "Not everything needs to be done with magic, I like doing this by hand. It's as rewarding," Stefan told her honestly, "And between you and me, it was either do this slowly or just sit around all day. The library gets unsurprisingly quiet without all the students running around," Stefan had always found this time of year a little boring in the library, too few students stayed, so they didn't have much to do, it was definitely more dull, there was more sitting around, doing things slowly, which was why he was very glad for Lydia's company or really for any company.
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[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia had been raised around magic, though her father was not of magical blood, because of their life in New Zealand, a lot more magic had been involved in her childhood, most of the things she could do at Hogwarts with magic she did. It was just part of the enjoyment and wonders of being of magical blood, of being able to do it, but with her cousin, she just nodded at his words, not everything needed to be done with magic, that much she could understand, she just didn't understand until he continued, she refused to believe that it was as rewarding, when it was busy she knew that doing magic might really help things, might make it easier, so now that it was quiet, with few students left with books, she knew that it was probably better to fill the time with just packing the books away by hand, so the girl was more than happy to give him the small hand that she was doing. Without magic, though Lydia would've thought it would take half the time that it was if she just whipped out her wand and did it like that. Lydia neared the end of the pile before turning back to her cousin, he was different to the rest of her family.

Lydia didn't know much about him really, just what they'd talked about. She'd been left out of many a hushed conversation which she knew had been about her cousin. Not that Lydia had minded at the time, but she wanted to get to know him better. Since they were family, and she wanted a bond with him as close as Tybalt had with him. She just didn't know how to go about it really, Lydia was friendly, she was honest and caring but sometimes she just didn't know what to say when she really wanted something, "How come you were a Slytherin?" Lydia asked him, figuring it was as good a place to start, so far all of her family had been in different houses, he'd been a Slytherin, Tybalt a Gryffindor, in her mind she thought they had all been raised in a very similar fashion, so surely that meant they were so similar that they'd end up in the same house. The house system was interesting to say the least to her, she really enjoyed learning about it, and she figured the best place to start getting to know her cousin was in the house system, after all, most slytherins were painted as evil, sly and egotistical, and from her experience he was anything but that.
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[Stefan Archer]

Despite the fact that he didn't really need Lydia to help him, there wasn't much to really be done, he was always glad for the help that she was giving him, it was always nice to have someone give him a hand, especially when there wasn't much to do. It meant that conversation could be had, and he felt it would be good for him to talk to her. Stefan had found at this time of year, if left alone things weren't exactly good for him, his mind liked to remember all of those previous times, it liked to think back on times which were long gone now. He was always looking for distractions, even if they didn't seem like very good distractions, getting to know Lydia was definitely something he'd been meaning to do. He knew her well enough, but he wasn't as close to her as he was with Tybalt, or even with her parents. Stefan smiled at her, she seemed to take his answer and go with it, with two, the man was noticing it was going far more easily. He didn't need to spend much more time on it, he was sure. There were a couple of other piles to get to before they'd be done, but it was a start.

Once that pile was done, Stefan motioned for Lydia to follow him, but stopped when she asked her question. He gave a little sigh and then did walk towards the next pile of books in the library, motioning for her to follow. Once they were at the new pile, Stefan picked up the first few and then glanced at Lydia, "I'm not sure why, I know I can be a little selfish occasionally, I know there are times where I'll think about myself first," Stefan shrugged slightly, "Perhaps now, as an adult, I wouldn't be sorted into Slytherin, but as a first year, I was always lying, getting my way, making sure I came out best, life unchanged. I was probably never particularly evil, but slytherin's aren't just the bad guys. I had a great time, it was the perfect house for me while I was at school," Stefan gave her a smile, hoping that had satisfied her in terms of an answer. He wondered why she had asked such a thing, and knew that of all of his family, she knew the least about what had happened to him as a child, so perhaps that was why she was curious, Stefan really didn't know. However, he decided to turn the question back to her, as he began putting the books away, "How come you are a Hufflepuff?"
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[Lydia Warrick]

Lydia Archer hadn't known what to expect as an answer, she had always thought that he was the furtherest thing from a Slytherin, but admittedly she didn't know him that well, and Tybalt had always just said that it was wrong to question the hat, that if Stefan had been a slytherin, then he had been a slytherin, obviously Lydia thought her brother just believed very firmly in the house system and wasn't the type to ever question it, so she had been interested to hear what Stefan might say on the issue. She just followed him to the next area, and then there too began helping his cousin put away the books as he explained to her what he believed had made him a Slytherin, conversation with him was easy, it was easy to listen to what he was saying and work along side him. There was nothing complicated, she didn't really have to give it much thought, it happened with ease. She doubted what he was saying was true, honestly believing that he wasn't selfish, but she found herself agreeing that perhaps he had been like when she hadn't known him, in the time in first, or second year. She hadn't known he existed back then, so it wasn't like she could really say if that part was true or not.

As the question was obviously returned to her she stopped what she was doing and began thinking about it. She had always loved being in Hufflepuff, it never got too good a reputation because people viewed it in a certain way, but Lydia loved it. She truly did love it. It was a good house, it was fun and the people in it, the ones she'd met were always so nice and welcoming to her. She hadn't had one issue in the house, and she really did feel like she belonged in it, "I didn't really see myself as one, but I do now, I'm hardworking, and I'm loyal, I know that, but I also try to be kind and caring, inclusive and just good, you know?" Lydia said to him with a small shrug, she didn't think she would've been suited to any of the other houses now that she had spent time in Hufflepuff, she had previously thought she'd just end up in Gryffindor like her brother, but she was happier that she had not. Lydia preferred Hufflepuff than she would've liked Gryffindor had she ended up there, that house while good would've definitely meant she'd be living in the shadow of her brother for most of her school career, "Kate was a Hufflepuff too right?" she asked, looking for confirmation more than anything, "You think if you guys ever had kids that they might be half slytherin, half hufflepuff?" Lydia was slightly more interested in houses because of her age, but she more referencing the fact that the sorting hat may have difficulties because of the two somewhat conflicting houses.
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[Stefan Archer]

It was always nice to be working along side someone else, to not have to worry about making conversation last or awkward silences. Of all the people that Stefan knew at Hogwarts he was glad that Lydia had taken the time out to spend some time with him. While she was family, and it made it a little more obvious that she might spend time with him, but it was still nice she was someone he liked spending time with, so it made sense. Stefan smiled happily at her, as she appeared to take on what he'd said with little question, he figured that she was just very curious about things, and he didn't really blame her, so he just listened along as she explained why she believed she was a hufflepuff, Stefan understood now as an adult that while the school house system was definitely good in the running of the school, it did not translate in real life. Aside from those who believed in the blood differences between different people within the magical community, but that was really it. He wasn't always asking people what house they'd been in, because it didn't really matter, but, he still listened along, nodding in all the right points as she talked about herself in terms of being a hufflepuff.

As she continued, Stefan couldn't help but laugh lightly at her words, it was funny to think that she might believe that, Stefan had no idea if they would have any children, of course he sort of wanted them, and he was sure that Kate wanted children, but then again, he didn't really know if he could ever be a father, not with his experiences of his own father, and the foster father. He didn't know if he would be like his uncle or like them. He didn't ever want to put his own children through the kind of hell he had suffered and while he was persuaded that he would never ever hit any of them, the back of his mind nagged that he would turn out just like his father. But he shook his head slightly, shaking those thoughts as much as he could, "Or they might be Gryffindors or Ravenclaws, we don't know yet," he told her, since obviously they had no plans for kids in the immediate future, "Wherever they end up, should they ever exist, I'll be happy," he told her assuredly, he was certain of that fact. He placed a few more books in their places as a small silence took over, "How was your semester?" he asked her with a small smile, wanting to hear more about her and the term she'd had.
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