The holiday had, so far, not been much of a holiday. For Tapendra, anyway – the kids seemed to be enjoying themselves, and the house was stuffed full of their laughter, yelling, and their trash. He felt rather a slave to the kitchen, the sheer number of children having decimated any chance for leftovers and already cutting a locust-like swathe through the groceries he’d bought the morning after they’d come home.

Therefore Tapendra was swiftly taking to enjoying the quiet moments when he did get them, and the quiet hour of 10am seemed to be it – the kids were up and had finally finished breakfast, Cyhirae and Georgiana retreating upstairs with their friends and Sasha desperately revising for his upcoming GCSEs in the living room. He’d gathered the post and retreated into his office, a cup of coffee on his desk and a bit of toast sitting next to it. No plate, naturally.

He was sorting through his post in his usual manner – I.e., very quickly – when the Hogwarts logo appeared. He paused, frowning, and turned the letter around. There was a certain metal weight to it, and as his fingers traced the lump in the parchment envelope, he knew what it contained. It didn’t seem that long ago that he’d held an all but identical envelope himself, and had opened it to find his Prefect badge.

The difference here was who it was addressed to. Georgiana was many things, but a Prefect she was not. He stared at the envelope in silence for a few long moments, wondering with a sinking heart if there was some sort of mistake. He was rather proud of his sister’s success in school…a pride that came despite her own apparent annoyance with that fact. But she had taken the path of being generally unpleasant, these last few years – making her selection quite the surprise.

Well – she’d have to find out sooner or later. He stood from his office chair, walking to the small door that led to the office – sticking his head out and turning his body so his voice projected up the stairwell much more effectively.

“GEORGIANA! Something for you down here!” He called.

Tapendra had good timing, for once. Gigi'd just finished up an instance of Violet Hold-one of the ones where her group sat around waiting for more mobs to spawn in between waves-when his voice came ringing up the stairs. "WHAT?" Was her first response, as she scrambled out of her chair and speeding downstairs.

Something which made a bit of a clunk as she went. Wasn't long before she popped her head into Tappy's office, her expression somewhere between annoyed and curious. "What's up?" Tried to look around, see whatever had gotten him worked up. Just looked like mail from there.

"Just finished a heroic. You're lucky, no one went noob so it was short." Usually seemed like she got yelled away when she was halfway though raiding hardmodes or just in the middle of an intense 3s arena match. "Luthas write me back yet or something?"

“Went noob?” Tapendra’s momentary break in his serious expression echoed his thoughts – since whence was that a verb? But he shook his head, looking at her and away from the letter with a manner that rather indicated his line of thought, too. English, girl! It was the language they were supposed to be speaking. In theory.

“No, not that,” he said, looking at the letter and turning it over again. “This is from the school.”

The five words no child wanted their parental figure saying while holding an envelope, certainly. Not that he’d ever heard them, really.

He crossed to his desk again, sitting in the office chair with a thud that made the small black chair sag. He gestured with his head for her to close the door behind her, and then handed the envelope to her – a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Apparently your grades were better than  you thought.”

"Yeah, no one stood in fire or tried to mage-tank." Seemed that Tapendra had lost his context-cue skill or something. Not that she thought on it too much once he gave her the envelope.

The extra weight in it was obvious, but she couldn't figure out what it was til she pulled the badge out. "Oh, the Monarchy's going to love this." She turned the badge over in her fingers, smirking. This was rather...oh, wait.

She stared at her brother for a moment. "Guess they were." Defense she did well in, sure. And with her project Creatures had been easy, Muggle Studies had let her talk about Halo for her midterm, Runes, well, it seemed more exciting after Egypt. Charms midterm had been simple enough, barring Kesali being Kesali. Potions, eh, nothing particular there but...fuck. "You'll be wanting all Os now, huh?" That took some of the fun off it. Made her look down for a second and frown.

Not all of it, though. And though she wouldn't admit it, was kind of good to see Tappy smiling at her over something. Even if it was just over school. She tapped her fingers against the badge, then pinned it next to the stick figure on her shirt. "Surprised you didn't have a heart attack when you got it."

Tapendra barely avoided blinking in surprise when Georgiana seemed happy about the development – well, not happy, persay, but…pleased, on some level. He gave in to his second instinct and grinned, genuinely happy for her – that annoying wiggling worm of worry still twisting in his stomach that this would turn out to be a clerical error and the badge wouldn’t be real.

“Wanting all Os? Of course,” he said, tone halfway joking – in that slightly sadistic way parents were so often capable of. He grinned, sitting back in his chair with his fingers up to his mouth. “You did really well this term and didn’t seem that stressed, yeah? You can keep it up, then. I’m sure.”

Tapendra avoided a fist pump and a ‘You can do it’, largely because he suspected she’d think he really was joking and because he’d probably lose an arm.

He gestured at the badge. “Over that? Never. I was surprised, though, yes.” He raised his eyebrows. “Aside from dramatically stomping out of classrooms, I was under the impression you try to fly under the radar, Professor-wise?”

Oblivious Tappy to the rescue! Not really. "Missed all the burns, huh?" Storm's extra practice sessions probably hadn't hurt either, but she didn't need her brother prying at those. "Fire crabs can be fun if you've got a lot of them." For a definition of fun that included burnt flesh and the occasional visit to the hospital hut.

"And what'd I want all Os for anyways? Make a hat out of the letters and wear it around school?" She moved her head enough to send her hair swinging back and forth, then shrugged. That wasn't much motivation. If she wanted a fun goal she'd go work on Ulduar mounts or something. "Not the all Os sort here." All Os was for people like Schlagenweit anyways. Who didn't have anything else but school and being dull going for them.

Though Tappy's last question made her smirk. "Guess nothing can hide my awesome if even they can see it. And it wasn't the stomping that was dramatic. Thought you'd be used to that by now."

The badge wasn't what she'd expected, either. But no need to think about that when she could be teasing her brother about it. Trolling Tapendra. Always a good source of fun.

Tapendra restrained the urge to roll his eyes, instead answering with a rather frank sort of humor. “An excellent point, Gigi,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “Having your pick of the job market is just so lame.”

Especially with the variety of jobs in the Wizarding world – or, rather, the lack thereof. Georgiana’s options outside of it were slim, too, since she’d shown no interest in keeping up her muggle schooling…and therefore, unlike Sasha, was not about to take her GCSEs. That certainly axed any real chance of working in the muggle world.

He raised an eyebrow at her, a slight smirk playing on his lips. He doubted she wasn’t the all Os short, really – she was clever enough, and certainly talented with her wand. It was a matter of motivation, in the end.

Tapendra settled into his chair, frowning in thought – glancing up when she spoke again. “Oh, the stomping out was pretty dramatic too, Gigi. I got a description.” Not that stomp-stomp-stomp-slam was an unusual sound to him.

He gestured at the badge, finally. “I’m glad they decided to recognize you,” he said, smiling again. “But you should know – full disclosure, here – that you do have the option to turn it down. Do you really want to be a Prefect?” He looked at her, searching her expression.

Tappy was annoying when he was right, but even that couldn't bust her mood. Gigi just shrugged again and flicked her tongue out at him. "Yeah, lame. Might wind up like you," she said, with no malice and maybe even some affection to it.

That smirk of his worried her, though. He'd be plotting something after this. Try to drag her full scale into respectable.

"The stomping? Thought the quill-snapping was more dramatic. Craaaack. Maybe that's why I got the badge, they wanted someone with a spine to make up for Trumble." She fingered the badge on her chest. Was it straight? Kind of hard to tell from that angle, and so she twisted her neck around trying to check.

"And why would I turn the damn thing down? Could use the breathing room with my House. It hasn't turned Almasy or Dodd into great lumps of boring, neither." Well, maybe it was on straight. She could sneak a glance in the mirror later. "Gets boring if you're wearing that disappointed look all the time, too." A grin and a wink. Couldn't let on about caring too much 'bout what he thought, just cause it was true didn't mean he needed to know.

"So yeah, I want it." She maintained a serious look for a sec, then leaned against the wall and smirked again. "Think I can get a tattoo to celebrate? Little one. Rogue icon or something."

Tapendra chuckled softly at her comeback, not one to mid good-natured ribbing. That description summed up his relationship with two of his best friends, after all, and several other friends he had besides. It was when the ribbing turned nasty that he minded, though in Georgiana’s case he had a simple enough weapon…the fact he paid her bills for her.

He bit his lip on a response to her spine comment – namely, that there was a difference between having a spine and beating everyone else with it – but instead he stayed silent as she continued, frowning ever so slightly. The frown was clearly one of worry, more than anything else.

“It takes up a lot of your time, though,” he explained, sitting back in the chair and resting his elbow on the computer desk. His monitor woke up as he accidently nudged the mouse, though nothing too interesting was on the screen. “Speaking from experience  - I nearly turned mine in, seventh year. Had a bit too much going on.”

There was a momentary flicker in his face, one that said, very clearly, that the girl sitting across from him had a lot to do with that.

He smiled, then, the sunny grin a sudden flash on features that had turned clouded for a moment. “But if you do want it – I’m glad. It’s a big responsibility, but nothing you can’t handle, yeah? And no,” he added, sunny expression and tone staying. “No tattoos til you’re 17.”

Gigi's expression turned a little dark at the mention of his seventh year troubles-namely, her. Well, it wouldn't have been trouble if her family hadn't been way too full on horrible people. "Don't think I have to worry 'bout that going on." Unless Azorma got out and her and Ignan-nope, giant pile of nope never slight urge to vomit. "And hey, have you for backup."

A comment which came out warmed than she intended, and so she scowled and crossed her arms together so he didn't get the right wrong impression.

"I can handle it, yeah. Not like they made me Ravenclaw Prefect and threw me at you dweebs." She held the smirk for a second, then burst out laughing. "Might even save time on Project Keep the Monarchy off my Ass." Prefects weren't as easy of targets, even ones like Trumble. "Gonna be a lot happening at my birthday party, then. Boys, tattoos, and seeing just how hard you can blush." A hand toyed with the badge again, felt odd to wear it. Still wasn't quite sure if it was straight. "Don't worry, not going to grade it on a scale of one to Sasha."

He smiled, warmly, her mask rather ineffectual against the man who’d raised her since she was a baby. The new goth look was, well, new – but some things never really changed, and the way she tried to hide emotion was one of them.
“I’d say being Ravenclaw Prefect would be easier,” he said, thoughtfully – not arguing with her, exactly, but discussing it as was his wont. “The Ravenclaws are well enough behaved, on the whole. Mostly they just study and paint and read and such.” It was why the incident with Graham and Harris had stunned him so much – how out of character for a Ravenclaw to be caught dueling and attacking another students! It still annoyed him deep down. “Unlike the Slytherins.”

Tapendra raised an eyebrow at her – tilting his head slightly. “The Monarchy, hm? You’ll have to let me know how that goes. They seem a bit…deluded as to how far their power goes.” He couldn’t help but think back to his conversations with Demetria.

He smirked, quirking an eyebrow at her mention of her birthday. “I don’t know, try that and my birthday present to you might be a coupon for not nagging you about getting a job,” he said, “Instead of what I was thinking of.” 

Her brother smiling at her this much was weird. Couldn't last, Gigi was pretty sure she didn't have that many intellectual bones in her body, but hey, enjoy it while it lasted. "I'd be an awful Ravenclaw, though. Green's my color." She uncrossed her arms and stretched a little.

"Used to the Slytherins, I suppose. And the Monarchy, eh, depends. Sometimes they get cocky and I have to beat them back with sharp heels and Halo references." She leaned back on her heels a little, then tapped her shoes on the floor, smirking. "Guess Erin can help me with the last one, now." Not the high heels, though, that'd be a scary thought.

She blinked at Tappy's mention of presents. "That coupon better have a treasure map on the back of it, then. Thought the job-nagging was going to wait a little, 'less you wanted me to drop out?" Couldn't help teasing him a little, and she stuck her tongue out to accent the point. "Not planning to burn any place down for the party, so don't worry so much." Maybe she could get one of those desserts you lit on fire, though.

“Oh, you’d hate it. When I was in school we spent an entire night in the common room with like 15 other people,” Tapendra said, having put his hands behind his head as he leaned in the chair. “And we studied all night. We even used flashcards.” No one partied like a Ravenclaw. 

He spoke in a deadpan tone but his overall tone was definitely warm and joking, and he tilted his head slightly as she continued. Halo references at the Slytherins? “I think you could supplement those references with anything muggle for the same effect,” he said, thoughtfully, an eyebrow raised. “They’d likely have the  exactsame reaction.” What was scorn and confusion, he’d imagine.

Tapendra smirked. “It’ll wait, yes. I doubt Ignan will wait as long as I will, though. He’s likely to poke you about it.” It was a guess, in his case; Ignan seemed to have taken an interest in Georgiana’s well-being ever since the revelation of his mother had happened, and Tapendra had little issue with that – certainly he trusted Ignan could keep her under control while getting her to learn things.

Couldn't help twitching at flashcards. Yuck. "Glad I'm not in Ravenclaw. We'd have killed each other in a week after you made House Head." Gigi leaned over to take a look at his screen, just cause.

"And yeah, they're scared of Muggle. Maybe it's contagious or something." A look back at the door and out to the rest of the house. "Guess I gave Erin a bad case, then. Bet they'll love that!" The Champion and Quidditch captain, all set up in her room playing video games. But then, would have been weird if he'd resisted those. He wasn't boring.

Her expression turned a little odd at the mention of Ignam. Job pressure in the middle of them beating each other to pulp-or hexing mice. Heh. Tappy'd freak if he knew all of what Storm was encouraging her towards. "Getting the old man to do your dirty work, huh? Least he doesn't think I'm made of glass. Maybe he'll tell me to go work hunting down werewolves." Just had to turn back to see how her brother reacted. Hey, maybe she'd be good at it.

Tapendra couldn’t disagree with that – familial bias was not something he was keen to be accused of, and with Georgiana it would have shown…to some extent. The drive to have his sister set a good example and do his house proud likely would have made him harsher on her, he knew.

She wasn’t a Ravenclaw sort, he knew; he’d never expected it, when she left for Hogwarts. Gryffindor was what he’d expected, not that he’d ever admitted it. Slytherin had been a complete surprise, and he still wondered if she’d asked for it. In some senses she fit it well, but in others – in fact, in most – she didn’t. Still, if the badge was any indication, she was certainly thriving.

“Oh yes. Oddly high number of them in my NEWT courses, though.” He’d expected none whatsoever, had he been asked the previous school term. Especially not the likes of Strelnikov or Tawse.  “You’ll be the talk of the common room, I’m sure.”

For good or ill.

He didn’t miss the expression on her face, and he raised an eyebrow in response, curiosity on his features for a moment. “And why not? He’s far better at dirty work than I’ll ever be,” Tapendra said, with a smirk. At her mention of werewolves, however, the smirk faded.

“I should hope not,” He said, in a tone that was every inch worried parent. “That’s not – that job barely pays scratch and if you get scratched…” He trailed off, but ended with a rather resolute, “No.”