Having slept almost all of the 11th of August away on Kale Ferris' couch Ruby at long last found herself standing in front of the front door she had not been sure she would ever want to see again. In her mind, though she had just been home for the Easter Holiday not too many months before, she had expected it to be drastically changed. As she walked up the stone path leading to the entryway she couldn't help but notice how very ordinary it all was. There was nothing forboding about the physical place, the familiar shrubbery or various other plant life. This was not the haunted shell of a house that nagged at her in her sleep. The world had not fallen into disrepair without her, in fact it seemed as if the hardly noticed she was missing. No one had ever accused Ruby of having a well developed ego, she left the being the center of the universe to people like Dax and Johnny - they were much better at it than she could ever hope to be.

Yet there was a part of her that felt more displaced with the lack of obvious changes. It felt strange to just use her key, just open the door and walk in. What right did she have? Arguably it was still her home, would always be her home, but she felt very little right to it. It occurred to her that the magic of leaving perhaps only stayed magic if you stayed gone. She had spent hours muddling this over on the journey back to this spot, talked it out with Kale, talked it out with her reflection and then screwed her courage to the sticking place and took the train to Barnes. Now here she was, with her key in the door and her hand raised to knock - not really sure which action felt more natural. In all the months that she'd been away she had felt she was always doing some element of "the wrong thing" but it had been hard to place exactly what it was, and if she'd ever possess her mother's ability to inherently know the right things.

Finally she turned the door knob, unwilling to let her rather paralyzing fear of being the exact wrong thing in her sister's life stop her from at least trying. Soph would go back to school soon and she couldn't hide out on Kale's couch forever (it was bound to get awkward for both of them, especially because Kale wouldn't lie to Sophie). As the door opened Ruby felt a rush of...just... too much. The entryway looked exactly the same, the dogs came rushing at her the way they always did, there was the sounds of pots clanging in the kitchen and the vague scent of spice in the air. Loki's bark was still a high pitched frantic yap demanding attention, and from the kitchen she could hear Sophie singing her favorite Lola and the Azkabait song. When a familiar mop of unkempt curls bounded into the living room Ruby could hear the sharp intake of breath and discarded exactly 4 million good things to say before finally raising her fingers with a weak and questioning "Hey...Ollie"?

Ollie had been in the kitchen with Sophie watching what she was doing and what she was up too. Though really she was comfortable enough to run about the house without Sophie near by, after all she had been in the Flickwick house when Sophie was out with her other friends, ready for her best friends return. The home had become her second home, it was just easier this way. She was getting all the time in she possibly could with the fact everything was up in the air on her return to Hogwarts. Boy she hoped that was settled soon. "I am going to living room," she smirked, "I am sick of your song." Ollie joked, she really was not bothered by it and often enjoyed Sophie singing as she worked.

Ollie was going to head into the living room and pick up the comic book she had been reading earlier. She had not gone too far when she heard her name and a voice that rang familiar but foreign at the same time. Ollie froze mid step, paused to think about what was going on and what was about to happen. It was Ruby, it had to be because who else had a key and knew her name and sounded like a lady. That also set in a sensation of unsure because she was not sure how Sophie was going to react to Ruby returning home now. Who just flitted off out of town when you little sister was left alone, or just as good as. Sure there were problems, but wasn't family supposed to help with that? Ollie supposed she was not exactly the poster child for family help considering her own grandparents had abandoned her after the whole werewolf thing. But she had Emma now, her mum, and that was were the family thing came into play.

Finally she spun around on her bare heels and stood looking at Ruby, yes now it was visually confirmed. Ollie just did not know how to react mainly because she did not know how Ruby would react to her. How would she react to a werewolf in the house? In addition to that she had no idea how Sophie would react or if Ruby wanted to approach Sophie herself and not have Ollie scream hello at her. The urge was to run at her and hug her, in the natural way she acted but then that would draw attention. "Hi," she said unsure as her voice lingered and carried the hi awkwardly. She pushed a smile on her face and walked towards Ruby, opened her arms to give her a hug if she wanted one. "Glad to see you're home." She hoped that did not sound degrading or a jab against the fact she had run off.

Ollie was a blonde now. That was weird - that thought struck her even before the idea of Ollie is in my house, walking around. In and of itself that was not weird, lots of people had practically lived with the Flickwicks in previous summers. She had assumed Chance or someone would be loitering about in the back of her mind... but she also knew not having Ramona changed things, would make it had for people. At least she had assumed it would because not having her mother permeating every inch of the house had been unbearable for Ruby herself. Not a single one of the things that pinged around in her brain had anything to do with Ollie being a werewolf. Images of Ollie telling her off, of getting angry on Sophie's behalf, of being cold and distant because, as someone had pointed out, it wasn't just Sophie she had left. She had walked out on everyone.

There was a rushing sense of relief as Ollie held out her arms and started to close the distance between them. She met her in the middle and wrapped the slender girl in a tight hug. She had always had a certain affinity for the younger Hufflepuff, a little sister but not. There was so much she wanted to say, wanted to ask - but didn't know where to start. Ollie's history before her adoption wasn't totally a secret. Ruby knew enough (mostly from things Ramona had said) to know the situation had been pretty dire. There was the briefest flash that perhaps Emma hadn't been able to handle the burden of a teenaged werewolf and now Ollie was coach surfing to get by since she still wasn't allowed back at Hogwarts (as far as Ruby could know anyway). Even in that scenario her first worry was not Sophie or Nan's safety during full moons but whether or not Ollie was alright and holding up.

Some old habits died hard apparently, and wanting to look after people still nagged the back of Ruby's mind. She held onto the now-blonde 16 year old a moment longer before holding her out to get a better look at her, "Just look at you Olls. Sophie go bored didn't she?" her tone was affectionate as she lifted a lightened curl, her smile less shaky and more genuine. She was about to say something else when a tiny figure appeared in the door. In the two months since she'd last seen her baby sister it was as though everything and nothing had changed about her all at the same time. She was so tiny, her curls still big, there had been a definite shift in some part of her style but Ruby couldn't totally place it... and from the look on her face the elder Flickwick couldn't tell what...exactly would come next. Sophie was known for a fairly explosive temper... and Ruby wasn't sure she, personally, was above using Ollie as a human-shield.

Sophie had been blissfully unaware of the recent intruder. She was too busy dancing around the kitchen singing loudly and trying to replicate her mother's famous (or infamous) Asopao de Pollo. Cooking had become a sort of hobby and way to reconnect with both her "roots" and Ramona's memory. Two nights before she'd gone Irish and made Aran Spiosrai, the one good thing about having Ollie about was she had the appetite of a grown man and hardly ever hesitated to try whatever Soph pushed on her. Plus having someone else in the kitchen, even if they were just sitting reading a comic, made it feel less lonely. In a lot of ways Ollie had been her summer savior... especially in the weeks since she hadn't heard from Deus and was trying to keep her mind busy. She didn't want to become one of those needy why hasn't he owl'd kind of girls.

When it took the blonde more than two minutes to get bored of being alone with her comic Sophie got suspicious - not in a distrustful way, but in a what-could-possibly-be-more-fun-than-watching-me-dance-around-being-drink sort of way. As she dumped the last of the spices into the pot to simmer she wiped her hands off on her apron before going to investigate. What she found was something she did not entirely know how to feel about. It was a bit like seeing your first ghost. Funny story - she'd gone to Hogwarts Nick had scared her half to death the first time she saw him, even though she knew all about him and what to expect. It was like seeing a creature you knew existed in the wild but it was right in her own living room. Her stomach felt queasy and her head felt conflicted. A part of her wanted to run over and join their seemingly happy little hug.

She wanted to be glad to see her sister. She really did...but forgiveness did not always come easy to Sophie. It never had, even when she was little and presumably not supposed to remember things to be mad about. In the last few months she had gotten better - she'd gone so far as to even write a letter to the Werewolf who had killed Ramona. There were things she had to make peace with to live her life... she just didn't know if this was one of them. It was, in a way, easier to forgive someone she didn't know for something he, in the end, couldn't have stopped if he wanted to. Ruby had willfully, selfishly, walked out on her - even after she knew that Duncan was going on tour, Johnny was going with him and Emily was in Greece. In the end it wasn't the leaving that Sophie begrudged her, it was the seeming lack of care that Ruby had for Sophie being mostly alone.

So... in the end, she just sort of stood there, blinking, but to her credit did not throw a vase.

The realization that Ruby was home was settling in quickly, and it was also making her realize just how long she had been out of the kitchen. She knew full well that Sophie would come looking, because she rarely stayed alone for long. Ollie often left only to come back two minutes later bored. Plus with the smell of food invading every inch of the house Ollie was getting hungry. Though honestly, when was Ollie not hungry? She good be eating all the time and she wouldn't really gain much weight. Sometimes she wondered if that was just her, or the beast in her?

There was a sense of relief though when Ruby hugged her. Ollie closed her arms around the older girl and just took a breath. Yup she smelled the same. She closed her eyes and just paused for a moment. Ruby was sort of like an older sister. Ollie had made so many connections through Hogwarts it was like she had created a makeshift family the supplement the one with her mother. Sometimes she wished there were more people in the house in Ireland, but other times she was happy to return to a place that was just for her and Emma. As she pulled away she laughed at Ruby nodding her head, "You're right she got bored. And I felt like a change." Okay really it was only Sophie saying you would look good blonde that made her want to change her hair. Emma had been a little shocked to say the least, but not angry.

She was about to ask Ruby a question, along the lines of why she had come back or better yet why she did not contact her sister. Ollie was filled with questions like why did she go in the first place, but asking those things would not change the fact she had gone. She noticed Ruby looking behind her and she turned to see Sophie just standing there. So, now what was she supposed to do? Stand in the middle and play ref? Perhaps that was the best idea she had all day? She inched towards Sophie. "Look you showed up." She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. Ollie with her back turned to Ruby focused on Sophie and mouthed what the f. Ollie was sort of concerned as to what Sophie would do, but ultimately she would do her best to react in a manner that could simmer the situation.

Ruby stood there, awkward in her skin (not for the first time in the last 48 hours). Instinctively she moved to hug Sophie but decided, perhaps, it was better to stay where she was. She waited for the screaming, for the accusations, for the whole house to burn down around them with Sophie's anger. She was ready for that, she knew how to deal with that, this silence was new. Silence was not something any of the Flickwicks were really known for. Clearing her throat she rubbed the crook of her neck and tried to look less... helpless. "Hey Kiddo..." as soon as the pet name left her lips she regretted it - not because of any visible reaction on Sophie's part but because it was what Ramona called them.

"Look I..." she stopped again stepping forward trying to remember everything she had learned about body language, to decide if Sophie's was open or closed, if she were keeping her stance unguarded. There was a lot you could tell about what a person was feeling in just the directionality of their feet. It was a lot to remember though and at the moment Ruby's mind wasn't exactly in full functioning order. Closing her eyes she inhaled slowly before letting the breath go, "I know you're angry. You have every right to be - at all of us... but if you can, for just a minute I would like to at least explain. I'm not Mum... I don't have all the right words, I don't have a good defense, but I can try; if you'll let me".

When Sophie didn't hurl anything at her head or tell her to get the hell out Ruby felt reasonably safe stepping around Ollie and closer her to her sister, reaching out to take the younger girl's hand, "I don't expect you to forgive me Soph, I'm not selfish enough to ask you for that. I just want a chance to show you my perspective. If I thought there had been another way..." she trained off, looking down and taking another breath, "I am so sorry Sophie. I'm so sorry that I didn't know how to be who you needed me to be, who you deserved for me to be. I had to learn the hard way that no matter how far I went everything I was running from would still be with me"

Sophie had never been so still in all her life. Her breathing was shallow and she felt a little dizzy. Ruby's voice was like static in her ear. She could hear the words but her brain would process them, just spit them out to make room for whatever other excuse the former Hufflepuff would lay down. She shifted from one foot to the other, bewildered brown eyes flicking to Ollie as she tried to figure out just how she felt about all this. In the stories it would play out perfect, she would open her arms and forgive her sister and they would make up like nothing had ever happened. They would be older and wiser and it would just be better. Ruby would promise to never let her down again. That was how the story went... but the difference between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make a little sense. Once you threw the variable of genuine emotion into the mix the results would always be different.

"I just..." her voice was weak, cracked just a little as Ruby took her hand (so familiar but strange), "You just decided, you didn't ask anybody, didn't ask me..." Sophie wasn't the kind of person she wanted to be. If she were then she would have been selfless enough to know Ruby had left because she needed to be away. She would have respected that and let it go. Of course Sophie was the first to admit she was selfish about love, that she needed more than maybe she should have. How many times had she gotten mad at Chance over Fauna? How many times had she felt marginalized because she wasn't the center of attention? They were not flattering things to know about herself - but she was aware of them. She worked to change them as much as any teenager could.

Letting go of Ruby's hand she stepped around the girl and over to Ollie. If there was a day to be grateful she was her best friend this was probably it. She hoovered close to the blonde, though she didn't reach out for her immediately, "I didn't need you to be anything other than you, Rubes. I needed my sister..." tucking a lock of her hair behind one ear she turned her head toward Ollie with a faint sort of smile, linking her pinky with the other girl's. "But you know what? Its ok...because I'm fine. I spent this summer figuring out who the people I can count on really are," the last part was not totally a pot shot at her sister. It was more a veiled thank you to Ollie. Spending all the spare time to be found in summer together had reminded her just how much the other girl meant to her - and shown her just how lonely the last year had been without her. So maybe her family had let her down...she had amazing friends to pick up the slack.

When Ruby started talking Ollie got a little nervous. She was smack in the middle of them and she felt almost like a human shield for Ruby. Admittedly she wanted to ensure that Ruby remained okay, but more importantly she wanted to ensure Sophie was okay. This had to be a shock and one that Ollie could not begin to comprehend. Sure Ollie had also been abandoned before, but not at a time she really understood what was going on. Ollie could not imagine how Sophie felt knowing that everyone left her, after all the hell broke loose. They had lost an important figure in their lives and she really could not understand how they felt. She could assume how they might have felt, but she really had no idea.

Ollie listened as Ruby spoke and looked over at her. She had never really thought of the fact that Ruby was also hurting. She had never really thought about the fact this was the way Ruby thought she had to handle the situation. Ollie still thought she went about it the completely wrong way, but it was obvious now that Ruby had to learn that her own way. She hoped for the sake of Sophie and Ruby they could work this out. Ollie was actually thinking about maybe backing up and leaving the scene, maybe let the two sisters figure their things out. Oh how wrong Ollie was on that initial thought. Sophie moved beside her, moving past her sister to stand next to her. Ollie could not leave now could she?

Feeling Sophie link her pinky with hers she smile. She looked at her best friend, "I am glad I could be here for you." She said as quietly as she could. She did not want to send another jab at Ruby for leaving, but she supposed it could not be helped. Ruby had gone and left Sophie. Ollie had stepped in to be the best friend she was and she could not very well leave her friend alone. Honestly though had Ruby been around Sophie would have still had Ollie hanging about the house. How would have things been different? Well, for a start this awkward situation would not be happening.

Ruby hoped, to her credit, the stabbing pain in her chest didn't show. She also hoped the stinging anger she felt wasn't evidenced in her eyes. She knew that in coming home she would have to eat crow - but she also knew that this was not all her fault. There were four other members of this family and Sophie hadn't been left completely alone. It wasn't as if she'd had to fend for herself, Nana had been with her. Sometimes the ways in which Sophie could be so self-centered infuriated Ruby, but she had always explained that away by the younger girl's inexperience with not getting what she wanted. Now... well in that moment it just felt like a turning of the knife in her back. She wasn't denying she had made a mistake in just running away but she was damn sure not going to be punished for the fact their father had completely dropped the ball.

Without thinking she dropped into a nearby chair, crossing her legs and looking up at the two sixteen year olds, "I didn't know what else to do. I didn't, still don't, know how to be in this house and breathe. I saw what was happening, I saw what life would be life - with Da drinking, and Johnny doing Merlin knows what, and the way even if Ems was home she'd be locked in her room doing whatever it is she does. I couldn't have it be my job, it isn't my job to take care of all of you. I let it be my job, I let all of that pile up on me since we were kids, trying to be Mum - trying to live the life she wanted for me... I saw it and the way it was going to be permiment and I was never going to go anywhere or do anything else. My life was going to be taking care of everyone - no adventures, no chance to be anyone else and it terrified me," she felt the tears prick her eyes and she bit her lip trying to force them back down.

She didn't want to be emotional about this. She didn't want to make herself out to be the victim here because there really wasn't a victim, or they were all victims but they couldn't blame one another. Raking her fingers through her hair she took another deep breath (if she wasn't careful she'd be hyperventilating soon) and tried to pull back from the emotional ledge she was on, "I'm glad that Ollie was here, I'm glad that Luc stayed with you - because you weren't alone Sophie. That's the thing you don't see, no one left you out of malicious intent, Emmy was going to go to Greece long before the attacks happened, and I didn't just decide 'the best way to hurt my little sister is to take care of myself'. You can't hate me for wanting something that was just for me. Think of all the things you want, that you plan to do, and imagine knowing that if you didn't do something drastic you'd never get to".

Pushing herself out of her chair she moved the few short feet to stand in front of her sister again, reaching out to tuck her hair behind her ear and place a kiss on her forehead, "I love you so much Soph, going away didn't mean I suddenly stopped... it just meant I I wanted an adventure of my own. If I had stayed, if I had taken the internship at the Ministry, if I had lived the life that everyone expected of me... what would have happened in two years when you left? Because you're going to, you're going to grow up and leave and take the world by storm with your big Sophie stomping boots and desire for social change; but all of that means you will be gone. You will make a new home for yourself because that's the way of the world Soph. It's what we're supposed to do - admittedly I did mine at a shit time, but I was so scared if I didn't do it right then I never would".

Sophie felt entirely overwhelmed by what she was hearing and seeing. There was this bubbling up of fifty million different emotions in her stomach and they all sort of felt like she needed to throw up. Ruby looked so...tired, but Sophie felt so much about everything that had happened since March that she didn't know what place to go to first. It was one of those moments that truly highlighted for her the ways in which she was not a person her mother could be proud of. She did want to begrudge Ruby her adventures, she wanted to be angry. She wanted to punish her because there was no one else to punish. Their father and Johnny were in some far away city, Emmy was in Greece looking for artifacts, but Ruby... Ruby was right there.

It would be so easy to give into the hurt, to be hateful and hurtful. It would be easy to shape her words to mean something other than they meant. It would be easy to hear an undercurrent of you've been a burden my whole life and are the reason I had to run away that may or may not have existed. The more her sister talked the more it felt like Sophie was drowning in a reality she didn't want to hear. She didn't want to know that another person she had seen as indestructible was human and fallible and made mistakes. She didn't know what to do with this apology that wasn't really an apology, or the excuses that weren't really excuses. There was so much emotion balled up and connected to it all that it was hard to be reasonable.

It was harder not to just turn and walk away because it was too much and not enough at the same time. Sophie had always felt like she needed a rock to anchor herself too, it had been their mother - but Ruby was her safety net. She was the one that caught Sophie when no one else saw her falling. And, yea, Soph had done alright without her. She had made it through the summer without getting arrested, or pregnant, or whatever else it was that teenagers did when they didn't have a safety net. It was so strange to think of Ruby being like everyone else, having dreams that had nothing to do with the path she had puttered along on to please their mother. It had never occurred to the tiny brunette that her sister might need or want more. She had seemed so content.

It was made harder by the fact that Ollie was standing there, watching the whole scene unfold. It was comforting to feel the other girl's hand close to her own, but it didn't stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks when Ruby placed a kiss on her forehead. It was a reminder of what life had been like before, when that would have been enough to settle an argument and make most of the bad things go away. Her voice was a little horse when she finally found it, "I have been... so angry and probably selfish, but I just needed you so much. I didn't know, I didn't think.... I didn't think taking care of us made you so unhappy. I never thought it might feel like a prison to you, or that you wanted something more than whatever it was we gave you".

She reached up to flick away a tear, her eyes cast down because it hurt too much and she felt too ashamed of all the ways in which she was too selfish to see how much her own sister had been hurting, to look Ruby in the eye. None of this was what she had wanted, the reasonableness of it all hurt because grief wasn't reasonable, it wasn't logical. She wanted to be able to separate what she felt from what she knew but didn't feel grown up enough to manage. She didn't know what to do with herself. Falling apart seemed selfish and also a little embarrassing - not because either of the other girls hadn't seen her fall apart before but because she wasn't totally the victim in this scenario. Sucking in a long breath she held it for a moment before exhaling, finally looking up her voice soft, "Now what..."

Ruby tried to read Sophie's delicate features, she tried to get inside her sister's head despite the fact that she had learned long ago she could never really know what Sophie was thinking. A part of her wanted to just make everything better, to just contain herself back in the little slot that had been predetermined for her. She wanted to make this easy for Sophie, to soak up the hurt and the anger; but that was impossible. There was no going back to how it had been before. It didn't mean all hope was lost, the fact they were talking and not screaming was as good a sign as any that there was reason to have hope. Life had not been particularly hard for either of them up until Ramona's death. The tragedies they had faced before were easily over come and had really just been growing pains. The truest test of love was how well it weathered the big uncertain things in life, it's willingness to forgive.

"Oh, Soph," she shook her head and placed her hands on either side of the tiny girl's face, "it didn't make me unhappy, it wasn't a burden... but I saw how it could become one. I saw how I could grow to resent everyone, to be bitter and angry, to have this life full of regret and I didn't want that. I didn't want to resent the ways you needed me... and I would have. I'm not Mum, I'll never be Mum. I don't know how she did all the things she did except that it was the life she got to choose. She chose Da, she chose us, she chose to be a Liaison. I was just doing it because it mattered more to her than anything ever mattered to me. That was my mistake, because I'm not like you - I don't... get passionate about things. You have all of this talent, and creativity, and things matter to you in such a big way," there was a certain note of pride in her voice as she leaned in a bumped her forehead with Sophie's.

Ruby still felt lost, she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do with herself, but she had realized in being away that that was really what this time in their life was for. She had always felt like she had to have it figured out by now because so many of her friends did. Now that she'd scuttled her Ministry career other doors were probably opening for her but she felt like she had to mend some fences first. Sophie's question was a fair one and, unfortunately, also one Ruby didn't have an exact answer to, "I think all we can do now is try. We can't go back, but we can try to go forward. We can try to understand one another better than we did before. As much as I need you to respect the decisions I've made I know that I have to meet you half way. All we can really do is try to love one another in the best ways we know how, and in that understand just because it isn't what we think we need, doesn't mean that it's any less real". 

Sophie just sort of stood there, pinkie still wrapped around Ollie's. She felt (on top of all her other feelings) absolutely wretched that all Olls could do was stand there and stare. It wasn't exactly a stellar situation to be in, between two sisters who obviously loved one another but were both still walking around with open wounds. Maybe it was good in a way though, it gave Sophie something to hold onto, that tiny finger reassuring her there was someone there who had been there before Ruby showed up again and would be there if she left. There were not words for how grateful Sophie was to have the Hufflepuff - even in this most awkward of familial moments. The thought of having to go back to Hogwarts without her was troubling, she had no idea how she'd manage.

Of course all of that sort of lived somewhere in the back of her mind as Ruby talked, cupping her face and saying things that made sense and would have felt truth of it if Sophie's heart hadn't been so sore. Trust was a tricky thing once it had been broken, but the most reasonable parts of her brain pointed out that if she would forgive Devlin then her own sister deserved at least equal treatment. It was hard sometimes to remember that Ruby was only 18, that she didn't have things more figured out that Sophie did. She had always seemed so sure of herself, of her path. It was unsettling to know that someone could fake their way through life so well until the only answer was to throw it all away and start over because you couldn't take the pressure.

Letting out a shaky breath she wrapped one arm around Ruby, resting her head on the other girl's shoulder, "I can do that. I can try..." she pulled back to give her a shaky sort of smile before wiping her eyes again and looking toward the kitchen, "Come on, I've got Mama's chicken Asopao on. It probably needs stirring," she threw one more grateful look to Ollie, squeezing her little finger as she tugged them both into the kitchen that was now filled with the simmering scent of cooking chicken, onion, garlic, and bell peppers. "I've been cooking a lot lately, I think I might actually be kind of good at it," she  glanced back to Ollie, smile a little sturdier this time, "at least I haven't inadvertently poisoned us all," she paused and gave a little laugh, "Yet, anyway".

Ollie wish she could back away and run. She was not used to this sort of family situation, and she wasn't sure how she should be reacting. Really nothing could be expected of her other than just to stand there. They were not talking to her, they were talking to each other. This was something the two sisters would have to work out on their own. Ollie was just a pillar for Sophie to lean on, and she hoped she gave a sense of comfort by just holding onto her pinky. She really hoped that she had done some good for her best friend and that having her around made it more bearable, not that this was an easy situation. This was a moment when Ollie would not change places for the world.

Watching Sophie get tears was heart breaking, she just wanted to bat Ruby away and tell her to sod off. Of course it was not her place, and that was probably the least helpful thing at this exact moment. They were working through their issues and ultimately there would be tears. Ollie was not naive enough to think this could all be sorted without a single hurt feeling. They were dealing with wounded hearts and emotions among this family unit, and they were fresh. It seemed like Sophie was seeing something in Ruby she had not before. Admittedly Ollie was seeing something she had not seen in the older girl before. She had always seemed so put together and now it seemed she was just like the rest of them. Ollie felt refreshingly normal in this situation.

A wave of relief washed over Ollie and her mind started issuing thoughts of thank goodness among other things as she stood unspeaking, next to Sophie. It was a relief to know food had not been forgotten and they were making a move towards the kitchen. "Merlin knows I am hungry." She gave a weak laugh, "But when am I not?" She searched for any tool she could to lighten the mood. "As for Soph's cooking it is quite good. Improvement every time and no deaths by poisoned food so that's a plus." Ollie had long ago become comfortable saying the word death around Sophie but in that moment she worried about Ruby. Ollie had learnt not to tip toe around Sophie because she deserved more than that. You needed to move on, and having people be delicate around you was not going to return you to a sense of normalcy. She only hoped Ruby would be upon the same stage as Sophie, but Ollie figured she had to be because Ruby was just as strong as her sister.

Ruby watched as the two girls headed for the kitchen before following. She had done what she needed to do, confronted the most demanding of demons, and lived to tell the tale. She wasn't ready to move back into #12 St. Mary's but she could stay for a little while. She could be a part of the moment without letting her mind travel back to all the ways it was different. Being in New York had taught her how to do that, to just be in a moment without thinking about what came before. She had had to learn because there were so many reminders of her mother everywhere. If she didn't think of this kitchen as the place where Ramona had taught her about cooking from the heart and how it was always better with music and laughter mixed in, then she could be there and she could be with her sister and Ollie.

So what was what she did. She pulled herself up to the bar and plopped down on a stool, "Smells delicious. However I am far more interested to hear about the other adventures you two have been having. I notice that Ollie is now fabulously blonde and a little birdie tells me you had something to do with that Sophie Hannelore," resting her chin in her hand she looked at each of the girls expectantly. Sophie's letters had been so vague she really had no idea what she might have gotten into over the summer. She was sure it would include new boy drama, Luc's girl drama, and in general side ways stories that could only ever happen to her haphazard little sister. However, for the first time in her life, Ruby didn't feel fussed, or worried, or exasperated by the idea.

Whatever mischief that had or hadn't transpired they had survived with minimal scar tissue. And, for the first time in her life, she would have her own stories to share. That was a nice twist to things. As hard as coming home was there was a feeling of "rightness" to sitting there watching Sophie stand on her tiptoes to peer into the big pot of stewed chicken and rice. She looked like herself again, and Ruby found her gaze lingering on Ollie gratefully. It was an unfamiliar position for her to be in, to have taken the backseat. It wasn't so long ago that she was begging Dion to stay away from Sophie because she felt it was her business to keep the teen on a path of no distress. How different would Sophie be if she had been allowed to just fend for herself? Ruby supposed in the next year they'd all find out.

Sophie stood on her tip toes to peer into the big pot, a small smile tugging on her lips, "Well. I mean... what else were we supposed to do? Luc was hogging the wireless for some Qudditch analysis program and Nana was visiting Missus Tadhgán down the lane. I figured beautification potions were better than breaking into Da's whiskey stash and dancing on table tops or running off to Spellpunk. Watching Figaro Sellaphix get his arse handed to him by someone my size once this summer was quite enough for my tastes," Sophie rattled off the vague details of her summer adventures with a fair amount of ease. She was compartmentalizing, in part for Ollie's sake but also because she just couldn't think about the spiral of implications this would have in her life. There were lots of unanswered and not easily settled questions of now what.

It was better to just deal with what was right in front of her - namely a big pot of bubbling chicken stew. There was a certain sort of benefit to living in a country that cooled off long about August. She could cook without looking like she'd run a marathon. The sky had gone gray in the late afternoon and promised a summer storm that would make soup the best possible dinner for the three of them and Nan if she happened back before dark. Since the morning of her hangover in July the Matriarch and the teen had had a fair understanding of one another. Sophie wasn't to do anything that could get her killed or lie about where she was going to be and Magda Flickwick would trust her to take care of herself. Nan had always had a bit more faith in Sophie's ability to survive than everyone else, whether it was because she could see into the future or because she'd raised so many babies, it was hard to say.

Putting the lid back on the pot she moved to the icebox and grabbed three bottles of butterbeer, offering them to the girls before boosting herself onto the counter, "You really missed out on the festivities in Hogsmeade. Speeches, and food, and so many people, it was mad"! Sophie didn't know how excited she could really get about the whole Tetrawizard Tournament, it would mean more people invading their space. Of course more people meant less time being stuck with people you might not be able to stand - that'd be nice. It also meant there might be classes offered that hadn't been in previous years, not that Soph was in any big rush to get back to Hogwarts. If she knew for sure about Ollie it might have been different, but the thought of living the other girl made her queasy, "Though the best part of the summer was probably the meeting with Madame Zephyr, she offered to look into Oll's case again".