Hope you all had fabulous festivities!
Here's the next post.

Ellouise didn’t sleep much that night. She stared out her window, the moon was in its first quarter, its light beamed through her window drawing patterns on the floor. She spent hours thinking about her parents, thinking about what it could have been like if they were all still together and thinking up ways to get them back. Though the more scenarios she dreamt up the more ridiculous they became. At some stage early in the morning Ellouise dozed off into a light slumber, only to be woken up a couple of hours later. Ellouise sat bolt up-right in her bed, her fingers curled around the sheets, her skin damp with sweat. She’d had that dream again. That sickening dream of the night her parents were taken, she had relived every second of that memory over and over again. But no matter how many times she relived it, it still haunted her. A few minutes passed and eventually Ellouise examined the clock on her bedside table. The sky outside her window was more of a blue than a black now, and the stars were fading. It was four-thirty in the morning, she would have to be up in an hour to execute her mission anyway. So with a big stretch Ellouise dragged herself out of bed, changed into some blue jeans and a long sleeved black top. She tied up her long black hair into a loose pony-tail and silently tiptoed downstairs, through the drawing room and down to the kitchen where the light was still on. There was no one in the room, everyone seemed to still be in bed. Ellouise took a seat at the table and lay her head on its smooth surface, today was the day she would start fighting back, today was the day she would make her mark as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. The thought of it made her stomach rumble, she would need her energy for the reconnaissance mission. So without a second thought Ellouise hurried to the pantry and began making a tomato and chive omelette. She reminisced on times when her mother would make it for her, back when they still had a home, when they lived in peace, it was too long ago now.
“Making me breakfast?” Ellouise jumped at the voice that came from behind her.
She turned to see Xavier, half asleep, hair ruffled and curling at odd angles, wearing a grey sweatshirt and black satin shorts. Ellouise hadn’t really noticed before but he was quite developed for his age. His biceps were bulging out of his shirt sleeves just enough to warrant him being a man, the stubble on his cheeks only added to his masculine appearance. Ellouise smiled and cleared her throat softly.
“I suppose you can have mine”, she said as she placed the omelette on a place and pushed it towards him. Xavier smiled and sat down.
“Thanks Ellie”, he said grinning at her as he grabbed a knife and fork.
Ellouise laughed, a smile spread across her face, “You know, nobody calls me Ellie anymore, it’s usually Elle”, she said conversationally. Xavier thought for a second as he swallowed his mouthful.
“Yes I’ve noticed”, he said, “But I’ve always called you Ellie, and I’m not about to stop.”
Ellouise didn’t respond straight away, she flipped her omelette onto a plate and took a seat next to Xavier before she said, “I never said you should.”
They sat quietly as Ellouise ate, Xavier left his seat and went to retrieve something from the pantry. He sat back down next to Ellouise and placed a bowl of apricots in front of her. Ellouise smiled.
“You remembered,” she said smiling at him as she took a couple. Apricots had been her favourite fruit growing up. Whenever the Blacks would go to their place to visit, Xavier and Ellouise would spend hours playing in the back garden and would climb over the fence into the neighbours backyard to pick apricots off their tree. There were a number of occasions when they had been caught and chased off the property by a middle aged, balding man. Needless to say their parents weren’t very happy when he knocked on their door.