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Background:
The Botros family mansion sits near the Mediterranean sea with a heavy illusion made up of runes to hold back muggles. It’s said that Abraham bought this mansion when he lived in Egypt with his young wife and their four children. The former owner went bankrupt and was going to demolish the huge structure when Botros met him and offered to buy the estate. Years of repair and runic magic turned the place upside down and became the original residence of the Botros family.
Description:
The entrance is a wide hall with a few replicas of runic artifacts, a couch and a coffee table were neatly stacked on the left of the double door. The grand staircase takes up half of the hall and leads to the two wings on both floors. Each wing contains up to twenty room, the bedrooms are on the upper floor with the West wing for Owen’s and Sally’s families and the east wing for Julianne’s and Janet. Some bedrooms are lined as a cluster sharing a small area, others have a more private setting. A grand bedroom where Abraham and Debbie lived is found on the east wing locked and contains all the personalized items of the gone grandparents.
A long and spacious corridor connects each wing and its rooms, on one side are the windows overlooking the front garden former housewife, Debbie Botros, planted with her own hands. A gate marks the entrance to the big estate, a pathway of colorful pebbles link the gate to the front doors. A few benches are thrown here and there in the garden usually under a fruit’s tree.
There used to be a house-elf caring for the kitchen in the house brought in shortly after Debbie falling ill, but the creature was set free by Eureka when she was twelve years old. Grandfather Botros then saw it best for his grandchildren to tend to their rooms and food with the help of their parents when they visited. After the passing of Abraham, the families saw it best to bring in two witches to help with chores.
lives in a hobbit hole || Ern and Touz's Nuzzle || roflysst || looking at a seed packet
Quote:
Originally Posted by lemon
Really, it was West's fault that they couldn't come by the front door. Who cared if a few fans accosted him on the way here? Alice would have left him to his own devices and continued to the entrance anyway— it would have been much better than filling her lungs and clothes with dust.
She should have married a nobody. Lost opportunity.
But one area in which the Magpie did appreciate her husband was gift-giving; not a fraction of the presents in the Odessas' hands had been chosen by her. It was kind of sad that she'd loved most of the Botros kids from their birth and still had no idea what to get them. Emotional intelligence at its finest, that was.
Crisis averted, though. Alice could still hand them out.
"Hi! We bought gifts! Forgot a shirt for Hassan, though." Why couldn't he get one of those by himself? That was the important question.
Yeah West was a happy camper when it came to sharing the credit for gifts generally speaking. They were a package deal so these packages were from both of them, obviously. All the Botros babies had something here too.
"Should have brought him a Wanderers one." West joked, big grins at Alice. And she needed to take some of these gifts so they could pile them up somewhere in wait for handing them out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magical Soul
[COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]Patricia gave her daughter one last smile before moving towards the new guests. "Aw, look at you! You look fantastic." She hugged both West (lingering because Ab used to care greatly for this kid) and Alice. "Hassan got himself a wife who approves of his lack of shirts, apparently." She laughed.
"Hellooo from the Easter bunny and his children himself." Julianne bustled through the entryway with Alanna, the small bunny, in his hand and a big grin on his mouth. "We'd loooove to give you some joy in exchange of your gifts!" He looked down at Lanna and waved his wand dramatically towards the gifts-holding couple just for a colorful wave of sparks. He was pretty fond of playing this part.
"Thank you, Patricia. You look well too." West gave the woman a thankful squish. He had great affection for her, given she'd never once bat an eye at Professor Botros bringing a stray Odessa back from Hogwarts with him. And now? Botros Easters were his favourite kind of Easters, and it was a nice way to still feel close to the old man who had meant so very much to him.
And you know, West wasn't one to shy away from theatrics either. He was all grins at Julianne's appearance. And an even bigger one for little Lanna.
"I'll always take all the joy I can get. Gifts AFTER breakfast though. You think you can all wait until after we eat? I'm starved and I'm about to waste away, you know." Hehe. He would swoon along with that if it wasn't for his arms being full.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl
[color=#E56717]As if by magic, it wasn't long after she mentioned Max arriving soon that the doorbell rang. He was here! At least, Rula figured it would be him - who else could it be?
Her face lit up, but Junia had already raced off to go answer it. Eep! She hurried after her but paused when Prince West and Alice appeared out of the floo. So many people appearing at once!
"Hi!" She gave them each a quick hug - though West got more of a side-hug since he was carrying a lot of presents - and that was when she heard Junia confirm that Max was indeed here. Eep x2!!
West did his best to squish Rula in her fly-by hugging, but she was off already. To greet someone else? Oh wait, the boyfriend right? Max? Hmmmm. What did Alice think of that kid? West wasn't sure if his wife had met him or not, he hadn't.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magical Soul
Then Max arrived. Patricia laughed at Ju's overexcited welcome but smiled widely at the young man, "Hey Max, looking quite dapper today." She didn't know he took Easter that seriously. Julianne jumped in the direction of the other new guest, taking Lanna with him and being a real bunny about it, "Welcome our new guest! Have a very happy Easter breakfast with us!" He did the same wand-flourishing-with-colorful-sparks move.
"Oh, thank you ma'am." Max answered a bit nervously, but smiled. He was happy to be here even if there was plenty of nerves going on. And honestly, he was quite the introvert anyway so around a big group of loud and energized people did take him a little while to relax.
"I brought tarts." See? Fruit tarts. "My mother always said never to come empty handed, so she made them for me to bring along." He handed them to Patricia, hoping she'd appreciate them.
He wasn't sure how to take this bunny thing though, so he just smiled nervously. "I'm looking forward to it."
SPOILER!!: Rula and Junia
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl
Finally she reached the door and saw him there, and for the briefest of moments, she forgot her family was there. "Hi,"fiancé, she wanted to say, but instead simply left it at the simple greeting, walking over to him and slipping her hand into his.
And then she was brought back down to Earth when her mother spoke, and she couldn't help but grin. He did look quite dapper, didn't he? He always did though. Handsome fiancé. Hehe.
And there was her dad inviting him in. While hopping like a rabbit. He really was embracing this bunny life, hehe. "Yes, you're just in time! We were just setting the table."
Quote:
Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow
"And by we, she means me and 'Reka. I think Rula was mostly waiting for you." Helpful Junia was so helpful what with the door answering and sharing of information, wasn't she? The thirteen year old grinned and hurried back to help her cousin, who she'd left by her lonesome. The sooner the table was set, the sooner they'd all be seated and the news would finally be out. Was Abey struggling with this as much as she was?
Mer-lin.
And Max's face lit up of course, spotting Rula come to the door. He juggled the tray of tarts into one hand and then passed them to Patricia so he could grip Rula's hand. And squeeze it thankfully. SO glad to see her. SO excited. SO nervous.
Setting the table? He looked down at Junia when she interjected and chuckled. "Well I'm sure you guys did a great job. I'm sorry if I took too long and kept Rula distracted from waiting."
__________________
love is like a letter wrote :: and life is like an envelope
be careful who you give it to :: they might not give it back to you
urine trouble | Pat's Strong Confident Other Half | Pees Like a Champion Unicorn Racehorse
Abey's hugs, as tight and long as they were, were very much appreciated. She would never dream of mentioning how much she liked hugs from her brothers, it just wasn't in her nature. But she did show it and she did return the cute smile on Abey's face with one of her own. "You're going to give him a run for his money."
At the mention of papa, the smile that had been lingering on Lilian's face dropped ever so slightly as she turned to look over at their mama. As innocent as that question had been, she got a strange feeling that there was a slight tension in the air because of it, no matter how much their mum smiled. Nothing was said from the woman, however. Instead, she turned her attention towards....
... "Rula!" Who really was looking like a young lady. She hoped that her collage was still coming into use during all those times when the girl felt less like a strong, Botros woman or, even better, that she hardly had a use for it because she saw it for herself. She wasn't going to ask, however, just hug the girl back and focus on her answer, instead. "For the most part?" she said, letting go and smiling at the Slytherin, "You'll be done and back here before you know it." Which meant no exams to worry about, either. For now.
The place was bursting with an excited chatter and general loudness that you'd normally expect from a Botros family gathering. And, it seemed, there was room for some more. Lilian turned her head and smiled warmly in the direction of her sister-in-law as she entered the room. Was it weird that Hassan was married now? Yes. Did that stop her from teasing him? Not at all.
In fact, she turned to look at her dear brother and gave him an eyebrow wiggle.
More teasing came in the form of one Alice Odessa, making Lilian let out a small snort at the shirtless remark. She wasn't about to start commenting, not when it seemed as though Aunt Patricia had the teasing under control. She did, however, turn to look at the new arrivals and the guests in the kitchen and said, "Good morning!"
And yes, presents could wait. "So what has Chef Hassan made for us today?" she asked, ushering the younger ones, mostly Abey and Alanna, towards the table.
And she was intrigued to know what this Max fellow was like.
Well... that was okay, Abey... supposed. Sort of... maybe. There was a very good possibility actually that his feelings would have been slightly more hurt had he been closer to his father; though he was really too young to realise it or understand it, the distance between them protected him, just a little bit, from extra hurt feelings. It still hurt though, to feel like he was actually less important than a boring old meeting.
He spoke softly. "That's okay." It wasn't okay. "I'll see him later." Unless there was another meeting.
Abey really wanted more mama hugs, but he was busy giving Alanna some Abey hugs and it was RESPONSIBILITY as older cousin to not stop first, SO he gave his mama a grateful smile at the tiny back rubs she was giving him, and VOWED to return for more hugs as soon as Alanna was distracted by someone else.
MORE people were coming, which was actually enough to distract Abey just a little bit. That was the good thing about the hustle and bustle of a busy house (something Abey was VERY used to) it meant that sad or mad or bad feelings didn't last for very long, because there was more than likely something good to focus on. Like the arrival of a West and an Alice, or - and at this point, when Juni gave her announcement - Abey became suddenly INCREDIBLY ENTHUSED AND ALERT. Max was here! MAX WAS HERE!
"Let's get food," Abey said to both Lanna and mama. "And preseeeeeeeents." Presents were the best thing in the whole world actually. Aside from family. Or... maybe the same as family.
Taking heed of Lilian's ushering, Abey moved towards the kitchen table to get a seat, gently tugging Lanna and his mama with him. Especially the latter, because he wasn't spending even a moment more than he needed to away from her actually.
Also, he was buzzing with anticipation, and automatically looked towards Junia, because SURELY she UNDERSTOOD this feeling. AHHHHHHH! How much longerrrRRRRRRRR?????
WAIT A MINUTE. HASSAN. ABEY NEEDED A HASSAN HUG RIGHT NOWWWWWWWWW. And then an ALICE one. And maybe even a WEST one.
But first...
"HASSAN!" HUG ME, BROTHER.
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Days of Potter 2023:___________________________ Which Bertie Botts Flavour Are You? You are Chocolate!
Browncoat l Extra Syrup l Kita's Strong Confident Other Half l Lemon Patch
Ha. Ha. Ha, Alice.
Hassan, the oldest and most mature of all the grandkids (and of the Odessas) stuck his tongue out at her. "You couldn't get me into a Wanderers jersey if you tried." Knowing they would have company, however, he did bring his shirt down with him, and went over to retrieve it while everyone excitedly greeted Maxwell. It was certainly new, but they all were excited today, so Hassan didn't think anything of it.
Just in time for Rula's boyfriend entering the kitchen. See how fast he became presentable? "Glad you came, kid!" He shot a grin at Max. The more the merrier in his books, and it would make Kitty more comfortable seeing someone else who wasn't yet accustomed to their family gatherings. He didn't have to out dress him though, Merlin.
"I made a feast." Couldn't his sister see? He bummed her as he crossed her path. "Hurry up and sit before the food gets cold." It wouldn't, but how else was he to get everyone at the table faster?
In all of this chaos he never forgot about getting his brother's love. There was just a line, you know? He knew he stood behind his mother and that all the other family members would want a piece of him. Hassan wasn't rushed, the best was ALWAYS saved for last. But when it was his turn for hugs....
"ABEY BROHIEM." He DRAMATICALLY cleared up a path for him to run over to his brother in slow motion. Scooping him up off the floor, he SWUNG him around and squeezed him tight. Could he feel love? So much love, and no more missing him or anyone cause the whole family was HERE.
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♥ I won't pass up on the danger ♥ I'd miss out on the fun ♥_____ ______________♥We'll live while we're young ♥ We'll chase down the sun ♥_________________________
Nora could read her kids' minds, any mother could. It was a universal fact, okay? She couldn't do anything, though, except give Abey a small smile and a kiss on his forehead before he went flying to his brother.
Sigh. Owen was going to have an earful.
Julianne took his bunny twins' hands and pranced off to sit at the breakfast table because bunnies got hungry fast, okay? Patricia took care of the adult things. Like showing the guests to the breakfast table (by guests, they meant Max).
"Aw, thank you, honey." She received the tarts and gave the young man a warm smile. "Well, come along then." Leaving Rula to take care of her boyfriend, Patricia hurried towards the dining room. The tarts went into the kitchen, those were for after breakfast, possibly with tea.
The large dining table had a seat for everyone. West and Alice had permanent seats at the far end of it, but Max had an extra one crammed between Rula's and Junia's. The head of the table was for Abraham and left empty after his passing, on each side of him sat Owen and Julianne followed by their respective wives and children. Eureka and her mother occupied the chair next to Abey's.
During the absence of Owen, Julianne was supposed to say the prayer before the meal but since he was dressed as a bunny the task transferred to Nora. She waited until everyone was settled in their seats and folded her hands in front of her and recited it in her calm, solemn voice.
Baguette | there is no D in my name | TRAITORclaw | Queenie of Narnia
Now that Max was here, it was really official - soon she'd get to tell her whole family the good news! Well, most of the family at least, since it seemed Uncle Owen wasn't here right now, but still. Rula was internally bouncing off the walls in excitement. And nervousness. But mostly excitement.
"I was supervising you and Reka," she replied to Junia. Supervising totally counting as helping, right? Hehe.
"You didn't take too long!" she told Max. "You arrived perfectly on time." Not that she would have said no if he'd arrived earlier though. More time with him was always a good thing to her.
But now it was time to eat, so she led Max to the dining room where everyone else had gathered. She gestured to the seat that had been set between hers and Junia's for him to sit in. She slipped into her own seat and folded her hands in her lap as was custom, quietly focusing on Aunt Nora's words as she spoke, trying to remain calm.
Once it was done though, she didn't feel totally calm, still full of excitement and nerves instead. Maybe now was a good time? They'd only just begun, but surely starting off with happy news was a great way to eat breakfast!
She glanced at Max...and then looked around at the table. "So, I actually have an announcement to make! It's good news though, don't worry." No need for anyone to panic and jump to conclusions, even if she did want to build up a little anticipation and suspense. Just for dramatic effect. Hehe.
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if we fall, we will fall together; and when we rise, we will rise together__________________♥♥♥♥ together we are dangerous; together with our differences; together we are bolder, braver, stronger