Family Introductions PV Closed

What does one bring to a sleepover? The answer would have been obvious to a child, that had experience in social gatherings of that variety- which was experience that Xailah clearly did not have. As a child, Xailah was never really allowed to play or visit with the other children that were around her age. Not that they usually wanted to play, or have her visit anyways. She scared most of her playmates. She was too different. Sometimes she was unintentionally aggressive, whenever she played with the other kids. When she was younger, she used to excite easily. It made her reckless- which resulted in a ecstatic puppy-like aggressiveness, when she engaged with others her age. Needless to say, her playmates weren't particularly a fan of her behavior. Over time Xailahs parents would become alarmed by other childrens reactions to their eldest daughter, and thus kept- or at least tried to keep Xailah, as well as her sister separated from those their age. It was of course for the best. The Alptraums only wanted to shelter their children from harm.

But now that the Alptraum children were older, the leash had been loosened. Now, their parents were mostly wary of their children interfacing with strangers in general. Therefore they weren't too keen on letting the children leave the house unsupervised. There were a lot of scary people, beyond the gates of the estate. Xailah had been left home alone- sort of. Nothing out of the usual. Meadow was running around somewhere. And there were servants up and about. But the home was so big, it was almost impossible to locate the exact location of anyone in the house. There was always someone in the house, they just couldn't always be seen. So it was just easier to say she was home alone. Xailah packed some things in a small bag. Spare clothes. A nightgown. Hairbrush. Toothbrush. Would it be enough? Did she even need to bring these things? She had no clue. She glanced around her room, hoping that she got everything she needed. It would have been much easier, if she had asked for a list of what to bring.

Careful not to draw any unwanted attention, Xailah quietly pattered down the stairs; and into the kitchen. That was where the Floo Powder was kept. It was a... odd place to keep the powder, yes. But there was a reason for it. When Xailah was much younger, she had given her parents a scare. They had caught her trying to make herself disappear with it- one time she was successful in doing so. After that panic, her parents had decided to hide the powder. They would evidently do a poor job, considering Xailah knew where it had been hidden. The young metamorph would open a cupboard, and produce a coffee can. It was an admittedly clever place to hide something. And if it wasn't for the fact that Xailahs parents didn't drink coffee; it would have certainly fooled the girl. Popping the lid on the can open, the metamorph would grab a handful of the powdery, grey substance. She would then snap the lid shut, and return the can back to its 'hiding' place. "What're you doing?" a small voice called from behind.

"I'm going to visit a friend. Meenauh. I told you about her." Xailah turned, to find her sister staring down at her. "Remember?" The youngest Alptraum rolled her eyes. "Yeah. You know, if Mother and Father catch you-" Xailah stood up quickly, and brushed by the other girl. "They wont catch me- because you're going to cover for me, Meadie." She said. "You're going to tell them that I have locked myself in my room, and that I refuse to see anyone." Her brow creased. The claim was a dramatic one, but it would get the job done. "Because I'm... terribly moody. Yes. That is what you will tell them." Xailah nodded to the younger girl. The youngest sighed, knowing that she could not convince her sister to stay home. "Okay." There was no use in trying to stop her, so she would play along. "Oh- I'm taking Schrödinger with me too." Xailah called for the cat, while she made her way to the fireplace. She would leave the youngest Alptraum with a gentle wave.

Xailah was terribly lazy when it came to traveling, via the floo network. Lazy in the sense that she wanted to get the traveling done, and quickly. Due to the rushed nature or her speech- she was terribly afraid of being trapped in the green flames for too long- she often put herself at the risk of being mistransported. That had yet to happen, though. Xailah would arrive at her expected destination, and in once piece- thank goodness. Clattering, she would find herself, and Schrödinger, rolling in the soot of Meenauhs fireplace. She must have lost her footing. "Ouh-" Well, that was certainly one way to make an entrance. Before getting up to brush herself off; she would take a moment to look around. She wanted to make darn sure that she had been transported to the right location. Upon seeing the familiar child circling the armchair in the room; she would come to the conclusion that she had indeed tumbled into the right fireplace. "Meena!" She called breathlessly to her hostess.

The metamorph was visibly shaking. It was a mix of nervousness from being in a new place, and the excitement of seeing a friend. She ran out of the fireplace, arms wide open for a hug. "I brought Schrödinger with me- I hope your family won't mind." She hadn't considered the feelings of the family, before brining the cat. Hopefully they didn't think of her as rude. It was only natural for her to bring him along because- well, he was practically her security blanket. Xailah was taken aback by Meenauhs home. It was very different than her own. The most notable difference was that it was warm. Things thrived here. It was a welcome change from the atmosphere that she was used to. No cold stone. No unusual drafts. No secrets. No eerie silences. The home buzzed with the noise of life. It was wonderful. Smelt wonderful too. "Your home is beautiful Meena- what is that amazing smell?"

As soon as the fireplace started to produce noises, Meenauh lit up. She rushed to her and gave her a tight hug. She was really happy Xailah arrived. She was her guest. Her real guest.

"Mother! Father! She's arrived!" she shouted into the inexact direction to notify the family of the guest's arrival. Althea, the Mother, would peek through the doorway to the kitchen, throw away the utensils and would step into the living room with her arms wide open for a motherly hug.

"Hello, Xailah, and welcome! We've heard so much about you," she said giving her a warm and welcoming hug.

Father would climb up from the basement, putting on his glasses and a wide smile. And then in the addition to Althea's words, he'd repeat the hug, now in a fatherly manner with a smiling "Welcome, welcome."

Meenauh was the happiest and she gave the accompanying cat a scratch on the forehead and added: "I actually was pretty sure he'd come along, so it's more than okay," she smiled, "The smell is the dinner. Mother's cooking the bestest of the best! But I guess we have some time, so I'll show you around! Here's the living room. We hang out here and we also eat here. So this," she would point at a big table behind Xailah's back, "is where we'll eat."

The walls of the living room were practically made of bookshelves. Lots of literature, both practical and fiction, wizarding and muggle. That would give away the scholarship of the family, or maybe mostly Meenauh and her father. The light was dim, warm and pleasant as if there was a fire lighting and warming the whole room. Father and Mother would go back to the kitchen to finish the meal, leaving the Duo and the alone.

"The kitchen is sort of boring and we keep the... the cutlery away," she smiled at Xailah and took her hand, dragging her towards the stairs, "Down — the Father's basement, his lab. You know he's the 'alchemist', so that's the restricted area. Up — the bedrooms: parents' and mine. We'll go there later, we need to eat first! You'll love the cuisine. I think Mother brought some holiday flavours from Croatia, so expect some Mediterranean seafood or something," she was talking fast and excitedly grinning, "I'm so glad you've come, Xail. How did your parents react? How did you manage to convince them?"

Getting a hug from Meenauh was always a wonderful thing, but getting a hug from Meenauhs own mother was a great surprise. Xailah parted from Meenauhs embrace, just as the girl called for her mother, and father. A clatter coming from another room, could be heard. The mother would come to greet the guest of their daughter, first. She was such a pretty lady. There was no doubt that Meenauh was her daughter. Xailah only expected a polite greeting from the lady- however she would receive much more than what she expected. Hopefully Meenauh had only told her mother about her friends few good qualities. Xailah had never been hugged by a parent that was not her own before. Doing such a thing was rather unheard of, amongst the majority of the pureblood community- but to be fair, so was deceiving ones guardians to visit another family. So it all evened out. Xailah had been put into a state of mild shock, by the embrace of this new mother figure. She did not hug the woman back right away- and instead opted to stand there awkwardly, while entrapped in the females arms. Afraid that she was being rude, she would quickly wrap her arms around the womans waist, and return the hug.

Oh, but that wasn't all. Then Meenauhs father would hug the strange little metamorph, that had spawned into their living room. Xailah hadn't seen the man enter the room- he spooked her just a tad. She would do the same thing she had done with the mother. Stand in shock, then hug back. Was this- was this a normal thing people did, when meeting members of other families? Or was it something that only the bluebloods avoided? Shock lingered around the metamorph, like a hazy fog- it nearly made her forget to return all the greetings she had received. Where were her manners? "Oh!" She exclaimed after a moment of delay. "Thank you for allowing me to visit your home, and ssspend time with Meenauh. I am very grateful." She would dip her head in a unusually submissive manner; and give both the mother, and father, a polite curtsey. Normally Xailah was rather indifferent towards most adults, and people in general. Parents though? Parents were a different story. Parents had to be respected. Always. It was what she had been taught.

Meenauh would assure Xailah, that it was alright for Schrödinger to tag along on this adventure. A small sigh escaped the purebloods nose. For a moment there, she was afraid that she was being disrespectful- and, despite Meenauhs confirmation, an apologetic glance would be sent towards the parents in the room. The glance would be fleeting however- as her eyes would quickly alight. "Your mother cooks?" She appeared to be slightly astounded by that seemingly meaningless, little snippet of information. Xailahs mother never cooked- not really. She wasn't home often enough to so so. But sometimes when Mother was home, she would make a small snack, or tea- and on rare occasions, cookies. But the actual cooking, and meal prep was mostly left to the servants. So hearing that her friends mother cooked, surprised her- if not made her just a little jealous. Meenauh was quick to show her friend around.

The Mancunian would show her guest the living room first- as it was the room they were currently in. So it only made sense. Meenauhs home while cozy, was admittedly confusing. Where was the dining room? It was the one question that would echo back to the young Londoner, when the dining table had been pointed out. She peered around a bit in search for the room, but only found herself distracted by the shelves in the current one. The shelves... Surrounding all the walls, were rows, and rows of bookshelves. That would explain why Meenauh was so smart. What Meenauh was calling a living room, actually reminded Xailah of the library in her own home. There must have been some sort of misunderstanding- perhaps living room, was actually another name for library? But if that was the case, then why would they eat in the library? Xailah scratched at the top of her head. This was puzzling. She would watch Meenauhs parents return to the kitchen, to finish preparing dinner. "Your parents are very nice. I like them." She whispered, once she saw the two of them disappear around the corner. They were extremely different than her own. Extremely.

Xailah happily allowed Meenauh to drag her around the home. Though the hostess would find that her guest was sometimes a challenge to pull. Xailah was finding herself wanting to stop, and gawk at a lot of things. She was in a new place. There were so many new smells, and new things to look at! It was only natural for her to loiter for longer than usual. Meenauh claimed that the kitchen was boring. Nonsense. Kitchens were actually the most interesting rooms in a house- or so Xailah thought. Which was probably due to not being allowed in her own for... reasons. Her family eventually got tired of her hoarding their silverware in her room. Xailah couldn't help but turn a hue red, at the mention of cutlery. Either Meenauh, and her family could read minds, or the utensils had been put out of reach for safety reasons. Both were very likely. Xailah would be tugged towards a set of stairs, that presumably lead to a basement. That was what Meenauh had said anyway. Her father was evidently an alchemist, and the basement was off limits. What a horrible thing to tell a Gryffindor.

"What does your mother do?" Her golden hues darted down the stairs, focusing on the secrets that rested at the bottom of them. Xailah couldn't help but ask. There would be mention of some of the other rooms in the house- the bedrooms. Xailah was rather interested in seeing how Meenauh decorated her room- if she decorated it at all. There was talk of the meal that would be served. It all sounded foreign yet delicious. Schrödinger thought so too. He had been salivating, since he entered the home. "I don't think I've had anything Mediterranean-flavored before." Xailah murmured, absentmindedly- her attention fixed on a picture hanging up on the wall. Her diet admittedly had little variety- seemed that way anyways. Seafood other than lobster, and caviar, was going to be a welcome change.

The question that Meenauh asked, would almost be missed- or perhaps ignored? A pause temporarily punctured the air of giddiness that floated about. Parents? Reaction? Oh, how was she going to put this? Oh yes, about that. I deceived my parents, and snuck out of the house. Well. That was the truth- but there had to be a nicer way of going about it. "I'm very glad I came too." She paused again, wetting her lips. "My parents... don't know that I'm here. They're out of town." She whispered, before turning swiftly to face Meenauh. Slotted pupils pulsated in worry. "Please understand, they never would have let me visit. I was really looking forward to this." Gloved hands clasped together, as if praying. "I would appreciate if you didn't talk about this to your parents." She would hate for Meenauhs family to think lowly of her- even if that was all she really was. They all seemed like nice folks, and she didn't want to be seen as: 'that one friend of Meenauhs who snuck out of the house'.

Meenauh watched Xailah being embraced by her parents one by one and quietly observed the shock on her face with an inner snickering. Apparently, that wasn't a kind of greeting popular in the pureblood community. But Xailah sometimes needed a good hug, let's be completely honest here. She didn't seem like a person who was hugged enough by her parents. If there was even such a thing as enough.

As the metamorph put her question about mother's cooking, Meenauh gave her a confused look, completely forgetting there was an aristocratic layer of the wizarding society that used house elves or other hired manpower to produce the meals. Yes, her mother cooked and it was such a natural thing that Xailah's question would remain unanswered as she continued to show Xailah the living room. She would thank Xailah with a loyal accepting nod when the girl complimented her parents.

Moving to the stairs was accompanied by another question from her guest.

"She... she does... everything," she smiled, "She's being a good mother and a good wife. I think this would describe her the best. She creates all the cosiness inside our house and loves us with her whole heart," Meenauh would pronounce the description as if it was carved on her heart — without a hesitation or a second of thinking what to say, "But before I was born she was a healer at different healing camps all over the world if you're asking about her profession," she continued and then whispered to Xailah's ear, "She'll teach me all the advanced healing magic, which is handy in the place like Hogwarts," a joke whispered with a heart-breaking truth woven into it.

The upcoming confession from her friend about how actually she was allowed to come to her put Meenauh in confusion. The metamorph's eyes flickered as if there was a fireplace reflecting in them. If before they were going to eat first, Meenauh turned the opposite way and started to drag Xailah up the stairs right into her room.

The white door as all the doors in their house would be shut open and a poorly lit room would jump into the eyes of the newcomer. The first thing to notice would be the big bed in the corner of the room, with a reading lamp on the wall. It was not electrical, but with some alchemical ingredient that kept the light inside. Father had to refresh it once in a while to keep it on, but that was almost the only source of light in the room except what was piercing through the window curtains.

On the wall above the bed, there was a huge map of the world with certain countries being coloured and certain being greyed out. The big wardrobe (which was even bigger on the inside to store all her clothes and books). A globe on the wardrobe was constantly rotating. A bedside table would hold a stack of books on it — a regular thing, which Xailah would see in her Gryffindor dorm near Meenauh's bed anyway. The wooden floor would hold a few carpets, which were definitely used to sit on them and not on the bare wood.


To the left, she would see a table that looked like a set of trunks piled up together, but that was only a stylistic touch to it. Actual trunks would be lying around as storage and would look not different from the table while being actual trunks. A few bookshelves behind it with known books and Hogwarts study books in them. The wall in front of the table would serve as a board for different kinds of maps, incantations, wand movement images, potion recipes and even some non-magical formulas and printed pages with muggle scientific stuff, which looked weird to a wizard. Hand lanterns would be placed around and lit to provide a sort of gentle light in a dim room.



The door would be shut behind Xailah's back.

"Out of town?!" she would squeak but then calm down and level down her voice, "So, basically, you're here illegally?" she assumed rather than asked, "When are they coming back? Like, are you limited in time or something?" she was genuinely curious whether Xailah really thought it all through.

She would take a few steps towards her bed and fall back onto it, staring at the ceiling.

"Anyway, let's just assume it is okay and enjoy the evening," she said in a rather faded voice. She was glad to see Xailah disregarding any obstacle she had to overcome to come to her house, "I just hope everything will be okay with you once you're back home."