Thus far, her visit had been everything and nothing at all like she has planned. Never having been to stay at a Wizarding house, Maisy was floored by how positively... normal everything was. Were the crups ordinary dogs, one might not even know magic was a thing...

And it was absolutely lovely. She'd been nervous, so new to the world of magic, that she might say or do something wrong... Something awkward or uncomfortable and embarrass Constantine. But presently, she felt little difference in his home than she did her own. And it was just... lovely.

Following him to the dining room, she took up a chair beside Constantine, her lip curving in an easy smile at his polite mannerisms, then brighter yet at his brother's teasing. She thought of home and how Charlie would tease Auggie... How she would laugh and laugh and forget to eat for all of her amusement. A soft chuckle escaped at Constantine's retort and she shook her head.

"I've two brothers..." She noted with a conspiratorial smirk, "I know how to hold my own at the dinner table. And I'm quite hungry."

She was, in fact. Their afternoon had been adventurous, visiting the crups - and she'd worked up quite the appetite now that her nerves had settled, "Anyway... It smells wonderful!"

Constantine smiled, pleased that Maisy had been enjoying the time they'd spent together as much as he had. From what he could tell, Montgomery had not put her off in the slightest, nor had the promise of a magical household. Though the Babbitt family used less magic than the average witch or wizard, they would readily admit to using certain spells and charms for the more mundane tasks.

Before long, Mrs. Babbitt entered the dining room with a steaming tray, heaped with enough food to feed a small army. Various cuts of meat stacked one plate, whilst the other was piled high with a variety of vegetables. An enchanted gravy boat floated idly beside her, setting itself down on the table with a small 'clink'. As she went about placing everything down, a loud knock echoed throughout the room. "Must be the door. Goodness, I wonder who that is, David?" Mrs. Babbitt queried, balancing a plate of Yorkshire puddings in the crook of her arm. Mr. Babbitt had long since abandoned his newspaper, in favour of the food before him. "Haven't the slightest clue, shall I get it?" He replied, already pushing himself out of his chair. Mrs. Babbitt nodded, prompting him to head for the door.

"Perhaps it's an owl?" Montgomery joked, already extending an arm to reach for the roast potatoes. Mrs. Babbitt shooed him off with a tap on the hand, looking to the pair of Hogwarts students. "He'll be back in a minute," She reassured with affection, "Besides, now is the time to stack your plate before he gets back. Go on, help yourself." Mrs. Babbitt added, taking her own seat. Constantine, not confused by the sudden knock, gave Maisy a smile. "Happens all the time. Monty is always needed for his job, you see, and we can't use owls very often." He explained, looking over the selection of food in an attempt to decide what he'd like. Montgomery had already piled his plate, now listening to the conversation. "That's odd, I could've sworn I'd put in a word at the Ministry, told them not to disturb me, too." The older brother shrugged. Well, work was work. If he had to leave, he'd only do so after eating his fill.

A quiet murmur was filtering in from the hall, and Constantine couldn't ignore his curiosity. "He's taking an awfully long time, wonder who he's talking to." The Hufflepuff said aloud, "Maybe it's the floo powder you ordered, Mum? Oh! Or the new collar for Jack!" He exclaimed excitedly, to which the dog under his chair let out a cheerful bark. "You'd like that, wouldn't you Jack?" Constantine cooed, "If it is, I'll have to show you it, Maisy! It's a lovely colour." He promised.

Not having expected it, the small display of magic was oddly exciting, even for someone who had experienced so much of it over the prior year. The gravy boat floating wasn't exactly reattaching a severed limb or turning a lamp into a parrot, but it was nevertheless a fascinating thing to watch, and drew a bright smile to her lips.

She'd hardly noticed the knocking, and only looked up when Constantine's dad had risen to his feet, her eyes flickering between the young Hufflepuff boy and his mother for a moment, before returning to the multitude of food on the table.

"Everything looks absolutely amazing, Mrs. Babbitt." Her own mother was quite the cook, but her hunger, mingled with the new experience of dinner with wizards somehow made the meal before her all the more enticing.

She'd filled her plate without hesitation and only looked up when Constantine had spoken, smiling brilliantly, "I'm sure he'll look absolutely charming!"

But his father had been missing for a good while and her own curiosity was now peeked as to who their unexpected visitor was, "You don't suppose it's my dad..." She said, wondering if perhaps something had happened at home that was noteworthy.

"Thank you, dear! I do hope everything is to your liking." Mrs. Babbitt smiled appreciatively, putting things onto her plate with much more precision and care than the rest of the Babbitts had. Not one to pry, her attention remained focused on the table and the people seated around it - David would come back and explain it once he was able to.

Constantine smiled excitedly, hoping that the collar really had arrived. It was a pleasant yellow in color, and the steel ID tag had been styled in the shape of a bee. Most of the crups had a standard collar, not because he loved them any less, but because Jack was prone to jumping over the fence and getting lost in the woods behind the back garden. "I think it's a bit early for your Dad to come, isn't it?" Constantine questioned, not wanting the evening to end so soon, "Perhaps he can stay for dinner too?" He added.

Though, it was not long before Mr. Babbitt walked back into the dining room, except this time with someone following him. Adelaide Babbitt, Constantine's sister, trailed behind David with an air of authority, a striking contrast to the rest of the Babbitts' leisurely demeanour. She strode to Mrs. Babbitt's side, giving her a pleased smile. "It's nice to see you again, Mum. Is there room for one more?"" Adelaide asked. Mrs. Babbitt returned the smile, albeit a little shocked. "Of course, though we do have a guest here today." She informed. The Slytherin's gaze travelled over to Maisy, though her expression remained the same. "Are you one of Constantine's friends? I don't think we've met before. A pleasure to meet you, I'm Adelaide." Adelaide greeted with a polite smile, before pulling out the seat next to Montgomery.

Montgomery had visibly paled, his usually smug expression had vanished, in favour of something more sour. He no longer recklessly leaned on his chair, nor ate from his plate. It was clear where Montgomery stood on the sudden intrusion, though he said nothing. Regardless, Adelaide sat down anyway, dismissing it. "Sorry for the short notice, I couldn't help it." She excused, and nothing more.

Despite the fact that Montgomery became hard to read, Constantine was the opposite. He was eagerly waiting for Adelaide to speak, and listened intently when she talked. "I've told you about my sister, haven't I?" Constantine said to Maisy. He could remember talking a lot about Monty, but the same couldn't be said for Adelaide. "It better have been good things." Adelaide joked, similarly to how Montgomery had said it a few hours earlier.

To say it wasn't what she was expecting would have been a grosd understatement. When Constantine's sister entered the dining room, Maisy looked up, stunned. Her friend had indeed spoken of his wayward sibling, but last Maisy had heard, the girl had been completely absent... Not even bothering to answer Constantine's owl.

If Montgomery's reaction was any indication, her return was a complete surprise... And potentially disastrous. Maisy could only hope that she was wrong in assuming whatever had occurred between Constantine's brother and sister wasn't easily mendable by dinner and a few niceties exchaged between the pair of them.

"You did..." Maisy remarked, gingerly, almost afraid to broach the subject further, "That day in the small hall, when you saved my pictures. You..." Briefly, her eyes flickered between Adelaide and her brother, "You mentioned that you'd written to her but hadn't heard back." They'd not spoken much about it afterwards, because Maisy had assumed it hadn't changed.

Managing a smile, albeit a nervous one, she looked to Adelaide again, "It's very nice to meet you. You really have quite a lovely family." A part of her hoped indeed that was why the elder sister had returned, but somehow she had her doubts...

The Slytherin smiled again, her attention lingering on Maisy. "They're all very wonderful, it's a shame I haven't spent much time here as of late." She commented thoughtfully. For a moment, she looked almost disappointed in the light Constantine had shown her in, but it soon faded. Adelaide nodded with a sigh, "I'm sorry about that, Constantine," She apologised, spearing a piece of broccoli onto her fork, "I've just been a bit busy, and owls can't really find my residence." Adelaide replied, to which Montgomery grumbled something under his breath.

Constantine was about to speak, however Adelaide cut him off. "I didn't quite catch that, Montgomery." She prompted, raising an eyebrow. Montgomery looked placid enough, but he cocked his head at his sister in challenge. "I said, it's rude to lie." He repeated, folding his arms across his chest. Adelaide scrunched up her nose, "That's the truth." She snapped, dropping her fork with a clatter. "Well, my owl seems to be getting to you just fine." He bit back, on the offensive. Adelaide scowled. "Well then, Montgomery. Would you like to tell everyone what you write in your letters? Or is it not convenient to bring up?" The Slytherin hissed. He bit his tongue, frowning at his sister, "No." He stated firmly, digging his nails into the palm of his hand.

"That's enough - the pair of you," Mr. Babbitt scolded, deciding that now was a good time to interject, "Poor Stanley has been waiting to see you both, so don't ruin it with your bickering." He commanded, looking between the two siblings sternly. Mrs. Babbitt nodded, "Can't you just be civil? Not even this once? Why is it that Stan and Maisy can behave better than both of you adults?" She chided.

Constantine, face flushed red, said nothing. Though embarrassed, it wasn't a surprise. Sitting them next to each other was a recipe for disaster, though it couldn't have been avoided. He scratched the back of his head, staring into his dinner like it was the most interesting thing in the world. Maisy probably thought him a fool now, and their family less 'lovely' than ever.

Maisy watched the interaction with an odd sense of detachment. No one's family was perfect... She knew this from her own personal experiences. Still, whatever had happened that had driven Adelaide away, it must've been particularly awful for Montgomery, who seemed unable to keep a civil tongue, even during dinner.

It reminded her all too much of Charlie's explosion several nights prior, when he'd stormed out in a fury. Her mother insisted it was nothing to worry over, yet Maisy had seen the look in everyone's eyes. Something was happening, bigger than she knew... And it seemed the Babbitt household suffered the same illfated circumstances.

Idly, she reached out to give Constantine's forearm a reassuring squeeze, before she forced a smile, determined to see her best friend wasn't further embarrassed by his squabbling siblings. He'd opened his home to her, and she wasn't about to fault him that it wasn't going exactly as planned.

"What do you do for the Ministry, Monty?" She asked, looking to Montgomery with an expression that suggested she hadn't heard so much as a word of their brief argument, "I find it amazing that we've an entire government that no one on the Muggle side even knows about. Magic really is so cool...?

Constantine felt better with Maisy's small act of reassurance, even if it did nothing to quell his disappointment in his siblings. He wasn't surprised that they'd bickered this evening, considering they argued about almost everything under the sun, though he wished they could restrain themselves when in the company of others.

Montgomery, seemingly in favour of a topic change, glanced over to Maisy. "I'm afraid that's strictly confidential," He replied sternly, pausing for a few moments, "Just kidding. I mainly apprehend witches and wizards that practice the Dark Arts, among other things." Montgomery explained proudly, smiling at the Slytherin from across the table.

"He's like...a police officer?" Constantine added, uncertain he'd used the right word. He didn't really understand the muggle equivalent very much, although he'd heard the comparison be made a few times before. "It's a very good job, and we're all proud of him for achieving it." Mr. Babbitt praised, flipping the page to his newspaper that lay strewn across one section of the table. "Dangerous, though," Mrs. Babbitt replied thoughtfully, "Though it's nothing he can't handle."

"Have you an idea of a future career, Maisy?" Monty queried, "Nothing to do with dark magic, I hope, as much as I know you'd like to see more of me." He chided in a teasing manner. Constantine rolled his eyes, though appreciated that Monty was trying to lighten the mood again.

It had worked, and Maisy showed no small reflection of relief as the uncomfortable conversation was waylaid in favor of a much more civil topic. She understood it might not last forever, but if she was able to push it off through dinner, maybe the evening wouldn't be ruined... And Constantine wouldn't feel bad. It wasnt his fault, as it was, but she knew all to well how personal one's family failure could feel.

"Oh! Are you an auror, then? That's what my friend Eevee wants to do when he's older. He says it's really hard to get in, but I think he'll manage!"

Her smile warmed to something more genuine, and color found her cheeks at Montgomery's teasing, as with a laugh she shook her head, "I haven't given it a terriblr lot of thought. Being so new to it all... The wizarding world, I suppose I've still got a lot of learning to do. But I dunno... I've sort of always wanted to be a nurse..." Biting her lip, she bounced her shoulders in a coy shrug, "And seeing how they've got those in both worlds, I suppose it isn't the worst option, right? Though I suspect school for nursing is a bit different where this world is concerned..."