WELCOME

[catharina leandra burke]

It had been a good two or three months since Catharina had the babies, and it had been two or three months (actually more) since she had a decent night's sleep. However since school started and she was away from the twins and Rey, she was finally able to catch up a bit on the countless sleepness nights of the summer. Picking up a black cardigan and slipping it on, Cat slipped into a pair of black matching Mary Jane's and headed out of the Ravenclaw girls dormitory and common rooms. Today was the first Hogsmeade weekend and since the Vultures were still practicing and waiting for the season to start, Rey was coming to visit her along with the kids. At least that was her understanding; either way, the eldest Burke - now the young Mrs Reynold LeStrange - was glad to spend some quality time with her husband and possibly her sister Henrietta if the younger Ravenclaw decided to accept her offer to spend the day with her older sister along with her niece and nephew.

Heading down the path that would lead the troop of Hogwarts students from the castle down to the village, Catharina rubbed at her arms as a cool breeze washed over her body and sent chills up her spine. Minutes later, the petite Ravenclaw found herself in the warmth of the Three Broomsticks and ordering a round of hot chocolate. Grabbing the porcelain cup and wrapping her hands carefully around the heated drinking vessel, she zig-zagged her way to an empty booth and sat down, blowing on the drink to cool it down before taking a long sip. Content sigh was let out as the warm liquid travelled down her throat, dark glance scanning the occupants at every table, then flickering back to the front of the building.

Sitting there, alone, she began missing her babies. Of course it was a hassle to take care of one, but with two it was double everything. Without having to take care of them, she felt like there was a void in her day and made her re-think if it was such a good idea to come back to school since she thought she really didn't need to come back this year. Luckily for her, she had Rey even though half the time she knew he'd rather be out with the guys doing whatever it was they did. Settling back in her chair, Catharina took another cautious sip of her hot chocolate and waited for her new family to come.

[henrietta rhiannon burke]

Although it remained unseasonably warm, there was a cool crispness in the air that hinted at the cooling autumn weather. It was much too early to be overwhelmed with homework; even so, sixth year was proving rather a challenge. Nothing to Henrietta’s natural academic talents, of course, but the first Hogsmead weekend was looked upon in a very favourable fashion. She’d sailed through her fifth year with little fuss and ten OWLS, which had also earned her a brand new broom from her father and a summer of despairing sighs from her mother. To be fair, the poor woman did have a lot on her mind. Her eldest was up the duff and unmarried, her youngest was a quiet, awkward little thing and her middle child insisted on wearing trousers around the house when visitors were about! But the timely arrival of the twins had taken the attention off Henny’s questionable attire and put it right where it belonged – elsewhere.

The state of affairs remained thus until Mrs Burke was informed of her daughter’s new position as captain of the Ravenclaw team. Now that was a conversation that Henrietta had no intention of ever sitting through again. Only her father’s intervention had prevented her darling mother from sending the girl to a stuffy finishing school for unruly witches. It was hardly fair – surely a daughter pregnant out of wedlock was worse than one making Quidditch captain! Henny supposed that the fuzzy little bundles of cuteness (not to mention tears, poop and drool) went a long way to curbing her mother’s ire. But even Henrietta couldn’t fault that logic. The twins were adorable, even if they were bloody noisy and didn’t let anyone get any sleep and made her eldest sister a cranky wretch.

Henrietta was not, by any stretch of the imagination, the motherly sort. As adorable as her niece and nephew were, around them she was awkward and uncertain, never holding them for too long or even cuddling too tight in case she dropped them or squashed them or did something else equally unpleasant to the poor dears. She could catch pull off the most complicated Quidditch moves with her eyes closed, but the idea of babies was simply terrifying. The mechanics alone were enough to make her think twice, feel a bit sick, and then decide to never have any of her own. Yuck. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t shower the babies with gifts. It was her job, she supposed, to spoil them rotten. The young Quidditch player already had plans to buy Rebecca her first broom and take her out for flying lessons as soon as she could walk.

Since the babies were merely a couple of months old, Henrietta decided to forgo the brooms for now and had settled on tiny little matching Quidditch jumpers for both of them. She specifically didn’t buy any Vultures merchandise because it was also her job to annoy her sister’s beau. With a smile, Henny bade her friends goodbye as they headed off toward Zonkos, and she herself bounced into the Three Broomsticks. It took her a long moment to spot her sister among the usual crowd that filled the warm rooms. Hunched over a cup of something and looking decidedly the worse for wear. Henrietta’s smile only brightened as she walked quickly to the table. “Catharina,” she said cheerfully by way of greeting, “You look awful.” She loosened her scarf and removed her coat, draping both over the back of her chair and plonking down, facing her sister with a twinkle in her blue eyes. “Where are the twins, then? I didn’t come all the way down here to see you, you know.”