Ivory House

[G. Novella]

"A few times, but I learnt quick to bandage myself. It was mostly just cuts here and there," said Alice as she finished the sandwiches and grabbed a tray, "Once or twice in the beginning I burnt myself using the stove, since I mostly had to do things the muggle way, but my parents had an intense arsenal of healing salves and potions, so I'd just bandage myself up and the scars faded. It was never really that big of a deal though, I mean, my parents were busy people." She felt a bit bitter at the end of that sentence. She doubted her parents knew a thing of her injuries, since they spent hours in that god-awful lab of theirs, experimenting.

[kumainpink]

The thought of a child version of Alice being forced to heal herself after being hurt while cooking sickened him. Adults were supposed to tend to children. That's how it went. His brow furrowed in disgust. Had they abused her, too? Some of his clients came from homes like that, so he didn't deem it impossible. Just how much of Alice's shy behavior was natural, and how much was ingrained? "Nobody should be too busy to take care of their child." he said coolly, biting back the desire to yell.

[G. Novella]

Alice was surprised at Maxwell's words. She knew her parents had done horrible thing, but they had been busy after all, that's why they hadn't been around. She noticed his furrowed brow, and felt out of place. Had she done something wrong? "They were Healers," explained Alice, trying to fix what went wrong, as she levitated the tray to go out in the garden, "They worked quite a bit, studying and taking care of their patients. It wasn't that they didn't want to be around, but they just had a lot of work to do."

[kumainpink]

Did she really not understand? Of course not. She probably wouldn't given her attitude about it. He wanted to tell her that still wasn't an excuse, that she was being horribly neglected, but one look at her sad expression froze the words in his throat. No, she didn't need to hear this now. And not from him - he would probably botch everything up.

Maybe Cassalina might make the better choice? She was far better at these sorts of things than himself. He swallowed back the urge to continue this line of conversation, and simply said. "If you say so." He then got up, slowly. "So, shall we head out?"

But one thing was for sure. Octavius was about to have a new top priority.

[G. Novella]

"Of course," said Alice, relieved that the conversation wasn't on her parents anymore. She couldn't understand why Maxwell seemed upset, and the more she tried to, the more it terrified her. She'd had good parents, right? They hadn't done everything in their lives wrong, right?

"Shall I bring the radio so we can listen to some music as well?" she suggested, not wanting to think of her parents anymore, and that scary line of thought.

[kumainpink]

"That would be fine with me." He said, occluding his troubled thoughts for the time being. He flashed her one of his best smiles. "Any particular station you like?"

[G. Novella]

"I'm fine with anything, but I prefer songs from Gred and Forge myself, and the Butterbeer Quintet," she said with a smile, levitating the small radio onto the tray, and moving to assist Maxwell. Her free hand guided the full tray with her wand.

[kumainpink]

"What is a Gred and Forge?" Maxwell asked, bewildered. He had never heard of them before.

[G. Novella]

"They're a relatively new band," she said with a surprised smile, "I think you'll enjoy them. It was all that we played in the common rooms when I was in school, what music do you enjoy?"

[kumainpink]

"Ah, kids and their music. A poor old man such as myself will never catch up." he said in jest. "I listen to what was around when I grew up - Devine, Rod's Fire and October Snitches, for instance. But, I suppose a change of music is good for the soul."

[G. Novella]

"Well, maybe we need to listen to a bit of each other's music," said Alice with a smile as they entered the garden. It was lovely and flowers grew everywhere. "Where should we sit?"

[kumainpink]

"How about over there?" Maxwell said, motioning toward a circle of flowers that had a large space in between them. His mother had those planted like that, just for occasions like this.

[G. Novella]

"It looks lovely," she said, as they moved to settle down in the grass, "The garden is beautiful, I was never a green thumb myself, did you do all of this?"

[kumainpink]

"Unfortunately, I have a black thumb." Maxwell said, snickering. "No, it was my mother who did all this. Gardening was her passion. She tried to teach me, but I somehow wound up killing more plants than I did growing them." What he didn't mention was that his powers started showing up, even at a young age. Those powers didn't act well around plants of any sort. Another Rosebane family bonus, to be sure...

[G. Novella]

"She did an amazing job," praised Alice, as she helped Maxwell sit dwown, and levitated the tray beside him. Again, she felt a pang as she seperated from him, but allowed herself to sit close by on the pretext of needing to reach the sandwiches. "Has anyone kept the garden up, or do the servants just keep things the waY she left it?"

[kumainpink]

"I never have the time or skill to tend to them." he said regretfully. "So I hired a gardener to keep everything just as she left it. Not a single flower out of place." He took a small bite of his sandwich. "This is really good."

[G. Novella]

"Thank you, but it is rather simple," said Alice, biting into her own sandwich. "She did make a beautiful garden. Do you sit out here often?"

[kumainpink]

"Indeed, she did. I come out here once in a while, when the weather is nice and I have nothing else to do." Maxwell said fondly. He remembered the way his mother would take him outside when he was younger and they'd sit and talk. Maxwell used to hate those moments because he wasn't flying. We're all so foolish when we're young. We never realize the the things we hate are sometimes the most important.

[G. Novella]

Alice poured them both some juice, "I could sit here all day, it's so peaceful. Shall I play some music?"

[kumainpink]

"Help yourself." He said, as a pleasant breeze played with their hair. "And you're welcome to come here anytime."

[G. Novella]

As a breeze rolled through her hair, Alice moved to turn the radio on. She fiddled with the dials for a bit, until a pleasant, cheery tune came on. It wasn't any popular band, or someone's she'd heard, but it was nice nonetheless. She smiled, "Is this alright?"

[kumainpink]

Maxwell smiled at the familiar tune. "Yes, it's just fine. This is Happy Hour, by the October Snitches."

[G. Novella]

"It's a nice song," said Alice listening to the tune for a bit, "When we were in school, I remember we'd take the radio out in the summers by the lake, and people would dance and laugh and sing along to the songs. Hogwarts was really just another time of bliss."

[kumainpink]

"I couldn't agree more." Maxwell said, as the song started to end. "We never realize how good we have it, until we're forced to grow up."

"And that was Happy Hour by the October Snitches." said the radio personality. "You're listening to The Brewing Hour. All music, all the time, with Jack Halton! Next up is a favorite of the younger crowd, Gred and Forge."

"It seems I'm about to find out what a Gred and Forge are." Maxwell said, bemused.

[G. Novella]

Alice gave an excited squeal, as the song came on. "The song is called Brotherly Love! Oh, it's one of my favorites! What do you think?"

[kumainpink]

"Chillin' on the couch with Fred. On his lap is where I lay my head. Spend our Saturday evening watching Brokeback Mountain, again. Well this movie is getting me hot. Good thing I like my brother a lot. Actually, he's the best looking guy in the world. Just like me."

"Um, what?" Maxwell said, gaping at the radio, slightly disturbed.

[G. Novella]

Alice laughed at his expression, "It's just a joke song. They're sponsored by Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes after all. They were extremely popular when I was in school." She then sang along to the end, her eyes shut as she remembered her school days.

"And now ladies and gents," said the radio personality, "Let's slow things down again for the next bit as we move into those warm songs. Here's a really old one, Joanna Hill's rendition of a Cauldron of Love."

"Oh, I remember this song," said Alice with a smile, "It was a popular song. People used to dance to it all the time."

[kumainpink]

Even if the song was a joke, Maxwell spent the duration being horrified by it. The last thing he wanted to hear about were Weasley brothers getting their jollies off. It made him feel rather...unclean.

But Alice's happy expression kept him from commenting.

The next song, he knew all too well. "Ah, I haven't heard this one in a long while." He looked to Alice, just wondering... "Would you like to dance? I had fun the last time we did."

[G. Novella]

Alice was surprised, and said all too quickly, "Yes!" in her excitement, and then turned red.
"I had fun too, last time." She stood up slowly, and dusted herself off, before offering a hand to Maxwell.

[kumainpink]

Maxwell took her hand, careful not to put a strain on her. "I'm afraid I won't be as graceful as I was before." he replied, placing his hands on her hips.

"Bubble, toil, boil and brew. Dearest, my heart pines for you."