A Family Emergency

It had been just above two weeks since Calixta had travelled to Malaysia. She was sitting cross-legged on the rug in front her bed, in the flat she shared with three co-workers, fiddling nervously with the sling she wore on her left arm. Unfortunate timing, really -- this would be the only time she'd be able to Floo Bastian for awhile, and of course she had a broken arm, courtesy of her incompetent coworker, Trent. Were she able to contact him the following day, she'd be all healed up with nothing to concern her long-distance boyfriend, but they'd be shipping out to the jungle with no access to the Floo Network for two weeks.

This could have all been avoided had her aforementioned coworker set up his spell work properly, thus saving Calixta from the nasty fall she took early in the day. Climbing up sheer mountain faces was not the time to skimp on safety, and all of Trent's stuttered apologies made little impression on the less-than-thrilled witch. However, when a face appeared in the fireplace before her, it was not the dark-haired vision she'd been expecting, but quite another -- that of her older brother, Percival Harper.

Having married an Irish Muggle about seven years prior, they lost contact when he made the decision to move to County Limerick to be more near Eileen's family a year ago. As much as Calixta missed her adorable niece and nephew, she could hardly complain when she was more rarely in the country than her brother, anyway. So when his familiar blonde hair appeared in the fireplace, she was surprised but happy -- until she registered the look of sheer panic and terror in his eyes. He didn't even bother with a greeting to the little sister he hadn't spoken to since the previous Christmas.



"Cal, you need to get home, now! We've just been attacked....well not me, the -- the children," he faltered, weeping as he spoke. Calixta gasped out loud in horror and pain as she made to clap her hands to her mouth and jolted her injured arm horribly. "They -- they -- Eileen, she's --" Calixta jumped to her feet and rushed to her bed, thrusting her hand beneath it to retrieve her trunk.

"The kids are alive but they -- they did -- I don't know what's wrong with them, something's happened to them -- I told the Ministry when I called, they said something about their magic -- Muggles -- I didn't understand but Rian's bleeding and Innis won't respond to anything, she's just lying there --" A great sob escaped Calixta's throat as tears blurred her vision. She aimed her wand shakily at her wardrobe and did a very rushed job of packing.

"I'm coming, Percy, I'm coming -- call Mum, I'll be right over. We'll take the children back to the estate."

"No no, I'll meet you there, don't come here, it's --"

"And who's going to take care of Eileen, hm? You have to do it -- t-tell her parents....I'll take care of the kids..."

"Cal --"

"GO!" she yelled, throwing a fistful of Floo Powder into the fireplace and stepping inside, the green flames licking at her light silk robes. Nothing else mattered in that moment but getting to her brother's house, and seeing her nephew and niece for herself.

Chaos and darkness greeted Calixta upon her arrival at her brother's country manor. The fancy sneakoscope security system installed in the house was going off at a deafening volume, and throwing strobe lighting outside of the house, more blinding than helpful to those within the darkened rooms. She stumbled her way down the unfamiliar corridor, feeling her way with her good hand until she wiped it in something wet and warm smeared against the wall. To her horror, she nearly tripped over a figure lying prone on the floor -- clearly the diminutive form of Eileen, Percy's wife, until what looked like a run-in with the Sectumsempra curse.

The alarms covered the sound of Calixta's startled screams, and she at last managed to calm herself enough to carefully pick her way across without touching the body, tears streaming down her face at an alarming rate. She ran now, down the hall and turned the corner, where the flashing lights illuminated the way erratically as she screamed her brother's name. Turning another corner, she ran headfirst into a pair of Healers running with a stretcher levitated between them.

"Down the hall to your left!" Calixta yelled into the ear of the Healer nearest her, and then pressed herself against the wall to allow them to pass. Another turn revealed a set of open doors -- the children's rooms were right next to each other, and there she found Percy crouched in front of the fireplace, clutching little Rian in his arms while Innis lay spread-eagled on her bed, her eyes wide and unseeing, white as the sheets she lay upon.

"Give him to me!" she commanded, tugging her nephew away as gently as possible and lying him carefully upon the floor. He was covered in blood, making it difficult to determine where the bleeding was, although it was easy enough to spot and contain the blood dripping from his ears and nose. This caused the boy to cough and spew up more blood, making his aunt go nearly as pale as his sister.

"He has massive internal injuries," she cried helplessly, turning to her brother. "I can't do anything, but the Healers are here --" Thankfully, they made their entrance at that moment, and Calixta hastily made way for them as they collected Rian and transported him to Trinity hospital in Dublin.

At that point, the sneakoscope system was finally deactivated, leaving nothing but the flashing lights and a loud ringing in their ears behind. Calixta rushed over to Innis while they waited for the Healers to return, and pressed a hand to her niece's cheek. It was stone cold, making Calixta panic and place her ear to Innis' chest. Her heartbeat was weak, but there, and her breath scarcely moreso -- but they were indeed present. She breathed a sigh of relief and shrank away from the bed, towards her brother who still stayed crouched where she'd found him with Rian -- possibly going into shock. Now was not the time for him to pay a visit to his inlaws, she decided.

"Percy. Percy. We have to go," she told him, helping him to his feet as the Healers rushed by again, taking Innis. "The house is empty now...we can leave."

"Hold on...we're gonna need his statement," said a wizard in official-lookng robes, wearing a scowl and carrying a clipboard.

"I don't think you're gonna get much out of him in this state," Caloxta replied honestly, looking over at her brother with obvious worry in her knitted brows. "I think he's going into shock..."

"Then take him to Trinity and have them perform a memory extraction," he ordered, to which Calixta nodded and wrapped her arms protectively around her brother as he staggered -- tragi-comic as the sight was, as all 5'4" of her managed to support all of his lanky 6'2" frame. The wizard, observing this, looked a bit more sympathetic and shook his head.

"Tell them to release the memory to you -- then come down to the Ministry to give your statement," he amended, and Calixta nodded again before finally pulling into the abyss of Apparition and disappearing from the spot.

Very many hours later, Calixta found herself slumped in a chair at the Ministry of Magic in London, clutching a paper cup half-full of cold coffee. It was early in the morning, and people were just starting to arrive for work all around her as she set the cup down and shrugged her sling off, stretching her arm carefully against the stiffness of the newly-set bone. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was still wearing last night's makeup, or perhaps it was longer than that; the time difference made her head feel like it was full of cotton.

Being questioned for hours hadn't exactly helped the sensation, either -- she'd managed to get the kids transferred to St. Mungo's, so that they'd be closer to her parent's estate just outside of London, as well as getting the case transferred as well, since it involved British citizens. The Harper murder/attack was now officially being investigated in two countries, thanks to Calixta's hard-dealing, which may or may not have involved a load of gold and/or threats to take the story to The Daily Prophet. Each transfer required more examinations of both the victims and her brother's memory; the extraction had alleviated his sufferings somewhat and he had been released in the wee hours of the morning.

With any luck, he'd now be sound asleep at their parent's house, while his children fought for their lives in the hospital -- an arrangement which had been more difficult to take care of than any of the others, as of course Percival had wanted to stay with his children.

"They've already lost one parent," she'd reasoned, debating with herself whether or not using the Confundus Charm on him in this state would cause any permanent damage. Ultimately she decided against risking it. "They need to see you healthy in the morning. You can come in as soon as visiting hours begin -- they'll probably still be sleeping anyway. They're not going to remember any of this, Percy. It's only five hours. I promise they'll make it."

And so she found herself contending with the paper trail, a task she entrusted to no one else. She'd had the most experience dealing with bureaucratic affairs, being the only one in her family with an actual job aside from a few retail jobs her father had worked way back when. After wrangling them all into their beds, she'd headed down to the Ministry for a long night of waiting, waiting, and more waiting. Hopefully now that the business day had started, and there were more people working, things would move on a lot quicker. Calixta would have given just about anything to see the underside of her favourite comforter in her old room at her parent's house.

After enduring the silent stares of countless wizards and witches for what seemed like hours, Calixta finally heard a surprised outburst at her appearance, muttered in German. She looked up and into the eyes of a surprised and horrified Julian Kaiser, who proceeded to ask a rapid series of questions in his native German, apparently unaware of himself in his shock.

"I can't get it all that fast," she protested, picking up the newspaper lying on the seat beside her and waving it at him. "I'm still learning, so either say all that slower or in English, please."

"Are you okay?" was Julian's first question, quickly followed by "What are you doing here? I know curse-breaking is dangerous but you're covered in blood! Why aren't you in the hospital? Why aren't you in Malaysia? Does Bastian know about this? What on Earth happened to you--"

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" She waved him off, as he stared for a moment at the newspaper she was brandishing and took it from her with a gobsmacked expression on his face. [color=darkblue]"What? I told you I've been studying my German -- this thing is a few days old, I nicked it from a bin...but anyway I'm fine, physically anyway...there's been a terrible tragedy in my family, and it's been a long night...I haven't been able to change yet, let alone tell your brother. I know you're on your way to work right now, but if you could please let him now?...and perhaps if someone in your department is about my size, and wouldn't mind loaning me a spare set of robes?.."

Julian nodded mutely in response, tearing his eyes away from the paper with difficultly.

"Right, Bastian. Fresh robes. Got it. I'm glad you're ok -- you're right though, I have to go. If there's anything else you need, just let me know. I'll be upstairs doing paperwork all morning." He backed away a few paces, still clutching the newspaper in his fist, and then turned and sprinted down the hall, towards the lifts. Calixta shook her head, confused by the encounter, but chalked it up to her own lack of sleep. In any case, she could look forward to clean robes and perhaps a bit of very welcome company in a bit. With those happy thoughts, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, intent on catching a few moments of rest.

Bastian was having a quick cup of coffee before dragging himself to meet with his new client, he had only just met the man and he already found him annoying. But they family was powerful and the case was more of a personal one then an important one... If he won or lost the world in general wouldn't change.. So why not? he asked himself he would win the confidence of a powerful familly and the pay was great even for him. The case wouldn't terribly difficult... technically anyway...

His Client was a brat though, Hence why he was taking his time to meet him..

He had just walked into his personal office in germany when a note hovered in front of his face, with his brothers wrting on it. Wondering what his younger brother wanted, he opened the paper and read the note.

Concern crossed his face along with worry for both his brother and Calixta whom he assumed his brother meant. He wasn't sure what to do for his brother, he wanted to emplore Kate to allow Violet to spend some time with her father, but he would likely be going out with Juli and make sure he didn't over do it like he had on his many excursions in drinking away sorrows..

Bastian stood up wrote a note to his client he had urgent buisness that couldn't wait and throw in some floo powder in to his floo and yelled his destination.

"Kiazer, wizengamot office!" he called having it being his quickest why to the ministry in England.

He went through many floos and arrvied in a thud at his destination.

He swiftly walked through the halls, wondering why Calixta would be here, she had here work in Mayalasia still.. Unless something horrible happened..

He didn't want to get to excited yet, but he did quicken his pace making some move out of his way and have others almost bump into him. Finally he arrived at the department of law, he looked around and spotted a very familliar woman... though she looked very different, Exsausted the word he was looking for.

He walked over to her and wasn't surprised to see she had fallen asleep. He didn't want to ruin any rest she was finally getting. despite wanting to know what in merlins name happened.

He sighed "Calixta? Lass?" he muttered not getting to close to her until she woke up.. Having learned sleeping people tended to startle easily...

It felt like Calixta had just closed her eyes to sleep when she heard heard someone say her name in a gentle, familiar accent. It took a moment for reality to filter through her sleep-deprived haze, and eventually her eyes focused enough for her to recognise the concerned eyes of her newly-minted boyfriend, Bastian Kaiser.

"Bas?" she questioned sleepily, attempting to sit up in her chair. The way he was looking at her as though she might be injured reminded her that she was in a right state, and she wiped her teeth on a clean spot of her sleeve and attempted to fix her hair somewhat with an embarrassed smile.

"He did send for you...I hope you weren't busy?" She cringed, realising he was indeed dressed for business. The clock behind him proved she'd actually been asleep for the better part of an hour, and it was now nearly 9am.

Bastian conjured a chair and sat beside her, his client could wait, not matter how much whinned.. He was going to make sure things were alright with Calixta first.

"Don't worry about it lass.. Client can wait, he has lots of time trust me" he muttered, a certain annoyence at about talking about his client.

"What happened? if yeah don't mind me asking Lass?" he asked concerned as he placed a hand on her shoulder,

Calixta shook her head, and covered her face, but the tears fell before she could close her eyes upon them.

"Bastian, it's so t-terrible! My family w-was -- attacked, they -- m-my brother's wife, she's..." she took a gulp of air and removed her hands from her face, brushing her hair aside roughly, "she's dead, they k-killed her -- attacked her and left her to d-die...the children, scarcely better...they c-can't figure out what's been d-done to them, Rian was bleeding everywhere and Innis is just catatonic, c-completely unresponsive -- my brother's a mess, his k-kids without a mother and they don't know to fix them." Calixta sobbed now, making to hold onto Bastian and then stopping herself as she realised her robes were still a mess of blood, sweat, and tears.

"They k-keep -- giving Rian blood-renewing potions every hour, but they c-can't stop the bleeding -- he's not even three yet -- Innis will be six in March. They're just children, for Merlin's sake! And their mother, a sweet woman who did nothing but look after them. Who would do this, Bastian? Why?" She poured every last ounce of anguish into that word -- "WHY?! No one has any answers, but they all have so many questions for me. No one can help us. No one can tell us why, or even who. I just -- I just want to know that there's someone, somewhere that can -- that do something. That can just -- tell me, what to do, how to take care of those children. Tell me how to fix them."

Calixta sniffled, the tears still running freely down her face from her red, swollen eyes. "I just want to know how to fix them. It can all be alright as long as they're okay."

Bastian made to hold Calixta, he hardly cared for his robes.. he had a million of them. But that point aside Calixta's toubles were of much more concern to him. Reguardless of her own robes condition..

"I am sorry Lass" he stated at first. Then she explained the childrens condition and he truely felt for Calixta's brother... he could think of no greater pain to go through that. His eyes darkened thinking the same thing as Calixta.. who would delibratily cause such harm to a young family? Why? The attack sounded vicious.. so evily done...

He didn't know who had done it but it sounded like one of the many attacks on muggle related famillies.. He wanted to help, but the helpless feeling seemed to decend. he wasn't sure what he could do to help until he know more details about the attack.. Perhaps he could make a plea in the Wizengamot.. or talk with on of the officals to speed things along and find whoever it was responsible..

He rubbled Calixta's shoulder and back, wish he could be more helpfull "I wish I had those answeres for ya lass.. I am sorry, If there is anything I can do to assisit let me know aye?" he said softly.

Calixta just held onto Bastian, wordlessly sobbing out her pain and confusion into his chest. After a few minutes, she shakily sat up in her chair and wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"I'm so glad you're here," she whispered, letting her eyes take him in hungrily, as if it would heal her hurt -- and it did help a bit. His presence was very soothing to her right now, and that was probably all she could ask of him.

"I love you. I suppose that's all you can do -- just, love me back? Remind me that there's still some hope left in this world." Despite how very sad and tired and desperately empty her eyes looked at the moment, he did in fact make her feel better. Which was really saying something, considering the magnitude of the situation.

At that moment a woman emerged from a door Calixta hadn't been paying particular attention to, and looked out at her expectantly. "Harper? Calixta Harper?" she asked questioningly, and she nodded silently, rising unsteadily from her chair. The woman's eyes softened at the pathetic sight of her, and she gave Calixta a sympathetic smile.

Bastian arose with Calixta as the woman called her name, he was anxious to hear what had to said as well. Did they know who did it? or was there news on the children.. He believed anything positive could be helpfull at this point.

He placed an arm around her and kissed the top of her head, his admriation growing even more for her, that she would go through all of this to help her brother and his children. If something like that happened to Kate and Vi... and the mess his brother would lilkely be, could he do it. Even finding out his ex wife had remarried ment bad news... "Yar Strong lass.. your brother and his little ones are lucky to at least have ya" said hoping it was as encuraging as he thought it was.

"Do ya know somethin?" he asked the woman, hoping well for everyones sake it was something in the right direction and not more bad news.

The woman observed the interaction between Calixta and Bastian for a moment, apparently deciding it was alright to speak about the case in front of him.

"I might, but there are still a few questions I need answered first..." At the tired sigh which escaped Calixta's lips at these words, the woman smiled apologetically. "Questions that I promise you haven't answered yet. I'm Evelyn Dechert," she added, shaking each of their hands in turn. "Please, step into my office."

She ushered them into a small but well-appointed room, where they were directed to sit in two comfortable-looking chairs in front of a desk bearing a plaque with her name on it. "Now, I'm going to cut to the chase here because I can see you're tired and I'm sure you want to be with the rest of your family, Mrs. Harper." Calixta did not bother correcting her on the name; the assumption was very low on her list of cares at the moment.

"We've received an urgent report from St. Mungo's -- one that requires your complete secrecy." Calixta squeezed Bastian's hand rather painfully, an occurrence which did not escape Evelyn's notice. "The children are alright, physically. Alive. But we had some questions with regard to...around what age the children in your family usually manifest magic." Calixta looked startled, then confused.

"...c-come again?" Evelyn looked rather uncomfortable at this reaction, which did not bode well to Calixta.

"At what age. Around age seven it's typically agreed that if they haven't shown any signs of being magical, that it's not going to happen -- there are, of course, late bloomers, but these things tend to run in families. Has this been the case in yours?" Calixta shook her head, still not quite understanding where Evelyn was headed with her line of questioning.

"No, actually, we tend to do magic straight off. I vaguely remember Melania-- my younger sister -- being quite the handful when she was born, and even Percy's kids did magic from the word go. Normal kid stuff, you know -- Innis fell out of a tree once and just floated there like some kind of freaky child angel, and Rian shocked her just this past Christmas, when she wouldn't share a toy with him...Melania's always over there to help as often as they can get her to help, 'cause Eileen doesn't know how to deal with the magic, of course..." She looked up at Evelyn, not understanding the suddenly pitying look on her face.

"Well you know, they're normal troublesome kids! But they wouldn't hurt anyone! They weren't like, Muggle-haters or anything, Merlin's beard! Rian is only two!" she started defensively, but Evelyn waved her off.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean."

"I mean to say it's gone." That stopped Calixta short.

"What's gone?" she asked suspiciously, and it was Evelyn's turn to sigh.

"Their magic. It's gone." Calixta stared, dumbfounded.

"Whacha mean, "it's gone,"" Calixta asked, actually using air quotes. "How is that even possible?" Evelyn looked nervously at Bastian before turning her attention back to Calixta.

"We don't know," she told her honestly, shaking her head. The frustration was evident in her face. "This is not the first time we've seen this situation. One or more Muggle parents, violent attacks, usually the middle of the night, and children will all varieties of unexplainable ailments, all with one thing in common -- they had magic, and it's simply -- gone." Calixta clapped her hands over her mouth for a moment, making a funny strangling noise in her throat.

"Will they be okay?" she asked, strained. "Do the children ever die?" Evelyn's face was grim.

"Sometimes." She was unable to meet Calixta's eyes at that moment.

"Is there anything you can do?" she choked out, tears streaming once more. Evelyn simply shook her head.

"We're working on it, day and night, I assure you. But for now all we can do is treat the symptoms and advise surviving family members to stay close to the children as much as possible. We've found that children left unattended for any significant amount of time tend to just...drift off, in their sleep." All of the color drained from Calixta's face, and she went completely rigid; there was no need to explain why.

"Go. Now. Someone will be with you at the hospital soon."

Bastian clunched Calixta's hand back though not as tightly, feeling it was the only thing he could do concidering the curicmstnaces.

As soon as the woman started explaining what was wrong, Bastian got a sickening feeling in his stomach.. he had stidied these kind of attacts.. most members of the wixengamot had Aurors likely had as well... Magic Syphoning, a vicious practice created by a man name Tarren Onyx, came into power for a short time.. but in his action casued the unease the contry was now in and why a secret group of wizards go about drining the magic out of those with Muggle blood.. Basical it was rather harsh, "Go back where you came from" message.. Back to the muggle world nad get rid of all muggle borns forever...

He looked at Calixta concerned for her,yet affirmed his faith and love for her.. she was taking this as well as anyone in her shoes would.

As the woman finished her ecplination Bastian stood up offering his hand to Calixta, "Thank ya for informing her Ms. Dechert.." he said to the woman quickly knowing Calixta wanted to got to the children quickly. Which he didn;t think anyone could blame her.

"Want me ta take ya there Lass?" he offered, wanting to be there for her and plus he was worried about her appariting in her current paniced state of mind.. He knew he may not be allowed in the childrens room, he wasn't family ot anything.. but he wanted to help if he could.

Calixta could only nod mutely, grateful even more for Bastian in that instant, for being able to say what she no longer could. She took his hand and got to her feet with less difficulty than she'd imagined, given that it felt like her legs were carved out of stone. As he helped her from the room, all she could do was bury her head in his chest as panicked thoughts swirled in her brain.

"Bastian," she finally choked out, feeling utterly helpless and ashamed. "If either if them d-die, it'll have been my fault. I sent Percy away to get some sleep...if something happens to them...." Caloxta clung to him like a person drowning would clutch at a life preserver.

"Take me to them, please," she told him desperately, longer trusting her ability to Apparate. The last thing the family needed was for her to go and splinch herself out of her own stupid stubbornness. She felt terrible interrupting him at work, but there was no one else she could turn to -- she'd been quite alone at the Ministry.

Bastian sighed as he guided her to an area safe for portkey travel. "Now no thinking like that Lass, none of this is your fault" he tried to assure her as he took out his portkey and mutter the desired desination.

"Magical London, St. Mungo's.. exit 101" he stated then he held the badge into Calixta's hand kissed her forehead and muttered "On three Lass"

"1.2.3" and with a pop they vanished.

The way up to the children's room was a blur of white-washed walls and quite murmurs. When they finally entered the ward, Calixta found the familiar figure of her brother slumped over in an easy chair between the children's beds, sleeping in his clothes from the night before.

"But that means..." she realised, sighing in relief. Her words woke her brother.

"Cali? Is it morning already? And who's that?" he yawned, nodding in Bastian's direction.

"Oh, blimey, I forgot to tell you...this is Bastian Kaiser, my boyfriend. Bas, this is Percy Harper, my brother."

"Boyfriend?" he repeated with a dumbfounded expression on his face. "You? Since when? Did you tell Mum?" he asked, clearly more surprised than particularly displeased.

"Oh, shut it -- and no, I haven't yet. But she'll have talked to Julia, so I'm sure she knows now. Anyway, that's not important -- how are the kids? You haven't left," she told him -- it was a statement of fact, not a question.

"Erm, yeah. I erm...you were being pretty insistent so I gave up arguing with you, I'm sorry..."

"I'm not," she replied, conjuring two chairs and taking a seat.

"Anyway -- nice to meet you," Percy told Bastian, standing to shake his hand. "Well, under the circumstances...yeah..." he frowned almost imperceptibly at realising upon closer inspection that Bastian was a bit older than he'd expected, but then again, Calixta had always gone for older men and anyway he did not question his little sister's preferences too closely. Definitely not at a time like this, when there were so many more important things to worry about.

Once Bastian figured out Calixta's brother had been there all the while he sighed in reilef as well. Glad the children had there father watching over them as it should be. He understood perfectly well what Percy had done.. Plus he was relieved Calixta looked less somber.. and for that he was glad.

He nodded and shook hands with Perci, "Aye Nice to meet ya, It wish it were under better circumstances. I am here for moral support, I suppose. And offer my sincerest condolances as well " he said casting a glance to the two children.. So young to be with out a mother.. The eldest one could have been much younger then Julian when there mother died.

"How did the night go? How are they" he asked moving to stand next to Calixta

"Very much the same," Percy answered with a heavy sigh. "Critical, but at least stable. They've been giving Rian blood replenishing potions every hour but they can't stop the bleeding." He patted his son's arm, but the boy didn't stir; the bandages on his nose and ears would have looked comical in nearly any other circumstance. 

"And Innis, she's..." He gestured helplessly to his daughter, who was lying on her back, attached to several machines that were apparently monitoring her vital signs, which were still weak, but present. "There's nothing more that can be done for her other than that we closed her eyes. She wasn't even blinking...." She was definitely the more puzzling of the two -- not a scratch on her body, nor a bruise -- mysterious for a girl her age with a propensity for tumbling out of trees. She was a perfect little shell of a child.

"Where's Melania? Has she been by yet?" Calixta asked, and her question was answered nearly before it was all the way out of her mouth in the form of her younger sister pushing the door open and entering with a tray of hot teas.

"CALI!" the willowy teen squealed, nearly dropping the tray in her excitement.

"Just...set those down first, Lainey," Calixta said with the ghost of a smirk, helping her sister for a moment. When the two blondes stood straight up again, the younger girl positively towered over her sister, causing Calixta to scowl slightly as they hugged.

"You're even littler than I remembered!" Lainey said delightedly, much to Calixta's chagrin.

"You're wearing heels, you cheater," she pointed out, noticing her sister's sky-high boots.

"I've still got a solid six inches on you, see?" Lainey said, pulling off one boot to demonstrate. She was, in fact, a very tall girl, standing at about 5'10" in stockinged feet.

"You got taller," Calixta replied lamely, suddenly feeling dwarfed by standing so near three very tall people. She gave Bastian a helpless look, and then Lainey followed Calixta's eyes and appeared to finally notice him.

"Oy! Who's this?" she asked, confused by his appearance. His nice business attire was somehwhat dirtied now, thanks to holding onto Calixta.

"Lainey, this is my boyfriend, Bastian Kaiser, Bastian this is my little sister Melania --"

"Lainey!" she corrected, irritably.

"--who prefers to go by Lainey, these days," Caloxta finished, rolling her eyes. "Because she's 17 and is as-yet-unaware that her given name is quite beautiful."

Bastain nodded and observed the children thinking, wondering if these injuries were the result of curses or the side effect of having magic drained. But he was no doctor, or any sort of speciliast on this.. though next he got a chance he would seek counsel if permitted.. Surely there was someone who knew how to treat the childrens condition. many children survived these attacks if not killed out right...

Then he was pulled out of his thoughts by a squealing younger girl, he looked over in curiousity, of course it didn't take long to figure she was Calixta's Sister..

He went over to the pair at Calixta look, but he doubted he be much help, in terms of the height issue for Calixta.

He smiled in mild amusment at the girl who insisted on being called Lainey, she was quite spirited.

He nodded his head to her, "Pleasure ta meet ya Lainey" he said holding his hand out to shake hers. course the circumstanses could be better... way better but he took what he got. Plus the girl was so cheerful it must have hard to be somber around her. He supposed that was what they all needed.

"Nice to meet you, Bastian," Lainey started, promising enough as she shook his hand politely, "although -- frankly, I don't believe you're her boyfriend -- maybe her lawyer, more like, but nice to meet you anyway. Cali never brings guys around the family. Ever. Well, not since --"

"OKAY, that's enough!" Calixta interrupted, clearly uncomfortable with the subject at hand. "Where's Mum and Dad?"

"On their way with the food. They were right behind me, I swear!" Calixta rolled her eyes. "Anyway, are you sure about this? Mum's gonna flip. Is it really the best idea to be doing this now? I know you want her to get off your back, but I'm sure hourly-rate man can come back another time --"

"He's really my boyfriend, you idiot!" Calixta replied furiously, nostrils flaring. 

"Okay, geeeeez! Whatever you say, just calm down, no need for name-calling," Lainey said, rolling her eyes with all the patience of a teenaged saint. "You're setting a bad example for the children." Percy just smirked, clearly accustomed to and amused by this.

"Women," he said conspiratorially to Bastian.

Bastain looked back forth between the two sisters not really sure what to say, he would confirmed he was really Calixta's boyfirend, but then figured she might not believe him right now anyway and decided to let them all figure it out on there own.

"Well I am a Lawyer" he said to Lainey with a chuckle

He kissed Calixta on the forehead, "Don't worry about it Darlin, they'll know the truth sooner or later" he said with a slight smirk

He looked over to Percy and simply nodded, not haing been used to the family stucture of Sisters. Though he had to admit it was very funny, most comical..

Then he was a tab nervous at the mention of Calixta's parents arrivng soon.. Hardly the ideal cirumstances he wanted to meet her family under, but this was what he was dealt he supposed, he'd make the best of it. Had the situation been lighter he would have asked Percy about his parents names and basic things like that.. since he knew nothing about Calixta's immediate family.

He wondered if it was even right for him to be there.. but then he supposed if it wasn't he would have been told so.

Calixta hugged Bastian briefly in return, while her baby sister pretended to barf into a potted plant.

"Nice," Percy commented, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Now you know why I never come home," Calixta muttered in an undertone, releasing Bastian just in time for her parents to enter the room, each carrying a tray laden with food. The smell that instantly filled the room was irresistible; Calixta's mouth watered and Percy's stomach gave a very audible rumble.

"We know our kids," Laeticia said with a smile, and then noticed Calixta had returned from the Ministry, a stranger in tow. "Oh! Hello there, are you from the Ministry?" Lainey snorted, and Calixta shot her an icy glare.

"Technically, I suppose, but actually Mum, I'd like to introduce to you Bastian Kaizer, my, erm...boyfriend," she said quickly, flashing a nervous smile.

"Your -- what? I'm sure I didn't hear you right, it almost sounded like you said he was your boyfriend," Laeticia responded with a laugh, setting her tray down. Calixta nearly smacked herself in the face out of sheer disbelief while Lainey guffawed openly, as
Percy poked her in an attempt to silence her.

"I did. Bastian, these are my parents, Laeticia and James Harper. I wish I could have introduced you under better circumstances, but..." James put himself forward to shake Bastian's hand and welcome him in his own quiet way, while Laeticia put on the glasses she wore on a chain around her neck and observed Bastian more carefully.

"But honey, he's a man, she replied, whispering the last word as if it were dirty. Calixta's cheeks burned as Lainey laughed even harder, and Leticia waved an arm to shush her youngest child.

"I keep telling you, I'm not a lesbian!" Calixta protested, thoroughly embarrassed.

"If you excuse me, Bastian, I think I'm going to go check on my grandkids," James said apologetically, beating a hasty retreat.

Bastain's eye went big and round from the interactions from the Family.. he really wasn't sure what to say..

He shook hands with Calixta's Dad who seemed alot less crazy then the other of the family. he blushed red slightly at Calixta's mothers comment. Well he certianly hoped he looked like a man.. he looked at the woman quite confused what her statment was suppsed to imply.

Then at Calixta indiginfied reasponse his jaw dropped.. really not sure what to say to that.. though he had to agree he didn't think she was a Lesbian..at all Though he wasn't sure his was the best time to say that kinda thing... "I ah..tend to agree with your Daughter Mrs. Harper... " Bastian uttered nto really sure what to say... or even if that should have even been said...

Feeling very awkward Bastain scratched the back of his head and almost wanted to follow Mr. Harper and join Percy with the kids.

At Bastian's response, Laeticia threw her head back and laughed, while over in the corner, Lainey lost it completely, tears streaming down her face. Calixta was completely bewildered, and the look on her face made her mother laugh even harder.

"What is so funny?" she demanded, but it took awhile to get an answer out of the pair of them. Finally, Laeticia stopped laughing long enough to explain.

"Oh honey, I know all about it...Julia stopped by weeks ago and told us everything...you should have seen your face," she trailed off, starting up again with the laughter.

"Priceless!" Lainey howled, slapping her knee mirthfully. Calixta just threw her hands up in the air, giving up entirely.

"We're even now, for you not telling me sooner," Laeticia declared, wiping tears from her eyes. "Oh, that was worth it, alright...you almost ruined it, Lainey," she admonished gently, shaking her finger at the girl.

"Nah, they totally bought it," Lainey replied, unconcerned. "Anyway, we really needed the laugh. That felt good." Even Calixta couldn't help cracking a tiny smile -- she'd gotten her sense of humour from her mother and she had to concede, they'd gotten her really good.

"Well at least now I don't have to worry about telling you," she admitted, shrugging. She turned to Bastian, smiling apologetically. "I'm so sorry...I really did mean it when I said they are absolutely insane. Just interpret this the same way you would a warm welcome from a normal family and you'll be fine."