Love Is Deaf (Penguin Desperado/Madam Mim)

Maggie made a noise of surprise when Blaise ripped her shirt open and tore it off as if it had been made of nothing stronger than tissue. Buttons clattered on the walls and ground and she grinned against his skin. She loved feeling helpless in his strong arms. He kissed her passionately and she gratefully and gladly returned it, sliding her tongue between his lips and groaning gently.

Her breasts swelled out over the cups of her bra as he put his hands under her ass. With a grin, Maggie slid her hands onto his shoulders and easily lifted herself up, wrapping her legs around his hips and crossing her ankles at the small of his back. She pressed her hips against his, grinding against his hard shaft as he walked them over to the bed. Her shoes had been left behind and her skirt fell up to her hips, revealing somewhat more modest cotton panties than Blaise had seen last night, and that her stockings stopped a few inches over her knees.

"Mmm Blaise..." Maggie groaned, her voice muffled against his lips.

She didn't know yet what exactly she wanted Blaise to do to her right now, but she'd had sixteen years to think of things she'd like to try. Slowly the chest filled--though the lid remained shut--with all sorts of things; vibrators, collars and leashes, blindfolds, gags, handcuffs, rope...Just because Maggie was a virgin didn't mean she knew nothing about the subject. Still she knew they shouldn't be going this fast. Part of her didn't care, while the other part was trying to work out just exactly how far they could go right now between classes.
 
"Maggie," he muttered back with a deep growl that she could feel in his chest as she ground her hips against his shaft through his pants. He was soon at the bed, with her all wrapped around him as she was, and he nearly fell onto it with her still holding tight to him. He reached around to her back, and soon, the clasps came undone and he was throwing her bra to the floor. He had no more patience for waiting as he merely grabbed at her skirt and pulled it down along with those cute panties of hers, leaving her in nothing but her stockings... which he curiously left on.

He just wanted to take her in every way imaginable just then, case her to scream out his name as he pounded her... and he wasn't able to hold back from sliding off his shoes and dropping his pants and underwear, leaving him very much just as nude as she was. He gave her a smile before he stood, going for the chest to see just what lay within.

... goodness.

He wasn't sure if it was his thoughts or hers that had filled the chest, but it certainly seemed like they were on the same page. So much of this he wanted to try, binding her and making her scream and moan... and most of him just wanted to take her just then, but it would be her first time. He wouldn't want her to regret giving it up to him between classes. So, for that moment, he reached into the chest and withdrew a small pink piece of plastic that he could affix to his finger, before leaning back towards her.

He gave her a small smile as he pressed the pink little egg up against her clit... and turned on the little vibrator, slowly pressing it into her on the tip of his index finger.
 
Maggie grinned at the deep vibrations in the chest beneath her hands as they nearly fell onto the bed together. She gasped as he stripped her of her remaining clothing...except her stockings. She kinda liked that...made her feel a little sexy. She sat up, however, when Blaise moved away and started going for the chest. Oh God...what if he thought she was a freak? What if he didn't want to do any of that sort of stuff? The Ravenclaw blushed furiously as he looked in the chest, preparing for of an onslaught of questions and possibly disgust.

But Blaise didn't say anything. In fact the expression on his face looked almost...pleased. She chewed on her lip, waiting for him to say something, anything, that might indicate that their little tryst was over. But again he didn't, but rather withdrew a small pink thing from the chest. She couldn't see properly what it was, but knew it would be used on her. She smiled back at him--a little nervously--and slid her hands over his shoulders.

Maggie gasped and her eyes grew wide as the vibrator touched her clit. Her mouth dropped open and she gripped Blaise's shoulders hard, jerking her knees up on either side of him. She had never used a vibrator herself, though she had considered getting one once or twice. Now she wondered why she hadn't.

"Oh God..." she groaned, "Blaise..." Leaning up, she kissed him hard before kissing a line down his neck and biting his shoulder. Her nails pressed into his skin, though not too hard, and her knees pressed against his ribs as he teased her clit with the little pink egg.
 
Blaise chuckled deeply at Maggie's reaction to the little plastic egg as he worked it into her clit, not letting up on her delicate sex for even a moment. He returned her kiss, pressing her back down against the bed as she folded up around him in pleasure, groaning as he felt her lips on his neck, her teeth grazing his shoulder. Just then, Blaise wanted her badly, and it showed, with his cock hard against her thigh even as he pleasured her with the vibrator. After a few moments of the vibrator, Blaise pulled back, however reluctantly, making his way over to the chest.

He came out with a black leather collar, padded along the inside for comfort, and with it a leash. He descended upo nher without another moment's notice, and he had it around her neck, with the leash attached. He pulled on it gently, as if to make sure it was good. Soon, though, he reached down between her legs and pressed the vibrator once more into her, as if to sway her opinion rather his way as he spoke again. He gave her a brilliant smile. "... now, darling. I know we don't have all the time in the world, but we have one of two choices just now. Either we use our toys and your wonderful mouth to make one another cum... or... I fuck you. Which would you like just now?" he asked with a grin as he pressed the vibrator further against her.

It was clear just which he would prefer just then. She'd been on his mind since the night before, and he'd barely been able to keep his hands off of her during class. Of course, they both saw how well that had worked out as he touched and teased her toward the end..
 
Maggie groaned as Blaise pulled away, wanting him to come back. The powerful little vibrator had worked magic on her clit and she felt as though she had been deprived of something very important by his going away. When he came back she stayed quite still as the collar was buckled around her throat. It felt...sexy.

As Blaise gave her the options, Maggie found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on his lips. Or, rather, what his lips were saying. It took her a few moments to process the second option, and what exactly would be used in the first option. She had to close her eyes and bite her lip to block out the pleasure enough to think.

"T-tonight," Maggie finally stammered. "The second one...we can...can..we can do it tonight." She looked up with wide, conflicted eyes. "Blaise..." Maggie groaned, clinging to his shoulders. "Oh Blaise, please..."
 
Blaise managed to hide his disappointment pretty well. Of course, he was wanting her more than anything just then, to hold on to her leash, push her down onto all fours, and take her like there was no tomorrow, filling her with hot cum over and over again... but it was rather easy to push such thoughts away when there was another, almost as tantalizing prospect right in front of him. He loved to hear her moan, to cry out, and he pressed the vibrator into her with a grin. "Well... if that's your decision," he said. He could wait a few hours more. He left her suddenly, grabbing a few other things while he was away.

Soon, he had just what he wanted. A rather non-painful tape, a trio of small vibrators, and the little remote that controlled all three. One went onto both of her nipples, the other onto her clit, and he grabbed hold of the leash, pulling her over to him. "I want you to suck me," he said, sitting down and spreading his legs for her. "... and if you're doing a good job, well..." he said, ratcheting up the control, the little vibrating eggs buzzing pleasantly on her erogenous zones. "... sound good?" he asked, dialing back the controls some as he pulled just a bit on the leash to pull her over towards him...
 
Maggie's eyes were closed in silent ecstasy when Blaise accepted her decision, so when he left it came as more of a surprise and she teared up a little. Was he leaving because of that? But when she leaned up she smiled; he was just rummaging in the chest again. The blonde held still as his dark fingers worked across her body, taping the little vibrators in specific places.

She watched his lips carefully as he explained what he wanted her to do, gasping when he dialed up the vibrators. Eagerly she nodded and knelt between his knees.looking up at him and keeping eye contact, Maggie slowly slid her lips over Blaise's dark shaft. Closing her eyes momentarily she groaned in pleasure before opening them again as she began to move.

Maggie's big blue eyes never left Blaise as her head moved up and down his shaft. She sucked hard at the tip and relaxed her throat to be able to fit it further back. Her hands wrapped around Blaise's ankles for more stability as she began to move faster, moaning.
 
Blaise grinned down at Maggie as he set himself up against the headboard of the bed, watching as Maggie crawled her way over to him. He held on to the leash as he closed his eyes, groaning faintly as her lips wrapped around his cock and started to suckle gently on the head. She may still have been an amateur, but she seemed to already be figuring out just what he liked from her. He reached down to run a hand gently along her cheek as she allowed him deeper into her throat.

He bucked his hips up into her mouth a bit as he held up the controller. He ratcheted up the dials on the vibrators, the little egs buzzing against her nipples and her clit as she began to bob her head up and down on his shaft, looking up at him with those big blue eyes of hers... "You know... I can't wait to be doing this to you for real," he said with a grin. She had certainly tantalized him, and he couldn't wait to take her properly. Not that her mouth was at all disappointing to him...
 
Maggie groaned as she bobbed her head up and down Blaise's shaft. Because of the movement she couldn't understand what he'd said, but she could understand his expression. The look on his face told the Ravenclaw she was doing well, which made her smile as best he could around his cock. She found pleasure in pleasing him.

When the vibrators got going, it became a little more difficult to concentrate. Maggie moaned, sensing vibrations up Blaise's shaft and through his body. She had to start bobbing her head slower but sucking harder. As the vibrator stimulated her, one hand came up to massage his balls gently.
 
Blaise enjoyed watching every twitch on her face as she pleasured him. Her lips, red around his cock, sucking so hard as she did her best to suck through the waves of pleasure that came from those vibrators. He steadily ticked them further up, the little eggs buzzing pleasantly against her body as he relaxed. His eyes closed and he leaned his head back, his legs spreading slightly as her slender hand worked over his balls.

"Maggie... that's great," he said, unaware if she could even tell what he was saying just then. He reached up to set his hand on top of her head, running his fingers through her silky blonde hair as he felt his orgasm build up. He slammed the vibrators to their highest setting as his other hand held on tight to her head, his seed splashing into the back of her throat as she drove him to his second orgasm.
 
Maggie sucked harder and harder until Blaise held her head down over his thick, dark shaft. She squeaked a little in surprise at first before swallowing down his hot seed with gratitude. She slowly massaged his testicles as she swallowed the last of his cum, moaning loudly.

"Blaise I'm close..." Maggie groaned as the vibrators were ratcheted all the way up. "Blaise...oh God yes!"

The little blonde's back arched before she curled it and gripped his legs tightly as she came hard. By the time she had finished she was panting and had to pull the little egg from her clit to avoid over-stimulation. Once she had caught her breath, Maggie flicked her tongue against Blaise's head before kissing her way up his shaft then up his body to his lips.

"Blaise that was...incredible..." She grinned and hooked a finger in her collar. "I really liked this."
 
Blaise breathed deep and groaned as she sucked out every drop of cum from his hard cock. He lowered the vibrator settings until the little eggs shut off, and he reached out to tug the two that were left off of her nipples with a grin, the tape coming away easily. He returned her kiss, pulling her up into his lap, so that she sat back against his softening shaft.

"I did, too," he said, grabbing hold of the leash. Wrapping it up a few times in his hands, he used it to pull her over to him for another gentle kiss. "... we could always make use of it tonight, too. There were a lot of things that looked interesting in there. You could take a look, too," he said with a small smile, gesturing grandly to the box of perverse little toys.
 
Maggie straddled Blaise's lap and smiled as she was pulled in for a kiss. She groaned against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. It was times like these she wished desperately that she wasn't deaf so she could stare into his eyes like she wanted to instead of focusing on his lips like she had to.

"Blaise, about tonight I..." Maggie blushed deeply and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked down as she spoke. "I ah...I dunno about you, probably not...but Blaise...I'm a virgin." Her face had gone past crimson and was nearly purple with embarrassment. "And I figured well...we'll have plenty of time to play around with stuff like this. I want my first time to be...special. Just us, y'know? No toys or anything...just the two of us..."

Maggie twisted her fingers nervously and blushed even more deeply if that was possible. "As for that box...I'm pretty sure I don't have to look to know what's in there."
 
Blaise gave her a brief smile, one that was filled with kindness and perhaps happiness rather than amusement. "Well... that is what I thought. I am not," he admitted. They both knew it, albeit there had been far more handjobs and the like rather than real intercourse in the past few years. Experimentation more than anything else, really. "I agree, Maggie. Though... I think that, down the line, I would very much like to see you in this again," he said, reaching out to hook a finger around the collar. He used that very same finger to pull her closer, stealing a quick kiss from her before letting her sit back as she wished.

"... ah, but maybe you might. I think we both had a hand in its creation, Maggie. No need to be so embarrassed by it," he said. He leaned in after a moment, pressing a small kiss against her nose before pulling back far enough so that she could properly read his lips. "Don't worry about it, Maggie. I can wait. I want it to be just as special as you do, but for now..." he said with a grimace, "... I think we might have to leave here soon. After all, for as much as we can distort space in here... time is a far trickier thing to deal with, yeah?" he asked, moving to stand up, holding out a hand for her to help her up, so that they might get dressed. It was time to head off to class.

It was all too easy to lose track of time, both as far as minutes and hours went... and sometimes even months, as their term got into full swing.
 
Maggie's heart sank and she felt like crying. It was one thing to assume Blaise wasn't a virgin; it was quite another to know it. Still, as he pulled her forward by the collar she smiled and kissed him back, allowing him to help her up to get dressed.

First it was days, then weeks, then months passed with that to the surprise of nearly everyone Blaise and Maggie stayed together, coming only to love each other more and more. There were many more trysts in the Room of Requirement, almost always after school but sometimes between classes if they were feeling daring. In time the came to use leashes and ropes and gags, just to name a few, and anyone who knew the deaf girl would have been shocked at what went on behind closed doors. Still, her favorite was always just her and Blaise slow and gentle and deep, much like their first time. She had cried a little the first time she realized she was in love with this man.

Months passed, though it seemed like only days to Maggie, and suddenly Christmas was upon them. Blaise has invited her to his place for the holidays; she wanted to go and was allowed to provided her father met him first. It was a simple request she didn't think unreasonable, but made her nervous anyway. She wished she could hold Blaise's hand as they went through one of the public floo gates at Platform 9 3/4.

When they arrived, they stepped out of a large, brick fireplace set in the very same kitchen Blaise had seen a hundred times before. The problem with this one was that it wasn't nearly as neat as Maggie apparently kept it. She flushed and murmured a cleaning spell to scour the dirty dishes, clean the floor, and tajeg out the trash under the sink full nearly to the brim. Through the passway she aimed the same spell at the sitting room, also the same as Blaise had seen it in the magical room, while a radio blared.

"Dad! You home?" Maggie shouted, giving Blaise an encouraging smile. She had written home all about him.

A shower of sparks went off from the living room, indicating his presence. He grunted, finishing up a beer as he stood. Maggie laced her fingers with Blaise's and held in tightly, looking hopeful.

"I was almost worried bout you kids getting lost and..." Mr. Cartwright stopped dead when his eyes fell upon Blaise then their laced hands. "What the Hell is this, Margaret?"

"This is Blaise Daddy," Maggie said hopefully. "Blaise, this is my dad Brian."
 
They had been a few good months. Whenever the two of them weren't together (often in the Room of Requirement, or even the library or somesuch), Blaise had dedicated himself to learning sign language. Even with his admittedly high intelligence, it was still taking some time, though he had some of the basics down pat by that point. Practicing by himself had come first, though he readily abandoned that when he realized that actually speaking it with her would let him progress faster. In time, rapid infatuation had become a more genuine love... both physically and otherwise.

As they took to the floo gates at Platform 9 3/4, he'd given her a small smile. He had dressed his best for the occasion, with a crisp black suit and green scarf. Cold didn't sit terribly well with a young man more suited to Mediterranean climates.

"... well. I can see where this came from now," he said, saying both verbally and with (mildly flubbed) signs. It helped him equate it with proper spoken words. He gazed around as Maggie set to cleaning up the kitchen. He would have helped, but he was sure he would end up trying to put the plates away where the pots were or somesuch. She seemed to be rather set in more or less owning the kitchen whenever she was within it.

As she took his hand, though, and her father came through the door, Blaise offered the elder man a smile. It amazingly didn't falter when her father asked his question. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Cartwright," Blaise said, offering out his free hand for a shake. He was getting a bad feeling about all this, a sort of social sixth sense that the notoriously venomous Slytherins cultivated for intermingling among the others. It was useful to have when dealing with the... unsavory. Dark wizard or otherwise.
 
Maggie was proud of Blaise for acting civil even when it was clear her father wouldn't. She silently prayed he would shake his hand, say "likewise," and let them leave. No such luck.

"Pleased to...! You can get your damn hands off of my daughter and get out of my house!" Brian Cartwright bellowed, grabbing Blaise by the collar of his suit and physically hauling him away from Maggie.

"Dad!"

"What are you playing at, Margaret?" he demanded, rounding on his daughter. He only used her real name when she was in trouble. "You know bloody well--"

"Stop it, Dad!" Maggie cut him off. "You're embarrassing me!" Why did they always have to fight when she was home? She missed her dad when she was away, she didn't want to spend her holidays like this.

"I'm bloody embarrassing you?"

"Yeah, coz you promised and you wouldn't be acting like this if you'd kept that promise!" Blaise was temporarily forgotten in the midst of the bigger problem. "What about Peter, huh?" They were both gesturing wildly as they spoke, as though each wanted to get through to the other in a way there could be no misunderstanding.

"Peter's fine! But you! You bring him under my roof--!"

"Mags?" Maggie only looked around when her father did to see a little boy of about seven or eight standing on the stairs. "Maggie you're home!"

The blonde broke into a smile as the mousey-haired boy ran over to hug her and she mussed his hair. "Hey!" She gave her father a glare over the boy's head. "You're almost as big as me now. I'll have to put you in a closet, put bricks on your head to make you stop growing. You have to stay little forever, kay?" She turned to Blaise, side-stepping her father, and pushed the boy forward gently. "Blaise, this is my little brother Peter. Peter, this is my boyfriend Blaise."

"I'm not little!" Peter argued. Maggie rolled her eyes.

"Excuse me. This is my younger brother Peter. Just say hi, twit." She tweaked his ear playfully.

"Nice to meet you, Blaise," Peter said politely, sticking his hand out to shake. Brian pulled his son back by the shoulders.

"Oh no you don't!" This seemed more directed at Blaise than at Peter. "Margaret, I want him out of my house."

Maggie pursed her lips. "Fine. C'mon Blaise, we're leaving. I'll write you Peter, okay? Maybe I can even come visit on Christmas Day." But their departure was stopped both by Peter hugging his sister around the waist and her father pulling her back by the shoulder.

"I don't think so, missy," Mr. Cartwright growled. "You're not going anywhere with him."

"Don't go, Maggie!" Peter begged at the same time. "You're better at making dinner. Dad burns everything!"

Maggie had been looking down and Peter, and so her father repeated to her in sign language that she wasn't going anywhere with her boyfriend. An anger boiled inside of her which wasn't often seen at school. She knew that by telling her she was better at making dinner, Peter was actually saying that he'd been foraging for himself. He'd promised both of his children at the end of the summer he'd stop drinking and Maggie had had to trust that he meant it. She'd been proud of him; he'd been sober a full two weeks when she'd left again for school. Taking several deep breaths, she closed her eyes and looked down at her little brother.

"Pete, didja do what I told you to?" He nodded. "Good. Accio bottle!"

Maggie waved her wand and bottles came flying from cabinets and fridge, the living room, upstairs, and even one in the bathroom which the shattering sound told everyone except her that it had been hidden in the toilet tank. The bottles arranged themselves neatly on the island, the labels advertising a wide variety of drinks. Some of it was innocent enough, like juice or soda, but most were beer bottles though there were also three half-full bottles of vodka, some gin, and a little bit of rum left at the bottom of its brown jug. Taking a deep breath, Maggie looked up at her father, who looked guilty, the issue of Blaise once again temporarily forgotten.

"Dad..."

"Maggie, it's not what it looks, I--"

"No. I'm done." She waved her wand again and the suitcase she'd told Peter in a letter two weeks ago to have ready just in case came thumping down the stairs. "C'mon Blaise, we're leaving." She grabbed Blaise's hand with one of hers and Peter's hand with the other, their luggage floating along side him. She turned toward the fireplace, but the pot of floo powder disappeared as she let go of Blaise's hand to reach for it.

"Oh no you don't!" Brian moved himself between them in the fireplace. Maggie snorted in frustration.

"Fine!" She turned to the front door and started dragging the other two with her. Again they found their path somewhat blocked.

"Margaret, if you walk out this door with that man don't bother coming back," he threatened. "You know how I feel about his kind." Maggie stopped and stared at her father for a moment, tears springing into her eyes. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"Then you know where to find me when you're ready to be a decent human being, Dad," she returned in a calm tone. They were out in the snow before Mr. Cartwright could stop them, and at a tug of her hand from Peter she turned and aimed a jelly legs jinx over her shoulder to prevent him from following them. "I'm sorry, Blaise," she said, shaking her head. Tears of anger and frustration ran freely down her cheeks as they trudged through the snow. "I'm really, really sorry. I knew this was a mistake. I thought he could actually change. I thought he actually cared more about us than himself." She sniffed, trying to save the sobs for later when she was alone. She looked down when Peter tugged on her arm.

"Where're we going?" he asked, signing as he spoke.

"The Lovegoods live just over the hill," she replied, speaking aloud just as much for Blaise's sake. She was proud of him for learning sign language and knew he tried really hard, but sometimes he could get confused if she didn't say the words aloud for him. "They'll let us borrow their fireplace, then I'm taking you to Nana Cath's. Blaise invited me to spend Christmas with his family so I'm gonna be there. Kay? Sound good?" Her brother nodded and took her hand again. She squeezed both of the hands in hers as they trudged the mile or so toward then up and over the hill. The Lovegoods' home could be seen in the valley below.
 
Blaise was... well, bewildered was a good word for it, when the man yelled at him and made to grab at his collar, jerking him bodily away from Maggie. His hand was at his side in a moment, and the tip of his wand found itself soon pressed against Maggie's father's stomach. It was a knee-jerk reaction, and he had to stop himself from yelling "stupefy" as he was manhandled in a way that he most certainly wasn't used to. He stared over Mr. Cartwright's shoulder as Maggie turned to see to her young brother, who'd appeared at the stairs.

Well, he felt some warning would have been nice before all this. He knew exactly what the elder man's problem was with him, but it was almost... inconceivable, in this wizarding world where there were other species, much less just a difference in skin color. Madness. He slipped his wand back at home into his pants pocket as Maggie spoke with Peter.

"Hell-" he started, trying to keep his patience in check as he turned to the little boy, before Mr. Cartwright's bellowing interrupted once again. It was at that precise moment that Blaise snapped. He whipped out his wand, and with a wave as Maggie headed for the door, the elder man was hit with a spell that caused his tongue to swell, effectively shutting up his yelling into little more than numb, wordless screams as they tore out into the snow.

"... Maggie," Blaise said, the moment they were well enough away from the house that they didn't have to worry about the jelly-legged and numb-tongued drunk coming after them. His voice was stiff, and he still had his wand out in his free hand. "... next time I would like a little bit of warning," he said. He would leave it at that, for now, but he was a bit angry over the whole affair. Not at her. Not -exactly- at her. Just bothered that he hadn't had enough forewarning to be prepared to be screamed at.

The snow was thick outside, though, and... well, Blaise still had a bit of a soul. "Here, Peter. Hold still a moment," he said. He lifted the boy entirely off the ground, raising him above his head and onto his shoulders. "... better than trudging through the snow, yes?" he asked. He was pleased he didn't have to sign to Peter as well, for all that he didn't want to embarrass himself in front of a little boy who'd just met him.
 
"I'm sorry," Maggie whimpered, her chin trembling. She knew Blaise was angry and that there would be words later, but she just wanted to pretend, just for now, that everything was okay between them. "I'm so, so sorry. I'm just...sorry." Tears cracked her voice and she seemed to realize that she sounded funny because she stopped apologizing before it all became uncontrollable sobs. She sniffled and smiled when Blaise lifted Peter up onto his shoulders and dabbed at her tears with the end of her scarf.

"Thanks, Blaise," Peter said with a grin, looking down at Maggie with a nod of approval before wrapping his arms around Blaise's head so he could stay stable.

"Here, you're gonna get snow all over him." She pulled out her brother's legs one at a time and brushed the snow off of his boots before letting him tuck them back under Blaise's arms. Fortunately it wasn't too long over the hill and into the valley, and a few miles away The Burrow could be seen with a curl of smoke puffing cheerfully from the chimney.

"Oh hi Maggie. Blaise." Luna smiled pleasantly, as if her school mates pounding on her door in the fading twilight the first day of the Christmas holidays wasn't anything odd. She looked up and waved. "Hi Peter. What's wrong?" The question was directed towards Maggie, whose face was still quite blotchy from crying.

"Oh, just my dad," she mumbled, shaking her head. Luna gave a knowing look; though the two didn't talk much now they'd been quite close when they were younger and she knew about her neighbor's drinking problems. "Can we use your fireplace? I just want to get Peter to our gran's."

"Certainly." Luna stood aside and let them in. "Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks; Blaise's family is expecting us." She stamped the snow off of her boots before stepping inside to the oddly-shaped, cylindrical house.

"Very well. Fireplace is right over here, and there's some floo powder on the mantle." Luna looked up at Peter, whose head nearly brushed the ceiling while he was on Blaise's shoulders. "You're getting really tall, Peter. You haven't been eating the dirigible plums, have you?"

"No. I'm just on Blaise's shoulders." Peter liked Luna and wished they could hang out more, but she was old like his sister. He wiggled down from the Slytherin's shoulders and stood next to him. "See?"

"Oh I see. Well, you must just be growing up then. You'll have to be careful about that; nasty business, growing up." Luna nodded sagely as Maggie took the pot of floo powder down from the mantle and held it out for her brother.

"Alright Peter, you first. Nana Cath's." Peter stepped into the fireplace and shouted the address of Nana Cath before wooshing away in a pillar of green flame. "You can go next, Blaise, so I can grab you if you go a gate too far or something." She gave him the address, which was a small village in the Scottish highlands, and waited for him to go before following.

When all was said and done and everyone was in the correct house, Maggie stood brushing off her brother and boyfriend. "Nana Cath! We're home!" she shouted into the house. An elderly woman peeked around the corner and grinned, but Maggie's back was to her as she continued fussing over the cleanliness of her brother's coat.

"I thought I heard you two! Peter, tell your sister I'm in the kitchen making stew. Come on through once you've got all the soot off; don't you dare sit your sooty bum on my furniture!" She gestured threateningly at her grandson with a wooden spoon before disappearing back into the kitchen. With the mess all situated, Maggie and Peter kicked off their shoes and motioned for Blaise to do the same.

"Nana Cath's very house-proud," Maggie murmured in explanation before leading the way through to the kitchen. There were hugs and kisses all around as grandchildren greeted grandmother and vice-versa before Nana Cath turned her clear blue-eyed gaze to Blaise.

"And who's this handsome young lad?" she asked with a grin. Maggie blushed a little.

"Nana this is Blaise. My er, boyfriend." She didn't know why she found it a bit embarrassing that she had a boyfriend, but she did. Perhaps she was just nervous about him meeting the rest of her family when things had gone so poorly with her dad.

"Your boyfriend! Oh goodness me yes! You did say something about that in your owls, didn't you!" Nana Cath grinned and hugged Blaise firmly, kissing his cheek before going back to stirring her stew. "Well met, Blaise! Maggie's always talking about you in her letters, you know. 'Oh I did this with Blaise, or Blaise said that,' it's adorable! It's high time she had a boyfriend, you know. I just don't understand it; she's so pretty and never had one!"

"Nana!" Maggie flushed with embarrassment.

"What?" Nana Cath shrugged, then waved her hand dismissively. "Oh foo! Don't go getting all embarrassed about it! Everyone has a girlfriend or boyfriend at some point, you know. You don't think your mother just sprang out of thin air and I decided to call her my daughter, do you?" She chuckled. "Here, taste this." Before Maggie could say anything the wooden spoon was being held to her lips.

"Needs cumin," Maggie said after taking the offered bit of stew. "So um, Blaise this is my grandmother, Nana Cath."
 
He felt a bit bad; he could see how badly all of this was affecting Maggie. They would still have words... but they could wait until they were out of the snow and into a proper place before having them. "It's no problem," Blaise said up to Peter, giving Maggie a thin smile as she wiped off her brother's boots before they were tucked once more under his arms. The trip wasn't too bad, for all that Blaise's shoulders started to ache some as they hit the somewhat deeper snows toward the bottom of the hill, where flakes had rolled down until the snow was coming up nearly to his knees, at its lowest points, until they ended up at the one place Blaise had next expected to be; the Lovegood household.

"... evening, Luna," Blaise said, feeling just a touch out of place here in what had to be the strangest Ravenclaw's household. Which was saying something, with a house that seemed to pride itself on mildly eccentric genius. He was quick to help Peter down off of his broad shoulders, rolling them around to get back some of the feeling he'd lost in them while playing perch to the little boy.

The Slytherin man lingered on in silence as he went for the floo powder and gratefully called out his destination, stepping out of the fireplace with a bit of a stumble when he saw the back of a familiar, mousy head. His wand was out in a heartbeat, and he set to removing soot from his suit, both from then and before at the Cartwright household, followed by the slowly drying snow that had stuck to his pants legs. He hadn't exactly dressed for trudging through the snow, though a bit of magic made sure that he didn't entirely ruin his clothing.

He kept his wand out just in case he was about to get accosted by an old woman and a spoon; it wouldn't be the strangest thing that had happened that night, though he did give a wave or two to wipe away the snow and the soot from his girlfriend as well.

"... good evening, er, Nana Cath," he said, for lack of a better thing to all her just then. When she mentioned what Maggie had told her in her owl-borne letters (particularly about things they might have done together) he flashed Maggie a brief look that bordered on the amused, before he turned back to Nana Cath. "A pleasure to meet you. I brought this as a bit of a peace offering, but I suppose I can see now just how poor a choice this may have been in regards to meeting her father," he said, reaching down deep into his coat pocket. Far too deep, as a matter of fact.

He retrieved a fine bottle of Christmas wine, and was grateful that his coat was enchanted with both a ward against "accio" and the spatial displacement charm that turned mere pockets into more like sacks. The label was Italian, being something he had received by owl from his mother to be relayed elsewhere.
 
Maggie caught Blaise's look and pressed her stockinged foot against his as if to tell him to shut up. Her eyebrows rose at the bottle of wine as he handed it over to Nana Cath and she gave him an approving look. For not knowing anything about her dad Blaise had shown good form.

"Thank you, Blaise," Nana Cath said with a genuine grin, accepting the bottle and hugging him again. "That's very thoughtful. Maggie, you didn't take him to meet your father did you?"

"I'm going to stay with him for the holidays," Maggie explained quickly, "so Dad wanted to meet him first. I didn't think it was unreasonable...but I mean...I'd just hoped he wouldn't be...y'know...Dad."

Nana Cath rolled her eyes. "It's too much to hope for, Maggie; I wish you'd learn that so you could stop letting him hurt you." She sighed and shook her head before looking at Blaise. "Don't suppose he was too happy with you. Well, whatever Brian Cartwright said to you don't you pay it any mind. The man's a miserable, racist old drunk who won't even take care of his own children."

"Tell us how you really feel, Nana," Maggie muttered, sitting at the kitchen table. What she'd said may have been true, but he was still her father and despite it all she still loved him. "Peter, why don't you go upstairs. I'm sure Nana has some new books for you in your room." Once her brother had gone Maggie rubbed her eyes. "Nana, I--"

"He can stay with me as long as he needs," Nana Cath said without looking up. "He's far too skinny to have been eating properly. And if your father ever shows up trying to take him, I'll stun him. The important question is are you two okay?"

"We're fine. You know he's not violent. Just...a bastard." She sighed heavily and leaned her head on her arms. "We should get going soon, though. Don't want Blaise's mum holding dinner on us or anything. Oh...have you heard from her?"

"Last owl I got was in October, sweetheart," Nana Cath said sadly. "She doesn't send them nearly as often, you know. But she misses you and Peter."

"If she missed us so damn much she'd come back," Maggie snapped before closing her eyes. Nana Cath looked to make sure her eyes were closed, then looked at Blaise.

"Her mum...ran off, when she was seven. Peter was just a baby. Went to Switzerland with a coworker on a 'business trip' and never came back. S'why Brian doesn't er...well, like you, probably." She wasn't certain just how sensitive to racial topics Blaise was, so she chose to dance around it a little bit, but the situation was clear. Mrs. Cartwright had run off with a black coworker and Mr. Cartwright had been suspicious at best of all black people, especially men, ever since. "After Lisa disappeared he decided to just drink himself into oblivion, so they'd come here whenever they needed good, proper parenting and a hot meal they didn't have to learn how to make themselves. I wish you could've met him before; he was a good man, quite charming." She sighed and shook her head. "Lisa sends owls occasionally, sounds like she's been all over the world which I'm glad of...but I wish she'd come home. I thought I raised my daughter better than that." Shaking her head again, Nana Cath took a deep breath and stirred the stew again. "But enough of such heavy talk! What about you and your parents, Blaise? Do you have any siblings?"
 
Blaise tried to shy away from the hug, but there was no escape. There never was, when grandmothers and hugs were involved. "My mother said it was always good form to bring a gift whenever you're meeting with new families. Usually, wine is a good choice. Sometimes... it is not," he said with a half grimace. He was just glad that things had entirely imploded before he'd had the chance to give an alcoholic wine, as horrible as it was to have such a thought.

Blaise kept his mouth shut while the two of them spoke. It was as emotionally charged as it was earlier, but for an entirely different way. He sympathized with Maggie, he did, but he didn't know that saying anything right now would help such a deep-set hurt. "I'm just fine, thank you," he said to Nana Cath, watching as Maggie shut her eyes and Nana Cath told the tale. Well. That was about what he'd been expecting. He'd often found racism more silly than anything, especially in a world of entirely different species, such as centaurs and goblins, but he supposed he couldn't complain too much. He didn't often run into people like Brian Cartwright.

"It's mostly just my mother and I. No siblings. My step-father," the sixth in a long line, anyone who knew the Zabinis knew, "is off visiting with some of his family as business rather keeps my mother settled in Italy." He offered Nana Cath a small smile. "Thank you. For taking care of Maggie like you do. I had no idea things were the way they were. She's made an offhand mention once or twice that makes more sense in context, but she never did tell me the whole tale," he said. He recalled her skittishness around alcohol, and that made so much more sense in retrospect.
 
"Thank you, Blaise," Nana Cath returned seriously. "She needs a good man in her life. You wouldn't believe the difference you've made dear. You really wouldn't."

"So Italy?" She nudged her granddaughter,who opened her eyes owlishly, and signed as she spoke. "You didn't tell me you were going to Italy! I thought you'd be staying in UK."

"I told you he was Italian, Nana," Maggie tried to defend herself.

"Yes well your father's side is half-German but you don't exactly spend Saint Stevens Day in Berlin!"

"I don't think they have Saint Stevens Day in Berlin, Nan..."

"You know what I mean!" The spoon was brandished fiercely. "Anyway, you two ought to get going then. That's a Hell of a time difference. Don't worry about Peter; he's in good hands now."

Maggie stood and hugged her grandmother, unaware of the conversation about her mother that had taken place. "Thanks, Nan," she said quietly. "For everything."

"Yes, well, you can thank me by writing more and sensing pictures of Italy!" She swatted her granddaughter on the bum with a spoon before sending her on her way. "Love you dear."

"Love you too, Nan. Ready?" Maggie held her hand out to Blaise.
 
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