Gilbert And Absinthe Get Their Wands!

[Rabble Rabble]

Abs bounced and was practically vibrating as she met her parents (and
Gil) by the portkey.  She was in her dress robes (Black with hot pink
lining) with a skull and crossbones fastener.  She gave a swirl, boots
clunking a little.  "Presentable?"  she asked them all, hoping that
she didn't have to change for the third time.
It was rather presentable, at least, especially when topped by her
little skull hair ties on her pigtail plaits.

"Yes, dear." Her mother told her, grateful that at least they wouldn't
be stared at while traveling.  "You look like a young lady for once."
Her father said, sounding more than a little bit amused.
It was soon their turn, and Ben held out a bright pink disc with the
word 'frisbee' on it. "Everyone hold on." He said, though they all
knew the drill.

Abs put her hand on and made a face as that familiar tugging sensation
hit from behind her belly button.  While not unpleasant, it wasn't her
favorite feeling.  Then again, she was not going to admit to anyone
that she sort of liked the feel of it.  They'd think she as odd.

Gil wobbled a bit as they arrived at their destination; he always felt a bit queasy after traveling by portkey; he was really looking forward to being old enough to Apparate himself around, rather than being dragged by Portkey.
Getting his balance back slowly, he looked around, curious as ever to watch others.

Abs blinked around and bounced, a grin on her face as she pounced her
brother for a hug.  "I love portkeys.  They're so shiny."

Gil gagged a little, clapping a hand over his mouth as a just-in-case.
"Äbby."He whined through his fingers, shutting his eyes to help his stomach settle.

"Aww Gilly."  Abs pulled out a potion vial from her robe pocket.
"Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better."  she told him,
offering the anti nausea potion.

Gil held his hand out for the potion, eyes still shut and stomach still churning.

Abs handed over the potion, still bouncing a little but not half as
bad as she was.  "You'll feel better, I promise."  she offered,
looking at him assessingly.  She really didn't like her over
protective big brother sick.

The cork removed, Gil drank it quickly, before daring to open his eyes again as the crickets in his stomach settled down at last.
"I hate portkeys." He mumbled, as their parents shooed them from the portkey arrivel point just in time to avoid the next arrivals.

"Aww, Gil, whats so bad about them?  I think they're great"  she gave
him a snuggle.  "So, what sorta wand do you think you'll get?"

"A good aurors' wand." He said confidently, striding ahead of their parents, who were keeping pace with the youngest member of the family.
He looked at the signs as he tried to remember what the words translated to in English.

Abby gave a nod, humming a nursery rhyme under her breath as she
skipped along.  That was a given.  She gave a cheeky little grin  "I
don't care what sorta wand I get- you don't need great wand precision
to make potions."

"Not even if you get something really boring?" Gil asked, teasing his little sister.

"Boring smoring."  Abs answered with a cocky little half grin  "We all
know that no matter the wand, well, it'll suit me just fine."  she
gave a grin  "Well, at least it can't be any worse then me using da's
wand, right?"

"You won't get anything like Da's wand." Gil said with certainty; "It's all wrong with you for some reason."
He winced a little at the memory of the misfires Abby had had with that wand.

Absinthe gave a small giggle.  "It'd be perfect for you though."  she
admitted.  "She made a pouty face.  "Do you think I'll find a want
that likes me?  I mean, none of the wands I've borrowed have really
worked."

"Of course there's a wand for you." Gil said, looking over his shoulder to see how far back the rest of the family was, since he knew they were almost at their destination.

"What if there isn't though?"  Abs worried, a small crease wrinkling
between her eyes.  "Maybe I really am no better then a squib."  she
added, slightly disheartened.

"They don't send Hogwarts letters to squibs." Gil said, the usual scorn that most wizard-born had towards the magically 'crippled' in his voice. "No one in this family is like that."

Abs gave him a somber look and nodded.  "If you're sure."  she crossed
her arms across her chest.  "Do you think anyone will know?  about
what my, what she did?"  she asked, referring to her mother.

Gil looked at his sister, before looking back at his mother, confused for a moment.
"Huh?" He said, trying to work out what Abby meant, his mind focused totally on Hogwarts and the future, not the distant past.

Abs wrapped one arm around his waist.  "My birth mother.  Do you think
anyone will know?  I don't want them to know."

"Then don't tell anyone. It's not their business anyway." He said, giving his sister a hug.

"Good because if I have to I'll go medieval on their butts."  Abs
stopped as they came up to a small hamlet, the hamlet they had been
heading for.  "Okay.  Can do this. Not so bad."  she whispered to
herself.  She was not going to freak out.

Gil looked at the buildings ahead of them, all of which looked older than anything in Diagon Ally. He couldn't read the signs, but one of the signs he could see looked like it had a picture of a wand on it, if it wasn't a broom.
Their parents caught up to them as Gil was looking in a window at animals there, wondering if they had any racing beetles for sale, and their mother quickly charmed them with a strong language charm.

"Huh."  came Abs comment, even as she looked at the wand shop.  "You
first Gilly?"  she asked, hand clutching at her brothers.  Maybe she
could sneak away, that way she wouldn't find out she couldn't use a
wand.

"Come on." Gil said, tugging Abbys' hand in the right direction but leaving the choice up to her.
He was completely certain they'd both be getting their wands today.

Abs started to dig her feet in even as she felt a hand push her
shoulder as her dad helped her in.

"Don't worry Absinthe.  Nothing to be afraid of."  came the bass voice.

Abs looked at him "But daddy, none of the other wands like me.  All
the Aunts and Uncles tell me they have never seen some one as anti
wand as me."

"Come on, you're not anti-wand, you just need your wand. Dad, tell her they don't send Letters for squibs." Gil was sure that Abby would get her wand, probably the moment she walked in to the wandmakers.

"They don't send letters to Hogworts to squibs Absinthe.  You are just
special, unique.  Its why you have trouble with other peoples wands.
You'll find your wand baby girl, and it'll be perfect."  He had
worried about his eldest daughter getting her wand, not that he was
going to voice his worries.  He needed to support his daughter, no
matter what.

Abs gave a hard swallow.  "Okay."  she whispered, looking around and
giving her cousin a shy wave.

Gil looked at see who Abby was waving at and grinned. "Come on, Absinthe!" He encouraged, only just keeping the urge to run over to their cousin in check.

"Hey Horatio."  Ans bounded across to give him a clinging hug.  She
looked at him with wide eyes.  "Do you think you can find me a wand
that likes me?"  she asked him in a quiet whisper, even as she gnawed
at her lip.

"Find her her wand first." Gil said, voice a little begging. "I know I'm the elder, but she needs a wand now."

Horatio turned eyes to the elder of the two cousins and commented in a
distinctly American voice.  "We can do Abby first."  he looked at his
Uncle and Aunt.  "If you guys don't mind."

"If Gil doesn't mind, I think it might be best."  Ben said, before his Rose had a chance to remind everyone what tradition recommended.
"Thanks Dad! Sorry Mum." Gil said, before looking at his sister.

"Okay then."  Horatio set his cousin down and started moving, pulling
out a few boxes.  "Any you think you really want to try Kid?"

Abs reached out, a small frown on her face, before she reached out and
tapped one in a water damaged box.  "What about this one?"

Gil let go of his sisters' hand, moving back to allow her space to find her wand in, and found their littlest sister hugging him.
"Abbys' getting her wand now." He told her, in case the young girl didn't know what was happening.

Abs grinned over her shoulder as Horatio opened the box.  She turned
back and picked up the wand, giving it a little swish.  She gave a
grin as she got sparkles, much like the mist from a waterfall.
"Tell me this is it 'ratio"  she squeed.  This wand, well, it fit.

Gil squinted at the sparkles; had they really formed a skull-and-crossbones for a moment or was he imagining things?
He looked up at Horatio, who had his head on his usual odd angle again, grinning at Absinthe.
"Yes, it does." He agreed.
"But what is it?" Gil asked, not recognising the wood.

Horatio grinned at his cousins.  "Its it."  he peaked at the box and
hmmed.  "That makes sense"  he added before adding "It's a beauty that
one.  7 1/2 inches cypress with a core of selkie skin."

Abs stroked the wand happily before commenting softly  "She always did
say we had some selkie in us."

"That's brilliant, Abby!" The eleven year old boy looked up at his cousin, eager for his own wand.

Abs gave her brother a shy smile.  "You now."  she told him, hands
smoothing over the wood of her wand.

Horatio slid some of the boxes back and pulled out a few more.
"Okay."  he looked at Horatio  "Which do you want to try first?"

"The ebony one!" Gil said; it was a good wood for an auror to have, and if that didn't work he was sure the blackberry would be right for him.

Horatio gave a smile and opened the ebony box.  "Here you go.  Swish away Gil"

Gil grabbed and swished, only to be disappointed.
"Maybe a blackberry or larch wand?" He asked, starting to worry that he wouldn't find a wand.

Horatio ducked the violent explosion from the first before offering

some others.  Hopefully he wouldn't get blown up again.  That was
never fun.

Abs looked on wide eyed, not really expecting her brother to get such
a violent exploding reaction.

The next wand made an even bigger explosion, and Horatio pulled several wands away from Gil before he could pick them up, despite Gils' forlorn expression.

Abs leaned over to give Gil a hug.  "What about that one?"  she asked,
pointing to one that had been knocked onto the floor.

Remembering how Abby had found her wand, Gil picked up the one on the floor.
No explosions came out of the wand this time, Gil thought as he floated slowly over Horatios' head.

Abs snickered softly.  "Ummm, Horatio, does this count as a its his
wand thing?"  she asked, looking up to track her brother.

"Truthfully kid, I really don't know."  the apprentice wandmaker had
confusion written all over his face.

An old woman looked in from the back room, watching Gil for a moment.
"Right wood, wrong core." She said in a heavy accent, before shutting the door again.

"Huh"  was Horatio's comment, even as he started pulling out more of
the wormwood wands with various core's from phoenix to unicorn and
even one which had a core of thestral essence.

Gil tried a few more wands, with varying success, and was about to give up when he finally picked up a wand and got red sparks out of it.
After a quick look around to make sure nothing had gone wrong, he looked up at Horatio, hoping this was it.

"Thats it Gil."  Horatio grinned.  "Looks like you have yourself a wand."

Gil beamed up at Horatio, before turning to look at his parents, who were the very image of proud parentals, their father beaming, their mother dabbing at her eyes with her handkerchief, and their little sister squirming impatiently between them.
"May I find my wand now, pleeasee?" The little girl asked, trying to remember the manners her parents and big brother tried to teach her.

Horatio knelt down, red hair bright as he looked at the youngest of
this trio of cousins.  "Little darlin, you aren't quite old enough,."
he told her  "You need to be ready for school to get your own wand."

"B-but I can read and write and count, a-and Ann said that that's what you learn at school, so may I get my wand now?" Leotyne looked on the verge of tears, and Gil looked at his father, trying to work out what he could say so the baby of the family didn't feel left out.

Horatio gave a small re-assuring smile before saying to her.  "Well,
how about I make a special one up for you?"  he asked her  "You'll
still need to come back when you are eleven, but this one could work
for now."

"Please?" she asked, clinging to her cousin and sniffling.

Horatio gave her head a rub before kissing her cheek and going to get
a 'special' wand.  It was little more then a charmed piece of wood
made to be able to hover things as well as give off light sparkles and
bubbles of water.  Simple really, but he found that it gave younger
siblings a smile when they got it.
"Here you are sweetheart."  he offered her the quartz core wand with a smile.

She waved the 'wand' as her siblings had with their real wands, happily squealing at the sparkles.
She hadn't had to try lots either!
"Mummy, look!" Leotyne turned to her mother, utterly delighted with her success.

Horatio gave his cousin a quick smile and nod.  Maybe he really did
need to start selling these toy wands.  They were fiddly, but they
made the little ones so happy.

[Rabble Rabble]

...has anybody seen my brain? *puppyeyes*

~ Rabble

[cass coogan]

it ran away with mine *nods*

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 3:26 PM, Rabble Rabble <rabble...@gmail.com> wrote:
> ...has anybody seen my brain? *puppyeyes*
>
> ~ Rabble
>
> >
>

--
If I promise not to kill you can I have a hug?