home for the holidays;; wood family

[felix ian wood]

It had been a rough few months for Felix Wood and he was more than ready for Christmas break. A chance to get away from the school and just be around his family was exactly what he needed to get back to his usual self. Getting Frankie pregnant and then losing the babies just as soon as he had started to become truly attached to them really had been a tragedy, but he was dealing with it. At first, he had been dealing with it all the wrong ways, but now he was putting a smile on his face and doing what he could to revert back to his old self. It wasn't an easy task by any means, but he had a feeling that being back around the family and away from all the drama would be just the thing he needed to kick start that process. Felix loved his family more than anything and if there was anything that could make him move on, this would be it.

It was the first day that he had been back to the house, having stayed an extra day for one final practice with the team, so Felix had been sleeping in to relax a bit and catch up on the lack of sleep he'd had for the last few, well, months pretty much. Felix was rarely the type to sleep in very late, so it was rather strange that he was still sleeping around noon. Rolling up out of his bed, Felix rubbed at his eyes and slowly started to walk over towards his bathroom. Rising his face off, Felix turned back quickly to his room to put his feet into some slippers before heading downstairs. His dog, Gir, hopped off the bed behind him and padded along with Felix, staying close by him. Reaching down to scratch at Gir's head, Felix grinned a bit, definitely feeling better now than he had in ages. Just being home was something that he couldn't help but love and he was looking forward to having all the family get together.

Hopping down the stairs with Gir at his heels, Felix headed into the kitchen to find something to eat for breakfast. Not that he could make anything other than cereal, but perhaps Topher would be in there and he could convince his brother to make him something decent. However, when he got into the kitchen, it was unfortunately quite deserted and Felix was left to his own devices to make food. Toaster was out, oven was definitely out, so that pretty much left him with the option of cereal. Poor Felix. Grabbing a bowl, a box of cereal and the milk, Felix poured himself a bowl of it and set it over at the table. Picking a spoon out of the cutlery drawer, he slid over into a chair and started to chomp at the cereal. Sure as hell beat not eating at all, though he much would have preferred waffles. Even Ellie's toast...well, no. Not Ellie's toast. Patting Gir under the table as he sat down at Felix's feet, Felix kicked back to relax and just enjoy his break.

this is felix rn. p much.

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[ellie katherine wood]

Ellie had just gotten home for the holidays, and her trunk was mostly unpacked. Sort of. Odd bits of clothing and random shoes were thrown across the floor of her bedroom, but she didn't care. It was Christmas break, and she could be a mess if she wanted to. Taking advantage of her ability to lounge around in pajamas all day, she didn't bother changing out of them before opening the door to her room and padding down the hallway. Looking at herself in the hall mirror, she noticed her hair was a bit wild, but she didn't care. No boys to impress here. Not like her brothers would let them get close, anyway. She fluffed it a little bit, then turned and kept walking. She didn't know where exactly she was going, but she felt like talking to someone in her family, so she was going to find someone.

She walked down the stairs, not seeing anyone in the living room, or the backyard, or the foyer. She sighed and walked into the kitchen, seeing Felix eat a bowl of cereal with Gir at his feet. She slid across the floor in her socks, and sat down on the floor near the dog. "Hey, big guy!" she said, flopping the beagle's ears around as the dog shook his tail. She always loved her brother's dog, even if he did like to chew her shoes. He was nicer than Felix at times, that's for sure. Ellie looked up from the floor at her brother. "Morning, Felix!"

outfit --> <3

[christopher]

Though Topher had his own house he came home for the holidays and this time he brought home a little guest. His own pup, Oreo, a Siberian Husky. He was well aware of his brothers situation and what had happened at Hogwarts, thanks to his work, and that was when he decided that Oreo would be beneficial for everyone. She not only was a cute, young pup, but a sweet and friendly one who got hyper quite easily which was exactly what he awoke to. A hyper, sweet puppy running up and down on his bed who decided that her master’s face and feet were not only a chew toy but something meant for licking. Groaning softly, Topher threw his blanket off and slipped on his fuzzy shoes.

But before leaving the room he placed Oreo onto the ground. Running his fingers through his hair he rushed down the steps avoiding obstacles on the way with Oreo trotting behind him. But the moment he entered the living room Oreo decided to run towards the kitchen and Topher was well aware that Oreo was still not trained properly, she was too young only a month and a half old. But the moment he entered the kitchen a smile appeared on his face as he saw his younger brother and younger sister. He immediately went over to the stove while saying, Mornin', do you guys want anything, as long as you guys don't mind waiting a few. But the moment he headed over the stove, Oreo trotted over where Gir was and began attempting to play with the beagle by playfully biting its ear and tail.

Sighing softly he turned himself around and walked over to where Oreo was and gently chided the young pup, No biting Oreo, okay? But it was quite obvious the puppy was not listening to her master which could be seen with her squirming. Instantly he placed the squirmy, hyper pup onto the ground and walked back over to the stove and began looking about for something to make.

o u t f i t&&o r e o - - - click

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[felix ian wood]

As hungry as he was, it didn't take Felix more than a few moments to scarf down the entire bowl of cereal. It wasn't much and it left him hungry as ever, his stomach growling for an actual breakfast. That was definitely something he would miss about being at Hogwarts, since there was never a time that he couldn't just walk down to the kitchens and have the elves make him something. At home, however, he didn't have house elves and he had a feeling that his mother probably would appreciate him treating her like one. Besides, she was probably off working or something that day and the only person around he could swindle into making him food was Topher. He needed to find Topher. Felix was about to hop up from his seat at the table and go drag Topher out of bed when he heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen, which caused his head to swivel over towards the direction of the sound.

When he spotted Ellie sliding in towards him, a grin came over his face. Though he saw Ellie quite often at school, it was different when they were at home. They could be more normal and not worry about their friends or anything. "Morning Elle-belle! Want some cereal? It's about all I can make," he asked, holding up the box as an offering. Even if they fought pretty frequently, Felix loved his family more than anything and would do anything for them. So, there were occasions when Felix was actually extremely nice to Ellie and today was one of those days. Even though he had a feeling they would end up joking around a bit with each other, it was the first day of vacation and he was just happy to be home. It was hard not to be in a good mood when surrounded by family, for Felix. Hearing a rather strange scuffling on the floor, Felix's attention flicked over to see another small puppy, presumably Topher's, running across the floor, his older brother in pursuit.

"Topher!" Felix called out with another wide grin. He saw Topher around, sure, but definitely not as often as he would like and usually only when the boy was at work. Hardly enough time to spend any quality time with his brother. "Waffles? Can you make waffles? That would be the best," Felix asked, quite excited by the prospect of some real food that morning. This was the perfect situation right there for Felix. The siblings that he actually liked were all together with their dogs, there was going to be food and it was a great atmosphere. The only thing that could have made it any better would have been if their parents were there to eat too.

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[ellie katherine wood]

Ellie watched Felix scarf down the remainder of his cereal as she sat playing on the floor with Gir. The beagle kept making little noises whenever she scratched his belly, which caused her to crack up laughing. She smiled at her brother. "Oh my gosh, would you? I can totally make you toast, if you want it!" she grinned, batting her eyes at her older brother. Amongst the family, Felix and Ellie were easily the worst cooks. When they were seven and six, respectively, they tried to make breakfast for their mum and dad, and the stove ended up nearly exploding, catching on fire. The story is still told at both Wood and Bell family dinners. Topher and their mum, however, were incredible in the kitchen, and Ellie cherished the times when her eldest brother was home, not only because she loves to see her brother, but his food is absolutely to die for.

"Morning, Toph!" she said as her brother walked in. When Oreo walked in behind him, she squealed, and called the puppy over. Ellie had always loved animals, and Topher's puppy was one of the cutest she had ever seen. Still on the floor, she had somehow ended up lying on her back, holding Oreo on her stomach as Gir licked her face. "Merlin, please make us waffles, Topher. Please please pleeeeease," she begged, pouting up at her eldest brother.

Ellie usually didn't mean to, but sometimes she liked to take advantage of being both the youngest and the only girl. She loved her brothers, and she loved the fact that they loved her and protected her. Even though it could get annoying when they got too protective, sometimes she had to sit back and think that they cared about her, and how she was lucky to have such caring brothers.

[christopher]

Shaking his head laughter escaped as Topher began getting the ingredients out while asking, Blueberry, Chocolate Chip Waffles with Cinnamon Maple Syrup or Banana Walnut Waffles with Maple Syrup or Apple Almond Waffles with Maple Syrup? Take your pick and yes you can pick more than one. He knew his siblings too well and knew that cooking for them was to be expected. Had he not come, his mother would have been over-whelmed by Felix’s and their Father’s black-hole of a stomach while Ellie’s food gets stolen by either one. Luckily though he did come and he was well prepared for the never-ending amount of time that he would be spending in the kitchen.

Though he was talented with magic, Topher did not use magic to make his recipes. He did not know. It felt much more worth it when he used his own hands, but when there was a crazy amount of people he had to serve, it was a different story. But today he was only going to be making food for his siblings and possibly his parents. That was something he could handle any day, but something he had not been able to handle was Oreo teething, often he found himself getting woken by up her noming away on his arm which made him say in a warning tone, El, can you make sure Oreo doesn’t bit you hard? She’s currently teething, so she may start biting anything she can get into her mouth.

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[felix ian wood]

Typically, Felix was rather fond of toast. He would eat it most mornings when at school and would have loved to add some to his breakfast list that morning. However, if Ellie was the one to be cooking it, than Felix was quite okay with doing without for the morning. Dying of food poisoning or something to that effect wasn't high on his list of things to do for the day and eating Ellie's food was more or less a death sentence. "You know, maybe I'll make the toast too," Felix mused, though that was hardly any better. Felix and Ellie were notoriously bad cooks, a trait which he was sure came straight from their father. At least he could make cereal, something which he had a feeling their father would struggle to accomplish. Mostly because his father was happy to have other people serve him instead, but possibly because he rather doubted his father even knew where the kitchen was.

The commotion that came along with Oreo's entrance into the room was a welcome distraction and Felix happily hopped down from his chair to sit on the floor with Ellie and the dogs. Scratching at Oreo's ear as the pup sat on Ellie's stomach, a rather irreplaceable grin was on the boy's face. It was hard not to be in a good mood when surrounded by dogs and family. His eyes lit up even more when Topher listed off the possible waffles that he could make them for breakfast that morning. Any one of those beat all the flavors of cereal in the world, Felix was pretty sure. "I vote for all three. We can just get a big buffet line going. I can make bacon to go with it!" Felix offered, though he had a feeling it would be declined. If he could hardly manage toast, he doubted anyone would let him attempt the bacon.

Giving Oreo one last pat, Felix stood up from the ground and loped over towards the kitchen to watch Topher in action. Someday Felix would have to learn to make food on his own and if there was any chance he could pick up at least the basics from watching his older brother, than he would try. Felix was kind of afraid that he would starve if he tried to go live on his own. "Anything I can do to help, Toph?" he asked, looking up at the boy with a hopeful expression. He didn't want any major responsibilities in the food making process, but he did want to help enough to say that he had partially aided in the breakfast making process.

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[ellie katherine wood]

As she held on to Oreo, she smiled at Felix petting the dog's ears. Recently, she loved to see him happy, especially after everything that had happened to him. The kid had had a tough school year already, and it wasn't even Christmas. Before she had left, she promised herself she would try and make Felix as happy as possible, to help him get over everything. She hadn't always been there for her brother, but if there was ever a time to really be there, it was now.

"I can't choose, they all sound delicious," she said, laughing. "And she's being a perfect little princess, aren't you sweetheart?" She turned back to face the dog and Felix. She could tell that Gir wasn't appreciating all of the attention the puppy was getting, so she took her other hand and started to pet the beagle as his tail wagged. She kissed the side of his face and started to make little squealing noises at the puppy.

"Felix, best idea ever," she said, taking her hand off of Oreo and ruffling his blonde hair. "Bacon sounds awesome! I feel bad I'm not making anything. . . . Should I make toast?" She watched her brother get up from the floor and walk over to Topher. Normally, she would offer to help her brother in any way that she could, without setting things on fire, at least. She decided that the best- and safest- place for her to be was on the floor, away from the stove.

[christopher]

cooking, that was something he learned from his mother and he was quite talented, which was why he was able to make a living off of it. but felix and ellie? put those two next to a stove and the stove will end up exploding and the fire department should be called ahead of time which was why topher froze and tensed up, slightly, before quickly responding, hahaha, no, no, no. you two sit. play with oreo and gir. actually what you two can do for me is...

what did not require the stove or any real cooking skills were the things rushing through topher’s mind before he exclaimed, wash the blueberries, apples, walnuts, and almonds for me? and oh yes! get me milk, non-salted butter, vanilla yogurt, eight eggs, granny smith apples, blue berries, banana, walnuts, almonds, and chocolate chips. please and i’ll make you guys bacon, toast, and everything else. mentally sighing topher continued to search for the various ingredients, he already had found the syrup, cinnamon, all-purpose non-bleached flour, wheat flour, brown sugar, baking power, ginger, baking, and the salt. now what he needed were the refrigerated ingredients

muttering more to himself than anyone, disaster averted. yes it would be a lot of work, but if no fires or explosions happened, then it was all good. especially considering how he had one too many bad experiences with at least ellie or felix in the kitchen. but having both? that would be a disaster, suffice to say, and a disaster was not something his mother needed to wake up to.

[felix ian wood]

Chuckling as Ellie ruffled his hair, Felix was quite excited to be making breakfast with the rest of the family. However, there was no way that he was going to let Ellie touch a toaster. In fact, he'd much prefer if Ellie just stayed there with the dogs and kept them busy, rather than attempting to help. That would probably be the safest course of action for breakfast. Admittedly, Felix helping probably wouldn't be all that great of a help, but at least he could make toast most of the time. "Yeah, El, you might just want to sit here and deal with the dogs. Let the men do all the real work," Felix said with a laugh as he scrambled up from the floor to head over towards the kitchens. Letting Felix into the kitchen was always a dangerous risk to take, but Felix simply slid on into the kitchen and started nosing around to see what he could do.

Luckily for them all, Topher had a lengthy list of things for Felix to accomplish. They were easy enough that he wouldn't screw them up, hopefully, so Felix was more than happy to assist. That way, he could claim he was doing something helpful and he wouldn't ruin the food. Opening up the refrigerator, Felix started to grab the different things that Topher requested of him and placing them out on the counter. Gathering up the things he needed to clean, Felix moved them over towards the sink, his arms dangerously full with the lot of it. However, he somehow managed to make it to the other counter without dropping anything, breaking something or in any way failing. Yet. There was definitely still time for that to happen, unfortunately for the lot of them.

Snorting in amusement when he heard Topher's muttered commented, Felix flicked the sink on to start washing off some of the berries and such. "Do I have to use soap with these?" he asked Topher, holding off on starting anything until he had ensured he was doing it right. Obviously, Felix wasn't very good at this. "El, wanna come help?" he asked, hoping that between the two of them they would somehow be able to figure it all out and actually accomplish something. He almost felt like it was a danger inviting Ellie into the vicinity of the food, but since there wasn't going to be a toaster involved than he didn't see the harm in it.

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[ellie katherine wood]

Ellie frowned at Felix. She hated all of the men versus women things. She was already at a disadvantage when it came to Quidditch- unless she played for the Harpies- and she didn't feel like dealing with it at home. "You know I hate that stuff," she huffed, scratching Gir's stomach as he rolled over. "You're lucky I'm too lazy and happy down here to get up and kill you." Despite the fact that it was winter in Scotland, the house had some sort of enchantment cranking it up to a higher than comfortable temperature, and the tile of the kitchen was cool on her shoulder blades, exposed from the back of the tank top she was wearing.

Her head perked up at the sound of Felix mentioning her name. She put Oreo down on the ground next to Gir, pat her on the head, and slowly got up from her spot on the floor by the table. "Oh, now you need the poor little girl's help," she said sarcastically as she elbowed Felix. Her and Felix had always been the most physical between the siblings. Her mother was sure that it was the small age difference, but she knew it was her father training them to play rough whenever they practiced Quidditch, and it came out in everyday life. She walked past Felix, and on her way to the fridge, she turned to Topher. "I heard that, by the way," she chuckled, knowing that Topher meant it half-heartedly.

One by one, she grabbed the milk, eggs, yogurt, and butter out of the fridge and placed them on the counter for her eldest brother. She then walked over to the sink to help out Felix. "No, you don't use soap," she said, grabbing one of the apples out of the basket and moving it towards the sink, and then under the running water. "Do you want your pancakes tasting like soap? All you have to do is rinse them. . . right?" She asked Topher, laughing. She placed the green apple into another bowl on the counter and reached for another one. She was glad she could help, and was actually doing something productive. The scene she had going with her siblings now, it truly felt like family. Felix wasn't mopey, they weren't fighting, and Topher was making them food. She tried to hide the smile threatening to come out on her face, so she focused in on the apple she was grabbing out of the bowl.

[christopher]

Rather than adding to either Felix or Ellie's statement Topher casually said, Y'know…if you keep saying stuff like that Ellie isn't going to help you next time you ask for help. As he continued to gather the various items, he soon began measuring the various ingredients Topher answered the question but not before acting silly, What did you hear El? I’m sorry, you’re mistaken and actually, you do wash the blue berries in soap. Its the fruit and vegetable soap under the sink, should be the white bottle. Let it soak for a couple of minutes then drain it and dry it. While you guys wait for the fruit to soak, you guys should start crushing some of the almonds and walnuts in two separate bowls. You also can peel the apples and quarter them.

As the three Woods siblings began doing various little jobs preparing for breakfast, Topher noticed that the second eldest Wood was not there which caused him to say in a offhanded manner, Have any of you guys seen Tag yet? I know he came home when you guys did cause he met Oreo before you guys. In fact, he asked me if Oreo ever mating with another dog to let him have a pup. Though almost everyone in the family was a Gryffindor, Dartagnan was different. In fact every time he spoke with Tag he always could recall how Tag often spoke of feeling isolated and lonely due to how different he was to the rest of the family which was shown with every action he made.

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[felix ian wood]

Of course Felix knew that the younger girl hated when he said things like that. Honestly, that was mostly the reason why he tended to say things like that. As the youngest of the brothers, Ellie was usually the only one that Felix had any authority over, but since she was a girl that was a very rare thing. "You would never do such a thing, El. You love me too much," he replied with a bemused grin. Felix knew that he pushed buttons sometimes, but that was just how Felix was. The fact that he was even able to still do that sort of thing was probably a good thing in regard to his recovery from all that he had been through lately. "Oh, don't worry Topher. She loves me enough to help me out, pretty sure," he chuckled. He knew his family and he knew that they would just about do anything for him, which he absolutely loved. It was comforting having such a tight bond with them all. Well, almost all of them.

Looking back over his shoulder at Ellie, Felix gave her as charming a grin as he could. "Sad little Felix needs all the help he can get in the kitchen," he said with a nod. Though he was joking, that wasn't too far from the truth. Moving over as Ellie came to help, Felix couldn't help but laugh when she too didn't know how to accomplish their task. It was pretty sad that even though they were tasked with the simplest of things, they were still terribly incompetent. The more that Topher talked, the more confused Felix became about their tasks. However, he did manage to catch enough to lean down under the sink and grab the soap that they required. Squirting some of it into the bowl in front of them, Felix dumped all the berries in with it and sprayed some water to get it all soapy. Moving that aside, Felix looked back at Topher with an overwhelmed expression. "What now?" he asked, his eyes blinking.

However, at the mention of their other brother, a slight frown graced Felix's lips. He had no good feelings towards the older boy, at least, none that he would admit to. Ever since Dartagnan had been sorted into Slytherin, Felix couldn't seem to get over it. He had looked up to the boy and now he could barely stand to be in the same room as him. "Nope. He's too antisocial to bother greeting his family," Felix said with an irritated huff. Obviously, Tag wasn't even there at their impromptu family breakfast helping out, so Felix didn't see why they would even need to consider the kid to be family or anything. Perhaps he was overly critical and judgmental, but Felix kind of didn't care.

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[ellie katherine wood]

"Wow, Felix, she said, laughing. "You think way to highly of me." She did love her brother too much to kill him, but too much to hurt him? Not at all. He always used to tussle her around when they were kids, and still to this day. Sometimes she wondered if he forgot she was a girl, or if he was just jealous that his older brothers had a younger brother to bully around. She knew she mildly appreciated it, since it made her more tough.

After Ellie and Felix finished the chores they were assigned, she looked at him as he asked Topher a question. She didn't really want to do any more chores, she just wanted to eat. Even though they had incredible meals from the elves at Hogwarts, there was just something about a meal Topher made for them. Not only was it the quality of the food, but it was also the feeling of being home with her family.

Ellie sighed when Topher mentioned Tag. She knew drama was going to come up, and she always just tried to avoid it. "Felix," she scorned, grabbing her brothers arm. The relationship between Felix and Tag, since she was nine or ten, was always a rough one. Although she always tried to play mediator- they were both her brothers, after all- she sometimes tended to stick with Felix in an argument, unless he started it. Sometimes they could be ridiculously hypocritical, or completely asinine, but they always happened, and she always had to deal with the aftermath of Felix ranting and raving. "Dunno, Toph, she said, her hand still on Felix's forearm, "You know he doesn't like to be around the beast here unless Daddy's around."

[christopher]

Laughing softly Topher slowed down his instructions, Allow the berries to soak a bit in the soapy water and while you wait a few minutes get three different clean bowls and put the almonds and walnuts in each one and crush them. After that wash the apples with just water and then quarter them after you quarter them cut the skin off then cut them into smaller pieces. After you finish cutting them, put those into one of the free bowls. Get it Felix? Each task that Topher said did not require much cooking skills, but were enough to allow all of them to help out and not wanting any of them to feel left out he began to think of other things that Felix and Ellie could do.

But as soon as he began thinking of various things a frown appeared at Felix's comment which led to Topher speak in a warning tone, Felix he's your older brother, a Slytherin yes. But he is a Wood. You should not be saying anything like that. He's just socially awkward and you saying things like that will not help him, at all. Sure Topher teased and toyed with all of his siblings, but in the end he was the peace-maker, excluding their mother of course. Being the peace-maker Topher became aware of various things about each of his siblings the others did not know much about, it was quite beneficial when it came to bringing the peace but at the same time it was rather stressful.

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