"I just want to eat Mum's cooking." Joaquin dropped dramatically onto the middle of the floor. "I don't care about the holidays. I just want Mum's food."
"Okay, I want Mum's cooking too, but I still care for the holidays." Forest scoffed as she packed her trunk.
Oshun chuckled as she packed her own trunk, neatly folding each item of clothing before placing them into her trunk.
It was time to go back for holiday and Oshun was more than ready. She was so excited to see her parents and Simon.
She wrote to her next door neighbor, but obviously catching up with him on certain dramas in both their lives just wasn't the same.
She had lots to tell Simon and she would most likely repeat some stuff she wrote to him about, but talking in person was just easier for him to read her expressions—vice versa.
"Baloo!" Oshun called out as she walked down to the common room. "Baloo, where are you?"
"Takahashi." Fred jogged down from the boys' dormitories. "A word?"
"Hello to you too." She stood in front of him, confused.
"I can't talk long. Hermione is supposed to be coming to my dorm soon." Fred's eyes nervously darted behind the girl in front of him to glance at the girls' dormitory stairs.
"What's up?" Oshun asked as her brows frowned.
"My parents were wondering if you wanted to spend a couple days at The Burrow," he said quietly as his hands rubbed his ginger hair to tousle it even more.
"Oh." The surprise was clear in her tone. She wasn't expecting this.
"They just want to get to know you because of the new law and stuff," Fred elaborated. "They've written to your parents already, but my mum still wanted me to ask you myself."
"Okay, sure." She nodded pleasantly. "I can spend a few days at The Burrow."
He was visibly pleased by her answers. "Yeah?" A twitch on the corner of his mouth led to a small smile.
"Yeah." She shot him a soft smile as she nodded again. "And I'm pretty sure my parents want you to come over to my place to meet you too."
"Brilliant." His eyes brightened like stars. "I'll write to you, yeah?" His smile stretched sincerely wider.
"Mhm," she hummed, her tummy filling with knots that exploded into butterflies at the simple thought of being with Fred for a few days at The Burrow.
As Oshun strolled around, looking for her cat, she only realized that Fred might have not told his parents that she got their son and someone else. Did Draco tell his parents that the girl he got had two choices?
Her stomach sank at the remembrance that her parents would also want to meet Draco. And his parents would want to meet her as well—or mum, anyhow.
Oshun did not want to go to Malfoy Manor.
She found Baloo strolling around the empty corridor. She was surprised no one tried cat-napping him yet since he was always out and about.
As soon as Forest finished packing, the three of them left the dorm. They were all excited to be going back home, all of Oshun's mates were.
She and her mates got onto the Hogwarts express and sat in a compartment. All of them got into immediate conversation about going home and the holidays. They were all excited to be going home to eat their mum's cooking.
Oshun never really went to her mates' for holidays, but she did go for summer break. She only went for a week or less since she wasn't too fond of being at other people's houses.
She preferred to stay at the comfort of her own home. But this holiday, it seemed like she was going to have to suck it up since she would be going to Fred's.
And Malfoy's.
"Anything from the trolley, dears?" the sweet old lady asked.
"Can I have three liquorice wands, two boxes of fudge flies, three packs of jelly slugs, two chocolate frogs, and one box of peppermint toads, please?" Joaquin asked sweetly as he held out more money than needed.
"Keep the change, ma'am," he said softly when she told him he gave too much.
"Bless you." She smiled gratefully before moving on.
"I could've paid, mate," Giovanni said as Joaquin began to hand out the sweets they all said they wanted.
"My treat." Joaquin sent a brisk wink to his friend. "For you." He handed Oshun the only box of peppermint toads.
"Thank you," she beamed happily. She turned in her seat and let her legs rest over Giovanni's and Forest's legs.
"Soooo...." Da'Shylah's voice drew off.
Silence.
Oshun only realized they were all looking at her. She swallowed her chewed peppermint toad and blinked at her friends. "Yes?"
"You've got four parents in total to impress," Mavi said evenly, brows gentle on the edges. "How do you feel?"
"Only three," Oshun clarified in a bland tone. "I'm a Halfblood. Lucius Malfoy has a little fetish for Purebloods. I will not impress him no matter what."
"Mavi is asking the wrong questions." Da'Shylah waved a hand in said girl's face as she shifted forward in her seat, eager. "The question we all want to ask is; how do you feel that you'll probably be sleeping in a room three steps away from Fred's?"
"Or Malfoy's," Forest piped in, equally eager.
"Don't you think you'll be tempted to... sneak in, maybe have a kiss or two?" Giovanni's voice was low and teasing, but also serious.
Oshun's cheeks pinked as she shoved a peppermint toad in her mouth to stall time.
She sucked on the sweet for a second.
She chewed and took her time.
She kept it in her mouth for a moment too long.
Then she swallowed.
"So?" Tavius pressed on, eyebrows raised.
Oshun began serenely. "I don't understand what you're even asking me. Fred has a girlfriend. There will be no kissing—"
"Didn't stop him that one time he dragged you into the empty corridor," Mavi countered with a matter-of-fact look on her pretty face.
"He didn't kiss me, I told you that." Oshun rolled her eyes and tossed another peppermint toad in her mouth.
"But he wanted to. He said he wants you, Oshun," Giovanni said as he rubbed her knee gently. "Since his third year, might I add."
Oshun just shrugged. She didn't know what to say to that.
But those lingering words made her heart skip a little beat. Because Fred wanted her.
If she weren't in the compartment with her mates, she'd squeal, elated. Delighted. Happy. Excited.
"Do you think Malfoy and Fred will be going to your place at the same time?" Joaquin asked a very loaded question.
"No." She immediately shook her head, denying every chance of that happening. "I'll make sure of it. I'm not having those two boys in my home at once. I like my home and I like it in one piece."
"Do you have an idea who you want to choose though?" Tavius asked a loaded question as well. "I mean, I know it's early, but still. Any thoughts?"
"I don't know," she said because it was true. Those three words were the most she could possibly say to that question. "But enough about me, please. Mavi, is Nott going to your place to meet your parents and vice versa?"
Mavi's face turned red. "I have to go to his place," she muttered bitterly. "I don't want to, but I have to. And he's coming to mine. If this guy says anything about my parents, I'm going to fucking hex him."
"You better." Forest scoffed as she nibbled on a liquorice wand.
"When are you going to The Burrow, Da'Shylah and Gio?" Oshun's eyes darted between the two. "Because you'll be seeing Arthur and Molly, right?"
"Me and Gio might go at the same time," Da'Shylah said as she picked on her sweets. "You've met Molly and Arthur before, haven't you?"
"Briefly." Oshun nodded in confirmation. "It was when my parents took me with them to The Burrow since they needed to talk to Molly and Arthur about something. But that was a long time ago."
"Did they like you then?" Tavius asked curiously, and ripped open a packet of jelly slugs.
"I think." She shrugged lamely. "It wasn't exactly a one on one interaction. They said hi, I said hi. And then they spoke to my parents." Her eyes veered between the Jeong twins. "Parkinson is going to your place, isn't she?"
Forest's eyes rolled as she muttered, "Yeah."
Joaquin, however, was calm and nonchalant. "I'm hoping she'll be pleasant for Mum and Dad." He took a jelly slug from Tavius. "She seems a bit spoiled and bratty."
"If she acts like that in our household, she'll get a right slap," Forest said, and bit into her liquorice wand.
"A slap might do her good," Mavi muttered under her breath. "Slap that attitude right out of her."
"Now, that is what money can do to people," Giovanni said simply with a shrug. "You've got money, you're pure, and then boom—you think can conquer the world and it's issues."
"In other words, they need humbling," Da'Shylah countered easily. "I've got money. I'm pure. I'm not an entitled prick."
"Us too," Forest and Joaquin said at the same time.
"Same," Tavius and Giovanni said at the same time.
"It's all in the way they're raised," Mavi said exasperatedly, and shared jelly slugs with Tavius. "Your parents taught you and raised you well. I reckon Parkinson's parents or Nott's or Malfoy's only care about the look of their name and family."
"And not their child's happiness," Oshun added quietly.
It was quite sad that their parents didn't care for their happiness, but perhaps she'd get more of a look on Draco's life at home.
Maybe get an understanding as to why he was the way he was.
_____
"Mama!" Oshun leaped into her mum's arms with absolute joy. "How are you?"
"I'm good, love. I'm brilliant, actually. How are you?" Gwen pulled back to cup her daughter's cheeks.
Baloo purred against Gwen's leg, a greeting.
"I'm happy to see you." A smile climbed upon the corner's of Oshun's mouth. "Is Papa at home?"
"Yes, he is." Gwen nodded as she took her daughter's trunk. "He's preparing your favourite for dinner."
"I have a lot of favourites," Oshun clarified as she and her mum strolled out of King's Cross.
Gwen let out a hearty laugh and they caught up as they headed for the car.
By the time they got home, Oshun noticed Simon's car wasn't in his driveway, so he was probably at work. She and her mum walked up the porch and went inside of their home.
The smell of delicious foods clogged Oshun's senses as she put her trunk on the floor in the foyer. She kicked off her boots and went to the kitchen.
"Hi, Bug." Bryson gave his daughter a tight hug.
"Hi, Papa." She hugged tighter as they rocked from side to side. "How are you?"
"I'm amazing." He kissed her head softly before releasing her from his embrace. "And yourself, Oshun? How are those mates of yours?"
"All good. Everything's lovely." She smiled sincerely.
He was visibly elated to have his daughter home. "Why don't you wash up and we can eat? You can tell Mama and I everything about school so far," he insisted.
So that was what Oshun did.
They soon gathered around the table with a bunch of home cooked meals scattered around the table. Oshun talked to her parents about a lot and she was avoiding the obvious.
But her mama brought it up. "There's something you should probably know before you make plans for your holiday," she said calmly.
"Okay." Oshun knew what was coming, so she stuffed her face with fried dumplings.
"Narcissa Malfoy wants you to go over to the manor for a couple days," Gwen said evenly as she scooped some rice into her mouth.
Oshun almost choked.
She knew it was coming, but she didn't think it would be Draco before Fred.
"She wrote to me a couple days ago, requesting you to spend a few days there. She wants to get to know you—you know, with being her son's future wife," Gwen went on in a pleasant tone. "So I said that you'll be there tomorrow morning until Monday night—three nights."
Oshun's eyes went wide. "Mama, why would you do that without asking me if I was okay with it?" she blurted out.
"Love, I know you dislike sleeping over at people's houses, but this is important for the new marriage law," Gwen soothed with a gentle expression. "And Lucius will not be there. Narcissa informed me he is on a business trip at the moment."
Well, that actually calmed Oshun greatly.
"We also got a letter from Molly Weasley." Bryson cleared his throat after taking a sip of his iced water. "She wants you to spend a few days at The Burrow for her and Arthur to get to know you since you're Fred's future wife. You'll be going next week to The Burrow."
"Do they know I got two choices? Or do they assume I only got their son?" Oshun was genuinely curious as she dipped her spring roll in sweet chili sauce.
"I'm pretty sure the Malfoys and Weasleys know you have two choices. They're doing this as more of an assumption that you're picking their own son," Bryson said evenly as he scooped from more sisig onto his plate.
"Don't tell me you want both boys to come here too," Oshun droned as she put her chopsticks down. "Not at the same time."
She watched her parents exchange glances. "Well," Gwen said, clearing her throat, "We thought it would be nice to get to know these boys if you're going to marry one of them. And no, not at the same time. We haven't got room for both of them at the same time."
Oshun's back struck the backrest of her chair as she sighed heavily, her appetite suddenly thrown into oblivion.
"You'll be going to The Malfoys from tomorrow morning to Monday evening. Then Draco will be coming back with you here, and he'll spend from Monday evening to Friday morning here before he goes back home," Bryson explained in a casual voice. "Then you'll get the weekend for yourself and your incredible parents. Monday morning, you'll be going to The Burrow until Wednesday night. Fred will come back with you and stay until Saturday morning."
"My head hurts from listening to you explain that." Oshun blinked furiously at her father. "Is Narcissa Malfoy okay with Draco coming here for Christmas? And is Molly fine with Fred coming here for New Year's?"
"That was the plan we all agreed on." Bryson nodded.
Oshun glided her tongue across the top row of her teeth, slightly anxious.
This was going to be an eventful holiday.