{FOUR}
LUPIN HOUSEHOLD
DECEMBER 16, 1971
☆☆☆
Preparing to meet Remus's friends was terrifying to the muggle girl. She already lived with two wizards, but she was about to be bombarded with three more. What if they didn't like her? She'd be stuck in the same house with them for a week!
To ease her nerves she walked into the quaint kitchen and put on an apron to make some christmas cookies. Aunt Hope had recently given her a recipe that was her grandmothers, and seeing as they had never had the pleasure of meeting, it was nice for the girl to have something of hers.
She rolled out the dough into small balls, lining them up on the baking sheet to stick in the oven, hoping that Remus's friends would like them. She didn't know why she was wanting to impress them, maybe some part of her was hoping they'd become her friend as well.
She set the timer and tried to stop herself from biting her nails as she looked to the fireplace in preparation. She'd never traveled by floo before, but she watched Uncle Lyall do it everyday for work. So she watched, the nervousness starting to grow in the pit of her stomach.
The familliar sound of footsteps on the old creaky steps alerted the young girl that one of the Lupins was coming down, so she dusted off her apron and tried to appear like her nerves werent eating her inside out.
"Have they arrived yet!" Remus came down to ask excitedly. Camellia took a deep breath before answering.
"Nope. What are they like anyway?" They had exchanged several letters over the semester where Remus went on an on about his three best friends and the pranks they pulled around school, but Camellia still wanted to be as prepared as possible.
"James and Sirius are a lot alike. Very cocky and likes to goof around, but Peter is a lot more shy. He'll probably have a hard time talking to you since you're, you know, a woman."
Camellia couldn't help but get nervous at his description of Peter. The last the she wanted to do was make him uncomfortable while she was around.
The timer she had placed on the counter went off after a few minutes of idle chatter, prompting the girl to put a glove on her hand to retrieve the peanut butter cookies. Remus checked his watch and ran to the fireplace, expecting them to arrive soon.
And soon enough, the portal turned green as two boys walked through it, obviously having came together. Camellia tried to mentally prepare herself while she hid out in the kitchen for the third boy to get here, but much to her dismay, it didnt take him long.
She heard the whooshing sound of someone else falling through the fireplace, less graceful than the first two, and the sound of Hope and Lyall coming down to greet the boys.
Camellia took this as her cue to shovel the cookies onto a plate to bring out to them all.
Sirius Black stepped through the Lupin's fireplace eager to be reuinited with his real family. Remus had told him stories about how amazing his parent and cousin were, and he was excited to meet them.
He knew very well of the burden it was to carry the Black name, but Remus assured him that his parents wouldn't care a bit, and as for the cousin, the muggle had no idea of what his name meant.
He still couldn't get over the fact that he was living with a muggle. Walburga would throw a fit if she knew he was going to be staying in the same house as a muggle, which made him all the more eager to meet her.
Peter fell through the fireplace, tripping on the carpet and landing in a heap on the floor. The thud seemed to alert the Lupins as they both made their way down the stairs to greet them all.
"Nice going, Pete." Sirius said with a laugh extending his hand to help the poor fella out, but when Camellia Howell finally grew the courage to come greet them, his hand subconsciously released Peters, making him fall back on the ground with another thud.
It was no secret that Sirius Black loved female attention, no matter what his age was, he strived off of being the center of anyones radar. So when a pretty muggle girl who he thought was prettier than any of the girls at Hogwarts walked in, he handled it in normal Sirius Black fashion.
"Dibs." He whispered to James and Peter. Making Remus's head whip around to give his friend a disgusted look.
"There will be no dibs, that is my cousin." He whispered harshly, smacking the boy across the head.
"I made cookies." Camellia offered the group of boys as a peace offering. They all looked at her happily, taking some off the plate to shove into their mouths, as did Lyall.
Camellia smiled knowing they liked her cookies, and visibly relaxed. She walked over to where Hope was scolding her husband for behaving like a child, as he wiped the extra crumbs from his mouth with a sorrow expression.
"I hope no ones allergic to peanuts." She added as a second thought, thought it would have been too late anyway as they were all two cookies deep at that point anyway.
The boys seemed not to even hear her as they were enjoying the treats she had brought them. She was starting to feel a little weird just standing there as they ate. "I'll grab some milk."
"Don't worry dear, I'll get it." Lyall said, waving his wand and five glasses came flying from the kitchen filled with milk.
"Right, magic. How could I forget?" Camellia was starting to get anxious, and as Hope and Lyall retired to their bedrooms, the anxiety got worse.
"Cammy, come sit!" Remus said, as his friends had all gotten comfortable on the couch, Peter still nibbling at the leftover cookies.
She smiles lightly and came over and sat on the couch opposite of Remus, next to Peter. The other two were on either side of her dear cousin.
"Do you like the cookies? Peter, is it?" Peter looked up at her, part of the cookie still attached to his mouth, and a blush rose to his cheeks. "They're excellent." He said, wiping his mouth.
Camellia smiled tersely, and turned to her cousin, trying to avoid the stares from his best friends.
"So how did you lot meet?" She had already heard it all from the letters from Remus, but she wanted something to talk about.
"Me and Sirius met Remus on the train, but we met Peter when we got to our rooms. We are inseparable."
"Ladies love us." Sirius said confidently, which Camellia made a face at, considering he's barely eleven. "Isn't that right, James."
"Oh shove off. Lily will come around." James said sternly.
"I have heard a lot about Lily, what is she like?"
"Oh please don't get him started." Sirius cried out, lifting from his seat and sitting on the couch next to Camellia, making Remus squint his eyes at him.
Sirius put an arm around Camellia's shoulder. "He'll never shut up."
"Do you?" Camellia slipped from his grip and took his previous seat next to Remus.
"Ouch!"
"Deserved. Lily is the most magnificent girl i have ever seen. She's got beautiful red hair, and-"
"Eyes like a beautiful shining emerald!" The rest of the boys finished for him, having heard it so many times.
"She sounds lovely."
"Oh, no doubt about it. You two might get along if you ever get the pleasure to meet her. She comes from a muggle family."
Camellia mostly sat quietly as the four boys talked about their time at school, the pranks they've pulled and the enemies they've made. She had a feeling questions along the way since she didn't know much about magic. 'Whats a dungbomb, what in the hell is a snivellus?'
"You lot sound like you're having fun! Camellia, do you care to join me in the kitchen to help prepare dinner?" Hope called out as she came down the rickety stairs. Camellia nodded and followed the woman out of the room.
Once she was gone, the conversation in the living room changed. "Remus, mate, I see who got all the looks in the family." Sirius joked with the boy.
"Merlin, if any of you try anything with Camellia, consider our friendship over."
"No need to worry about me, my heart beats only for my Lily." James reassured, with a dreamy look on his face.
Remus turned to Peter, who immediately flushed. "I-I don't think I could get two words out to her to even try."
Their heads turned to Sirius, waiting for him to say something. He rolled his eyes and put a hand over his heart, "I solemnly swear to leave Camellia alone. For the time being. No telling what the future holds."
As Remus looked somewhat pleased with the boy's answers, Sirius turned his head to peak in the kitchen, where Camellia was putting on an apron and rolling up her sleeves while she talked with Hope. Camellia looked up and gave him an odd look, turning back to the meal in front of her. Sirius turned towards the boys once more, and shook the girl from his head.