• • • • •

black magic.
act one, always something.
chapter one, for the love of seven siblings.

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CROCKETT THE OWL
july 1993

"THE BEATLES FOUGHT AND DIED FOR OUR RIGHT TO PARTY!"

"Actually, John Lennon is the only dead Beatle—"

"Actually, your music taste is shit so fuck you!"

The string of words that echoed off the walls of the small, arched living room weren't even the beginning of the chaos that was the early morning happenings in the Byrnes household.

Alita and Aadhya Byrnes were stood on opposite sides of the room, furious gazes set determinedly into the other's features, their bodies in a position nearing that of readying for attack. Alita's lips curved upwards into an entertained smile, her eyebrows quirking skyward as her expression morphed from that of offence into that of pure amusement.

"You kiss our mum with that mouth?" She pushed, watching as her youngest sister squirmed beneath her own raw irritation.

"The Weird Sisters aren't even music!" Aadhya shouted persistently with her grip on sanity clearly slipping away as she realized she was incapable of winning the fight she had begun.

"If you'd ever bother to listen to the Weird Sisters, you'd understand—"

"That they aren't music!" Aadhya slowly retreated up the stairs just behind her in an effort to get away from the argument she'd started.

"You'd understand that their whole vibe is why they're so famous!" Alita insisted, her hand flying into the air in an attempt to get her point across as she followed her sister's footsteps up the spiraled staircase. "They have this chill, Indie rock type feel—"

"Hence why I do not listen to them!"

"Aadhya, the Beatles invented Indie rock in the sixties—!"

But it was too late, and the echo of a bedroom door slamming immediately caused Alita to flinch away in surprise, a look of shock etched across her face as she found herself face to face with the closed door of Aadhya's bedroom.

With an exasperated sigh and a quick roll of her eyes, Alita turned on her heel and descended the winding staircase in a light jog, squinting slightly in the bright morning rays that shone through the room's large windows.

However bothersome, Alita had grown used to her sister's antics. Aadhya was entering her first year at Hogwarts and was full of what she had branded as 'smarter sibling syndrome' —except Aadhya really was smarter than the rest of her siblings, and made sure each of them knew it in often the most subtle of ways. Alita had concluded it all may have had something to do with Aadhya being the youngest out of eight kids, seven of them girls, but it was just a hunch.

Now, as Alita entered the dining area, her eyes landed on the large mound of black and white fur that laid stretched across the kitchen counter basking in the available sun. A small smile came to her lips, and she left a gentle scratch on the head of her cat, Tallulah, as she passed. Tallulah let out a gentle meow as she stretched her limbs, her head immediately popping up as if to tell Alita that the single pat on the head hadn't been enough for her liking.

"Spoilt brat," Alita scoffed, propping her elbows on the edge of the countertop. Tallulah simply mewed back in annoyance before defeatedly dropping her head back onto the warm tile surface.

Alita let out a low chuckle as her fingers curled around the warmth of the coffee mug she'd prepared earlier that morning, and she cocked an eyebrow at the pampered feline before moving to stand before the kitchen window.

The country landscape of Ottery St. Catchpole shimmered in the mid-morning sun, its surface all but radiating the joy of the start of summer. Just beyond the treeline, Alita could make out the more populated area of the Wizarding village, where she could see the tiny figures of the townspeople just beginning their daily routines.

A familiar golden photo frame hung just beside the window sill caught her eye as it glistened in the sun's rays, and a knowing smirk came to Alita's lips as she read the lengthy parchment paper trapped beneath the glass layers.

          The edition of the Daily Prophet, dated July 1980, was a punchline in the Byrnes household — a young, emboldened Rita Skeeter, who had been on a hunt for justice when she'd just begun her gossip column career, had coincidentally stumbled across an old newspaper clipping, condemning a woman by the name of Persephone Byrnes (who just so happened to be Alita's great-grandmother) to a lifetime in Azkaban prison for the practicing of dark magic.

          Little Rita Skeeter had then proceeded to do a bit of library research, discovering the Byrnes family history, and boom! she'd published her first ever gossip column story. Of course, no one at the time took her side seriously, which was why the story was often brought up for a good laugh at dinners. Alita's mother had found the clipping in her own mother's belongings and had, with good belief, framed it proudly for the family home.

Alita's family had moved to the hillside village a little under two decades prior, and for good reason - definitely not because the Ministry had insisted the family settle somewhere they could keep an eye on them - no, definitely not. The family was indeed infamous for their dark magical abilities, and though Alita would nonchalantly pass the fact off, the truth was, their abilities weren't a commonplace thing (as her mother had been forced to remind her on various occasions).

The fact also was, Alita was not the best at keeping secrets in the first place, which one of her best friends, Vixen Heron, would tell anyone - add to that, her ability to casually speak with the dead (she'd tell anyone in good conscience, it was not a good combination). She would choose to ignore the fact that her mother had had to blame the ritualistic chants spewing from a seven-year-old Alita's mouth on her daughter's 'oh-so-horrible cold', or the fact that her eldest sister had been forced to smack her so hard she'd been knocked out cold in the middle of Tesco because she'd reanimated an entire chicken breast and it had been chasing after an elderly woman in a wheelchair.

All because Alita simply could not keep a fucking secret.

A white rabbit darted across the lawn before the kitchen window, startling Alita so badly that her coffee sloshed towards the rim of her mug, splashing her fingertips with the hot liquid.

"Shit!"

"Shit!"

Alita's head swiveled, her eyes searching wildly for the source of the repeated curse word, and when unable to locate it, stepped just outside the confines of the kitchen. And then, her questions were answered.

Eabha Byrnes, in all her motherly glory, was stood in the front doorway, arms full to the brim with brown paper bags and six dogs attached to her hip. Alita's eyes widened as she took note of the thick, leather band draped around her mother's waist. Its six metal hoops were connected to six leashes, which were connected to the six furry psychopaths that were now clawing desperately at the wooden planked floor, their wild eyes set firmly on Alita.

"Okay, okay, you demons!" The Byrnes woman cried, nearly dropping her bags as the six dogs began dragging her unceremoniously across the living room floor, each one pawing the floor viciously in their raw excitement.

Alita watched guilty amusement as her mother dropped her bags onto the floor and began hurriedly attempting to separate herself from the mangy herd. Her hands flew to her waist, her fingers fumbling along each metal hook until each dog was freed.

The moment her mother had released the last dog from its hold, Alita dropped into a squat with her arms outstretched, an idiotic grin placed on her lips. She managed to make eye contact with her mother, who shook her head disparagingly at her extremely unhelpful daughter.

"Hi, babies!"

Alita let out a surprised squeak as the first dog, Pip, bounded onto her shoulders, knocking her onto her behind with an ungraceful thud. It was only a matter of time before the entourage followed, and Alita was covered head to toe in slobbery, wagging masses of pure energy.

"Alright, alright, let me up you maniacs," She managed to get out breathily, placing her hand to her side as she found her opening to stand without another full-blown attack.

A light, mocking laugh came from behind the kitchen counter, and Alita shot her mother an unamused glare as she brushed the mounds of dog fur from her joggers.

"Ha, ha."

Eabha smiled softly, pulling a bundle of celery the size of a football from one of the bags, which she'd set on the countertop. As Alita rounded the counter, a disgruntled expression still upon her features, her mother leaned to the side to press a chaste kiss to her daughter's temple.

"Morning, dove."

"Morning, mum."

Reaching upwards, Alita pulled a large box of Cocoa Pops down from the cabinet before sparing a glance back to her mother.

"We've been productive this morning." Once she'd plopped down with a bowl and spoon in hand, Alita began haphazardly pouring her bowl of cereal.

"Tell me about it."

"Whatcha been up to?"

"What haven't I been up to? Your dad woke me at six before his run and reminded me that we needed to make a grocery run before the clown car arrived - at the last minute, as per usual." Eabha gave a subtle roll of her eyes.

A small smile formed on Alita's lips in reaction to both the untimely acts of her father and the mention of the anticipated arrival of her four older sisters for the summer months. Her very eldest sister, Amy, had graduated from Hogwarts six years prior and had certainly made a name for herself, working as a curse breaker for Gringott's - and she made sure to mention it every visit.

         However, due to the demand of her work at the present time, she'd owled only two weeks prior, alerting that she'd only be able to stay for about a week before running off to work again (when duty calls!). Alita's second eldest sister, Aurelia, had graduated from Hogwarts three years prior and was currently working with Newt Scamander in Lithuania, studying some kind of fantastical beast that Alita could never recall the name of.

         Her third eldest sisters, Anise and Angel (oh, for the love of god call her Angie), twins, had graduated from Hogwarts a mere year prior and had taken after their father, set to take over his Diagon Alley located bakery when he moved his business to Hogsmeade this year.

"And, you know me, I can't sleep after I've woken," Alita's mother continued, "so I made my smoothie and cold brew and did my yoga disc with Turtle — she gave up five minutes in, mind you — and then she began whining for her breakfast two hours before her breakfast time — which of course woke the other dogs, and by that point, I figured it was light enough to do my grocery run. So I thought, why not take the dogs on their daily walk, get it out of the way?"

Alita tried to stomach the snort begging to leave her nostrils at the last few words of her mother's statement, but was unsuccessful, and snorted straight into her half-eaten bowl of cereal. She actively avoided Eabha's sharp gaze as she hovered awkwardly over her bowl, unwilling to eat anymore so as to continue to avoid the eyes of her mother.

"If there's anything you take from life, Alita, take the fact that taking six dogs into the grocery market is not the way to go if you've got someplace to be," Eabha said finally, stuffing the final grocery bag into the trash bin beneath the counter.

Alita pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep the backtalking statement inside her mouth, and straightened, dropping her spoon into her bowl with a soft clatter. "You know, mum, I think I'd figured that one out for myself—" Eabha glared at her. "But noted, duly noted."

"When are the others arriving?" Alita asked after a moment, her eyebrows furrowing as she propped her chin onto her palm.

"Should be within the next hour, but knowing your eldest sister, it'll be within the next three—" Eabha began.

No sooner had Eabha gotten the words out did a loud clamor echo from the front foyer and had Alita scampering from her stool to catch a glimpse of the sight. The family's six dogs had beat her to it, though, and were already running full charge at the new additions in the Byrnes household.

"Do you usually walk like a turtle?"

"The doorway is small!"

"Ah, damn, why'd I even ask—"

"Is any one of you going to grab that door?"

"Yes, your royal highness."

"Are you ever not a smartass?"

"Why don't you let me think on that one—"

"Does it hurt?"

"Little shit."

Alita grinned as she gained a better view of the situation, and recognized the voice of Angie.

"D'you think anyone's awake yet?" Amy questioned, completely oblivious to the two figures of her younger sister and mother standing off to the side of the kitchen.

"They sure as hell are now, what with you two bickering." Anise chastized, her eyes narrowing as she readjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, blame it on the two of us when Rels walked in with that ruddy ridiculous, noisy thing around her neck—"

"It keeps away nargles!" Aurelia insisted loudly at Angie, her voice jumping at least three octaves.

"Ah, hi puppies!"

It seemed that Alita's sisters had suddenly taken notice of the clamoring, wagging dogs hopping onto their legs, as all four of them simultaneously bent to the dogs' level to return their affections.

"You sound like an idiot—" Angie snapped sarcastically at Amy upon her sister's previous statement, but immediately turned to face Juliet, their springer spaniel. "She's an idiot! Yes, she is!"

Alita and Eabha glanced between one another, clearly unsure of what to do, but it seemed the unasked question had already been answered for them, as Amy's eyes turned onto her two stalking family members, and her face lit up.

"Hi, mum!" Amy greeted, taking large strides to meet her mother on the other side of the foyer.

"Hi, girls!" Eabha returned, sparing her other three eldest daughters a wide grin before she was nearly tackled in a hug.

Alita tightened her lips awkwardly, swinging her arms gently, unsure of what to do but stand there.

"How's Gringott's?" Eabha asked once Amy had finally released her mother.

"Falling to shambles, near collapse, days from bankruptcy—" Alita began snarkily but was cut off by a flick to the forehead by her eldest sister.

"It's great, mum, thanks." Amy interrupted irritably, narrowing her eyes at her younger sister.

"Damn, that's a letdown." Alita sighed dramatically, pursing her lips.

"Piss off—" Amy went to flick Alita again, but Alita dodged her assault and simply tutted.

"It's so nice to see you too, Amy."

Amy gave a great roll of her eyes before launching back into what Alita knew to be a really interesting conversation with their mother.

"Lita!"

Alita's eyes snapped to the source of the voice, and an almighty grin broke across her face. She was hardly able to make it two steps before she was brought into a bone-crushing embrace by Anise.

"Sissy," Alita said happily into her sister's shoulder, her arms tightening around Anise's body.

When her sister finally released her, Alita's grin still hadn't worn from her lips.

"How's your summer been?" Anise asked, her eyes lit with excitement.

Alita chuckled. "Just splendid — cleaned my room, walked the dogs, ate cereal, walked the dogs again—"

"Oi, get a room!"

An almighty force broke through the barrier of Anise and Alita's arms, throwing the two sisters backward into the respective walls. Anise scoffed, her eyes pinpointed onto the retreating figure of her twin.

"Oh, how I've missed you, Angie," Alita said, sickly sweet, her arms crossing over her chest as she gravitated closer to the kitchen.

"Likewise, litter box." Angie retorted without so much as a backward glance and marched right up to the refrigerator before she'd slung the doors open with little to no grace.

"I'm starved — there any marmite and toast up in this joint?" Angie snapped, with little trace of her remark being a question, as it sounded more like a battle cry.

Only then did Eabha speak up, slipping past Amy to shut the refrigerator doors in her daughter's face. Angie made a face at her mother, but upon seeing the gravity of Eabha's expression, her sarcastic expression turned more into that of a pout.

"You come in my house after three months and you want toast and marmite?" Eabha chastized, her eyebrows flying upwards. " Absolutely not, child."

It seemed that Aurelia Byrnes had finally decided to clock into the conversation, as she stood from where she'd been previously squatted on the floor with the remaining dogs. Alita's eye caught the long, jingling necklace that hung from her sister's neck, which seemed to be comprised of an assortment of seashells.

"My zodiac told me we would be late, but Amy didn't listen," Aurelia scowled, her face tightening as she spared a glance towards her elder sister.

One would have thought that the Byrnes' sister had suggested something outright outrageous, as all three of her traveling mates let out loud, exaggerated groans. Alita suppressed a laugh.

"Your zodiac my arse, we're only late because Sissy couldn't be bothered to set her fucking alarm—" Angie started, but was interrupted by her mother, who already seemed exhausted by the pure amount of chaos in one room.

"Can't we wait until noon to start with the swearing—?"

"Have you met her?" Alita asked, her eyes flitting towards her mother knowingly.

"Why thank you, my dear Alita—" Angie began, but was cut off by a new voice entering the conversation as a tall figure approached the group from the staircase.

"Y'know, I was counting on you all to be arriving late so I could get some fucking sleep."

August Byrnes was stood with arms crossed over his chest, still in his pyjamas, his hair askew from sleep, and looked far less than impressed. Alita suppressed a laugh at the state in which her younger brother was in. August was two years beneath Alita at Hogwarts and was certainly not the biggest fan of being the only boy out of eight children.

Angie let out a cackle at her baby brother's appearance and stepped forward just for the sake of ruffling his hair up even more. August smacked her hand away.

"Oh, how wonderful to see you too, darling baby brother," Angie said, a shit-eating grin plastered onto her lips. August shook his head.

"Can't say the same, Ange, just to be honest with you."

"Looks like your sarcastic influence reaches halfway 'cross the country, Angie," Anise pointed out, dropping her shoulder bag onto the couch beside her.

"Couldn't be prouder if I tried."

"I don't particularly think that's something to be proud of—" Aurelia began, but the rest of her statement was left unheard as the group dispersed into the kitchen.

Alita nestled back into her previous seat upon the kitchen stool beside the countertop and pushed her uncleared breakfast dishes away from the edge so as to make space for her siblings to sit and chat. She turned when she felt someone brush against her arm, and a gentle smile spread across her face.

"Morning, Augs." She greeted as the Byrnes boy took his seat beside his older sister, his expression still grumpy from being woken unceremoniously. He merely grunted in reply.

"You're my favorite older sister, just so you know." He muttered under his breath, but clearly not quietly enough, as Angie's eyes went wide and she slapped a fierce hand to the opposite side of her chest where her heart should be.

"I am wounded!" I am hurt! Someone find me a stretcher!" She cried dramatically, leaning against the kitchen counter for feigned support.

"Don't have to tell me twice, bud," Alita whispered back, a smirk playing on her mouth as she watched her older sister's dramatic display.

"—does anyone have some tonic for my shattered soul?"

Anise gave a great roll of her eyes and leaned over the back of the couch for a pillow. "Oh, do shut up!" The pillow thrown by her twin nearly made contact, but Angie ducked to miss it within mere seconds.

"Hey! Violence is never the answer, Sissy."

Eabha, who had since picked up Alita's cup of coffee and had been mindlessly sipping on it in an attempt to calm her already frizzled mind, sputtered and spit the sip she'd just taken back into the mug upon Angie's words.

"Bold of you," Amy said, her eyebrows raising.

Eabha set the mug back onto the countertop before deciding to turn to Amy, a clear attempt to ignore Angie's evil cackles coming from the living room.

"How was the trip?" She asked.

"Not bad, if you don't count Angie's snoring." Amy started, immediately taking a dig at her younger sister's infamous medical condition.

"Hey!" Angie called, pointing a finger in warning at her older sister.

"You sound like an alligator!" Anise joined, the grin on her face growing wider by the second.

"Amy."

"It was just fine, mum—smooth sailing the whole way through."

"Amy refused to buy us Hammie Dodgers at the service station, though—"

"You're a grown adult! With money!" Amy cried at Angie, very obviously on her last straw at only ten in the morning.

"I don't think Angie and adult belong in the same sentence." Alita tutted, looking toward Angie with a feigned wince as she watched her older sister grow more enlivened by the second.

"What is this, insulting Angie hour? If you'd like to make another appointment, please see the receptionist named Anxiety on the way out—"

"Christ, I've missed having you all in the same room, haven't I?" Eabha chuckled.

Within the hour, Alita's remaining younger siblings, Arbor and Aadhya, had reluctantly joined the group from their upstairs confines, finalizing the sibling count at last. Arbor was August's twin sister, and yet they couldn't have been more different. Much like the dynamic between Anise and Angie, Arbor was the much calmer twin, the eye in the hurricane, the warm hug on a rainy day like Anise was, while August was the chaos, the bright red fury on the quidditch pitch with the mouth of a sailor - though, August was a much milder version of Angie.

Alita noted that Aadhya was purposefully ignoring her presence as her youngest sister sat on the other side of her without a single word.

"Have we got any food, then? I'm famished."

Alita snapped out of her daze, turning her head to face Angie, who was stood defiantly by the doors of the refrigerator. Her face was twisted expectantly, her hands on her hips as she irritably cocked an eyebrow.

"So you've said," Aurelia commented, calmly flipping through her copy of a magazine Alita had never heard of called The Quibbler. Aurelia claimed it was to be the next biggest thing since the Firebolt broom.

"Hey! When a girl's hungry, a girl's hungry, and Mum won't let this girl get some damn marmite and toast!" Angie insisted, throwing a dirty glare towards her mother, who simply shook her head.

"Well, I was waiting on your father to get back so we could start on brunch—" Eabha started, and Alita knew immediately that if that were the case, Angie would be famished for quite a while.

Alita loved her dad dearly, she really did, he just was not the most time manageable person. It was an unspoken rule in the Byrnes household - if you want something done on time, don't ask dad (unless, of course, you'd asked him to bake his infamous banana bread).

Angie groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead as she sat on the nearest stool.

"We'll be waiting for a while, then," Anise spoke up, chuckling lowly as she fixed her second mug of tea for the morning.

"Do you need to be sent to your room?"

"I can make better scones than you, bite me."

"Fucking word," Alita agreed, pointing blindly in the direction of Anise as she allowed her other hand to curl in the fur of Tallulah, who had jumped into her lap a second before. Tallulah let out a thankful purr as Alita continued to stroke her.

"Traitor," Angie growled, slumping in her seat as she pulled her foot up to adjust the laces of her trusty combat boot.

"Is that Crockett?"

As Alita gazed out the window upon her sister's inquiry, her eyes landed on a faint, flapping dot upon the horizon that she immediately recognized to be the family's old tawny owl. Alita grimaced immediately, and the thought crossed her mind to open the window for him, as Crockett wasn't the brightest of animals, and had on more than one occasion found himself in the situation of flying headfirst into the glass.

"God, I hate that ruddy bird," Angie groaned, standing from her stool to get a better look at the bird.

"Hey! Be nice, he's old," Alita spoke with a look of warning towards her sister, placing Tallulah, who let out an unhappy yowl, on the countertop as she rose slowly from her stool to open the large window.

"Don't you know it."

Alita unlocked the hinge and pushed the window to the top of the sill, pushing an arm to the side of her to keep Tallulah from shooting out the window like the manic escape artist the cat was.

The sound of a large object being thrown against the side of the house was the family's cue to Crockett's arrival, as, despite Alita's best efforts to aid him in his landing, the bird had missed by a mile and had flown headlong into the exterior of the house beside the open window. Alita silenced Angie and August's mocking snickering with a harsh glare thrown over her shoulder, before reaching her arm out the window with expectancy.

After much deliberation, Crockett flipped himself right-side-up and stuck out his leg, to which a large, vanilla envelope was attached.

"Thanks, Crock." Alita greeted after releasing the envelope from its keep, and Crockett all but collapsed on the spot from pure exhaustion.

Alita was one of the very few family members to take pity on the poor animal, as everyone else usually entertained sitting back and laughing at him.

"Oi! Have a grape," Alita called, grabbing a grape from the platter atop the counter and tossing it down to the ground for the animal's respite.

After closing the window back, Alita turned with envelope in hand, but the moment her eyes landed on the addressee, her eyes went wide and her mind flashed to the fact that all seven of her siblings were staring her down.

"Who's that for?" Eabha asked, drying her hands on a towel near the sink.

After glancing at the name once more, Alita decidedly hid the envelope behind her back in a nonchalant manner, knowing the turmoil that would come from the knowledge of the sender. "Er—me. But I can open it later."

But it seemed her efforts had been made far too late, as Angie had stooped over the counter at the last moment with her eyes determined to hunt.

"Who's Nate?"

"Jesus Christ." Alita screwed her eyes shut, letting out a regretful sigh as her fingers tightened on the envelope still held behind her back.

"Ooooh!"

"Guys, he's my friend—" She began, but the enthusiasm of her sisters was something she knew would be a losing battle.

"Your male friend—"

"You're an idiot."

"Who's Nate?"

"Nate Squire. He's my friend from Hogwarts — we've been friends since second year? Seriously, it doesn't ring a bell?" Alita raised her eyebrows in surprise, her eyes flitting across her family members, with only her younger siblings and Eabha nodding.

"Nope."

"Nada."

"Nothing."

With a quick, exasperated sigh, Alita shook her head.

"Look, I'm just going to go and put it away—" She started, but Anise's eyes went wide, her posture straightening.

"Oh, no you have to open it now—"

But before the torturous attack upon Alita's personal life could continue, the sound of the back door swinging open, followed by a joyous shout of greeting, announced the arrival of yet another presence.

"Morning, Byrnes!"

Oisin Byrnes wore an exhilarated grin, stretching from ear to ear, as he closed the back door behind him, and stepped out into the center of the room. Alita noted the state of his dampened clothes and came to the realization that he'd been out running since he'd awoken her mother at six o'clock that morning. The very thought sent a distasteful shudder down her spine.

"Morning, dad!" The cacophony of returned greeting by all the Byrnes siblings collided in the air.

Oisin made his way through the group, giving each of his children a kiss on the cheek, his grin never wavering. Alita jokingly dodged his attempt at affection due to his sweating state, and judging by the distasted glare he leveled to her, she gathered that he was less than impressed.

"Morning, morning—"

Her dad stopped beside her mum and gave her a sly smile. Eabha's eyes widened in return as she seemed to realize his motives, and she instantly put an arm's distance between herself and her husband.

"No, don't you dare—" She started, but Oisin grabbed her arm and pulled her playfully against his sweaty torso with a greatly amused laugh.

The entire family watched with no intent to help their mother, chuckling along at their dad's antics as his wife let out soft shrieks of both shock and disgust and held her arms as close to her own body as she could as if she thought it would minimize contact.

When her husband finally released her, Eabha shot across the kitchen floor, hovering near the sink as she leveled a disbelieving glare on the man standing opposite her.

Her eyebrows arched, and she silently mouthed something looking terribly similar to the word arsehole. Oisin chuckled.

"Why don't you go on and shower so we can get brunch started, dad?" Alita asked, breaking the playfully tense atmosphere with a small smile.

Her dad looked towards her, the look of amusement still on his features before he nodded.

"Cracking idea."

He took a step with the intention to leave the kitchen before he turned over his shoulder to give his wife one last playful look.

"I don't suppose you'd like to join me?"

"Oisin Byrnes."

***

"UNO!"

"Liar."

Alita scoffed, pulling the second card out from where she'd hidden it behind her other card, a look of raw disappointment on her features. Oisin leaned back against the couch cushion, looking very pleased with himself for having caught his daughter's foul.

"It was worth a try, wasn't it?" Alita asked, shrugging.

Her mother shot her a skeptical glance, leaning forward to place her elbows on her knees as she trifled through the deck of cards in her hands.

"Your father has the eye of a hawk and you still try a stunt like that?" She asked, a smile coming to her lips.

"Just making sure he's on top of his game."

At his daughter's words, Oisin's eyes narrowed, his eyebrows rising skyward.

"Oh, I'm on top of my game," He began with a slyness to his voice that had Alita freezing as she dropped her widening eyes to the back of his deck of cards. "So on top of my game that I'm reversing, reversing again, reversing again, and drawing four, and you lose! Uno!"

The moment her dad had slammed his final card onto the discard pile in the center of the coffee table, he jumped up, swinging his hands in celebration around his head in a small circular motion. Angie gave a great roll of her eyes, dropping her full hand of cards onto the table before slumping down into her seat.

"Dad, you only say Uno when you have one card left—" Alita began dejectedly, her spirits falling. Alita never lost at Uno.

"I won, I won."

Alita dropped into the back of the seat in which she sat, her smile growing wider. Crossing her arms, she shook her head in amusement as her dad continued his victory dance.

"And we wonder why Angie is such a bad sport," Amy commented, scooping all the decks into one pile on the table to prepare for shuffling.

Angie snorted. "Angie is sitting right here and can hear you, knobhead."

August placed a hand over his mouth to hide his grin.

Amy pushed the large, unsorted pile of cards to the center of the table, where she looked to Alita expectantly. With a raise of her brows, Alita asked the unasked question.

"Loser shuffles," Eabha answered, trying her best to keep her amused smile at bay so as to not push her daughter's fragile feelings too much farther.

Alita pressed her lips together at the realization — she'd never lost at Uno before, and somehow she'd managed to forget what it felt like when one didn't win.

"Thanks for the support, mum," Alita replied jokingly, pushing herself forward to gather the cards into an organized pile to shuffle them. Her eyes followed her dad as he finished up his celebratory jig and sat back onto his seat, a smug look still plastered on his features.

Alita smirked.

"Y'know, there's nothing to worry about, dad. There are people at Hogwarts who've called me the master of Uno, so my ego is hardly bruised," She announced casually, shrugging as she finished shuffling the cards and started to redistribute them.

The snort came from August this time, his eyes wide as he chuckled at his older sister.

"Look me in the eye and tell me Florence Russell actually called you the master of Uno."

Alita scowled.

"I didn't say Florence called me that," She replied defensively, placing a card onto the discard pile when it came to her turn.

August gave her a disbelieving look but said nothing more.

"Speaking of Florence, she and Nate still a thing?" Oisin mentioned offhandedly, his eyes focused on his cards as he searched for one to place down.

Alita caught the eye of Angie, who simply looked back at her younger sister knowingly smug, as if she knew her father had just begun a war.

Amy let out a strangled gasp, her eyes snapping to her father in disbelief.

"You know Nate?" She demanded, tilting her head towards her dad expectantly.

"Amy..." Anise whispered warningly failing to keep the word between herself and her older sister. Alita still noted that Anise wore the same amused smile as the rest of her family members.

Oisin's eyebrows drew together, his eyes still focused on his deck of cards.

"'Course. He's been Alita's bud for what — four, five years?" He asked, drawing his gaze questioningly to Alita. She simply nodded.

"What a great sister you are," Angie tutted, clicking her tongue in feigned disappointment at her older sister's failed memory.

"Oh, shove off, you didn't remember him either," Amy insisted defensively, her voice rising as she tried to cover her mistake.

"Doesn't mean I can't take the shit out of you for it."

"Alita got a letter from Nate today. Uno."

Alita's eyes immediately widened, and her gaze flew to catch sight of Aurelia, who in the most nonchalant manner, placed her card onto the discard pile and looked back up at her family members.

"Aurelia!"

"What?"

"You were being secretive about it—" Amy joined, gesturing towards Alita with her held deck of cards.

"Christ. Uno," Alita sighed, throwing her dirtiest look towards her two eldest sisters.

"You were!" Amy insisted before scowling at the fact that Arbor had laid down a draw four just before her turn.

"It was nothing! He just sent a postcard of him and Dria from their visit to Cornwall—" Alita began, but was cut off by an enthusiastic inquiry from Anise.

"Who's Dria?"

"For the sweet love of Merlin," Alita muttered, momentarily closing her eyes as she massaged her temple with her fingertips in the utmost distress.

"Nate's new girlfriend, Dria Lockaby. She's in our year at Hogwarts," She answered finally, shooting each of her sisters a deliberate, pointed look.

At the mention of the Lockaby girl, Alita's father perked up immediately.

"Wait, wait. Lockaby? Allan's kid?" He asked, his eyebrows risen to nearly his nonexistent hairline.

Alita furrowed her eyebrows. "How in the fuck would I know her dad's name?"

But even as Alita gave the most blatant response she could have thought up, her father's grin grew wider.

"Yeah, yeah, I think it is! What d'ya know. We met at yester-year way back when — when was it, early eighties?" He rambled, looking to his wife for an answer, to which she replied with wide eyes and a small shrug. "God, it's a small world."

"Sure, sure. Uno."

Snapping out of his joyous memory recollection at his daughter's words, Oisin's eyes narrowed on the singular card in Alita's hand. Alita snickered at his expression.

"Little sneak."

"Someone needs to go and grab dad an Advil, I think he might be ready to combust," Angie pointed out, cackling at her own words as soon as they left her mouth.

Oisin opened his mouth to retort to his older daughter's snarky response but was cut off by a victorious cry as it left Alita's lips.

"Uno! You lose, dad!" She cried, throwing her final card onto the top of the discard pile, a triumphant smile on her face.

"You only say that when you've got one card left—" Her father began dispiritedly, immediately regretting his words at the ending of their previous game.

"Loser."

author's note!
aahh hello & welcome to the
very first installment of black magic!
please let me know what you think
about it bc im fcking excited for this
one lads! shout out to -wildkats
-soulm8 and celineebabee for going
on this wild wild journey
with me — love u bitches <3