In Simpler Times (November Dark future 2028)

Kiara stood in the small kitchen of her quarters making some snacks and drinks for the current company coming over, Demyan would be coming over to play games and watch movies with Rossa, once her little girl woke up anyway. Rossa had had a hard night, had trouble falling asleep with out her Dad or her by her side and waking up quite upset every few hours due to nightmares. It had gotten so bad the finally had to give her dreamless sleep potion the let some get some peacefull rest. Her other children were out doing there own thing for now, as was Ciaran, so it was just her and Rossa, and of course her cat Lav.

She sighed while thinking, wondering who it would be that accompanies Demyan over, she hoped it was Sevastyan, but she held out little hope for that, concidering the tention between the father and son she wasn't sure on that as of late. She assumed it would be Sveta, or Ethan she thought.

She looked the window at the frozen grounds of hogwarts no snow yet, but the frost, and chilling wind made it almost unbearable outside with out bundleing up like a eskimo. "I certianly hope thay don't want to got out and play." she muttered gazing out the window.

Her Cat meowed in agreement it seemed hoping up on the window sill as well.

Stefan made his way up to Headmistress Kiara’s quarters with one child attached to his hip and neck, and another at the hand. Said children were his two-year-old daughter, Lydia, held safe in her daddy’s arm and Demyan Kaminski. Slung about Stefan’s shoulders was a bag with various supplies and items from Viper Manor, Althaus Manor, and the shared Viper-Kaminski quarters. Not that there wouldn’t be enough to do at Kiara’s but rather just as a precautionary measure. Stefan did not want to have to make any secondary trips if they weren’t necessary. Especially after the little spat he’d had with his wife. Said disagreement was why he had Lydia for the day: a punishment of sorts and a kind of insurance to make sure he stayed on his best behavior.

Much to Stefan’s terror, Lydia just had to bring along her favorite clown doll. Clowns and the wizard did not mix well at all. For his own daughter to have fallen in love with such a toy to the point of starting to collect them... Stefan cast illusion spells on himself so that the plethora of clowns resembled something else on nights where Lydia begged for him to cuddle with her.

“Lydia, keep that thing away from me!” he hissed as the doll was squished between its owner and him.

“Snarky’s scared of heights!” the little girl whined.

Demyan ignored most of the conversation between his “uncle” and the tiny little girl about Lynn’s age. He had more important things on his mind. Firstly, he was on his way to visit Rossa instead of the usual other way around. The change of location would be just as refreshing as his impending company was pretty, though he wouldn’t exactly admit that aloud. What’s more, “Uncle” Stefan was bringing him instead of his father. That was a rare treat, even if Demyan had to throw a miniature tantrum to get Stefan to agree. There was just no way Demyan was going to speak to his father for a while after their fight this morning...

“You’re going to have to knock on the door, Demy. My hands are a bit full,” Stefan muttered. If nothing else this visit was going to be interesting for him, too: both Ciaran and Kiara had chased the wizard in his law-breaking heyday, albeit to catch him on different charges.

Not able to reach the doorknocker, Demyan made a fist and rapped on the approximate center of the door three times.

Kiara had just finished setting things up and signing last minute paper work for the school board that came in when she heard the knock on the door.

"Merlin would you let them in please?" she asked her portrait guardian.

The old protrait nodded and went his front door post. He recognised the face's of the those seeking enterance thought he had a feeling the headmistress was expecting a certian face to appeare. With a dumbledore like twinkle in his painted eyes Merlin granted them enterance.

"Enterance to the Headmistress's quarters Approved" he said and swung opened winking at Demyan.. a child who just about grew up in the school it seemed.

Kiara arched an eye for a moment at merlin's statment, "Being over dramatic again merlin?.." she questioned though suddenly haulted as she saw who was at the door. Demyan she had expected, But Stefan? The forever pain in her side, Why had he come?

She sighed an bit her tongue, not about to snap or fight with the man in front of children, Plus the little girl in Stafen's arms for some reason made him look a little less annoying.

"Demyan, come on in here I can help with your coat" she greeted as she face Stefan.

"... Stefan I wasn't expecting you to come" she stated though her face did soften as she looked at Lydia in his arms.

Stefan gave the portrait a quirk of an eyebrow. “You sure about that, now?” he asked. “I distinctly recall being zapped from the doorway my first time here...” Despite the unpleasant experience of the past the wizard couldn’t help but smirk at the memory as he walked in.

“Danke, Merlin,” Demyan replied with a hint of a smile to the portrait. Lydia merely giggled and waved at the painting as Stefan toted her across the threshold.

At Kiara’s beckoning, Stefan released his grip on the young boy’s hand. Despite the hand being gloved Stefan wiped it on his robes as though it had become sweaty. Considering both man and boy had been wearing gloves the chances of sweaty hands was indeed highly likely. At the look from the Headmistress, the wizard could tell he wasn’t the anticipated adult to have accompanied Demyan. Stefan expected as much as the kid wasn’t his. However, the wizard never was one for much in the way of explanations immediate or otherwise.

Demyan was wearing his heavy winter coat, a pair of warm mittens, and a knitted hat in the traditional Russian ushanka style, complete with ear flaps. The ushanka had been made by his grandmother and was the only thing Russian on him aside from half of his genes. “Danke,” the boy replied at the offer of assistance in German as opposed to his usual Russian. The youngster was having quite a time trying to untie the fasteners around the wrists of his mittens, which of course made the rest of his outerwear difficult to remove. “How have you been, Kiara? Did you have a good Halloveen?” Demyan asked, genuinely curious about both. Everything seemed so dark lately – like the sun would never come out again. The young wizard noticed this darkness was not just the black cloud over his own family, but other families that lived and taught in Hogwarts as well.


Meanwhile...

“Down you go for a second...” Stefan muttered to Lydia and stooped to place the child on the floor.

“Snarky says not fast! You scared him!” Lydia cried, just about shoving the doll into her father’s face. Stefan nearly dropped her when she was about two feet from the carpet.

Stefan glared at Kiara not because he was angry at her but rather so he wouldn’t come directly face-to-face with the doll. How he wished he could handle this situation as he wanted. That would require him being alone with his daughter so word would not get back to Irene about his temper. A heavy sigh escaped through the protrusion he called a nose as he gave the legs of the doll a tug. The doll came free from Lydia’s grasp, and Stefan tossed it face-down onto an armchair. “What did I say about shoving things in my face?” he hissed in almost a quiet snarl, still bent to Lydia-size height.

Lydia flushed scarlet for a moment when the toy was rudely pulled out of her grasp and then tossed unceremoniously. However, in the next second, the little girl went as white as a sheet in response to the deadly tone from her father. “Sorry, Daddy...” the girl murmured, then stood on her tiptoes to give the wizard a kiss on the cheek.

Stefan blinked at the sudden affection, slightly confused. “Just like your mother,” he muttered and assisted the child with her heavy winter cloak. Once it was off Stefan gave the little girl a quick kiss on the forehead. “I’m not touching that again. Daddy doesn’t like clowns – you grab it,” he said, pointing to the doll. Knowing Lydia would grab up “Snarky” in a heartbeat Stefan turned away and busied himself with hanging up his and Lydia’s cloaks.

Sure enough: Lydia scooped up the clown doll and hugged it tight. She smiled pleasantly at Kiara but shyly stood close to her father, tugging on a part of his robes in request to be carried some more. Stefan denied the request in favor of giving Lydia a few gentle nudges toward the Headmistress. “No, Daddy! Up!” she murmured shyly. After about the third time the wizard sighed and gave in, hoisting his daughter back into his arms with a grunt.

"... Stefan I wasn't expecting you to come"

“Ja, well... Trust me: better me than someone else at the moment... I wasn’t expecting quite a few things today, to be honest,” Stefan replied evasively, though glanced rather pointedly at Demyan.

Lydia buried her face into her father’s neck but still peeked out at Kiara with a little smile on her face. Stefan’s head turned slightly in the little girl’s direction. “Not sure if you’ve met my daughter or not, but this is Lydia...” he said. A few whispered words in German to the girl later and Lydia shook her head with a quiet giggle.

Only when the same words were whispered a bit more forcefully did a high-pitched feminine voice finally greet the Headmistress in Stefan’s native tongue: “Guten Tag, Direktorin.”

Merlin gave a small shake of his old head before going back to sleep, it was bound to be a interesting afternoon even he knew that much.

Kiara offered Demyan a smile, though wasn't sure what to think of the German Greeting. Her eyes flicked to Stefan for a moment the german who was around the Kaminski children alot more lately. She helped him take off the ties on his mittems and her smile widend a bit at his questions, though inwardly grimpsed at the truth at answer to the first one. but she wasn't about to way the boy down with her worries, he had more then he should deal wirh already..

"I am alright Demyan, I thank you for asking. As for Halloween.. Rossa has pictures to show you when she gets up. I promised her I'd let her tell you all about it" she said as she pulled his second and last mitten off and spelled them on to the wall on a low hook where he could get them later.

"How have you been Demyan?" she returned the question curious to know what he'd say. She knew he was having a hard time with hardship in the family.. After talking with Sevastyan she knew that. She was concerned about the only boy she thought of as her nephew.

Kiara passively observed Stefan and Lydia interact, it was interesting to say the least, Stefan was different around the little girl, which was something she didn't know Stefan would do.. Due to there past, Kiara was always a little subpisious about Stefan around young children with that harsh temper of his. Yet it seemed the little girl accepted that and seemed to know when to back down if Stefan got angry.. it would be interesting indeed.

“Ja, well... Trust me: better me than someone else at the moment... I wasn’t expecting quite a few things today, to be honest,”

Kiara blinked and sighed at the implied meaning, "I see.. Well.. you my as well take your coat off.. stay a while" she suppoed if Stefan was doing something nice for Demyan, he at least deserveed a chance. Plus his daughter was adorable. She smiled at Lydia and chuckled slightly at the German greeting.

"My German is a little rusty. but let me see.. Danke Lieb, Guten Tag" She greeted hoping she said that right.

Demyan sighed in relief once the mittens were off. He loved his babushka dearly, but tying the mittens to his wrists was just annoying. Unfortunately, several of the other adults liked that idea. The boy smiled at the answers he received, though a part of him had the feeling that things were not as ‘alright’ as they seemed. But Demyan wasn’t going to argue. With the darkness looming over his home life, he could use a bit of brightness. With his hands free, Demyan began to untie the strap under his chin securing the hat to his head and took it off, scratching at the form to which his hair had been molded into. “Is Rossa okay?” he asked curiously, a little surprised that his friend was asleep.

The boy’s eyes widened at the return question as to how he was doing. Demyan glanced down sheepishly. “I’m okay...” he shrugged, though the tone of his voice was subdued and a little secretive. An unspoken ‘could be better’ blatantly hung in the air. A small frown surfaced on the boy’s face as he appeared to recall something, but much like his father he tucked it away. “A little better now...” Demyan added, not quite sure how to express what he wanted to say. It was better now that he was away from his father and that much closer to seeing Rossa, and getting out of the chambers to see people he knew. However, the boy-wizard really wanted to see his mother.

At Kiara’s offer for him to stay a while and take his cloak off, Stefan nodded. Nonverbally and wandlessly, the wizard spelled the article of clothing off and onto a hook near Demyan’s belongings. He didn’t really feel that elaboration was necessary at the moment. Plus, with Demyan present, it was likely best to not say a certain name that began with ‘S’.

The corner of Stefan’s mouth did a little twitch at the returned German, even though the response was not meant for him.

Lydia’s smile burst into a grin at the returned German. “You speak good! I understand,” she returned cheerily, still in German. “I spreche English too...” she explained shyly.

Kiara paused for a second on his question on Rossa, before nodding not wanting to worry the boy. "Yes, she is fine, had a bit of a hard night lastnight, didn't get much sleep, Don't worry, I promised her I would wake her up, so she she will be down in a few minutes" she said with a smile. Though she still worried for Rossa, the nightly cycles of bad dream and saddness over Eglantines death torn at her heart.

She gave Demyan a understanding smile, he was much like his father in his mannerizims. She patted his shoulder for a moment "Good remember your welcome here anytime Demyan, make your self at home okay? I will go wake Rossa in a moment" she said before turning her attention to Lydia.

Kiara's living room was a fair size, big enough to house a family anyway, there were many pictures around the room, most were of her, Ciaran and her children, as well as the McKevins. But there was a section for the Kaminski's, she had one of Viper taken from one of the many hogwarts staff and Christmass parties, one of Sevastyan taken at the same, and one family photo taken at hogwarts taken shortly after the family arrived to hogwarts with a new born Demyan.

Kiara chuckled at the adorable child, "Very Good and Danke, My own mother spoke German Quite a bit. I had no choice but to pick up a few words" She told the child.

"Come Lieb I have juice and cookies if your Father allows?" she said turning to Stefan, seeking permission to soil his little girl only slightly. Kiara certainly had a weakness for toddlers.

"We have coffee as well if firut jucie is not your Forte?" she asked slightly teasing to Stefan leading them to the kitchenet which was just beside the living room. Stefan may not haven been her favorite person, but she could get along with him if he behaved himself..

“Oh,” Demyan nodded. He knew all too well about not getting much sleep these days. Lynn was the same way, and quite frankly so was he. But Demyan was not going to his father about it, no way! The boy grinned when Kiara said Rossa would be awake and downstairs in a few minutes. “Okay. Thank you,” he answered, leaning a little into the pat on the shoulder before wandering around the living room. Demyan nodded again, finding saying ‘thank you’ a second time a bit redundant, and strode off to the living room to wait.

Lydia giggled her happiness, rather liking the woman her father had taken her and Demyan to see. She nodded to show she understood. At the offer of juice and cookies, so long as her Papa allowed, Lydia turned to Stefan and set him with huge puppy eyes. Stefan glanced from Kiara to Lydia, and then from Lydia to the infernal doll she clung to. Stiffly he nodded with a bit of relief and set the child on her feet. Lydia immediately took the few steps to Kiara and wrapped her arms around the woman’s knees in a hug.

Stefan wrinkled his nose at the thought of him drinking fruit juice. “Ja... Not one for fruit juice...” he replied and followed Kiara to the kitchenette. “Black coffee is fine. The darker the better, actually.” The wizard wasn’t about to share that the mental ward at Saint Mungo’s often served ‘patients’ their meals with fruit juice. In fact, Stefan doubted the ward had even heard of bottled water or even just plain tap water for Merlin’s sake. He personally couldn’t see how Lydia – or anyone else – could tolerate the stuff.

Meanwhile Demyan glanced around the living room, taking keen interest in the photographs that hung there. A lot of them were naturally of Kiara and her family, as well as Professor McKevin and his family. Slowly a small smile formed upon the boy’s mouth. It went into a full-blown grin at the photographs in which he could spot Rossa right off the bat. However, once he caught sight of a pair of green eyes he hadn’t seen in so long, Demyan immediately took a step over to where photos of his family were kept. There were at least three: one of his mother, one of his father Demyan would rather not look at purely due to the current animosities, and one that was a family photo. It must have been taken when he was just born for the baby Viper held was swaddled in blue. His father was holding Lara up for the camera, pairs of gray and green orbs both full of mischief.

The boy held back his tears, gazing at his mother’s photograph. Why did his father make her run away from home? Why had he hurt her and made her cry? Demyan almost wished he could understand. Yet, on the other hand, maybe he’d rather not know. Grown-ups sometimes fought over the silliest things. For his mum to have left sad and bleeding from the eyes, and his father to let her... the prospect of learning what had caused them to seemingly hate each other terrified him. Demyan just wanted things to go back to normal. The child wondered where his mother was now and if she was okay. It was dangerous for them all, and his father had just let her go. Much like Stefan, Demyan insisted that Sevastyan shouldn't have let it happen and tried to have made things right instead of arguing at the top of his lungs with the witch.

“I hope you’re okay...” Demyan murmured to the photograph of Amaranth Viper, lost in thought as he stared at the picture.

Kiara chuckled down at Lydia, she certainly was adorable..how she could be Stefans child she had no idea. She held out a hand for the little girl to lead them to the kitchen before waking her daughter up.

She had to let out a short chuckle at Stefans words about firut juice, finding the idea of him liking the stuff as silly as him volunteerily hugging a clown.. never happen in this world. "Coffee it is" she nodded waving her hand and coffee and tea cup appeared and be filled with there respective drinks.

She filled Lydia's cup by hand, it smaller and plastic, and used to be Rossa's cup when she was little. She filled it with strawbarry kiwi juice and handed Lydia, along with two cookies suitable for toddlers. "Enjoy Sweetie" she said setting the little girl up at the table.

"Now I have to wake up Rossa, I will be back in a moment." she said excusing her self from the kitchen. As she walked to the bedrooms she passed by Demyan who was in the living room looking at a certain set of pictures looking rather heart broken. She doubted he would apprecaite being told his father held a smiliar look.

"Hang in there Demyan, the sun will come out again one day" she said at the door way before going off down the hall to Rossa's bedroom.