20 Brace Yourselves

After the New Year's Day, the cheery holiday festivities were soon over. The Laplaus and Layette families made the decision to stay permanently at the Laplaus Manor, using the their former homes for more... private matters.

During these times, Kate, along with Ellie, had spent most of her time teaching Corrin the basics of magic. If they couldn't get him to part with the wand for even a moment, they should at the very least teach him how to use it properly, so he doesn't hurt himself with it. Although they weren't teaching him anything fancy yet, they were still astounded by the natural talent he showed, similar to when they first saw him ride a broom.

After Corrin had been learning for a while from his mothers, he eventually stumbled across a book about dueling. He was awed by the control and confidence of those in the duels, their quick witted thinking similar to the split second decisions in Quidditch. The next day he excitedly asked a multitude of questions about dueling, also wanting them to teach him how to duel.

Grandma Lorraine happily taught Evelyne in the ways of Herbology and Potions. Lorraine's best subject at Hogwarts was Potions, and she found Potions to be the closest thing to cooking as it could possibly get. Sure, recipes are nice, but following them usually results in something boring that anyone else can replicate. Lorraine believed that one needed a certain fire to truly stand out as a Potions master, and she believed Evelyne had that fire.

Her own grandson, on the other hand, was below average in this subject, to put it lightly. To be perfectly honest, he was horrible. Evelyne seemed to enjoy learning more and more about everything and anything, with her main interest in Potions and Herbology, while Corrin exclusively put his mind to Quidditch and wand work.

This statement is partially unfair as Corrin did like learning new things, but he just didn't like messing up horrendously when he tried them out. For example... never mind. Let's just say that Corrin was banned from touching the more expensive materials and ingredients.

Arthur and Eli were busy with work during the day, and came home looking exhausted at night. Well, that part was mostly Arthur.

Eli's store was doing very well, having just closed some deals with major clients. He was thinking of opening up a new branch in a mew location, but that was still in the works.

Arthur, on the other hand, had been investigating a serial kidnapper active across England. He had next to no leads, unable to pick out any patterns or correlation between the various victims, other than the fact that they were all children under the age of eleven.

On a different note, the whole family would often go out for a picnic joined by the Carmins. Their children were always amazed at the progress Corrin and Evelyne would make in between the times they met, always learning something new or practicing something old to near perfection. They all knew that the moment those two stepped on Hogwart's grounds, history would be made.

Soon enough, the new term at Hogwarts started, and the Carmin children waved goodbye to the collection of people still remaining on the platform. Mr. Carmin had tears in his eyes watching his precious children leave his side once again. What a softie. No one would ever tell him that to his face though, lest they incur the wrath of the gods. Mainly him.

After a while, Corrin and Evelyne hit a bump in the road. Both thought the other side was paying too much attention to what they were doing and not enough to them. Usually they would just steamroll the issue and be back to normal, but this time was different for some reason. In response to this, they fed directly into their misconceptions and began to withdraw more and more into what they were doing and away from each other.

Although it broke the hearts of the adults to watch them fight, they understood that this was an important part of growing up. Corrin and Evelyne needed to learn how to talk things out and deal with situations accordingly. That's not to say they wouldn't try to lend a hand and try to guide them in the right direction.

This was less effective than expected as the they didn't really understand what was wrong in between them. And whenever they tried to ask about it, Corrin and Evelyne would act like turtles and withdraw into their shells. It had even gotten to the point where they slept on the opposite ends of the bed, leaving poor Femi in the middle, not wanting to choose one over the other.

The mood in the manor was absolutely dreadful every day, with much less energy radiating around. The once lively and vibrant place now seemed dull and gray. No one was happy, with the solution so close yet so far away at the same time.

Even though it hurt their parents and grandparent, Corrin and Evelyne's alienation hurt themselves even more. In the dead of night, one could almost hear their soft cries and sniffles from outside their door. Evelyne had long forgot what the origin of this rift was, but her heart was filled with sorrow, slowly turning to anger.

Corrin, on the other hand, just felt empty, like a huge part of him was missing. He didn't feel the same joys doing the things he loved, the satisfaction of eating tasty food, or the warmth from his parents' hugs. He was just going through the motions every day, a soulless look in his eyes.

During a particularly dreary morning at breakfast, Eli had a suggestion.

"Why don't we take the kids in to Diagon Alley today for a change of scenery. You three can shop around for a bit while I take care of them in the shop," Eli said while looking to the others.

"Oi! What about me?" Arthur asked, feeling left out.

"Honey... you have work too," Kate responded with a small laugh.

The two couples and an elderly woman cracked a smile for the first time in what seemed like ages. And so it was decided that they would take a trip back to Diagon Alley that day. They made some quick preparations and were off.

When they arrived, they said their goodbyes and separated to do their own things. Eli held both Corrin and Evelyne's hands as he walked them over to his shop. There was an depressing aura around, so he had one of his staff take Corrin and told her to take care of him for a bit.

In the afternoon, Eli grew tired of watching his child stare blankly at the same page, so he decided to confront her.

"Evie, have you tried talking to Corrin to work things out?" Eli asked.

Evelyne looked up with a slightly puzzled expression on her face. Her mind was racing at a million kilometers and hour trying to remember if she had tried talking to Corrin about him not talking to her. She finally came to a conclusion and responded.

"No."

"Well... wouldn't it be better for you to ask him what's going on and him telling you than just ignoring him back? Maybe he feels the same way you do," Eli proposed.

Evelyne put her finger on her chin, pondering the processes that her father had recommended. Finally agreeing to his logic, she nodded her head and got up, walking over to the door to the back, ready to talk things out with the one she loved the most.