September 6, 1988, early morning
It was 5 a.m. and the Owens household was in a semi-quiet chaos. Kippy, who was wearing a cute little kitty robe that Maisie had given her, was trying to get lunch ready, without making too much, which was futile in her need to make sure the little Masters were taken care of when she wasn't with them. This would be the first time since she got here that they would not be sitting at the table for lunch and she wanted to make sure they didn't go hungry. She was making some peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, tuna, and turkey with Swiss sandwiches. There was also fruit, chips and cookies, along with thermoses of herbal tea, juice and milk. She made sure to add some cupcakes and chips for an afternoon snack. She just hoped it was enough.
Gilly, who was still dressed in her night clothes, consisting of a long tee-shirt, a pair of shorts and baby-doll robe, was yelling at the boys to hurry up. The aunts, who were dressed for the day in their normal floor length, long sleeved dresses, were the only ones sitting calmly, drinking their coffee. Kippy was so worried over the boys' lunches that she forgot to make breakfast, but that was okay, because Jet just got them some cold cereal and made coffee. It wasn't like they had never made breakfast before. The only reason she opted for cold cereal was because she didn't want to get in Kippy's way.
The two aunts watched in amusement while Kippy flitted about the kitchen, making sandwiches and adding more and more food to the lunch bags. "The poor dear," Jet said as she sipped her coffee.
"What?" asked Gilly with a bit of agitation in her voice. She hadn't been paying attention to the house elf.
"It's Kippy, dear, she is making enough food to feed the entire Owens line," Jet answered as she poured more coffee into her cup.
"Oh, well, that's nice," the red-blonde stated distractedly, her eyes glued to the doorway.
"Why don't you call them down, dear? The bus will be coming soon," Jet said, tapping her niece on the shoulder.
Gilly started and then blushed. She was just so worried about the boys' first day. "Alright," she agreed and got up from the table and when to the entrance area. "BOYS! Get up!" she shouted as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. She heard two thumps and then. "Don't make me come up there," was her empty threat. The worst she would do was send a tickling charm on them.
"I'M UP!" they shouted back. Then you could hear them moving around.
Gilly sighed and went back to the kitchen and poured herself some cereal. She then looked at the house elf and her eyes bulged at the amount of food on the counters. She broke out in fits of giggles, relieving a lot of that tension.
Ten minutes later Harry and Neville were still in their own rooms, both sporting boxers and were each sleepily trying to decide what to wear for the fifteenth time that morning. They had stayed up late last night, too excited to sleep. Harry had snuck into Neville's room and they talked until the wee hours of the morning. They had not been in a school environment since pre-school, and none of those kids had been like them. So this was a completely new experience for them. All their school mates would be magical and they were looking forward to it. They just hoped that they weren't looked down on for doing things different.
At last, Harry settled for a nice pair of dark brown casual dress pants, an emerald green button up shirt, black biker boots and a black baseball cap with a white Nike logo. He was thinking about getting a fedora, to make him look all cool and stuff. Now that he had eye contacts, instead of glasses, he felt he might be able to pull it off.
He had received special permission to wear the cap, since Principal Williams knew who he was. It was given with the consensus that the hats never had any phrases on them. Symbols were fine as long as they weren't offensive. All the teachers would be informed that he could wear it, but not the real reason why. To everyone at the school, besides the principal, he was Harry Owens. The other teachers were told he had a curse scar that was sensitive to air and this was the only way to protect it, which was mostly true.
They decided to get him contacts when the books started to appear, just before his seventh birthday. They were all horrified when they saw the image of a young James Potter, complete with black messy hair and black framed glasses, much like Harry's own at the time, with Lily Potter's emerald green eyes, staring at them from a book that was called Harry Potter and The Battle with the Dragon. It was a stupid childish tale about how he fought a dragon in England, when he was six, which was about the time he started wearing glasses. He had no idea how they knew what he looked like, and did everything he could to banish his father's similarity. Not that he wanted to, but he didn't want to make it easier for them to find him. The aunts concurred.
They had asked the goblins what could be done about the books, and were told that unless they came out to whom and where Harry was, it was best to leave it alone for now. The goblins, however, were drawing up the paperwork for lawyers to sue when Harry did make himself known to the public. They were keeping track of every bit of money the author was making. They still feared what would happen to them if they angered Death. Normally they would never do this type of business, unless they could charge a hefty fee, but… well, Death was not something to manipulate.
Neville decided on a pair of tan casual pants, a white polo shirt, and black sneakers. His short, sun-bleached blond hair was neatly washed and combed.
Each boy grabbed their bags and denim jackets, and ran down the stairs to get breakfast. Harry decided that his sports decorated bag would be his non-magical studies bag, and Neville decided on his vine covered one. Since they were doing non-magical studies this week, their wands were to be left at home. The teachers didn't want magical foci in the non-magical buildings. They felt that young children couldn't resist temptation.
As the boys settled at the table to eat some cold cereal, the conversation began on what the women were going to do today. Now that they only had Agent Mumford and Luis to teach, and they would be taught during the night hours after the etiquette lessons, the Owens women were at loose ends.
Since Claire was going to the school with the boys to keep an eye out for trouble, much to their displeasure, her schedule was only open in the evening. She was posing as a teacher's aide as to not draw attention to the boys. The only reason the boys were upset was because they didn't like the fact that the American Government felt they needed protecting in the first place, but the agency, Evie and the aunts insisted. So they begrudgingly accepted. She had already left for the school.
Luis had already picked up another student during the day. He had made quite a bit of money teaching the boys, but wanted to supplement his income, so that he could travel with them when they went to Hogwarts. It was decided that he could help curb Harry's cussing at the wrong time. They had made great progress on that front.
"Aunt Jet, what are you doing today while we're gone?" Neville asked between hurried bites of Cheerios. He missed Kippy's wonderful eggs and hoped the elf would be calmer tomorrow. He smiled fondly at the little elf, and then frowned at how much she was making.
"Aunt Frances and I are going back to Salem to pick up a computer for you guys. We're going to make the room on the bottom floor, what used to be your playroom, a study. Kippy has promised not to clean in there, she doesn't want to blow up any expensive piece of equipment, so you guys will have to make sure it stays clean," Jet answered, tucking a piece of hair back in her loose bun. "That means no food or drinks," she said firmly, not wanting to have to replace such a costly item.
"Really," Harry asked, excitedly bouncing in his seat, "we're getting a computer? Why didn't we get one yesterday?" his face morphing to a confused frown as he settled back in his chair.
"We didn't want to make the Hiltons feel bad by spending a lot of money around them," Gilly answered, looking pointedly at the two boys. "Finley works hard and can be a little sensitive that he can't support his family the way we can. Not that he is jealous, per se; it's just that it makes him a little unhappy. So we try not to flaunt your money in his face. We'll let the kids use the computer with you two, but it is only for homework. Got it?" she still stared them down with a firm look.
She knew the boys weren't braggarts, but they were young boys and sometimes had no tact at all. Not that she could talk, there were times when she wasn't the most sensitive person on the planet. However, she had gotten much better after the whole possession deal. Before the fiasco with Jimmy, she only cared about herself and Sally, now she had to treasures to watch. Yeah, Gillian Owens was growing up.
Maybe, in a few years they'd get a computer or a system for games and such, but right now she wanted them to learn responsibility and that some tools were used for certain things only, much like magic. She was saving her own money to get a laptop —the Owens women never used the boys' money for themselves. They were making a bit of money by teaching the tutors and the government, so it was okay. They had even stopped taking many requests from the town folk. Of course, anything they taught the Hiltons was free of charge; one didn't do that with friends. Evie never charged for her gift after all. And to them magic was a gift to be shared with loved ones, it was only those outside their circle that they charged.
The boys both sagely nodded their heads, knowing that a few times they had slipped and boasted about their money to their friend they would see the flash of need in his eye, then the guilt that followed. After that they tried really hard not to brag about anything. However, they made sure to share everything. That's what friends are for.
"Aunt Gilly," Harry said, getting her attention, "why don't you offer to have Finley do some work for you? That way he can feel better about letting the kids use the computer. I mean, he is in marketing right? Well, we all know that there are books about me that I never approved of, so maybe he, I don't know, maybe he knows someone, who knows the laws, or he can work with the goblins on the lawsuit. You could say it was a favor, then letting everyone use the computer would be a favor in return," he suggested with logic only kids seemed to have sometimes.
Grown-ups forget about swapping big favors when everything around them has to do with money exchanges. But, kids, sometimes that is all they had to bargain with. Though this wasn't like the aunts teaching the Hiltons, that was a friend thing. What Harry was suggesting was work.
"That is a really good idea, kiddo," Gilly said, reaching over the table and flipping his cap off his head. "When did you get so smart?" she teased as she mussed up his hair. It would need some beefing up, but coming from a kid it was a good start.
"Oi, leave off, will ya?" he said as he batted her hands away and grabbed his hat off the floor. Since they knew they were going to return to England, the boys had taken it upon themselves to learn all English phrases, not that they were going to hide their upbringing, they just didn't want to be caught flatfooted by the bizarre way those Brits talked. They did, however, pick a few up that they liked, spoken in a very American accent. This caused the Hiltons to bust out laughing every time they used them, which was made worse when the boys tried English accents. It was just as funny to everyone when Jordan did the same with US slang, which the Hiltons felt was just a weird.
The conversation went on from there and soon it was time for the bus. Kippy held out two enormous bags of lunch, and the boys took the bags without comment, not wanting to make her feel bad. Both were glad their book bags were expanded. The bus horn tooted and the boys and a barefoot Gilly ran outside to the road. The two older aunts stayed behind and waved the boys off from the front doorway.
"Alright, you two, I want you to behave and learn all that you can. We're counting on you," their youngest aunt said with happy tears running down her face.
The veteran bus driver, who was used to this, patiently waited for now. He would remind them he was on a schedule in a minute. This was quite a common scene on the first day.
"I'm going to miss you, Aunt Gilly," Harry said, giving her a big hug. "I won't let you guys down. I'll behave, mostly. You can't not want me to have any fun, right?" he asked, a little mischievous smile playing on his face. He knew the aunts wanted him to be as free spirited as he could and still obey the rules.
"You little brat, you do what you will, but try not to hurt anyone and don't get in trouble," she laughed and returned the hug. After giving Harry a playful push, she turned to Neville.
"You watch out for him, don't let him get you into trouble. I know we can expect you to behave. You're my good little boy," she said, hugging her nephew hard, but gave Harry a smirk to let him know she was playing with him.
"You know me so well," Neville deadpanned, returning the hug just as hard.
The horn tooted again. Patient the driver may be, however, he did have a schedule to keep.
"Okay," Gilly said, wiping her eyes. "Off you go. Be good. Have fun. Learn lots. And make many friends," were her short demands.
The boys both waved and climbed on the bus. Jordan hailed them over and they all excitedly talked about what the school would be like. They met a few children and all got into a discussion about which was better, American football or European's. Poor Jordan was the only one rooting for European, but his held his opinion that it was better. It was a lively debate, after Jordan explained what the differences were. He had learned all the arguments were by listening to his dad talk to his mates during the Sunday games. Though he was only eight, he still stood firm on his stance.
The bus didn't seem to follow normal driving laws, or any laws for that matter. Instead of going straight down the road, it would fold on to itself and inch along like an inch worm, covering miles at a time, but non-magicals didn't seem to see it. It would inch down the road and find an empty spot, miles ahead, then to the non-magicals it would look like it just pulled in in front of them. The kids inside felt like they were on a ride at the carnival, but without the upset tummy effect and after a few more stops to pick up students, the buildings of SMI came into view. The bus stopped inching and drove normal.
Like the aunts said, the two buildings were similar. They were five stories high and made with brown shingled siding. The non-magical building's windows and doorway had a white trim, the magical blue. There was ornamental wooden trim about the slanted slated roof. There was even a widow's walk on the roof of both buildings. Though why the buildings so far from the sea supported these, was a mystery to the boys. There were tall pillars that held a slated canopy that covered three feet in front of the buildings and started on the second floor. The pillars were painted to match the trim.
In the front of the school was a blue and white sign that stated this was the Salem's School for Gifted Children. There was a compulsion charm on the sign that if a non-magical did read it they would soon forget it. If a magical looked at it then it read: Salem's Magical Institute.
A huge, well kept, deep green lawn was in front of the buildings with larger ones in the back, you could see the white of the gymnasium peeking between the buildings. Trees, whose leaves were turning many colors and dropping to blanket the lawn, littered the grass both front and back. There was a playground smack dabbed between both houses. It had swings, slides, teeter-totters, and other things you would find in any other schoolyard playground.
Two long, wide, winding, paved walkways started where the buses let the students off and continued to the large double doors, twisted in front of either building, leading students to where they needed to go. They had neatly trimmed five foot hedges on either side. There were students of all ages walking up both walkways. All of the new kids stopped on the sidewalk that connected the two walkways and stared. It was a beautiful sight.
"Alright, you guys, time to stop staring and head to the building with the white trim. You are doing non-magical studies today. If any of you have your wands you need to hand them over," a dark haired adult male said. He was tall and lanky; he had a kind face and looked like he would be lots of fun. "I'm Mr. Parker and I'll be your teacher this year on the non-magical side. Just an FYI, I'm a squib, so I won't tolerate any bigoted comments. Keep your opinions to yourself," he said firmly, with a look that was out of place on a face with so many laugh lines. Then he smiled and said, "Now that that is out of the way, gather your things and I'll take you to your class." He kind of reminded the boys of the elder aunts. They were impressed.
The now kind and smiling Mr. Parker gathered the kids around him and led them up the walkway to the white trimmed building. They stayed on the first floor and went in to room NM1, which stood for non-magical one. It was a small class, since there were only thirteen students.
Unlike Europe's Magical Schools, who gathered children from all over their countries, the schools in America only had children come in from the immediate surrounding states. This school had kids from all the New England states, so it catered to kids from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The population of students for SMI measured between 175 and 250.
The first two floors of the buildings were set up for elementary ages, which were ages 8-11, the third for junior high, encompassing ages 12-14, and forth for high school, which was for the 15-16 year olds, the fifth for apprenticeships who usually were 17-18. Both houses had the libraries and administrative offices on the first floor. The second floor had the potions/chemistry labs in the magical house. In the non-magical house the computer rooms were set up on the second floor.
The classroom was set up like a normal elementary class. Metal and wood child size desks were set around the room in a half arch. They each had a metal and wood chair to match. There were slots for pencils and pens carved in to the top half of the desk. The wood part of the desk tilted open to reveal a hollow area where binders and textbooks were stored. There was a row of hooks and bins along the back wall where lunches and coats were to be placed.
A large teacher's desk sat at the front of the class, behind it was a green blackboard and a white dry-erase board. A smaller teacher's desk was off to the side for the teacher's aide, where Claire was already sitting. There was a large wooden and metal table used for craft time and coloring, surrounded by colorful plastic child size chairs, which had a hole in the middle, on the other side of the class. Motivational posters littered the wall making the class appear bright and cheery.
"Okay, first hang your coats on the hooks in the back, your names are above your hook. Then everyone find the desk with your name on it and we'll get started by introducing yourself to the rest of the class. If you stay on with this school you will be classmates until you graduate, so try and get to know one another," Mr. Parker said and the children scrambled to comply.
The three friends were still excited, they were very hopeful that they would make many friends at this school. They would need all the help they could get when they returned to England, however, that was not the reason they wanted friends. They wanted to teach their magic to everyone. They were cool like that.
The Owens boys pulled their oversized lunches and blushed when the teacher asked if they were going to feed the whole class. They explained to him about Kippy and he just chuckled and patted them on the shoulders and said he understood.
Later that day
Gilly and the aunts heard the bus pull up and went to greet the boys; they were all excited and hoped that the boys had a good day.
"Aunt Gilly, Aunt Jet, Aunt Frances, you will never believe the day we had!" Harry exclaimed, jumping from aunt to aunt giving everyone a big hug. You could see the excitement shining in his emerald eyes. Neville followed suit and he too was shouting his enjoyment of a day well spent.
"Whoa there, kiddos, calm down, we'll get to hear all about your day. First, I want to go and get the Hiltons, so we can all hear about everyone's day," Gilly said with a laugh, prying her dark-haired nephew off her waist, after returning the hug he bestowed on her.
"Okay," Harry said slightly disappointed, but after a minute he got excited, because his friend would be there to share.
Gilly left to get the Hiltons and returned about five minutes later. Jordan could now Jump by himself. They joined the aunts and the boys' in the dining room, where they had gone to wait. There were plates of sandwiches and cookies on the table, as well as two pitchers, one with milk the other with juice. Everyone served themselves snacks and when everyone was settled the conversation began. The Owens boys only took one cookie; they were still full from the partially eaten lunch that Kippy had made. There was still a large portion of that lunch in their back packs. They were going to put it away and eat it tomorrow. Thanks goodness for stasis charms. .
"Soooo," Gilly began, drawing out the word just to tease the children, "what did you guys learn today? Let's start with Maisie since she's the youngest."
The boys groaned. They wanted to talk first, but conceded to the woman power in the room. Having been raised by witches, they all knew it was easier to give in than fight. Even Finley agreed with that, but of course, he always knew that.
Maisie's classes were a lot fewer than the boys' since her school wasn't accelerated. She didn't have any languages nor did she have Arts, Music or Library; she only had PE. She did have craft time. As she went rapidly through her day, talking about her teacher, Ms. Paine, and the new kids she met. Her hands flew wildly and she bounced up and down in her chair, almost spilling her milk three times, until her mother took it from her.
The adults smiled indulgently and congratulated her in all the right places. The boys put their heads on the table and waited for their turn.
"… and then Ms. Paine walked us to the bus and I came home," the young excited girl finished her tale.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart. You're growing up so fast, and that picture you drew is adorable. We'll put it up on the refrigerator when we get home. Since the boys were rude enough not to listen to your wonderful story, why don't you go and join Kippy in the kitchen and start your homework? You can come and ask if you need help," Evie said, glaring at the unabashed boys, whose cheeks were tinted pink at being called out by an adult, but not by not listening to a stupid girl. They loved Maisie, but she was still a girl.
"Okay, Mummy," the little girl said and she picked up her book bag and skipped out of the dining room to find Kippy.
"That was quite rude of you boys," Evie chastised and though the Owens women didn't agree, they knew that Luis would, so they let Evie handle it. Gilly did cut her a warning glare, to make sure she knew not to push it.
They tried to stay out of the whole etiquette thing. They would never allow themselves be bound down by rules; however, they also knew it was something the boys needed for the future. And from what Luis told them, the children could pass themselves off as the young Lords they were —when they wanted too. The Owens witches were just glad to see their rebellious side showed every now and then, like now. It meant their spirit was still free and wild. Though they could see Evie didn't like her son showing the same spirit, maybe they'd talk to her later.
"We know," Neville said, eyes sparkling with barely suppressed humor. He really didn't think they had done anything wrong. It's not like they laughed at Maisie, they just didn't pay attention to her. "But, she was taking forever and we wanted to tell our day too. However, we apologize. Don't we, guys?" he asked, nudging the boys on either side of him. The two boys nodded their heads and then perked up realizing it was their turn.
Evie sighed, boys will be boys after all, and no matter how many manners you teach them they are always going to be boys. "Fine," she said, waving her hand in their direction, "let's hear about your day. First start off with your teacher."
All three boys tried to talk at once, stumbling over each other's words and none of them being heard correctly, so Frances put up her hand to make them stop. "Jordan, why don't you start, then Harry, then Neville? We'll go through each lesson and then you can tell us what homework you have," she said and pointed at Jordan.
"Well, Mr. Parker is way cool. He reminds us of Aunt Jet, all smiles and nice words unless it's, like, really important. He told us right away that he was a squib and won't let anyone talk bad about them or any other bad names and such. He has, like, a whole bunch of lines all over his face, like the aunts, like he smiles all the time," Jordan said being young enough that he didn't realize he was breaking a taboo on telling women they looked old. "He had the whole classroom set up, with our names on the desks and everything. Ms. Mumford was there too, but we really didn't, like, talk to her," he said, and then his face got a disappointed look on it. "We didn't get to sit next to each other; we had to sit all the way across the class. We asked Mr. Parker if we could, like, switch seats, but he said no way, 'cause we're, like, friends and family, and we might talk to each other in class. So we couldn't, but other than that he was way cool." Having been in the states this long Jordan was picking up slang rather rapidly, you could tell after his first day of class his English mannerisms would soon be a thing of the past.
"Right, that's good, I think," Gilly said, trying to sort through the babbling. "So he's a good man, that won't let you talk bad about anyone? Right?"
"That's what I said," Jordan huffed, causing the women to laugh at him, which caused him to pout harder.
"Okay, Okay, stop teasing the boy," Jet said and then she turned to Harry. "What happened next?"
"Well, we had to stand up at our desk and tell everyone what our name was and what state we were from, and something about ourselves," Harry explained, waving his hands back and forth between the three boys. "We went in alphabetical order, so me and Neville went way after Jordan did, 'cause we're the only Owens boys there. We gave our fake names and told them we grew up here. Neville told them he liked plants, and I told them I liked football, and Jordan told them he liked football, but had to explain that his was more like soccer, which made some of the kids confused. So, he spent a long time telling them the differences, until Mr. Parker asked him to stop."
"Yeah," Jordan cut in, receiving a mock glare from Harry and a head swat, "and Mr. Parker said he liked British football too. He's really cool."
"It's my turn, you dummy," Harry said, trying to swat his friend again, but this time hitting Neville who was still sitting between them.
"Hey," Neville said and went to push Harry playfully.
"Don't," Evie said, stopping the rough housing before it started. "We have been waiting all day to hear about your first day of school. You can play after you've done your homework. Neville, your turn."
"Well, there really isn't much to tell," the sandy-haired boy began, looking at the other boys who nodded in agreement. "After that, Mr. Parker told us what we'd be learning today and then we went to the computer room and he gave a whole bunch of rules, the computers weren't even plugged in. He said that we couldn't boot them up until next week. But, we did learn were the on and off button was and what the mouse was for. You know simple stuff that people who never used a computer before need to know." He shrugged and turned to Jordan, now that it was his turn again.
"Then, we had to do spelling and we had to learn to do it in cursive," the older boy made a face at that. The boys knew this form of writing it was part of their etiquette lessons, since Luis made sure they knew how to write formal letters. That didn't mean he had to like it though. "The teacher said Harry's, Neville's and mine were really good though, so we got to study the words ahead of everyone. Which was cool, I guess." He shrugged and then he turned to Harry.
The aunts and Evie just followed along with their heads, nodding in the correct places.
"We were supposed to have PE today, but they forgot to tell us to bring our suits, so we got to play in the playground for a little while. Here is the schedule for PE days," Harry said after he dug through his bag to get the note, the other boys following suit. He handed his to Frances, because she was closer and she passed it down the table. Jordan gave his to his mum, and Neville just handed his to Frances as well.
"I'll make sure Kippy gets this, since she is still in charge of the laundry, but I want you guys to make sure the suits are in your bags. That way if you forget, you can't blame it on anyone but yourselves," Gilly said with a pointed look. They may not be big on manners, but the Owens witches were huge on responsibility.
"Yes, ma'am," came two responses. Jordan nodded his head to his mum showing he understood as well.
"Okay, whose turn is it?" Jet asked to relieve the little tension that was building up in the room.
"Mine," said Neville and continued on without pause, "Then we had English. We had to read these really old books that had really weird words, and we had to talk about what is different between now and then. We'll switch off and do languages the next few days. Mr. Parker says we're going to start off real small and learn spells and such, so we can pronounce them correctly when we go to the magic side, even the ones in French." He bounced excitedly; any form of new magic was a reason to bounce.
"That's most wonderful. Remember, you can't do any magic outside the house or the school. I would prefer if you waited until one of us can be there just to make sure no one gets hurt," Jet said, beaming at the three boys.
"We remember," Harry said and started his turn without being prompted. "Then after recess we had to do math. Mr. Parker said if we want to do well in Arithmancy then we need to do really well in math. He said if we are going to create spells when we are older, or tell the future by patterns, then we need to know this. So, we," he pointed to each boy, "talked about it and wanted to know if we start doing badly could we get a tutor?" he asked, pretty sure of the answer, they had no problems in the past, so he figured it wouldn't be a problem now.
"Of course you can, my darling little boys," Frances said, giving the boys a soft smile. It was nice to see they wanted to do well. "Like we'd deny you anything," she said. She shot a look at Evie before the woman could protest.
The other woman stayed silent for now, but her lips pursed in disapproval. Frances knew the Hiltons didn't have enough money for a tutor, but they would work something out. Like they had with Finley; he was now working with the goblin on the lawsuit. Maybe, they could get Evie together with Sally to improve the lotions and remedies she was working on.
"Then," Neville said, drawing the two women's attention back to him, "we did more reading, but this time in new books, we still had to talk about what we were reading though. Mr. Parker said we had to do that to learn to think smart-like."
"Neville, I'm sure Mr. Parker didn't say smart-like," Evie said primly. She was hard pressed to let the boys' speak how they wanted too. The Owens women were all for it, but she was having a hard enough time understanding them. Maybe, she would demand proper English in her own house, but try and keep up here. Speaking of which, "Sorry, boys, I'm just having a hard time understanding your new way of talking. Try and keep it at a minimum for me, please?" Though she had chastised them earlier, she didn't want to make her friends upset with her by being too hard on the boys.
Neville smiled his understanding and nodded to Jordan.
"After lunch, we had history, which was Boring," you could hear the capital, "then we had craft time. There was this huge table in the class room with all these art things on it. And we could make whatever we wanted. But, we didn't get done today, so we didn't bring anything home. We should finish tom…"
"We're gonna have to talk to Kippy about our lunches," Harry interrupted, "there was way too much food. We got picked on a little bit. Anyway, we had social studies," he said, earning a glare from his friend, "which I have to say I know nothing about. We might have to get the newspapers just so me and Neville can keep up in that class, or watch the news, I think I want the papers though, so I can use it for my homework," he suggested, feeling really out of touch.
News wasn't something that was done in the Owens house, the aunts found it too depressing, but if it was for school they could get the papers for the kids. They might want to get the British paper for them as well. Now that the Hiltons were in America, they only knew what was going on there, via friends.
"Then we got our homework assignments," Neville concluded, "and the teacher told us that sign up for band and stuff is next week, it depends on how well we do this week. Too bad we can't try out for the real football team this year, only flag football and that's for sissies. But we can try out for the pee-wee softball. That would be cool." The other boys nodded in agreement, though they were all going to try out for the football team when they were old enough.
"Well," said Frances with a huge smile, "it sounds like you had a very productive day. What say we go to town and get some ice cream? Then we can come back and see about that nasty homework. I know, I know, but needs must and all. Treats first and then work." The aunts had a strange way of doing things, but the nephews weren't complaining.
"I think I will take my brood home," Evie stated, getting up from the table. "I want them to get the homework done before Finley gets there. So if you will excuse me, we'll be going. Sorry, sweetie," she said at her son's disappointed face, "but your dad it going to want to hear about your day too, don't you want to make sure you have time to tell him?"
Jordan nodded his head conceding the point and with a wave to his friends he gathered his bag and followed his mum.
Though, they had been friends for many years now the Owens and the Hiltons had different views on child-raising. Had it not been for the fact that Death said that the Owens way was the way it had to be, Evie would push harder to have them more responsible. Well in her eyes, but as it was it was something they didn't fight over, just didn't agree on.
The aunts and the boys went to town and got their ice cream, and when they got home Gilly helped them with their homework, there was plenty of time left to play so they did. A good night was had by all.