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<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 42px; letter-spacing: -2px; color: #fff; line-height: 100%; text-align:center;">let me come home</div>
<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 8px; color: #363636; margin-top: -5px; text-align:center; padding-left: 10px;">home is wherever I’m with you</div></div>
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It had been a week since Odira had been allowed to return to her family’s home in Bartonburg, several galleons richer and with a future brightened by the prospect of land of her own. The Browne house was one rather different than when she had left it: Calliope was now being courted by a Ministry man, Gideon seemed just a bit off after his own adventures, Loretta was home—though as far as the Ravenclaw could tell, just as she had always been—but Pruedence did not seem quite as rambunctious as Odira remembered. To add to it, they had a pair of house guests for the summer—at Odira’s request, yes, but it was still strange to return home and find the Chaucer twins living in her family’s home.

<p>Regardless of the change in atmosphere since her last visit, home was home, and the prefect was certainly relieved to be there. After the exhausting adventure of the expedition, Odira found herself quite willing to spend the summer doing mundane things and returning to, once more, doing all of her thrill seeking through literature which, now that she had been out in the wilderness herself, she knew to be the best option. It was a strange adjustment to no longer spend time with travelling companions; she wondered how Mr. Dudley, Miss Prince, and Olive Lovegood were recovering from their misfortunes, whether the aurors had yet returned to work, and how the lives of those they had joined on the road were faring since the Ministry of Magic had released them from their obligations.

<p>Save for some cuts and bruises, Odira was physically unchanged, but she felt as if she had lived a lifetime out on the road—and in the woods, and up the mountains, and through the valleys—and was ready, at least for now, to settle into some sort of retirement. It was for this reason that the afternoon saw her in a familiar state, seated comfortably—Miss Blanche Chaucer and Cecilia no longer counted as ‘guests’ in her mind, both being friends from school and having been at the Browne home for some weeks already, and so Odira did not have to remain as prim and proper as she would have had other guests come to call—in the parlour and deeply ensconced in her novel. The bustle of the house was lost on her; for now, the Ravenclaw was alone in the room with the door latched close, drowning out the noise from the rest of the household.

<p>OOC | 1. There is no post order but please wait either two posts or three days between replies so that those who are left in the dust are the ones who want to be, not the ones who are just out for a day xD
<br>2. This thread is open to all Brownes, Browne cousins, Browne house guests, and close friends or acquaintances of the Browne children with reason to be there.

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<div style="background-color:#c2c2c2; width: 400px; font-family: arial; padding: 10px; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color:#fff;">open; see above – 422 Words – in spite of the title, there is no sex here xD</div>
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By this point, Cissy considered herself to be reasonably comfortable in the Browne home. It certainly had the advantage of being pleasantly Becky-free, and besides that it contained the delightful Mr. Gideon Browne, the twin of her friend Odira.

Speaking of Odira, she was finally back from the Draft. That fact excited a sort of almost morbid curiosity in Cecilia; Odira had actually been out in the wilderness! More than that, she was to receive land in return for her part on the expedition! This was not a mere dowry -- although if would serve well for that if Odira chose -- but actuall land in Odira's possession. That meant that Odira was (or shortly would be) a landowner, just like a man! It was quite a fascinating prospect to Cissy, who did not quite believe it was true.

Poking her head into the parlor, the fair-haired muggleborn spotted her friend, who had taken on a sort of shine of the fantastic to Cissy's eyes. "Odira?" she asked tentatively, hoping that the other girl was in the mood to talk. "Is it true that there were dragons in the mountains?"

All of her children were home and more or less intact. Aurelia found herself particularly proud of Odira and Calliope for surviving it, and coming home with galleons and land. As a child, Aurelia herself would have killed for such an opportunity. The Chaucer twins staying with them for the summer were perfectly agreeable, she had Chastity's family and Sampson and his wife to visit on occasion, and it had been a few months since one of her lower-class relatives had tried to contact her. (Be it through rude gesture or otherwise.)

The business of running the Browne household could keep her occupied. She entered the living room with the intention of finding Augustus to ask him if he had deposited anything in Gringotts lately. Her husband wasn't there - Aurelia turned around, and would have left if she hadn't heard one of the Chaucers say something. (Okay, so she couldn't tell them apart. Woops.)

"Dragons?" Aurelia inquired. "Now that is rather impressive." She paused by the door, mildly interested.

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Hey, come on try a little Nothing is forever There's got to be something better than In the middle But me & Cinderella
We put it all together We can drive it home With one headlight
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Loretta couldn't help but feel completely relaxed as the rest of her siblings returned home from the adventuring in the wilderness. She had been worried about them, though she had known that they'd be fine. There was no other option afterall! They were her siblings it was completely inconceivable that they'd die or be injured... She had worried for a moment when she'd heard of other participants who had been injured but Odira and Gideon and Calliope were better then that. <p> She'd entertained the thought that dragons having even taken one look at Calliope would turn tail and run for the hills. Odira was too smart to get into any trouble and she had said that she'd come prepared and... Gideon... Her funny brother would.... well... be completely fine. <p> Her fingers ran over the spines of the books on the case and she frowned as she realized that the novel that she'd been craving to read was absent. She'd wanted to curl up in one of the comfy armchairs - or maybe even go to the park - and just read. She knew she should probably just find another, after all it was probably one of the house guests or her sister who'd taken the novel to read... but today she felt obstinate. She hadn't wanted really to read any other books and as she approached the parlour where she was sure that Odira would be she realised that her sister had company. Two companies. One of whom being Loretta's mother. She took a step backwards intent on a quick exit. She had a funny feeling that her mother had asked her to do something today and would not take kindly to her avoiding to do it for the sake of reading.


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<b>Lyrics:</b> One Headlight by Wallflower | <b>Words: 292</b> |<b>Tag:</b> Browney Brownes | <b>Template:</b> Emily</div></div></center>[/dohtml]

Prue had been somewhat uncertain of the decision she had made with Bethan and Priya not to run away, and had been ghosting around the house in much more subdued a fashion than her siblings were used to. She was not sure that anyone had thought to inform her school-aged siblings that she had been kidnapped, but she didn't really want them all hovering over her either.

Then she heard the magic word -- dragon. Odira had seen one? Why hadn't she mentioned this? Everybody knew that Prue wanted to be a dragon keeper when she got older, and that meant that they should tell her everything that had to do with dragons! Quietly, she went to peek her head into the parlor and see what Odira had to say on the subject.

Calliope was in a rather good mood, all things considered. She had returned from the trail on a low, the money and land tarnished slightly by the horrific trials she had had to face, as well as the deaths of two of her group members. Deaths. Of course, Calliope hadn't liked either of them, but she couldn't deny it had affected her. However, it had suddenly all be mostly forgotten by the surprise that awaited her at home. Daniel Riley had left her a full-sized harp, and she was sure her whole family realised by now the advantages of material gifts. She had something new to amuse herself with and she was feeling pretty optimistic.

She headed to the parlour with the intention of practising on her harp - or perhaps just staring at it smugly - but found the door rather congested. Not simply their mother at the door, but Cecilia Chaucer, Loretta and Prue, all loitering in the way, attention apparently caught by something.

She chided the younger ones through the doorway, tossing a quick smile at her mother as she passed cheerily, even nodding at Odira's schoolfriend without much noticeable menace. Having marched into the room and made for the chair nearest the harp in the corner, she realised what everyone was on about.

"Yes, there were dragons." Calliope commented loudly enough for them all, not sounding too impressed. She rolled her eyes. Odira hadn't been the only one on the trail, though perhaps her supposedly clever sister hadn't been quite so successful in getting away from the dragons unscathed as she had. She hadn't thought to ask, and the twins seemed physically well enough. She had planned not to intervene further in the conversation, but she thought it might be interesting to watch Prue get all worked up. She shook her head lightly. "I saw one fly overhead. It was red... exotic, I suppose."

[dohtml]<head><link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Alex+Brush' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'></head><center><div style="width: 450px; border-top: 18px solid #9FB0A8; border-bottom: 18px solid #9FB0A8; background-image: url(http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k527/whimsicalmoon/blue_victorian_background_7.jpg); background-repeat: repeat;"><br><div style="width: 400px; background-color: #7F968E; border: 1px dotted #B6C5BE;"><div style="width: 400px; height: 300px; background-image: url(http://i1114.photobucket.com/albums/k527/whimsicalmoon/beatemplate.jpg); background-repeat: no-repeat;"></div><div style="width: 375px; font-family: 'Alex Brush', cursive; font-size: 20pt; color: #B6C5BE;"><br>i'll drink the devils tears</div><br><div style="width: 375px; font-family: Century Gothic; font-size: 9pt; color: #CCE0D6; text-align: justify; line-height: 90%;">Beatrice smiled amiably as she made her way from her home in Bartonburg to the Browne home that was just a few houses down. On her arm was a basket that held three pies; she’d been practicing her kitchen skills ever since she married Sampson, and just as with everything else in her life, she was quickly progressing in her skill. She let herself into the Browne home, having left message that she was going to drop by. She heard voices in the parlour and followed them, walking in to see her mother-in-law, four of her sisters-in-law and one of the Chaucer twins. They were talking about dragons, or so she assumed.
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“Hello, family.” She smiled. After only eight months of marriage, she already saw the Browne’s as family. Sometimes she thought that she liked them more than her own blood kin. She walked over to her mother-in-law and gave her a one armed embrace, kissing her on the cheek softly. “You ladies look lovely today.” She complimented. “I’m glad to see you’ve returned from the expedition safely, Odira, Calliope.” She nodded their way with their names. She hadn’t seen any of the Browne children that were off on the expedition since they had returned.
<p>
“I come bearing sweets. I was told by your mother the favorite pies of our young explorers and decided to try my hand at baking them for you, Odira and Calliope. Now we must find Gideon for he has a pie as well.” She smiled and hoped they would be happy for her gift. She was never the homemaker type. Growing up in the upper class, her food was always prepared for her. While they did have on single maid at their home now, it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t there nearly to the extent as maids were around in an upper class home, and she didn’t prepare the food. While she was sure they could afford more servants, Beatrice had – surprisingly – insisted upon doing most of the work herself. She was, after all, Sampson’s wife. It was her duty to care for him and keep his living comfortable. But more than that, she found she actually wanted to do those mundane tasks for him.
<p>
It was rather odd for her, having always been rather independent aside from her close bond with Caroline. She always wanted to make a name for herself, not fall into being stuck simply as someone’s wife. But when it came to Sampson…well she was content to just be Mrs. Browne. Nothing in the world made her happier than serving and pleasing her husband. And please him she did. “So dragons, hm? That must have been quite the exciting run in.” She said, trying to integrate herself into the conversation. She was here, so why not do a bit of socializing as well?
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Hope it's okay that I threw Bea in here!</center>[/dohtml]

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<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 42px; letter-spacing: -2px; color: #fff; line-height: 100%; text-align:center;">let me come home</div>
<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 8px; color: #363636; margin-top: -5px; text-align:center; padding-left: 10px;">home is wherever I’m with you</div></div>
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As relieved that she was that her adventure had drawn to a close, Odira was not so eager to dismiss it entirely, and so the entrance—and subsequent questions—of one of the Chaucers was certainly welcome. It quickly seemed as if Cecilia had merely been the first snowflake of a storm, however, as the rest of the house seemed to quickly gather. Though not all chose to speak—Loretta was one Odira glimpsed only from the corner of her eye and seemed not wholly thrilled to be there in that moment—the prefect could feel their eyes upon her and, with a conspiratory glint in her eye, the more feminine of the twins opened her mouth to regale her story—

<p>—only to have Calliope but in, promptly stealing her thunder. The sooner her sister bewitched Mr. Riley into marrying her, in Odira’s opinion, the better; it was her younger sisters with whom Odira identified best, and not even shared experiences were apt to change that any time soon.

<p>Bea’s offer of sweets and kind words were received gratefully. Though Odira was not particularly close with Sampson, she had little ill to say of his choice of wife, who had been nothing but kind towards her and the rest of the family since marrying into it. She was, if nothing else, pleased that her half-brother had found a woman to make him so happy, and saw their marriage, one based on love and companionship, as one to aspire towards—rather than Chastity’s, founded on social progression.

<p>“Yes, we certainly saw dragons,” Odira confirmed once her new—well, under a year qualified as new, did it not?—sister’s presence no longer distracted those in the room, her tone strained as she struggled to regain some of the storytelling flair, “but not simply overhead.” Here, the Ravenclaw peeked around her companions to lock eyes with her youngest sister, across the room, who would gain the most pleasure in such a story. “Why, I was strolling through the mountains with Mr. Fraser—an auror, so I was plainly quite safe for all that the rest of our group had since been left...incapacitated—when one strolled right out in front of us, as brazen as you like!” At the time, the girl had been terrified, though mercifully maintained the presence of mind to sneak away—slowly, and quietly—unnoticed by the overlarge reptile.

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<div style="background-color:#c2c2c2; width: 400px; font-family: arial; padding: 10px; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color:#fff;">open; see above – 400 Words – HERE BE DRAGONS</div>
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The entrance of Pruedence was one noted with a sad smile by Aurelia. Somewhere on her to-do list - after seeing if she could find a progeny to retake her title with Aurelia's guidance, before attending Pruedence's wedding - there lived an entry entitled 'Kick the shit out of every goblin in Hogsmeade, because goblins all look the same and need to be defeated as a species.' Yeah, someday.

She smiled back at Calliope. When her children had been much younger, Aurelia had thought that Calliope should have been the boy rather than Gideon. She had since come to the conclusion that her eldest daughter fit much better into her feminine role. Odira should have been the male twin. (And yes, Aurelia knew that it wasn't very good mothering to think that way, but really.)

Calliope had seen dragons. Aurelia wasn't sure how comfortable she was with that - she liked dragons, but they were concerning.

Beatrice's arrival was greeted with a smile from Aurelia. The former Miss Davis was Aurelia's favorite in-law, even though Chastity had married up. Beatrice was simply too similar to Aurelia herself to be disliked. She returned the hug, beaming at her daughter-in-law.

Odira regained the room and Aurelia smiled, saying, "Dragons! I hope that the Ministry notified the MacFustys, because that seems right up those barbarian's alleys," she said.

Aurelia noticed Loretta's presence in the room, narrowing her eyes. "Loretta!" she said. She had the vague sense that her second-youngest was supposed to be doing something, but she couldn't remember what. "Did I ask you to do something?" she mused, cocking her head at her. If her memory was going, Aurelia would kill someone.

Gideon kind of wished he was still in the woods. It was not so crowded there. Odira had brought two of her friends, some Cecilia and Blanche Chaucer girls, who looked exactly the same and the one of them looked at him in a rather weird way. He certainly preferred being in the woods. He rather liked being with Charles and Briony and Cora. Cora. The redhead was perhaps the only female, aside from Odira and Prue that Gideon could stay around without feeling too awkward.

His dark hair was messy when he exited his bedroom. He had been working on some potions during the morning. He was seventeen now, so he could use magic freely and he honestly liked it.

He was planning to make an antidote to common poisons (nobody knew when someone would need it) but he could find no mistletoe berries. He was sure that his parents kept some ingredients somewhere, so he decided to find his mother and ask her if there were any mistletoe berries in the house.

He walked quietly, trying not to bump into one of the Chaucers, hoping that his mother was somewhere in the house and not outside doing things.

He definitely did not expect to see almost ALL of the Browne females in the same place. Gideon stared at them, sure that they were staring at them. There was even a Chaucer there! The weird one! And his sisters. Even Sampson's wife! Merling, why did he want to make the damn potion?

He quickly moved his eyes to his mother, who probably thought once again that he was her most miserable child. " Are there any mistletoe berries?" he asked, hoping that he would tell him where the damn berries were so he could leave.

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Hey, come on try a little Nothing is forever There's got to be something better than In the middle But me & Cinderella
We put it all together We can drive it home With one headlight
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Loretta Browne for one reason or another had never actually developed a skill for truthbending, or even outright lies. It was probably her sheer inability to make up a reasonable excuse for any question that she found herself not wanting to answer correctly that had placed her in the hard-working loyal house rather then that of ambition, courage or intellect. She stared at her mother for a moment trying to formulate an answer that would simply tell the elder woman that she had nothing left to do that day but try as she might she could not and was about to resort to truth when family members seemed to appear as if from nowhere. <p>
Prue was first summoned by the word Dragon, and she wondered if Calliope had come because she'd known in the company of so many family members there should be at least one who she could gloat to about her harp and the attentions of her suitor Daniel Riley. It made Loretta grumpy and she blamed the fact that trying to imagine Calliope in a romance soured her own imaginings of such things. Beatrice was next and her sister-in-law seemed to have bought things for her siblings that had returned from the trail.<p> She was about to decide whether she should stay and listen to Di's tale, even though it seemed more like a tale for Prue to become excited about when she could her mothers eye.
<p> "I have...not," She mumbled, shaking her head firmly and hoping that no more communication would be required.


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<b>Lyrics:</b> One Headlight by Wallflower | <b>Words: 292</b> |<b>Tag:</b> Browney Brownes | <b>Template:</b> Emily</div></div></center>[/dohtml]

Blanche had been up in her bedroom - though not technically hers, the few weeks had been long enough to grow used to staying there for the summer - having retired there to find the book she'd brought along for summer reading. Nothing too serious; nothing like schoolwork, just fun. It had all been quiet - she'd left Cissy downstairs, and there seemed to be no one around up here - until she had heard a creak on the stairs.

It was a small enough noise; whoever it was was treading quietly... but Blanche's curiosity was piqued anyway, and so she looked out of the door interestedly. Short, messy, dark hair was descending, and since there was chatter of some kind rising from a room below, Blanche decided she may as well discover what everyone was up to.

She wandered down quietly enough, though she was not trying to be sneaky as she appeared behind Odira's twin brother as he paused in the doorway of the parlour. She glanced in the room for herself, spotting Cissy and a bunch of the Brownes, smiling merrily at them all. Blanche didn't know what conversation they were in the midst of, but she piped up cheerfully after Gideon's question to his mother, "Ooh, what do you need mistletoe berries for?" She didn't like to interfere, but people who knew her well knew all too well that she was nosy; there was no way to help herself when questions slipped off her tongue.

Gideon was rather shy, though, she'd figured; shy and quiet and possibly not inclined to answer questions. At the mention of mistletoe, though, she cast a surreptitious look at Cissy and faintly waggled her eyebrows. She hadn't yet talked about this with her twin, but she knew her too well and had rather the hunch that Cecilia had taken quite a liking to Odira's twin brother. If Blanche found real evidence for this - or got her twin to confess - she might even start trying to get the two interacting. If nothing else, it would be fun.

Glancing around again with interest, Blanche tried to guess what the Browne family were conversing about. "And what have I missed?" She whispered lightly to Loretta - yes, Loretta, the younger Hufflepuff - who was still nearby, thinking that the girl seemed kind enough to quietly fill her in. She quite liked Odira's younger siblings, much as she warmed to most children (barring her step-siblings, of course).

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<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 42px; letter-spacing: -2px; color: #fff; line-height: 100%; text-align:center;">let me come home</div>
<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: arial narrow; font-size: 9px; letter-spacing: 8px; color: #363636; margin-top: -5px; text-align:center; padding-left: 10px;">home is wherever I’m with you</div></div>
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“I did hear that some of the expedition groups had more difficulty with the dragons than my own,” Odira informed her mother, “so doubtless the Ministry has been made well aware of them.” She did not comment on the mention of the MacFustys; unlike her mother—and likely elder sisters—who tended towards a more...snobbish, really, attitude towards the rest of the world, the Ravenclaw’s focus had always been on whom the person was, not what they did. Well, as a prefect she was required to act upon the latter, but in terms of her opinions, at least, it was the former that counted most highly. Besides, the most recent Head Girl had been a MacFusty, so plainly the family could not have been so barbarous as her mother liked to think.

<p>Their party seemed to continually swell in size, and it quickly became fortunate that Augustus Browne was wealthy enough to afford such a large sitting room.

<p>Gideon’s request came across as rather foolish to his twin. Had he not thought to check the potions cabinet in the kitchen? It was not as if the family stored such things in the parlour after all—how would that have looked to guess? Still, she refrained from saying anything on the matter, hesitant to cause him distress by embarrassing him in front of their house guests.

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<div style="background-color:#c2c2c2; width: 400px; font-family: arial; padding: 10px; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color:#fff;">open; see above – 225 Words – HERE BE DRAGONS</div>
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"I saw a MacFusty in town once," Cissy laughed nervously, hoping that things did not turn too much in that direction. One had recently been expelled, after all -- Malvina, who had gotten her reputation utterly destroyed in the process. "They are rather large and hairy, aren't they? I'm sure they'll get rid of the beasts."

More than the recent expulsion of a girl just slightly older than herself, Cissy's nerves were on edge from the arrival of Odira's twin. Mr. Gideon Browne was quite endearing in a way that Cecilia couldn't quite put her finger on, and she found that a mountain of butterflies began dancing in her stomach every time he appeared. She tried not to actually look at him, but at the same time couldn't help watching him out of the corner of her eye as she flushed pink.

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Hey, come on try a little Nothing is forever There's got to be something better than In the middle But me & Cinderella
We put it all together We can drive it home With one headlight
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"Odira was telling mother and your sister about her trip which involved something about dragons." Loretta whispered back to Blanche, filling her in. "And Everybody knows to even breathe the word summons Prue. Then I suppose, Calliope confirmed the existence of said dragons with her own account and Beatrice, that's our eldest brother Sampsons wife," She added because she wasn't quite sure Blanche had met her before, "came bearing sweets." She excluded any information about her own misdeeds and then pointed to her brother. "and I wouldn't worry about Gideon." She rolled her eyes rather dramatically. "He's just being... well..." She shrugged. "Gideon." Her brother, she had decided after realizing that other boys didn't act quite the same way as he did, was weird. He was family of course which meant that she loved him dearly but he was still just a little wierd. She knew that he was smart and oneday would change the world but at this stage He was just, most defineately, wierd.<p> Her eyes drifted between Gideon and her mother and inspiration struck. <p> "Actually..." She said, as if in thought. "I'll could go see if we do." It would be the perfect way to avoid her mothers further questioning. Didn't they say, out of sight out of mind?

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<b>Lyrics:</b> One Headlight by Wallflower | <b>Words: 292</b> |<b>Tag:</b> Browney Brownes | <b>Template:</b> Emily</div></div></center>[/dohtml]

As her sisters spoke about the dragons, Prue edged in a little closer. Apparently there were dragons in the mountains! And why hadn't anyone told her before that there was a whole FAMILY that worked with dragons?

Well, Prue knew what she had to do. If she couldn't manage to find dragons to work with on her own, she'd just have to make the MacFustys make her one of them. Then she could work with dragons forever and no one would ever stop her. "Are there a lot of MacFustys?"

Calliope kept quiet save to lightly greet their sister-in-law who'd brought pies in celebration of their safe return from the trail, because after that Odira felt obliged to continue on with her little tale. Calliope rolled her eyes, for she hardly had to hear it, and really, unless you were Prue, there was nothing appealing about dragons. They were dangerous, certainly, but there had been plenty of other dangers on the trail - avalanches, caves - two of her group members had of them died... in short, she would rather not hear it all again.

She busied herself sorting through some sheet music, staring down at it to avoid wasting her gaze on her family members and their guests. She flipped over on piece to study the second half further, but sighed loudly as Gideon - oh, Gideon - interrupted asking for berries or something. Why he could not find them himself, she didn't know, and she was about to say something (likely derisive), but Loretta hurried off to find them for him instead.

The family being far too distracting for Calliope to actually make much progress in learning this harp piece mentally - actually trying to be considerate in not plucking the strings and playing over their inane chat - she sat down more comfortably, sheets on her lap, and raised her eyebrows at Prue. "Too many," She answered, with emphasis. She agreed with her mother; despite being of the upper class, they were a rough lot, rather too enthusiastic about savage magical creatures. And that girl had gotten expelled, and... "Why?" She shot at Prue suspiciously, nearly snorting at the girl's obvious interest and directing her next remark to the general population of the room. "I think Prue's already trying to decide which one of them she can marry..." She fell back in her chair a little further, laughing at the ludicrous idea.

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<div style="width:420px; text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Raleway; font-size: 42px; letter-spacing: -2px; color: #fff; line-height: 100%; text-align:center;">let me come home</div>
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Perhaps, Odira thought wryly, this would be the way in which their mother could finally get Pruedence to live up to her aspirations for the youngest daughter: after all, if they worked with dragons, Prue might well marry a MacFusty someday—though Odira was not convinced that this was the best plan that they might have come up with. It was for the moment irrelevant; Prue had not even begun her magical schooling yet, and so whom she might or mightn’t marry was really not of concern.

<p>It seemed that, for once, she and Calliope were of a similar mind as the eldest of the Browne ladies at home piped in, echoing her thoughts on Prue’s marital bliss. “Those poor dragons won’t know what they’re in for!” the Ravenclaw teased lightly.

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<div style="background-color:#c2c2c2; width: 400px; font-family: arial; padding: 10px; font-size: 10px; text-transform: uppercase; color:#fff;">Brownes, Chaucers – 131 Words – titty sprinkles</div>
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Prue glared at her older sisters -- well, mostly at Calliope. 'Dira, at least, was being nice about teasing her. And didn't mama want them all to marry up? Chastity had, Calliope was going to, and that just left 'Dira, Lorrit, and Prue herself. If she married into a family that worked with dragons ... well, at least Prue would actually get to work with dragons.

"I bet they're richer than your stupid fiance, Callie," Prue said, sticking her tongue out at her second oldest sister. Were there any close to her age? Certainly they weren't all really old ... and if they were, then it didn't really matter. It was the dragons that were important, after all.

Ugh! Calliope could hardly stop from growling aloud at her impertinent youngest sister. Laughing at Pruedence was not nearly the worst thing she ever did - though, in turn, poking fun back at Calliope was not Prue's worst either - but she despised the very immature reaction of a stuck-out tongue. She'd tried her best, honestly, but Prue still refused to start acting like a lady!

Still, apart from clicking her tongue in a disapproving 'tut' - and shooting the most furtive glance at their mother in the hope she would reproach Calliope's annoying siblings, she held her temper. Richer, psh, Mr. Riley was more traditional - and therefore, respectable - than those wild dragon-obsessed MacFustys, Calliope was happy with her lot, anyways. Stupid he was not, though, and she narrowed her eyes, glaring at Prue. "We'll see about that," She retorted, certain that Mr. Riley would make plenty of money... and if not, she could always push to demand more somehow. She'd find a way. Nevertheless, if he proposed she'd end up richer than the rest of the remaining Brownes, so that was that.

Oh, her mood was so easily soured.

This was really starting to get awkward. Cissy was not one for confrontation -- well, except when it came to Becky the Brat -- and she didn't really want to be involved in an argument between sisters. Especially not since she sort of understood Prue's fascination with the wild MacFusty clan. Not that Cissy wanted anyone like that! She wanted a nice, respectable gentleman.

Quietly, she stood up and edged out of the room. The sisters could have their little tiff, and Cissy was going to keep out of it. Maybe she could find Mr. Gideon Browne and see what he was up to.

Well, this was going downhill quickly—Prue and Calliope, Odira knew, were even more different than the Calliope and Odira (which was quite a feat). She watched as Cecilia left and, thinking the younger Ravenclaw wise, placed a hand lightly on her youngest sister’s shoulder. “Come, I think I might have a story about dragons that you might like!”

She flashed a quick smile at her mother and other siblings as she departed.