Sleep Deprivation

Tai yawned as he opened the front door to his house. Sleep hadn't been his friend since the twins had decided that being awake at opposing times was a good idea. He half wished that Erika wasn't against slipping them a sleeping draught here and there but agreed that drugging their children into comatose states probably wasn't the best thing to do, even if the prospect of a few hours of undisturbed sleep was very enticing.

He stepped through the door, his foot connecting with a plush toy of some description. Picking it up on his way through, he looked around for a sign that anyone was home. He couldn't see anyone, and relished in the thought of getting a moment to himself for at least a little while.

Tai plonked himself down on the couch, making a disgruntled face as he fished around for the item that was causing discomfort. He realised that it was another one of the boys' toys and threw it aside. He'd have to clean up at some point. Tai leaned back against the soft leather and sighed, closing his eyes for, what felt like, the first time in weeks. Exhausted, he didn't even realise someone had entered the lounge room.

Gwen was roaming the house and feeling incredibly worrried, to be honest she´d avoided her parents a litle bit. Her talk with Mom had been interrepted to she didnt know their reaction to the whole Vision thing.
Now however she just wanted her parents.
She saw her Dad and smiled, she may be thirteen but he was still the number one dude to her.
"Hi Daddy" she said in her usual, dreamy and airy voice. Her hair was long and her Mom had helped charm it into a braid quickly so she fiddled with it before sitting down next to him.

Tai was startled into consciousness at the sound of his daughter's voice. He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow as she sat down beside her.

"Everything alright?" he asked, trying his hardest to suppress a yawn. If it was one thing about teenagers that Tai was very much aware of was the fact that most found simple communication as painful as pulling teeth, and thus a very exhausting experience. Gwen, thankfully, wasn't like that; she could talk under wet cement. Hopefully, today would not be the exception; he didn't think he had the energy.

Gwen shrugged hugging her knees,
"Yeah, I´m fine. You look exshausted." she tilted her head thoughtfully.
Yep. Gwen was blunt, got that from her Mom.
"Dad don´t forget that Ben has soccer practice at four." Gwen smiled at the mention of her brother, he was a squib but he was one of the happiest, most joyful people she knew. He just talked a lot less than she did.
A lot..less..
She smiled when she remembered Em and hers great plan.
"Dad, hypothetically speaking, how would one, oh I dunno, how would one go about creating a giant snowglobe? Or dome?" she asked innocently cuddling up to him.

Tai smiled lightly. "I feel exhausted," he agreed, placing his arm around his daughter's shoulders as he wiped his eyes with his free hand. Tai figured he wouldn't have many years left in which Gwen was happy to just sit and chat with her dad, so he appreciated the moment.

Checking his watch, Tai realised that it was two o'clock already. "Right, Four. I won't forget." At the mention of his son, Tai wondered where the other members of his family were.

"Haven't seen your mum around have you?" he asked, assuming that Ben, Caleb, Noah and Erika were out somewhere. He really should keep better track of his family's whereabouts.

"Dad, hypothetically speaking, how would one, oh I dunno, how would one go about creating a giant snowglobe? Or dome?"

Tai glanced at his daughter inquisitively. "Why, may I ask?" He learnt long ago to cancel out the 'hypothetically speaking' in any question she asked. More often than not, 'hypothetically speaking' was Gwen's reality in disguise.

Gwen nodded,
"The twins are at a birthday party with Mum, Ben is at Jimmy´s house but he´ll be back for practice." Gwen smiled, in a house full of boys she had long realized that things got a bit chaotic here and there.
Then she pouted, "I asked first." she poked him lightly and grinned,
"Its nothing, just an expiriment that wentabitwrongandEmandIdontwannadoitagain" she said quickly smiling.
Then she sighed.
"Oh alright, Last time I tried, I put Em and I in a bubble in the library, which went rolling and crashed into a wall. Before that happens again I wanted to ask for help." she blushed slightly.
She wasnt going to tell him the prank though. She had casually hinted at it with Mum and she had casually hinted it not being that bad.
And she really couldnt wait to see her Dad singing opera.
She´d try that out tonight at dinner on Ben. He was always willing and had been guinea pig for most of her expiriments.
Harmless of course. Mostly..
That had been an accident okay!?

Tai nodded. He did know about this birthday party, but it had slipped his mind with everything else on his plate.

Tai sat and listened as Gwen tried to explain herself, a couple of times. He smiled at his daughter's antics.

"The Library, hmm? I'm surprised Oliver didn't have your head. I suppose he was out at the time?" Tai had a feeling that should keep a better watch on Gwen and her trouble making ways. The more magic she learnt, the more trouble she seemed to get herself and her friends in.

"I'm sure Professor Sparrow will get a kick out of you asking for help with this little problem of yours. I don't know how much help I'll be. It involves rather complex transfiguration work after all. Perhaps you should come to me with a Potions dilemma instead." Tai then made a face thinking about the most common Potion thirteen year old girls would want help with.. A Love Potion.

"Erm, perhaps not."

Gwen groaned,
"No wonder I botched it, I hate figgie" she facepalmed. "I´ll tell Em to ask her. She is her Aunt after all, and Figgie is more her thing." She nodded.
"Daaaaaad" Gwen rolled her eyes grinning at her Dads expression and laughed hugging him.
"I dont even wanna know what you were thinking about." she grinned resting her head on his upper arm bcause she was still too short to reach his shoulder.
Merlin she hated being short.
Then Napoleon Bones, her official bonded familiar and doofus of a Saint Bernard came up to them and sat on the couch next to them.
Roxy was with Ben, where she seemed to spend more and more time. It was adorable.
"Okay what are you thinking about?" her blue eyes turned up to him questioningly.

Tai reached out and patted Napoleon on the top of his head, laughing at Gwen's reaction to his facial expression.

"I thought you didn't want to know. As the Muggles say, curiosity killed the cat." Tai looked down at the dog, who's head was now resting on Tai's knee. "Let's just say I'm right royally pleased you haven't come to me for help with that particular potion. Word of advice, go to your mother if the need should arise."

Tai looked at Napoleon again, who seemed content to slobber on Tai's knee. "When was the last time you took this fellow for a walk?"

Gwen laughed, "But satisfaction brought it back" she smirked.
"Daaad, Id never use a Love potion, Amortentia is dangerous and the others arent strong enough" she laughed.
"Advice noted" she nodded saluting him. "And I took him out this morning, fell into a pond and got soaked." she glanced down at herself, glad that a blanket was now covering her very short shorts and her jacket covering her loose Tshirt and her heels up in her closet.
Hehehe.

Tai breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have any wishes to use Love Potion, at least not at the moment. That was fine enough for Tai.

Tai laughed. "Ah, well that gives reason to the wet dog smell then." He pushed the dog away, but the large canine seemed adamant to stay where he was. Tai was too tired to fight him.

"Did he happen to pull you in, or were you just your plain old clumsy self?" he teased Gwen, taking in her appearance. If she kept going around half clothed, she wouldn't have need for Amortentia.

"Looking forward to fourth year?" Merlin, Tai remembered being in fourth year. It seemed like yesterday. He was getting old.

Gwen smiled and whistled for Napoleon to be good.
He obliged and settled for just resting his droling mouth on Dads knee. Better than nothing.
"Did you think the smell was me?" Gwen put on a mock shocked face and laughed,
"I´m not clumsy! Well not always. Maybe a little bit...Mostly..."
Sighing she nodded, "He tackled me and we fell in." she laughed.
"I guess so, I dunno. I´ll see Em and Hes again, that´ll be cool." she shrugged.
Truth was, she kept to herself mostly if she wasnt with tose two. Her..slightly different..personality made it kinda hard to make lasting friends. Normally people thought she was crazy. Or just plain stupid.
So she kept her distance, she didnt want to get hurt. Because, though she´d just brush it off, it did hurt a bit..hearing people whisper or call her crazy in the not so loving way.
Well, she had Em and Hessy.

Tai laughed. "Oh, I don't know. I've never known anyone who can trip up stairs, so I think you win the award for most clumsy."

He glanced sideways at her, Gwen's normally sunny disposition diminished slightly as she shrugged about next year. He didn't know if she wanted to talk about whatever was troubling her; Erika usually handled situations like this. It wasn't that he wasn't any good at dealing with issues like this, it's just that Erika was better. Besides, as Headmaster he could remain somewhat objective about problems that students had, but when his family was concerned, it was personal.

"Are you sure everything is okay?" he asked again. If she didn't want to elaborate, he'd leave it well alone.

"That was ONE time! And I did manage to break my leg too." Gwen pouted before cuddling him.
"Mhmm, everything´s fine. By the way, can Em sleep over on my birthday?" she asked looking up at him. She didnt like to make a fuss about herself, especially her birthday. She preferred everyone not knowing and just hanging with her family and bestie.
"Well...I´m just lonely I guess.." She murmured looking at the wall in front of tem confessing her worries.

"I don't see why not. Is there something special you wanted to do for it?" Tai asked. He knew that she would be just as happy with a quiet family affair, but wanted to give her the opportunity if she wanted something out of the ordinary.

Tai tightened his hold of her shoulders and kissed the top of her head gently.

"With friends like Hester and Emily, I wouldn't think they'd be time for loneliness," he said, jovially, but then placed a serious expression on his face.

"You know you can talk to your mum and I about anything, yeah?"

"Nah, nothing special. Just a sleepover and ehm, a later bedtime?" I made puppy dog eyes at my Dad. Em and I would probably be awake most of the night talking anyway. And plotting. Ahem.
I let him kiss my head and sighed, "Thats kind of it, I have Emily and Hes. I guess James too but he´s always so busy. But thats it. No one else." I bit my lip.
Then I murmured, "Everyone thinks I´m crazy..." and looked down.
Because of all the times a vision put me into trance and I´d space out or sing under my breath, because of all the stunts I pulled...
It was just the way I was...
"Yeah I know Dad.."

Tai chuckled. "A later bedtime? I wonder what that would be for?" He asked, with mirth. "Incessant talking no doubt. Remind me to cast a silencing charm on your room that night, okay?" His daughter had the gift of the gab; a trait she definitely picked up from her mother.

He raised an eyebrow at the mention of a boy. "Who's this James, hmm?" he asked; his curiosity spiked, though that could have been due to the prior thought about love potions. There was only one James in Gryffindor in Gwen's year as far as he was aware, but she could have been friends with a different James from another house and/or year. James was a fairly common name.

Tai looked down at her and shook his head. "Nonsense. Everyone else is crazy for thinking such things. " He smiled at her. "They just haven't got to know the real you, yet. And I can tell you, that as someone who knows the real you; they're missing out."

I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, we´re gonna talk a lot." I said sheepishly knowing my words were sometimes so fast they came out like a waterfall.
When he asked about James I rolled my eyes "Daaad, you´re headmaster. You should know your student!" I teased, "The James in Gryffindor. James Wilson. We´re just friends Dad. Anyway I think Walker and him are together." I couldnt help but glare at Walkers name. I didnt care about what she thought of me, if she´d matured we might have been able to be friends. But when she´d insulted Squibs AND Gryffindors. I thought I´d exlode.
"They just haven't got to know the real you, yet. And I can tell you, that as someone who knows the real you; they're missing out." I smiled slightly,
"Thanks Dad, the problem is, noone bothers." I sighed but smiled at him, "It´ll be okay, I´m used to it."

Tai rolled his eyes. "Forgive me for not knowing every student in the entire school," he said dryly, but smiled all the same. He still wasn't 100% convinced by this whole just friends business. He knew from experience how only friends could easily become something more. Besides, the James Wilson was a trouble maker, from what he gathered. He'd definitely have to keep an eye on him.

Tai didn't know everything to know about women, but one thing he did pick up on was that they were, or something was, rarely okay when they said it was. He had the feeling that talking about wouldn't help the situation either. Was it a cop out because he didn't know the best way to go about talking to Gwen about it? Maybe, but he stuck with the decision to leave it alone.

"Hmm," was all he said, letting her know that he was thinking about the matter. Tai sighed. Where was Erika when you needed her?

"Well, you'll have ample time to decide how best to entertain two people who bothered for this birthday party of yours." He figured a subject change back to something positive might raise Gwen's spirits a little.

Tai frowned. "We'll definitely need to go shopping."

I leaned my head against his shoulder and smiled, "Mhmm, yeah, lets keep it simple, mmkay?"I said quickly at the words *Birthday party*.

"Seriously Dad, coud you pleeease, pleeease keep Moms ecitement in check? You know how she gets with parties..." I chuckled. Yesss, when it came to her children Mom knew no limits.
No. limits.
"I was thinking just order a few pizzas, make some brownies, and then a sleepover. Simple." I smiled. I reaaallly hated getting attention, which is why I liked having three younger brothers. I was never in the spotlight too long. Thank Merlin.