There was a reason, she supposed, why she was the stoner and her sister was the genius. She caught onto what the younger girl was saying pretty quick, though genuinely she was surprised the brunette was helping her out, and especially at dinner with their parents. Rath had been shooting her useless but appreciated looks of sympathy, but other than that she had sort of been twisting in the wind.

"Yeah, t-they're actually.. uhm, like, really good. I love them," she quickly agreed, going rigid with her napkin in hand as Madeline questioned them. When she seemed satisfied with their answers, the redhead made to cough, disposing as much potato as she could and quickly tucking the now disgusting napkin beside her plate. "I'm getting pretty f-full though," she went on, eying her father in particular.

"You don't eat enough," he gruffly replied from beside his wife, not really looking up from his own meal. "Either of you, your brother is the only one with any meat on his bones!"

Tatum glanced at Rath, considered mentioning that they usually ate the exact same munchies, but decided against it. She ate plenty, just not in front of them. It was hard to explain. "Sorry," she offered weakly instead, picking up some coined carrots with her fork and managing to chew it up convincingly before coughing into the napkin again.

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Sera tried not to look over at her sister, probably out of fear of laughing as Tatum actually managed to spit out a couple bites. She noticed either of their parents seemed to be noticing what was happening though.

The brunette glanced out instantly at her father, giving him her full attention and he had always demanded when he speaks. She stared at him kind of dumbfound. As far as she knew Rath and Tatum were the exact same size and neither of them were much bigger or smaller than she was. She considered pointed all this out but thought better of it. "I eat all the time dad." She went with instead, as calmly as she could. "The food here is really amazing I told you." She smiled brightly at Mick before looking to both the twins. "They do too. I see them in here all the time. Sometimes we even all eat together. Right you guys?" She shot both of the twins a quick smirk.

Madeline looked to each of the three kids and then at her husband. "They look the same as the always did to me Mick." The three children had always been fairly thin in her opinion.

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Other than this meal, Tatum couldn't really remember the last time that she had eaten with her siblings. But she nodded enthusiastically just the same. "Y-Yeah, all the time, it's.. awesome," the redhead agreed. "We e-eat here together like, after uhm.. church all the time."

She figured tossing a church reference in would at least garner them a few points, and the faint smile on her father's face showed that she was right. Madeline chiming in sealed the deal, exempting them from criticism for a few minutes anyway. "I suppose," he replied dryly, reaching out and taking a roll from the basket at the middle of the table.

"If you were a little more athletic," he began, gesturing with Tatum with his butter knife first, and then pointing it to Sera. "Like your sister, then maybe you'd at least be healthier.. you're always coughing all of the time," he commented absently.

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"Yeah Dad every Sunday after church we all come her for a big brunch. It's like a tradition." She glanced to Tatum and smiled at her father, hoping he wouldn't catch either of their lies. He was a hard person to lie to, Sera always supposed it was his experience as a cop but they did still have him convinced they went to church every weekend, so he wasn't perfect.

"That sounds really lovely." Madeline looked up quite surprised, not really at her youngest daughter but at the other two. "I'm glad to see you two are spending time with your sister then." She added, now eying the Rath and Tatum with a slightly stern look at the end of the table.

"Perhaps we should have her tested to asthma Mick?" Madeline suggested, she too noticed Tatum tended to cough quite a bit for a young girl like herself. "Unless you have something you'd like confess to?" She was now looking back to Tatum. "You don't smoke do you? It's really a disgusting habit."

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"Yeah, l-like a tradition," Tatum chimed in quickly. It was a nice touch, but then again she knew that Sera had always had a flair for the dramatics. Especially when it came to impressing their parents. Mick didn't seem to catch on that anything was up with their explanation, actually looking quite pleased to hear it. "That really is quite lovely," he agreed, nodding at his wife. He too eyed the twins suspiciously though, before turning on Sera.

"They treat you well? They haven't been rude to you?" he asked seriously, while Madeline took care of giving the stern look to the other two children.

Tatum shrank down in her seat again at the mention of being tested for asthma, quickly shaking her head. "M-Mom, I don't have a-asthma, don't be ridiculous," she replied, looking to her dad and waiting to see what his input would be. But her step-mother went onto the subject of smoking too quickly for him to have a chance, and Tatum's eyes went wide for just a split moment before she composed herself again.

"N-No way! I'd never like.. I mean, we l-learn about all of that stuff. Like, cancer and.. stuff. I w-wouldn't do that to my lungs," she explained quickly. "And it's like, yeah, totally gross, right? I remember when Sera u-used to do it.. you smelled awful, huh sis?"

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"Yes dad they treat me just fine." Sera replied quickly, slumping down in her chair a little. It didn't matter how many times she helped Tatum out that meal, she knew her older sister would tease her about it later. "We've all been getting a long a lot better lately actually." She decided to add, sitting up again, regaining her posture. She noticed Madelaine looking in her direction, she didn't have to speak, she knew what she was thinking. That was no way for a lady to be sitting at the table.

She watched Tatum, waiting to see what she was going to say. She didn't miss the brief look of panic on Tatum's face but she was pretty sure their parents did. She held back her urge to smile as the red head tried to convince them she doesn't smoke. When she heard her name however her eyes got wide, probably looking how Tatum just did. She hated when that got brought up around their parents.

"I know I did Tatum." She shot her sister a quick look, rolling her eyes. "I can't believe I did that, so gross." She screwed her face up trying to look up completely disgusted with herself. Mick and Madelaine would kill her if they knew she didn't completely quit the habit.

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"So long as you've learned your lesson," Mick assured his daughter fondly, before turning his eye on Tatum again. "You're sure you haven't been smoking?" he asked again, just to be sure. Trying not to pale, she shook her head quickly. "N-No way dad, I.. I w-wouldn't, honestly."

It felt sort of bad to lie to him, but it wasn't the first time. And besides that, she spent every day of her life lying to herself and others, just for him. She made her sacrifices. They were even.

"Good. I know that we raised wiser children than that," he nodded.

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"You sure did dad." Sera added smiling brightly at her father and looking to Tatum. "We all know better than to do that." It was in her best interest to stick up for Tatum and Rath, she knew they both knew she still smoked cigarettes and weed once and a while too. Given, it was usually with Tatum.

Madeline smiled up at her three children, glowing. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. She gave Tatum another quick look to be sure she wasn't lying. "So Tatum.." She sat down her fork and looked over at her oldest daughter. "I was talking to the Mrs Haines earlier, she was your transfiguration teacher, and you should really be trying to join Honor Society like your sister. The extra research time would put you at a real advantage for med-school you know." She nodded at Tatum, taking a sip of wine from her glass.

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Once she was addressed specifically, Tatum began bracing herself for the criticism to come. But this was a new route for Madeline. The redhaired girl fought the urge to scrunch up her face at the mention of honor society, of all the clubs she could suggest. Sure, Sunny was in it, but she really wouldn't want to spend time hanging out with Sera and all of the other over-achievers. There was a reason it was Sera's scene and not hers.

"I-I'm doing fine, mom. I don't really.. n-need to be at an advantage. I mean, I didn't f-fail anything yet," she offered, quickly straightening up in her chair and going on. "Or e-ever, I mean. Not like, yet as in I will.. c-cause I won't. I've r-really been studying."

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"Not failing isn't quite the advantage I was talking about Tatum. Med-school looks heavily at these things and if you still considering muggle medicine it's even more important, you'll be completing with the best from all the ivy league schools." She nodded her head at Tatum but otherwise had very littler expression of her face.

"I'm glad to hear you doing good though. She picked up her wine glass, swallowing a sip she she tilted it towards me, looking at him briefly. "You three all better keep that up this year, we expect excellent marks from the lot of you." She was warning Sera too, something she always seemed to do since freshman year, reminding her to stay out of trouble. However she shot her youngest daughter a warm smile, she wasn't really too worried about her. "And no trouble."

Sera glanced over quickly at her mom, turning to her dad too so they knew she was addressing both of them. "You have nothing to worry about, I plan on getting stop marks in everything if it kills me. One person beat me last year and I'll be damn..darned (she shot her father a sorry expression) if I let it happen again." She beamed brightly at her parents, wiping her hands on her napkin and pushing her plate off to the side slightly. She was feeling pretty full herself but her plate was mostly empty. She wanted to save the little bit of room she had left for dessert.

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Tatum had heard the entire speech before, her step-mother was always harping on her about how competitive medical school could be, and she nodded her head dutifully. "I-I know mom. I'm.. r-really going to pull up my s-socks this term, I swear. You're g-gunna see," the redhead murmured weakly, looking up at both of her parents across the table. She didn't miss the fond smile that Sera got, while she and Rath received a skeptical glance.

"N-No trouble," Tatum agreed softly. Mick looked to both of his daughters, as well as his son, and then nodded slowly. "That's what we like to hear," he replied, glad to hear Sera correct herself quickly on the slip-up swear. "We know that you'll all act with the utmost respect for your educations, and your teachers.. we don't expect to hear any negative feedback this semester, or any other."

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"Good to hear then Tatum, I hope you mean that. I still think Honor Society is something to consider though. Couldn't hurt to think about it." Madeline nodded, smiling slightly at her oldest daughter as she picked up her wine glass again. It was caring but nowhere close to the proud smile Sera had received. She turned on Rath next who had been sitting at the end of the table staring at his plate,

After Rath responded basically just copying Tatum, telling them what they wanted to hear and stuttering nearly as much, Madeline grinned. She seemed to be satisfied with each their answers, they had all promised to do as they expected. Mick did as well as he was now busy picking as his plate of food again. She cleared her throat before suddenly changing the subject. It seemed like it was something she'd been waiting to bring up.

"So Tatum we ran into Colin's mom this past Sunday at church and she says you two've had a little break up." She frowned a little over at her oldest daughter. Sera was next to her hardly able to control herself from laughing. At least she wouldn't have to watch Tatum pretend to be into him anymore, they really were irritating to watch.

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"I-I'll think about it," Tatum lied easily, lowering her head a bit and keeping her eyes on her still half-full plate as her mother turned on Rath. She felt bad for him, but it would have been a lie if she said she wasn't relieved by the moment of peace it brought. It was even better when she gave up on him and a lovely silence settled over the table.

There was a few moments of it, before Madeline was clearing her throat and Tatum knew something bad had to be coming. What her step-mother said, however, made her choke on the mouthful of juice she had just been swallowing. Her eyes were wide as she stared first at Madeline, and then hastily at Sera. She could tell the brunette was fighting very hard to hold in her giggles, and she knew the glint in her sister's eye. She was so beyond fucked.

"Uhm," she began shakily, her voice already cracking. "Uhm, we did, but we.. w-we're talking, and we're just t-taking a little break. We're like, good.. like so good, don't even worry! He's like, c-cute and I.. totally am totally into him. For sure," she went on, barely able to keep track of what came out of her mouth. It sounded like a jumbled plea, but her father hadn't even looked up from eating, so it must have been working. He didn't really interfere in love life, unless she was single. It was only then that she had to put up with the constant questions about when she'd find herself a strong 'quidpot' player to go steady with.

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Hearing Tatum's answer Sera was really fighting now to keep control of herself. She wanted to burst out laughing and even more than that she wished she hadn't left her phone in her room, Mack woulda loved to her hear this.

Throwing in just how cute and into him she was, Sera really kind of thought it was a bit over the top. The whole thing was really a bit over the top. Normally Sera would have loved to call Tatum out but with their father sitting just across the table she wouldn't dare. She looked over at Tatum, shaking her head discretely and grinning. "Oh just a break, that's not so bad than. I hope you two get back together." She grinned wider, but obviously not sincerely over at her sister. She couldn't want to ask her about what really happened, sometime when their father wasn't around. She was sure there had to be more to the story.

Madelaine frowned slightly at Tatum's answer, she didn't however seem to notice Sera's smirking or sarcasm. "I know you are Tatum, you two are the cutest little couple. His parents seem very nice as well, that's why I was so upset to hear about the two of you. Glad you say things are going to be okay then, good..good." Madelaine repeated, picking up her glass again and finishing off the last of her wine.

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Fighting desperately against the urge to kick Sera under the table or at least flip her off, Tatum managed a strained little grin of her own instead. "I-I'm sure we will," she assured the younger girl, eyes narrowing a bit as Madeline was distracted with finishing off her wine. The brunette was go getting a swift punch later if it was the last thing Tatum ever did.

"We're like.. totally fine mom. And like, there are so many.. uhm, cute boys. Here at school, I mean. If Colin and I don't like, work out.. romantically. Or whatever," she added, looking away a bit as the older woman put her glass down. She was sure if she looked her in the face, her step-mother would know she was lying or something. It was best just to avoid eye contact.

Speaking up from his end of the table, and startling Tatum a bit, Mick seemed to have his sights set on his youngest. "Speaking of young men," he began, relieving Tatum immensely when she saw he was staring right at her sister instead. "Do you have any nice Quidpot players we should know about, Sera? Surely there isn't a boy in this school who wouldn't want to date a beautiful cheerleader," he encouraged her. Now it was Tatum's turn not to burst out laughing, taking a long drink of juice instead to keep herself silent.

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