Who: Phoebe Smethwyck, Tabitha Diggory, Hippocrates Smethwyck, Elphias Doge
What: A quiet time at the Smethwyck household leads to trouble D:
Where: Phoebe's house
When: RIGHT. NOW.



"So, Smethy, when are you proposing to Rachel?"

Phoebe grinned broadly over at her brother, as she lifted her sister's hair into the air, her wand carefully moving down the strips to keep the coloring even. She really did love spending time with her siblings; ever since Tabby got married it felt like they'd only seen each other like--what, twice a year? Maybe even less. Well, she knew it was more than that, but it felt like so much less because of school and work and babies and significant others. So! She was more than happy to oblige with Tabby's request to dye her hair, and it had taken two minutes to convince Smeth to come and chit chat.

Which of course meant prying into his personal life, but that was what sisters did best.

She dropped the locks of perfectly blonde hair and put her hand on her hip as she continued to stare at her brother. Smethy definitely needed to get things going with Rachel; sure they'd only been dating a few months, but couldn't he see they were totally meant to be? Sheesh.

Smeth had the day off from the hospital that day, and due to the fact that he barely saw his siblings or parents (well - it had been about two weeks, that's a long time) anymore, he of course took that opportunity back home when he received the invite from his baby sister. Lounging on an easy chair, long legs thrown casually over the side, he was idly paging through a Witch Weekly and amusing himself with the various "How to Snag Your Wizard" articles and "Tips for Him in the Bedroom." Once in awhile he'd glance up and nod his approval to Phoebe on Tabby's emerging blonde hair, while he tossed the magazine for another issue on a nearby table.

Unfortunately, he had just gotten settled again, and had taken a rather large gulp of pumpkin fizz when Phoebe popped that deceptively casual question. The second he had swallowed, she had asked, and he reacted immediately. He choked and it took him a good two minutes to stop the hacking and coughing that suddenly racked his body. He had shot straight out of his chair, and now bent over, hands on his knees, heaving for air. The only thing that uttered from the only Smethwyck brother that wasn't a gasp or a heave was a loud, indignant bellow:

"PHOEBE!"

Tabby didn't even attempt to stifle her giggling (really, for a grown woman, she giggled like a second year) at Smeth's shocked expression--in fact, she broke out into full-fledged laughter mere seconds later, glad for the fact that Phoebe was no longer holding her newly blonde hair. Now, she'd be the first person to admit that she had been very disappointed as a child to be getting a baby brother when they had found out about Smeth, but things had certainly changed over the years. After all, she would never be too old to tease him about his girlfriends.

"Phoebe, that's terrible!" Tabitha chimed in as her laughter settled down a bit. "After all, if he marries Rachel, Stalker Girl might get all jealous and kill her in her sleep. They should definitely just reproduce in sin and quiet, for Rachel's safety."

She thew a smirk at her brother before leaning forward to pick up the mirror sitting on the kitchen table. Holding it up, she turned this way and that, admiring the change in her appearance. "I love this color, it's so---shocking! I bet you Amos is going to have a heart attack!"

Phoebe had to clamp her hand over her mouth to stop her laughter from turning into snorts. Her hands didn't stop her from nearly doubling over in her silent laughter, dropping to one knee because of how much her chest hurt from the hilarity of it all. Of course, this probably meant that Smeth was never ever going to discuss his romantic ongoing with them again, but Phoebe definitely had her ways of finding things out. And then she'd tell Tabby everything she found out in the next instant, so all was well!

"But imagine the gossip," she finally choked out, remaining on the floor as she wiped at her eyes. Oh, man. She hadn't laughed that hard in a long time, probably not since---well, the dorm had been pretty somber, with Klio's brother and Ashlyn's ever growing belly. So, it was good to laugh and smile like this, and she grinned up at her sister, ready to comment on how fabulous her hair looked, when a loud BANG ruptured through the room.

She let out a shriek, dropping from one knee straight down to the tiled floor of the kitchen. It sounded like a bloody erumpent horn had exploded in their foyer.

Smeth had been extremely busy glaring at his sisters when the bang occurred. No, not bang, that was a word that completely understated what actually happened. It sounded more like an explosion, and he automatically clapped his hands over his ears, but it didn't help - his ears were already ringing. "What in the bloody hell?" he exclaimed, green eyes wide as marbles and staring frantically around.

Tabitha's thoughts were about the same, except ten times more vulgar and ten times higher pitched than her brother's had been. With Cedric, who had previously been knocked out on the couch, now wide awake, it was probably a good thing she hadn't said them out loud. The kid had quite a penchant for repeating everything he heard, and just yesterday Amos had railed on her for 'teaching' him some very inappropriate words to describe the lifestyle of his cousin Lydia, but---

--okay, that really didn't matter, because something had totally just blown up in the other room. Rushing up from her chair, Tabby went over and grabbed her son's hand, the other on her wand and--frozen in indecision. She was the oldest, did that mean she was supposed to go? But Smeth was the boy, so didn't that meant he should go? Or maybe they should go together, because it could be something serious! But--but she didn't want to get Smeth into anything, that would be a bad big sisterly thing to do.

Oh Merlin, that meant she had to go. Alone. She so hated being the oldest.

"Phoebe, take Ced," she instructed her sister, trying her very best to sound certain. "I'll go check it out."

"But---!"

No, okay---she took her nephew's hand, swooping him up into her arms before quickly ducking out the kitchen and in the opposite direction of the eruption. She could hear voices now, too, and as much as it terrified her to leave Tabby and Smeth with whatever it was that burst down their doors, Cedric was the one who couldn't defend himself at all and---

It had to be death eaters. Phoebe's heart pounded greatly in her ears, unsure where the thought had come from, but she just knew. It was something that had terrified her since Elphias had told her about the Order, when he worried about what they would do to the significant others of the members, it---oh. Oh---maybe it wasn't, maybe she was just freaking out, but---it just---made sense, it made sense because---

---oh hell, that meant they were there for her. She couldn't leave Tabby and Smeth when she was the one that had brought the death eaters to the door!

"Now, Ceddy," she whispered to the boy, opening the cupboard under the stairs. Phoebe used to hide in here when she felt like escaping, "you're going to have to be quiet for Auntie Pheebs, okay?" Cedric nodded, covering his mouth with his hand. She closed the door and pulled her wand to perform a silencing and locking spell--Cedric needed to stay away from this war. Once this was done, she started toward the front of the house, ready to help, but was shoved roughly back into the stairwell. Phoebe gasped loudly at the sight of the death eater in front of her. He must've come from the back--!

She opened her mouth to scream, but he lurched forward and covered her mouth harshly, "Shhh---it'll be easier if you keep quiet."

Smeth gripped his wand tightly, and exchanged a startled look at Tabby. Even if it was Death Eaters, it couldn't be, right? Mind racing, he tried to recall just who exactly his closest friends were - the only people he spent extended time with people that weren't exactly revolutionaries (or at least, he believed so). In addition, he had but mere seconds to recall old Defense spells - spells of which he had naively assumed that he would never have to use again, as a Healer. Together, brother and sister crept towards what they believed was the source of the noise.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and startled, he moved his wand. But the Healer that was so quick to think of diagnoses and solutions for a cure for most any magical malady, was slow, much too. A shining jet of dark blue came through the darkness, and as if in slow motion, he watched it come closer and closer until it hit him square in his left shoulder, near his chest. With a loud shout of pain, he fell, and thrashed in pure agony for several long moments, his right arm instinctively clutching the spot where the curse had hit. It burned, it felt like burning. He was unable to form any sort of rational thought, too focused on the pain, too busy to linger on the fact that he had never read or encountered that kind of curse before. Then, thankfully, he blacked out.

A well-groomed Elphias Doge appeared with soft pop on a paved sidewalk which bordered the quiet neighborhood street running past the Smethwyck home. Pausing for a curious glance around himself, the skittish wizard's large brown eyes searched for house numbers and relaxed when they spotted the correct number after several nervous oversights. He purposefully approached the walkway which led to the nearest house; his back rod-straight, his chin set. The confidence disappeared in the fizzle of a hard swallow when he faced the door still several meters away. His shoulders rolled forward as his fingers began to fidget over the smooth green stalk of the single royal blue tulip he held. Eyes on his polished shoes, Elphias began to pace a few steps in either direction. The young wizard's aggitated gait made him look like a shy, twitchy turtle -- a nerd. A nerd struck scared by a pretty girl, a pretty girl who wanted his help with looking for a flat to move into after leaving Hogwarts. The unnerving part of her simple request was her possible insinuation of them living together in said flat, but he was terrible at reading between lines and--

Though muted by walls and doors, the sound of a scream was unmistakable. It was a sudden shout void happiness, glee, and anger but full of pain. Elphias was unable to discern whether the source was a man or woman but it had issued from the house with an ajar front door his toes pointed toward -- the Smethwyck's house, Phoebe's house. Anxiety and terror hit him like a white hot ball of electricity making his chest feel too tight to contain his lungs and the heart threatening to bounce up to his earlobes. The cautious, persistent over-thinker was kicked from the reigns to make way for the scared young lover who now darted toward battle, death, grief, or a combination of all three. A royal blue tulip lay abandoned on the sidewalk.

Elphias sprinted up the walkway and stumbled twice as his robes tripped him up. His wand was out and held at his side where his right hand tightened around the polished hazel wood. The fear in his chest was then compounded by the fear of his thoughts: What if there's Death Eaters inside? The Order had been cautioned by a grave Albus Dumbledore. Voldemort knew their names. He would likely attack their loved ones. But like most tragedy, Elphias had never thought it could happen to him. But as Elphias quickly examined the bashed-inward door frame (likely the result of a blasting curse) and realized it was happening right now.

Glancing inside the house, he saw Phoebe's sister and brother in foyer with the latter sprawled in an unconscious heap on the floor; a cloaked figure in black robes nearby. Elphias's mind dumped all the defense training out of his ears. The young wizard was across the threshold and flinging out a disarming charm with a shout aimed directly for the cloaked intruder. The wand yanked free of its hand and the owner was flung several meters by a banishment charm to crash into furniture. If there were other intruders inside, Elphias did not know but he'd certainly made his presence known. "Immobolus!" he barked and the figure went still, then "Flipendo!" and the paralyzed body was unceremoniously flopped onto its back. Elphias felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of the wizard's mask. He'd never taken a Death Eater down so quickly before but he knew Phoebe's family was still in danger.

"Are-Are there more?" he managed to choke out of his now panic-strangled throat at Tabitha.

It all happened so quickly that Tabby wasn't even sure it had happened at all until Elphias turned to regard her. Of course she had screamed, when the Death Eater had appeared, and she had rushed to Smeth's side when he had yelled out in pain, and she had had her wand pointed at the Death Eater that had attacked him, all of those spells she'd previously stowed in that Ravenclaw brain of hers completely gone in the moment of life or death and wondering if just seconds ago was the last time she was going to see Cedric again.

She didn't even know why there were Death Eaters here or why they would be any kind of target for You-Know-Who, nor did she even think to wonder it. That didn't matter in comparison to the overwhelming thought that they were going to die, they were all going to die right here and that was it.

But when Tabitha pried her terror-shut eyes back open again to meet the face of Elphias, she was still alive. And Smeth, although he had blacked out, with a quick glance she could tell that her brother was still alive too. And the Death Eater was across the room, unmoving, and---they were still alive.

They were, but when Elphias asked his question, asked if there were more, panic clenched tight like a fist around her heart--there could be more. They could be with her sister, with her son right now. "I---Phoebe and Cedric, they're--I don't know, they're in the living room, oh god, I don't know if there are---"

No, no no no no no no no no NO----Phoebe struggled greatly against the death eater's hold, kicking out wildly. His gloved hand covered her mouth as his other arm wrapped around her middle, dragging her back down the hallway and toward the glass porch door that she knew was just shattered on the floor. She hadn't thought! How could she not have thought that they'd try to get in different ways? Blasting through the front was the distraction, and now she was going to be taken out of the darkness while her brother and sister were probably murdered all because----

Elphias! She heard his shouting, she could---that was Elphias, he was here to----Phoebe stopped her struggling, giving the death eater a false sense of comfort before she slammed down onto his foot, causing him to let go for just a second, "ELPHIAS!" she shrieked, managing only his name before she was grabbed by the arm and flung back into the corner of a display case. The sound of glass shattering against the shelves behind her was nearly deafening, but she still managed to be thankful that it hadn't spilled out and onto her or the floor.

Still a bloody optimist.

"ELPHIAS! ELPHIAS----" she continued to scream, but was cut short at the sharp pain of the death eater's hand across her face. Phoebe gaped up at him miserably, shocked misery, and her eyes twitched toward his raised wand. Holy crap, he was going to kill her.

An agape expression hung on Elphias's young face. He knew his next action should be to search the rest of the house, but the frenzied tension in the room kept him rooted in place as he traded terrified glances with Tabitha. He saw his question arise new fear in her as she babbled a response -- a response which did nothing to squelch his paralyzing worry.

Elphias's gaze jerked away from Tabitha when a sudden shriek of his name cut through the room and took the breath from him. It was Phoebe and the desperation in her voice alarmed him. Her scream was quickly followed by the sounds of a struggle and glass breaking. Remembering that he did, in fact, have a pair of legs, Elphias vacated his guard over the paralyzed Death Eater on the floor and ran toward the source of all the noise as Phoebe continued to cry out for him. If it wasn't for the adrenaline, he might have collapsed under the strain of his own overwhelming anxiety.

Without much forethought or sense, the prudent young wizard made a foolhardy dash into the next room. A bright red stunning charm streaked across the room and hit the shoulder of the the dark wizard threatening Phoebe before Elphias's scrambling feet had a chance to slow up and take a defensive stance. The cloaked wizard immediately crashed unceremoniously to the floor.

Elphias stared dumbly at the trounced Death Eater with his wand still held out firm as his lungs panted wildly for breath and his heart slammed at his senses. He was practically shell shocked.

Phoebe couldn't stop her heart from hammering against her chest. One hour ago she'd let her brother and sister into the house, with the full intention of having a fun night. One minute ago she'd almost been dragged out of her house by a masked death eater. One second ago she'd watched her boyfriend appear from nowhere and completely take out said death eater with one---spell and----

"Elphias---" she managed shakily, pushing herself forward slowly, but it only took a second after she regained her footing to speed up and launch herself at him, grappling her arms around him with an iron grip. Holy, holy, holy crap, holy crap---they needed to get out of there and they needed to call the aurors and where were her parents she wanted her dad and---but Elphias was here, he'd saved her, he had saved her! She owed him her life, she owed him Cedric's life and---and oh----oh where Tabby and Smeth okay---

She heard her sister's voice calling out to them, thankfully, and Phoebe felt a wave of relief crash through her. Tears sprung to her eyes and she clung even harder onto Elphias, muttering that Cedric was in the cupboard under the staircase, repeating over and over that she loved him and thank you for saving their lives.

What a bloody way to start the holiday.