InsaneJournal

Geoff'd had a hard time getting to sleep since the Battle, and tonight was no exception. Chris and Sadie were both already asleep, and his grandparents had retired to their room. With his seventeenth birthday a week away, they'd started letting him sort of just have the run of the house when he couldn't sleep. Though, at their request, he'd come back from Audra's on the early side of things.

He sat on the couch in the sitting room, staring gloomily at the crackling fireplace and holding a cup of warm milk in his hands, though not drinking it. It had been over a week now, and surely the news must have traveled fast. Wherever his family was, they must have heard it, they must have wanted to get home as soon as possible. But they weren't back yet. He couldn't help but start wondering about why they weren't back yet. Lack of word from them since August had worn on him, and he was afraid of the worst.

With a sigh, Geoff rose from the couch to head into the kitchen and dump the milk. He suddenly didn't want it anymore. He almost missed the flames in the fireplace roaring into a green, but he caught a flicker out of the corner of his eye and turned. They were definitely green. He reached for his wand before he remembered he'd left it in his room, and he swallowed nervously, backing toward the door.

But then out through the flames tumbled a ten-year-old girl, her face and clothes streaked with soot, her long hair hanging in two braids over her shoulders. Geoff dropped the glass of milk in shock, not really noticing when it hit the carpeted floor and, while it didn't break, it splashed milk all over the floor and his feet.

"Lou!" he whooped, running forward to scoop his littlest sister up in his arms.

"Geoff!" she shrieked, her arms going around his neck as he picked her up and spun her around.

Only a few moments later, Geoff's mum stepped out of the fireplace, followed shortly by his father before the flames returned to their normal orangey red. Geoff set Lou down and ran to his parents, who hugged him close between them.

Almost-seventeen be damned, Geoff was crying. "Mum, dad, you're okay."

"I met a moose!" Lou chirped, bouncing a little on the balls of her feet. Apparently being on the run for nearly a year hadn't dampened her cheerful spirit. Geoff choked on a laugh, finally releasing his parents enough to pull Lou into the hug. Rapid footsteps on the stairs preceeded Chris and Sadie running down the stairs, they must have heard the commotion. They screamed in delight when they saw their parents and sister, and ran to join in on the family hug.

His birthday was still a week away, but this was the best birthday present he could ever get.