InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Weasley is our king."

It was kind of MG and his incredibly beautiful wife to host Georgi for his first weeks here, though he'd tried to tell them he could stay in an inn, if they had inns in Scotland. (He was almost sure they did.) Whether it was the language barrier or concern for his welfare all alone in a strange country, the McGonagalls hadn't heard of him going anywhere else; they'd escorted him to their home, shown him to a guest room even his mother might not have turned up her nose at, and that was that.

He sat now at the dinner table between their two young girls, who hadn't stopped throwing questions at him left and right since his arrival. He didn't mind it, but it did make it hard to eat. At least the baby didn't talk yet, or he guessed he would've been interrogated from three directions.

"No," he said now in answer to Ava's most recent question, "we are not speak English in Bulgaria. We speak Bulgarian and Russian, and German for school." He smiled at both the girls. "How many languages are you girls speak? Speaking?" he amended.

"Two!" Ellie beamed and held up two fingers to show him. "Mama teaches us Portuguese, and I know some Gaelic from Grandma! Ava does too! But not Theo."

She smiled at her baby brother who beamed back and bounced happily from his spot.

"What about English?" Merc smiled at his youngest daughter.

"But everyone knows English!" At the very least everyone she knew.

"They still need to learn it, same as any other language, sweetheart." The fond amusement was clear in his voice and expression and Ellie considered his point as she hugged her new plush Hungarian Horntail that Da had brought back from his trip for her. He'd been allowed at the dinner table because she'd argued that he was from Georgi's area and this way he had a friend from home at dinner and everyone wants that! Merc was mostly just pleased she'd liked his gift and let her have this one.

"Okay. Three!" Ellie held up three fingers and turned to show their guest so he could count them. "We speak three!"

Georgi clicked his tongue, suitably impressed. "Three is very good. Not all kids are know so much." He smiled shyly across at Gabi, who was so beautiful he didn't know what to do with himself around her. "I think your mama is proud. Yes?"

Theo grinned at the sound, giggling and causing pureed carrots to bubble out of his mouth which Gabi easily wiped up with a napkin. "Very proud," Gabi said, beaming at her younger daughter. Her English still had the musical Brazilian lilt, making her accent adorable - unless she was upset and talking quickly in which case it became downright hilarious. She was about to say something more when Ava interjected.

"But we can help you with your English and you can teach us Bulgarian," Ava announced reaching past Georgi for more pão de queixo. A brief glance from her mother made her draw her hand back. "Georgi? Can you pass the pão de queixo? The cheese bread over there."

Georgi was briefly panicked at not knowing what Ava had asked him for, but the clarification helped. He shook his head in agreement, holding the dish for her. "The food is very good," he mentioned. "We have not this kind of cheese bread in my country. Is it Scottish?" He glanced around the table, hopeful that he had this right.

Merc chuckled as he looked down at his plate, shaking his head no while Ellie piped up to answer for them all. “It’s Brazilian! Mama makes the best and everyone loves it even Auntie Florrie eats a lot of it!” Ellie reached across Georgi, holding her little hands out for her sister to pass the cheese bread back, before catching a glance from her mother and pulling back with an apologetic ‘oops’ expression on her face. “Ava? Can I have some too please? And Georgi too, He needs more pão de queixo too!”

He passed the plate back to the littler one agreeably, but he didn't take any for himself. "No, no… I am not eat too much cheese and bread. Maybe my broom will not hold me." He smiled down at Ellie. "But little girls should eat lots and grow up strong. Yes?" He helped himself to more vegetables instead, keeping his eyes on his plate. "Thank you for the food," he told Gabi. "Is very good."

“Help yourself, Georgi,” Gabi said as she passed him a bowl of grilled vegetables. “But you need your strength too. I have watched Merc when he runs practice. He will work you hard. It’s why I bring snacks.”

She took another piece of pão de queixo and tore it in half. “Also, you must feel free to use the pool and the grounds if you want.”

Ava brightened after passing her sister the cheese bread. “Yes! You must come swimming with us! Do you know how to swim Georgi?”

"Yes," he answered, flashing a grateful smile at Gabi as he accepted a new dish. "I have not been in pool, but at home I live near river. In the summer my cousin Alexei and me are often swim -- swimming, sorry. And we are swimming in ocean in Turkey and Greece, too." He raised his eyebrows. "But here is colder than Bulgaria. Are you swimming in winter too? Maybe I am freeze." Georgi pretended to shiver for the girls' benefit.

The girls giggled and Ellie piped up while she tried to feed her bit of cheese bread to her plush dragon whose mouth made biting attempts with felt teeth. “But our pool is warm! Even when it’s snowing! Even mama doesn’t freeze and mama says it’s always cold here!” Merc had to hide his laugh behind a sip of his drink. Out of the mouths of babes indeed.

Georgi smiled down at her. "Okay. Then maybe I don't freeze, too." He popped a piece of carrot into his mouth, still smiling as he watched Ellie "feed" her toy. He'd spent seven years at Durmstrang, which was cold enough for anyone, so he supposed he wouldn't freeze regardless -- but it was good to know that even the Brazilian at the table would swim in the winter. "In Bulgaria there is hot water springs in the mountain, called banya. My cousin Nadezhda say when we are young a dragon is hiding under water to make it hot. Is your dragon making your pool hot?"

“He could! But he’s new so he hasn’t got to yet. Da brought him for me when he went to find you! But don’t worry, we know real dragons to keep the pool warm. Big and black and purple! Grandma used to live with them! Do you have any at home? Like this one but not Hungarian H-”

Ellie stopped as she forgot the word and looked to Da for help. “Horntail,” he supplied with a smile.

“Horntail! Do you have Bulgarian Horntails?”

Georgi laughed and nodded his head 'no'. "No, we are not have wild dragons in Bulgaria since many years. But I have family in Romania on dragon…" He waved his hand, uncertain of the proper word for reserve. "Place. Home for dragons. Maybe there is Bulgarian Horntail." He shrugged with one shoulder. "Do you have Scottish dragons?"

“Reserve- dragon reserve,” Ava helpfully supplied. “Da’s cousins work on the dragon reserve here in Scotland. Hebridean blacks. They are ferocious!”

Gabi gave Georgi a smile. “I admit, I am not fond of the the cold and the damp, but Merc has done wonders to keep the house and the pool heated. I think that is how he keeps me here,” she teased fondly.

“Guilty,” Merc grinned, no shame in his smile. “But well worth the extra effort. Plus the littles and I get to enjoy the pool too.”

“And flying!” Ellie added.

“And flying,” he agreed even if flying didn’t fall under warm.

“We have lots and lots of brooms so you can fly like a dragon,” Ellie told Georgi. “And once Da put wings on some of the little ones so we could play dragons! You should see, Da has aaaaaall the brooms. Right Da?”

“I have a lot of brooms, maybe not all,” Merc had to chuckle at the beaming little girl. “If you want Georgi, you’re free to test any out. And I suspect the littles here will try and get you on one of theirs so you can play,” he teased, giving each of his girls a knowing smile as they tried to look innocent.

"Thank you," Georgi answered, surprised and pleased by the offer. "Yes, please, I am… uh, I like brooms." He grinned self-consciously. "Maybe I am too big for your dragon brooms, I am thinking, girls. But I have broom. Szardos," he specified, glancing at the adults to see if they were familiar. "She is Romani broom maker. Very famous in my home. I am never flying on British brooms."

"How come?" Asked a disappointed Ellie, mistaking his struggle with the grammar for an actual refusal to ride british brooms.

"Não, Ellie," Ava interjected. "He means that he flies on Roman brooms for quidditch. Just like Da has his favourite broom and Jason flies on the ones Mister Abercrombie makes. And he's right, he is a tad big for our brooms. So is Da. But we could fly on our brooms and make him chase us. See if he can catch the dragon!"

“But but we don’t know until he tries!” Ellie insisted, looking sad about no flying Bulgarian dragon. It only took her a moment to perk back up at the prospect of a flying chase and she bounced in her chair excitedly as she beamed up at Georgi. “Yes! You can try and catch us! And we’ll be Her-her-...the best black purple dragons!”

“Well when you’re done catching dragonlings, feel free to try a few british brooms out. There’s a variety around, and I’ve got quite a bit of the Nimbus line from back when they sponsored me. Can’t say I’ve tried a Szardos but I’ve heard glowing things about them on the international circuit.” As Merc spoke he took the basket of cheese bread to steal one for himself and offer Gabi the rest.

"Okay, yes," Georgi agreed cheerfully. "Thank you, again. Maybe on a British broom I am catching a little dragon." He made claw hands at Ellie and made a cross-eyed face, like he would have at his own little cousins back home when they were playing tag.

Georgi's actions were enough to cause Theo to shriek in excitement, spewing pureed veg all over himself and the vicinity. Gabi chuckled in amusement as she wiped up some of the mess. "Cuidado or you'll have Theo demanding you take him with you."

Ellie had squeaked and dissolved into giggles at Georgi’s dragon face, giggling even more when she saw how delighted her baby brother was too. “Theo can come and be a little dragon!”

Merc meanwhile was pulling out his wand to magically clean up some of Theo’s mess. “With so many dragons, Georgi is going to have his hands full catching them all!”

The silly, homey chaos was enough to make him suddenly, achingly homesick -- it was almost the holidays, he'd miss seeing all the kids this year when the whole family made their annual visit back home to Malkograd -- and Georgi's heart felt leaden. He managed to smile a little anyway, because it was rude not to and he didn't want to make the kids unhappy. "Yes," he agreed. He cleared his throat and devoted himself to his meal while the parents were occupied cleaning up their littlest one.

Ava noticed the change in Georgi. It was like the change that Mamãe would have after putting her and Ellie to bed during the war. She gave him a grin and tugged on his sleeve. "Tell us about Bulgaria, Georgi. What is it like? Does it snow a lot?"

Georgi shook his head in the affirmative. "Yes," he answered. "In mountains, in Vratsa, we are having snow a lot. Is very beautiful in winter." He pushed a bit of roasted pepper around on his plate. "In Malkograd, where I am growing up, is less snow." He smiled down at Ava. "You like snow?"

"I like snow. It's good for building snowmen and making snow angels and snowballs. I like it when it snows on Christmas. Are you going to stay for Christmas? Or are you going to go home to Bulgaria? You could stay with us!"

He made a tch noise with his teeth in the negative, a little sadly. "No… I am not going home at Christmas. Not until after Quidditch season." He couldn't exactly explain why not, because it was too complicated and the children shouldn't hear about those things anyway. Georgi glanced around the table, meeting the adults' eyes to give them apologetic looks. "I am having my own rooms before then. I think you are just having your family at Christmas, little one."

"You are more than welcome to stay with us through Christmas, Georgi. No one should be alone for the holidays. And there is always room for a few more." Gabi knew Christmas was hard for Merc's family, but it had always been a big event for her family and she hadn't quite gotten used to the small McGonagall Christmases - even after ten years. Another person would be more than welcome.

"We have two Christmases!" Ava proclaimed. "We do Christmas here in Scotland with Da's family and then we go to Brazil and have more holiday with Mamãe's family and all the uncles and cousins there! It is summer there! And you are living here so you are like family! All of Montrose is our family!"

Ellie nodded earnestly in agreement. “And Grandma always gets lots of snow so you can make snowmen with us and snowball fights with brooms and she makes all our favourites and we get to help her decorate her tree and and-” She lost steam on her list but her excitement didn’t wane.

Merc smiled fondly at his girls, they really were the sweetest. There might’ve been more than enough time during the quidditch break to portkey back to Bulgaria but if the lad didn’t want to go back, he wasn’t going to ask or push it, just offer him a warm alternative. “Well Georgi, I think your options for Christmas just opened up. As Gabi said, you’re more than welcome to join us. And you’ll be seeing Shona’s family and Florrie if you do. So you’ll get a variety of McGonagalls for it.”

Georgi didn't know what to say to that -- he still had the conviction that he shouldn't intrude on this family more than he already was, but he didn't know how to say no to the invitation. So he just smiled and ducked his head bashfully. "Your family is very kind," he answered. "Thank you. Thank you, girls."

"How do you say thank you in Bulgarian, Georgi?" Ava asked, using a piece of cheese bread to wipe up her plate the way she'd seen her mother do many time. "You have to teach us Bulgarian so we can talk to you better!"

He laughed quietly. "Okay. You say 'blagodarya'." He enunciated slowly and carefully, and repeated the word once more for the little girls. "Blagodarya. Then I say 'molya'. You are welcome."

"Blagodarya," Ava repeated, focusing on getting the sounds right. "In Portuguese you say Obrigado for thank you since you're a boy."

"Blarg-dar...blargo-da..y?" Ellie scrunched up her nose in frustration and tugged on Georgi's sleeve. "Again por favor! I want to get it too!"

"Bla-go-dar-ya," Georgi repeated patiently. "Or you can say mersi. Like in French." He smiled down at Ellie. "Bulgarian is hard language to learn. Don't worry. I am speaking okay in English, and if you are ever going to my country, many wizards there are speak some English too. Maybe even some are speaking Portuguese." He patted her head gently. "Is okay."

"No no I'll get it, wait!" Ellie pleaded, still with a little hand on his sleeve. "Bla-go-da...ya?" She looked to her sister for help. "Bla-go-..."

"Bla-go-dar-ya," Ava repeated for her sister, her Portuguese infusing the Bulgarian word with a bit of musicality. "You've nearly got it, Ellie."

“Bla-go-daR-..ya! Bla-go-dar-ya?” Ellie beamed and looked up at Georgi to see if she got it this time.

Georgi beamed at her, proud as if she were his own little sister. "Da! Yes! Soon you are speaking Bulgarian more better than me," he told Ellie, and turned to give Ava an approving smile as well. "Good girls."

Ellie beamed at Ava and then up at Georgi, very pleased she’d gotten it. She held up her plush Horntail to Georgi and its mouth opened up, felt teeth on full show. “Raa! That's dragon for ‘thank you’! Well he really means ‘thank you very much Georgi for teaching us a little Bulgarian’. But dragons don't talk a lot.”

He shook his head agreeably. "Yes, I see that, Ellie. Thank you for teaching me a little dragon." Georgi smiled up at the McGonagall parents, pushing his plate away from him to signal he was through eating. "Your girls are very clever. At home in Bulgaria I am having two little sisters also, and I think at these ages they were not speaking so many languages."

"There is little choice for the girls. My family does not speak much English, so they need Portuguese to speak to their uncles, cousins, and grandparents." Gabi stood, magicking their plates to the sink before bringing over a plate of brigadeiros and setting them on the table. "Brigadeiro? They are chocolate.."

"They are very smart little lasses," Merc agreed, giving both the girls a proud smile as they beamed back at him while the dessert was being levitated over. "Go ahead Georgi, I've long suspected Gabi has a policy not to let anyone leave her table until they're far too stuffed and you've still got room."

Georgi's eyes widened like a little kid's at the sight of the chocolate, one of his favorite things on the planet. "Yes, please," he said fervently. "Chocolate is why I am not eating so much cheese bread." He smiled to show it was a joke and helped himself. "You are wonderful cook, Mrs. McGonagall."

"Ellie and I helped roll the brigadeiros! Next time you can help if you like! Sometimes she lets us snack when we're making them!" Ava announced, grabbing one of the little fudge balls and popping it in her mouth.

Gabi smiled at the reaction. "It is my pleasure. And I will make sure to bring extra brigadeiros when I stop by practice or for the next game."

Ellie leaned forward to nab her own little fudge ball, too busy and focused on her dessert to add anything more. She grabbed an extra ball and held it out for Da.

Merc smiled as he took the brigadeiro Ellie was offering him. “Well, now you’ve found out why I don’t fly. Too much of Gabi’s cooking.”

Georgi smiled appreciatively and sat back, his mouth full of chocolate and his mind empty of worries for the time being. That the McGonagalls had welcomed him into their home so easily and made him feel so comfortable made him want to give back in any way he could, and with that in mind he snuck a second brigadeiro and jumped to his feet. "I will wash dishes," he decreed. "Please, sit, I will wash."