Back home for the Summer... (Josh and Naomi)

Naomi was back at the Manor for the summer holidays. As soon as she stepped into her room she placed her trunk at the foot of her bed and tried to forget about school for a while. She knew she would be expecting a summon from her father and she wasn't ready for it. Yet.

She knew that her brother would probably come to welcome her back home but she didn't know if he was back yet. The young Gryffindor girl knew that if her father found out about her becoming friends with muggleborns and half-bloods then he'd probably Crucio her into next week.

Sighing, she sat down on her bed and fell back, her hair falling over the edge and her ice-blue eyes staring up at the ceiling. Not realizing she was in her own world, she didn't hear the door open or the heavy footsteps that followed.

Spoiler:

Josh stepped through the door of his house, tired from a long day of cursebreaking. He knew his sister was supposed to be back from Hogwarts today, which was the only reason he was here. Most of the time, he tried to avoid his house because he didn't want to get yelled at by his father.

Naomi was away at Hogwarts now for most of the year, which was a bit of a relief to him. She was much safer at the school than she was at home. Especially when he wasn't here to try and protect her. When he was little, he'd always tried to prevent his father from punishing her, even though most of the time it just ended up in himself getting tortured in her place.

Walking up the stairs, he noticed that his sister was indeed home and in her room. Before, he walked into her room, Josh set his things down in his room. Then he changed into some not stinky clothes, and walked over. Naomi was daydreaming on her bed, and he walked right up next to it. "Hey sis, how was Hogwarts? Make any new friends?" Josh asked. Reaching down, he gave her a hug. "Missed you."

Naomi closed her eyes for a few seconds wondering if her father would summon her or if it was her brother coming back from his curse-breaking. She knew that she was the only reason that he came back home from work.

Letting out a quiet yelp of surprise Naomi shot up from her bed and stared at Josh before she hugged him back.

"JOSH! I missed you too!" She squealed literally in his ear. "Hogwarts was fine... And you know it's totally hard to make friends but I did make one. He's sweet and he quickly connected the hints I gave him about our father." She grinned at him.

She loved being at home as it was the only place where she could actually be herself.

"How about you? How was work? Met any girl?" She grinned impishly at him.

The squeal in his ear when she saw it was him was a little bit too much. He knew that he would have a headache, but he didn't mind too much. Josh's favorite person in the world was home, what did he care about a headache?

"Nice to see you squirt. Next time try to keep the voice a little lower though, if you can manage it." Josh said, smiling to let her know it was alright this time. "It isn't for most people, but we are a bit more of the reserved type. Hmm, so you met a guy who's a friend. Do you like him?" he asked her. He hoped that she wasn't dating anybody without telling him or something like that.

Naomi looked relaxed, and right now he was as well. Their father was probably out doing something, because he wasn't home to spoil their moment of joy. "I'm doing alright. Work is great, I really love searching for treasure and battling all the defenses that surround it." That made him pause a bit, but he shrugged. "Nope, guess I'm just too busy with my job to get out much. Besides, I would have told you if I had."

Naomi grinned impishly at him and stepped back slightly. She knew he'd get a head-ache but did she care? Not.One.Bit. After all, her big brother was home.

"Sorry Josh!" She giggled. "I like him as a friend Josh, nothing more and you know I would've told you if I had anyone." She pouted at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

The fifteen year old was thankful their father was out and couldn't ruin their happy time. "I always knew that you enjoyed your curse breaking yet father never understood..." Naomi trailed off, hanging her head slightly. Though she quickly smiled and patted his arm. "Good brother, I would hate it if you didn't tell me about a new girl."

Her grin always made him think she was up to something. Part of him thought she would have made a good Slytherin. She was cunning, and not all Slytherins were bad. But, Gryffindor made sense too, she'd always been pretty tough and courageous.

"It's alright." Josh said. "Okay, just asking. You don't have to get all uppity on me. But, just because you liked him doesn't necessarily mean there was anything between you yet. Now I know you don't like him in that way, we're all good. So, who do you like? A girl like you, got to be getting some attention, am I right?" he asked her, trying to embarrass her a bit.

He smiled widely, she was so supportivge of him. "Yea, it was a good choice for me. Maybe one day he'll understand, but let's not bring up father right now. Let's keep this a happy conversation." Their dad was a sensitive subject for both of them. "Now, why does it feel like you are the older one? I'm supposed to be the one who pats you on the arm and calls you a good sis. Don't you know the rules?" Josh joked with her.

Naomi knew what was going on through his mind, she could read him easily. She wouldn't admit it but the Hat actually had trouble picking from Slytherin and Gryffindor for her in the end Gryffindor won because she didn't want to become someone her father wanted.

"I'm not getting uppity on you!" She whined. "I only like him as a friend, understood?" She pointed her wand at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth. "I don't like anyone yet, maybe I'll find someone one day." She wouldn't admit it but she did feel a bit embarrassed about it.

"I want to go for Curse-breaking, Auror or I'll try my hand at Potion's Mastery." She told him. "It feels like I'm the older one because I want it to feel like that."

One of the things that was annoying, but nice at the same time, was how easily Naomi could read him. No matter what it was, she always knew exactly what was going on in his head. Josh wasn't sure if that was because they had known each other forever, or whether it was just a magic girl trait. It was one of the things that he loved about his sis though.

"If you don't call crossing your arms and giving me a glare uppity, I don't know what is. I know better not to argue with you though, you always win." Josh said, winking at her. "Okay, okay, I believe you." When she pointed her wand at him he did scared a bit, before he saw her eyes, they were struggling not to laugh. "That's fine sis, I'm the same way you are. It's okay, at least we got each other." He could tell she was a bit embarrassed about not having a boyfriend.

She was ambitious, just like he was. Both were great fields, and he was proud of her for wanting to do some of the tougher jobs. "I'd shoot for Auror if I were you. I have a feeling you would be a great one, good detective type." he said, smiling at her. That made him chuckle. "Well you are good at getting what you want, I have to admit that."

Naomi knew he was probably annoyed by her ability to read him easily but she knew he loved her despite all that. The Gryffindor always enjoyed reading her brother's emotions like an open book.

Naomi pouted more and did the kicked puppy look, she knew it would work on him always and she actually enjoyed having the feeling of him being wrapped around her little finger. "You'd never win against me big brother, I may be a girl but I can kick asses, and yours as well." If her grin was anything to go by then people would definitely be scared to be on the end of her wand. "I know Josh... I just feel left out, nearly all the girls in my year have boyfriends but I don't have one." She looked down, her eyes softening in slight sadness before her mask was back up.

"I think I'll go for Auror but I think I'll also do my Potion's Mastery. I want to become a Potions' Mistress although some of my teachers think I should go for two mysteries. Potions and Transfiguration." She told him, her lips curling into a slight smirk.

Even though she was so much younger than him, Josh kind of looked up to Naomi. She was very mature for her age, and if he was honest, a lot smarter than he was.

Her puppy dog face turned him to mush as always. She knew just how to get him to do what she wanted. "I'm sure you can. If I didn't love you too much I would defend myself, but I could never fight you." Josh told her. Naomi needed some encouragement. "Naomi, you're a fantastic girl. One day a boy is going to realize that and chase you down. Trust me, you won't have any problem getting a boyfriend." he said seriously. He hated to see his sister sad.

"Well good luck, I know you can do anything you put your mind too. Teaching two classes would be really great." If anybody could be an Auror or a great teacher, his sis could. Josh just smiled at her, proud of her ambition.

Naomi hugged Josh again, enjoying their closness. After a few months of not being able to be with her brother, Naomi missed him dearly.

"Of course you could never fight me, you love me too much." She smirked at him. "I know... I know Josh... I guess it's just hard." She hated feeling this way but she knew it was true or some of it anyway.

"Thank you Josh!" She squealed. "You're the best!"

Josh hugged his little sister back tightly. Being home with her was good, she always cheered him up. She loved him, he loved her, and it was hard not seeing her for months.

"Yea, I sure do. You are the best, lil sis." Josh told her, smirking back at her. "Dating is always hard. It hasn't gotten easier for me, but you gotta keep your chin up. Keep smiling, and some guy is bound to fall for it. You have a great smile."

"You're welcome." he said, laughing. "But you are the best sis."

Naomi giggled at him, her eyes shining in happiness. She loved being able to lower her mask at home with her brother.

"Thanks Josh... You're the best." She smiled before once again, falling back on the bed. "We need to find you a girl.." She murmured quietly, watching him.

Being her with his little sis was great, he hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her. She always was just so, well fun to be with.

"What are big brothers for, huh?" he said, and mussed up her hair a bit. "Find me a girl? Good luck with that. I haven't been on the dating scene in a while, since Hogwarts really."

Naomi slapped his hand away when he mussed up her hair, she was glaring at him as she patted it down. "Hey! Don't mess my hair up, it took me three hours to just straighten it and then curl the ends!" She huffed before she grinned.

"We do need to find you a girl, you've been single for too long big brother. You should start socialising again with people your age, maybe you'll find the one." She knew she was acting slightly cheeky when she said it but she knew he liked her this way.

Josh pulled his slapped hand back and smirked at her. "Fine, point taken, don't mess with your hair. I'm not sure why you take such pains with your hair, but I suppose you like to look pretty. I guess that explains why it takes so long." he teased her.

"Single for too long, huh? Maybe you are right. I do socialize with people my age though...well, sometimes. Hmm, I guess I'll keep an eye out to make you happy. But you have to as well, okay." She had a bit of an attitude today. He couldn't say he minded it all that much, it suited her.

Naomi huffed more and she looked snobby slightly while she did this, like she was some spoiled and pureblood Slytherin. Her lips quirked into a smiled before she light-heartedly scowled at him.

"Us girls, do not take a lot of time with our hair." She told him. "But yes, we do like to look pretty." Her lips pulled into a slight pout.

"You are single for too long, you really need a girlfriend that I can call a sister." She grinned at him before her cheeks flushed a nice pink colour, that stood out with her pale complexion. "Fine, I will..." She muttered.

Oh no, now she was getting annoyed with him. He hated that look that she gave him, she'd perfected it a long time ago. Where she learned it he wasn't sure, but it was learned well.

Three hours is too a long time! Thankfully, he refrained from saying that out loud. "You look beautiful sis, whatever you did worked." Josh said. He hated seeing her pout at him like that.

"I'll work on it, see what I can do for you. If I find somebody, I'll owl you all the details." he promised her. Wow, I actually got her to blush, how cute. "Good, I'm sure you'll find a cute boy in no time."

Naomi lightly glared at her big brother before her lips pulled into a smirk. She couldn't help but find it amusing that he was annoyed just from how long it takes to make her hair.

"Thank you Josh," She smiled at her brother. "I always knew I could make you say things I like with the way I pout."

"You better find someone, you need it." Naomi grinned at him. "I will find someone, I'm sure." She nodded, determined.

Josh still thought taking three hours with hair was a bit much, but if she wanted to take that long that was her choice. Maybe he thought it odd because he was a guy, he hardly took any time to get ready to go.

That made him laugh, it was true too. "Yes, it seems to be a talent of yours. How'd you learn how to do that anyway?" he asked her with a smirk on his face.

"I need it, huh. What's that mean?" Josh asked her suspiciously. "Course you will, that I have no doubt about."

Naomi smiled at him, sitting back down on the bed and looking at him.

"I had years of practice Josh, you gave in from the first time I started using the kicked puppy look." She smirked back at him.

"It means that you should give your work a break and try to find some girl to settle down with." She told him, nodding her head. "Damn right I will."

(OOC: Sorry for the late replies I've had college the past few days and had to catch up with some friends, ^^)

Josh slouched against the wall and yawned, he was getting a bit tired.

"Well how am I supposed to resist that, I don't think it's possible. You are just too good. Playing on my little sister weakness." He tsked, shaking his head.

"Okay, okay, I'll work on it. If I find one I'll make sure to bring her over for dinner sometime, to get your approal." Josh told her. "I think I'm going to go get some sleep, I'm dead tired. See you later, alligator." That was what they used to say when they were little. Her response was 'In a while, crocodile'. Silly, but it still pulled a grin out of him.