A Sibling Update (Josh and Naomi)

Josh walked into The Three Broomsticks and found a table. He ordered a butterbeer for his sister to drink when she showed up, and some oak-matured mead for himself. It had been too long since he'd seen Naomi, not since Christmas, so he'd asked her to meet him here.

She was going to have to tell him how she was doing on finding that boyfriend, he would tell her about Esmerelda and the possibility there. If he was a honest, he was a bit protective about his sister, and wanted to make sure she was doing alright even though he knew she could take care of herself. Spotting her, he waved her over to the table. "Nice to see you lil sis." Josh said warmly, smiling at her.

Naomi hasn't seen her brother since Christmas and she was pretty happy to finally see him after that long. She wanted to know how he was doing and if he found a girlfriend.

Spotting Josh waving, she walked up to him and sat down at the table.

"Hey Josh, what's up?" She asked, smiling when she saw the butterbeer.

Josh could tell that she seemed to be in a pretty good mood. It was great to see her again, it had been far too long. He couldn't wait to hear how she'd been doing.

"Oh, not too much. Work, read a couple good books, and met a pretty awesome girl when I was wandering around one day." Josh said, smiling and trying to make it seem like nothing out of the ordinary. "She even invited me over to her house to see her art collection." he admitted.

"What about you? Become the new heartbreaker of Hogwarts?" Josh teased.

Naomi giggled quietly at Josh, her lips pulled into a grin as she sipped her butterbeer. It was pretty good to see him again after all this time.

"You met an awesome girl and she invited you over to her house?" She gaped at him, her eyes wide before she grinned. "Now that's a plus... She better be a keeper if not I will hex you to hell and back again."

"I took on an apprenticeship with our headmistress in Dueling, met a new guy, pretty cute and funny too." She smiled as she remembered Alex invited her out for Valentine's day.

Josh could tell his sister was happy to see him, and he laughed a bit with her. He was glad he'd thought to meet her here, it was a good idea. Seeing her only over the Christmas Holidays and summer was not enough.

"Try not to look so shocked sis. I told you I was going to look after all." he teased, a big grin crossing his face. "I have a feeling that she might be. Believe it or not, she's kind of famous. You know my favorite artist slash photographer, Esmerelda Tenebrae, that's who it is." Josh admitted, blushing a little bit. "She's really funny, and surprisingly down to earth."

"A dueling apprenticeship, good choice. From what I've heard Headmistress Romain is an excellent duelist." He'd heard a couple stories about her that made him worry about what she could do when she was angry. "Oh, tell me more about this guy. What house is he in, what's he like to do, give me the scoop." Josh asked her eagerly.

Naomi couldn't help but just stand up and hug her brother tight, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"I'm finally happy you took my advice!" She squealed. "It's about bloody time that you settle down and find someone who will love you for you, just like I love you." She smiled at him, her eyes showing how happy she was.

"She is an excellent one and I can't believe she took me on as an apprentice. Even though I still have slight problems with Magic duelling because of father, I know she will help me to over come that weakness." She said, sitting back down in her seat, sipping her butterbeer slowly. Her cheeks flushed slightly at the mention of Alex but she told him nonetheless.

"He's a Hufflepuff but acts so sneaky sometimes that I think he's a snake in badgers clothing, he's smart, funny and great to get along with, just to name a few. He loves to fly around although I don't know if he plays Quidditch since you know I don't get involved with stuff like that." She bit her lower lip as a smile threatened to show. "He... invited me out for Valentine's day and I had the greatest time of my life." She finished with a dreamy look on her face, her smile bright and her eyes showing how much she loved that day.

Josh smiled and hugged her back, glad that she was happy for him. He was excited to see where it would be going with Esmerelda.

"I figured I might as well listen to you, you are pretty smart after all." he told her. "Don't get ahead of yourself, we only just met. But hopefully things will turn out that way, you'll have to meet her sometime." Esmerelda was probably curious to meet his little sister as well.

"If anybody can help you overcome it, I'm sure she'll be able to. Before you know it you'll be as good or better than I am." he said encouragingly. When Naomi applied herself she could do just about anything. He noted the slight blush when he asked her about this Alex guy.

Listening to her talk about him, he realized how much she already liked him. The Hufflepuff sounded like a pretty decent fellow. "Hmm, he sounds like a good guy sis." Josh told her with a smile. "Now that sounds almost like a date. I'm happy for you." Her eyes spoke volumes about how she felt, and the dreamy look made him chuckle a bit.

Naomi giggled quietly at the compliment of being smart and puffed out her chest, proud of it. Even though she wasn't as smart as her brother or mother, she was still smart for her age, something she took great pride in.

"I'd love to meet her. She must be great if you keep having that dreamy look in your eyes." She teased him, giggling.

"She's already helped me quite a few times and I feel that if it's her that's training me, I'll be able to overcame anything." She smiled sadly.

"He is a great guy!" She squealed, though blushed furiously when she realized they were not at home. "Thank you." She told him, her eyes still sparkling with that happiness.

Josh saw that she was pleased with being called smart, and smiled at her. Naomi had always been a quick learner, she should be a little bit proud of her intelligence.

"Well yea, she is." he admitted, blushing just a little bit. Was it that obvious he really liked her? "I think you'll like her."

"That's great, I'm glad you have such an excellent teacher. It can be quite the challenge handling you sometimes." he teased her.

The squeal made him burst out laughing, but he quickly contained it. She was obviously embarrassed that she'd just done that in public. "I expect nothing less from a guy you picked out." he told her. "No problem, sis. Sometime you'll have to introduce me." If Naomi was this happy about it, he was probably a good guy.

Naomi gaped at her brother. Was that a blush she just saw appear on his cheeks?! She couldn't believe it, her brother was blushing. That was a first. It made the bubbling feeling inside of her bigger, happy that her brother found someone that could be a potential girlfriend for the future.

"She'll be a really lucky woman if you can get her to go out with you Brother." She smiled at him.

Huffing, Naomi crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Josh down her nose, as if she was a purebred Slytherin. "I resent that as it's not true." She said in a haughty voice, mimicking their father. "It is not a challenge handling me."

"He's a really sweet guy and I really like him Josh... Though I don't know if we'll be more than friends." She sighed softly.

Josh laughed a little bit at the look of astonishment Naomi was giving him. He probably had never blushed in front of her before. She would just have to get accustomed to it, and so would he.

"If you say so." he said, smiling back at her. "Really though, I think I'd be the lucky one."

The glare she gave him was a pretty good one, she certainly knew what she was doing. "Oh come on, I was just teasing. You are easy to get along with. Best little sister I could have gotten." he told her honestly.

"Buck up, if the guy's asking you to hang out on Valentine's Day...well, I think he proably likes you too." Josh told her with a smile.

Naomi giggled quietly and shook her head, it really was amazing that her brother could blush like that. Her lips pulled into a smirk when she realized she could tease him about the girl and make him blush.

"I do say so." She puffed out her chest, looking smug. "Both of you would be lucky."

The blond new that Josh was teasing but it still slightly stung that he thought of her hard to get along. "You better... And you are the best big brother I could have had." She smiled and it was true.

Her cheeks bloomed a nice pink color as she thought about that. "I... I want him to be something more." She mumbled quietly.

Josh noticed Naomi's smirk, and wondered what she was thinking about. He never knew what was going on in that head of hers. When she put her mind to it, she was quite cunning.

Her reaction made him laugh, it looked kind of silly coming from her. "You made me think of a hippogriff when you did that, sorry. You're probably right of course, I'll let you know how everything goes.

Looking at her, he realized that his words had hurt her a little bit, and he felt guilty about it. "I really don't think you are tough to get along with, sorry." he said seriously. "Awww, thanks. That means a lot." he replied.

It was kind of odd seeing her be shy about something, but it made him smile to think about her and a good guy together. "I can see that. Should I owl this kid and tell him to ask you out already?" he joked. "He's probably just nervous about the whole thing. The first time you ask somebody out is kind of scary." Josh explained.