Grab your parent and 'round we go!

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Previous years Parents Weekend for Samir had involved moving chairs and giving directions, which suited him fine. It was easy and the downtime spent in the staff room away from parents was plentiful. This year however, he had been deemed professional enough to be right in the thick of the action with a little divination table set up and giving free readings to parents if they so wished. It was more effort but Samir wasn't giving proper readings, just generic ones aimed at turning the opinion of the subject around. The fact was divination was still seen as a joke, a easy pass and Professor Davis was keen to dispell any of that. Never mind that she was useless, in Samir's opinion.

Even with his short sleeves Samir was uncomfortable with the evening heat, not to mention distracted by the thought of Sunday's fireworks. He was perched on the edge of the little card table with his eyes closed when he had the odd feeling that someone was licking his shoe. Looking down, he was confronted with a dog and laughed gently, giving it a scratch behind the ears.

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Dani hated parent's weekend, it was just another excuse for the whole family to come to campus and pick away at every little thing. The only thing she ever looked forward to was being able to spend time with her mom. Dani's parents had opted out of an official tour, choosing instead to have their own daughter walk them around and show them some of her favorite things. She had intended to take them to the quodpot field but Laddy other plans. The blue minipit had been pulling on his leash all night and when Dani was distracted he gave her the slip, sneaking out of his collar and bolting.

Laddy made his way around the field, checking out the tables and getting treats from random passers until he found his way over to Samir's table. A dog with a sweet disposition he greeted the scratches with a happy tail wag until he heard Dani's voice. His ears went flat to his head and his tail tucked between his legs.

"Laddy! You fat little shit!" she hollered as she crossed the field. Markus and Jada were right behind her, Markus looking embarrassed and Jada only smiling. "Oh fuck sorry Mr. Marciano," she said clipping Laddy's collar and leash back on. "You aint gettin' any treats tonight," she scolded the dog.

"Danielle Elizabeth," Markus barked sternly. "Watch your mouth."

Her eyes got wide, remembering that she was in front of one of the faculty members. "Well shit, sorry."

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Samir never got used to being called 'Mr. Marciano' and it even took him a second to realise it was pretty inappropriate to go around cursing infront of staff members. He had to laugh anyway, a little light relief was a very welcome distraction. "Aw, it aint nothin'" he said, smiling at Dani and the girl's father. He knew who she was, just like how you ended up knowing who all the students were from talk in the staff room. Sam was pretty sure he'd supervised a dentention or two with Dani too.

Samir reached out to shake both her parent's hands. "Any of y'all interested in divination?" It was unlikely, juding by the luke warm reception he'd recieved the rest of the day.

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Dani wiped at her forehead. That was the very reason she loved support staff, they were a little more lenient than the professors. "Thanks," she said scratching behind Laddy's ears and smiling at Samir.

Dani's parents both shook his hands in turn. "I'm Markus and this is my wife Jada. We must apologize for our Danielle's behavior, she's got quite the mouth on her," he said diplomatically.

Dani flushed a bit at her dad's introduction. "Daaad," Dani said her eyes getting wide.

"That would be fun!" Jada interjected. "Wouldn't that be fun Dani?" she asked pushing her daughter's hair behind her shoulders.

"Alright ma," she said a little defeated.

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This man seemed like a real trip to have as a daddy and Samir found himself biting his tongue a little to settle down. "Well we were all young once, sir" he replied, catching Dani's eye with a flicker of sympathy.

Stepping aside from the table Samir revealed a few tools, a crystal ball in an orante stand, a teapot charmed to stay full and hot and a few books with scribbles in. "I can do you a ball reading or look at your tea leaves" he offered. "Or a palm reading. What'll it be?"

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Markus only nodded, looking over at Dani for her reaction. He hadn't intended to embarrass her but public shamed seemed to be the only thing to keep her in line. Dani smiled at the look of sympathy, feeling a little better that Samir seemed to understand. Sometimes her dad could be a real pain in the ass but she kept that little gem to herself.

"Ooo," Jada said, her eyes getting wide. She had never been good at divination as a student but she had always been fascinated by it. "Why don't we do some palm readings Dani?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure ma," she grinned. "You want me to go first?"

"Sure darlin," she said sweetly.

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Sam held out his hand for Dani's free one and set to work. First he tested her flexibility before spreading her palm open and gazing intently and the little lines criss-crossing all over. He hummed to himself and looked up at the girl. "You have a chained heart line" he revealed, pointing to the line and running a finger down it. "That means ya like things to be excitin', but you also need to watch your blood pressure. Your life line s'good and long" he continued (as if he'd say if it wasn't) with a smile. "It runs deep, see? Means you're in peak physical condition."

Twisting her hand in the light he gave a short laugh and held Dani's hand out to her parents. "This line means you're headstrong. It probably runs in the family."

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Dani was always a little skeptical about divination but as she listened to him she nodded, smirking the whole time. "I better be in peak physical condition, I work my ass off on the pitch," she made a little face remembering she wasn't supposed to cuss again. She laughed at him saying she was headstrong. "Now that's the truest thing I ever heard," she grinned.

Markus and Jada both laughed. "Well that's no surprise," Jada said brightly. "She takes up after both her parents."

"Laddy's a little headstrong too," Dani said affectionately.

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Taking a saucer from the tea cup, Samir charmed some water out of his wand and put it on the floor for the dog to drink. He always was a softy when it came to critters.

"Y'all looking forward to the sports demonstration tomorrow? I hear Danielle's a pretty good flyer. Well, more braggin' from Coach Ramirez than hearin' it."

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Laddy gladly lapped up the water and Dani beamed. "Thanks," she said, her cheeks getting pretty red.

"It's always our favorite part of parent's weekend to watch Dani playing," Markus said giving Dani a little smile. She always seemed happiest on a broom and for as much as he picked at her, he really did just want his daughter to be happy.

"Oh yes," Jada said brightly. "Markus and his brother always love going to the games, Dani's cousin also plays for Shenandoah."

"Alex is dead weight," Dani grunted. "She only flies well when Uncle Dimitrius is watching," she realized she sounded like a brat and winced a little.

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Keen to not get embroiled in some family drama Samir jumped in before either of Dani's parents could say anything. "I used to be in Shenandoah, too. I still get a kick out of seein' 'em win. Good, strong team this year. Great chances." Really he was just rattling off whatever he'd heard Teodoro barking at dinner time, never having really followed the games.

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Markus had been about to scold Danielle for talking bad about her cousin when Samir began rambling about the quodpot team. "It is good to watch the old house win," he smiled. "So far we've had three kids play for Shenandoah," he said proudly.

"The other two boys played for my old house Roanoke," Jada added in with a warm smile.

Dani have Samir an appreciative smile and nodded. "Yeah coach didn't fuck around this year, he put a solid line up together, looks like we got a fightin' chance at that cup," she said brightly.

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Sunny always volunteered to help out for parent's weekend. She figured one of her brothers or sisters would entertain her parents while she lead some tours for first years and transfer students and their families. She moved in front of the group assembled for her tour and smiled. "Hi everyone!" she said brightly. "I'm Sunny, and I'll be bringing you around the campus today. If you have any questions, ask away!"

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To Tatum, there were only two good things about the first day of parents weekend. First of all, Friday was the only day that she got to dress herself. Her parents had arrived after class, and so she was already showered and wearing her own choice of clothes. She had no doubt that her step-mother would be trying to 'help' her dress up the next few days that she was around.

The second good thing was her plan to give her parents the slip later, a perfect plan dreamed up with Sam. She was more than a little bit pumped for watching Dawn of the Dead. It had been far too long. With her head in the clouds thinking about zombies, she was glad to have something else to think about except this stupid tour she had to go on. Every single year since she had started at Blue Ridge, her step-mother liked to go on the student lead tours. Even though things rarely changed all that much, she always insisted on going and Tatum was almost always the one who got stuck going with her.

After the second year, everyone else learned to make up excuses.

With her headphones hung around her neck, the redhead had every intention to pull them up and listen to them once the tour actually got going. "Isn't that your friend, dear?" Madeline asked from beside her, snapping Tatum out of her thoughts and making her look up. She felt a weight lifting off her shoulders. She had lucked out and gotten Sunny after all.

Lifting her hand weakly, she gave the other girl a little wave. Beside her, the redhead's step-mother frowned a bit. What sort of greeting was that meant to be, the older woman wondered. It sometimes confused her how her oldest daughter could be so.. strange.

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"Oh hey Tate!" Sunny called enthusiastically, giving the red head a wave. Distracted momentarily by a worried mom asking about parental supervision for trips into Bluebell Town, Sunny quickly explained that there were trips every other Saturday and no one was ever left in town.

She started walking the group around the campus. Bringing them from the quodpot field down to the muggle sports field and the quidditch pitch where she explained the sports programs at the school. She brought them down around to the green house. After that it was to the gym, the library, and then back around the housing buildings and the two class buildings. Sunny, as always, interjected a few stories throughout the tour to liven up the monotony of the tour. She answered a few more questions from first year parents and then meandered toward the back where she knew she had seen Tatum.

"Hey you, how was your first week back?" she asked brightly.

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Tatum was more than glad to keep to herself for the majority of the tour. She would look up occasionally when her step-mother would raise her hand for a question, the redhead pulling her headphones down a bit to listen and make sure she wasn't asking something silly or embarrassing. But aside from the repetition of the tour, she spent every day navigating these grounds after all, it didn't seem to be going so bad.

When Sunny sidled up to her, she managed a weak smile and pulled her headphones down again. "N-Not bad," she replied quietly, looking to see that her step-mother was chatting happily with another mother. Presumably a first year's mom, as Tatum could now softly hear Madeline re-assuring the other woman that her son would be just fine, the staff were just brilliant and the student government was wonderful as well. Her daughter and her best friend were on it, she was saying, and Tatum quickly turned back to Sunny instead of listening to more endless praise for Sera.

"Just trying t-to, y'know, plot my escape.. no offense," she added, smiling sheepishly. "Sam is going to r-rescue me for a while later, I think. After the concert.. I'm pretty pumped."

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Sunny smiled warmly. "Yeah, Sam told me you were going to be on the tour again so I looked up the assignments and snatched your group from a second year," she beamed. Quietly, she leaned in a bit, "I'm actually surprised she still makes you go on these things," she said behind her hand, laughing a little.

"What are your plans? Going on a secret date?" she teased gently.

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"You sneaky girl you," Tatum murmured, smiling back quite fondly. When Sunny mentioned her tour incarceration, the redhead rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "I think she does more drugs than I do sometimes," she whispered back, watching the older woman's back. "Every year, and you'd think like.. she'd make Sera go, but no, everyone always has an excuse before I do. I think she just likes to come and socialize with the other mothers. Especially since Sera made prefect, just in case you haven't heard her the other six times she told someone about it today."

Her cheeks flushed a bit as Sunny teased her, and she quickly shook her head. "Just.. you know, chilling and whatever," she replied, ducking her head a little. "Dawn of the Dead is on tv? We'll probably watch that, I guess. If he's not too scared," she smirked.

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Sunny laughed lightly and nodded. "I know, I'm a bad influence," she snickered. "Right? Next year, we'll come up with something real good. I'll volunteer to take her myself to give you a break," Sunny laughed. "I did hear she made prefect," she snorted.

She laughed again. "So true," she nodded. "That's kind of adorkable though," she said poking her friend. "Sounds a lot better than my plans, I gotta entertain the folks all night," she rolled her eyes. "I was promised midnight pancakes after the concert though," she grinned.

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"You and the whole rest of the school," Tatum joked. "I don't know how much more hero worship I can take, it's like she's made of solid gold or something," the redhead muttered, still watching Madeline to see that she was still occupied. "I'd like, give you all of my wordly possessions if you did that next year," she added, half-seriously. She did not want to be a second year college student and still get forced onto the tour.

Sunny could only save her so many times. What if they had gotten their original guide? Tatim reckoned she'd be asleep already. "Pancakes are good though! With like, blueberries.. I could so go there," she said, stomach grunting a little at the thought. "I was going to say come join us but your folks probably don't want to.. watch zombies."

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Sunny laughed. "Parents are like that," she nodded. "No one ever heard the end of it from my dad when I made captain," she laughed. "But wait til she sees our garden display," Sunny smiled warmly. "And the concert is gonna be wicked good too!"

She laughed. "I'll keep her busy," Sunny smirked. "Maybe I'll give her a little hat and she can be my assistant!"

"Oh hell yeah. Blueberries and whipped cream," she nodded. "I don't know how I'm going to make it to midnight," she giggled. "I wouldn't want to interrupt or anything," she grinned. "And I could not imagine my mother sitting through a zombie movie," she laughed. "Mom would be flipping the whole time and hiding under the covers."

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"Oh yeah the concert," Tatum breathed, looking dazed for a moment as if they hadn't been talking about her escaping from it a few minutes before. She had forgotten she was actually going to be in it. She quite enjoyed band, when she was just with the other members, but being on a huge stage in front of everyone and their families.. well, that was a bit scarier. The redhead paled a bit. "I h-hope I don't fuck it," she quickly added, eyes on her step-mother's back again.

Sunny's comment about the little hat made her feel better, allowing her to crack a crooked smile. "I so want pictures of that. She'd probably love it too, though she'd probably want you to wear the hat and be her assistant."

All of the talk about delicious pancakes was definitely making Tatum's stomach grumble even louder, and she vaguely wondered how much longer Madeline wanted to be out here. She was starved. Rubbing her stomach a bit as if to soothe it, she regarded Sunny with that same crooked smile still. "Y-You wouldn't be interrupting, it's so.. probably sort of maybe not like that," she laughed, feeling her cheeks flush a bit. "He doesn't even l-like me like that. I'm like, a goof."

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"You'll do great," she said cheerfully. "We were all spot on at practice the other night," she knew her friend could get a little shy at times and nudged her shoulder. "'Sides, you can always just close your eyes and pretend no one else is there."

She giggled. "Yeah, I'll definitely take pictures for you. I'll have to trick her though, a hat would ruin my hair. Maybe I'll let her handle the Q and A at the end," she grinned.

"He's kind of a goof too," she said, noticing Tatum's cheeks flushing. "And besides, if we're saying a boy wouldn't date a girl because she's a goof I would have like negative boyfriend situations," she laughed, doing her best to conceal any sadness that might have slipped through at the mention of boyfriends. Stas was still struggling back in Burnham while she was there in Georgia. She forced a smile and shrugged. "Anyways, you two would be totally cute!"

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Tatum groaned, laughing a little. Madeline was the only person she knew who was more long-winded than Sera. "Oh man, you'll be doing Q and A for straight hours, I warn you."

Ducking her head a little, with her cheeks still pink, Tatum shook her head. "You t-think? I dunno," she murmured. She had known Sam for years, she considered him one of her best friends before anything, but if he did like her.. well, it wasn't like she would want to say 'no'. Maybe the evening was going to be weirder than she expected. "He is pretty cute.."

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