Small Dinner

The young woman navigated herself easily through the kitchen, checking on the various dishes she was cooking.

“Go a bit more slowly. It needs to thicken.” She addressed the spoon that began to stir the creamy tomato soup of its own accord. Bending to check the temperature of the oven, Maria was satisfied that everything in the kitchen was going smoothly— just as she had planned.

She swiftly untied her apron, and hung it on the hook at the back of the door before retiring to the bedroom to change and clean up. Guests would be arriving in around 15 minutes.

"Jacob?"

Stopping to organise the flower arrangements outside the guest room (yes, she could be a bit of a neat freak at times) Maria wondered if Jacob had finished getting ready. Was he even in the house or had he gone back to his place? She couldn't keep track of her boyfriend- sorry, fiancé's movements.

Jacob Daniels arrived back in the bedroom with a magical pop, in his right hand he held a light blue tie that he'd forgotten to wear. He'd not been sure whether wearing a tie would be the right thing to do but figured that it may win points with Maria. He stood in front of the mirror and tried to remember which way the tie went around.

"Jacob?" He heard his fiancé call for him. "Coming!" he shouted down the hallway. Leaving his tie wrapped around his neck, he left the bedroom to find what Maria needed him for. He hoped to God that she didn't want him to go get some more cream.

She looked up as footsteps approached her. A smile graced her face as she noted the effort Jacob had taken to look nice.

"Mmm...you look good." Maria reached up wrap her arms loosely around his neck, "A tie?" She raised her eyebrow, stiffling a giggle.

"I suppose, if you feel like it..." As she spoke, her hands trailed down to casually fix the light blue, "But..." Maria shrugged, finishing with a flourish and reaching up to kiss him, "I think you look nice either way."

Jacob smiled a little shyly, sometimes he could never get over the fact that she was finally his.

"Not as good as you," he countered and after she had finished knotting his tie for him, he bent down and lowered his arms around her bottom, hooking his hands and lifting her off the ground so that her legs swung around his waist and he could kiss her firmly on the mouth.

"You look so beautiful," he told the brown haired girl. "If only we didn't have guests coming tonight..." he told her.

Her pale cheeks flushed pink; although the witch had been praised for beauty quite often in the past, it was still only Jacob whose words could stir the rosy blush in her ivory skin.

"You wish." Maria's amethyst-coloured eyes glittered mischievously as her lips trailed from his mouth down the sweeping curve of his chin, and further down his neck.

Jacob set Maria back down on the floor, her two feet landing gently on the carpet. "I suppose we're going to be interrupted soon," he said sadly. "What was it that you wanted me for?" he asked her bringing her close to him for one last cuddle before they ran off to do any last minute chores.

"Tonight." She promised him with laugh as he placed her back on the ground. Although Maria was more careful with concealing her feelings, being near Jacob made her feel light-headed, and thus took her a while before she could gather her thoughts together and answer his question.

"I need to change my blouse." Maria explained, "You are not allowed in the kitchen, so don't even think about sneaking a taste." She said pretending to frown.

"People should be arriving soon...just help keep an eye on the door?" The brunette tossed him a thankful smile before disappearing into her bedroom.

"Tonight," and Jacob smiled as Maria made her promise.

"I need to change my blouse." Okay, he said turning to make his way into the kitchen but she stopped him and as though reading his thoughts said "you are not allowed in the kitchen, so don't even think about sneaking a taste." "Aw, but I'm hungry," Jacob whined.

"People should be arriving soon...just help keep an eye on the door?" Jacob shuffled his feet, "alright, fine... I'll starve," but Maria didn't seem to care for his dramatics and she flounced off into the bedroom, Jacob watched retreating back (or a particular part of that was a little more south) until she was had slipped behind the door.

He went to the lounge room and took a seat on the lounge set, he certainly had to admit that Maria had nice taste. And the money that Maria's father had given her had no doubt helped as well. The flat was very nicely furnished. He pointed his wand at the entertainment system and flipped through a few channels on the wizarding network until the door bell rang. He jumped up and ran out of the room, he'd finally get to eat! He pointed his wand at the entertainment system over his shoulder and heard the talking voices cease.

"Coming," he called out to whomever that was waiting on the other side. "Maria!" he called out down the hall, someone is here!"

"Are you sure this the right apartment?"

"Yes, it is. Don't worry so much, love." The slim, blonde woman sighed as patted his cheek affectionately, "Now, ring the door bell once more. Perhaps she's busy cooking and didn't hear-"

"No need." Her husband responded, perking up as he heard approaching footsteps, "Let's hope you're right." He teased her.

Jacob swung the door open and found the two recently wedded couple standing at the front door, Nicholas and Diana. He'd attended their wedding the previous spring with Maria, he smiled broadly. "Well, hello there Mr and Mrs Dolresta," he greeted them ducking forward and kissing Diana on the cheek and then going to shake the Nicholas's hand.

"Come on in," he said standing back to allow the couple to enter Maria's flat. "I don't know what Maria's doing," he told them. "She said she was going to change her blouse, but I think that takes less then ten minutes," he shrugged. "I told her she looked good, apparently it wasn't good enough."

"I told you it was the right place." Diana said smugly, poking him.

"My dear, I never doubted you once." Nicholas responded affably, reaching out to wrap Jacob in a manly, one-arm hug.

I told her she looked good, apparently it wasn't good enough.

"Ah, well, girls will be girls." Nicholas chuckled, allowing Diana to enter the flat before sweeping the door shut behind him with a flourish. "So how've you been mate?" He asked, as his wife began to look around the neat flat.

Jacob nodded and smiled as Nicholas dismissed Maria's lack of appearance as typical. "I've been fine, thanks, working hard on my book, things will be a lot better once it's done."

"And yourself?" he asked as the two men stood around in the entrance way. "How is married life treating you?" he asked, wondering if marrying Maria would be at all similar to her cousins.

"Oh, yes? How's that coming along? Maria mentioned you were working quite hard on it." Nicholas enquired. It seemed that books were an interest that the two men both shared a love for, bar their respective girlfriends, or in his case, wife.

How is married life treating you?

The dark-haired man chuckled at the question, "Don't let the missus over here." His eyes softened, as he thought carefully about his answer.

"It has its ups and downs, to be completely honest, mate. Not every day is completely filled with sunshine...but it's worth it in the end."

"Oh, yes? How's that coming along? Maria mentioned you were working quite hard on it."

Jacob grimaced as he thought of his desk layered in text books and leafs of parchment with illegible scribblings covering them. "Slowly," he admitted. "It's just all of the research that's involved, and having to read over the same things over and over again. I think I should have chosen an easier subject for my first book. Magical Theory can be pretty tiresome after a while."

He listened then as Nicholas confided on how married life was, "It has its ups and downs, to be completely honest, mate. Not every day is completely filled with sunshine...but it's worth it in the end." He nodded, Nicholas did not yet know that he had engaged to Maria but would no doubt find out soon enough. He was thankful for the bit of information, and knew that regardless of how many downs there were in his marriage with Maria that he would love every day of it.

"Why don't we go into the lounge room, we can wait in there. I think we're still waiting on Julian, and maybe I'll go see where Maria is hiding."

"No need." The witch sang, drifting past her bedroom and out into the living room, "She's already-"

"Nicholas!" She cried in surprise, delighted as she rushed forward to embrace her tall cousin, "I thought you said you couldn't make it tonight?" Maria asked, mock-reproachfully as she pulled away from him.

"Something about a previous engagement getting in the way?"

Half a second later, Julian popped in front of Maria's flat, just right outside her doorstep. He turned to Elise to inquire on her well-being, having chosen to Side-Apparate along with him instead of gettiing to Paris on her own.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Elise answered a bit shakily, struggling for a while to get her balance back before letting go of her hold on Julian's arm, "I'll never get the hang of it though," she groaned.

Looking around curiously, Elise observed the corridor of the floor they were in, until her eyes landed on the door in front of her.

"This is it, right?" she asked, but rang the doorbell before Julian could answer her question.

Jacob smiled as Maria finally came out from hiding and joined the rest of them. He looked on as Maria greeted her favourite cousin and was about to ask when dinner would be ready when the door bell rang once more.

"I'll get it," he said. Allowing Maria and Nicholas to catch up on family matters.

He walked to the door and opened it trying to guess who it would be before actually finding out. He was surprised to find Julian standing at the front door and checked his watch, pretending to be shocked. "Wow, Julian! You're only five minutes late! Is this a new record?" He laughed and walked forward to give his mate a one armed hug and then turned to Elise. "Nice to see you again, Elise," he smiled, lent forward and gave a quick kiss on the side of her cheek, more closer to her ear.

"Hullo, cousin." He bent down to give the brunette an affectionate kiss on the cheek, paired with a ruffle of her hair which he knew wouldn't earn him a whack, just yet, only because it wasn't everyday he was in Paris.

"Now if I remember correctly," Nicholas grinned mischievously, "You told your father that you and Jacob didn't live together." He arched his eyebrows waiting for her to contradict him.

You told your father that you and Jacob didn't live together.

The Eau made a face, "And you know just as well as I do that there are some things parents- fathers, in particular- are better off not knowing."

"But you still haven't answered my question. Didn't you tell me you couldn't make it?" She probed as Jacob moved past her to answer the door.

"Wow, Julian! You're only five minutes late! Is this a new record?"

"I've had better," he answered with a chuckle as he gave his long-time friend a pat on the shoulder.

"Besides, it's not my fault this time," he added, glancing at Elise who was then being kissed by Jacob.

"Nice to see you again, Elise,"

Elise allowed Jacob to kiss her on the cheek and returned the favor, careful not to smudge his cheek with her lip gloss. She didn't have anything to worry in reality though, since she had used magic on it.

"Oh, Jacob, I'm so sorry we're late," she apologized, resting a hand back on Julian's arm. "I was just so excited to see you and Maria again, I didn't know what to wear!"

"He lied, sweetie." Came the British accented words as Dianna moved forward to give her one of her closest friends, and previous maid-of-honour, a warm embrace. She was petite, almost a foot shorter than Maria's 5"5.

"How are you, love?" Dianna murmured as she pulled away, and held the brunette at an arms length, "You're looking well."

Her hazel-eyes lit up, "I love your blouse." She gushed.

"Di!" Maria accepted the warm embrace, the smell of her best friend's perfume lingering even as she pulled away. They had met in England, during college, and became good friends not long after. It was through Maria that Nicholas met his future wife-to-be.

"Busy with classes." She sighed, "But there's nothing new about that. I miss London, but France is really my home."

"Do you really?" Maria gave a little twirl, showing off the gauzy, pale pink top she had changed into paired with a simple black skirt.

"It's nothing new- Julian!" She cried, excusing herself to greet her new guests, "And Faye!" Like a butterfly, Maria flitted down upon them exchanging hugs and kisses. "I'm so glad you could come...come in, come in!"

Jacob could certainly understand Julian's previous predicament... Having waited for Maria many times to finish getting ready. "Why don't you come through to the lounge-" But broke off when Maria rushed forward to greet the two newcomers and took over in ushering the two into the next room. "I think nearly everyone is here, we're just waiting on Liyya I think?" he shot a questioning glance to his wife-to-be.

"She'll be late." Maria responded easily as she quietly shut the door behind her, "Attending a showcase at an Arts gallery...something for her class." Liyya had been accepted into one of the many prestigious art schools offered in France. Personally, Maria had never seen the younger girl been more enthusiastic about going to class than now!

She reached up to kiss Jacob quickly on the cheek as a sign of thanks for all the help he'd done- and would continue to do- that night.

"Julian, you've already met Nicholas...but Faye, this is my cousin Nicholas Doloresta, and his wife Dianna."

Elise happily stepped into the lounge, where Maria had been talking to a couple, whom the young woman wasn't familiar with. She assumed they were Maria's relatives, so she gave them a polite smile.

"Maria, I've missed you much," she said, embracing her briefly and exchanging friendly kisses.

"I think nearly everyone is here, we're just waiting on Liyya I think?" she overheard Jacob say to Maria and quickly turned.

"She'll be late. Attending a showcase at an Arts gallery...something for her class."

"Ah, well, at least she's coming," the girl shrugged her shoulders.

"Julian, you've already met Nicholas...but Faye, this is my cousin Nicholas Doloresta, and his wife Dianna."

"Pleased to meet you both, Monsieur and Mme. Doloresta," she greeted them, probably too formally, but she didn't think it polite enough to just call them by their names.

Julian was led inside his bestriend's well-furnished apartment by none other than Maria herself. He assisted Elise despite the obvious fact that she didn't really need assistance, only for him to be able to hold on to her much longer. He was forced to let go of her when she and Maria went to greet each other, giving him time to greet Nicholas and his wife.

"It has been a long time," he said to Nicholas, offering his hand for him to shake, and giving Dianna a kiss on the cheek, "Good to see you both, and a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Doloresta."

"Enchanté, Mademoiselle." Nicholas pressed her hand lightly to his lips, giving the younger girl a crooked smile as he did so. It wasn't hard to see where Maria had gotten her charm!

"Please, Nicholas. And I believe my lovely wife would agree with me when I say you needn't address us so formally."

Now what was Julian doing with this lovely creature, he couldn't help wondering with amusement. She didn't seem a day older than twenty at the most!

"Julian, good to see you mate." He swiftly switched to English as he shook the man's hand warmly, "Long time no see, yes."

Jacob stood in the room watching everyone greet each other, talking and he was starting to feel slightly awkward. "Hey, Maria?" he asked his fiance. "Is everything in the kitchen okay? Do you want me to check anything?"

"Please, Nicholas. And I believe my lovely wife would agree with me when I say you needn't address us so formally."

Elise blushed slightly, but was able to recover by saying, "Nicholas, then. And Dianna," she added sweetly.

"Oh, the food!" Startled by Jacob's words, Maria completely fled the lounge and into the small kitchen calling out as she dashed away, "Don't think about coming in here Daniels! Same goes for you, Nick and Julian!"

"Oh, the food! Don't think about coming in here Daniels! Same goes for you, Nick and Julian!"

Julian laughed as Maria dashed off to the kitchen, having forgotten about their dinner.

"Hey, I can cook better than you!" he called out, jesting.

Jacob chuckled quietly to himself as Julian called out teasing. "Watch out," he warned. "You might get something a little less unsavory in your meal if you keep that up," he gave the former Eau a slap on the back.

"Can I offer anyone some drinks?" he asked the group of guests.

"Yes, Dianna, or Dianne is fine, dear." The witch agreed, smiling as she was introduced to the pretty, aristocratic-looking Elise Monticelli. You would have thought Dianna would be used to it by now, having met Nicholas's circle of affluent, upper-class friends, most of the time claiming to be 'pure' of blood, or as pure as one could possibly be.

It seemed that in France, however, old Wizarding families were much easier to come by than in England. It comforted the woman slightly that Maria had not decided to follow the blood obsession, and was dating Jacob, whom if she wasn't mistaken, was in fact, muggle born.

Can I offer anyone some drinks?

"That would be nice, thank you." Dianna said easily, accepting his offer. She raised her voice, calling out into the kitche, "Do you need help, Maria?"

"One for me too, please." Nicholas added as Jacob offered to serve drinks, "A glass of water would be fine."

He chuckled as Dianna offered her assistance in the kitchen, and wrapped his arm loosely around his waist, kissing the top of her head before easily pulling away. The French man could guess what his cousin's answer would be.

It was a futile attempt.

"So, Julian, what have you been up to? Are you still teaching?"

Jacob took his wand out and conjured several glasses for them to drink out of, then preceded to fill each one with water. He tapped the glass once more and made it so that the glasses of water would turn into whatever substance the drinker wished to taste.

He then handed the drinks out to the guests. "Here you go," he said as he handed the water to Dianne and Nicholas.

"Thank you." Dianna smiled, accepting the drink from him and taking a small sip. She glanced around the well-furnished flat; a glass coffee-table in the lounge with a small stack of assorted muggle and wizarding fashion magazines, while off to the side a tall oak-paneled bookshelf stood against the wall displaying the novels with pride.

Despite the clean, white accented sofa and matching armchair, paired with other distinctively feminine items, the witch had the feeling that Jacob was over more than Maria would ever like to admit to Nicholas.

"Watch out. You might get something a little less unsavory in your meal if you keep that up,"

"Hahah-- ow," Julian's laughter was abruptly cut off by the slap on his back, no longer used to the gesture he was always receiving from Jacob back when they were school boys.

"So, Julian, what have you been up to? Are you still teaching?"

"I gave up teaching two years ago," he answered Nicholas, "I'm now just a pianist, scheduled to perform every now and then whenever my manager feels like taking me to places just like a show monkey," he explained with a smile.

"Gabriel regularly plays the piano in a restaurant back in Nice though. You should come and see him, if you have time," Elise offered, not really liking the way Julian was presenting his job. One would think he should be more proud of what he was doing, getting to travel to different countries every now and then and doing the very thing he wanted to do most. Though Peter did sometimes refer to Julian as a show monkey, she thought reasonably.

"This is neat," Elise complimented the drinks that Jacob handed out, surprised that her water now tasted like her favorite lemon juice. It took her a moment to realize that it was Jacob's magic that did it, and so remembering how incompetent she was with magic even until now.

I gave up teaching two years ago.

"Such a pity. All those students out there who can no longer gain from your teachings…" He clicked his tongue sympathetically, “Still, Maria has often spoken of your musical talents. I am sure you are more successful than you’d like to admit.” Nicholas chuckled, sipping his glass of water.

You should come and see him, if you have time.

“You have quite a knack for public relations, my dear.” His light-blue eyes twinkled as he gave a deep nod of acknowledgement to her offer, “I will have to remember that the next time I am in Nice.”

“Were you a student of Julian as well?” He enquired.

“Were you a student of Julian as well?”

"Oh, no," Elise replied hastily. "I'm a violin student and Gabriel started on the piano about the same time as I did with the violin."

"And he didn't really teach much," she went on, "gave up on his third student. Peter says he wasn't the tutor/mentor/teacher type of pianist. He's more of the performing type."

Then Elise realized that she had given away a lot of things that Julian might have preferred to share himself. Turning to Julian, she sheepishly smiled and said, "I'm sorry, but Nicholas is a far more engaging conversationalist than you ever were, Gabriel."

Practically bouncing away from him, Elise went over to Jacob and whispered, "Please help me, I need to hide in the bathroom for a while," glancing back at Julian and laughing as she did.

She had arrived to the kitchen just in time to save her soup from scalding. The brunette bent down to take a peek at the main-course cooking away in the oven...everything was going according to plan.

"Cut some bread, please." Maria said absent-mindedly, with a flick of her wand and watching the knife slice the freshly baked baguette before turning away to start the salad. It was always dangerous to have things cutting and chopping without supervision.

Do you need help, Maria?

Dianna was always so considerate; it was her kind and gentle manner that made her into such a wonderful therapist.

"Thank you, but everything in the kitchen is almost ready to go." Maria called back, "If you insist on helping though, you could set the table. Everything should be in the side-cabinet near the vase of lilies." She added, knowing that her British friend wouldn’t stop asking her for things to do; standing around making small talk while she was puttering around in the kitchen working made her uneasy and restless to help as well.

"Sweetie?" Dianna had drifted back to where her husband stood conversing with Julian, and apparently charming Elise. She chuckled to herself; how typical of a Doloresta.

"Did you give the thing to Maria yet?" She murmured.

"I'm sorry, but Nicholas is a far more engaging conversationalist than you ever were, Gabriel."

"Gee, Faye, thanks, that was very sweet of you," Julian replied semi-sarcastically, irked that Elise had already complimented Nicholas after just getting acquainted with the man. But her laughter was more then enough to placate him, having a really soft spot for the young woman ever since.

Turning his attention back to Nicholas, Julian shrugged, "Teaching is not one of my talents. Those kids are definitely lucky that I stopped hallucinating," he added with a laugh.

"And you sir? How's your job? I think I was told you're in the field of law," he inquired, mistakenly added the 'sir' because Nicholas has the same name as Julian's father.

He's more of the performing type.

Nicholas grinned, raising his glass as a mock toast to the blonde wizard, "You must certainly play for us one day, Julian." He glanced around the apartment as if hoping for a piano to pop out of nowhere, "Alas, it doesn't seem that Maria has a piano with her." He lowered his voice conspiringly,

“Her mother forced her to take violin lessons when she was younger,” Nicholas nodded in Elise’s direction, acknowledging her passion for the string instrument, “But it never hit off with my cousin too well. She prefers the piano…”

“You should have heard her when she first began to play. It was atrocious!” He laughed, repeating what he had said to her way back when, “Good Merlin, cousin, if that’s what you call music, I don’t know what you call noise!”

Nicholas grinned, glancing over his shoulder less Maria decided to attack him with a saucepan, "At any rate...she improved over time. Probably not up to the standards of you fine people," He mused, "But quite accomplished for a lady, nonetheless."

Sweetie? Did you give the thing to Maria yet?

"Bugger..." Nicholas made a face; he had completely forgotten about it. He patted himself all over before producing a bottle of sparkling wine from a drawstring bag, "Voilà! Knew I had it somewhere." He winked, giving a crooked bow, "If you'd excuse me for a moment. Must present this to the missus."

"Oh, Maria...I'm coming into the kitchen!" He sang, moving in the direction of the delicous smells wafting through the slightly open door.

Oh, Maria...I'm coming into the kitchen!

Maria rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as her cousin's deep voice drifted into the kitchen,

"Nicholas Doloresta, you take one step through that door and you'll be eating dinner with my cat!"

"Is that any way to treat a guest?" His blue eyes twinkled as he stuck his dark head through the kitchen door and purposefully took a deep breath, inhaling the mouth-watering aromas that filled the tiny kitchen.

He chuckled, bracing himself to be smacked with a cooking utensil of some sort and held his hands up in surrender,

"I came to bring you a drink." Nicholas presented the bottle to Maria with a deep bow, "Sparkling wine, very nice."

"Oh, Nicholas, you shouldn't have." Maria's face relaxed into an easy smile as she took the offered bottle from him and read the label.

"Blanquette de Limoux." She noted, nodding and sharing a smile with her cousin, a connoisseur of French wines like her uncle.

"You're too sweet. Thank you." The brunette reached up to kiss him fondly before giving a friendly push out the door, "Now go away!"

"One of the few that still uses Mauzac grapes." Nicholas agreed delightedly, gazing fondly at the treasure he had presented to his favourite cousin.

You're too sweet. Thank you.

"I do my best." He grinned, even as Maria pushed him away just as easily as she had bestowed a kiss upon him. Now go away!

"Is Maria always like this when she cooks you meals Jacob? Or do I just have that effect on her?" Nicholas called across the room as he rejoined the group of mingling adults.

"Law...is an interesting practice." The wizard chuckled in response to Julian's earlier question, "If you think the practice of Muggle law is complicated, well-!" He shook his head,

"Throwing magic into the mix makes things so much more complicated." Nicholas commented, remembering the cases he had done in the past.

"Stick to music, my friend!"