[occurred earlier in the afternoon]

Joscelin knew that Tristan and Gwen had spoken to Beauxbatons' Headmistress about him being added to Regan's visitation list, as his own sister had sent him an owl, but he hadn't thought it hurt to butter the woman up with is own correspondence, either.

From the way Gwen had written, her own visit had been ... stilted, to say the least. Joscelin thought to get around such, if he could, with a few honeyed words and a bit of warning of when he would be coming.

As Madame Chevalier left him in the visiting parlor, full tea service ready and hearth roaring, her own cheeks just a bit rosy, eyes bright, Joscelin thought he had done rather well for himself. There was almost nothing a bit of consideration, charm and a few friendly words could not get. Including a Headmistress's good graces.

He stood a little too near the flames, eyes tracking the blaze's erratic movement as he waited for the sprite who was almost certain to be his sister-in-law, soon.


Dashing down the corridor, as there was only one person likely to visit her at school and she'd been waiting since their exchange of owls for the parlor summons, Regan composed herself just outside the door and stepped inside, a bright smile on her face. A shimmer of excitement zipped through her as she found him standing by the mantle, and she flitted across the floor to say hello, pausing just shy of his personal space.

"Joscelin," she greeted cheerily, beaming up at him. "You've come... I was hoping you would. Was Madame as easily charmed as you'd expected? She was looking rather rosy when I saw her a moment ago..."

"It definitely wasn't anything a little charm couldn't smooth out," Joscelin assured her, also giving the reason for the state she'd found her Headmistress in.

His eyes twinkled down at her, a grin tilting his lips in answer to the bright smile Regan aimed at him, and Joscelin bent down to one knee, putting him just below her eye level. "Do I get a hug from my sister to be, then?"

He'd been looking forward to seeing the sprite before him. They had much plotting to do, and if he was to add to his family, little Regan couldn't be any more perfect; Gwen loved her, and he was more than fond of her. Joscelin had only met her twice previously, but it didn't take more than a moment to know if you'd get on with a person, and he and Regan had got on just fine from day one.

"Of course," Regan agreed readily, slipping her arms around Joscelin's shoulders and leaning happily into him. "I wasn't sure I was allowed," she admitted, mentally cursing her inability to purr as his warmth pressed against her skin. It made her feel very small indeed that even kneeling he was nearly her height, but it was a safe sort of small, and she took the opportunity to bask in his presence.

Wrapping his arms around her, Joscelin stood so that Regan's feet dangled and he grinned to hear her squeak as he did so. "You're always allowed to hug me, Sweetpea," he insisted, giving her a big bear hug before setting her down and grinning to see her turn rosy.

Biting her lip as a blush stained her cheeks, Regan nodded, adding after a beat, "I'll keep it in mind, then." She caught his hand and led him to the sofa that had been set up for their tea, settling herself on the chair's ottoman near him. "How are you? And your dragons?"

"I'm well, and the dragons are content with their newborns. The Reserve has been much quieter with the breeding season far behind us." His eyes twinkled as he tugged on a lock of her blonde hair. "With all that posturing out of the way, things are always more peaceful," he added.

"And you? School? Our siblings? We've a wedding to plan, no?" he asked, eyes bright as a smile curled his lips.

You will not blush this entire visit, you insufferably silly thing, Regan admonished herself, feeling her face heat again as Joscelin pulled at a bit of her hair. "I should still like to see the little dragons sometime, if you'd let me," she ventured, amused by his assessment of the passing of mating season.

Dispensing with the formalities of necessary information, she answered, "I'm well... sleeping, which is really quite nice and marvelously convenient. School is most agreeable, as my examinations are past and our tasks less final than I found them last year." A tiny smirk crept into her expression at mention of their siblings. "Tristan and Gwen are, as ever, themselves, and yes, I believe we shall have a wedding to plan before much longer. Certainly by the new year, if I were to offer a guess."

Joscelin's gaze followed the small movements of her hands as she spoke, the heat tinting her skin, and her eyes bright on him. He made note of her comments regarding her sleeping - something he'd ask Gwen about before he commented or inquired further from Regan - and something that he would mention to the sprite before him at another time; perhaps in owl correspondence. He'd a feeling the further questions that would arise from asking after it now, would be less than comfortable for her despite that she'd brought it up.

"It sounds as if there's not not much of anything either of us can find for any real complaint," Joscelin grinned, leaning back into the sofa and throwing his arms over the back as he sprawled comfortably. "As for our siblings, I do believe it will be up to us to plan around them. They'd get around to it eventually, but it'd probably be nothing more than the official papers. I'm of the firm opinion that she should be in a white dress, and that I should hand her to your brother, and that you, sister-to-be, shall also give your blessing, hmm? A little family affair ... say, around Christmas? With a few close friends?"

"Mm, yes," Regan murmured, fighting the urge to let herself fidget closer to his relaxed-looking position. "And you're right, of course... they would just have it documented and go about their business, ruining all our fun." A giggle escaped her as she imagined the scene he'd described, and she shook her head after a moment. "I'm not sure Gwen will agree to wearing white, but we might try, just for sport... and Christmas would be perfect."

Tipping her head in contemplation, the idea having steeped for quite a while as she attempted to make it work in her thoughts, she decided to put it to Joscelin and hear his opinion. "I wanted to send them away for a bit, a honeymoon of sorts, though really, they've run of the house most of the time. Somewhere warm, perhaps, as it won't be in England. I suppose I could just come back to school, while they're gone."

"Grand idea you've got there," Joscelin agreed, smiling as he watched her process her thoughts and attempt to verbalize them. "I used to visit Gwenny during the holidays as she has a good month and change before season started back up again, and I don't think either she, or your brother, will mind being tossed out of the country for a few weeks."

He raised a brow at Regan, expression that of amusement as he asked, "do you really want to go back to school during the holidays then, Sweetpea? You do realize I've a whole manor that'll need seasonal decorating and will be empty but for myself. I should think I'll need a Christmas expert to make sure it's all done right as soon as she's home from school, and someone to boss the elves around for properly prepared hot peppermint cocoa."

"If you're not too stuck on coming back to school, I should like to propose you supervise decorating Tretower for the holidays, with Gwen, perhaps, as your assistant," he proposed, grinning at the irony of it, how it, too, would tickle Regan to have Gwen as her assistant. "And then after we toss our siblings over the Channel, come keep me company until your studies call you back."

Blinking in surprise, her heart racing at the thought of spending her holiday with Joscelin, Regan regarded him cautiously. "You'd... not mind having me underfoot all that time?" Except for Tristan, her own family had always seemed rather glad to be free of her once her school terms began, and while she knew Joscelin had chosen to visit her, and to extend the invitation, she was wary of tiring him of her presence.

"And I'd not boss your elves, of course... I don't boss ours, not that Dorus would listen, as she very nearly raised me, aside from Trist." A little smile tugged at her lips as she thought of putting Gwen in a Christmas hat. "I'd not know what to do with Gwen as an assistant, I think, though I'd love to help decorate. We never really did at home; Ma- Mother thought it was silly, though Trist brings me in a little tree now."

"Our Mother and Father were less than thrilled with the holiday as well, which is why when Gwen and I had Christmases to ourselves after awhile, I made it the most grand production Tretower saw all year," he grinned. "Gwenny'll be a good assistant and show you the ropes," he added, winking. "She loves Christmas, though you'd never guess, and I should think she'll want to decorate Ivy's Run as well."

He'd not forgot her cautious inquiry of him, and Joscelin held out his hand to the little sprite perched on the ottoman before him. "And I have to ask, near-sister, if you think a man such as myself would extend an invitation if he thought said invitee would be nothing but a nuisance?"

Regan laid her hand in Joscelin's outstretched one, letting him draw her from her stool and onto the sofa beside him, tucked lightly into his side. Her breath caught as his arm draped around her, all manner of thoughts springing unbidden into her head, air escaping in a rush as she tried to answer. "No, I..." She shook her head, not finding the words to explain herself immediately. "I only... I should hate for you to find me tiresome, was all I meant."

Relaxing in tiny increments as she grew more used to the press of him next to her, the warm scent of his skin and clothes, Regan tipped her head up to look at Joscelin. "You're a good brother to her, as Trist is to me. We're both very fortunate, even if you are a bit exasperating at times."

"It's a gift that reaches both ways, Sweetpea," Joscelin countered, demeanor relaxed and easy. "Love is like that." He winked at her, then summoned the tea accoutrements and poured when the set settled on the table near the arm of the sofa, handing a small china cup to Regan before preparing one for himself.

"Mm, so it is," Regan acceded, sipping her milky tea to hide the pink tinge to her skin. His wink never failed to send a little thrill of awareness racing down her spine, and she set her cup aside a moment later, a thought leaping into her head, swirling with words as she tried to frame her question.

"I met your Miss Vane recently," she offered, recalling the dinner at Ivy's Run. "She's quite personable, or seemed so. Gwen mentioned that you'd spent some time with her..."

"Romilda is a friend of mine, yes," Joscelin replied, eyes bright as he watched Regan, and he refrained from smiling. He was quite aware she was choosing her words carefully, and he was amused she'd chosen to say that Romilda was 'his'. "And she is very personable from what I know of her character," he affirmed with a short nod of his head.

"She's become a good friend of mine since we met just after this past Christmas. I'm glad to find you think she's agreeable though, Sweetpea, as a sister's opinion is always important when one chooses with whom to spend one's time." Setting his teacup down, he reclined back into the sofa again, arms across the back.

He flashed her a grin then. "As we're to be family, you should definitely meet my brother, Bishop, as well." Joscelin's eyes twinkled just a little too bright as he added, "He and Gwen saw each other for a time, ages ago now, and she is normally inclined to hex him on sight, but he's family, as is his wife-to-be, Dora Tonks."

Nodding slowly as she processed his words, Regan let her head rest against Joscelin's shoulder, thinking of Romilda and the hesitant camaraderie they'd formed. "I should like to see her again, sometime. She... I think she could do with having a few friends more than she has, even if only a small one as I might be to her."

"Brother?" Regan perked, intrigued by this idea of further family. She laughed at the spark in Joscelin's eyes, turning a brilliant smile up to him at the idea of Gwen and this fellow he considered to be family. "I know Tonks... she's Reesey's Dora Dora. I danced with her at Gwen's birthday party."

"So you did," Joscelin replied, ruminating on the celebration he'd put together for his sister all these months ago now. "'Reesey' was the other blonde about your size, and then Katie, Fred Weasley's girl. Though last I saw she's not so small, and a little more pregnant." A broad grin pulled across his lips then. "A pile of blonde kittens, if I recall correctly, no?"

Laughing merrily, Regan nodded her agreement. "Katie is quite a bit more pregnant... she's two boys in there, teeny thing that she is to start, and if they're anything like her Shiny, I should think they'll be very robust babies indeed." Soft contentment washed through her at the memory of lying in the grass with Katie and Reese, watching the fireworks go up and reveling in the existence of other people like herself.

"Weasleys, Sweetpea," Joscelin replied, grin a little mad as his thoughts touched on his wide acquaintance of Weasleys, and the trouble a pair spawned of his partner in crime for explosives at Gwen's wedding, would be. "They're all like that, and your Katie is in for a houseful of them."


SUMMARY: Joscelin visits Regan at Beauxbatons and they make plans for their siblings.