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School is out for a week, and the marauders are each at their seperate residences (except Sirius, of course, because he has already ran away; he's at James's house). This thread is basically for any interaction between RPers in a setting outside of Hogwarts.

Because of the difference in time-zones between England and the Czech Republic, Marketa didn't recieve Sirius's letter until about one in the morning. The owl tapped on the window impatiently, and she was just managing to get herself out from under her warm covers to see to it when Yvonne woke up and started crying from the noise of her squeaky mattress. Yawning quietly, Mar quickly reached down and picked up Yvonne from the cot beside her bed before opening the window. She let the owl perch beside her cat Nadesda for the night and gave it a treat so it would be distracted in case she nicked him with her clumsy cold fingers.

She lit a candle and tried to get out a lullaby for Yvonne at the same time, and nearly burnt her finger, before sitting at the kitchen table to read the letter. Seeing Sirius use the nickname she had given him made her smile fondly. Getting up to put a calmed Yvonne back in her cot ten minutes later, she stopped at a drawer and scrounged for some spare (and dirty, ew) paper. Getting back, she also grabbed a pen from the counter to reply. She would send the letter in the morning, after the owl rested.



Placing the letter in an envelope, Marketa yawned again and rubbed her eyes. She sat up a while after setting her letter to the side, staring down at the empty streets of her neighborhood, feeling nervous. She knew that Sirius and the Potters were very rich, and she hoped that Sirius would be comfortable in such cramped quarters.

((Lovely, dear. I just wanted to find a cute font for Mar.))

Marketa got Sirius's response at around ten the same morning, and she grinned with delighted excitement. There wasn't enough time in the day for her to send a response before Sirius got there. "Mama, he's coming at noon!" she cried, coming out from the bedroom into the main room of the flat. Yvonne looked up at her from her play pen in the corner of the kitchen with wide eyes. Mar scooped her up as she wound a scarf around her neck. "I am going to be out for a bit, be back soon," she said as she made for the door. She had yet to get Sirius a Christmas gift. Her mother hummed quietly in response, bent over her sewing and distracted.
At the store down the street from her house that was the most interesting to go, Marketa browsed the aisles, looking for something Sirius would like. In the end, Yvonne had gurgled and reached for two little wooden toys; a black dog and a black sheep. She had enough Czech Koruna with her, so she bought both for him, had them wrapped at the counter, and walked the streets for a while before going home to change her clothes for the third time that morning.

"Maminka, proč musit tebe huba kus dřeva hlavy teď?" Marketa asked desparingly, watching her mother chop the heads off of fish at the kitchen table.

"Ono nebude činit samo sebe, Mařit. Tvůj otcovsky vládnout caught tezaury tato ráno , a JÁ potřeba až k délat jeden příjemný hlavní jídlo dne dnes večer do tvůj kamarád," her mother snapped. Mar turned bright red, grasping Yvonne to her hip. Sirius? Her boyfriend?

"Maminka, Sirius is ne má kamarád!" she said quickly just as the fire turned emerald green in the grate. Moments later, Sirius toppled out, coughing. She hoped the blush had faded as she walked the few feet to him. "Sirius, happy Christmas!" she said cheerfully, acting as if she hadn't just had an argument with her mother about chopping fish heads at the kitchen table. "Dis is my mudder," she added with a gesture to her mother at the table, hoping Sirius wouldn't be repulsed by the smell of the fish guts. "Da will be home later. And this," she placed the baby higher on her hip with a grin, "is Yvonne!"

Yvonne squealed with laughter while Marketa's mother raised her eyebrows at Sirius's formal behavior. "Marketa, tebe did ne oznámit mne tato boy was asi tolik hezký!" she said. Marketa turned bright red.

"Mama!" she said with wide eyes. Her mother ignored her and continued to look at Sirius. "Oznámit jemu JÁ cenit he's hezký!" she insisted. Marketa put a hand on her forehead before turning to Sirius apologetically. "She says you're very handsome," she translated, embarrassed. "Why don't you try to speak a little English, Mum?" she implored. Her mother laughed and said "No, tank you," before returning to her fish.

Mar shook her head and turned back to Sirius. Yvonne was reaching for his long hair. "Would you like to hold her, Sirius?" she offered. Yvonne tended to get fussy on the cold floor that made the bottom of her play pen cold, so Mar had been holding her almost all morning, and her arms were tired.

Mar grinned at Sirius's enthusiasm. "Okay, make sure you watch her head," she reminded him as she carefully placed Yvonne into his arms. "If she starts to squirm, you can put her in the play pen." She then placed a quilt on the floor inside the pen so it wouldn't be too cold if Sirius put her down. "You want to sit down?" She beckoned Sirius into the 'sitting room' half of the flat's main room.

Just as she did so, there was a knock on the door, four young men entered the flat and sat on the couch before turning on the telly. Marketa turned to Sirius. "We have de only telly in de building, dese are our neighbors, dey come to watch."

One of the boys looked over his should and saw Sirius and Marketa standing together. "So...you are pregnant again, yes?" he asked jokingly.

"Ha ha," Mar said with a sarcastic roll of her eyes, swatting the back of his head. She grinned apologetically at Sirius. "Shouldn't you be at home wit your families?" All four boys mumbled incohererntly and waved their hands noncimmittally. Mar smiled at Sirius again. "It's quieter in here, come on." She went into the bedroom where Yvonne's cot was, and Mar sat on her bed, leaving her parents' bed and the chair by the window open for Sirius. She hoped this wasn't as awkward as it could potentially be.

Marketa, seeing Sirius's plight, stepped forward to help by singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" in Czech. Yvonne almost instantly let go of Sirius's hair and started clapping with a delighted grin on her face. She then started to clap with Sirius's face between her hands, apparently enjoying the sound. "Yvonne, dítě, no!" Mar couldn't help but laugh as she gently directed the baby's wandering hands elsewhere. She smiled up at Sirius. "I tink she likes you!"

Marketa chuckled and nodded as she crouched on the floor in front of Sirius. She was going to move Yvonne's hands, but both of them seemed to be having a good time. "I'm pretty sure she does, yes," she agreed, watching Yvonne laugh and squeal with delight. "She also likes when you blow rasberry on her tummy."