BY fates design

Soup

Percy quietly made his way into the room of requirements, a small smile slipped into his face when he saw his wife and her sister asleep on the bed, Achlys was lying on top of Cassiopeia who's hair was sprawled out around her. Snapping a picture of the two he sighed and made his way to the couch, there was a pillow and blanket folded on it for him to use. Settling down Percy huffed out a breath, running his hand over his face, memories of his life played across his mind, memories he feared he wouldn't make this time around. Eventually he slipped into the realm of dreams, images of him, his wife and their child fluttered through his head as he slept.

When morning came the castle was silent, not a soul stirring until Cassiopeia's eyes began to flicker open. The first thing she noticed was the weight atop her chest, glancing down she was greeted with blonde hair and a drooling Achlys. Carefully, she pushed the girl off herself and climbed out of bed, washing herself and changing her shorts into trousers and slipped in a pair of fluffy shark slippers that Percy had given her as a birthday gift the year before. Passing by Percy, she leaned down and kissed his head before heading down to the kitchens, being as silent as possible as to not disturb anyone. Walking inside, Cassiopeia pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail and set to work searching for the necessary ingredients. Finding everything she needed, she started making the soup, chopping up tomatoes, sweet potatoes, onions and lying them onto a baking tray to cook for a while as she set to work on making the bread dough. As she kneaded the dough the kitchen door creeped open and a figure walked in, "morning." The light voice of Luna chimed as she hopped up to sit on one of the counters behind Cassiopeia. "Good morning, Lulu." Cassiopeia greeted as she looked over her shoulder at the younger girl. "Do you want some tea?" Luna asked as she set a teapot of water onto the stove. "Please." Cassiopeia agreed covering her dough over with a cloth so that it could prove. Sitting down at the small table, Cassiopeia spoke with Luna and a couple of house elves until she had to knead and shape her bread. "Do you want rolls or a loaf?" She asked as she knocked the air out of her dough. "Ohh rolls, please." Luna requested. "Ok, can you pull the vegetables out of the oven for me please?" Cassiopeia pointed over to the oven before going back to shaping the bread. Covering it over once more, she left the rolls to prove, turning her attention to preparing the soup. "Do you want to help?" She asked the blonde who nodded eagerly, helping her blend all the vegetables into a liquid, adding hot water and vegetable stock as they went. "Ok, we can leave that over a low heat until the bread is done." Cassiopeia lifted the huge pot of soup into the stove. "What time is it?" She asked Luna, as they sat down for some more tea. "It is, 11:03." Luna replied, "it appears that everyone has slept in for the day."
"That's fine, when they wake up they can have some soup and bread for lunch." Cassiopeia said as she poured herself and Luna another glass of fruit tea. The morning had been peaceful and warm, the heat of the kitchen was comforting as the two girls cooked and baked. Placing the bread into the oven, Cassiopeia smiled softly, "that will be ready soon." Just as she said that someone else entered the room. "Morning my love, Luna." Percy said, kissing Cassiopeia on the shoulder as he hugged her from behind, offering a smile to Luna as he did. "Good morning, Percy." Luna replied airily, her face filled with a dreamy expression. "Morning honey." Cassiopeia turned her head to place a quick kiss on her lover's lips. "Food should be ready soon, if you want to wait with us." She offered pointing to the table the two had been sat at prior. "I would love to. It has been so long since you have cooked for us. I miss it." Percy expressed with a content smile. "Well I have been awfully busy with a kingdom to run and all." Cassiopeia teased, tapping his nose gently. "I know." He grumbled softly. "Luna, lovely, do you want some more tea?" She called out to the girl, holding up the ceramic teapot they were using. "Yes please." Luna nodded, settling back into her seat with a soft grin. Together they sat and soaked in the peace of the moment, their hearts full as they enjoyed the quiet calm that settled over them. "Foods ready." Cassiopeia said as she pulled the golden rolls out of the oven, gently stirring the soup. "Perfect." Percy grinned, wrapping his arms around her, his hands sprawled over her stomach. "Pip?" Cassiopeia called out to the house elf that had greeted her that morning. "Can you serve this now, for lunch please?" She requested when the elf appeared with a pop. "Of course Mrs Jackson." Percy smirked against her shoulder when she was called Mrs Jackson, no one here had called her that, referring to her maiden name instead. "Thank you." She smiled before turning around, hugging Percy tight. "We should go to lunch. I'm hungry." She said kissing his jaw before grabbing Luna's hand and walking her over to the great hall. "Hi Uncle Reggie, Grandma, grandpa, uncle Pads, Corvy, Roro." She took a seat amongst the Black family with a smile. "Cassy, dear, how are you?" Walburg ran her hand down the girls back, choosing not to comment on the fact she was still in sleep attire. "I am well, and you all?" Cassiopeia asked in reply. "We're good, Hyacinth." Corvus said, vibrating in excitement when the food appeared before him. Lunch continued with buzzing conversations and the humm of laughter, "this is amazing, Cassiopeia." Sirius complimented as he finished his food. "Thank you, I'm glad you like it." She smiled at the family before standing up, "excuse me." She bowed her head before leaving, going to sit beside her husband, Achlys, Barty, Even and Pandora. "Hello, mea dea, how are you?" Percy pulled Cassiopeia to sit on his lap, his chin resting on her shoulder as he kissed her cheek. "I'm well, thank you." She curled into him more before initiating a conversation with the others present.
As lunch drew to a close the screen flickered to life, letters danced across it before settling into words:
from this point on, all magic is permitted to be used within the hall.
Best of luck - the fates.
A tense silence settled over the hall, no one moved. "Perhaps we should start on the next scene?" James suggested, eyeing some of the 'light' followers wearily. "That's a great idea dad, we can start it in about an hour, maybe, give everyone a little time to get ready." Eleana agreed, with an eager smile, though it looked strained. The atmosphere of the room was suffocating and she wished nothing more than to ease the heavy air that clung to the hall. Grabbing Percy's hand, Cassiopeia lead him back to the room of requirements, "what to wear." She hummed as she flicked through her wardrobe. Settling on a tight long sleeve black turtleneck and a black and blue plaid skirt that brushed her ankles, Cassiopeia got dressed and twisted her hair up into a neat bun, stabbing her simple silver comb into it and slipping on a pair of black heals. Percy took her hand in his and walked with her back down to the great hall where they sat and waited for the film to start again. "Are you nervous?" Percy whispered in her ear, his breath fanning her skin. "A little." She admitted, leaning heavily into his side, his arms securely wrapped around her waist. "I'm sure everything will be alright." He placed a sweet kiss onto her forehead, then nose and finally her lips. "Thank you." She murmured, kissing his jaw lightly. "For what?" He tilted his head, a surprised smile on his face. "Everything." She replied, falling back into his chest.