The Problem with Plans ((Billy))

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

Stacey stared at her reflection for a few moments and then her face broke into a contented smile. Plans had been set, preparation had been organised down to the last detail and she was looking forward to a whole weekend of fun with Rex – she hadn’t been seeing as much of him as she wanted to lately, and his answers were always rather vague when she asked him what he'd been up to. She thought he was probably getting into trouble and he might think it was better that she not know in case she wanted in on them – he did worry about her a bit, he cared about her, if not as much as she did. But she had this nagging feeling every now and then that something was amiss between them and so this invitation on her mother's part was the perfect opportunity for them to do something on their own, true she would have to put up with Billy's presence but she was so used to that that she wasn't going to let it bother her. It was time for her to leave, and with a little spin of happiness she picked up her bag and ran down the stairs to the place they had previously planned to meet.

It was her half-brother's birthday Giovanni the next day and her mother had arranged for Stacey, Rex and Billy to spend the weekend at their home in Italy. Stacey would've never agreed to the idea had her mother not suggested that she could bring her friends over. Stacey was rather surprised that her mother had taken the effort to do that, she hadn’t worried much about Stacey getting to know her half-brother and sister and Stacey hadn’t been bothered about that herself, in fact she preferred it that way. They were worlds apart anyway, not only because they had different fathers, but they lived in another country, had probably been spoilt rotten by her mother, didn't know much about England or Hogwarts or anything Stacey's life. She had better things to do than trying to connect with them – besides, Stacey got her way with her mother mostly because her mother felt so guilty about Stacey not living with her and her other children having her care attention, but Stacey wasn't jealous at all. She got all she wanted from her mother and that in her eyes was more than enough. Stacey hadn’t asked too many questions about why now and why this birthday when usually she only spent the holidays at her mother's residence, she had seen a chance to spend some time with Rex and an invitation he couldn’t possibly refuse, after all, who turned down a chance to visit Florence, a Renaissance city in the heart of Tuscany which happened to be one of the most popular travel cities in Italy? Exploring the city with him would be so much fun.

They were to leave by a Portkey; Stacey didn't know how her mother had managed to arrange this, but she wasn't the only one at Hogwarts that had to leave and go a long distance at short notice. She awaited the arrival of her friends inside an empty classroom with Mr. Filch who was to make sure they left safely. He grunted when she arrived but Stacey gave him a wild smile because nothing could ruin her mood. She hugged herself with excitement as she heard the door behind her creak. She turned to the person who had just entered quietly into the room and played with the marble necklace she was wearing, not looking at him. She'd made it herself from marbles she and Rex had once collected. "Where's Rex?" she asked him as she looked up and noticed he was alone. Her smile faltered a bit. Her eyes met his for the first time since he'd arrived. And then she stared at him with a sinking feeling. Because she knew what Billy was going to say before he said it, but it couldn’t be true, not after all perfect plans she'd made.

[Billy Brady H6]

Woohoo, Italy here we come! was Billy's main thought as he left the Herbology greenhouse that Friday afternoon. He was to be spending the weekend at Stacey's mothers place in Florence, Italy for the weekend for her half-brothers birthday or something. To be honest, it wasn't the celebration of the birth of a relative of Stacey's that was getting him excited, it was the fact that he would be spending the time with Rex, and going to a place where he'd never been before. The birthday celebration was the drawback, if ever there was one, and the fact that Stace would be all over Rex the whole time, smothering him like a blanket and leaving Billy out in the cold so to speak. Not that it would be particularly cold in Italy at any time of the year.

As Billy was preparing to leave the greenhouse, he started talking to Rex about the weekend. However, Rex didn't seem so enthusiastic about it. After questioning him about it, Rex said that he wasn't going, as he wasn't feeling well. Great, Billy thought, just what I needed...a weekend with Just Stacey, and no Rex to cope with. Perhaps since Rex wasn't going, Stacey would call the whole thing off. Unlikely, as it had all been carefully organised and it'd be really bad just to cancel at the last minute-Stacey would be furious with Rex, while being concerned at the same time.But then again, she wouldn't want to disappoint her mother, she assumed. It all depended on whether she valued Rex or her family more.

Nontheless, Billy went to the common room to collect his things as the chances were Stacey wouldn't want to disappint her family, and it also gave him more time to think about what was going to happen rather than going straight to the room where they were supposed to me meeting. It also meant that if she still wanted to go, she wouldn't be mad at him for not having his stuff. However if she decided she definately wasn't going, she may accuse him of being inconsiderate of his friend-caring more about a weekend away than staying with his friend when he was ill. But that wasn't likely to happen. So he picked up the holdall that he'd packed that lunchtime and struggled his way up to the classroom where they were supposed to be leaving from, ready to deliver the bad news to her.

He was greeted by a grunt and a nod from Filch, who would probably prefer they left sooner rather than later, and a grin then a downheartened look from Stacey as she noticed that he was alone. Despit not getting along particularly well with Stacey, he didn't want to disappoint her, hurt her feelings. He hated doing that to anyone. And with Stace in many cases hurting her was hurting Rex, which he really did not like to do. THough this didn't count in this situation. He glanced at the portkey-an old vase-ready to take them off to Florence before he looked at Stacey again. he could tell from her original look that she was already disappointed, and could probably tell what he was going to say in a matter of secons.

He took a deep breath before he confirmed her suspicions and told her what was going on. "Umm, Stace...bad news I'm afraid. Rex said he couldn't come...apparently he's not feeing well, and he wanted me to tell you. He says he's really sorry and everything, but he didn't feel up to it...I guess that changes things, huh?" He waited for a while, once again looking at the portkey, then the floor, waiting to hear what the disappointed girl opposite him would have to say. Would she go ahead with the plans without Rex, or would she go and cancel everything? Or perhaps go on her own without Billy? Only she knew what was going to happen right then.

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

He's not coming.

"I, um, Billy, I need a few minutes," she said. She needed some space on her own to talk to herself in this classroom, she needed to think, she needed to cope, she didn't need this disappointment taking control of her, but it was difficult to resist the cold sensations charging through her threatening to break her resolve. She took a few quick breaths, a fixed smile on her face. It was OK, it was all right, it was just a weekend, it didn't mean the end, it didn’t mean anything at all really… she'd survived, oh goodness what a dramatic word, what she meant was she'd dealt with worse than this. She'd waited for long enough and just a bit more didn't matter – if you wanted something badly enough you found a way to get it, she'd always and would always believe in that. She told herself that every time he went on a few dates and then broke up with a girl, on those rare occasions when they would talk and talk and he'd tell her something she knew he'd never told anyone else, and oh, even better were those times when they said nothing but knew exactly what the other was thinking. He could be an idiot at times but she could wait for him to see she was all he needed, it didn't matter that it was taking him a longer time to get there, guys were like that, and he was worth the wait. There was still his birthday, there still remained so much of the year in which they could do things together - maybe a few days without her and he'd realise what Stacey truly meant to him.

She walked away and stood next to a window not too far from where she had been standing previously. Her hot breath condensed on the cold glass and like a child she pressed her index finger to the glass. She did something she and Rex often did, comforting herself with the reminiscence as she curled up like a cat next to the cold window sill and drew shapes on the glass, her warm finger sliding across the moisture. She'd always guess correctly what he had drawn but it had always taken him time to figure out the meaning of her own markings. She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in deeply. She was calm now, and everything was fine, everything was better than fine. She turned to Billy and felt a slight discomfort. She couldn't turn him away now – but she knew that he'd never really liked her and she had always found his company left much to be desired. But he was Rex's friend, so that left her with no choice. "It changes nothing," she said, with her usual unfriendly manner towards him. "We're ready now Mr. Filch," she said. "'Bout time," he grumbled. They both held onto the vase and then in a whirl of colour Stacey felt herself almost lose consciousness and regain it again as they embarked on their journey.

As they stood at the front step of her mother's house both of them getting over travelling by the Portkey, Stacey was suddenly gripped by a moment of doubt. She'd come here thinking of Rex, that her absence would hopefully affect him, but what about her? She was going to spend a weekend with people she didn’t really love and what was more with a person she didn't even really know. What were they going to say to each other? The art galleries and the historical sites and all that would not enough to bridge the gap between her and Billy. But she pushed her doubts away and rapped with knuckles firmly on the door thinking to herself that she always had fun in Italy, her mother always made sure of that, and boring as he was well… he would just have to fade into the background.

And then the door opened and she saw her mother. She felt a slight unease as she saw her mother's messy hair which was usually immaculately styled and coloured that stunned her mother and the evident dark circles under her eyes. And then... the very clear baby bump that Stacey saw completely blew the wind out of her sails. "Mio bello figlia!" her mother cried as she reached for Stacey and planted two kisses on each of her cheeks. "Welcome to our house," she said with a bright smile at Billy and kissed him too. She turned to say something to Stacey who was standing very rigidly but Stacey stammered something before she could. "You're – you're…" Stacey was speechless but her mother didn't understand her surprise was complete shock and not excitement. "Si caro I shall be having a little bambino in a few months," her mother said with a tired smile. She took Stacey and Billy each by one hand and sat them down on a couch in the spacious reception. A baby at your age? No wonder you look exhausted… why the hell are you having another child? Maybe she should carefully side-step this topic. She just needed to keep a smile plastered to her face. "Mum we had plans?" she said slowly, carefully keeping any disappointment out of her voice. It would cheer her up to think of getting out of the house. "I know my dear but I'm too tired to throw a party for you brother and I couldn’t break my little baby's heart so I was thinking it might be fun for you and Billy to do it for me. For your little brother Stacey?" he mother pleaded.

Stacey looked at Billy, resisting the urge to grab her bags and him and split. Little Bruno suddenly appeared in their reception and chortled at the sight of Billy and his sister as if they were one of the funniest things he had seen in his short life. He then ran and hurled himself on Billy, grabbing him around the knees in a warm welcome gesture. Little brat. "We'll – we'll go to the kitchen and discuss it right now," Stacey said. She couldn’t look at her mother or her half-brother right now, she might suffocate. "Come on Billy!" she said a little irritably.

"How the heck do we set about organising a baby's birthday?" she said, massaging the back of her neck with one of her hands. "Oh hey there Pepperoni!" said Stacey with mock cheerfulness. "My name is Margherita," said her younger 10-year-old sister, with a soft accent. She blushed when she saw Billy had seen Stacey mocking her and looked at her reproachfully. "Sorry, must've got my pizza terms mixed up," Stacey replied in the same fake tone. Margherita is not like the pizza Stacey, it is like the English name Margaret," her sister said shyly. "Why don’t you take Billy's bags and put them in the guest bedroom? We have a lot to do now and you're in the way," Stacey replied.

Margherita turned to Billy as she could see talking to Stacey wasn't going to get her anywhere. "Madre said I could help you Billy, that is, if you don't mind. She has invited all our family which is 15 people, here is a list, and the menu for the bakery is in one of the drawers," she explained; her English clear if a little halting.

((Mio bello figlia = My beautiful daughter
bambino = baby
Si caro = Yes dear))

[Billy Brady H6]

A few minutes, she needed, apparently. Billy nodded as Stace went over to the window. What was she thinking? Was it going to go ahead as normal, and she could bare spending a weekend without Rex? Or was it all a complete disaster, for which she'd probably find some reason to blame Billy. Cos of course Rex could do no wrong according to her. Maybe she wasn't too bothered about not being with Rex-though not likely-and was actually thinking about actually being nice to and getting on with Billy more, and getting to know him better, rather than see him as the person that stole Rex's attention away from her most often. Afterall, if Rex was ill it wasn't anybodys fault, nobody hated him enough to spike his food or anything.

Maybe there was still time, maybe he'd come back in a while, saying that after a bit of sleep he felt much better, and that he was going to come after all. But Billy doubted Stace would wait, even if that was going to happen. It wasn't even remotely likely to happen anyway. Rex would probably be glad to have a bit of time alone for a change, though if any of the girls found out he was ill he'd be showered with roses and chocolates and all sorts. But knowing Rex he wouldn't be particularly interested. He'd probably find it quite amusing that his 2 best friends would have a whole weekend alone together without him to socialise. Hopefully it'd do them all a world of good. Billy's idea of fun wasn't exactly spending a weekend with Stace's family, but he would cope. Maybe he'd get to change Stace's opinion of him.


Assuming they went, of course. That still wasn't final. Stace was still by the window, apparently doodling in the glass frosted from her breath. He hoped she'd be ready soon, so he could either get to Italy or go back to his common room and unpack. And then go and find Rex. He'd probably be in the common room, which Billy couldn't get into, but he could always ask someone in Rex's dorm if he seemed to be alright. What seemed to be wrong, even-Rex had only said he didn't feel well, and not how exactly. He'd seemed alright in Herbology, but then he couldn't exactly be ill in lessons, he'd have to be at least somewhat healthy. Billy hoped, and assumed that Rex would be alright without his 2 best friends, and thought that if he did go with Stacey, he'd enjoy listening to their stories, and probably have some of his own to tell.

Stacey was coming back to the portkey. Filch rolled his eyes. She had made her decision. Now, in 5 minutes time would he be in Italy or on the way to his common room? She spoke-apparently Rex not being there changed nothing. They were ready to go. They would just have to accept each other for the next 2 days, hopefully enjoying themselves and seeing some beautiful places. His final thoguht before he picked up his bag and touched the portkey was of Rex. His welfare, his character, his generally great company. rex was a great friend, and Billy would miss him this weekend. But Stace would have to do. It could be worse, he could be with someone he didn't like at all, in a horrible place. At least Italy was apparently a beautiful country.

They were in Italy.
After the spinning portkey journey, they landed outside Stace's Italian house, their home for the next few days. They were greeted by her mother, kisses on the cheeks, and a shocked look on Stace's face as she saw her mother's stomach. She was quite clearly pregnant, about 6th months he thought, looking at the size of the bump. "Hey, you should be pleased for your mother, Stace! Congratulations, Mrs Castlerock*!" Billy, as an only child, didn't know what it was like to have a baby in the family, but he knew that he would've liked a younger brother. Before he started at Hogwarts, he often found himself lonely, but since he met Rex he was never lonely, most of the time far from it. In some respects, Rex was a lifesave-Billy didn't know what he would've done without him.

It was then suggested that they organised the party themselves. Stace didn't seem to have a clue, and Billy, if anything, had less of a clue. "Well, umm, I guess we need a cake, and other food. And decorations. we'll need to send out invitations, if that's not done already. I guess firstly we'll need to decide on what food, and the type of cake to have...umm..." He didn't have many more ideas, but it wasn't long before 2 little children flung themselves onto him. A young boy, and a girl caled Margherita. Not Pepperoni, like Stace had said, which Billylaughed at. The kids were cute, he'd have a lot of fun with them he thought. They seemed like good kids, and if not they had lots of visits planned anyway so they wouldn't spend too much time with them.

"Anyway, back to the plans" he said as Margherita passed the guest list to them. 15 people...that wasn't too bad, it could be a lot worse. "So, we need to cater for 15...so that means a lot of pizza! And cake! And snacks. Are there any places near here where we can get good quality food, relatively cheaply and quickly? Though I'm sure wherever we go the food is good quality. We are in Italy afterall!" Then the bakery leaflet was pointed out and he went to go and collect it. The prices seemed quite good, and so he suggested they chose the food they wanted. "Hmm, for 15 I'd say about 10 different dishes? Well, large-ish size things anyway. A few different pizzas and some other things, perhaps? What d'you say Stace? Sound alright?"


*I assume that's what she's called? Well, anyway, I can change it if not.

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

The kitchen's furniture was modern and it was spacious with a table for six in the centre of it. Stacey and Billy sat in two chairs next to each other and Stacey remembered what he'd called her mother at the door. "By the way, it's not Castlerock, its Ribsi actually. My mum's surname I mean. Mum and Dad split up when I was two. Mum got married again sometime after that and moved back to Italy, Dad's as English as you or I, in fact he's more English than most people I should say," said Stacey with a bit of a smile to herself. Her Dad was so correct about everything, it drove her crazy sometimes but in some ways Stacey knew it was all he knew and could ever be and she forgave him for not that sometimes he had to loosen up. Stacey was surprised by how much information she'd volunteered but she'd been hit by quite a number of surprises today and she didn’t quite feel like herself. I sometimes wonder what exactly that is.

Unwittingly the sight of her mother's baby bump came into her head- it wasn't going to be leaving her head any time soon. More to deflect herself from further thoughts on the subject Stacey threw a glance in Billy's direction and asked him, "You've never told me whether you had any brothers or sisters. What's your family like?" she asked. People always said the kind of background you came from played a substantial role in what you became. But Stacey didn’t believe that. I'm nothing like Mum or Dad. She was struck by another thought before he answered. She hardly knew much about Billy – how was it possible that in four years of having known each other they had never touched on the basics? She supposed she'd never been curious to know anything much – it was always Rex, Rex, Rex; their mutual best friend Rex who overshadowed Billy by his personality and charm and all the things that made him Rex.

Billy was more aware of the task at hand than Stacey was and had already started planning. Her brain had almost stopped a few minutes but surprisingly enough Billy sounded off to a good start. "Umm yeah I think so. And Billy money's no issue here believe me Mum won't say anything," Stacey said with a satisfied smirk. Her sister slipped quietly into the kitchen. "Rita's what I'm gonna call you, else all I'm going to be thinking of cheese every time I address you," Stacey told her sister. Margherita's hair was covering her eyes. Stacey pulled a yellow ribbon out of one of her pockets and tied her half-sister's hair in a ponytail at the side of her head. Stacey didn’t notice the longing in her sister's eyes, but Margherita had always wanted to get to know Stacey despite Stacey's bad attitude towards her half-sister and brother. Margaret saw Stacey as a person that must be fun to get to know as she you never knew what she would say or do and the younger girl had so often felt that she was dull since her parents didn’t pay her too much attention. But Stacey was sadly too self-centred and too busy trying to avoid her family to see that. Even the small smile her sister gave her when she tied her for her wasn't noticed by Stacey who hadn’t been looking at her sister's face.

"Rita bet you know all the good pizza joints around here. Get us a menu will you? And get us a menu for a bakery while you're at it," Stacey added. Margaret had already told Billy where the menu was but Stacey hadn’t been paying attention. "What's next Billy?" Stacey asked. She was almost unconsciously leaving all the plans to him although he was her guest, but sadly enough for Billy Stacey was not aware that it was she who should be playing hostess. Had he been Rex she would've been waiting on him hand and foot but Stacey didn’t stop to think that. Margherita threw grateful smile and apologetic wink in Billy's direction that Stacey didn't see.

((Actually I thought it more fun to make him not know that. )

[Billy Brady H6]

As they sat down, Stace corrected him over what he'd assumed her mother's surname was. He knew that her parents had split up-she'd told him and Rex about that quite a while ago. She hadn't mentioned what her new surname was though after she'd got divorced-Billy'd always assumed that that meant she'd stayed a Castlerock, however unlikely that was. "Ah right, I see" was his only outward reaction to her small family-history talk. "And I'm not English-I'm Irish. There's a lot of difference, but I forgive you. Hey, I'm not even from the same island as England, so you should be pleased that I'm not in a bad mood from you saying that...maybe it's just the Welsh and Scots that get very annoyed over being called English. Personally, I'm not that bothered."

Billy was Irish born and bred. His father was a very devout Christian, and despite Billy's mothers wishes for him to be sent to a non-religious primary school, his father insisted he went to a Catholic school. That would be because his father never thought Billy would pick up his mothers magic, and hence would go to a normal school, not Hogwarts where his mother went. It often surprised Billy that his father had married a witch, seeing as many people he knew from Dublin, being mostly Catholics, assosicated any form of magic with Satan, and hence evil. It was either that his father didn't believe in that teaching, or that his mother hadn't told him until after they'd got married, after which it was too late to turn back-they'd been together for three years before they were married, and by then they would've been in love, and it would've taken a lot more than Billy's mother being a witch to split them up. Especially as Catholics didn't believe in divorce, and that marriage would be for life, whatever happened. Well, none of that mattered now-his parents were still together, and by the looks of things they would be until one of them died.

Then Stace asked him about his family, which luckily he'd just been thinking about. "Well...I don't have any siblings, but I'm rarely lonely. As you know I spend most of my time in school with you and Rex, and in the holdays I meet up with friends I had in primary school. My dad's VERY Irish-I swear that to him St Patrick's day is the most important day of the year, even more important than Christmas. Well, maybe not quite, but not far off. He's a muggle, and very religious-he forced me into going to a Catholic primary school. My mum, well, she's a witch. She went to Hogwarts, as a Gryffindor. She lived in London, until she moved to Ireland after school. She now works for the Ministry of Magic, doing something to do with Centaurs I think. I think I get my adventurous side from her...my dad's rather uptight. You should've seen him the day the letter from Hogwarts came saying I had a place-he was furious! He assumed I'd be going to a muggle secondary school, and follow in his footsteps, not my mum's." That was about it really. Despite being rather complicated, his family history wasn't that interesting.

"So, what about your family? You've never told me much about it." he asked her. Seeing as Rex was the mutual friend, it was him they both knew about, not each other. He'd told them both the heartbreaking story about his brother-Rex would never get over that-and how, like Billy's family, his father was a muggle and his mother a witch. And how his mother had fallen ill when he was very young, and how she'd died when she was only 27 years old. Rex's father hadn't been very supportive of the young boys, and Rex and Raph were pretty much on their own, supporting each other. Then hos the day before Raph's tragic accident they'd discovered that the man they thought was their father probably wasn't. Now Raph and Rex's mother were gone, Billy liked to see himself as an emotional support for Rex-someone he could rely on and tell anything to. Not many people knew about the dark history of Rex Carter, and most assumed he was just a mischievous young boy that enjoyed getting into trouble, from which Billy tried to hold him back.

They went back to organising the party, which was what they were here for in the first place. "Right, so the cost doesn't matter. Firstly, we'll need to sort out the cake, if we're starting with food. What sort would be the best? A plain cake, maybe with some sort of jam, or chocolate, or some sort of fruit cake?" Billy laughed as Stace was tying up her sister's hair. Whether she'd been listening to him while deciding to call the other girl Rita and doing her hair was another question. He waited for her to finish before carrying on. She then sent her sister off to find menus for pizza places. "Right, speaking of pizzas, what sort would be the best? A plain cheese and tomato one would be a good idea. A pepperoni one too, perhaps? And a veggi one, with mushrooms and stuff? Perhaps we could get some plain pizzas and a mixture of toppings so people can choose what they want, perhaps? And we'll need other food aswell, not just pizza. We'll need snacks too, and possibly pasta things too."

Billy was on a roll here. And then he noticed Rita's wink and smile at him as she left...what was that for? Billy waited for Stace's response to his suggestions and questions. he hoped she'd been paying attention-she'd been distracted by her sister. Had Rex been here, he would've been the centre of attention no doubt, and Stace would've probably ignored her sister. Apart from when they were discussing their families, Stace hadn't payed that much attention to him, despite him being her guest, and her sister the permanent resident. It seemed like it would be left to Billy to do most of the organising, while Stace just went along with his ideas. In the end, Billy wouldn't be surprised if she took more credit than she should, probably saying that it was her idea to do some of the things they decided to do, when really she'd just agreed with whatever Billy had suggested, or given her opinion when there were some choices. Well, Billy wasn't too bothered by that-he enjoyed all this organising. It would've been more fun if Rex was here, but he wasn't and Billy would have to deal with it, while Rex was still at Hogwarts, apparently ill.

[Anastasia Castlerock R4]

You never knew whether she was listening to you or not but in fact Stacey was one of the best listeners there was. The strange thing about Stacey was that she always liked to know things about people, not because she ended up liking or caring about them much, but it was a natural inquisitiveness on her part about her fellow human beings on earth. Billy was a half-blood like her, she must have known that she was sure – but somehow like everything about Billy it was pushed to the back of her mind. She’d always thought half-bloods were interesting – some of them thought you got the best out of both worlds and other felt like they were torn between them. Billy seemed pretty well-adjusted to it. It was interesting that the word English hadn’t offended him. He didn’t have an Irish lilt which was why she’d assumed he was English. “Yes, yes and yes,” said Stacey, happy to follow Billy’s direction. He seemed to know what he was doing, and she’d never been part of a birthday like this one - it was always an occasion she spent with one of her parents. “How do you celebrate your birthday Billy?” she asked. She wasn’t even sure when it was though Rex must’ve told her at one point. Primary school… Stacey had been pretty popular even then. A lot of kids found her overbearing, but she always came up with the best ideas for games, so they’d overlook that since she was so fun to play with. While Billy cooked up the plan for the party Stacey pulled out some paper from a nearby drawer and a pen for him in case he needed them.

Her question was put on hold while she answered his. “Well, I don’t know a lot about Mum and Dad when they were together. They split up since I was two or three I think,” she started. Frankly the idea of them together is one even I find ridiculous. “They’re polar opposites if you ask me. Dad’s this career-driven, really respectable man. You should see our house in England; I swear it’s sterile enough for him to perform surgery just like his hospital. Mum’s a whimsical sort of person, the fun parent if you know what I mean. We’re always going on shopping sprees or fancy vacations. I’m surprised they made it long enough to have me. They never talk about that part of their lives,” Stacey added. Strangely enough, it was almost if it was the first time she’d noticed that. When she told this part of her life she could always see the wheels turning in people’s heads – all the connotations that came with child of divorce surfacing. But Billy knew Stacey better than that even though they weren’t close, so instead of focusing on going into defensive mode she found herself wondering about that period in their lives – what it had been like in the short time her Mum and Dad had been together, and the plans and dreams they’d had together, and what had made them think they might have a life they could share. It certainly had to be completely different than the paths each of them was walking now.

She’d never thought of them as a team for as long as she could remember. She looked up at Billy for a moment. Rex understood that perfectly, coming from that sort of background. However in his case it had left a deep impact on him even though you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t close to him - for Stacey it was just where she came from; it wasn’t some intrinsic part of her that dictated how she felt and behaved. She was her own person, who’d come to know the world through her own eyes in a more individual sense – or at least that’s what she felt – more individual than other people around her whose perspectives were always in some way affected by that of their families. Now she doubted Billy would understand that if she said anything about it.

Stacey was feeling very peculiar today. She was feeling extremely out-of-place, almost insecure, which was funny considering she’d never felt that in her mother’s house before. But somehow this unexpected sibling she was about to have, and her best friend being distant, and the preparation for her brother’s birthday, which was something she’d never done before, was somehow placing her in an unknown zone. In fact, the only person here who was from something she remotely felt part of was Billy – and she didn’t know him. She was engaging in this conversation without consciously realizing it was relaxing her to some extent.
“I don’t know much about Mr. Ribsi. He doesn’t speak any English so it’s rather hard to communicate with him. But he seems a nice enough man. Margaret speaks English though so that’s good I think,” she said with a shrug. She wasn’t that attached to her mother’s new family. What was the point if they hardly saw each other anyway? “Decorations, we’ll need those right? Any ideas Billy?” she said, not bothering with thinking any further about her suggestion.

[Billy Brady H6]

Billy nodded as Stacey agreed with his suggestions for the pizzas. He looked at the menu and wrote down 2 x large pepperoni, 2 x large mixed vegetable, 4 x large plain and a portion of each of the other toppings available, so indecisive (or greedy, even) people could mix and match toppings. He looked at the menu again, thinking about what else to add-he decided on some garlic ciabatta bread (plain and with cheese), tomato brushetta and some stuffed peppers. He also decided to order various risotto and pasta dishes, and thought about what other dishes to add. Despite having the feeling Stacey was leaving him to it more than contributing herself, and hence wouldn't be too bothered about his choices, Billy handed her the list to check over to see if she thought anything should be changed or added.

Having sorted out the food, Stacey then asked Billy how he celebrated his birthday. "Well...it's in the middle of June, which is pretty rubbish really-I've had an exam on my birthday every year since 2nd year, and I doubt it'll be any different this year. So I don't really celebrate until the holidays. I don't tend to do much really, usually just hang out with friends at the skate park as usual. And then in the evening we go to a restaurant of my choice for dinner with the whole family, and some other day I go out properly with mates. Birthdays aren't a big thing in my family...Christmas is the biggy. Even Easter's bigger than birthdays." Given that his father was a devout Catholic, Billy was used to all of the Muggle celebrations and had been brought up with both Muggle and Wizarding cultures. "What about you, how do you celebrate your birthday?" he asked "are there big arrangements like with this one or is that just for the young kids?"

Billy listened with Interest as Stacey talked about her family, and how her parents were completely different people and they divorced when she was too young to remember properly. Before that day Billy didn't know much at all about Stacey's past, and likewise she didn't know much about his-Rex was the one they both told everything to. Billy and Rex knew each other so well that they could probably tell each other's stories as well as their own. There was very little they hid from each other-the only thing Billy could think of was Harmony, and how he'd loved her for years now, and he assumed there was little Rex hadn't told him. He wondered what they were both doing now...Rex was probably in bed if he wasn't well...though knowing Rex unless he felt really bad he wouldn't stay still properly, even if it kept him away from this weekend.

His thoughts returned to the task at hand, as he nodded at what Stace had said. Some people might look down on her for having divorced parents, but that didn't bother Billy. He wasn't like his father, who believed that only married couples could have kids, and once married they should stay together until death parted them. Billy knew that couples split up all the time, whether married or not, and in todays society, although not preferred, it was perfectly acceptable to divorce in most peoples' eyes. His parents weren't alike at all, but they were happy together-they had their cultural differences, with him being a devout Christian and her being a pure-blooded witch. He nodded again as Stacey continued talking, about Mr Ribsi and Margaret this time.

When Stacey started talking about decorations he returned to the party preparations. "Yeah...we need those...I dunno what to get though...any suggestions? I suppose we can get banners and balloons and things, maybe make paper chains if we have enough time?" He added these things to his list, underneath the food he'd decided on earlier. He rested his chin on one hand while twisting his pen between the fingers of the other while he thought aboht what else they needed. "Right, so, we have food, decorations....entertainment of some sort? I suppose we could have music playing in the background while everything's going on. And games too..." he wrote these down too, leaving gaps for more specific ideas. He was getting into the swing of things now, and thought that they'd finish quite soon if they kept up this pace.