[Shoreditch] Playing Happy Families [Jane, Ryan, Justin]

Alvin gave a shiver as he apparated to the landing and approached the apartment door. The last time he'd been here, this had been Darren's place. The last time he'd been here, they'd been plotting their father's murder. That was all in the past now. Jack was dead, Darren had moved out and even though Vin was yet to step through the door, he could only imagine that Jane had turned it into a cocoon of homeliness and normality.

Normality.

Dinner parties were normal, right? That was a thing that adults did. They invited their friends and family over to eat, drink wine and chat politely about current events. Alvin's hand tightened on the bottle of cheap plonk he'd brought along with him. He had no idea if Jane drank wine. It just seemed to be the thing to do. Bring a bottle. Thank the hostess. Pretend to be normal.

'Come over for dinner with Ryan and me,' - that's what she'd said. If it had been anyone else he'd have told them to fuck off. Dinner with Ryan was pretty low on Vin's list of things he wanted to do. He hadn't seen him since that night. Unwelcome memories flashed before Vin's eyes - a face contorted with fear and pain, the anger rushing through him, the flash of a curse, a hex, another, another - he clamped his eyes shut, sending the visions away, and when he opened them, his chocolate brown irises were only faced with the faded paint of the apartment door.

"We doing this or what?" he asked himself in an irritated whisper. "Quit being a fucking pussy and knock."

He wanted to see Jane. He wanted to share his news. And maybe he wanted to brag in front of Ryan a little. Show off. Make it clear that he had the upper hand. That he was the one that was following his dreams and making shit happen. He didn't know what Ryan was doing these days, but it certainly wasn't professional Quidditch. And maybe Vin had yet to actually play in a match... but he was on the bench at least. He was in the uniform. That was more than Ryan would ever get.

His fist hovered mid-air. Alvin's knuckles were scarred and a permanently darker shade that the rest of his skin like the bruises had just settled in for the long haul and had no intention of leaving. He'd never been one for healing himself with magic. He liked his scars. He needed his scars. They rooted him. Reminded him of his struggles - and his successes. Reminded him that he'd survived. So much had happened and maybe it was time to put the petty grudges behind him. He was never going to be Ryan's best buddy, but maybe they could be civil for one evening. For Jane's sake. Vin knew how much shit like this was important to her. She wanted everyone happy. She wanted normality.

He knocked. Three times. Then dropped his hand back down to his side, the fist uncurling, but fingers flinching, like they were ready to grab for his wand at any moment. Hyper-vigilance that he couldn't seem to shift these days.

He could hear footsteps approaching the other side of the door. For a moment he tried to fix a smile on his face but then gave up with that. There was only so much normal that Alvin Hadditch could muster.

@Ryan Hadditch @Jane Lennon @Justin Finch-Fletchley

Jane was pleased as punch that Alvin had actually agreed to come to dinner. Of course, she hadn't mentioned to Ryan that he was coming. She wasn't quite sure why, considering how much she adored both of them, but the younger Hadditch boys had never gotten along. Of course, as much as she loved them, she did treat them differently. She was much more protective of Alvin, but she would also probably slap the taste out of his mouth if he ever said the things to her that Ryan had said; not that he would. Alvin was much more respectful than that. He sometimes grew annoyed with her for being too maternal, but that was relatively normal for their situation. None of the Hadditches had a great relationship with their mother, and ever since Darren had begun introducing her to his family she had sort of stepped in to fill the role: mother-henning the absolute shit out of all of them. Jane often found herself telling Ryan, in particular, to be easier on Alvin. 'He's just a boy' and all that. She remembered how awkward it felt to have to have 'the talk' with Kelly last year. Merlin. The things I do for this family.

She was happy to cook for all of them, tonight, though. She was happier, yet, that Ryan had invited Justin over. He was always a big help in the kitchen, and Jane genuinely liked his company. Sure, he wasn't typically what she sought out in a friend, but he was very thoughtful. He'd saved her life back at Hogwarts. She only hoped that Alvin wouldn't be too weird about him being there. He'd probably think that Justin was her boyfriend, she figured, unless Alvin also had his suspicions as to his brother's actual sexuality. Kelly didn't know, though she suspected that Kelly was catching on now that Justin had been making more of a presence in their lives.

She was just finishing up with putting everyone's food which consisted of t-bone steaks, green beans, and buttery mashed potatoes, on plates when she heard three knocks at the door. "That must be him." She might not have mentioned to Ryan or Justin who, exactly, was joining them for dinner. She did, however, mention that someone was joining them and implied that it was a him: how else would she explain the extra plate? They probably thought it was her date.

After drying her hands on the towel above the sink, Jane hurried to the door to open it and greeted Alvin with a smile. "Hey, Vin!" She noted the bottle in his hand and smiled more brightly. She'd become more of a drinker since Hogwarts, and so the gesture was more than appreciated. It'd probably go great with the dinner anyway.

"Come on in. It's good to see you!"

Justin had been pleased as punch to be invited to dinner with Jane and Ryan and some unnamed other man. He wondered if it was Ashley, and if Ryan had asked him to have some back-up in interrogating Jane's new prospective boyfriend. The former Hufflepuff knew there was something between Jane and Ryan's older brother Darren, some bad blood after their last break up and Ryan was uneasy about her dating other guys, but everything was a little too complicated for him. Justin's main concern was that if the mysterious other person at the dinner was Jane's boss Ashley, that he was treating her well and making her happy. He wanted nothing more than to see his friend happily settled with someone nice. Well, nice to her at least. Jane wasn't into nice boys. She like bad boys. It was something the two blondes had in common.

He'd dressed nicely, in slacks and a button-down shirt in a light blue cotton. It was still warm, so he'd rolled up the sleeves to help keep cool. His arms were surprisingly muscled, not what anyone would expect from the notoriously non-confrontational Hufflepuff, with a few scars decorating his knuckles from all the training and sparring he did in muggle gyms. He was humming happily, drying the wine glasses he'd just washed and setting them out on the table. There were tall pint glasses for anyone who preferred a beer. Justin had picked up both drinks as his contribution to the meal, as well as Ryan's favorite chocolate cake which he'd promised to make. He was glad to cook for his not-really-a-boyfriend and one of his best friends from school. He hoped the other guest liked chocolate.

When the knock sounded and Jane rushed off to open the door, Justin looked up to get his first glimpse of the mysterious fourth person. He seized up a little when he saw it was one of the Hadditch boys, but breathed a quick sigh of relief when he realized it was Vin, not Darren. The oldest Hadditch boy was the poor Hufflepuff's living Boggart. He'd been Darren's, and then Ryan's, punching bag while he was in school. Well, until Darren graduated and he and Ryan sort of, you know... They'd hooked up and fought and then it had been two years before fate brought them back together. Things were pretty good now, with Justin spending more nights than not in Ryan's bed. Of course, this was not common knowledge. Only Jane knew they were a thing, and even that seemed to make Ryan uncomfortable.

With their other guest being Ryan's brother, Justin knew he'd have to be on especially good behavior. One of the few rules Ryan did have was that his family were not to know he was gay. When Kelly had been over for the summer, it had been a bit of a obstacle course to keep their activities from her, since she slept in the living room unless Jane was away for work. Thankfully, that was pretty often, but it was still stressful.

He gave Alvin a tentative smile. The youngest of the Hadditch brothers had never personally beat the ever-living crap out of him, as Darren and Ryan had, but that didn't mean that the boy had any better an opinion of him than they once had. Darren had probably long since forgotten Justin's existence, and Ryan was definitely not the boy he'd been in school. Two years seemed to have done a lot for their relationship. "Hello, Alvin." Justin stepped around the table, offering his hand to the other man to shake. "Justin Finch-Fletchley. I don't think we've ever formally been introduced." Justin's hazel eyes were bright and untroubled, and his smile, thought still a little hesitant, was genuine.

Ryan didn't know what to make of this mystery person they were having over for dinner. If it was Jane's new boyfriend, Ryan didn't think he could handle it. He definitely didn't like the idea of Jane and someone else dating. Jane belonged with Darren and that was that. Never mind that Darren had been the one toe leave, and never mind that Darren was dating someone else right now. He just wanted Jane to be his sister, and that was that. Not knowing what to make of it, he had dragged Justin along to keep him sane, despite what it probably looked like. Jane and her boyfriend and Ryan and his... not... boyfriend. They weren't boyfriends. Really. Even though Justin came over almost every day and slept over just as often, it didn't mean anything. They were friends. Good friends. They were friends with benefits. That was all, right? That was all they needed to be. That was all Justin had asked for them to be.

Even so, Justin';s presence calmed Ryan down a lot. Justin had promised to make Ryan's favorite chocolate cake for the dinner and Ryan was excited for it, as well as for whatever would happen after dinner. They would probably go hang out, make out, play video games or something. Then they'd fall into bed together, fat and happy. In fact, couldn't they just skip dinner altogether and go straight to the aftermath? Ryan stuck close to Justin, hindering more than he was helping with the cooking. He whispered into the other's ear that he wished they could skip dinner and move straight to dessert, but he had to be careful. Jane was there, and Ryan still wasn't “out.” While he knew realistically that Jane knew exactly what he and Justin did when they were 'hanging out' along in Ryan's bedroom all night, he still didn't want  to justify her suspicions. He was afraid of what everyone would say.

Justin's face went red and Ryan felt validated, but they didn't go any farther than that before there was a knock on the door. Jane got it and Ryan frowned deeply when he saw who it was. It was worse than any boyfriend she had. It was Alvin, his least favorite sibling. He looked at Jane with a glare that shot daggers but she didn't seem to notice, welcoming Alvin into their apartment and taking the wine he offered. He was glad that Justin had thought to get beer, as that was what he was going to drink. Beer, and lots of it.

He sat down at the table, barely acknowledging his brother.  He gave him a little nod. He knew Vin thought he was better than Ryan was, and that made Ryan angry but also it was a little true. Ryan hadn't done anything with his life at all, besides finding Justin, and that didn't really count either way. “Justin, you're probably lucky you didn't know this one.” Ryan teased. He really was just looking for something to say to stop them from being too friendly. If Justin and Alvin started acting like best mates, Ryan thought that he might just get sick.

He got up again to pour beer for himself, but didn't ask anyone else if they wanted any. “You ready to sit down, or is Darren coming too?”