There is a little boy inside the man who is my brother... Oh, how I hated that little boy. And how I love him too -- Summer 1988

I had heard Dad and Remus talking about something they wanted to do.  I hated being kept in the dark!  I finally found Dad in his study and saw that he had a drawing in front of him.  "Dad, what's that?" I asked, biting down on a bit of licorice that Mum did not know that I took from the candy jar we had.

I looked up and smiled at Nathaniel.  "Did you ask to have that?" I questioned, smirking slightly when his hair changed to a devilish red color.  "That's what I thought."  I winked at him.  "And don't worry about what this is yet."  It was a surprise for Nate; I was going to build him a treehouse.

Dad wanted me to come over if things were okay at home with the kids and Chloe -- which they were -- so I walked into their house and gave Cathie and Penny hugs and found the boys.  "Hey," I said, noticing the reddish color of Nate's hair.  "do I even want to know?"  As soon as Nate heard my voice though, his hair turned a vibrant purple -- his color for excitement -- and he barreled into me to give me a hug.

I grinned evilly and shook my head. "Don't worry about it," I said, scrunching up my face slightly to make my hair change it to a vibrant purple.  Sometimes my hair changed on its own, sometimes I had to concentrate.

I was not entirely sure what they were up to, but I followed Remus into John's study.  Penny was perfectly occupied for the moment.  "Boys... are you going to want lunch before any big adventures?" I asked them, smiling at the three of them.

I followed Mummy towards where the boys were.  "I know I'd like some lunch," I said to the group, making them jump slightly.  Were they trying to be sneaky or something?  I narrowed my eyes at them, ignoring my brother's brightly colored hair.

I laughed.  "And we all know that Nate is going to want food, too," I said as my youngest heard the word lunch and nearly ran over his sister to get to the kitchen.  I stood up and shook my head, chuckling, following Remus out of the study.  "How about grilled cheese?" I suggested, pulling out my wand to make the sandwiches quickly.

I chuckled.  "We all knwo that Nate will eat just about anything," I teased, earning myself an eye roll from my young brother.

"That's not very nice to say," I said, laughing at my brother even though I was the subject of his teasing.

I put my hands on Nate's shoulders from behind him.  "Oh, dear, there's no point in arguing about it," I said to him, chuckling.  "We all know that you would eat a cow raw if you were hungry enough."

I laughed and we all knew that Nate would still try to argue about it.  "You know that it won't stop him," I said quietly, laughing at the way my little brother was getting his defensive look on his face.  "What are you guys goign to be doing anyways?  Can I help?"

I looked over at Remus who nodded a bit.  "Oh, Penny, I think we'd love it if you'd join us in building a treehouse," I said, grinning.  "It is for you and Nate after all.  So it would only be a smart thing to have you help."  Once I said tree house, the younger kids started yelling with excitement and they did not hear a word after that.

I had nodded a bit so Penny would not realize it when our dad looked at us.  I smiled at the two younger half-siblings and sighed when they got super excited.  "Now, the excitement is great, guys," I nearly shouted over them.  "But you are going to have to listen to what me and Dad tell you two to do."

My eyes widened and I stared at them.  "A tree house?  Really?  Can we call it something cool?" I questioned excitedly.

I laugehd at the reaction of the two younger kids.  "What type of name do you want to call it?" I asked Nate as we put hte sandwihes on plates for everyone.