RP: Beach Party
Date: 31 August 1999
Characters: Lisa Turpin and various Muggle relatives and friends (NPCs), Cho Chang, Angelina Johnson, Padma Patil, & other invited (or uninvited) guests
Location: Redcar Beach, North Yorkshire
Status: Public
Summary: Lisa's sister-in-law hosts a beach party.
Completion: Incomplete
It had been a great day so far. A morning run on the beach--on which she'd even convinced Cho and Padma to come along--a selection of pastries from a local bakery for breakfast, idle lounging on the beach for several hours. Even the set-up for the party hadn't been bad. With the witches there to subtly lighten the loads, all the tables and food had gone into place with relative ease. The torches were charmed to, when lit, glow a bit more evenly than usual so they'd be able to see perfectly well out on the beach after sunset without ruining the mood lighting.
Her dad had been in a positively jovial mood the whole time, cracking jokes with Lisa's friends and pulling her mum in for kisses often enough that Lisa and her brothers practically rolled their eyes out of their heads. She supposed he was just trying to enjoy himself while he could, since he wouldn't be at the actual party for long--wouldn't have been coming at all if it weren't for meeting Terry. Regardless of the reason, it was good to see everyone smiling. It was nice having the whole family together for a special occasion that wasn't marred by serious discussions.
Of course, there had been that tense moment this morning when they'd all seen her scars for the first time. Well, her mum had seen them before, and so had Padma, but no one else had. That had been...odd. Beck's face had been especially painful to see. She'd very nearly gotten teary-eyed just looking at him. Colleen had saved the day, though, raving about Lisa's swimsuit and trousers rather than focusing on the rest. Ever since then it had been fine. Lisa thought she might just love her sister-in-law even more.
Colleen stayed behind to finish the last bit of preparation while Lisa's parents and brothers returned to her parents' house. They would be bringing all of the Muggle guests once they'd been assured that all of Lisa's friends had arrived. It was easier than trying to explain how twenty people suddenly appeared at the beach house without any transportation. It would also give Lisa a chance to get everyone settled a bit before she had to start introducing her family to half of the guests.
It was a shame the beach house didn't have a fireplace, because the Floo would have been the easiest method for transport, but Colleen said her friend had taken it out in favour of extra space for his sound system when he last remodelled. She'd considered getting a portkey authorised, but she was a bit afraid of a messy sort of landing and didn't want to risk the borrowed property. Once they got started, though, successive Side-Alongs didn't even take as long as she'd expected, with people popping back to grab their own friends and such. Colleen looked rather stunned the first couple of times, but by the time the first dozen or so people had arrived, she was showing them out to the beach as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Once everyone was outside, Lisa took a moment to phone her mum and let her know the others could come, then she stepped back out into the sun lounge. Colleen was already picking up bits of rubbish and dirty dishes, but Lisa stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"There's no need, really," she said, gently. "My way's a bit faster. Besides, you've done plenty. You deserve to have a little fun, too, you know."
"But--"
"No buts," Lisa said, pointing toward the stairs and grinning. "Swimsuit. Go change. Now."
Once Colleen had gone, Lisa leaned against the door frame and gazed out at her friends, happy that everything had come together, even if she hadn't originally intended something this big. It was going to be a fun night.
Characters: Lisa Turpin and various Muggle relatives and friends (NPCs), Cho Chang, Angelina Johnson, Padma Patil, & other invited (or uninvited) guests
Location: Redcar Beach, North Yorkshire
Status: Public
Summary: Lisa's sister-in-law hosts a beach party.
Completion: Incomplete
It had been a great day so far. A morning run on the beach--on which she'd even convinced Cho and Padma to come along--a selection of pastries from a local bakery for breakfast, idle lounging on the beach for several hours. Even the set-up for the party hadn't been bad. With the witches there to subtly lighten the loads, all the tables and food had gone into place with relative ease. The torches were charmed to, when lit, glow a bit more evenly than usual so they'd be able to see perfectly well out on the beach after sunset without ruining the mood lighting.
Her dad had been in a positively jovial mood the whole time, cracking jokes with Lisa's friends and pulling her mum in for kisses often enough that Lisa and her brothers practically rolled their eyes out of their heads. She supposed he was just trying to enjoy himself while he could, since he wouldn't be at the actual party for long--wouldn't have been coming at all if it weren't for meeting Terry. Regardless of the reason, it was good to see everyone smiling. It was nice having the whole family together for a special occasion that wasn't marred by serious discussions.
Of course, there had been that tense moment this morning when they'd all seen her scars for the first time. Well, her mum had seen them before, and so had Padma, but no one else had. That had been...odd. Beck's face had been especially painful to see. She'd very nearly gotten teary-eyed just looking at him. Colleen had saved the day, though, raving about Lisa's swimsuit and trousers rather than focusing on the rest. Ever since then it had been fine. Lisa thought she might just love her sister-in-law even more.
Colleen stayed behind to finish the last bit of preparation while Lisa's parents and brothers returned to her parents' house. They would be bringing all of the Muggle guests once they'd been assured that all of Lisa's friends had arrived. It was easier than trying to explain how twenty people suddenly appeared at the beach house without any transportation. It would also give Lisa a chance to get everyone settled a bit before she had to start introducing her family to half of the guests.
It was a shame the beach house didn't have a fireplace, because the Floo would have been the easiest method for transport, but Colleen said her friend had taken it out in favour of extra space for his sound system when he last remodelled. She'd considered getting a portkey authorised, but she was a bit afraid of a messy sort of landing and didn't want to risk the borrowed property. Once they got started, though, successive Side-Alongs didn't even take as long as she'd expected, with people popping back to grab their own friends and such. Colleen looked rather stunned the first couple of times, but by the time the first dozen or so people had arrived, she was showing them out to the beach as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
Once everyone was outside, Lisa took a moment to phone her mum and let her know the others could come, then she stepped back out into the sun lounge. Colleen was already picking up bits of rubbish and dirty dishes, but Lisa stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"There's no need, really," she said, gently. "My way's a bit faster. Besides, you've done plenty. You deserve to have a little fun, too, you know."
"But--"
"No buts," Lisa said, pointing toward the stairs and grinning. "Swimsuit. Go change. Now."
Once Colleen had gone, Lisa leaned against the door frame and gazed out at her friends, happy that everything had come together, even if she hadn't originally intended something this big. It was going to be a fun night.