"It's alright, Meredith. You should focus more on y-your studies," Vien assured her, immediately feeling guilty as he watched her face drop.

"But Vien!" she protested, giving him her best pouting face. She even began to sniffle for effect, sending Vien into a small panic as he struggled to keep her from crying.

"Wait, w-wait, don't cry!" I'll...I'll help you look in the library for a wall healing spell, o-okay!" he said quickly, too concerned with his sister to respond to James' snickering across the table. Meredith's face lit as quickly as it had fallen, and she hopped out of her chair excitedly. She grabbed his arm gently, jumping up and down excitedly as she began to tug him towards the hall.

"Well, come on! If we hurry we can find one before mommy and daddy come back!" she said excitedly, and James grinned at them as he took the opportunity to begin hoarding cookies.

"Alright, alright, just let me...J-James!" Vien exclaimed quietly, turning just in time to watch the oldest sibling making a run for his photography room with an armful of cookies. He let out an exasperated sigh as James all but skipped down the hall in victory, a small, disappointed frown on his face as he looked over at the tray. There was barely a crumb left, with the only thing James hadn't taken being the pot of tea. He reached for the the ornate white teapot, refilling his glass dejectedly. Meredith looked up at him with concern, frowning in concentration as she tried to think of a way to cheer Vien up.

"Vien, Vien!" she said softly, tugging at his sleeve as a grin made its way across her face.

"What is it, Meredith?" he asked, and she grinned happily up at him. Without a word she tugged him over to one of the smaller cupboards in the kitchen. She gestured up at it, standing on her toes as she opened the cupboard with the tips of her fingers. "Up there!" she told him, and Vien gave her a slightly confused look as he reached up to pull out a decently sized porcelain jar. "Open it, Vien!" she said, her grin wide as she tugged excitedly on his sleeve again. He took the lid off the jar carefully, holding its top between his index finger and thumb while his middle finger twitched. The familiar aroma of cookies wafted into the air, and a small grin worked its way onto his face.

"I found a duplication spell this morning, and I tried it on the cookies since I knew James would steal them all!" she tried to whisper, but her excitement caused her to be louder than she believed she was. Vien grinned down at her, setting the lid back on the jar and shifting it to one hand while he leaned down to give Meredith an awkward, one-armed hug.

"Thank you, Merry," he murmured before standing upright again, his little sister all but beaming up at him.

"You can have the whole jar, Vien! I made myself one earlier. Just make sure daddy doesn't see it when you hide it, or he'll take it," she warned, and Vien chuckled softly as he shifted the jar to the crook of one arm.

"Thank you, M-Merry. Now let's go look for a spell to heal buildings, okay?"