matilda oneshots i had to get out of my head

day five: inviting friends over

hello everyone and welcome to day five!! and also welcome to the first of many instances of me ripping the prompt apart and frankenstein-ing it back together lol.

a big big big huuuuge thank you to @/churchoftheconfusedchicken (on tumblr and ao3) for giving me a hanukkah 101 (small chapter spoilers lol) and being so gracious answering all my really weird niche (and probably stupid) questions. thank you!!! :))))

please enjoy!!

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Matilda is reading at the kitchen table one crisp December morning. Miss Honey is making breakfast. Matilda would help, but she started reading before bed last night and could hardly bear to put the book down to go to sleep. Miss Honey understood perfectly well and said she'd be happy to handle breakfast on her own for one morning so Matilda could continue her book.

They both startle a little bit when the telephone rings. Miss Honey puts down the spatula she had been using to scramble their eggs and rushes to answer it. "I'm sorry, dear, would you just mind making sure those don't burn while I get this?"

Matilda nods and carefully flips the book over so she doesn't lose her place. She'd never have dared to do that before, but now that she lives with Miss Honey they both dog-ear pages and crinkle spines all the time, and it seems perfectly natural.

"Matilda, love," Miss Honey says after greeting the other person on the line. Matilda looks up to see her holding her phone against her shoulder to muffle their conversation. "It's for you."

Matilda furrows her brow in confusion and heads over to answer it. She doesn't get many phone calls. "Hello?"

"Hi Matilda!" An eager voice rings out through the speaker.

"Hi Lavender," Matilda responds with a smile. They haven't seen each other in a whole week already. It's been utter agony.

"Have you got plans tonight?" Lavender asks.

"Um... no, I don't think so," Matilda replies, which gets a squeal from Lavender. "Why?"

"My parents said I could invite a friend over to celebrate Chanukah with us for the first night, and I just had to pick you! Will Miss Honey let you come over this evening?" A voice says something on Lavender's end that Matilda can't make out. "Oh, and my parents say she's more than welcome too. If she wants."

"Let me ask, one moment," Matilda says. She does the same motion her mother did and rests the phone against her shoulder. "Mummy?"

"Yes, lamb?" Miss Honey replies.

"Can we go to Lavender's house tonight? Her family invited us to go celebrate Hanukkah with them," Matilda says.

"Both of us?"

"Mmhmm."

"How nice. Ask Lavender what time, please," Miss Honey says, still puttering about the kitchen to make breakfast. Matilda picks the phone back up.

"What time should we come?"

Matilda winces as Lavender yells, "Mum! What time?!" The voice speaks again, and Lavender echoes it. "Around 4:30."

Matilda repeats the message to Miss Honey, who nods. "Would you like to go?"

"Oh, yes," Matilda says eagerly.

"Then we'll be there around 4:30," Miss Honey says with a smile.

"We'll be there," Matilda says into the phone. "Thank you for inviting us."

Lavender squeals happily into the phone. "Brilliant! Okay, see you soon! Bye!"

"Bye," Matilda echoes with a laugh before she stands on her tiptoes to hang up the phone. "Oh."