Surprise!

[sightlesswolf]

Date: Sunday, January 7, 2001
Time: Early afternoon
Location: The Woods' cottage
Characters: June Connors, Oliver Wood, Wini Wood (NPC), Severus Snape
Rating: G - there's a child present! (Well, now that Snape's involved, I should probably push that to at least PG...)

Comments

[subtle_simmer]

"Yes, mother," Severus replied sardonically.

In truth, he had no intention of staying long - the only reason he had asked to accompany June was that he was quite certain Wood would either slam the door in his face, or refuse to open it entirely, if Severus arrived alone. Moreover, if he sent the gift by post, it was sure to return to him, unopened, which was simply unacceptable.

Once Winifred had seen it and opened it, whether or not she would be allowed to keep it would no longer be in question. Wood was far too soft to deny his child anything she wanted. Severus just had to make sure she had the opportunity to want it!

Then, he would leave, and let them to themselves, though he was not the least bit satisfied with June's interest in the philandering prat! How many women had Wood been associated with in the last ten months, his wife scarcely cold in her grave? How quickly he abandoned Ginevra Weasley - though that was for the best - Oliver Wood wasn't good enough for anyone Severus esteemed. Why couldn't the prat toy with

[mroliverwood]

He had been quiet for a long time. Winifred was still recovering emotionally from the kidnapping, and Oliver was doing his best to help her. He had spent the holidays spending time with his family, his sister having come from Australia to visit them. They had kept the celebration low key, doing it more for Winifred's benefit than anyone else's, the memory of Ingrid's death just a year ago strong in everyone's mind.

He was looking forward to going back to coaching, but that was about all right now. It was another low time for Oliver, and he was a bit annoyed at the knock at the door that broke his persual of the latest Wizarding Sport publication.

Wini looked up from her colouring page at the knock, "Da?" she said quietly, her blue eyes round.

"I'm gettin' it, Win," he said, folding the magazine and setting it on the table. He headed to the door, peaking through the window to check and see who it was.

It was June, he saw, and Snape. With a grunt he used his wand to release the door from it's tightly charmed locks and open

[sightlesswolf]

Her first sight of Wood since school was... not exactly what she'd expected.

Upon discovering (or rediscovering) the faces of those close to her, June's first response was always to stare. To trace her eyes over every inch of their faces, the way someone who'd lived on bread and water for three years might react to being given a piece of chocolate cake, savoring every crumb. Only once that hunger was assuaged had she been able to really use her eyes for the purpose to which most people use them, and take in what she was seeing.

Not so with Oliver. Oh, she stared, and it helped that she wore her old glasses so he couldn't yet have any idea that she was staring. But what caught her attention wasn't the color of his eyes or the line of his jaw or the way his hair fell. It was the shadows under his eyes, the slight tightness of his mouth.

He looks so tired...He didn't even smile when he opened the door. Then again, she had Severus with her, so that might have something to do with it. But part of her wanted to reach up and touch

[mroliverwood]

"Hullo, June," Oliver said in a halfhearted voice. He was glad to see her, but there was Snape right next to her and that didn't make things very nice. "Snape," he said to the tall man, hardly looking in his direction. He nodded at June's comments about the gifts as Winifred came walking behind him, clinging to his leg