February 2nd, 1888 — Irvingly, Podmore Zoological Gardens

Magnus Lockhart

While it was a bit chilly, it was luckily a rather clear and bright Friday afternoon. Tuni had decided to surprise her brother in Irvingly and a little trip to the zoo where the two could meander about and spend some time together. She'd wrapped the gloves she'd purchased for him in a simple box with a bow reflected the Cannon's colors and planned on giving the gift to them once they'd made it to the zoo. Of course, it had taken a moment to leave her brother's home in Irvingly, the young children loathe to see their father and aunt leave without getting to go. They eventually relented once a promise had been made by Tuni to take them another time once the weather had warmed.

"Happy birthday," she said cheerfully to her brother once they'd gotten to the zoo and begun wandering about the exhibits, "I know it's a few days early but I wasn't sure the next time I'd be able to visit so thought it best to bring the gift along." She handed the box to him then and waited for him to open it, pausing in their walking in the process.

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

Of course, Lock would have been happy to get a surprise visit from his sister at any time of the year, but it particularly came as a welcome relief during February. The Quidditch season always felt as though it ended so abruptly, especially since the Cannons had been in the final match. All of that adrenaline and build up, and then — take a two month vacation. At least the amateur Quidditch tournament (which he had resented being drafted in to at the start but was now rather grateful for) would give him something to do besides annoy his wife by being consistently in the way at home all day, every day.

When he'd been younger he'd done some rather impulsive things during his off-season. The impromptu trip to Egypt one year stood out as a particular example, but with two growing children and only a beater's salary to keep them all fed, there wasn't really room in the budget for that sort of extravagance. A trip to the zoo, however, was well within range, and it seemed Rue was almost glad to see him out the door if only so that he didn't have to sit around at home any more.

He'd almost entirely forgotten about his birthday, which was par for the course since he'd gotten married. He never forgot Ruth's birthday, or his children's, but his just didn't seem like much of an ordeal anymore, so he was pleasantly surprised by the appearance of a neatly wrapped box. "Oh," he said, stopping to take it and carefully picking apart the bow. It looked too pretty to just tear into. "You didn't have to get me anything."

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

His remarks were met with a simple shrug. Tuni knew she didn't have to but that was beside the point. He was her brother after all. Her only brother. They were all each other had had during those days after the loss of their mother. And even though he had a life and family of his own, he was still her brother and she still cared about him. Even if she silently blamed him and their father for her lack of her own family. That would come in time though. Hopefully.

"It isn't anything particularly special," she said with a smile as she waited for him to open the box fully before she continued on, "And probably not of much use right now but I suppose you can get them broken in just in time for the new season." She didn't know the exact particulars of his finances but by the way their father talked, they were close enough to the poor house so hopefully a new pair of gloves would come in handy for him

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

A sincere but small smile broke across Lock's face as he pulled the box open and saw the gloves inside (not that Lock had any other kind of smile; he was not a particularly emotive man and did not waste time trying to pretend he felt a way he did not). He was, in fact, in need of a new set of gloves, since his last had grown thin — though the same would have been true of most of his work attire. That being said, his Quidditch clothes were often in a better state than his everday attire. He was guaranteed new uniforms now and then by the team's sponsor, whereas there was no allowance for clothing. When it came right down to it, he'd rather see his wife or children in newer clothes than have something new for himself — though he knew Ruth kept him in mind and shopped for him anyway, no matter how much he might protest.

"These are great," he said, putting the box down on the ground (its prettiness quite forgotten) so that he could stretch the gloves out in his hands and look them over. He recognized the brand, of course, though he didn't have much experience with it; the fact that Mr. Pettigrew owned the company and also sponsored a rival team meant that the things the Cannons were outfitted with tended to come from other sources when possible. He was excited to try them on — but, of course, they were still sewn together with a quick stitch to keep them from getting lost in the store. After eying the little connection critically for a second, Lock thrust the gloves towards his sister plaintively. "Can you get them undone? I want to try them on."

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

Tuni smiled at her brother, a smile far wider than his own but that wasn't exactly unusual for her. Where Lock was calm and reserved, Tuni was open and exuberant. She often found herself saying things a bit too bluntly and without thought and she'd never been able to manage the proper titter of laughter and small smiles expected of proper debutantes.

"Impatient as always," she said with her smile twitching into something of a smirk though her tone remained playful as she snatched the gloves from his thrust out hands. She brought the small quick stitch up tun get mouth and gave a little tug of it with her teeth, easily breaking its hold keeping the blues together, then handed the two gloves back to him.

"I hope they fit," she started as she watched him pull the gloves on, "They didn't have any larger."

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

Lock wasn't sure how he felt about being called impatient, but he couldn't very well refute the charge. His own history had hardly shown that he was the type willing to wait for things. Once he had decided he wanted to marry Ruth it had taken them only a matter of months to tie the knot, and he'd quit Quidditch mid season in order to make it happen. On several occasions, acting before he'd taken the time to think things through had gotten him into some trouble, though he was usually able to get himself out again eventually. Perhaps he was impatient.

"I'm sure they will," he said, but in truth he was worried; he wasn't sure how QQS really did their sizes, and he was a rather large person. If these were the biggest ones available and they didn't fit, he'd be out of luck, unless he wanted to try magically resizing them, which was bound to crack the leather. He really wanted to keep these gloves, and to keep them in good condition, so it was quite a relief when the slipped on relatively painlessly.

"See? Great," he said with another smile, flexing his fingers and watching how the gloves stretched over his knuckles. They were comfortable, too; he couldn't have been more pleased with this present he hadn't been expecting.

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

Tuni grinned broadly at her brother as he flexed his fingers in the gloves, clearly a good fit. She had just opened her mouth to respond when she heard a familiar voice from behind her. A very American voice. Her grin vanished in an instant, her eyes widened and she quickly darted behind her very large brother and hid behind him. She was quite grateful in that moment that her brother was so different from the norm. With her own small stature, she simply had to stand behind him to go unnoticed.

"Don't move," she whispered to her brother from behind him, hoping he would listen to her and not ask questions.

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

Lock had no reaction to the voice that Tuni was hearing, and was therefore quite baffled at her sudden maneuver. She did manage to get behind him before he had time to react, but he immediately turned to try and look at his little sister and see what had gotten her so spooked. "Fortuna — what —?"

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

Tuni glared at him as he clearly ignored her words but luckily the red headed American that she didn't know the name of had passed by. She hoped he hadn't seen her. And if he had, he hadn't recognized her. She couldn't help the small sigh of relief when he had gone but it didn't last long as her brother turned some questions onto her, ones she really didn't want to answer. Not to him anyways.

"I just.. thought I saw an animal escaping its enclosure! Clearly it wouldn't have come after you," she answered a bit lamely.

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

Lock was not the incredulous sort by nature, and would have been inclined to take his sister's rather implausible excuse at face value. He did, however, glance around at the nearby exhibits to ensure that nothing had gotten loose and noted that the nearby creatures were... not particularly intimidating. They were still close enough to the entrance that they hadn't gotten into anything that might be considered dangerous, and in fact half of the animals he could see from here weren't even magical. There were a few birds of varying descriptions, none of which were particularly frightening unless Fortuna had a phobia he'd never realized, and a petting zoo for children furnished with puffskeins and pygmy goats.

"You were scared of that?" he asked with a slight chuckle, gesturing towards a lilac-tinged puffskein bouncing rather harmlessly at the closest edge of the enclosure. "Don't worry. I would have protected you."

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

Tuni couldn't help but to laugh, her usual and very unladylike laugh, when she looked to the lavender puffskein her brother pointed out. It was then she realized just how crazy her explanation had been but her brother seemed to be buying it so that was all that mattered

"Sorry," she said with a slight shrug, "It looked more intimidating from the corner of my eye."

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!

Buying it might have been a strong term, but Lock wouldn't pass up such an excellent opportunity to make fun of his baby sister when she had presented him one. It wasn't as though he had anything else to be suspicious of, either, since from his perspective there was exactly nothing that could have caused such a strong reaction from Fortuna. Unless she was coming down with some sort of magical malady, he simply couldn't figure it. Maybe some sort of magical hiccups that caused her whole body to jump, instead of just her chest? Hopefully if that was the case, they weren't contagious. Lock could have done some serious damage if he developed a case of magically induced jumpiness.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, amiably enough; unless his sister seemed concerned, he wouldn't be the one jumping to conclusions and suggesting a visit from the healer.

  

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the many faults that well you know I have
Let be interr’d in my oblivious grave;
If any worth or virtue were in me, let that live freshly in thy memory

After looking around to be entirely certain the American was gone, Tuni gave her brother a nod accompanied with a wide smile. "Yes," she answered as she linked an arm through his so that they could continue on their way and hopefully not run into the red headed gentleman, "Quite fine. So tell me, how are the children?"

  

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Another Glorious MJ Set!