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."