As he promised, Oliver stopped by his home in Aberdeen before his vacation ended. He casually strolled through his front door like he always did. His mother looked up from the book she read and greeted him with a warm smile. She thumbed her page absentmindedly and rose to hug her son.

Mr. Wood looked over his Daily Prophet and greeted Oliver with a deep frown. Then he tucked his head away back behind the paper and blatantly ignored his son. So his mother had broken the news. Mr. Wood's reaction stung and Oliver wouldn't try to hide it. His shoulders slumped a little while he returned his mother's hug.

"He'll come around," she whispered in Oliver's ear, giving him an affectionate squeeze.

Oliver hoped so. He loved his father and though he was always pleased to have the man's approval, Oliver didn't need it to be happy. He squared his shoulders and prepared for the worst when Marcus stepped through the front door behind him.

Mrs. Wood gasped when she instantly recognised the boy. Marcus Flint, a former Death Eater's son. Then she broke into a wide smile and to both of the boys' surprise, she hugged him just as tightly as she hugged Oliver. Marcus hugged back, blushing at the woman's proximity. Oliver simply stood by astounded.

When Mrs. Wood released Marcus, she took his hands in hers with a smile so large and genuine it looked like it hurt. "It is such a pleasure to meet you! Flint, isn't it?"

"Yes," Marcus blushed. "But please call me Marcus."

"Marcus," Mrs. Wood said, as if testing the name on her tongue. Then she smiled again and ushered both the boys further inside. "Well come inside. Sit, sit. I'll go make tea." And she bustled off to the kitchen.

Leaving them alone with Mr. Wood was her first mistake.

Oliver hadn't even realized that his father had put his paper down. He stared at them both intensely, scowling as they sat on the sofa across from the chair he occupied. His relentless frown never relaxed. It was so intense, Oliver feared that it may be permanently plastered across his face from that day forward. Maybe bringing Marcus wasn't such a great idea.

"So this is the bloke you've been shagging," he snapped nastily at Oliver. "A Slytherin?"

Yes. Bringing Marcus had been a huge mistake. "Dad," Marcus sighed, embarrassed. "Those are the first words you say to me after months apart?"

"What? It's true isn't it? You've been shagging him."

Oliver blushed a deep scarlet. "Yes… But you make it sound like it's… like it's…." Oliver wound up fumbling for words.

"Like it's what?" Mr. Wood spat. "Like it's dirty? Wrong? That's because it is!" Oliver was getting a little angry now. "So are you just not going to play Quidditch anymore?"

Marcus and Oliver both frowned. "What? Where did that come from?"

"Well pansies don't play sports!" Mr. Wood said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?!" Oliver repeated. "That's ridiculous! And insulting!"

"Now, now," Mrs. Wood intervened, coming back into the room with a tray of tea and cookies and breaking the tension. "Let's not argue. Eric, behave yourself!"

And looking like he'd rather do anything but, Mr. Wood accepted the tea his wife offered and sealed his lips.

Marcus had practically balled up into himself on the sofa next to Oliver, but he took his tea with a kind, "Thank you," when it was offered to him. Oliver could tell that he wanted to leave.

When Mrs. Wood reached him with the tea, Oliver declined as kindly as he could with his anger escalating the way it was. "Thank you, mum. But I think that Marcus and I will go now. I'll see you on my next break."

"No! I want to hear about your trip!" Mrs. Wood insisted, forcing the tea into her son's hand. She smiled warmly and sat the tray on the small table between the sofa and the chair, next the Prophet, then she settled herself on the arm of her husband's chair, completely ignoring the scowling man. "Where did you two go? Did you have fun?"

Insisting that they stay was her second and final mistake.

Oliver loved his mother so much. Her warm smile calmed him down a little and he broke into the story of their escapades, with Mrs. Wood nodding and laughing in all the right places. Marcus had even relaxed a little next to Oliver and pitched in a few words whenever the younger boy left something interesting out. Though he'd already been reprimanded by his wife, Mr. Wood continued to shake his head, scowling and mumbling things periodically throughout their tale.

"…slimy Slytherin…" Mrs. Wood would send a warning scowl at her husband, and that would silence him for only a short moment, then he'd mumble something again. On the third one Oliver broke.

"Can't believe my son's a bloody pansy…"

"That's it!" Oliver snapped, bursting to his feet, startling both Mrs. Wood and Marcus. Mrs. Wood flinched and spilled her tea all over the floor. "That's it! I won't continue to sit here and listen to you mumble your disapprovals!"

"Well then there's the door!" Mr. Wood spat in response, rising to his feet as well. "Because I will not be silenced in my own home!"

"Eric!" Mrs. Wood cried, trying and failing to intervene. "Oliver! The both of you sit down this instant!" They both ignored her.

"It's my home too! And I don't deserve to be treated this way! There is nothing wr—"

"We have a guest in our home!"

"Yes you do you bloody pansy! How dare you bring a nasty Death Eater back here! And this won't be your home much longer if you keep up this foolish lifestyle! Associating with the likes of—"

Mrs. Wood gasped. "Eric! He doesn't mean that, Oliver—"

"WELL THEN I MAY A WELL LEAVE NOW! BECAUSE I'M NOT CHANGING!"

"FINE THEN! GET OUT AND DON'T COME BACK!"

The room suddenly grew eerily silent. They could've heard a needle drop. Oliver glared at his father, the both of them heaving like bulls. Then he glanced at his mother despondently.

"You should've let us leave." He grabbed Marcus's hand and hastily pulled him out the front door.