Spring Fever

“Perhaps not quite this early,” Dorian chuckled in reply to Leo’s teasing, pulling a patio chair nearer to the edge of the pool so that he could sit with Freya for a moment. He’d already chatted up Gabe, and Leo was in his own conversation. Freya was a good sort to sit with, and by the swell of her stomach he could easily blend in with her more reserved nature while the others got drunk and burned the house down, judging from Leo’s call for help at the grill. Frey claimed an IOU for herself in the form of a real vodka when the time came. Dorian could manage that in a few months’ time. “I shall add it to my calendar.” Before sitting in the chair he’d drag over, Dorian gestured to it. “Would you like to sit here or are you happy to pretend you are a mermaid?” If she wanted something with a bit of back support, he would happily help her into the chair, but then she’d not be able to dip her toes into the water without the chair being precariously close to the edge of the pool. He doubted she wanted that, but Dorian kept to the manners his parents had instilled in him, only looking up when he heard a crash emanating from within the mansion. Apparently someone was having a bit too much fun. Dorian hadn’t thought it would be that sort of party, Leo was more outgoing than Dorian but it was early still and they were too old for getting pissed in the middle of the day, weren’t they?

Catching a glimpse of Jasper strolling past them, Dora grinned. She hadn’t known Alice’s big brother was going to be here. They’d only just bumped into each other the week prior, on her birthday, after not having seen him around for a little while. It was expected, she hardly saw Ally anymore either, having both since graduated and gotten on with their lives. She’d come to her birthday tea last week and the pair had gone out for lunch in late January. It was jarring how little time one had to socialize when you had to pay your own bills. Jasper seemed on a mission while she, London, and Ollie were heading in the opposite direction, so she didn’t bother to stop him. She’d catch him later and see if he had brought her any chocolates from Hogsmeade as she had teased.

As Ollie playfully chastised her for broaching the subject of setting him up with one of the older witches at the party, Dora rolled her eyes. “Ollie could handle her,” Dora said in response to Lo’s comment about a witch she knew nothing about. Leo was the host of the party and he had a sister, that was literally all she knew about the not so infamous Zabini family, and she’d learned all of that at this very party. She wondered if Ollie had any idea who London was speaking of, but he rebuffed the idea right quick. He needed a girl just about as bad as his brother did, and damn Kit for not welcoming her own advances. She would have had this single Kitten problem solved by now if he’d been more receptive. Clearly it was a familial trait because Ollie pushed the focus off himself and stupidly tried to redirect it to London.

“And Dora Jr. is going to be in the wedding party, isn’t she?” Wrinkling up her nose in delight, Dora rubbed her very large belly, still not sure whether she was having a girl or a boy. It didn’t matter, her baby would be included regardless because she was bound to have an attractive child and London couldn’t possibly resist having little Baby Parkinson in her wedding. Lolo and Will were a cute couple, and Will had been friends with Theon back in the day, so Dora wholly embraced the idea of keeping herself close to him in some way. She definitely wasn’t using London for her connection to Will who was a piece of Theon, she loved Lo in her own right, it was just a nice perk to have someone to talk fondly about her brother with given the chance.

Food was beginning to be passed around, although it may have only been an illusion being sat next to Freya who was very pregnant. A group of younger looking party-goers had appeared at the pool, another pregnant woman in their midst. Was there something in the water lately or had Dorian been shut in so long that he missed everyone else getting on with their lives? He’d like to imagine it was the former, but Leo had all but proclaimed it to be the latter upon inviting him. Hence his presence here at an Easter barbecue that involved neither his niece nor his work. It was oddly relaxing to have no responsibilities for a few hours. Leo, a healer, had invited several of their common friends in addition to his mates from the hospital, which meant aside from a Dark Wizard attack, everyone else had any potential problems handles. Someone had already taken a spill inside the house from the sound of it, but Leo was on it and Dorian sat back in his patio chair just as a familiar looking dark-haired woman approached and greeted their little group. He sat forward again almost instantly.

She introduced herself and greeted them with a friendly smile as the scent of a burnt burger was passed between them to Freya. Doc greeted the woman first, giving Dorian’s brain enough time to register why the woman looked so familiar. She worked with Leo. A Healer. Immy. It clicked. Dorian extended his hand to shake hers. “I’m Dorian. I believe we met about a month ago. You treated my niece for a cold.” He gave a small chuckle, remembering how worried he’d been over the prospect of Ariel losing her gorgeous curls as a magical side-effect from the cold. “I was the worried bloke fretting over her curls,” he admitted, wondering if he was rambling on to someone with absolutely no recollection of himself or little Ariel. It was quite possible. She likely saw hundreds of people per day, there really wasn’t any reason to remember just one inconsequential wizard.