Ruining the Innocence of Children

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow was practically bouncing as she arrived at her front door, Lucy having brought her home after she'd bought the second half of the present for Melanie and James, opening her front door and offering for Lucy to come with her. She wasn't sure if the other woman wanted to be there, but she'd grown kind of fond of her company over the course of the day. A bag was in her hand with the bib that the shop had wrapped for her, and the blue present that Lucy had given her in it also.

Heading towards the kitchen where she heard some voices, Willow popped her head in, not wanting to draw attention in case it wasn't Melanie and James. She smiled as she saw they were both there however, and William, moving fully into the room and holding the bag out towards Melanie, a shy smile on her face, shuffling her feet nervously.

"I got you a present, while I was out," she said, blushing slightly. "It's for you and James. Like, a congratulations present kind of thing," she shrugged, as if it was no big deal. "I hope you like it. Lucy helped me pick the blue present."

[William McKinnon]

Lucy helped Willow pick the blue present? Blimey. And I didn't know they sold alcohol or contraceptives to children. Will grinned at his own joke. He swore they were the only two items he'd ever known Lucy to have on her; firewhiskey and condoms. He looked at Lucy with a grin though. "I thought you thought babies were creepy," he said, shrugging. "Mighty kind of you to help Lowie."

Ugh. He hated baby-buying. He didn't care what it needed, where it would sleep, what they'd do about baby care, where it would live. In all honesty he just wanted Mel to pop the sprog out so that he could meet his niece or nephew. He wasn't sure which he'd rather; on one hand he thought they needed more testosterone in this family, on the other, he wanted a niece to spoil. If he had enough money left from the partying.

He glanced at his sister and her... what was he? Father of her child. He glanced at his sister and the father of her child and nodded. "I ain't got you anything. Sorry."

[Lucy Odair]

Oh God, oh God, oh God. There was a fluttery feeling in Lucy's stomach. She was excited. And a tiny bit nervous. Oh God. Why did they have to be in the kitchen? The kitchen had sharp things.

“Babies are creepy.” she responded to William and grinned brightly. God, she wasn't sure whose face to look at when Mel would finally open the present. This was going to be priceless. “I am very kind, haven't you noticed this?” She wasn't sure if Willow telling Mel that she had helped was a good thing or not, probably not. At all. But she still smiled at the younger girl. “Aw Willow, it was all your idea really. I can't take credit.”

Lucy then looked at Mel, with a smile. “Yeah, congratulations about the... baby. Those are, uh, cute. I hope you like the gift.” Oh Merlin, she was already starting to feel giggly. This was just too good.

[Melanie McKinnon]

“You got me a present?” Mel stared down at her sister, a smile spreading over her face. “Aw, Willow! Thank you!” she accepted the bag, looking at James over her shoulder mouthing 'Look at that!' at him. Sometimes it surprised her sweet her sister always was.

Mel raised her eyebrows slightly when she realized Willow had said Lucy had helped. “Thank you Lucy.” she said, feeling slightly confused as she looked at her neighbour, but then she turned her attention back to the gifts.“Can I open them now?” she didn't, however, wait for an answer and pulled up one of the gifts from the bag, excited.

Around gifts, Mel tended to turn into a child and as soon as she had her fingers around the gift, she ripped the paper off quickly, revealing the bib. “Oh my Merlin, it's gorgeous, Willow! I love it.” she cooed – this whole baby thing was really turning her into a girly-girl. After giving her sister a quick hug, Mel pulled up the next gift. She wasn't very good at waiting. She repeated the earlier progress, only this time when she saw what was inside, her mouth fell open and she dropped the box on the floor. “What...What the hell?”

[James Jackson]

James grinned as Mel started to open the presents, he knew she always got overly excited when someone bought something for her. It was the best way to make up, or get your way. Because Melanie McKinnon could be bribed, especially with money. Or just a lot, and then he meant a lot, of individual presents. Because Merlin, did the woman love unwrapping.

He grinned at Willow when he saw what the first present was, mouthing a thank you. He wasn't sure what the second present would be, but seeing as Lucy helped picking it out, he wasn't sure if he was going to like that particular one.

Mel opened it and James' eyes went wide when he saw the box, a breath escaping him before he managed to bite down on his lip to burst out in laughter.

[William McKinnon]

The first present was so girly and illicited such a girly response that for a moment, Will was quite sure his genitals would fall off and he'd start singing "I Feel Pretty". He grinned at Willow. "That's a nice gift. You're such a sweetheart."

And then the second gift was opened and promptly dropped to the floor, as well as the jaws of most present. Lucy had helped her get this one. Lucy...

"I think I need a word with you, Luce," Will said, unsure whether to laugh or be irritated. On the one hand, this was hilarious. On the other hand, Willow was eleven, she hopefully didn't know what they were and that was a cruel joke (that he had half guessed. He'd reassure himself that). Plus she was supposed to be giving him condoms, not his siblings.

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow almost had to hold her breath in anticipation, hoping with all her might that her present would be appreciated. When Mel opened her present first, she bit down on her lip, a hopeful smile on her face, cracking into a wide grin when Mel said she loved it. She turned her eyes to James after, smile widening when he mouthed a thank you, feeling her heart flutter. She grinned back at Will when he said it was a nice gift also, puffing out her chest with pride. "I thought it might be useful," she explained in a quiet voice, distracted as Mel started to open the second present.

Which she dropped on the floor.

Willow frowned, looking up with a questioning face, frown deepening as James burst into laugher, tilting her head to the side and turning to Mel, completely baffled. It was a box, that much she knew. But she still didn't know what it was. "What is it?" she asked, playing with her fingers.

[Lucy Odair]

Lucy wasn't able to stop herself. She laughed. She laughed loudly. The look on Melanie's face was just too priceless, and then add on top of that James laughing? God, she wasn't sure if she was going to survive this.

She grabbed a hold of the counter, to steady herself, while her other hand pressed against her stomach as her whole body shook with laughter. "God I'm sorry-" she laughed out, feeling tears start to form in the corner of her eyes. "That was r-r-really mean, I'm not sure why I did it. I'm so sorry Willow." She looked down at the very confused younger girl, and felt slightly guilty but still she couldn't stop laughing. "Sometimes... Oh God, sometimes I just do stuff! Oh Merlin-I'm s-sorry."

After a moment Lucy managed to get a grip on herself and turned to look at William, trying to bite back her laughter again. "I'm not sure if I want to have that word with you." she said, batting her eyelids innocently. "Am I in trouble?"

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel stared at the gift on the floor, blinking repeatedly before she looked up at her sister, swallowing hard. “Thank you for the bib, Willow.” she forced out, bending down to grab the box of condoms, before she placed them back down on a counter.

She next turned to James and glared at him for laughing, before she looked back at Willow, who looked insanely confused. “It seems like Lucy was playing a prank on you or something.” she forced up a laugh. “These are... things... that are not going to help the baby nor are they something James and I need. Or will use together. Ever.” her eyes narrowed as she looked at Lucy. “I’d prefer it if you didn’t give something like this to any of my siblings again, Odair. And you know where the door is, when you finally decide we’ve had enough of your suffocating presence.”

How dare this person give condoms to her eleven year old sister? And then make her give them to her? Why was she even here? Why was she even hanging around with Willow? And why the hell did James find it funny? Immature arsehole. She might be overreacting slightly, but she didn’t find this funny. Not at all. This had totally ruined the fun that was getting presents.

[James Jackson]

Oh Merlin, he could not stop laughing. His stomach hurt and he just couldn't stop. His lip was aching from where he bit it, but he couldn't stop. The sounds were even escaping through his tightly closed mouth, and even the angry glare he got from Mel wasn't able to shut him up.

"Oh you guys, your neighbour was just trying to be nice. You sure can see she was joking," he choked out, winking at her. He quite liked her sense of humour, though he wasn't going to admit that. "She didn't mean any harm by it, did you?" he added.

Mel placed the box on the counter, and James eyed it. It was quite an expensive brand. The decission was made before he fully thought it through. He curled his hand around the box and slipped inside the jacket he was wearing. "Well, if you don't want them, I'll take them. It was a present after all!" he announced, unable to keep the grin off his face.

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow frowned as Lucy apologised and Mel explained that the girl had played a prank on her. She knew what that was, of course, and felt a little embarrassed that she'd been the victim of one. Will and Mel didn't seem too impressed. Lucy and James seemed to find it funny though, so it must've been a friendly prank.

She turned to give Lucy a confused look as James took the box off the table, hoping Mel would be distracted enough. Because from the sounds of things her sister wasn't going to explain the gift to her. "What are they?" Willow asked curiously, still wanting to know. It was only fair.

[William McKinnon]

"Uh, James, they're mine," Will said before he could stop himself, then paused and looked at his feet. Whoops. "To use when I feel like," he added hastily. "And they're balloons, Willow. But they're bad for anyone under the age of sixteen and so you should keep away from them. And all boys if you can help it. We're a horrible species who just want to throw balloons at you. Or ourselves, but enough of that." He shook his head and smiled. "But now I think I need to have a word with O-Lucy."

He stood up and took her by the arm, pulling her to the other side of the room. "Okay, very funny joke," he whispered, and he had to admit, it would have had him laughing if she hadn't made the subject of the joke Willow. "But she's eleven, Odair. Eleven. And she's sweet and kind and easily the nicest. Bar Matthew. And Odette. But she's the sweetest and she's not having sex ever, okay?"

[Lucy Odair]

If only Lucy could stop laughing. But this was really killing her, especially when James accepted the condoms. And then Will's balloon comment. Oh God, she didn't regret this at all. Even the look on Willow's confused face was funny. She made a note to herself to apologize to Willow for this whole thing, later. If she lived through it all.

Lucy giggled as Will pulled her to the other side of the room. "I-" she choked out resting her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry." she laughed again, looking up at him. "I couldn't help myself! But really Will, with you as a brother? She's probably already having sex." He really was pushing her need to corrupting the little girl, or well at least teasing her - and her brother - a little bit more. "Though I did waste a whole box of perfectly good condoms. You have to agree that's too bad. But I'm sure James can find something to do with them." she was practically bursting with laughter again as she added. "Or someone."

[Melanie McKinnon]

Had he just-?

Mel stared at the counter where she had put down the condoms. They were not there anymore. Why were they not there anymore? Oh Right. They were in James' jacket.

Had he just-?

"Are you serious?" she snapped, turning to James. "You're accepting them?" You're gonna use them? "I think you should give them back to Lucy. Con-" she stopped quickly, looking at Willow "-Uh, ballons... that Willow gave to us, are not to be used and I'm pretty sure Lucy wants them back." she had no idea if the younger girl wanted them back, but Mel just very much knew she did not want James to have them. Or use them."But then again," her eyes narrowed. "If you use them you wont knock more people up." Oh, right Willow was there. "... I mean... down... when you, uh, throw balloons at them." What was she even saying?

[Ginny Weasley]

In any other situation, Willow might've noticed that Mel's speach was slightly frangmented and strange while she was talking to James, or find it suspicious that Lucy was being told off for giving her balloons to give to them. After all, there was nothing wrong with balloons. If she wasn't too busy being distracted, Willow would've assumed it was an inside-joke-thing.

But Willow was distracted. Because Willow loved balloons.

"Uncle James!" she said eagerly, cutting off the conversation he and Mel were having, looking up at him with a bright face and a large smile, practically bouncing in place once again, even more excited than when she was giving the presents to Mel. 'Can we play with the balloons?"

[William McKinnon]

"Shut up, Odair," Will snapped, frowning at her. "I'm a bloody good brother. Most of the time." There was one or two occasions where he had been a crap brother, but he was sure he had been a good enough brother to outweigh this. "Just, don't keep fucking with Willow. Or any of them, for that. Like this thing with Ollie, keeping asking him to marry you, what even is that?"

He looked back over as he heard Willow speak again - and almost choked. "No, we're not playing with the balloons," he said quickly, putting his arms around an excited Willow and rocking her from side to side, "because you know, they're actually really bad for you. People have died using them balloons." Or people had suffered a severe shock when those balloons had split, but he wasn't going to say that. "But I'm sure we can get some helium balloons, y'know. Lucy can - actually, stuff that, I'll get them." He looked meaningfully at James to put the condoms away, biting on his lip a little, still unsure whether he wanted to laugh or shout.

[Lucy Odair]

Lucy pursued her lips. "It was one little joke. I actually like Willow, so I'll be nice to her, I guess." she crossed her arms. "And have you seen your brother? He's fit. He's beautiful. Oh my God, that hair! If only I could touch it. I'd get over my fear of children just to be able to have children with that hair!"

Glancing at Willow, Lucy smiled slightly. "Willow, you really, honestly, do not wanna play with these balloons. They're all icky once you've taken them out of the box." she stuck her tongue out in mock disgust, before she glanced at Melanie, unsure if it was good that she found her expression slightly funny. "Willow did a really good job with the other gift though, she put a lot of thought in it, didn't you Willow? So I really hope you like it. Even if you all-" Lucy bit back a laugh. "-aren't fans of balloons."

[James Jackson]

"Course I am accepting them. They're a fine brand of balloons, wouldn't want them to go to waste," he said with a grin. "And I doubt she wants them back, they were a gift for us after all," he added, patting his jacket where he had put the condoms. Oh he was having too much fun with this. There would probably be hell to pay for him later. If not, Mel was certainly going to smack him in his face. He should go prepare for that.

James nearly chocked on his own spit when Willow asked if they could play with the balloons. Oh that was gold. He bit his lip to keep himself from bursting out in hysteric laughter. He was so close to bursting out in hysteric laughter. He should probably go home.

James listened to William talk and nodded. "They're not really balloons to play with. But I'll buy you new ones and we can play with those, if you want?" he forced himself to say, a bright grin on his face. He had needed this, he hadn't had such a good laugh in way too long.

[Ginny Weasley]

Willow nodded as Lucy said she put a lot of thought into the other gift. She had done. And from Melanie's face when she'd opened it, Willow thought it probably was a good enough gift, which she'd been worried about. She enjoyed making her siblings happy, even if she was worried about not doing it properly.

Though she was slightly confused why Lucy would give them a box of balloons that could kill you. She imagined Will was probably overexagerating a little bit. She smiled up at him as she was being rocked, happy that he was willing to buy her some. And James offered too, it was her lucky day.

"If you don't play with them, and they're icky when you take them out, and people die while using them, what do you do with them?" Willow asked curiously, unsure whether or not she actually wanted to know the answer. Her curiosity was a terrible thing sometimes though.

[Melanie McKinnon]

So, Mel was going to punch James as soon as Willow was out of the room. Pregnant women were totally allowed to hit people. Especially the people that knocked them up. Especially the people that accepted condoms from Lucy Odair. Maybe Mel could hit her too.

When Willow asked if she could play with the condoms with James, Mel wasn't sure to react. Did she scream? Laugh? Cry? "No! No, Willow's not touching those! No one is going to use those! Can we just throw them out please?!"

Sighing, Mel ran her fingers through her hair in some kind of attempt to calm herself. "They're a really… experienced… toy… balloons… very special. You have to be insanely careful with them and you can't be too young and some people just really like ickiness Willow, but you don't, do you? And you're too young and they're dangerous and only for people that can handle so much danger. So I say it again; Let's. Throw. Them. Out. No one in here should need them anyway."

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