Dear Oli, Save Me, Signed: Captain Jack

[GuestGuest]

.... or at least that's what Captain Jack would have written and sent to his mistress' best friend had he had hands and fingers and could have held a pen to do so. Storm's eyes were red and her face tear streaked as she squealed the brakes, stopping the car in front of Oli and her father, Peter Watson, lived in Warragul. Captain Jack clung onto her shoulder for dear life, his life. He had almost gone flying off when she backed out of her driveway so quickly, wondering what had upset her so that she had been sobbing for the last hour. Captain Jack had simply nestled himself against her neck to let her know he was there feeling about as useless as any human male would have at the moment.

Then she decided to head to Oli's which was a good thing as Captain Jack would get to see his best friend, Doc....

....if he lived to arrive there and at the way she was driving and crying, he was beginning to wonder about that fact. Fortunately, that was when she came to a stop in front of the house and ran to the door, still crying and knocking, hoping Oli was home. It was at that moment Storm realized she had not checked the copy of her friend's work schedule she kept and hoped that today was actually Oli's day off.

[Olivia Watson]

Olivia had been scheduled to work today but had promised Dad that she'd take the day off to study. It was almost scary how fast the year had gone and in a way a bit depressing to know that Storm would probably be going to uni and much as school hadn't been.. bad it just wouldn't be the same next year. As usual her room was a bombsite, probably worse then usual for the amount of paper on the floor as she'd been trying to make sense of the notes she'd taken all year.. a jumbled mess between the drawings and handwritten conversations. It was funny how the thing Olivia wanted most in her life - to be normal, had come about in such a round about fashion. What was more normal then studying for exams? The widow of her room slipped open so she could smoke, Dad watching tv in the loungeroom and the sound of rain falling in the garden. Okay so she was revising the Goblin Wars and her charms theory which was about where the whole 'normal' was starting to stretch rather far. Doc too, a living ball of fluff who'd managed out a rather comfortable existence between the mess in her bag, the mess under her bed at school and the mess in her room wasn't quite normal either.

It didn't matter though, Olivia hadn't seen a doctor in months, she had a best friend who even her Dad liked and things at home where well.. happy she guessed.. in a quiet sort of way. It certainly wasn't much compared to Storm's house, Olivia sighed to think that she was stuck home all weekend and would have to wait till Monday when Dad dropped her off at the school to catch up again. Well face to face anyway since nothing was going to stop the SMS's and werk messages now that Olivia had worked out how to get them on her phone. It was strange though because Olivia hadn't gotten any replies, she guessed Storm was probably having dinner or had her phone turned off or one of the million reasons that someone would 'drop off' the world, what she didn't expect was the sudden flash of lights at the window.. Olivia had left her earbuds in and first assumed them to be lightning only as she took out one earbud she heard a car door slam..sure enough a few seconds later and there was a knocking at the door. Had Dad ordered pizza? Olivia sure hoped so as she quickly flicked her cigarette out the little gap in the flywire..a bad habit she knew but so far quitting hadn't quite managed to win out. Lazily she stepped out of her room and down the hallway to the door.. after all she was closer and hardly able to call out for Dad to get it himself. That and well she was rather curious of who could be visiting on a Saturday when Dad never really had anyone over that she knew of.

Had Olivia the power of voice she'd still have been speechless to open the door to the site of her best friend crying. Olivia didn't know what to do and just stared wishing she could say something, anything but really it just felt like her heart was breaking in two to see her friend in such a state.. worse that she didn't know why. Her mind was just a mess of thoughts at that moment, some that she wished she could forget regarding what had happened two years ago but Olivia just opened the door the rest of the way, it was wet outside and the last thing she wanted was Storm to get a cold. She didn't know if she should hug Storm or if she should try to say something but whatever it was, it was important and study could certainly wait.. Olivia didn't know what she was going to do with her life but she knew one thing, she didn't want to lose her best friend. Not for anything, ever.

[GuestGuest]

Captain Jack had hid as close to Storm's neck as he could, trying to hang on once the car jammed to a stop and she ran out of it and up to the door. As his mistress lunged into the open door and onto the nearest seat, which fortunately for Captain Jack, happened to be a sofa, his tenuous hold gave way and he fell off her shoulder onto one of the sofa cushions and onto the floor where he remained trying to decide if he should lay there and play dead or work his way back up to comfort her. Seeing Oli, the little pygmy puff did his best to scream:

PLEASE CALM HER DOWN BEFORE SHE KILLS ME WITH ALL THIS MOTION!

Which in pygmy puff, was not very loud. Noticing his friend, Doc, he made his way over there and clung to Doc for dear life.

In the meantime, Storm herself was now sitting on the couch doing something between sobbing and ranting. "I hate him. Hate.Hate.hate.hate.... How could he. It's bad enough he completely missed my birthday. Where am I going to live? How can I go to uni? I never ever ever wanna see that figlio - di - a - fe.........." It was at that point, Storm realized who would be the worst off in that choice of titles. "That... bastardo ..." still slipping into the Italian choice for the name."

It would be no surprise if Oli felt like the middle of the movie just walked in on her.

[Olivia Watson]

So much for dilemmas.. Olivia didn't really have time to do anything as Storm barreled right past her and into the loungeroom.. Olivia didn't even get a chance to warn her that Dad was watching tv but just closed the door, locking it before walking down the hall to find her Dad giving her the 'what on earth is going on?' look as Captain Jack was on the floor and Storm had taken over the couch where she was sitting and sobbing.. all the while talking as both Watson's just looked on in dumbstruck shock. Everything Olivia knew about Storm's life was that things at her home had always been good.. or at least not bad. No it was her job to have the stuffed up life with op shop furniture, a room that was so much a disaster area and her Dad working some low grade job, not someone important like Storm's Dad. It was times like this that Olivia hated not being able to say anything, even just to let Storm know it was okay or to explain..or more be unable to explain to her Dad what had happened.

On the other side of it all Olivia was rather mortified at the state of the lounge, it had been laundry day and her and her Dad had both been rather 'slack' which was why the couch was half taken up with Olivia's school telescope bag and other bits and pieces, there was stacks of clothes on the floor that she'd been supposed to put away but had forgotten. Normally having Storm around meant that she'd do a good effort of tidying up so things weren't so.. messy. Olivia wished she had some answers but she just held up her hands in a 'no clue' signal to her Dad before grabbing her stuff off the couch and tentatively inched towards her best friend to sit on the couch beside her, unsure of what to do Olivia looked to her Dad for advice.. yep it was all up to Peter Watson, father of the year.. or not.

---

Peter didn't know the storm that was going to hit him .. figuratively speaking. It had been a quiet day with Olivia in her room studying while he went about doing his best to catch up on the housework before catching Mercurio Menu on tv. It wasn't his usual show but the tv guide had mentioned New Zealand and he couldn't help but let curiosity..and a little homesickness give in to watching the celebrity chef going on a tour of the North Island. Well that and he'd been trying to make a bit more effort in the kitchen since becoming a single Dad and working at The Bluebird Cafe. He'd just gotten comfortable with a cup of tea when he was sure he heard the sound of a car driving far too fast and a bit dangerously. Hoons were not uncommon on this side of town though and so he assumed it must have been one of the neighbors right up until there was a pounding on the front door. Now who on earth could that be? Olivia would have mentioned if she was having friends over.. and she was grounded anyway for getting a D grade on her last herbology test. He felt rather bad for that and knew that Olivia cared a lot about her job but she just had to learn that her education was more important then money.

"Who is it?" Peter called out rather uselessly, it was funny how some habits just never disappeared even though he never did expect a answer from Olivia it was common enough for the guests in question to answer instead. Tonight however none was forthcoming and so there was no warning for the invasion of both Storm and Captain Jack.. Peter flinched at the green pigmy puff.. he was probably never going to get used to them, swearing at getting hot tea on himself. Then again it seemed Storm was into a bit more swearing then himself as Peter was left to thank his lucky stars that Olivia had never been able to speak of him in such ways (or at least not anywhere that he'd come to know) This was way beyond him. Olivia he'd basically come to a point when she was fifteen and just given up to some extent, now all of a sudden Storm had decided to drop in and Peter had no clue what was going on.. neither apparently did his daughter.

To think that Peter had thought the worst over, yet here he was stuck with not one but two teenage girls.. talk about a landmine. "I'll put the tea on aye?" Peter figured the last thing the girl needed was coffee.. that and Olivia always accused him of never being able to make it right. "Do you want me to call anyone Storm? Your Mum maybe?" Come to think of it did Storm even have a mother? Peter winced, he'd really messed this up and he'd hardly said anything at all. It was really at times like this that Peter realised it might have been wiser to take a bit more of a active interest in Olivia's friends lives.. you never did know when they where going to end up invading your own after all.

[GuestGuest]

Storm could have cared less about Fashion Week in *insert various city names here* at any time. She was just as happy shopping ops shops and Big Dub as some people were Juicy Cuthroat or whatever that current fad was that Storm really had no clue about. But when she left home, whether it was hanging around with Oli or work or school, she usually had a nice put together outfit where things mixed and matched well. This moment though, Storm had the mixed down but the matched? Yeah, just not feeling that right now. Also was the fact she had gone out in sweatpants, those garments usually reserved for lounging around the house/sleeping on cold days/nights.

"He's *insert sniffling here and throughout most of her speech* selling... the house..." she whined, sadly. Storm shook her head at the offer of calling her mum. "No... She's probably at church with her new husband. Besides... she'll just make me go back to there and I donwannaaaaaaaaaa" By this time Oli had sat down next to her and she sobbed into her friend's shoulder" At Peter's offer, Storm nodded yes. Tea would be good. Waiting on Peter to return, Storm simply sat next to Oli trying her best to quit crying.

Soon she was holding a mug of hot tea between her hands and that helped her keep from falling apart. That and Oli being there. "He's quit the school in Italy. He's decided to move.... Somewhere.. I don't know.. didn't hear, didn't care. Not going. Not that he really said hey come on with me. I wouldn't anyway. I've got Uni starting next year and Oli's here and I don't wanna leave Australia." The falling apart of Storm's grammar somewhat as well as the rather descriptive terms she had used to describe 'him' earlier, were definitely additional clues on how upset she was with whatever had come up. "He was too busy with the school to come visit for my birthday and I had school and work so I couldn't go there. Now he's too busy moving to come see me graduate. Fine. I just won't even go to it myself." With that she finally stopped and sipped the tea Peter gave her, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

[Olivia Watson]

Listening in dubstruck horror there had been a long list of 'worst case scenario's' forming in Olivia's head from the humdrum 'someones died' to the catastrophic 'Storm's got a secret boyfriend she never told me about and he dumped her' or number one 'Storms moving to Italy and I'm never going to see her again'. So it was that Olivia just listened open mouthed when Storm said her Dad was selling the house, oh no! Olivia couldn't believe it she loved that house! More importantly it was in Australia which meant that all signs where pointing towards the most horrible thing number one. The only small comfort was that Storm didn't have a boyfriend and hadn't been dumped by him. But compared to her moving well it wasn't such good news at all. Turning to her Dad Olivia's first thoughts where to scheme a way to talk Dad into moving to wherever Storm was going but instead she glared at him for mentioning Storm's Mum.. now there was a can of worms.

No wonder her Dad would flee to the kitchen the first chance he got. Olivia sighed, he was useless. Putting her feet up on the cushion she tried her best to not think about how close Storm was.. though it was hard with Storm clinging to her as she cried. The last time this had happened things had gotten.. complicated. Mind you she'd never heard the warning to not do drugs lest you find yourself messing up your friendship by exposing how you really felt. Olivia bit her lip, she didn't need to be thinking about that right now. Especially with her Dad here and Storm was upset enough as it was. Instead she just held her friend gently before letting her move to sit next to her. Olivia felt like she was being torn apart, Storm was leaving and never would she get the chance to be so close to her best friend again. But it wasn't right and so she just sighed and listened as Storm took a cup of tea from her Dad and started to explain what had happened. That feeling of numbness coming over her at the knowledge that there was nothing she could do. Olivia had always had a defeatist view of the world but what use was she? She couldn't even talk to Storm's Dad! Let alone trying to convince him to not move because she didn't want Storm to move away. Nobody cared what she thought anyway.

---

What was he supposed to do? Peter wished there was shows on TV that explained how to deal with teenage girls but outside of chick flicks all he knew was that there tended to be a lot of crying and he guessed shouting..though in Olivia's terms it was more scorching looks, rude hand signals and slammed doors... or worse of all the open window and no sign of her at all. Peter had tried everything including quite a few solutions that he'd come to regret. You'd think after sixteen years he might have gained a few tricks of the years, sadly the only one that came to mind was 'flee..quickly'. At least he could make tea without stuffing it up too much. Peter sighed and for a few moments wondered just what he'd done to be handed this mess. He'd never been that good at talking to people, it was why he'd always hated his job at the bank.. well that and the feeling that came with knowing that half the people he signed onto home lones and credit cards where probably never going to pay them back. Judith could say what she liked but in the ends it was just a respectable form of theft in Peter's eyes.

At least New Zealand was mostly.. unaffected by the chaos going on in the European markets. For a moment Peter wondered if that might have been the cause of Storm's Dad's trouble, he knew Italy wasn't in good shape thanks to the fact that he'd quite managed to escape his passive reading of the business pages in the Age and Global Voice. Had it not been for the click of the kettle Peter might have chickened out entirely on returning to the loungeroom but he'd tied himself into it and at least if he didn't know much about Storm's family life he at least knew how to make a cup of tea.. even if he did get it a bit wrong when it came to milk and sugar with not remembering if it was one, two or none whatsoever.

"Here you go.." Peter said as he returned to hand Storm a mug of tea. At least the girl seemed to have calmed down a little so after making a vain attempt to push away some of the washing Peter sat down in his armchair and listened in the hope that some clue would emerge of what to do. "I'm sure he wouldn't have wanted to interfere with your uni or friendship Storm" Peter said immediately questioning the words when they came out of his mouth. Hadn't he done much the same to Olivia when they had pulled her from Primary school to attend Stoat? Peter now that he knew the truth that Olivia had been magically gifted and not what the Doctor's had diagnosed had been living in guilt over that decision ever since. Peter knew that this was all falling onto him, was it revenge for all the times he'd been absent or made mistakes with Olivia? Maybe which was why he frowned "Go to your graduation Storm, otherwise you'll look back on it one day and regret". Sighing Peter 'read' a quick comment from Olivia and nodded "Look I don't know what we can do, but you're welcome to stay the night.. and we can see what can be done in the morning?" He'd have to talk to her Dad, Peter had a sinking feeling about that seeing as he always hated talking to other parents less they considered him a fraud for not doing enough to make Olivia 'normal'.

[GuestGuest]

Storm hugged her tea mug to her chest as if someone would reach out and snatch it from her before she finished and shook her head at Peter's suggestion of going to her graduation. "How can I regret having to go to something and be the only one there from my family? Nonna's not well enough to floo or apparate. He's not coming," with enough emphasis on the 'he' so that it was clear who that meant. "Mum already had a trip planned with her new husband. Mia's off somewhere with her new boyfri.........." Storm stopped, and looked at Peter and Olivia. "Oh but but but....... YOU CAN COME! You can be my family there!" she exclaimed. "If you come, I'll go." While Storm never doubted Olivia would come, the idea of both of them being there would be just like having some family there. And after all, it was Peter's suggestion that she should not miss out on the moment.

But that wasn't the biggest problem. It was just one of the biggest hurts that he would miss it because he was having some sort of midlife change of plans or something. What was the real reason Storm had been upset was that, "But I don't know what I'll do after. School's paid for but I was going to commute from here to Melbourne for classes. Now... If he sells the house.... I don't make enough at the cleaners to pay for both my supplies and stuff and monthly rent. And I called the school and they said the dorms were already filled up with a waiting list and...." she sighed. "Mr. Watson, you used to work in a bank. Do you know if someone can get a lone if they only work part time?"

[Olivia Watson]

Olivia couldn't help but give her Dad a sharp look at the comment that Storm's Dad wouldn't have meant any harm.. yeah like how he had been such a great help at forcing her to doctors she didn't need and sending her away to Stoat which was a living nightmare. Olivia bit her nail as Storm spoke about her family.. more reason why she would have to go, family was more important then friends.. at least to parents anyway. It was odd to watch her Dad stand up to Storm, it wasn't often that he went about being 'tough' .. usually because she just ignored him. Frowning Olivia had been excited about going to Storm's graduation.. all the more because she knew a couple of things her best friend didn't thanks to some shewed questions from certain teachers. Either way it ended up as a impasse, Olivia looked up at her Dad, raising a eyebrow that dared him to say no and have hell to pay.

Crossing her legs Olivia listened before signing to her dad / Can't Storm live with us? / it seemed a obvious solution in Olivia's mind, after all Dad had already tried renting the spare room out for another student like they had before moving. It seemed such a simple solution, Storm would move in with them and then she'd get to see her all the time! .. well at least more then she would if Storm moved away. Olivia was excited about this idea.. while she had never quite managed to decide on what she wanted to do after school she knew that the decision would rely on where Storm was. Well that and there was another issue that Olivia was worried about her Dad, she always worried about how he would get on without her around even when she was just at school. Sometimes she considered not going to University at all just so that she'd be around to keep an eye on him. It wasn't anything obvious just that well.. he didn't really have many friends and Olivia worried about him not coping so well with everything that had happened.

---

Peter sighed, "Just trust me you will" but Storm was right that he didn't really have anything else to say in his defense.. right up to the point when Storm excitedly declared that he and Olivia would have to come and be her family. Cue fear and the urge to hide under the couch, this was well beyond the role he'd been comfortable with. The 'Olivia's failure of a Dad' he could deal with, he was good at giving lifts, making dinner and generally staying out of the way. Peter hadn't even thought about the school graduation, Olivia's wasn't until next year was it so he'd not had anything to worry about in that regards. He was about to open his mouth to protest that he couldn't go, it wasn't his place when Olivia made it clear that he wasn't going to get out of this easily. Storm adding that if she didn't go it was now going to be his fault. How had this happened? He'd backed himself right into a corner. "I'll.. see"
/ Come on .. It's not like you've got anything better to do.. /
He only just got part of the signs Olivia had made and nodded "Okay.. but I can't make any promises!" No Peter was hoping beyond a doubt that Storm's dad would step in and sort everything out before the date. It was probably all just a big misunderstanding that would clear itself up soon enough. He had to hope because thanks to Olivia and Storm he'd now been backed into a corner where he would be forced to socialise with the other parents and teachers at the school. You'd never have thought it was such a big deal but Peter was already worrying about if he'd have to wear a suit and would his old ones even fit? He'd put on a bit of weight since meeting one Tiffany Fumburger who was forever insisting on him getting a proper meal to take home after work..whether he wanted it or not.

While Peter may not have enjoyed being a banker he still had the 'itch' for when people where leading up to something, Olivia was a master at the run around on how she needed such and such.. he'd heard it all from a broomstick (which she hardly ever used) to rat spleens.. why she wanted them he'd never quite dared ask. Eventually Storm came around to explain what was the issue and then questioned about a loan. For the moment he ignored Olivia's question.. he didn't feel it was the right place to be making promises they might not be able to keep. "Well yes, now that you are eighteen you should be able to apply for a loan.. however you would be better off seeing Centrelink about being put onto AusStudy or something like that... Olivia what is that you are on?"
/ Youth Allowance Dad /
Oh.. okay Youth Allowance.. my mistake" Peter rarely was open about discussing their arrangements, most people the moment you mentioned Centerlink would immediately dump them in the 'dole bludger' category. "...Anyway I think you should be eligible for payments..you'd have to do a interview and means test where they check that you don't have any extra money coming in.. and you'd have to declare whatever you earn from your job but it will mean getting a heath care and concessions on your bills which will help..." Peter trailed off as Olivia waved her hands at him in annoyance
/ You didn't answer my question! / cue a very quiet argument.
/ Olivia I really don't think now is the time to discuss that.. /
/ Why not? It's not you were not going to rent out the room anyway! /
/ Because this is Storm's decision and shouldn't be made spur of the moment and we're hardly in a position to.. /
/ You had that other girl stay here.. how come that's okay and Storm isn't allowed to stay? /
/ That was a different matter Olivia and you know it.. / "I'm sorry but this is very sudden and there are things that need to be discussed and organised first" It was clear on Olivia's face however that this was a issue he was not going to be able to get away from any time soon.

[GuestGuest]

If Peter thought he had backed himself into a corner by trying to convince Storm that she should attend her graduation because she would regret it later only to have her say she would go if they were there, he bricked up the only avenue of escape with two words, 'I'll see'. Now to the average parent, 'I'll see' meant exactly that. 'I will see what is going on and then if it is possible will try to attend.' To the average teenage in the midst of a rather emotional disaster and needing something to hold on to, the translation of 'I'll see' always always always was 'I'll go'. So it was that as the last brick of the blocked exit landed in place, Storm gave a small squeeing sound and bounced a bit, the first signs of happiness she showed since the initial news earlier that day, before coming here. "Oh thank you thank you thank you thankyou, Mr. Watson! With you two there, I won't be alone!" she told him, sitting on her hands to keep from bounding off the couch and giving him a massive hug, not sure how that would be received.

With a bit of something good to hold onto, Storm listened quietly and attentively as Peter explained the possibilities available to her for funds. From what he was saying, it was something that was even better than her applying for a loan and more feasible. "Okay..." she said, as she silently organized all the information he was giving her. "I think that might help," she agreed, going quiet as something seemed to be going on between Oli and her dad and the signing was too fast for her to keep up with. Storm caught her name in there but that was all. When Peter spoke again, it seemed he was speaking to Oli and not her so she remained quiet.

[Olivia Watson]

Olivia couldn't believe her Dad! It was Storm, she needed their help and he was trying to weasel his way out of it! NO WAY! Olivia glared at her Dad that 'I'll see' was going to be 'I will' lest there be utter hell to pay. Reminding her Dad of this she couldn't help but feel smug as he backed down and left a rather happy and bouncing Storm to the news, Olivia grinned, she couldn't wait for school to be over now so that she could go to the Gradation Night with Storm and be her family, if she was never to have Storm in the way she wished it was the very best thing. Either way there was no getting out of it now, she'd force Dad into a suit.. one of his fancy ones and into the car if she had to! Even better she'd dress up too! That would require a trip to the op shop and of course Storm would have to come and she'd pay and yes, this was all falling together just perfectly!

Well if you ignored the bigger picture of Storm's life being utterly rearranged. Filling in when her Dad asked Olivia couldn't help but feel increasingly annoyed that he avoided her question, why couldn't Storm come and live with them? It wasn't like he didn't like her? Olivia knew she'd pushed it too far though as after a brief argument her Dad resorted to speech, sighing Olivia held her hands up in submission, giving in for the moment but it would be only a matter of time until the point was raised again. Olivia didn't get why her Dad was making such a big deal of everything, it wasn't as if Storm was a stranger or a bad influence, if anything Storm was the best person Olivia had ever known!

---

So the battlelines had been drawn, Peter knew that there was no way he was going to be able to get out of going to the graduation now. His only option would be to try and minimize the fallout and maybe on the positive side he guessed he did kind of know some of Olivia's teachers and maybe it would prepare him to for next year when god forbid Olivia would graduate. Peter realized that he'd yet to sit down with his daughter to discuss the future and what she wished to do after highschool. Somehow it hadn't quite been 'real' that Olivia was growing up and now there was twice the number of choices with both the Muggle.. as they called normal life, and magical world open to her. For Peter it was all very surreal to be watching Storm bouncing up and down on his couch, a reminder of just why it wasn't a good idea to have her move in was the fact that she was young and Olivia would not be home all the time. Peter didn't want people to think the wrong ideas about him and neither did he wish to drive a wedge between Storm and her own family.. or at least not more then there seemed to be already.

Or with his own family.. arguing with Olivia Peter sighed and turned to apologize to Storm "Sorry about that eh?.." glancing from Olivia to Storm and back Peter figured that the middle road would be the best bet and shrugged "Look, I'm sure things will sort themselves out but just in case your welcome to stay here for the weekend and until school finishes if necessary." Turning to Olivia he waited until she nodded to add "However Olivia I was waiting until Christmas to tell you that I've paid so that you can go visit your grandmother for a couple of weeks over the holidays.." Peter ignored the immediate look of confused disbelief on his daughters face "Olivia she hasn't seen you in years and what with J..your mother and everything I think it's only right that you go now before everything else gets in the way... I guess Storm if you wanted we can't afford another but maybe we could see about transferring the tickets to what is it you magical people have? Foo Powder?" Peter looked to Olivia to correct him but Olivia just covered her face with a hand in annoyance with him. "Maybe it's best if we discuss this after your exams.." Yeah, that was the easy way out all right.

[GuestGuest]

Storm knew something was going on between the two but she left it between them, privacy mattered. Along with the fact that with knowing she'd have two people who cared at her graduations and, now, having a solution to work on for funds to help her be able to continue with college, she wasn't actually thinking about needing a place to stay after graduation (after all she still had the dorm room she and Oli shared at the school when they needed to be there for events or such) but studying and as Mr Watson apologized, she just smiled and shrugged trying to indicate it was okay. At his offer about staying during the remaining time on weekends, she timidly, for her, asked, "That would be great, Mr Watson, and... Well, if I wrote up review questions and answers, you wouldn't mind drilling me on them before my N.E.W.T.s? We could do them while Oli does her assignments?" She had been planning to ask her dad since he was supposed to have been home before then but now would not be. Of course, there was that little drawback to Oli's plan. Storm would make sure Oli did her homework and studied too.

Things seemed to take a different direction when Peter brought up Oli going to see her grandmother for two weeks and seemed to be offering Storm the chance to go with him. "You mean Floo powder?" She asked. "Well, we could though if you can get a refund for the tickets, it would be a lot cheaper going that way. And... Well, if you don't mind her taking a slight detour with me, maybe we could visit Nonna on the way back for a day or two?" she asked.

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