In the Neighborhood... (Luke and Lindsey)

[Warren Bishop]

Occasionally in their letters, Warren's parents expressed how much they'd like him to come home and visit once and a while. He put it off for a long time, but finally gave in when the only other option was a boring weeken of nothingness at the castle.

"Mum, Dad?" Warren stepped inside his home and dropped his bag on the floor. "Anyone home?" He called out.

[Lindsay Bishop]

As it happened, today was one of those extremely rare days when Lindsay had off from work. Actually, she had worked the late night shift at the hospital the night before, so she had spent the morning sleeping. Now she was awake, but not exactly full of energy. It had been a difficult night and she was still drained.

But the sound of her son’s voice never failed to cheer her up. She was sitting on the sofa, sipping a cup of coffee, when she heard Warren calling out.

“Warren? Sweetie, is that you? I’m in here.”

[Warren Bishop]

Warren smiled when he heard his mother. Kids always picked a favorite parent subconsciouly, and though he knew he was a lot like his father, he adored Lindsay. He headed into the living room and took a seat by his mom on the sofa.

"Hi Mum," Warren said as he sat down. "How are you?"

[Luke Bishop]

Luke was upstairs thinking about what he should do for the day. Staying home was always an option, but he wasn't sure if Lindsay wanted him home. He had dressed to go out, and was deciding on where to go when he heard his son's voice. He smiled; it had been a while since he saw his son.

He jogged down the stairs and went into the living room, where he heard his wife and son talking.
"Warren, I didn't know you were coming home," He said, smiling. He sat next to Warren and looked at Lindsay, the question aimed more at his wife, as if she knew something.
"A surprise visit?" He asked, looking back to Warren.

[Lindsay Bishop]

Lindsay pulled her son into her arms and hugged him tightly. "Oh, sweetie, it's so good to see you," she said happily. "I've missed you so much. What a nice surprise!"

She looked at Luke, shrugging slightly to let him know that she hadn't been expecting a visit from Warren. Pulling back, she examined her son, as if to make sure that he was OK and healthy. "But what are you doing here? Everything's OK, right?"

[Warren Bishop]

Warren hugged his mother back and turned to his dad who had sat next to him. "Hi Dad," he smiled. He saw the exchanged look between his parents and woondered if he had interrupted something in his comming here.

"No Mum, I'm fine," Warren said. "I just thought I'd drop by, I'm not in trouble or anything." He said honestly. "It's not like a bad time or anything is it?" he asked, looking between his parents.

[Lindsay Bishop]

Actually, it was probably the best time he could have come, since Lindsay had the day off. Her days off were so rare these days, and she was beyond thrilled that she would get to spend this one with her son and husband.

“Not at all, sweetie. It’s just that we were surprised to see you, that’s all. But if you say everything is fine, then there’s no problem. It’s a nice surprise. Come, sit down and tell us how everything is going at school.”

[Luke Bishop]

Luke nodded in agreement with his wife and smiled at his son. Although he would never admit it, Luke couldn't believe he was in his fourth year at Hogwarts already, and that made Luke pretty sad, especially since Warren wasn't home all the time. Luke missed those days when he really thought about it.

"Are you doing good in your classes?" He asked, although they weren't alerted of any behavior problems, so he guessed Warren was doing okay. "Have you met any girls?" He asked, feeling he needed to slip that in, even if his son was only fourteen, too young to date, according to Luke's mother when Luke was fourteen.

[Warren Bishop]

"School's good," he said. He was one of the smartest in his year. Hell, he was one of the smartest in the year ahead of him too. To be honest, school was a little more boring. He wished he could have something to entertain him, or be more challenging at least. "Nothing too interresting, but I like Potions though," he added, just to give his parents more detail.

"No Dad, no girls," Warren laughed, refraining from rolling his eyes. "Just friends." he said.

[Lindsay Bishop]

Lindsay laughed and chook her head. “It’s OK, dear. You’re still a little young for girls. But I would love to meet one of your friends some time. Why don’t you invite one over for dinner or something? I promise I won’t cook.”

She felt like she knew so little about her son’s life. She saw his grades and was very proud of how smart he was. But there had to be more to it than that. Surely he had some good friends that he could bring to meet them. It would make her feel more connected to her only child.

[Warren Bishop]

Warren smiled at his mother while wondering if any of his friends were worthy of bringing home for dinner. Most of his house mates weren't that great. He was good friends with Seth, who he knew was having a rough time, maybe he'd bring him by.

"Sounds like a plan," Warren said. Then he decided to change the subject. "Hows the hospital going? Running fine without you there today?"

[Lindsay Bishop]

"Good," Lindsay said, smiling happily. "I'm looking forward to it already."

She sometimes worried about Warren. He was such a smart boy that she had expected him to be sorted into Ravenclaw, like she was. But he had been sorted into Slytherin, and she wondered how well he was fitting in there. He so rarely talked about school or friends that she wondered with he was having trouble making friends.

"Oh, I hope so," she said with a small laugh. "I'm sure that if there were any problems, Chase would have let me know by now. So no news is good news."

[Warren Bishop]

Warren knew his mother worried about his life at Hogwarts. But he felt that there wasn't a lot to talk about. Classes? Boring, he was honestly too smart for the curriculem Hogwarts provided. Friends? His housemates weren't exactly sociable, he got along with his dormmates for the most part. What else was there to talk about?

"Yea, no news is good news," he repeated. "How are you doing dad?" Warren turned to his father.

[Luke Bishop]

"I just wish you had more time off," Luke said to Lindsay. He wouldn't admit it, but he missed his wife being home. He missed having someone to wake up to and someone that could make him smile just by looking at them. He was a bit too proud to admit something like that.

"I'm doing fine, trying to help your mother out with money and all. Not that any thing's wrong; it isn't. I don't want her working as much as she is." Luke replied. It sounded too much like a father chastising his daughter for staying out too late one night, even though Luke didn't want it to sound that way.
"But I'm glad you're doing great and it would be great to meet some of your friends. I want to make sure you don't get into too much trouble." Luke said, thinking back to all the things he did when he was at Hogwarts, things that Warren hadn't known about. It was nothing too bad, but Luke didn't want his son turning out to be exactly like him.

[Lindsay Bishop]

Lindsay loved her husband and was almost pathologically blind to his faults. But there was at least one difference in their personalities that she couldn't help but notice. To Luke, work was simply for making money. Lindsay, on the other hand, often joked that she would still come in to work everyday, still break her back for the job and give it everything she had, even if they didn't pay her to do it.

She wanted to tell this to Luke, but she didn't like to disagree in front of Warren. "I'm sorry I'm not home more often, honey," she said. "I miss you during the day, too.... but you know things are crazy at the hospital right now. There's a lot of work to be done, and they need me there. I'll try to get more time off instead."