Won't Be Easy

[Nikolai Sleptov]

• Though not convinced that all was well within his family, Nikolai was pleased that he seemed to be making some progress with Eva.
  
  “Then you will come to meet your brother this week-end?” he inquired, though something in his eyes confirmed that it was more an instruction than actual question. Though the professor did not want to drag his daughter kicking and screaming behind him to Wellingtonshire, he likewise did not care for the notion of her delaying the meeting: she would never adjust to the notion of a half-brother, never care for little Ivan, if she did not meet the infant.

  

[Eva Sleptova]

Eva was tempted to reply with an ‘I suppose’, but she just said, “Yes”, instead. She didn’t want risking her father’s wrath, nor her marriage to a Siberian. It wouldn’t be such a long meeting anyway. She’d just see the baby and then she’d return to Hogwarts. It’d be all fine and well.

  

[Nikolai Sleptov]

• Nik’s lips formed a warm smile. He would not say the conversation had been an easy one, but given the positive outcome, he knew it could have been much more of a struggle.