Slippery Slope

[Eugene Reese]

It wasn't often that Eugene had much time off but he had been granted reprieve to attend the winter fair. His employers weren't the horrid sort that overworked him but they didn't really see the point in him having holidays off. To tell the truth, neither did Eugene. Especially since he was a live-in servant. He had it good and he knew it.

Eugene had just been walking along one of the paths and enjoying people watching. These things always did get a rather nice turnout. What Eugene hadn't been expecting was to find himself on his back with a bit of a soft thud.

  

[Philander Reid]

More often than not, Andy found himself away from his flat. The dozen house elves that lived there were driving him batty - asking him questions, constantly trying to find things to clean - despite the place already being spotless thanks to them, and otherwise just being general nuisances. He couldn't wait until tomorrow when he could give a few of them away as Christmas presents. He didn't think his family (and Meri in particular) would appreciate it, but he was so desperate to be rid of them that he really couldn't be too bothered to feel guilty.

Cursing himself, he realized belatedly that he'd left his gloves at home. He shoved them into his coat pockets and trudged along in the snow until he came upon the winter fair. He'd been quite aware of its arrival, since he now divided his time between quidditch and puttering about Irvingly until it was too late in the day to be anywhere but home. The growing excitement about it had been hard to miss.

The man on the path in front of him suddenly slipped - presumably on a patch of ice hidden beneath the snow - and landed flat on his back. Andy picked up his pace (carefully!) and called out, "Alright there chap?"

  

[Eugene Reese]

Eugene turned at the sound of another mans voice as he sat up and he smiled reassuringly at them. "Quite all right, thank you," he replied cheerily as he stood up and brushed the snow off of himself. "I wasn't quite expecting that icy patch."

  

[Philander Reid]

"No, they're very good at hiding, the little buggers," He sidled up alongside the man, "Fell down the stairs outside my flat just last week on a patch! Had a nasty bruise from it, though lucky I didn't break anything. Coach would have been peeved." Andy glanced at the ground beneath their feet and brushed the snow back and forth with his boot until a patch of ice was revealed, "There's the culprit."

  

[Eugene Reese]

Coach? Now that he had a closer look, the older man did look a tad familiar. He didn't pay close enough attention (or rather, didn't always have the time!) to know one Quidditch player from another though. "Perhaps we should do something about it?" He suggested. He hadn't a clue what though, he wasn't responsible for de-icing the home of his employers so it wasn't anything he usually had to worry about.

  

[Philander Reid]

He hadn't even thought of dealing with the ice himself. Weather was weather and other people could deal with at as they wished. Andy didn't want to appear like he was careless of the other Irvingly residents' misfortunes, so he went along with the idea as if he'd been thinking along the same lines.

"We could put a sign or marker up to warn people." It sounded reasonable enough. People would know to walk more slowly in the area. Having not been the brightest thinker (and taking too many bludgers to the head), it did not occur to him that they could try to eliminate the ice altogether. There would be no need for a sign after that.