Furry Christmases

It was Christmas Eve, a time for family, only family wasn’t destined to be a big part of Grace Llewellyn’s Christmas holidays. She’d been washed away with, left to her own devices and depended on the charity of her friends in order to have some semblance of Christmas. It wasn’t even the charity of a friend, either, who gave her Christmas. No, it was an excellent stranger who had been nothing but kind to her. Tibby Frank was Baird’s friend. Baird was Grace’s friend. It should have been to him and Sonia that she turned but she’d been wiggled instead into joining forces with the Franks until Christmas blew overhead and away until the following year.

The two young women sat in the lounge, staging an all-nighter while Arren did what Arren did best – eat, drink and sleep. She’d turned in a few hours before but the girls remained up having gotten themselves some hot chocolate. Curled up under blankets on the sofa they were content to watch as the snow fell leisurely outside the windows. It was a white Christmas for them there. Grace found herself wondering whether it would be elsewhere. Whether anyone else was watching too, seeing in the new Christmas.

Grace had been folded into the Frank Christmas with ease that no one expected. The girls had gone from almost strangers to snuggled over the course of a week and Tibby couldn't help but feel this was exactly what Baird would have wanted. While both girls were slightly embarrassed by the method of their friend's madness, both had stopped apologizing once the Hufflepuff had moved in. Arren had been in and out of the apartment, content to do her own thing and allowing the Hogwarts girls to do theirs.

Tibby reached for the pile of Christmas cookies on the table, baked and decorated by the pair the day before. She came up with a Santa head, glazed white and red, which she took a bite out of, showering her shirt with crumbs. Frowning slightly, Tibby attempted to brush the mess off but quickly gave up and settled for handing Gracie a cookie in hopes of evening out their messiness rather than clean herself up. "You're going to need sugar. Don't want you falling asleep on me." Tibby grinned, poking Gracie with a cold toe.

Laughing, Grace shrunk away from the cold foot against her leg and she took the cookie that Tibbs had offered, biting into it, tearing out the neck of the poor deer – a small irony she enjoyed despite herself. She chewed quickly and swallowed before brushing at her chest which, too, had been covered in crumbs. She didn’t mind much though a few bits had made it inside her top, tickling their way down over her stomach. That would grow annoying with time, she supposed, but until then she’d make do and, while she thought about it, tucked her oversized shirt tighter around her. She didn’t really want her chest making itself known through the cold. That wasn’t something she was sure she could easily explain away to Tibby.

“I won’t fall asleep,” Grace promised with a smile before biting into her cookie again. She looked towards the window once more and shrunk a little closer to the brunette beside her, content in the warmth beneath the blankets. She smiled shyly, trying to see if it was okay, before continuing to nibble at her biscuit. Tibby had been so kind to her and Grace was forever grateful. She wouldn't forget it.

Tibby smiled at Gracie's laugh, a sound which she was becoming increasingly familiar with. She had always defined the redhead by her shy sweetness, which was of course almost always present, but she had also begun to learn of the deeper levels she had. Little secrets about her life kept cropping up unintentionally, tossed into small conversations where most people would miss them. The more Tibby learned about her new friend, the more she wanted to discover. Grace Llewllyn was much more than she seemed.

Tibby thought Grace moving closer was only in her head but when the redhead caught her eyes she realized the shift had been intentional. The Ravenclaw returned the smile, her shyness being reflected into the bolder girls expression. "Good." Tibby replied, more out of the need to fill the silence than actual conversational content. She paused for a long moment, soaking in the falling snow which fell so perfectly just out of their window. Tibby finally broke the stillness. "I'm glad you're here, Gracie. This has been a really nice break."

“Me too.”

It really had been perfect – as perfect as a break could be in someone else’s home at the order of their mutual friend. Baird had been as brusque as ever but stubborn in his need to be assured of their adherence to his wishes. He’d wrote the other day, complaining about Sonia burning something while neither of the girls were sure he was being truthful. The following letter, after their incredulous reply, enclosed a photograph of a charred mass which must have once resembled food. Of course they also got a picture of the happy couple kissing which Grace had laughed off as an accidental addition. She wasn’t sure, though.

“Do you want your present already?”

It wasn’t Christmas yet but Grace was willing to break the rules. She’d spent ages on it. The present was a wind chime. The circle at the top was attached to the metal tolls which would make the noise but each one had a piece of glass in a frame attached to it either between the circle bit of wood at the top and the toll or hanging off of it. On each piece of glass, Grace had taken the time to paint a picture on each square of glass. She’d tested it in the early morning light before wrapping it and as it all turned, light in an array of colours pressed upon everything around it.

It had taken time and effort more than money and Grace was eager for Tibby’s response and so happily hopped off of the couch to go and retrieve it, returning quickly with the gift in hand.