Tightly Knit ⟶ Fred Weasley

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

Inside, was a Christmas card with a little letter inside:

Dear Ellie,

First and foremost, Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful time at the ball with your friends. Your mother demands at least one photo so she can see you in your dress robes. Anyways, I wasn't sure what to get you for Christmas, seeing as your mother readily collected plenty of things from you, telling me that she would claim it was from both of us. But that didn't seem right to me. And of course, I've sent you chocolate, but I could send you chocolate at any time.

Your grandfather and I were going through some old photos again and I found a few of your grandmother from when she was a teenager, around your age. I thought you'd like those, including some of her favourite pieces of jewellery. Perhaps you could wear one of them to the Yule Ball if you like them enough.

All is going well here, but of course, we all miss you greatly. I also hope everything is going well for Harry, I've been in touch with some good friends of mine who are trying to keep a lookout for anything that would be deemed suspicious within the competition. Until then, try not to stress over it too much. From what you've told me, Cedric and Harry are doing extremely well in the competition despite the circumstances. I'm sure your support is helping them get through the toughest parts. If you need anything in the meantime, let me know.

Love you,

Dad

P.S. Would you happen to know what your mother's favourite flowers are?

Opening the gift, Eleanor quickly pulled out the photographs first and smiled because as she had been told numerous times, she really did resemble her late grandmother. And the pictures of Hope when she was a teenager, seemed to reiterate it all the same. The pieces of jewellery included a gold bracelet, a pearl necklace, and several rings, all of which Eleanor liked.

She reached for her mother's gift next and found it to be no surprise to find an assortment of yarns and knitting supplies that Eleanor was more than thankful for. But as she read over her mother's Christmas card, it started off with the usual of wishing her a Merry Christmas and for Eleanor to have fun at the Yule Ball, but it too ended asking if there was any particular meal that Remus was fond of?

With a knowing giggle, Eleanor picked up the gift from Grandpa Lyall and nearly toppled over the edge of her bed, not realising how heavy it was. She should have realised the parcel contained a number of books with the weight, but she was pleasantly surprised to find several books pertaining to Wizarding Law, wrapped away. Some of them seemed pretty dated, judging by the fragile spines and tattered pages, but Eleanor was willing to put them to use gently. And to her amusement, it seemed Grandpa Lyall had sent her a picture from his days in Hogwarts.

Limby Lupin was scribbled at the bottom of the photo, where Lyall was wearing his Gryffindor Quidditch uniform. As he described himself, he had been rather tall in his youth and his limbs were considered quite lanky, but he remained handsome, nonetheless.

"Whoa, who is that?" Marnie asked after a yawn as she climbed into Eleanor's bed. "He's gorgeous."

"It's my grandpa."

Marnie stared off into the distance while Eleanor laughed at her reaction, placing the photo down before Marnie could fall in love with the image of young Limby Lupin. But with Marnie beside her, Eleanor reached under her bed and grabbed the box that contained Marnie's finished robes.

"Here," she said, "it's not your Christmas gift, I figured we would meet Cedric in the Common Room to exchange those. But I finished your robes the other day. I figured since we still have several hours to the Ball that you could look them over and if there's anything minor that you want me to fix, I would still have some time."