Inevitably - and irritatingly - Temperance had felt guilty all week.

It was rare that she doubted herself, rarer still that her niece was the cause of the doubt and yet something in Blythe’s manner lately had given her pause. True, she had wilfully ignored that her niece’s wish had been to remain on at Hogwarts, gladly making herself the villain of the piece rather than admit that their means would scarcely allow for it, but her excuse was convenient rather than truly heartfelt. Blythe didn’t need to know that she was missed in the household everyday and she certainly didn’t need to know that Temperance had scrupulously saved whatever she could spare and now housed a not-insignificant amount under her mattress.

No, their situation was not so dire that she couldn’t have managed a few more years. They were not rich, but they were more comfortable than most and she had taken pains to make her charges respectable, even if it had been by force. She took pride in her family, or at least those that were left. Blythe had never been anything other than neatly turned out, despite their limited means, and even Davinder was not the embarrassment he might have been. (It took her a moment to realise she had instinctively included him on her mental list and she immediately scowled at the nearest shop window.)

They ought to be grateful for the gifts the Lord had bestowed upon them in his bountiful generosity. She would not tolerate anything less.

And yet… would it really be so awful to indulge Blythe with even a small gift that came from a more earthly source? Temperance had never wavered before in her absolute belief that such things were frivolous, but then again it had been several years since her niece’s face had swam before her eyes every night of December.

She cast her eyes imperiously over ribbons and buttons, allowing no one before the stalls to so much as offer to help her, and decided against them. They would not suit Blythe and were ugly anyway, an utter waste of money. Books? They had books; a few of Mayfield’s treatise, her annotated herbology textbooks and the only book that really mattered.

The market was an utter waste of time and she apparated the short distance home, too irritated to even face the short walk home and, in the same moment she quite literally popped into her house she realised what she ought to do.

She was going to teach Blythe to apparate.

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Wonderful set by Lady <3