December 24, 1892 – Foxwood Christmas Party, Bath
Victoire Malfoy

His sister had convinced Edmund to dance with her even if there weren’t any other couples doing it – it was their first Christmas celebrating with the Foxwoods and she was making the most of it. Most of the night had included having her son on her hip or his hand within hers, outside of the couple times others had wanted to shower him with affection. Gus had taken over watching Seamus because the toddler wanted to touch everything in sight, and Fig was terrified that he’d break something, or, worse, something would go missing and wind up in his pockets. She’d be mortified to return the item and have her extended family think of her as a thief. But he was thrilled to watch over his nephew, finding he wanted to make up for the past three years where he didn’t even know of his existence, and was currently on his knees near the wall, making a miniature version of his Patronus run around the toddler.

Seamus giggled and clapped his hands together as he spun around in time with the capuchin monkey, nearly losing his balance when he spun too quickly; Gus reached out to steady him as he chuckled quietly under his breath, before figuring he probably shouldn’t make the child sick from making him spin as much. He’d already made Seamus try to climb the piano by making his Patronus climb up the side, and as soon as his fingers hit the keys creating a rather unpleasant sound, Gus knew he’d made a mistake. Instead he flicked his wand and sent the monkey a few feet from them, and Seamus toddled after it as he tried to capture it. Not that he could, it was just a wispy monkey that was hardly solid, moving through furniture with ease as it skittered across the floor.

Gus had chosen a room that wasn’t particularly busy to entertain his nephew in, although people had been meandering in and out to look at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree. Seamus seemed to get distracted by it for a moment as the monkey skittered around one of the branches, large grey eyes turning toward the towering tree, which caused him to run smack into a young lady. Instantly the child was in tears, sobbing big crocodile ones that meant he wasn’t even really hurt at all. (Which would have been impressive given how heavy her skirts must be.) The Patronus skittered up into the tree to watch.

Raising from his spot on the ground, Gus brushed his pants as he sighed and moved to go collect his nephew. It was just his luck that this wouldn’t go smoothly.

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   Basil Foxwood

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Her evening with the Foxwood family had been nothing short of wonderful so far. It was a relief to find herself among a warm, welcoming family. It left Torie with a sense of longing for something similar for herself. Maybe someday, if she could continue to grow her feelings for Mr. Alderton, someday she could.

The Christmas tree truly was a spectacle, everything that had been described to her. Torie was not sure she had ever seen one so large or so decadently decorated. Perhaps some day in her own home she would be able to do something as grand as this. Torie had so many fantasies to see to light in her future, she rather thought sometimes she was getting ahead of herself, but Torie was not so senseless as to let herself get too carried away.

She had taken to looking out the window next to the tree, the snowfall on the grounds was every so lovely and she thought tomorrow she might sneak out and enjoy the powder like she had as a child. Speaking of children, Torie felt the bump against her skirts and looked down to see the poor dear tearing up. "Oh, wee lamb." She crouched instantly to scoop the toddler up, cradling him on her hip gently. "Did we get tangled up, are you alright?" The babe did not look injured and the tears that fell were noticeable, but she didn't see any cuts or scrapes. Perhaps just a bump or a scare. She looked around for his adult and saw an unfamiliar face approaching her. "I'm afraid my skirts won the brawl, I'm terribly sorry." She offered a wry smile, brushing the little one's hair from his face softly.

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   Anthony Alderton

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Red again! June 1894

The crocodile tears continued to fall even as the young woman scooped him up; of course it helped that Seamus was a sucker to be held (thanks to his parents spoiling him rotten when it came to that, but Fig had the hardest time resisting his puppy dog eyes), and he instantly pressed his head against her. He snuggled into the woman as he sniffled, his fingers gripping the fabric as he stared straight ahead.

Gus was happy that whoever Seamus had run into was taking it in stride. (But then again it helped that there were other wee babes running too before they were collected for bed.) He laughed quietly as he went to rub the back of his neck. “Oh no. Please don’t apologize. I was entertaining him and probably shouldn’t have had him chasing something.” His eyes were drawn to the patronus still watching them from the branches of the tree, and while he thought about immediately dismissing it he didn’t want Seamus to blubber because he took it away.
Gus held his arms out for him. “Come here, Seamus.”
The toddler shook his head and burrowed his head into her. He seemed quite content. “No. Stay here.”

Gus grimaced as he flicked his gaze toward her and offered her a strained smile. “Sorry, this may take a moment.”

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Torie's head was still reeling a little from the whole situation with Anthony and Atticus, but this was a good distraction. The little one clutched her tighter as the gentleman went to take him and Torie couldn't help but to chuckle. "Seamus is it? Good, strong name." She smiled, running and finger down his cheek as he burrowed into her shoulder. "It's quite alright, I don't mind. There's nothing wrong with needing a hug every now and then." Torie assured the man with a better smile. Winding her free hand under the toddler, she readjusted him against her so they were both more comfortable.

"I'm Torie, by the way." Said more to Seamus, but cast a look at his adult too. This was the little one of the couple who had been introduced earlier in the evening, before she had snuck away for a little while, and she remembered the gentleman before her being related, but she had missed his name. That was unusual, for her, Torie dealt in names and reputations, but in her defense, she was a bit preoccupied tonight. "It's been a busy night! You must be tired," She hummed out as she ran a hand up and down Seamus' back subconsciously, hips swaying in that completely natural, completely unnoticed way that a woman did when holding a young child.

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Red again! June 1894

Gus couldn’t help but grin at her. Seamus was a strong name, and he was almost certain that Edmund hadn’t been allowed a single opinion on what they were naming him, although from what he’d seen of them, Edmund was so enamored with his sister that he probably didn’t care. She probably argued it was another version of James and that was the end of that. Then he chuckled quietly. “Well, he might fall asleep there if he gets too comfortable, and he’s kind of heavy. ‘Fraid he inherited the Lissington sweet tooth.” Although Fig’s wasn’t as bad as Gus’, and Seamus was too young to realize how many things his parents wouldn’t let him try. Guess he had to be the cool uncle and sneak him things. Gus made a mental note to owl Honeyduke to see what might be appropriate for a toddler. (Everything?)

He hesitated for a moment as he wondered if Augustus was appropriate, but he would die if someone called him that on a regular basis. Mr. Lissington was bad enough and he was still learning not to wrinkle his nose whenever someone called Professor Lissington. “I’m Gus, and you’ve met my nephew, Seamus. It’s very nice to meet you.” Gus smiled brightly as he nodded toward the toddler in her arms, who looked up at her whenever she spoke to him, his own head bobbing when she mentioned the word tired. He burrowed his head back against her and yawned. He looked content and Torie didn’t seem to mind, so Gus pushed his hands into his pocket.

“Torie. You’re Basil’s friend… he’s spoken about you.” Of course he had; Gus liked to know everything there was about Basil. “We erm… work together? But I’m his friend too. I mean obviously I am or I probably wouldn’t have been invited by him.” His fingers raked nervously through his hair and he suddenly wished he had his scarf to fiddle with. Gus grinned sheepishly at her.

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Torie couldn't imagine she was quite comfortable enough for the little tyke to fall asleep, but if he was tired enough, she supposed a warm snuggle would just do the trick. He really wasn't all that heavy, not that Torie had much of a reference. None of her friends or siblings had children, so she didn't often get to interact with them, but she enjoyed it when she did. She chuckled quietly as Seamus yawned and tucked himself in further. This was a delightful distraction from her thoughts of Anthony and Atticus. That debacle had turned into a bit of a mess and she wasn't sure what to think just yet.

That Basil spoke of her to his friends was a bit of a surprise, but she supposed, as his friend too, it wasn't so strange. The connections were starting to piece together. He must be the brother of the woman who had been introduced earlier, who was married to Basil's cousin (which was funny because they had thought to introduce her at one point, clearly not!) Torie had to wonder if things were not particularly proper the way she had watched the evening proceed. She hadn't heard Gus' name, but she and Basil often had very concise conversations on topics of concern most of the time. "It's very nice to meet you. I am not sure I want to know what it is he says of me." Torie chuckled again. "You teach at Hogwarts too?" She hadn't realized so many professors had changed in her short time away. It wasn't even that long ago and it still felt like she'd been gone from the castle for years.

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Red again! June 1894

Gus inclined his head toward her, although didn’t say anything. It wasn’t a surprise that Basil didn’t speak about him. Their history was messy, they’d really been friends for a year when he left, and what they had now was for them to figure out. He was only here because Fig had dragged him (he was quite content spending Christmas by himself in Egypt thank you very much), although it wasn’t quite as terrible as he’d imagined it’d be. Atticus left him alone and his sister kept to her word and didn’t leave his side much.

“Ah… Yeah. Yes. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.” He replied as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. She didn’t need to hear his entire life story of how he'd gotten here (and how he wasn’t even sure he’d made the right decision for himself.) “It’s not too bad, so far.” In her arms, Seamus shifted to peek up at him. Stepping up next to her, Gus held his arms out for his nephew, who wiggled toward him.

Gus laughed quietly. “Ah, sorry. Let me just… erm, grab him? He’s starting to get cranky and I should really return him to my sister before he has a meltdown.” He grimaced. Somehow it would be his fault and the party would be ruined… he didn’t want that on him.

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He must have started recently, as Torie didn't remember him at the school when she was there. She hadn't taken Defense after OWL's but was pretty sure he wasn't the professor even then.

Little Seamus was getting a little wiggly and a little heavy, so Torie passed him back easily as Gus asked. "Well, we can't have the crankies getting the better of us." If she weren't in such a light mood after everything that had happened earlier in the evening, she too might have been starting to get cranky. Her mind was just reeling too much to really be any kind of tired.

"It was lovely to meet you both, hopefully we'll see each other again." If Torie was going to pursue things with Anthony, she suspected she just might and it would be nice to have other people she knew around.

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Red again! June 1894