Could've Danced All Night

[Thom Pettigrew]

November 23rd @ Hannah Echelon

Dear Miss Hannah Echelon,

I have not forgotten your promise at the Halloween ball that you would be very cross with me if I did not make good on my promise to invite you out to a Quidditch game. If it looks like I have been frightfully remiss, it is only because there were no Puddlemere United games during the month of November which you possibly could have attended, since I belive as I recall they only let the ladies loose on Saturdays.

I did try to invite you to a dinner party

This is my proffered compromise; I am hosting a ball on December the 13th for the Quidditch League, generally; players, sponsors, and prospective players from Hogwarts will be in attendance. No one outside of the professional Quidditch world has been invited, but since I failed so horribly in getting you to a game, perhaps you would like to come? If you can arrange to get a chaperone and get away from the Pendergast school for the night, it would be an honor to have your presence there, and I daresay it would give you your fix of Quidditch, at least until the season starts back up in January.

The dance will be held at my country estate, but there will be portkeys running from Wellingtonshire at various points throughout the night; if this is unsuitable I can probably arrange some other form of transportation. Just say the word. I am rather at your mercy, since it is I who must repay the deficit of Quidditch game invites this past month.

I hope November has seen you well. I would wish you a happy early Christmas, but I do very much hope to be able to see you before then and to give those wishes in person.

Yours Sincerely,
Thom Pettigrew

  

[Hannah Pettigrew]

Dear Mr. Thomas Pettigrew,

I must confess that I did become quite cross with you for a few days, until I noticed that very fact in the Prophet. Alas, it couldn’t be helped -- Mrs. Pendergast does take her position as our guardian quite seriously. It would hardly do for one of us Roses to wilt under her care, after all.

As it happens, I'll be on holiday from the school from the fifth of December to the fifth of January. I’ll be spending the afternoon of the thirteenth with my insufferable twin and the rest of my immediate family in Wellingtonshire to celebrate our birthday, but as far as I’m aware I’m unengaged for the evening. If Mother does not object to accompanying me, I would be delighted to attend your ball. It’s no Quidditch match, of course, but I daresay it will do until you can fulfill your promise in the new year.

I’ve been quite well indeed, and hope the same for you. I believe you’ve met my dear cousin Caroline recently, no? She was quite enchanted by that restaurant. It was sweet of Uncle August to invite her -- I hope I get to see it myself sometime!

Most sincerely,
Miss Hannah Echelon

  

[Thom Pettigrew]

Miss Hannah Echelon,

What an extraordinary coincidence that the date fixed upon for my ball is also your birthday! I had hoped that the invitation would make up for my broken Quidditch promise, but it cannot be both that and a birthday present, so for the time being at least I must consider myself very much in the dog house. Only promise that you won't exact your revenge before the ball, and I'll try to find some way of making it up to you.

I didn't know you had a twin; this family grows bigger by the day, it seems. I was absolutely unaware of your cousin Miss Winthrop's existence until the dinner party. We needed another young lady to fill out the party, so I asked August to invite one of his family members along, and I suppose Miss Winthrop was the first who came to mind. You have your uncle absolutely to blame for your exclusion from the Portugal dinner.

My own younger brothers are twins, and my late sister had two pairs of twins, so it seems this sort of thing runs in my family, as well.

In any case, I shall try to find some way to redeem myself before the thirteenth; if I do not hear from you until then, fond adieus. If you feel inclined to drop any heavy-handed hints in my direction, though, that might not be remiss.

Sincerely,
Thom Pettigrew

  

[Hannah Pettigrew]

Mr. Thom Pettigrew,

Two sets of twins! They must be quite the handful. Rolf and I are the only set in our family, but I fear he and my older brothers nearly drove the poor nanny mad. Not me, of course; Caroline and I were too busy being perfect angels. In any case, I shall have to be cross with August for the foreseeable future for this terrible oversight.

Truly, the invitation to your ball is as fine a gift as I could have hoped for. I would hate to impose upon your kindness more than I already have... but far be it from me to stand between you and a clear conscience. Aside from Quidditch, my second love would have to be the piano. Chopin's works, in particular, are lovely, but I fear the school, and Irvingly in general, has a horrible shortage of his sheet music. I've started to learn the harp, as well, but it truly can't hold a candle to the piano, don't you think?

I shall do my best to be patient until the thirteenth. They do say revenge is a dish best served cold, after all.

Most sincerely,
Miss Hannah Echelon