Tree-Rex

[Martha Denbright]

Set whenever the Hogsmeade weekend in December was

Getting a cold was an occupational hazard when you worked in a shop designed especially children, though Martha couldn’t remember the last time she’d come down with one so severe as to leave her bedridden with a fever, let alone for weeks on end. Of course, her constitution had never been the most robust, as the laughing plague had shown, but it was unusual for her to be hit so hard. Still, she was in full health again, well enough to venture downstairs once more, and just in time for Christmas, with only a pile of correspondence that had accumulated during her invalidation to testify as to how ill she had been. Martha had glanced at the top few letters, which were largely from Connie and Latimer and Bertie, so had decided that reading them could wait another day or so- especially as they were home for the Hogsmeade weekend.

With her grandmother’s blessing, Martha had dressed and made her way downstairs to assist with the tail end of her Mama’s militarily planned Christmas decorating session. With the shop in its usual state of barely-contained chaos, fuelled by the fact that students were deluging the town and parents were looking for last minute christmas presents, Martha was surprised her Mama had gotten so close to completion as she had- but there again, her Mother probably could have organised the logistics for a small invasion between bites of her breakfast. Holly twisted with red ribbons had been woven around every window and tabletop, enchanted snow was falling in large flakes, vanishing before it could settle on anything, the flying toys were now having to dodge around the occasional sprig of mistletoe, a large tree had appeared in one corner, a music box somewhere was playing a rendition of ‘God rest ye merry hippogriffs’ and even the marionettes had been dressed in festive colours. All that was left was for Martha to help Connie with dressing the tree, and with the boxes of decorations presorted according to type, colour, and size, that was hardly a gargantuan job.

The two girls were admiring their handiwork when there came what should have been a warning sign- the sound of claws clattering across the floorboards, and frantic barking. Martha had had barely a second to react when Everest came bowling around the edge of the aisle, the puppy nearly already waist-high with his owner, colliding into the basket of candy canes that had been set out, and then Martha. He was shortly followed by Buster, who had a matching red neck-ribbon, which he decided to accompany with some more that he grabbed from the tree in his jaws. With Connie managing to escape the carnage with a shriek of laughter, Martha ended up tangled in the ribbon as she tried to catch the over-excited puppy and the even more excited dinosaur amidst a mess of spilling decorations, laughing as an ambitious tug of Buster’s brought the tree toppling heavily onto the floor just the other side of where she was.

@'Mason Skeeter'
@'Elsie Beauregard'

  

[Mason Skeeter]

December 5th, 1885

Mason wasn't sure why he felt apprehensive about stepping into Denbright's this afternoon, but he felt the awkwardness he'd thought had dissipated from this particular visit. He hadn't seen Martha since the summer, which wasn't unusual, with the start of the fall term and new students to worry about, but he had sent some letters and hadn't heard back. Perhaps he'd been too forward? He wasn't even sure what he was doing, but he did enjoy spending time with her, so he waffled on what to do next.

It was through casual conversations with some of her family at the school that he'd learned that Martha had fallen terribly ill this autumn and he deduced that was most likely the reason that he hadn't heard back from her. Still, he wondered if this would be an unwelcome visit or not, but he supposed it was too late now.

Of course, stepping into the toy store was always a wonder, but he wasn't in the shop thirty seconds when he heard an awful clatter... Buster must have been at it again. That dinosaur had a lot of personality for a set of wooden bones. He wasn't entirely sure of course, and as he investigated further, a little box of Quin's best truffles under one arm, Mason found the source of the noise, jolting forward as he saw the Christmas tree topple over, but not quite fast enough to catch it. It seemed everybody came out alright. "Never a dull moment in here, hmm?" He smiled by way of greeting, though saw that Martha had her hands quite full.

  

[Martha Denbright]

Word count: 137 | Outfit: Here | Tag: @'Mason Skeeter'

Everest caught Buster’s tail, which brought Martha enough time to sit herself upright enough to brush their hair out of her face, as she recognised the voice. “Mr Skeeter!” She replied in surprise, blushing a little by default. “Indeed not!” The brunette unwrapped a tangle of ribbon from her ankle before scooping the dinosaur up in her arms and getting to her feet. The dinosaur and puppy continued yapping at each other, but at least for now Buster was out of the newfoundland’s reach- though once the dog was full grown, Martha knew it would easily be taller than she was.

“Otherwise how else would I be kept on my toes?” Martha asked, laughing as she took in the (relatively contained) carnage. “How are you doing?” She added, glancing back at Mr Skeeter. Merlin, she hadn’t seen him in the longest time!

  

[Mason Skeeter]

Mason was pretty sure he didn't remember a pup in the shop last time he'd been here- especially not one that large. Buster if course, was impossible to forget. "I didn't realize you needed help staying on your toes around here. Was the pup to keep him company?" Mason teased lightly, watching the interaction between wooden dinosaur and Newfoundland with an easy smile. The size difference was almost hilarious and Mason had to wonder if Buster had met his match once and for all.

"Doing well, how are you feeling?" Miss Denbright certainly looked like herself, but from the tidbits of information he'd been able to piece together from her family members, her illness had been rather serious. It was a relief to see her up and about, though Mason wasn't sure why he felt quite so pleased.

  

[Martha Denbright]

Word count: 166 | Outfit: Here | Tag: @'Mason Skeeter'

Martha nodded, and set the dinosaur down, letting Buster run off with the pup into another part of the shop to inevitably wreak similar havoc. “He was one of the ones Madam Black was rehoming a little while ago- Buster loved playing with the dog Father got after I graduated, but we lost him in the fire- so Papa decided it was high time we got a new one.” She explained, glancing over her shoulder to check the dog and dinosaur weren’t tearing the place down just yet. “His name’s Everest.” Martha added with a bright smile.

She tucked another strand of hair behind her ear, dreading how much of her hair must have come out of the updo she’d laboured on that morning in the tussle. “Much better now, thank you.” Martha replied. “Once the healers managed to find the right balance of potions, it didn’t take me long to get back on my feet- it was just finding the potions that took the time.”

  

[Mason Skeeter]

Mason thought he remembered something about Newfoundland puppies being put up for adoption, but that was the last thing he needed. His large Manx, Calla, was certainly enough for him and an almost as large as a dog anyway. Fortunately she was pretty self sufficient and maneuvered the greenhouses very well on her own. He was pretty sure she had the tentacula subdued enough to make it past without any issue. That was a feat in and of itself.

"Everest is a great name, no doubt for the size he'll likely be." Mason chuckled. Newfoundlands were generally a large breed, if he remembered right. Watching the dinosaur and pup trot off was oddly amusing and Mason knew that they were probably off to cause trouble elsewhere in the store.

"Glad to hear it." It was distressing to hear it had taken the healers so long to figure things out, but at least they had. "I brought a get well present, but it seems rather unnecessary at this point, so happy early Christmas I suppose." Mason said as he held out the small box of chocolates that had cost him far too much cajoling from Quin for his liking.

  

[Martha Denbright]

Word count: 191 | Outfit: Here | Tag: @'Mason Skeeter'

”Father says that once he’s grown he’ll have a hard time not advertising dog rides to the children!” Martha grinned. Everest probably would end up larger than some ponies to be sure, though given the pup’s trouble staying focused on anything for long enough to hold a course of action to completion, she certainly wouldn’t want to be the first one to try the saddle! No doubt the dog was rather disproportionate to herself- or it would be when he was grown- but Martha had quite resigned herself to being a little bit littler than most things in life.

”Oh!” She replied in slight shock. Propriety probably dictated that she ought to have protested, saying that he ought not to have- which Mr Skeeter really had ought not to- but she’d spent enough time in his company to realise that that would just launch them into a spiral of opposing denials from which neither of them would recover without resembling a tomato in hue. As it was, Martha’s cheeks were certainly colouring a little, but she could live with that. ”Thank you! Are you staying at Hogwarts this Christmas?” She asked.

  

[Mason Skeeter]

Mason could easily imagine the large dog being capable of giving small children a ride. He had to wonder if a small horse would have been just as easy. Then again a horse would have no interest in chasing Buster around the shop.

Faltering momentarily, Mason nearly retracted the sweets... had he crossed a line? He was so very terrible with this sort of etiquette. Mercifully she accepted them without any fuss, for which he would have felt bad for making a mistake. He still felt that anxiety that he may have blundered, but tried to push past and thankfully Martha seemed to be keen to do the same.

"Ah yeah, for most of it. One of few teachers without much family. I'll head home to see my ma one day to celebrate though and I get some time off." He wasn't stuck there after all, and he'd have plenty of time to visit his family and the like. "Staying local for the holidays?" Mason found himself asking, hoping she was and being awestruck by the thought.

  

[Martha Denbright]

Word count: 106 | Outfit: Here | Tag: @'Mason Skeeter'

”I believe so!” She replied brightly, smiling. If Mr Skeeter was staying nearby, then they might perhaps meet again- not that she had any particular reason for wanting to see him, of course, but pleasant company never went awry, and she did find herself looking forward to his visits.

”Father wants to take us to a Bavarian market nearer the day, I believe, but that’s only a day trip and a bit of a tradition.” She explained. Toymakers all enjoyed meeting up around that time of year, and Martha wouldn’t object to a day spent in a snug little cabin with the other families.

  

[Mason Skeeter]

Mason was surprisingly pleased to hear that Miss Denbright would be around for the holidays. Apparently he liked the idea of being able to run into her again sooner rather than later. He was kidding himself if he chose to keep ignoring the fact that he knew he enjoyed her company, which he truly did. Not that Mason quite realized why, but he would probably figure it out soon enough. Hopefully.

He quirked a curious eyebrow, wondering what the allure of a Bavarian market was. "May I ask why a Bavarian market?" He was genuinely curious to know if it was just something they did as a family or if it had something to do with toy making. They had very few traditions in his own family, so he was naturally intrigued by this one.

  

[Martha Denbright]

Now Mr Skeeter mentioned it, Martha honestly wasn’t entirely sure. ”Tradition, I suppose?” She suggested, shrugging with a puzzled look on her face. ”The muggles there are famous for their Christmas markets, and I think the first magical toy makers- well the commercial ones- were from the Black Forest.” The wizards mainly kept to themselves even out there, though the density of the trees meant the secluded cabins meant little enchantments were needed to keep them safe, just in case.

Omg I suck sorry <3

  

[Mason Skeeter]

"Very interesting, I admit I know very little on the subject." Perhaps he could do a little reading so he wasn't so very limited in his ability to converse on the subject. He didn't know much about toy making in general, though was always truly in awe of the Denbrights' store whenever he was here- even if the dinosaur was a true pain sometimes.

"It sounds like a lovely tradition, my mother and I have so few that I forget those with larger families probably have more fascinating things to do around the holidays. It does make me wonder what such a market would look like though." He could imagine it was quite busy and very colorful, if nothing else!

  

[Martha Denbright]

”Bigger than the ones we have in Irvingly- or even here in Hogsmeade!” Martha laughed. “I imagine the magical one must be quite the event to try to keep muggles out of, but even the muggle ones are very impressive!” As a child it had seemed like an endless treasure-trove, and now she was full-grown it had scarce lost its appeal- she might no longer have played with toys, but that didn’t meant she couldn’t appreciate the craftsmanship that went into them, and her Father had allowed her to bring along a few of her own work last year to exhibit too.

“It must be nice to have a quiet time at home though.” She said. “Christmas is rather a hectic affair for us every year, the real holiday is the days after!”

  

[Mason Skeeter]

Mason quite enjoyed his quiet Christmases with his mother, though he suspected the Denbrights had anything but a dull affair. "It is very relaxing, I will give it that, especially after the end of the term." Not that Mason was complaining by any means, what other profession got quite as much time off as he did? The end of the term made everybody, both students and professors alike were very ready for the break.

"I cannot even begin to imagine what it must be like in the days leading up to and after Christmas for you." If he thought he was busy, he could only guess at how frantic it was around here. At least at the school the kids were gone by the time the holidays actually started. "But I'm sure you enjoy it." Martha did seem to enjoy her work and Mason knew that made all the difference.