Christmas with the Carmichaels

[Gwenda Cadwallader]

• Though Virginia did visit quite often, it was never nearly enough for Gwenda, who would quite happily have her favourite cousin live with them year-round. After all, she already had one best friend in the house, what harm could be done by hosting another? She could not very well invite Virginia without first approaching her father, of course, but at the very least…
  
  “I think you would do quite well in Hogsmeade full-time,” Gwenda said, trying to sound entirely casual but not doing a very good job of it. “Much though I love Uncle, I think it’s been very silly of him to keep you here so much—you’ll never find a husband if you’re not exposed to fine gentlemen, after all!”

  

[Lona Carstairs]

"I am of the same mind as you! This homecoming is wonderful but all too brief," she replied, nodding her head slightly and pursing her lips. It was a secret hope of hers that she could live in Wales once she was married and settled, raising her children playing in the same green valleys that she did while singing the same lilting lullabies. Of course, she would ultimately have no choice in the matter, but a girl could have her dreams. And did Lona dream! Silly things, mostly, and sometimes at inconvenient times such as whilst transcribing a letter for Mr. Gamp, but she had always had an active mind and was used to such fanciful inconveniences.

She stifled a laugh seeing how Mr. Lloyd was fauning over Elaine and, no doubt, showering her with praises. It was delightful to see such interest in Gwenda's young sister - she was quite the beauty, though she found nothing too special in the singing that Ianto so lauded her for (something she would keep to herself for politeness's sake). "I find the best company among Gwenda and her family, though. It is more than comfortable living in Hogsmeade with them." she added, directing her smile at Mr. Carmichael. If she remembered correctly, he also lived in Hogsmeade, though further north of Wellingtonshire in Hogwart's Castle.

"Forgive me if I am wrong, but do you not teach at Hogwarts? I have a vague memory of Gwenda telling me that you were the professor of divination there." she inquired, hoping to further the conversation. (Gawain was engrossed in his own conversation, should she not be likewise in hers?) She had found good people in every Carmichael she'd met and supposed Elliott would be just as well once she started speaking to him.

  

[Virginia Carmichael I]

Gwenda had never been good at hiding her true intentions, whether it was regarding matchmaking or any other affair. Virginia could hardly accept what her cousin was proposing, as much as she might wish she could; she couldn't explicitly refuse, either, without arousing some kind of suspicion. Suspicion was dangerous, even if it was from well-meaning family.

The Vow was becoming more and more inconvenient by the day. Ginny had hoped to keep Mr. Angelotti her little secret for a little longer, but it was the only thing she could think of to distract Gwenda from going down a dangerous path.

"Well, a month ago I might have agreed with you..." she said, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "But I think I've managed to catch at least one gentleman's attention recently, despite Father keeping me here!"

[Elliot Carmichael]

"Gwenda's right - I started teaching Divination there this September," Elliot said with a smile, "Teaching is interesting, and so is living at the castle." He didn't want to do the latter forever - especially seeing as he was kind of sort of trawling for a wife (ish) - but it was more independent than living in his father's house was, and Elliot felt as though he was slowly developing a new perspective on the Vow partially because of the separation.

"I used to work in the Improper Use of Magic office," Elliot said, "You work for the - Department of Magical Creatures, right?"

Ugh. Desk jobs. Children were crazy, but they were also interesting, and the Ministry had never been very interesting to Elliot. Surely some people were happy to play the political game, but he wasn't, and though he wouldn't call teaching a calling he was much happier doing that than he had been at the Ministry, and he couldn't imagine himself doing anything else.

  

[James Carmichael]

While the young adults were in the parlour, doing whatever youngsters of today did when together. The adults retired to another room in the house. The men talked amongst themselves, and sipped as whiskey or brandy. The wives sat off on a table of their own, and were talking about children, and other such things wives might talk about. James had been talking with the men, discussing everything from business to what their families will be up to for the summer. At one point in the conversation, James turned to his brother and began to ask a few questions about Virginia, and how Gwenda had taken a really shine to her cousin.

He even offered his home in the city, if ever Virginia decided to stay down there for a while, after her coming out party of course. Wales was a nice place; full of what James suspected would be great suitors. But, the city was a much better place for a young woman to find a man or even choose a man for herself. That was how James was going to do it with his own children. Oh, sure, like any other father, he'd point them in a direction. But, if they choose not to go down that direction, then James wasn't going to force them into it. Some called that liberal thinking, where as James called it giving his children the chance to expand and grown on their own.

After just a few harmless questions, at least what James thought to be harmless. Brandon abruptly changed the subject, and became rather disgruntled when James asked if there was anything wrong that he should know about. But, Brandon had none of it, and rather aggressively asked James to not ask any more questions. It was at that point that his wife came over, and placed a few calming hands on Brandon's shoulders. James had to admit that his curiosity was peeked rather sharply over their overly protective stance over Virginia. But, because it was Christmas, James decided to let the matter drop, and carried on with his cigar and brandy.

Once the brandy had been drunk, and the cigar all but gone. James decided to check in on the children in the parlour. He excused himself from the men, gave his respects to the wives, and then wandered down the hall, and into the same room as Gwenda, Tristan and everyone else. Because it was a special occasion, James was dressed in his auror dress uniform, which was a blue tunic with blue pants and black leather boots. He stood in the doorway for a moment, listening to the piano music, and watched as the young people talked amongst themselves. He then folded his arms behind his back, and walked deeper into the room with a soft smile on his lips.

"It's good to see you're all having fun. Would you mind if an old fundy dundy joined you young people for a while?" James's tone was light, and respectful. While he talked he looked around at everyone, and offered them all a polite nod of greeting.

  

[Gwenda Cadwallader]

• Virginia had met a man and hadn’t told her? Gwenda’s jaw dropped open as the young witch quickly wrestled between hurt and excitement. As expected, she quickly came down firmly in the latter camp. “Tell me everything!” she instructed, leaning in so as to keep their secrets secret (unlikely in such a family).
  
  Gwenda smiled a greeting at her father as he arrived but gave no further welcome--she did not want him interrupting her cousin’s story, after all!



  

[Gawain Carmichael]

An old fundy dundy? Gawain resisted the urge to raise a brow and curbed his embarrassment—it was always vaguely humiliating when his father attempted to crack a joke—and settled on a vague sort of pleasure that he had joined them at all. He would have preferred that his father wear something slightly more informal for the occasion—his damned uniform was the last thing Gawain wanted to see today of all days—but he was clearly making an effort.

“Please,” Gawain replied, vacating his seat for his father’s use. “You just missed Elaine’s singing.”

  

[Virginia Carmichael I]

As Virginia had hoped, Gwenda was steered onto a new path easily after she mentioned her new suitor. She smiled brightly and greeted her uncle as he entered the room, but leaned closer to her cousin to tell her all about Mr. Angelotti. Ginny knew she would have to tell the rest of the family sooner or later, especially if it came to courting, but for now it would be their secret, just like their school days. It was enough to make her forget her darker secret, just for a little while.

"His name is Mr. Stefano Angelotti, the Italian ambassador at the Ministry," she whispered to Gwenda. "We met at a ball about a month or so ago; he knows Uncle James from work, apparently. It's funny, we literally just bumped into each other... but he's a fine dancer, and clever." She could feel herself grinning stupidly, but she couldn't quite bring herself to care. "We've been writing and talked for a while at the Minister's Ball... I've had so many suitors before, but I think this one may actually lead to something." To say it too loudly might jinx it, but Virginia was tired of holding it in. For once, she could be happy about a man's attentions!

[Gwenda Cadwallader]

• The moment the words Italian ambassador left her cousin’s mind, Gwenda was of two minds.
  
  Mind the first: an ambassador was a prestigious occupation; Virginia could surely do worse in that regard! The adventure of travelling alone was exciting, and if Gwenda knew her gossip, the this Mr. Angelotti was the son of the Italian Minister of Magic! While such titles were hardly set in stone, short of legitimate royalty it was the most exciting that her cousin could have mustered.
  
  Mind the second: if he was an ambassador, surely he would be moving—even if that was not the case, wouldn’t an Italian wish to go back to Italy? While Gwenda was quite keen to see Virginia happy and could cope with travelling across the country to see her, having her cousin in another country entirely seemed wholly unbearable!
  
  “You mustn’t settle, Virginia,” Gwenda cautioned. “You’ve had so many suitors because you’re so desirable; do not let their shortcomings chase you into a less-than-ideal union!” The brunette knew she was likely coming across as harsh, but she did not want to lose her cousin!

  

[James Carmichael]

When Gawain offered James his chair, he accepted with a polite nod, and made himself comfortable as he looked around at all the young faces. James also gave Gwenda a warm smile in return the nod she gave him in greeting. He loved his daughter; she was the apple of his eye. But, sometimes, Gwenda did get herself caught up in things that a young lady shouldn't be caught up in. James knew that ladies her age liked to gossip amongst their friends, it was how news got around after all.

But in James's opinion, a respectable lady should gossip overly so, and shouldn't get too involved with the affairs of others. Especially when it came to Virginia’s affairs. Anyone else and James wouldn't have minded at all, really. He just knew that his brother was extremely protect of Virginia for some reason, and the last thing he wanted today was to see the family at each other’s throat for a reason only known by one side. The thought of leaning toward Gwenda, and informing her to not poke too much into Virginia’s private life did cross James's mind. But, from what he could over hear it was harmless for now, and so he decided to let them do their thing.

After Gwenda James turned his attention back to Gawain, as he made the comment about Elaine singing. Elaine was another apple of James's eye, and when she sang it was like an angel herself had decided to speak. The head auror had truly been blessed with fantastic children, and he wouldn't exchange them for the world.

"Well that is a shame. Perhaps we could persuade her to do another song for her dear old dad?" James's tone was playful, and he didn't expect Elaine to sing again just because he was in the room. In fact he was trying to lighten the mood a little, because he could tell that Gawain was put off for some reason. James knew that his eldest son didn't like his chosen profession, and that there had been a vibe between them for some time. It was something James was going to discuss with his son at a later date. Because Christmas was about being together as a family, and wasn't a day for such intense and in depth discussions.

  

[Lona Carstairs]

Unlike many of her friends, Lona hadn't ever favored divination over, say, transfiguration or charms, but that didn't stop her from being intrigued. After all, if the future really was in the cards, wouldn't anyone want to know what they said? Having felt unanchored and insubstantial ever since the debacle with the Pritchards, she knew that she would do just about anything to know what was next. To be honest, she was more scared of the future than any other feeling. Not knowing was a constant source of unease.

"I can only imagine! Merlin, I remember the portraits snickering and gossiping about the students all the time, and I imagine that gets old very quickly," she said with a laugh. Hogwarts was certainly an awe-inspiring place, but she couldn't picture it being the sort of place for people who didn't crave interesting (and sometimes bizarre) lives. "What made you make such a big change in careers, if I can ask?" It was a little odd, Lona thought, to jump from working at the Ministry with a slew of adults to working at Hogwarts with a zoo of children.

"Yes, I'm a secretary for Mr. Gamp, head of the department. Though I do do a little extra work here and there if I can help it!" The elaboration was only polite, seeing as he'd asked after her own employment. She supposed that he didn't meet too many working women, besides his colleagues and perhaps the stray independent debutante; being from the upper class usually meant there was a disconnect, though Lona didn't feel it when she was at home - that is to say the Carmichael home - as much as she did in Wales. Her father worked hard to give her what she had, and she wanted to pay him back for some of it in any way she could, even if that meant forsaking typical girlish exploits for a desk job. Most of the Carmichaels, thankfully, didn't seem to have a problem with her job. Lona wondered if that would have been the case were she anything but a secretary.

  

[Virginia Carmichael I]

Virginia couldn't help but laugh at Gwenda. "Oh, of course family would say that! But truly, Mr. Angelotti is a wonderful man, from what I've seen so far. Unless... you've heard something I haven't?"

Uncle James did work at the Ministry, too, after all, and who knows what gossip might have been circulating around the workplace about the foreigner? Her brow furrowed as she considered this new possibility brought on by her cousin's hesitance. "You would tell me if you had heard something, wouldn't you?"

[Elliot Carmichael]

"I had a vision telling me that if I kept with the IUOM office I was going to grow bored out of my mind," Elliot said. It was really only half a lie - he had come to the realization that he was growing more and more miserable with his job, no matter the tantalizing prospect of advancement. "And I never really did do well with desk jobs." Essays were far superior to paperwork. And teaching his NEWT class was good for his natural tendency towards sarcasm.

"That sounds fun!" Elliot said cheerfully. He wondered, rather absently, if his uncle's presence meant that his own parents were going to wander in anytime soon. "Magical Creatures always seemed like an interesting department to me."