#2:30pm

“Max, why don’t you give it a try?” Ivy sighed and handed him the glittering star for the top of her family’s Christmas tree. She and her cousins had promised her parents that the house would be decorated and ready for the party without their help this year. With her parents away, and the strict rules about performing magic outside of school, they were at the mercy of muggle methods. As her parents were due back from the charity quidditch match any moment, Ivy was anxious to complete the last piece of decorating on time.

Ethel had offered to climb the tree to position the star on top; even on Selene’s shoulders, she was unable to reach it. Jim came close to reaching the top but fell short. Maxwell Pembroke grinned, and Ivy thought she detected a slight blush by the honor. “Of course, love. Stand back and tell me if it gets crooked?” he asked, accepting the star from his girl.

“It is perfect,” she thanked him with a kiss to his blushing cheeks. “My father will appreciate your decorating skills just as much as your quidditch prowess,” she winked.

Max smiled, “As long as he doesn’t try to sign me to the Cannons, I’ll accept the compliment,” he teased. He’d recently committed himself to the Caerphilly Catapults, and while Ivy was thrilled for him, her family ties to the Chudley Cannons were strong.

Not one to let the rivalry rest, Ethel crossed her arms and looked up at Maxwell. “You can dream of it. Enjoy the great privilege of wearing the ugliest uniforms in the league,” she came to her team’s defense, more strongly than even Ivy’s father would have. It had taken some time to get used to the Anders family, the Hexley family, and Ivy’s lavish parties, but Maxwell had found a particular fondness for Ethel’s jabs.

“She’s just angry because it’s been really busy at the North Pole, and she’s been working so hard on all of those toys,” Eliot Gerard laughed as he entered the room with a tray of cakes he and Selene had just finished decorating. Selene was all too happy for the opportunity to dig her elbow into her former boyfriend’s ribs.

Ethel glared at Eliot, who was her exact same height, “What reason could you possibly have for being here?”

A different kind of chill took over the room; it had been all fun and games teasing Maxwell for his size and alliance to the Catapults. The sudden presence of Eliot had changed things. He had broken Selene’s heart just months before, and Ethel had been the one with a front-row seat to the tragedy. He had promised to help Selene bake for the party, and no breakup was going to stop him from being there for her. A promise was a promise to him. Selene knew he wouldn’t let her down. He loved her but wasn’t sure he was ready to tell the world why they weren’t meant to last.

Before Eliot was able to respond, the chill deepened when the door flung open to reveal Ivy’s mother had returned in a panic. “Ivy, you need to take your friends to another room, and the lot of you need to work quickly to cancel this party. Your father has had an accident,” she sobbed. Just behind her, the starting beaters from the Cannons carried their coach in and helped him to the couch. His face was swollen in shades of black and purple, and he had bled through his bandaging. His usually blonde hair had been left sticky and red.

The twins took off in a race to their parents, knowing Mrs. Anders would require the help of her sister. “He’s not in labor; what is a midwife going to do?” Eliot shouted above the chaos. He made a mental note to finish his spat with Ethel sooner than later.

Without sparing another moment, Eliot reached for the bandages in the satchel he’d left in the kitchen. Turning to the beaters, who were still in their game attire, Eliot made no time for pleasantries. “Bludger?” he asked. They confirmed. He’d healed plenty of bludger-related injuries, though never one directly to a coach or captain’s head. He dug through his bag and immediately started handing the contents to the person closest to him without looking or thinking about anything but helping Ivy’s father. It wasn’t until he felt the unmistakably warm hands that he realized it was Selene at his side.

“Whatever you need, Eli. Just give me the word,” she nodded as she filled the bowl he handed her with the potion he provided. It had been months since the two had worked together to do anything. The communication between Eliot and Selene had never been optimal, but at the dire moment, they reached an understanding. Eliot unwound the used bandages, Selene put them in the cleaning potion, Selene threaded sutures, Eliot stitched the gash above his patient’s eyebrow, Selene ground healing herbs, Eliot applied them, Selene cut a clean bandage, Eliot wrapped the unconscious man’s head and felt again for any sign of a break. The two moved in perfect harmony for, perhaps, the first time.

Eliot tapped his wand to the bandage and muttered an incantation Selene didn’t recognize. She was impressed by just how far ahead in his studies he’d gotten. Then again, being a healer was the only thing he had thought of in the past year. She smiled at the thought of just how beneficial his extra hours at the hospital wing had been as she watched Mr. Anders open his swollen and bruised blue eyes. He immediately closed them again but was disrupted by Eliot pinching his arm. “Sorry, sir, but I need you to stay awake for me. We can’t let you sleep until we are certain you’re going to be okay. Do you know where you are?” Eliot asked, jotting down a note on the parchment Selene handed him.

“The beaters. Defense. Did we win?” he slurred, trying desperately to sit up. Selene gently pushed him back down and shook her head.

“Not in the past seven years, sir,” Selene shrugged. Eliot made note of the patient’s reaction to her statement and was relieved at his ability to roll his eyes without appearing to be in too much pain.

Mr. Anders reclined at Selene’s insistence, “You’re a funny kid, Sels. Where’s the other half of your act?” he groaned. Eliot made a note, happy to see he recognized his found-niece and that he was able to make sense of where he was. “On second thought, my ears are ringing enough as it is,” he winked.

“Ringing? Like a buzz? A Jingle? Perhaps a whirring sound?” Eliot scribbled faster before digging through his bag to find the solution. Coach Anders shrugged and closed his eyes again, wishing he could sleep before being prodded by Eliot once again.

Ivy’s mother was the first to enter the room, amazed to see her husband was awake and speaking with the young healer-in-training. She rushed to his side and threw her arms around Selene. “That’s a great boy you have,” she whispered. Selene gritted her teeth and nodded. “He’s going to be a fantastic healer,” she winked at Eliot with a smile.

When Ivy had finally been talked into going to bed, Jim had shown Max to his room, and Ethel had grown tired of the quiet atmosphere in the Anders home; Eliot kept watch on Mr. Anders in his attempts to keep him awake and comfortable. As Selene turned to the door on her way to the Hexley home, Eliot caught her attention. “Selly, I’m going to be here all night. I need to keep him awake for another couple of hours and watch him overnight. It might be easier if I had a friend. Not an assistant. A partner. Although, you could have a career in healing if the calling ever strikes you. You were impressive. Do you - maybe want to stay?”

Selene turned to consider the invitation and thought about all the times he’d run off with his best friend when she needed him and crossed her arms. History told her that she should follow Ethel to her home next door and get a decent sleep. The fact was that Eliot had never asked her to stay. She’d never asked him to stay. They weren’t meant to stay for each other and never had been. The mere fact that he asked made all the difference. She nodded and sat next to him. “Okay.”

“Really?” He hadn’t meant to sound surprised, but there was no containing his happiness. He had successfully helped an injured person and started the process of making amends with Selene. Hanukkah had passed, but this was nothing short of his holiday miracle.

Selene made herself comfortable on the floor next to where Eliot had been sitting since the accident. She watched in silence as Eliot checked the bandages and stitching they’d performed together before asking another series of questions to their patient. Once he was given permission to go to sleep safely, Mr. Anders was fast asleep within seconds. Finally, when Eliot sat at her side and sighed in content, she looked up and asked the question she’d promised herself she wouldn’t ask. “What does Freddie do when you are working your volunteer shifts in the hospital wing?”

“Oh - well, he visits mostly because he needs patched up, himself. Although, he doesn’t visit often. He tends to value his independence,” Eli shrugged.

Selene smiled for the first time in regards to Frederick. “An admirable quality.”

“I suppose I have a type,” Eliot said with a faraway look in his eyes. His smile left no room for interpretation.

“Indeed,” Selene said softly before stopping short. “Oh-oh, Eliot. I didn’t realize,” she turned to him with a softer smile.

“I suppose you couldn’t have. I’ve only recently discovered the friendship was indeed the beginning of what may become quite a love story,” his grin grew beyond his control.

Selene smiled just as big as a small laugh escaped her. “I was afraid you were going to try to reconcile our relationship. I must admit I am happier to know this.”

“I will never forget the way you made me feel, especially tonight. We were good together… earlier,” he quickly added.

Selene scoffed and shook her head. “And I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to. We were good together when someone was hurt, but if we tried to stay good together, we would both be hurt. I’m glad you were here tonight, but I should go. You did great work, but that was always your priority. Congratulations. It seems to have paid off,” she signed and stood. “I’m happy for you, Eli. I am. I just need to get some rest. See you at breakfast,” she said before tossing a pillow in his direction in hopes he might sleep comfortably despite knowing he wouldn’t even try.

Eliot smiled and put the pillow on the far side of this satchel, and went back to his medical documentation, just as they both knew he would. As he always would.

Diagon Alley bustled with cheerful last-minute shoppers; all dressed in their Christmas Eve best. Usually, Ivy Anders would have stopped to marvel at the enchanted window displays in the whimsical shops that lined the street. She would have insisted on stopping to get cocoa and pralines for the friends who had accompanied her to the shops and begged Max for a few laps around the ice skating rink. The magic of the falling snow and silver bells that jingled on the doors of the shops was lost on her that morning as she led her friends through the street to get the healing balm her father would require to make his full recovery. Her father was injured, her Boxing Day party was canceled, and as far as Ivy could tell, Christmas was officially ruined.

“Here it is, love. It will all get better now,” Max said as he spotted the Pendleton Apothecary. He held the door, the only door on the street without the charming silver bells that rang into the streets, and ushered his friends inside. Ivy, Jim, Ethel, Selene, and Eliot shuffled in out of the cold and into a different kind of chill. There was no line of shoppers waiting for their herbs, balms, tinctures, and teas. There was only a tall man with red hair leaning over the counter in a hushed but intense conversation with the shop’s owner. As hard as the two groups in the small space tried to ignore each other, Ivy and her friends didn’t miss a single word of their heated exchange.

“I don’t care, Brad. He’s your son. Your only child is spending Christmas at my home. Family dinner, carols, gift exchanges, all of that has been spent with cousins he barely knows. I thought family loyalty was everything to the Pendletons. Is it not the exact reason our grandfathers, brothers they were, stopped speakin’ to each other? This is his last Christmas as a child, or as near a child as he will ever be again. Your boy is engaged, Brad. My Siobhan, the way I found her this morning… she’s growin’ too fast. Don’t miss out on it. The few hundred Galleons you’ll make tomorrow isn’t profit; it is at a much higher cost than you understand. Please, reconsider my offer. I have room for you and Wys, bring the staff if you choose. There is room for everyone at the Llewelyn home,” he begged.

Ivy seemed to go pale as the conversation continued and turned to Jim and Max with wide eyes. They seemed to be aware they were in the presence of a king. “Siobhan’s father is Edwin Llewelyn? The beater and captain that took Hufflepuff to the championship victory four years in a row back in his day? The Edwin Llewelyn who hit the Bludger Backbeat a staggering 94% of the time? Are you telling me that I’ve gone to school with her for seven years and didn’t know her father knocked Ravenclaw out of a 240 point lead in 1871? That’s the famous father I’ve heard the whispers about?” she tried to whisper with her back turned to the man, but her passion for her house pride was rarely contained. Ivy nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a strong hand tap her shoulder.

“They normally just whisper about my dragons,” the legendary beater smiled behind his immaculate red beard. Ivy had barely passed her Care of Magical Creatures classes but had heard of his dragon sanctuary in passing. She was certain dragons were tough to handle, but the man in front of her had handled Gryffindor’s 1869 roster. She had a hundred questions and was left completely speechless.

Fortunately, speechlessness was a rarity in the family. Nearly as awestruck as her cousin had been, Ethel Hexley stepped to the front of the group to speak for the crew. “She’s a big fan. Really. And I adore Siobhan… most of the time and simply cannot wait to hear what she had gotten herself into this morning. Anyway, what was that business about everyone being welcome at your home?”

“I was saying to my cousin that I have been hosting quite a few of Siobhan’s schoolmates and wished he would join in the celebration. We don’t have a big family, and it would be nice to have everyone around: cousins, friends, and a dragon or two. My point was everyone dear to my family is welcome,” he shrugged before turning back to his cousin, who now appeared to be pouting as he counted his earnings.

Ethel nodded and stood with her hands on her hips. “So, if my cousin… your biggest fan… had her own holiday gathering ruined by a rogue bludger, you’d have the space and might be willing to host the last holiday for the seventh year students who tragically will be separated by travels, universities, apprenticeships, and marriages next year?”

“I suppose that is the point I was hoping to make,” Ed nodded.

Ethel leaned on the counter and nudged the arm of the shop’s owner. “Did you hear that? The man is trying to make a point. So much so that he is willing to have a hundred of us at the manor for Boxing Day,” she turned to Ed with a pleading look. “How does two o’clock sound?”

“I like your spirit, Miss, but that is two days from now. To host a celebration like that, I would need…” Ed’s mind started to race with the preparations that would be required.

The spritely Ethel continued, “You would need the cakes Ivy and Jim already made, the decorations Selene and I already made, perhaps some music - but I have it on good authority that a new pianoforte is being delivered to your home today. I’d say all you need is time and a little magic.”

Determined to prove his point and moved by Ethel’s plea to save her cousin’s event, Ed agreed. “Point taken?” he asked as he turned to Bradford Pendleton III.

“Make your point elsewhere,” he insisted without looking up from his stack of sickles.

Edwin bent down to meet Ivy at her level. “Because I believe in family and respect the hell out of your pa and his team, let’s prove that point. The twenty-sixth. Two-thirty in the afternoon. Change the invitations. Eliot, you have my address. I reckon there’s nowhere better to prove that all are welcome at the Llewelyn Manor than at the manor. I'll see each of you there.”