Every Little Thing, James Potter.

12. A Perfectly Splendid Christmas

Gwen's home looked as it always did when she returned after a term away—so to say, dull and lifeless.

To understand Gwen, one must understand the entirety of the Graham family tree. Her paternal great-grandparents had been entirely pureblood before her favorite grandfather Phineas met a Muggleborn witch from his class. Phineas and Hattie married—and had their first child—remarkably young, leaving them plenty of time to have two more children after their eldest son: Harold (soon to be known exclusively as Haz), and then Hugh, the middle child, and lastly was little Jane, the youngest.

Haz was the first to go to school. Four years later, Hugh would be set to go, and a year after him would be Jane.

But, in an attempt to spare the gory details of a slow death by Dragon Pox, here is the short version: Neither of the youngest Graham children made it through the ailment. Haz was left an only child, and his parents were left heartbroken. Haz finished his Hogwarts career with no younger siblings to leave his legacy behind with.

On the other side of the family, Blythe Baron, the youngest of her four brothers and three sisters, had the pleasure of a lovely childhood. No suspicious deaths by wizardly ailments for the Baron family.

Blythe and Harold met in a Muggle pub when they were seventeen. Both had snuck in illegally with their friends with the intent of getting pissed off their arses and having the time of their lives—the chance of meeting their future spouse was just an added bonus.

     Two years later, they were married. One year after that, Gwendolyn Graham was born.

     Of the Graham family tree, Gwen was undeniably the fire that set it alight. The family was completely bland without her lively presence to excite everyone. Her paternal grandfather Phineas had been her number one fan, always by her side when she'd tell him her ideas to bring some life to the boring Thanksgiving table, or her plan to play a prank on her mother when she looked inside her Christmas stocking. Phineas and Gwen were an inseparable pair, and the holidays were when their unsuspecting family would get the brunt of their mischievousness.

     Phineas died at fifty-three, when Gwen was thirteen. It wasn't any sort of a surprise, either. He had been sick for months prior. That year's Christmas was the first Gwen had to execute the pranks they'd planned all alone. The year after that, nobody awoke to any sort of pranks.

     Hattie and Haz, the only two left of their once beloved wizard family, were among the sixty-seven people to speak at Phineas's funeral. There were four-hundred attendees, and what felt like every single one of them made sure to tell Gwen how much of a great man her grandfather was.

     Blythe's side of the family was rare to come around for the holidays, though her favorite brother annually made sure to ship Christmas presents to Gwen—even if he thought she was a bit younger than usual. It was the thought that counted, right?

The gift that was on Gwen's bed when she returned home for the holidays was most definitely from the aforementioned uncle, who had splurged and decided to get her three whole Muggle picture books that had a max reading level of seven.

"Brilliant," Gwen said, staring down at the books. She dropped her bags onto the wood floor behind her and picked one of the books up, frowning. "Because I'm just the right age to be reading about Peter Rabbit."

"Just put your stuff down for now, Gwen," came her mum's voice, lingering in her doorway. "We're having supper soon."

Gwen turned. She tilted her head. "You waited to eat for me?"

Her mum smiled, lifting a shoulder. "You're our only child, love. Of course we waited up. Now don't be too long; your father still gets grumpy."

As Blythe glided back down the hall, Gwen laughed to herself, shaking her head. As if her father would ever get grumpy over anything. She found it hard to believe he'd ever been through any hardships in his life; he was such a placid fellow, and that blithe smile he always had on his face surely did not say 'both of my siblings died when I was a boy and my father passed away three years ago'.