With nothing but love, a miracle [Shea]

Winter was cold in Scotland, much colder than at the Rotherham estate. At least at home they had the sea which kept the temperatures from becoming too frigid, but Hogsmeade was nowhere near the sea, and so the winters seemed especially harsh to Etty. Despite the weather, Etty was glad to be out of the castle. The most recent blizzards made it quite impossible for her to enjoy the grounds, and she felt she was going a little crazy with nothing to do. And her poor plants were all probably frozen at the roots by now.

It was the last Hogsmeade visit before the winter holidays, and Etty was on a mission with her little brother Shea. Their mission was to get Christmas presents for their siblings. All twelve of them. A task that in reality was even harder than it sounded, given how sparse their wallets were. Etty had already bought Shea’s present, and insisted on going with him to buy the rest; she didn’t quite trust him to be prudent with his money yet. Their only other sister at Hogwarts, Artemesia, declined to join them. She never had as much patience for Shea as Etty did.

Etty made sure to stay close to Shea as they walked to Hogsmeade’s high street, lamenting at the fact that her little brother was too big for hand holding anymore.

“Shea aren’t your hands cold? Where are your gloves?” Etty couldn’t help but be concerned about her little brother. After all, she had spent her whole life looking after him, and she wasn’t about to stop now.

She led her brother into the far end of high street, with the few discount and second hand stores that the village boasted. The Rotherham siblings were rarely able to buy things first hand for themselves.

“Now, if we get presents from the both of us we could probably afford some nicer things. Do you have any ideas?” Etty desperately wished they didn’t need to make these kinds of bargains; ways to stretch out their wallets. She didn’t quite mind it herself, but she didn’t want that kind of life for Shea. She wanted him to grow up having whatever he wanted, but she knew that was unlikely to happen. One of the recent sibling meetings they had indicated that both her and Shea would be well out of school before their family started to see the other end of the deep pit of debt they were in. So for now two youngest Rotherham siblings would have to put their heads and hearts together to make Christmas happen.

@Shea Rotherham

Shea had been thrilled that Adelaide had signed the permission slip that allowed him to go to Hogsmeade. After his poor showing with his grades she’d been completely about to refuse to do so, and make him wait another year. However it had been Etty and Serenity who had come to his deffense. Shea had made great efforts to pick up his performance, and had already been punished over the summer with not being allowed to to go to France and visit the Desmarais family with Noire and Katarine. There really was no need to punish him further. Shea had wholeheartedly agreed of course, but had wisely, for once, kept his mouth shut throughout the discussion.

Of course, this trip was different then the others he’d gone on earlier in the year. Usually it was with Pixie, or Reina, or sometimes meeting up with Meredith to help as much as he could with snacks for their study group. But this time, he was with his best and favorite sister, Etty. when they’d been little, he’d been kind of forced on her, as they’d been given the task of weeding in the greenhouses. But despite this, they had become close rather then her resenting him. And having her at school with him was totally awesome, even if Artemesia never wanted to hang out, even now.

“I.. um… well they got a hole. And then the hole got bigger… they were too small anyways.” he brushed off her question about his gloves. He should have replaced them already. After all, that's why Noire sent them money each month; so they could get little things they needed. But Shea had been fiercely keeping knuts for the past few months, knowing that christmas was coming. He certainly didn’t want to have to buy a new pair of gloves. Besides, chances were at least one person in his family would get him practical gifts, and he’d mentioned in a letter that they were getting a little tight, so maybe he’d get some for christmas. Stuffing his hands deep in his pockets, he hoped she’d just leave it alone. “It's not that cold anyways.”

Hoping to keep her attention off that, Shea thought to himself about ideas. “I think that's a great idea. If they’re from both of us, we can do pretty well.” he dug through his pockets for his money, glad he remembered to put it in the pocket that didn’t have a hole in it. “I decided to go without chocolate, so we could have a bit more money.” he added, nodding pleasantly. “I was thinking, maybe we could ask Professor Ajay for a plant, or some seeds or something? Adelaide would like that. And its practical she likes practical. Maybe I could help clean the greenhouses in exchange. That way we don’t have to buy her something.”

Etty shrugged off Shea’s explanation about his missing gloves. He was still a child, and children should be allowed to misplace things, or not take care of their things well. She made a mental note to send a letter to her sisters hinting that if any of them weren’t sure what to get Shea for Christmas, some gloves would do just fine. Perhaps for his birthday she could get him another pair, so he wouldn’t have to make do with just one.

Etty’s heart filled with warmth when Shea explained that he had been saving his money for Christmas. Shea loved chocolate, so Etty knew it was quite a sacrifice of his to go without. She tousled his hair affectionately, feeling her heart must surely burst as he explained his idea for Adelaide’s gift.

“That’s so thoughtful! I’ve been working on some cross-breads; maybe Professor Ajay will agree to a trade? I’m sure Adelaide will love some of the rarer plants that the greenhouses here have, and if we choose something useful for potions, then it can be for Serenity as well!” Etty was getting more and more excited at the prospect. She was always aiming to prove to her eldest sisters that she had talent in Herbology, and hoped to one day join the family business.

Etty led Shea to two stores at the end of the main stretch of Hogsmeade, close to the Hog’s Head inn. This was the area of Hogsmeade less visited by Hogwarts students, but Etty was used to shopping in such parts; where the storefronts were less than shiny, and the merchandise piled every which way, no price tags leaving room for haggling, which was a must. She stopped in front of a particularly dusty storefront, dimly lit from within. From the window it was hard to tell exactly what the store sold, mostly because it sold all sorts of things.

“Now, I was here the other day and saw some beautiful old quills reasonably priced. I was thinking that maybe we could get a couple for Estella and Sorrel? There are some other knickknacks floating around that could be nice. How about we look around for a moment and then regroup with some ideas?” The store was quite large, but not large enough to get lost in, so Etty felt comfortable letting Shea wander off by himself. After all, he was already 13, a fact that she had to remind herself of, often.

Etty wandered off to where she found the quills previously, pleased to see that most of them were still there. For the most part they looked less than serviceable; either the nub was completely worn, or the feathers were sticking out every which way. Out of the large bin of quills, she managed to find two that she thought were quite beautiful. One looked quite old, but in good condition, with a golden colored tip and a dark, inky blue feather that was only slightly frayed at the edges. The other had a black tip with a brilliantly silver feather on top. Perfect for her Ravenclaw sisters.

Etty found Shea and went to show him her find.

“I think these would be perfect for Estella and Sorrel, what do you think? It’ll be nice to have them home; I miss Sorrel…” She mused. Etty wished that all of her sisters would live at home with them, but she understood that they had to find their own way, and not all of them were interested in herbology and potions.

“I’m sorry Noire can’t be there…” Etty said, putting a hand on her little brother’s shoulder. She knew how much Shea looked forward to the rare times they saw their French sister. Etty could remember some of Noire’s first visits when Shea would sit on her lap, mesmerized by her singing. It was times like that when Etty felt like Shea almost forgot her a little bit. She tried not to be jealous of her French sister, but it was difficult sometimes. After all, Etty was there always for Shea, and Noire popped in and out of their lives only occasionally.

“So, what did you find, then?” Etty shook herself out of her musings. Christmas shopping should be enjoyable.

Shea hadn’t even known this shop was back here. He could have saved so much more money had he known. Next year would be even better, now that he knew it existed. “Etty you’re so smart you should be a ravenclaw.” he smiled with a good bit of pride in his sister. A second hand shop was perfect. “I was gonna ask her for a moontuber. Adelaide would really like that. She doesn’t have one. Although Serenity wouldn’t get much enjoyment out of it… its all visual...” he shrugged. He really enjoyed spending time in the greenhouses, when he was feeling homesick. It still struck him every now and then, despite being old enough that people would think it silly. But he really did miss his sisters.

Separating from Etty, Shea was a boy on a mission. He knew the sorts of things that his sisters liked, but in a shop this huge, how was he supposed to find anything at all? And it was all over the place too… he decided to just start wandering around, looking through bins and boxes to see what he could find.

In one box, he’d found some old broken jewelry, but amongst all the rabble there was a really pretty cloak pin with Ivy around the border, and a silver lily in the center. Artemisia liked lilies. And it was silver and green, so she could wear it at school and show her house pride. Sure the pin on the back was broken, but if they could get Saffron or Claudia to fix it for them, it would be perfect. He smiled, looking at the pin in his hand before putting it in the basket he’d picked up for his shopping purposes. It wasn’t actually for that, after all, there was a price tag on it. But it was small, and it worked for his purposes. It was also pretty cute. The kind of thing that would be nice for putting herbs in. but Amaryllis already had a good Herb basket.

It was then that he stumbled on a box of old glass beads. They were a little dusty and dented, but their bright colors made him smile. He was holding the box, looking through the beads when Etty came over to him. “Those are great! Estella would definitly like the black and silver one. She likes classy looking stuff.” it made her feel important at work, he suspected. “I found these. Claudia will probably like them, and the price for the whole box isn’t that bad. We could give the box to Katarine or maybe Serenity.” Serenity had a habit of sorting everything into very spesific places and containers. For obvious reasons, or course, but with twelve compartments, she’d definitly find a good use for it. “Oh! And this pin for Artemisia. But we’d need Saff or Clau to fix it first. The clasp is broken.”

“A Ravenclaw?” Etty said with amusement, “I don’t know about that.” Etty didn’t think she was that smart, and certainly not when compared to some of her older sisters, but she was happy that at least Shea thought so.

“A moontuber would be beautiful! Ade would love that.” Etty agreed. “We’ll think of something else for Serenity…” After all, if they got a free present for Adelaide they’d have more money to get one for Serenity.

Etty enjoyed watching Shea sort through all the things at the store. He still had that childlike wonder about him that she hoped he would never lose. She knew how Gryffindor boys could get as they got older; more interested in sports and friends than family. She didn’t want to lose Shea like that.

Having looked through most of the things in the shop, Etty walked over to Shea to see what he found.

“Good find! Those beads are great for…” but Shea was way ahead of her and had already thought of the great idea of giving the beads to Claudia. She smiled at him with pride.

“Great ideas, little brother!” She said, mussing his hair. “The clasp should be no problem to fix; I might even be able to manage it.” Etty cleared a part of the table in front of them and laid out all of their potential purchases.

“Ok so we’ve got a moontuber for Adelaide, quills for Estella and Sorrel, the pin for Artemesia, the beads for Claudia and the box for Serenity” Etty summed up. This was necessary with so many people to buy presents for.

“We still need to think of gifts for Solange, Saffron, Amaryllis, Katarine and Noire” She said, counting siblings off her fingers.

“I saw some interesting metal parts in the back corner of the store that might work for Saffron’s metalurgy, and there’s some fabrics on the left there that Katarine would like….Any ideas for Solange, Amaryllis and Noire?” Etty’s head was hurting slightly with the effort of remembering everyone and thinking of gifts. She made a mental note to work off of a list next year. Despite the effort and headache, Etty hummed slightly with excitement. It was Christmas after all!