Santa Is A Farce | Evan & Gwen [Flashback]
A Christmas unlike that she'd spent the previous year, to be sure, but not one she was unfamiliar with. Her incredibly pureblood-oriented grandparents had always been involved in 'higher society', even when the other branches of the Jones family hadn't bothered too much with it, and they'd made sure that Gwenog knew how to integrate herself into it just as they'd showed her mother how to. The training had been incredibly necessary with a tomboy like Gwen but despite everything, it'd come almost easily to her. And while praise from grandmother was always more welcome than negativity, it hardly erased just how poor an opinion the woman had of Gwen's mother at the start. If Gwen could feel alright yelling at an old lady, she would have done it already.
If her father had actually come home for holiday instead of stayed overseas, she probably wouldn't be as bored at the Black's annual Christmas party as she was now.
The Hufflepuff had seen quite a few of her classmates scattered around amongst the over-perfumed, over-dressed, arrogant adults around them but there was never a moment to speak with them. She'd seen Bellatrix in passing, Regulus was no where to be seen, and Narcissa was with Lucius. It wasn't as if Gwen was friendly with all the Slytherins, after all, just the important ones. Luckily, as her grandparents chatted with yet another head of so-and-so department and raved about how their very single granddaughter was going to join the Holyhead Harpies after Hogwarts, she spotted a familiar head of dirty blond. Her eyes focused and with little word besides 'I'll be back', she headed towards him.
Evan Rosier might not have been her best friend in the whole wide world but he was funny, good company, and a fellow Quidditch player at school. How wasn't she to talk to him? It wasn't even for that long either, just enough for a few questions of their breaks, of their families, and some quips about how shitty this entire ordeal was before his mother came by to whisk him away. Perhaps it was that they'd parted ways with kisses to the cheek, or that they'd kept their free hands loosely linked as they held their champagne flutes and spoke.
Their respective guardians were most likely just drunk, really.
But just a small moment in the night suddenly became a big focus for the elder Jones' and suddenly, her grandfather was speaking to Mr. Rosier and the two of them were not so discreetly looking towards each of their teenaged charges. Gwen, slower on the uptake than Evan as it seemed, realized a bit too late that a boring Christmas party had suddenly become her debutante ball and, on top of being spoken of like a prized horse to potential suitors, an actual talk of betrothal had come about.
What the fuck.
Before another mishap could take place, Gwenog slipped away from the main room, lips pursed in a definitive pout as she walked down the half-familiar hallways. If only Bella had been around to keep her company. She wouldn't be staring at a potential husband if she'd been with her friend but the beater was sure that Bellatrix was probably avoiding everyone after what'd happened in school with Rodolphus, the prat. Attractive or not, a relationship was a relationship and he just hadn't respected that the way Bella deserved. Gwenog would deal with him properly if he didn't shape up, she'd already told the other seventh year girl so.
After wandering for about fifteen minutes, she opened up one of the many doors and found herself in an empty sitting room. Well decorated with a fireplace, bookcase, and armchairs as well as a chaise longue, all lovely to look at thought not necessarily comfortable. Still, she wasn't about to be a beggar and look into another room. The Hufflepuff headed towards the long chair, settling herself gracefully and sighing as her feet rested against incredibly soft cushions. Much better than she expected.
"Bloody hell," she murmured, downing the rest of her flute before placing it on the floor, wishing she'd had more. The turn of events played out in her mind as she stared off at the opposite wall and honestly, it was something almost unbelievable. A simple chat and suddenly, talk of marriage. Gwen played with her fingers absently, Edgar on her mind as well as Evan. "Bloody. Hell."
