“Yes, Miss Pendleton, I see your name on my list. You have always been one of my best customers. Rather, your father has. Just this afternoon, while you were trying on these very dresses, his letter arrived. You may see for yourself,” the sales clerk handed the parchment across the counter, “Your line of credit has been terminated with us here at Henri Bendel. Your father has closed your account. I am sorry. Unless you have cash on hand for your items, we will need to return them to the shelves.”
Cressida Pendleton stood frozen as the boutique blurred into the background. The sounds of silver bells faded into the beating of her heart while the jolly chuckle of the store’s Santa was drowned out by the grinding of her teeth. Even the merry refrains of the carolers at the vast stained glass windows were no match for the sputtering of profanity she hadn’t realized she was producing as her father’s note confirmed her worst fears.
The Pendleton Girls were cut off for Christmas.
As if the holidays could not get worse, Cressida walked home alone in the frigid December bluster, empty-handed, to find Wilhelmina Stagg sitting on the stoop outside of the Pendleton Townhouse. When Cousin Willa was not giving a performance at the city’s finest concert halls, she was playing for tips in the seediest speakeasies the underbelly of New York City had to offer. The three had made the city their playground since their arrival. Piano gigs, bootleg cocktails, and gentlemen were a dime a dozen for Willa. While Cressida had seen her fair share of the glamorous nightlife that living with Willa provided, she was not keen on the dangerous crowd that ran the speakeasy. Something about the man with the bloodied brow sent a new shockwave of disappointment through Cressida Pendleton. She removed the hood from her cloak and swatted at a snowflake before addressing the two with a hard stare. “Willa, do something about your friend. Our reputation is in trouble already. Get him inside,” she demanded with a huff.
Wilhelmina offered a pleading look to her cousin before turning her attention to the young man at her side. She shrugged. “Damned if we do, damned if we don’t. Want me to walk you home?”
Hudson Delancey rose and closed his eyes as he gripped the wrought iron banister. “I know when I am unwelcome. I’ll be ok once I am on the train. Walk with me to the station?” Willa took his arm and narrowed her eyes at Cressida before realizing the Nyberg ire was flaring in the stare she received back. Willa could stare down a Vipertooth, but a Nyberg? She knew better.
Cressida watched the two hobbling north while she dug her wand out of her handbag, “alohomora,” she sighed and entered the door. She nearly tripped over her twin sister, Cassandra, who she found on her hands and knees, waving her wand over the droplets of blood in the foyer. “Merlin, Cass, did you duel Willa’s boyfriend away?”
Rolling her eyes, Cassandra gathered her skirt in her hand and stood. “Poor bloke was bleeding before they arrived. This one is a boxer, but he didn’t seem like a boyfriend. She’s got her mum in her, that one. A boy gets punched, a boy gets doted on, and so it goes. Anyway, he got no further than the entry before I shooed him out. You know daddy’s rule. No boys in the townhouse. Can you imagine a muggle seeing mum’s office? Happy Christmas, sir. I’ll need to obliviate you now,” she mused.
“I should have let him stay,” Cressida huffed, “I’m done with daddy’s rules! Do you know what he has gone and done? I’ll tell you. We’re poor. Well, we aren’t poor; we’re Pendletons. However, for now, we are on our own. He’s not sending any more money until we learn what Christmas truly means. How are we meant to learn about the season of giving if we cannot give a party, give the bartenders big tips, and what about gifts? What is Christmas without gifts?”
@lifeofkaze & @cursebreakerfarrier - here we go, part 1 of a fankid Christmas. My favorite gift is sharing such fun ships with you both 💙💛💚❤️
I’m a little confused about something in Crimes of Grindelwald. Could someone please explain the differences about the after-effects of a child being born under a false love created by the imperius and a child born from a love potion?
JK said Tom Riddle was unable to understand love because of being born under a love potion and not experiencing love during his developing years. Would that apply to Leta as well? Leta grew up in a household without love and was born from an imperius curse, that I’m presuming had a hold on her mother until the day Laurena died.
Just watched Crimes of Grindelwald and boy, do I have a lot to say about it. I found some aspects of it good, other’s bad and other points it felt as though JK was grasping at straws in the writing and plot. I’m disappointed with the movie especially with the movie’s events in the whole wizarding world timeline and the consequences of those events/plot lines and how they affect the current HP era timeline.
I’ll elaborate more in a later post. This one is meant to be spoiler free.
