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Working together, the father-son duo made quick work of the snow. They didn't need to clear the whole yard, just a clean path from the front door to the street.
Once they finished, Denton led Richie back inside.
The second Richie crossed the threshold, his feet left the floor, and he was engulfed in an incredibly soft, suffocating embrace.
"Oh, my little Richie!"
Aunt Annabelle's voice rang in his ear as he desperately started to struggle.
"I... can't... breathe..."
Thankfully, because he had just come in from the freezing cold and felt like a block of ice, Annabelle didn't hold the hug for long. She quickly set him down.
His face entirely flushed from the lack of oxygen, Richie immediately started gasping for air the second his feet hit the floor.
"Aunt Annabelle, can we seriously find a different way to say hello?"
Annabelle just reached out and aggressively ruffled his hair. "Absolutely not. I'm going to hug you exactly like this for as long as I can physically lift you. Someday you'll be entirely too big, so I have to get it in while I can!"
With that, she dragged a leather suitcase from the living room and dropped it directly in front of him.
"Ta-da!"
"Merry Christmas. It's an Undetectable Extension Charm suitcase. The inside is roughly the size of your bedroom. I already put the Ministry permit inside for you."
Richie's eyes lit up with genuine excitement.
If it was really that big, he basically had his own portable mini-library! He could store the book Professor Flitwick had given him for Christmas, all of his research diaries—everything.
The thought triggered a sudden realization. Richie looked up at his aunt.
"Aunt Annabelle, do you know who Newt Scamander is?"
Annabelle had already settled back onto the sofa. Hearing the question, she paused to think.
"Newt Scamander? You mean the incredibly famous Magizoologist?"
Richie walked over and sat down next to her on the sofa.
By this point, Denton had already slipped out of the room and into the kitchen, entirely thanks to a subtle piece of magic Annabelle had cast. When two wizards needed to talk business, it was always better to keep the Muggle brother-in-law out of earshot.
"Yeah, him. I actually have a gift from an old house-elf in the Hogwarts kitchens named Modi, and I promised to deliver it to him..."
Richie quickly filled her in on the entire situation with old Modi.
Annabelle let out an amused laugh. "Only a group of eleven-year-olds would actually bother dealing with a house-elf. Though, I suppose it makes sense. Madam Hufflepuff, one of the founders, was a massive advocate for improving house-elf conditions. Seems her philosophy has actually survived all these centuries."
Richie just shrugged. Honestly, most students treated the house-elves like they were entirely invisible; nobody actually cared about them.
"So, you're asking me to play courier and get this gift to Mr. Scamander?"
Richie nodded. "Yeah. We couldn't find his home address anywhere, so you're basically our last hope."
"That's hardly an issue," Annabelle said, reaching over to ruffle his hair again. "His address is definitely on file at the Ministry. I'll just have someone in the mailroom forward it for you."
Right as they finished their conversation, the doorbell rang.
"Oh, that must be Delank and the kids!" Denton called out, marching out of the kitchen with an apron already tied around his waist.
"Anna— wait, where did she go?"
Annabelle had completely vanished. Richie just casually spread his hands.
"She said she'd drop by later."
In reality, Annabelle absolutely hated hanging around large groups of Muggles, so she had probably just Apparated away to go mail the gift.
Denton nodded, completely unfazed. Since they had explicitly told Denton's family that Elena had zero living relatives, Annabelle sticking around would have required a massive, incredibly awkward explanation. They couldn't exactly pass her off as Richie's live-in tutor.
Denton walked over and pulled the front door open.
"Denton! My favorite brother! It's been way too long!"
A man who looked exactly like Denton—just significantly heavier—immediately pulled him into a massive bear hug.
"Delank! Get in here, it's freezing out there!" Denton laughed, waving them inside.
Two little heads immediately popped out from behind Delank's legs.
"Uncle Denton!"
It was a boy and a girl—Richie's incredibly energetic younger cousins.
"Haha! Welcome! Go find your cousin Richie and play!" Denton cheered. "Richie, take the kids out to the yard for a snowball fight!"
Hearing the order, Richie felt a massive wave of jealousy toward his Aunt Annabelle. She got to literally teleport away, while he was stuck playing babysitter for two hyperactive children.
Before anyone could say anything, the two kids didn't even bother taking off their snow boots; they just spun around and sprinted right back out the door, screaming with excitement.
Richie slowly stood up and walked toward the entrance.
"Richie! Look at you, you're basically a grown man!" Delank boomed. "Here's your present!"
Delank pulled a brand-new, stiff leather baseball glove out of his bag and handed it over.
Denton was a massive sports fan, entirely obsessed with baseball. Naturally, Delank assumed Richie had inherited the exact same passion.
"Oh... thank you, Uncle Delank," Richie said politely, accepting the gift.
Denton blinked. For a split second, he seriously considered telling his brother that Richie absolutely hated baseball and that a new broomstick would have been way more appropriate.
Seeing his dad's gears turning, Richie immediately shoved the baseball glove into Denton's chest, fixing him with a dead, warning stare.
"Dad, hold this for me. And remember what we talked about."
He had explicitly told Denton in his letters to keep his mouth totally shut about the wizarding world.
Catching Richie's lethal glare and feeling Delank's curious stare, Denton let out an incredibly awkward laugh.
"Haha! Of course I remember! I'm making your favorite honey-glazed drumsticks tonight!" Denton aggressively deflected. "Come on, Delank, don't just stand in the doorway. Where's Mia?"
"She's running a little late, she'll be here soon..."
Watching the two brothers head toward the living room, Richie just shook his head in exasperation.
"Come on, Cousin Richie! Let's play!"
The high-pitched screams of the kids echoed from the front yard.
"Merlin's beard..."
Winter days were always painfully short.
By the time the sun went down, the house was entirely lit up and packed to the brim.
Denton's family of three, Uncle Delank's family of four, and Aunt Lisa's family of three.
Ten people, all crammed together, loudly and chaotically celebrating Christmas.
Wait. Not ten. Eleven.
Because Elena Harland was pregnant.
She proudly announced it right in the middle of dinner. That was the "massive surprise" she had been hyping up.
Richie forced a massive, excited smile and warmly congratulated his mother.
But internally, for reasons he couldn't entirely explain, he felt a weird, quiet pang of disappointment.
After dinner finally wrapped up, everyone settled in for the night.
Even though it was only a two-story house, there were enough spare rooms to go around. Thankfully, Richie was spared the absolute nightmare of having to share a bed with his little cousins.
Later that night, as Richie lay in the dark, right on the edge of falling asleep...
A soft, sharp noise echoed right next to his ear.
Richie's eyes snapped open.