[HP] Born to be a pair

Mr. Penrose's vacation pay was so generous, almost five times the daily summer wages, that Renee was both grateful and appalled.

She worried that the money would make the Penrose family's Christmas unhappy, but they didn't think so, and Mrs. Penrose went to the store to persuade Renee to accept the salary, leaving aside the task of brushing the chicken with honey.

"You deserve it," said Mrs. Penrose softly. "We have to thank you, Renee. If it weren't for your help, maybe we would have closed the store a long time ago."

"And you did a great job!" Willie chimed in. "Fast and good, and the cashier never made a mistake—even Dad missed money a few times!"

"Hey!" Mr. Penrose protested. "That's too much to talk about. Please praise Renee well and don't pull me in."

Seeing that the hour hand of the standing clock in the center of the village square pointed to five o'clock, Mr. Penrose locked the shop on time.

He and his wife drove home first to meet their guests, leaving Willie with the pickup truck to drive Renee home.

"Are you going to pick up another guest later?" Renee asked unintentionally after getting into the co-pilot and putting on her seat belt.

Willie's movement of pulling the car door stopped, he blinked frantically, and there was a twisted expression on his face, which made Renee's hair stand on end.

"Uh—yes, that's right—just an ordinary friend...I just asked by the way...I didn't expect her to agree—"

"Is it Sihua?" Renee asked.

"What about you?!—well, yes, it's her...I invited her to the Christmas party in the email, and she said yes..."

Renee couldn't help but put her eyes on Willy, who was sitting on pins and needles. The old tuxedo was wrapped with a black cloak, and he looked like an old gentleman who stuck to the rules in the last century.

But his image is almost gentle and timid, and his soft blond hair sticks to his head, making him even more juvenile.The overall image looked nondescript, and Renee couldn't help frowning.

"Stop—Willie—Renee—"

Someone was wandering near the forest, and the wind and snow were flying all over the sky so that Willie could hardly see the dark figure. He was so frightened that he immediately stepped on the brakes, and then narrowly stopped beside the stone bridge.

"I'm sorry... ouch... this stone..."

The figure approached. It turned out to be Mrs. Griffey, who owned a grocery store near the square. She also visited the dessert shop and brought many anecdotes about the town to Renee.

She staggered towards her with something in her hand, and Renee quickly opened the car door and jumped down to catch her.The thin, short and enthusiastic lady immediately grabbed Renee's wrist, and said something to give her the iron plate wrapped in tinfoil.

"This is—an extra piece of veal I roasted on purpose, my dear boy, take it home for Christmas Eve dinner." Mrs. Goffey said out of breath, "I saw Willy's pickup in the window, so I ran out immediately... I hope you can get used to my cooking."

A large plate of hot dishes was stuffed into Renee's arms, but for some reason, she felt that it was so hot that it made people panic. The heat was transmitted from her fingertips to her whole body, and finally even her chest was scalding hot.

"I...I can't..." Renee choked out, "Thank you for your kindness, Mrs. Griffey...but..."

In the past, she was always obsessed with the chance of survival, and rarely noticed all kinds of figures beside her that had nothing to do with her plan.

However, after meeting Neville, she suddenly realized that there was actually a lot of warmth around her, but Renee never cared about it.

Seeing that Renee refused to accept it for a long time, Mrs. Gaffey was a little anxious, and her eyes suddenly fell on the handmade fabric flower barrette that Renee used to tie her hair.

"Good girl, how about exchanging one of your precious items?"

Following her gaze, Renee touched the hairpin on her head, and she immediately picked off the flower that could be made in a few minutes, and put it in Mrs. Goffey's hair with her own hands.

"It's beautiful, but are you sure you only need a hairpin like this?"

Mrs. Ge Fei nodded: "Of course, this is enough... Good boy, go home quickly, I have to go too, it's really cold outside... Isn't it..."

Watching her back walk into the back door of the house, Willie started the pickup truck and led Renee back to the path leading to the depths of the forest.

This seldom-traveled trail was already covered with hard frost. Even with anti-skid chains on, Willie had to drive cautiously, lest he accidentally slip the car into the forest where hibernating animals were hidden.

As soon as he saw the lakeside hut, Renee told him to stop the car immediately, and there was no need to drive in, otherwise it would be difficult to backtrack when he came out later.

"Willie——" She jumped out of the car and stared at his attire through the window hesitantly, but Willie was still nervous, and he was going to pick Sihua up soon.

Renee sighed faintly, walked around to the driver's side, and told him to open the car door.

Under Willy's confused eyes, she took off his woolen cap, and combed all the limp blond hair up with the palm of the steam dewdrops, exposing his smooth forehead.

"You have a beautiful hairline, why hide it?"

Renee asked, and took off another fabric flower on her head, and gently inserted it into the first button on his chest, softening the too rigid state of the whole dress.

"Okay, Willie. Remember, when you meet her for the first time, praise her outfit in as much detail as possible, for example, the color of her dress today is very beautiful, and it matches her lipstick well... and so on, Then continue following her topic, if you are really embarrassed to speak, you only need to seriously agree with her."

Willie stared blankly at Renee, his face flushed like fire, but he was more confident than before. He puffed up his chest and nodded to her as if he was about to go to the battlefield: "Don't worry, Renee I can definitely talk to her this time."

With smoke coming out of his nostrils, he drove out of the middle of the forest in a manly manner, and Renee waved to the car with a smile, and returned home with a warm roast veal.

Old Hawke hadn't come home yet. Logically speaking, he should have enjoyed the Christmas vacation after he came back last night, but he still drove away early this morning without leaving a word.

Renee closed all the windows on the first floor to prevent the draft, and opened all the windows on the second floor to prevent her from suffocating while the fireplace was burning.

The Christmas decorations in the living room have been dressed up, including the beautiful Christmas tree, which is shining brightly under the warm light, and several presents have been piled up under the tree - all of which are empty, because the gift box is old Huo The old decorations that K brought from the town square - he said it himself.

The Christmas Eve dinner is very simple, but with this tempting plate of roast veal, it immediately adds a lot of flavor and color to the table.

Frozen lasagna smelled good after cooking, and so that the aluminum cans wouldn't spoil the harmony of the table, Renee scooped out the food one by one and put them on the plate: kippers, sardines in tomato sauce, beef casserole, and chicken sausage.

She also made herself a buttered pea salad and a Caesar salad, enough for two.

To celebrate their Christmas together after all these years, Renee also made some eggnog.

Around seven o'clock, Old Hawke's Buick finally pulled into the front yard.

Hearing the sound of his hurried steps on the snow, Renee couldn't help feeling a little nervous—he took out the key and turned the door lock, he coughed and began to change his shoes, and walked a few steps—

"Oh!" Old Hawk walked into the living room with an exquisitely packaged gift box in his arms. He looked at everything in the room in astonishment, as if he had never seen such a lively lake house.

"Here's - nice - it's from Gideon, it's what I scavenged in the square, and this, some bastard's bunch of streamers in the factory... Great, this Christmas Had a great time."

Renee rolled her eyes, and her gaze was fixed on the gift box in his arms. The Christmas red and green combination looked very beautiful, and it didn't look like an old gift he bought from other places.

"What's that?" Renee asked, looking at him without blinking.

"What?...Oh, nothing." Old Hawke looked away, and mixed the distinctive new gift box into the pile of presents under the Christmas tree.

"It's just your Christmas present, I'll open it tomorrow morning—well, let's have dinner."

Renee can't help wandering off when a Christmas present, apparently bought with the generosity of Old Hawk, is placed behind her.

The lasagne was delicious, and the buttered peas were delicious, but the best thing was the free roast veal, which Old Hock raved about like he'd never eaten beef other than canned in his life.

Renee agreed casually, using a not-so-sharp knife and fork to cut the veal that was dripping with fragrant gravy, her mind was full of all kinds of imaginary gifts.

What could it be... a brand new pair of cowhide boots?Or a warm, thick fleece comforter?Or a gift like last year, a notebook for her to write down her expenses?

"—Where are you going tomorrow?" Old Hawk asked.

Renee woke up like a dream. She remembered the contents of the "Daily Prophet" and said to him with great interest: "I'm going to London, father. Do you remember what was written in mother's diary? About her having a sister About Abigail?"

"Ah, yes." Old Hawk replied a little coldly, he still minded what his wife had kept from him for many years.

The story about Amelia Shafik who even changed her last name to trick him!Her family, her sisters and her father, never told Old Hawk, which made him a little angry.

But he was used to loving her, even in the decades since Amelia died.Old Hawk wakes up every morning and says 'Good morning' to the picture on the bedside table! ’, as if she were still sleeping beside him.

"I read in the wizarding paper that Abigail Shafik is hospitalized with a wizarding contagion," Renee said. "I'm going to bake some cookies and visit her tomorrow."

Unexpectedly, the clue about Amelia was hanging in front of his eyes, but Old Hawk directly rejected her without hesitation.

"Absolutely not! A wizard's contagious disease? Isn't that more dangerous? What should you do if you get infected? I have to pay for you to go to a wizard's hospital!"

"I won't be infected!" Renee said hastily.

"She's just a mild case of dragon pox, and I'm just looking at her through the door, or I can ask the doctor to do me some protective magic."

Old Hawk was thinking, maybe he was weighing the pros and cons of this matter, whether the benefits brought to him could outweigh the risks—this is a common problem of businessmen.

Renee has learned to control the details of her father since she had a sense of independence. She just needs to be subdued and coquettish. Old Hawke will speak well without touching his interests.

——But this kind of thing only lasted until she was reborn. With each death and resurrection, Renee's temper became more and more weird, and she became more and more unwilling to get close to her father, until now when she asked for something.

"Daddy! Please." Renee put down her knife and fork and called him in a nasal voice, which sounded like she had a cold.

"I promise I won't be infected. You know how miraculous these little magics of wizards are. Didn't Professor McGonagall show you when he came to pick me up?"

"That's right, that's right!" Old Hawk's stubborn refusal became tactful, he looked at Renee hesitantly, and couldn't help complaining.

"Such a magical and convenient thing, but with such damn rules! How convenient and cheap it would be if you could use magic in your home!"

Renee had no choice but to ignore his complaints, and used a meat cleaver to cut off a piece of sizzling veal and gave it to him: "Then did you agree? Dad?"

"Okay," grumbled Old Hawk, cutting the beef in half viciously, "I'll drive you tomorrow, and the factory will reimburse you—don't take those money-grabbing subways and buses!"

The author has something to say:

I'm going to visit my pure-blood aunt in London tomorrow, and Angel Renee bakes her own biscuits!