Christmas was coming and as much as it pained him, Baird’s lady wife would not forgive him if any of their friends went without some semblance of a family for the holiday season. He adored Sonia and as much as he wanted to curl up with her for the days that the world would claim as a virtual armistice while it indulged in minced pies and far too much alcohol he did know that she was right and there wouldn’t be anywhere for the ones they left behind to go. As a result, he was doing damage control and cleaning up, making sure that everyone they knew and loved as friends or acquaintances were on good terms with their parents or had a semi-lumpy couch to sleep on for the season. There was only one option left to diffuse trouble from and then he could go back to Hogwarts and amuse Sonia and revel in the fact that he’d gotten her to get rid of the Ivanov in favour for McLaggen.
He’d agreed to meet Tibby and Grace in Hogsmeade although neither knew the other was coming. Baird didn’t know exactly how well the two girls knew each other and he was determined to be tactful - if only for Sonia’s sake because she was the one who’d have to deal with the fallout if he mucked it up. He loved Tibby, she was his problem, whilst Grace was Sonia’s by extension of her friendship with Charlie. They’d gotten closer though, ultimately, and Grace had lost some of her unsettled resentment towards Sonia for stealing her friend. The girls had become proper friends and while this made things easier for everyone, Baird knew how lonely Grace was. You’d have to be blind not to notice that.
Once the girls were assembled on neutral ground: The Three Broomsticks - where else? - Baird bought them a drink each. He set the bottles of Buttebeer down, it being far too early in the day for anything harder and all of them too young to buy any of it, and took his seat to the left of Tibby and across from a nervous looking Grace who stared at him openly, fear riddled in her eyes and a freshly healed scar disappearing into her cheek leftover from a particularly grisly Full Moon that had even seen Healer Ivanov wince. Baird had known how much it had hurt and shuddered to think what would have happened if it had been any lower. He set that out of his mind, though, and looked at the girls, keeping his body language as neutral and open as possible.
“Grace, this is Tibby Frank. She’s the best lesbian in town. She’s got a sweet smile and is bloody awful at Divination. Conversely, Tibbs this is Gracelyn Llewellyn. She’s a werewolf, Charlie’s bestest pal, way too much of a loner to have any friends at all - she’s ginger and she’s currently peeing her pants just a little bit so I’ll make you both cringe and ruin those floral, lacy spectaculars by telling you this: Tibby, Grace is staying with you this Christmas. I hope Arren is cooking goose an I hope the apartment-- wait, no, I know you have room. Right, well, I’ll let that sink in and I’ll go and flirt with that odd-looking waitress in the hope of finding out what the likelihood of me getting a job here is. Have fun chatting, lassies.”
With that, Baird got up and hurried away, hoping against hope that Grace wouldn’t keel over and Tibby wouldn’t explode. He couldn’t be sure of either, though, and hoped at least he’d be far enough away for it not to be his fault by the time either or both occurred.