Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1895. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Complete a thread started and set every month for twelve consecutive months. Each thread must have at least ten posts, and at least three must be your own.
Did You Know?
Did you know? Jewelry of jet was the haute jewelry of the Victorian era. — Fallin
Despite almost being late for her own tea date she found she was not the last one to arrive. Of their little trio only Bellona appeared to be present thus far. Disappointed but optimistic that they would be joined by Angeline any minute anyway, Tig forced herself to put her displeasure to one side. Arriving at the table, she shot her friend an insincere grin. "Bellona, how good it is to see you, it seems like it's been an age!" It certainly did seem like a long time but she wasn't altogether certain whether she was pleased to be seeing her quite yet. Friends or not, Tig didn't always feel at ease around Bellona the same way she did Angeline.
Tig sat herself down at the table across from Bellona. "While we wait, you must tell me everything I've missed. You really don't write to me often enough." Never mind that she rarely bothered to initiate correspondence herself unless she specifically wanted something, nor that she had been the one to withdraw from society completely to run wild for months on end. Not that her friends ever needed to know that fine detail.
Each second that ticked by with Bellona the only one seated at the small table caused tension to rise in her bones, blood, and mind. Though she did her best to stamp it down—firmly—the idea that the others had simply forgotten to tell her that plans had changed, that she was being stood up, kept recurring. And so, for once in their tumultuous friendship, it was with actual relief that she saw Antigone Lestrange approach—though her face, a careful mask of boredom and nonchalance, did not betray this relief in the slightest.
"Antigone!" she greeted her friend with the appropriate level of false enthusiasm. "It really has been too long—I had thought I might see you on Mrs. Abercrombie's little excursion, and when you weren't at the dinner table I wondered if you weren't one of the poor women to have gone astray—but of course, my fears on that score were swiftly put to rest!"
In truth, the only married member of their trio had missed a great number of events, though Bellona did not like to give her an opportunity to tout the responsibilities of marriage and motherhood, especially not given how naturally smugness came to Antigone's lips.
It seemed as though Bellona had sensed the touchy subject that was the PSYR event she had failed to attend and purposely honed in on it. So much time and effort wasted on the damned thing, and as Mrs. Mulciber had pointed out, it had been the perfect stage upon which to make a triumphant return. Now she'd have to settle for something else and it probably wouldn't be as good and was it all worth it in the end? Probably not.
"Yes, well, really I thought it sounded rather unappealing. I've never had any sort of inclination to go to India, there are a dozen places Evelyn Pendergast might have chosen that are far nicer. It was probably more affordable to host it there." Hopefully it had been at least minimally impressive so she sounded as though she knew what she was talking about. "Perhaps those shoddy portkeys have something to do with her frugality but who can say for sure. Thank goodness you're safe." Tig wondered for a moment if she should have tried to sound more relieved, not that she could do anything about it now.
"While we wait for Angeline you should tell me what you've been up to, should I expect to be hearing of a fortuitous arrangement soon?" It might have been a dig at Bellona's marriage prospects, in fact it definitely was, but it wasn't like it was a complete impossibility and perhaps it might prompt some surprisingly juicy gossip from her. Anyway, Bellona would surely enjoy talking about herself for a few minutes and it'd save her having to exert too much energy in holding an actual conversation. Angeline couldn't be more than a few minutes away, it wasn't like her to be late.
Her eyebrows arched notably at the word frugality—she had never known anyone attached to the school, be it their patroness or the students themselves, to be attached to such a term! Still, Bellona was hardly about to disallow Antigone her little barbs—as long as they weren't pointed at her, they were easily endured!
"My diary has been so full I have scarcely had time to catch my breath!" Bella offered, though her smile was decidedly more strained now than it had been just moments before. "There was India, of course—oh, it sounded rather daring, but it was quite lavish in the end!—and the St Mungo's luncheon, plus so many balls I feel as though I've lost count!" But no "fortuitous arrangement", and so the debutante carefully danced around that cursed cobblestone.
A part of her was a little disappointed to be robbed of more stimulating conversation but for the most part she was happy to gloat at her friend's pitiful progress at catching a husband. Certainly it would be catching one for the likes of Bellona, she'd have to trap a man if she wanted one of good standing for every eligible bachelor would surely run from such a match. She did bristle a little at the mention of her societal involvement, however, while it might make her husbandless plight look even worse Tig felt it as a dig at her own lacking social life.
Tig decided to stick to her own interests rather than encourage Bellona to expound upon her oh so many balls and parties. "There must be someone you're interested in, were none of your dance partners pleasing?" Whatever her friend's response there had to be a jibe in there somewhere subtle or otherwise. "You know I won't tell a soul." Unless it suited her to do so.
"Oh, Antigone!" she chided lightly. "Let me have my secrets—the longer they burn, the juicier they shall be when you finally get to sink your teeth into them!"
Friendship with Antigone had always been a delicate balance—a fact Bellona had realized as soon as she realized the scales would always be tipped in the other witch's favour. Too little information would cause their relationship to wither and die, but too much would be forged into a weapon. To another, she might have fabricated an infatuation just for the sake of conversation, but she knew this tactic to be foolish with her current companion.
That probably meant there was nothing to tell. What use was she? "Don't be heartless and keep me in suspense, aren't we the closest of friends?" If there was anything to sniff out she was damn well going to drag it out of her, or at least give up after a decent attempt. Either way. "You know I was deprived of a courtship, you simply have to let me hear all about yours. It's only fair." She wasn't going get anything out of Bellona, she knew it, but maybe she could eek out the smallest thing, even if it was an unrequited crush.
September 14, 2019 – 7:18 PM
Last modified: September 14, 2019 – 7:18 PM by Bellona Zabini.
"I shall when there is a courtship about which to tell you!" she chided, playfully feigning exasperation, though she knew she could not be comfortable until they moved on to a safer topic of conversation. Bellona decided to try to move them there by force; evidently, it was the only way.
"Besides, I am not so long in the tooth as certain debutantes—how fares your husband's sister?" Antigone's own sister was older still, but Bellona had never much minded Ligeia Baudelaire, and it was clear to anyone who knew them both that her friend was not well-loved by Miss Lestrange.
Few topics could have distracted Antigone so effectively as that of Tatiana Lestrange's enduring singleness. "How do you suppose she's doing!" she scoffed. When was the last time she'd bitched about Tatiana to someone? It was far, far too long. It had probably been to Moselle and she was a cat so that hardly counted. "For all of Tatiana's stuck-" Oh. Oh. There was a reason she never got to trashtalk her sister-in-law anymore and it wasn't because she'd barely seen anyone of late who wasn't Tiberius who would hardly indulge it.
Tig pursed her lips tightly and drew back, a rush of adrenaline hitting her as she contemplated just how close she might have just come to dying. One more word and she could very well drop dead at the tea table; she refused to let someone so inconsequential as Bellona be the cause of her death. "I'm sure she is having just as much luck as you." If Tig weren't so vehemently against losing face in front of Bellona she would have preferred to have said no more on the matter of Tatiana. How long did she have to wait to know whether she was in the clear?
Again, her eyebrows arched in surprise, this time far less discreetly. She had never known Antigone Lestrange to shy away from speaking frankly, even a bit maliciously, about those she disliked. Had she grown closer to Miss Lestrange during her absence from society? It seemed far-fetched a notion, but Bellona could think of no alternative explanation. How curious.
"Then you are sure to have a wedding to celebrate sooner than later," she answered. "After all, Miss Lestrange is blessed with so many of the graces our society values—a benefit, I daresay, of a Pendergast education."
The precise sort of education Antigone had never been afforded.
The higher Bellona's eyebrows crept, the lower Tig's sank. For all of her friends' and sister-in-law's ridiculously extra finishing school education, none of them seemed capable of finding a husband! Perhaps she hadn't had to secure Tiberius herself but she refused to believe she'd have been unmarried still if a match hadn't been made for her. So much for a 'Pendergast education', she thought, they ought to have called it the Pendergast School for Young Spinsters! Nevertheless, the sooner Tatiana was married off the better. Although, it would mean a loss of social superiority over her, but the trade off was that she'd hopefully be less present and perhaps even whisked off to another country permanently. That'd be nice. Bellona, on the other hand, could stay right where she was, she was as benign as Tatiana was irksome and far more entertaining, albeit unintentional.
"A wedding? What a novelty!" Tig was fairly certain that the last wedding she'd attended had been her own, it had also been the first wedding she had attended as an adult. "When the time comes I promise to make sure you're in prime position to catch her bouquet." She smiled as though she had made a wonderfully generous offer rather than a dig.
"Too kind of you by far," Bellona insisted graciously, doubting very much that she would find herself anywhere near Tatiana Lestrange's wedding—and if she did, the witch hoped, it would only be after securing a match to call her own.
"But really, my dear, to the matter at hand—must we really wait for Angeline? I find my curiosity quite engaged," she steered the conversation (she hoped, deftly) away from her marital shortcomings.
"Surely you don't expect me to repeat myself? That'd be tedious for the both of us; Angeline will be along shortly, it's not like her to keep us waiting." Tig couldn't help the slight frown that had formed across her forehead, she didn't appreciate being rushed and especially not by Bellona. Where was Angeline? She was on the verge of feeling resentful at her lateness. "Perhaps you ought to take a look outside there might be some sort of commotion keeping her." Mostly Tig just wanted a moment to recompose herself and consider what to do with Bellona should Angline not arrive at all.
Bellona hardly cared to give Antigone the impression that she could just boss her about like a housemaid, but found herself at a loss as to any useful excuse not to—besides, it would give her a bit of respite from her companion.
With the barest hint of a smile, Bellona stood to do as directed, and was, mercifully, rewarded with the sight of Angeline's arrival. Her smile came back, this time more genuine, as she locked eyes with their wayward friend.
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