August 22nd, 1888
after this
Edric Umbridge

Never thought I would be like this
Wide awake waitin' on a goodnight kiss
Sippin' ninety proof
Talkin' to the moon
Sleep Without You - Brett Young

After leaving the carnival and bidding Edric goodnight, Febs and Mrs. H had set about walking home after collecting September from her friends. She could just tell her housekeeper was bursting to ask questions, but hadn't managed more than a couple off-handed quips about how well-behaved everybody had been that evening. It had Febs rolling her eyes and  laughing, that was for sure. Mrs. H was fooling nobody with her feigned nonchalance. Fortunately her sister filled any gap in their conversation with tales from her own evening.

The minute Febby had heard her housekeeper retire downstairs, after waving off an offer to help her undress, Febs moved to do so herself in a fit of impatience. She also heard September's door close down the hall with a resounding click, leaving Febs to sigh in relief. While mostly fun, their evening out had been almost painful; it left her positively itching to get her hands on him, which made her feel ridiculous, but going backwards in their relationship was a weird direction to go. This whole public courtship thing was going to be a lot harder than she'd anticipated... was it really worth it, was the question.

After slipping her ring out of her jewelry box and onto her finger, Febs snatched her wand off her bed and apparated out of her room and into Edric's. "That was miserable," She sighed as she sunk onto the bed, tucking bare legs up beneath her. In her haste to leave, she'd forgotten to pull the pins from her hair, so started to do so, setting them on the nightstand. "I mean it was fun," She mused quietly, running a hand through her hair, making sure she hadn't missed any pins. Satisfied, she mussed it all up and stretched out on her side of the bed, casting a look in his direction."But I don't know how long I'll be able to play along with this." She chuckled. Of course she would if she had to, but her suggestion of trying to go through some kind of public courtship apparently hadn't been as good as she'd wanted it to be.

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The carnival had been enjoyable enough, but it left Edric feeling sure, now more than ever, that pursuing a public relationship with February Lynch - at least while they were pretending to hardly know each other - was going to be a nearly-impossible feat. They weren't like most couples; they'd jumped forward to the later stages of a relationship early on, and now reverting back to the traditional model of courtship just felt weird.

He was much happier to have her back where they were most comfortable: in his home, in his bed, partially undressed, and completely alone. There were no prying eyes, no expectations, and no potential gossip that would put a damper on their efforts to be together. He'd already put a ring on her finger - though even that was carefully hidden, strung on the same chain her pendant and locket hung from. What more could he do?

"You're the one who suggested we give it time," he chuckled, scooting close to her so he could wrap an arm around her waist. "But I agree: pretending not to know each other is far from easy." It was, perhaps, not the most difficult thing he'd ever done, but it was difficult to do without coming off as a distant, cold ass - and that was an image of himself that he didn't want to give Febby.

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— set by MJ! —

Sighing quietly, Febs felt content for the first time that evening. Of course this was where they were the most at home, the most themselves. Their outing had been fun, she'd enjoyed the show quite a bit, but it would have been nicer if she'd been able to hold his hand or something, anything!

She smiled as he moved in, rolling toward him onto her side. Brushing her now wild hair from her face, Febs pulled a face. "I think I was woefully overestimating my ability to pretend we are anything but familiar with one another. I'm clearly not the best actress." Dramatic as she could be, she tended to wear her heart on her sleeve and every flicker of thought showed across her face.

Febs reached out gently to brush her fingers through his hair, her ring catching her eye, making her smile. This was the only place she could wear it where it belonged, so she took advantage. "See? I've been dying to do that all night. Maybe we should just skip all this nonsense after all." She would really like to do that, but wasn't sure they should, not just yet.

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Enveloping her in his arms, Edric allows his face to slip into a genuine smile. He'd never been the type to smile, but she somehow always managed to bring one to his face when they were here. Trying to hide it in public, trying not to act differently than he always did, was seemed impossible  when she was being, well, herself.

"At least you didn't look like you were in pain the entire time?" He brushed a hand across her forehead, his finger catching a single hair pin that she'd missed. He plucked it out with little ado, tossing it towards the night table without any care or precision. "I can't say the same for myself. It was almost painful, pretending not to know you," he said, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips.

Their relationship has always been inherently physical; even before it was romantic, before she even liked him, she punched him to show her feelings. How could he expect her to show...nothing?

His eyelids fluttered shut and he let out an approving hum as she ran a hand through his hand, a rush of warmth washing over him. She'd never be able to do that in public, but given the impact it had on him, it was probably for the best. Still, at the very least, he would enjoy being able to hold her hand or brush a strand of hair out of her face.

"Mmm, you know I wouldn't mind," he reiterated. "I just need a little bit of time -" And not months of it, as they'd originally planned. "- to get some things in order. Work, family, a house."

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— set by MJ! —

Chuckling softly when he pulled a missed pin from her hair and chucked it over her shoulder, Febs marveled at how easy this was, compared to everything else. They'd gone and done everything so backwards, they'd left themselves incapable of even pretending to behave as they were supposed to. It was as amusing as it was frustrating.

"You were fine," She assured him with another quiet laugh. "Smiling in public in general wouldn't kill you though." Febby bit her lip after he kissed her, head swimming ever so slightly. "Mr. Oh So Serious Head Auror." It was meant as a gentle tease, mostly to cover up the smitten grin on her lips.

Out of pure self-indulgence she kept running her fingers through his hair, even as she snuggled further in. Honestly she couldn't wait to do this every night, but he was right, they did need to wait a little while, just so they could get everything together. "Mmm, I'd invite you to dinner, but that seems like a bad idea, mostly because my family is crazy, not because of you." Even despite their misadventures earlier in the summer, Febs was confident her dad would like him. If she were being completely honest, she rather thought her mum would be glad somebody was willing to take her off their hands.

"Maybe next time, after this godforsaken ball at the end of the month, we could arrange for you to meet the parents and pick me up before we venture out into public again." Frankly she was far more terrified of him meeting her parents than she was of meeting his father. By the sounds of it, he was largely absent from Edric's life, so his opinion of her wasn't super important, at least not to her, she didn't know what Edric thought about that. Her parents on the other hand, well, it would make things easier if they at least liked him a little. Not that it would stop her one way or another, she was old enough not to need their permission to marry anymore anyway.

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"How could you be sure?" he teased, referring to her comments on his smiling (or lack thereof). Edric did not consciously avoid smiling; he'd never been the smiling type anyways, and without February by his side, there wasn't much going on around him to bring a grin to his face. There was a difference between smiling normally and smiling like a mad man - and Febby was likely to get the latter out of him in the form of a wide, flashy, bizarre-looking grin.

He hummed once more in approval as she snuggled into him and wedged one of his arms under the pillow that she was resting on. It was unlikely they were going to sleep anytime soon (he was dying to get his hands on her after all the tension between them), but that that, just for once, they should have a serious conversation first.

(As long as it did not end up in them breaking up, as it had last time - but he didn't want to think about it.)

"You're going to have to introduce me at some point," he said, continuing with the teasing, "or else I'm going to start believing you're embarrassed of me." He, of course, understood her family concerns, and he had ones of his own. He wanted his father's approval, but knew deep down that he would likely be faced with apathy and indifference. His father had never forced expectations on him in terms of his choice of bride - not blood status, not wealth, nothing - and thus Edric didn't know what type of woman would make him proud.

"Who has you going to that bloody ball, anyways? Isn't it...love-themed?" Febby had a man. She had him. She had a fiance (even if it wasn't public knowledge), so why even be tempted to go in the first place?

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— set by MJ! —

Waving her free had at his quip about the smiling, Febs could only shake her head a giggle quietly. She adjusted to the new position easily, tucking herself in beside him better, draping one leg over his carefully. After having to avoid touching him all evening, it was all she wanted to do now, "Oh Love, it is definitely not you I'm embarrassed of. My family is... something." It was quite the opposite in fact, her family was well, they could be loud and very intrusive and incredibly loving, but that meant that were always all over one another and it could sometimes lead to inappropriate questions and discussions. It wasn't something she overly enjoyed when bringing somebody new home and before this it had simply been her friends! It would happen eventually, maybe in small increments, parents first, then the rest.

Febs winced a little, shrugging down sheepishly at his question of the ball. "My friend Dolly Diggory, from school. I um," She'd accepted on a whim, the day after their last big argument, when she thought that had been the end of them. It had been a poor decision after the crash, she knew that, but backing out now would be rude. "I can cancel if you really want me to, but it would look awfully rude when it's a week away." While she had no intention of partaking in the theme of the night, quite a few of her friends were going and she was actually looking forward to seeing them. "Several of my friends are going..." Febs turned hesitant brown eyes on him, she really would cancel if he wanted her to, but she did want to go.

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Edric leaned down and pressed a reassuring kiss to her forehead. "I'm sure I will love them," he murmured, pressing his cheek against her hair. "And hopefully, as long as don't find our way back into the tabloids, they'll like me, too." He was much less confident about that, but he didn't want to fall into the dark hole of pessimism - not with this. Without much of a family to call his own, he was desperately hoping to gain one in hers.

Her explanation about the ball was innocent enough - not that she needed to be asking for his permission. He never believed she was going to seek a suitor, but the whole premise just seemed confusing. Perhaps it was because of his rusty knowledge on society happenings, but the thought of a matchmaking prophet seemed like another sham.

"No, you'll go," he chuckled. Her explanation - a friend from school - was a good enough one for him to stop asking questions. At least it wasn't "Tuni" or whatever the girl's name had been. "I wouldn't want to be single-handedly responsible for damaging a relationship with your friend."

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— set by MJ! —

Smiling to herself, Feb thought that he was right. "Well Mrs. H already likes you, so that's a step in the right direction." If she were being honest, Febs had never really had a discussion with her father on this subject, so it was hard to tell what he thought. She and her mother had a few go arounds about it, but mostly because Febby was never the picturesque debutante she was supposed to be. It stemmed from wanting an occupation, no doubt. That had always been a bone of contention. Her mother had won that battle, but Febs thought that in the long run, she'd actually won the war.

"Yeah? You don't mind?" Febs leaned back and up enough so that she could look at his expression, trying to gauge if he was just trying to be agreeable about it or if he really didn't mind. "I mean mostly I just want to go laugh at how ridiculous it is, but I haven't seen some of these friends in a while." It had been ages since she, Lena and Begonia had spent time together, like back in school, she really did miss them.

Without waiting for a reply, she leaned in to press her lips to his jaw, smiling against his skin. "I could probably convince my mother to let me spend the night at a friend's house in London," She murmured, pressing up against him. "Then I could just come here..." And she wouldn't have to be woken up ridiculously early to apparate home and collapse back into her own bed. He would probably still have work the next day but maybe she could convince him to sleep in, just a little.

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Edric smiled fondly at the image of Mrs. Harding that popped into his head. Though she was nearly old enough to be February's grandmother, she was old enough to be a mother to him (albeit a young one) and frequently acted as such. The scones, the muffins, the cookies - she'd always been kind to him since the pig-maid incident.

"I hope she knows how fond if her I am," he said, his chest shaking with silent laughter. "I might be heartbroken if she doesn't follow us wherever we go. It just wouldn't be the same." It would mean finding a housekeeper when the time came, and one who would understand the way they did things (which, in plain terms, was unconventional. And besides, how would he survive without her cookies?)

"I don't own you, Febs," he said. He'd been jealous before, and he liked to think of her as his, but even though he had a nasty habit of trying to tell her what to do (or rather what not to do), he didn't control her every move. "If you want to go, then go. You're a woman; woman go to parties, balls." If she didn't go to balls, what would she do? He'd already made it clear that he disliked the idea of her getting a real job...

A deep sigh slipped through his lips at the feeling of her lips on his jaw. The temptation to roll over and hover over her was strong, but he resisted - for now, instead pulling her closer with the arm that laid idly across her waist.

"You know I wouldn't say no," he murmured. Though the frequency of their sleepovers had increased since he'd put a ring on her finger, the amount of time they actually got to spend together - wide awake and not exhausted from the day's events - was usually limited. And then, by the time they'd woken up and were refreshed from a good night's sleep, she had to apparate home to avoid being caught. "That's a power you have over me."

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— set by MJ! —

It would likely be a hard sell, to get her mother to relinquish Mrs. H, but who knew. Febs let out a simple hum of agreement. It would be nice if they could convince her. Of course Mrs. H had a mind of her own and if there was a job lined up that paid better, well who knew. (It helped that Febs was her favorite after all.) Maybe when things were a little more official, Febs would broach the subject with Mrs. H on her own, to see where they stood.

Finding her nudging to be ineffective for the moment, Febs sighed quietly. "You're right, you most certainly do not," She leaned up a little to plant a kiss on his cheek. She was his, but not like that. "But it's called compromise, I could figure out other ways to see my friends, if it bothered you." Knowing all that she knew now, Febs could recognize that there would be times she could push him and others where she couldn't. It boiled down to picking battles over important and unimportant things. A ball invitation was an unimportant thing in the grand scheme.

Snuggling back in, she closed her eyes, a smirk affixed on her lips. "I'll work my magic then." She really would enjoy getting to stay the whole night and not have to rush off early. "Maybe you can finally show me your library." Soon enough, she kept telling herself, it wouldn't even be an issue. They'd have their own place, with their own bed, a library and would be able to spend all the time they wanted to together. (Until she likely drove him batty for one reason or another.)

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Edric let out a resigned sigh. "I think a ball is the least of my concerns right now." Or it very well should be, even if the prospect of her going to a social function where the goal was to find love bothered him a bit. "Who knows? The matchmaking prophet might out us as a couple before we can," he teased. He didn't believe in those sorts of things; he knew real seers did exist, but one who specialized in matchmaking seemed a little too financially convenient to be real. The woman - he couldn't remember her name - probably had a list of characteristics she collected and just matched them based on that.

"I'm sure I'll be able to sneak you in there," he responded. "I'm not sure how many of the staff have caught on to our midnight rendezvouses, but if one of them knows, likely all of them do." Her identity, fortunately, would be less well-known among them - assuming they didn't keep copies of every Prophet he was mentioned in hidden down in the kitchens. Now that he thought about it, they might very well know who she was. (Discretion was a topic he'd have to discuss with them one of these days.)

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— set by MJ! —

"Mmm the least of our concerns." She correctly with a quiet chuckle. Febs was relieved that he wasn't put out by her attendance. Events like that were fun every once in a while, but when they were married she was actually looking forward to not having to go to them all that often. She would, of course, attend when necessary and requested of her, but being able to ignore them for the most part would be downright lovely. The whole matchmaking seer was plain old amusing to Febs and she highly doubted there would be anyone managing to give them up before they could do so themselves.

With her eyes closed and as relaxed as she was, Febs could feel herself starting to fall asleep. Having more time like this, without having to wait and sneak around, was going to be absolutely blissful when they were married. "Well," She laughed as she nuzzled in. "If they don't know you've got somebody here already, they likely will when they find half of those hair pins on your table in the morning." She was usually pretty good about getting all of her things and taking them with her in the bleary-eyed hours of early morning when she left, but hair pins were a different story. They hid and multiplied when you weren't looking.

"Just give them the day off, I'm sure they'll be thrilled." Despite his confidence on the matter, Febs was not so sure she wanted his household staff knowing her in such a capacity. Who knew what they could blab under the right circumstances.

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His hand wandered down her waist, where he comfortingly stroked back and forth from her hip to the lowest part of the thigh he could reach in their current position. "I guess that's all the reason to get a move on," he murmured, pressing his cheek against the top her head once again. "No more sneaking around, no hiding, no more gossips to worry about, no pretending we're strangers..." His words left his mouth in a pleased hum, her own sudden tiredness triggering his own. If work wasn't enough to keep him exhausted, then his emotions - the longing, the anticipation, the stress - was certainly enough to do so.

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— set by MJ! —

The list of reasons to get a move on was growing longer and longer. Hopefully the time it took them to figure everything out wouldn't mirror the list. A few more (painful) public outings, meeting the parents, a few other things to straighten out and then they could just up and elope like they'd been talking about for a couple months. They could make it work. It would all be worth it in the end.

Smiling at the feeling of his hand on her hip, Febs felt a little shiver cross her skin, but she really wasn't so sure she had the energy to pursue it tonight. How sad was that? Chuckling at her own thoughts, Febs leaned up to brush a kiss across his cheek. "Mmm, and then, when we have our own house, we can come to bed whenever we want, doesn't have to be so late at night," She mused aloud in a throaty whisper; she wasn't too tired to tease him after all. Everything would be a hell of a lot easier when they were living under the same roof.

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There were many things he was looking forward to, but this - the evenings curled up in a shared bed, free from the restrictive layers of clothing between them without fear of being caught by the gossip mill - was atop his list. He wasn't sure what other parts of their married life would be like, at least in terms of building a family, schedules, and how they'd appear in the public eye, but he was certain he would enjoy this part of it.

He chuckled at her teasing, but recognized her exhaustion and realized his chances of getting action tonight were limited. "You'll have to give me a month's notice at least," he teased, pulling her closer so she could drift off. "I need to find a cottage, purchase it, set it all up for us..." he murmured his voice growing quieter with every word.

In the best scenario, the Minister would not take his engagement to February as it was meant to be - a sign of his affection - rather than a reason to disobey him, and February's family would not have any issues with him. Right now, though, all they could do is quietly go about their business, make their plans with a grain of salt, and wait.

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— set by MJ! —