July 3rd, 1888 - Padmore Park

But before you go
You should know
I love you more
I said so
-Lea Michele

It was strange, really. The calm and comfort that had befallen Emmeline even amidst something of a crisis. Hogsmeade was still blanketed in fog, most things in life were at a standstill. Some necessary jobs were still being done by those that held them, otherwise it seemed others were a bit listless. Emmeline fell into the latter category and if it hadn't been for her correspondence with Charlie, she'd probably have been bored to tears long ago. But as it was, she did have something to occupy her mind. She hadn't seen him since he'd come to dinner at her home a week prior and the idea of seeing him again almost had her giddy. Their letters had been simple enough until she'd asked again when she could see him. She'd tried to put it off, not wanting to appear too eager but eventually resolve had been broken away and they'd planned to meet at the park in the late afternoon but before dinner.

She left earlier in the afternoon, taking some work of her mother's to be delivered then headed to the park. Only problem was, within her excitement of seeing the hit wizard again, she'd gone much faster than was normal and ended up showing up at the park far earlier than she needed to. She'd managed to settle herself on the park bench that they'd met at so she could get her wand back before the fog had taken over and blanketed the town in it's eerie way. She had been able to find it easily enough but the lights within the park did little to show the area around her.

Perched on the bench in silence and darkness, she found herself falling into her usual comfortable way. Feet up and skirts around her with her chin rested on her knees. She fidgeted slightly with the hem of one of her skirts while she waited, quite content to wait for however long it would take him to get there.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles had been extremely busy the last week or so; his every waking hour having been preoccupied with the fog and more specifically, the Ministry’s plans for how to deal with it. Said plans had come in the form of recruiting people whom wanted to help to go into an expedition – which set off yesterday.

Charles had been approached to join the expedition but he’d elected to not go seeing as, in his own words, he can’t do his job if he’s fumbling around with a bunch of strangers in the dark. And it was true; it did make things difficult.

Having managed to secure some time off, Charles folded up the most recent letter he’d received from Emmeline and smiled. He pushed it into his bedside cabinet and pulled on a jacket before heading toward the station – which was remarkably quiet (even for the fog). Upon showing his pass, he ventured to Hogsmeade.

He was quite excited at the prospect of seeing Emmeline again and it seemed as if she was too if her letters were anything to go by. Once he’d made his way through the fog-addled park, Charles saw – albeit quite dimly – his girl. No, wait. The girl. Emmeline. He saw Emmeline. Sitting as she always did; knees tucked up, arms wrapped around her legs, and head resting on her knees.

Shaking his head a little, Charles moved to sit next to her with a smile; “You know it’s not very proper to sit like that when you’re out, Ems.” He teased.

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Emmeline's head had raised up some when she'd heard footsteps coming in her direction. She didn't really anticipate it being a stranger, who would want to wander about in the fog filled park after all? But the sight of Charlie coming toward her once he was close enough to discern saw a smile spreading over her features. She watched him, still smiling, as he sat down next to her a pointed out just how improper her sitting was. She responded with a simple shrug but didn't move to change her position at all.

"It isn't exactly proper to be meeting a gentleman in a fog filled park alone either," she responded easily enough, "But it isn't as if anyone can see me in all of this." She motioned a hand to the abysmal fog to emphasize what she was saying. "Besides, I'm comfortable," she added with a nod, because clearly comfort was all that mattered.

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#LovelyLadySet

He couldn’t fault her logic at least. It was hard to see more than a foot or so in front of you in this fog even with the copious amount of lanterns that had been set up throughout the village. Shrugging in response to her comments regarding meeting him being scandalous however, Charles decided to ignore that. He doubted any rumours would start – it wasn’t as if people could see them, as Emmeline had said and on top of that; it could easily be played off as if he was on a job. Not that he really cared about rumours too much. But it was quite worrying – would they affect his chance at promotion?

Dismissing that thought fairly quickly, Charles smiled, “I’m glad you’re comfortable,” he said and shuffled to make himself comfortable, “So how are you, Ems?”

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Thoughts of rumors hadn't crossed Emmeline's mind. Truth be told, she rarely paid attention to rumors that she heard. She knew how easily they could get out of hand and turn into something far from what they truly were. She'd heard plenty about herself and her family, especially once the scandal of losing the Three Broomsticks had hit the public ear.

Turning her head slightly so she rested her cheek against her knees, she watched him get comfortable. "Better now," she answered, smiling as she said it and a faint blush creeping on her cheeks, "And yourself?"

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles smiled at her words and shuffled closer to her, resting his arms on the back of the bench and turning to face her; leg crossed over his knee. Hearing that she was better now that he was there sent a wave of butterflies to explode in his stomach and to her question, Charles nodded, “It’s the same for me. I’m much better now that I’m in your company.” He said softly, not really wanting to say much right now.

He was more than content to stay where he was watching here. He was comfortable and the park seemed quite quiet though he knew it would be best to at least start some sort of conversation.

“So… how long were you waiting, exactly? I don’t believe I was late. Though you look as if you’ve been sat here a short while.”

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Emmeline's blush increased but she hoped that it was hard to notice thanks to the fog and lacking light. But then again, she didn't really seem to mind that he made her blush and he seemed to like making her blush. She was glad he felt the same way though. It made meeting him all the more worth it. Not that she had expected to plan to meet with her just because.

"Not too long," she said with a small shrug, "I needed to deliver some things for my mother but I seemed to have been a bit too over zealous and finished far sooner than I had anticipated." He didn't really need to know she'd been there for nearly half an hour though. That would only make her look silly.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles arched his eyebrows. Not too long but then in the same breath she had said she’d been far sooner than she had planned which, to him, seemed quite the contradiction.

“So you weren’t waiting too long yet you were here far earlier than you wanted to be?” He lulled his head a little, “I’m not sure I’m with you. You were waiting for a while, or you weren’t?” He asked playfully.

He could tell she was getting flustered – or, at least, was blushing – by her shy and carefree demeanour. When she was embarrassed or flustered, she seemed to have the same kind of trademarks about her behaviours. She shrugged a lot, blushed a lot, acted quite callous to her situation, or stuck her tongue out at him – often all of it. She also pouted. She didn’t seem to be at that stage just yet, though.

“Because if I’d have known you were waiting, I’d have gotten here much sooner. The more time spent with you, in my eyes, the better.”

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Emmeline frowned slightly, realizing her own slip up. She'd tried to play it off as though she hadn't been there long but then mentioned being done far sooner than she'd anticipated. She blushed more at the thought and as he mentioned it to her. Of course, he made it seem as if it were okay if only he'd known. That'd he'd have been there sooner if he'd have known.

"I hadn't planned on being here too early though," she answered, feeling a bit abashed over it, "And without an owl, it isn't as if I could have told you. Though, I imagine you'd have been gone before it could have gotten there and then it would have been a moot point."

But none of it really mattered anymore. He was there and that was all that really mattered. She shifted just enough so that she could lean somewhat against the back of the park bench and tilted her head to the side to rest against his arm that was there. "How has work been?" she asked, looked up to him as she spoke.

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#LovelyLadySet

“I suppose,” Charles said. She wasn’t wrong. Though his comment was more in jest than anything – it wasn’t actually as if, as she had just pointed out, he could have arrived earlier. Owls were quick but not that fast. Oh well. He didn’t mind. He didn’t exactly like the thought that he could have spent a few more minutes with her though what could he do? It wasn’t as if he had a Time Turner to hand.

Brushing his spare hand through her hair as she rested against him, Charles answered her question; “It’s been busy. The Ministry, as I’m sure you kno- are aware – have sent some people on some expedition within Irvingly. It’s weird. I can’t see them or anything – it’s eerie. It’s quiet in Irvingly at the moment. I had to go to London last week, though,” He huffed a little, “Some petty thief. Below my pay grade.”

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Emmeline's eyes fluttered closed in a blissful and contented sort of manner as she felt his hand stroking her hair. It was a calming and sweet sort of gesture. She could only imagine what it would feel like to have those fingers run through her hair when it wasn't pinned up nicely as was expected of a lady. If she had any say, her hair would never be up in the pins. It was far more freeing to have it loose and down ones back. Unfortunately, it wasn't the thing to do.

"Mmm.." she hummed softly, "Sounds boring." She smirked at that before opening her eyes to gaze up at him. "Though as boring as it sounds, it's more exciting than anything I've done," she added, "I did get some new books though. I'm not sure if they'll be on the list needed for school, but I got some additional Transfiguration books. Ones I didn't have already. But that's far more boring than dealing with a petty thief."

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#LovelyLadySet

Chuckling a little, Charles shook his head. He often forgot she was still in Hogwarts though took some solace in that it was to be her last year and then she would be joining the ‘adult’ world and doing whatever society deemed necessary for her (even if it seemed she had her own ideas of her future. Ideas which Charles was nothing short of impressed by).

“School isn’t boring – I’d much rather read new material than be chasing thieves through Diagon Alley,” Charles said with a reassuring tone. Even if he wasn’t exactly one to read, he wasn’t lying: he’d rather read some boring books on transfiguration than chase someone who had attempted to steal some jewellery. Though truth be told, his job did usually keep him on his toes.

“Though I suspect it will be more hectic in the coming few months. It always is around this time of year. More people on the streets and more people at risk. More chance of danger. Especially with what’s going on around here,” He said with a gesture in his eyes toward the fog.

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Emmeline shook her head slightly when he said school wasn't boring. That hadn't been what she'd meant. She liked school. But reading the same books over and over was boring. And reading was certainly boring in comparison to being outside and doing things. And at least he could be in London where the dusty fog wasn't a hindrance.

"No, it isn't boring. But in comparison and getting out of the fog, it surely is," she answered with a confident sort of tone, but she fell quiet as he started talking again. She nodded slightly understanding what he meant. She could hardly wait until she was able to do her own thing and not be at school though, no matter how much she enjoyed learning. It was restricting and confining. She wanted to be able to start her life the way she felt like doing.

"I can only imagine. All the students getting ready to return to school. Not to mention their parents getting ready to see them off. There's plenty of purses walking around during this time, normally. Probably a pickpocket's favorite season," she said with a thoughtful tone, it would certainly make his job all the more hectic.

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#LovelyLadySet

Yet again, Miss Woodcroft was absolutely right and her logic was flawless. He couldn’t argue with her on that – and so he didn’t.

Instead, he listened and nodded at her words about it being a pickpockets favourite season, “Mhm. It is. But that’s not something I typically deal with,” He sighed a little, “I deal with more… dangerous persons than petty pickpockets. They tend to come out in numbers during this season,” Charles continued, “Especially more during the end of the season when people have began courting or, for whatever reason, stopped courting. Scorned lovers tend to be the most dangerous people I’ve met. They act irrationally.” He shrugged, moving some hair over her ear.

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Emmeline listened in silence, allowing her eyes to close again. The sound of his voice as he talked and the way he brushed her hair was perhaps more soothing than anything she'd ever heard or felt before. Even if what he had to say was abutting but calming or romantic. It was simply the tone of his voice, something she'd grown increasingly more comfortable with as time had gone on.

"Will you come to Hogsmeade during the Hogsmeade weekends?" she found herself asking, not really wanting to think about scorned lovers or the loss of a courtship. She didn't even know if that would be something they did eventually or not. As much as she would like it, She was hesitant to get her hopes up.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles shuffled at her sudden question and change of topic and found himself swallowing before he could muster a response. It wasn’t that it made him uncomfortable – it was quite the contrary. Instead, he wasn’t really expecting it and he found himself at a loss for words because yes, he did want to see her during her Hogsmeade weekends. But that wasn’t what she had asked.

“If you’d want for me to be, I will,” He said trying to sound casual though the way his hand brushed against her cheek likely implied something completely different. His eyes were fixed on her expression and he found himself with a soft, unending smile throughout their conversation, “Would you want me to be in Hogsmeade during your Hogsmeade weekends?”

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