July 3, 1888 - Near Noon - The Other Whitledge Home

Arriving at Uncle Winston's home felt familiar as well as unfamiliar. Remembering last summer when she had come to his home in order to avoid more fighting with her brother, she wondered if she should have stayed here all along. Several of her cousins greeted her upon her arrival, though she did notice a few of them to be absent. Possibly due to the fact that not all of them thought of her kindly. Well, it was better than the home that her siblings stayed in.

The staff showed her the room to which she would now call her own. Not as big as her old room, it at least felt bigger, given that she would not be sharing said room. Why change her cousin's living arrangements and make things more complicated? It was nice to have a room to herself officially. Petting her cat as she entered the room, she looked around with quiet curiosity. She watched as her belongings were placed in their new arrangement.

Some might say that she should feel sad, or in any way upset at least. But she felt... free. Her cousins were far more tolerable than her brother, she was now under the care of an actual mature adult, and it all felt... better. Was that so wrong of her?

Letters were exchanged between her and Honey after Sweetie had gotten her little sisters reply from yesterdays letter. Honey's reaction hadn't been ideal, but it had been expected. Sweetie certainly couldn't blame her. All of her sisters seemed to be constantly wishing that she and Handsome would get along. Even if Sweetie could not see that in their future, a part of her wished for that as well. Alas, wishes did not always come true. And when they did... it was not in the way that one might expect.

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Magic by Lady!

Wanna be there for Sweetie during her post-election slump?

July 3, 1888 - Evening

Dinner hadn't been filled with much conversation. A quiet meal wasn't too bad in Sweetie's opinion. Having quiet seemed to equal peace for the Slytherin girl. Now she was up in her room, reading a book as she pet her cat. Bijoux seemed to be in a bad mood. Change never sat well with animals from what Sweetie could tell. The cat continued to seem frustrated and tense. Sweetie wasn't entirely sure how to help the poor cat to feel more comfortable in their new area. Sweetie felt comfortable, perhaps that comfort will rub off on the stubborn cat.

Thoughts of her siblings entered her mind. What were they doing? How was London treating them? Oh how she wished that they weren't in mourning. Sweetie was mildly curious as to who Cupcake were to meet if she were able to participate in whatever events were going on outside of the fog. Then again, didn't Cupcake go to Irvingly for the Ministry? How was that going? What were Pumpkin, Darling, and Honey up to? Honey had never stated anything except for well wishing and hopes that Sweetie will come 'home'. It wasn't as though Sweetie felt welcome enough to ask.

Ignoring those thoughts, she went back to reading. Bijoux jumped away from her and wandered off. Taking a moment to watch the cat go, Sweetie sighed softly. Perhaps a bit of wandering will do the cat some good in order to get used to their new home. And perhaps Sweetie should take her cat's lead and do the same. Closing her book, she set it down as she got up. Taking a look around could help to get more settled in her Uncle's home. This will be good for her.

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Magic by Lady!

Wanna be there for Sweetie during her post-election slump?

August 12, 1888 - Morning

It had been a little over a week since her siblings had returned to Hogsmeade. Time has seemed to heal some wounds, as Sweetie had begun to feel happier in more recent days. Genuinely happy. Laughing with her female cousins at times, even going shopping when allowed. With a bit of money from uncle. Not as much as her former allowance, but she didn't mind. She hadn't wanted much anyway. It seemed that she was much better at getting along with cousins rather than her siblings. Finally, Sweetie was relaxing.

She hadn't even been the only one to have noticed the change. More than once, she had more serious conversations with her closer female cousin, Cordelia. Even as time passed, there was still concerns over how much Sweetie was really coping with all of this. Several family members had died, leaving her an orphan through one death. Not to mention the drama with Handsome. Distance was good, but he was still her brother. Talk of that relationship ever being repaired had come up. Not a likely thing to occur, much to Sweetie's insistence. In her mind, she had done her best to fix their relationship. He was the one refusing to do his part. After all, he bluntly stated that he would not read her letters fully. How could he see all sides of their situation if he refused to get all of the information?

For the most part, she chose to ignore these conversations after they had happened. Once she left school, she would be headed off to obtain a job as an Unspeakable. Perhaps find a husband with the assistance of her aunt. There was no telling if she would even have a relationship with most of her siblings after that. It didn't really faze her. Not yet anyway. But these thoughts were brought to her attention upon reading the weeks newest copy of Witch Weekly. Sighing softly, she couldn't help but wonder if her siblings had seen this yet. At least one of her sisters would have by now, and brought it to Handsome's attention as a result. What would his reaction be? Would he even be fazed? What other talk would come of this? Hopefully rumor would go out in her favor. She wasn't the one with the drinking problem, after all. Though she would certainly keep those thoughts to herself. All she could do for now was keep calm and get on with her day. Getting upset over some gossip would only bring negativity her way, after all.

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Magic by Lady!

Wanna be there for Sweetie during her post-election slump?

August 26, 1888 - Late Morning

Two weeks. Whitledge couldn't even stay out of Witch Weekly for two weeks. It was worse this time. While they were only mentioned briefly on the last article, this time Handsome's face was on the front cover! Now it was stating that he was having an affair, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was true. With all of the drama with Miss Backus, and other rumors of his drinking and chatting with ladies. And he seemed to think that Sweetie was ruining this family! Now the head of this family, and he couldn't even act properly. Instead he was throwing fits at her request for a well deserved apology, drinking, and seemingly having affairs.

Handing a maid the copy of Witch Weekly, she quietly told the young woman to despose of it. She had no intention of seeing that stupid article again any time soon. Hopefully her cousins would not be mentioning it too often. At least not around her. Sooner or later she would need to speak with her sisters. If she can't get through to Handsome, perhaps they can. Before he ruins their whole family!

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Magic by Lady!

Wanna be there for Sweetie during her post-election slump?

August 31, 1888 - Evening

The day was almost over, tomorrow she would be headed for Hogwarts. Having not once spoken to her brother since the letters, she had been wondering on what he was putting their poor sisters through. With any luck, he spared them from his nonsense. Any better luck, he would come to his senses and apologize to the whole family for what he has put them through. Of course, Sweetie would prefer to stay with her uncle. There were too many bad feelings between the two of them.

But now she couldn't spend her last night before Hogwarts with her own sisters. All because of him. Even if she liked it at her uncle's home, she still missed her sisters. No matter how much they sometimes didn't get along. What happened between her and her sisters was at least more normal than the hatred between her and Handsome. If only her sisters could live with her. She was sure that Handsome would love living without them anyway. No responsibility for the irresponsible brother. Wasn't that what he really wanted? It seemed like it, with everything that he was supposedly doing. Everything that she had seen him do. All of the drama that he couldn't even try to work out with her.

Looking around her room, she sighed. It would get better after graduation. Remembering back to her letter from the end of July, she was quite hopeful to become an animagus. At least that would be something to be proud of for her life. Her eyes landed on the transfiguration books that she had not yet gotten packed. Having read them almost all of the way through over summer, she specifically focused on the animagus facts. Perhaps she would succeed. If anyone was to succeed at such a thing, one would think it would be a person who was a Transfiguration Club President. She was quite looking forward to working on that this year in school, under the guide of her teachers.

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Magic by Lady!

Wanna be there for Sweetie during her post-election slump?