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Welcome to Charming, the year is now 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.

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Queen Victoria was known for putting jackets and dresses on her pups, causing clothing for dogs to become so popular that fashion houses for just dog clothes started popping up all over Paris. — Fox
It would be easy to assume that Evangeline came to the Lady Morgana only to pick fights. That wasn't true at all. They also had very good biscuits.
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#1
February 11th, 1888 — Knockturn Alley

The click of her boots along the walk set a fast tempo as she wove her way through the meagre crowd, the sniff of her stuffed nose the only other sound Becky emitted in her quest to get in, get out, and get home quickly. The young apprentice was not so naïve as to believe that everything her master required could be obtained in the brightly lit shops of Diagon Alley, and in spite of her more comfortable upbringing did not entirely subscribe to the notion that Knockturn was innately ‘evil’ in some way. Still, the comfort she felt in the brighter side of magical London was entirely missing here, and Becky was not about to dawdle in departing.

A sharp uptake of breath left her as she nearly leapt out of her skin, the appearance—seemingly of nowhere—of another person directly in her path halting her progress.

“C-Can I help you?” she asked, hoping the answer was no and that she could be off and away without giving the matter another second’s attention.



[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#2
If it seemed as though Alfred had appeared before the young woman out of thin air, that was because he had. He had walked to Diagon Alley that morning with the express purpose of getting himself back in the habit of apparition, a skill he hadn't had the courage to attempt with the shoddy excuse for a wand that he'd had while abroad. He did vaguely remember that apparition was quite a useful skill, however, and particularly since he had moved out of the Sandition and on to the Voyager, it might come in handy during the intervening month before he departed. The Voyager (and the magical section of the Thames docks in general) was a long walk from most things, and England could be rather cold this time of year, particularly for a man with a habit of forgetting articles of clothing at home.

He'd had to turn back halfway to Diagon Alley because he realized he'd forgotten the wand, which would make the entire exercise rather pointless. He just wasn't used to carrying it, let alone needing to use it for anything. He wasn't really expecting his first attempts at apparition to go very well, but at least Diagon Alley was a relatively wide swath of territory in which no one would be much alarmed by a man disappearing or reappearing (and, potentially, an area where he might get some immediate help should he end up splinching himself).

Alfred did not manage to splinch himself, which seemed like quite the victory. Upon reappearance, he gave his coat and pockets a satisfied pat-down, as if to reassure himself that all of his limbs were, in fact, still attached, then turned his attention to his surroundings. Success, he supposed, had to start small, because he was not where he had intended to be, and he didn't recognize this particular street at all. He also seemed to have startled the lady in front of him — hopefully because she was the easily startled sort, and not because he'd managed to get himself into Muggle London instead of just moving a few feet down the street as intended. He certainly wouldn't trust himself with a memory charm.

"Er, yes, I suppose you can," he said rather brightly. "Can you tell me where we are?"



MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#3
The look she gave the man was at first confused, and then wary. One did not come to Knockturn Alley unless one had a very specific need to do so; the corner one had to turn from its more vibrant cousin was not at all inviting, and the very feel of the air on these streets was almost oppressively dreary. How, then, could he have arrived here by accident? He could not, Becky decided, which meant he was either addled or trying to distract her, both of which could prove a threat to her purse or person.

"We are in London," she returned cautiously, gripping more tightly to her still-empty basket as though he might try to raid it. "Knockturn Alley, to be precise. As to anything more specific, well—" the brunette gestured about them with her free hand. Many of the signs were obscured by generations of wear and grime, but some were still clear enough to be read with little difficulty.


The following 1 user Likes Rebecca Grey's post:
   J. Alfred Darrow

[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#4
"Oh, Knockturn," Alfred said, as though this was a revelation of nearly religious proportions. It did explain why he didn't recognize the area, as he had only been down this way a couple of times on various errands, and that had been ages ago. He hadn't been since his return to the country, and when he'd gotten back it had been difficult to recognize even once familiar streets. There was no knowing, either, whether he had ever been here before, exactly; he didn't really know how extensive this area was, from his brief sojourns here previously. Was it really just an alley, or was that more of a misnomer?

Fiddling with the opened buttons on the cuff of one sleeve, Alfred glanced around the area around him to see if there was anything like a sign indicating the way to go in order to get back to where had had been. That would be the thing to do, he decided — to walk back to the spot he had been, and the spot he had been trying to apparate to, and figure out how far away he was so that he could try again.

Unfortunately, street signs did not seem to be a forte of this particular area. "Well, that explains it," he said with a shrug. "D'you know the way back to Diagon?"



MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#5
He did not seem in the least concerned about why he was hear, and in fact, Becky was finding his reaction to the entire situation to be leaning firmly in the direction of ‘addled’. Had this man, perhaps, escaped from St Mungo’s spell damage ward? His hair, at least, certainly suggested that might be the case. Worse still, what if he had escaped the local asylum? At least spell damaged patients were generally harmless, but mad men? Her body, already tensed, leaned almost imperceptibly away from his own—almost.

It would, the witch thought, be in her best interests to see him quickly sent on his way, but perhaps more civic-minded to direct him instead to the clutches of the authorities.

“That depends on which portion you’re looking for,” came her noncommittal reply. “There are two or three junctures with Diagon proper, at least to my knowledge.”


The following 1 user Likes Rebecca Grey's post:
   J. Alfred Darrow

[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#6
A more perceptive man might have noticed that she seemed to be disinclined to be anywhere near him, but even before his adventures in South America, Alfred had never been the most keen conversationalist. At this point, he was very much out of practice with reading the subtle body language of English women, and likely would not have noticed anything amiss unless she were to resort to physically attacking him. He was a bit discouraged by her answer, however. He actually hadn't known that, since it had been so long since he'd ever needed to come down this direction, and he wasn't really sure what the shortest way back to where he'd started would be. It was seeming rather likely that he'd be too turned around by the time he got back to really know how far off the mark he'd been with his apparition, which was discouraging... but at least he hadn't splinched himself, which had been a definite possibility.

"Hmm," he mused, looking around the streets pensively as though they would deliver him an answer. "Whichever lets out closest to Gringott's, I suppose." He didn't really remember all of the miscellaneous shops that had arisen in Diagon during the time that he'd been away, but the wizarding bank, at least, was a stable and formidable landmark. He could hardly lose his way from Gringott's.

The following 1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post:
   Aldous Crouch


MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#7
Who needed apparition when you had a broomstick? The rush that he had whenever he mounted it* and kicked off was unmatched. Broom was his primary means of transportation just because of how fun it was. His mother niggled at him to take an apparition class "because it is useful." Useful? Yes. Fun? Not in the least.

Which was why Declan now found himself racing through wizarding London on his broomstick. He'd had a meeting with the quidditch deep-pockets that morning. It hadn't gone well. His seven missed goals at the finals had been the elephant in the room. Though all had been painfully polite, he'd left with a sinking feeling in his gut that could only — probably — be remedied with a stomach-lurching, loop-de-loop performing broom ride.

Just as he'd come out of a burst of speed over Knockturn Alley, he'd caught sight of a woman and a man in the alley. Not unusual and he may have continued on, had her discomfort not been palatable, even from his distance. He ought to have slowed down a bit more, angled himself a bit less, perhaps even circled back around. She felt threatened, he was certain of it. He couldn't just let her out of his sight while he attempted to glide into the situation safely. He grasped the broomstick with both hands and dove head first into the alley below.

Unfortunately, the borrowed broom was old and misused (not his doing, of course) and was unable to decrease his speed quickly enough. He did his best to right it, pulling the handle upwards and cursing inwardly at the bloody thing. And then he realized it was too late.

"Watch out!" He yelped, using an arm to wave wildly about in an attempt to get the pair to dive out of the way. He had managed to get horizontal to the alley but was mere seconds away from barreling into them and then smashing into the brick wall behind them.


HI IT'S ME CRASHING YOUR THREAD. I couldn't come up with a reason to jump into the other Kayte/Lynn thread so I'm stealing this one...

*Innuendo not intended, get your head out of the gutter.

The following 2 users Like Declan Wood's post:
   Aldous Crouch, J. Alfred Darrow
#8
Any effort to steer the man right—and right away from her—was promptly thwarted by rather a dangerous commotion. Rather frantically, Becky was able to successfully throw herself out of the path of the impending danger, though unsuccessfully landed in a pile of muck.



[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#9
Alfred saw the broomstick dart into his field of vision a half second before he heard its rider cry out a warning, and pressed himself back against the wall to try and get out of the way. Unfortunately, he wasn't quite quick enough, and the younger man's broomstick ended up colliding rather painfully with his right leg as he jumped back. "Oi!" he yelled, more startled than anything. By the time that brief word had left his mouth, however, the pain had hit, and Alfred let out a loud and quite affronted "Ow!" as he looked towards the younger man for some sort of explanation. For the moment, he had quite forgotten the young lady he had been asking for directions, and had not noticed her collapse into the nearby mud.



MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#10
He grunted painfully as his shoulder and hip smashed into the wall. Somewhere, he was conscious of his broom hitting the softness of another body with a quiet thump. That'd leave a nice, dark bruise. What a day. What a bloody fucking day. Grimacing, Declan glanced toward where he'd last seen the other two — one was far closer to him than he'd realized. The chaser was rather startled to find that he'd pinned him against the wall with the broom. Well, he'd upended the man, at least. So then where was...

Oh.

She'd ended up in the street sludge. Bollocks. His viewpoint of her was much closer now. She looked familiar and he couldn't quite remember her name, but he was certain she'd been a year or two below him when he'd been a student at Hogwarts. A Slytherin too, if his memory was to be believed. Right then.

He scrambled to a better position, pressing his broom against the man's leg in order to keep him pinned, as if this had been his plan all along (it wasn't logical and a good shove would send him sprawling, but what could you do), "Couldn' help but notice that ya looked like you were pesterin' this poor woman, all on her lonesome in Knockturn Alley, mate."

#11
Sore and startled, Becky awkwardly made her way back to her feet, grimacing as, in her efforts to rearrange her skirts, she felt something soft and slimy upon them. Her errands, the young witch resolved, could not be continued with her in this state!

Curious as to what had felled her—though anxious to return home and change—Becky glanced over to see a young man speaking rather menacingly to the man who had been speaking with her just moments before. She remained mum on the subject, curious to see what he would say.



[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#12
Alfred had been rather affronted by the entire situation even when he had initially assumed that the younger man's crash landing had been an accident; when he got the impression that it was not, he was even more annoyed. What did this boy think he was doing with his broomstick still shoved up against Alfred's leg? It was awkward and inconvenient, but unless broomsticks had changed a good deal in the time that he'd been abroad, it would hardly hold him in place.

"What a bloody Samaritan," he mumbled, reaching out and giving the lad a hearty shove on the shoulder in order to dislodge the broomstick from where he'd wedged it, thus freeing himself to shake out his rather painful left calf. "She was giving me directions." He glanced over at the lady in question, seeking some confirmation from her of this story, but was struck by the mess that had become of her. He hadn't watched her jump out of the way of the incoming broom but could very well guess what had happened. With a vague gesture towards her, Alfred said rather sarcastically to the young man, "But she's much better for your help, I can tell."



MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#13
Declan staggered back to catch his balance. The shove was vaguely annoying. It would have been more annoying, had he not expected it - nor deserved it. The girl hadn't run off either... was it possible that he had misread the situation? He'd refused to believe it for a moment, if it hadn't been for the man's indignant response.

"Directions?" He ignored the jab and focused on the lady instead (also ignoring her ruined skirts in the meantime), "Is that so, miss?" Bloody hell. He'd come zooming from the sky to save her from giving directions. What a blooming fool. In an attempt to save face, he added, "Ya don't need ta be afraid ta tell the truth. I'll take care of 'im and ya needn't worry about your safety again." He hoped it wouldn't come to that. Though they were roughly the same size, the man was older and likely more experienced in the ways of fisticuffs. Having only been in professional quidditch for a few years, Declan had yet to participate in any fights himself.

#14
“He—he did ask me for directions, and I was delivering them,” Rebecca answered, though expression and tone alike suggested she was not altogether convinced of his motives. Then again, she was not entirely certain of this newcomer, though she could see now that he was a former schoolmate.

What if the pair were in cahoots to try to rob her—or abduct her? Becky had heard all sorts of horror stories of young ladies going missing in shady neighbourhoods and had, at her least charitable, fantasized about something similar happening to one of the twins. What if she was to become the next Daily Prophet headline?

Good Lord, she really must talk to her master about not sending her to Knockturn any more!



[Image: NBBOv5S.jpg]
— beautiful set courtesy of lady <3 —
#15
Missing her tone and her body language once again, Alfred felt that her answer had vindicated him, not to mention probably embarrassed the young man who'd seen fit to intervene. It seemed like the perfect moment to stroll away looking smug, but there was two problems with that: first, that Alfred had never in his entire life looked smug about anything and wasn't actually sure how to properly array his face to portray the emotion; and second, that he still hadn't actually gotten directions. Striding off even further into Knockturn Alley with a stupid look on his face would likely not have the desired effect, he thought.

The second best scenario Alfred could come up with would be to have the younger boy slink away in embarrassment, and so to (hopefully) induce that to happen, the sailor raised an eyebrow at the interloper and asked dryly, "Are you done making threats, then?"

The following 1 user Likes J. Alfred Darrow's post:
   Aldous Crouch


MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
#16
Declan cleared his throat uncertainly. She hadn't sounded convincing, albeit he had seemingly just asked for directions. The way that the older man had just pressed forward on the topic made him uneasy. You couldn't just gloss over a woman's discomfort — especially when it was being caused by a strange man... in an alley... Knockturn Alley, most specifically.

His pride refused for him to admit that he'd barged in largely on an over reaction. His ears burned as he retorted, "There'll be no more threats if ya just carry on your merry lil' way." He flicked his fingers in the direction he suggested the man go. (Further into Knockturn, since that seemed to be his usual environment type.)

The following 1 user Likes Declan Wood's post:
   Rebecca Grey

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