June 9th, 1888 — Mulciber Residence, Wellintonshire

“Perhaps when you’re through at Hogwarts, we’ll hire a valet for you,” Rufina teased as she moved to straighten his tie. This was not the first time that she insisted upon inspecting Merriweather before a function, nor would it be the last—but the momentousness of the occasion was not at all lost upon her.

He might not have been her natural child, but Rufina had long considered the boy—no, the man—in front of her to be her son. How had he grown from the knobby-kneed little lad she had acquired upon marrying Ernest into the…admittedly still quite thin, but much taller gentleman before her now? Rufina felt herself beginning to tear up, but willed the droplets to remain in place, lest she embarrass her dear boy.

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Turning seventeen, and having it be this whole big thing, was more than a little nerve-wracking. Rufina had put a lot of preparation into this, because of course she had, which could be a good thing or it could be... really, dreadfully, embarrassing. But there would be champagne!

He was also pretty sure that she'd straightened his tie about a thousand times but, well, whatever.

Merry grinned at his stepmother. "I thought only real married adults got valets," he pointed out.

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"If that were the case, fashion would go altogether to the wolves," she scoffed in answer. "Show me a young man who claims to dress himself, and I will show you either a dandy or a liar. After all, I am sure most young men would agree that it is more...fashionable to have a valet see to him before an event than his mother!"

Not that Rufina would not have loved to continue serving that very purpose for her own young man, but she was all too aware of how he had been pulling away in recent years. It was, she expected, altogether normal, but that fact did not lessen its sting.

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Merry grinned again. "I guess you have a point," he conceded, because she totally did, and was almost always right about society things besides. Maybe this was because Merry - like his father - was often daunted by social events, but still, Rufina had a talent.

"Thank you," he said, "For the party." He was still terrified of what it held - absolutely terrified - but it was a nice effort, regardless. He'd heard there was champagne.

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“Don’t be foolish!” Rufina chided kindly, moving a hand to cup his cheek affectionately. “I should hardly dream of letting such a momentous occasion pass without suitably honouring it!”

Besides, with people present, Rufina was much less likely to burst into sobs at the fact that her Little Boy™ was now a man grown. He might not yet be married, and he might not be capable of growing a beard, but legally, there was nothing that Merry could not accomplish now.

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Merry grinned. He did not like being the center of attention - and knew, even then, that he would probably be wildly uncomfortable once he stepped out - but she'd really tried. "I guess I should go out there?" he said; he'd meant to phrase it as a statement but it did not come out as one.

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"Just one more thing," she offered hurriedly, reluctant to share him with the world just yet. With a reassuring smile, Rufina moved to the desk, upon which she had previously placed a box. She opened it now, revealing a pair of monogrammed cufflinks that she now offered to him.

"I know your father chose the more traditional gift for you," Rufina explained bashfully, "but I could not let him have all the fun."

"Fun" and "Ernest Mulciber", Rufina thought, were seldom coupled together in the same sentence.

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If it were not his birthday - namely, if he was not already vaguely nostalgic about turning seventeen - Merry probably would have been indifferent to the cufflinks. As it was, he smiled softly at them and turned them over in his hand. M. M. They were admittedly rather snazzy, the sort of thing he was apparently to wear to Events for the rest of his life. "Can you help me put them on?" Merry asked, very tentative.

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She would have insisted on doing so anyways. The rational part of her repeated that over and over and yet—the fact that he had asked her, that he needed her, was almost enough to make her weep for joy.

"Of course," Rufina replied diligently, bending her head to do just that so that he could not see how pleased he had made her.

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Even if he embarrassed himself dismally today, at least he had cuff links. That was the adult thing to think. The adult thing to think was not that he was never telling any girls that his stepmother had put these on him.

Once she finished, Merry shifted his shoulders. "So is that it?" he asked. Was it time to - unleash this?

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She gently ran his hands along his shoulders, theoretically brushing them but in truth, wanting to keep him to herself—just for another moment. But Rufina knew she could not hog him forever: he had a party full of guests to attend to.

“It’s time,” she agreed, smiling warmly.

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— graphics by mj ❤ —