1865
| Declan is born, the first child to Flynn & Maeve Buchanan. The two are very much in love, and Declan grows up in a household where the children are taught that romance is attainable — especially because Maeve loves reading romance novels. He is joined by Fiona in 1867, and Sean in 1869. |
1872
| Declan levitates while Fiona is trying to fight him, his first sign of magic. MacKenna is born. |
1875
| Maeve becomes pregnant again, and takes an abortion potion as she does not want another child. She becomes quite ill from the potion, but does not die, and does have the desired miscarriage. The Buchanans explain this to their children, (in childlike terms), leading Declan to develop a deep belief in bodily autonomy. |
1876-1877
First Year | Declan goes to Hogwarts, where he is sorted into Hufflepuff. He is a hard-working student, but not an outstanding one — he is told he can complete his second year but not a third. He is an introvert, but does alright at making friends. |
1877-1878 Second Year | Declan strives to learn as much as possible his Second Year, knowing that he will not be returning for a third. He gives Fiona all of his tips for Hogwarts, although he expects her to take it like a storm, instead of quietly. In the summer, Declan becomes an errand boy at a shop in magical Dublin. |
1879
| Maeve becomes pregnant again. Declan is home enough and old enough to know that his parents discuss abortion, but that they decide that they are willing to try it — Maeve is old enough now that this baby feels like a gift. |
1880
| Until the labor comes and stays and does not end, and eventually the midwife emerges with a squalling baby boy and Maeve has died. Father names the baby Maeve II — despite Sean and Declan advising against it. When Fiona comes back for the funeral, she stays in Dublin and never goes back to Hogwarts. Declan starts boxing for money. |
1881 Striking Out | With a baby in the household, Declan desperately wants to bring in more funds — he gets a job at the front desk of a Dublin bookstore. |
1882
| Now that he's seventeen and it's legal, Declan begins dueling for cash, as well. |
1883
| Nothing for it — with MacKenna set to go to Hogwarts in September, Sean leaves after his fourth year. Declan is planning on moving to Hogsmeade, and asks his brother to come join him in, but instead, Sean heads to London — and the whispers Deck hears about his reputation imply he is getting into things he really shouldn't.
Declan, meanwhile, moves to a spare room in the Slums of Hogsmeade, and gets a job as a bartender at one of the inns in town. He gets very used to people talking to him about their problems. |
1885
| It turns out, it's hard to work as a bartender when you show up with black eyes and split knuckles and people ask too many questions about you, which you cannot possibly bear to answer. Declan leaves the pub with a decent reference, and is at a loss — he can't work in household service and keep his hobbies. He wouldn't keep his hobbies if he could afford to, but someone needs to help pay for schooling — the Buchanan siblings are determined Maeve II will get at least five years, given the mess of his childhood. And if Father keeps going the way he is, Deck will need more funds, too.
He gets lucky and finds a role as an Assistant to an Assistant Printer at Whitby & Co. |
1886 | Declan spends the summer mooning over a printshop client who is upper class, and is quietly devastated when she marries. |
1887
| Declan spends some of his spare time scribbling a romance about the summer of 1886 woman in his notebook. He is promoted to Assistant Printer at Whitby & Co. |
1893
| Declan is distraught when Edmund Whitby wastes away and dies at the end of the year. He can't imagine leaving the Whitby girls now — not when he's worked there for so many years. And yes, he could maybe get paid more elsewhere — but his extracurriculars help him make up for it. |
1894
| Maybe he should write a book? |