Perpetua & Huxley

It was a marriage for love. Mr. Creighton was an upper-class gentlemen, though his New Money status certainly raised her father’s eyebrow. Nonetheless, the two were quite happy, though struggled with fertility. Then the business went down the drain. First the house in the country went—Perpetua resigned herself to life in the city. Then they were forced to downsize to a smaller home. By the time her husband succumbed to a disease of the liver, Perpetua was all but left in the gutter. Finally overcoming her pride to ask her father for assistance, he would neither give her money nor invite her to live with him, but instead found her someone stable enough to support her and the boys but stupid enough to marry a woman two years his senior with only the promise of an inheritance as a dowry.

Huxley's mother’s natal name was not an exciting one at the time of her marriage, though her brother Garfield had done well for himself. Still, Josephine was attached to it, and so passed it on to her son. Huxley was always one who envisioned more for himself, but lacked the skill, money, or (according to some) even sense to get it. It was a fluke that he found Benjamin Percy, who was willing to make a deal:  a grand inheritance upon his death if Huxley would wed his widowed daughter and care for her and her in the meantime. Emboldened by these promises, Huxley consented.

Little Dezzie

1862 | Desdemona presents as the third child to Huxley and Perpetua. She is a sickly babe at first, but by the time she turns three (and isn’t dead), she is as healthy and hale as her older siblings.

1866 | Another daughter is born, Cressida. With Perpetua so advanced in years, Huxley doubts he will ever get a son, and is quite discouraged by the number of dowries he will have to provide. It is a week after her birth that Huxley makes his decree: all daughters shall be permitted two seasons to find a husband. Anyone attached after this shall work so as not to be a burden.

1869 | At forty-five, Perpetua delivers what will be her last child, a boy called Florizel. This year, Dezzie finally has her first showing of magic, straddling and levitating the broom used for cleaning the kitchen. In September, Isabella departs for school.

1871 | Cordelia joins her elder sister at Hogwarts.

Miss Collins

1873 | At last, it is Desdemona’s turn to go to school! She finds herself entirely shocked to be sorted into Gryffindor, and very displeased as neither of her sisters are there. Now frightfully tall for her age, she finds herself quite shy, and it is not until December that she actually manages to make a friend.

1875 | For third year electives, Dezzie selects Care of Magical Creatures and Earth Magic, liking the idea of spending time out of doors. Also in her third year, she joins club quidditch, not having the guts to try out for her house team.

1876 | Isabella finishes at Hogwarts. Ever the beauty, her first season is a smashing success, and she is married by the end of the year, though seems rather less thrilled by this than Desdemona would have expected.

1877 | Desdemona becomes an aunt when Isabella has her first child. In September, she is joined at Hogwarts by Cressida.

1878 | Cordelia finishes her education. After a brief flirtation with the season—during which she managed to turn down two offers! —she decides to follow her passion of becoming a healer. After a less spectacular showing in the OWLs than she had hoped for, Dezzie returns to school for her sixth year. At the NEWT level, her classes are Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Transfiguration, and Astronomy.

1880 | Desdemona finishes her education and has what she is certain will go on record as the least successful Season ever. In September, Florizel finally begins his studies at Hogwarts.

1881 | Unwilling to embarrass herself for another summer, Dezzie takes up quidditch as her mandated job, joining the Holyhead Harpies as a chaser—a position her mother once held on the same team—on the second string.

1883 | Cordelia announces her engagement in May, though her father is not overjoyed by the match. In August, Desdemona accepts an opportunity to play for the newly established Hogsmeade Howlers, knowing that her current limited experience—two years—would never see her on the first string of a more established team.

1884 | Cordelia marries Mr. Porter in April. Many of their relations—including their father—perish in the Laughing Plague during the summer, and Dezzie also finds herself quite concerned when Arthur Pettigrew takes ill as well.

1885 | Arthur and Desdemona begin courting, and Art proposes incredibly publicly later in the year. Florizel gets a grand total of one OWL and so cannot return to Hogwarts in the fall.

Mrs. Pettigrew

1886 | Dezzie becomes Mrs. Desdemona Pettigrew in February. Though delighted to be married to Arthur, she finds herself terrified at the prospect of becoming pregnant. A joke gift of a condom from one of Art's less savoury friends (does he have any other kind?) turns into a child-free agreement between the newlyweds.

1887 | Arthur goes off to Canada to visit another unsavory friend, and Dezzie does her best not to be too put out.

1888 | The discovery that she is pregnant ruins her life is a source of conflict between Desdemona and Arthur, and the former leaves quidditch for the sake of her unborn child. There is not a single part of this ordeal that Dezzie is not apprehensive about.

1889 | The turn of the new year sees Desdemona deliver a healthy baby girl, called Gwenog Andromache Pettigrew. Now that the baby is here, she is not entirely sure what she's supposed to do with it.

1890 | A scandal involving the (male) coach of the Holyhead Harpies and one of the players sees both removed from the team's roster. Desdemona assumes the role of the former, thrilled to be back into the quidditch world but sad that her age and newfound motherhood have benched her from the game itself. That summer amidst the tragedy of the Quidditch World Cup, Dezzie faces her own personal tragedy, losing the child that she had been carrying. This contributes to both her newfound anxiety surrounding quidditch and the decline of her marriage.

1891 | At Easter, Dezzie learns that Arthur has been gambling again and confronts him about it. This results in an emotional blowout and Art departs and then...doesn't come back. So Dezzie follows suit.