Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1895. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Complete a thread started and set every month for twelve consecutive months. Each thread must have at least ten posts, and at least three must be your own.
Did You Know?
Did you know? Jewelry of jet was the haute jewelry of the Victorian era. — Fallin
Snow beat against the windows of the cottage; Emilia fed another log into her wood stove. She was not sure whether or not she would be able to sleep. It was far past the usual time she went to bed, but usually she didn't feel so locked-in — usually the snow was not piling outside of her door, and usually she did not have her beloved sister-in-law continually reminding her of the women who were likely giving birth right now, unassisted.
"Do you think your flatmate's alright?" Emilia asked, quietly. She topped-up both their teacups. Emilia had noticed Winnie's absences from her flat; she had also noticed her return.
What better time to investigate than now, when they were locked in together and Winnie was worrying helplessly about her clients? It would spare Emilia from worrying about potential anomalies causing the storm, and about the struggles she would face in trying to get to the Ministry of Magic tomorrow.
The incessant pacing didn't do much to dispel the built up energy, even as she recounted who of her clients was currently close enough to due for this storm to fuck everything up. "Hmm?" Winnie looked up as Em added another log to the fire. "Oh, Ivy's fine, she's resourceful." And her handsome baby constable wasn't far away either.
They weren't even that far from her own townhouse, but for one, Winnie was not dumb enough to brave the weird weather and two, she would much rather be here. Emilia and Edison were good distractions from the worry about any of her mothers possibly giving birth on their own tonight. It kept her from worrying about the people she cared about too. Thankfully those she cared about most were right here (or tucked away safely at Hogwarts), so she didn't have too much to think about.
"Who do you think has done more laps, me or Ned?" She laughed finally, trying to break the tension in her own limbs.
Emilia was glad that Winnie would not go back home to a frozen roommate, but the answer didn't appease her desire for gossip. She was going to have to find another way to ask — maybe a way to be more direct. If this snow kept up, then she would have plenty of time to do so.
"By my math, you're winning," Emilia said, smiling as she poked fun at her sister-in-law, "But I'm sure if he's trapped in here tomorrow he'll catch up to you." Emilia loved her son, and thought that he was much more mature than other people his age. However, he was still a teenage boy — and she was sure he had things he would rather do than spend time with his mother and aunt.
"I don't think it's natural," she said, tilting her head back towards the snowstorm.
Winnie had to laugh at that, pausing by the fire to warm her hands, finally able to slow down a little. That Emilia thought the snow unnatural was something. Em would know what could qualify, with all of her tinkering down in the bowels of the Ministry. "Is it ever not around here?" Fire, plagues, fog, curses. Hogsmeade, though more often a haven, had done its fair share of spells as hell.
"He's much younger, more energy. I'll wear myself out eventually." Or drink herself into a stupor, which she normally didn't do, but if she was going to be housebound for any length of time, there was no harm in getting drunk. At least she was here, with company and distractions. If she were home, Ivy would only entertain her for so long before she was left alone with her thoughts and that was never good these days. Too much time on her hands, or too long in solitude, she started to think about Dory. But that door had been closed and she knew she shouldn't go knocking anymore.
"Yes, but it has a larger radius than usual," Emilia replied. She had gotten her instruments set up to take some readings of the weather before leaving the Ministry today, because she was interested in the cold temperatures, but now she wished that she had brought some of them home with her before the implosion.
"We'll see when he really starts to go stir crazy," Emilia added. Her son took after her in most respects, but there was a touch of his father in him — Kit would never have abided being trapped like this, even before his kidnapping. After — he really would never have tolerated it after.
"Ugh," Winnie scoffed. Knowing the storm was bigger than normal wasn't helpful to her mood. She stopped her pacing and flopped dramatically into one of the chairs by the fire, pulled a throw blanket into her lap.
The question after her brother saw Winnie waving a dismissive hand. "Of all people, I'm sure he's fine." Kit could entertain himself somehow, even if he wasn't very good at being stuck anywhere either. Must have been a family trait. That Emilia was asking after him was more curious than the storm though. Win only knew so much of what went on between Emilia and Kit as it really wasn't any business of hers, but she was curious. Not curious enough to flat out ask though. She valued her friendship with Emilia too much to piss her off.
"I hope it doesn't last as long as the fog." Winnie might start pulling her hair out.
Kit would be fine; Emilia had to believe Winnie that he would be fine. She stepped away from the window and settled into the armchair next to her sister-in-law. "It can't," Emilia said simply. This couldn't last as long, because it would kill them first — the freezing cold, and the piled-up snow, were not amenable to human life.
That wasn't soothing, though; she would not say it out loud.
"Are you ever going to tell me why you're back in your flat full-time?" Emilia said — despite the rudeness of the sentence, her tone was demure, and she looked at Winnie over the top of her mug of tea expectantly.
Well Winnie was hoping that Emilia was just as right as she was about Kit. There would be no surviving this if it did carry on.
Mimicking her sister-in-law's motions, Win resumed her seat, rubbing her hands together. "Nosy bitch," she sighed. She probably ought to talk to someone about it, but Dory had always been her secret and she felt like it would be a beginning to end sort of tale. "It's a long story. You sure you want to hear it?"
Emilia laughed; getting called a bitch had startled it out of her. "Of course I do," she replied. "It's not as if we have anything else to do. Or as if my life is interesting."She hadn't had intercourse in years — Winnie had to give her something to live vicariously through.
Winnie laughed as Emilia did and then launched into the rather long-winded story of her complicated relationship with Dory; the pregnancy, the fights, the Bad Birthday, the final break up. She did her best to keep the emotion from her voice, but some leeched out toward the end. She sighed heavily, having curled up in her seat, withdrawing a little into herself. "He wants more than I do and I can't change that about myself." Win truly did not want the house and the children and a little garden to tend. She enjoyed her freedom and the fluidity of her work; none of it was conducive to a marriage or a family.
Emilia listened patiently to Winnie's story, and at the end, reached out to pull her sister-in-law into a one-armed hug. "You are not less than because you want different things from other people," she said into Winnie's hair, "And you will find someone you can be everything for without wanting children."
Leaning into Emilia's hug, Winnie felt a little lighter for having gotten if all off her chest. She had been bottling it up for so long she thought she might burst sooner rather than later; that had been a good, cathartic release of the pent up emotions. Of course her sister-in-law's assurances brought the sting of unshed tears to her eyes at Emilia's support, more than sadness brought on by the topic. Win had always felt like less, in her own family, in her personal life, in just about everything but her work. Having family that did accept her for who she was meant more than she could articulate in this particular moment.
"I know, it's just hard. Thanks Em." She sighed softly. "Now where's the wine?" She laughed shakily, trying to break the tension, even if the need for a drink was real.
![[Image: Winnie-Sig-W94.png]](https://i.ibb.co/vhYTmc6/Winnie-Sig-W94.png)