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 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
August 20, 1894 — 12 Grimmauld Place, London Ursula Black
With so little time left before school, Phin found that he was getting increasingly antsy. He never quite felt right at home--which was unfortunate, since it was his only option--and the closer the time of his departure came, the more eager he was to be away. Even though it wasn't really getting away--Father and Sirius would still be there, after all, adding the indignity of being related to the headmaster and the head boy to his first year at Hogwarts. Still, it was a big castle. It had to be better than home, right?
So, Phin was just trying to keep his head down until it was time to head to school. Which is probably why, when he walked into the parlor at a time he expected it to be empty, it was not. "Mother," he greeted.
Like constellations imploding in the night
Everything is turning, everything is turning
Ursula exhaled heavily and lowered her copy of Witch Weekly snappishly. What was he doing here? The child had the unfortunate effect of immediately souring Ursula's mood merely upon appearing in her line of sight. It actually nauseated her to look at him. How Phineas hadn't noticed how his namesake looked remarkably like the late Darcy Potter, she didn't know. She was grateful for it, but Merlin's beard the resemblance had only worsened as the boy aged. She'd earnestly hoped for some freak accident or incurable disease to blight the child before he got her found out. Phineas knew she'd been unfaithful in the past, but as far as he knew all of their children were his. Belvina at least had the good sense to look like her, unlike this ungrateful whelp.
Phineas. His name always set her teeth on edge, even though she'd been the one to choose it. She could've referred to him by Algernon, but she felt like calling him Phineas would help disguise him where his appearance failed to do so. Perhaps Phineas calling his namesake by his own name would maintain his ignorance more effectively. Still, it was hard for her to use the name of her husband whilst locking eyes with a young Darcy Potter.
She was determined to say nothing more, she'd wait for him to scurry off and leave her in peace or else declare his intent and then be sent scurrying off. It wasn't easy staring him down expectantly, however. A part of her was convinced that every second she spent looking at or thinking about this boy increased the risk of her finding a gray hair later. Outfit | Tag: Phineas Black II | Notes:
Phin stood awkwardly for a moment, in case his mother was going to say anything else. He wasn't surprised when she didn't. Right. Well, he was here because he'd left a book in this room earlier, and well, he was here now, so he wasn't going to just leave.
Phin crossed the room and found his book where he'd left it on a side table and, in what might be a moment of contrariness, sat himself down in an armchair across from his mother and opened his book in his lap.
Like constellations imploding in the night
Everything is turning, everything is turning
He didn't explain himself, the precocious little brat, he just marched right in to the room. From the corners of her eyes (she was hardly going to turn her head and let him know she was interested in his movements) she watched him pick up a book. Assuming he'd turn right back around again, she was in the millisecond of movement in redirecting her eyes back to the publication in her lap when she realized he wasn't moving as expected.
The boy was sitting down. Ursula felt a rush of fury so sudden and violent that she felt the heat of it in her face. She tore her eyes away and turned her face a few degrees in the opposite direction from him just to make sure he didn't think she could possibly be looking at him. The little fiend. Why the hell hadn't she smothered him in infancy? Generally, Ursula didn't have the stomach for getting her own hands dirty like that but he might just be the exception. Merlin, she hoped some horrific accident befell him at school.
Why are you loitering, Phineas? She pronounced each word with great care and deliberation, as though they were delicate glass ornaments she was setting down in a display cabinet. Outfit | Tag: Phineas Black II | Notes:
A good son would probably apologize and take the hint to leave. But everyone knew Phin wasn't a good son. Oh, he tried. Of course he tried. But it never seemed to matter what he did.
"I'm not loitering," he said. He did not look up from his book. "I'm reading."
Like constellations imploding in the night
Everything is turning, everything is turning
The audacity! Of all the children she'd conceived, he was undoubtedly the worst of them, worse even than the bastard that had preceded him or Cygnus who had wrecked her body and almost taken her life. You have other places in which you can read, do you not? The tension in her jaw could be heard in her voice. Needless to say, the question was rhetorical. Outfit | Tag: Phineas Black II | Notes:
