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
Opulence and gold dripping from the ceilings would overwhelm a newcomer, Diana knew that much, however frequenting these sorts of society events had very much trained Diana to regard such decorations with little more than a passing glance. Dim candlelight had set the merriment off for the evening and she found her dance card almost full. The last dance of the night had yet to come around however Diana was feeling underwhelmed and overheated.
The candlelight made for surprising heat. The available spirits and iced berry punch did little to help the increasing pressure Diana felt around her abdomen. Undoubtedly it was the corset, but she could scarcely undo her corsets in this environment for some respite! Having sat down in order to catch her breath, the debutante could scarcely believe this was supposed to help with over-tight corsets. She placed a hand on her abdomen as she spotted her dance partner coming to fetch her. It was nearly time for the last dance, after which she knew her mother would want her to stay and socialize some more.
While she was normally keen on such traditions, tonight was the exception. Nevertheless, she had to follow through - unfortunately as she got up, the feeling of overwhelming exhaustion hit her with the force of a wall. Her vision exploded in bright colors and she lost her balance. "Oh, my stars!" she gasped out, before collapsing on the floor in a faint.
He came to these things because that was what was done—Julius had surrendered much in his life, but while he was happy to remain well out of the spotlight, he would not completely relinquish his place in society. Besides, everything he could do to undo his father's ills to the family reputation would help the family (in particular, Araminta) moving forward—and was that not his duty, as the reluctant patriarch?
Having friends present helped, and having colleagues present was...fine. He could almost pretend that this was just another work-related function, were it not for the abundance of young women whose mothers would turn up their noses at him. How long, the wizard wondered, did scandal stick?
Though her collapse was far too genteel for him to hear, he certainly saw the woman go down from his vantage point on the outskirts of the dance floor. Scarcely even thinking—those latent auror instincts, it seemed, were not entirely comatose—he moved to the floor beside her, down on bended knee as he gingerly moved his hand so that his fingertips rested ever so slightly upon her clothed shoulder, not wishing to shock her into wakefulness with impropriety.
"Miss, can you hear me?" Julius asked tentatively, knowing that if she couldn't, are you alright? would be rather ineffective.
Someone somewhere was speaking to her, though it sounded like they were speaking from across the crowded ballroom and she could feel a slight pressure on her shoulder. Ultimately, it was the feeling of cold hard ground on her back that shocked her back into consciousness, and Diana shifted uncomfortably to peer up at the face that was hovering just above her.
Brown curls and pale eyes were the first things she saw. As his features came more into focus, Diana blinked in surprise - she knew his face, of course. Her mother had warned her thousands of times about the family and the trouble they'd caused in society, however, Diana – perhaps like her father – usually decided to be rather hard of hearing in the months following any scandal, especially given Allegra's propensity to scold around such times. "I can," she responded, her voice straining as she shifted uncomfortably again. Would that she could take these god-forsaken corsets and throw them in the flames!
She grimaced as a sharp throbbing made itself known near her temple. Closing her eyes only made things worse; only made the stars dance in front of her eyes even more, and she attempted to sit up. "I'm terribly sorry, I do hope I haven't caused a spectacle." she said, risking a glance around her. Thankfully Allegra Fawley was not around to fuss over her daughter, however judging by the number of people around, Diana might as well expect it later that night when they got home.
He gave a relieved smile at the answer—and the fact that she still seemed to be in good spirits. As she moved to sit, Julius' hand moved to her middle back—not lower; Merlin!—to steady her, knowing that she was likely still out of sorts.
"A small one," the wizard answered apologetically, "but I am afraid a spectacle nonetheless." She was not the first young lady to swoon at a ball and would certainly not be the last, but had the misfortune of being the only one, thus far, to do so at this particular function. That position did, alas, lead to a bit of drama in the air.
"If you feel well enough to stand, we might remove you to the balcony for some air—but only if you feel well enough."
Diana mustered the strength to not bury her face in her hands, however the desire and embarassment to do so definitely flitted briefly across her face. She grimaced as she risked a glance around again, and her gaze moved back to Mr. Scrimgeour. He must have had more experience with ladies fainting than she realized, for his suggestion struck her as something he hadn't offered for the first time in his life. She nodded in agreeance. "I belive I am in a good state to move to the balcony," she responded, taking his outstretched hand and attempting to get up. She was careful to not put too much of her weight on him – merely enough to help her get up and onto her feet – before she took his arm properly and was led out onto the balcony.
The change in temperature from the ballroom to the balcony was an immediate boon the night granted her in light of the evening's recent events. She breathed a great sigh of relief as the air hit her person. Just as refreshing as a cool glass of water, she smiled easily. "What a beautiful night. I thank you for helping me back there, I am indebted to you Mr. Scrimgeour." She curtseyed her thanks, smiling up at him.
The night air washed over him, and Julius let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. While it had been instinctive, to offer his assistance, it had also put him very much in the center of things, a position Julius did his best to avoid give his family's magnetism for scandal. Leaving the ballroom freed him from this renewed scrutiny, leaving the wizard feeling quite relieved.
"Any gentleman worth the title would have done as much," he dismissed her thanks, a verbal shrug. "No thanks are needed, Miss Fawley—though I trust you are not too bruised by the ordeal?"
Diana had to chuckle. While his family's repuatation might have been tarnished forever, it at appeared that his temperament had not been equally damanged - at least not on the outside. She let go of his arm and instead placed her hands upon the cool railing. While she certainly didn't feel like she would faint anymore, light-headedness certainly still sat upon her like a blanket. The cool concrete below her palms somehow cleared her head.
"I supposed my person is none too bruised, no." she replied with chagrin. "The state of my pride, however, remains to be seen."
"Would that I did not know what that felt like," Julius answered, a wry smile on his face, though not one that quite made it to his eyes. "I daresay, Miss Fawley, that yours shall recover, though—by the evening's end, I would wager someone else will be the talk of the evening."
It was a shame that real life 'blunders' (could you call your father being sent to Azkaban and your sister running wild a mere blunder?) were not as quickly moved on from as those at parties. Still, Miss Fawley did not seem to think him some sort of pariah (nor a talking point, at least not in his presence), for which Julius was grateful.
There rested the proverbial erumpet in the room. Diana could feel a faint flush creeping back into her cheeks; this time it had little to do with the fact that she fainted in the middle of a society ball. Pray her mother didn't get ahold of her later that night.
Her lips parted as she employed what her brain could work up in its still hazy post-faint state. Should she play along with the wry jest, or ignore it as her father ignored her mother in her diatribes about Diana's station in life? Perhaps cast a sympathetic look to address the former and then comment on the latter? That sounded the best and most safe course of action. "Should any of this reach my mother," she said ruefully. "it will not matter, she'll consider it a slight upon our family's name." An equally rueful chuckle to show her opinion on the matter. Where her mother's concerns lay, she knew the talk would be about the person who had collected her after she'd fainted rather than the actual act of fainting.
"Mothers can be... formidable," came Julius' response. He had heard tell of those that were not, of course, but had never encountered one in her natural environment for himself.
"But if only to curtail your mother's dismay, perhaps a triumphant return to the party would be prudent," he suggested, "that the talk might be of your strength rather than your perceived failing."
With her lungs freshly invigorated by the cold night's air, Diana couldn't help but give an audible sigh as she accepted the reality of the situation. She smiled wryly at the wizard and nodded her aggreeance.
"I believe you are quite right, Mr. Scrimgeour." Placing one hand on the stone railing behind her, she pushed herself forward, but not before savoring the feeling of the cool stone against her hand. "Best get back to the festivities, else my mother think something.... nefarious happened." Honestly though, Diana thought, with a glance at the unobscured glass windows they faced. One could see straight to the balcony from inside.
Still, it was best to hold her chin up and get back to her mother who had no doubt already heard of her fainting spell. "I must thank you for your kindness, Mr. Scrimgeour." Diana smiled softly. "I feel quite refreshed, and I believe am well enough to return."
Julius gestured for Miss Fawley to go ahead, not quite ready to rejoin the party yet. While the shadows surrounding his own reputation grew shorter and shorter, they were still present—and outside was so mercifully quiet. A life on the fringes—precisely what his father had condemned him to. In this moment, though, Julius did not mind it so much.
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