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.
september 23rd, 1893 — the farbridge-parkinson estate, coventry
Jessamine had barely made it out of the library, fully intending on making her way to the guest room where her things were at and getting some packing done when she felt her wrist being grabbed in order to drag her up a flight of stairs; she didn’t even register what was happening until after she was hit with the silencing charm so it wasn’t like she could protest what she would argue was basically a kidnapping considering she wouldn’t go anywhere with Liliana if she had a say in it. Still, she would tug against her grip and make the journey as difficult as she could anyway, but it was no use as she easily got her into one of the spare rooms and locked it before thinking of letting her wrist go; it was then that Minnie realized she didn’t have her wand with her so unless she suddenly got skilled at wand-free magic, she was basically defenseless if Liliana decided to attack her.
Only after the bedroom was protected with privacy charms and the door was locked so Jessamine couldn’t easily escape, did Liliana finally remove the silencing charm and immediately she went off, “What is wrong with you?! Are you mad?!” She didn’t know what the little bastard wanted with her right now, but they got along as well as cats and dogs as the saying goes and if Jessamine wasn’t trying her best to be a dignified young lady, she may have taken a page out of Miss Fairfax’s book and tore the woman a new one. “You know if you kill me in here, people are going to find out really quick and if I become a ghost, I will haunt you every single day until the day you die,” Minnie threatened gripping her own skirts tightly with a huff.
Was there a fully, well thought out plan? No. Had Liliana thought of full sentences that didn't simply consist of insults and accusations? No. But what she did want was privacy. Because, yes, she was a bastard. She was raised a bastard. She was raised with a dissecting eye on her in the most unflattering light possible, and practically no other attention at all despite what she told herself. So she knew that she had to keep the unflattering bits to herself. Keep the temper private. Keep moments such as this between 'just us girls'.
Jessamine's theatrics were met with an eye roll. After a moment, Liliana gave her a withering stare, "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have bothered to listen to your annoying voice again. What is with your little performance these past few days?" Before properly verbally destroying her, she wanted answer. Perhaps a mean girl to mean girl instinct. Perhaps morbid curiosity.
Liliana would say that in a way more VE way, but Kelly ain't here for trying to mental translate that rn, I'm on a roll
Perhaps it was actually rather absurd to think that Liliana dragged her in here just to murder her; there were far cleaner ways of doing it if she really wanted her gone and most of them involved never speaking to her the entire time Jessamine was away from Hogwarts, but she really didn’t know why else she’d want to speak to her so privately. She huffed when her sister-in-law rolled her eyes at her and seemed to also find her accusation rather dumb and Minnie just returned her comment with a sour, pinched face, “If you don’t want to speak to me, Selwyn, nobody is forcing you. I certainly never want to speak to you more than I have to.” She folded her arms in sort of a protective manner, then furrowed her brows some, unsure what she meant at first, “Excuse you? Performance? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not putting on any performance.”
Her first impulse was to react first. But she waited. Waited for Jessamine to keep going and yapping like a little animal. All the while, her glare was becoming dangerously colder. Upon certainty that Jessamine was finished putting her foot all the way in her mouth, Liliana was across the room before Jessamine could even react to give a good and proper smack across said mouth.
"First. Do not ever address me as Selwyn, bastard, or any other colorful name that you and your little friends at Hogwarts have deemed fit to place upon me. I have married your brother whether you like it or not, I am Mrs. Parkinson first and foremost. Sister may be too hard, Liliana too informal, but you will show me an ounce of respect. Second. You know exactly what performance that I am referring to. You should be ashamed of yourself."
It wasn’t the first time Jessamine had gotten slapped after something she said and unfortunately, she was certain it wouldn’t be the last time either; if it wasn’t for the fact she was already sensitive with everything going on that day, she might have held it together and not flinch as hard as she did, as she was well practiced at taking a beating without saying a word. But, this time, she sort of screamed and flinched hard; the sound mostly got caught in her throat and it sounded more like a yelp, and she put a hand to her cheek that was flushing red in pain and she felt her eyes fill up with tears that threatened to spill out.
Despite all of this, she swallowed hard, wiped her eyes, and Minnie let out a hollow laugh as she figured out what she meant and chose to address that rather than the absurdity of her ever giving Liliana even a modicum of respect by calling her Mrs. Parkinson, “I see, you’ve got everything all confused. You see, when one has a family that doesn’t wish one was dead or otherwise sees them as more than an obligation because daddy couldn’t keep it in his trousers, people mourn you when you pass. I’m sure you’ll witness it once one of the actual Selwyns pass.” Wisteria and Jessamine had their differences and she still probably never would see her as her real sister, but the public saw her as such and she was raised that way and in the end she couldn’t help but feel for her. Minnie was just as surprised by that revelation as anyone, but she couldn’t help what she felt.
There was a certain amount of satisfaction in getting a reaction out of the slap. Especially since Liliana didn't get to slap a bitch that often these days and none really gave a reaction. Still, her frustration and anger were at the front of her mind and the shock didn't seem to last on this little weasel's face. Could she just curl up in a corner and whimper already? Liliana was trying to make a point and she was sick and tired of this child attempting to walk all over her. Liliana had gotten the ring. Liliana had produced a healthy, legitimate child. What more could she possibly prove?
Of course Jessamine would point out the one thing that Wisteria had been faced with as an advantage in life that Liliana had not. Yet the two had still shared their experiences. Still had family members that looked down on them. Still had an 'otherness' that would never go away. Liliana took out her wand and gave Jessamine a stinging hex strong enough to have anyone on their knees. "You're wrong, Jessamine. She was just like me. Unloved by a vast majority in her own home, unwanted, made a fool all her life for something she had no control over. I have seen how you really acted. When she was alive. Your letters when she first passed away. Now everyone is giving you family jewelry and sympathy, so you are playing the sad little sister. You disgust me."
There really wasn’t anything that Liliana could do to make Jessamine like her, as far as she was concerned, not unless she somehow had the power to grant her some sort of wish like getting her a wealthy, powerful first born son to marry or get her a guaranteed spot in some prestigious academic society she’d do nicely in, and Minnie doubted she could do any of that. Jessamine took an unsettling amount of pride tearing the woman down, reminding her that she was illegitimate, that even though she belonged to the Parkinson family now, she was not the ideal bride and she wouldn’t get the same nice treatment as any of the other sisters-in-law that Minnie had. It’s too bad that this would only end up getting her hurt in the long run.
When she was hit with the stinging hex, she screamed loud enough that if it wasn’t for the privacy charms that Liliana placed on the room before they started speaking to each other, everyone downstairs would’ve heard her. Jessamine fell to her knees and she gripped her stomach like she was sure it was about to tear open and she felt the tears she had been holding back after she was slapped initially start to fall. She tried to breathe through it, as she screeched at her, “You’re just jealous that Wisteria was likable! Nobody likes you! Nobody wants you! Even if she wasn’t my real sister, I loved her more than your siblings will ever love you!” She tried to push herself back to her feet, though she was shaking as if she was a newborn deer who didn’t know how to use her legs quite yet, “You’re just angry your siblings would celebrate your death; they wouldn’t even mourn.”
If they had been in school together, back when Liliana was a bright young first year, things may have been different. Back then, Liliana had far more hope when it came to girls like Jessamine. Sure, she still tried to rub elbows with socialites that wouldn't give her the time of day, but she also seemed to gain attention from the shy and desperate debutantes and socialites that were desperate to mingle. She had a purpose in society and held a certain level of smugness towards that. Yet even still, Jessamine still got under her skin and Wisteria was dead.
"And no one will be sad when it comes time for your funeral, Jessamine Parkinson. You are just as unlikeable as I, if not more so, as I am kind to those who are not boarish snobs such as yourself." True, Liliana was a gossiping little bird, but she was manipulative enough to not do it to someone's face. Liliana wasn't afraid to own her mean girl status. And who cares if Cad cried at her funeral? She was hoping to outlive him so she could get dibs on dancing on the jackass's grave.
Even though she was the one struggling to get to her feet, having been slapped and now hexed, Jessamine felt that she was still winning in the grand scheme of things; Liliana may have had the upper hand in the physical fight between them right now, there was no denying that, but she was angry and upset and reacting violently and that meant Minnie hit a raw nerve and that told her even now she could still get under her skin and that pleased her greatly. Jessamine was a bit too smug about it as she managed to stand up, though she took a careful seat on the footboard bench and gripped the seat, not wanting to risk another fall if Liliana decided to hex her again. Goodness! She was as rabid as that first year was; just attacking her like this!
“Oh really?” she sniffed, “I’m my mother’s favorite, Mrs. Farbridge’s favorite, Heather’s closest sister, and even Angelique likes me enough to let me have one of her mother’s treasured brooches. I have a boyfriend, a best friend, as well, so I’ll have plenty of people who will miss me. Can you say the same?” She didn’t care if Liliana thought she was a snob, because she knew that she was; it’s not wrong, in her opinion, to only be satisfied with the best and her sister-in-law certainly wasn’t the best. “Are you done with your tantrum now, Selwyn?” she asked, purposely disrespecting her once again with a dramatic huff.
If Liliana had been born a cat, or was an animagus in cat form, her back hairs would be up and she would be hissing by this point. The bitch before her was barking insistently and a spark in the back of Liliana's head was beginning to entertain the earlier idea of Jessamine's of putting this damn thing down.
But back in the real world, Liliana was coming incredibly close to casting another hex, resisting showing her hand by reaching for her wand too soon in case the girl tried to start running around like a chicken. The reminders of Angelique's betrayal infuriated her. It was becoming clear that the long time friend was now dead to Liliana. She wouldn't be able to forgive this dash to her pride, not with how much allowance it has given to Jessamine in the process.
But something caught Liliana's attention. Peaked her interest. Love was her language. Even more so, how she could use it. Sure, Jessamine could yap on and on, but now Liliana had something. Liliana took this in as Jessamine yapped. Took Jessamine in. Then she finally spotted it. Fuck sake. How could she have noticed that hideous piece of junk before?! Fashion was her passion. But, to Liliana's credit, Jessamine was not.
With a sudden smirk, she roughly snatched the bracelet from her sister-in-law's wrist. "What do we have here? Is this from your boyfriend?" With a flick of her wand, Jessamine was paralyzed. Yes, Liliana was cruel. She was angry and cruel and this was not going to end well for Jessamine.
It took a moment for Jessamine to realize that in all her gloating about how despite her snobbish attitude, she managed to charm so many people to like her, that she had slipped up and said something that she shouldn’t. It was too late to take it back too, as Liliana zeroed in on her mistake and there was no way she was going to just let it go, not after everything the two had been through together. Surprisingly, nobody said much about the bracelet that Minnie was wearing, despite the fact it was clearly not part of the mourning jewelry set she was wearing and was made from clockwork pieces, rather than gemstones and other expensive materials she normally wore. She didn’t wear it a lot, preferring to keep it hidden as she had to keep her feelings in general, but since the dragon attack and Minnie’s anxiety about Elijah’s safety, she’d worn it nearly every day as it brought her comfort, and now it was being torn off her wrist like it was nothing and being held hostage by her worst nemesis.
All the color drained from Jessamine’s face and she moved to snatch her bracelet back from Liliana, but she realized she couldn’t move and her sister-in-law must have put a paralyzing spell on her. “No, please, give it back,” she whined, her heart was racing and it was like her tone shifted from the haughty, bitchy attitude she had a few minutes ago into this sort of helpless, scared one, “It’s not…I was only joking, I was just trying to make you mad.” Jessamine was terrified she would break it and right now it was like her safety blanket since Minnie couldn’t actually see Elijah again until November at the earliest.
Jessamine's reaction was so validating. It felt like going to the sweet shop for the first time as a child. Liliana's smirk was becoming downright giddy. Jessamine had crossed her and now Liliana had dirt. This was incredibly enjoyable and Liliana was owning it. She fiddled with the bracelet in her hands like a cat with a dead mouse.
If it weren't for all the etiquette training, Liliana would have gave a full on snort to Jessamine's sad defense. Instead, she settled for a clicked her tongue and shook her head. No, no dear. "Don't insult me further, child. It won't help you here." Quite frankly, perhaps breaking the damn bracelet would be just desserts. Or handing it over to the girl's father while dragging her by her ear.
The tables turned quickly and it was clear that Liliana would be the victor of this fight, if only because Jessamine looked like she was just about ready to wet herself with how helpless and scared she looked while watching her sister-in-law toy with her precious bracelet while deciding what she was going to do with it. Minnie couldn’t believe she had been so stupid as to not watch what she was admitting to while she was taunting her; not even Chessie knew about her flirtation with Elijah because it was such a damning thing to say aloud. She was too young for flirtations and certainly not with a middle class half vampire.
“Please, give it back,” she pleaded; she didn’t know what sick thing Liliana intended to do with it, but if she told her father about it she was as good as dead. In fact, she wouldn’t be surprised if her father pulled her out of Hogwarts to make sure she could be on 24/7 surveillance and that would be the least of her worries if he suspected anything more untoward happened. “It’s not what you think; it was a gift from Chessie. You know how she makes all sorts of things and studies fashion,” she lied, hoping against hope that Liliana believed her, “She’d be so upset if I lost it. Please just give it back before you break it.”
As Jessamine seemed to deflate further, so too did Liliana seem to float. Smug as could be. Yes, perhaps she would break it out of spite. It crossed her mind thoroughly.
For such a reaction, the further lies her particularly insulting. Liliana froze and gave the bracelet a squeeze. "Now. What did I just say about the insults? I am more intelligent than that, Jessamine." No breaking the damn thing. Even a quick rug of the ear and dragging to her father would be too light of a sentencing. No. She fancied dragging this out. This could work out to her advantage and Liliana was sick and tired of not having any advantage in any of her families.
If Jessamine could move, she would have flinched when Liliana squeezed the bracelet tighter, threatening to break it into pieces, but instead the young girl was stuck watching in horror as she pondered all of her options. She should have known that her lie was flimsy, but she was desperate because she knew that if anyone hated her enough to ruin her life by telling everyone about this so-called boyfriend of hers, it was Liliana. Her words left a perfect opening for Minnie to mock her, to tell her she wasn’t that smart, but those awful words were locked in her throat and all she could do was whine, “Please, Mrs. Parkinson, Liliana, sister, please give my bracelet back. I’ll do anything, just don’t break it.” Her words felt like poison in her mouth, as she never would willingly refer to her as any of those things, but she didn’t know what else she could say now.
Finally. This was what she had been after from the moment she had gotten it in her head to wrap her hand around Jessamine's wrist and drag her somewhere private. Now the discussion can properly begin. A smug smile played on her lips. Her grip loosened slightly. "Better. Those will be the only acceptable terms that I am to be addressed from now on." This was simply the start. For all tense and purposes, Jessamine was her bitch.
![[Image: jessamine-signature.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/kX0svbgT/jessamine-signature.png)
