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
Cecelia was chaperoning her tonight. This was Hanna's best opportunity, she thought — she had not made any dire social missteps this season, but she also had not found Her Future Husband. So she tucked herself into the powder room at the start of the cocktail hour, one drink in, and took the luck charm she had bought at Lochrin's Protective Goods out of where it was securely tucked into a hidden packet in her puffy sleeve.
A husband she thought, pressing the amulet into her hand so hard that she was sure it would leave a mark for a few minutes. I need to find a husband.
When she looked back at the mirror, she thought she looked a little brighter — more color in her cheeks, and as if the way her actual necklace was catching the light was more delightful. She was wearing marigold tonight; she always felt more confident in marigold, but now she felt bolstered. The amulet was going to bring her her husband.
She tucked the amulet back into her sleeve and left the powder room. Hanna reached to grab a drink from the platter of one of the waiters, and her fingers grazed the hand of a man who was reaching for the same drink — instead of pulling back, she looked and smiled at him, thinking is this him?
She was delighted to see it was Mr. Hudson, whose acquaintance she'd made only a few months beforehand. Hanna moved her hand away from his, a second too late to claim that it was instant, and grabbed hold of another drink. "Mr. Hudson," she said, "It's a delight to see you again."
Dean tended to do quite a bit of work with the Magical Games and Sports department, plus he knew Fitz to be good craic, so anything set up by his wife was bound to be a good time. Cocktails and conversation were right up Dean's alley and so he would be remiss to pass on such an opportunity. So far he'd gotten to practice his Arabic, which was helpful, and caught up with an old friend of the family, but had yet to get into a conversation of much interest.
Fortunately the Sanditon was never short on opportunity to find somebody he wouldn't normally get a chance to flirt with. He'd ordered an old fashioned from one of the waiters, not quite one for the signature cocktails on order. He tended to drink his liquor straight, but supposed this was as good a time as any to have something he didn't make at home. As the waiter returned, a tray full of other requests along with his, it seemed, he had reached to take his, distinct from the rest, when a hand grazed his. "Miss Applegate," he greeted with a grin, amused that her hand was still on his, but not long enough for him to do anything with it. "Delightful indeed, now that I know you are not trying to purloin my cocktail." He said as he pulled the rocks glass from the tray, passing the waiter a tip casually and efficiently.
How did she flirt? Hanna had to flirt; he was her future husband, and she was the only one who was aware of it. She kept smiling and looking up at him; it was important to maintain eye contact, no matter how twitchy it made her feel. "Oh, there's still time for me to try as much," she jested.
"Would you like to try it? It's an old fashioned." Bourbon-based, but not so harsh. It had a fruity notes to it. "I could get you a nice red wine, if you prefer?" Dean remembered that from their last conversation. Dean was not sommelier, but he knew enough to know which bottles were expensive and therefore should be of higher quality and taste. One did not travel as much as he had and not pick up such notions as to what alcohol to drink.
"I'll try it," Hanna said, enthused. She had never had an 'old fashioned' before, and wasn't entirely sure she would like it, but the amulet had her feeling bold. "And maybe a red wine — but I'm trying to be adventurous, tonight."
Pleased she was up to trying it, Dean handed it over and flagged down the same staff member he'd just plied with a tip a few minutes ago to get her wine. If she liked the cocktail, she could have it and he would drink the wine.
His lips curved into a slow smile. "Adventurous?" His curiosity was piqued. He didn't exactly know what that meant to a debutante, but he was willing to find out if she was ready to share.
"Yes," she said, with a nod. To her own ears, she sounded confident — more confident than she had sounded in years. She was not worried about talking too much, or sounding confused or unsure — because she knew, in her bones, that Mr. Hudson would be her husband. The amulet had told her. Mrs. Hudson had a nice ring to it.
"Although," she admitted with a wry smile, "I have not decided entirely what that means." She took a sip of the cocktail and grinned. "This is good! And — do you have any ideas?"
Thoroughly amused by Miss Applegate's demeanor this evening, Dean quirked an eyebrow at her. "I haven't decided what the evening was to look like yet." He admitted, motioning for her to keep the drink if she wanted it. "What is it you would like to do?" He didn't know what proper debutantes got up to on evenings such as this. It wasn't a formal event, no dancing, no formal introductions. They were at the Sanditon, which provided plenty of opportunities to adventure in whatever way she deemed fit. Dean was usually just along for the ride.
She now had two cocktails in hand, and Mr. Hudson had offered her to keep his — (how exciting!) Hanna glanced down at both of them and then extended her original cocktail in offering; she was not sure he would like it, as it mostly tasted like lemons, but that felt like the move she ought to make in this moment.
"I think I'd like to explore," she said, "If we're here."
"A physical adventure, then." He mused as he took her lemon concoction, fingers brushing hers gently. He took a tentative sip and realized it was only a Tom Collins. Gin was perfectly fine by him. The red wine he'd ordered could be split, or they could leave it in favor of their meandering. "Have you ever been to the Sanditon before? I must admit I haven't had the pleasure." The beach was a delightful place, though he preferred warmer waters, he could certainly make an escape here if desired.
His fingers brushed hers briefly, and Hanna felt the thrill of it. She took another sip of the old fashioned. "Not really," she answered, "That is to say — only for parties." She'd seen the ballroom, and now the restaurant — but she longed to go to the boardwalk and hear the waves crashing against it. "Is there anything you particularly want to see?"
This had the potential to be a fun adventure indeed. Neither one of them had been outside of the resort itself it seemed and Dean was more than apt to take a little stroll, straddling the lines of propriety if she was willing to bend the rules a little. "I am more of an outside person myself," minus certain activities. "We could see the beach?" It was nice and warm outside after all. "Would you like to finish these or bring them with us?" He raised the glass he had managed to halfway drain with his last sip. Having the alcohol in his system would liven things up a little, even if he didn't typically have a problem with that.
She beamed; she was too excited to bother hiding her excitement. She was certainly going to marry him, especially now that he had invited her to walk on the beach with him. "I'd like that," Hanna said, as if her grin had not given it away. "Let's finish them," Hanna said, and raised her glass to toast him before she downed it. The old fashioned went down in a large swallow, and she smiled again, hoping she had not looked too undignified while drinking.
"Follow me out?" Hanna asked. They couldn't walk out together, after all — it would be terrible to start their courtship with a scandal.
Delightfully surprised when Miss Applegate upended her drink in one sip, Dean chuckled under his breath. She seemed quite eager to go and he was still trying to gauge why that might be and where this was going to go, but he was open to the adventure of it. "I'll be out in five. I'll meet you down by the water." He raised his glass to her and let her set off before hid finished his own and found a table to set them down on. That red wine was going to have to go to someone else and it was fine. Dean did not mind in the slightest.
He meandered around the room, checking his jacket pocket for his flask, pleased to find it in his pocket and full, slipped through the crowd easily enough toward a different exit. Five minutes was plenty of time to make this look incidental and not intentional and so he meandered through the hallway on easy steps before taking the nearest outside door. Hopefully they would be able to find a spot without any supervision and away from the prying eyes of the party. Or at least far enough away from anyone looking for plausible deniability. At a distance, he could be quite generic (even if he thought nothing of the sort about himself) and so it should be fine.
Should.
Following a head of dark hair, Dean came up behind her slowly. "There, much better." He intoned with an air of teasing.
She was almost a spinster. Hanna was hoping that fact would keep her from getting spotted. She walked out of the restaurant, finding her steps more unsteady than they'd been before the cocktail, and her mouth tasted like the heady fruit of it — she was able to regain herself once she was outside, a few steps off of the path outside of the restaurant.
She looked down at her dress; adjusted the positioning of the amulet, and tugged on her bodice so that the top of her chest was just slightly more visible. She turned her head when she heard his voice, and smiled again. "It's nice out here," she said, "With the breeze."
"Agreed, a sea breeze makes everything better." Dean had spent a lot of his travels on some sort of sea breeze and it brought back fond memories. And the desire for a little fun. "Where shall we wander next?" Dean looked toward the docks and then toward the expanse of beach that seemed to be largely empty. He could just feel the gin swimming in his blood, but now he was mostly running on adrenaline and the thirst for some fun.
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