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
The allusion to the Florist Potts visit had an immediate affect on Noble, because he was remembering kissing Daff up against the workbench in the greenhouse. She was being a tease, right now, but he was definitely into it - and wishing, again, that they were in private and he could get away with kissing her.
Noble chuckled at her before responding. "Oh, very," he said, "Between the ingredients themselves and the pretty flower shop girl, I have no complaints at all."
Clementine Greengrass wasn't certain whether it would have been better if she and her sisters had remained at home, that she might probe them for information on all that had happened since she left for the new term. The allure of the teapot trials, though, had proved very strong—indeed, many of her classmates had been talking about it for the past week! Besides, the Hufflepuff rationalized, this at least would give her an opportunity to see how Grace and Verity fared in public.
It was only once the girls were seated that Clementine really began to notice that Noble had fallen behind, but then the competition began properly and she found herself very much distracted by the spectacle of it. A strong student of transfiguration herself, she had even brought along a small notebook in which she jotted down observations in her own shorthand for later transcription into her journal. Only once most of the contestants had successfully departed did she remember her brother's absence and, after telling her sisters where she would be, set off to find him.
Aha! the witch thought, a bright smile on her face as she spotted Noble from behind. He appeared to be in conversation with a young lady—a client, perhaps?—but interruption had never really been something Clem had shied away from.
It was only when she was just behind that she heard it: "Between the ingredients themselves and the pretty flower shop girl, I have no complaints at all."
Merlin's beard, he was flirting!
It was one thing, Clementine thought, to see one's classmates involve in mild flirtation, but another entirely to witness it in a sibling. She could not recall ever regarding either brother in such a situation, and she hastily clamped her mouth shut to keep from laughing.
Tragically, there was nowhere she might hide to spy further, forcing her to make her presence known.
"Noble!" she greeted brightly. "Do you intend to join us, or have you forsaken your dear sisters altogether?" As she spoke, her eyes looked over the young lady. Her brother was right in that she was, indeed, pretty, which made it all the more difficult for Clementine to keep herself in check.
A sly sort of smile curved Daffy's lips upward, pleased with his response, but before she could say anything else, she heard a distinct giggle and then one of his sisters (the youngest? Daff didn't immediately recognize her which generally meant it had to be Clementine) made herself known.
Oh. That was... Probably not good.
Daff smiled a little more demurely, eyeing Noble carefully, lest he spontaneously combust at the notion of one of his sisters seeing them together. They'd been so careful for so long and thankfully nothing 'untoward' had happened, but if she'd heard what he just said, well... Daffy looked at Clementine again, subconsciously shifting away from Noble, though it pained her to do so.
Noble recognized that giggle, and the sound of it inched up his spine in a terrifying way, and he knew who he was going to see even before he heard Noble! He straightened out of the casual posture he'd been in a moment before, and removed his hand from the side of the stands - he knew that staring or looking resigned would just make this worse, but he couldn't contain a slight frown. Fuck.
"Right," Noble said. He glanced at Daffy, casual; "I really ought to rejoin my sisters, Miss Potts."
Daff knew the immediate answer, though she actually wouldn't mind getting to know his family a little bit, they simply weren't there yet. Noble had already visibly changed his demeanor and Daffy was not about to push any limits right about now.
"Very kind of you to ask," She passed Clementine the same airy smile she reserved for acquaintances, hoping to remain neutrally distant. "But my own sisters will probably be wondering if they were making the cocoa from scratch with how long I've been gone, I'm so easily distractible." She was quite easy to lure away from whatever thought or task she was occupied with, and often, especially by Noble and the chance to see him, (anyone who knew her well would know this,) but she didn't think now was the time to elaborate outside of fabricating her excuse.
"Enjoy the race." She said with one last smile, not even daring to chance a glance at Noble, as she moved toward the stairs.
Clem was being smiley, and Daff was leaving, and Noble wanted to be swallowed by the earth. He gave Daffy what approximated as a normal human wave before he turned back to Clementine, with a vaguely stricken look: "Please don't."
She ought to let Miss Potts go, Clementine knew. After all, it wasn't the poor girl's fault Noble was flirting with her—and it would be so much more fun to tease her brother if she did not need to be on best behaviour...
"Don't what?" Clementine asked her brother obtusely, a devilish glint in her eyes.
Noble waved a hand at her. "Don't make this a thing," he said. The last thing he needed was his sisters poking around in everything — they couldn't be caught, because if they were caught then Noble was going to have to admit that this was probably not going to work.
"Oh but Noble," Clementine protested delightedly, "it already is! You know, I have a Miss Calla Potts in my house. She did always seem as though she would make a delightful younger sister!"
The real question was whether to savour this turn of events for herself, or to share what she had witnessed with Grave and Verity. It was likely quite fortunate for her brother that Clementine was so apt to keep secrets.
Noble made a pained noise before he could think better of it. He liked Clem, usually — she was clever and stubborn and he understood her better than he did his other sisters. In this moment, though, he wished he was faced with Verity or Grace. Grace would have been too uncomfortable to poke fun at him, and Verity would have simply admonished him, he thought — he didn't know what Clem was planning.
"Clem," Noble said, sounding more desperate than exasperated.
"You needn't worry," she reassured her brother kindly. Clem waited only a beat before ruining that, brightly adding, "it is much more fun if it stays a secret!"
Some of the fear left him, and was replaced right away by suspicion — Noble couldn't help but narrow his eyes at his youngest sister. "I suspect our definitions of fun differ," he said. She was going to want something from him. But what was the alternative? He couldn't have any of his family looking at Daff with actual scrutiny.
"It is likely the case, yes," Clementine agreed, putting her hand through his arm, "but so long as someone is having fun, it can't be all bad, can it?"
Noble sighed. He offered Clem the hot chocolate he was still holding. "I suppose I'll live," he said, exasperated, "As long as you don't tell our sisters?"
![[Image: JQOtKDt.png]](https://i.imgur.com/JQOtKDt.png)
![[Image: Daff-Sig95.png]](https://i.ibb.co/TBsRxFSq/Daff-Sig95.png)