Nicknames: Ned
Birthdate: October 28th, 1856
Current Age: 36 Years
Gender: Male
Occupation: (not yet technically) Partner at Flourish & Blott's
Reputation: 9; respectable other than the unpleasant situation with his former friend and someday business partner
Residence: London
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand: 12" pear and unicorn hair, stiff.
Blood Status: Halfblood
Social Class: Middle Class
Family:
Father | Flambourius "Hal" Flourish | deceasedAppearance:
Mother | Mrs. Flourish | b. 1834
Wife | Marion Flourish | b. 1860
Son | Percival Flourish | b. 1881
Son | Robin Flourish | b. 1883
A man of average build and dark complexion, with bright and expressive eyes. He keeps his beard well trimmed (because he can manage that on his own) and wears his hair long (because he seldom wants to step away from work long enough to visit a barber). Ned's expressions always look as though they hint towards the future: hopeful smiles, anxious brow creases, wistful looks. In the shop he can usually be found stooped over some bit of work which means he's often some degree of sore or tense, and has a tendency to stretch during casual conversations to help with this. He has a decent sense of fashion but doesn't replenish his wardrobe often, which results in most of his clothing being several years out of date and a bit worse for wear, often sporting ink stains on the cuffs. His cologne is citrus & clove. He is right-handed. Face claim: Avi Nash.History:
Personality:
the Youth Who Set Forth to Learn What Fear WasNed is the product of a long line of wizards on one side (his father's, who have owned and run Flourish & Blott's since 1456) and a first-generation witch on the other (his beloved Muggle-raised Mama). His father's fascination with magical history and tradition is tempered by his mother's practicality (it is her doing that he is named Edward and not something akin to Flambourius Flourish II). Ned remembers his parents as perfect complements of each other, though their primary passion differs: his father's has always been the bookshop, while Ned's mother's passion was him. It is somewhat noteworthy that the pair never had more children, but if there is a reason behind this Ned's mother has never discussed it with him.
Despite his lack of siblings, Ned grew up feeling as though he had a brother; his father's business partner Mr. Blott was as good as an uncle to him, and after he has a son of his own in 1859 the two pass most of their childhood years playing together (and occasionally getting into mischief) in the shop or in nearby Diagon Alley. After one memorable incident where six-year-old Ned knocked over a bookcase in the shop and had to face his father's disappointment, he more often advocated they venture out into the Alley. The two boys run amok for several years, mostly unchecked by their parents who are (in both cases) often busy with the shop and (at least in Ned's case) exceptionally permissive. Ned takes the responsibility of looking out for the younger Nick Blott very seriously, despite Nick not especially wanting the oversight.
Another incident occurs when Ned is nine where, after being separated from Nick, somehow manages to get himself lost in Knockturne. When his mother eventually locates him several hours later she is in near hysterics. Ned feels appropriately chastised by her reaction and makes an effort, for the first time in his life, to behave. He spends long stretches of time reading, drawing, or making small craft projects in a corner of the shop, within earshot of his parents... though he can still be occasionally persuaded to adventure by Nick.
the Three Snake LeavesAs Ned approaches Hogwarts age, his father becomes ill. Focused on his work, Mr. Flourish stubbornly refuses to see a healer for a long while, and when he does they are unable to do much except ease his symptoms and hope the sickness passes on its own. It does not. Ned's father gradually declines and eventually passes away a few months before Ned receives his Hogwarts letter. Ned, who had spent several months frantically reading every book he could find on healing, anatomy, and Muggle medicine, feels distraught and helpless. His mother manages her grief through keeping busy, and for the next two or three years is always seen bustling. She takes on all of the shop tasks that were typically his father's (despite Mr. Blott's professed willingness to help), manages the preparations for Ned's school, and even remains engaged with a few charities and social events that can be appropriately attended during mourning. Ned had always loved his mother, but looking back at his life it is the period immediately after his father's death that is the root of his deep respect for her.
Ned's mother is constantly saying things like your father would be so proud if he could see you now, particularly as he approaches various going-off-to-Hogwarts milestones, which is perhaps an influencing factor in him being sorted into Ravenclaw — it feels like the outcome that would make his father proudest. He applies himself well at school, earns good marks, and makes a few friends, though on every school holiday his closest friend remains Nick Blott. (This, too, is perhaps somewhat influenced by his father's demise; it would have been natural for Ned to have gravitated towards older boys particularly during the few years when he was at Hogwarts and Nick was still back at home, but Ned's father and Nick's father had always been friendly, and it seemed like the sort of thing the old man would have liked to see).
the Glass MountainBy Ned's third year Nick Blott has joined him (disappointingly but unsurprisingly not as a Ravenclaw). Despite the differences in year and house they remain close friends throughout the remainder of their school years. Ned continues to do well in classes but does not seem to have a type of magic in which he particularly excels. He floats the idea of leaving school after OWLs to his mother, to help more with the shop, but is easily persuaded to stay on for NEWTS; the shop is actually doing fine without him, much as he would like to be helpful, and his mother insists that a complete and robust education will be vital to him throughout his life.
After graduation Ned goes, of course, to the shop. His mother is reluctant to let him take on too much too quickly, despite his clear enthusiasm. Perhaps she intuits that once Ned really devoted himself to the bookshop there would be no turning back. He works for several years in an employee capacity while his mother encourages him to be involved with society and meet people — in short, to enjoy his youth. He eventually persuades her to give him more responsibility — acting more as a manager — but his mother remains involved in the shop and continuously prods him to go meet people. Specifically a girl. Whether his mother thinks this might be more appealing to Ned than her more generic directives previously or whether she's legitimately eager for him to marry is unclear, but it does have an impact on him — as he's wearing his mother down on the subject of how involved he can be with the shop, she's gradually warming him up to the idea of romance. When he turns twenty-one two things happen: he resolves to start thinking seriously about the idea of marrying, and his mother finally allows him to step into the role of partner in the shop (though on paper she retains the title). Those two things are probably connected, but it's difficult to say whether Ned's mother rewarded his decision to think of marriage with the shop role or whether Ned agreed to think about marriage as appeasement for his mother after getting the position he'd been angling for so long.
the Nightingale & the RoseIn August of 1878, Ned meets Marion. Their first interaction actually occurs after she accidentally stole their carriage at a party, which Ned finds more amusing than anything else (he had not been particularly interested in the event — his mother, who was a supporter of the charity the event was meant to benefit, thought it considerably less amusing). Despite the brevity of their initial conversation, Marion captures his attention and excites his imagination — even before learning her name he has begun to wonder what it might be like to waltz with her. Although his mother seemed oblivious to the chemistry when it occurred, she takes note of how distracted he is at future events and surmizes that he has developed an attachment to someone. Although she doesn't yet know who, she does everything she can to encourage the sentiment — particularly since it's the first time Ned has shown much of an interest in the opposite sex or in society in general, at least from her perspective. All his mother's encouragement is for naught, though, since he doesn't even know her name!
Fortunately Nick comes to the rescue; he knows her from Hogwarts and makes the introduction (whether by coincidence or by design, Ned never bothered to ask). Ned is smitten with Marion more or less immediately; she's charming and intelligent and beautiful, and as he learns more of her history he admires her resilience (in this respect she reminds him a bit of his mother, though of course Ned knows better than to ever openly compare a young woman he fancies to his mother, even if the comparison is a complimentary one). It doesn't take long at all for their relationship to develop from interactions within social events to paying calls, then to making definitive plans to see each other for this event or that. By the end of the year, Ned takes the logical next step and proposes. Marion accepts.
Cat & Mouse in PartnershipNed is perfectly content to leave the planning for the wedding and the preparations to transition the household in the capable hands of his fiancee and his mother (who, unbeknowst to him, do not particularly enjoy sharing authority in these matters). There are only a few things that are solidly left to him during the process: signing the lease on the house he and Marion will live in; keeping his appointments at the tailor; securing his best man for the wedding. By this point asking seems like a pointless formality — who else could it possibly be other than Nick Blott? — but a formality that proves very difficult to accomplish, as Nick is rather hard to pin down in the days and weeks following Ned's successful proposal. Eventually Ned realizes what might have been obvious much earlier, had he not simply refused to believe it: Nick is actively avoiding him.
Of course it can't last forever, because they essentially have exactly the same social circle and spend time in all the same places. When Ned eventually corners Nick to ask what's going on, his best friend more or less erupts. Apparently he was in love with Marion (which initially shocks Ned, but in hindsight he can piece together the signs of it) and had thought she returned his feelings (which, in the moment and forever afterwards, seems properly delusional to Ned — given that she had quite obviously been courting him all autumn). These revelations rather put a damper on the idea of Nick being the best man at the wedding. Following the confrontation, Ned isn't sure what to say to his friend or how to act around him... which turns out not to be an issue for very long. Shortly after the wedding, Nick switches jobs, leaving the shop for a Ministry position, which Ned takes very personally (how could this be read as anything other than a way of saying I want nothing more to do with you?) and in the following weeks disappears from their lives entirely. This grieves Ned, who literally can't remember a time in his life without Nick as his best friend, but he has no idea what to say or do to repair the gap — and it's quite clear that Nick doesn't want it repaired, anyway.
the Snow-Daughter and the Fire-SonAlthough still smarting from the loss of his friend, Ned does at least have plenty in his life to keep him busy. His mother, content to see him all grown up at last and ready to start a family of his own, cedes control of the shop over to him entirely (in coordination with Mr. Blott, of course, who still owns half the business whatever Nick is about). At the same time, he and Marion are busy learning the ins and outs of setting up a household of their own and navigating their new marriage. They deliberately postpone trying for children at first — it seems the sensible thing to do — but about a year into their marriage they feel ready (or at least ready enough) to be parents. Their first son, Percival, is born in 1881. Ned's mother is exceptionally helpful during their transition from partners to family, even moving in to their spare room to be on hand. Ned is delighted to have her there, and delighted with the baby, and delighted with fatherhood in general (because, of course, he isn't doing any of the hard parts).
Around Percival's first birthday, Marion expresses some frustration with Ned's mother continuing to live with them, which honestly confuses him. From his perspective, his mother has never been anything but kind and helpful — but if Marion doesn't want the help, all she had to do was say so! A short conversation with his mother is all that's needed to smooth things over again; she moves out of their home and into a smaller flat in London, still near enough to visit frequently.
In 1883 their second son, Robin, is born. Ned (and his mother) again dote on the baby, while at the same time Ned is beginning to enjoy having actual interactions with Percy. As the children grow, he becomes more and more involved in their lives, particularly by reading to them every night before bed, engaging in their imaginative play on his days off, and — after they decide one day that the book they had been reading was 'boring' — by creating elaborate stories to share with them. Soon "papa's stories" eclipse any of their usual bedtime books, and they begin asking for stories when they see him throughout the day as well instead of only just before bed.
the Crane WifeTime passes and his wife seems... different. Ned can't put his finger on it, because she's still engaged in the shop events, still spending just as much quality time with their children, still managing the household just as well, and she still says all the right things. Something is definitely off, though, and getting gradually more off as the days go on, like a crooked shelf that starts to sag. He can't talk to her about it, because he can't get her to admit that anything is different, but the worry nags at him.
Eventually the anxiety bubbles up into suspicion when he sees his wife interacting with a young, wealthy, handsome author and publisher. She has good reason to be talking to him, and that fact alone isn't what sparks Ned's concern... it's that she seems to light up when talking to him that she hasn't been lately. The conversations are ongoing (the gentleman in question being new to the publishing industry, and therefore both a very viable and potentially very lucrative partnership for them) and the suspicions only grow. He knows that Marion is corresponding regularly with the gentleman as well, and she seems to jump straight to a response when the owls fly in...
So he looks in her letter drawer one day while she's otherwise engaged. The tone of the letters seems far too familiar — at least to someone already poised to jump to conclusions, as he is. Ned is hurt and betrayed on his own behalf, but also dismayed and angry on behalf of their children that she would turn her energy and attention towards someone with the potential to destroy their family. After stewing over the letters for nearly two weeks, he eventually confronts his wife — a conversation that becomes (thankfully not literally) explosive.
Marion has a reasonable explanation for everything, and while he's at first resistant to any sort of reconciliation, Ned eventually does start to doubt himself. This leads to a week-long stalemate, after which Ned eventually collapses into apologies and conciliation. Marion is, understandably, not immediately appeased by his change of heart. Ned determines to win back his wife's trust, however long and difficult that may prove.
It proves very long and difficult indeed. For the next year things between the two of them are more often frosty than not. They both make an effort to keep appearances smoothed for the outside world and to maintain the pleasant familial atmosphere their children are used to, but behind the scenes they sleep separately for nearly a year and can hardly get through a conversation about anything without an argument. Eventually they transition from grudging tolerance to amicable coexistence to productive cooperative parenting.
the Happy PrinceAs his relationship with his wife continues to be turbulent, Ned focuses more of his energy in his sons. The stories he has always told his boys throughout their lives take on new life as he begins to write and illustrate some of them in his free time, though he's too self-conscious to present them to a publisher. After his mother catches wind of his work she is immensely supportive and encourages him to present some of the stories as occasional reading events in the shop or through puppet shows for local children, both of which she coordinates. She also — to his loud embarrassment but secret pride — sends two manuscripts to a publisher friend of hers in 1891, who proceeds to publish them. They aren't wildly successful, but they do exist, which is more than he had hoped for!
In fall of 1892, Percival goes to Hogwarts. Ned is terribly proud of him but also misses him immensely. The shared milestone does give him an opportunity to patch things up a bit more with his wife, and he begins to very tentatively rekindle the romance in their relationship... though he is, despite himself, still often distracted by suspicions that her attention has drifted elsewhere and she is no longer invested in their relationship. He tells himself constantly that these thoughts are only his own insecurities, but that doesn't make them stop.
AFFABLE | DEDICATED | OBSESSIVE | EXCITABLE
Set by Lady ♡
