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
Elsie was a little too excited to have Zelda come for a visit. She loved her family dearly, obviously, but with each confinement to the house and this time actually minding her manners about it, she was getting to the point of stir crazy. Fortunately she had secured an afternoon with her mother and Lottie for the children, who were almost as eager to have them as Elsie was to send them. Tyb was who knew where, but she had suggested that perhaps he abscond from the house for a little while so she and Zelda could discuss lady's things.
With tea on the table in the sitting room and Elsie perched in her favorite armchair, feet tucked up beneath her as she worked on stitching up a pair of Bentley's trousers, she heard Mrs. Robinson announce Zelda's arrival and though she wished she could, she was too entrenched in the chair to get up and greet her friend. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm far too round to get up quickly these days." Elsie said by way of greeting, smiling, enjoying the quiet, but also ready for adult conversation.
She motioned for Zelda to take a seat wherever she liked. "I'm glad you could come by today, I feel like it's been so long since I haven't seen someone I'm related to or that works for me." At least the weather was still nice and she could go outside. The Park was still off limits, not that she ventured quite that far anymore, but if she could coerce Tyb to go with her, it might have been possible.
It was nice to have a friend in Elsie Kirke — Zelda's dearest female friends were Delight and Rowan, and while she would do anything for either of them, they did not have children and she was worried that they would not understand issues of motherhood. Or — she was sure that they would understand her, but she was not sure they would understand the root of the reason she wanted to gut check this with someone.
Zelda had brought some chocolate sponges with her from the Sanditon, and deposited them onto the table with the tea before she dropped into one of Elsie's offered armchairs. She flashed a smile at the other woman. "I remember being that round, you're absolutely excused," she said cheerfully.
"And thank you for having me — it's important that I don't get too entrenched in the Ministry, especially because my husband goes underway soon," Zelda said; she was excited to have easy excuses to leave the house when Alfred was on the Voyager, because the last two winters had been rather lonely.
"You think I would be used to it." The children were all about eighteen months apart, this was the third time and it hadn't been any worse, really. "You're welcome any time. I could use some adult conversation, truly." Elsie loved this time home with the children, obviously, but she had always loved her work as well and it was hard to be gone for the long periods of time. The balance of working part time was good for her, kept her from going a little stir crazy, even with Miss Halliwell to help.
Elsie leaned forward awkwardly to fix her tea before leaning back, balancing the saucer on her belly with no shame. It was the perfect perch and she doubted Zelda would care. "Oh, is he off again?" Els didn't know how Zelda handled that. If Tyb was gone for any length of time, she would lose her marbles. The snowstorm had been bad enough to turn her into a basket case, never mind months at sea. "That must be difficult." She passed Zelda a soft smile of understanding. She was curious what it was that Zelda wanted to discuss that she'd mentioned in their letters, but was here to listen to anything the other mother had on her mind.
MJ always makes her so pretty
September 14, 2024 – 9:02 PM
Last modified: September 14, 2024 – 9:02 PM by Zelda Darrow.
"He'll go once the sailing season ends," Zelda said. It had been a few years, so she was not unused to Alfred being gone — and this time, hopefully, she would not be alone with a newborn or very pregnant. (It was far too late for the former to happen, but the latter was, technically, not impossible.)
"It'll be alright — if a little tough with the routine change on the children," Zelda admitted, with a sheepish smile. "At his age, Orion won't really remember the last time he was underway."
Elsie nodded along. Tyb was so hands-on with their children that she couldn't imagine not having his help with them. But she supposed that Mr. Darrow's work was necessary, and so he had to do what it was he needed to, in order to provide for his family. "A change in routine is the worst, I swear. I won't even go anywhere at nap time, lest we get off schedule." Els tried to keep them roughly in the same routine, though it ebbed and flowed with how successful she was.
The suggestion of letters nearly came forward, but Elsie thought that might even still be too abstract for Orion to really get. "But he must have such good stories to tell when he returns." Though she would never outwardly share her opinions on the subject, as it truly was none of her business, Elsie had to wonder just how Mr. Darrow could still, with two children and a wife at home, pursue such a career. Surely there was something closer to home that he could do. "But again, you're welcome to visit any time, with or without the children, if it helps." If Zelda needed some help, Elsie was more than happy to give it her best.
Zelda smiled. "He does have good stories," she said cheerfully. Honestly, part of why she had originally been attracted to Alfred was that he had so many stories to tell her — and while things were no longer quite the same, she did still enjoy them. "Maybe I'll bring them next time. My sister's usually happy to take them — she misses when her own children were small."
Somehow Katia missed when her children were small. There had been so many of them, and Zelda couldn't imagine it for herself — but Katia was just like their mother. Zelda was rather looking forward to when her children were old enough to have conversations with her, to learn to sail, to — do all the things they could do when they were a bit older.
"The girls will have to learn to be gentle with the new baby when the time comes," Zelda said, with a gentle indication to Elsie's rounded belly.
Els smiled at the thought of a house full of their children running around playing. It would be chaotic, certainly, but Elsie had already gotten used to her two, and now that Maisie was also already on the run, nothing was safe. It was wild to think that some time in the not-so-distant-future, they would all be off to Hogwarts within a few years of one another.
"Whatever works best for you, we're happy to have you any time." Just Zelda, with the children, however it worked best. "Bentley is a pro, it's Maisie I'm a little worried about this time. She does love to beat on her brother." Both of her children were much more like Tyb in personality, so far, which she loved, but sometimes it was exhausting. Maybe she would get lucky with this one and she would get one more like herself. Then again, if she could have six or seven miniature Tybs she would be quite content, so she wasn't about to complain. "I can't imagine going from two to three is any different than one to two." She chuckled. Ben's pregnancy had been fraught with social expectations, but with each addition to their family, Elsie grew more and more content and felt perfectly at ease with having more. Not the ten Tyb liked to joke about, but a couple more, at least.
Carina was still slightly too small to effectively terrorize her elder brother, although they did play peekaboo and block games together when Orion could be convinced to slow down. Once she was a little bigger, crawling and then walking, Zelda was sure that Carina would only be a few steps behind her brother — the trouble would be, once Orion took to the water, keeping Carina from getting in over her head.
"You're so confident at this," Zelda said, with a muted smile. "How do you do it?"
Elsie had to tilt her head at Zelda's appraisal of the situation. "Am I?" Was that how she came across? That was new. Elsie had never appeared confident in anything, unless being asked where a book was in the library. "I am winging it, just like everyone." At least she thought so. Perhaps it was the fact that before Tyb, she had never actually envisioned having a family. She had been content with her books and the library and she would have been the spinster aunt that always had good treats and a shoulder to cry on.
It seemed impossible to envision her life like that now, but she did not feel so confident as Zelda seemed to think she was. "I feel like a crazy person on the inside, if that helps? Between being up with Maisie at night still sometimes and chasing Bentley around, who is admittedly much quicker than I have ever been, it's one day at a time." Ben was hitting an age where he liked to tell her and Miss Halliwell 'no' more often than anything else and he was always into something he shouldn't be. The only one he didn't sass was Mrs. Robinson and thank Merlin for that. Maisie was right behind him, though did show a little more caution. "I have birthed two miniatures of my husband. I am confident in that and that alone." The would keep her on her toes from now until they started having children of their own.
"But taking my half days at the library helps, when I am not quite so round." She would have gone crazy by now if she didn't and she always felt a little mad by the end of each confinement. "Good help, Miss Halliwell is heaven sent. Tyb is very involved. I've got a good support system." Her mum was around, Adella liked to take the children every once in a while as well. If she were truly doing this on her own, she wouldn't have made it this far.
Winging it, one day at a time, a good balance. Zelda tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Zelda beloved that Maisie and Bentley were miniatures of Tybalt; with her children, she thought it would be impossible to tell until they were allowed on a sailboat.
"I have a good support system," Zelda allowed. "Even when Alfred's gone — the Fudges are lovely, and I have all my siblings." Caroline was helpful, but with her new job she was hesitant to rely too much on Evander, because she had a sense that he disapproved and did not want to give him a new reason to. And Zelda had a sense that Katia and Ros may be judging her, too, but they at least loved her.
She sighed. "I don't want a third child right away," Zelda admitted, with a flush in her face. "And sometimes that makes me feel like a bad person."
It was good that Zelda had help and that she wasn't drowning in motherhood. "I didn't either," Elsie admitted with a smile. Having two, already eighteen months apart and now the third on the same schedule was a lot. Els felt like she rarely got time without being pregnant these days. The problem was that her husband was just too lovable and she couldn't keep her hands off of him. Add in the prolifically fertile Beauregard family traits and she was doomed. It was alright though, it wasn't forever and she truly didn't mind being pregnant, even if she did miss the library when she could no longer go.
"It does not make you a bad person, there's nothing wrong with waiting a little while in between. Adella is three years older than I am and there are four years between Harvey and the tw—" Elsie caught herself. "And Lottie." She fixed her features and kept going. "You've just started your new job, Mr. Darrow will be away for a while, there's no rush." Els reasoned gently. She thought that everyone should do what was best for themselves and the rest would fall into place, this was no exception.
Zelda didn't know what emotion she'd expected, but relief washed over her in clear waves. Elsie didn't think she was a bad person. She smiled back at Elsie. "I have so many siblings," Zelda said, with a laugh — she didn't want to make Elsie feel the swollen bruise of her dead siblings, so tried not to say anything about it. "And at most it's — two or three years between us all." Zelda didn't know how her mother had done it. The love and patience she'd had for them all felt boundless, and Zelda was the youngest and always trying to keep up with them.
"But I don't think I want that. I never thought I'd even get married before I met Alfred," she admitted, with a wry smile.
Elsie was starting to realize that she and Zelda had more in common than she thought. It was funny how they had gone to school together, just a couple of years apart, but had never made such a connection before. As the seasons of life changed and theirs lined up, it seemed that Elsie had been fortunate.
"I did not think I would marry either," Elsie pulled a wry sort of smile. Her marriage had never been guaranteed; at points in her life hadn't even been a possibility, but no she couldn't think of it any other way. She had always been content with her books and the library, had thought it would be enough.
"But it is still your life to lead, and there is no right or wrong way to do it." If Zelda wanted to wait for a third, if she never had a third, "As long as you are happy and hopefully Mr. Darrow is on board." Elsie now always thought of her life in tandem with Tyb's but that was the nature of their marriage from start to finish; she simply could not think of it any other way.
Zelda smiled back at Elsie. "I suppose you're right," she said.
The trouble was never really that Alfred would argue with her. The trouble was that Alfred would agree because it was what she wanted, because it would make her happy — Zelda remembered, still, how he had been willing to take measures to avoid getting her pregnant even on the first night of their (technical) marriage. And beyond that — Alfred would do anything to make her happy, if it came down to it, because she had run away with him once or because so many people had spent so long telling him he didn't deserve her, no matter how much Zelda had told him that he did.
So — he was on board, but whether he was on board because he agreed or because he wanted to keep her happy, Zelda couldn't tell, and she did not know how to be sure.
"Thank you," she said, and despite how shy she felt about it she was glad that she'd talked about Elsie. "Now. Where are you going to put the third baby in here?"
Pleased that Zelda seemed to be more at ease, Elsie hoped she had been able to help. She had so few friends, that she always wanted to do whatever she could. "You're very welcome." She smiled softly.
At Zelda's question, Elsie could only chuckle. "That is a great question." They'd always kept the baby in their room to start, but Maisie had made the transition to the nursery well enough. Ben seemed to enjoy his own room and his own toys. "In with us for a little while, let everybody adjust." She always felt better too, having the newborn close by. "I suppose it depends on who gets outnumbered this time." Elsie had a sneaking suspicion it was another girl, something about this pregnancy was more like Maisie's than Ben's, but she wasn't brave enough to say anything to anyone about it lest she be wrong and people got their hopes up.
"I'm not too sure how Maisie will take to sharing, but only time will tell." She shrugged, laughing. "And then I think I too might take a little break." Three babies, all eighteen months apart was a lot for anyone.
Zelda laughed back at Elsie. "I'm sure she'll get used to it eventually," she offered. Certainly her older siblings had all gotten used to things — although maybe if Zelda or Xena had been better at sharing when they were children, they would have gotten along better.
"And there's nothing wrong with taking a break," Zelda added, with a twinkle in her eyes. Elsie did seem like the sort of person who could handle a lot of children in a way that Zelda couldn't — but three children were certainly different than four would be. And this might give Zelda an opportunity to scope out what it was like, to try for three.
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