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
Mire hadn't wanted to start the new decade around her family. She loved them, in a way, but she felt like they were all looking down upon her. Especially when Odette was getting married in eighteen days.
Eighteen days, and she'd be the oldest Lecyur daughter. In name, at least. Her twin would always be the oldest. There wasn't going to be much time of her being the eldest girl with her last name. Soon after, she would be married. Or eloped, depending on how viewed the very public marriage with little to no other public acknowledgement.
And a class lower than what she currently was. She hoped it wasn't a very hard transition. She loved Sun dearly, and couldn't imagine spending her life with another man.
He was a family man, and she wondered if he minded (even though she knew that he'd never tell her) spending the start of the new decade with her and not with his family. She wondered what he'd told them about his noticeable absence from his sister's new years party
MJ made the pretties ♥
January 26, 2020 – 11:27 PM
Last modified: January 26, 2020 – 11:43 PM by Sun Smith.
Had, but would never. He was a family man, a gentleman bred from years of education and a respectable family. He would never leave them to be without a word of warning. Sun loved his family dearly, brothers and sisters all rooted in places of his heart, though now his beating organ had given space for another kind of affection.
It was… strange. Different than everything he had ever felt. Was it better? He couldn’t quite put into words, whether better or worse, because it had consequences. But when he was with her, he felt alive. When he was near her, in-between their hushed whispers and conspiratory laughter, his heart throttled inside his chest.
He knew she was the one he wanted to spend the beginning of this year with. 1890. Only ten more years and they would witness the start of a new century. For now, however, he had a miracle all for himself - a woman whom he loved. Even if she was a class above, even if the world would never forgive them for marrying each other… they had to elope. It was the only way, and truth be told, he was never one to follow expectations. All he could hope was she would not despise him, later on, when she fell to her senses.
But for now he would enjoy every drop of her that Mire dared give him.
January 26, 2020 – 11:36 PM
Last modified: January 26, 2020 – 11:37 PM by Mireille Smith.
"Do you think you will regret your choices, when we are old?" Mire asked, not looking at him. She was apparently not content with the comfortable silence. She didn't think either of them would regret what they were planning.
But there was always the chance that they would grow to resent each other. She clenched her hands. She wanted to know what he thought, and if he thought they were going to make the worst mistakes of their lives.
It was still an anomaly to her. Someone supposedly loving her for well… her and not judging her based on her reputation as the 'reckless twin', the one who always spoke what was on her mind and didn't get a damn about what people thought about her opinions.
Was she going to wreck his reputation because of her inability to keep her mouth shut when every social que told her that would be the best route?
She didn't really care about her own, but some part of her did care about her family's. The one she was born into, or the one she was marrying into. Which came as a surprise to her. She knew it shouldn't. Her father had made it perfectly clear that she couldn't make anymore social blunders.
MJ made the pretties ♥
January 26, 2020 – 11:40 PM
Last modified: January 26, 2020 – 11:42 PM by Sun Smith.
Sun was the opposite. He was comfortable with their silence.
In truth, for most of his life, he had heard shouting. Starting as a young boy living in a house filled with siblings and their voices - ranging from waves of laughter to cries to hushed whispers and constant talks -, growing into a man whose surroundings had much to do with people. Silence was new, different. He figured he could do with it.
As he could do with watching her. He paid no mind to the fact they were standing side by side, his calloused hands gently caressing whichever portions of skin he could. It wandered past her fingers, straight up through her arm, then back again when he reached her shoulder. She was gorgeous in every way, and he was determined to teach himself how her skin felt under his touch. Even then.
Her voice broke the silence.
Though at first Mire’s words barely registered, Sun stopped with his exploration. He was lazy to do so, lazy in his actions, and this - a conversation - required attention. Then it pained him, what she had asked. Not that it crossed his mind she might think so because of the repercussions to himself or his family. No… his worries lied in something else. Something much more difficult to guess consequences.
"I don’t know." He sighed then. It was the truthful answer, she deserved as much. "Do you mean whether I’ll regret marrying you?" Sun looked at her, searching for the words. He was no romantic, he didn’t mean to tell her his feelings to ‘woe’ her or something. It was matter of truth. If they were to be husband and wife, and fight whichever thoughts society had against them, she had to know the song of his heart. “I can’t see myself marrying anyone else.” And that was it.
He imagined himself walking down the aisle, only to have another image. A beautiful young girl, perhaps not too young. Better looking than Mire - because there were better looking women, rationally speaking, as there were other men -, youthful and naive. She would be a good house-wife, this imaginary woman. She would never speak loudly at him, never fight, never berate him for his choices, or judge. She would be a toy. Nothing more than an image.
It wasn’t what he wanted. Not today, not ever.
"I can’t see myself being happy with anyone else. I only hope… whatever happens, I only hope it’s not you who suffer the consequences. And if you ever find yourself second-guessing your choices, then I’ll do something about it. I’ll- I could create rumours. Something to set you free." It was difficult not to look down, but he was determined.
His words brought some level of comfort to her. Mire knew that she couldn't see herself with anyone else.
With her social class, anyone would expect her to be an obedient wife. They'd expect her to keep her mouth shut, to never say anything controversial. They'd want her to be a mother; she wasn't averse to, but she wanted it to be more on her terms and not because she was expected of it as a wife.
She didn't want to become someone she didn't want to be. She wanted to stay herself, and up until she'd met Sun, she'd been planning on not getting married. Maybe she wouldn't have had children, maybe she would have. She would never know. One thing she did know was that she wanted to be Sun's wife, to be apart of his family.
Even if she didn't have contact with her family. Which had a very high possibility when they discovered she'd decide to elope. Maybe they would forgive her for that, but she doubted they'd ever forgive her for stepping down a social class. Maybe that wouldn't upset them. But the fact that Sun is a half-blood, that whatever children she might have wouldn't be pure of blood, that would be unforgivable.
"No," she finally replied, touching his cheek. "No, I would never want you do such a thing." She turned her eyes to him. "I would never ask you to start terrible rumors about yourself just so I could have a way out. We're going into this together."
It was the look on her face, more than anything else - her words or the tender way with which she caressed his cheek -, that threatened to break him. Sun had a sudden urge to close his eyes and take a deep breath, perhaps take seconds for himself so he could think and find the best way to wipe that broken-hearted expression out of her face, but he couldn’t. Not even magic could do that. So instead, he gave a slight nod with his head, while searching for the right answer.
Truth was, there was none. He could try. They would make it through, he knew as much; there was a lot of love between them, a lot of respect, of trust. And though it pained - and surprised - him to hear these words from her, that she thought herself selfish, he understood how fear coursed through one’s veins. Yet he couldn’t let it happen to Mire when she, of all people, less than deserved this kind of fear.
"I want to." He was just as adamant as phrasing this the right way. At putting enough emotion into that particular word. "If it meant you would be happy, if it meant you would not despise me for taking you away from your family, then I’d do it without blinking. All I want… all I could ever wish for is your happiness. I love you." He smiled then, but it did not convey the fear in his heart. It did not show the way he felt almost sick, holding onto her so as not to let these feelings catch up to him.
He lowered his head, brought himself closer, delighting himself in her touch. Asking for more.
"The truth is that status, reputation, society… none of these things matter when I’m with you." He knew they should. Yet they were such fleeting thoughts, careless in their own forgetfulness.
Mire was shaking her head before he finished with his sentence. "You can't take me away from a family I haven't felt apart of in seven years." She felt her heart drop as she realized the words were true. She and Odette hadn't been close since their aunt had been disowned - and possibly killed - several years ago.
"I could never despise you, Sun." She touched her forehead with his. "I love you." She wasn't sure if she'd told him what had happened with her aunt, why her aunt had been publicly disowned and then had vanished
Sun closed his eyes then. At times, he suspected he drained more strength from her than she could ever do from him. Mire wasn’t calm and collected as he could make himself be, and yet it was she that he needed most in moments like these. He shivered when she mentioned her family. Despite not knowing the details of what happened when somebody went against it, he always felt unease by these mentions; the one that showed she was thinking of more than she was ready to tell.
"Good." He sighed. Not out of frustration but relief, lowering his hands so he could intertwine their fingers. "I know that you’re the only woman worthy of being driven crazy for." No amount of sheer will could keep a smile from settling on his lips. Nor could it stop him from kissing her.
It was a short, sweet, kiss and Mire wanted more, but she pulled back as the clocks ding midnight. It was a new decade and she felt like she could leave the last decade behind her.
She was glad for the evenings she spent with Sun. He made her feel like she didn't have to drink as much, that she could just enjoy life without being drunk.
The rare moment of peace were the ones he brought her. On any given night one could certainly expect to find an intoxicated Mireille in her room, drinking straight from a bottle of scotch. No cups required.
She wrapped her arms around him, "Happy New Year, Sun. It's a new decade." She smiled.
Sun could waste himself away on that kiss no matter what hour was marked by the clock. Yet even he recognized the importance of this… a new decade. A new life, perhaps? He would like that for himself. Afraid or not, they would go forward with this - and there was a side of him, most of him in fact, who couldn’t wait to see what came next.
A flick of mischief danced across his features before he let out a chuckle, hands securing themselves under her back and knees in what would certainly be considered scandalous. He lifted her from the floor, spinning her around on a half circle before bringing their lips together. "Indeed it is, my love."
