February 23rd, 1890 — Oakshire Hall, Kent

"Tiberius, we need to talk." Tig admitted herself without so much as a knock, the door was already opening when she began to 'announce' herself.

She shoved the door closed behind her and proceeded to make herself at home on the couch, veritably sprawling upon it. She fixed him with a sober look, her brow ever so slightly knitted together to form a subtle scowl.

This was not a conversation she really wanted to have but it had to be done and she had brooded over it long enough, the time had come to rip off the band-aid.

She raised her hand to her mouth and chewed at the tip of her thumb absently as her mind raced through the potential outcomes of the conversation and the subsequent outcomes. She bit down too hard and realized what she was doing, her hand dropped to her side and she told herself he probably hadn't noticed it was something she usually did when agitated. This would probably put an end to their recent closeness, not that she cared about that, she definitely didn't care about that, that was definitely the least of her concerns. "What have you done about acquiring an heir?"

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

  

---

Tiberius had been in the middle of something when Antigone burst in, but it wasn't anything terribly important, which was why he hadn't bothered to lock his study door in the first place. He was mildly annoyed as he shoved the book aside, but willing to listen to her. Her chosen topic was rather unexpected, however. Truth be told, the plan was not progressing as intended. Cassius was, perhaps predictably, not very good at attracting the attention of a potential wife, and there was only so much pressure that Tiberius could exert from his position outside of the immediate family. Lucius might have been prevailed upon to arrange a marriage, as he had done previously, but he had other sons to consider, and one unmarried daughter who would very quickly become a higher priority.

That being said, he had hardly expected any criticism to come from Antigone on the subject. As long as he wasn't threatening to murder her in order to get on with the process of selecting and procuring a new bride (which he had not so much as mentioned since their initial agreement), what business was it of hers? It wasn't as though he needed anything from her in order for the plan to progress smoothly. He certainly didn't need help, and was hesitant to reveal many of the details of the plan lest she think that her interference would be welcome.

"Enough, for the moment," he responded curtly. "Why?"

  

Considering how long he'd had to get on with it and how he'd given no indication to her at any point thus far that she would have to feign a pregnancy, she highly doubted that his cagey response was anything but a confirmation that he hadn't gotten anywhere thus far. That suited her just fine. Even better if he was still at square one.

The right corner of her mouth twitched ever so slightly upward. "I've recently decided that it's in my best interest to involve myself in the matter and I believe I've found an elegant solution." Most would probably not describe what was on her mind as 'elegant'. Tig wanted to wait for him to pry it out of her but she was now too impatient and a part of her wasn't sure she had him hooked yet. "Ligeia. She's my sister so any child would resemble us both, she's unmarried so there'd be no question whether it'd be yours, she ought to be in peak condition for it and she's just sitting around collecting dust. She's got nothing better to be doing, she may as well be useful to someone for once in her life." Her eyes shone with malice as she spoke.

Certainly obtaining a child was the important part, but the idea of seizing control of her sister's life and utterly destroying it was what interested her the most.

The small issue of impregnating her unwed sister without a scandal was a trivial one, she thought. She had plenty of answers to that, some more involved than others, but all were reprehensible to some degree. She wanted to head off any doubts he might have in that area but held her tongue this time, it'd be more pleasing to dismiss his concerns as he voiced them anyway.

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

The following 1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post
   Aldous Crouch

---

Tiberius supposed he should have been expecting something like this. There was no reason for her to have brought it up at all if she didn't have some idea of how the process ought to be altered. Even so, the direction that she'd taken here surprised him. He wasn't one to assume a great depth of emotional attachment in any case, but wasn't offering up her sister (her unmarried sister, at that) a bit beyond the bounds of what would be considered... ah, sisterly? Tiberius certainly wanted the best for Tatiana, because he respected her. He supposed Antigone's idea could have sprung from respect, or trust — from, in other words, a certain degree of closeness — but her demeanor did not imply that was the case.

"I don't need you involved in the matter," he reminded her. He probably ought to have left it at that, but he was too curious about her motivation behind the recommendation not to explore them. Was it the resemblance that was important to her, for some reason related to pride? That didn't make a great deal of sense, given how detached she was from their two existing children. Maybe she wasn't keen on the idea of him sleeping with someone else without her direct knowledge, though that had never been a concern she'd expressed before.

"What would your sister think of such an arrangement?" he asked. He wasn't keen on the idea of using an unmarried woman, necessarily — it meant he'd be stuck with whatever progeny was produced, regardless of gender, and he didn't have any particular need for more daughters. The disadvantages to him were nothing, however, compared to the disadvantages for her — aside from the obvious loss of her virginity, she would also have to avoid society for a period of time, and avoid seeking a husband until their scheme had been completed. Why would she agree to such a thing?

Unless Antigone's point was that she wouldn't ever have to agree to it at all.

  

Tig prepared herself to assert her grand ideas thinking that he was about to shut her down. Then he didn't and with a question she hadn't expected from him nonetheless. She laughed derisively, "I'm sure she'd hate it but that's hardly relevant!" There was no scenario she'd thought out that involved Ligeia willingly cooperating with any of it, she was so certain that her sister would object that the very idea of asking seemed ridiculous and nonsensical. Why ask when it was a foregone conclusion? Ligeia would cooperate because she'd either be oblivious or she'd be cooperative through magic.

"There are plenty of ways to avoid a scandal, it depends how much effort you'd want to put into it. Faking a marriage would probably be the most convenient; society thinks she's moved abroad with a husband when really she's hidden away somewhere." The scandal part wasn't so much for Ligeia's benefit as her own, why invite potential scrutiny on herself for her association when it was avoidable? Tig was so immersed in her spiteful plans that she had momentarily forgotten the development that had prompted her to think of it in the first place.

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

The following 1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post
   Aldous Crouch

---

Tiberius raised an eyebrow at his wife. Whether she cared about her sister's feelings or not, it was very relevant. A scheme like this would necessitate her cooperation not just during the act of conception itself, but constantly for a period of at least nine months — probably longer, since it was unlikely she'd fall pregnant immediately. Securing that cooperation could be done magically or mechanically, but neither were trivial feats.

"And how do you imagine it would actually happen?" he asked dryly. He didn't want to get into her ideas about how to cover the potential scandal, which presented even more problems. Namely, that they would have to do something with her afterwards, whether it involved killing her quietly or actually finding some obscure foreign husband to shuffle her off to. "Would I be forcing myself on her in some sort of dungeon, or would someone keep her under the Imperius Curse for a year? The last time you tried to Imperio someone for more than ten minutes, they ended up dead," he pointed out, recalling the maid he'd had to hide the body for. Not that he cared, particularly, whether her sister died, but it certainly wouldn't go a long way to solving the heir issue.

  

He was being negative but he was at least probing for more details and she was only too ready to supply him until he changed his tune. "We could make up a foreign suitor, you could use polyjuice potion when necessary and I can write love letters to her. She thinks she's in love, there's a quick wedding, maybe he goes away for long periods of time and leaves her here. Minimal effort, it's all letters. She has a child and she's lead to believe it died. If it's a girl then it doesn't even have to be a lie. If it's a boy then that's that. Ligeia might conveniently die in childbirth. Or perhaps she doesn't if you want another one. And that's just one way."

Her other ideas relied heavily on magical interference, this way was possibly the kindest since Ligeia would be walking into it of her own volition, albeit unknowingly. However in making up for the magical coercion it required more effort, she thought. Not that catfishing her own sister with fake love letters seemed like a chore to her, if he absolutely refused the idea she might do that part anyway just to mess with her. "Or you could teach me how to use the imperius curse properly and publicly fake her death until it doesn't have to be fake anymore."

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

  

---

Tiberius watched his wife carefully as she laid out more detail than he would probably ever have asked for. "You've thought this through," he observed. That much was obvious; what was less so was why. Why was she invested, suddenly, in him acquiring an offspring? It couldn't have anything to do with the actual child, he thought, or else she would have taken an interest sooner — but this timing didn't really make sense in any context he could think of.

It also seemed almost needlessly harmful to her sister. She'd just casually tossed out that she would have no qualms murdering her, which didn't seem necessary. Neither of the schemes Tiberius had concocted to solve this same problem involved killing random women after acquiring an heir from them.

"Did your sister do something to you?" he asked, eyebrow raised.

  

Why was he so hung up on her sister? What did he care what happened to her? Tig's mouth opened and closed and opened again as she found herself lost for a response. Her sister hadn't done anything, she just was. They had always had a turbulent relationship being so much closer in age than they were with their eldest sister, but it wasn't as though Ligeia had actively done anything to her. Well, not exactly anyway. She drew herself up a little where she sat as she found a reason."She's the older sister, she should have married first. She should've gotten you. I should've had the liberty to choose for myself, I damned well wouldn't have been as useless. She got what I wanted and she's wasted it." She didn't feel as vitriolic as she'd expected, not so much for lack of grudge towards her sister, but possibly she didn't regret where she'd ended up as much as she'd used to. "You're lucky you got me instead, Ligeia's a bore." That was as close as she'd get to admitting to it.

"If you think about it, in a way, she owes me." Tig shrugged and studied his face for a clue as to what he was thinking. "Don't you like my idea? You seemed awfully impatient to get an heir after what happened..."

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

  

---

"So spiteful," he observed without emotion. The depth of her feeling on such topics, which to him seemed utterly mundane, never ceased to amaze. Had she really been harboring this resentment towards her sister for years and only just now decided to find a way to act on it? Amazing. When he'd married her, he wouldn't have thought her capable of maintaining anything for that long, even if it was a relatively petty grudge.

Tiberius briefly turned his attention to his desk and reshuffled a few papers he had laid out. "It seems unnecessarily complicated," he said passively. "A lot of magic involved in disguise and deception — all of which might lead, for all we know, to another pair of twin girls," he added with an unamused glance at Antigone. "It also seems quite likely that it would be uncovered at some point before the scheme was finished, and we'd have to tidy things up in such a way that didn't reveal our involvement — which you may have no qualms about," he noted, "but would certainly prove a colossal wasted effort for us."

He realized after he stopped that his language had shifted — we and us — when he had never intended to include Antigone in any part of this process, except to fake a pregnancy when the time came.

  

It wasn't until he said 'us' that she picked up on his inclusive language, much to her amusement. Whether it indicated he was changing his mind about shutting her out or he'd just slipped into it by accident, she couldn't say.

"The odds of Ligeia having twins, let alone both girls strike me as being next to zero." She couldn't help but bite back on that one, it was hardly her fault, at no point had she got to decide what they were. "The more you simplify it, the less pleasant it gets for Ligeia. I don't have a problem with simple if you don't." Tig said nothing for a few seconds but seemed poised to continue until she did. "We may have a unique opportunity right now but you'd have to act fast." Her demeanor changed as she spoke like a storm cloud had settled over her.

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

  

---

It didn't matter much to him whether it was gracious to her sister or not, so long as it worked. That was what he was raising concerns about. The plan with Cassius had been all but fool-proof, as far as he was concerned. A respectable pureblood girl would be the only sort he was allowed to consider marrying in the first place. His sexual deviance meant it was nearly impossible that Cassius would be muddling around with her between Tiberius' visits, so there was no great risk of the child not being his. Whoever his cousin chose would have a public pregnancy followed by a stillbirth, which was not unusual — or, if it wasn't a useful child, it could stay and Cassius would raise it. There was no downside, except the unfortunate fact that Cassius didn't seem to be in a particular hurry to get on with it.

Antigone's plan, on the other hand, was laden with potential pitfalls, but it did have the one benefit that his previous arrangement lacked: immediacy. At least, if whatever she was hinting at was born out. It would be nice to have the question settled sooner rather than later, he supposed. The sooner the boy was born, the sooner he would develop into some semblance of a useful person. Tiberius had no real use for him in infancy.

"What opportunity?" he asked carefully.

The following 2 users Like Tiberius Lestrange's post:2 users Like Tiberius Lestrange's post
   Aldous Crouch, Melody Crouch

Tig inhaled and exhaled deeply as her eyes bored into him. She folded her arms across her chest. Here it was, the moment she'd been dreading for the better part of two days. She didn't have to tell the truth, she could make something up quickly. It was futile though, it wasn't as though she could sit on it for much longer anyway. "It would seem the healers were wrong." Don't make me spell it out.

She didn't think it was all bad, there was a chance it would all go swimmingly and no contingency plan would be needed, but even with her limited knowledge of biology she wasn't willing to assume that everything was functioning correctly just because some of it was. Never mind what the end result was if they got there.

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

  

---

Tiberius listened, but didn't connect all of the dots in what she was saying, at least not right away. His mind was still on this scheme revolving her sister, and so he wondered if there was some backstory he was missing regarding Ligeia and some healers. Nothing came to mind, though, and really, it would have been absurd of her to think that he would care about her sister enough to remember some minuscule detail like that. Unless she was literally dead, it didn't bear any impact on his life — and even death was only significant insofar as he would be expected to attend the funeral.

No, that couldn't be what she was referring to. What healers was she talking about, then? Wrong about what? The last time he'd had any significant interaction with healers had been when she'd delivered — Oh.

"What?" he asked, not willing to jump to conclusions with something so entirely unexpected.

  

She pursed her lips in annoyance. Why did she have to say it? She was sure he knew just what she meant but he still wasn't going to spare her the distasteful task. "You might have a legitimate heir after all, or not. I'm suggesting you hedge your bets, I won't take responsibility for your disappointment." The last time she'd taken for granted that being young and healthy she'd produce something equally healthy but that hadn't gone well at all and this was now uncharted territory.

---

| OUTFIT | Tiberius Lestrange |

The following 1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post:1 user Likes Antigone Lestrange's post
   Melody Crouch

---

Legitimate heirs. So she was really saying what he thought she was. Tiberius had never imagined this was still possible, after the destruction that had been wrought on her body after the last birth. As such, he had no idea how to respond.

"When?" was what he eventually said, a question that encompassed several others.