Zelda cast alongside Delight, enunciating the spells in an undertone as they repeated it over and over, watching the weather charm bind itself to the foundations of the abandoned home. Finally it stopped thrashing, stopped wobbling, settled - the wind was clearly a weird ripple around it. Zelda ended their dual spell and conjured a sign MA&C used that adhered to the front of the building via magic:

This building is under MA&C lockdown.

She was about to say something - point out that they hadn't heard anything new about the floo network, maybe - when both Delight and Zelda's Ministry badges lit up purple. This message was a lot clearer to parse, and she'd seen it before: stay in London.

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AMAZING set by MJ

Their efforts were not in vain, but breaking the spell would have to wait for a later date. Just as Zelda was finishing up the final touches on the sign, the wind around them picked up, as did the snow. She'd charmed her robes to be water-resistant earlier, but her hair was not; her curls grew heavier against her head, and Delight was already dreading how they'd look when she pull them free of their ties later. She pushed her wand back in the holder around her waist, her gaze catching on the blinking purple light of her badge in the process.

"Bloody hell," she murmured under her breath, and then looked to Zelda's to make sure hers wasn't the only one. "The floo is down, we can't go home, and I don't think apparition is an option," she began, her eyes darting up to the skies. There was not one visible inch of blue sky, the clouds crowded and dark. The storm might last the night, if not the next day. If they couldn't go home, by Ministry order and limitations of the weather... "Where do we go from here?"

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— DELIGHTful set by lady <3 —

With the weather like this, with the floo down and apparition dangerous and the Ministry requesting them to stay in London, things were - complicated. The Ministry was too far away, too - further than Zelda would have liked to walk normally, let alone in a blizzard.

So they were stuck. No way out but through.

The idea occurred to her almost belatedly, as she gazed up at the sky and glanced down at her badge and remembered the address they were at. ”We’re near Mr. Darrow’s,” Zelda said, with a slight pause as she adjusted her brain from Alfred. ”We can head there and wait for the floo to come back up.”

At least with Delight there no one would think Zelda was up to something; and it truly was the furthest thing from her mind now; Alfred really was the only option.

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AMAZING set by MJ

Normally Delight would have gawked at the idea of staying at Mr. Darrow's house—not necessarily because Zelda was involved with him, but because she was in no position to play the third-wheeling chaperon—but the circumstances were dire and the thought of a warm fireplace, even at Zelda's beau's home, was preferable than a long walk back to the Ministry in the middle of a blizzard.

"As long as he has a good stock of tea, I'm in," she joked, even though she would probably—probably—go even if he didn't.

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— DELIGHTful set by lady <3 —

Zelda smiled. "I think he has a decent stock of tea," she said, although she was not at all convinced that he did. Delight didn't have to know that until they were there, though. And Alfred would surely have some form of hot drinks, even if it wasn't as much a variety of tea as Delight would have liked.

She put her arm around Delight's, half for the camaraderie and half because she did not want either of them to slip on the ice. "It's four or so streets away," she said, beginning to lead them out of this street and onto the next. "Thankfully."

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AMAZING set by MJ