March 25th, 1891 — Selwyn Residence, Wales

Emrys wasn't much for holidays, and particularly religious holidays, so on any other occasion he would have taken the absence of several members of his family on the upcoming cruise as an excellent excuse not to see any of them that particular month. Since Professor Vorona's letters, however, he'd had a particular interest in pinning down his sister to question her on her acquaintance with the witch, however brief or superficial it might have been.

Particularly, he was interested in what her extended family situation was, but he wasn't sure he had found an appropriately nonchalant way to ask about it yet. He wanted to avoid Daniel's trouble of having an overbearing mother-in-law if at all possible — but perhaps if he was lucky all of her relations would be dead by now, and he wouldn't have to charm anyone if he pursued her.

He'd dropped in with minimal warning for tea the day before everyone was set to depart, and waited out the meal with superficial pleasantries until he had a chance to be alone with his sister.

"I had the pleasure of meeting someone recently who said they were a yearmate of yours at Hogwarts," he began conversationally, as though he were not incredibly invested in the outcome of this conversation; as though it were just another thing to say to pass the time. Hopefully Tanwen wouldn't catch on.

Tanwen Selwyn Calla Potts

  

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The cruise would leave tomorrow, but Tanwen had long ago finished packing her things. There were still a small collection of items she'd kept out due to their day-to-day use, but more of her trunks were packed. A series of charms saw her belongs to fit into two trunks and another bag and while it felt a little silly to pack so much, she was sure both Ambrosia and Liliana would likely be taking more. That was one advantage to being a spinster, she supposed was not needing to keep up with all the fashion trends and rules. No one minded if she was seen in the same dress or robe twice.

She'd been surprised to see Emrys pop by for tea. He had never been much of a family person - holidays were a reluctant commitment he could do without. To see him come by willingly when it wasn't a holiday and he didn't have business with Trystan. She'd been even more surprised when her brother sought her out after the meal. The brothers weren't all that close but they tended to be even more distant from her when they were anywhere from 6 to 12 years her elder.

"Mhmm? One of my yearmates?" she echoed, a little confused at the top change. Many of her yearmates she'd lost contact with over the past twelve years but she had kept up with news of some of them over the years. "Which one?" But also she was confused as to how she'd come up in conversation between her brother and this person.

  

"Hmm," Emrys responded, as though having to think. "I'm not sure what her name would have been at Hogwarts. She's widowed now," he explained. He actually didn't know what her maiden name had been, which was probably why he had so little idea about her family situation, vis-a-vis potential in-laws. Since he'd first put her name on his list he had thought her an intriguing possibility, but a slightly far-fetched one, so his research into her background had been rather minimal. He hadn't expected to have a chance to interact with her at least until the Hogwarts school year was out, and he'd half expected to be deeply involved with some other unlucky woman by then. Not because he particularly wanted to be, but he was making an effort to be charming at the moment, and he had every recommendation towards marriage, he thought. A good family name (if a little sullied by association with his brothers), a strong business and steady source of income, and unimpeachable character (at least so far as the public was concerned). In short, he thought the most difficult part of finding a wife would be in choosing one, not in wooing one.

Between the blizzard and this ungodly business with the duel, however, he'd had more than a few distractions from the task of bride-hunting, and now he was playing catch-up. He would have preferred to have had this conversation long before Professor Vorona was set to visit him, so that he could have ruminated on whatever information he received, but he hadn't been able to manage it before now (and to be honest, if he was actually invested in being a good second to this duel he oughtn't to have been here even now).

"Professor Vorona," he told his sister, hoping she would recognize the name. "She teaches Arithmancy at Hogwarts, I think. I met her at the dueling reception earlier this month, and then she went on to win the tourney."

  

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Lou made this! <3

"Professor Vorona?" she parroted, the name at first thought lost on her. It rang a bell, but that was more because she'd heard the name associated with the dueling tournament rather than because she remembered it from school. Besides neither Vorona nor professor would have been something she'd associate with a classmate. "Did you happen to catch her first name at any point during your conversation - or at least can you describe her? Or at the least her house?" Anyone from her time at Hogwarts was bound to look different, after all, they were over a decade older, but the woman's basic traits would still be the same.

Who in her year had like arithmancy? Numbers had never been Tanwen's strong suit - she'd always been far better with words - she hadn't taken the class herself meaning she couldn't necessarily remember who had taken the class. The name sounded familiar and she played the syllables across her tongue for a moment trying to figure out what part of the name stuck out and why. Wait... hadn't that been the name of the family her year's head married into?

"Corvo!" Tanwen blurted, interrupting whatever Emrys had been about to say to answer her prior question. "Angelica Corvo. She was our head girl but she married within a month of graduating and disappeared. Moved to Russia - well back to Russia. Her family was from there. Came back a few years ago after her husband passed. Why do you ask about her?" Why did I come up in your conversation?

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   Angelica Selwyn

Emrys was considering how best to answer her question about what Professor Vorona looked like (he couldn't be too descriptive, because it would mean that he had taken particular notice of her, but he also couldn't be too vague and lead her to describe the wrong woman; he couldn't be too flattering or else he'd tip his hand, but couldn't be too cool or else it would make any subsequent arrangements between the two of them, should they happen, seem too abrupt) when his sister mercifully made the jump on her own and spared him the trouble.

"Russia," he mused. This was a new bit of information, and perhaps explained why he hadn't crossed paths with her before. Presumably she must have been back in England for several years now, because he knew she wasn't brand new to her position at Hogwarts. If she had returned in mourning, however, and then gone straight off to the school after that it was conceivable that she might have missed the sorts of parties he typically attended. He was selective about what he chose to attend, too (or he was when he wasn't surreptitiously hunting for a bride), which made it all the more likely. Before he could ponder too long on this point, however, Tanwen started asking him questions.

"Just making conversation," he answered evasively. "It's not often that I have conversations with your classmates. Most of the women flitting about at parties and receptions are closer to the children's age than ours."

(Yes, he did say the children because he had momentarily forgotten Liliana's name).

  

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"Well most of us are married at this age," she offered, shrugging, unbothered by the fact she didn't fit into that statistic. While she had wished for children of her own, she was happy here in the middle of everything with her family. She was perfectly content to stay in her childhood home and raise her brothers' broods of children and maybe their grandchildren - regardless if she had as much role in raising Daniel's child or children or even Emrys if he ever chose to marry. It had been her choice twelve years ago to not actively pursue a husband and she had her reasons even if she didn't share them. Not that there was any reason that Emrys couldn't talk to a married woman. It wasn't Emrys they were worried about if he came within a meter of a woman.

"Or men." Because she was perfectly okay with remaining blissfully unaware of what Emrys got up to in his free time.

"Yes, she was head girl - Slytherin I think. We didn't necessarily run in the same circle but she was from one of the right kinds of families. She seemed nice enough whenever I interacted with her. Always doing things. I know she tutored the younger kids a lot. Oh and she always took her notes in another language, I guess so people couldn't copy them. So I guess it makes sense that she ended up becoming a professor - it fits her. And I always saw her with Felix Prewett - the one with the newspaper stuff. I wonder what happened to her twin?"

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   Angelica Selwyn

Emrys offered her a playful shrug at her first remark. He was sure she could have married if she'd had any inclination — despite their brother's reputation, theirs was a good family and their parents would have arranged something if nothing else presented itself and she'd shown a desire to marry — so he presumed this wasn't much of a sore subject for her.

The information about his visitor for tomorrow was forthcoming, and Emrys tried to take it all in, cataloging the more interesting bits for later examination. Head girl and a Slytherin. Ambitious, then, but in what way might remain to be seen. He knew she was competitive, from watching her at the dueling tournament and from their letter exchange since. One of the right kinds of families — what did Tanwen mean by that? She could have meant quite a bit, or almost nothing. Maybe she only meant pureblood, which of course he already knew. Maybe she meant well connected, which would have been news, but potentially welcome news. If there was — no, it was too much to hope that this enchanting woman he'd met might have a father or brother lurking somewhere who would be a good business partner for future ventures. He'd lost that opportunity when he'd let Miss Delaney fall into the hands of Mr. Darrow.

Felix Prewett, with the newspaper stuff, as Tanwen put it. A potential rival? No, surely not — if Tanwen remembered them being close in Hogwarts but the Professor had since married and been widowed, the most it could have been would be an old schoolgirl crush, or a teen infatuation, long since dried out. Still: maybe better to investigate it. He could find a time to bring Mr. Prewett up with Daniel, perhaps, if they were in the same industry.

"Her twin?" he asked, eyebrow raised. "A twin sister? I hadn't realized she had any siblings."

  

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Lou made this! <3

That was one of the things she enjoyed about her brother's company was that he could be trusted to leave things be and not go prying where he had no business being. He judged her far less of her marital status than either Trystan or Daniel and that alone was enough to leave her comfortable with him.

"Brother," she corrected offhandedly, shifting her tea to one hand to wave the other dismissively. "Like Adrienne and Aristide. But he was far more of the Trystan sort. I did not get the impression they got along anywhere near the level of the twins." By which she meant a flirt and she wouldn't necessarily be surprised if the man had a few bastards of his own tucked away in closets - both at Hogwarts and outside.

"She had a handful of them if I remember correctly, though most of them were far closer in age to you than to me and I don't know as much about them individually. An older brother and a handful of sisters? Though I think the youngest of them is still in Hogwarts. Could be the twin's ages. She the only one that remains in the country, I believe. The others live scattered in Russia and Italy."

She stopped for a moment taking a sip of her tea, eyeing Emrys over the rim of the cup.  "You seem oddly intrigued for a passing conversation."

  

At this last question, Emrys shrugged indifferently. "She's an intriguing woman," he said. It was true; he was quite intrigued. He didn't necessarily want to tell Tanwen his exact reasons, though, so he thought he needed to come up with a likely excuse for his interest. He'd already told her he met Professor Vorona at the dueling reception, so he decided to stick with that theme. He'd never been particularly interested in this type of magic (offensive or defensive), but hopefully Tanwen wouldn't try and press him on it. "She made quite an impressive display during her matches."

  

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Lou made this! <3

"I imagine she'd have to be decent in magic. After all, she was hired by Hogwarts. I would hope they haven't taken to hiring subpar professors to teach the children." Even if the majority of their family's children in school were bastards it wouldn't be well to give them poor educations. "And if I remember correctly there were a few other women there who have their reputations of being able to hold their own - and admittedly some that might have been better off staying home if it wasn't for charity. But to come out as the winner was no small feat." After all, the duels had seen all sorts from society wives, debutantes, and ministry workers.

"Do you plan to see her again, then?" she questioned, eyes narrowed towards her brother. With Emrys she asked out of genuine interest, unlike she would have with their other brothers. Emrys has the decency not to make a mess of things. If Trystan has been asking after a woman and even Daniel to a lesser extent, she'd have had red flags waving. Still, she wasn't she could ever remember Emrys showing such an interest. "If that is the case I can ask around about her - it would be far less odd for I to do so than you."

  

"Planning would be too strong a word," he said dismissively, with a wave of his hand. He was lying, of course, because she was scheduled to visit his home tomorrow night, but he was hardly going to tell his sister that. He still wanted this conversation to seem casual, as though he had nothing more than a passing interest in Professor Vorona. "But it seems likely our paths may cross this summer, if she plans to engage with the season."

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Lou made this! <3

"Then I shall ask around - I know a few already who might know of Mrs. Vorona better than I," Tanwen drawled, shifting to lean forward in her chair, glancing towards the grandfather clock that sat in the corner of the room. The clock had shifted to the hour in the time they'd been talking. "Don't worry, I won't mention your name. I'll find another reason to be asking. Maybe something about the children's education and wanting to know who teaches them would work."

She stood, moving to excuse herself from her brother. "I will let you know what I hear. It is nice to see you taking an interest, Emyrs. I'm glad. But now I'm afraid I'm running late. I'll send word, either a letter or I'll stop by."

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   Emrys Selwyn