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 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Well, at least Zelda knew that her husband (!) was definitely suited to her. She didn't want to engage with that, because anything she said or any questions she asked would be too incriminating. "What — um, what else do you think I should know?"
No more comments on that score—Good, Ros thought. Discussing that sex could be pleasurable was one thing, giving details was another, one even she would be far too squeamish to discuss.
"Pregnancy occurs when a man's seed reaches your womb," she explained. "The condom—" she nodded to the box "will prevent it from doing so, though there are other ways in which pregnancy might be evaded if you do not feel ready for children."
Here, Ros stopped to look at Zelda, really look at her. The youngest of the Fisk children, she had always been so young in Roslyn's mind. It was still hard to reconcile the soon-to-be-married woman before her with the eager little toddler that still lived rent-free in the witch's mind. How could little Zelda be ready for marriage, let alone motherhood? It defied belief.
Zelda shifted in her spot under Roslyn's gaze. Like in the house with Alfred and Caroline in July, she didn't know what to say when faced with the question of children. But it didn't seem like Ros expected her to be ready, so — she sighed. "I don't know if I'm ready," she admitted, "To be a mother."
AMAZING set by MJ
October 16, 2021 – 1:09 PM
Last modified: October 16, 2021 – 1:10 PM by Roslyn Ross.
Ros bit back the gentle admonishment on the tip of her tongue. It would not do to set Zelda upon the defensive.
"Even those who believe they are ready," she replied gently instead, "are apt to find themselves overwhelmed when the time comes. Anything to keep the seed from the garden, as it were, however, will delay 'the time' altogether—though, short of barring your husband from your bed altogether," Roslyn acknowledged, "no course of action is infallible."
Zelda had no intention of getting married and not having sex, but thought that this would probably not go over well if spoken. "That makes sense," she offered instead; it did make sense, even if it wasn't the answer she'd hoped for.
Roslyn was relieved; she had been fairly earnest, but did not think she had any more frankness in her, at least on this particular topic. As natural as it was for a woman to lie with her husband, Zelda and Mr. Darrow were altogether different creatures, ones she did not care to ponder overmuch.
"Indeed—and indeed, it will come naturally," she offered, placing her hand warmly on Zelda's own. "I am sure you must be anxious about it, but you needn't be."
Zelda rotated her hand so she could squeeze Roslyn's. "It's just — Mama died when I was so young," she admitted. Maybe fifteen hadn't been so young — but she felt like she was worlds removed from that girl. And she had never gotten along especially well with her father. "And — what if I'm bad at being a mother, because of it?"
Ros did not feel any need to verbalize the sentiment in response, instead, turning her head to kiss the top of Zelda's own. Zelda would, she reasoned, still be family even if when she became Darrow, and those were the sorts of bonds that very little could tear asunder.
![[Image: xXXD462.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xXXD462.png)
