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.
With less than four months until her OWLs and subsequent departure from school, Alice had become more overwhelmed and stressed than ever before. Between her parents' frequent letters discussing the potential sale of the farm and the additional three students she took on to study, she was nearing a breaking point. It was incredibly difficult to manage her own courseload and determination to copy down as many higher level spells as she could without the added strain of managing their courseloads as well. Yet, somehow, she hadn't broken yet.
Alice knew with absolute certainty that Calla was still determined to talk her out of leaving, and so when the Hufflepuff joined her at her usual table in the library dread crawled its way up her spine. While it was possible Calla was joining her to study only, the look on her friend's face felt too out of place. "Good afternoon," Alice greeted with a tense smile. Merlin, she prayed Calla wouldn't push the issue today. "I'm working on the potion's essay if you wanted to do it with me."
Calla had never done all that well in school though unlike others, it wasn't so much a lack of ability but more a lack of interest outside her niche. And as much as she was dreading the upcoming exam season for that reason, she was also admittedly looking forwards to the release of next year and getting to choose her classes. No more late nights at the Astronomy tower creating yet another star map or gosh darn History of Magic essay. But then that joy was tainted as she remembered that the upcoming summer would not only see the parting of her with her least favorite classes but also with Alice.
Alice.
She hated the tight line the pair had walked throughout the past few months. She had the gap that had seemingly started to grow out of her knowledge and her own refusal to accept what Alice had decided. And she was sure the others had noticed the tension between the two girls as well. The strain in Alice's words when she'd invited Calla to join her was so think and tangible that Calla was convinced she could just pluck it she reached out. But reaching out would require acknowledging the tension and so far neither girl had actually verbally done so.
"We had a potions essay?" This happened far more often now than she'd like to admit when professors only said the assignment rather than having written the details out on the board. Paying attention had become so much harder when she sometimes missed things - and goodness forbid the professor had a habit of mumbling. If she'd thought the professor had finished and started to pack up or strike up a conversation, any last-minute assignment was easily missed. Thankfully, sharing her classes with all but a handful of her friends kept her from actually missing to many things, but there had sometimes been missed assignments. "On what? When is it due?"
Alice very nearly rolled her eyes. It had become increasingly difficult to be forgiving of the students who didn't put effort into their education. Cameron's ignorance had been the start of her ire but it had quickly grown into any of her classmates who obviously slacked or struggled with a subject. Their education wasn't hanging in the balance — it was all but guaranteed provided they managed to maintain suitable grades and score decently on their OWLs. They weren't forced to make the impossible decision between their family and their future.
Instead of showing her displeasure, Alice nodded once and opened her small notebook to show Calla the notes she'd taken on the essay. "It isn't due for a few weeks yet. I only thought to get a head start on it so that it'll be easier to complete." She explained. Potions was her favorite subject too, so the work for that class was nearly always completed within days of its being assigned.
She took the seat beside her friend, lowering herself slowly - a deep part of her slightly afraid Alice would change her mind and withdraw the invitation. "Thanks," she breathed, pulling out her own parchment as she leaned over to read the notebook Alice had offered. She felt the scrambling need to defend herself as she could only imagine what Alice thought. Maybe Calla took her education for granted and didn't care as much as Alice did, but now, knowing what she did, she'd never in a million years do anything that would that she felt was rubbing it into her friend's face.
As she spoke next, she scribbled a brief summary of what the Gryffindor had written onto her own paper, "I've been having troubles in class lately," the girl admitted with a sort of shrug like movement, "when the professors announce assignments at the end of class once everyone's started talking. It makes it really hard to hear and if they don't write it down on the board I sometimes miss it."
Her hearing loss - while not something she liked to talk about very much - wasn't technically a secret amongst her friends. Especially when she'd come back from the hospital, the adjustment hadn't been something she'd been able to hide well, not when she was asking everyone to repeat themselves whenever they spoke on her bad side or to quietly.
"I completely missed an assignment in Earth Magic the other day. That was embarrassing when everyone else went to turn theirs in and I was just left sitting there."
When Calla began her lengthy explanation, Alice's only initial thought was for her friend to stop making excuses. However, as the details and upset of Calla's words sank in that annoyance quickly became an overwhelming sense of guilt. She'd been so absorbed in her own problems that she had completely neglected her friends — Calla especially given their opposite opinions on her leaving school. Alice dropped her quill and looked at her friend fully for the first time since the Hufflepuff sat at the table. "I didn't realize you were struggling so much," she confessed guiltily. "I'm sorry."
Shifting the notebook closer to Calla, she pointed towards the page drawn out to look like a calendar. "These are all of the assignments that have been given to date. We're not in all of the same classes, I know, but maybe Sisse could help fill in any gaps too." It wasn't much, but it was something. Despite all their tensions Alice wouldn't let her friend struggle unnecessarily.
Amazing set by Bee!
March 18, 2022 – 12:22 AM
Last modified: March 18, 2022 – 12:23 AM by Calla Potts.
She hadn't said what she said to give Alice a guilt trip. She'd just wanted her friend not to think she didn't care about what Alice had struggled so hard to keep. But now she felt bad bringing it up when Alice was starting to resemble Ethel when Calla would accidentally step on her. "I'm getting used to it." Calla offered, hoping to smooth over the bridge.
And she was. It had been about three months since the explosion and she seemed to have settled into a new sort of normal. She was by no means completely used to it, but the ringing had stopped and last time she'd popped into the hospital ward Aunty Ruth had seemed to think it was stabilizing to the point where she'd pretty much expect it to remain now. And she was learning tricks to get around the loss. She had to pay more attention in class, she'd pushed to the front of the seats their friends had claimed in each class, and she shifted where she sat or stood around others to put them on her good side.
"And it isn't as if I talk about it much. I really don't like the attention. Besides, as you said, you or Sisse are in pretty much all of my classes. If someone else is working on something I didn't know about it is safe to assume I have to do it as well. And Sisse's been letting me copy some of her notes when I miss things when Cameron is talking too loud."
Still, she gave Alice an awkward smile, taking up the offered notebook to compare to her own (far less neat organized) one. She had most of them but copied down the few she had missed before pushing the notebook back. "Thanks, that helps a lot. Really."
The issue was that even if Calla had been vocalizing her struggle Alice wouldn't have heard of it. It'd been weeks since they truly spoke last, longer still since there wasn't hidden tensions and ignored conversations lurking beneath the surface. Alice had shown up for Calla after the explosion, of course, but as soon as her friend was cleared and returned to school her concern was quickly clouded by other priorities. Alice frowned into her book. She was already losing her friends, only it wasn't time or distance as predicted ruining them but her own stubborn nature.
Still, it wasnt as though anything could change. Alice scarcely had the energy for conversations with professors, nevermind ones about her already determined future. It was easy when only Cameron knew, for they no longer spoke and that was for the best. She couldn't say the same for Calla and Edison, though. If anything, her revealed secret had served only to strengthen their ties to her. She would've been touched if she wasn't so overwhelmed.
"You can copy my notes too, if you need." She added quietly. "Sisse's are likely neater than mine though." They would also be available to Calla after this school year. "The healers have said it'll never be restored?"
"Your handwriting may not be as pretty but you write a lot more details. She's good at summarizing but if you miss the main thing, some of the details get loss. Both are helpful so thanks." She was tempted to throw in a comment about she might not share all her classes with Sisse last year so she could use Alice's notes but they were having a nice conversation for the first time in months and she didn't want to ruin it, not yet.
"It is because I was so close to the source of the blast. They don't really know. At first it was just a general some may return over time but they weren't sure how much or if I might get all of it back. But some did. At this point though, it has sort of stabilized so they think that it is a good indication that this might be where it ends up though they didn't tell me they can't guarantee anything. But I guess I'm fine with it. Not really anything I can do about it. At least the guy got arrested."
Alice nodded in understanding. "It's no problem, really." She had long since lost track of how many of their friends and classmates used her notes to supplement their own. So long as she got her books back in the exact condition they were loaned and returned within a reasonable time frame, Alice didn't mind. Or, she could pretend she didn't mind for long enough that by the time she was reasonably irritated by it it no longer mattered.
"That's something, I suppose." It wasn't much, not by a long shot. The man being arrested wouldn't give Calla back her hearing nor would it restore the Potts family for any damages lost. But, they could at least not stress over it happening again now. "I hope it does improve over time." Alice then quietly added.
"I can't really ask for too much more," she stated, her tone a little bit stiff. She wasn't upset with what Alice has said - after all, her friend was just trying to be nice but she'd gone over this whole circle of logic with herself so many times. When she sat up in bed at night with her curtains drawn shut. The stark silence where she'd once been able to hear Beth snore made her starkly aware of it. When she was in class and missed an assignment. When everyone at a meal laughed and she had no clue what was so funny because it was so loud in the room and she'd missed it.
So in typical Calla-coping-mechanisms, she shoved down the resentment that built in her in those moments about why that man had chosen their shop to blow up? About why it had to be that weekend on the one day she was there not in the castle? And the one she really hated, the one she'd never, never admit even if someone threatened to put her through the whole thing again - why had it been her who suffered the most long term damage when it had been Dahlia he was rejected by?
She hadn't been lying when she said she'd been getting used to it. But she'd learned really quick that physically used to it and mentally used to it was two very different things.
"Maybe it will," she admitted after a moment of silence where she'd brewed in her own thoughts, forcing a bright smile on she'd worn a bit too much over the past few years that was worn more to comfort the viewer than herself. It only lasted a second though as she caught Alice's eyes and broke both the smile and the contact. "But I don't really want to get my hopes up in case it doesn't."
Alice nodded in understanding. Although their circumstances were drastically different, she knew what it was to have her hopes crushed under the weight of reality. "I understand. I just hope one day things might seem at least normal for you. And next year ought to be better with your classes, the sizes should be smaller."
She snorted loudly, flinching under the glare of the librarian. "Can we really say they'll be quiet when I'm going to be sharing some of them with Cameron again?" Don't get her wrong, she missed her friend but by golly, it was so much easier to concentrate in class when Cameron Gillenwater wasn't sitting next to you talking your ears off. Though admittedly that just meant she talked instead to Sloane, Alice, or Sisse. Even if the last two often just told her to shut up.
Calla sighed aloud, throwing her quill on the table - and splattering ink on her parchment as well, but that didn't bother her, she'd clean it up later if she ever got around to it - and dropped her head in her hands as she peered at Alice. It felt wrong to talk about next year when Calla still hadn't found a way to be assured Alice would still be here next year. And she really freaking hated the whole thing. Why was Alice in this situation? If it was an option if she thought Alice would say yes, Calla thought she'd give up her own spot here next year in a heartbeat if Alice would take Calla's tuition money and use it for herself. How was it far that someone like Calla, who was only here next year to be with her friends allowed to stay when Alice, who actually wanted to be here for the education, didn't?
Calla could leave right now, even without her O.W.L.s, and she would be set. There would always be a place at the shop for her regardless of her grades. She'd grown up in the shop. She wouldn't have even needed a year at Hogwarts. But she was ninety-nine percent sure that if she offered Alice her tuition money for the next two years, Alice would never speak to her again, and that seemed worse than not having her here next year. Maybe that was selfish of Calla, that she valued her friendship with Alice over her friend achieving her dream No, it was selfish, there was no question about it. She felt a sharp pain at the realization of just how horrible of a friend she was. How could she ever think that about Alice?
"I think we need a break," Calla chirped, disregarding that the whole time she'd been there, all she'd done was copy assignments from Alice's notebook. Besides, it wasn't really her she thought needed a break, but Alice. Who knew how long she'd already been here before Calla came up. "And I smelled the elves baking cookies earlier on my way here. They'll slip you some before dinner if you ask nicely."
The casual mention of Cameron made the stark difference in their friendship from earlier years glaringly obvious. He was once as close to her as Sloane or Sisse; he was an excellent confidante with an enjoyable spirit. Meanwhile he hadn't said more than fifty words to her this school year, with the bulk of those being during an argument in the library. Cameron was as lost to her as Sloane or Calla even. A friend she would never know again.
"Perhaps not," Alice answered uneasily as she turned her attention back fully to her book. She still had several paragraphs of the essay left to produce, then there was the editing and second draft. All work she wouldn't be able to complete so long as Calla was sitting with her. So when the Hufflepuff mentioned leaving the library, Alice released a quick huff of frustration. "I have a lot left to do. I'm sure Sisse or Sloane would be willing to join you."
She blinked slowly, her expression shifting from cheer to an unfiltered look of concern. She was sure Alice had been her some time already and who knows how much later she intended to stick around. "Alice, I know this means a lot to you, and I know you want to do everything you can, but," Calla leaned forwards, reaching a hand out to hover over Alice's, the proximity giving her a tingley feeling across her skin. "you have to take a break every once in a while. I don't want you to push yourself to hard you crash and burn. I worry about you, is all. It will just be to the kitchen and back and then I can look over your essay if you want? Or just keep you company?"
Sighing heavily, Alice dropped her quill for what felt like the umpteenth time in frustration and narrowed her eyes at her friend. "I don't expect you to understand," Alice whispered bitterly. How could Calla ever understand the pressure she was under? Calla had never had to stress over finances or her familial obligations. They were simply too different.
"I'll have years to take breaks and enjoy myself, Calla." Alice continued heatedly. "There will be decades even to not further my education and absorb as much as I can. This is all that matters right now. Not snacks or supper or quidditch games. Studying. That's it."
Amazing set by Bee!
June 3, 2022 – 2:17 AM
Last modified: June 3, 2022 – 2:18 AM by Calla Potts.
The Hufflepuff snapped back, too startled to even attempt to hide the surprise and hurt that bloomed across her face. She bit her lip, using the physical pain to keep the tears she felt trying to well as she gathered her belongings, shoving them haphazardly in her bag. "You know what, Alice?" Calla shot, as she turned to leave, "I'm tired of this. If you want to make yourself miserable and not accept help from your so-called friends, well so be it! Maybe I don't understand but I've tried and god forbid you stop and think that maybe your friends push you because they care. Maybe you want to keep that in mind before you lose them all. I'm done with caring when all you ever do is lash out and hurt anyone that does."
The brunette slung her bag over her shoulder, teeth-gritting. "I'll be in the greenhouse. Don't follow me. I don't know why I kid myself, not that you would ever look up from your work." The rest was left unspoken as Calla left, ignoring the glare from the librarian for her volume. Not that you'd care enough to follow.
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