April 30, 1892 - Darrows' Dinner Party, Swallowbury District

Delilah had, in a sense, conned her way into the dinner party the Darrows were throwing. After wearing Evander’s face for ten days and playing pretend with Caroline as her wife, she’d felt it’d been her diligence to apologize for her erratic behavior and well… now here she was. Delilah didn’t know a single soul outside of Caroline (and Evander - she felt she knew him well enough to be a first name basis with him, even if he didn’t realize it yet), although she couldn’t stay by the woman’s side all evening. She wasn’t awful at broaching conversations with strangers and was thankful there weren’t any uncomfortable whispers that seemed to follow her.

To get out from under Caroline’s feet the brunette clenched a drink in her hand and excused herself. Delilah wished for the seventh time this evening that she had thought this through, although Caroline seemed to be a friend in the making. She just wished she had people she could talk to. As it was, Delilah was making her way through the room while people chatted over their respective drinks and looked anywhere for a safe haven. She finally spotted a man who did not seem to be speaking to anyone and perhaps was as uncomfortable with his surroundings as she felt. Delilah sidestepped over to him.

“Ah, hello. Excuse me. I was just, well, I thought I might intrude upon your corner for a moment?” She was never bad at making friends. Delilah flashed him a smile.

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Mason Skeeter

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It hadn't taken Mason long to become painfully aware that he was one of two single bachelors here this evening and unsurprisingly, there were a few unattached ladies here this evening, Mrs. Goyle, who he vaguely remembered from school and rather thought she and Percy had some sort of history? He could have been imagining that however and decided not to put too much thought into it while he did his best to lurk around the edges of the room and out of the limelight.

He had a glass of something strong in hand, which was doing its job of keeping him just fuzzy enough not to be fidgety while he surveyed the room at large, always a little envious of how naturally socializing came to other people. Maybe he'd been spending too much time by himself in the greenhouses lately... At least Gus kept intruding on his time, which was a welcome distraction most of the time. He really could use some more friends.

Taking a sip of his drink, he nearly spilled it on himself, sputtering a little as he unexpectedly found himself with company in the back of the room. "Certainly," He coughed, trying not to draw attention to himself. Eventually he managed to pass her a smile in return and floundered for a topic of conversation. "So, uh, how do you know the Darrows?" Mason really didn't know them personally, he was an extension Percy tonight.

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Delilah chuckled quietly at him as he seemed to sputter at her appearance. She smiled softly before she took a sip of her drink, mulling over how much a response she wanted to give a complete stranger. “I suppose you’ve heard of the weird body swap that happened at the beginning of the month?” It had been a confusing ten days and if she could go back and fix a few mistakes, she would. 

Delilah flicked her eyes up to him before she laughed. “I woke up Mr. Darrows and had to pretend to be him for a while.” It had been a long ten days, too. “Let’s just say I owed Mrs. Darrows an apology for some things, and she was sweet enough to invite me when I came to do so.” Like conning her into going for breakfast at Hogsmeade, ditching her to make sure her own children were safe and then showing up drunk that same night when she needed a place to stay. Delilah wasn’t proud of her first day as Evander Darrows.

The second hadn’t gone that great either.  She tried to pay off and intimidate Evander’s brother during the confusion, although she wasn’t going to mention that. Delilah probably owed him an apology at some point too. She shrugged before she turned her attention back to him, where she leaned forward and lowered her voice as if it was some kind of secret, although she kept a smile against her lips. “Truthfully outside of Mrs. Darrows, I don’t know anyone. How do you know the Darrows?”

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Truthfully Mason had only heard rumors and whispers among the students about this mysterious body swap situation. He really hadn't gotten much information beyond its happening and that was that. He had to wonder just what had transpired, but decided he was probably better off not knowing the full intricacies of the whole situation. The woman before him seemed to have a time with it herself and that was enough information for him.

"That sounds quite harrowing." Mason really couldn't imagine waking up in another person's body for any amount of time. "I am not so much an acquaintance of Mr. and Mrs. Darrow, but of Mr. Adlard," Mason gestured to Percy and his young wife. "Whom I believe thinks I should get out of the castle more." He chuckled, taking a sip of his drink. It seemed that Mason still couldn't quite puzzle out the meaning of this dinner party, but its invitees were an interesting mix, that was for sure.

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Delilah laughed quietly as she shook her head at the man. It had been a harrowing experience but it certainly could have been worse. Underneath a quick potion - thank goodness for being a healer who knew spells and potions for the oddities life threw at her - her hair was a bright shade of purple. It hadn’t shown any signs of fading, and quite frankly, Delilah was over it. She’d take an entire month of being Mr. Darrow with no purple hair, then ten days as him and what seemed like violet hair forever. Instinctively, she brushed a strand behind her ear as she nodded. "It wasn't all that bad." She admitted.

Her eyes were drawn toward the couple he pointed at, although their names were some she didn’t know. Her attention was drawn back toward him. “The castle?” Delilahhummed quietly. “Hogwarts, I presume?” She didn’t know any other castles, but perhaps the man lived far away in one, by himself. She sipped her drink to cover the amusement that slipped across her lips. She highly doubted it, but it was amusing nonetheless. “What do you do there?” If memory served her correctly, Delilah didn’t recognize him as anyone she saw while she was there.

  

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Mason still couldn't quite wrap his head around the whole body-swap fiasco, and what he presumed was a side effect (the purple hair) but his newfound company seemed to be taking it all in stride. He tended to envy that about people. While he was certainly easygoing, he did not do well under pressure situations like that.

"Hogwarts," He confirmed with a nod. "I am the herbology professor, Mason Skeeter." Mason always felt a little awkward introducing himself like that, as if his job was something all that important, but he liked it. "For the better part of the last decade." He was no spring chicken, but he felt positively ancient compared to when he'd first started, and when in comparison to the students themselves.

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Delilah didn’t mean to instantly act, her face flashing with a sudden recognition, but she did. Of course it would be the professor she would swear her little sister had the biggest crush on! Oh, what did she call him? The most eligible bachelor? Hiding her amusement with a sip of her drink, she decided now was not the proper time to bring that tidbit up. She didn’t need Mr. Skeeter to think the entire Farley clan was odd, even if they were.

“The herbology professor!” She focused on instead, a small grin twitching against her lips. “You are the perfect person to ask, then. I have a gnome problem, and I swear they multiply by the day.”Y esterday, Delilah found her flowerbed in ruins after spending the last year perfecting where each plant would go in the garden, and after a quick search and finding mounds of dirt, she knew gnomes had to be the cause. “I bought a couple fly traps in hopes they’ll nip at them while I figure out my life, but I’ve never seen them this bad.” And if they scared the gnomes away before she figured everything out, even better.

Delilah paused then. “Excuse me, Mr. Skeeter. I’m Delilah Warbeck and it is a pleasure to meet you. I’m a potion and plant healer, so I enjoyed your class. A lot, actually. Not that you were my professor, I’m much too old for that. But still, definitely a favorite of mine.” Not that she was old - she wasn't even thirty yet. She was just digging herself deeper and deeper. She shook her head.

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Mildly taken aback by her delight, Mason chuckled eventually, amused that he was apparently just the person for the problem she was having. "A pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Warbeck." Mason trusted when she said that was too old to be his student. She looked young enough certainly, he was feeling positively ancient these days, and she didn't look familiar, but he was also a terrible judge of ages.

"A gnome problem, hm?" Mason also tended to have those, but for some reason, several of his students, Miss Bixby chief among them, thoroughly enjoyed de-gnoming the gardens in her free time, so it never really got that bad. "I trust you've tried the old fashioned way of dizzying them up and tossing them?" It worked for a while, but he knew it was not a permanent solution. Somehow they always made their way back in

There were other more permanent solutions, but they required some upkeep and care of their own. "There are a few alternatives, but they require some extra care themselves." A jarvey really was the only natural predator of a garden gnome, but a large cat could also do the job, he supposed. Pepper tended to chase them in her free time for him, in addition to the students tossing them. "Planting a chomping cabbage or two on the perimeters, or at the corners. A large barn cat or jarvey would solve the problem as well." The latter was a lot of work though, and noisy with their rude little remarks. "I have a large manx cat that chases them, myself. However the students also like to do the de-gnoming as well." It was quite amusing to watch.

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Miss Warbeck. It had been a long time since she hadn’t been addressed with a missus attached to her name. It was almost refreshing, in a way, not to be looked at with pity as a known widow. A small smile touched her lips as Delilah nodded at him.

Her fingers tightened around the glass in her hand before she took a sip. “I tried that at first, but yesterday they tore up my entire garden I’ve spent the last year perfecting. They have to go.” They just kept multiplying and quite frankly, Delilah had had enough of them. Even if they didn’t talk she swore they were laughing at her feeble attempts to evict them from her garden. She sucked in a breath of air before breathing out a laugh. “Mr. Skeeter, I am a determined woman, and there are few things I won’t do to rid myself of them. Even if it means sleeping outside to catch them in the act.” Now wouldn’t that be a shock to everyone - her family would question her because why would she choose to do such a thing? And the gnomes, surprise! Can’t eat the plants if she’s blasting them with spells.

“A chomping cabbage.” Delilah paused for a moment before she laughed quietly. “Well, I haven’t tried that one yet. I wonder… what a fly-trap and chomping cabbage hybrid would be like…” She had bought some of those, and well, a chomping fly-trap sounded quite fun. “I think a jarvey might frighten my son -” given how brutal their methods could be, “but a cat might work.” Although she worried her daughter would love it to pieces and it would become an indoor cat instead of one that chased away gnomes.

“If you ever feel the need to send some of your detention kids my way for some good old de-gnoming times, I can tell you where to find me.” And for good measure - because why? - Delilah winked at him.

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Miss Warbeck seemed to ponder his suggestions seriously and he had to chuckle at the thought of a chomping cabbage combined with a fly trap. "Cabbages and a cat should take care of it. I can recommend places to get quality of each, if you like." Obviously the Potts family could get the cabbages and he was pretty sure he could reach out to the woman he had gotten Pepper from to see if she had some leads there.

"I'm sure I could get some students to help you out this summer, if you have need. I'm afraid I am not allowed to banish them from the grounds for detentions." Wouldn't that be something though. Perhaps severe indiscretions could be punished by the removal of a Hogsmeade visit with this instead. Then again, Mason was pretty sure Miss Bixby and her comrades could use something to fill their afternoons during the summer months. She was even friends with the youngest Potts, if he wasn't mistaken, they could certainly handle that if asked.

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Her eyes twinkled before Delilah laughed quietly. “That would be great. Thank you Mr. Skeeter. My daughter has been asking for a cat, although I was hoping to wait until she was off to Hogwarts in a few years. I’m sure your recommendation will be much better than something a five year old would pick out.” Lavinia would probably choose the prettiest cat in the entire store (she was so girly, which Delilah secretly loved), who wouldn’t want to get her paws dirty, which would defeat the entire purpose of getting a cat to help de-gnome her garden.

But then she laughed again as she shook her head; she’d been half-kidding because it wouldn't be something? Delilah was a healer who specialized in plants but even she wouldn’t want to be in charge of a bunch of students to watch over. Something would go horribly wrong. “I appreciate it, but I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you.” Of course if Mr. Skeeter himself wanted to pop over… Delilah wouldn’t mind that. 

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"Certainly, I have a large Manx myself, Pepper, she keeps the greenhouses mostly pest-free." Of course he had to train her to leave certain plants alone, but that hadn't taken much, she was pretty intelligent. "I'll track down the information of the woman I got her from." It had been a farm somewhere in the south of the country, but he was pretty sure she bred the cats, so it shouldn't be all that hard.

"As for the cabbages, I might actually have a couple cultivating up at the school, I will see how they're doing and perhaps send you an owl?" Even if he didn't have seedlings already going, he certainly could. It might take him a little bit, but not too long so that the problem got out of hand. Hopefully.

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“Pepper,” Delilah parroted, although she couldn’t help but smile at the cat’s name. Pepper. It was cute and she could only assume that it was because of the coloring. (Although her children were bound to name a cat something simply because they liked the word.) “That’s a cute name. But I would really appreciate that.” She nodded her head. Hopefully the rest of the Farley clan wouldn’t mind a sudden cat, but at least it’d be an outdoor one.

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be a lifesaver.” It would also give her time to figure out where to place them because those venus flytraps weren’t nice - her luck she’d start a flytrap chomping cabbage war in her own background, and then she wasn’t sure what she’d do. “I’ll definitely be on the lookout for your owl. Thank you so much Mr. Skeeter.”

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Masons ears turned a little red as Miss Warbeck complimented his cat's name. "Short for Peppermint." Had to be some kind of plant after all. What sort of Herbologist would he be if it wasn't? "Certainly, no trouble at all." Not on his behalf. Mason didn't exactly have much to do once the term ended so he could easily track down the information and then bring the plants by once they were big enough to be moved.

"I'll get the information to you as soon as possible." About both the cats and the cabbages. Mason had a helpful nature to him that couldn't be quelled. Not to mention it was clearly right up his alley. He wasn't always the most outgoing person, but he could talk about plants all day and this was along those lines, so it wasn't as hard.

It was then that dinner was announced and now Mason found himself wondering if they would be seated near one another. That would be too convenient though, even if he would have liked it.

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   Delilah Warbeck

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