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 1892. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
“Cheese and Crust” - an exclamation common among the lower classes. A perversion of the invocation of the name of Jesus Christ, though considered somewhat respectful for its veiling of the oath. — Bounce
Maybe a choice shade of grey - the closest thing she had to mourning clothes - as a symbolic marker that her relationship with Victor was dead. — Beatrice Daphnelindining is pageantry
Cassius was married now, to an unobjectionable woman from the Right Sort of family (more or less—her guardian was not as unimpeachable as Lucius might have preferred). This ought to have brought Lucius some degree of... relief, for lack of a better term. Instead, he felt as though the deal might still fall through. Not the marriage, of course. That had been carried out according to the letter of the law and would be dissolved only if Lucius himself willed it. No, the deal that was Cassius not dragging the family reputation through the mud—or worse, the papers.
That, Lucius feared, would be a marathon, not a sprint.
The nuptials concluded, the wedding party had adjourned to the Selwyn estate for the reception. The wizard thought it prudent to have a private moment with his son before the masses demanded the boy's attentions. The billiards room had been provided to this end, and Lucius poured them each two fingers of brandy before handing one of the crystal tumblers to his son.
"To your union," Lucius remarked almost dryly, raising the tumbler in a toast, "and your legacy."
No one had fled before the wedding vows were shared, and Theo was here but Cash had not had to speak with him, so maybe things were going fine, actually. His palms felt itchy and he felt like he was pretending to be someone he wasn't, but that would just be the rest of his life, and if nothing had actively gone wrong — he was fine. This was fine.
He mirrored Lucius' toast and took a sip of the brandy. "Thank you, father," Cash said.
"The Wellingtonshire house is ready," he noted, "and as for your wedding night, there will be a house elf on hand for the... proceedings."
Lucius paused as if inviting Cassius to argue, though the wizard was not well-known for relenting. Once the new Mrs. Lestrange produced an heir, Lucius would give his son the freedom he no doubt wished for (well, some of the freedom; Lucius was well-known for Running the Family, but until then, this union could still fall apart.
Cash swallowed; he'd expect that Lucius would ensure that the union was consummated. "Will we see the house elf?" he asked. He worried that his new wife would be frightened; and besides that, Cash was not entirely sure he could perform with an elf staring at him.
At this question, Lucius Lestrange exhibited a rare, albeit fleeting, moment of surprise. At any time, the purpose of a house elf was to
serve in the background, not to be seen—one of their chief advantages over human staff. Seeing a house elf at any time when not explicitly instructed was hardly ideal, but in the throes of passion (or, as was likelier in Cassius' case, while performing one's marital duties with little, if any, gusto), those eyes would be positively nightmarish.
"No," Lucius replied emphatically. "I should very much think not."
The wizard almost added something about letting him know if the creature became a hindrance, but thought better of it. Giving Cassius any excuse not to perform his duties, even through accidental suggestion, was not a route Lucius was interested in taking.
Cash flushed, embarrassed at having asked the question — and at his father's response. "Good, then," he said. His hand twitched — he wanted to push it through his hair, but that wasn't something one should do at one's wedding. "Is there anything else we should discuss this afternoon?"
