December 23rd, 1890 — Harriet Prewett's London Home

Christmas was his favorite time of the year. The decorations added an extra layer of magic to their already magical existence, and even the stuffiest Christmas parties had a festive overlay that allowed a little more room for his natural cheeriness. He strived to be the best (and least scandalous) version of himself at any given time, but this was his mother's party, in a home he was too familiar with, surrounded by familiar faces, and he'd had a little too much mulled wine. In conclusion, Freddie Prewett was just tipsy enough not to think twice before being too bold.

"Mrs. Prewett would be devastated to see one of her guests standing in the corner by herself," he greeted, a permanent smile on his face as he approached the pretty—and unfamiliar—blonde from the side. One glass in each hand, he offered her the full one.

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Gretchen Lestrange

  

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— set by mj <3 —

Christmas was very far from being a highlight of Gretchen’s calendar. Quite apart from the fact it was proceeded by weeks of having to listen to her classmates witter on and on about the simply marvellous plans they had with their families it was even more marked at this time of year that Gretchen was not the festive sort and it was impossible for others not to notice.

Thankfully she had managed to navigate this party without anybody noticing that she had taken the somewhat unexpected invitation purely because the alternative was spending an evening with just her aunt and cousin. Being dipped in pond slime was preferable to that particular fate so Gretchen was content enough to be ignored by her chaperone and stealthily help herself to Mrs Prewett’s champagne.

It was made all the easier when a young man proffered a fresh glass towards her, completely blocking her chaperone’s view. Was it deliberate? She didn’t know him so he could be a notorious seducer of young ladies - Merlin knew her step-mother wouldn't have the sense to warn her.

Cautiously she took the glass and raised an eyebrow.

“And how would you know how the hostess feels sir?”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

It did not take much alcohol to make Freddie perfectly amenable—and perfectly chatty.

"Why, she's my mother of course," he said, a sparkle of mischief in his eye. He did like to take advantage of his mother's hosting abilities, even if he spent much of the night during her parties avoiding her field of vision. He was grateful for the moment that he was the youngest of the four unmarried brothers, but still he doubted that would stop his mother from scheming if she stumbled across the ideal match (and there were greater things Freddie wished to be doing than introducing himself to over-eager, marriage-minded young ladies. This one seemed okay. So far.)

"Which means it is my duty to keep her guests entertained." And in truth, there was nothing sadder than the sight of a girl standing off to the side by herself, without as much as a single friend to keep her happy.

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— set by mj <3 —

Ah, so this was one of the sons. Gretchen might not have been a debutante just yet – in truth she was slightly dreading attending her late aunt’s school – but the names of various families, and who had marriageable sons, was well known amongst her peers. Prewett was a much discussed name due to the surplus of sons but Gretchen couldn’t recall ever seeing this particular specimen in the pages of Witch Weekly when she had secretly borrowed someone else’s copy.

Which meant he was probably the youngest son and oddly Gretchen felt more at ease with that knowledge. Another runt of the litter, albeit one from a much nicer family that her own – from what Eldin Bones had told her at least – and a rather handsome runt at that.

“You’re Mister Frederick then?” Gretchen asked, her decorum not quite fully formed. She took a sip of her drink and smiled sweetly, an approximation of the playful sort of smile she had seen her older cousins deploy. “How do you plan to entertain me?”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

"Mr. Frederick," he replied, a carefree smile on his face as he nodded. There was a certain freedom in being the youngest of four boys even if he often complained about it; of all his brothers the least was expected from him, and now that he was already settled with a home and a job with potential for growth there was little that could be asked of him until his brothers married. He took a sip of his own drink and glanced around, as if scoping out the perfect adventuring spot.

"Well," he said, a bit dumbly. "It wouldn't be my mother's home without a few mysteries of its own. Did you know we have—" He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper, "—secret passages in the walls? And not the ones servants use."

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— set by mj <3 —

Though she would have liked to affect the mannerisms of her older cousins Gretchen was not nearly honed enough to keep the delighted intrigue from her face. The Lestrange family home held its own secrets – probably more than Gretchen would ever be privy to and likely more than even uncle Lucius knew – but the notion of poking around in the hidden parts of other people’s lives was much less daunting somehow.

“Could I see them?” Gretchen asked hopefully, taking another sip of champagne and glancing around as though anyone was paying the slightly attention to them. The benefit of being a younger sibling, she supposed. “They say there are passages at Hogwarts too but I've never found any. Perhaps your mother did and it gave her the idea?”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

Freddie by nature was inclined to being far too trusting, and combined with the champagne it only made him more eager to put that nature to test. He glanced around the room, his inhibitions not entirely disposed of. Most of the attention was near the front of the room where his mother stood, surrounded by friends and even one of his brothers. They could sneak off without much notice.

"I don't believe my mother is that adventurous," he said, though it spoke more of his feelings towards his mother than her character. "Remind me to ask her the next time I speak to her, though." With a smile, he reached down and touched her wrist. He nodded in the direction of the back exit of the room and motioned for her to follow.

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— set by mj <3 —

The tingle of an unexpected touch was an unfamiliar feeling to Gretchen and she felt a slight blush rise on her cheeks which, she reasoned, was likely more to do with the champagne than the fingers at her wrist. She liked this young man quite well but surely it was absurd to put such sensations down to him?

“I will,” Gretchen replied belatedly, allowing herself to be led towards the back of the room where no other guests were lingering. A voice piped up that she really oughtn’t go with him alone but it was so dull just waiting on the sides, not being asked to so much as dance because she wasn’t technically out. At least he had talked to her.

“Do the staff know about them? I would hate the idea of the servants being able to spy on me without me knowing.”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

He led her out of the ballroom and into the empty hall. Most guests didn't come to this part, not without reason. With a glance in both directions he started down the length of the corridor, his eyes seeking a specific portrait that he remembered using the last time he explored the passageways. He stood slow steps and every now and then cast a smile back at her. His hand reached down and gently wrapped around her wrist, and he gave her a little tug as they rounded a corner like a dog pulling its walker on a leash.

"I'm not sure if they know," he admitted sheepishly, "but if they do they're wise enough not to go where they shouldn't. I don't remember a time where I was found shortly after I used them. They can take you to places all over the house—the guest bedrooms, the parlor, the smoke room, and the library," he chattered away in a hushed voice.

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— set by mj <3 —

No matter how hard she tried Gretchen struggled to imagine Mrs Prewett in all her charming glory sneaking through the walls of her own home and so she instead conjured up the vision of Mr Prewett as a boy doing just that. It was not a tough stretch of the imagination given that he was barely above the age when such shenanigans would have been common place and they were in fact doing that just now.

Was he that much older than her? She couldn’t really tell – Gretchen had thought him much older than her but in the dim light he seemed like a very young young man. He wasn’t married but that didn’t signify much.

“Is this it?” Gretchen asked, reaching out to push a panel speculatively. Her eyes widened in delight when, at her touch, it slid sideways and revealed a nook just big enough for two people and a passage that stretched into the darkness. “It’s like something from Mr Poe’s stories.”

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

They arrived, and Freddie began feeling along the panels in search of the correct one. Suddenly the sound of a clicking panel caught his attention and he looked over, his smile brightening at the sight of Miss Lestrange peering into the passage. She was a clever one, then.

"That's it," he said in an exited, yet hushed tone. Still wearing a smile, he glanced both ways down the corridor. Nobody was around to see where they were going—and even if a servant could, or had, what would they say? Nothing. Nothing at all. He stepped closer to her—so close that his chest nearly brushed against hers—and with a quirked brow slid into the passageway. "It's dark, but safe," he said, his voice echoing in the cramped tunnel. He reached out and boldly grabbed for her hand. She had the softest hands, he noticed, and then nearly slipped into a frown at the realization that he hadn't held many girl's hands. He'd have to fix that, surely.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, begging to back up into the tunnel, pulling her with him.

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   Amelia Evans

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— set by mj <3 —

At the eleventh hour, and very possibly too late for her to change her mind, Gretchen finally considered whether she did trust him and whether she had in fact been lured away for nefarious purposes. It seemed unlikely that someone who smiled so much could be truly bad but the moment he took her hand and looked her in the eye Gretchen found herself feeling quite peculiar and instinctively she distrusted something she didn’t understand.

But it would be rude to say no, wouldn’t it? She had asked to see the passages after all and he was only obliging her request.

“Yes,” she replied finally, letting herself be led inside the passage. It was terribly dark, as he’d said – more proof that he wasn’t up to no good? – but rather comforting. Like being underwater and shutting out the rest of the world.

“Can you hear that?” Gretchen asked breathlessly, seconds before the panel slid back into place and plunged them into total darkness.

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

She followed him in, and Freddie felt his heart lurch with something (excitement? Uncertainty? The knowledge that this was absolutely forbidden?). Freddie squeezed her hand silently as the darkness enveloped them, and a moment later he spoke one word that brought them into light: "Lumos." The tunnel was clearly old and out of use, evidenced by the cobwebs that crowded the ceiling above their heads. The walls were made of brick and a far cry from the patterned wallpaper that covered the visible walls in his mother's home.

"There's all sorts of noises down here. You can tell where we are in the house by the noises you'll hear," he explained. Still holding her hand, he began to walk backwards, pulling her deeper down the long, straight tunnel. It was so dark that it wasn't clear where the path ended from where they stood, but Freddie had explored the tunnels often enough to know where the turns and steps were.

The longer they walked, the more Freddie thought about the fact that he was a man, and she was a girl, and they were alone where no one would find them. Surely she wouldn't have followed him if she hadn't wanted to come—or if she hadn't been aware of the risks. She was petite and pretty and blonde—and for a brief moment his eyes caught on her lips, which looked soft and pink and plump.

Finally they reached a point where Freddie knew he had to turn around, and he did so, his free hand feeling along the wall for the familiar cracks in the stone. There were two at this point. "We can go to the billiard's room or...." He felt along the cracks, finally finding the second one, "... or the library," he said, looking back at her.

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— set by mj <3 —

His hand was only inches from her chest as it groped in the dark but Gretchen thought it best not to point that out. It was quite possible he couldn’t see anyway as the brickwork seemed designed to absorb light and Gretchen had been led through the passage entirely by her companion rather than the glow from his wand. She had managed not to stumble, even when a voice had spoken on the other side of the wall and nearly made her jump out of her skin.

It was fascinating to be so close to others and yet still free to do as one pleased, though she doubted the people on the other side of the wall would agree. Even Nephele the Nutter would chastise her and it was at that point, realising that even her ridiculous guardian wouldn’t approve of where she was, that Gretchen began to recoil internally.

She really oughtn’t to be here. Throwing caution to the wind was not for the likes of her, though Mr Prewett still didn’t appear to be anything other than a solicitous young man who had entertained her when she was bored.

“I think perhaps the billiard room,” she replied, imagining the layout of the house and knowing that from there they would be only two rooms away from the party and could return safely, without anyone needing to know about their excursion. They could get away with it, she was sure of it.

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?

The billiard room it was. Freddie let go of her hand, but only long enough to find the spot on the crack where he could push the door open. The light poured in from the billiard room, and Freddie silently put the light on his wand out. He tucked it in his pocket, stepped through the opening with one foot, and reached out to help Miss Lestrange out of the tunnel and into the room.

They were alone. Freddie did not let go of her hand, which probably would have been for the best, because even though nobody was in the room he could hear voices in the halls outside of the room. He'd been more a of risk-taker before his time in Azkaban, but he knew he'd be silly to let the opportunity to be so close to Miss Lestrange escape him. It wasn't as if they were doing anything illegal.

He reached behind her to close the tunnel door, but then made no move to distance himself from her once it clicked shut.  Another step forward and he could have pressed her up against the wall—but he didn't, not only because he thought it was too forward, but because he hadn't decided if she had similar thoughts running through her head.

"I hope I've entertained you well enough," he teased, his gaze once again flickering down to her lips. Wearing a charming—if not a little shy—smile, he reached out and took her other hand into his and squeezed both.

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— set by mj <3 —

Gretchen hadn’t been in the dark for long enough that she needed to blink at the new burst of light but she still allowed Mr Prewett to guide her out of the passage as though she couldn’t see for herself. She ought to let go of his hand, it really was unnecessary but-oh, he was holding her other hand now.

The strange discombobulation she had felt before doubled inside her and she was suddenly quite sure she was blushing. Had she ever done such a girlish thing before? Possibly in the brief moment she thought she had walked in on a male student in the bath but certainly not when her insides were doing new and unusual things involving cartwheels and tight knots.

“I have certainly been diverted,” she said sincerely, smiling minutely at her own cleverness. Perhaps she ought to explain the joke? Perhaps she ought to leave him here before things took a turn?

Had his eyes been that blue before?

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   Freddie Prewett

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Bee is tremendous, isn't she?