September 29th, 1890 — Black's, Hogsmeade

From the tone of his letter he was already on a wrong footing with Tiberius Lestrange which irked him immensely, it also persuaded him further that Miss Lestrange's relatives had seen off past suitors. It was an awkward family situation - she lived with her uncle but ordinarily she would be her brother's ward and so he had to mind two men instead of the one father a lady usually had. He had prioritized the gentleman whose roof she lived under thus far but the longer he waited to ingratiate himself with the brother, the more it would seem like a slight and lack of respect. Damn it all he hated this, it was one thing to woo Miss Lestrange, he resented having too woo the brother too.

Hating the situation didn't make it go away though and that left him to either accept it and do what was necessary or reject it and give up Miss Lestrange. Well the latter was unthinkable, Miss Lestrange was a rare creature and he'd have to wait years for new debutantes to come along to stand a chance of finding a comparable replacement. So here he was at Black's nice and early to meet Miss Lestrange's disgruntled brother. Hopefully the man wasn't completely set against him and could be worked upon or else he'd need more than a few drinks to get through the evening.

Charles made a point of turning up very early, early enough to be there before Mr. Lestrange so that he might recover some ground with him that way. The wait was tedious but he supposed necessary, even if this groveling of sorts was deeply abhorrent to him.

"Ah, Mr. Lestrange, good evening." He rose to greet him and extended a hand.

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Tiberius Lestrange

  

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It was difficult to cut an imposing figure towards someone who was several years his senior and in a mildly more prestigious career within the Ministry than he was, but Tiberius was determined to do so all the same. He didn't really know how his father might have handled things, had he been alive and available when Tatiana was ready to debut and wed, but Tiberius was still trying to fill his shoes as best he could. He wanted to ensure an advantageous match for his sister, of course, but more than that he wanted Mr. Macmillan to know that Tatiana was and would always be a Lestrange, even if her last name changed. He wanted him to understand — not explicitly, of course, but understand all the same — that if he ever did anything to hurt, insult, or humble his sister, he would be facing Tiberius' wrath. He wanted Mr. Macmillan to be afraid of him, ultimately — that was the only way he thought he could protect his sister when she ventured off into the unknown of Mr. Macmillan's household.

To assume that the burden of looking out for Tatiana's interests rested solely on his shoulders, however, would have been to grossly underestimate her. She had, of course, been much more intimately acquainted with the man and his character than Tiberius had been or would ever be, and she had apparently determined him suitable enough. The questions that she had sent him before the meeting were tucked into his breast pocket and he planned to deliver her a full report. Unlike most women her age, Tiberius trusted his sister entirely to decide the path of her future happiness.

He arrived exactly on time and took the offered hand in a crisp, businesslike shake. "I hope I've not kept you waiting," he said coolly, but he in fact hoped very much that Mr. Macmillan had been waiting a long while.

  

His hand shake was firm which was always a good sign. "Not at all." As far as Mr. Lestrange need know he had turned up a fraction of a second before him. It would make a poor impression if he turned up late but he didn't think it it did much for his image if it was known he'd made such an effort to be there first.

Charles called over a waiter. "I'll have a firewhiskey, please. Lestrange?" Charles took his seat again as the waiter left to see to their drinks.

He knew very little of Mr. Lestrange's character but he'd given him no indication of being a fool and so he decided to believe he a sensible man and if he was anything like his sister this was a safe bet. "You strike me as a man who doesn't much care for inane small talk." The waiter had better be fast with his drink, he may well need it in a moment. Hopefully not though. "I meant what I said in my letter; I think it would be prudent, if nothing else, if we get to know one other better but why delay the inevitable? Your priority is surely to discuss your sister." Plus he could hardly try to strike up friendly conversation knowing next to nothing of the man sat before him.

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Tiberius ordered his drink, took his seat, and waited for Macmillan to direct the start of the conversation. There would be plenty of time for him to ask questions or make inquiries, and it would be telling to see what Macmillan said to begin, he thought. Skipping over the small talk was unconventional, but Tiberius was hardly going to mourn the loss of it. This directness, however, did not seem to fit well with what Tiberius knew of the man. Didn't he have political aspirations? No one could be elected Minister of Magic (which Tiberius had heard rumored was Macmillan's ultimate goal, and certainly a worthy career for his sister's future husband) if they couldn't sustain some amount of banter with people they either did not know or outright disliked. On the other hand, perhaps Macmillan had done some poking around on him before this meeting, and had heard that Tiberius had no taste for it — in which case, skipping it would have shown both shrewdness and a very decisive purpose in this meeting. He would reserve judgement on that point, he decided.

"Of course," Tiberius said mildly, pausing while the waiter arrived with their drinks until the servant was once again out of earshot. "If we had spoken two months ago I might have asked your intentions, but as things stand now I should hope they are fairly obvious."

  

Charles gritted his teeth and reached for his glass which had - mercifully - just arrived. It was a little awkward with Miss Lestrange being the ward of her aunt and uncle while having a living older brother - which man held priority? The one who roof she lived under or the one who would traditionally have been her keeper? The safe bet was to attend to both but there still remained the question of whom first. Based on interactions thus far he thought he'd be going to Lestrange for permission to Tatiana's hand before Mr. Macnair. This man clearly had not taken the delay kindly and Charles could only kick himself in hindsight.

However, he wasn't going to apologize for it again, he wouldn't stoop to groveling.

"Rest assured I meant you no disrespect by waiting so long," would mentioning Mr. Macnair come across as respectful or would that be stepping further on Mr. Lestrange's toes? "I shan't make excuses but I will say that I do not make a habit of negligence." How much did Mr. Lestrange know about him, he wondered. "My intentions are exactly as they seem."

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Tiberius considered his response, weighing his words but finding none that required a response in his estimation. They had more pressing things to discuss — like Tatiana's requests for the conversation, to begin with.

"Good," he said in a clipped tone. "I am confident saying my sister would not have agreed to proceed this far if she did not feel similarly. And I suppose I need not ask if you feel yourself prepared to support a wife. You've done it once already, haven't you?"

  

Charles felt distinctly condescended to but forced himself to overlook it. It would have been a little more tolerable coming from someone a few years older.

"I have, yes." Unfortunately he'd been forced to think about Noelle which for Charles was the psychological equivalent of sucking on a lemon. While society hadn't forgotten his late wife, her exploits were no longer particularly interesting gossip, but she was also Tiberius Lestrange's cousin and thus he probably remembered far more about Noelle than the average individual.

He feared that when he did one day run for Minister that someone would dredge the entire Noelle business back up again. She'd publicly embarrassed him on numerous occasions and in hindsight he could only kick himself for not putting her in her place sooner. He had been a great deal younger then and unprepared for a tempestuous, and frankly insane wife, but acknowledging that didn't make him feel much better. Thank god Miss Lestrange was the opposite of Noelle in every possible way.

He felt he ought to say more but wasn't sure how he could without first disparaging his late wife in such a way as would probably not reflect well upon him. That said, if Lestrange wanted to ask further questions about Noelle he'd have no qualms firmly establishing that his late wife had been a vile harpy and it was only a pity she hadn't died before he could make the mistake of marrying her.

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   Aldous Crouch, Tiberius Lestrange

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Not particularly forthcoming, was he? Tiberius was disinclined to be put out by that, however; he likely would have responded similarly had someone asked an open-ended question about Antigone. Tatiana might have appreciated if he dug into the matter a little more, and he could certainly do so if the opportunity arose, but based on such a clipped response Tiberius was confident that the answer to her question on the subject of Noelle (Whether he still dreams fondly of Noelle) could be decidedly answered in the negative.

"And you have one child?" he continued, leading. Hopefully the man was a bit more effusive about his daughter, though Tiberius wasn't sure he had high hopes.

  

"I do. She's," there was a slight pause as he blanked on his only child's age, "not yet five." She was somewhere in the region of three and five... Wasn't she? Shit. It did seem a long time since Noelle had been alive. Merlin's beard what difference did it make anyway? Eventually she'd get a Hogwarts letter and he wouldn't have to see her for seven years, then she'd be an adult and hopefully married or finished or just not his responsibility anymore.

The more he thought about it the more he started to think he'd made an embarrassing blunder on his daughter's age. She had to be at least five, Noelle had been dead as long as that! Not that a three year old was really any different from a six year old. Charles chose not to correct himself and gamble on Tiberius Lestrange either not knowing already or not caring enough to ever realize he'd made the mistake in the first place. "It's a rotten sort of luck to be widowed and left with a daughter." Of course Noelle had left him with the one sort of child he didn't know how to handle. Admittedly most of his issues with Althea stemmed from the fact that he was in a perpetual state of suspecting her of being Noelle reincarnate, sent from the depths of hell to eventually ruin his life when she caused a public scandal so horrific it ruined his career and drove him to drink and baldness. "She would do well to have a role model such as your sister." Though he did worry that even the virtues of Miss Lestrange were no match for the blood in her veins that would always be Noelle's.

At that thought Charles' picked up his drink again.

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   Aldous Crouch

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Tiberius knew Macmillan' daughter to be older than five, but only because he'd undertaken to do his own research on the gentleman prior to this meeting. He was personally of the same opinion that Macmillan apparently was; that children were unimportant and uninteresting, so it was hardly information he would have ever learned or committed to memory were it not for his sister's interest. But this answered Tatiana's second question well enough, he thought. His feelings towards the girl were slim to nonexistent, and his intentions for her were likely whatever Tatiana preferred; he did not seem particularly involved as a father.

He could not help but smile at the man's second comment, too, though it was a small and cruel smirk rather than any expression that would have invited a sense of camaraderie. He had recently found himself facing that exact situation, when he'd considered killing Antigone after her miscarriage, so he could appreciate the undesirability of the position.

"There are few who would not benefit from Tatiana's example," he said with a slightly kinder smile. "But surely your daughter has an excellent relationship with her grandmother? Or perhaps your work keeps you too busy to visit much with your parents, despite living alone?"

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   Charles Macmillan

Charles wasn't all too sure what to make of the expression on the other man's face but fortunately it softened a little and he opted for pretending not to have noticed. There was probably nothing he could do about it anyway. "She sees a great deal of my mother," not surprising at all considering she was more than practically living with his mother now. "And make no mistake, I hold my mother in the highest regard and she was a perfect mother, but it seems grandmothers are different creatures entirely." He thought she was a perfect grandmama too but he feared she was too soft and doted on her too much. Grandmothers were all well and good but they were supposed to be experienced in moderation - much like bonbons.

Would Tatiana be able to provide his daughter with the firm hand she required? He hadn't considered this and there was no real way to find out until it was too late to change his mind. It seemed unlikely that this would be the one way in which Miss Lestrange would fail to meet his expectations, and if it was... Well it would be easier to send the girl off for an education before Hogwarts than to find a woman who could improve upon perfection. "You have a young daughter yourself, don't you?" He probably had a well behaved and properly adjusted child, a child whose mother wasn't the single worst example of womankind to ever have entered society like Noelle. He was almost envious.

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"Indeed," Tiberius said briefly. He had no feelings whatsoever on grandmothers, having never had a relationship with either of his. He didn't really have strong feelings about mothers, honestly, for the same reason. His two potential exemplars for the role of a mother were Lucius' first wife and Antigone, neither of whom could be considered above the pale. This also did not quite answer his question about Macmillan's father, so he'd have to try a slightly different tack.

"How fortunate to still have such a close relationship with both your parents," he said. "As I'm sure you're aware, it was not a luxury Tatiana nor I were afforded as adults."

Hopefully Macmillan would just come out with it. Having to pretend he cared about his own father was tiresome, and Tiberius didn't want to have to come right out and ask about the elder Mr. Macmillan directly.

  

Charles wasn't sure if he'd class his relationship with his father as particularly close but he was at least a free, living man and not a mass murderer. That sort of thing wasn't hereditary, was it? He supposed by the logic he applied to his daughter being the hell spawn of her mother it was just as probable. Hopefully if Lestrange ever snapped and tried to kill half the Ministry Charles wouldn't be in the immediate vicinity at the time. He seemed perfectly sane from what he could tell though and his sister was as positively angelic.

He did consider himself close with his mother, however, he was quite aware that it was not something one boasted about as a grown man if one wanted to earn the respect of one's peers. Charles was still clinging to her apron strings for dear life but he wasn't self-aware enough to realize just how much of a mama's boy he was.

"It must have been difficult." He assumed it probably would be, although he'd only said it because it seemed like an appropriate sort of comment. "Two of my brothers died when I was a boy, unfortunately they were the better two." It was an attempt at humor although he could repeat it with perfect seriousness because he felt it was the truth. He had barely any recollection of his dead brothers, they had both died very young, but they had to be an improvement on the two he'd been left with. For a start neither would've been the first son and neither would've been Elmer. "Not quite the same though." Lest Tiberius Lestrange think he was making light of his pseudo-orphan childhood.

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Tiberius could have wished for a little more in terms of a direct answer, but since he hadn't asked a direct question it wasn't as though he could fault Macmillan for being vague.

"Not particularly close with your brothers, then?" he asked, though he wasn't sure whether or not he ought to care. It was perfectly reasonable not to be particularly fond of a brother who might inherit before you, he thought, but he had no experience with brothers living or dead, so he couldn't have said. He didn't know how to steer this back to what Tatiana was actually asking, but maybe that was because he wasn't sure what Tatiana was actually asking. Presumably she was interested in matters of inheritance, but if she thought Charles Macmillan might end up with his father's estate she likely hadn't done her research, which would be out of character for her. She was careful and meticulous — so perhaps she'd done more research than he had. Perhaps she knew something he didn't about Mrs. Macmillan — they were of a similar enough age that they might have even been confidantes. If she found herself with some difficulties producing an heir, perhaps it was possible... and Macmillan had a daughter, which demonstrated that he was at least capable in that department.

"A bit unusual that you married so much earlier than your elder brother, isn't it?" he asked, with a slight downward turn at one corner of his mouth to suggest a frown. "You're young to be a widower, generally speaking."

  

He didn't think he'd been asked that question in a long time, probably not since his engagement. There was no socially acceptable or even flattering way of explaining that he resented being second so much that he'd done all he could to supersede his older brother short of actually plotting to murder him. He'd certainly hoped for Edward to prematurely drop dead due to some illness or freak accident but he found getting his hands dirty and speeding the process along exceedingly distasteful. Upstaging his brother may at least make it easier for his father to disown Edward if he became an embarrassment.

"I thought it'd be advantageous if I married as soon as possible, so I had something arranged." It wasn't exactly a proper explanation he realized but maybe Lestrange would more or less get what he meant. His brother aside, he had thought it would be useful to get married early so that by the time his career was taking off he'd have it all sorted. A ministerial candidate was always stronger with a perfect family in the background. "Unfortunately my late wife was..." He had to stop himself from badmouthing Noelle, it wouldn't reflect well on him if he was willing to disparage his dead wife to a man he barely knew, a man whose sister might take her place. A man who was also her first cousin.

He decided it would be better to put the conversation back on track rather than finish his thought. "My brother was showing no inclination towards marriage, I don't typically let Edward dictate my life choices."

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Hm, how to interpret that? Advantageous if he married as soon as possible. Tiberius had felt similarly, but he suspected for different reasons. He wanted an heir, and wanted to be spared the indignity of having to pretend to care about the social scene (unfortunately, marrying Antigone had served neither purpose, though that was besides the point). Macmillan had political aspirations, so arranging something to avoid having a woo a woman was unlikely. Perhaps he had been particularly eager for children, but evidently not because he had any particular fondness for them, if his daughter was any indication. And whatever his reasons for arranging a marriage had been the first time around, he had found his late wife wanting in some particular way that he wasn't inclined to say aloud, hence his reasoning for going about things in the usual fashion this time.

Tiberius didn't care a whit about Noelle, and Macmillan's feelings about her, but he did think this point of the arranged, early marriage bore delving into. Macmillan didn't have a reputation for wanton behavior, but suppose he'd taken a leaf out of Trystan Selwyn's book and gone fathering bastards left and right, and his frustrated father had insisted on an arranged marriage to contain him? Macmillan didn't seem the type, but stranger things had happened. His family would not have been the first to rush a marriage to avoid a scandal. And it might be an indication that his parents trusted the older son significantly more than they trusted him, which would be worth noting to Tatiana.

"Certainly not," he said in what he hoped was a suitably sympathetic tone, in response to the comment about Edward. "I assume you chose Noelle yourself, then? Despite it being formally arranged?"