25 September 1891 — The Sanditon Resort Season Close

She should have known that it would be the Sanditon Resort, bugger it all. The job posting she'd found in the Ministry job board had only said that a debutante needed a skilled seamstress for an important ball. It hadn't even occurred to Rowan that the "important ball" was the one that marked the end of the Season. And that she would likely encounter many people she knew, who would then ask her what she was doing here and why she wasn't all dressed up. When she'd found out where she was going, she'd still managed to find her nicest skirt and jacket, but she would still stick out like a sore thumb when confronted with the opulence of society.

True to her assumptions, she'd gotten there and ladies who hadn't even been dressed for the evening were wearing pieces three times her salary at the Ministry. Flustered, Rowan made her way through to the right dressing chamber and knocked. She was soon confronted with a huffy lady's maid and an even more sour debutante who, from what Rowan gathered, had seen another debutante wear the exact dress she'd planned on making her grand entrance with. Throughout her griping, Rowan stayed silent, ducking her head and kneeling quite literally, at the girl's feet, making sure each bead was attached and wouldn't budge from a night of dancing.

All this time, she listened to the debutante make the snidest remarks about practically everyone in attendance. "I do plan on getting Malfoy's attention, you know. Carina Walters was so smitten with him last time, she should really learn to share." At this, Rowan faltered, her needle slipping and pricking the debutante in the ankle, who shrieked in surprise. This was followed by a string of the most unladylike curses Rowan had ever heard out of someone's mouth as she tried to apologize profusely.

The debutante, however, wouldn't have it and proceeded to kick her feet out at Rowan, which she took as her sign to leave. Face flushed and clutching her seamstress' box, Rowan shut the door behind her and leaned against it, her heart fluttering madly in her chest.

Away. She didn't even bother trying to get her payment, despite the fact she'd been at least ⅔ of the way through her mending. What she needed was to find Zelda if she was here, see if she could find a stiff drink, and get away. Fate, of course, would see no such course of events. She walked briskly down the hall, keeping her head ducked. A glance behind her told her no one she recognized was in the hallway yet. In fact it almost looked deserted. With a sigh of relief, Rowan reached down, picked up her skirts and broke into a run, only to collide straight into someone coming out of their own dressing room. Startled, she dropped her seamstress' box on the floor, scattering beads, needle and thread everywhere. "I'm so sorry, please —" The words died in her throat as she realized she'd just run into Malfoy himself.

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The following 2 users Like Rowan Yaxley's post:2 users Like Rowan Yaxley's post
   Angelica Selwyn, Raphael Malfoy

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The end of the social season was far from the end of the world, but Raphael wasn't going to pretend that he wouldn't miss the daily parties that lasted until midnight. He'd find other fun (he always did) but he'd miss being able to stay out at parties at midnight, mingling with pretty debutantes and stuffing his face with delicious treats, without anyone having a reason to question him. Doing those sort of things on the off-season made him a hedonistic, irresponsible rake. Which he was, but that didn't mean he wanted anyone gossiping about it.

He'd made sure to look nice—more nice than usual, which was difficult given how dashing he looked on a daily basis. His suit was perfectly tailored, his blond hair slicked back with magical pomade that made it stiff without looking stiff, and spritzed himself with cologne that smelled so good that even he'd follow around any man wearing it.

Finally decided he was ready for the party, he stepped away from the full-length mirror in the corner of room and headed towards the door, leaving the footman to clean up the mess he'd left that afternoon. He left the room, prepared to arrive to the party early enough to admire the ladies as they made their entrance, but it would seem he'd get a far more up close and personal experience with one even before he entered the ballroom.

He gasped as she collided with him, caught off guard, but just as he opened his mouth to apologize he registered who she was. Raphael's face went blank for a split second, and then one eyebrow slid up questioningly.

"Please, what?" he said, the corner of his lip curling into an almost taunting smile. He harbored no ill will for Rowan Yaxley, but he couldn't resist the chance to get a one-up on her, "If you were so eager to see me you could have sent a letter. No need to attack me."

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set by lady <3

Though her cheeks were already flushed from her encounter with the horrid debutante, they deepened to an even more reddish tinge at his words, and her mouth popped open in a small 'o' of surprise. To him, that last she'd seen him was when she'd rescued him from the shipwreck. But the last time she had actually seen him, she'd....

If her cheeks were flames, they would be growing dangerously close to the cieling. Blast, she'd dropped her seamstress box. Now she had absolutely nothing to chuck at his face to make that smirk disappear. Her only salvation was that he hadn't known she was the one who had kissed him that night. Mercifully, no one had.

But now the box of her things was absolutely everywhere on the floor. Thanking Merlin she didn't have to physically stoop to pick them up (she'd had enough of physically diminishing herself in front of Upper Class snobs like Malfoy), and so she took out her wand, flicking it at the box which immediately popped open to allow all its contents back in before flying peacefully towards her. "You've proven enough you'd barely notice it, even if I did. I'm sure you'd be too busy preening yourself to even be able to read the salutation." she retorted, reaching out to snatch the seamstress box out of the air.

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His smile only widened at how flustered she looked. She was so stubborn and hard-headed; it was good to know that even she could be thrown off-guard, and that he was capable of doing it simply by being on the receiving end of her needless violence. His eyes scanned the floor, sweeping over the array of items that had scattered across the floor, noting the abundance of thread and what looked like... needles? He watched them fly back into the box and hoped she'd managed to get all of them; the last thing he wanted was to have one embedded in the underside of his shoe.

He brushed himself off a she recovered her own wits, his hands swiping over the sides of his jacket before straightening out the sleeves which, before now, had been set perfectly in place. He almost didn't catch what she was saying, too preoccupied by how he looked, which may have proved her point though he wasn't going to admit it.

"So you've considered it, then?" he challenged, looking up at her with a gotcha kind of smile.

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set by lady <3

Rowan stared at him incredulously. The irony was not lost on her that he'd proven her words to be true just by preoccupying himself with his sleeves. This time around that he smirked at her, she'd snatched her box out of the air, holding it with both hands so it would be between them. This time she was really tempted to smack the grin right off his face. Despite seriously considering it, what she really wanted was to get out of this place and away from him; him and the rest of society that was at this ball.

"About as much as you'd consider donating that grand inheritance of yours and giving it all to the needy." She sighed, opening her box and peering inside to make sure she'd collected everything. Most of it consisted of various threads, but there were a few trinkets here and there that she'd saved in case she needed an extra embellishment for some bejeweled dress or another.

"I presume you're late to go flirt with Carina Walters," She added with a scornful look at him. "So I'll be leaving you now. Just be sure to not hurl yourself too grandly at her again, the others are apparently starting to notice." Rowan quirked a smile at him before giving him a nod and stepping around him.

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The following 2 users Like Rowan Yaxley's post:2 users Like Rowan Yaxley's post
   Angelica Selwyn, Raphael Malfoy

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His face might have fell if he hadn't been trying so hard to be so blasé about the insults she was hurling at him. With pursed lips and an unamused expression he stared at her, wondering why she was in such a grumpy mood and why she was so inclined to insult him when it had been her who's come running into him. The poor, really? It was a low blow.

"My family is rather fond of charity, thank you," he said dryly, his eye glancing down at her box if only because she was paying attention to it rather than him. It dawned on him that she was likely sewing something, which seemed odd to him; he knew the Yaxleys were not wealthy, but neither were they working class. Were they in such dire financial straits that they were sending their daughter to do the work of a low-class seamstress, or were they trying to save money by having their daughter mend her own clothes? Neither sat particularly well with Raphael, who, despite associating words such as uptight and humorless with Yaxley, thought she was too good for either option.

And then she struck him with a blow that knocked the wind out of him more than her body had moments ago. Flirt? With Carina Walters. Hi brows furrowed and he instinctively moved to block her as she tried to move around her, and he spoke the first thing that popped into his head. "Who is Carina Walters?" he asked, genuine confusion in his voice.

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set by lady <3

She couldn't stop the pleasure that rose inside her as he stepped in front of her, blocking her path. Normally she would be quite annoyed, but his immediate reaction to her statement had her inwardly smiling. Either he truly didn't know who she was, or he knew who she was and hadn't bothered to learn her name. Both were equally possible, given Malfoy's tendencies and from what she'd heard about him from her various jobs mending this ballgown and that.

Relishing this moment, Rowan rose her gaze to him, savoring her reply before she smiled as sweetly as she could at him and saying as smoothly as she could, "I neither know nor do I care."

And truly, she realized with another joyous discovery, she did not care. "Now let me pass, Malfoy." She said, her tone leveling to something more to the tune of "If you don't move I will make you."

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Her sweet smile did nothing to dissuade them, especially knowing that it was far from genuine. Did Rowan Yaxley even possess the ability to give a genuinely sweet smile? He doubted it. By the age of thirty-five she'd start having forehead wrinkles from frowning so much.

"Clearly you do care," he challenged, leaning an elbow against the wall next to where she stood to minimize the space she'd have to scoot past him. He wasn't a fan of being walked away from, nor being prevented from having the last word. "Else you wouldn't have taken note of it. But it doesn't really matter." Not the name, though he found a small joy in knowing that she'd heard he'd been flirting with someone—some girl, somewhere—and had paid enough attention to remember it.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, anyways? Getting ready for the party?" He deliberately scanned his eyes down her body, acutely aware that she wouldn't be going near any ballroom dressed as she was. "Be sure to jot my name down on your dance card, won't you? I wouldn't miss it for the world," he added. He'd meant it more as a taunt, but it dawned on him almost immediately after he spoke it that he wouldn't miss the opportunity to dance with her... but just to poke fun at her dancing skills, of course.

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set by lady <3

Merlin's beard, he was like a burr stuck to the leg of a horse, wasn't he? Rowan allowed the irritation to show on her face again, her patience long since spent. "I remember because I'm a full person with a fully functioning brain," She snapped back, her grip on her box tightening as her annoyance grew. "Someone I'm sure you're not used to being around, so I shall forgive you for not recognizing it straight away."

Even further, she was tempted to let out a string of Mandarin to confuse him even more, but she was loathe to even so much as grace him with her mother's native tongue. Her nose wrinkled at the mention of the blasted party again. She'd heard of nothing else these past few hours and she'd like nothing other than to escape it. "Rest assured, Malfoy, you are the absolute last person in the world that I would even think to put on my dance card." Nevermind that she'd actually attended a dance with him at the Masquerade ball. That, she told herself, was clearly different.

"And if it hasn't dawned upon your thick skull yet, I'm clearly not attending." She supplied, equally as exasperated at herself for being annoyed that she wasn't. "Now for the last time...let me —"

A distant rumble cut her off, deep and loud enough to rattle the window panes. Rowan stopped talking, her attention diverted to the sky outside. A flash of lightning shot across the clouds, illuminating the inside of the hallway with a blinding white light. The horizon had taken on a hazy effect, one that Rowan knew meant there was a storm coming their way. But the way that it intensified so quickly was alarming, and she paused in front of the window, a horrid feeling blooming in her chest.

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She was trying to annoy him, and he told himself that, though he couldn’t help but scowl as she threw insult after insult. He could appreciate a good wit, but not when it was being used against him. She would have been so much more pleasant if she learned to smile that sweet smile more genuinely—or even if she merely learned to be quiet.

“You don’t seem like you’re in a position to be declining dances,” he shot back, less an attempt to demean her and more of an effort to heal the part of his ego she’d wounded in less than twenty seconds.

He pushed himself off the wall, about the make a very dramatic show of letting her pass, but then the ominous rolling of thunder set in, combined with the loud and startling crack of thunder, and the words on the top of his tongue died. His heart began beating faster—he couldn’t help but think of the sinking ship he’d been on just months earlier, and it didn’t help that she was another reminder of it.

“Sounds unpleasant,” he said, his eyes no longer on her hit the window at the very end of the corridor.

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set by lady <3

Watching the clouds gather against the sky and start to roll towards them paired with the height that the waves were getting outside only served to remind Rowan about the shipwreck and how they'd almost drowned in a watery grave. Lightning struck once more and this time when the thunderstruck, Rowan could feel the building slightly shake underneath her feet. She took a step back from the window. "And here I thought you didn't care what I did," She hurled back at him, though most of her attention was still focused out the window. This was not good.

She glanced back at Malfoy, noting his uneasy gaze and realizing he was thinking of the shipwreck as well.

Rowan's expression softened slightly. "You'd better get to the ball." She said, her voice devoid of any scorn she may have felt a moment ago. Her eye caught something further down the hallway - a faint winking on the ground, set off by the lightning flashing outside. She'd missed one of the beads from her box. Distracted, Rowan sidestepped Malfoy and went to pick up the bead from the ground.

And then the glass window beside her shattered as a gust of wind and rain threw her against the wall.

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"I don't," he fired back, but his voice wavered as the building trembled underneath their feet. He no longer could keep his eyes focused. They flickered from the window to the floor, then to her face and the wall he'd been leaning against, a panic growing in them. Nothing about it scream storm except for the thunder; if he would have guessed, this was a building demolition or something.

She seemed to notice it, too. Gone was the annoyance in her voice, and with that all of his annoyance vanished as well. He nodded, half tempted to suggest she come with him but not wanting to give the outward appearance of being so concerned for her well-being.

He wasn't given the chance to make that decision, though. Yaxley leaned down to pick something up. One second he was watching her with furrowed brows, wondering what she was after, and the next second there was a loud shattering noise and she'd flown across the floor and into a wall. The time for decision-making was gone; instinct began to kick in.

He ducked down and began to crawl towards her, the gust of wind sending his shoulder slamming into the wall. He landed in a way where he hovered over her in a kneeling position, her body pinned between his knees and where he was desperately trying to keep himself supported by his hands. He couldn't even try to move. The force of the wind was too much, and any effort to crawl backwards left his elbows wobbling, threatening to give out.

"Are — you — alright?" he asked through gritted teeth as the wind gust continued to blow through the hall, sending curtains flying off their poles. Other windows throughout the corridor began to shatter and glass was everywhere, but all he could focus on was the pressure being put on his hands and knees as he tried to keep himself semi-upright.

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set by lady <3

Her back had hit the wall square on before she dropped to the floor, completely winded and gasping for air. The wind buffeted against her and she had to try and turn away from the window to take a breath. It was all she could do to keep from passing out. Opening her eyes - she had shielded them just in time to protect herself from the shattering glass - Rowan saw Malfoy above her.

For a second she didn't say anything - was just mostly stunned that he hadn't made a run for it and left her there.

Then his words reached her and she nodded, though it was just by reflex. The sound of the glass shattering paired with the howling wind flooded her senses and she looked frantically around them. Outside there was chaos. Lightning struck, illuminating the sky just long enough for Rowan to see what looked like a towel being whipped through the wind. Another horrible second made her realize that wasn't a towel, but a person being hurled through the air as easily as a ragdoll.

She looked back to Malfoy, her eyes wide with fear. "We have to get out of here!" She yelled at him, her voice high with panic. Never mind the fact that she was stating the obvious. How were they going to get out of there? She was terrified to move, and by the looks of Malfoy, he couldn't.

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The following 1 user Likes Rowan Yaxley's post:1 user Likes Rowan Yaxley's post
   Angelica Selwyn

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His brain was shutting down. Really, it was. Any second now something painful or sharp or heavy would collide with them, and he would be dead, and—she was still going to be annoying and insufferable even in their last moments, wasn't she?

"You don't say!" he shouted over the sound of the wind, still struggling to hold himself up. He shifted slightly, trying to position himself so his face (and her body, but that was an afterthought) was at less risk of being the resting place of the glass shards that took flight in the windstorm.

Wait... "Can you grab my wand?" he asked, tucking his head down so he could see the point of it sticking out of his jacket pocket. He couldn't reach it without giving up a hand, which would only send him crashing on top of her.

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The following 1 user Likes Raphael Malfoy's post:1 user Likes Raphael Malfoy's post
   Angelica Selwyn

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set by lady <3

Had she not been currently incapacitated, she would have slapped him for his cheek. Her eyes flashed as he moved closer, but upon further inspection, he seemed to be attempting to shield her from most of the glass and debris that was pelting into them. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was mildly impressed given how much value she knew he placed on his expensive clothes.

Well, at least her life was worth more than that to him.

Rowan followed his gesture and saw his wand in his jacket pocket. Their lifeline for the moment, as hers had been stupidly tucked into her skirt pocket. "Yes," She said, seizing his wand from his jacket, her mind whirling as she desperately waved it through the air. Instantly, a shield rose up between them and the window, protecting both of them. Rowan could see the debris blow toward them, then ping to the side as it bounced off the shield in front of them. For one blessed second, Rowan was able to breathe, albeit heavily as she tried to collect herself.

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The following 1 user Likes Rowan Yaxley's post:1 user Likes Rowan Yaxley's post
   Raphael Malfoy

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He hadn't meant for her to use his wand. He opened his mouth to tell her as much, but before he could speak the shield charm was raised and the pressure on his limbs was gone. In a seemingly backwards effect, his arms collapsed underneath him, causing him to fall on top of her, his torso covering hers.

He didn't stay for long. He rolled over with a groan and brought his hands to the sides of his heads, startled by how lightheaded and exhausted he felt only after moments of being assaulted by the wind and rain.

Wind and rain that wasn't over yet, he had to remind himself, as just outside the shield charm the wind and rain ravaged the hallway around them. The entire building was shaking now, and it reminded him eerily of the way the boat had shaken and swayed before the water began to rise all those month ago. He sat up and drew his hands down his face, neck and over his torso, not realizing that he was bleeding from somewhere until he noticed the red streaks of blood on his palms.

"Normal storm don't do this," he panted, trying to push himself onto his feet despite his discomfort. He held a wand out to her, not making it clear whether he wanted her hand or his wand.

(Either would do, as long as it got them out of here faster.)

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set by lady <3