Charming is a Victorian Era Harry Potter roleplay set primarily in the village of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the non-canon village of Irvingly. Characters of all classes, both magical and muggle — and even non-human! — are welcome.
With a member driven story line, monthly games and events, and a friendly and drama-free community focused on quality over quantity, the only thing you can be sure of is fun!
"Are you always this forward?" He asked teasingly since it would be a very short thread if he just ignored her entirely. — Tobin Cartwright in Take A Peek
Did you know? Churchgoers and worshippers had to endure a foul stench during prayers due to the amount of bodies often stored within the vaults of churches and chapels.
Thank goodness for warmer weather. The snow that had dropped by the meter in December was finally melting and though the Agrippa household was now plagued with rotting wood and most likely mold, Cole could at least get in and out without needing to sled into the kitchen. Now if only it would stay dry, he could get the house aired out while he fixed it. Things had been relatively good for him lately. The post office continued to be a steady source of work and he'd had enough odd jobs around town that he'd actually been able to buy some of the things they needed to fix the house.
Fortunately, Cole had always been a thrifty person. In need of wood? go to the furniture stores and get their scraps. Need nails? Go to the blacksmith and get his slightly bent ones. He already had a hammer and while his charm work was not that great, he had managed to master wingardium leviosa as a second year. The weather had been mild enough for him to oust the last of the snow from the house and start getting things back in order. Of course things would go faster if his brother were around to help him, but that was hardly ever the case.
It did't keep him however, on his day off, from getting right back into the thick of fixing up the place. He had some deliveries to make toward the end of the afternoon, so he figured he get on it during the morning. High street was quiet, despite the lateness in the hour. Most people were now where they were supposed to be, at work or at home, going about their daily lives. Cole had been visiting the local furniture makers to figure out if he could get his hands on some wood and lucky for him, they'd had some good scraps he could use to patch up the side of the house, well at least for now. Cole pushed the planks of wood in a cart down the side of High Street, trying not to top the wobbly cart over. He had been allowed to borrow it from the shop, but had to return it upon his next visit. Easy enough he figured and it was kind of them to let him use it for the day. He had to come back this way later anyway, so he figured he return it then.
Carefully watching and being wary of those around him, Cole was not anticipating a flat of mud and puddles on the side of the street and consequently got the front wheel of the cart stuck in it. It shuttered to a stop and before he could stop it, it crashed to the side, the wood spilling out, onto the ground. Cursing under his breath, Cole had no choice but to stop. First thing's first, get the cart out of the mud. Had he more schooling he would have just been able to charm it out for certain, but no such luck. Once he managed to get the cart right again, he started replacing the wood into it. He wasn't paying much attention as he mumbled to himself about the ways of the world, when a piece of wood magically made its way into his hands without his having picked it up.
Glancing backwards, he noticed somebody was handing it to him. "Well thank you." He smiled warmly. At least there were some nice people in this town.
Leonie had been feeling all sorts of awkward since her parents had brought her to England. She couldn't even call it a return, as it had never been her home before. Her parents had decided to move to England from Luxembourg after she had started school at Beauxbatons, so she had made France her home pretty much year round, save for Christmas with the family in England. After nearly dying in December from having a troubled delivery of a bastard baby girl, Leonie had felt both isolated and guilt ridden. She wasn't one to disobey her parents blatantly, and the only time she had done so had resulted in something terrible and horrific, something that would scar her for the rest of her life. She hadn't wanted to give away her daughter- that precious little pink package should have been hers to enjoy. However, she also couldn't return to her family with a bastard child, either. She was thankful her parents continued to allow her to live in their home after what had happened, and Leonie wasn't about to put that in jeopardy for a baby that someone else could just as easily take care of.
Early January had been when Leonie had returned to her family, feeble and weak from the delivery. Her younger sisters had already gone back to school and so she remained at home with the wait staff there to help her if she needed anything. All of their servants had been from Luxembourg, and they knew Leonie well. She had befriended most of them, as she had always felt bad they had to work so hard in order to make ends meet for their families. Whenever she could, she offered them extra food or old clothes that she had grown out of. Unfortunately, the Baudelaire family had no boys and she couldn't rightfully steal clothes from her father as all of his clothes still fit him. Many of their staff had been grateful to Leonie and would go out of their way to ensure that she received anything she needed. Her one particular favourite was a woman in her mid to late thirties named Claudia. She had a little girl with whom Leonie was close with, who had to be at least six or seven by the time she had returned to Hogsmeade. Of everything, Leonie had missed Claudia and her little girl the most.
It was for that reason that Leonie asked Claudia if she would be Leonie's necessary chaperone when she decided to finally leave the house. Claudia had happily agreed, both shocked Leonie would ask her and happy that Miss Baudelaire was finally going to leave the Baudelaire manor. It was unhealthy for a young woman of her age to stay cooped up for such a long period of time. You're so beautiful, Miss Baudelaire. You should be out trying to find a husband, not cooped up in this home reading books. It was true- many said Leonie should be out trying to find a husband, and she had wanted to do just that, but she wanted so desperately for the love of her life to come to England from Italy and scoop her off of her feet. It took three months, but Leonie finally realized that it was never going to happen.
She and Claudia walked through High Street for what seemed like ages, walking back and forth, looking in store windows but never going in. They stopped for tea at the Three Broomsticks and promised to be back later for a bite to eat. As they were leaving the pub the first time, Leonie stopped and watched as a gentleman pushing a wheelbarrow of lumber got the front wheel stuck and the whole wheelbarrow toppled over. She rushed to him and picked up a piece of wood and held it out to him. Claudia remained by the entrance of the Three Broomsticks, not willing to get too involved in the young woman's personal affairs, but knowing the necessity of watching her for propriety's sake. When the man smiled at and thanked her, Leonie's cheeks flushed a pale pink. "No need to thank me, sir," Leonie replied in a kind, soft voice. "I saw what happened and it looked as though you could use a bit of help." As she spoke, the flush on her cheeks deepened. It had been a very long time since she had spoken to anyone, let alone a man- a man who was anyone other than the only man she felt she could ever love.
Cole looked up to see a pretty face looking down at him. He was surprised to see a young lady, obviously of an upper station, handing him a piece of wood that was now completely muddy. "Yeh didn't have to get yer hands dirty on my account Miss." He said picking up the last couple of fallen pieces and tucking them more securely into the wheelbarrow. With any luck he would be able to at least board up some of the gaping hole in their house. Now if only he could corral his brother to help him... highly unlikely, but the work would go a little faster if he had another set of hands to help him out.
Once the wheelbarrow as upright and everything was back in, he went to push it from the mud, only to find it stuck. Merlin's beard there were some times where he actually knew how to work his wand the right way. Everything was a bit easier with magic. Unfortunately, he had so very little knowledge of it, that it was just as much of a hindrance as it could be a help. He knew some very simple spells. The levitation charm was his favorite and one he had mastered a long time ago. It was useful, but he was sure there were more advanced spells that he was unaware of, that would make the repairs on his house go faster.
"Thank yeh though, It was awfully kind of you." Cole pushed at the wheelbarrow trying to get it to budge from the mud. It shoved forward a little bit, but refused to release from the suction of the mud. It made a loud slurping sound as he tried again, adding some force behind the wheelbarrow by jutting his hip against the back of the wheelbarrow. It moved a bit further, but remained resolutely stuck. "Well, guess I won't be going anywhere fast." He chuckled at himself, wondering just what to do to get the wheelbarrow out. He'd probably end up having to wait, or go find a mate to help him out. He wondered if he could leave it here, but he doubted it would still be here when he got back. Never one to get very discouraged, he pushed again, making little headway. Cole was not a very burly guy, but he was stronger than he looked and he'd eventually get it out.
"It was nothing sir, really," Leonie said softly, rubbing her hands together to get off any excess mud that might be on them. She wasn't one of those women who hated to get dirty. If the time and placed called for getting dirty, Leonie wouldn't have any problem with it. And here was someone who she could offer her help to, whether she was going to get her hands dirty or not. Leonie took a step back and watched as the young make picked up the rest of his boards, afraid that if she tried to help him again, he might take offence. He knew she was of the upper class, it wasn't something she tried to hide, and she had the judgment that he was of the lower class, middle class at best. It could possibly cause a scandal if anyone ever caught wind of them being seen together. Leonie didn't care. Her life was enough of a scandal anyway, if anyone ever found out about it.
Leonie watched as the young man tried to push the wheelbarrow and thanked her again. "Really, it was nothing." Her cheeks flushed red and she realized how strange it was for her to be in such a situation. She hadn't really interacted with anyone in what seemed to be years and she quickly realized she wasn't sure how to act. Leonie looked over her shoulder to see Claudia nod. Leonie had no idea what Claudia was nodding at but she turned back to the young man and noticed he was stuck. Leonie enjoyed hearing the young man chuckle, despite his seeming abysmal situation. "I can offer my wand, or my magic if it helps?" Although she was certain he would turn down her offer, she couldn't help but offer anyway.
From within the folds of her dress, Leonie pulled out her wand in order to either use it or offer it to the young man to use. She held it out, without even thinking that perhaps be might be a squib. Why else wouldn't he have tried to use magic already? Leonie never thought like that though, as there could be hundreds of explanations for it. "I'm Leonie, by the way," Leonie said, introducing herself to the young man. She wasn't sure if anything she was doing was appropriate, as she had somewhat lost touch with what was acceptable where after spending so much of the last couple years of her life traveling.
Cole had focused on pushing the wheelbarrow out of the mud for a couple of minutes, even after resigning himself to the fact that he may just have to wait. He had honestly expected the young lady to have been on her way by then, even though she had been kind enough to help him out. When he looked up next, it was because she spoke again and he was shocked to find her still standing there, just a few feet away from the mud pit in her pretty dress. Standing up straight, looking quite a sight in his now muddy boots. Cole had endless patience so he figured he would get it out eventually, but here was this woman he had never met offering her help.
Of course, Cole did not have the magical ability to remove the wheelbarrow from the mud, so the thought hadn't even crossed his mind, but apparently the kind woman was extremely generous with her help. He blushed a little bit, embarrassed that he could not do what she offered himself, but knew there was also no way around it. A simple levitation charm, which he actually did know how to do, would most likely not work and Cole was not exactly confident enough in his limited wandwork to attempt to try it in public.
Scratching the back of his head with one of his hands, he shrugged, trying not to look too sheepish. He help would save him a lot of time and aggravation and Cole had very little pride to bruise, so he nodded sagely, a very thankful smile on his lips. "Ah, sure. I'd appreciate it quite a bit Miss." He conceded, seeing no other way around it. It wasn't like his brother was anywhere to be found to help him out. Though Cole was determined to change that a bit. Their house needed some serious help and he was not doing it all by himself. No, no way in hell.
"Don't feel like yeh have to. I'll get it out sooner or later." He didn't want to be anybody's charity case, but he couldn't afford to really say no at this point, since she had so kindly offered her help twice to him already. Cole never looked for handouts in life, Merlin knew he never got them when he needed them but he was not the kind of person to look a gift horse in the mouth either. Help was one thing, he could accept help very easily, it was handouts he had a hard time with. While he he wasn't well-educated, he was able-bodied and could work for a living, however meager it may seem to others. The Agrippa boys were not wealthy by any means, but they were doing as best as they could for themselves.
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