Ella Vane

[Gabriella Vane]

In Character

Full Name: Gabriella Elizabeth Vane
Nicknames: Ella
Birthdate: December 3rd, 1865
Current Age: Nineteen
Occupation: Debutante (for Sale)
Reputation: 5. For now.
Residence: Wellingtonshire
Hogwarts House: Former Gryffindor
Wand: Holly, 10½ inches with a veela hair at its core. Swishy.
Blood Status: Halfblood (Pure Father, Half Mother)
Social Class: Upper
Family:

Atticus Vane, Father [1837]
Orla Vane née Cattermole, Mother [1838-1875]
Alexander “Ace” Vane, Brother [1857]
Attica Paxton née Vane, Sister [1860]
— Elias Paxton, Brother-in-Law [1852-1883]
— Albert Paxton, Nephew [1880]
Lillian Vane, Sister [1863]
Allister Vane, Brother [1868]

Alexandra Vane née Paxton, Stepmother [1857]
Arnold Vane, Half-Brother [1882]

Appearance:

At five feet and six inches—as tall as Ace!—Ella has inherited her height from her father, as well as his blonde hair. Her grey eyes were a shared contribution from both parents, however her lean frame—corsets are a must to stop her from looking like anything but a gawky teenaged boy!—is decidedly her mother’s. Her features have always been pretty but never striking. Ella tends towards ~recent (but not ridiculously current) American fashion. She favours long, brisk strides when she walks—a leisurely stroll is a challenge for her. Ella is right-handed.

History:

IN THE BEGINNING

A fourth son, my father’s very existence was a rash action, the sort of mishap he has not since stopped making since. It was not that his family was poor; no, Grandpapa was decidedly upper class, just perhaps not so much as to support four sons and three daughters after their childhoods. His marrying Mama was perhaps even more foolish still, for she was a woman of no real (financial) consequence and he was but twenty years old and a year her senior. But they were happy, at least so much as I can recall.

I once asked Papa how he supported himself, Mama, and Ace not long after they were wed. He murmured something about investments that I—astute as I am—took to mean illegally trading in assorted magical beasts for profit. It was the plain conclusion to make.

Whatever he was doing, it worked, for when I arrived—following two elder sisters—in 1865, I do believe the family was very comfortable indeed.

I do not recall the arrival of my eldest little brother, for I was only recently two when Allister was born. Still, I don’t imagine it was anything to remark upon, as mother plainly lived for a further seven years, and he doesn’t appear to be the worse for his delivery.

My earliest memory is, by a stroke of luck, of my mother. I was perhaps three years old at the time, and she was brushing out my hair when I turned it red to match her own! What a fright I must have given her! Papa insisted for a good five years after that I must be a metamorphmagus like his Great-Uncle Amos, but Mama always maintained that it was simply an act of magic, not a declaration of things to come. She was, I think, quite right indeed, for I have never since shown any such talent.

Mama passed away of a sickness—nothing infectious, I don’t think—in 1875. It was so very shocking for her to be there one minute and gone entirely the next, though I think that Attie took it the hardest. Papa did his best to stay positive about things, but even his best could not disguise his grief.

HOGWARTS

It was not until 1877 that I could finally depart for Hogwarts, and my time there—as it would happen—proved to be very short-lived. For only one year was I able to grace the Gryffindor common room, but I think I should have been very happy there indeed, if I had been allowed to stay. Herbology, in particular, I took to quite quickly, and I still can’t last long without time spent in the garden! But money talks, and lack of it shouts, and Papa wanted to be gone before the news could spread that we had, somehow, lost everything.

AMERICA: 1878-1884

Papa insisted he ‘couldn’t live without us’. It was more a matter of he couldn’t afford to keep more than one of us in school any longer, and couldn’t have afforded the private coming out that would have justified removing at least the eldest daughters. The move was initially explained away as his caring for an aging aunt—I think a few suspected he was hoping for an inheritance—but if there was an aunt, I never did make her acquaintance.

The time spent in Boston was something of an eye-opener. Without any friends-of-friends outside of New York City, there was no need for us to even attempt to blend in socially. We found ourselves set up in a muggle area of the city and mixed little with our neighbors, and the majority of the local magical community needn’t have known we were there if Papa hadn’t had a penchant for peculiar creatures. Miss Baxter, our nanny stroke governess, began to see to our magical education in addition to our education as young ladies (how she was afforded during the lean years, I could not rightly guess), and it was all presented as a sort of marvellous adventure.

1879 proved a turning point of sorts, at least financially. Through his connections, Papa managed to find the Paxton family, who had heaps of money but generally useless (I do believe) children—both of them. Alexandra was so…absent even in conversation that it was little wonder she hadn’t found a husband by two-and-twenty (in the years to follow it became painfully obvious why), and Elias was the biggest dandy I had ever encountered—and, I later learned, was at risk of being outed as a homosexual!

But again, they had money, and Papa sorely lacked it. In exchange for taking on their peculiar daughter—and for providing (selling, in truth) a distraction from Elias’ antics in the form of my dear sister, who deserved nothing less than to fall hopelessly in love with a man who was utterly besotted with her—father saw himself named heir to half the Paxton fortune, though ‘Uncle’ Tiberius doesn’t show any signs of dying in the near future.

We were all quite miserable.

Well, that is not entirely true. Lillian quickly proved to be the only one who cared for Alexandra, and Ace was too busy with whatever occupation had most recently struck his fancy to notice much of anything. But Attie could not stand her husband (nor his friends), I could not stand my stepmother, and Allister was just an unbearable nuisance because of his age. It was awful.

The autumn of 1880 brought some respite. Lillian was able to make a proper debut—into magical society!—and Attie delivered a healthy baby boy, following which she was decidedly quite ignored by her husband, much to her relief. I was dreadfully caught up in the excitement of it all, and am quite sure that was when I began to return to my bright and lovely self.

After her hobbies prompted two miscarriages, we were all quite relieved when Alexandra bore a healthy, if small, child, a lovely new addition to the family called Amos in 1882. That same year, I made my debut and Lillian turned down her fourth proposal. That was the last proposal she received, and it really was a good one; I do think she inherited father’s rashness and hope that it does not damage her in the long run.

In 1883, my brother-in-law died of consumption. Always dutiful, Attie did go into mourning, but I could tell it was difficult for her to conjure up much in the way of grief.

But we were all still very fine. Then.

HOGSMEADE

And now we have returned, almost full circle.

We returned to Britain just after the New Year, settling in the magical community of Hogsmeade. Papa hasn’t said why beyond wanting a change, but plans for a British debut for Lillian and I are underway, and Attie is quite pleased to see some of her school friends again. I think this will be good for us all, a fresh start away from the negativity America brought us, just as America was the fresh start we needed several years ago.

It will be just the ticket.

I hope it will be just the ticket.

Personality:

COMPASSIONATE — MILDLY PREJUDICED — ENERGETIC — STRONG

Detailed anon.

Out of Character

Name: Kayte

  

[Violet MacFusty]

APPLICATION ACCEPTED!

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