Taking Measure

[Astrid Parkinson]

Astrid supposed it was perfectly reasonable that Orpheus had not fallen head over heels in love with Miss Fisk—after all, the newly graduated Hufflepuff was far too much like his mother for it to have been a healthy infatuation, much though Astrid would have loved to have the girl as a daughter. With Miss Fisk out of the equation though, the witch was forced to confront how decidedly a bachelor her eldest was—and attempt to overcome it and achieve her goal of each of her children settled with their ideal mates.

Her second thought, then, had been the only unmarried (bar those, quite morbidly, in mourning) daughter of her dear friend Harriet. Fiona was a fine young woman of good breeding and expensive finishing, and today it was Astrid’s mission to get a better measure of the young redhead and determined whether or not she could truly be considered a candidate to replace her as Mrs. Parkinson (a dreary thought, but inevitable).

It had been Harriet she had invited to tea, but the older of the witches Prewett had almost surely suspected Astrid’s intentions, for she had happily arrived with Fiona in tow and then wandered off to take a suspiciously long time relieving herself (Astrid would not have been surprised to find her instead in the rear garden). This left the department head with an ideal window, one she was only too eager to exploit.

“This is your second season, Miss Prewett, is it not? It must be rather disheartening to be competing for a perpetually shrinking pool of eligible bachelors, and against women younger each year, no less!”

Though the words themselves might have been scathing coming from another woman, it was an observation on Astrid’s part, not a judgement. A woman who had willingly entered spinsterhood and married late only for the sake of true love could not fault another woman for completing a season without a husband!

@'Fiona Prewett'/@'Atalanta Pendergast'
FYI @'Harriet Prewett'/@'Annette Fontaine'

  

[Fiona Prewett]

When her mother had disappeared mid-tea, it had been difficult not to surmise her intentions, and Fiona would be lying if she said she was not pleased. Her own attempts thus far to secure a match since she had left Mrs. Pendergast's school had been fruitless and she was beginning to despair, but her mother had had her hand in several of her childrens' marriages and the redhead had every faith the indomitable Harriet Prewett could secure her a match. She had clearly already begun her search!

And of all the men Fiona might have wished for her mother to nudge (push was perhaps a rather more fitting description) her towards, Orpheus Parkinson was one she might have chosen for herself: handsome, clever, and possessing a sense of humour she had glimpsed on more than one occasion, she had rather—quietly—hoped that it would not take the meddling of their mother's to bring about the possibility of a match. But she would take whatever she could get—Mr. Parkinson or otherwise, because Mrs. Parkinson was quite right, as usual, and she had no intention of ending up on the scrap heap!

"It would be dishonest of me to pretend otherwise," Fiona admitted, giving the older woman a small smile. "But I would not be the first woman to wed in her twenties, or indeed beyond. I have not given up hope yet."

Mrs. Malfoy, after all, was two and twenty when she had wed and Mrs. Parkinson herself had been considered a spinster when she had entered into matrimony and there were few women more admirable than her mother's dear friend.

  

[Astrid Parkinson]

“Oh, my dear!” Astrid reassured the redhead belatedly. “Do not think I mean anything ill by it. You’re surely aware that my own daughter has some years on you and remains unwed and I am hardly making plans to commit her to a nunnery,” the witch added dryly. Even if witches were suited to a muggle convent, Astrid was not about to throw in the towel until the clock chimed upon Andromeda’s thirtieth year.

“Anyone to look at you—and your family—would see that you would make an excellent young wife. Tell me, what is it you hope to accomplish in a marriage?”

Astrid Parkinson was nothing if not direct, and her children’s futures were something a mother could not afford to be wishy-washy about.

#KayteSucks2k16
@'Fiona Prewett'/@'Atalanta Pendergast'

  

[Fiona Prewett]

"I would be lying if I said that I did not hope to be happy, Mrs. Parkinson," Fiona confessed lightly, knowing all too well that the elder witch of all women would appreciate that. "But I have always believed myself to be more of a pragmatist than a romantic; a marriage founded on mutual respect would be just as satisfactory."

  

[Astrid Parkinson]

“That is not necessarily an accomplishment, Miss Prewett,” Astrid pointed out quickly, “rather than a stepping stone to reaching one.”

It was also a cookie-cutter answer, one she might have expected from any young lady. She could not help that she had higher expectations from the daughter of so dear a friend!

  

[Fiona Prewett]

Fiona almost flushed at the older woman's response but soldiered on, nonetheless. "On the contrary, I believe it can be an accomplishment. Respect is often hard-won, particularly for a wife." For a woman.

  

[Astrid Parkinson]

“That depends,” Astrid replied with a wry smile, “upon where one is looking for their husband.”

Hers was a match of love, and little else would have swayed her from focusing singularly on her career. Even if she had been destined to life as a housewife, however, Astrid knew she could not have married without respect as a bare minimum achievement. Merlin had offered her love, respect, and the freedom to continue working—a rarity in their society. Miss Prewett would surely not seek the last, but if she was anything like her mother, she had a sound enough head on her shoulders that any good husband would have little option but to respect her. Orpheus would make for one such husband, if Astrid did say so herself.

“I would hope for your sake that you would not bind yourself to a man before ensuring you had his respect, though I know such aims are not always easy to accomplish. I must assume you are discerning in that regard, given you remain unmarried.”

@'Fiona Prewett'/@'Andromache Pettigrew'