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.
Open for Sybil, Ruth, Prosper, and Clarissa
NO POST ORDER. Standard 2 days/2 replies.
Lock had wasted very little time after sending the letter; Ruth had gone home to change into one of her nice gowns (to make a good impression for her new parents-in-law) while he had drafted a response to his father's letter, which was still in crumpled pieces in Ruth's pocket. He'd gone home to dress for dinner, laughing as he did so and taking special care that everything about him looked in tip-top condition. He didn't want anything to give the charade away all at once... though to be honest, he had doubts that he would be able to hold his composure once he was face-to-face with Ruth in her fancy dress.
Then again, he'd have his father and the woman to contend with, which would dampen his mood considerably. The other thing that worked in his favor was that Ruth in her fancy dress was not at all laughable; in fact, she looked very, very nice. Not that she didn't always look nice.
"Thank you again," he murmured to her as he knocked on his father's door, biting his lower lip. He couldn't wat to see what his father had to say about this.
That morning it had been her guardian's wife; this evening was to be Magnus' wife. Why on earth were the men in her life so foolish that elopement was the first thing they thought of when maddeningly in love? Though Sybil herself had not had to endure the effects of amortentia, the young witch thought that she would have opted for the less immediate engagement, that she might have time to show off the man who had so aroused her passions before having a lavish wedding that all might attendùmind, that was her intention as it was, but still she did not think being so enraptured would skew her so greatly.
That Magnus had married under the influence (if it was not under the influence, Sybil did not think she could take it) was disappointingùSibby, in the back of her mind, had always thought they might marry (should the bloom quite leave her without a great romance ever crossing her) as she would have made for him an excellent wifeùwas not so surprising (though the news had been startling nonetheless), but Prosperus Lockhart was a man to whom silliness was an anathema, and to think of him marrying accidentally as he had would have sent her off giggling, had it not been so frightening a notion.
She tried not to fidget too much as she waited in the parlour, a task made more difficult by the newness of her gown and her unwillingness to talk to Mr. or Mrs. Lockhart.
If somebody had told her this morning she was getting married, even fake married today, she would have laughed at them and sent them packing, but here she was, wearing the same ensemble she'd worn to the New Years celebration with Lucinda. It was the only nice one she had now, thanks to Lucinda.
Thankfully her friend had flat out given her the dress after seeing her in it. Something about how it didn't fit her properly and something else. Had she had the time, she would have called upon Luce in this instance to help her out, but she didn't, so she just threw on everything from the celebration, twisted her hair with her wand into the only elegant knot she knew how to do and made her way to meet up with Lock.
If she were any other woman, she would have been petrified, but since Rue was in on the joke this time, she really wasn't all that worried. As they approached his father's home, she chuckled, arm tucked quite comfortably in his. "Oh sure, what are friends for, right Darling?" She was quite content to lay it on thick, or at least follow whatever lead Lock provided her with. All in all, it was highly amusing to her.
She gave her new husband a sly grin as he knocked on the door. Yes, this was going to be good indeed.
Prosper had been embarrassed since he had realized that he had gotten married under the influence of a love potion the day before, but after his brief correspondence with his son — his apparently married son, who did not even have the same excuse as his father — his embarrassment had found itself secondary to alternating waves of anger and disappointment.
By the time Magnus and his bride arrived, Prosper had settled on disappointment. He was already displeased with his son's short-sighted career choice, but to up and elope and then fail to tell his father about it — that was intolerable. The idea of disowning (or at least threatening to disown) Magnus had even crossed his mind for one brief moment.
The door was answered and Mr. and Mrs. Magnus Lockhart ushered in by one of them maids. Prosper eyed the girl dubiously; she at least had the decency to look presentable, but the fact of the matter was that she was probably some hussy that his son (hopefully the boy was not a patsy too!) had gotten in trouble.
"Good evening," he said levelly. "Magnus, this is my new wife, Mrs. Clarissa Lockhart." He indicated the green eyed blonde politely. "Clarissa, my son, Mr. Magnus Lockhart and his — wife. Magnus, do introduce your bride."
Just as he'd suspected, seeing his father standing in the parlor with a strange woman was all the motivation Lock needed to keep a straight face for his little prank. He had pieced together after his fathers letter about the tea that the addition of his step mother had been due to Amortentia, but he hadn't known that at first, and he didn't want his father to think that his "marriage" to Ruth was the same sort of thing. When the idea had first occurred to him, the marriage idea, it had been to spite his father, to ruin all of Prospers plans. He wanted his old man to feel that.
In order to demonstrate, Lock smiled almost proudly at the introduction, displaying not even a hint of shame or embarrassment. "With great pleasure, Father," he said, placing a hand on Ruths back as he inclined his head towards the assembled company. "Allow me to introduce the great love of my life, Mrs. Ruth Lockhart. My love, meet my Father, his wife, and our cousin Miss Sybil Mallory," he finished, turning back to his father with an almost patronizing smile. "I was planning to inform you of my decision to court her, but your own recent nuptials positively inspired us."
He was really laying it on thick. He'd just have to hope that Ruth went with it.
Clarissa had been home during the day and packed most of her belongings so she could move to her new house. This was not something she had prepared herself for. Marriage yes, but not so sudden. Now all she could do was to take a deep breath and take a view on the damage she had done to her life. She had to make it work, there was no way to return. Prosper is at least not very bad. It could have been worse. Think about it, he could have been abusive, but so far he has tried to do the right thing. she told herself.
She had used hours to try and figure out what she could wear. She needed it to be an acceptable dress that showed that she had not married up. Finally she had found a dress she thought would be acceptable, it was simply, but not too simple. It showed that she was raised to be proper and responsible. Standing in the parlour waiting with Prosper and Sybil was making her even more nervous than she was at the breakfast.
She quickly curtseyed when Prosperus' son and his wife came and she was slightly embarrassed when she was introduced as Prosperus' wife. She still had to get used to it. At least she had written Cai, hoping he would tell Wen and Brenny. It was easier just telling one, instead of all three. She would have to deal with them later, right now it was all about making a good impression on her new family.
It was so hard not to crack a grin, though thankfully she was supposed to be playing the part of blushing bride, so the wide smile on her face was not out of the ordinary at the moment. As everybody was introduced, Rue took a step forward and gave her best flourish of a curtsy, before stepping back and winding her arm through Lock's again, resting her head against his shoulder. "It's quite a pleasure to meet you." She all but squeaked, trying not to laugh, though it simply sounded like she was far too excited to be Mrs. Magnus Lockheart.
She vaguely recognized the other new Mrs. Lockheart, (that introduction had been a little surreal) but not well. They had probably been in school together. Rue however, almost lost face when she noticed Lock's dad's stature, or reasonable lack thereof. She wasn't every sure she'd been informed of his height, not that it particularly mattered, but Lock was just such a big guy, she assumed the same of his father. No matter, it had nothing to do with the charade, though it did kind of make things more amusing.
"Thank you for having us." She beamed, looking about the room. "It's such a lovely home." Normally Rue was not very good at this idle chit chat that she hated so much, but when she was pretending not to be herself, or rather for the most part anyway, it wasn't so bad. It was more like a mockery, which was something she could certainly handle.
Idiocy, pure idiocy! While Prosper was quickly coming to respect his new wife, he was just as quickly losing all respect for his son. Clarissa was taking this all with grace and had this morning spoken of taking responsibility for their actions. Magnus, on the other hand, was rushing into things without thinking and generally being completely irresponsible and impractical again.
"It is lovely to see that you made such an important and irrevocable decision," Prosper said stiffly. It was just like his son to just throw his life away on some girl he probably would have forgotten in a few months otherwise.
If anything, the stiffness in his father's voice only inspired him to go further; it meant that the ruse was working. He wondered briefly when he would find the time to tell his father the truth, but that was a much less pressing matter at the moment.
Lock smiled flashily, much different than anything he usually wore on his features, apparently oblivious to the old man's disdain. "Well, with such wonderful role models," he said, his gushing turning hard and maybe even a touch cruel at the last twist of his voice. "How did Fortuna and Merritt take the news of your nuptuals?" he said, pretense gone now as he look down at his father. He kept one hand on Ruth--somehow it was comforting to have another person standing with him, as though her physical presence there symbolized her being on his side in all of this.
He had a sudden impulse to do something to Ruth--he wasn't quite sure what. Kiss her forehead, maybe. The tips of his ears burned with a little added color as he pushed the thought back down. He wasn't sure where it had come from--perhaps that he had wanted to drive his father crazy a bit more, or perhaps a sort of odd thank-you for everything she was doing. In either case, he reasoned, it would have been too much, too much indeed, but the impulse was gone almost as soon as he had recognized it, and he was back to the matter at hand; his father vs. himself, and Ruth was once more only an incidental player, like Sybil or the poor blond woman.
It was bad enough that he was married; now the family was squabbling about it! Personal feelings about the matches and circumstances surrounding these impromptu marriages aside, Sybil was still quite put out that she had not even been a consideration to either party; they were the only family that remained to herùsave for Uncle Prosper's sisterùand yet they thought it perfectly normal to prance off and get married with little more than a æby-the-by' afterwards! (Sybil, who had always been fond of impulsivity, had been tending towards hypocrisy of late.)
She was, Sibby knew, probably focusing on the wrong issue.
"It is a pleasure to meet you," Sybil offered with her brightest feigned smile, not quite bringing herself to call this woman Mrs. Lockhart. It was the same with her guardian's new wife whom, even in conversation, she simply called nothing at allùit seemed easier to her somehow, given that the matter was already terribly perplexing.
Clarissa was usually one to be quiet and waiting for people to address her, but even in her new family was Clarissa not one to stand up for people talking bad about one another. She kept her back straight and looked at Prosperus' son. "I apologize for being rude, I know I have only been a part of this family for a day but I will not stand here and allow you to talk to your father like that." She said and looked at Magnus with a stubborn expression.
The expression only lasted a second, before she looked down at the floor again. "I apologize again, it is very unlike me, but I lost my parents five years ago. I was raised with talking respectfully to everyone. Especially your family." she said and took a deep breath. She was ready to deal with whatever people said. She knew she could be strong when she had to. Her family had raised her to be strong and proud, but most of all to be respectful to the people that surrounded her.
She still thought it was strange calling herself a Lockhart, she still felt like a Beckett and would always be there in case any of them needed her. She could apparate home in a flash when Cai finished school and if he needed her. Stop it Clarissa. Cai is eighteen years old and can handle himself. Stop seeing him at the little brother that needs your help all the time she thought to herself. How she even managed to worry about her family in the middle of all of this was something she would never be able to explain, but she did not stop her thoughts.
As awkward as this was, Rue felt quite comfortable, despite the disapproving stares and words being hurled in her direction. If this were a real marriage, she may have been insulted, but considering the whole thing was a farce, the people in front of her were simply affronted by the idea of a quick, unplanned marriage, even though Lock's father had clearly done the same thing. It was a bit hypocritical, even if the other newlyweds were under the influence of amortentia, like half the town. You would think, or at least she liked to think that parents would want their kids to be happy. She knew things with her own parents were a little strained, she hardly saw them, but if she ever fell in love and got married she at least knew they'd be supportive.
Pursing her lips as Lock was chastised by a woman who was for one, not his mother and two, hardly a year older, she bit her tongue in an added effort not to say anything. It wasn't her place, though she quickly frowned to show her disapproval. Nobody should be able to scold her 'husband' but her!
It was clear that nobody was happy about this situation. Prosper was clearly disappointed in their faux marriage, Lock was clearly put out by his father's marriage and everybody else was just kind of props in their argument. Unsure if she should say something, or if Lock would even want her to, Rue stayed quiet, even though she had something rather unfriendly to say, she kept it to herself. She wondered how bit the explosion would be once Mr. Lockheart found out they weren't really married, or if he'd be relieved. Either way she was pretty sure it would be entertaining and the entertainment factor was what kept her attached to Lock's arm.
Prosper was prepared to snap at his disgraceful son again, but then his new wife spoke — and he could not help but feel fond as a result. It was odd — almost as though they had somehow made a good decision, despite the fact that they had done so without knowing each other and under the influence of love potion.
"Fortuna and Merritt took the news with grace," Prosper said simply. He was finished with this conversation. If his boy wanted to throw his life away, well, it was too late to do anything about it. He certainly hoped the child his wife was carrying was a girl, because there was no way that he was going to allow a child he was not even certain was his grandchild inherit.
"Why don't we all adjourn to the table for dinner?" he said calmly, holding out his arm for his new wife. He thought that he and Clarissa would get along quite well; perhaps their marriage was not a complete disaster after all.
Lock was expecting his father to snap at him. To be frank, it was the only way the two men ever communicated anymore, since Lock had moved out to avoid the constant career pitches. Their relationship was not good, and everyone knew that. What he hadn't been expecting, however, was to be scolded by Clarissa. He stared at her, keeping his expression blank, while the hair on the back of his neck rose in anger.
Lock waited, not trusting himself at first. He wanted to break another table, really, but there were none lying about in arm's reach. Besides, Sybil and Ruth were present, and he did still care what the two of them thought, even if at the moment he would have been happy never to see Mr. and Mrs. Lockhart again.
He didn't move when his father suggested going in for dinner. He was still watching the blond woman. Finally, he spoke, saying to her, "We were in school together." That really just about summed up his feelings on the matter of her scolding him on manners, family etiquette, or anything.
Turning to look down at his father, he says stiffly, "I have no desire to be lectured by the child you married on a whim. Nor, for that matter, by you. I think we'll find our dinner elsewhere," he says curtly, at the last minute glancing at Ruth, to make sure she was on board with all of this. When he'd propositioned the idea to her, he'd failed to foresee how much his temper would flare. It would only be worse, however, if they stayed; that much had behind obvious.
It was odd, but somehow Clarissa's presence — and her willingness to act as wife and stepmother despite the way this had come about — had a calming effect on Prosper. Certainly Magnus was not the ideal son, and Merritt had inherited Prosper's condition, but these were not insurmountable problems. He had not intentioned at the moment to disinherit either son (and would never do so simply because Merritt lacked a man's full height) but things could always change. At the moment, things were changing very quickly.
"If you cannot be civil, that is probably the best course of action," Prosper said firmly. He did want to repair his relationship with his son, but on his own terms. Not because Magnus was behaving like an infant and throwing a tantrum because Prosper had determined to do the right thing by the girl he had accidentally married.
Sybil had thought herself surprised by the news that her guardian had married, that Magnus had married, but that paled entirely to the shock she felt as she watched the two most prominent men in her life squabble like children. Though not ordinarily the most restrained of individuals, Sibby found herself far too taken aback to even try to stop them, the desire to play referee overruled entirely by sheer bafflement at what was unfolding before her. Father vs. Son would surely end badly for both!
"If-if you will excuse me, I think that I feel a migraine coming on," she feebly tried to interject as she rose, doubting it would distract either party for longùor even at all. At the very least, though, it would get her out of the uncomfortable situation. Hurriedly, she offered her apologies before retreating upstairs to her room.
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