everybody is as unstable as water.

𝓢loane Street was the height of Luxury Fashion in Muggle London. It was every high society girl’s dream. Cold counters manned by even colder salesman, you could smell the designer perfumes wafting outside every time a door opened. 

When Claramae shopped there, she usually had a satisfied smile on her face, a twinkle in her sea green eyes not magically produced or wore her best bored model look, just for kicks. Today, she looked normal--- or at least, that was what she was aiming for as her mother trailed after her. In the Wizarding World, Millicent Bagnold was the Minister. Here, she was just another rich woman dressed in finery, luminous black locks scooped into a bun with not one hair out of place. There was no question of whether or not there was a credit card hot in her pocket, itching to make a purchase. 

She was also here spending genuine time with her daughter, which was weird. So weird. Weirder than could be put into words.

Least weird of all was walking into Dior and seeing Fatima Black. Ironic, considering both the witch and designer were french. ( &. @aveelaxfatima )

𝓒laramae was filled with nostalgia as soon as she stepped foot onto the Hogwarts grounds on November 11th, 1989. The smell, the sights. The old tree the back of her head used to knock against when she was stumped by a particularly tough Arithmancy problem. The waterfall that used to soothe her headaches. The corridors that used to swallow her whole, allowing her to become invisible within the cloak of hundreds of students. It was like coming home from a holiday, only her parent was Professor Snape, who offered her his version of a long awaited welcoming: a grimace and an awkward shoulder pat. 

Some things had changed while she was away. For instance, Pippa Carstairs had finally worn down the administration on her Cheer Club. Claramae held her hand up to her forehead and watched a few witches do the herkie on the pitch, their first ever rally in full swing. Her silver and green scarf danced in the wind as she climb up higher on the wooden bleachers, her rose lips parting as she inhaled the Scotland air, her face relaxed. She also wasn’t Captain of the Snakes anymore. What happened next wasn’t her cross to bear, thank Merlin. Long over were the days when she stressed out over plays, dictating whether or not her Slytherin housemates acting as though they were superior was warranted.

Her sea green eyes looked over the waves of students until they rested on one in particular. Her eyes lit up. 

The thing about knowing about all of the best study places at Hogwarts, was the odds were one other person did too. While she was a student, that person had been Tiberius Hufflepuff. They had never talked much or at all. But you didn’t have to always talk to know whether or not you were kindred spirits. Over two or three years, they said less than ten words to each other, but they had shared a silent understanding.

Claramae paused next to him, wrapping her oversized sweater tighter around her fairylike form. Her eyes looked happy, one of her dimple waking up to say hello. She held out a hand to shake his.  ( &. @hufflepuff-b )

         “ well if it’s pretty cool. “  his tone mocked her, only slightly distracted by the way claramae’s lips were trailing sweet kisses across his skin.  “ you’re right.  what a much better, more THRILLING, way to kill some time. “  he was merciless, nails dragging against the insides of her thighs as his smirk betrayed his true intentions.  as good of a liar as he’d perfected himself into over the years, he was always an open book when it came to her.  

    “ you can show me your grimoire after.  way after. “ he tilted his head, one hand coming up to tangle in her hair as he threaded his fingers through dark waves.  he could kiss her properly now, humming against her lips as he deepened the kiss.  it never got old, kissing claramae.  now, with their marriage bond, it was almost like he could feel giddiness blossoming in both of their chests whenever they were together.  it was like their love had intensified, growing 10x as big in the weeks since their summer wedding.  

     he had a thought, pausing only slightly to question.  “ those metal sticks on the door … they’ll keep the muggles out, right ?  “ his eyebrows raised questioningly.  not that i’m opposed to dinner AND a show … “

「 ✨  monty has brought up a magical subject x2. 」 「 ✨  monty has brought up canon object. 」 

𝓒laramae frantically reached for her wand, giving it a few small waves. The electric lights in the room dimmed, all of the candles in the apartment lit up, and the gramophone crooned to life. The counter was cold against her heating skin and she was near delirious as she let go of her wand, letting it drift to the wayside. Her heart was still racketing against her chest but not so much racing. She was relaxed, the most relaxed she had been in who knew how long, but Merlin, she wanted him... but then, when didn’t she? 

Even when they bantered the feeling under the surface.

Before, Claramae had pulled Monty’s hands off her thighs and pretended to upper cut Monty’s built stomach with one of them, the hand jabbing thin air. “Mmm-mmmm.” Monty would tease Claramae, and then they would both be so worked up he would end up ruining her favorite outfits. She just bought the thigh high tights she was wearing, and she didn’t have to be a seer to predict him ruining them. She had even tried tickling him in case he got any ideas.

“If anyone besides us walks in, it’ll be breaking and entering. But the locks will keep everyone out.” Claramae wrapped her arms and legs around Monty, attaching herself to him like a giggly monkey.  “You want to share me?” Claramae gave him a look as she leaned back in. Yeah right. 

「 🍵  claramae used a veritaserum boost. 」

She unlocked her legs and slid off of him, bringing her face down with her. “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours, you know,” Claramae said in an innocent tone of voice, her fingers hooking through his belt hoops. She pulled him flush against her, giggling at her own joke. “But I guess we’ll have to wait till later,” she added, imitating his voice, “way later.” She was still giggling as she separated from him, putting a couple feet between them. Claramae pulled off her wrap around sweater, leaving her in her black lace top underneath. She bit her lip, her heart rate speeding up a little as she casually tossed it behind her. 

“Oops,” she said, looking at the floor and giggling softly. Her pleated skirt moved as she walked slowly down their new hall. “What ever will I do?”

          “ complaining comes as easy to me as breathing. “  he’d said it with a straight face before taking a swig from his beer, nearly spitting it out moments later.  ugh.  muggles, it seemed, also had terrible taste when it came to a pint.   this guinness sort had no right to call itself anything other than goblin piss.  despite his feelings, he took another swig.  maybe it was like arithmancy;  stomach it long enough and you might actually start to like it.  

      “ i had a few ideas …  “  his eyes had settled on her legs, watching them swing as she settled on the counter.  he abandoned his bottle,  moving to rest his hands elsewhere.  his brow raised playfully, fingers ghosting over the insides of her thighs. “ you could show me a few things, least interestingly your grimoire. “  his smirk teased his features, chuckling low under his breath.  “ wishes, right … “  he pretended to consider this, chewing on his lower lip thoughtfully.  “ i wish you were wearing a little less … “  he was outright snickering now, fingers tugging on the collar of her shirt like a schoolboy pulling his crush’s pigtails.  

「 ✨  monty has mentioned a canon object x4. 」

“𝓞h, believe me I know,” Claramae had said, going for nonchalance. Her lips had twitched upward, her cheeks fighting off a burgeoning smile as laughter was held at bay.

Claramae felt a tingle work its way down her spine just from the way he looked at her. It danced its way back up just from his touch. The urge for her breath to quicken made itself known, but instead, she bit her lip. Once again, she went for nonchalance as she looked up at their new ceiling. “I don’t know.” She drew out the I, the syllable spoken at a higher pitch as she pretended to ponder, “Did I show you that one evocation? It’s pree-tty cool.” 

It wasn’t that cool.

Her stomach dropped as his chuckle reverberated against her. Claramae’s eyes focused on his lips, she couldn’t help it!  “Wishes!” She repeated after him, louder than was necessary. She was already giggling, even before he started yanking on her shirt. “Stopppp,” Claramae whined, pulling Monty in for a kiss. She kissed her way towards his ear and nipped at his lobe. Her hot breath abruptly stopped ghosting in his ear.

“Are you sure you don’t want to look at my grimoire?” 

Claramae’s lips poked out, making a silly smile as she giggled into his skin.

         monty’s arm snaked easily around claramae’s waist, chin resting against her shoulder as she flipped through the takeaway menus.  “ who says we have to pick ? “  he pointed out. “ we could have a little bit of everything. oh — no sushi for me. “  his nose scrunched up.  he’d only had it once and it had been enough for him; uncooked fish bits just wasn’t something he enjoyed.  “ let’s get extra noodles, too. “

       while claramae put their order in, monty waved his wand, summoning them two of the muggle beers that he’d picked up for them at the corner store shortly before they’d moved in.  he used his wand to remove the lid, truthfully not sure HOW muggles managed to get the bloody things off.  he’d tried to twist it and had nearly cut his fingers.  “ i can’t believe how long it takes them to do anything. “  he scowled.  “ forty five minutes to deliver food … when a wizard could apparate there and back in a snap. “  he sighed.  “ … but that means we have some time to kill … “

「 ✨  monty has mentioned a canon object x4. 」 「 ✨ monty has cast a spell. 」

𝓒laramae had melted against Monty while they finished deciding what they wanted. It was easy to be with him like that, as easy as breathing. Merlin knew Hogwarts had granted them loads of practice. Being with him was like... so, they would go out on their separate adventures. They had their own lives they lived. But when they were together, they were the only two people in their space, the city, the world. She leaned against the wall, watching him open the beers, her heart swelling in her chest.

She hung up the phone and made her way towards him. 

“Oh, stop complaining.”

Claramae hopped onto the counter. I’ll never get over his eyes, she thought to herself, then flushed. That was so corny, the farms were going to think she was competition. “Well, what do you want to do?” She could feel her heart beating in her chest as she crossed her legs. “We could unpack more? Or I could show you my grimoire...”  She put one of her hands on his shoulders, her head tilting to the side as the apples of her cheeks were accentuated by her smile. “For the wishes?”

         “ so she WASN’T looking at me funny because i’m devastatingly handsome ?  unfortunate. someone told me that tipping muggles was customary … that it’s rude not to.  i figured it’d be best not to cross our new landlady the first time she meets us. “  monty grimaced. “ bloody muggle money, bloody muggle customs … “  he was still grumbling when claramae pressed her lips against his, some of the frustration ebbing away as his hands framed her face, affectionately tapping her cheeks when she pulled away.  “ wait, “  he stopped her, pulling her in for another.  “ there. “

     as they went their separate ways to unpack their things, a swish of monty’s wand had whisker’s carrier unlatched so his cat could join calliadora.  at nearly eight, the feline wasn’t adapting to change as well as her master.  she hissed, instantly running and hiding under the nearest surface.  it happened to be their coffee table, a few issues of quidditch monthly, witch weekly, and a muggle magazine on current events splashed on top.  as clothing zoomed around the room and flew onto the hangers in the closet in their bedroom, monty polished his broom.  when he was finished, he hung back and nodded appreciatively.  it looked decent. 

      claramae’s voice in the living room lured him back out.  his eyebrows raised, curious.  “ let’s stay in.  it’s our first night. “  truthfully, he was excited at the prospect of ordering take-away.  it seemed strange that muggles had strangers deliver them food, trusting them to be careful with it and not poison them, but it was certainly a step above summoning food themselves.  conjured or duplicated food never tasted quite right.  “ where are those papers she gave us ?  she said their … uh, phoney numbers are on them. “  he was blanking on the term, preoccupied by the feel of his wife’s arms wrapped around his middle.  his gaze had softened, unable to look at claramae bagnold-sayre with anything less than complete love and adoration in his eyes.  she was gorgeous.  every day he woke up with her curled beside him was a day he was the most fortunate bloke he knew.  “ you choose. “ 

「 ✨  monty has mentioned a canon object x8. 」 「  ✨  monty has cast a spell x2」 「 ✨  monty has mentioned something from the kiosk. 」

“Right. The menus. I think we left them on the counter somewhere..”

She brushed her palm against his cheek, her hand lingering as their eyes locked.

Claramae’s cheeks turned pink. Their magical vow from their wedding day was as strong as ever, and the love that was radiating towards her was enough to make her heart sing and skip a beat. 

“Take-away sounds good,” she agreed. 

Claramae summoned the menus with a tiny wave of her wand, but she didn’t tear her eyes away from Monty’s immediately. She was giggling by the time she turned around against him. 

She pulled one of his arms around her.

“Oooh. Let’s get Indian food-- or Thai. Actually, I think I went to that pizza place once. It was so good. But, I could also go for some sushi.”