When Theseus is home alone, everything feels too quiet. It’s not that he minds, exactly- in fact, after spending most of his childhood and early adult years surrounded by people and noise, some peace and silence is appreciated. But now that he’s so accustomed to constant stimulation, it’s almost strange to be without it. It’s rare that he has time to himself like this nowadays.

At first, it had been fine. Chiara left for the weekend with Elisa, Mira, Veronica, and a few other of her friends for a girls’ trip. With Theseus himself off work, he’d tried to make the best of the time. Cleaning the house, organising the bookshelves, watering the plants… but that only took up so much of his day.

Now, the next morning, he has no idea what to do with himself. He’d slept awfully- he supposes he never realised how big the bed was until he was the only one in it. He turns the page of the book he’s reading, not absorbing any of the words. He hopes Chiara is alright. Well, of course she is. He’s seen her borderline shred people with her bare hands, and she’s got her friends with her, who are no group to mess with. Even so, the thought of the slightest thing going wrong, and Theseus not being there to help, makes his stomach hurt.

Sighing, he sets the book aside, resigning himself to the fact that he’s not going to get anything done today. He gets up and stretches. Yep, bookshelves are still all in order. Plants still thriving. The sofa looks fine, the grey-green rug is free of clutter… Honestly, he should let himself enjoy having a lazy day for once, shouldn’t he? He’s been so overworked lately, he really needs it. Even if he’s feeling a bit lonely.

There’s a loud crash from the kitchen, reminding him that he isn’t completely alone. He has their pet niffler, Maysilee, to keep him company- not that she’s much good. The little fluffball has always preferred Chiara over him, which is understandable. He goes down the corridor to their small kitchen, where he finds the creature on the hardwood floor, surrounded by scattered silverware. It seems she’d pulled the cutlery drawer out, and is now making a mad dash to cram all the forks in her pouch.

“Honestly, Maysilee,” He groans. Theseus grabs her before she can vanish in a flash of gold fur. At least he’s got something to do now, all things considered. He takes her by her feet and hangs her upside down, a trick he learned from Newt, and shakes her until the silverware comes tumbling back out again. He spots a few of Chiara’s earrings in there, too. “You little rat-”

She snorts at him as the last of the stolen shiny things hit the floor, then wriggles from his grip and scampers away. Maysilee only acts up like this when Chiara is away. Theseus has tried for what feels like forever to get her to warm up to him, but she’s a mama’s girl, through and through. Theseus picks up Chiara’s earrings and pockets them. He’ll need to find a better place to hide them. He starts scooping the silverware back into the fallen drawer, trying to put everything in order. An exercise in futility, really, since it’s always all loose in there anyway. Hm, perhaps that’s what he should do next- find a way to keep the drawer organised.

Or… he picks up one of the nice forks to put away, then pauses. They never have any real opportunities to use the really fancy silverware. They got it as a wedding gift, but Theseus can’t think of a time they’ve used any of it. There are fancy plates, too, assuming Maysilee hasn’t also gotten to those. He’s got the whole rest of the afternoon until Chiara gets home, so why not cook her a nice dinner? Aside from the fact that it would be an excuse to use it, he’s missed her quite a bit, and he likes to do things for her. He wants her to feel appreciated.

“Well done,” Theseus says to Maysilee, who is glaring at him from under the kitchen table with baleful blue eyes. “You’ve given me an idea."

It did, in fact, take almost the rest of the day to prepare everything, but he doesn’t mind the work. He’s set the table with their best tablecloth, navy blue and embellished with silver details, and the wedding dinnerware. Maysilee, to her credit, is for once not trying to snatch everything, although the cufflinks have vanished again. Fine, so long as she doesn’t ruin the tablesetting. He went out and got a load of orchids, Chiara’s favourite flowers, and put them in an ornate, hourglass vase he’d definitely borrowed from Newt and Tina. He scattered petals across the floor as well, because why not go all in? Chiara is more than worth it.

The fish is cooling on the counter, the wine is poured, and the pie- Chiara’s favourite, an apple shortbread- is baking in the oven. It should be done any minute, and just in time. The telltale crack of someone Apparating just outside the door announces that she’s home. Theseus takes a few flowers from the vase and rushes to greet her.

“Welcome home, darling,” he says as the door swings open.

Chiara walks in, long blonde hair pulled back in a bun. That’s new for her, but Theseus is absolutely not complaining. She looks gorgeous. She always does. “Hey, you,” she smiles up at him, flicking a stray bit of hair from her face. “Miss me?”

More than she’ll know. “Of course I did.” He offers her the flowers. “For you, my love.”

She smiles even wider, wide enough that her dimples become visible. “Ach, you shouldn’t have.” Chiara takes the orchids as a slight blush colours her freckled cheeks. “They’re lovely, Theseus.”

“Not as lovely as you, sweetheart.”

“Such a flatterer.” She grabs him by the front of his shirt and pulls him down to her level for a quick kiss. “Hmm,” She sighs after they break apart. “It smells amazing in here.”

“Ah, yes, I’ve made us dinner.” Theseus wraps an arm around her waist.

“What’s the occasion?”

“That I love you, and that I missed you terribly.”

Chiara giggles. Even that is positively adorable. “What am I going to do with you, Scamander?”

“Kiss me again?”

She readily obliges. The flowers drop to the floor, fingers tangle in hair, they might be about to forgo dinner altogether, when suddenly she jerks away and wrinkles her nose. She sniffs the air.

“Is something… burning?”

Appearance

Hair Colour: Pale blonde, almost platinum Eye Colour: Brown Skin: Slightly tanned Body Type: Slender, slightly broader shoulders Height: 5'2 Other: Freckles, burn scars on left face and neck Voice Claim: Kelly Macdonald

Personality

Traits: Boisterous, incorrigible, argumentative, blunt, stubborn, sarcastic, brave, ambitious, snarky, easy to rile, brash, contrarian. Likes: Coffee, makeup, her jewellery, rain, having a lie-in, painting her nails, arguing with Theseus Dislikes: Hot weather, the Ministry (later in life), following rules blindly, being late, getting low marks in school, being late, excessively rich people Patronus: Unicorn Animagus: Swan Other Powers: Sometimes can summon fire (veela blood)

Relationships

Parents: Elliot Wilson (Muggle), Bisenya (Veela) Siblings: Ewan Wilson (5 y/o, half-brother) Extended Family: Lucy Wilson (step-mother) Friends: Newt Scamander, Evangeline Sallow, Leta Lestrange, Enemies: Theseus Scamander (school rivals), Matteo Rosier, Romantic Relationships: Matteo Rosier (ex-boyfriend), Leta Lestrange (one-night stand), Theseus Scamander (current partner)

Future

Career: Auror, then Cursebreaker Spouse: Theseus Scamander Residence: Chelsea, England Children: At least 2 Pets: Auntie to Newt's creatures, undecided pet [probably a niffler]

Lore

Chiara Celeste Wilson was born in Inverness to Elliot Wilson and his then-partner, a Veela called Bisenya. Human-Veela relationships were not exactly welcomed in that time, and especially not with a Muggle. When Chiara was born, Elliot became her sole caretaker and Bisenya returned to her native Bulgaria, hoping to spare the baby from any judgement or hostility because of her identity. Elliot simply told people his wife had passed away, which unfortunately would become true some years later. Before going back, Bisenya left Chiara with her heirloom silver snake earrings and hair clip, both of which Chiara continues to wear to this day. As a child, Chiara began to show signs of magical ability fairly early on. (She sneezed and set the curtains on fire). Elliot, of course, was aware that she was likely a witch, given who her mother was, and expected her to have some degree of power. In fact, despite being a Muggle, Elliot ran a farm of wand-quality Hawthorn trees, and supplied several wandmakers worldwide. Even so, with the expenses to keep the farm going and to care for the both of them, there was barely enough money to scrape by. For most of her childhood, her only friends were the colony of Bowtruckles that lived in the wand trees. There was a small fund set aside so that, when Chiara turned 11 and got her Hogwarts acceptance letter, she could afford to attend. She was sorted into Slytherin, and fairly quickly became the top student in her year. She hated anyone one-upping her in any way, shape, or form. In 2nd year, she met Theseus Scamander, who was a 3rd year. Or, more accurately, tracked him down and attempted to shove him down the stairs because she found out he'd gotten better marks on a written exam than her. From then on, they had somewhat of an academic rivalry, always trying to outdo the other. For Theseus, it was a load of fun, but it was absolutely cutthroat for her. She had to be the best. The day he became head boy was the worst of her life /hj. He definitely had a thing for her even though she 100% wanted him dead. In her 5th year, she decided to go through the steps to become an Animagus, although she is still unregistered and has no plans to ever actually inform the Ministry of that fact. Theseus is the only one who knows (much, much after 5th year), hence why he calls her 'Birdie.' That same year, her mother and much of her Veela side of the family were killed in what was ruled to be a poacher raid for their hair and other magical properties. It never added up to Chiara, so she swore one day she was going to get to the bottom of it.

After graduating in 1908, Chiara joined the Auror programme, and was fairly annoyed to see Theseus there as well. She'd hoped after leaving school she'd never have to deal with him again. Honestly, he was likely just as irritated to see her again as if he doesn't have a massive crush on her. She never did truly get over him besting her, and he continued to do so, no matter what she did. When WW1 started, the both of them joined the army despite direct orders from the Minister to not let wizards get involved. In her time fighting, she got caught in an explosion, which is how she got her scars. She's probably quite lucky that was the worst of the damage. Once the war ended, she returned to work with the Auror department, and was put on a job with Theseus (which just about made her want to rip her hair out), but through the course of working with him, she realised that... perhaps he's not so bad. They marry after the most agonising will they/won't they in which practically everyone was screaming at them to get together please and thank you. [I'm writing a fic about the job where they fall in love. If you care.]

Art

chiara by @/light-of-the-room, @/giselsaan, and @/leaswhum

theseus x chiara by @/a-florable and @/raraaf6

theseus x chiara by @/okeydokeylackey, chibis by @/raraaf6