Paradise Circus Pt. II // Flogene

[Eugene Prothero]

The Prothero Castle, Wales
April 1974

[Part I]

It was late.

He'd had a glass of champagne. Golden.

Felt the tiredness in his body, somehow gentle and heavy all at once. Arriving in Porthcawl with a swish and a turn, the apparition brought him straight into a hurl of wind outside the entrance to the Prothero Castle. He stumbled, but was not unused to this, straightening himself, cloak dancing in the wind, and gazed up at the looming walls of home.

The doors creaked open and shut behind him, and it was quiet, but the lights were lit and his feet steady as he moved through the building, heading for their chambers, the sound of his footsteps tapping against the intricate tiles of a vast floor. On the walls of the corridor hung large tapestries, their vivid colours and minute details visible in the faint light.

He swung left and came to a door, moved past, inside, and she was still up, leaning over some table, doing something.

Without taking off the coat, he walked over and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling at her neck, relishing the warmth.

"I had dinner with Bellestorm," he said.

With political Britain in turmoil, and Tomas Bellestorm on as the new Minister, Eugene had been quick enough to reach a hand to an old alliance. He was conservative though, highly traditional, and Eugene and Florence did not fully agree on the political matters, on what was the better way going forward.

"Now I'm tired."

[Florence Prothero]

Florence carefully turned over an heirloom brooch in the shape of a scorpion in her hands and studied it closely. It was the most understated piece of jewelry Aunt Claudia owned. And had been an afterthought to add it to Florence’s outfit months ago to tea. In the last year Aunt Claudia had been the most generous she had ever been with her in regards to jewelry and other possessions. Even with family secrets. Florence had taken all of it with some reservations, initially. But soon she felt like a girl again, freely picking through Claudia’s accessories as if they were her own mother’s.

And it seemed that seeing Florence wear her old jewelry put a smile on Aunt Claudia's face. One Flo hadn’t seen in years. Considering the elder woman’s strained relationship with her own daughter, perhaps this was the final approval of Florence into the family.

Lately it seemed the woman had an uncanny ability at ‘guessing’ what was occurring in Florence’s life. The woman’s perfect painted and devilish smile told Florence all she needed to know. The woman had a bug on her.

Every piece borrowed needed to be looked over. But this one, the scorpion, Florence had grown quite fond of. Using a magically enhanced pair of pince-nez Florence examined the scorpion brooch. On its belly was a red ruby, subdued and oddly placed.

“Clever old witch…” she murmured to herself. A moment later she heard the familiar sound of Eugene’s stride entering their room. She sat up a little more properly and removed the pair of pince-nez from her face. She quickly rolled up the brooch in a cloth and securely shut it in a jewelry box. A moment later she felt her husband’s arms around her. The chill that had followed him made her shiver.

Florence’s hands rested on one of his own and she gently raised it to her lips to place a kiss. Aunt Claudia’s sneaky little brooch would have to wait. Flo was more curious about Eugene’s dinner. Although she was less conservative than Eugene and the new Minister, the privileges she had by being part of an old pureblood family were everywhere she looked. She always said she voted along the lines of her husband and her family… but that wasn’t the truth.

“Bellestorm,” she repeated the name. She paused, as she leaned in towards him and looked up.

“A lively dinner, then?” She asked. Should she say it…

“Or did he almost put you to sleep?” She pressed her lips together. All and all she shouldn't jest. Dining with the Minister was an honor and it was what she would have expected of her husband.

[Eugene Prothero]

He welcomed her kiss, ever pulled into her as he was, since they had first gone to school together, though he was less stiff now than he had been back then. The years of experience and getting to know each other deeply, of bringing up four children, would have done things to any relationship, and there was a space for all things - for the passing of passion to companionship, and the transferrance of that first intensity into a mild, but steady, sensation of emotional security.

“A lively dinner, then? - Or did he almost put you to sleep?”

Eugene drew a breath, one that was rich in the smell of her hair and perfume, though it was more due to their immediate proximity than his actually meaning to draw her in. He had caught her tone and unwrapped himself from the embrace, turning to start the unbuttoning of his coat.

"Tomas is a compelling man," he said, while lively was perhaps not the right word for it. "He knows his craft."

Tomas Bellestrom was a man very different from Eugene Prothero, strong and masculine and charismatic in ways that Eugene was not. Impenetrable, too, in the way so often found in men expected to dominate the spaces where they went and, truly, this he did.

Eugene was more content in the background of politics, playing the diplomat while really playing a game for himself. His was more a character of the dark horse, waiting in patience for the opportune moment. It was Family First, blood and validity. But she knew this - that everything he did, he did for the lot of them.

He also knew that she was likely fishing for details that she knew he could not give, and that she was likely to disagree with anyway.

He hung his up his coat on an intricate wrought-iron coathanger and proceeded to remove the suit jacket under, continuing with his tie and then unbottoning the top buttons of the striped white shirt.

"His daughter runs the Hospital Wing in our old school," he commented, finally kicking off his shoes and finding a seat on a chair by her, placing one leg over the other. The fact of the matter amused him. He had been Hospital Wing staff once, apt as he had been at the medicinal ever since developing his early interest in the art of taxidermy.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asked, casting a glance at the cabinet accross the room.

[Florence Prothero]

There was no other man or person she trusted more than Eugene. Their differences in opinions tried to test that, but there was no doubt in her heart that she and their children were considered in every decision he made. The tricky part was she was a halfblood, though no one knew it beyond them and some of the older members of the family. A secret that left her conflicted especially in times like these.

As a younger woman she fantasized of letting the truth slip. Either selfishly or as some sort of attempt at martyrdom. But her love for Eugene always stopped her. And as she had been told many times, Prothero blood and sense of loyalty and duty to the family was strong no matter how small the fraction. That was why someone like herself could be considered family.

Florence softly sighed, letting whatever rising concerns in her chest slowly release. She draped her arms on the back of her chair and turned to watch him make himself more comfortable.

Though she had never met Bellestorm or Tomas, as her husband now addressed him, she was familiar with the type of man he was. She kept her eyebrows still although one threatened to rise in reference to ‘his craft.’ She closed her eyes instead and lightly shook her head. She’d keep her comments to herself until she actually met the man.

A moment before he asked the question, Florence was already easing herself up out of her chair. She had been waiting for her husband to have a drink with him. Florence always tried to stay awake until he came home. No matter how busy or tired the two of them might be it was something she found important to make the effort for. At times that meant Eugene finding her sitting up in bed with a book in her lap and her head flopped forward or back, asleep.

“She runs the Hospital Wing? Hopefully our son doesn’t become too infamous to her. Though I daresay it’s a good thing for a doctor to become too familiar with anyone,” Florence said. She looked over her shoulder and smiled coyly at him.

“Unless they’re married to one,” she said.

“What shall it be tonight?” she asked as looked at their options in the cabinet.

[Eugene Prothero]

The shifting of Political Wizarding Britain was a tricky one. The rule of Pryce Hir had been comfortable, aiming for the single goal of stability which to a large degree had meant leaving them to do as they pleased, as long as they did not stir trouble. They had their own rules within the Family, and Eugene would have much liked for them to continue the quiet reign from their private little island.

But he was also a man that was out there - working his duty in the Wizengamot while keeping his position at St. Mungo's. He enjoyed that, being busied as a reminder of his position and the importance of the things they were doing. With Harmon stepping up to take his place beside him and Cephas working from the sideline it was easier to delegate the workload too. They were growing up to be fine, young men.

Then there was this --

The stolen moments with Florence were important to him, knowing she was there, always, as she had since they had first graduated, as he had been there for her further back into their days as students.

It was important for him that she knew. That his appreciation never dwindled, never leaving any grounds for doubt.

"She runs the Hospital Wing? Hopefully our son doesn’t become too infamous to her. Though I daresay it’s a good thing for a doctor to become too familiar with anyone - unless they’re married to one."

He smiled at her as she leaned into the cabinet.

"How about a red?" he suggested. He had already had champagne, and a proper rich, Italian wine had always been a favourite. Eugene had always been fond of routine, of placing everything according to order, of knowing what happened when and arriving home to the familiar.

Eugene liked tradition - as long as noone said anything and everyone were happy there was no need to start messing with something that was clearly already working.

Letting the topic of their youngest pass - that boy got enough attention already as it was.

"What have you been up to today?" he asked.

[Florence Prothero]

A red, she knew just the one. It had been a favorite of both of theirs. Though their tastes were not far off from one another’s, she preferred light bodied and fruity wines. And it gave her slight enjoyment to disagree with him every once in a while on something so frivolous as wine preference. But this one had left them both with no complaints and an empty bottle in no time. She took it from the cabinet as well as two crystal glasses.

“It’s been awhile since we’ve gone to Italy, just the two of us,” Florence remarked. While there was family and their older children to keep an eye on things… It was occasionally hard for Florence to not keep constant tabs on the household. And it wasn’t her children she was ever concerned about being up to something.

Children were as predictable as they were unpredictable. And Florence would much rather any magnificent blunders of theirs occur in the safety of their own home. It was the older members of the family she was more concerned about. Claudia was certainly a handful, but she wasn’t the one she worried about.

Octavian's quiet confined life had become even smaller. He kept to his room most days and the man who had once been the caretaker of the entire family now concentrated on his own wellbeing. Yet he hardly had energy for that. Claudia would spend time with him but inconsistently. Florence made a point of bringing some regularity and routine to the man’s life.

“Spent the morning with Octavian. He’s been a bit more interested in matters going on outside of the castle… Asked about the children,” Florence told Eugene. She and Eugene had previously discussed quietly and in the privacy of their own room what Octavian might mean by ‘the children.’ And so whenever they were asked that question by Octavian, they spoke of everyone in the family until the man slowly nodded his head, satisfied with the response.

“No meetings with Ministers or any other officials today…” Florence said as she set the wine and glasses down on a small end table next to a sofa and armchair. Instead of using magic she uncorked the bottle with an opener, taking her time as she subtly filled the silence. She contemplated even bringing the brooch up.

“Aunt Claudia has a very clever brooch,” she said as she poured the wine for them both.