July 28th, 1894 - Misses and Matron's ball

Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

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It had been a lovely evening so far, Dorothea had attended at her mistress order to chaperone the daughter of one of her cousins, one of many young ladies amongst the Valenduris' many birth lines. She wore a demure and high necked dark blue gown, she was not intent on attracting a suitor for herself, she was here as a professional and acted as such. This did not mean though that she would not dance, it would be terribly rude of a lady to refuse a dance after all. So, somehow, she had managed to get several names onto her dance card.

The first two were names unknown to her, simply fathers and brothers of the men hoping to court her charge tonight, quite proper really. The third was a name she did recognise, a Professor Skeeter, a charming gentleman who taught little Hyacinth at Hogwarts. She took his hand and was led onto the floor where she began to waltz with him. The man led her well and Dorothea quickly put her ballroom training to good use. "How are you enjoying the season Professor? It must be quite splendid seeing the students progress onto their next challenge?" she gave him a smile. He was a handsome chap, perhaps she would have liked to know him more, their paths had only crossed for her very last year at school so she knew little beyond the brief interactions whilst caring for the complex needs of Hyacinth's education.

Dorothea was fascinated, inexplicably so by the man who had surely offered her a dance out of nothing but manners. She had little reason to know that her dance card nay have been ensorcelled.

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Mason had only truly come to watch the competition. It was nice to see former students excelling past Hogwarts, but a couple acquaintances had cajoled him into attending the accompanying ball that evening and Mason supposed it really couldn't hurt anything. If he was lucky he could catch up with a few old friends and escape back to the castle early. He had been home to see his mother after the school year had let out, but he had quite a few projects to tackled during the summer months and he was spending more time at the school than he normally would have. It was nice and quiet, which was also why he thought tonight might be good for him.

He had filled out a few dance cards on principle, not one to dance much at all. He had two left feet and not much rhythm, but by the third dance, he had found some sort of ease to the movements. It was fortunately just a waltz, which in theory, was straightforward enough. Mason had taken his position opposite Miss Potts, of the cousin variety to the branch he was familiar with. He had only had this Miss Potts his first year and didn't remember her much, but he had been a bit of a disaster in the beginning of his career, so this was no surprise.

"I ah, do not do the season, typically." He admitted, a little bashful, though with no idea as to why he would feel that way about it. He was too worried about counting the beat in his head and trying not to step on toes though, to give it much thought. "And yourself?" If he recalled, she was a governess for a current student of his, but that in and of itself seemed odd, but he supposed given Miss Valenduris' extra challenges, perhaps she needed more tutelage than other students.

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   Dorothea Potts

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The waltz was quite lovely and she moved about the room with the professor, a perfectly pleasant if not completely natural dancer it seemed. She smiled at his reciprocated query regards to the season. "Well, of course I attended my first few seasons more years ago than a lady cares to admit, but since my own eligibility expired, they have felt quite different." Now she attended as a chaperone she felt significantly less under scrutiny than in her younger years, not that she ever needed to shy away from said scrutiny, her propriety being impeccable, but it was fairly liberating.

"Perhaps one day I may have to come out again, it was rather careless of me to forget to wed." she let out a little chuckle to herself as she turned about the dance floor, feeling quite aware of herself and the touch of the professor's hand. "As a herbologist I suspect you are quite familiar with my family, my younger sister shall be the next of us to debut, but that shall be a few years yet." Millie wasn't aware yet but Thea was quite looking forward to that time and would hopefully get to help mould the younger girl into the lady she could already see was there.

The music continued and took several steps with the couples much closer, Dorothea discretely took scent of the man as she did, and felt the prickles rise on her skin in the same way that she had the first time she ever smelled her amorentia. What was that? and why did she care. It was a curiosity she was unused to, but it would pass soon enough hopefully, and she was absolutely a lady so it would remain her secret.

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Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

  

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Mason nodded along, keeping count, thankful he had always been pretty good at multitasking— though this was using up quite a bit of this skill. He supposed he could empathize with the forgetting to wed part. Sometimes he felt that way too, but wasn't very concerned about it these days. It was different for men, in the long run, he was close to reaching a point where people might question him, but not there yet, thankfully. After this year, as long as no one tried to connect him to a student, he would be quite content to continue his bachelor life.

"I'm sure you will find what you're looking for eventually." The pressure on young women to marry did always seem a little too much, in Mason's opinion. It wasn't as if Miss Potts was sitting around doing nothing, she had a career and seemed to be doing well with it.

At least the topic of the rest of the Potts family was easy enough. He was very familiar with the Laurel branch, having had most of the sisters, at least for a bit, and working with them on a professional level between his home garden and the school. "I've had many Pottses at Hogwarts. I work mostly with Mrs. Potts professionally, occasionally your Uncle Basil when he has some research to share." Soon enough, he suspected, the next generation of them would be upon him. That would make him feel old. The family was quite large after all.

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magic by MJ the magnificent

The Professor suggested that Dorothea might one day find the connection she needed to marry but her response. "Mhmmm, yeah... maybe?" was muted as her eyes contracted a little looking at the man in front of her before softening and her cheeks lifted as she smiled. He was handsome, dedicated to his work and his concentration on his dance steps was somewhat adorable. Dorothea had spent enough time teaching girls to dance to know when someone was not finding it natural after all. Perhaps dancing with him would prove fruitful.

She shook her head clearing it as she danced, she didnt realise it was a spell that was clouding her mind but she would change the subject before she was tempted to act in a manner unbecoming of herself.

"Do you have much planned for the rest of summer? It's a very busy time for people in my profession until September when we send everyone back to you lovely professors." she laughed and mouthed the words "Thank you" in pretend gratitude. She loved being a governess, it was her calling, but by the time Miss Valenduris had settled back into school she would be looking forward to taking a few days off for herself. Perhaps she might visit friends in London

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Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

  

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Fortunately the dance was going smoothly and it was rounding out, if he remembered right. They were not particularly long, for which he was thankful. He rather thought that he would take a break after this. It wasn't as if he was here tonight to truly participate in the intended efforts of the evening. Seeing his former students do well in the competition had been his goal and with that completed, he would probably skip out early.

Miss Potts was at least a competent partner, which made him relax a little. "Oh some travel, a colleague and I have taken to setting off to different parts of the world for research trips." Mostly his jaunts with Gus were more like vacations than anything else, but they did tend to go to places where Mason could study the local flora if he wanted to. He had only done a short stint of traveling post-Hogwarts and he'd forgotten how much he enjoyed it.

Finding himself chuckling, Mason could only shrug a little, as the dance had come to an end. "I do not usually feel that way at the end of the school year, but this year I certainly did." It was ten years in however, that had to count for something?

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magic by MJ the magnificent

She smiled warmly, "I suppose not, I have a lot of respect for you professors and the commitment you give to our young charges. I've looked a few times at vacancies at the school myself." She felt she could excel as an etiquette instructor, or perhaps a house matron for her old house. But it was something that would have to wait until after Millie graduated at the earliest.

The song ended and Dorothea curtseyed. She felt a sting of disappointment that the dance with such a pleasant gentleman had ended, perhaps even if she wasn't feeling the effects of a love potion she would still want to have a little more of his time so she chanced her luck. "I too wish to take a small break, my chaperonee looks like she has herself in hand, so I would be quite honored if you would join me for a refreshment on the patio?" some fresh air, a glass of lemonade and a little more light conversation would be welcome. She looked under her hair a little shyly as she checked herself, surprised how much she actually wanted the professor to find her interesting.

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Mason Skeeter Daffodil Grimstone

  

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Mason smiled earnestly. "We do what we can." Her comment about looking at positions had him groaning inwardly. That students he'd once had were old enough to start working at Hogwarts always made him feel Old. Ten years in the same profession would do that, he supposed.

Miss Potts' invitation for a refreshment initially had him balking. Mason did not typically do much beyond a dance or two at balls, then he went to hide with his peers on the outskirts where he belonged. It wasn't as if he used events like this for their intended purpose. He supposed however, that it wouldn't hurt to share something to drink and a little more small talk. The dance had gone well enough, he hadn't stepped on her feet at all, and it would be rude to cut the conversation off now. Mason had no idea why he felt like blushing at the situation, but he managed to keep his features and his color neutral in the end.

"I suppose a few moment's break would be alright," he agreed. Only if there were other people out on the terrace, however. "Lemonade?" Mason never drank at these sorts of things.

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   Dorothea Potts

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magic by MJ the magnificent

"A lemonade would be perfect." she replied politely, she had had a glass of wine but found alcohol to be a poor choice if intelligent conversation was desired. The pair could grab drinks from the attended stand and then make their way out out the French windows and on to the patio. There was plenty of people out here catching their breathes from the festivities going on within, there would be no chance for sensible types to give anyone a disreputable impression.

She turned her head to him as it became quieter. ”What got you into plants? I took herbology of course. I couldn't exactly not, coming from my family, but I could never really wrap my it all.” she grinned and took a sip from her lemonade. At least she could be sure that the plants she tended would likely know their way around a dinner setting, even as they gasped for the water she had forgotten to give them.

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Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

  

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With a small smile and a nod, Mason veered off toward the refreshments table for the drinks. He passed one over toward Miss Potts and started toward the terrace where there were fortunately quite a few others milling about. The cool night air was refreshing as he stepped outside, feeling far more at home in the greenery of the garden than on the dance floor, but he supposed he hadn't been doing too poorly this evening.

Her question had him rolling over the answer in his head. It wasn't anything exciting, really. "I was just very good at it in school," Mason started with, shrugging a little. "Found that it was pretty intuitive. I enjoy working with my hands and the physicality of it." It was such a broad subject, never boring, always expanding with new discoveries of plants or techniques. "I don't sit still very well." Which was why he was a little underwhelmed by his Head of House position; it required him to be inside far too often for his liking, but he knew it was important.

"There's nothing wrong with striking out on your own," Mason contested lightly. "My mother was a force to be reckoned with at the ministry and I would never have been able to make that work." Not in a million years would he have done well at the minisitry.

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   Dorothea Potts

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magic by MJ the magnificent

Dorothea shivered a little as the cool air hit her, it wasn't especially cold, but going from the warm inside made her exposed skin prickle slightly. It was pleasant out here and the perfume from the garden flowers was lovely. "I guess we are quite similar in that, I was regularly praised in etiquette class and it made sense to stick with it. Perhaps there is a few decisions I might have made differently along the way, but I think I picked the right path." his comment about his hands made her look at hers, feminine and well manicured and compared them to his hands. There was a certain attractive quality of a man whose hands showed a life of use, she chuckled a little internally and returned her focus away from admiring the man.

She thought what it must be like being a woman working at the ministry most of it was a bit of a boys club or so she had heard, so she could respect any woman who had made waves there. "She must be quote proud of what you have accomplished, who knows how many future discoveries will be the result of your teaching."

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Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

  

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Mason was amused, that etiquette was something to pursue after school, but perhaps Miss Potts did have the same idea. He was fairly useless at the finer points of society, though knew his manners obviously and enough not to embarrass himself too thoroughly, but that likely came from not wanting to disappoint his mother at any stage. Morwenna had that firm sort of support that kept him in line with just enough fear to make it really stick.

"As an only child, I'm afraid she doesn't have anyone else to be proud of," Mason chuckled. The only child of a single mother, they didn't know any different, considering his father had passed when Mason was a child. "I do enjoy seeing former students and what they have accomplished, regardless of whether or not it was in my class." Mason wanted his class to be useful, to give the students an opportunity to try something different. It was critical for so many different careers that he did his best to make sure they were all prepared for whatever it is they needed Herbology for after graduation.

He was, surprisingly, enjoying the conversation as well. Mason didn't often find himself engaged in a thoughtful discussion like this often. It was a pleasant turn of events.

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   Dorothea Potts

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magic by MJ the magnificent

Dorothea raised her glass An educator through and through." his dedication to his craft was honourable and quite attractive, Thea wasn't really aware what she liked in a man's personality, but it was apparently this.

She would have hates to be an only child, with two brothers and a sister, her home was always full of sounds and full of people to bounce of off each other. It was also full of people to fall out with but she would not be the same person had she not had those connections and conflicts as a child.

"Here's a question, if you had never become a professor, what do you think you would have done? I think If I had never become a governess I might he a seamstress, I can french seam with the best." a playful look of pride but also happy nostalgia crossed her face as she remembered many an evening sat up late with her mother darning the clothes of their family under the candle light. Something she hoped to do with children of her own if that came pass. She realised she was also inadvertently advertising her credentials as a potential wife to the poor professor, but she could forgive herself that.

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Mason Skeeter (Daffodil Grimstone)

  

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Mason could only take a sip of his lemonade and shrug a little. He had indeed found his calling in life and couldn't quite imagine what else he would do with himself. "I have been enjoying the travel recently. Perhaps I would have stuck to research and writing." He answered after she finished, struck by the sheer differences in opportunities he'd had versus what Miss Potts articulated. Though he too was quite capable of patching up his own clothes even if he tended not to say as much out loud. Mason was an independen sort, he could handle most things, including cooking, for himself.

"I spent a couple of years after graduating doing just that and I enjoyed it." Life events had driven him home, but he had learned a lot about plants, himself, and the world during his post-grad work. Now however, he wouldn't give up his current position for the life of him. The vacation circa expeditions with Gus were just for fun and a good breather to get his groove back. "Can't imagine doing it still at my age, but it was fun." He said almost wistfully.

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   Dorothea Potts

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magic by MJ the magnificent

Miss Potts was pleased, she enjoyed the conversation and to hear him chat about his other interests was fun. She hadn't travelled nearly as much as she would like to, not privately anyway.

She let out a little involuntary laugh causing the lemonade to get into her nose that made her blush. "At your age? Don't give me that, the deputy headmaster must have a hundred years on you if he has a day." she gave the man a teasing smirk. From what she knew of the older man he was still enjoying life and even finding new wives well beyond the, mid thirties? She guessed, that Professor Skeeter had so far racked up.

"My own travels have been as governess. Please don't misunderstand me, it is an absolute honor to get to help that wonderful girl experience the world, but I think one day I would like to travel without that responsibility." she joined him in a little wistful look. There was definately a growing curiosity for Dorothea here, the love spell had encouraged her out of her box and was still perhaps clouding her judgement ut she couldn't help but wonder how much of it was that and how much was the man himself.

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Mason Skeeter Daffodil Grimstone

  

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Valenduris was ancient by most standards, so yes, Mason could see himself teaching for a long while yet. "I meant the travel, takes a toll on the body. Teaching will last a while." It was still pretty physical, but Mason didn't mind. It kept him agile and some what in shape. Not to mention chasing down garden gnomes and other pesky creatures, like first years.

Nodding along, Mason could see where she was coming from. One needed funds to travel and consistent work was the only way to get that in their station. "I'm sure it will come along when the time is right." He though everyone should experience the thrill of traveling, but knew it wasn't viable for a lot of people. He did think, however, that if she truly wanted to travel, she could figure it out. Even if she didn't marry and travel for a honeymoon, being financially independent could at least afford her something close to it.

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   Dorothea Potts

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magic by MJ the magnificent