Jan 10, 2025
MLJ BTS
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MLJ BTS
The question itself had been a rhetorical one of course. Phineas had already been on his way out of the house upon their return and Ursula certainly wasn’t so naive as to expect her husband to join his family for yet another meal together, not after the breakfast disaster. It was not like she wasn‘t used to taking meals only in the company of her younger children most of the year, acquaintances of her or, Merlin forbade, her sister-in-law, Elladora, being the exception.
So Phineas had managed to escape once again, not even giving her the chance to say something before he had entered the carriage. She assumed his intention had not been to have a leisure ride around London but that he was off to some business with someone. Ursula looked confusedly at the closed front door for a few blinks, before she returned her attention to her waiting children. She took Cygnus out of the pram and, while balancing the toddler on her hip, helped Belvina with her bonnet.
“Where is Daddy going?“ A pair of innocent grey eyes was looking up to her inquiringly. Ursula gave her daughter a weak smile.
“Your father is busy, little owlet. Arcturus dear, take your sister to the bathroom, I‘d like both of you to wash your hands thoroughly before lunch. Dinky!“
While brother and sister were heading towards the bathroom, Ursula ordered her personal house elf to prepare a light lunch for the children and handed Cygnus over to Dinky.
“Take him upstairs and change his nappy. Tell the kitchen to bring up some cucumber and salmon sandwiches for the children as well as some mashed vegetables for Master Cygnus for luncheon in 10 minutes. I myself will only have some tea.“
Dinky bowed and Ursula, now alone in the hallway, took of her cape and hat and closed her eyes for a second. She wasn’t feeling hungry at all after this already eventful morning (and she could hear her late mother’s strict voice in the back of her head telling her to skip lunch anyways when there was a dinner later in order to maintain a slim waist). Instead, she went to look out for Scrope, whom she found in Phineas‘s study, having started to polish the marble bust of his master that stood prominently on one of the shelves.
“Scrope!“
The old one-eared house elf shrieked upon hearing her strict tone and bowed immediately.
“Aah, yes, Mistress?“
“Where is Master Black going?“
Scrope looked up to her hesitantly before answering.
“Scrope is not allowed to share his master‘s personal schedule with anyone, Master has forbidden it and….“
“Scrope!“ Ursula interrupted the elf with a glare, her tone dominant and relentless, and crossed her arms looking down her nose. “You forget yourself. As the mistress of this house I demand an adequate answer. Now!“
“Of course, Mistress, Scrope lives to serve the noble house of Black. But since the Master has forbidden it, Scrope mustn’t tell…“ Ursula cleared her throat warningly. “Ah well, Scrope knows - ehem, the Master has told Scrope - ehem, Scrope thinks he can tell the Mistress that the Master has left for - the ministry.“ Almost immediately, the house elf reached for the golden paperweight on the desk and frantically started to beat himself with it muttering something like “Scrope has disobeyed his master. Bad Scrope!“ Ursula winced at the pathetic creature in front of her and turned on her heel to leave the study. She had always felt a strong dislike and disgust for the one-eared elf. At least, her assumption about her husband‘s whereabouts had been confirmed. Her satisfaction was short-lived because she felt an immediate anger arise due to the fact that, apparently, even Phineas‘s personal servant was better informed about his daily schedule than her, his wife. That was intolerable and she made a mental note to remember her husband of that later.
————————————————————————
Lunch was a dreary affair. Arcturus was silently and equally unenthusiasticly eating his sandwich, eyes down on his plate, only looking up to give Belvina a pitying look after she had asked Ursula the inevitable question.
“Mommy, when is Daddy coming back? He promised me to teach me how to use my magic!“
Ursula took a long sip of her tea, only to think of a diplomatic answer to that question, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by a minor incident next to her, where Cygnus was seated in his high chair and had decided to spread the mashed vegetables he had vehemently refused to eat a minute ago over the table cloth with his fingers. Belvina giggled because of her mischievous little brother having vegetables everywhere and seemed to have forgotten her question. Ursula allowed herself a tired sigh and took the bowl out of reach for Cygnus‘s chubby hands, raising an eye brow towards the girl who went silent again instantly.
—————————————————————————
After lunch, Ursula sent Arcturus and Belvina to their rooms to practice their French vocabulary together for an hour before they would be allowed to play calmly. She then had to walk up and down the stairs in the hallway in order to get a very tired looking Cygnus to finally drift off to sleep for his afternoon nap after forty minutes. He calmed down better in her arms than in Dinky’s. She was his mother after all. As she passed the numerous portraits on the landing to the ground floor, she noticed that the portrait of Cygnus Black I, Phineas‘s deceased father, had been somehow replaced by a painting of the Black summer estate in the south of France. Although the circumstance was odd, Ursula didn’t really mind. She had never met her father-in-law in person with him long dead before her marriage to his son, but given the harsh and disdainful words his portrait had been uttering when it’s inhabitant had been awake and what Phineas had told her in some rare moment of confidence between them, that was all she had needed to know about the man.
—————————————————————————
The hours passed by as Ursula was sitting in the drawing room, quite grateful for a bit of silence and rest. She was working on her magical embroidery and thinking about the upcoming dinner. She had decided to keep Cygnus under Dinky‘s watchful eye in the nursery during the evening. A formal dinner table was hardly the place for a toddler and she was pretty sure Phineas wouldn’t want him there anyways even though he had asked for their children to be present. Phineas. Still no sign of him. Ursula looked over to the clock on the mantelpiece. It was almost half past four now and nearly time for her to inspect the dinner table, giving the last orders to the house elves, having the children properly dressed and going upstairs to get changed herself. What was taking him so long in the ministry? Although she knew he was probably very occupied conducting business, she couldn‘t help herself to start to worry a bit. And with that, the anger came back. Was it really to much to expect a husband to inform his wife of his daily schedule?
When she made her way downstairs to check what the servants had made of her instructions for the dinner table, as was expected of the lady of the house, the front door opened. Seeing her husband enter, Ursula swiftly walked towards him where he was taking of his hat and gloves, her steps faster than she had intended. Coming closer, she could immediately sense the tense aura surrounding him. He noticed her approaching him, and before she could say anything, she was cut off rudely by his unnerved tone:
“Not now woman, I implore you…“
There were words forming on the tip of her tongue. Telling him. Accusations. Complains. Lamentations. The usual. Nothing new in their marriage, especially these past months.
First of all, Phineas, I do not find it very respectful being referred to as ‘woman‘ like some fishmonger’s wife in Covent Garden. And speaking of respect. Is it really too much to ask of you to somehow inform me of your daily schedule while you are home? I shall think it proper and right for you to do so since I am your wife and lady of the house. It is a true disgrace that your house elf is apparently better informed where you are and why than I am. You might not believe it but I do start to worry when you leave the house and don’t return for an unknown number of hours. I had to stoop to ask Scrope about your whereabouts you are keeping from me. You could have just told me you had business in the ministry and I would have understood because you know perfectly well that I support you in everything, especially when it comes to your work, as I always have, but instead you decide to leave me in the dark on purpose and I wonder why!
Nothing of it came out of her mouth, though. Because having a closer look at her husband standing in front of her, she was suddenly very aware of the actual state of him. There he was, pinching the bridge of his nose, his eyes shut tightly, every muscle in his body tensed. Merlin, he looked dreadful. Tired. Unnerved. Deep in thoughts. Somehow… troubled. Ursula could read him too well. Something was off. She had known it since his arrival. All of her approaches had been useless, brushed off by him. Giving him another talking-to would be wrong now, even if she had any cause to do so given his recent treatment of her. No. That was not what he needed now. Instead of angry and accusatory, her voice was careful, almost gentle now.
“Are you alright, dear?“
No response. Ursula exhaled slowly and took another step closer to him. He didn’t move, his eyes still shut, his brows furrowed, his knuckles white from pinching his nose. Carefully, she put a hand on his upper arm. Then, she spoke again, softer and warmer.
“Phineas? Why don‘t you go upstairs and let me send you some tea and biscuits? Have a rest before the evening starts. It is well deserved as I can see. Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask any questions now.“
She then tenderly took his hat and his gloves out of his hand, her fingers brushing against his ever so slightly.
@phineasnigellusblack
((Are you okay with oc blogs interacting? Specifically ones that are also Blacks?))
P- “Ugh. What now?! Do I not deserve a moment’s peace?”
S- “Scrope begs your most gracious pardon Sir. But Master Black will be pleased to know that Scrope has evaded disaster Sir-“
P- “Oh do get on with it. Unless you like the idea of loosing that other ear of yours.”
S- “Yes Master, of course Master. Scrope was setting the fire when Scrope noticed the papers set by must have been placed there by mistake.”
*Scrope proudly produces a wad of letters, each addressed in familiar ink to his noble master, and places them on his desk.*
S- “heh, it was lucky Scrope noticed! Or they’d all be cinders by now!”
P- “…indeed… lucky…”
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Some pics from the intro.
No clue what my arm is doing there.
The dragon kept disappearing when I went into Photo Mode at Horntail Hall...
Poppy very upset about what she's seeing. So upset she wouldn't come out of disillusionment and I couldn't get through the door.
Ursula could tell by the demeanour of her husband that there was disapproval and stress behind the cold and arrogant facade he always liked to put on. The disapproval was most certainly the result of her improper state of dress and that ominous noise from upstairs (likely one of their wretched servants not being careful enough while tidying up the drawing room) and the stress of a long day of tiresome meetings and business in the Ministry.
His snarky remark about the order of the house in his absence was an insult aimed at her. If he wanted to be mean and disdainful, he couldn’t care less he had just been home for only 3 minutes and hadn’t seen her in weeks.
She kept herself silently from telling him in a firm tone that the house had been thoroughly prepared for his return and everything kept in perfect order, as always.
She wasn’t in the mood for a harsh exchange of words, though, not at that hour and with both of them exhausted from their respective day.
It was also no surprise that he had chosen to hide in his study to continue with his work (would it ever cease?) and have his dinner behind a pile of letters. He would put his prestigious position and the work accompanying it over almost everything in order to polish the name Black.
She listened to him talking about his busy schedule for the next days, more work and meetings and also the mention of hosting a dinner for the Burke’s (her task for tomorrow) silently but attentively.
He was about to make his way past her, leaving her standing there like a silly student not worth his attention, when he suddenly stopped and faltered for a moment. His demeanour changed ever so slightly when he, for the first time since his arrival, actually looked at her.
The result was not a compliment, but a sober assessment lacking honest concern.
Ursula was taken aback for a second by his unexpected question about her wellbeing but quickly regained her composure and lowered her eyes before meeting his gaze again, expertly concealing all her emotions.
“Thank you for your concern, dear. I’m not unwell but have been… indisposed… in the past days, nothing a wife should trouble her husband’s mind with. In addition to that, the afternoon has been rather eventful. I‘m sure you will be very proud to hear that Cygnus has showed his first signs of magic today even though it was in most frightful circumstance. He involuntarily made himself float to not fall down the stairs while he was crawling after Arcturus. My intention was to send you an owl to tell you the good news tomorrow, but now…
Well, I‘ll leave you to your work then. Have Scrope bring a tray from the kitchen, the roasted pheasant should be to your liking! Good night!“
Ursula turned and made her way back up the stairs, looking back over her shoulder, adding in a collected tone:
“Don‘t expect me to wait for you to come to bed, I am rather tired.“
@phineasnigellusblack
While Ursula was talking to her husband, she could tell immediately that he wasn’t listening. (not that was new to her) The way he was standing in the middle of their bedroom, still in his bedclothes, hair disheveled and with tired eyes was a rare sight on it‘s own, for proper appearance meant a great deal to him even in the privacy of his own home. But it was his eyes, roaming around the the room somehow disorientated instead of looking at her, that let her know he was mentally absent.
Phineas gestured erratically with his hands, interrupting her, a scowl on his face. To Ursula‘s great surprise, he actually agreed to having breakfast with his family downstairs, though she had the slight feeling he only did so to make her stop talking. His response had come too quickly.
He muttered something about the Burkes and the usual time for dinner. That was all Ursula needed to know. As the lady of the house, hosting a dinner party was her domain. And of course she excelled in it.
—————————————————————————
Ursula left the bedroom to let Phineas get dressed and, hopefully, wake up completely. She made her way to the nursery to pick up Cygnus who was exceptionally cheerful today and tried to pull at her hair and pearl necklace with his chubby fingers, and called for Belvina and Arcturus to inform them that breakfast was ready in half an hour.
When Ursula and the children were finally gathered in the dining room, the table had already been set by the house elves. Cygnus was placed in a high chair while Arcturus and Belvina took their usual seats. Ursula smiled at her children. “I have a surprise for you this morning. Your father has returned home last night. You were already asleep, but he is going to join us for breakfast now. I‘m sure he will be pleased to see you!“
Belvina‘s doll-like face lit up immediately, her eyes beaming with joy.
Even Arcturus, who was usually very quiet, looked up excitedly and asked: „Father is home? Where is he?“
That was a good question. Ursula got a bad feeling…and a suspicion.
“He is still upstairs getting dressed, I think. I might actually go up myself and inform him everything is ready.“ She stood and smoothed her dress. „Look after the children for a moment!“ she added with a short look in the direction of her personal house elf, Dinky.
—————————————————————————
When Ursula returned to the master bedroom, she was pleased to find her husband dressed and groomed. What did NOT please her, was the fact that he was about to order Scrope to bring his breakfast in his study. She felt frustration rising inside. Why had he have to be such a difficult man? The frustration made way for anger. He was clearly not only trying to avoid her company again. No. He was trying to avoid his children’s company. That was even worse. She took a deep breath and concealed her emotions.
“Leave us!“ she dismissed Scrope with a curt nod. The elf didn’t even dare to take a look at his master at her clipped tone before he bowed and vanished. She looked at her husband expectantly. She waited. Phineas stared back at her, somehow dumbfounded and slightly confused. She narrowed her eyes slightly . Her facade had to have slipped a bit, giving away a hint of her emotions because suddenly he attempted to say something. She took a step forward and hold up a hand. He stopped immediately.
„Spare me that, Phineas! If I remember correctly, you agreed to join me and the children for breakfast downstairs. Well, we are waiting. Arcturus and Belvina are waiting. I told them about your return and of course they are looking forward to seeing you, bless them. I can’t blame them for wanting to see their father in person and not as a mere ghost in the house. But I see you have changed your mind and prefer to hide in your study again.“ She shook her head and shot him a cold glare. „I am a very tolerant wife, Phineas, but when it comes to our children, I won‘t have you neglect them! You know they need a strong paternal figure!“ Ursula felt her composure slip. She turned on her heel, then looked back to him. Suddenly, there was a hint of sadness in her grey eyes before she controlled herself again. „I suggest you go tell them yourself, then. As their mother, I can‘t bear it anymore to see that disappointment in their faces when I‘m telling them you are too busy over and over again!“
@phineasnigellusblack
As Ursula ascended the stairs to the second floor, she tried to sort her thoughts. A part of her was slightly annoyed with her husband for questioning her abilities to run the household accordingly (she knew everything was under perfect control) and for him not showing even in the slightest that he was pleased or proud to learn about Cygnus’s first display of magic. She tried to not bother much about his reserved and cold behaviour towards her nor his lack of questions about his younger children. Well, she knew no different by no.
She had sensed he was in a particular foul mood as soon as she had seen him standing in the hallway and instantly knew it was wise to give him space then. 14 years of marriage had taught her how to read him and how to deal with Phineas Nigellus Black.
The other part of her felt a deep understanding for him. Ursula knew the burden he had to carry from a very early age on and all the work and responsibilities that came with his position as patriarch of the Black family and Headmaster of Hogwarts, the latter he despised heavily and had only accepted for the reputation.
On any other evening she would have used her female charms on him (even a man like Phineas wasn’t completely immune to that) and led him into the drawing room. She would have asked thoughtful questions about his business in the Ministry, giving him room to ramble or boast about his successes, would have carefully brought up that still concerning matter of their second son’s missteps and would have loved to hear any news about Sirius, her eldest. Then, Phineas would have eventually seeked her company in their bedroom later.
But not today. Phineas had chosen solitude and she was tired.
She quickly checked on Belvina and Cygnus, who had their rooms on the same floor as the master bedroom, and then went to bed herself.
Ursula woke up well past midnight to the sounds of her husband and Scrope, who assisted his master in changing into his nightclothes. Had Phineas been working in his study that long? Ursula doubted it. She had once caught him napping in there, but never mentioned it, of course. She turned onto her other side and pretended to sleep soundly. Finally he got into bed, soon starting to snore next to her.
****************************************************
The next morning came and Ursula got up early as usual in order to take a bath and give the first orders of the day to the house elves, such as opening the curtains, ventilating the rooms, preparing breakfast, dressing the children and feeding Cygnus his porridge and warm milk.
Then, properly dressed and her hair neatly pinned, she went back to the master bedroom, where Phineas had just got up, looking dreadfully tired while ordering Scrope around to bring his toiletries and clothes.
“Good morning, dear, I hope, you are well rested.“ she greeted him formally. “Breakfast will be served shortly, I hope your schedule allows you to join us downstairs. I shall think the children will be delighted to learn about your return. Oh, and you have to let me know at what time we can expect the Burkes tonight.“
@phineasnigellusblack