#fortunately I don't see romance playing deeply into carewyn's life until after the second wizarding war

[carewyncromwell]

Fluff Alphabet: Carewyn/???

Okay, so I was tagged by @cursebreakerfarrier, @montaguehphm, AND @lins-hogwarts-mystery for this...but I have two current possible end-game ships for my girl, Carewyn Cromwell -- Carewyn/Chiara and Carewyn/Diego.

So I’m going to split it up like this -- italics will be for Carewyn/Chiara, bold will be for Carewyn/Diego. Maybe you guys can reply to this post with your thoughts about which ship you favor, after reading these over? LOL XDD

Tagging @thehogwartscursebakers​, @dat-silvers-girl​, @angellazull​, @samshogwarts​, @ariparri​, @hphm-brooke​ @drinkyoursoupbitch​ and any other HPHM players who wants to do this for their MC ships and hasn’t gotten tagged yet! xoxo

A: Attractive (What do they find attractive about the other?)

Carewyn has always been enamored of Chiara’s modesty, passion for Healing, patience, and unwavering kindness. Carewyn constantly feels like she has to work at being kind and forgiving, and it’s something that comes so easily to Chiara, even despite her horrible lot in life, and Carewyn loves that about her. Chiara was first attracted to Carewyn’s strong compassion, but later also fell in love with her courage and determination. Plus she also thinks she’s really friggin’ pretty and she can’t stop looking at her mouth whenever she’s talking *blush*. XD

Carewyn loves how steadfast Diego is, once he’s set his mind to something. Even though he seems like a flaky flirt, he’s actually very loyal to the people he cares about. Carewyn also loves how much fun he is to be around, and surprisingly -- even though she finds his flirting hilarious rather than swoon-worthy -- she does like Diego’s more sincerely romantic, sentimental side, such as when he wears one of her earrings so he can feel like she’s closer to him while they’re apart, or when he calls in to request a song for her on the Wizarding Wireless Network while she’s at work. Diego was first interested in getting to know Carewyn because he’d heard she was an amazing duelist (which he’ll always find hot as all get-out), and of course he thought she was rather pretty -- but what he actually finds most attractive about Carewyn isn’t her talent or her courage, but her laugh. Carewyn’s prone to mask her emotions a lot and she usually covers her mouth to try to hold in her laughter -- but Diego loves nothing more than when usually super-serious Carewyn is so happy that her cheeks flush pink, her sparkling eyes flutter closed, and she just cannot stop giggling.

B: Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

Chiara is intimidated by the thought of having a family because of her lycanthropy. Carewyn doesn’t want biological children, and is very happy simply caring for her adopted “son,” Erik Apollo.

Diego would like a family, but isn’t picky about what kind. He’s perfectly content with treating Carewyn’s ward Erik as his son, since Carewyn doesn’t want to bear children of her own. He’s also dotes on his friends’ kids just as much as Carewyn does.

C: Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Chiara really likes cuddling my poor touch-starved child, but is very shy about initiating any kind of intimacy, since she knows she gets more out of cuddling and sex than asexual!Carewyn. Fortunately Carewyn can usually sense when Chiara really desires closeness and so will often initiate cuddle time for her. When the two do cuddle, it usually consists of either Carewyn sleeping behind Chiara with her arm around her waist and her head on her shoulder, or with the two leaning against each other and holding hands in one of their respective laps.

Diego LOVES cuddling, but is aware of Carewyn’s lessened interest in it, so he tries to find creative ways for them to be close without cuddling frequently. Since Carewyn likes holding his arm when they’re in public, Diego adds onto that by resting his hand on top of hers holding his arm. If Carewyn’s holding his wrist, Diego will twist his arm around to hold hers in return, rubbing his thumb lightly along her skin.

D: Dates (What are dates with them?)

Concerts! Chiara and Carewyn love going to concerts together -- they always dress to impress and always go out of their way to get matching concert tees. The best concert they’ve been to so far was for Prince, but they also have gone to see artists like Queen and the Cure live. Besides that, they actually spend a lot of dates at home, sitting under the blankets reading books together. One of Chiara’s favorite memories is Carewyn reading Mr. Darcy’s romantic monologue from the end of Pride and Prejudice aloud for the first time -- when she’d finished, Chiara couldn’t stop herself from leaning forward, bringing a hand up to Carewyn’s face to make her look up, and ensnaring her lips in a deep, hungry kiss. Around Christmas time, Chiara and Carewyn like taking turns reading A Christmas Carol aloud to each other.

The obvious one is dancing. Diego LOVES finding an excuse to dance with Carewyn, whether by taking her to a small nightclub, by signing them up for a dance class, or just by turning on the radio while they’re home alone and twirling her around the kitchen. One of the most fun classes they took was for ballroom dance -- Carewyn wore one of her prettiest, flowiest dresses and when they danced together, Diego felt like he was in an old Hollywood movie musical. Besides dancing, though, Diego and Carewyn also go to the movie theater and watch movies at home a lot. Carewyn’s favorite type of movies are musicals, period dramas and detective stories, while Diego’s favorite genres are musicals, action movies, and chick flicks (yes, really -- he cries so hard watching The Notebook).

E: Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world…))

Carewyn to Chiara: “You are my sanctuary.”

Chiara to Carewyn: “You are my courage.”

Carewyn to Diego: “You are my sunshine.”

Diego to Carewyn: “You are my inspiration.”

F: Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

Chiara knew she was in love with Carewyn the moment she saw Carewyn first transform into a robin so she could stay with her and keep her company during the next full moon. The fact that Carewyn had put in so much effort and work, all for her, moved Chiara so much that, when she returned to her dorm after that full moon, her eyes flooded with tears just thinking about it.

Carewyn knew she was in love with Chiara the moment that Chiara took hold of Carewyn’s face in both hands, holding it as she leaned in close and whispered in a voice fiercer than Carewyn had ever heard her use before that she didn’t care how much Carewyn hated herself, that she -- Chiara -- would love her until Carewyn could love herself. That day had been one of the worst for Carewyn after Rowan’s death -- she’d disappeared for almost an entire day and had only just reemerged, ending up in a crying clump on the ground with Bill, Charlie, Ben, and Merula, and Chiara had arrived with Talbott and a few others behind her, racing straight to Carewyn’s side. Her unconditional support and passion with which she spoke touched Carewyn more than she could ever hope to express.

Diego knew he was in love with Carewyn when he stood side by side with her before the Circle of Khanna’s final battle with R. She’d been standing alone, dressed in robes worthy of a general, and Diego had approached her, asking if she was all right. They talked for a while, before Diego gave one of his usual “charming” quips -- and Carewyn just started laughing. She laughed harder than Diego had ever heard her laugh before. Diego smiled, dumbfounded, asking if he was really that funny; Carewyn finally managed to rein in her amusement and, through a fond smile, reached up, gave Diego a light platonic kiss to the cheek, and thanked him. “I was terrified, looking out at everything,” she’d said. “It was...overwhelming. But you reminded me why I’m doing this at all -- because you all are worth any risk. So I can love you more strongly than I could ever fear anything.” As she said it, the sunrise behind her made a crown-like halo of sunshine around her head -- and in that moment, Diego knew he was lost.

Carewyn knew she was in love with Diego when he finally, finally manged to beat her in a duel one day. Even though she’s much more mature than when she was a kid, Carewyn has always been a rather sore loser, berating herself whenever she falls short, and so as she rose to her feet, there was a noticeable drop of her head and weight on her shoulders. Rather than gloat, Diego immediately rushed over to Carewyn, gushing over her technique at the top of his lungs as he led her away from everyone else. Once the bystanders were out of earshot, Diego asked Carewyn if she’d sing something for him. Carewyn was startled by the request -- Diego explained that Carewyn always looked so happy and free whenever she sang, and in that moment, he couldn’t bear to see “his General” hang her head. Carewyn settled on “Angel,” a song by her favorite band, the Eurythmics. She sang it softly so only the two of them could hear it as they walked side by side...and after a while, she caught the sound of Diego lowly singing the chorus (“Angel, my angel...fly over me...Angel...”) along with her. She looked into his dark eyes, saw his full, delighted smile...and she knew.

G: Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

Chiara and Carewyn are both the EPITOME of gentle, the first because she’s a shy Healer, the second because she’s a total empath. Whenever they’re ever actually physically intimate, Chiara and Carewyn usually caress and hold each other’s faces a lot and trail their hands through each other’s hair.

Carewyn is gentle, yeah, but amusingly, Diego is also an absolute friggin’ gentleman. When Carewyn can’t reach something, Diego will sometimes offer to physically lift her so she can get it, and he always holds her waist with both the strength and gentleness of a male figure skater.

H: Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

Chiara loves interlacing her fingers with Carewyn’s while they’re holding hands, whenever appropriate. She likes being able to feel Carewyn’s pulse when the inside of their wrists are touching.

Carewyn will frequently hold onto Diego’s arm, so Diego often holds Carewyn’s hand holding his arm. He likes to rub his thumb affectionately over the back of her hand.

I: Impression (What was their first impression?)

Carewyn of Chiara: ‘She seems so...lonely.’

Chiara of Carewyn: ‘Why is she looking at me like that? It’s like...she can see through me...’

Carewyn of Diego: ‘...Is he for real?’

Diego of Carewyn: ‘Such a lovely smile, and yet...such closed eyes. I wonder what’s behind those eyes.’

J: Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Chiara isn’t jealous, exactly, but she does frequently doubt herself and lament that Carewyn deserves someone better than her -- someone who isn’t a werewolf and wouldn’t have the potential of hurting her or damaging her reputation at the Ministry. It’s more that she becomes depressed and hopeless at the thought of Carewyn with other people, rather than territorial.

Diego does get jealous. He’s very aware of how much Carewyn attracts others around her, and although most of the time he’s a pretty chill dude, he hates it when other men flirt with Carewyn. He’s cool with Carewyn’s relationships with people like Bill, Charlie, and Talbott, since he knows that the love Carewyn feels for them is strictly platonic -- but when someone he doesn’t know tries to make a move on Carewyn, he can’t help himself from asserting himself a bit and making it clear that she’s taken. Fortunately Carewyn, being the incredibly monogamous sort she is, is usually able to soothe Diego’s concerns, either by introducing Diego to the person properly or by likewise making her relationship status clear by introducing Diego as her boyfriend and/or kissing his cheek.

(In both cases, Carewyn is remarkably unfazed by jealousy. Once she makes a commitment, she’s in it for the long haul, and she expects nothing less from her respective partner. As long as you love her and she loves you, that’s all that matters. But if you give her real cause to doubt you, such as you having a romantic affair with someone else, that’s it, you’re out of her life. No forgiveness.)

K: Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

Carewyn initiated the first kiss, which was very short and chaste. Chiara froze like a deer in the headlights, but after she finally recovered herself and the two hashed out their feelings a bit, she rather clumsily moved in and kissed Carewyn herself much more fully. Since she knows Carewyn prefers short kisses to long ones (since Carewyn likes to look at her partner’s face to see their reaction and keeping your eyes open during long kisses gets uncomfortable), Chiara tries to keep most of her kisses rather chaste, only dipping into deep kisses when she’s feeling particularly affectionate or turned on. When they do kiss, though, it’s usually always on the lips, except for when one of them has to wake up before the other to go to work and they kiss each other on the forehead before heading out.

Diego initiated the first kiss after asking through a charming smile if Carewyn would slap him if he did. (She laughed quietly before assuring him she wouldn’t.) Since Carewyn’s less physically affectionate than him, Diego tries to get creative with his kisses, just like he does his cuddling. Sometimes he’ll ask Carewyn for a kiss, and when she moves in to kiss him on the lips or cheek, he’ll kiss her nose instead. He also loves kissing her hands, whether a gentlemanly kiss on the back of her hand or a more sensual one to her palm while they’re more intimate.

L: Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)

Although the two women suspected each other’s feelings for a long while beforehand, Carewyn said the actual words aloud first. "...I realize that...neither of us is very good, when it comes to admitting these sorts of things...but...after everything we’ve been through, I couldn’t live with myself if you didn’t know. My heart is yours, Chiara. It has been for a long time. And it doesn’t matter to me if you want to take the next step with me, or make it official. Just...know that I love you, with everything I am.”

Diego confessed first, after inviting Carewyn to sing some karaoke with him at a local pub. He chose a love duet from a movie musical he and Carewyn had gone out to see with some friends and really enjoyed, and after the two had something of a silent conversation with their eyes the entire time they were singing, Diego offered Carewyn an oddly self-conscious smile as they headed back to their table. “...I wanted to make sure you knew I was serious.” “So you were?” “What? You think I wasn’t?” “It was a little melodramatic.” “Well yes, but -- wasn’t it romantic?” “Yes. It was. ...So you were being serious?” “Yes! Incredibly! ...I love you, Carewyn Cromwell. I have for...well, quite a while, now.”

M: Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

Chiara’s favorite memory is when Carewyn first turned into her robin Animagus form to keep her company during the full moon. Carewyn’s favorite is when she first brought Chiara home to her mother Lane at Christmas time, and the two connected instantly.

Diego’s favorite memory is when he first invited Carewyn to dance with him in the Three Broomsticks during OWL season -- he’ll never forget how much his heart grew, seeing her self-conscious smile and flushed face as she sang along to the song being played. Carewyn’s favorite is when they first dueled the troll together -- even years later, she looks back on that day very fondly, as it was when she realized what a truly loyal companion Diego was.

N: Nickel (Do they spoil one another? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Neither Chiara nor Carewyn are the sort to spend a lot of money, but they do always go out of their way to save up and buy each other something really nice every Christmas. Carewyn likes to surprise Chiara with little packages of baked goods that she can take into work, while Chiara loves saving up over the span of several years to buy Carewyn a really nice pair of diamond earrings or something.

Diego loves surprising Carewyn with little tokens of his affection. They usually won’t cost much, but nothing gives him more joy than being able to give Carewyn a gift for no other reason than “I saw this and thought of you!” Carewyn teases Diego for his little “unbirthday” gifts in the beginning, but before long, she’s reciprocating in kind by baking him stuff and leaving sweet little handwritten notes on the fridge and in the pocket of his robes for him to find. Diego always melts into a pile of lovestruck goo whenever he finds one of her notes, even if he’s in the middle of tutoring some rich pureblood family’s kid in Wizard Dueling.

O: Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

Carewyn always thinks of Chiara whenever she sees anything silver -- she actually gravitates more toward silver jewelry largely because of her other half. Chiara thinks of Carewyn whenever she sees anything bright blue, like her eyes: Chiara actually mentally dubs any cloudless blue sky as a ‘Care-Blue sky,’ and always feels a spring in her step whenever she sees one.

Carewyn associates Diego with navy blue, not just for the jean jacket he often wore at school, but for her favorite of his dress robes that he wears for work. She always thinks he looks very handsome in them, even if she always has to fix the collar whenever it comes undone. Diego associates the color orange with Carewyn, specifically orange roses, which was one of the first presents he ever gave her when they started dating. When he gave her the single orange rose, he explained that in the language of flowers, they stand for desire, and he associated them with Carewyn not just because of her ginger hair, but because she desires so much from the world and the people around her, and he desires being beside her as long as he can. Carewyn grows an incredible fondness for orange roses over the years, thanks to the many times he’d give her them and even just point them out to her whenever they were out and about.

P: Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Carewyn calls Chiara “Chi.” Chiara calls Carewyn “Care.” Sometimes they’ll also call each other “dear” and “honey.”

Diego calls Carewyn “General” -- a nickname he developed when she first led the Circle of Khanna. Diego also uses many affectionate variations, such as “sweet General,” “fair General,” “dear General” and “my General.” Carewyn calls Diego “Cap,” though she’ll also call Diego “dear” and “love” when she’s feeling particularly affectionate.

Q: Quaint (What is their favorite non-modern thing?)

Chiara finds old-fashioned strap-on roller skates beyond cute. She also loves it when Carewyn wears vintage-style dresses -- they’re always so pretty on her!

Diego likes old-fashioned glass soda bottles. He and Carewyn actually collect them and reuse them as glasses when they’re eating at home.

(In both cases, Carewyn picks records. CD’s are fine, but records have WAY better sound quality, thank you.)

R: Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

Carewyn and Chiara read Muggle fiction books aloud together, either in bed or on the couch under a blanket. Some of their favorites that they’ve read together are Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, The Secret Garden, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Diego and Carewyn watch TV and/or a movie together. Carewyn is a sucker for crime shows, but she will let Diego change the channel so he can watch Days of Our Lives at the proper time.

S: Sad (How do they cheer each other up?)

Chiara reassures Carewyn that she’s there for her and tries to get Carewyn to talk about whatever’s upsetting her, with the thought that she’ll feel better once she vent her feelings properly. Carewyn tends to coddle Chiara, showering her with affection and trying to encourage her enough to tell her what’s wrong and how she can help.

Diego tries to be physically present for Carewyn, when she’s upset. He often won’t broach the subject directly, preferring her to open up on her own if she wants to talk, but wants to make it clear that he’s not going anywhere. Carewyn will likewise coddle Diego.

T: Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Carewyn and Chiara love talking about their respective jobs and coworkers with each other, and they always feed off of each other’s passion for their work. They also talk about music a lot, ranking bands and songs and getting into friendly debates about musical artists they disagree on. When things are more serious, they’ll sometimes talk about the political landscape, too.

Diego's conversations with Carewyn are often aimless and laid-back. Even when Carewyn starts off talking about something serious, they’ll usually banter and drift off so much that the conversation always ends up somewhere completely different than where they started. They can start on a topic like one of Carewyn’s upcoming court cases and end up talking about a new flavor of ice cream at the parlor down the street.

U: Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

Chiara and Carewyn both relax when they’re able to sit quietly and comfortably together after a long day.

Carewyn likes when Diego offers to brush her hair. Diego loves when Carewyn offers to give him a neck or back massage.

V: Vaunt (What do they like to show off? What are they proud of?)

Chiara isn’t a show-off at all -- but she does get some secret, giddy satisfaction whenever she can bring Carewyn to St. Mungo’s, not just to show Carewyn where she’s working and what she’s been up to, but also to show off her friggin’ gorgeous girlfriend to her co-workers. Yes, that girl is mine. 83

Diego is a total show-off while dueling, both when Carewyn’s around to watch or not. He also makes it a point to show off Carewyn when they’re in public, especially if she’s dressed to kill.

(In both cases, Carewyn loves showing off any new outfits she’s wearing...and of course, she loves telling everyone about her partner’s achievements.)

W: Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

In both cases, I’m not sure I would have Chiara or Diego propose. Carewyn is actually quite a romantic person, but she’s not huge into the idea of marriage. (Considering how her parents’ marriage turned out, I can’t say I blame her.) I’m more likely to see Carewyn’s happy ending with her respective partner being a domestic partnership or even queerplatonic relationship, over a marriage.

X: Xylophone (What’s their song?)

I actually have aesthetic playlists for both ships! Here’s Chiara/Carewyn, and Diego/Carewyn.

Y: Yes (Do they ever think of getting married/proposing?)

Touched on above on “W!”

Z: Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

Chiara and Carewyn would have a pair of black and white tuxedo cats named Annie and Johnny Rotten.

Diego and Carewyn would have a golden retriever named Prince and a snowy owl named Evita.