[borgin and burkes] they stumble that run fast // basil

It had been some time since she had ventured out of her home, not on purpose, but since she had heard news of her new status as engaged, the walls of her home seemed to constrain her more than usual; she was desperate for an escape. Georgiana was distraught, and even that word could not fully describe the depths of the emotions she was experiencing. This was not the first time she had been engaged, but it was the first time she did not want it. In the back of her mind she had always known that it would be a matter of time before her family chose her a match they deemed appropriate. After she had almost risked her inheritance and damaged her family’s reputation by running off to elope with her school boyfriend, they had become particularly zealous about finding her someone to be wed off to. However, her marriage really had no bearing on the future of the Hartridge family name and therefore Georgiana had always believed that she had more time, at least a few more years to enjoy on her own.



And while Georgiana had immediately withdrawn to her room and buried herself in a pile of books she had recovered from some of the unexplored regions of the family library, she had been too upset to read any of them. That’s when she knew. She needed to talk to someone she trusted to understand how she was feeling and to help her sort things out, to learn how to manage the anger that was boiling inside of her before it simply bubbled over and she did something she would regret. It was not often that she experienced this kind of anger but the idea that her parents had made such a fundamental change to her daily life, that was simply something that she would not forgive. It did not take her long to think to owl Basil, asking him to meet her straight away on an urgent matter. 
 


Georgiana had always felt most comfortable divulging the more negative parts of herself to Basil. He had always been one of the very few people that she felt truly empathized with her, could understand or at least convincingly pretend to accept the small part of her that still expressed emotions rather shamelessly. He was the one, or at least had been for a crucial part of her teenage life. He was the only person she had been willing to consider giving everything up for. After she had been practically forced to chose her family over him, the two parting ways only to reconnect the previous summer at his graduation party. With great care, Georgiana had slowly managed to piece back some of her relationship with him and the relationship between the two of them had somewhat improved—even then, he was still one of the very few people who truly understood how her mind worked.The more logical part of her, knew that she should swallow her discontent and put on a smile, it was what her mother had done, and probably generations of women before her. But she wanted to fight it, somehow—she needed to do something to hurt her parents more than how they had managed to hurt her, by giving away her freedom. 



She had asked him to meet her at Borgin and Burkes, figuring that this was a perfect time as any to defy her parents, even if only in a minor way. Georgiana did not make it a habit of visiting Knockturn Alley, the idea had always been there—even on days when she had walked on Diagon Alley shopping for school supplies, holding hands with her mother, she would glance longingly down the street, her mind gathering all of the information she had heard and imagined what might be down there. Once she had even gathered the courage to take a few steps into the alley before her father pulled her back, a scowl written clearly on his face. You’ve got no business down there, he would say to her, but it only further fueled her curiosity. Georgiana entered the shop with a slow push to the door, evading anyone’s gaze in an effort to avoid the customers or to arouse any suspicion. She was not looking for anything in particular and had decided to simply walk up and down the aisles casually to not draw the shopkeeper’s interest, at least until Basil showed up. But, she was a curious one and as soon her eyes caught sight of the peculiar objects along the walls, she felt immediately drawn to them. 



“Fascinating,” she muttered, taking a closer look at the leering masks that stared back at her. If they had these sorts of things would there be a section for books as well? She reached out a hand, to the mask, before pulling it back. Surely, she shouldn’t touch anything but she was tempted. 
@Basil Stringfellow

“Better not touch.” Basil whispered as he slid up behind Georgiana. He was a little later than he'd wanted to be, but not too late. He had seen her pulling her hand away before he arrived—which was good, as he was almost certain the masks were cursed. “What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this, all alone? You might get charmed away by an unsavory sort.” He teased playfully, playing the part of the unsavory gentleman seeking to woo her down a dark path. It wasn't that far from the truth. Basil was a dark wizard, and it was even more apparent  now that he had graduated. Georgiana wasn't dark, not yet anyway. She was pure and beautiful and light, and he looked for that inside her. It called to him like a beacon. He had always been desperately in love with the good in others. It flickered like a flame that some part of him wanted to protect and some part wanted to blow out. He loved to taint others. He loved to change their insides and put his mark upon their souls. That was the only way Basil knew to operate, really. He'd never had a friend that he hadn't tried to manipulate, except maybe Rowan. Did he even count?

He felt lonelier than usual here. He had left his runespoor at home, knowing that she wasn't welcome in most of the places downtown. Had he been traveling alone, perhaps he would have brought her along anyway, but he knew it wouldn't be long until he met with Georgiana. Even so, he felt restless. He put his hands on her shoulders from behind, and savored the touch of her soft skin. “Did you miss me, Moonshine?” He teased, letting go to allow her to turn around and face him should she desire to do so. The nickname was new. He tended to change her nickname often, but it followed a certain theme. Moonbeam was common, Starlight was another. She reminded him of the night sky, glimmering and mysterious and mesmerizing—like her. Moonshine he liked even more because it came with that same call of the night, but had a double-meaning too. Moonshine was a highly intoxicating alcohol, one that had the possibility to make one go insane, if done incorrectly. She was an intoxicant to him. He felt high around her, and only sometimes did that have a physical cause. Mostly, it was her.

For Basil, the question 'did you miss me' was his way of saying 'I missed you'. He didn't usually say what he meant directly. He liked to play games and be coy. He liked hearing what others thought of him, then he liked to change that slowly into whatever he wanted to be to them. To Georgiana, he wasn't sure. He certainly wanted to be her dearest friend, but was there something more he wanted from her, too?

The two had had a troubled past, a intense relationship that died just as intense a death. For months he had avoided her, for months he had agnozied, but now things were starting to heart up again. The closer they got, the more they unearthed what had come to pass. He had heard through he grapevine that she was betrothed, which didn't surprise him. He, himself had just been informed that he was to be matched with Rosaline, officially. It didn't worry him or excite him the way it once had. He used to hope to be matched with her. He used to love her dearly and want to be with her, but those days were over now. Rose wasn't a good match for him, but he didn't think it would last long. He and Rose had discussed what might happen should a match be made. They would work together to sabotage it. Rose might be lucky to get out of it, but Basil was unsure. If it wasn't his best friend, who might he be matched with once Yarrow discovered the end of his match with Rosaline? He could find someone far, far worse.  Having Georgiana off the table made him a little sad, too. Her new betrothed, whoever he might be,  he would be a stranger to her. Selfishly, he hoped she wouldn't love him. Selfishly, he wanted that love for himself, but why?

It wasn't as though Basil was necessarily single anymore, though he was far from taken officially. He and Jimin had fallen into something resembling a relationship. Basil knew that Jimin was staying faithful to him, and that was enough to keep him from looking too far elsewhere, but there was nothing between them, really. They had no possible or potential future. He wouldn't dare tell anyone about his muggleborn lover—not even Georgiana. Besides, what could ruin the game of cat and mouse they played, where Basil was always the cat and Georgiana's heart was the mouse. Should she come aware that he had someone he was seeing, the spell might be broken. He didn't know if he was finished playing pretend with her yet. He liked to dream that she'd someday come to love him again, for no reason other than that he desired it. He knew she loved him now, but it wasn't the same. He wanted to capture her heart, not hold a piece of it.

Did he still love her? He supposed he did, as much as Basil had ever loved anyone. His feelings weren't stable. He loved with his whole heart for a few moments, and then cared not. It was a roller-coaster ride, that no one seemed to be able to follow. Not even Basil truly knew the in and outs of his own heart. At the end of the day, he knew he cared deeply for Georgiana, just as he cared for Jimin, and just as he cared for Rosaline—but he couldn't tell you what those feelings were or why he chose to act the way he did. Why he wanted what he did. He just wanted it, and Basil hated to deny himself anything.

“And by the unsavory sort, I suppose you mean yourself?” she said with a playful smirk, looking on to the other cursed objects on the wall, her hand reaching for the ribcage of the skeleton hanging on the wall beside the masks. Certainly it was not a real skeleton, was it? She made a displeased sound when she found a rather elaborate cobweb upon closer inspection. This place was filthy, why had no one thought to tidy the place up? Had it been better lit, even Georgiana would not have minded hiding in one of the dark corners, that way she would never be found and could continue her life in solitude and absolute bliss, and all of the books the place had to offer. Of course Basil would be invited, he was one of the very few people she wanted around her all the time--even in silence, he was oddly comforting. He had arrived much earlier than she expected and while it would have been polite to turn around and greet him properly, they were past formalities. She was much too interested on all the peculiar objects that Borgin and Burkes had to offer. Had she turned around right away she might have jumped into his arms and hugged him and well, there were no need for the theatrics of long lost lovers, people would get the wrong idea. She was simply so happy to see him.  “Anyway--I’m not worried about being alone, I can handle myself just as well, I’ll have you know I’m an adult now, it’s about time I braved this alley. Can you believe I’ve never been here before? I haven’t any idea why, it’s quite a fascinating place,” she said.

Georgiana’s body tensed slightly when Basil put his hands on her shoulders. A very light blush inevitably spreading onto the apples of her cheeks and she hoped that the dim lighting in the shop would work in her favor this time. She was already conflicted about so many things, the last thing she wanted was to add to her convoluted feelings by misinterpreting Basil’s affection. It meant nothing, surely, she was simply not used to being touched and tended to react rather strongly to it. Her mother had stopped holding her hand when she was six years old, her father had not so much as patted her back in his entire life, often keeping his words short and his hands in his pockets. Bertie had always hugged her when they were young but he was sixteen now and much too old for any sort of physical affection, even from the girl he once claimed to be the best sister in the entire universe.

“Moonshine? That’s a new one, I’ve called you many things in my mind, Basil--but your name is so beautiful, I can’t be forced to part with it,” she teased, turning to him with a bright smile on her face. He was the only person she had ever felt comfortable talking to in this way. But why? Maybe in her imaginary world, she had cast Basil into the role of her prince charming--not the typical type, no he was much too enigmatic for such a flat role. No, she had read books, countless peculiar storylines that involved characters like him and she had always found them spellbinding. “The words I missed you doesn’t even begin to cover it—why do you think I’ve called you all the way here if that was all I intended to say?” She became distracted by the glass case beside him, walking up to it and pressing her hand against the glass, leaning in closely to take a look at some antique jewelry, most certainly cursed and then she spotted a ring, much like the one she would be wearing soon after marriage. It had to be a sign, this marriage was a cursed thing indeed.  “This will be one of the many secret meetings we will have to have, my darling,” she said with a small laugh, “I’m to be married you know—sometime this year, Mother wants me to be married as soon as possible but I think it can wait until late fall, maybe winter if I am very lucky,” she said, turning to him with a bitter smile, “But I suppose we’ve expected this, haven’t we? This would be your perfect opportunity to plan our escape,” she said. “Where should we run away to? Surely you are aware of all the dark corners on this earth where we won't possibly be found out.”

Georgiana had not been serious about it, she tended to joke with Basil in this matter and for the most part he often indulged in her little romantic roleplays. At this this type of playful banter was something she did have experience in, and had seen much of in the many novels they had read together. But, while she had never been brave enough to tell him, a large part of her did wish that in some form, she had been set to marry someone she cared about, like him. At least, she would be in better spirits about it. But even then, just the thought of marrying so young was a hard pill for her to swallow.

“Anyway, enough about me, tell me then, how have you been occupying your time since graduation? You haven’t written me in ages, you know, I am still quite angry about that. You shouldn’t ignore me, I won’t have it,” she said, turning to him with a pout. “Or has someone managed to distract you?” she added with a smirk. Hopefully Basil would tell her something more pleasant and at this point, anything would be more pleasant than the topic of marriage.