Character Name:Francine Iris Markham Frankie Drew Markham
Nicknames/Also Known As: Frank
Gender: AFAB Nonbinary (Genderfluid/Genderqueer)
Birthday/Age: 23/17th November 2004
Occupation: Started: Ministry Research Assistant/Junior Analyst (Floo Network Office, Dept. Magical Transportation) Then: Senior Researcher Knight Bus Improvement Project Now: World Cup Supplementary Staff, Portkey Office, DMT
Affiliation(s): Ravenclaw, MoM
Family: Sophia Vivian Markham (49) is a trained solicitor but gave up working when she was pregnant to become a full time housewife and mother. She’s never returned to it. She’s very invested in her place in local society and trying to better her standing and that of her family. They used to say Francine got into a specialised boarding school as a point of pride, even if she has to conceal exactly what she was studying. She also puts pressure on Francine to be more feminine and live up to the high expectations she has of them. Said pressure is not necessarily obvious but Frank feels it nonetheless. Sophia does a wide range of charity work and hobbies to keep herself occupied, particularly once Frank was away from home.
Sophia came from a poorer background and is slightly embarrassed by that. Even if she does keep in touch with them, she likes to feel superior to her parents and brother and sister. It’s a point of quiet pride that she doesn’t need to work for Frankie to be able to have a comfortable life.
Joshua Markham (50) is a middle manager at a regional hub for a food national distribution company. He has an office and is mostly there but that doesn’t stop him getting his hands dirty when necessary. Not that he tells Sophia that much. He’s a good man, but can get rather involved with his work and become too focussed until he’s reminded of his family. He loves Sophia and Frankie a lot. He’s far more accepting of Frank’s name and presentation choices than Sophia is, but that doesn’t stop him wincing sometimes. He’s actually biromantic but he never acted on his vague feelings about a couple of men prior to getting together with Sophia and has since suppressed those feelings. They met at university in his final year although didn’t get together until later.
They have a good (if somewhat fractious at times) relationship. They’re both capable and driven people and they will switch out or share many duties (cooking, certain aspects of DIY, gardening, various chores not assigned to Frank) but Joshua is the one in charge of the money generally and Sophia plans holidays and decorating or renovations (which she likes to happen often).
Personality: Frank is a bit of a Ravenclaw stereotype: they are academic, hard-working, driven and were extremely focussed on their studies. It takes their friends to pull them out of that sometimes. They get stressed when they don’t think they're working hard enough, and they almost never thought they were working hard enough at Hogwarts, even though their marks said otherwise. Since then they have relaxed marginally, but given they're in the first few years of their career they feel like they have a lot to prove. Plus their research position is a lot of grunt work and they often take on tasks where they feels others are slacking off.
Their laugh pretty much an outright giggle most of the time, which turns to a sort if they laugh especially hard. They're quite an introvert and sometimes people get too much for them, but a lot of the time they relax around their closest friends and get energy from the group. Once you've gained their trust and friendship it can be hard to shut them up. They can be sarcastic and silly, but it can be hard for people they aren't close to to see. They once appeared pretty straight-laced to many, particularly any superiors, but their choices of appearance changed that rather. Their friends have always known the difference.
First Impression: This depends on whether or not they're dressed for work. If they are people might think they're quiet, slightly unassuming with a penchant for creative hair colour. They're not always the best at first impressions in big crowds because they're an introvert and too many people overwhelm them. They are friendly though. If they're dressed more casually they definitely give off a bit of a rebellious impression, although the quietness still holds true. For anyone used to reading for lgbtq+ traits they're definitely going to pique some interest, especially in casual clothes.
Strengths: Research (loves a good pile of old books), creative spell layering, focus, keeping secrets.
Weaknesses: Languages other than English, saying no to their parents, fudge (they have to be super restrained so not eat enough that they throw up).
Personal History: Frankie is an only child, born to Sophia and Joshua Markham in November 1994. Their parents are both muggles with no magical history. Having met at university they got together after Joshua had left and dated for over a year before getting engaged. They married when Sophia was a working solicitor and Joshua a junior member of a marketing team at a food distribution site. For career reasons they waited to have children. Frankie was born approximately five years after their marriage, at which point Sophia gave up work.
Growing up in the suburbs of a mid-sized town in the South of England, in the Home Counties area Frank has the expected roughly RP accent, a social climbing mother, and as many conveniences as they can afford. They did move one time when Frank was around 7, but it was within the same town, just to a different (apparently better) suburb. The home they know best had a conservatory on the back and a well-kept garden of the lots-of-lawn variety both back and front. Upstairs there are two bedrooms of a good size, a tiny poky office/craft supplies room which their parents share, and the bathroom. Downstairs there is a living room (lounge if you talk to their mum), dining room-come computer room (the family computer is in the corner), kitchen, downstairs loo, conservatory extension. All of the public areas along with their parents’ room are impeccably neat at all times apart from decorating time (unless Frank had just whirlwinded through). Their room was always rather less tidy, although generally not a disaster, and they knew where absolutely everything was. They argued with their mum about her coming in to clean and privacy issues during most holidays after they were about 14.
Their parents were strict, but generally fair, although their mum in particular was rarely demonstrative in her love and affection. Sophia has always attempted to maintain certain standards and outward appearances (think slightly Aunt Petunia vibes).
Most of their early magical expression wasn’t flashy in nature, but it made a lot of sense when they found out they were magical. They went to a highly rated local primary school (a Church of England school although neither of their parents are technically of the faith). They performed well in all of their testing, consistently had a reading age far beyond the expected, and had few close friends. They never particularly liked the name Francine, and slowly chose Frankie as their preference. After some years of persistence they got their hair cut short aged 10 and a bully or two said they looked like Frank now. They found they rather liked it.
At Hogwarts the Sorting Hat easily placed them in Ravenclaw and they generally excelled in the house, even if they made friends in other houses too. They had always been academic and gained mostly Outstanding grades at OWL level. Their high grades but lack of clear direction led them to a broad base of NEWTs: Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, DADA, and History of Magic which would be suitable for many future careers. They were, despite their Mother’s persistent suggestions, entirely against healing or magical law enforcement, but did like the idea of a Ministry career now that it seemed like much of the rot had been removed from the system. Their grades were good: Outstanding in Charms and Transfiguration, and DADA Excellent in Potions and History of Magic. Their friends were constantly impressed with their ability to concentrate in HoM, but as a muggleborn they were fascinated by the world around them and how everything fitted together.
By the end of Hogwarts they had applied for several junior positions at the Ministry of Magic, none of which would start until October. And although their parents had suggested they might like to travel before their new job started they decided they would like to work and spend their time in London gaining money and a little more familiarity with the city.
Frank was desperately glad to move away from home, even if their choices of living space are comparatively tiny and not the best quality. Thankfully magic can be used to alleviate that a bit. Their initial attempt to live alone only lasted a few months (their parents agreed to help them over the summer, but their budget was pretty tight so they could save for somewhere better). Theoretically, since they can Apparate (even if they did fail the test first time around), there’s no real reason to live in London, but the ability to disappear into a big crowd of people comes in handy. They've become something of an expert at finding quiet spaces in a crowded spaces. Hogwarts may be big but house common rooms could become very crowded at times so it's a learned skill.
After a summer working at Flourish and Blott’s (and all the nightmares of customer service compounded by introversion) they started their job at the MoM only a few months after finishing at Hogwarts. It’s a job that manages to combine both their magical and muggle knowledge at times. Despite being mostly a researcher and junior analyst after their first year they were sent on trips to assess the appropriate places for new or temporary Floo connections. This is because almost none of the required level of staff grew up in muggle surroundings even though there are a couple of halfbloods.
Physical Description & PB: They are a little under average height for someone AFAB (5’4”) and feel like they're surrounded by giraffes on a regular basis. They've got short, dark brown hair that they have been colouring for summer holidays since they were 14 (they did both dye and asking older housemates to spell it for them, they spelled their own as soon as they turned 17). These days they change the colour every few weeks, mostly sticking to dark jewel tones, but once in a while they will choose something really bright.
They are most comfortable in casual clothes and tend to wear trousers far more than skirts. Their choice of top swings between boxy and more form fitting and often has a grunge/punk/goth vibe. But they can (and very occasionally do) know how to dress in a more feminine manner and apply makeup. They just have to have a really good incentive or really be in the mood. They will, however, get really frustrated by the praise they get for this display of ‘being a proper young lady’ from certain quarters (often read: their mum). If they wear make up more generally it tends to be restricted to heavy black eyeliner. Lip balm on the other hand they use lots of and they have a couple that are lightly tinted. They run their hands through their hair a lot when they're researching/stressed and it gets kinda lank and messy as a result, despite any product they put in it. They also get spectacular bedhead. PB: Bex Taylor-Klaus
Relationship History: It’s pretty short as far as school is concerned. They did go on a few dates with boys they didn’t know well and they were all stunningly awkward. They did kiss a few people, both as part of random games and after a date or two. Only once was there a date which repeated, with a guy called Archie, who they were slightly friendly with before the date.
There were definitely crushes on a fair number of people, both older students when they were younger and their own classmates. Their choice of short hair definitely made a few people suggest they were gay (before they realised they were enby) which they soundly dismissed because they were interested in boys. Even if the comment did make them feel some kind of way they couldn’t define.
Since Hogwarts the fact they need to decompress from their day job has meant rather less time socialising enough to consider dating people. A few friends have tried setting them up on dates. Some were successful enough the dates were repeated, usually the ones which didn’t insist on being ‘a gentleman’ and holding their chair out had more luck than others. At a party a friend dragged them to a couple of years ago they ended up talking to a guy who they were super attracted to, who was apparently also somewhat introverted. They ended up going home with him. They dated for a few months, but found they didn’t really make time for each other and it didn’t work out.
Since then there have been a few hook ups, but the effort they have to put into that is kind of exhausting so it’s not a regular thing. Some of the dates they've been on have been a disaster, especially the one who they discovered had anti-muggleborn feelings only after sleeping with him.
If they're on their own out in the world and doesn’t have a book they like to people watch. Early last year they were surprised when someone they thought was attractive at a distance got close enough to let them realise they had more feminine features. It hit like a bolt out of the blue and they came to a relatively rapid realisation they weren't straight (with a little help from some books).
Anything Else/Misc: They do not like to be called Francine, and are unlikely to introduce themself that way.
RE pronouns: Although they/them is always correct there are times when she/her is also okay to good.
Caroline the player is open to other characters being transphobic towards Frankie but please check on an individual basis before dropping it in a thread. <3