Thicker Than Blood [Notts and Bolts]

[Deleted]

The Three Broomsticks was busy, which was unsurprising on a Hogsmeade weekend. Students everywhere, talking, eating and drinking, enjoying being off Hogwarts grounds. And, of course, the Aurors. There were a full three of them in here, which was a lot, considering they were basically patrolling all of Hogsmeade today in addition to the castle grounds, trying to catch their enemies. The idea made Theo want to laugh. They were seeking someone intelligent, clever, who planned things out and avoided them through preparation and skill.

From what he could tell, Elaine was more like a cat. She killed people when they popped up in front of her without protection, and precisely for that reason.

Not that he cared. What Elaine did or didn’t do was of little consequence to him, beyond her holding up her end of their deal (thus far, she had disappointed him). Besides, there were far more interesting women to keep his mind on. Such as the one next to him, her arm wrapped around his—but where many other women might be leaning on him, this one was decidedly not. In fact, if he’d been moving any slower, she might have been dragging him along. Abigail Shacklebolt wasn’t like most girls, and she wore that with pride. It made Theo grin, as she found a booth at the back to pull him to.

Before she could sit down, though, he snaked a hand around her waist and pulled her back. In one smooth motion, Theo seemed to flow around her and drop into the booth first, then drag her after him into his lap. He grinned up at her. “You act like you’re happy to be out of the castle, Little Girl. Can’t imagine why, one broom closet’s the same as any other. Speaking of which—where’s the nearest one?” Or maybe it was the chance to down a few butterbeers first that had her excited. That flooding warmth beforehand...

Interesting thought.

@abigail
@adelaide
@royal
@vi (I didn't mention this one to you, but I figured I would tag you just in case you felt like joining in on the fun. Addie and Royal are here to tell Abby how horrible your brother is! )

[Deleted]

Hogsmeade weekends were one of Abby's favorite things. I mean, really, who didn't love them? Getting out of school, getting some fresh hair, doing a little shopping. Not that Abby was much of a 'shopper', but there was still a fun adrenaline to it all. The best part, of course, was the Butterbeer and the pub. She liked the crowds and the noise. She was leading Theo toward a back booth. Somewhere she could still get the feel of the room but they could have a little privacy. Not that she cared too much about the privacy, but it was fun that way. Being 'private' in a 'public' place. That was one of the best ways to get that rush.

She moved to sit but he stopped her, pulling her closer by the waist until he was swooping around her and sitting first. She rolled her eyes as he pulled her onto his lap. But, of course, a grin followed quickly. At his words she elbowed him. "Come on, even you have to admit that it's nice to be out and about, not cooped up in that giant castle," she chuckled, turning away from him and glancing about the room. She recognized pretty much everyone in there, of course, but then again Abby was pretty good with faces.

"The drinks aren't going to get themselves," she said, kissing him quickly on the top of the head before pushing off him and going to the bar. She leaned against it, maybe flirting with the bartender a bit as she ordered two butterbeers.

She brought them back and replaced herself on Theo's lap, sliding the butterbeer in front of him. "Hope you didn't want something else," she said. Then she took a long sip, after which she leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "And the nearest closest is just around that corner there..." she gestured, not really pointing anwhere specific but it didn't really matter. She knew where it was.

@theodorus
@royal
@adelaide
@vi

[Deleted]

One would assume things were a bit off for the youngest Nott when she was spotted in Hogsmeade. The blonde had recently run out of ink for her quills due to her above average studying and was in the village to make another purchase when she spotted a familiar head of blonde hair accompanied by a lesser familiar short dark haired person. Almost immediately Viovinnia registered these two as her older brother and that Shacklebolt girl that he had been spending an inordinate amount of time with these last few months. Vi was just about to roll her eyes at the two, walking down the street arm in arm, when a thought came to mind.

Abigail Shacklebolt was a Gryffindor. She was a muggle born lover and had many friends of that type and halfbloods alike. But Theo had sworn that she was on the same wavelength as they were; strong, shared that same ferocity that Vi and her brother shared. Vi thought, perhaps if her brother could put aside all other differences for the sake of a physical (or whatever it was between them,) attraction, then maybe she could too. And if it weren't for that damned Gryffindor boy she had bumped into in the dungeons, she wouldn't be about to do this at all but Vi began to follow her brother and the Shacklebolt girl. To see how they interacted. Vi normally didn't look past peoples' external traits, but if her brother could see past the lion-ness stuff about this girl... Vi thought that maybe she could do the same to the Gryffindor boy, and maybe find it worth her time in some way.

Vi followed the two into the Three Broomsticks. Vi had never been in there before and as she looked around she could definitely say this would be her first and last time in there. It was crowded, loud, and reeked of butterbeer - a beverage Viovinnia was not fond of at all. Theo and the Shacklebolt settled in at a booth and Vi went for a small table in the corner of the pub where she was concealed by the crowd well enough but she could still see the two interacting at their booth. She silently reminded herself it was all for the sake of study, and nothing more but deep down - the first time, Vi was wondering what it would be like if she weren't so set in her ways, what it would be like to let herself be vulnerable in a way that someone would want to be around her like Abigail for some reason wanted to be around Theo.

Vi shook her head at the thought and settled in, keeping a close eye on her brother and the girl.

@adelaide
@royal
@theodorus
@abigail
Vi will be sitting this out until the drama llama spits. >:3

[Deleted]

Addie enjoyed Hogsmeade. She enjoyed it even more when she was expecting something. She hadn't seen Royal much since their father died, each grieving in their own way. While Addie had gravitated toward her mother for consolation, Royal and Abby had sort of distanced themselves, depending on each other for solace. It was easy for Addie to feel left out, and she often did. But she was trying to bridge the gap between herself and her siblings. Royal was writing a biography on their father, and she offered to read it. She picked him up at Hogsmeade station and then dragged him to The Three Broomsticks for a drink, making casual small talk along the way.

As soon as they entered, Addie's eyes immediately rested on her sister. It was hard not to when she was basically seeing her own reflection. The good-natured smile on her face quickly changed into a frown as she noticed who Abby was with: Theo. It was no small secret that Addie detested Theo, and the fact that he completely ignored her dislike of him made her loathe him even more. She knew her sister was no saint when it came to the male gender, but that didn't mean she had to associate with the devil. Abby was sitting in Theo's lap, and Addie seethed as she leaned close and whispered something in Theo's ear. Addie pointed in their direction and muttered to Royal, "That's the one I was talking about. I'm putting a stop to this."

Without waiting to see if Royal followed, but hoping she had said enough nasty things about Theo for him to be on her side, she meandered through the pub crowd and slid into the opposite side of the booth, slamming her hands down on the table. "Abby," she said too loudly and too cheerfully. She glared at Theo, not bothering to hide her distaste. "Mind if we join you?"

@abigail
@royal
@theodorus
@vi

[Deleted]

Being alone with Adelaide was new. It was something that hadn’t happened since before he had gone off to Hogwarts, probably. There was always something between them. A mother or a father or a sister or any combination of the three. But that day it was just the two of them, nothing more or less. Even though they had only talked about trivial things, like the weather or how school or work had been, Royal hung on to every word. This was his sister, and she was new, and that was good. He wondered why it had taken him this long to get to be alone with her after all this time.

He hadn’t known that there had been anything on the agenda other than talking to his sister, but Adelaide had obviously set some great scheme into motion, because when they walked into The Three Broomsticks, Abigail was there, sitting on some boy’s lap. Everything began to snap into place. Abigail’s letters about Theo, who would like to know what letter Royal would like to receive. Adelaide talking about the boy that Abigail liked (loved?) and how he was no good. This was not painting a pretty picture.

Adelaide rushed in, presumably to save the day, and Royal sighed. How come he didn’t get any siblings who understood what it meant to wait? Well, he couldn’t let her go into the fray without backup, so despite his misgivings, Royal also sat at the booth, though he didn’t do anything theatrical like slam his hands against the table. “It’s nice to see you, Abigail.” He offered his sister quietly. “And nice to meet you, finally, Theo. I’ve heard a lot about you.” From both of his sisters, actually. Royal wasn’t sure which one to believe, but considering Abigail was literally in Theo’s lap, Royal was more inclined to think that maybe Adelaide had the right idea.

@abigail
@adelaide
@theodorus
@vi

[Deleted]

Theo grinned at the idea of getting out of the castle. “You mean like visiting a cabin halfway up a mountain?” he asked her, voice husky and barely above a whisper. Certainly they had visited many places over their holiday, but the cabin had been the best. For many reasons. He watched her take off to the bar to grab drinks, absentmindedly scanning the crowds—aha. She was good, her place of observation was ideal, but Theo was trained the same way his sister was, and he caught sight of her as he habitually scanned the room for anything he might need to be aware of. But he made no indication that he'd seen his sister—if she were watching him, she likely had a good reason for it. That, or she was on Father's orders for some reason, which didn't make sense, but if that were the case, he had nothing to hide.

Abby returned, putting a butterbeer in front of him. Theo smirked when she said she hoped it was fine. Honestly, he was not a fan of alcohol of any kind, even something like butterbeer that barely had any. That being said, it didn't taste bad, and one was unlikely to impair him in any way, so he would drink it. It was mainly stuff like firewhiskey that he hated, butterbeer just got lumped into it as an alcoholic drink. He grinned wickedly when Abby told him where the closest closet was. “Then I suppose the sooner we finish these, the sooner we can inspect it. Make sure it's up to code,” he rumbled, leaning in toward her lips—

Paused.

Eyes swept the room again. Someone was focused on him and they were not hap—oh. Ohh. Abby's mirror image was coming their way, followed by someone with enough facial similarities that he had to be the eldest brother, Royal. Well, if that was the only problem...Theo moved in again, this time not stopping, pressing his lips to Abby's, tasting the butterbeer on her tongue. He broke it off rather quickly though, raising an eyebrow at her. “I didn't realize I was meeting your family today, Little Girl,” he said, then turned to watch them approach. He figured Abby would be surprised—either way, he'd know by her reaction to seeing the brother.

Addie's greeting was unnaturally chipper and contrasted heavily with the look she gave him, a look normally reserved for bugs on the floor. She didn't like him, and she did her best to communicate that at all times. But she lacked the strength to do anything about him. So Theo, who felt nothing positive or negative about Adelaide Shacklebolt, merely smirked back at her, before his eyes slid over to the brother. “And nice to meet you, finally, Theo. I've heard a lot about you.” the current Slytherin eyed the former, tilting his head slightly in consideration. Then he felt a smirk cross his face again. “Royal. I've no doubt you heard from both of them. And I have no doubt they've both been quite accurate in their statements, contradictory as it probably sounds.”

He paused and pinched Abby through her robes without the other two seeing him. “Though I do hope this one hasn't told you everything she knows.”

In the back of his mind, he felt a shift in the air, like a cobra, spreading its hood in irritation.

His sister didn't know what was going on. But the two of them did side with each other most of the time, not out of emotional attachment, but because they were expected to as brother and sister.

And he knew she was debating whether or not she was needed.

@abigail
@vi
@adelaide
@royal

[Deleted]

Abby chuckled at the mention of a cabin, leaning towards him even more in order to hear his husky whisper before she got those drinks. As she returned and mentioned the nearest closet and leaned back toward his lips as he spoke of inspecting it, her smile growing even more mischievous as they got closer... but then he stopped. She didn't bother to turn and see what had caught his senses. He could handle whatever it was. Instead she just leaned her lips to his ear and pressed them there for a moment until he was ready to turn back toward her and kiss her. She breathed in deeply as they kissed until it was cut short. She pouted at him, then he spoke. Hey eyes narrowed and she turned her gaze, not bothering to pull away from him or remove herself from off his lap.

Her eyes indeed widened for a moment and her jaw dropped slightly as she saw that Royal was there with Adelaide. Her twin was looking rather determined as they made their way over and Abby raised an eyebrow as Addie greeted them with fake cheer before glaring at Theo. Abby glanced at her twin's hands on the table and then gestured to the seat across from her. "Please do, Addie. Hey Royal," she said, smiling over at her brother. He didn't seem nearly as intense as Addie did, meaning that he was probably dragged here.

Abby smiled as Theo and Royal conversed and gave a little snort of chuckle as Theo pinched her through her robes. She turned to Theo with a wrinkled nose and pursed lips at his comment about Abby not telling Royal everything she knew. She turned back to her siblings with a grin, "Well, now that we've all said our hello's, why don't you guys grab a drink? Stay awhile," she waved toward the bar before turning back toward Theo and giving him a quick kiss on the neck before facing her siblings again. If Addie wanted a show, she'd get one. Abby wasn't stupid. Addie didn't like Theo and knew she was here with him and must have called Royal in for backup. If they wanted Abby to prove Theo was 'bad for her' then she was going to prove it.


@vi
@royal
@adelaide
(ask dee if vi is going to skip this time?)

[Deleted]

Digusted was an understatement for how Addie felt about Theo. It wasn't just that he was a pretty boy, or even that he had stolen Abby away. Addie wished that it was as simple as him being a pretty boy. But he was also smart and charismatic and pretty much a perfect package. And that infuriated Addie to no end.

It took everything in Addie's power not to react when her sister kissed the serpent's neck. Instead, she motioned a server over and ordered a butterbeer. Anything to keep the normally mellow Ravenclaw from reaching over and throttling Theo where he sat. Abby had done a lot of changing since the pair arrived at Hogwarts, but she had never been such a deviant. The Abby she knew would never just run away without telling her family. That was all Theo's influence. All the more reason for Addie to dislike him. And while Royal hadn't expressly voiced an opinion on the matter, this was family. He would do his best to keep it intact.

As an awkward silence stretched over the quartet, the server returned with Addie's drink, and she sipped on it, staring bullets at Theo. "So," she said, playing with her straw, "Abby, how are your classes going?" It was cheap small talk, but Addie would get to the meat of her lecture in due time. Before they left the pub, Theo would be but a distant memory.

@royal
@abigail
@theodorus
@vi

[Deleted]

Royal didn’t like being smirked at, as a rule. He could see why Adelaide didn’t like the boy, but he was determined not to pass a judgment without hearing all sides of the story. People could smirk for perfectly justifiable reasons. It was uncommon, but possible. Besides, with the way Abigail’s life was going, if she knew he disapproved of the boy, she’d probably just try harder to be with him. Abigail didn’t seem all that miffed to see him, though, which was enough for now. The fact that Theo insisted that the things both Royal’s sisters said were true didn’t bode well for the Slytherin boy – Royal wasn’t sure if anyone could be mentally stable if they had two such conflicting sides to them. Try as he might to remain neutral, Royal was slowly beginning to develop a dislike for Theo. That dislike wasn’t helped any by Theo’s comment about Abigail – Royal knew subtext when he heard it, and he definitely didn’t want to think about his sister doing any of those things.

Abigail invited them to get a drink, and Royal rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.” He said blandly when Adelaide ordered her butterbeer. He had to be the adult in this situation, and adults didn’t deal with their teenager sister’s problems by getting hopelessly drunk in front of said sister. Royal hadn’t been fond of drinking for quite a while. “Adelaide.” He warned softly when the younger twin asked the elder about her classes. It was a way to stir up trouble if he ever saw one (Abigail was never known for her superb grades), and while he was here as Adelaide’s backup, both the girls were his sisters, and he didn’t want to see any sort of blowup between them. “I’m sure that you all spend more than enough time in school without talking about it on your days off, hm?” Royal asked in a last ditch attempt to redirect the conversation.


@abigail
@adelaide
@theodorus
@vi

(sorry this is so late! i had a post written back in april but i guess it never posted. >.>)

[Deleted]

It was actually pretty funny. Adelaide had come here to “save” her sister from Theo, and she’d brought her brother along as backup. And Abby was responding by getting more intimate than usual when they were around others. Not that she didn’t do things like sitting in his lap around people, but when they were in a group she usually didn’t make it a point to spend so much time showing her affection. Of course, the problem here was simple: Abby’s sister believed that he, Theo, was a bad influence on her, when their relationship, whatever it was, was one of equals. Theo never tried to force Abby to do anything—that was simply not in his nature. He was a conqueror, not a controller. A warrior with a sword, not a bureaucrat with a whip. He had no need to command others for what he could do for himself, after all. The problem was Adelaide was that she assumed Theo was always taking the lead. In reality, it was fifty-fifty.

Nobody who always followed in his shadow could keep Theo’s interest for so long as Abigail Shacklebolt had.

Addie ordered a butterbeer and tried to change the subject, asking Abby how her classes were going, even as she tried to burn a hole through Theo’s head with her gaze. He merely gazed back impassively. He didn’t care one way or the other what she thought—and this could not have been more clearly communicated than with the way he neither averted his eyes from her glare nor returned it, neither accepting nor backing down from her challenge, because she was no challenge. But before he or Abby could speak up, Royal stopped things with a tone Theo had recently begun to identify as the ‘big brother’ voice. He’d heard a few others speak that way. It was…foreign to him. The idea of being able to communicate to Vi a course of action merely through tone of voice was hardly implausible, but to have her respond unquestioningly? He couldn’t see it. She might in some situations, but it was absurd to think he could bring her to heel every time through speaking to her in a specific fashion.

He turned to Abby to catch her lips with his own while Royal tried to get the twin to stop changing the subject. Ah, excellent, this meant the eldest was uninterested in stalling. They could go ahead and discuss what they wanted to, and then Theo and Abby could get back to their goal of fooling around in every shop in Hogsmeade. “I agree with the prince,” he said, now looking back over at them. “You went through all this trouble to say something, seems a shame to stall out now, doesn’t it? Little Twin.”

He couldn’t lean forward with Abby in his lap, but he was pretty sure Addie knew she had his attention. “Speak it, or don’t. The indecision is why you’re not as interesting as your sister is.”

@abigail
@vi
@adelaide
@royal

[Deleted]

At Addies question about classes and Royals little warning, Abby straightened up. "They're going great, actually. If I'm going to be an auror I can't just lolligag around, can I?" in all reality her grades had vastly begun improving when she decided what she wanted to do after school. Granted, that was a very recent development, but she was proud of it either way. Even if she still didn't make much time for studying. Royal called the girls out on talking about school and Theo did too, after a quick kiss. However, Theos comment turned into more of an insult against Addie than anything else. She felt this sharp pang of protectiveness surge through her at his words and she turned back to him with a raised eyebrow, "no need for that," she said, lifting a hand to tap the tip of his nose. She turned back to Royal and Addie, "but do tell us the real reason for your coming over here, Ad." Her eyes avoided Royals and instead landed firmly on her twins.

The two girls hadn't been incredibly close since their fathers death, which didn't help at all with Abby going into her reckless spiral. Still, it was clear Addie still cared deeply about her, otherwise she wouldn't have brought Royal over here for the assessment of Tabby. Didn't make Abby any less annoyed, but she wasn't entirely blind to her sisters intentions or the fact that Royal was incredibly calmer than she had expected he would be.

@royal
@adelaide
@theodorus