sluggin and clubbin: redux (natalia, theo, james, abby)

[Deleted]

-slug club party flashback-

She had come into the Christmas Slug Club party with Theo and Adeline. And soon the three of them were heading back up the stairs and towards the astronomy tower. As they entered the classroom, Abby lifted a hand to ruffle her hair a little more. She surveyed the table and saw a few empty chairs on the far side from where the professor was sitting. "Shall we?" Abby didn't gesture or wait for either of them to respond before leading Theo toward the spot she had chosen.

She had her eye out for James who was supposed to be showing up with his.. Girlfriend? She wasn't sure exactly what James was defining it as but the relationship was enough for James to reject a snogging session in a closet the other day. Abby didn't judge him for committing to someone but that didn't mean she wasn't disappointed that the 'benefits' part of their relationship was over without a warning. Still, James was one of her best friends and she could easily be happy for him! Even if it meant she didn't get to sneak over to his house over winter break and fool around. There was always something riveting about a good snog session knowing you'd be caught any minute by someone's parents.

She hadn't quite spotted him yet but there were a lot of people milling about. She turned to Theo, "So, do you recognize any of these people?"

@natalia
@theodorus
@jams
(let's try again! third times a charm -eye roll-

[Deleted]

The Slug Club was a collection of the more promising students in the school. It came as no surprise to Theo that he had been placed in it nearly immediately upon coming to Hogwarts. He and his sister were, after all, embodiments of excellence. And, of course, Abby was in the club as well. Theo didn't know about her sister, but Abby was cut from the same cloth he was, and so it was only natural for her to be counted among the best.

He allowed himself to be dragged along by Abby to a seat far from the professor, sitting down next to her. Years of etiquette training kept him sitting up straight now that they were at the main table, as opposed to a more relaxed posture he adopted outside of formal settings.

“So, do you recognize any of these people?”

Theo shrugged. “Some by face. I'm not surprised to see several of the girls who caught my attention in here. I suppose everyone recognizes the Hagrid. Wonder how I'd fare fighting with him...”

He mused on the idea for a moment, before shrugging. “I'm quite sure Nat will be around here somewhere too. Oh, and the eldest Longbottom girl with the Hagrid.” He still remembered his father and several of his friends lamenting that Neville Longbottom was a fool for not signing any marriage contracts, and that his daughter would have brought strong blood to any name. In fact, he had only been contracted to Natalia Lestrange when his father couldn't secure a contract for Alice.

Not that it would have mattered. The blonde was about as affectionate as a Venomous Tentacula where anyone but the half-giant was concerned.

@natalia
@jams
@abigail

[Deleted]

James had never been one for fancy parties to show off titles and places in society but he had been more than thrilled to attend the Slug Club Christmas party as Natalia's date. James used to just blow off the Slug Club events. He knew that he had got in because of his last name and because of who his parents were and that had just never settled well with him so he never felt obligated to go. But now... he had a very good reason to.

The Gryffindor had awaited his date at the bottom of the Astronomy Tower stairs and when she had arrived, was taken away by her beauty as always. He offered her his arm as they headed upstairs...

The tower looked as festive as festive could get. James looked around, seeing his brother and Casey and then Alice... who was with Carcer Hagrid. He found that odd for he had always avoided these things with Alice so the fact that she was there at all was a bit of a shock to him. While it was odd to see the Hufflepuff with the half-giant, nothing could compare to the oddity in the room that was Abigail with Theodorus Nott. A scowl immediately made its home on James's face and his arm that Natalia was on tensed. "What a sight," he muttered, clearly sounding annoyed. James did not like Theo one bit. There was just something about the Slytherin that rubbed James the wrong way.

@natalia
@abigail
@theodorus
les do dis

[Deleted]

Slug Club parties were no longer on the list of activities that Natalia wished to attend. She knew she had only been asked to join the club because of her last name – most, if not all, the people in the club were in the same situation – and it felt wrong, now that she was no longer a Lestrange by law. She was…a Longbottom. Then again, Alice Longbottom was also a part of the Slug Club, so maybe she did belong there anyways. It was also a lot easier to go to those events now that she had someone to go with, however. Natalia put her hand on James’s arm, but allowed the other one to hang at her side. There was a wand holster on her forearm – not that she anticipated to use it, but if there was anything the last few months had taught her, it was to expect the unexpected.

Natalia blinked as she entered the tower, not quite expecting all of the decoration, or all of the people. She knew how the parties went, but it was still somehow shocking. James tensed, and Nat didn’t even need to look to know what he was likely looking at. She turned anyways, and only had her suspicions confirmed. “Hush, James.” She murmured quietly. “Theodorus is a fine choice for a companion.” And it wasn’t any of her business what kind of companion that happened to be. “Let’s go say hello.” Natalia said, eager to speak with someone who didn’t think she was guilty of murder and likely also didn’t begrudge her the choice to be adopted by the Longbottoms. Theo admired strength, even if strength sometimes looked different than people expected.

@abigail
@theodorus
@jams

[Deleted]

He said that he recognized some people, inducing several girls that caught his attention. He mentioned fighting him and Abby just chuckled, shaking her head. Of course that was the first thing he thought of. Then, he mentioned Nat... Natalia she realized, and pointed out Alice. She nodded, "Awe, yes. Alice is one of my favorites," she said with a nod of her head.

Abby turned toward the door as she was glancing around and grinned as Natalia seemed to be dragging James toward them. She tugged on Theo's arm, "there they are," she said, starting to walk toward them as well. Upon reaching the pair, her smile widened brightly, "Natalia. Lovely, as always," she said, completely genuine. She nodded at James then, raising an eyebrow, "don't you look handsome... but steam is coming out of your ears."

@theodorus
@natalia
@jams

[Deleted]

“Awe yes. Alice is one of my favorites.”

Theo raised an eyebrow. It honestly didn’t surprise him much that Abby plowed right through the blonde Hufflepuff’s thorny exterior, though he wouldn’t have pegged Alice as the type for Abby to really like. She didn’t give off an adventurous vibe. Then again, he didn’t know her well, or interact with her much. And he had heard that she was the best student in CoMC, which kind of went hand-in-hand with a sense of adventure…huh. Fair enough, he supposed. “I feel like she’d try to take my head off if I annoyed her. And given who her father is, she might actually be able to. She’s certainly noteworthy.”

A tug on his arm rounded Theo’s attention to what Abby was looking at—aha. His fiancé for what amounted to their entire lives, save the last, short period of time where she disgraced her family utterly by shattering her blood ties and those of her sister in a single day, destroying contracts, plans, and hopes. And, just to drive home the gesture she had thrown in her parents’ faces, she had taken her sister and moved in with the very people her family would consider mortal enemies. He had laughed for days when he heard about it. He still had the letter that Natalia’s father had sent him, trying to get him to convince her to return to the fold, preserved inside a book. It was always good for a giggle.

Abby greeted them both with her usual gusto, while Theo merely grinned at Natalia. They had never been in love—Theo wasn’t sure he could love—but they had always gotten along well, and he had no objections to being married to her. That said, he also had no objections to not being married to her, and so was entirely unconcerned about the dissolution of his betrothal contract that had happened when both Natalia and her sister had disavowed their parents. His parents were annoyed, but making no moves yet. Part of him thought that they expected him to join with Elaine Dupree now that he was free. Finalize an empire through marriage or something.

Meh.

He nodded to Natalia. “Hey, Nat. What’s it like being a Longbottom?” There was no derision in his voice, no mockery; it was an honest question, because the Longbottom family somehow commanded the respect of the Pureblood families, even when they were hated by those same families. He wondered how the transition had been for her. Natalia was now one of only two people Theo knew of to have made such a transition.

At Abby’s comment, he looked over at James Potter and arched an eyebrow. “So it is getting hot in here. I thought it was just me.”

@jams
@natalia
@abigail