HE'S RELIABLE WITH THE LADIES

Albus gave a little huff of laughter and rolled his eyes.  Loch Ness and it’s legend were something he’d never quite understood.  Pretty environs to be sure, but little else.  He hummed, giving a look towards the lake.

“We do, yes.  And a giant squid, though they don’t care for people much.  Either of them.  Some of the mer would tap on the window in the dungeons though,” he replied with a wistful little smile.  Memories of when life had been easier.  

“Muggle transit out?  I suppose that’s quicker and more assured to be a direct route rather than something more tracked like an international portkey,” he mused, flashing Danny a concerned look.  His friend was skirting some of the more dangerous aspects of the current administration.  And there was sure to be someone looking for points.  “Not sure if getting lit is the best thing for this party, mate.  Lot of eyes and a lot of people on the prowl today.” He winced.  He was getting suspicious in his old age.  

Didn’t make him wrong though.  

“You magicing over to Loch Ness or going to drive?”

“Fam.” Danny gave a goofy eye roll. He didn’t even have his driver’s license in the states—he knew how to drive, but since he couldn’t afford a car while he was travelling from sea to shining sea, he just didn’t really bother with renewing it. “Do I look like I fuck with rentals? How about you? Prince Charming here chauffeur himself around?”

Danny strutted around Prince Charming for a moment and narrowed his eyes, more intrigued by the idea of a dungeon window. “The dungeons lead to the lake? Like, we could—we could just take the long way and go from the surface, I guess—I mean I’m all prepped with my gillyweed—don’t ask how I got that, I just have it, it’s easier to get than scuba gear—but anyway, why waste time starting from the top, you know?”

Ethan downed the last of his firewhiskey before nodding at Danny, desperate to quell his growing thirst. Like his appetite, it had only seemed to grow more and more ravenous over the passed few months, never seeming to reach the point of satisfaction. But even in spite of his secrets, Ethan still wasn’t the type to pass up a night of drinking.

“Yeah, alright. What the hell?!” Ethan agreed, banging his empty bottle back down to the table with more force then intended. A night out and a distraction were exactly what the chaser needed to get his mind off tomorrow’s full moon, his third one since the accident. 

“Drink up, mate, and let’s get the fuck out of here. You know any good spots?”

Danny was surprised, though not shocked, at the way Quidditch Bro handled the bottle—he was damn ready to party, as if he had decided to go drinking like he had been a year sober. It was like Danny had almost expected the bottle to shatter by the sheer force of it, though this didn’t bother him in the slightest. “Shit fam, do you have muggle money?”

Danny had his means of getting cash—obviously the procurement of potions ingredients had sustained him, though not enough yet to pay the Mad Queen back—but gold galleons wouldn’t cut it if they were actually going to buy alcohol.

Not that Danny didn’t have his ways to get around that sort of thing. He only then announced the change in plans—but if Quidditch Bro was that eager to get wasted, Danny was down. And a bar wasn’t gonna cut it. “If you don’t—we’ll just have to like, apparate. Even if we did have the money I’m not down to pay a fucking entrance fee to the club, y’know? Maybe meet some hotties to take home?”

Charlotte did her best to keep her expression from showing her real emotions, hiding her distaste and disgust at the prison behind pursed lips and a cool glare à la Phoebe. She kept her eyes fixed on the security guards, ignoring the prisoners (and she could barely believe some of these people were prisoners) until she heard a familiar voice. 

Her head snapped to the side immediately and she leaned closer, eyes wide with disbelief. “Seawe - Danny!” She hadn’t seem him in months. She hadn’t even really thought about him in months. “What are you doing here?” 

Danny shook at the bars, not that they rattled like he had hoped. He was good at making noise regardless, half hoping he’d be annoying enough that they would just let him out of there. Then Moana came along, and Danny was only shocked a little—he had momentarily forgotten that she was one of the wizard cops.

God, Danny was not good at really negotiating with cops. They were all assholes. He groaned loudly at her question. “I’m in here for crashing a party—since when the fuck has that ever been illegal?”

@daniel–molina

Albus could not begin to express how much he detested formal wizarding fashion.  The robes and the uncomfortable fabrics and the just tons of horridly colored organza were all enough to drive him spare.  But here he was, with his best “I’m a good loser yes I am” face on.  

That, much like his formal robes, was not an option.  

Weasley family meeting had made that clear enough.  They were all to line up behind the new Minister.  There’d been more than one whispered conversation that ended when he drew near.  His mum looked at him with fear evident in her eyes.  First her husband, then her middle child.  Potters were flouting the Ministry.  Well, no more.  They were to fall in line.

Which is why Albus was wearing a bloody ascot.  Ridiculous.  

He let his eyes wander, toying with the stem of the glass that held the sparkling pumpkin juice.  He’d been axed by the Ministry bar tenders tonight.  Uncle’s orders.  So a sober Potter was looking for something to catch his eyes. 

And there it was in Big D himself.  

It was a dangerous place for the American really.  He presumed security was going to be tighter than this, more scrutiny placed on the people attending.  He shifted, taking a slow and curving amble into the other man’s space.  

“Surprised to see you here, Danny,” he murmured, a little curious smile flickering across his lips.  “Doesn’t much seem like your affair at all.”  He raised his glass, trying to look as innocuous as possible.  

Danny was pretty severely underdressed for the occasion. The only time he really did manage to pull something off that wasn’t just a borrowed sweatshirt and jeans was when he borrowed a whole ass suit for a party in February. But upon his arrival he had seen someone he actually recognized--even though the crowd of stuffy ass real adults.

“Nah, fam, this is like—the last stop before I really—y’know—go.” Danny had plans to finally leave the UK, but not before he found the Loch Ness Monster. “Nessie’s waiting for me—then after that I’m on the next train to what, France?”

But even the gusto was lacking when he said his unplanned plans out loud. As much as he didn’t want to admit it out loud, Danny was getting tired—and he missed his own mother, much so that he was spending more time with Mama Naomi than he really should be.

“Ethan,” she spat out in response to his question, wondering if it was even worth trying to make Danny understand. He couldn’t even remember his supposed friend’s name. How was he supposed to be in a real, committed relationship, when he was basically a just huge man child? He didn’t care about anything, or anyone. When he said she had no chill she practically inflated with anger, only proving his point.

“You are so fucked up! Shit, you’re such a looser. A selfish, unemployed looser, incapable of thinking about anyone but yourself, incapable of love!” Dominique, completely unaware that she was also describing herself, screamed causing a lot of shoppers to look in their direction at the scene going on. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”

It was the same with every man she ever dated and only now was she starting to realise that pattern. She had always had in the back of her mind that somehow she was the one who was to blame - she wasn’t good enough or smart enough or whatever. With Danny she could confidently say that he was the asshole in this situation. “Forget this, I’m not wasting anymore time on you.”

“Ethan! Right, right, right—”

He’d totally remember his name now, for sure—but Danny didn’t really have the time to think about his minor victory of remembering the name of a guy whose name he should have known for months. Especially since his friend was apparently kind of a celebrity. Instead Dom over here was busy yelling at him, which wasn’t a regular occurrence with Danny as of late. But it wasn’t his first time getting yelled at.

Danny put one hand on her shoulder then gently put one on her chest in an attempt to make her feel better—or at least make her feel less hysterical. He wasn’t really sure if it helped, but it didn’t stop him from shutting up. “You know, a nurse did this to calm me down once when I crashed my jet ski into a manatee. So, like, let’s try and calm down, yeah?”

Maybe it was because he was finally beginning to settle here that he actually felt some sort of empathy for her. Just a little—he was at least aware that he was the asshole in this situation, but not enough to care to apologize. Enough, at least, to answer her question confidently. “You saw the American Dream, baby! It’s not a joke—I’m a legit snack!”

Talking to Danny was like talking to a brick wall. A handsome, annoying, American brick wall, but a brick wall nonetheless. Dominique was becoming increasingly frustrated with how nonchalant he was - she wanted him to be hurting, she wanted him to be missing her and most of all she wanted him to realise he’d made a huge mistake in letting her go. Clearly, none of these things were true, and instead once again Dom was left as the emotional party attempting to get a rise out of someone who just didn’t really care. 

“We’re not dating.” Her tone was sharp - Danny had hit a nerve. She wished she did have someone she was dating to rub in Danny’s face but from his reaction to her sleeping with one of his close friends, it seemed like even that wouldn’t phase him. It made her realise just how little she had ever meant to him. Just a worthless shag.

“Just forget it.” Now more than ever he deserved what he had coming. If it was coming at all. She would get her revenge in some way. Dom wanted to make him feel just a small, insignificant and meaningless as he had made her feel but everything just seemed to bounce off this boy. If she couldn’t make him feel it she could at least make him realise what an utter dick he was.

“It was me that ended our relationship! We didn’t even have a relationship because you’re too cowardly to commit to one - you never wanted me, you just used me! You made me feel like a screwed up piece of tissue, just some disposable shag, and I gave you so much. I let you stay at my place rent free! You’re a real piece of shit if you don’t get what you did wrong.”

"Okay, okay--y'all aren't dating. I guess." Danny didn't know or really care what  dating was--to him, it was synonymous to like having with friend with benefits but you're not allowed to benefit from anyone else. He was literally about to walk away and not really care--I mean, he was totally gonna talk about how weird Dom was to Quidditch Bro. "Sorry, what's his name again?"

Dom was definitely a piece of work and she was certainly a lot to take in. He really would like to forget it, but she just like, kept going?

"Holy shit, you have like, no chill." Logically this meant that she would have worn the pants in their relationship and it kind of didn't make sense: if she were killing his vibe so much, then he should have been doing the breaking up. But the pros of fucking a veela on the regular with a nice bed he didn't have to pay rent for outweighed the cons of 'dating' a crazy bitch.

And obviously Danny was just going to continue to be confused by the semantics instead of confronting the fact that he was definitely in the wrong and definitely a real piece of shit, as was so eloquently put. "Wait... how could you end a relationship if there wasn't a relationship?"

Danny didn’t even seem pissed off when he turned around, more like mildly irritated. If it had been anyone else Dominique would have assumed he was taking the high road and just ignoring what she had done so as to show her actions hadn’t had the desired effect - but it was Danny. She didn’t think he’d be able to control his emotions well enough to keep a straight face when he was secretly fuming inside. When he spoke about Ethan, he confirmed it. The aurors had done nothing with the information she had given them.

What was the point then? All those hours in that room with the imposing questions, desperate for any scrap of information and when she finally gave them something they didn’t even bother to follow through? Pathetic. She had heard others say the ministry weren’t doing their jobs in catching whoever was behind this whole thing, but this was the first time she actually believed it. 

“It’s not about Ethan.” Her arms were folded, voice short at curt trying to decide what she should do now that she couldn’t rub it in his face that she’d got him in trouble. She didn’t exactly want to say what she’d done but she wanted to win this victory over him somehow. 

“Just forget it. You’ll find out real soon anyway.” She hoped. The aurors would do something about it eventually? “And then you’ll be sorry.”

“Ethan? Oh! Ethan!” FUCKING FINALLY, Danny figured out his friend’s name. They’ve been hanging out for like way too long for Danny to ask what his name was. He looked hella relieved. “I mean—come on, you wouldn’t be dating him if you weren’t like... having fun, y’know?”

Danny has a very funny definition of ‘dating’ but within the context of when he ‘dated’ Dom, it made sense. He wasn’t sure what Ethan was getting out of it since ‘dating’ was pretty transactional, but he did understand that bros had needs.

“Find what real soon?” Danny still didn’t look worried. He was just pretty hungry and his arm was tired from trying to find reception in the middle of magic England. Actually, his stomach growled in the middle of their conversation, which wasn’t going to go ignored for too long.

“And sorry about what? Girl, you can’t go ‘breaking up with people’,” Danny sashayed his hips and made air quotes as he spoke. “Then make me sorry because of shit you did?”

She had spotted him out of the corner of her eye. Well, it was more like she had heard him. Danny’s American accent was always easy to pick out from the usual noises of Diagon Alley. As soon as her eyes met him from across the street she had ducked into an Alley, using her purse to cover her face, as if that would stop him from spotting her. 

Dominique knew what she had done was pretty bad. Telling the aurors that he was the one who had kidnapped her was not a good move, but it had felt so satisfying at the time. She’d been brought back in by the aurors for even more questioning this week and finally she had decided to just give them someone to chase, and who better than her most recent heart break? She had assumed that by now the aurors would’ve brought Danny in and questioned him and he must somehow be out, and pissed off with her. Pissed off enough to chase her down in the street at least. But he didn’t. No one even noticed when she ducked into the alley, and when she stuck her head out to see where Danny had gone, she saw that he’d just continued to walk by. What the fuck?!

Before she knew it the blonde was marching over towards him. How was he not even angry with her? Did he care that little? She had turned him into the aurors! 

“I can see you’re out and having fun. Not even going to ask me why I did it?” She had a whole speech prepared about how he was an asshole and deserved what he got and was annoyed he hadn’t allowed her to use it but avoiding a confrontation. 

@daniel–molina​

Danny found his phone.

Well, more specifically, a phone. It was in the same case as his and just as beat up as he remembered it. He’s been trying to get it to work—not that Diagon fucking Alley ever had any reception or any damn outlets to charge the fucking thing into.

He seriously was not paying attention to what he was doing or where he was going. Not that he really had anyone to bump into as he was trying to see if his phone could connect to something, with his arm outstretched. It was freezing in mid-fucking February.

“Fun?” He lazily turned on his heel towards the voice addressing him, an irritating familiar blonde at his wake. Danny didn’t really have any idea what she was talking about. He gave it a quick think before coming to the realization. “I mean I totally know why you did it, Quidditch Bro is fucking jacked as hell!”

Quidditch Bro and Quidditch Bro two point oh had both hooked it up with... Dom. Some secrets just kinda slip once the alcohol starts flowing, and there wasn’t anything new with Dom that Danny was actually aware of. He moved a step back—was she done talking to him or what? Did she want to take him back?

She did give good head.

“So like... is that it?” He wasn’t that eager for a blowjob and only mildly curious why she stopped him on a snowy street.

The Magical world was going to shit.  That was literally the only thing that he could say about the situation.  Albus was well past the end of his rope when it came to dealing with the whole bloody fiasco. His family was the subject of tabloid press, which why the fuck was the Prophet allowed to get away with that when the Sun could get sued up the ass was beyond him.  His boyfriend was just gone, snatched like so many others.  Or well, that was his operating theory on the matter.  

Not that anyone was listening.

There were side eyes and pitying looks around Odgen’s Hall, his magical classmates and professors walking on eggshells.  Or just trying to be sympathetic.  He ground his teeth and downed the rest of his pint.  If it wasn’t for his muggle classes and friends he might have gone completely spare. 

Which, to be fair, was pretty much the Potter way these days.  

Albus had sought refuge in a muggle dive in Oxford, chasing cheep lager with Jack Daniels and doing his best to keep his mind away from the length of birch strapped to his forearm.  Bless his father for the concealed holster, but it didn’t really fill him with confidence.  

The boisterous greeting and arm about his shoulder had him tense.  But the voice took him back to balconies and a very nice high and he let a grin split his face.  

“Bugger me it’s the Big D yeah?” he replied with a laugh.  He raised his glass towards the bartender.  “Lucky you I’m here for a session.  Gonna drink me into or out of my troubles mate?”  It didn’t hurt to have a companion for pickling your liver..  Especially one with a handsome face.  

“Aw man, you know what it is.” Although Danny just kinda said that and didn’t know how it really was. “What’s the occasion? I mean not that you need an occasion to get wasted or whatever, but I dunno man—I usually don’t get asked for the honor. How about some fucking shots?”

Hopefully that meant that Prince Charming was the one covering the cost for him—even if he was the one hollering orders for his whiskey. Danny wasn’t even drunk yet; he just didn’t never elected to use his indoor voice. “Let’s say into one trouble and out another, yeah? Or the other way around? Are the cops after you, bruh? Cause I don’t have like, a hideout or anything but we can go to my other friend’s place or whatever—yo wait tho—he’s got free firewhiskey!”