Wandering Alice

“Adorable for now.” Lysander said with a smile. “Soon enough she’ll be a force to be reckoned with.” He said, almost as if he were trying to assure the dragon herself. “Don’t need to breathe fire to put fear into man. We’ll show them now won’t we?” He continued to speak to the baby dragon, watching as she disappeared under the water once more. He felt for magical creatures alike, but dragons more specifically. They were seriously misunderstood creatures - a little like himself, he liked to think.  “Anywho, tell me more about your adventures in the muggle world. We can chat over lunch. You’re hungry, aren’t you?” He offered, getting up and grabbing a towel for Alice figuring as they were both wet with dirty tub water now. But Lysander wasn’t bothered by it. He started to go off towards the kitchen, expecting Alice to follow after him.

Phoebe cast her darken irises at Alice just long enough to catch the other woman bite down on her lower lip. It was rare for someone to offer such sincere condolences to Phoebe. She was the cold, heartless Maddock after all. The one whose hardened exterior labeled her a bitch among countless other colorful titles. The one they all deemed would be just fine on her own. Despite her reputation, Phoebe nodded her thanks anyway towards the blonde, considering her offer. 

“Unless you’re interested in hunting down Alfie’s murders with me then I really won’t be needing anything from you.” Phoebe remarked already assuming that task was way more daunting than what Alice had bargained her. She pursed her crimson stained lips, a challenge poised on her tongue.“But do remember, I did your brother a solid for you.”

He rolled his eyes, a smile still playing at his lips. “Well, as I narrate my adventure to you, you will find that I am very daring indeed.” Frank chuckled. He reciprocated the pressure his sister applied on his hand, cocking his head to one side as she took his hand in both of hers. “I did get it. I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, Al. I just didn’t want to come back empty handed to expectation.” Though this was partly true, he also treated Alice like his little sister. They weren’t that far apart in age, but she was possibly the only person Frank showered affection on before himself. It was true that the pub was their home, but Frank had made it clear it was not where he needed to move on to something else. That was one thing he loved about talking to Alice, he didn’t have to explicitly tell he everything for her to know what was running in his mind. “But before we get into it, tell me about your trip. Or your tiny brain will forget all the good bits!”

Frank sat at the bar, his usual spot, and pondered over the last week. Normally, he would be engaged in conversation with one of the customers. But tonight, he was having a rare moment of introspection. He had wanted to tell Alice where he had been, but he knew that if it didn’t happen, he could not stand to disappoint her. He doubted that even his mother knew the whole situation. Neville had sent a few owls to his old friends, but the rest was up to Frank. He was glad that he had gotten the job, and it definitely made him feel a lot less guilty for leaving his parents during the lockdown.

A sharp shout snapped him back to his surroundings, and Frank grinned from ear to ear as he saw a familiar blonde approach him. “Hello, little Alice.” He said softly as she pulled him into a hug. “Trying to hug me to death, are you? Cute.” He noticed the extra effort his sister was putting in. As he let her go, he beamed. “Well, I’ll have you know I was out looking for a job.”

“Girl, I already left!” Danny had been couch jumping and aside from saving his galleons, it seemed more his style anyway. Staying in hotels was so… bougie, especially since he’s been mostly by himself. He long figured out that his friends had left before the travel ban, and it was sort of his fault that he was stuck for going to this exclusive party instead of leaving like he wanted. Besides, the Loch Ness Monster’s still out there. “Do you think this place really caters to people like me who count their coins in public?”

“You know, I don’t know how long I’ve been here? It’s been a while.” Danny tilted his head; she kept talking about Frank, and Danny wasn’t exactly on the greatest of terms with the guy. She seemed to know something that he didn’t, and there was just something a little creepy about her face. “What do you know about Frank-o? It’s not like you’ve been around here, you look kind of new – newer than me, that’s for sure…. So now I guess you’re just praying for a room to open up, yeah?”

He didn’t really like the sound of someone else coming in to be that random new person, since Danny was just used to being that guy who comes in for a day and disappears. Sure, Quidditch Bro and Dom were nice people, but it was hard to think that he had to stay here long enough to consider them friends and hard to think that he’d have to leave eventually. He sighed and sipped at his beer – though sipping was putting it lightly as he finished half of it in two gulps. Where the fuck was Quidditch Bro?

Alice shrugged “This place caters to everyone, really.” she admitted, which was true. They housed wizards and muggles, even muggles who had no idea that wizards existed. They don’t deny service to anyone, unless absolutely necessary. It was actually pretty nice growing up there, you’re never alone. Sure, she and Frank were barely allowed in the bar area of the business when they were kids - but sneaking in or staying seated behind the bar was fun too.

Listening to what the other said, Alice smiled at him. She and Frank didn’t really look alike, he looked more like their Father and she was more like their Mother. Sometimes she likes to mess with people and say Frank was just a friend who owes her money or something, but in the end, she admits to the truth. She’s not much of a liar, something Frank had to work with when they were kids. With that, she shrugged “I live here.” she admitted, no point of lying to him right now since she was in search of her brother after all “Frank’s my brother.” she then said, as she looked back at the bartender there and gave them a polite smile. A person who did know her just clocked in.

Lorcan chuckled “Yeah you’re probably right, I better feed you then,” he said with a grin. He shook his head at the question “Nope, I’d rather not risk losing a limb…Or my hair, I hear that’s probably a bit more common, I’d be the one to lose a limb though.” he said seriously. “Out of all the places we could eat you just want candy? Cause I mean sure but I feel like you’re just picking a cop out answer.” he teased “Well you’re the one who’s threatening to tell on me so you pick.” He said, noticing the group of girls at about the same time as she did, he recognized them as some of his girlfriends friends “Don’t worry about them,” he said, waving in their direction as he and Alice walked by them. 

Alice has been visiting the Leaky Cauldron's bar repeatedly. She had no idea where her brother was, for a pretty long time. When Hogwarts finally lifted the lockdown, the first thing she did was visit their parents. They were thankfully alright, but it has been a pretty rough time being locked up for so long. The two are back at the Leaky Cauldron, for now, enjoying their vacation and freedom. They assured her that Frank was alright, he left Harold in charge of the bar. Harold? Really? Nothing went wrong while he was in charge though, so that's good.

Going down the stairs and checking up on the bar once more, Alice finally saw him. Frank. "Frank!" the girl squealed, as she ran towards the man and just tackled him with a hug "Where were you?!" she then said, as she buried her face into him and squeezed him as tight as she could. Honestly, on purpose to let him know she was also mad that he wasn't there when she got back.

Lorcan chuckled “He’s my twin, who’s side do you think he’d take?” he teased before nodding slightly “Yeah I know he does, he’s terrible, I don’t know why he’s so intent on getting his license now.” Lorcan said shaking his head slightly, he wasn’t even taking the classes unlike his brother, the idea of trying to apparate scared him honestly, that was something that could go really wrong really quickly and he’d rather not risk losing a limb. “where do you want to eat?” he asked her as they walked through the crowds of other students.

“Water dragons often go without wings. Peculiar, isn’t she? I imagine it helps her swim a bit faster.” He set the small scaled beast back into the tub, watching as she disappeared under the murky water again. “I got her off a dragon dealer, poor thing.” He said. “They don’t breathe fire. Which makes her far less dangerous to handle. So she’s rare, but a little less valuable to most. And when dragon dealers are concerned, it’s all about value. They would have offed her, you know. She’s just lucky I found her when I did.” The small water dragon popped her head back up in the water, cocking it to the side and making a low vibrating rumble from the back of her throat. Then, she splashed Alice - making Lysander laugh. “Oh, yeah. Watch out for that, she loves to splash.”

At first Lorcan really only ever hung around Alice when she was around Lysander, sure he liked her well enough but Alice had way more in common with Lysander than she did with him, it wasn’t until he was helping her with charms– one of the only subjects he was better than Lysander at that he found out spending time with Alice pissed his girlfriend off and Lorcan would be a big liar if he said he didn’t find some satisfaction in that, especially since she was willing to piss him off just as much. So he found himself willing to spend more time with Alice than he normally would have and he found that he actually did enjoy the girls company and he was at the point where he would consider her an actual friend and not just ‘Lysanders friend’ so at this point pissing his girlfriend off was just a major plus. When they stepped off the train Lorcan laughed slightly “Who would you tell?” he asked with a grin.

Stepping out of the train, Alice was with Lorcan. The two has been hanging out more lately, aside from just their charms tutorial lessons that is. The boy seemed to have grown a liking towards the girl, just as friends of course. That made the little blonde happy, she was able to make yet another friend. Alice was already pretty close with Lorcan’s twin brother, Lysander. She’s just glad that she’s able to hook Lorcan into being her friend as well. The more she hangs out with the twins separately, the more she sees their difference and hell - even from a far, she knew who was who. “Where are we off to?” the girl asked, as she looked up at the man and gave him a sweet smile “I’m a bit peckish, you better feed me or I’ll tell on you.” she then said, as she let out a small giggle at that. The two already established a friendly banter type of friendship. It’s fun, she enjoys being with Lorcan despite her stronger connection to Lysander. No one’s the better twin, she thinks they’re both great.

Phoebe didn’t have time for small talk; she had places to go and people to see. Yet, her eyes managed to widened, then regrettably sink at the mention of a fire. “I’d be more impressed if you did…” she trailed already calculating her next move. Though Phoebe could have used an arsonist in her revenge plot on Alfie’s murderer, having a Longbottom as an ally could potentially work in her favor. The family name did hold stock in the wizarding community after all. 

“Oh, you know, just peachy.” Phoebe pursed her lips willing to entertain this conversation for the sake of business. “The wizarding world has gone to shit and my brother’s dead. Really nothing could be better.”

“Come along then.” He said, waving her out of his bedroom and into the bathroom. Lorcan would most certainly kill him for this. But hey, what his brother didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. The bathtub was filled to the brim in foggy water and as they neared it, nothing really happened. It looked as if Lysander was showing Alice nothing but a tub full of dirty water. It wouldn’t have been the oddest thing. Maybe he had finally lost his mind. Lysander knew what most people thought of him. And most people thought he was off his rocket. Then suddenly, a small head popped up from under the water. “There she is! Hello love.” He cooed, holding his hand out for the creature. 

“This is Soren. She’s a Norwegian water dragon. They’re exceptionally rare.” He said as the small dragon started to climb up his arm. It appeared to be wingless, her large scales a silvery blue with a cobra like head. But Lysander handled her with ease. He was an absolute natural when it came to caring for creatures. But even the most experienced magizoologists knew how unpredictable dragons could be. Lysander didn’t appear to be afraid. If anything, he was in constant awe of such creatures. “She’s just a babe. But I’ll have her for a few days before we send her off. She’s going to live on the Swedish Dragon Reservation. Isn’t she a beauty?”

Alice smiled and followed Lysander into the bathroom, there greeted them a bathtub full of dirty water. The girl looked at it, it had a little bit of movement but visually nothing. The girl waited for a little, she believes Lysander when he’s rambling off about these creatures she never heard of. Not that he told her what creature he had with him right now was something she didn’t know about, he just kept quiet. It wasn’t long until the creature did pop out and the girls’ eyes widened in surprise, it looked so cute. Well, she looked so cute. The girl smiled widely as she moved into the man’s arm to gently let the dragon get a whiff of her scent “Hello there, baby...” she cooed, as she then giggled as the little creatures did seem interested in figuring out who she was.