sugar sweet.

perhaps it had been bold to assume that frank wouldn’t have been here tonight, but the moment she saw him, she froze. she stared from across the beach and suddenly she found herself standing by his side. it felt so familiar — she wanted it to feel nice. but he had made it clear he had wanted nothing to do with her. still, she could hope. maybe things would have changed by now, maybe he would reconsider how harsh he had been — “ hi frank, ” her voice was soft, and she wasn’t looking him directly in the eyes. “ having a good night so far ? feels just like school, doesn’t it ? the gryffindors in one corner, slytherins in another. ” she smiled despite herself. “ and like always it’s a hufflepuff crossing the bounds. ” she couldn’t tell if she was rambling. she just wanted to talk to him. she just wanted to be near him. she loved him, she still did, and he had loved her once. maybe he could remember that.

     her lips pressed together in a semblance of a smile. she had known she shouldn’t have attended, but the threat of missing something potentially amazing was too much for her to resist. “as good as it can be,” she replied somewhat honestly, inwarding wincing. she had always envied her sister’s ability to get along with others so easily when it came so much more difficult to her. her eyes narrowed slightly at the ice cream before glancing back up at alice. “that would be lovely, actually. thank you.” she looked around somewhat awkwardly before offering another, somewhat more geniune smile. “how’s your summer been so far?”

“ great, i promise you that it’s really good. i’m a little biased, obviously, since i helped make this batch, but — no matter — it’s good either way. ” she gave petunia the cone she had just scooped before going back to make another cone. “ i hope you like it. ” for a second, alice waited eagerly for the other to try it, then she shrugged. “ it’s summer, just like my last one. i’m working at my uncle’s ice cream parlour again, and i always forget how sticky i am at the end of the day. i’ve got the urge to scourgify myself more often than not. it’s good, though. i get to see a lot of people i wouldn’t otherwise when they come to diagon alley. do you have a job, petunia ? ” 

Regulus looked at Alice. He’d never been keen on any of Sirius’ group of friends, but he wasn’t inclined to make waves tonight, so he let her approach. “Looks like James Potter can’t hold stronger liquor and needs a more effeminate mix,” he said, smirking at the girl before him. He raised his own glass of firewhiskey, neat, to his lips and polished off the glass before raising his eyebrows. “Although, it appears I’m getting another drink, so I might as well get you the butterwhiskey or whatever silly name they’ve come up with for it.” He gestured toward the table that claimed the alcohol for the evening, as if to say after you.

“ that’s mean of you to say, ” alice protested, her face twisting with annoyance. “ half of the strong stuff got spilled into the sand when someone pushed someone else into the table. not his fault to choose a drink based off of what’s available. ” she glanced from him to her empty drink and then towards the table. she figured she had started this conversation and it would be rude to leave it now. some of her friends might have had no qualms with being rude to someone — especially a slytherin — but not alice. she just couldn’t do it. “ if you don’t like butterwhiskey, ” her nose scrunched at the name, “ just get whatever you like, and leave me to drink what tastes good. sorry i like a tasty flavor instead of my mouth feeling like i just licked a blast-ended skrewt. ”

the sea had always calmed emmeline. the sound of the waves gently crashing upon the shore and the feeling of sand between her toes always did wonders for the stress she seemed to permanently carry around. though she envied those with alcohol, she didn’t dare drink in case it made things worse tomorrow. taking another sip of the water bottle she carried, emmeline perked up at the sound of her name. “alice!” she grinned, walking over to sit next to the girl in the sand. “it certainly did go by quickly.” emmeline agreed, her eyes focusing on the sea. six years were gone in the blink of an eyes. perhaps if she had known at eleven what she knew now, she would have made different choices. “i wish i knew.” she remarked, offering alice a sad smile. “i remember our sorting ceremony so well. it feels strange that this is the last one we’ll see.”

she wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her head on her elbows as she looked towards her friend. she remembers when they were young and childish, caught up in the magic of their world, little breaking into their world to cause them grief. “ we’ve got to make the most of this year. we’ll go to hogsmeade every time and go to every quidditch game — maybe we should join a few more clubs, too. i hear the frog choir is desperate for new members. ” she let out a laugh, her ideas having ranged from plausible to downright silly. “ oh, don’t say it like that. you might have me decide to become a hogwarts professor so i can see at least a dozen more. ”

Lily had only just arrived with Petunia when she hears that very familiar voice. She turns, grinning brightly as she sees her friend. Just like that she’s distracted from her sister, wanting to actually enjoy her evening. She steps towards Alice, leaving Petunia to find her own way. Things have been strained in their relationship as of late. “Alice! Hello!” She nods along as Alice rattles off what she’s been doing with her summer. “I’ve just been looking for a job, nothing’s come up yet though. I hear you there – it’d be so nice if this summer could last forever.” There’s doom on the horizon for them, an impending war. To be young for just a little bit longer would be so nice. She links arms with Alice and gives her a bright grin. “So, anything interesting happen yet at this party?” 

she listened eagerly, nodding along with everything that lily said. she didn’t want to seem uninterested — honestly, she couldn’t care about her friends any more than she already did. her care and loyalty was steadfast and unwavering. “ oh, that’s great ! i hear the ministry always has a few internship positions. i’ve got a cousin who works there, if you’d like me to reach out to her ? or you could work at the ice cream parlour ! ” she clasped her hands together at the idea. “ you know emmeline and i both work there. it’d be fun to have another friend there and i can put in a nice word ! ” she returns lily’s grin when they link arms, and they continue down the beach. “ oh — some of your housemates had a few fireworks. i tried telling them it’s not dark enough yet, but they didn’t care. i think one of them tried to light sirius’ hair on fire, too. it all happened too fast and it was a lot of yelling. ”

alice fortescue would willingly and freely admit that she didn’t know regulus black well. she knew his brother better, having become somewhat of a fan of all of the marauders through one peter pettigrew. still, she knew that the black brothers weren’t too keen on another. still — no reason to not be friendly. “ hi, regulus, ” she sounded uncertain, as if he’d tell her to go away after just two words. “ are you having a good night ? this is really fun, isn’t it ? i don’t know who brought the butterbeer and firewhiskey, but james potter is a genius for telling me to combine the two. you should try it. “

the moon shown down on the beach, silvery threaded gasps reflecting on the water. someway, somehow, after swearing she wouldn’t, she ended up with the trick charm in her grasps. no one was taking it from her and a few people had bothered to laugh at her. her face was red, half-embarrassed half-indignant. “ hey, hey, carrow, ” her eyes had locked onto the slytherin boy, and she thrust her hands out, pushing the trick charm into his hands. “ sorry, this is nothing personal, i just — i couldn’t hold it anymore. good luck. ”

“ oh my word, lily ! ” alice’s exclamation was a little shrill but full of eager excitement as she ran towards the red-headed girl. they hadn’t been apart for long, barely even a week, but the excitement on her face would read that they were being reunited after a years’ long break. “ i hope your summer has been going well — i’ve been at the ice cream shop, obviously — and i’ve been trying to talk to frank — ” her smile fell briefly before quickly returning, even wider this time around “ — but i feel like it’s going to fast already. i want this to last. ”

alice sat on the sand, her toes just barely touching the water. she leaned back on her arms, looking out over the water. she was wondering if this evening would be one of the last of its kind — carefree and easy, and somehow all too fleeting. she looked over to see emmeline nearby, and she called her name out with a wave. “ can you believe we’re here already ? i feel like i was just a first year and i’ve blinked and six years have passed. ” her smile was watery, wavering. “ where did all of our time go, em ? ” 

“ oh, hello, petunia, — ” alice looked a touch startled to see the other girl. she never knew quite how to handle to the older evans girl. her sibling was all too nice, easy to get along with. petunia decidedly wasn’t her sister. “ — i hope your having a good night. ” her eyes fell to the ice cream cone she held in her hands and she held it out to the other. “ ice cream ? ”