golden tragedy

“you’re good at everything, leo, darling,” she smirked, resting her free hand atop his shoulder and squeezing lightly. she let her feet follow his familiar steps. winking at a few busybodies she noticed. before grimacing at his words. “only if you bribe me,” she half-joked. “maybe if i could drag sirius here but i’d rather save my powers of persuasion for a worthier cause.” not to mention… the imposing mrs. black flitted in and out of her vision. distracted, she forced her thoughts back to leo. “speaking of sirius,” she leaned closer, her tone curious “did i see your jacket at his place the other morning?” 

"i think you're confusing me with you." and he definitely meant it. in just a few steps, leo got into the rhythm of the music, taking her along as they moved subtly within their small space. despite all the wrong things with the pureblood society, one thing he unashamedly loved was the social component - the parties, the dancing, the empty flutes and networking, the music that rarely changed. "i don't know how the others would react to renegade sirius black being around." he spoke with a blend of sympathy and honesty, well aware of all the things they said about him and other deserters - he mainly didn't want eleanor to get caught in the middle of all that. when the subject turned to him, he skipped a beat, in complete dissonance with the song or the room they were in. "my jacket?" so he had indeed left it there. "uh, hm, yeah. blue, big buttons?" no need to elaborate on the why if she didn't ask. because of course eleanor bones wouldn't ask.

           “ you’re so CUTE, ” she cooed before turning to a group of witches and posing for a photograph. she signed as many autographs as she could before grabbing leo’s hand, “ we gotta go head out now babes, we have a big day ahead of us ! we’re promoting the new album ! we can’t wait for you to hear it ! ” she gave them a wave and apparated out, the two of them landing unsteadily in front of their first of many stops. “ here we are ! shall we ? ”

cheeks aching from her permanently displayed polite smile, a familiar gretting broke her face into a relieved grin. “leo,” she breathed, pulling the older man into a hug. she knew the younger flint often made the society rounds, but eleanor largely avoided them. always begging off with work as an excuse. “hope this is a pleasant surprise. my mother guilted me into coming.” the bones matriarch had a hand in most gala planning, feeling plagued by her children’s growing lack of interest in high society. the galas lost their sheen for eleanor after she left hogwarts- still she tried to make an appearance once or twice a year, if only to alleviate her mother’s nerves. her hand slipped into leo’s as she pulled him back towards the center of the ball room, long dress robes rustling as she moved. “let’s have a dance, stir up a few rumors.”

          he pressed a kiss against leo’s neck, lips ghosting against his skin, breath coming out slow. “ something like THIS, ” he whispered, teeth nibbling his ear lobe, sucking softly before pulling away completely, shivering now that he no longer had the heat from leo’s body.  “ maybe this, ” he let his free hand tangle in leo’s curls, massaging his scalp and teasing his fingers through his hair. “ what do you think ? tempting ? “

he hefted a bundle of brooms onto his shoulder, grunting. on his way to drop them off for safe house distribution when leo flint called out for him. his responding smile wasn’t forced but neither was it his expected easy-going grin. gideon had nothing against leo flint, never had. just keenly aware that leo was the man you picked if seeking the opposite of gideon. “thanks, mate. let’s walk and-” the offer of assistance halted his words. dark gaze flicked over the older man in appraisal. his shoulder lifted, hiking the brooms higher. “yeah, i’d check with marlene before you commit to working with me. don’t think she’d be a fan.”

coming into the war effort LATE and from the wrong side, with ties not completely severed due to his particular mission, leo brought in suspicion from day one, and that had never really ended for a lot of order members. few would be willing to work with him, but gideonprewett seemed nice enough, so he'd seen it as a fair shot. "marlene?" he'd heard rumors of something done and gone, but never paid much attention to them. there was very little he knew about gideon, and not a word of it had come from his often mission partner. "it's alright. sorry to bother you then." he had questions, and many potential answers but wouldn't want to assume anything. leo went silent as he organised the files in his hands, mission details in them all, before handing them over to the other man - but his words wouldn't leave his mind. "why, exactly? am i... stepping on any toes here?"

"yes, it happened often.” she spoke of such horrible acts so casually as if it was normal but to narcissa malfoy formally black it had been. that might’ve been the worst part given that druella and cygnus black were not loving parents and narcissa knew that. no amount of pearls and unimaginably expensive bottles of wine could mask how cold the pair was and how harshly they had raised their daughters for perfection. it had never occurred that there could be something better, something different because in the end it was all that had surrounded her as a child. all narcissa knew was she would be damned if she dared to raise her own child the same. “she was never particularly caring, leo. i’m sure she had her reasons..”

           he’d been sat at the bar all night, felt UNCOMFORTABLE in his suit, tie too tight around his neck. he was a couple shots in, now, eyes glazing as he watched the gala with minimal interest, the sea of dark colors and fancy robes all seemingly blending together. he’d been planning on leaving, soon, before he found leo in the crowd, pushed uncomfortably against a wall, drink in hand. he looked good, cleaned up well ( he was a huge fan of OMEN. there was an old interview floating out there somewhere from when he was a rookie, when he admitted to listening to their music before games. ) he felt his lips quirk – maybe he’d stay a little longer after all.

           he pushed his way through the crowd, two glasses of wine in hand ( he remembered reading in some magazine a couple years ago that leo loved a good glass of pinot, the more expensive the better ) approaching the musician with a sly smirk. “ hey, here – you look like you need another drink. i saw you looking – i’m ludo. bagman. beater for the wimbourne wasps. ” he let his shoulder press against the wall, slotting himself next to leo, just a bit too close to be friendly. “ don’t worry, i get it – know you’re not a huge quidditch fan. i think i can change that though. ” he winked. “ so, you having a good time ? ”

his eyes fell silently on the other's hands - he hadn't just come because he'd spotted him staring. his lips curled into an uncertain smile as he nodded - wimbourne wasps certainly sounded like the name a quidditch team would have. thankfully, the other seemed to read his mind. "don't suppose i need to introduce myself." something in his smile changed, grew more genuine, definitely at ease as he took a sip from his glass and turned his head to face to other man. oh, he was prettier close-up. "i'm sure the wimbourne worms are great, but i've been steadily uninterested in quidditch for many years. how exactly would you change that?"

           “ oh STOP looking at your watch, we’ll be FINE ! ” with a roll of her eyes she grabbed his arm, apparating to hogsmeade. back when they were learning, she’d always been so afraid to bring him along – apparition had been her worst subject. even now, she much preferred the floo network, but they were short on time and leo would freak if she tried that now. so ; apparition. “ ok ! ” she clapped, “ i’m gonna grab a latte real quick, don’t get into any trouble while i’m gone, ok ? ”

           she wandered into the shop, greeting everyone with a smile ( she was here a LOT ; this was her favorite spot to write. ) it was a quick trip, in and out easily – they knew her order, by now, started working on it as soon as they heard her enter. she couldn’t have been gone for more than five minutes, but after waving goodbye and heading out, she found herself in the middle of a screaming crowd, people climbing over each other to get a look at leo.

          “ leonito ! i thought i told you to stay out of trouble ! ” she laughed, pushing her way through the masses. “ how’d this even happen ? ”

whatever cautious words he was about to say got stuck in his throat as she apparated them without warning. when they were transported, his immediate reaction was to check them both for any missing bits - can never bee too safe with lemon and apparation. "uh, yes, yeah. same thing goes for you." he watched her go with a smile, wondering if she'd truly stay out of trouble, when some random girl stopped near him.

it was a routine he still found somewhat surreal. a fan nervously mumbled out requests for an autograph and sometimes even a picture if they had cameras with them. he smiled and went along. tried to start a conversation, sometimes worked, sometimes it was all a bit too squeaky for that. it seemed to be going alright when a second fan approached, asked about lemon, about the next album, more autographs, oh , he had a muggle camera.

The evening was in full swing and Lucius was mingling for all that he was worth. He rotated between small groups, couples, and those standing alone like he was a man on a mission, and inwardly, he was just that. The young man had been raised to not only operate with charm and grace that would appease those around them, but also with such a skill that everyone would seek him out. That he would be the one they thought of when it came to influence, to investment. It was a dance that Lucius had done many times before and he simply became more adept at it each time it was preformed. The only thing that had him stopping his playing of the game was the approach of someone who he actually enjoyed being around and didn’t have to plaster on a charming smile or flex his silver tongue. “The Shafiqs are not a surprise, I have gathered that they are particularly out of sorts with the Selwyns from the chatter tonight. Could or could not be true, but with the lack of their appearence…” Lucius trailed off to shrug his shoulders languidly, sipping from the wine glass in his hand. The mention of Leo being married off to not only a random witch, but a Bulstrode witch, had the man chuckling into his glass. “So which did you choose? Her niece is something, I must say.” He said, teasing his friend.

"Well, that explains all the whispers." Pureblood feuds might be particularly interesting to the gossiping sort, but Leo was merely doing a job there, and he had no interest in which absurd matter had once again turned families against each other. He simply raised his brows as he drank the last of his champagne flute, before leaving it on the tray of a passing by waiter. "Ah. Is that so?" Amusement colored his lips as he walked through the masses side by side with Lucius, words dropping out of him with a rarely seen ease. "I told her that I'm sure they're all great ladies, but with OMEN so close to releasing an album, press, final recordings - there's just no time, to my great displeasure." Mrs. Bulstrode had looked satisfied enough with his answer. "I might have also given them all concert tickets and backstage access." The final bit was added, breaking away all the amusing charm he'd laid on the woman - but how could he not offer them? As often, kindness got in the way. "And you? How many proposals so far?"