it's all meaningless now.

“I wonder if we’re still goin’ to the Quidditch World Cup. I was really looking forward to it.”

“ I get the feeling we ... might? just given the ratio of grieving students to mildly sympathetic students. our fearless headmistress strikes me as pragmatic, that way. “

“ charming, burke, ” hestia raised an eyebrow, offering a smile over the rim of her drink to the next occupants of the photobooth, ignoring burke for the moment — she wasn’t offended by his tone, nor his refusal to use the booth. she, herself, was hesitant about getting in front of the camera. “ maybe you should move then. wouldn’t want you accidentally being swept up in a rabble of drunk or high teenagers who don’t take no for an answer. ” she let an awkward smile rise, shrugging in return to his glance.

“ I do try to be, “ nate agreed --- fully aware she didn’t mean it literally, and fully prepared to ignore that fact in favor of taking her advice and shifting the slightest amount out of the way from the newest onslaught of people looking to take their picture. he glanced back at her with a wry grin pressed into his features. “ aw, now, not enough faith in our fellow students? surely you gotta trust they’d respect my boundaries ... could’ve sworn I heard three different prefects giving some fourteen year olds the ‘no means no’ speech. “ he took another drink from his cup before musing, “ or is it only peer pressure if it’s something illegal? “

There was a piece of Septima that wished she could be so at ease. She wasn’t normally much of a party animal, unless, of course, you counted all night Wizard’s Chess battles a party. “I guess you’re right… Tradition is a good argument- the professors were students once too, subject to their own traditions…”

“ hey, of course I’m right, “ nate corrected without any heat. he eyed septima, wondered if this was her first time at the party --- something he couldn’t really fathom, though he figured some people had to start somewhere. “ not my first rodeo, or whatever. but yeah, exactly, you get it. they might be buzzkills but sometimes they try not to be hypocrites and leave us be. “

“So on a scale of one to ten with one being not likely at all and ten being absolutely certain, how likely is it that the professors bust this party and give us all detention?” Septima asked, her face scrunched up with mild concern.

“ not likely at all, “ nate said, shrugging his shoulders carelessly. “ this thing is a tradition, basically. not to mention not even that bad of a party, all illegalities considered. they know what battles to pick, so --- really, it’s whatever. “

With a beer in his hand, the Slytherin watched a few 4th-year Gryffindor students being teased by some 7th-year Slytherins. The older students successfully made them believe that they could join the party if they swam in the Black Lake for twenty minutes. He shook his head, before bursting into loud laughter as he watched the Slytherin students grab the wands and robes from those Gryffindor students who swam in the lake. When he heard footsteps behind him, he turned around, “You’ve to see this,” Dolohov chuckled as he lifted his cup to take a sip before motioning to the Black Lake.

nate meandered over towards antonin, giving the other slytherin a look as unimpressed as he could manage --- and he could manage quite a lot, given that what he really wanted to do was scoff and walk away from the whole affair entirely. he didn’t see the point of being a dick to a couple of fourteen-year-olds who didn’t even know enough to think to watch their backs. he didn’t see the point in tricks like that when your opponent wasn’t an equal match, but then that was the sort of thing nate found better kept to himself. when he reached dolohov, he shook his head. “ what’s to see? didn’t something like this happen last year, too? it’s hardly exciting. “

“well, let’s see,” he pretended to think while gesturing to the other students with his half-empty cup, “as much as i hate to admit, the gryffindors did well with the booze, and that looney ravenclaw? trewlaney, is it? did especially well with the treats.” cyrus wiggled his eyebrows. he turned to face nate, “but,” he paused dramatically, “you’re right, the year the slytherin’s planned the homecoming party was superior.”

“ aw, c’mon, a bit of looniness with the brains enough to think of treats that special --- why, I’d think that’s practically the ravenclaw way. there’s probably a sign saying about as much hanging up in their common room. “ nate shook his head, shit-eating grin taking pause to pull from his drink. he looked back at cyrus, noting the drama, and raising his brows an fittingly somber amount to match. “ of course, of course. all the gryffindor booze in the world couldn’t compare ... but we’ll see. things might yet get more interesting. “

“Well you don’t have to volunteer. I know deep down it’s what you wanted all along. Plus, it feels like the few of us who are pure are outnumbered by the rest. You’re the best of a bad bunch, Burke.” The Slytherin watched him, shaking her head. “I prefer taking my time. Are you actually enjoying this?”

“ ah, yes, I forget how deeply and personally you know the core of my desires, bellatrix. “ nate’s words came with a wry shake of his head and hardly any bite, though he knew under normal circumstances they’d have been all sharpened. he couldn’t help a smirk at the mention of their shared purity, though he kept that to himself. “ it’s not that bad, really. I’ve always been of the mind that not taking your time makes you have a better time. “

" so, how do you think we’re rating this year’s turnout? and everything else, of course. “ nate’s question, he knew, was something of a non sequitur, given instead of a greeting the moment he’d made his way over to cyrus. greetings just seemed like such a thing to waste when everyone was in a good mood, halfway to drunk --- and when he himself was drifting around the party and scarcely staying near one person long enough to care for all the niceties. “ personally, I think it beat’s last year, but I’m not sure how it stacks up against the year before “

Bellatrix looked at the other person, a small smirk on their face as they sipped on their firewhiskey. Twirling her hair, she shrugged at them. She had a plate of half eaten food in front of her as well as several empty glasses. “How else did you think I was going to get through this evening. Seeing as I’m now here, might as well make use of all the facilities here. Do you have any idea on what to do? I’m getting a little bored..So entertain me.”

“ why, bellatrix, “ nate said with a scant glimmer of a smirk casting a shade over his face, “ I don’t remember volunteering myself to be the entertainment for the evening. “ his expression only deepened as he raised a brow as best he could manage while tilting a fresh glass up to his face. bellatrix’s method of sipping seemed fine enough, but that wasn’t really now nate rolled; he took a pause to down the glass’ contents before returning his gaze to hers. “ not that I’d have any complaints, right, but I am clearly too sober for it just now. “

Hestia glanced out across the rest of the party, spotting people drawn like a moth to a flame to the stacks of food of which there seemed to be no lack. She’d half-sequestered herself next to the pop up photo booth, hanging out to make sure the camera was still working with a warm smile on her lips. “Okay, next!” She fixed her eyes on the group entering the area, raising an eyebrow as she took a sip from her drink.

“ god, no. “ nate found the words coming out his mouth reflexively --- to much of a gut wrench instinct to moderate his tone to anything other than instinctive vehemence. “ I’m not waiting around to take a picture, I’m just ... well, apparently, unfortunately, standing right by the photo booth. hm. “ nate frowned at himself for letting this happen, then took a sip from his cup, lifting his eyebrows at hestia in lieu of actually saying ‘what can you do?’

                  NATE BURKE  ➝ moodboard 001

        “ it’s COMPLETELY safe right now, there’s nothing to be afraid of, ”  he says, turning around to look at his companion with a grin.   “ i’ve been here during the night a few times, & i’m not dead, am i ? ”

“yes—” bellatrix didn’t look up from the newspaper that she was reading, having sensed a presence nearby. a moment or two later, she set it aside and looked around for a moment before smiling politely. “is there something that you need?”

so. so. nate is an actual handful. he has a stats page and a pinterest board, as well as a full bio that I know is way too long for anyone to suffer through. his intro is  ...  honestly not as long as it once was and for that i’m proud.