❛  excuse me,  ❜   ariel interrupted, rolling over to focus her accusatory tone on the people who had rudely interrupted her sleep beneath the public oak tree.   ❛  i’m trying to nap here. could you maybe take your teenage angst somewhere else ?  ❜

“NO.” rodolphus replied with a rolled up novel in his hand. “—i like to do my angsting here.”

               by the time cvrsed was halfway through their set, andromeda was well drunk. she felt light-headed as she stumbled across the room, bumping into people left and right with nothing but a small giggle and a mutter of apology as compensation. it wasn’t until she bumped into one particular body that she came to a stop.   ❛  ro —  ❜   she gasped, hand now caught on his shirt for some semblance of balance.   ❛  shit, um — i’m — i’m sorry —  ❜  //  @rodlestrange

      “watch i— oh, andromeda.. it’s fine.” rodolphus caught her in his arms before realizing who it was. he hadn’t seen her since they hooked up. there were things that probably needed to be discussed, but neither of them were in the right state for that. “how are you?”

  “ ok.. look, rod, i am going to be completely real with you here when i say.. i don’t get drunk often. which means that my knowledge of alcohol is limited, “ she explained, “ so.. it was firewhiskey.. or the peach schnapps that my friend, mary, is fond of. “ the blonde let her shoulders shrug, “ so.. unless you want to introduce me to something else, then you get what you get here. “

      “—you don’t say.” the boy replied sarcastically, assuming that the girl didn’t drink much. “fire whiskey is fine. peach schnapps would have taken a hit to my reputation i think. not everyone can be as cool as mary.” he laughed as he took a sip of his drink. “i prefer champagne personally.”

     “ I just don’t trust music made by men, “  victoria said with a flippant wave of her hand. she was joking  —  for the most part.  “ there’s too many men playing music. cvrsed  …  they’re fine, or whatever. maybe I’d get it more if I cared about what they had to sing about. “  she shrugged and tapped her fingers on the bar top in a staccato beat, looking at rodolphus as she pretended to actually consider his suggestion. she obviously wasn’t opposed to breaking things; but she’d been telling the truth when she told him she wasn’t drunk enough to damn the consequences.  “ it’ll be more fun after five shots, rodolphus. in the mean time, we can use the wild gryffindor spirit in some other way. build up to the breaking. “

     “ and why don’t you? “ he asked with a laugh as not to argue her ideas. he couldn’t blame her even if her reason was even as simple as not liking men. “i have never actually heard them play before. so, i guess i’ll have to listen to before i can say i fully agree with you. but, i feel like we’re pretty similar so if you don’t like it i doubt i will.” rodolphus gave a small shrug. the look victoria held made it seem like the slytherin was going to get to break things, but sadly she did not go for the idea. “i think it’s fun without shots, but i will try my best to keep up with you. —i am not much of a drinker for whatever reason. my brother on the other hand.. well, i guess he took our family’s alcoholic tolerance genes. alright how does one use wild gryffindor spirit?”

  “ hmmm.. firewhiskey alright with ya? “ she responded. the blonde didn’t wait, however, for him to agree or disagree before signaling to the nearest waitress for two of them. when it came to alcohol, greta’s knowledge was rather limited to the few things that she knew as she didn’t drink often. and that knowledge was mostly firewhiskey and peach schnapps ( thanks mary ) . if he wanted something different, then he could order his own damn drink. 

    “—fine.” he answered although she had already ordered by the time it had left his lips. for someone so nice she was very assertive. something he didn’t see very often. “thank you.. i guess? you didn’t really wait for my answer, but i will take it regardless.” 

“ oh, well, we’ve got limitless time here, “  victoria said with an expansive, loose-limbed shrug.  “ if need be we could’ve just cut into the band’s performance. I’ve never really gotten the school’s need to be groupies for ‘em anyway. “  she dropped her arms and dropped the act, rolling her eyes at herself as she caught back up to him and settled her weight to lean against the bar itself, looking up at him with narrowed eyes like she was considering the question  “ well, after five shots what remains of my mother’s etiquette training goes out the window. it’s a very fun time, I swear, and sometimes I break things. “

    “neither have i. their music is mediocre at best.” the girl’s at school seemed to find all of the band members, and as a male who was comfortable enough in his sexuality to admit: none of them were that attractive to oogle over. —he was obviously better looking. “why wait for five shots? toss that etiquette out of ‘ere and let’s break some shit!” a part of him was only teasing. knowing that breaking things in the bar would most likely get them both kicked out for the rest of their time at hogwarts. another part of him, the angsty part, thought that breaking things would make the party a lot more interesting. “show me that wild gryffindor spirit you guys are always bragging about.”

 “ alright, alright. i get it. beggars can’t be choosers and all that, “ she responded with a wave of her hand. the blonde then gave a nod of her head and a small salute in response to his words. “ aye aye, captain, “ she said, “ just tell me what your poison is and i’ll be happy to deliver. “

“ i’ll admit.. i am a little heartbroken that you won’t sing dancing queen, “ it was her favorite. ..well, one of them. she then smiled, “ but.. a little bit of ABBA is better than none. so, i’ll take it. “

    “too bad. waterloo or no ABBA.” he knew it was probably the hufflepuff’s favorite seeing as it was the most overplayed of the group’s songs. “you are also going to have to give me more alcohol before i sing anything.”

“ i’m sorry, rocky, but if you don’t like ABBA then i don’t know how we can be friends, “ she said solemnly.

“ I’m sure if I really made you work for it, you’d have thought of other ways, “  victoria said with a short roll of her eyes.  “ lucky for you, I’m easy. “  she followed after his lead towards the bar, the crowd not what it would have been even a few months ago. introspection made her feel like she had an itch she couldn’t scratch, so she avoided it, but she knew it was strange  —  how easily she got along with rodolphus, even in a party thinned out by war paranoia. she gave him a lethal smile instead.  “ aw, you know me so well. just for that, I’ll be a perfect lady towards your virtue even five shots in. “

    “i would have. it might have taken some time though.” the bar was too crowded for the slytherin’s liking. although he knew a few months back it would have been much busier. the recent attacks leaving the students, as well as the parents, a little uneasy. he was much more the type to drink along than in a crowded bar, but he didn’t mind accompanying victoria.”five shots, huh? —and what happens after five?”  it was odd how well the two got along. the girl was everything rodolphus was told to stay clear of; yet, he found himself drawn to her presence.

victoria looked over her shoulder, eyebrows arched, to chart the nervous movements of the fifth years. it was interesting to see people so susceptible to intimidation it took that little to make them head out of someone’s line of sight; she wondered if they’d have been so hasty to leave rodolphus’ presence if they knew he was talking about getting shit - faced. in the end she found she didn’t care, and turned to look back at him with a relaxed smirk stretching over her face.  “ that’s a good policy, “  she began.  “ but I’m definitely going to have to take you up on that offer. can’t let you get fall-down-drunk alone.  “ 

  “ oh, come on, “ she whined, jutting out her bottom lip. “ you can’t be telling me that you don’t like ABBA. “

“i am telling you i don’t like ABBA.”

 “ if i don’t get drunk enough to try to steal the stage and do some drunken renditions of ABBA, then this night will have been a total waste. “ she teased.

“do not—under any circumstances— sing ABBA in my presence.”

   “ I never thought the idea of a secret party would become cliche to me. I need to be more plastered to enjoy this shit like those fifth years who think we haven’t noticed them yet. “

    “i can’t attend a social gathering thrown together by the school unless i’m having trouble walking straight.” rodolphus teased as his eyes trailed to the fifth years trying their best to sneak in. “—they’ll leave.” although ominous the slytherin did nothing but give a long, stern glare to the group loitering by the door. the group shifted uncomfortably as they tried to avoid his gaze. a moment later they walked out of the pub whispering to each other as they walked out the door. rodolphus turned his attention back to the girl across from him. “would you like a drink?”