So prove to me
I'm your American Queen

❧

Leaning down from the side of the boat, Remy let her fingers rest on the water. The gentle waves came up over her wrist every so often, cooling her as she closed her eyes. This was the dream. Spending days suntanning on the beaches, spending the afternoons boating around the small island, drinking mojitos and mimosas until she swore she was going to pass out.

She had always wanted this.

This…sort of pureblood fantasy.

Remington Monroe was finally a part of the pureblood elite. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t a Nott, or a MacGuffin, or a Mountbatten. All that mattered was that she was a part of the family (or at least, a very lucky tagalong). This week had been her dream come true — a glimpse into what her life could be like. Spending the week on an uncharted island owned by Merlin only knew who, having the run of an entire villa because they could, watching her very famous boss get married in a very private, very personal ceremony…all of it was like something out of a novel and Remington thought herself the very lucky protagonist.

Maybe if her mother had survived it would have truly been like this all the time. Perhaps she would have been adopted into pureblood society of her own accord, instead of by proxy through the Notts. There would be parties in her honor — a debutant ball held just for her where suitors from all the sacred twenty-eight bartered for her heart like madmen. Maybe if Integra had lived to see her all grown up, she would be proud. Then again, all of it seemed like an awful lot of maybes for the Slytherin.

For this moment, she was perfectly content with tagging alongside her favorite Nott: Caerus. “I’m never leaving,” Remy said, stretching her arms into the air as she looked out over the ocean. She looked over at the boat driver who had been watching her with curiosity in his eye. He didn’t seem to speak much, but Remy didn’t mind. She’d had him driving her around all afternoon and had only stopped after she’d owled Caerus and asked him to meet her for a sunset boat cruise. “Never in a million years.” The boat driver gave a laugh and she prepared to scold him but instead chose to grin. She was in a good mood — maybe she would let this pass for now.

She spotted him a few meters off, silhouetted by the sun that was already beginning its descent into the ocean. It would be only a few minutes more before the true beauty of the sunset was upon them. And Remy most certainly wasn’t going to miss it. “Oh Lord Nott!” She called, standing up and using the ropes from the awning to steady herself. “You’d better run,” she laughed, now. “I’m not going to wait up for you and miss the sunset. You're not worth it!” Remy paused and turned to the driver. “Rev the engine a little, won’t you? Just to strike fear in that pretty heart of his.” And, almost instantly, the boat gave a loud roar and jerked forward, sending Remy tumbling, laughing as she fell back into one of the lavish seats on the port side.

544 ● @caerus ● Outfit

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Be the wind
inside my sails
The anchor
in the waves

❧

The trip was almost over already. In some ways, it felt like they had just gotten there but most everybody was leaving the next day to head back to the U.K. Caerus knew that they technically had the island until Saturday, but it seemed like most everyone was ready to get back and see what they had missed. They all had work to get back to, for the most part. Except for Rhea, really. Even Remy had the internship to get back to. His sister was the only one that really just had the whole summer to lounge around and do whatever she wanted--and he knew that even she was filling her time with the proper amount of reading that their father would deem necessary. She needed to be prepared for the next school year, after all. But she definitely didn’t have any reason to hush back to England like a lot of the rest of them did.

Caerus knew that he had plenty of practices for Quidditch that he’d missed by being gone this week. He’d cleared the trip before he had gone, obviously. It was his job now, Quidditch was his job, so he had to make sure that it was actually okay for him to leave the continent for a week for a wedding. But now he had to admit that he was looking forward to getting back. He didn’t like not knowing what was going on at practices or what he was missing. That was really all he was thinking about in his spare time. He wasn’t missing much with his friends, since LJ was here and Remy was here. His other friends were people that he could live without for a week and be completely fine, so it wasn’t as if he was worried that he was missing some particularly fun night clubbing or anything like that. All of that would still be there when he got home. He was sure there would be plenty of nights out this summer. There always was.

But for tonight, he had a certain brunette Slytherin waiting for some kind of sunset… something. He had gotten her owl, which had been surprising anyway. They were on the same island and she hadn’t even wanted to leave the boat long enough to tell him about this idea in person, which he thought was absolutely hilarious. It was very Remy, though, so once he had thought about it, he hadn’t been surprised at all. Caerus knew that she had been taking advantage of the boat more than nearly anyone else had this week. He hadn’t thought anything of joining her for a sunset boat ride, though. Some people might think that was a little bit romantic for just friends, but it was just a sunset and it was just a boat ride. So, he really didn’t think anything of it at all and had headed in the direction of the docks when it was time.

From a distance, he had seen the boat approaching. He had long since made it to the dock, so at the very least, he’d had to give himself credit for coming at the right time. She would never let him hear the end of it if he was late, and she missed the sunset--but it also would have been a little annoying to stand there and wait for the boat for half an hour. Luckily, that wasn’t the case, and he just watched as it approached for a moment. It had really had been a good week. He didn’t know if they could make this a regular thing that they did, but he wouldn’t mind them all coming back here sometime. Maybe not once a year, though he wouldn’t mind it, but even each once every couple of years would be fun. They could just get the same island again and all come here for some week to do this all over again… minus the wedding. He didn’t think that anyone else would be getting married down here.

He supposed that they could, but it was a little bit of a cop-out to use an island that someone else had bought for their own wedding, for theirs. Unless it was one of Anicka’s daughters, or her son, or something. But he didn’t think that was likely to happen. His focus moved back to the boat when he heard Remy’s voice, and he shook his head as the engine roared and the boat sped forward. “’Course I’m worth it!” He yelled back, shaking his head at her. “Better slow that thing down unless you want to watch the sunset alone, Rem!” He considered himself to be a pretty agile person, but he didn’t quite think that he could jump onto a speeding boat from meters away. He thought he’d be far more likely to end up in the water and then they would definitely miss the sunet and Remy would really ever shut up about that.

831  ● @ rem ● Outfit

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So prove to me
I'm your American Queen

❧

Remy couldn’t stop laughing. This vacation felt like exactly what she needed. For once in her life, she wasn’t thinking about who she was going to sabotage next. Instead, she was just thinking about how happy she was. She wasn’t thinking about her mum or her dad or her strange, unorthodox upbringing. She wasn’t thinking about what she was going to write next or what she was going to wear to the next party. Here, it was as if she’d finally been accepted into Pureblood society. Here she was, going to the wedding of her boss — one of the most influential members of pureblood royalty that she had ever met — and she was a plus one to Caerus Nott. She had finally managed to exist well beyond her means. And Remy thought that somewhere — wherever her mother was — she would be proud of what her daughter had done.

Standing up, Remy dusted off the lightweight hoodie that she was wearing and adjusted her sunglasses. He was still a few paces off and the boat wasn’t going quick enough to run out of dock before Caerus caught up to them. She leaned forward, watching him intently as he walked after them. She was pretty sure that he would be the one kicking himself if he missed the sunset. It was, after all, one of their last days in paradise.

Next year at Hogwarts would be strange, she thought as she continued to grin at him from her vantage point on the boat. Who was she supposed to shit talk with if he was gone? Who was she supposed to sit within the Transfiguration courtyard and make fun of all the pathetic little firsties with? She had to admit — if nothing else — that she was going to miss him. But, was he worth it? Remington found herself smirking. He was a good shag, he certainly had that going for him. Beyond that, she wasn’t sure. After years of playing a game of friends with benefits, she wasn’t sure what they were. She wasn’t sure if they were anything. Most of the time, she was just that girl that lived in his parents’ house during the summer and holidays.

Briefly, she pretended like she was weighing her options, though, she knew when push came to shove, he was right. She wanted him to go along. That was the reason she had booked the boat for tonight, anyway. But, she pretended to be conflicted, biting down on her lip as if she was weighing a thousand options. Finally, as if she was grappling with her decision, she turned to the boatman. “Slow it down a little bit,” she said to the driver and leaned a bit further over the deck. Now, the boat was moving slow enough that her little Quidditch protege would have no issue jumping on. Still, she didn’t want him to fall. Remy extended her hand over the side of the boat. “C’mon Cae, I haven’t got all day.” She wasn’t annoyed, not in the slightest. In fact, a part of Remy was more than excited that he was coming along for the ride.

@ caerus

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Be the wind
inside my sails
The anchor
in the waves

❧

Caerus was not complaining about having an island to themselves for a family vacation. It sounded like a great way to spend a week, in his book. He knew that he wasn’t the only one that missed Quidditch, but still… it was a small price to pay to have a South African vacation on a private island. And he wouldn’t even miss one game. A couple of practices, yes--that was not ideal, but he would make up for it when he got home. This was definitely worth being away for a little while for. There was some family drama, but was it even really a vacation without someone fighting with someone? In this case, it just happened to be about something serious.

But it was Dorian. Caerus thought that they had all just come to expect him to screw up. Harboring a Muggleborn was not good at all. He knew that was a major part of why his father was not doing much relaxing on this trip, but he hoped that his mum would get him to calm down and have some fun. There was no reason to focus on what he was going to do about his brother for the entire vacation. Merlin, it was a vacation. Whatever he had to do would keep until they were back in the United Kingdom. It wasn’t like Dorian was at home, planning to flee the country before he could face justice or something. He was right here with them.

Them not speaking was a little awkward, but there was very little that could be done about that. It was probably better for them not to talk, since there was quite the chance that talking would just end up with them fighting anyway. No one was trying to get in between the two of them in a fight. He didn’t think that would end up going all that well at all. As long as they continued to ignore each other, he thought that the trip could end without anyone losing any body parts in a duel gone wrong or something. That was the last thing that they needed, especially on a trip that he thought was doing all of them some good.

He was glad that Remy was here as well. Not that he would ever say that out loud or anything. It would have just been strange to not have her here with them. And rude, obviously, but that would have been his uncle’s fault and not his. Not including Remy in the invitation would mean that she was left alone at Nott Estate and that would have just been awkward all around. Inviting her had been the nice thing to do, and he knew that she was enjoying herself. This kind of trip was right up her alley. So, it was no surprise that she liked boating around. It was just about the most extravagant thing that she could do on this island, so of course she loved it.

Caerus didn’t feel like ending up soaking wet by trying to jump onto a speeding boat, and he thought it was much more amusing to not give into the theatrical entrance that Remy was expecting. It was fun to make sure that she didn’t get her way all of the time. The boat started to slow--still moving, but he knew better than to think that Remy would let the boat come to a dead stop so that he could get onto the boat like a normal person. That was far too much to ask--and too easy anyway. As long as it was a speed he thought wouldn’t land him in the water, then he was fine with it. Ignoring her offered hand, Caerus jumped onto the boat with ease--and probably managed to look pretty cool doing it, in his opinion. Definitely wouldn’t have been able to pull that off with the boat going any faster. “Well then, let’s get going, shall we?” His words were emphasized with an easy grin as he dropped down onto one of the seats.

682 ● @ rem ● Outfit

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