RIGHT AT THE BORDERLINE

TAG @caerus | OUTFIT

Date: January 31, 2017
Location: The Nott Family Home

“New Year, same old me,” Remy said, as she stared into the mirror on the door. She shifted slightly, admiring the way the fabric of her dress moved against her skin. In true Remington Monroe fashion, she had chosen a delightful little green and black sequin number that she was sure would delight the rest of the Wizarding population. That is, if she ever managed to get out of this bloody house. It wasn’t that she was being held hostage — not in the slightest. In fact, the Nott family was saving her from the embarrassment of returning to the Orphanage for the rest of the Winter, something that she was eternally grateful for. However, she was going a little stir crazy sitting around the house. Caerus’ parents had gone out a few hours prior to some New Year’s Eve bash in London, leaving the two children to “behave themselves” and “not to get into any trouble.” Of course, Remington had agreed wholeheartedly, but the moment they had left, had raced upstairs to start her preparations for going out.

New Year’s Eve was one of her favorite holidays. It was a chance to drink until you couldn’t remember the past year which — given 2017 — was quite favorable. Giving her dress one final tug and spritzing on some of her new perfume, Remington winked once at her reflection in the mirror before grabbing a small bag and heading down the hallway where she knew she would find her housemate.

She and Caerus had been friends for as long as she had been at Hogwarts. Though they differed in many ways, when push came to shove, it was him who understood her best. Sure, he was a good shag, but he was more than that to her. Not too much more, she reminded herself before she knocked on his door. It wasn’t as if she liked liked him. That would be ridiculous. No, they were just friends who were uncommonly close. They were friends who liked to flirt and that was all. That was precisely where she drew the line. Plus, Remington never thought of herself as much of a one-man kind of girl. She enjoyed the thrill of the chase, but once something was in her grasp, she was more inclined to throw it into the bin than she was to cherish it like treasure. Boys were toys — that was something her mother had started saying to her as she got older.

Standing in front of the closed door, growing ever more impatient, Remington knocked again. This time, she didn’t wait for him to answer before she used the block heel of her shoe to push it open. She hoped that he was inside, though she couldn’t see him, yet. “C’mon, loser,” she said, leaning her arm up against Caerus’ doorframe as her eyes searched the room, looking for her Lord Nott. “We’re not staying in tonight…” Remy paused, weighing her options before deciding a rephrase was in order. “I’m not staying in tonight. And I require an escort per your father’s suggestion.” She held out her hand, a sparkle in her eye.

CAN YOU MEET ME HALFWAY?

Outfit with less facial hair okay

New Year’s could usually be… interesting. He had to admit that he found it more enjoyable than most other holidays, and not just because it was socially acceptable to drink far more on that night than any other time during the year. There was just… something about the new year started. He didn’t really know how to explain it—nor would he attempt to. Caerus simply thought that the new year had gotten more enjoyable every year, and he knew that a lot of that had plenty to do with the witch that spent every holiday with them. Since he had met Remy—and since they had become friends, she had come to his house over the Christmas holidays. She didn’t have anywhere else to go but the orphanage, and when he was younger, his mother had thought that was unacceptable. She thought that everyone needed to be with family over the holidays, and so to her, it only made sense to let her stay for Christmas. It was funny to think about now, that his mother had been the one that had agreed with the idea in the first place, because now she was the one that didn’t necessary like it now.

She liked Remy, obviously. His friend was good at charming parents, but he also did think that his parents had grown to care about her too. They wanted to make sure that she was all right—she got plenty of presents from them on Christmas, and he was decently sure they sent her birthday presents too even if they had never outright admitted it to him. But as they had gotten older, there were… reasons that his mother didn’t think it was appropriate anymore. Clearly. Of course, she didn’t realize that she was trying to avoid something happening that had already happened. But he just didn’t think that there was anything wrong with shagging and having a good time with someone. It didn’t have to end badly or go anywhere. It had just happened, and now they were still friends… that occasionally shagged if they didn’t have any other prospects that weren’t currently annoying them. And he was glad to help her spend the holidays anywhere other than at the orphanage. He liked having her here. It was a hell of a lot easier to actually see her than when they were at school with conflicting schedules and extracurriculars, and dorms on the opposite sides of the castle from each other.

He was sure that she could find somewhere else to stay, if she didn’t want to come here. He supposed he wouldn’t be offended by that. The Zabinis were always a possibility, since she was at least sort of friends with Amelia, but he was glad that she chose to come here. It made his holidays a lot more entertaining than they would be if she was anywhere else. His family was… all right, he supposed. His uncles were more interesting than his father, but they still usually had a good enough time over the holidays. His brother had gotten more fun to be around too since he had graduated Hogwarts, and Rhea wouldn’t admit it but Caerus knew that she liked having Remy around. She might have been a halfblood, but he did think that Rhea still hero-worshipped her in several ways. Rhea was too nice to be anything too much like Remy, but she was still a Nott and a Slytherin for a reason. Caerus wouldn’t envy anyone on his sister’s bad side—he had seen enough to know that. But she was still a kid, as much as she didn’t like to think so. She had to stay home tonight, even.

But he very much doubted that he and Remy would be able to say the same. She would want to go out, he knew her well enough to know that. Ophion had already left for the night, and his parents were gone too. He’d decided to take a shower and get dressed, just to anticipate the fact that Remy was going to waltz in here sooner rather than later. He’d had to dig in his closet to find the bloody belt that he needed, and it was then he heard Remy’s voice. By the time he came back into his room, she was leaning against the doorframe. His eyes trailed up her legs perhaps a bit slower than was polite before chuckling at her. “I’m not sure that’s what he had in mind… but it is a good suggestion…” He had known going out was on the agenda from the moment that his parents had left. “Just what did you have in mind?” The question was really whether they were going to into London, or somewhere else. He would try to guess, but he had learned a long time ago that Remy wasn’t exactly predictable.