Who: Hannah Abbott and Kaleigh Nott
What: A random run-in at the party leads to some sweetness and tears
Where: The Malfoys Party
When: Saturday night
Rating: PG, these women aren't big on swearing!



Hannah wasn't afraid. Not exactly. She'd made it through the Malfoys front door without being hexed by some ancient curse. So far, there'd been no attempts to gather them all into one room and gas them like some World War II Nazi camp. Teddy didn't even seem annoyed that she was there, which was a definite plus. She'd made polite conversation, left her birthday gift for Draco (a stack of popular muggle mystery novels) at the front, and spent the rest of the evening mostly sort of hiding. And as much as she loved Ernie, and as close as she was becoming to Hermione, she really did feel like a third wheel with them. Of course, they never actually treated her as such, but it was still awkward spending her evening with a couple as obviously crazy about each other as they were. That and--well, it was a bit lonely.

It's why it didn't take long for her to start wandering. They were having plenty of fun, and as nervous as Hermione had been, she wouldn't miss Hannah for a few moments. There was plenty of time to talk to people from her classes, admire the decorating of the room, and... Well, it was an awfully big house, after all. She didn't know that she'd ever been in one so big, unless visiting Windsor Castle counted. Malfoy Manor even made the Macmillans house look modest, and while Teddy's home was large, it didn't seem quite so...foreboding. This one was hundreds of years old and felt it, and Hannah could see the history in every book and cranny.

She was examining the double doors leading outside when she couldn't help but slip through them. As she'd always imagined Draco as rather cold and unfeeling, it was hard to imagine him at home in the beautiful gardens and landscape that surrounded the Manor. It was dark, but the area was well lit, probably with magic Hannah couldn't do even after seven years in classes (six and a half, mind), and a hopefully decent score on her NEWTs. There were flowers about that Professor Sprout herself would've whimpered over and it seemed so welcoming that it was hard to associate the area in front of her with the boy she'd gone to school with. She leaned on the railing, looking out over it, imagining how a younger version of her might have grown up in such a place. It really was perfect for playing princess, something she'd done most of her life. Any moment now, her prince was going to come over that hill on the left, his horse's white mane and tail blowing in the early summer breeze. She was so lost in the little daydream that she had no idea how long she hadn't been alone for.

Kaleigh wouldn't have been pleased to know Hannah's thoughts about her only nephew even if she did rather like the girl. Teddy had never really shared all the details of their split, but Kaleigh trusted her son to make the right choices for his happiness. Still, it didn't make Kaleigh think less of Hannah nor did she stop caring about her. She hadn't gotten the chance to greet her properly with all the guests milling about so when she noticed the girl slip out, Kaleigh excused herself from some rambling eighth cousin and followed Hannah. "Beautiful, isn't it?" The Nott Manor was nothing to scoff at, but the Malfoys did have excellent taste. It also seemed fuller of life there since Angus' death. Kaleigh tried not to dwell on that, but it was difficult when she wanted nothing more than to celebrate her boys' achievement with him.

Surprised, Hannah nearly jumped out of her skin, gasping for breath when she realised who was beside her. Perhaps she shouldn't have gotten so relaxed in a home where she didn't entirely feel welcome, but it had been nearly impossible with such beautiful scenery in front of her. And, though she knew Kaleigh Nott wasn't likely to ever hurt her, it didn't relax her a lot seeing her there. She'd grown to care so much for the woman in front of her, only to have that snatched away from her, too. Maybe she wasn't meant to have a mum around. At least she still had Mrs. Macmillan. "Oh," she exclaimed, getting her wits back together. "It is, absolutely. I'm sorry...I wasn't snooping, honestly, I just... It seemed so calm out here and it's a bit...much in there. I just needed a minute."

Kaleigh only laughed and held her arms out. "Oy you silly thing. Why would I ever imagine that? Come here, it's been forever!" She stepped closer, showing off her simple, but pretty peach dress. Her hair was worn in loose curls around her face. She really was still a beautiful woman.

Hannah didn't dare hold back. She could have. Oh, she probably should have, the link to something she loved but couldn't have in front of her and all. But she was vulnerable at best these days, and sometimes Kaleigh Nott reminded Hannah so much of her own mother. Her dad tried, goodness knows he did. But his daughter's 'other' world was something he just couldn't grasp and it separated them somehow. Where so much of the rest of the wizarding world was having celebrations for their leaving school, Hannah wasn't even sure her dad had noticed. So she stepped into the arms opened out to her, holding on to the older woman gently, so as not to muss the gown she wore. "You look lovely," she commented in a soft voice. Soft but full of awe at how a woman who'd raised a boy Hannah's age could look so young and pretty. She made Hannah feel plain by comparison, and she'd taken great care with the long but form-fitting blue silk dress. Every girl deserved one great splurge on leaving school; a pretty dress and a new haircut had been Hannah's gift to herself.

Kaleigh grinned as she hugged Hannah even closer. "Don't you worry about mussing me. I swear Teddy placed his dirty hands right on me when he was eight! But that's what we have cleaning charms for, yeah?" She held Hannah at arms length then. "And look at you! Even more grown up than a few months ago!" She shook her head, keeping her sadness at bay. "What am I going to do with you lot? Getting so big and leaving me?"

Hannah smiled shyly, ducking her head. She didn't feel any more grown. If anything, she felt like she kept regressing. But she blushed a bit at the compliment just the same. "No one's leaving you and you know it," she teased. "If I know Teddy," and part of her did think she still did, "he won't go anywhere until he's sure you're safe and sound and peachy, or else he'll just pack you up and take you with him."

At that, Kaleigh's smile did falter. She really didn't want that. She wanted her only child to go out and live his life, free of the shadows of what once was. And, really, she was content working and leading her own life. Sure, she could get a bit lonely, but it wasn't Teddy's place to keep her company. "I hope he doesn't," she admitted softly. "I know he worries, but..." She plastered on another bright smile. "I am fine. Don't I look fine?"

Actually, she looked beautiful, but a little lonely. And why shouldn't she? It'd been over a year since she'd lost her husband. Hannah knew how her dad had been at about one year, and how she herself had been. But she wouldn't dare remind the other woman of that, and instead she simply smiled. "You'll shake him off eventually, I'm sure. He just cares about you, that's all. Besides, it's not all bad. A boy who treats his mum with that much respect gets a lot of smiles around him, after all."

"Oh, I agree." Kaleigh gripped Hannah's hand, pulling her toward one of her favorite fountains. "When the boys were younger, I'd take them out here and read to them right..." She pointed to the spot just beyond where the water could reach. A dreamy expression crossed her face as she recalled those simple moments. "Sometimes Ernie would join us," she added on remembering Hannah and he were good mates. "It was a nice day when he could join us." She looked away to disguise the momentary shadow that jumped into her eyes; the MacMillans' disapproval was yesterday's news. "Want to sit? It...I mean we could chat. It's not exactly a story, but..." Kaleigh giggled, seeming much younger than her age.

Miss out on the chance to be mothered, even if only for a few moments? And she liked Kaleigh. A lot. She reminded her of Tonks in some ways, an adult certainly but just as willing to be a girlfriend, too, no matter Hannah's age. "Of course!" she said brightly, tucking a loose strand of hair back into place. "Anytime I get blackmail information on little bitty Ernie makes me happy." And she admittedly still couldn't get enough of hearing about Teddy at that age, either. She'd get over it someday. Just...not yet. "So I guess that's how Teddy learned to love reading so much?" Draco, too, but Hannah was still rather angry and hurt.

"I don't know if I'd go that far," Kaleigh replied while running her fingers down Hannah's back. Mothering came natural to Kaleigh. She had really wanted more children, but it hadn't been meant to be. And, really, if they all had to suffer like Teddy was, she was glad for it. "He's always been curious about the world. Reading just gives him answers to his questions." Especially since he didn't always like asking them aloud. Books took away the embarrassment fact. But Kaleigh added none of that. Despite what her son might have believed, she'd never intentionally embarrass him.

Not that she had to say it out loud. Though they may have been on the outs as a couple, Hannah believed she still knew Teddy relatively well. They'd dated for several months and had been friends before that. She might not be able to read him the way his mother could, or Draco, or maybe even some of his housemates, but she still knew him. "But sometimes... I mean, I know I read more muggle books than wizarding ones, but fiction and fantasy... They don't necessarily answer true questions. I'll bet a lot of it did come from you."

"Don't they though?" Kaleigh glanced over Hannah, her expression serious. "Don't they all say something about mankind?"

This had the potential to get deep. And possibly dark. And Hannah felt like she was treading in dark enough waters lately. But... "They do," she admitted quietly. "Sometimes... Well, sometimes the fantasy books do more than any other. They usually talk about battles and good versus evil and love conquering all. But each author has their own take on it, too, so maybe it's not a definitive answer in the end."

"I doubt there is one," Kaleigh answered, squeezing Hannah's shoulder before allowing her arm to drape neatly around the girl. "But...if we had all the answers, life would be boring, no?" She wasn't trying to make Hannah uncomfortable. Just the opposite really. She liked having such a conversation with the sweet Hufflepuff who sold herself short in the brains department.

Nodding thoughtfully, Hannah sighed, leaning almost absently into the arm supporting her. "There'd be no reason to think," she told Kaleigh with a smile. "Everything would already be done for you. And if there were such cut and dry answers to life's emotional questions... I don't know, would we even feel anymore? Would there be a point in caring and falling in love and having friendships and opening yourself up to people?"

"I like to think the questions are what give us our lives." Kaleigh kept Hannah close, thinking, again, about her boys too. Would their questions be answered for them? It irked her to think they'd have no free choice. "And what do you plan on doing now, low? What are your questions?"

"There's so many," Hannah admitted with a tiny smile. "I'm not even eighteen yet, it feels like there's no answers anywhere for anything some days. But... I don't know. Sometimes it feels like everything's already been answered and I just have to do it." Glancing down at the ground beneath them, Hannah kicked at a little blade of grace with the toe of her shoe. Proof she should never be allowed to dress up and be a girl. "I think I'll just start looking around, seeing who has want ads up. Surely someone needs a waitress or someone to write their owls or something." Or else she was bound to end up at McDonald's or Tesco's, her worst nightmare.

But Kaleigh only smiled some more. She agreed there was time. Plenty of it. And she was glad they lived in a time where a young girl like Hannah wasn't automatically forced into marriage. "I think those are good ideas," she told Hannah sincerely. "You'll be fine, you know that?"

The smile Hannah gave her in turn was a little shy, but she shrugged. "I guess so. It's... Nothing's like I thought it'd be a couple of years ago." The thought turned her stomach a bit, but she couldn't possibly explain it all to someone who was only trying to make conversation with her. It didn't seem fair.

"Before your mom, you mean?" Kaleigh voiced the thought gently. She wasn't try to pry, but, boy, could she understand. She had never imagined her life without Angus. She had planned on grandchildren and...she felt tears pricking and quickly dabbed at her eyes.

Oh, sugar, she'd made her cry. Hannah felt miserable at the idea. Almost instinctively, she reached out, grasping Kaleigh's hand. "That's part of it, I think. I could tell her anything, any dream I had no matter how stupid it was. She was so caught up in this world of mine, knowing she couldn't be a part of it. Dad...he doesn't get it. He tries, God love him, he does try. But I think he always assumes it's some sort of phase or something and I'll be home soon." She shook her head, ashamed of herself for bringing up such a reminder in front of someone who had her own problems. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to ramble on so. It's a party, we're meant to be celebrating."

"No...I think it's natural to remember loved ones during times like these." Kaleigh squeezed Hannah's hand back. "But it doesn't have to be sad, hm? What's your favorite memory of your mum?"

Hannah took a deep breath, considering the question. It was something she'd considered over and over, but no one had ever bothered to ask. "I think... Well, I'm the youngest. And I felt lost a lot of the time, especially when I got my letter. But Mum took me out every weekend, and kept doing it when I was home. Even if just for a few hours. We'd go to Harvey Nichols and get makeovers or go out to a special lunch or just go to a book reading somewhere, but it was always something. Not just one memory, I guess... All of them. Collectively. Probably sounds silly," she admitted with a little laugh, "but...that's what it comes to."

"Sounds nice." Kaleigh couldn't help remembering her own special memories surrounding her boys then. "I didn't know her, but I bet those were her best memories too." She leaned over, pecking Hannah's cheek.

"She'd have liked you," Hannah admitted quietly. "You..." She was overstepping her bounds, she knew. But Kaleigh Nott was one of the few women she felt she could open up around, and she didn't want that to change just because she wasn't her son's girlfriend anymore. "You remind me a lot of her sometimes. The things you say to Teddy or to Draco. And the way you carry yourself." Hannah's own mother would never be as rich as the Notts had been, but she'd always carried herself with pride and had tried to teach her girls to do the same.

Kaleigh paused, but then blushed some. "That's probably the nicest compliment I've gotten in a long time, sweetheart." She smiled more though tears did fill her eyes for real that time. "Oh, Hannah, love." She pulled her into another embrace. "You can talk to me about anything, alright?"

Hannah held her in return, much tighter than she had before. Mrs. Nott wasn't about to break. She was, possibly, one of the strongest women Hannah knew. "I know," she admitted softly. "I'm... You know, you're going to be fine, too. I know it's...different these days. But... Well, I keep hoping people like Ernie going into the Ministry will help change it all, you know? It's going to be all right, I think."

If they let Ernie into the Ministry that was... Kaleigh didn't voice that concern. Instead, she simply smiled again. "All we have is hope, hm?" She brushed some stray hair away from Hannah's eyes. "And, of course, we have to help hope along sometimes. I have faith in you all, but us old folk are still around to help too."

Scoffing, Hannah couldn't help but grin. "When I find some old folk, I'll let you know. Professor Flitwick, maybe... Think he's around?" Her tone was teasing as she gave the older woman a tiny nudge with her elbow.

Kaleigh wagged a finger, laughing. "This? Is why I love you, darling!"

A giggle escaped before Hannah could stop. And why should she? Pureblood party or not, it was a party and parties were meant to be fun. So what if she had no idea what she'd do for the next several years or who she'd still be friends with by the end of the summer. Here and now, it was a party. "Guess that means you'll just have to keep me around," she answered with a smug smile.