August 15th, 1978. In her first month since finishing Hogwarts, Bethany (Bet, really) Robinson was enjoying her newfound freedom. The chance to work and generally do as she pleased without worrying about school in September was an absolute delight, as far as she was concerned. She was a decent student, middle of the pack, but it was nice not having to worry about it - especially since working as a seamstress required little more than Charms.
However, family obligations were still important, which is how Bet found herself at little Madonna Nutcombe's fifth birthday party. Bet was first cousins with Madonna's mother, Audrey, which meant a dutiful appearance every year at functions such as these. Bet had also arrived with her mother, father, and two sisters (somehow, Trent escaped, the lucky git), but she'd lost them somewhere, and instead was doing her best to keep an eye on three-year-old Lolita, who was running over to half of the guests demanding "up"s and hugs.
Lolita had just been put down by her father, and now was looking for more attention elsewhere. She'd already had several hugs and kisses from Bet, but one pair of arms was as good as the next, so she went to her cousin who was following her about. "Hi Bet! Hug?" she asked, her arms stretched up.
Bet couldn't help but beam at the little girl and scoop her up. "Hi Lola," she murmured, holding her tight. "Are you having fun?"
She hugged her tightly about the neck. "Hi," she said, playing with Bet's ponytail. "Where's mum?"
"I don't know," Bet answered truthfully. "Shall we go find her? She might be outside setting something up."
"Okay," she said agreeably, petting Bet's hair in the meantime. "With 'Donna?"
"Maybe with Madonna," she agreed, kissing Lolita's cheek as she began to navigate her way toward the door leading to the backyard. "Okay, pet, let's see if Mum's outside." Shifting Lola's weight in her arms, Bet maneuvered the door open and stepped out into the back.
Lolita continued to pet her hair, now rubbing it between her fingers. She looked around for her mother, but saw nothing. "Mu-um-my-y-y," she drew the word out.
There was no immediate answer, so Bet tried a different tack. "Anyone out here?"
There was a moment of silence and someone called back. "Um. Guilty." Adlai Nutcombe appeared with Madonna and Atticus, one on each leg.
The man looked vaguely familiar to Bet, but she couldn't name or place him - but the children both seemed happy and pleased to be with him, so she wasn't going to question. "Look, Lola, we found Madonna and Atticus instead. Do you want to go play?"
"Addie!" Lolita was waving to her older cousin.
"Sorry, Lola. I'm kind of full up at the moment." Indeed, with the children at his legs and gift box in one hand, with Lola as well he would probably be overcome.
"Stay with me, Lola," Bet encouraged. "Hi, I'm Bet," she added to the man Lola called Addie. Addison, maybe?
"Oh, hey," he said casually. "Adlai -- Madonna, you can't open it yet," he interrupted himself, looking down at the girl.
"But it's my birthday!" Madonna protested.
Bet laughed and kissed Lolita's cheek. "Nice to meet you. Family friend?"
"I know it's your birthday. You're probably going to have to wait to open it with the rest of them though," he said, lifting it out of reach before he replied to Bet. "Ah, family family, actually. These little blighters are my cousins."
She raised her eyebrows. "Oh! Well. I'm Audrey's cousin. All one big family," she joked. "Are you a Nutcombe, then?"
"Yeah. My dad is Uncle Levi's older brother," he said. "So, I suppose that puts you the generation up from me," he joked.
"Are you calling me old?" she asked, starting to grin. "Because I'm a sight younger than Audrey!"
"I -- of course not," he said.
"I was joking," she told him right away, laughing. "Sorry, Adlai."
"Right," he said, and laughed. "Well -- of course. Sorry, anyway."
"It's okay, old for my age or something." She pulled back and looked at Lolita. "Want to go play with Atticus and Madonna?"
"You know you want to," Adlai enticed Lolita further.
She giggled, and wriggled. "Down please," she told Bet sweetly.
Bet kissed the top of Lola's head and set her down. "Go play. Behave yourself." Once she has scampered off, Bet glanced at Adlai. "I don't mind staying out here with them, if you'd rather get back inside to everyone else."
"Well, I only just arrived -- my parents are already here, but my brothers got out of it because they had U21 commitments," he said.
"Oh, are they Quidditch players, then? What do you do?"
"I, ah. Play Quidditch," he said. Coming from him then it sounded so underwhelming.
"Oh, do you?" she asked, politely curious. "What team, then?"
"Ballycastle," he replied.
She raised her eyebrows. "Top of the league. Congratulations, Adlai."
"Thanks," he said. "Whole team's really a well oiled machine. Do you -- play? Or just follow?"
Bet laughed at that. "Me, play? Oh, I'm too clumsy. I find it interesting, I watch sometimes. Listen when I'm sewing, that sort of thing."
"Ah," he said. "Are we good to sew by?"
"I'm a seamstress," she added, by way of explanation, before answering him with, "Well, you're about middling to sew to, whenever you all play I only hear about Finbar Quigley."
"Well, he is the captain," Adlai reasoned.
Bet smiled a little. "But who he sleeps with has no impact on how you fare against, say, the Kestrels."
"Well. If he's sleeping with a Kestrel it does."
"I'd rather hear about the other players, is what I'm getting at," she settled on saying. "But you're a good team. Congratulations, you're a good player." She offered him a genuine, if brief, smile.
She was gorgeous just standing there, but when she smiled it only magnified it. He smiled back. "Thank you," he told her, just as genuine.
"Going to teach them how to play?" she asked, motioning at Atticus, Madonna, and Lolita with her head. "They have the energy for it," she added with a laugh. "And I think I'm too rusty on a broom to teach them."
"I'm sure if Uncle Levi has anything to say about it they'll all play," Adlai said. "I'm not sure they have the attention span right now."
She nodded, taking that in. "Well, thanks for letting them blow off a little energy, at least. Sure you don't want to go ahead?"
"Yeah. The party seems to be going fine, anyway," he said.
"Probably more tame than the parties you're used to, though," she reasoned. "You big Quidditch star, always girls and drinking." She smiled, not bitter, simply stating some facts. "Is your girlfriend a model?" she teased.
"Well, the games of Hide-and-Go-Seek usually end up a bit differently," he admitted. "She's, ah -- she's not, actually."
"What kind of Hide-and-Go-Seek do you okay?" she teased. "What does she do?"
"She plays," he replied. "She sits Reserve in the League."
"Oh, both of you. That's really sweet," she decided. "Makes me feel like a bit of an underachiever, but I'm way too scared of heights to get up on a broom again, so."
"Yeah," he said, moving right past it. "Well, it takes all kinds."
"You think so? No hating the non-Quidditch players?"
"If there weren't people who didn't play Quidditch, who would I be playing for?" he said.
"Oh, you play for me, how cute!"
"I could be."
It made her pause, just for a second. Was he flirting? "Maybe I'll come see a game. Then you could be."
"You should. When we start in September," he replied.
"I'll come," she promised. "I'll see when I can fit it into my budget. Might be October," she cautioned. Well, at least he was cute.
"I get tickets," he said. "Let me know when you want to come. Perk of the profession."
Wow. Well. Bet smiled. "Well, I can come to your opening game," she offered. "Go and cheer you on, if you need a cheering section."
"Oh, we thrive on a cheering section," he said.
Bet decided to be bold. "Well, I don't want you to overlook me. Should I come another time?"
"Only if you want." He doubted he was going to overlook her in any crowd, and dismissed the thought.
"Well, what's best for you?" she pressed. "I'm just a seamstress, you're the Quidditch player."
He laughed. "I'll get you something for opening game, don't worry."
"Shall I make a big sign?" she joked. "You'll never see me otherwise."
"I'll know where you are."
"Oh really? Won't be too busy winning?"
"I can do both. I'm great at multitasking."
"I bet not," she teased, growing a little more bold. "If you wanted to see me, you should take me out after."
Wow this had become awkward fast. "Well. That... I can't," he said.
Bet nodded; she wasn't deaf, she'd heard him mention a girlfriend earlier. "You shouldn't flirt with a girl if you can't follow through," she told him after a moment, her tone gentle. "Send me a ticket, but I can't promise I'll show. Lolita!"
"Bet!" Lolita immediately answered from where Atticus and Madonna were playing keep away -- with her in the middle. "Come play!"
And now he felt bad. "Right," he said. "I'll just -- take this in," he said, using the excuse of the gift to escape.
Bet offered him a full, proper smile. "Take care," she told him. "Let Audrey know where we are, if you see her."
"Sure," he said, returning the smile, although a bit more dimly -- he felt guilty for having been caught at his mostly harmless flirtation, although he couldn't say why. He left Bet with the kids, and went in to the house.