RP: Aches

[poisoned_quill]

Who: Rita, anyone
When: Sept 9th, evening
Where: Garden
Rating: TBA
Summary: This manual labour stuff is hard work, and Rita thinks she deserves a drink.
Status: Complete

Comments

[nevilletherebel]

Neville fell onto the dew touches grass face down, burying his face into the heady scent of the short, mown lawn and breathing in deeply. He closed his eyes tightly, just revelling in the satisfaction of a day's work done, then rolled onto his back and looked up at the person he'd collapsed beside, sitting up quickly when he spotted who it was

[potion_failure]

Romilda emerged from the house, just pulling her hair back into a ponytail. The job she had done with Neville had been finished well in time. She walked out into the garden, wanting to take another look at what they had done. She thought it looked great. Neville was a wonder when it came to plants and she had been all too glad that she had gotten to work with him.

[poisoned_quill]

Rita watched with some amusement as Neville threw himself down in the grass, then hastily righted himself when he rolled over and realised he was once again on his back in the garden in her presence.

And they were back to that, were they? The awkwardness? Rita refused to acknowledge it. She smiled and sipped her drink. "Evening," was all she said.

Actually, she wanted to tell him about the question she'd been forced to answer during Big Brother's punishment, but she'd not had a moment to talk to him in front of others, let alone in private.

The back door opened and Romilda emerged. Rita took another sip of her drink - perhaps a larger one this time. Speaking of awkward questions...

Right. Um. Moving on.

"I suppose we owe ourselves congratulations," she said to neither of them, or both. "It's looking great out here. I hope everyone pulled their weight."

[potion_failure]

Romilda looked over at Rita, ignoring her remark for a moment. "Are you going to drink that bottle all by yourself or do you intend to share?" She sat herself down and gave a small wave at Neville.

[nevilletherebel]

"I..."

Romilda appeared, and he was embarassed to be caught outside with Rita. It almost seemed ludicrous. He folded his arms around his knees and leant forwards over them. "I'd like a little to drink too, if it isn't too much trouble. I'd summon something but...I do hope we get our wands back tomorrow. Although there's some people I think don't deserve to get them back..."

[poisoned_quill]

Rita did nothing but laugh, letting her head fall back to look at the stars. Ah, Romilda could be quite uptight when she wanted to be, couldn't she?

"Don't know what you're worried about," she murmured. "You'd have far less hangover from this than from alcohol. But suit yourself, I suppose."

It was slow. Meandering. Not like smoking, but not like brownies either. Something in the firewhiskey.

"It's been a while since I did this. What did your generation do after Voldemort was defeated? When he fell the first time, I remember snorting pixie dust and dancing in muggle clubs like the world was still going to end. It was our way of saying 'fuck you', I think, to his pureblood fanatacism."

[nevilletherebel]

Neville frowned and looked away from Rita. He wasn't used to talking about the days immediately after the war, but the drug was starting to take effect, loosening his tongue. He finished his glass, then lay back on the ground and folded his arms behind his head.

"I didn't find out that my gran was missing until the next morning, so I was at the celebrations...but I didn't sleep for three days afterwards. And then I..."

His voice cracked a little, and he moved one hand from beneath his head to cover his eyes. "I did a lot of things I wasn't proud of after that. I...spiralled a bit. Experimented. Did far worse things than this..."

[poisoned_quill]

Rita looked down at Neville, once again surprised by his honesty and the fact that he would be so forthcoming with her still. The way he delved so deep with each question and laid it out. She liked that, the honesty - the fact that he was here again, in the garden getting high with her after last time, and answering her questions truthfully even after the Veritaserum.

He looked distressed by it, though, and she hadn't meant to be so personal. She was more interested in the actions of their generation than the individual experiences. She was curious how Neville had managed to forget about his grandmother until the day after the battle, but she didn't think it an appropriate question to ask

[potion_failure]

Romilda sighed and shrugged. "They still do the same thing they've always done. They come in, get drunk and go home or to a brothel..." She drew a knee up against her chest. "I really don't care, as long as they don't bother me. They're often enough trouble as it is."