May 30th, 1888 - COB
@'Minnie Pendergast'

Oddly enough, this was the first time Becks remembered actually attending the Hogwarts Coming Out Ball. His sisters had all had their own private debuts, though  Marcella's was really the only one he supposed he could remember attending with any actual purpose as he'd been a teenager for the rest. Even for his baby sister's he'd been too young and too busy with quidditch to do any serious wife-hunting. That was apparently different now that he was a sponsor and probably in a position to actually take a wife, so here he was, dressed smartly for the occasion and looking forward to a fun night of flirting, if nothing else.

To the likely chagrin of his entire family, Becks was not in fact, taking the night very seriously. He'd taken a turn with several lovely young ladies on the dance floor, but beyond some flirting hadn't found himself with any notions of a second dance or an actual conversation with any of them. Harsh, but true. He could be a bit of a cad when he wanted to be.

After taking a break at the refreshments table and chatting with a mate he hadn't seen in a while, Becks was finishing up his whiskey and scoping out the room for another dance partner. A good portion of tonight's graduates seemed rather occupied at the moment or entirely uninterested, which was also amusing. Becks chuckled over his drink as one brunette with flowers in her hair trailed by, completely oblivious to those around her and a dreamy smile upon her face. There were all kinds here tonight apparently. It was then he noticed that his laugh had earned him a look from another pretty brunette, causing Becks the duck his head in an attempt at humility. "The graduates all see so enchanting tonight, naturally, since it is their evening."

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Attending the Coming Out Ball was a traditional marker of failure for Minnie. With each year that passed she looked and felt a little bit older than the girl’s that were debuting and she wondered what they saw when they looked at her: somebody who was a success in society, a well-known young lady about town who was – she had to admit – invited to essentially everything, or somebody who had failed, despite those things, to find a husband. She tried not to dwell on it too much, that way lay madness according to Emma when she had laid her fears out to her sister earlier.

Emma was usually right so Minnie had taken her other piece of advice and allowed her sister to dress her in the sort of dress a girl of eighteen would not think to wear. She looked like a proper, grown-up lady, not a girl and she did feel less out of place. She wasn’t one of them anymore, but was she ready to be left on the shelf?

Forcing herself not to be too morose she had sought out other ladies in a similar position, in no mood to hear about upcoming nuptials or expected children, and eventually found herself at the refreshment table, picking up another glass of champagne. She had danced but not with the same abandon she had once felt; now it felt a little hollow.

Laughter caught her attention, cutting through the encroaching melancholy she had no use for and she latched onto it, turning herself towards the culprit like a sunflower towards the fiery star.

"I'm sure they'll continue to be enchanting through the rest of the season," she replied with a soft smile. "We're surely owed one full season without disaster so these girls might be in luck."

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   Beckett Longbottom

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

Beckett hoped his relief didn't show in his grin. At least she hadn't thought his laughter cruel, that would have been... he hadn't meant for it to be such, he just found this whole thing somewhat ridiculous to the point of amusement, that was all.

His smile lit up further at the pretty brunette's comeback. "Ah, a cynic." Well perhaps she meant it honestly, but Becks thought he detected just a hint of sarcasm. He could have been wrong, but there was only one way to find out. "I've found my people at this... lovely event." Becks didn't have the right word for it, but it was certainly boring, though he couldn't say that aloud. It was prime flirting territory though, that he couldn't complain about, not in the slightest.

"I suppose we have had our fair share of disastrous seasons. Not that I've been particularly involved, personally, but so I've heard." The brunette seemed as if she'd seen a season or two, though was by no means a spinster yet.

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Having the option of not being part of the season was a choice that had never been offered to Minnie and for a brief moment she was not entirely sure what she might have done if allowed the decision. When she had left school, what felt like a lifetime ago now, she had been terribly envious of Ivy getting to become a healer but had never questioned that her lot in life was to go to her aunt’s newly founded finishing school and be made ready for society.

Minnie wasn’t entirely sure she would measure up to her aunt’s exacting standards but at least she had not left a man at the altar or been abducted abroad by a rogue, so she was probably doing better than most.

“It’s hard to say whether having a troll put one in hospital was as disastrous as being attacked by a flying carpet but I live in hope that things can only get better,” she replied with a wry smile, taking a sip of her champagne for good measure. Merlin, when put like that it was no wonder lady luck had not yet led her to the happy state of matrimony!

“Lord that sounds bleak doesn’t it? If you’ve never been involved before I don’t think I’m recommending the wonders of the season to you very well am I?”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

Oh, so the poor lass was of those seasons. Though he hadn't actively been participating in social events for such reasons, it was hard to forget when trolls and tigers attacked in separate summers. "I daresay neither were your fault, don't take it to heart." He would hate to see such a pretty face be further distressed by things beyond her control.

"I've watched all of my sisters go through their own seasons, I'm not unfamiliar with its process." All of them successfully married somehow; he was the last one. "I fear it's my turn now that I've retired." His mother was certainly starting to put on the pressure, despite the fact that it was still a little early for him to be seriously looking. He wasn't even thirty yet! "Perhaps this will be our year." He raised his drink slightly in toast.

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Clinking her glass against his with a grin she tried to place him. Generally speaking one tended to recognise most of the faces that ghosted through the same parties and balls year after year but she struggled, though she put that down to his own admittance that he had not been especially involved. Still, all of his sisters, said in such a way, suggested there were quite a few and other than Mr Echelon-Arnost she didn’t know anybody with quite so many female siblings. At least, none that she could recall.

“Perhaps it will, Mr…? I’m sorry, I know I ought to wait for a proper introduction, but if it counts, I probably know your sisters.”

Unless they were a great deal older than her of course, though it didn’t occur to her to consider that he might be the baby of his family.

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

It was very likely she knew or knew of one of his sisters, though she looked a little younger than Marcella. They were many of them and all in good standing in society, as far as he knew. He was a little out of touch with that, hence why the suggestion to attend this evening hadn't really been a suggestion and more of an order.

"My apologies, where are my manners," Beckett had never been terribly good with those to begin with especially when he was casually flirting. "Beckett Longbottom, it's a pleasure to meet you Miss...?" He trailed off, returning the question. She'd been good conversation so far, witty, with a sense of humor to boot. It seemed he'd luck out this time when his mouth had the chance to get him in trouble yet again.

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His sisters were, for the most part, quite a bit older than her and Minnie did not know any of them especially well, though more than one of them were far too intimidating for her to even contemplate making an acquaintance. But she certainly knew the name and felt a distinct surge of delight, and relief, at discovering he was part of a family she would likely be encouraged to make a connection with.

“Pendergast. Minnie Pendergast.” She supplied with a smile as she pondered, not for the first time, whether it was an advantage or a curse that her name was now forever associated with a finishing school she had, at best, attended, given how limited her successes had been. “The pleasure is all mine Mr Longbottom. Wait a moment,” her smile grew as it occurred to her where else she had heard his name. “Don’t you know Thom? Mr Pettigrew I mean? I was friends with his wife before…well, before, and I’m sure I remember her mentioning you.”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

Ah a Pendergast, that would make sense. They were a prolific family as well, though he didn't specifically think he'd heard her name before, that could be the fact that he started tuning people out when the started talking of society things. It was nothing personal, he just didn't pay attention.

Becks quirked an eyebrow when she referred to Mr. Pettigrew as she did, but if she was friends with Mrs. Pettigrew, he supposed it wasn't too odd. "We're acquainted, yes." Becks chuckled. It was hard not to know of Thom Pettigrew if you were involved in the wild world of quidditch. Considering Beckett was now also a sponsor, they had chatted a time or two, but weren't especially close. "I too sponsor a quidditch team, however I'm afraid to ask how Mrs. Pettigrew was speaking of me." It probably wasn't good. Had he hit on her in the past? Likely.

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In all honesty Minnie thought she might have heard Hannah mention Mr Longbottom once or possibly twice but she had hardly been given a full description of the young man, even if the name had somehow lingered. But she supposed that after so long doing the season the one thing she really was good at was recalling names and faces quickly from only a scant acquaintance.

Hopefully Mr Longbottom would acquire the same skills and recall her again. He seemed like an entertaining addition to the social scene and they certainly needed some new faces!

“Well,” she retorted with a quirk of her lips that was eerily reminiscent of her sister. “I can hardly reveal what we ladies talk about when you gentlemen are absent, can I?”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

Becks quirked an amused eyebrow at Miss Pendergast; what a tease that was! "I see how it is," He passed her a bemused smile and took a sip of his drink. "Give a man a hint of a story and that's all. Leads me to believe I've got a bad reputation among the debutantes or something." Honestly Becks was just teasing her. He didn't know Mrs. Pettigrew well enough for there to be much for her to say about him, right? He and Thom were on genial enough terms after all. Then again they were competitors as well. It was just the way of the league really.

Then again, Beckett wasn't so sure he minded either being the subject of discussion among the young ladies, nor having a reputation in that respect either. He was a flirt and he knew it. It was much more fun that way. Taking the "wife hunt" too seriously was boring and not for him. That's what his mother was for. It was far more worth his time to charm his way around the room rather than to have serious discussions and considerations. "At least it means I'm not easily forgotten." He cast a wink in her direction this time. It was perhaps a little bold, but that was Becks in a nutshell.

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“Oh I doubt anybody forgets you in a hurry Mr Longbottom,” she replied with a grin at his almost inappropriate wink, committing his face and name to memory for the next ball she attended. Minnie could usually find something to enjoy at any social event but it was much nicer when she had somebody to look out for and, if she was charming enough, get an invitation to dance out of it.

Minnie felt as though she had been on an endless loop of flirting, dancing and meeting new people for so long now that the minutia of each step was ingrained on her brain, but Mr Longbottom was at least something new. Somebody new. And that meant he was an exciting prospect.

Maybe Emma would know more about him? She was of an age with one of his sisters, she was sure of it, and he certainly seemed like somebody worth knowing better…

“I’m sure you’ll have heaps of success now you’ve joined our circle of itinerant revellers,” she sipped her champagne, wondering where the majority of it seemed to have gone. “It was Quidditch you retired from was it not?”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

"Now you sound like my sisters. As the only unmarried one in the family, I feel like I've become their pet project." He had no doubts after his thirtieth birthday next year they would double, if not triple their efforts to see him wed. In the meantime, he had every intention of having a good time and flirting his way through every event with nothing to show for it; just to aggravate the lot of them.

When quidditch was brought up, as usual, a smirk crossed his features easily. If people didn't know his family socially, they knew him from his quidditch career and so he nodded along to her last question. "Played on the Canons for a long while, retired, was bored to tears for a year, so I bought the Wasps." He shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. "I don't do idleness very well." Wasn't that the truth. In fact he was getting antsy now; not for any lack in entertainment, he was quite enjoying his conversation with Miss Pendergast, but simply because he was terrible at sitting or standing still for too long.

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Minnie laughed brightly at the comment, though it was tinged with a touch of bitterness, understanding the sentiment perfectly well even if there was precisely nothing she was able to do about it with her own circumstances.

“Then may I suggest you never become a debutante Mr Longbottom,” she knew she ought to be less candid perhaps, but he certainly didn’t seem the sort that would find her excessively at fault for being so. She was finding, to her great pleasure, that the older she became the more she seemed able to get away with – as though the gentlemen actually enjoyed hearing a real opinion on a subject rather than the same comments regurgitated. The champagne helped with that enormously.

“Idleness may be the only thing I am an expert in, though I do try not to let myself become such a recluse I never leave the house for fear of accidentally getting some exercise or mental stimulation!”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point

"I fear I'd make an even more terrible debutante than I did gentleman of leisure." Neither would suit him and he'd given the latter an honest go. He needed something of a challenge, to keep his mind occupied and his hands busy. He'd been fortunate enough to have enough financial support to survive a quidditch career and now that it was up, he just couldn't seem to get away from the sport.

Humming out a little noise of agreement, Becks eyed Miss Pendergast carefully, though with a smile. "Certainly you have hobbies to occupy your time?" He didn't mean it as an accusation if she didn't but even the most zealous of debutantes must have had something else to do with themselves. There weren't events like this every night after all. "Speaking of accidental exercise, would you care to dance?" He saw his mother giving him the look and though it wasn't his only motivation to ask, as he was quite enjoying their conversation, it was a push to move from her line of sight.

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His gaze flickered away from her for a beguiling moment and before Minnie could answer his first question she was asked a second she liked the sound of much more. She wasn’t sure what had prompted him – their conversation thus far hadn’t really been a prelude to either of them taking enthusiastic part in proceedings – but she was hardly going to turn him down. Compared to some of the gentlemen circling around the debutantes, a mixture of pallid youths barely old enough to court, corpulent middle-aged men who looked to be seeking a second or even third bride, and austere Ministry men seeking a woman made of charm and gossamer to help them advance through the political ranks, Mr Longbottom was a breath of fresh air!

“I’d be delighted,” she replied with a wide smile, glad she had not imbibed more earlier in the evening less she be in no state for anything by now. And she certainly didn’t want to make a show of herself in front of Mr Longbottom and his handsome smile. “Dancing at balls is fortunately my chief hobby so I shall not disgrace either of us.” She giggled. “It does mean I get through an inordinate amount of shoes though.”

  

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no, really MJ is just showing off at this point