Every single thing we could be, is right in front of me
Maybe it's enough to feel like this

June 22nd, 1888 - a box in Puddlemere United Stadium

With several professional Quidditch teams somewhat kneecapped by the fog in Hogsmeade and Irvingly - especially this one, if Hogsmeade didn't catch the snitch early they were fucked - these games were a little less interesting to watch. That he was here was rather incidental, it had just sort of happened, but there was an assortment of other purebloods of the same-ish age in the box. He sighed and watched through the box, wincing in sympathy as a bludger slammed into one of the reserve Howlers in front of him.

This cringing motion brought her into his sightline. Perhaps on automatic, Cash waved for Miss Abercrombie to come over. "Glad to see you're not stuck in the fog," he said, quirking an eyebrow upwards at her. He hated this; hated trying to trap her into a marriage that she could not possibly understand. But he couldn't stop, either.

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MJ made this!

It made Nora feel incredibly guilty to be attending things like quidditch matches when Hogsmeade and Irvingly were under a layer of potentially dangerous fog. Helga was stuck there! It was nerve-wracking to say the least.

Still here she was and at least it was a quidditch match to keep her distracted. It wasn't a very exciting one, but she also thought they all couldn't be edge-of-your-seat matches. She was chatting with an acquaintance when she noticed a familiar face waving her over to join him. Excusing herself after a moment, she moved to join Mr. Lestrange. "Glad to see you're also fog-free." Nora smiled slowly, pleased to see him to say the least. "It is quite unfortunate. I have a few friends stuck in Hogsmeade." It was a little scary too!

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"Me too," Cash said sympathetically, although most of his actual friends were far outside of the fog. "Hopefully the Ministry will have things cleared up soon." He didn't have a lot of faith, given the lack of luck so far, but as someone far outside of the disaster's radius did not have any specific investment.

"We used to live in Hogsmeade, but I'm increasingly glad we moved," Cash admitted with a wry smile. Sometimes he missed it, but he could always apparate over - and London had had Eli, when Eli was alive, and still sometimes held Angie.

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MJ made this!

Nora sincerely hoped the ministry would have it sorted soon. "You're right, I'm sure it'll be settled soon." She honestly had no idea how these things were supposed to work, so she just had to hope for the best.

"Really? I didn't know that. I've always found the town so charming, if terribly unlucky." She had always been in London, far more used to the big city even if Hogsmeade was more her pace. Nora wasn't so sure she'd want to live there, but it was nice to visit. The town itself seemed to be a hot spot for disasters of some kind, both large and small.

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"I liked it when I lived there," Cash said. It had always been convenient to meet up with Eli on New Year's Eve, when they both lived there - but then they were adults, and moved to London, and everything was ruined. He thought that there had been another New Year's, but didn't much remember it - the flashes he recalled involved being trapped in a shed, and heat between them.

"But you're right. It has a spat of bad luck, if less - generic crime than London."

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MJ made this!

"I always enjoyed our school visits there, we hardly ever go over there now." Probably for good reason at this point. "I do miss visiting Honeyduke's every so often." Nora supposed she could always order some sweets by owl or request to go the town, when it wasn't covered in fog that was. "I quite enjoy Whizzhard's as well." The bookstores in London were more than sufficient, but there was something to be said about variety.

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Cash found himself nodding along to what she said. But there was a sort of dissonance to it - he did not really want to be here, making small talk with her. He wanted desperately to be somewhere else, doing something else. He shouldn't be doing this to her.

"I imagine the fog has put a bit of a damper on the season," Cash said, a leading statement if he ever saw one.

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MJ made this!

Nora was momentarily distracted by the match, one team having scored, so she missed the  nuanced distance to Mr. Lestrange's demeanor. "Oh, that I'm not too upset about." She admitted without thinking, realized belatedly that was not what a girl in her position was supposed to be thinking.

With a faint blush she cast a tentative glance at Mr. Lestrange, wondering how best to recover from her blunder. If there was even a way. "That is to say, I'm not very good at it, so I'm not overly inconvenienced." Bah, that wasn't much better. She really was hopeless, even if her sentiments were true.

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He should just let this go, let her go.

She was not very good at the season. But - despite her awkwardness, and the freckles - she had curves that appealed to a sort of man, and pretty eyes. She was gentle. She would find a husband eventually. And any husband she did find would surely be a better one than Cash.

But Nora Abercrombie represented a sort of freedom to him - a hard-won freedom that he needed if he was going to feel anything again. So, hating himself, Cash said softly: "I don't know how anyone could think you bad at it."

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MJ made this!

Mr. Lestrange accepted her correction with a generous sense of grace that had Nora smiling softly. "That's kind of you to say. Would you care to tell my mother as much?" She shouldn't joke about her mother like that, but Nora genuinely felt that half of her social anxiety stemmed from her mother's impossibly high standards.

"I'm only kidding." A little bold of her, but thankfully he seemed more relaxed than most gentlemen. "She's does not have the most faith in me, I'm afraid." That was putting it mildly. After Delilah had gotten married, Lydia had become engaged already and Nora had come of age, the focus had entirely been on her and it was... not the easiest of tasks. "Might have something to do with my fondness for quidditch." That was likely a contributing factor. Nora sighed softly and looked at the game again.

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"Fondness for Quidditch isn't the worst thing I can think of," Cash said, mouth quirking up into a half smile. Among everything else - all of the things he ought not to be doing to her - she liked Quidditch. That made talking to her easier, gave them some common ground - common ground that had, with Eli, been forged over time into something. They grew into each other's interests, grew into each other, and he was not supposed to be thinking of Eli. All he could picture, though, was the horrified expression that Eli would have made if he knew about this.

"Although between you and me," his voice dropped, "My father isn't the biggest fan either."

This was not a secret, or it was not a well-kept one: everyone in the family knew that Lucius didn't like Cash.

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   Nora Abercrombie

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MJ made this!

Nora flushed a little for no discernible reason. It seemed for once, she wasn't entirely floundering in a discussion with a handsome gentleman, or if she was, he was being very gracious about it. Though Nora wasn't altogether surprised to hear Mr. Lestrange's father's opinion on quidditch, she was mildly curious to know why, if she had such a low opinion of the sport, that Mr. Lestrange was allowed to play. From her limited knowledge of the Lestrange patriarch he was rather... intimidating.

"And yet here we are, lucky that, at least." She smiled slowly. Nora would call her continued run-ins with Mr. Lestrange rather lucky indeed. For one, he was rather easy to talk to and at least, even if they were simply discussion and parent issues, at least she looked like she wasn't trying to hide in a corner. Then again that was hard to do at a quidditch match.

She was suddenly, though momentarily distracted by the match- a beater took a bludger straight into the back and fell from his broom. "I'll never understand those who purposefully choose to play beater..." She mused, slightly aghast at the injury, wincing in sympathy.

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Cash cringed as the Howlers beater plummeted from his broomstick. That was going to be a nasty landing - he was sure one of the mediwizards was already sprinting through the pitch to meet him at the bottom. The bludger whizzed away. It seemed that he and Miss Abercrombie had rather moved on from talks of their respective failings - which was easier for Cash. It was easier to talk to her, to pretend that he knew what he was doing, when they were talking about Just Quidditch. And besides that - as long as they were talking about Quidditch, he could try to convince himself that he wasn't a terrible person, that this was just fine for everyone involved.

"I never really had the option," Cash said with a grin, "Always too short. But -" he shrugged "- I don't know that I would have anyways. It's a bit more aggressive." Less technical. He had great respect for the successful beaters, but becoming a successful beater seemed like a massive pain.

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MJ made this!

Nora cast a cursory glance at Mr. Lestrange- very briefly taking a better look at his build and trying not to make it obvious or blush. No, he was certainly suited for seeker, she thought. "I always wondered what it might be like without the position, but I don't think it would be quite the same." Of course a game played on broomsticks high in the air would never be boring by any means, but she also thought a lack of beaters would serve little purpose other than to allow for higher scores. It would be far too easy without the bludgers posing a continuous threat.

It was then Nora noticed her elder brother giving her the hairy eyebrow of confusion. She met his eyes for a moment before sighing softly. "I'm getting a subtle summons from my brother," Nora admitted, turning her attention back on Mr. Lestrange. "It was lovely to see you again, Mr. Lestrange. Enjoy the rest of the match." She passed him a genuine smile; it had been nice to have somebody to chat with, who apparently didn't have too many expectations of her. There was little else Nora could hope for when her mother insisted on thrusting her out into society all of the time.

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