March 25th, 1888 — Augurey Beak Cafe
Early Evening

Ever since the first time that Witch Weekly had interviewed him, his mother had splurged a little on a subscription which she had kept up despite the fact that Esteban was the only ever one who ever read it. Well, he suspected that Mateo stole clippings of any hint of a womans ankle showing but that was besides the point. Esteban regularly went to his parents for a small Sunday dinner and that was when he saw the most amusing sight to behold.

5 Bachelors to Stay Away From declared the title and there on the very cover was a shot of none other than Jude Wright, their illustrious leader. Opening it up, he'd laughed long and hard at what the article had to say.

And just like that, he'd shot over to the ABC, hoping that someone - anyone - would be there. Imagine his delight when he saw that Jude himself was there along with Kieran. With a cheeky grin on his face, Esteban casually settled near them and 'casually' set the magazine down in front of them, waiting to see who would snatch it up first.

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Kieran Abernathy Jude Wright

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   Jude Wright

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Set by MJ

The March stretch of the full moon began tomorrow night. Not that he and Kieran could talk about that here, in the middle of the Augurey, but... in any case, Kieran was here, and he was here, and they had nevertheless been talking when the café door next opened.

His attention had been more on Kieran than either his plate or the book in front of him, enough so that he hadn't bothered to check who it was coming in, not until they'd dropped into a seat nearby and slipped something onto the table before them. Jude tore his gaze from Kieran quickly - almost guiltily - to see that it was just Esteban, at least. The casual greeting on his tongue got lost as he granted the accompanying item a perfunctory glance, noting only that it was a glossy sort of magazine. Not a Prophet article or useful treatise, but the kind of magazine that probably contained little to no politics, and therefore probably couldn't be of much interest.

"What's this?" Jude said instead, his attention directed towards Esteban, choosing an explanation over a second look. That was, until he made out the mischief in the Gryffindor's grin, an amused gleam in his eyes with which Jude was familiar enough to know he didn't like the look of it at all. Hurriedly, he looked down at the magazine cover, squinting at the awkward angle - but it was only a moment until his eyes widened in horror at the very familiar face. Oh, no.

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Kieran felt ill, which was unsurprising given the time of the month, but he was starting to feel worse for having dragged himself here. Jude was being concerned, in his general direction, and Kieran was trying to hide how nervous he was about tomorrow in order to abate some of the concern.

So he was a little relieved when Esteban came in, even before he looked down at Witch Weekly. Kieran's eyes immediately picked out Jude's face on the cover, and once he read the title, his expression became the best approximation of the :D emoji.

"I. Love. This. Magazine," Kieran enthused.

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Greatly satisfied with both of their reactions, Esteban snatched the magazine back up as he made himself comfortable. "And now, a dramatic reading by yours truly," he intoned with a bit of an exaggerated bow, making sure to keep the issue out of Jude's reach.

"While certainly a joy to look at," he started, giving Jude an exaggerated look over before continuing on. "Mister Wright does not seem to hold an occupation other than being an activist for various causes. " Esteban couldn't get much further without laughing so he handed the magazine to Kieran. "How do you support youself?"

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Set by MJ

"Something no self-respecting journalist should say," Jude interjected, looking at Kieran a little helplessly (because this was Witch Weekly, possibly the most useless publication in existence), but he could tell already that Kieran was not going to save him from this ordeal.

So his eyes followed Esteban next, calculating an attempt to make a grab at it and - set it on fire. Throw it out a window. Something like that. Esteban had predicted this, evidently, and started reading aloud, well out of Jude's reach. In spite of his determinedly impassive expression in pretending to ignore Esteban, he could feel colour flushing his cheeks, mostly out of mortification. (Joy was gratuitous hyperbole, and it was not the precisely the first emotion he laboured to provoke in anyone.) Besides, how was that relevant to the headline? Which was, currently, flashing Jude in the face in red lettering: 5 Bachelors to Stay Away From.

...Although, that would hardly be a bad thing, he considered, if Witch Weekly's readership were to avoid him at all costs. It would actually be rather convenient.

Still, he rolled his eyes at Esteban's question. His friend had known him long enough to know the answer to that - to know basically everything about his life, for that matter - so he just scoffed, "That's none of Witch Weekly's business, and you know it." Hoping to move on from the whole subject, Jude leant forwards to try to snatch the magazine away from between them.  

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"At least they think you're good looking," Kieran said. This may have marked the first time that he and Witch Weekly shared an opinion, but he was not likely to voice this aloud. Jude understood the werewolf thing - he helped with the werewolf thing - but Kieran's attraction to men? He thought that was likely to go down worse.

Kieran reached out to pin the magazine to the table so that Jude could not abscond with it. "So does this make us the shady individuals?" Kieran asked, quirking his eyebrows at Jude, "Unfortunate to know we're the only things standing between you and a good marriage."

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“Oh, but the bachelorettes of society must know,” Esteban said with a teasing grin. He wasn’t planning to ever part with this particular issue. He was going to have to keep a better eye on who of his friends might get mentioned next.

“We’re all good looking,” Esteban said shamelessly. He had no clue if any of the group knew that he wasn’t exactly discriminatory when it came to lovers and it wasn't exactly information he was willing to volunteer but he also didn't particularly care if they side eyed him. It added to his mystery among them.

“Isn’t it so incredibly dire? Our illustrious leader, a martyr doomed to loneliness because of us.”

  

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Set by MJ

Jude frowned at the assessment of his friends being ‘shady’. Shady, really. Aside from Morales, whom he did not trust an inch, Jude thought society ought to learn to tell the difference between good people in bad situations, and vice versa. (That might reveal some horrifying truths about the magazine’s readership, however.)

He raised an eyebrow at Esteban’s addition - not about being shady, but being good looking. Not that Jude... disagreed. It wasn’t the sort of thing he was given to consciously noticing, regularly, since they’d all known one another for years, but... Objectively, they were not unappealing.

It was not the sort of thing he felt he had the capacity to joke about, however, so he only rolled his eyes as they both made out that they’d had any influence on his marriage prospects whatsoever. “Yes, you,” Jude agreed - meaning all of them, but not quite able to meet Kieran’s eyes, regardless - “and the minor fact that I have no interest in getting married.”

Surely that was no surprise to Esteban or Kieran. Perhaps it only made the article funnier. “Maybe I should be writing Witch Weekly a thank you note,” he added, straight-faced.

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So Jude didn't get to want married. That was - surprising, because Kieran had always assumed that some day, eventually, Jude would marry someone. Not because of society's expectations - Merlin no - but another activist, one of those suffragettes who was always getting into prison.

"Not even to the personification of Liberty Leading the People?" Kieran asked, quirking an eyebrow at Jude. But when he thought about it, Jude was as close to that personification as you could get - that bravery, that intelligence, that steadfast commitment to doing the right thing, no matter the cost. Kieran would follow him to a revolution, if he asked.

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Considering Esteban had known Jude for years, he knew quite well that Jude had no interest in matrimony. They were alike in that way. Except, of course, Esteban still partook in carnal endeavors and took great delight in doing so. He snickered at Kieran's next words. The idea of there being a female Jude out there was quite frightening, really.

  

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Set by MJ

Jude snorted, lifting his hands up in disbelief as if to say what kind of a question is that? "Sorry, how often do you come across the personification of Liberty in your life?" He could see the appeal of liberty - obviously - as an ideal, but it was an ideal and that was the point. Certainly, he instantly liked people more if they subscribed to it, but even Jude didn't think that could be the only reason to fall for someone, and anyway, the institution of marriage had more flaws than merits. As for paintings or personifications of Liberty, a more basic problem of appeal existed there, one that presented itself plainly with her bare breast.

They were only teasing him, he knew, and he suspected it was partially his fault for making himself an easy target. "But no, not even her." He gave them a sigh and a shake of his head, glancing between them and ignoring the temptation to slip into a smile as best he could. "I expect even Esteban'll be married before I ever am," Jude added with a pointed look - on the one hand fairly certain it was an unlikely truth, and on the other, making a calculated attempt to deflect the topic of conversation to, preferably, someone that wasn't him. Esteban was the quidditch star, after all, and he certainly paid people attention.

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Kieran bit his tongue; probably better to avoid hitting on Jude to his face. He settled for saying "We'll see" and hoping that things would be left at that.

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Esteban laughed at the idea of his being married. "Well. Never know. I could end up married tomorrow." Merlin forbid, he would rather take a bludger to the head but messing with Jude was entertaining.

  

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Set by MJ

He raised an eyebrow, for once the sceptical one. "Forgive me if I don't hold my breath," Jude said dryly, trying to stifle a snort. Better laughing at Esteban than looking at Kieran right now, anyway, though he wasn't sure why he was so afraid to - how obvious could it be? Would the truth just be written all over his face?

"And if you're both finished," he declared, determinedly easing the magazine out from under Kieran's hand to flip it closed again (back cover up, he didn't want to have to see himself on it), "can we please talk about something else?"

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