Afternoon

Charlotte slipped past the woman in full uniform, shooting her a little, knowing smirk as the 'Train Lady' adjusted her hat and returned a peculiar glance. Clearly Madam Ticket Inspector didn't think much of Charlotte, but that was quite alright with the socialite, whose drinks would ultimately be poured by the tired hourglass swathed in dull beige linen, and topped with stiff, mousy hair under an ugly little box hat. What a waste. She might have been fabulous in another life, this woman-- a real friend. Or at least a girl who could drink and share jokes and exchange heels on Friday nights.

Sauntering into the next train cart, one of the fancy dining carts, Charlotte made a beeline for the cocktail bar. It was lunch hour, and she wanted a good drink or two before she settled into the macaroons waiting in her compartment. But before she could take three more steps, the car's wheels screeched in protest, and the train gave a great lurch. Everyone and everything in the seats and overhead racks jerked and rattled. They'd come to an ungraceful halt... round a corner, no less.

With a little gasp, the St. James woman went thighs-first into the arm of the nearest isle seat, nearly domino-ing into the drink settled on the immaculate lunching table in front of it. "What on earth-- Oh... Sorry," she found herself murmuring quickly, almost demurely, as her eyes found the person upon whom she'd almost fallen. Her baby blues hadn't even made it to the window to figure out whether they were broken down, or making an unscheduled stop to pick up more passengers. (Or perhaps simply a timed, but very messy one piloted by a hungover conductor.) "I didn't expect the ride to be so bumpy. I'm sure you'll forgive my choice in footwear, Felix, won't you?"

Smiling down, somewhat sarcastically (but also rather pleasantly) at the astronomer of infamous Marren fame, Charlotte waited a moment for him to return her gaze before she pushed herself up and smoothed her dress. It was a new dress, which she'd bought after seeing her favorite one caught in the side of a vaguely-blurred tabloid photo of Jax Woolfolk. Being Quidditch arm candy meant exhaustive things for one's wardrobe-- not that she didn't already spend a pretty portion of her time (and galleons) to look good.

But it wasn't Charlotte who had to worry about the papers today. The spread on Felix's brother had been quite the shock-- to most people, anyway. Charlotte had got a personal preview of his habit for philandering. And while she was often annoyed by Quincy, she felt darkly protective of her own family's name. Only Charlotte was allowed to plays these games with her cousins... and she would never be so cruel to Sam, her favorite. "Are you on your way to Jason's public castration?"

Felix felt his blood boil as he re-read the article for the sixth time that day. He knew his brother's relationship with his wife had been far from good, but even Jason wouldn't stoop as low as this, would he? The fact that Jason hadn't bothered replying to either of Felix's frantic owls, begging him to tell him it wasn't true, seemed to be legible proof that it was. Skeeter was a heartless piece of crap.

Felix slammed the paper on the table in front of him and rolled his eyes as he took in a deep breath. Letting his eyes scan the carriage, it was obvious that the article was big news though he was sat on a muggle train. The wizards and witches could be pinpointed by the large script of 'The Daily Prophet' on the front, and Jason's picture in the centrefold. Though Jason may not have known many people, Samia St.James came from a very well known family. Any news that spread any gossip about the St.James family was like gold dust to the general public, which was why under normal circumstances Felix didn't make a habit of reading newspapers.

His left hand came up and ran through his short hair, ending at the back as he rubbed his neck and looked out of the window. Where were they now? He was getting off somewhere near York, then apparating to his family's home in Dundalk. People often questioned his reasons for getting the train when he could simply apparate everywhere, but Felix didn't have the stomach for constant apparition.

Suddenly there was a jerk, the train shuddered and something hard and heavy fell across Felix's lap. He leaned back slightly in surprise as he was greeted with Charlotte St.James' large, bright eyes.

"I didn't expect the ride to be so bumpy. I'm sure you'll forgive my choice in footwear, Felix, won't you?"

Felix laughed. He closed his eyes, his head falling back against the headrest and laughed hard. What a coincidence this was. People around them looked up momentarily, but quickly looked back at their papers. Just two lovebirds canoodling in the corner. Or so Felix would have liked. It almost disappointed Felix that the British public were so unsurprised by anything anymore. "You're choice in footwear, Charlotte, is exquisite as always." He grinned at her and shifted slightly, enjoying the fact that she was strewn across his lap so casually.

Then she stood up, and Felix pouted slightly as she smoothed out her dress and asked if he was going to see Jason's castration. Immediately he put his hands around her waist and pulled her back down onto his lap. "Don't get up - I like it too much." He grinned down at her once more expecting a slap. This was one of those moments he was thankful she wouldn't be able to use her wand.

The laughter resonated through the compartment, adding a bit of color to the sea black-and-white newspapers obscuring the faces of so many a plainer passenger. For a moment, Charlotte could do nothing but hold in her own laughter, behind that teasing smile. It was good to see Felix; he was an old friend from Hogwarts, and the Marren brother who seemed to give Charlotte a bit of proper attention. Thank Merlin someone’s eyes were in order.

“And your taste in jeans is very befitting your backside... when I can see it.” She made to peak over his shoulder, but stretched back again to continue smiling. Whatever people thought, it wasn’t innocent. Even if the pair were both accustomed to attention, being able to tear readers’ eyes away from Jason’s scandal garnered an automatic O for Outstanding.

“The shoes aren’t for you,” she added, standing up to hover over her. She noticed the paper on the table; had Felix possibly been as caught off guard as the lot of them? Perhaps he was keeping it for the family scrapbook...

Finding herself back in her fallen position, Charlotte raised a brow. “I’d hex you if the man serving whiskey knew what Ogden’s was. Everyone will get the wrong idea. You don’t want to be charged for my drinks, do you?” She asked casually, twisting a bit so as to look down at the headlines again. Her fingers played with the edge of the paper on the table. “So, why are we ignoring your brother’s home-wrecking?” She tilted her head at him. “Touchy subject?”

Her comment about his backside did not go unnoticed. It was simply stored away in a safe place in his brain for later use; and oh, how he would use it. It was obvious she liked being on his lap just as much as he liked having her there, and her threat of hexing him was an empty one.

"You don’t want to be charged for my drinks, do you?”

"I would pay for your drinks any day." he said, holding his hand to his heart so gallantly as though he were about to be knighted. "Oh, to pay for the drinks of miss Charlotte St.James..." he looked up at the ceiling as he spoke in as poetic a voice as he could muster, then looked back at her with a devilish grin on his face.

“So, why are we ignoring your brother’s home-wrecking?”

"Ugh!" Felix rolled his eyes as Charlotte's reminder tore through the nice little scene that was unfolding before them. He was not in the mood to talk about whatever indiscretions Jason had been getting up to - though he assumed Charlotte had her own opinions on the matter, given that it was her cousin and good friend that had her name dragged through the flobberworm slime along with his.

“Touchy subject?”

"Must we, Charlotte?" he asked, flexing the fingers of his right hand slightly as a smirk settled on his lips. "Talking about Jason's bad habits is such a turn-off." He moved his hand forward slightly towards her leg that was furthest away from him. "But yes, it is quite a touchy-" His fingers grazed the skin of her leg slightly, "-Subject." He grinned, moving his hand a little under the hem of her dress and seeing how far he could push her before she snapped. "Nice dress, by the way." He leaned forward a little more as though assessing the dress, letting his fingers play with the hem gently. "I would say it'd look better on my bedroom floor, but you know-" he inched his face closer to hers and smirked. "-I don't think it would."

“You say that so wistfully,” she teased, still smiling a little, but scoffing slightly. “I’m not a drunk, you know. I hold my drinks very well. So it is an honor.” Just as he’d implied with that cute little tone. They were always flirting like this, and yet, Charlotte was always determined to stay out of the bird cage, so to speak. For whatever reason, she hadn’t let Felix Marren catch her. Not entirely.

Perhaps it was the chase. It was too brilliant. (And, of course, she’d technically been spending time with someone else).

Charlotte stiffened a little under his touch, but kept her face cool. He was pushing his luck. But then, luck was in his name. “Stop being a big prat. Haven’t we graduated past Hogwarts recess?” A trick question. She tugged a bit at the material of his shirt, just to get back at him. It wasn’t much of a proper revenge, though. She leaned closer as he did, teasing him, as if she were going to kiss him. “You can’t put your hands wherever you like. I’ve got a reputation, and--”

She began to sidle out of his grasp, pressing herself into the window seat beside Felix. “No one said I was here to turn you on.” She winked, smoothing her dress again, and pulling a bit of her hair into place. Curling her legs under her, so that her back was to the countryside, and her legs nearest the man’s arm, she studied the side of his face. “This dress is for someone else’s floor,” she confided. “And unlike you Marren men, he knows how to treat a St. James woman.”

Felix, of course, had never done anything to demonstrate that he wasn’t perfectly and categorically the sort of man Charlotte should date, but the timing had never been right. She’d been engaged... he’d been off traveling with Merlin knew who, learning new languages. And there was the little sore point: her family’s expectations when it came to blood purity. The paper had barely been published, and she’d already gotten an earful of rumors about what dear Sam’s parents thought of the fiasco. “How’s work?”

She asked, finally, reaching forward to grab his drink. She took a lingering sip and placed it atop his brother’s animated, newsprint face. She was going to get him to talk about it eventually, whether he wanted to or not.

She asked if they had not graduated past Hogwarts recess and he winked at her. Feeling her stiffen under his touch just made his ego inflate that little bit more. This game they had played for so many years was an even more interesting one than a particularly brutal game of wizard's chess, and certainly tried Felix's ability to keep himself from just jumping on her every time he saw her. It was hard, not to give in to his darkest fantasies which often included just ravishing Charlotte St.James where she stood, whether it be a public display or not. Though more often than not, he would be quite happy to kidnap her and carry her off to some secluded room where he could enjoy her all to himself. She leaned forward so that her lips were ridiculously close to his. He took a sharp breath in, almost preparing himself for what he had dreamed would follow.

“You can’t put your hands wherever you like. I’ve got a reputation, and--" She sidled out of his grasp, much to his disappointment. "No one said I was here to turn you on.”

"Ha!" he laughed as she tucked her dainty feet under herself in the seat next to him, her legs very slightly touching his denim-covered hip. "Neither did I." he raised an eyebrow at her. "But then you must know that you are...a turn...on..." he grinned and leant his head back on the headrest, staring at the seat in front. Of course she did. How could Charlotte not know that?

“This dress is for someone else’s floor,”

"Ah, well now that is a shame..." For both of them. She didn't know what she was missing out on. He stretched his arms up and clasped his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as though settling down for a nap.

“And unlike you Marren men, he knows how to treat a St. James woman.”

One of Felix's eyes opened lazily and surveyed Charlotte's teasing expression. "I know very well how to treat women, in particular those of St.James infamy." The eye drooped closed again and he smirked slightly.

“How’s work?”

"Oh, stressful as always." he stated, reaching out for his drink as though he automatically associated the stresses of work with a good stiff drink. But his fingers clasped around thin air, and found Charlotte had taken the liberty of helping herself to it. He raised an eyebrow as she took a long sip, then placed it back down on the paper over the picture of his brother. "

"How's the Magpie?" He asked, a cheeky grin on his face. It was common knowledge that Charlotte had been pictured on numerous occasions with Jax Woolfolk. He looked away from her and closed his eyes once more, the smirk still evident as he went on to tease her further. "I hear there's nothing between his ears. And you, Charlotte, need someone who can give as good as you do. Someone with intellect." He opened his eyes and turned his head towards her slightly, a smirk on his lips. "Someone like me." He shot a broad grin in her direction before stretching his arms up high and yawning.

Charlotte’s gaze darkened. “You implied it,” she murmured, almost childishly. He’d caught her, nearly. What had been on her mind, to make the leap from turn-off to turn-on? Well, it was no secret that Felix fancied her... and it was no secret that he was quite attractive himself. (Only, she didn’t want to be easy and docile and tell him so. He could figure it out. He was bright.)

"But then you must know that you are...a turn...on..."

That knocked the babyish air right out of her voice. Charlotte’s lips parted a bit in a characteristic way, revealing big pearly whites.

Hey was enjoying it, though, teasing her.

“Are you saying, sir, that you’ve entertained St. James women... who aren’t me?” She fished an ice-cube from his glass without qualms, and popped it into her mouth. The interrogation was only just beginning. “Sam would have told me,” she suggested. “And she wouldn’t have gone after your brother afterward.” Deductive reasoning. “Ellie’s too young, so...” Quincy. Did she beat Charlotte to everything? She waited patiently for the answer, but her skin was beginning to prickle just a bit.

She never understood how he could work nights. Charlotte was of the rise-mildly-late, laze-about-the-morning, and enjoy-the-night sort. When she wasn’t lending her generous heart to charity. Naturally. “Does it get lonely? Being there all night by yourself?”

She was genuinely curious.

But, ah, how the tides could change. Here she was, poking and prodding into his personal life, and expecting answers on his brother’s darling endeavors... and Felix had turned it around, brought up Jax Woolfolk. Charlotte had planned to dangle her new date over Felix’s head like a toy, rather than explicitly bringing him up, but he’d beat her to it. She was less impressive this way. Silly man.

With a great sigh and a shrug, she tilted her head. “I don’t kiss and tell.” Oh, didn’t she? “But he’s got plenty in his head, thanks... and his... other places.” Her eyes flitted downward, toward her lap, and then to Felix’s, before flying back up to his own eyes-- which had only just opened a moment ago. “I think you’re tired.” If the yawn was any indication. “You’re speaking nonsense.”

Reaching over him, Charlotte waved into the aisle, attempting to summon one of the bow-tied men with trays. It was like an old-fashioned men’s club, and less like a train. At least some muggles knew how to travel. The ones who bothered with those... what were they?... little boards attached to wheels. They were off their heads. “Sir, can we have a menu? My friend here wants to buy us a late lunch.”

Her murmer of his implication made him chuckle inwardly. Felix, 1 - Charlotte, 0. "Implications are implications, little one." he sent a wink in her direction and grinned at himself. How good it was to have such an apt mind. Especially when it came to attempting to outwit the sly fox that was Charlotte.

“Are you saying, sir, that you’ve entertained St. James women... who aren’t me?”

He smirked, pursing his lips to the side slightly. This was something he would just sit quietly on and wait for it to hatch, like a dragon protecting its egg. He would just have to wait for the beautiful flower that was the taunting of Charlotte to make full bloom into all its glory. He took in a deep breath and let it out noisily as she marked her family members off one by one, listing the reasons why he wouldn't have 'entertained' them.

“Ellie’s too young, so...”

He turned his head to her, an eyebrow raised. "What does it matter?" he asked, lifting a hand up to her cheek and giving it the briefest of strokes with his thumb, before pulling it away and arching his back from the seat. "Anyone would think you were jealous."

“Does it get lonely? Being there all night by yourself?”

He laughed - the kind of laugh that signifies that one is thinking what he perhaps shouldn't be thinking. "I'm never alone. I have my thoughts to keep me company." He chanced a glance at her, but quickly looked away. When allowed to stray on its own, his mind had a bad (or good?) habit of straying to the St.James girl. She occupied  a lot of his thoughts, and mostly in ways he would never admit to.

“I don’t kiss and tell.”

Felix snorted. He couldn't help himself. Immediately he straightened his expression, expecting a less than approving look from Charlotte. "Sorry." he said quietly, sheepishly glancing at her, but smirking as he looked away.

“But he’s got plenty in his head, thanks... and his... other places.”

"Mhmm." Felix rolled his eyes skeptically. "But, um...He's not here, is he?" he turned his head to face her and one of his eyebrows flicked upwards slightly. "Whereas I am. I may not measure up to much when I'm next to mister quaffle-balls, but when he's not here I'm the leader of the pack." He puffed his chest out very slightly as though pressing his manliness. Though he would affirm that he was not jealous, it was clear Charlotte was pushing his buttons in the same way he was pushing hers.

Suddenly Charlotte was leaning across him and his breath got caught in his throat. Well, this was unexpected. She waved her hand out into the aisle and asked for some menus. "Do you plan on eating off my lap?" he asked, looking down at her and smirking. "Because honestly? That's a nice image." He looked up to the man holding out two menus with an eyebrow raised. "And a drink for the lady, since she seems adamant to drain mine off." he took the menus from the man with a courteous smile.

He was making fun of her. He seemed to delight in her investigation of his past. But wasn’t she entitled to know, if it involved her family tree? Mmhmm...

Turning her cheek away from his delicate touch, as if he’d burned her, she pouted a bit. Was he saying he didn’t mind inexperienced jailbait (who was something of a tomboy, no less), or that it didn’t matter if he’d been through her cousins like the orangest of Quidditch WAG through the national team?

“I’m not jealous,” she insisted. “I’m just questioning your-- background.” She couldn’t say standards. At the end of the day, as much as she bickered with Quincy or insisted Ellie needed to ‘lady up’, she knew all of her cousins were quite the catch. (Beginning with Sam... which undoubtedly Mr. Flirtacious’ older brother already knew). “It’s a... mmm... what’s the phrase? Oh, right, a turn off to know you might have shagged one of my cousins in a broom closet once upon a time ago.”

She crunched lightly on the ice after playing with it a bit in her mouth, letting it melt on her tongue and numb her cheeks.

“Your thoughts? That doesn’t sound pathetic at all, Felix.” Charlotte flashed a wicked grin. She’d knew what he’d meant, but she could still tease him as if he were a day-dreaming 12-year-old girl with a blank diary. “Do you wish on stars, too?”

His laugh at her brought the slightest, unprecedented blush to Charlotte’s cheeks. She looked down at her fingernails. “When is this train going to start moving again? It’s getting hot in the cart.” Smooth way to write off the bit of color.

So, Felix was acknowledging Charlotte’s superior taste in rendezvous?

Or not quite.

She looked up from her nails and raised a brow. She’d thought her subtle bragging might be her saving grace, but perhaps Felix was giving her exactly the ammunition she needed. “Quaffle-balls,” she echoed with a laugh. “Where do you come up with these things? Fifth year?” She’d been in fourth at the time. She hadn’t recalled that particular phrase, but she was sure he’d had it in him. “You’re adorable, Felix,” she continued, pressing a finger daintily but still bossily into his chest. “Adorable. And hilarious.” As she leaned over him she looked over her shoulder, almost longingly. But it was actually a look of compassion. “And never going to convince me.”

Eating off his lap. “Cheeky bastard,” she hissed, scrambling back again, this time onto her knees so that she didn’t give him a free show. He’d already had a nice feel, hadn’t he? The rest of Charlotte was too expensive to reveal so quickly. A decade’s worth of expense, apparently. “I’ve only lunched off of one man’s lap, and he’s dead. Poor soul.” She looked down at the finger-- not the marriage finger, mind-- where she still kept her ring. “Make that two drinks.” Her eyes shot back to the waiter. “He’ll want another.”


With that, she picked up Felix’s glass again. “So, where does your brother get off making a fool out of my cousin?” She wasn’t going to let it die. She was Charlotte, after all.

“It’s a... mmm... what’s the phrase? Oh, right, a turn off to know you might have shagged one of my cousins in a broom closet once upon a time ago.”

Felix sighed. "If you're questioning that, you clearly don't know me." He pointed out, raising an eyebrow and pursing his lips as though chastising a small child. One thing that could always be guaranteed from Felix was his honesty and respectable nature. He wasn't the kind of man to use and abuse women.

“Your thoughts? That doesn’t sound pathetic at all, Felix.”

"At least I have a job." he quipped back, perhaps a little stung by her assessment of the fact he kept company with his thoughts at work. What else was he supposed to do with nobody to talk to? "And sarcasm doesn't become you." his voice going a little deeper as he furrowed his brow, like a child pouting, being told he can't have a cookie.

Ah, so she found his little nickname for her boyfriend amusing did she? He felt a grin spread across his lips to hear her laugh, like church bells ringing on a winters day, or something equally as sickening. "Oh, is that to your liking, mademoiselle? Maybe you could use it in the bedroom, when you're assessing what he's got in his head...and in his other places." This game of cat and mouse never wore down and Felix never found himself tiring of it. Though it was a little disheartening to know that someone else (once again) got the girl, she remained like the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. She was Felix's own vice, his guilty pleasure; the more he tasted, the more he wanted.

“You’re adorable, Felix,”

She prodded a finger into his chest. "Oh, I know." he said, rolling his eyes as though that much was common knowledge. "As are you." He flicked the end of her nose very gently with his forefinger, feeling as though it might be a little harsh to prod her in the chest in the same way she had done to him. A little inappropriate? Who was he to judge if she felt the desperate need to feel his pecks. But he would not stoop so low as to feel hers, no matter how inviting the act may have seemed.

“And never going to convince me.”

He pouted a little. "That sounds like a challenge." he stated plainly, stretching his feet out under the table. "One that I am most willing to accept." She seemed in an awful hurry to get off his lap, much to his disappointment, but he found it amusing that she demurely tried to cover up her knees with her dress, to avoid letting him see anything he shouldn't. At the mention of her dead fiancé, Felix bowed his head slightly in respect, though it didnt take long for the slightly immoral thoughts to re-enter his mind. "Poor soul indeed. It's a shame he couldn't handle you. You drove the sorry sod to his death." he smirked, knowing she would take it all in jest. Survival of the fittest, in his opinion, and clearly her fiancé hadn't been very fit. At least, not fit enough.

The waited nodded at Charlotte's request and made up two potent liquors, diluted slightly with lemonade. He placed them both on the table on top of napkins, and said he would leave them to make their decisions on food. Felix nodded at the man who left promptly, probably a little embarassed to hear the conversation that was being held at this table.

“So, where does your brother get off making a fool out of my cousin?”

For all his bravado and teasing with Charlotte, this was one subject that he couldn't hide is frustration of. His brows pinched together with annoyance as he stirred the plastic stick in his drink. "My brother-" he spoke through gritted teeth, serving only to convey how angry he was at Jason's actions. "-Gets off where he likes. I'm headed back to Dundalk now to try and put my mother's mind at rest. He's got her worried sick."

Suddenly the train jerked and they began moving again. "Aha! Finally!" his expression was immediately brighter. "I'll be back to mum's delicious cooking in no time. Can you cook, Charlotte?"

“I know you... that suave little boy from Ravenclaw, who could keep his head in a book and his hands where they didn’t belong at the same time,” she invented wildly. But it was, more or less, biographical. Or Charlotte’s memory was going foggy. The point was, Felix was as charming as he was clever. And that was dangerous. It made him a suspicious target, even if he wasn’t following Jason’s method of climbing through the St. James family tree on his off hours.

Charlotte let out a strange, huffy sound, again recalling an insolent and dissatisfied toddler. “Some of us like to take our time discovering what we want out of life,” she insisted, her voice dancing in the sing-songy manner so synonymous with schoolyard games. It was ironic, given Charlotte’s sheer, almost stomach-turning degree of ambition. She’d dug her claws into what she’d wanted long ago, and they were still there today. There was no stopping her, really. Whatever ‘career’ she planned to discover for herself, it was taking its merry time in an excessively un-Charlotte-like way. And yet... being the spoiled baby of the family, and the girl who had been handed everything on a silver platter, complete with an engagement ring, it really wasn’t so shocking. Why work hard, when one could work smart?

Sarcasm became her perfectly, thanks very much. Perhaps not as well as it fit Felix Marren.

“Like I said, I don’t kiss and tell,” she teased. In the bedroom... the nerve of him. And yet, it was refreshing. In that over-confident, carefree, cheeky sort of way that usually drew Charlotte to men. She could make some of them eat out of her palm, stare stupidly, or buy her shiny gifts. But , secretly, it was the ones with a game of their own who kept her interested. And the ones who could toggle between those states? Were keepers. Or, sometimes, Keepers. “What I do in the bedroom will have to stay...” She tapped the side of his head, just above his ear. Leaning closer, she murmured, “Right there, Mr. Star Gazer.”

They needn’t dwell on who was good-looking. They were both easy on the eyes. A mirror needn’t be wheeled in to confirm that. The glances above tops of newspapers, or from behind tea cups and whiskey glasses was enough to confirm this. It wasn’t just their vocal banter that was garnering attention, after all.

Settling into her window seat, she shook her head smugly, her chin lifting a bit, her eyelids fluttering down, into a lazy, catlike stare. A divine look of boredom. But Charlotte was far from bored. “A challenge means you’ll have a chance of winning something... I haven’t offered a prize, so...” Stretching a bit, she turned to rest her head against the back of the seat, mocking Felix’s own relaxed posture. “Don’t waste energy.” She placed her hands on the table before her, folding them like she’d been taught to do in grammar school sessions. “Or your magic,” she added as an afterthought, her voice growing lower so that only he could hear. Muggles simply wouldn’t understand. It probably sounded downright dirty to them. (And, truthfully, there was an infusion of innuendo in the instruction.)

"Poor soul indeed. It's a shame he couldn't handle you. You drove the sorry sod to his death."

With a gasp, she turned toward him again. “Felix Marren, that was a terrible thing to say,” she accused, her voice raising in a dramatic drawl. “It’s not my fault he was so enamored with me that he forgot standard Floo safety.”

The word Floo seemed to float into the air above them, resonating in the man who was now pouring their drinks. He blushed, and Charlotte pursed her lips in a smirk. She couldn’t help it, really. “Thanks so much, dove, you’ve been a big help. No need to bring the bill until he’s ready to get off the train,” she explained, gesturing with a flick of her head toward the man beside her.

As he wandered quickly away, with the awkward but expert stiffness of any public transportation official, the train gave another lurch and began to roll into motion again.

“Finally.” Charlotte rolled her eyes and plucked another ice-cube. This time from her own glass. “You don’t want to be late to see Mummy, Felix. She’ll think a man eater has finally gotten to you.”

But, really, as his words sunk in, Charlotte felt a little guilty. It was a foreign feeling. He was going to clean up after his brother; he was going to be the man of the family, and make sure his mum didn’t have a complete breakdown. He really was a decent man, underneath the roaming hands and game of chase. Just like Charlotte wasn’t pure evil on a good pair of legs. She had heart in there somewhere.

“Cook? Of course...” She spoke innocently, shrugging her shoulders as if it was a non-issue. In fact, it was a lie. “But I don’t waste too much time in the kitchen. I’m not someone’s elf or womanly slave.” Her eyes darkened a bit and she tilted her head toward him. “Can you not cook for yourself? Awwwww.” Her hand crept down into the seat, and she tickled the side of his leg. Probably not very effectively, given that he was wearing jeans. “How old are we now, little boy?”

He grinned from ear to ear as she gave her wild description of him as a schoolboy. "You remember me so well. Clearly you're just jealous that my hands weren't migrating in your direction." he pointed out. "But you were a bit younger than me, and it would have been far too weird. I was into the older girls." he winked at her, opening the menu and scanning it as he listened to Charlotte speak huffily of wanting to take her time on deciding her future. "I think you'll be forever a lady of leisure. You'll find a man who wants to spend every day of his life working his fingers to the bone just so you can have every luxury your heart desires." His eyes flickered slightly to her. "Poor git." Though if he thought it would have made any difference at all, he'd have waved his hands wildly in the air, screaming "ME, ME!" at the top of his voice. Instead he averted his eyes back to the menu. So overpriced for what they offered.

“What I do in the bedroom will have to stay...” She tapped the side of his head gently, leaning in closer. “Right there, Mr. Star Gazer.” Felix rolled his eyes as he scanned the carriage, catching the occasional embarassed set of eyes watching the interaction between the two. There was absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that there was chemistry between the two. "Oh, right there it will stay." he grinned looking back at her. "Don't you worry, I have a fair few images stored up there for safe keeping." More than she would ever care to know.

“Don’t waste energy...Or your magic,”

He raised an eyebrow as his eyes were slowly prised from the menu in front of him. They landed on her face and watched as she tilted her own head back and mirrored what had been his position. His eyes ran over her features; the large eyes, the small nose and pinked lips. He ran his tongue along his lower lip absent-mindedly. "Trust me, it wouldn't be a waste." he assured her before sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

Her shock at what he had said, and her exclamation that it wasn't her fault set a smirk on Felix's face. "I never said it was your fault. Come on, Charlotte! You can't deny that he was clearly so besotted with you that simple, every day things were a chore for him!" He knew that she wouldn't be able to deny that, and if anything she'd enjoy the fact that Felix was complimenting her. "I mean, even men who aren't attached to you in any way are smitten when they meet you!" He heaved a sigh dramatically. "Alas, we simply have to live with our infatuation, and know you could never love us back..."

“You don’t want to be late to see Mummy, Felix. She’ll think a man eater has finally gotten to you.”

"And she wouldn't be far wrong." he shot a sneaky glance at her before quickly (trying to) turning his attention back to the menu. So many choices, and yet so little that appealed. Her statement that she could cook, but that she wasn't a slave made Felix chortle. Now that was an image that would haunt his thoughts for a while. Charlotte the slave...He blinked a few times and refocussed on the menu, but felt a slight tickling on the side of his legs as Charlotte taunted him on his age. As quick as a flash, his hand had grabbed hold of hers. He smirked as he pulled her hand up to his face and let it hover in front of his lips, smelling her perfume. "I'm old enough to do whatever you want us to do." he pressed his lips to her wrist gently.

"You remember me so well.”

And yet, it was he who had pinned Charlotte’s persona so perfectly.

He’d figured it out: the underlying dream future of the pampered princess, Mummy and Daddy’s only daughter, and the baby of the family. Even if she found herself-- that passionate career path which made her Charlotte, which made her an Independent Woman-- she was, at the end of the day, the same spoiled brat who’d donned Slytherin robes, and before that, fluffy pink dresses and hair ribbons. Only now she preferred clingy dresses and loose tresses. She wanted to be coddled and cared for, bowed down to, and made to feel like she was the center of the universe. Only someone who could give her that would earn her docility, the smallest glimpse of the bird in her cage; and he’d have to outdo her parents many and apparently vane attempts.

“Jealous...? Me?” She blinked lethargically, mascared lashes beating the apples of her high cheek bones. “I wouldn’t go that far, Felix.” If anyone had been jealous it had certainly been... alright, maybe both of them. But Charlotte had never as jealous as Felix! He’d always been the one chasing her, she’d been the one resisting temptation... “And I don’t need a man to take care of me. I’m perfectly capable,” she informed him, bopping her head a bit from side to side as she said, as if songfully daring him to disagree. “Or do you think I’m not in fine working order now?”

An almost-widow who’d held her head high, and turned the other cheek... toward a pretty payoff in the form of one man’s endless bank account. “Adam knew exactly what he wanted, and he had it. Don’t you dare pity him.”

She wondered what sort of images he had in his head, but she bit her tongue. She didn’t want to appear overly interested; that would ruin their game. And the dice was in Charlotte’s hand.

But she could feel him watching her, and it wasn’t just the usual way people watched her. She was mildly good-looking-- to put it mildly. She’d been the object of affection before. But the zombies on the street had a sort of blank, dopey stare, whereas Felix’s had become something else. Or perhaps it was just his ruggedly handsome face disguising it well.

"Trust me, it wouldn't be a waste."

Her eyes flicked away casually, and back to the window. As if suddenly whatever sparse bit of land they happened to be in were a foreign land full of royal treasure.

A little laugh escaped her, and she saw Felix’s reflection in the glass. Besotted. Men were besotted with her. Even the silhouette of his face was devilishly attractive, just like his brother’s-- but not exactly the same. “How do you know I haven’t got you all sipping spiked whiskeys?” She asked, finally turning back to him. She took up the glass again, taking another long sip. “Amortentia and all that... magic.” She grinned, almost wickedly, but there was innocence in it, too. Whether it was practiced or natural would be up to its victim to decide. “I can love, I just don’t do it for the average man...”

Not that Felix Marren was average in any category. He was the antithesis of average, in fact. Shame his brother had fallen from grace so spectacularly. The pair of them together were a very delightful picture.

Laughing more, her fingers slid down toward her hip, where her wand laid dormant in the little purse she’d somehow managed to deposit in the seat with her, while slipping over Felix and playing tricks with his head. “I don’t count. That would be a waste of my time...” Mmhmm. “Man eating, I mean. Not...” Well, she’d let him fill in the blanks. Use that starry imagination of his.

She hoped to distract him, for what came next was no easy feat, not even for Charlotte St. James.

Except it didn’t come, because her hand was snatched up by his. She stirred a bit, her eyes darting toward his face again. She felt her heart jump when her fingers hovered near his warmth, however composed she’d managed to make herself in everyday conversation. This wasn’t happening. Felix wasn’t getting the upperhand. If anyone was seducing anyone, it would be on Charlotte’s terms...

Of course, he’d more or less mentioned that.

“I'm old enough to do whatever you want us to do.”

She raised a brow, but said nothing. Freeing her wrist gingerly, she brought it back down to her purse. Where it tapped the latch teasingly. And then, with a flick of her wrist, like a cat’s quick paw, Charlotte accidentally knocked one of the glasses across an open menu, and into Felix’s lap.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry... I’m completely famished. It makes me clumsy.” She seemed to frown even as it was clear she was grinning. Leaning a bit closer, she murmured, “But we can’t use magic around all of these muggles. We’ll have to clean you up in the washroom or your mum will think you’ve wet yourself.”

Standing up, she squeezed past him, and reached over to snatch up her purse. She didn't wait for a reply, but began walking toward the other side of the car, where the lavatories were located.

“I wouldn’t go that far, Felix.”

"Oh I would..." he muttered to himself in almost a dreamlike way. It was amazing how one's head could be so up in the clouds after so long of having no sleep. He left it at that, refraining from adding "I'd go as far as you wanted me to", due to the fact that as their journey progressed, his little flirts and suggestions were probably becoming devoid of the cuteness they held at the beginning. And he didn't want her to take it for granted, did he?

“Or do you think I’m not in fine working order now?”

He raised an eyebrow and turned his head slowly to look at her, his mouth falling into the shape of an 'O' with ease. "No! I'm sure you're in fine...working..." he trailed off as he realised he had been played. Well and truly played like a quaffle. He rolled his eyes and smirked. , an amused expression taking over his face. Well now, how the tables had turned. There he was, thinking he had instigated all the flirting, then she produced that little gem. Was it too late to come back with something equally as tantalising and mouthwateringly sinful? Yes, it was. Such a shame...such a waste. Never again would he permit himself to be around Charlotte unless he was on top form, and had a good few hours sleep behind him. He was lagging. 'Letting the side down' so to speak.

“Adam knew exactly what he wanted, and he had it. Don’t you dare pity him.”

"Oh, I don't." He said, stretching his arms above his head and yawning. "But I know that if it had been me, I wouldn't have been so stupid as to let you slip out of my sight. Not even if death stood in the way." he chuckled slightly and rubbed his right eye with the palm of his hand. "I wouldn't trust all those other men who were besotted with you."

He watched her again as she turned her head defiantly from him to look out of the window. He could just make out her reflection in the glass, but it was her neck that interested him more than her reflection. Something that was palpable, real and not just an image. It was right there, in front of him. He licked his lips. She knew what she did to him. Surely, she knew. then she turned back and picked her drink up, and Felix's head snapped back to the menu in front of him, lest she catch him watching her.

“Amortentia and all that... magic.”

He laughed. "I wouldn't doubt it for one second." Well, he would. This wasn't love. This was lust - a crush, if pushing it. It was purely physical, wasn't it? His brow furrowed slightly the more he questioned it. Sure, they got on well for the most part. But it was a very tight rope they were walking, and one of them was bound to fall off sooner or later. All the teasing and innuendos they threw around like bludgers, it was all just a laugh.

“I don’t count. That would be a waste of my time...Man eating, I mean. Not...”

She didn't finish the sentence, and yet Felix hung onto the end of it like a limpet. Finish the sentence! Finish it! She didn't. He almost groaned internally. She got such kicks out of teasing him it almost wasn't fair. The only thing that made it slightly more fair, was the fact that he enjoyed reciprocating just as much. Then she stated that she didn't love for the average man, and Felix turned his head ever so slightly towards her, a thoughtful expression shadowing his features. "And am I average?"

Charlotte looked neither offended or amused when she pulled her hand away. An expression set by marble on that perfect face of hers. Suddenly, her hand had moved like a lightening bolt, and something wet was seeping through his jeans. "What the-" he looked down and bit the inside of his cheek gently. "Huh..." he offered in amusement. Charlotte began apologising for her clumsiness, whispered that they couldn't do magic on the train and suggested they head to the lavatories. Felix's eyebrows shot into his hairline as she stood up and squeezed herself past him, her backside right there. Right there in front of him. His hands flexed instinctively but he managed to hold them back, ensuring that the slightest movement wouldn't wake him from this delicious dream.

He blinked after her for a moment as he watched her walk with such confidence down the length of the car. Was she really suggesting-- He didn't want to wait and find out that she was joking, so he scrambled as fast as he could out of the seat, straightened his tee-shirt up as he stood up and followed after her, unable to contain the smug expression which had hijacked his stubbled face completely. A few snickers could be heard as he walked past them with his wet patch on display - but those middle-aged men who laughed at him for his follies would not be laughing if they knew that it wasn't just coincidence he was walking behind a gorgeous girl and heading towards the toilets.

He kept a safe distance behind Charlotte, allowing his eyes to assess her figure from the very appealing position he was holding. Once at the restroom (which was - thankfully - vacant), Felix paused and watched Charlotte go in. Naturally, they had both decided to take quite an upper-class train, so the restrooms were more than simply a toilet and a wash basin. These restrooms actually had room. Which, incidentally, would come in handy if Felix was right in thinking that an immeasurably exciting activity was about to take place in them. Those lavatories had probably never seen such action in their lives.

He moved forward slowly, weighing up his options; he could be gallant and noble, say that he wouldn't want to be one of 'those' men, who has a girl in a train toilet then brags to his mates about it later. Or he could just allow himself the prize that had been dangled in front of his face for so many years, like a donkey being teased with a delicious carrot. He licked his lips as he leant against the door and watched her for a moment. Charlotte's vivaciousness had caught him offguard, and he realised that he would never really have been able to resist, even if he so dearly wanted to. Beside which, he would never brag to his mates about it afterwards. He wasn't that kind of man. Maybe Jason, but his older brother probably wouldn't believe him anyway. In fact, Felix himself would hardly believe it either.

He was, in other words, a donkey. And he was damn proud of it too, if this was the shape his carrot came in.

"Should I get the soap?"

"No! I'm sure you're in fine...working..."

Another breath of delight escaped the young woman’s lips. Felix couldn’t exactly be pinned as gullible, and yet... Well, she’d almost caught him there, hadn’t she? Her eyes narrowed in familiar feline fashion as he explained the difference between the man six feet under, and the man sitting beside Charlotte on a suave train car. He said it with such ease, even after tripping into her minxy little joke about working parts.


Charlotte mimicked his yawn, but her own was more girly. Her graceful jaw stretched and she fanned her manicure delicately and languidly over her parted mouth. “The last time I checked, the only man who could defeat death killed the Dark Lord and then ditched the pretty little toys that made him immortal.”

Not that she was complaining, exactly. Charlotte hadn’t liked the interruption to Hogwarts’ fun when the war had happened. She’d been too young for that to obscure her childhood. It had made her slightly bitter, even. And, perhaps, had propelled her in Adam’s direction. A man. A soul free from the clutches of the school grounds.

“And,” she added, her hands falling again, like a rag doll’s, but more supple, “It’s not a matter of trusting them. I’m the one who pulls the strings, according to your own logic.” She raised her brows. “But maybe you’re just too besotted to speak any sense.”

Charlotte was drawn to magic like Amortentia. It was... mysterious, fiery, romantic. An adventure. A taboo. But she’d never needed it. It was just another game, in the end. She could fair well without it. What was more, the challenge of being just Charlotte and not cheating (at least, not in that way) was most pleasing. Particularly when she made her victory. And she usually did.


Felix seemed not to underestimate her, though, which was a nice change. Many a man would have denied it-- told her she didn’t need such a thing in order to flatter her almost-blush-immune cheeks. And, even if she didn’t need it (which she’d just established in her own mind), those same men were mistaken in thinking she absolutely wouldn’t if it meant achieving her ends. Felix, on the other hand, acknowledged it plainly.

"And am I average?"

Breath drawn, eyes concentrated, Charlotte looked on the verge of answering. But that was in the moment before she pawed the whiskey onto her favorite Marren’s lap. She shifted past him-- quite the cozy hurtle-- without an answer. He could figure it out on his own, if he was so interested.

Smirking to herself, knowing that the whispers and badly-masked amusement were for the man with the sopping jeans who was undoubtedly following behind her, she swayed toward the toilets in a delightfully unaffected stroll. When she reached the end of the cabin, she gave one prompt knock with tightened knuckles, and then swung into the well-kept lavatory by latching to the little door handle. By the time Felix caught up with her-- taking his own time, too, apparently-- she’d fallen into place against the wall behind the door, holding it ajar for him.

Once they were both in, a silence encapsulated them. Helped, apparently, by a nimble flick of a wrist and a murmured word, foreign to the muggles in the car beyond. One didn’t want to be rushed in matters of soap.

She tilted her head at Felix, who was studying her from his handsome posture against the door. “You really are hopeless, aren’t you?” She shifted forward a bit, hovering nearer so that she was forced to look up. “Not only can you not cook for yourself--” She paused to delight in the banter. “But you don’t know how to wash your own clothes.”

A sort of tsk left her tongue, and Charlotte reached for Felix’s waistline. “You have to remove them and soak them before you add the soap, you prat.” Or else he’d smell like a hastily-shampooed drunk when he showed up for Mummy. And Charlotte wouldn’t get to enjoy the full benefits of the whiskey she’d ordered... and promptly deployed to Felix Marren’s trousers.