And the whole gang's together again. on At Home

Simon Mordue

May 06, 2020 8:01 PM

And the whole gang's together again. by Simon Mordue

He was delighted to have escaped the specific circumstances of his seventh year - the stress of his family's latest scandal combined with having to live with seeing a friend degenerate into a bit of a romantic had taken its toll; he thought he might have had more of a sense of humor about Winston and Emerald had the other things not been going on, but since they had been, the sight of Winston being happy had just been one more thing grating on his nerves - but Simon couldn't deny that he sometimes missed Sonora. There had been the usual downsides that came with any public space, of course - obstructive rules, the undesirables roaming the halls and sometimes even teaching the classes - but it had been undeniably pleasant being somewhere with folk of his own age, and - most crucially - being somewhere where his parents had had far less ability to engage in direct observation of his behavior.

Finally, though, the summer holidays were upon them, and Mother and Father could observe Nathaniel and Jeremy instead. Sylvia might be incapable of doing any wrong in Father's eyes, at least, but Simon was sure he could count on his cousins to be good chaps and continue being just close enough to disreputable to warrant a diversion of some of his parents' attention onto their failings instead of his.

Just so long as they didn't go too far with it, he thought as he hung around the foyer awaiting their return. Nathaniel had at least not done anything bizarre enough in public for Sylvia to comment on it in any letters Simon had seen, but he had begun to gather that there was something...off. There had been all those odd incidents last summer, and Simon had - well, he hadn't been snooping, of course, much less doing so out of sheer boredom, but he had happened to be in his father's office, and had happened to notice some bills he hadn't recognized, and what had looked like a medical document with his cousin's name on it. He hadn't had time to study the document before he'd heard a step in the hall and had had to hurry back to his proper position on the other side of the desk, but if Nathaniel died now, after everything he'd already put them all through, then Simon would be very cross with him indeed.

His cousin looked healthy enough, however, as he stepped into the foyer. Tired and somewhat sad, but Simon thought that was down to moping so much last year about Aunt Cynthia - he'd carried on so long that he must have gotten his face stuck like that. Simon gave Sylvia a hug and then offered his hand to his cousin. "Nathaniel, welcome back - "

A gleam of amusement momentarily marred Nathaniel's seemingly permanently imprinted tragic expression; there was a twist to his smile that Simon was not entirely sure he liked as they shook hands. "Simon," he said. "Good seeing you."

"Of course, of course," said Simon, and was relieved to be able to turn to greet Jeremy in the same way. "Jeremy - how's Intermediates? No more fighting, I hope?"

"I should hope not," said his father, with a severe look to Jeremy.

The routine of the house had changed very little since Christmas, so it was not surprising, to Simon, that everything went perfectly ordinarily through the afternoon until supper - where, of course, they dressed, and naturally, the conversation revolved around the homecomers' experiences. He was happy enough to keep it there, well away from himself, and in the spirit of holiday charity, he took an opening to ask Nathaniel how he liked being a Beater now instead of trying to nudge the conversation toward some insufficiency of either cousin's.

"It's fine," Nathaniel said mildly, and then paused before adding, "I'm sure you were better, though, Simon." A quick glance moved between Simon and Jeremy before a second addition was made: "I was, ah, thinking actually - what do you say, the three of us - " he gestured to Jeremy - "could practice a bit in the morning?"

Simon blinked, a bit surprised. Nathaniel played Quidditch well enough, of of course, but he had always seemed to prefer sitting about with Sylvia, or wandering around alone with his camera. Certainly, he rarely ever was the one to suggest Quidditch. He would almost always be agreeable if someone else suggested it - well, except for parts of last summer - but he did not often make the suggestion. Or any suggestion, come to that - Nathaniel was agreeable to the point of dullness. Simon generally assumed him lacking in any and all imagination, which was one reason last year's behavior had been so disturbing - he hadn't thought Nathaniel quite capable of thinking for himself, much less suggesting violence, be it against himself or others, much less openly defying Father for a while...Perhaps, Simon thought, Nathaniel was making a play for school captain? Or....

Oh. Oh, there it was. He thought back to the moment of flattery. Yes, that explained it all, he thought as he regarded his cousin with an expression of mild approval. He was trying to work his way into Simon's good graces to make up for his missteps and the momentary failure to observe his proper position in the family last year. "Sure," he said graciously, with a nod. "Why not?"

Nathaniel gave him the ghost of a polite smile before looking over to Jeremy again. "Jeremy?" he asked, and Simon, pleased with the thought of being thought important enough to flatter, never once thought there could be any reason beyond form, and Quidditch being a bit dull with only two participants, why Nathaniel would make a point of wanting to include his younger brother in such an outing.

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