run with the silver quick / ALBUS

[Chloe Nott]

Albus Potter i hope this is okay!! let me know if you need me to change anything, and sorry it's taken me so long to get up i suck
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Chloe apparated to the landing outside Rose's flat, hoping the loud crack that announced her presence wouldn't alarm any of her friend's new neighbours. Stashing her wand in her handbag, she stepped neatly up to the door and gave it a quick flurry of knocks. She hadn't warned Rose she'd be coming, so she hoped her friend didn't mind her just dropping in. Actually, she hoped she was here full stop, and not off gallivanting with one Seth Wishart. Not that Chloe didn't like Seth. She did. He was nice, and he made Rose happy, which was really all Rose wanted. All the same, Chloe couldn't help but be a little jealous of him for stealing some of Rose's affections from her.

She'd left her own home because both of her parents were out at work and Seb was off doing Seb sort of things and she'd been bored and lonely. She loved her home so much, but being the only one in it made it seem awfully big and echo-y. Rose had been the obvious port of call, so Chloe had got dressed and headed straight down the drive to apparate.

With a lurch of relief she heard footsteps approaching the door, and took a slight step back as it was pulled open. She gulped down a gasp of surprise as she came face-to-face with Rose's cousin Albus, and hastily gathered her courage. Albus intimidated her like almost nobody else - he was cool, good-looking, and always seemed to say such sophisticated clever things, she never quite knew what to do with herself around him. But, no, she was a grown-up now, and she could be grown-up about this sort of thing. With that in mind, Chloe smiled her best smile up at him.

"Hi, Albus!" she said brightly, hoping he couldn't see right through to her shyness, "Um, is Rose in? I didn't mean to intrude..."

[Albus Potter]

this is absolutely perfect! i'll get up the nik/chloe asap; my extended essay is due tuesday and it's half an hour to monday ahaha so i'm a bit frantic rn but i'll do it soon! chloe is SUCH a cutie

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Albus had spent half the night trawling through London; he'd started off accompanied by some friends (predominantly relatives of his, though he was electing to ignore that fact for the moment) but at various points of the night, he'd lost them all. After somehow finding himself in a park in Muggle London at two thirty in the morning, Albus had apparated home to his flat, stumbling through the door and barely registering that the shoes Rose had been wearing weren't beside the door; so, clearly, Rose and Seth hadn't made it back to Al's flat after all.

Collapsing for a few hours, he'd woken up and put on a kettle of tea before realising, halfway through, that a better cure for bleary eyes would be a strong coffee. Shrugging it off - he was not always the biggest fan of coffee, especially not on a morning that felt as casual as this one - he stuck to his tea, and opened his mouth to call out an offer to Rose, before closing it, thinking. He padded through the apartment in his slippers and found the front door as bare as it had been last night, with only his trainers lying on the floor.

Frowning slightly as he considered this - why would they go to Seth's flat... unless James and Fred were too hungover to tease them? - he made his way back to the kitchen, and started pouring his tea into a mug that Molly had bought him once; a dark green mug with the words Slytherin Stud emblazoned upon it in silver. After inhaling a few fumes of the tea, he was already feeling much better, and was considering what sort of breakfast to make - no matter how late in the day it may be, which he was still unsure about, given his lack of motivation to check a clock - when he heard a knock on the door.

Raising his eyebrows, he returned to the door, his mug still in his hand. He expected Rose - the most brilliant person he knew, but even she was a mess with a hangover - or maybe a smirking James; what he didn't expect was Rose's best friend, Chloe Nott. Yet when he opened the door, that was who he found. He had nothing against Chloe, of course; they'd never really talked, but she was Seb's sister and on top of that, Rose's best friend, so even if Albus knew nothing about her, he'd be convinced about her quality as a person from that. But he did know her, kinda, even if they'd never really talked; which, now that he thought about it, he couldn't imagine why they'd stayed that way as opposed to getting to know one another, given all their links over the years.

"Oh, hullo, Chloe," he responded with a half-smile, nursing his tea. "I think she and Seth have already left - if they ever came back at all, that is," he muttered, interrupting himself. "But you're not intruding," he tacked on swiftly. He glanced at his tea - his mug choice now seeming to have much more gravitas than before - and then up at Chloe. "Would you like to come in?" he asked before he could change his mind. "There's tea, if you want any, and I'm about to make breakfast... and maybe Rose will show up soon, if you want to wait." He didn't want to terrify the girl, nor make her feel pressured to come inside, but he had to admit that he'd be quite pleased if she did come in. More pleased if he had a more respectable mug, though.

[Chloe Nott]

oh my god no worries at all if you're too busy anything can wait!!
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Chloe hovered on the edge of indecision for a moment or two. On the one hand, she didn't know Albus at all well, and was ninety-eight per cent certain to make a fool out of herself at some point during the conversation. This was something she dearly wished to avoid since she'd managed to survive seven years of sort-of knowing him without committing any huge blunders thus far. On the other hand, however, he was not only the cousin of several of her friends - including her two best friends - he was also the best friend of her brother, who she adored to the ends of the Earth. And if Seb liked him that much, then he must be a nice person, which meant he probably wouldn't laugh at her if she did cock-up.... Chloe took a deep breath.

"Thanks," she replied at last, taking a tentative step forward, "You don't mind? I don't want to get in your way. My house is all empty and boring..." Feeling like she'd committed now, she moved forward with more purpose, and made her way into Rose and Albus' sitting room. She really loved their flat, it felt so cosy and homely. It felt very strange being in it without Rose, and if her friend had been here she would have made herself instantly at home, probably very noisily. Since it was just her and Albus, she was much more proper. She set her handbag down on the side and then sat herself down a tad shyly on the sofa.

"I like your mug," she told Albus genuinely, reaching for a topic of conversation, "My dad's got one a bit like it. Mum got it for him when they were still at school."

[Albus Potter]

i am a terrible student but this is more interesting than my history class right now—sick of mao tbh—so quick reply time!!
also i'm sorry albus is a loser but shhhh nobody tell chloe she seems to think he's still cool
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Albus found himself worrying slightly that she was going to elect to actually Apparate as opposed to come inside the apartment with just him—which wasn't exactly the greatest confidence-booster, nor a particularly rational concern, given that a reasonable part of him was sure that Chloe had better manners than to just Apparate off with no reason—but he kept his cool, his half-smile thankfully intact.

When Chloe stepped forward into the apartment, his smile had evolved into a full-blown grin which she couldn't see because he turned to close the door behind her. "It's not an issue, Chloe," he promised with a friendly laugh, marveling at how much more polite than Seb she was; granted, he knew Seb very well, and vice versa, after seven years of living together, but he was fairly certain that Seb wasn't even this polite around pretty strangers he wanted to shag, let alone any relative of Albus'. Chuckling, he continued, "I hear you, though; I love living with Rosie, and I like my space at times too, but when she's not around, it can feel pretty..." he hesitated for a second, carefully considering his word. Lonely, his mind said, but Albus went with, "empty."

Heading in to the kitchen as Chloe sat down on the sofa, he blinked at her words. Glancing down at his mug again, simply to reassure himself of what it said, he had to laugh. "Thanks," he told her genuinely. "Molly bought it for me. She was very proud of herself," he informed her, smiling fondly at the memory of his giggling cousin. "It's cool that your dad has one like it," he said. He really liked the Nott parents; he found them both interesting and being from such a tight-knit family as his own, he'd always loved seeing theirs and how much they all loved each other. "Your parents are pretty cool, though, so I'm not surprised." He snorted, thinking about his own parents. "I think my Mum once bought Dad Quidditch themed boxers—if I remember correctly, they squealed ridiculous things about Quidditch balls. Dad was pretty embarrassed, the first time it happened," he shared with her. He loved his parents to absolute bits, but some times they had to be laughed at, especially when they did ridiculous things like that. Honestly, Albus thought, and they all wonder why we all get each other mental presents. Speaking of presents....

"Are you excited about your birthday party?" he asked, before tacking on, "and d'you want any tea or food or anything?"

[Chloe Nott]

i'm so sorry this is so late ugh i suck i suck i'm sorry!!
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"My house is the same," Chloe told him sympathetically, "I mean, when we're all in it it's perfect, and when we have people over it can almost feel too small, but today Mum and Dad are at work and Seb's out, so... it just sort of echoes, you know?" Chloe really did adore her home, but some days all the space was just a bit much. This afternoon she'd really wanted to be somewhere smaller, and Rose and Albus' flat was actually the perfect place, regardless of which of its owners were in. Coming to this conclusion, Chloe sat herself back more comfortably and pushed off her shoes so she could tuck her legs up under herself and relax.

"That's brilliant," she told him fervently when he related the story about his dad's quidditch boxers, laughing loudly, "What a good idea. Maybe I'll try to get Seb some for part of his birthday present." Seb would probably find them hilarious, but ideally they'd hide the talking part until he was trying to impress a girl - at which point Chloe would have a field day. This thought, combined with Albus mentioning her birthday party, was enough to put a massive grin on her face.

"Of course," she told him excitedly, clasping her hands together, "I can't wait. We've got almost all the decorations sorted, and I've picked out my dress, and it's going to be so much fun. Do you know what you're wearing yet?" Now they were on the topic of clothes, Chloe was already feeling much more comfortable. Regardless of the fact that the answer was undoubtedly as dull as any boy's, she felt like she was on home turf, and her shyness began to melt rapidly. Albus really did seem nice, she couldn't think why she hadn't talked to him more sooner. "And a cup of tea would be really lovely, if it's not too much trouble. Can I help with it?"