[July 17] An Evening near the pool

"No, not really. My years there were dominated by some fairly popular figures, and their struggle against other popular figures, and all I got was being a background nothing to their showcase. I mean, I graduated strongly, went on to interesting things, but I always thought that in another time, I could've been so much more. Y'know?"

She hits a ball, and it goes wide and bounces off the path, and Raven goes after it with a loud Woof of delight. Marigold laughs, picking up her fruit fizz and emptying the glass. "Damn, need another drink. Can I grab you one?" She asks, as she turns towards the bar.

Marigold smiles, nods to Lil, orders two drinks, extra fizz. Normally they had barely any alcohol in them, but fizz was fizz. She brought the drinks back before answering.

"I was lucky I found some like minded associates to work with. They're guys, for the most part, but they get me, so all is good. What parts of school do you like best? That's usually where you start looking when you want a career goal or whatnot. As for the right people ... I guess that depends on who you ask. Neither made my life any easier, but thankfully I got away before the blow-up."

"Family, eh? That can be good or bad, depending on the family." She laughs.

"Corporate takeovers, mostly. Boring, I know, but it can be fun too. Mostly I do the meet and greet and pre-bargaining arrangements. You should see me in a power suit, I actually look my age." She laughs.

"Those suits always make you look older. I'll have to stop wearing them soon, or I'll look too old. Being younger looking helps in so many things. It makes it especially easy to deny that I'm in my thirties now!" She laughs. "Heaven help the world once I hit my forties!"

She drinks more of her fizz, letting the bubbles tingle her nose,

"So, come on, which family? Would I know them?"

"Adamson," Marigold repeats softly as her mind begins to work.

"No!? Really? So the Dristan you mentioned ... " she looks amazed, and laughs. "Small world is small. Wow! Which house are you in? I was Ravenclaw!"

So this girl was not only a witch, but a powerful one, too ... if not in actual magic, in worldly influence. The Adamson family was loaded! And then some."

"Wow, that's amazing! Why were you adopted?" She sobers a little, "if I can ask, I mean. My family is nothing extraordinary. I mean," she half whispers now, "with a name like Littlebottom, how can you be?" And she laughs at her own misfortune.

"I was the year ahead of the whole Potter phenomenon. Graduated the year before the war. I can tell you, being Ravenclaw was the best when I was in first year, then things were suddenly all Griffindor and Slytherin, and nothing else really mattered for the next six years,"

Marigold nods. "My family are purebloods, mostly, but aren't stuck up about it like some. In a way I'm glad. Means I survived to graduate, you know?" And she laughs a little uncomfortably.

"About time. Though I think Hufflepuff has always been the underdog. Do you know the Malfoys?" She asks.

"If you're happy, does it really matter what people call you?" She sips from her fizz, then hits another ball. This one goes all the right places, hitting all the marks, and goes into the hole for one. She laughs. "Sometimes, it just works out for the best." She says.

Marigold laughs loudly, causing Raven to turn in their direction and stop watching balls.

"Aren't they always?" She asked, before finishing her fizz. "So, are you ready for some music, maybe. A little dancing? I'm about ready to pop this fizz joint and get something serious to drink."

"There's a little club about two blocks from here. It's small, private, and the music is generally soft and mellow, and the drinks are anything but. Yes, it's a witch place. I wasn't set on taking you there at first, then when I realised our connection, it seemed ideal. It's called the Kitty Kat Klub. Run by a witch named Kitty Whistle. She's out of town right now, but I'll be sure to introduce you when she gets back."

Marigold picks up their balls and clubs, setting them back on the counter with their empty glasses, and leads the way.

Marigold laughs again.

"Is really only planned a quick swim to cool off, then I was coming out anyway. I like the city at night, especially in summer. Winter it's just the pits. I'd hoped to meet some young man to entertain me, but you were just as fun. Are fun, I mean."

She walks, her pace not fast, but not slow either. "I've had fun so far. And meeting another Rwvenclaw was the best surprise!"

"And I'm glad, well ... well, I'm glad, too. Look," she points to the neon cat sign, "we're here!"

Marigold flashes her wand at the door, and they are let inside. Inside the music is gentle, just a base guitar and a soft husky voice lamenting lost love. The lights are low, and the space is cleverly divided into private booths and a dance floor, the bar at the opposite end to the raised corner where the performers sit, the woman singing wears a long slinky black dress, and cat ears inner deep aurburn hair. A man with skin as black as ink plays the base guitar for her, almost vanishing into the darkness.

Marigold pulls Lil into a booth not too close to the dance floor, which is only sporadically in use. "What would tounlike to drink?"

Marigold smiles as Raven joins them. That the doorman hadn't stopped him means something, that he's more than just a dog at least. He fills the void beneath the table happily and she can feel his warmth against her legs.

"I like a little drink based round a cinnamon whiskey. It's warm, and sweet, and not too bitey. Let's start there?"

She gets up, slides over to the bar, watching the talent as she waits her turn. When she returns it's with two tall narrow glasses of a deep clear red, each with a stick of cinnamon bark perched on the edge. She sets one down in front of Lil.

"This'll warm your toes," she grins, taking a sip of hers through a long black straw.

She nods, "Me, too ... and, well, can your toes really get much warmer? This weather is unusual, but I'm not going to let it stop me enjoying my favourite drink."

The contain has a faint whiskey taste, undertones of cola and vanilla but a definite cinnamon finish ... and a kick that you feel only after a couple of swallows that leaves a pleasant warmth spreading through you.

"So .. tell me more about your family. Your cousin, isn't he a teacher at Hogwarts now?"