We were supposed to rule

Caleb had been investing for the past few years and if he had learned anything it was that every business did come down to people. There were investors who were worse at their job but produced higher yields for him because they had developed a shared language. It was difficult, and it didn't happen very often. He and Kit had been speaking very different languages that directly competed with each other but they were beginning to find a middle ground. That was where the magic began to build.

The candour was something they needed that didn't fit their environment or their histories, but it was finally approaching it.

And Merlin was it a twist.

Caleb wanted to strike out against the Death Eaters. He wanted to show them as weak and apathetic, if only to call them to the destinies they had been given at birth. But this might be a bit different. The Avery brothers were as close to friends as Caleb could claim, and he was now facing the idea of victimizing young pureblood men, his people, him.

But if it did what they needed to get done.

"What shall we do with him, then?"

"Well," Katherine began, her tone lighter than the anger bubbling within her chest, "It's obviously Mes that's the problem. Luke is... like me, now. Colder. After all, he's the one that gathered the stuff that saved me. He may not give a damn about much anymore, but he could be convinced if helping us could bring some sort of adrenaline. Some sort of feeling."

She decided not to elaborate on that, or how she herself felt. Though, she did presume that he'd put two and two together as far as her desires and lack of emotion about most things.

"Anger," she mused, "is one of the few things that can light a fire for either of us, now. And the thing that I know about Mes... is that he's refusing to marry the woman he's meant to."

Kit held up her hands. "Don't get me wrong. It's absolutely mental that the woman doesn't get to choose whomever she thinks is most eligible. But d'you know which girl is the last he paid any attention to? That barking mad Macmillan girl. First, Zabini goes for a Potter and now this? No. I'd be less annoyed if it was just about anybody else, but let's be realistic. The Bones were torn to bits back in the day, and then Ernest married the last one. We all know how well that went over."

The server brought their drinks over and she took hers without so much as glancing at him. Instead, she brought it to her lips as she watched Caleb's reaction. And then she sighed affectedly. "He needs to make better choices if he doesn't want to make things worse. For us, or for himself. I was thinking we might find a way to... reinforce the idea."

Caleb listened carefully, quietly, because if he truly wanted to shake things up, it meant that no one could be off limits. Not the Zabinis boys, who he had considered to be the young generation who could be almost little brothers if they just took on their roles with more vigor. Not the Rookwoods, who had dabbled in infidelity and had married halfbloods. And not Mesut Avery if he could not commit to his purpose, the purpose they all had. These faces and names spun through his mind, a macabre spin the wheel game show of those who needed to be corrected.

With a puttering out, the wheel slowed and stopped on the face of sister. Brilliant but different Camila, a withdrawn woman.

She would come around. She would understand. When it came down to it, she understood her duty.

Drinks came and Caleb handed over a handful of coins with the quiet command to bring a second round the moment their glasses emptied.

"It's not such a crime to drag one's feet on marriage. I understand that," he said, a small smile touching at the edge of his mouth. "But perhaps a reminder of what route is less than acceptable. Let's see. The Zabinis, as you said. Perhaps they need to be paid a visit. It's been awhile since I've made a social call."

"I imagine you would," she replied cheekily. "Haven't had any.. trouble, have we, Caleb?"

An eyebrow lift and a smile later, she was too interested in his suggestion to keep at any chiding - no matter how amused she was at the idea of his disapproval of her doing so. After all, she hardly knew him, and thus had no right. But she couldn't quite resist.

"Well, that would be a brilliant plan, certainly," Kit agreed, swirling the straw within her glass. "If the boys lived at home. You'll have to send word to their mother, probably. Although, I daresay she might be more interested if I were the one writing. She all but shoved me at Apollo during the opening of the Christmas ball. Likely because she'd heard about him and Lily."

Whoops. Best to keep to last names, if only to keep her voice from adding any inflection. Don't misunderstand, reader. Lily was a good person, that much was undeniable. Katherine had adored her, and considered her one of her only friends in the whole world. But, really, she would never have been able to sit idly by if Mesut had taken a stronger interest in her. Her mother wouldn't have wanted it, and Kit couldn't even begin to consider disappointing the memory of the one person she believed would not have treated her differently. No matter how wrong she actually was in that regard.

"Perhaps I'll suggest that it's been absolute ages since I've seen them, and that I've heard you were interested in chatting with the boys as well. Christian in particular, that way she'll bring them both and no suggestion of a challenge, on your part, will worry her. Besides, if she thinks you're holding up the ideals, maybe she'll want you to.. influence them however you can." Katherine shrugged the shoulder nearest to him. "Sound fair?"

Despite himself, a good-natured smirk crossed his features and he quirked an eyebrow. “Don’t ask questions you know the answers to, it’s amateur,” he quipped. Caleb Flint was one of the most eligible pureblood young men out there, and he could see it in their cunning eyes that many a married pureblood woman envied their daughters for the potential they still had to catch someone like himself.

He was glad she volunteered to take the role of sending the invitation, as he was certain they would feel no true obligation to answer his call. Comradery between the heirs was recommended, certain, but it was not nearly as mandatory as a meeting arranged by an eligible young woman. He had a thought and he had to roll his lips inward to disguise the smirk threatening to twitch its way across his face, as he was certain Katherine would not share his amusement. If the two of them kept up all these invitations and meetings, they may have to get engaged, just to prevent gossip.

As if he cared what people thought.

“I have access to a boat,” he said, leaning back lazily as he lifted his glass. “Friend of a friend, owes me a favor. Haven’t you been dying to go on a boat ride? But it can’t just be you and me. I’ll invite my sister, and you invite your good friends, Zabini One and Two. Hopefully Camila won’t get called into work at the last second – it happens nearly every time now. What a shame.”

Kit actually - believe it or not - offered a legitimate, full laugh at his comeback. But they had bigger and better things to worry about than whether or not she could ever surprise him enough to leave him speechless. Someday, she swore, that would happen.

But he agreed, and even had a place for them to get together without any worry about Daphne Zabini sticking her nose in. Katherine almost felt bad for Apollo, who would certainly be terrorized with questions when he got home. If he went directly home, anyway. Still, his idea was interesting.

"Interesting," she murmured, pausing to finish her drink in one go and then start to scoot her way back out of the booth. "I'm not sure if I should be more concerned about having to see the three of you shirtless, or about the fact that you went directly for something that involves swimsuits. But I'll take care of it. This Saturday?"

And once the plan was made, she sent off a letter to Mrs. Zabini, detailing how much she enjoyed her time at the Christmas ball, until, quite unfortunately, everything had been ruined. She mentioned how she hoped their home had been repaired as needed, and that she'd had the distinct pleasure of dancing with her son. Daphne didn't need to know which one. That said, the Flints had invited her to spend time on their family boat, and she had been granted permission to invite the boys to join them. Caleb so enjoyed their company, after all, and Camilla was a joy to be around. Both of those things, of course, she could not truly confirm. But oh well.

And so Apollo and Christian both received letters naught but a few hours later. The former crumpled it, threw it across the room, glared at it, and then crossed the room to open it again and craft a horribly reluctant reply. The latter rolled his eyes and showed the note to Ace, wondering how sunburned he'd get if he forgot to keep up a charm against it.

So Katherine soon found herself aboard Caleb's boat, his sister off somewhere else entirely, preparing to put up with a pair of brooding idiots and her newfound partner in crime.


**

Caleb stood, pulling down the sleeves of his cardigan as he did. "Concerned?" he repeated. He reached for his drink and with an expert swallow, finished it off. "The word you're looking for is honored."

It didn't take long to get everything settled, which he chalked up partly to Daphne's eagerness to have her sons' love lives settled before graduation, and partly on Katherine's abilities to charm. She truly was a dream for any pureblood parents, and he wondered how long it would take for his own mother to see their new 'friendship' as a thrilling possibility. The Flints had taken a highly experimental route in their pureblood matchmaking of their children by taking the hands off approach - but he could sense the anxiety in his mother at times. Her patience was running thin.

This boat, a mini-yacht in truth, had no room for anxiety. With sunglasses over his eyes, he looked comfortable in a pair of blue shorts and an open, white shirt that fluttered as he moved, catlike, towards a cooler with a few beers because even a couple of purebloods could condescend to relax with a few beers.

"I think that's them," Caleb said as he moved past Katherine, pausing as he came behind her to look out at the pier, where a pair of lean figures grew larger.

"I've been told of an invitation for a day out that I never properly received. Our mother was pleased to hear Miss Avery would be in attendance."

"Yes, I believe you have plans that day."

"...I'm uneasy, Caleb."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Cam. Is there something I can do to put you more at ease?"

"Just remember. Remember."

"If you don't cheer up, it will get back to Mum, and you know how well that will go over."

Christian looked over sharply, tempted to refuse a response altogether. But he was distracted. He didn't want to spend the day with Camilla or Kit, and while Caleb was usually rather fun to be around in a non-serious capacity, the small group and the obvious insinuation made by their mother had made this mean far too much.

Besides, he couldn't get past what Ace had said before he left her to work on scheduling or whatever she'd decide to mess with that day. He looked down at himself (again) and wondered whether she maybe had a point.

"What's wrong with you?" Apollo spoke up again, reaching out to shove his brother as they made their way down the harbor towards the right dock. They'd figured it would be best to walk a little ways rather than pop into being in front of whomever, if only because they didn't know the area apart from a trip or two out with Caleb. It'd been a while, though, so this invitation was, of course, predictable.

Christian shook his head. "I dunno. Something Ace said earlier."

"Oh, forget what Ace said." Apollo paused, stopping still so Christian was forced to do the same. "Did Charlotte see you?" He asked with a smirk.

"Piss off."

So they started walking again, though Apollo assured his twin he meant it only ever as a compliment. Because, wouldn't he be insulting himself if it weren't? Christian, obviously, did not buy this logic.

Up on the boat, Katherine turned her head to look at Caleb rather than the Zabinis. Under her hat and Ravenclaw-inspired romper, she was unconcerned about what the twins might think. She'd considered going for a green version of the outerwear, but figured that might be a wee bit too obvious. And if they were going to be blatant, she could at least keep it from being disgusting.

"Must be," she agreed, her attention falling back on the twins. "I presume you have a plan for Christian? No matter how slow we play it, Apollo's too broody to put up with anything I throw at him for very long." Her lips turned downwards. "...They'll both ask questions."

Caleb always felt more kinship to the elder of the Zabini twins, which he assumed had to do more with his loyalty to fellow heirs - no matter how stupid it was that a matter of minutes made Apollo the elder one and Christian the spare. But beyond that, Christian was a bit more understated, less open. As closed as Apollo tried to be, it seemed he had been wearing his heart on his sleeve lately. Christian was a harder book to read.

Not that Caleb was worried.

"We'll drink some beers, sail around, jump in for a brief swim. Relax. And when it seems right, I'll ask them how eager Daphne is to be a grandmother." He smirked.

Katherine recognized, of course, that Caleb would do just fine when it came to executing his plan. The Zabinis were arguably rather dull-minded, comparatively. But she couldn't help the pure disgust that crinkled her nose. That had to be hidden, though. The twins didn't know she was anything more than a simple, sweet former Ravenclaw student. They probably presumed she had graduated early or decided to study from home because of her illness. Those poor lads had no idea what she was about to get them into.

But the reveal could come later.

So she turned, lifting an eyebrow at Caleb as she made her way over to one of the folding chairs and settled in, shades on and hat brim low.

As for Apollo, he could play the game, too. On the inside, though, he was still thinking about Lily. Sure, he'd been amused for a moment that morning before he apparated away to meet Christian. After all, he was cocky around her and Lily sometimes put up with it. But he felt guilty about leaving her alone on a weekend. Their cover was at stake, or he would've told Kit, Caleb, and even his mother to shove off.

He wasn't thrilled that one of his days off was being wasted on something like this when Lily was so unhappy, and so he fully planned to leave at the earliest possible moment, regardless of what Christian did.

For the time being, though, they had to board the ship and greet Caleb like they were thrilled to be there. Apollo clapped him on the shoulder once they made it onto the deck, but his eyes slid towards Katherine, curious but still surprised. Christian looked around, finally speaking up.

"Where's your sister?"