Would you go along with someone like me?

They had a boat house on a lake.

They had connections.

It was all coming together.

"Oh, you're rich, aren't you?" he said, laughing. "Noooow it's making sense."

Funnily enough, he and Chase were similar in that they had a happy outlook, always surrounded by friends and smiling. But Ducky's was born in opposition to his homelife, she was likely nurtured by hers. She seemed carefree because she didn't have the worries of survival. He seemed carefree because fuck it, life was hard, may as well get drunk.

"Your holidays are very different from mine," he said, shaking his head. "My friends would traumatize your family, they are not good house guests. You should see the Room of Requirement when we party there." He laughed. "But I like this different perspective thing. I've just gotta figure out what I'm looking at, you know?"

Chase tilted her head to the side, confused by his sudden understanding. "Oh... I mean, yea... I guess." she looked a little flustered by his sudden realization. She couldn't help but frown at the way he spoke. It seemed so sad to her that he didn't have plans for his future or seemed to not really care about it. It felt strange since her mom and dad had been pounding it into her brain in every letter she got about how important her NEWTs were. Her career path required at least EE in a bunch of subjects, and she honestly was struggling with a few... like Charms.. and it was terrifying for her.

She nodded slowly and then shrugged. "You can still come over, though. If you think it might help." She smiled at him warmly. "You never know! Maybe you'll find out what you wanna do after Hogwarts." She giggled softly and took another sip of her butterbeer. "Or hate me forever. That's possible too." She smiled and set the mug down, running her hand through her hair again and then leaning forward towards him.

"But uh.. in other points of conversation, what was that about going somewhere after curfew?" She asked, her eyes twinkling slightly.

He hadn't meant to fluster her, but it was also kind of funny. Rich kids never thought they were rich. She probably thought having a second house was normal. She had no idea some kids didn't even have a room of their own. He certainly never had. But that wasn't on her. If he could snap his fingers and have been born to wealthy parents, he'd do it.

"I'll think about it," he said, the hint of promise in his voice. "I'll probably be working this summer, not sure where yet, but when I get fired I'll have free time."

"Hate you forever!" he repeated. "Never." His smile softened, lingering on her face with a touch of admiration. Merlin, she was really pretty.

His smile grew larger at her suggestion and he fished in his pockets for the knuts that would cover their drinks. He dropped them on the table and held out a hand for her, grinning as he said, "You ever sat by the lake at night?"

Chase actually looked surprised when he mentioned working somewhere that summer. It seemed she had never thought about having to do work over the summer holidays. At least not while she was in school. She smiled at him and shrugged. "Well, let me know, okay? You can always send me an owl as well. I do hope you don't get fired, though. That would be unfortunate."

She watched him fish for some money and frowned, a sudden look of concentration on her face as she tried to process what he was doing. She reached out, picked up the knuts, and held them back out to him. "Oh no! I can cover this." She grinned and pulled out her own purse, which was considerably more full of coins. "Honest." She put the knuts on the table instead and then stood up quickly.

"That sounds amazing! I've only ever seen the lake at sunset, and that's just cause it gets dark so early in the winter." She smiled at him and held out a hand to help him up. "I would love to see it in the dark, though."