Godric exhaled a long chain of smoke, causing Samantha to turn her tiny cough into an overdramatic, huge cough.
"Merlin, Godric, do you have to do that?" She muttered, reaching for her mug of hot chocolate. "You know how horrible that is for you."
Her French-manicured fingertips appeared from under her slightly-too-big chenille sweater. "Your brother would kill you if he found out."
"And since he won't…" Godric trailed off, flicking his cigarette butt out to sea. "That's not a problem we have to worry about."
"You're lucky I don't know him." Sammie continued, tucking her feet under her on her deck chair. "Otherwise, I'd tell him a heartbeat."
"You're loyal like nobody's business…" Godric said with a chuckle, leaning on the rail. "That's one of your best features. Personality wise, that is."
He looked back at her, smirking.
Sammie rolled her eyes, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. "You're lucky for two reasons, Godric. First, you've got your bodyguard to protect you. Second, that accent of yours is entirely too charming for me to be too mad at you."
Godric smirked and turned his attention back out to sea. "I don't want to go home."
"You can't stay at Aquesta forever. They won't let you." Sammie reminded him, almost patronizingly. "And I feel for you. I don't want to go back to my fantastically ostentatious palace for wild parties and girls throwing themselves at my feet."
She rolled her eyes and took another sip of hot chocolate.
Their friendship was an odd one. At R.M.S. Aquesta, the American magic school that traveled on a luxury liner around the world, had a legendary cultural life and high Muggle-born population, there were five houses. The Phoenixes, the house where Sammie resided, were infamous for being beautiful, talented, clever, curious, impartial and gossipy. The Kneazles were creative, sensitive, shy, and friendly. The Ashwinders were studious, greedy, partial, and very by the book. The Lethifolds were quiet, solemn, secretive and all around moody. The Dragons were bright, bossy, egotistical, playful, extroverted, clever pranksters. The Phoenixes and the Dragons, the house where Godric resided, were infamous for not getting along too well. Being, of course, two of the cleverest houses out of three, and by far the most confident, they rubbed each other the wrong way.
Godric almost made it to the Phoenix house, but what Sammie playfully called his damned Gryffindor roots got him placed with the Dragons. Because of Sammie's fame as a popular singer on the Air Waves, she got away with just about every social faux pas she committed. And, as the head of the sorority Hera Aphrodite pointed out, Godric Potter was a prince.
A group of Phoenix third years walked down the deck between the space where Sammie sat and Godric brooded. They paused, observing the two for a moment, and then ran off giggling.
Godric rolled his eyes. That silly rumor about him and Sammie had been going on since he arrived at Aquesta as a brooding, unhappy and rebellious fourth year. At the Rec, Sammie had introduced herself to Ruby, his elder sister, a seventh year who had also been put in the Phoenix house. Sammie had just been rising in the charts internationally, and Ruby had desperately needed a friend in her own house, as Ginger Weasley, her best friend who had also been transferred into Aquesta, had been placed in the Kneazle house, as the one factor that she wasn't shy didn't factor in.
Godric had gone up and thanked Sammie for being so hospitable, unlike her housemates who viewed the princess as competition for an already hostile atmosphere, trying to pledge into the Hera Aphrodite sorority.
"What's so special about me being nice to Ruby? In case you haven't noticed, Ruby's a great person to be around. She throws a killer party and she's also very perceptive." Sammie took a sip of hot chocolate from a flask, and turned her head to look at him. She thrust out her flask. "Want some?"
"No thanks." Godric muttered. She shrugged and recapped the flask. She went back to leaning against the rail.
"Nice night." She said after a moment. "We have a lot of those."
"Yeah." Godric grunted.
"A monosyllabic Potter? Seems like an oxy moron. But if that's the way you want to be…" Sammie trailed off, gripping the rails and leaning back.
"What do you mean by that?" Godric asked, almost letting the corners of his mouth go up.
"Well, the Dragons aren't the brooding type. That's the Lethifolds." She stood up again, shrugging. "But if that's the way you want to be, stay miserable while you're here. Lots of people get homesick."
"I'm not homesick." Godric snapped, turning away.
"Then what is it?" Sammie asked, moving closer and not letting him stay with his back turned to her.
A friend of Sammie's passed them, looking at them suspiciously and not dignifying her greeting with a response.
"You know my dad's dead, right?" Godric began; not believing it was this girl of all people that he was telling this to, "Most people think that I'm all broken up because of that… I'm not. I didn't know the guy. He worshipped Harry and Ruby and of course, spoiled Jadelyn. But me and Dite, we were just there. And now Harry, who never left his crowd to say anything to me, is going to be king and I don't think it's fair that they expect me to just give up and become a part of the Ministry. That's not what I want to do."
"Then don't do it."
It had been that simple. Sammie rolled her eyes once more and gripped her cup of hot chocolate. "I'm going to go read the tabloids in the Ritz."
The Ritz was the not-so-affectionate term for the little café cabin on the second deck. It only had hot drinks and soup, but it was a casual place to hang out and talk about the latest culture advances, gossip and Quodpot.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her walk away. As soon as she was out of sight, he dug into his pocket for his cigarettes.
Reese Fenton scrambled down the corridors of R.M.S. Aquesta ungracefully in an attempt to find Sammie A. Fox. She swept her sheet of wavy, Caribbean-sandy blonde hair out of her face as she made her way up to the Rec.
"Any of you seen Sammie?" Reese demanded somewhat impatiently. Jewel Carmichael, the head of Reese and Sammie's sorority, scowled.
"Third years said she was on the second deck with Godric Potter." Jewel sniffed. "If only she spent more time handling the pledges…"
"Oh, shove it, Carmichael." Reese snapped in her charming Southern accent as she promptly exited the lush atmosphere of the Rec in favor for the cold air of the open second deck.
Sammie turned the page to reveal the headline story.
Prince Charming Not Charming Lady Love?
Sammie rolled her eyes, not wanting to read yet another story claiming that Prince Harry and his fiancée Lady Black were done. Though it would explain the extra brooding that Godric had been doing in the past few days. She opted to read the side story about her mentor, Charity Conrad.
Godric saw Reese Fenton, Sammie's best friend, stumble around the corner and tossed his cigarette over the edge. "Damn it."
"Nice James Dean impression, Potter." Reese almost snarled as she passed him. Godric and Reese did not get along. "Don't worry, I won't tell Sammie you were smoking."
"Like I care." Godric retorted loudly, but she had already disappeared into the Ritz. "Damn it."
He dug into his pocket for another cigarette.
"I'm going to be out before we hit shore."
"Samantha Amanda Fox, you better sit down." Reese Fenton said, sliding into the plastic booth seat opposite her.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Sammie asked, lowering her tabloid.
"Sammie, do you remember that…rumor that people have been spreading about you and Godric since like, dog years ago?" Reese began in her usual flighty way. Most people thought Reese was just a ditz with attitude, but there was a big brain and a heart of gold underneath her Mediterranean tan and 'rich-people-party-giggle'.
"Hmmm… Duh!" Sammie replied, rolling her eyes again. "Let's ask some not-so-obvious questions."
"It was semi-rhetorical, so you shut up!" Reese exclaimed defensively. "Okay, I've got worse."
"What could be worse than Godric and me?" Sammie asked, giving her a look that meant business.
"You and Prince Harry." Reese replied matter-of-factly.
"WHAT?" Sammie shrieked, grabbing her tabloid and searching the article. Sure enough, a photo of her at a royal event, which Godric had invited her to, was used as their proof. "I've never even met the guy!"
"Yeah, well, that's what's going around!" Reese told her darkly. "What we know from sucking up to Godric's roommates is that indeed, Prince Harry and Lady Black have broken up and they're blaming you! The tabloids, that is. I tried to tell everyone that you didn't get within five feet of Prince Harry at the ONLY royal event you ever went to, but they'd rather believe that Godric was miffed that you chose his elder brother over him!"
"Does Godric know?" Sammie asked softly after a moment.
"To hell with whether he knows or not! At this rate, you'll be dating the Queen by the time this royal mess is over! You need to owl your publicist to clear up these rumors once and for all!" Reese demanded.
"Reese, I love you, but honestly. This is not a big deal." Sammie muttered, taking a sip of hot chocolate.
"Sammie, I'd understand if this was a silly school rumor, like the Godric thing. But this is international gossip. Your reputation's at stake, and not just as Sammie Fox, the seventh year Phoenix with amazing hair. But this is you, the singer." Reese reasoned.
"If my publicist thinks it's a problem, I'll send out an official statement. But you need to be my school publicist… While I go try and explain this to Godric." Sammie whispered.
Reese winced, but nodded. "Okay, Sammie. But I'm trusting your judgment here."
Reese walked out of the Ritz and tapped a smoking Godric on the shoulder. "She'll be heading out soon."
Godric gave her a questioning look with his piercing blue eyes. She motioned towards the cigarette. "Oh." He tossed it out to sea. "Thanks."
She appraised his face, once a softened copy of his father and brother. But now, the square jaw that must have skipped a generation, and the olive undertones that were oh-so-gorgeous on his mother, along with his deep-set piercing blue eyes and blue-black hair, along with that killer body she had seen working out on the Quodpot field… They all made a pretty nice catch.
"You're welcome." Reese replied with a smirk.