clubbing
"We should join a club!"
The Revolutionary Crew, excluding Washington because he was doing some prefect things, were eating breakfast. Peggy was the one who said that, she was all happy and bouncy and an absolute ray of sunshine.
"Peggy," Lafayette said, looking at her. "It's December."
"I know," Peggy said, eyes shining. "But we should still! Hey Alex, there's a dueling club," she said, raising her eyebrows mischievously.
Burr, walking past them at the time, yelled at them, "Dueling is dumb and immature!"
"Hey," Alex replied.
"What?"
"Shut up."
"Rude."
"Hey I was quoting Shakespeare!" Alex said, throwing his hands up. John laughed, bumping into Alex.
"So? Can we? Can we? Can we?" Peggy said. She was such a child sometimes, it was adorable.
"I'll do it," Alex said.
"I'll do it too," John told Peggy. "I heard that there's an art club."
"Aren't you a bit loaded up considering you have quidditch?" Angelica asked Peggy.
"You have quidditch also!"
"Yeah, but I'm older, so I'm more responsible."
"Yeah older by an hour!"
"Geniuses, lower your voices," Eliza said, pulling it together with her Mom Friend™ tendencies. "I'll join you."
Lafayette just rolled their eyes. "God, all of you are such nerds."
"Hey, there's no debate club."
Alex and John were standing in front of the Gryffindor pasteboard, looking for a club to join so that they could satisfy Peggy.
"Huh? Weird." John was thinking of maybe joining the art club, or the Magical Creatures club.
"Hey do you think we can start one?" The two were standing near each other, a lot of eye fucking happening between them. There was a lot of PDA happening between them, more than usual as Alex was already very clingy as he was. Their relationship right now basically consisted of a bunch of making out in random closets and teasing and eye fucking and wishing that they had time alone together to get it on. It became a pastime.
"Maybe," John said. Alex laid his head on his shoulder.
"I really want to make out with you right now." John smiled.
"The feeling's mutual."
"Hey John!"
"What?"
The two of them were in the library, working on homework. Well, John was working on homework, Alex finished it ages ago and was doing god knows what.
"I've decided to start a debate club!"
"Ok?"
"It's gonna be awesome, I already wrote like a two foot essay on why we should have it."
"Two feet?" John was struggling to write 10 inches on moonstone and its uses, and Alex was spitting out two foot essays on extracurriculars.
"Yeah! It's gonna be great, I'm gonna write more about it and then give it to McGonagall and she has to say yes!"
"Ok then."
"You want to start a debate club?"
The two of them were in McGonagall's office, seeking permission for the club. John was there for moral support.
Alex nodded his head eagerly. McGonagall held up his two feet and seven inch essay, scanning through it.
"Did you get any professors to supervise?"
"I'm sure Mr. Longbottom would do it," Alex replied. "If you read my essay you will see that I thought of practically everything."
John suppressed a smile. Classic Hamilton.
"Well," McGonagall said, laying the essay down. "I suppose you won't let me say no."
Alex shook his head.
"You can have your club."
Alex beamed, hoisting himself up on the chair with his hands and kicking his feet happily.
"Now go on, I have work to do." McGonagall shooed them out.
"Hello people, welcome to debate club."
They were in a classroom, Alex standing at a podium. An assortment of students had attended. Amongst the crowd were the Revolutionary Crew, excluding Peggy and Hercules because they were not there, Maria, Jefferson, Madison, Burr, and a few other students. Professor Longbottom was sitting in on the sides, watching them with a bemused expression.
"I'm Alexander Hamilton, at your service. I guess were going to split up into two, and debate things. So, um, split up into two groups, and have twenty minutes to research the topic, and pick a candidate to debate it." He gave an awkward smile. "So our topic, um, let's debate whether keeping house elves is right."
The students wandered around, talking amongst each other. Alex reached John.
"Why'd you chose this topic?" John asked him, bemused.
"I don't know. I panicked. And besides, I know for a fact that Jefferson has house elves, and we'll be able to destroy him in the debate." John smiled.
"Hey! How are we supposed to research the topic if we don't have any books!" Jefferson yelled at Alex from across the room.
"Oh, shit, um, HOLD ON," Alex stumbled about. "Imma go to the library and grab some books," Alex hurriedly John. He didn't really plan this out, he didn't think he'd get that far. Eliza saw him run out.
"Need any help!" she yelled after him.
"Yeah, come on!" Eliza and Alex rushed out.
"So where's Peggy?" he asked her, making conversation.
"I don't know, she's off with Herc somewhere."
"You think they might be, you know?"
"Peggy knows what she wants. It's her life," Eliza said as they heard what sounded like fireworks from a distance. And then, the unmistakable laughter of Hercules and Peggy. "Oh my god. They're off making trouble again. I've got to go, sorry." Eliza sped towards the noise. "Magarita Peggy Schuyler van Rensselear, I swear to god...." she muttered as she walked away.
"Hey at least you know they're not banging," Alex yelled after her.
Minutes later, Alex reappeared back in the classroom with an armful of books. He dumped them on a table, and haughtily said, "Proceed."
He walked over to John. "So this is our group?"
It consisted of John, Angelica, Maria, and Lafayette. Washington was on the other side. Alex looked at him disapprovingly.
"George thought that the other side needed more people," Lafayette told him apologetically. They consisted of Burr, Madison, Jefferson, and some other kids Alex didn't know the name of.
"Oh my god, he's such a dad sometimes. Whatever. We're supporting house elf rights?"
"Obviously," John drawled.
"So, I think we should...."
And so they began planning for their debate. The boy's opinion being the loudest of them all, but Angelica and Maria occasionally coming in and shutting them down. From a bystander's viewpoint, it was hilarious. Professor Longbottom kept looking at them argue, and he would chuckle softly.
Twenty minutes later (well twenty minutes according to Alex, which meant his team had as much time as they wanted), the groups chose their candidates, and argued. John, Alex, and Lafayette volunteered, but Angelica was chosen instead. She put up a very convincing argument on why she should be the one debating.
"I want to do it," John whined.
"Yeah, but I am the chosen one, so deal with it," Angelica replied. The opposing side chose Jefferson, which was strange since Alex knew that he couldn't publicly speak for jack shit. Washington was moderating them.
"The issue on the table," he said. "Should house elves be allowed or not? Angelica, you have the floor."
She leaned against her podium. There were two of them, facing each other. She smiled, batting her eyes and showing off her cleavage to the already flustered Jefferson. He looked so scared and nervous. He didn't stand a chance against Angelica.
"Do you see that? I taught her that," Maria whispered harshly, elbowing Alex. I suppose she's talking about Angelica's seduction tactics, Alex thought. Angelica'll be able to fucking destroy Jefferson without that, but the more the better. He smiled, leaning back and crossing his arms, and watched the debate unfold.
Angelica did really fucking wonderful, hitting all of her points while unnerving Jefferson with precisely planned hair flips and eye batting. Maria never looked so proud. John looked really proud as well. At the end of her speech, they were all blown away with how well she decimated Jefferson. They already won, and Jefferson didn't even speak yet.
"We'll, um, reconvene after a brief recess," Washington said. Angelica stepped haughtily off of the podium, meeting her friends.
"How the fuck," John told her.
"What's with all the flirting," Alex asked at the same time.
Maria just went up to her, grabbed her face, and kissed her.
"Hey guys," Lafayette said, snapping their fingers in front of them. "Get your shit together, I for one do not want to see you guys fuck each other right now."
Angelica flipped him off, and said to John, "It's my pastime to destroy fuckboys. Jefferson has high levels of fuckboyery. You too, Alex, be lucky that you're not dead."
Alex rolled his eyes. "The flirting?"
"Oh yeah, that." She looked at Maria lovingly. "She taught me that," she said, and nudged her. "No, but it's the art of seduction, you know? Cool stuff."
Washington called for the debate to resume, and Jefferson spoke his part. Very quietly. Basically no one could hear him.
Alex's party won that debate.
"Dueling is an old tradition that dates back ages, to when Hogwarts was first founded."
The Revolutionary Crew were at the dueling club, this time including Peggy and Hercules. (They were dragged there by Eliza. Apparently the two were causing trouble by setting off fireworks around the halls. Peggy only brought up the idea of joining clubs so that she and Herc would be able to get more time to cause trouble together without fearing Eliza reprimanding them, so yeah Eliza dragged them there.) The two looked incredibly bored, whispering to each other. Alex overheard Peggy say, "Hey, at least we'll learn how to murder people correctly in this class."
Washington was teaching it. He stood on this long table, surrounded by first years.
"So, to properly duel, you must first learn the ten duel commandments. The first is to demand satisfaction. That's why you're actually dueling. If your opponent apologizes, no need for further action. Second, if you don't reach a peace, that's all right. Grab some pistols and a doctor on sight."
"What's with all the rhyming," Alex muttered to John. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe it's like in a song or something so that it's easier to remember, and Wash can't sing for his fucking life."
Lafayette snickered from behind them. "He may not be able to sing, but he sure sings in bed-"
"Oh my god don't you even," Alex said, slapping their arm playfully.
"Pay him in advance, treat him civilly, have him turned around so he could have deniability," Washington continued, oblivious to their joking. "Four. Duel before the sun is in the sky. Pick a place to die where it's high and dry. Six. Leave a note for your next a kin, tell them where you've been. If you're religious, pray that hell or heaven lets you in. Seven. Confess your sins, brace yourself. Eight. Last chance to negotiate. Send in your second see if they can set the record straight."
"Yeah, the only thing about me that's straight," John murmured to Alex.
"Number nine. Look them in the eye, aim no higher. Summon all the courage you require, then count one two three four five six seven eight nine, number ten paces fire."
"I guess it is a song," Alex said.
"Ok, so now that you know the fundamentals, let's actually try it. Can I get some volunteers? Um, Burr. Alex. Up on the table, you two are dueling."
The two climbed onto the long table, facing each other at the center.
"Alexander."
"Aaron Burr, sir!"
"Can we agree that duels are dumb and immature?"
"You already said that, but sure!"
"And please. Stop rhyming my name."
Alex shrugged, smiling.
"Ok, guys, let's go," Washington said, urging them to actually duel. He clapped Alex on the shoulder. "Make me proud son."
Alexander, in fact, did not make Washington proud. He and Burr went through their paces, Burr turning around immediately and stunning Alex, while Alex, for some reason, raised his wand to the sky.
"You idiot," Alex heard Angelica say.
Washington stepped back onto the table. "Um, ok, that went well," he said with no conviction. "Let's partner up, and practice disarming spells on each other."
The students wandered around, seeking their friends. You could hear the company scream in chaos at each other.
"You wanna go? Ok, let's go," Alex said to John, leading him and his friends out of the mess that was dueling club.
"I like to say that our adventures clubbing had been a huge success," he heard Peggy say triumphantly from behind him.
"You only wanted us to go clubbing so that you and your boyfriend could go around making trouble!" Eliza said to her.
"Like I said, a huge success," Peggy said smugly. "We still have those fireworks hidden around right?"
"Yup," Hercules said. Lafayette overheard them.
"Yall are freaks."