Midnight Grace

Chapter Summary: Jo and Thane enter into a bet that are both are determined to win, but if Thane can obtain from sex for two months time the American transfer student will be forced to attend the annual Yule ball as his date. Draco heads off to his secret appointment, tenser than normal, leaving Tia in Thane’s charge, though he’s too busy enjoying his scotch and baiting Jo to stop her from wandering off to the bar where none other than Michael Coultier is waiting.

Chapter Ten: The Bet

The leaves drifted lazily, blown on a chill autumn breeze that promised rain later in the day. Clouds rolled slowly overhead, thick and gray like dull lead. The air in the small hamlet of Hogsmeade rang with the laughter and excitement of multitudes of Hogwart’s students, all exploring the many shops, alleyways and attractions, cheeks pink and smiles on their faces.

Inside the Hog’s Head Pub four Slytherin students, hoods pulled over their faces, had been seated for well over an hour, the carcasses of their lunch discarded and hauled away by the grumbling barkeep, the table clean except for four glasses, a nearly empty bottle of scotch, a black bag and a large red bow that had once graced a birthday present.

Jo leaned back against the wooden booth, the Scotch having relaxed her to the point of being nearly comfortable despite the presence of the boy beside her. Carefully placing the glass in its matching water ring she concentrated on lining it up perfectly as the conversation at the table picked back up once more.

“So it’s a real ball then?” Tia was asking of the Yule Ball, the annual Hogwart’s event that had been announced at dinner only a few nights ago.

“Yes,” Draco replied, toying with his glass. He’d been nursing a small amount of drink for a long time, though no one commented everyone had noticed. But one didn’t inquire into the inner workings of the Malfoy mind – not unless they wanted to be told to mind their own business and then possibly hexed for good measure. “You’ll have to get a dress, of course.”

Jo tried discreetly to ignore the discussion, not wanting to be involved. She’d hated the horrible event last year, having gone stag and spending only an hour listening to Marianna sob about her hatred for Hufflepuffs before escaping to the safety of her dorm room.

“What color are you going to be wearing?” Tia asked Jo suddenly, and the girl jerked back into the present.

“What?”

“Dress. What color of dress are you going to look for?” Tia repeated slowly. “How much of that have you had?” she smirked.

“Not nearly enough,” Thane replied, raising an eyebrow as he poured some more into his glass. “But thanks for asking.”

Tia ignored him, her eyes turning once more to the blonde girl. “Well? Does everyone have to wear Christmas colors? Is that the usual tradition?”

“They wear whatever they want,” Jo shrugged, sounding unintentionally unhelpful. “Marianna went in canary yellow last year, of course she looked terrible,” She couldn’t help but smirk at the memory. “I’ll just wear last year’s dress. I wasn’t really at the last one long enough to even break it in. It’s red, if I remember.”

“Oh, you can’t wear last year’s,” Tia waved her hand as if to sweep the idea away. “We’ll have to find dresses later. I wonder how long the shipping takes.”

“I wasn’t planning on going this year,” Jo answered, drawn back to her glass in its water spot.

“Why not?” Thane asked, his face turned to her, his eyes boring into her, despite the fact they weren’t visible for the hood. He snorted, “It’s the social event of the year.”

“Exactly,” she replied. “And it’s fucking boring,” she yawned as if to demonstrate just how dull it truly was. “I’d ask who you’re taking but I doubt you’ll decide till the week before,” she added sarcastically.

“You know, a lady doesn’t use such language in civilized conversation,” Thane commented, raising an obscured eyebrow at the blonde.

“Who said she’s civilized?” Draco smirked as he drained the remaining contents of his glass, Jo glaring in his direction.

“Curious about my dating status, are we? Care to add your name on the list of possible dates?” he smirked.

“Hardly,” Jo snorted. “I’d rather date a Gryffindor.”

“That can be arranged,” Draco commented dryly, earning an elbow to his ribs from Tia.

“Do you hear this, Cousin? I’ve been forsaken for an unnamed Gryffindor !” Thane clutched his chest in mock agony.

“Yes, I heard,” said the white-haired boy, looking bored as he pulled a watch from inside his robes and checked the time.

Tia and Jo exchanged a glance, the redhead smiling at the blonde’s exasperation. Jo grabbed the bottle and poured some more of the liquor into her glass, bringing it to her lips and taking a fair swallow, wincing as Tia’s foot connected with her shin once more.

Staring over her glass she mouthed “What?”

“Be nice,” Tia mouthed back, her green eyes dancing with amusement.

“There’s still time. I might have an open slot near the top of the list,” Thane smirked, continuing their conversation.

“Thanks, but no thanks. Really,” Jo forced a smile, though she doubted anyone noticed. “I don’t intend to stay very long.”

“Now that would be a shame,” he grinned lecherously. “Unless you had the proper escort of course.”

“And there it is,” Draco snorted. “Is it possible for you to think of anything else?”

“I occasionally think about other things,” he joked.

“I doubt it,” Jo laughed. “You can’t go without it.”

“I could – if I wanted to,” Thane answered, his voice changing to a more serious tone.

“No, you couldn’t,” Jo smirked. “You’re addicted.”

“I am not,” he defended himself.

“I’d bet you can’t!” she said emphatically, taking another drink from her glass.

“Would you?” Tia interrupted, her eyes lighting up.

“Yes, I would,” Jo nodded her head, sitting the glass back on the table once more. She really hadn’t had even half the scotch that Thane had consumed. The boy was nearing drunk, if he wasn’t there already, while she was only feeling pleasantly amused. “And I’d win.”

“And what would you care to wager?” asked Thane, turning this time so his eyes could be seen, midnight blue and mischievous.

“Why not go to the Ball with him?” Tia suggested.

“Why not stay out of it?” Draco interrupted his girlfriend.

“Oh stop,” she said, waving him off. “I’m curious to see if he can do it as well!”

“Seems a decent wager to me,” Thane nodded, a sly grin turning up the corner of his mouth.

“I didn’t agree to anything yet,” said Jo, eyeing Tia who only shrugged innocently. She thought on it for a moment before suggesting what she thought was a brilliant way to torture Purefoy. “Fine. If you can go without sex – and I mean ANY kind of sexual contact - between now and the ball then I’ll go as your date.”

Draco choked on his drink, scotch nearly coming out of his nose as he tried to stifle his laughter. “You mean to say you want him to go without anything for sixty days?”

“Yep,” said Jo with a confident smirk. She was completely sure Thane would never be able to live up to his end of the bargain, that was if he even agreed to the bet at all. There was just no way he could keep his hands off of the girls that long.

“Done,” he said matter-of-factly. “Sixty days. But I get to choose the dress.”

“What?” Draco and Jo asked at the same time.

“You’re actually agreeing to this?” asked Draco disbelievingly.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a losing bet,” said Jo, her eyes dancing with amusement. “You know you’ll never last that long.”

“I don’t think he’s gone that long since he was born,” Draco laughed, his grey eyes amused.

“Oh come on you two,” Tia interrupted. “I’m sure he can do it.”

“At least your girlfriend has faith in me,” the black-haired boy said with a grin before turning back to Jo. “So, do we have a deal?”

Jo laughed, and held out her hand to shake on it. “It’s a bet, Purefoy. BUT when you lose-“

“You mean ‘if’,” Tia suggested casually as Thane reached out, his fingers wrapping around Jo’s proffered hand.

“No I mean when,” Jo stifled another fit of laughter. “When you lose I have to get something too.”

“Name your price, m’lady,” Thane smirked, still gripping her hand in his own.

Her mind raced, trying to settle on the appropriate thing, something that would be fitting enough and equal out the possibility of the ball, granted she knew it was a price she’d never have to pay. “Whe- if,” she corrected at Tia’s look. “If you loose then you’re mine for a day.” Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

“Really?” Thane seemed surprised. “And I thought you’d come up with something terribly unpleasant.”

“Oh, it will be.” Jo grinned evilly. “You’ll have to do everything I say – and trust me, none of it will be anything you’re interested in.” She paused, looking thoughtful. “But only for the hours between after classes and bed time, I suppose. After all, the god-awful ball only lasts a few hours.”

“It’s a bet,” Thane shook her hand firmly and then continued hanging onto it, thumb running slowly over her fingers, his dark eyes peering out at her from the shadow of his hood.

“Um, right,” Jo shifted uncomfortably and tugged her hand back, feeling her cheeks turn pink. “It’s a bet, then.”

****

Draco pulled his watch from his robes again for what must have been the tenth time this hour. Tia knew he was nervous about handling whatever business it was he had today in Hogsmeade. Well, nervous wasn’t quite the right word, but she got the distinct impression that whatever it was, it was rather important.

“Why don’t you go,” she whispered, leaning into him and putting her hand on his leg.

Her comment seemed to break Draco from his reverie, and he replaced the pocket-watch inside his robes. “I think I will, actually,” he said, his normal smirk in place. “You two think you can handle him for a bit?”

“Handle me?” asked Thane innocently.

“I’m sure we can,” Tia laughed.

Draco grabbed Tia’s hand and pulled her with him as he stood up from the table. Jo looked at her questioningly and Thane just smiled. Draco led her down a short hallway before stopping at a back entrance to the pub.

“Do you think you’ll be fine with those two?” he asked, true concern in his eyes. “They’ve both had quite a bit to drink.”

Tia laughed and took Draco’s other hand. “I’ll be fine! Really. Trust me, if you knew my family, you’d understand.”

“I shouldn’t be gone long,” he said, his grey eyes boring into her green ones. He was obviously trying to convey more to her than his words would allow. He touched her cheek and kissed her, letting his lips linger for a bit longer than was customary for a simple good-bye kiss. “If there’s any trouble, you know where to go.”

“Yes, yes. Go find Crabbe and Goyle at the Three Broomsticks,” she recited, smiling up at him.

“They won’t do you any good, but they’ll know who to call if need be.”

“Will you stop worrying!” she said, pulling him into her and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Go take care of your mysterious business and I’ll be waiting here for you when you get back.”

Draco couldn’t help himself and he kissed her again. He couldn’t resist when she looked at him that way. He let her go reluctantly and watched her walk away, a foreboding feeling settling over him as he slipped out the back door. Looking back once more as the door to the pub closed, the sign reading “Deliveries only. Ring bell” faded and crooked, he did his best to close his mind and rid himself of any thoughts of the redheaded girl he’d just left.

Tia stopped at the bar on her way back, looking for something a bit lighter than the scotch they’d shared this afternoon. What she didn’t know was that behind her two cloaked figures were watching her closely.


Pansy stared at Tia’s back, her mind racing with venomous thoughts. How tempted she was it simply leap on the bint, knocking her to the ground and ripping out her eyes while no one was around to help her. After all, the stupid American bitch and Purefoy were far too busy making eyes at one another to pay attention to anyone but themselves. They might think their hooded cloaks protected their identities but it was no feat to decipher who was who.

The Canadian girl leaned lightly against the bar, motioning with her hands, though Pansy couldn’t hear her words. She and Michael had taken a seat across the room, close enough to see, but not near enough to seem suspicious.

“See what I mean,” Pansy whispered. “He’s abandoned her in here with Purefoy and that Yank chit – both of them drunk. I don’t understand why she doesn’t just make it an official break.” She shook her head, her voice sympathetic. Coultier did indeed find Tia to be delightful, and Pansy had played the recent events up, convincing Coultier that there was a real rift between the import and the Slytherin Prefect. “He doesn’t even want to be seen eating with her in public. You know what his mother would say if she heard about his dalliance.”

Coultier snorted. “Malfoy’s think they’re better than everyone else.”

Pansy had to bite her tongue to keep from replying that was because they were. Instead she simply nodded, adjusting her hood and watching Tia. “Such a pity she doesn’t know anyone else is interested in her.”

“Don’t worry, I intend to take care of that,” the Ravenclaw said firmly. “I just can’t believe he’d abandon her like that. I always knew he was a self-centered git, but I had no idea he’d even treat a woman like that.”

“You mean a whore,” Pansy thought, but smiled instead. “It’s because he doesn’t care about her. She’s simply a play-toy,” she sniffed. Yes, that was all the redhead could ever be to Draco. After all, she didn’t have the proper breeding, no matter what house she now claimed to be from. She was Canadian trash, after all. Everyone knew that Canada was inferior – part of the country spoke French for Merlin’s sake – French! That alone showed what quality they were. The French might be famous for their villas and their wine, but no one wanted to seriously date a French witch! How absurd that would be! Even the girls from Beauxbaton hadn’t managed to find boys interested in more than a good time during the Tri-Wizard tournament, no matter how beautiful they were.

“I still think I should confront him,” Coultier muttered, picking up the glass of Firewhisky he’d been nursing since their arrival.

“It won’t do any good, I’ve already told you,” Pansy snapped, feeling exasperated with the entire macho-male attitude. “He’d only take it out on her, after all.”

“I can’t see what you want him for, he’s such an ass,” Michael chortled.

She had to physically bite her lip, the taste of blood salty on her tongue while her hands curled into fists beneath the table. Her Draco was not an ass! He was better than everyone, and she knew it, that was all. He treated Volusia with more regard than she deserved as it was! But this was part of the plan. This was necessary and so she needed to remain calm and not ruin anything.

Choosing to ignore his statement she turned her attention back to the Slytherins in their inconspicuous booth. Purefoy was offering Constantinescu more Scotch and she was declining with rapid hand gestures. Obviously Purefoy was insistent, waving the bottle towards her and splashing some down her blue cloak.

Pansy tried to contain a snicker as the girl squealed and Thane sloppily pulled out his wand. The boy was obviously rather drunk, and that would make this all the easier to pull off.

Draco’s leaving had given them a perfect window of opportunity, but it did present a problem. In her original plan Draco would merely be gone a few moments, not disappear all together as she suspected he had done. If Coultier approached too soon it wouldn’t matter if Tia took him up on the offer or not because there’d be no evidence, depending on how long Draco stayed gone. If only she knew where he’d gone!

“I’ll be right back,” Pansy said decidedly, climbing to her feet. She’d just have to go see if she could figure out the Slytherin Prefect’s whereabouts. He’d been looking at his watch constantly, making it clear he had an appointment of some sort, and then he’d disappeared towards the back of the pub. Perhaps he was only in a back room?

“All right,” Coultier nodded. “I’ll be here.”

“Right,” Pansy agreed, straightening her robe and pulling her hood lower as she headed towards the back of the pub, trying hard to look both inconspicuous and completely unfamiliar to the group she was soon walking past.


Thane stashed his wand back in his robe, after Jo had finally taken hold of the fabric for him, holding his pocket opened. “You’re drunk,” she said for the third time in a row.

“Not at all,” he answered cheerfully.

Jo sighed heavily. “How much longer do you think...” she trailed off as a hooded figure passed them, not wanting to say anything specific, but meaning to inquire after the amount of time Draco’s appointment would take.

“No idea love,” he smiled and Jo gave his hood a good tug to re-conceal his face.

She looked desperately towards the bar where Tia was talking to the bartender. She’d never agreed to baby-sit! Why was it she always ended up doing these things?

“You’ve probably had enough of that,” she wrinkled her nose as he picked his glass up once more and took a long drink.

“Of what? This?” asked Thane, holding up the bottle of scotch with a wry grin. But, much to his dismay, when he tipped the bottle to refill his glass he found it dry. “Well, isn’t that anticlimactic?”

"That's because you drank it all" she replied, watching Thane give the bottle a shake. "It’s empty, waving it around isn't going to refill it."

Thane continued to peer into the bottle with one eye closed and then chuckled. “Are you sure? We are magic folk you know.”

"Yes, but shaking doesn’t do anything," Jo pointed out. "Besides, you can’t just make something from nothing. You can summon more Scotch but it has to come from somewhere-" she stopped, shaking her head, and grabbed the bottle away from him. "You're going to hurt yourself with that!"

“Hey, give that back,” he protested, his hands following after the bottle that escaped quickly across Jo’s chest. He made one last lunge for the vessel before landing face first in the girl’s cleavage. He lifted himself up without much success, not that he was trying all that hard in the first place, and looked suspiciously up into Jo’s crystal blue eyes. “You did that on purpose!”

Her eyes narrowed at him as she unceremoniously heaved him back into a sitting position. "Right, I was just dying for you to stick your face down my blouse." She sat the bottle firmly on the table. "Now leave it alone, for crying out loud. It’s empty, and injuring yourself isn’t going to change that. Imagine what Draco will say if you're missing an eye when he comes back and I have to try to explain how it ended up in the bottom of the Scotch bottle?" she looked over his shoulder towards the bar where she could see a sliver of Tia - or who she presumed to be Tia. What in the world was she doing? Discussing her life story with the bartender?!

“You’re just a bitter old cow, aren’t you?” Thane asked, his brow furrowed beneath his tousled hair. Spending quite a few moment fishing in the inner workings of his robes, he finally produced his black flask, and unscrewing its black metal lid, he took a long draught of the fiery liquid inside.

"Old cow!?!" she snarled, glaring even harder at the boy. "Listen here, Sir Lush, if you want your bottle back then fine! See if I help you when you get some part of you stuck in it! And for the love of all that's holy you're not drinking more!?!?"

Thane replaced the cap to his flask and took the bottle from a Jo, a childish scowl on his face. He eyed it appraisingly, glancing to Jo and then back to bottle, trying to work out the dynamics of her statement. He silently mouthed the words “part of you stuck in it” with a puzzled look.

“Your tongue, your finger, your eye, whatever you feel the desire to jam into it in your quest to get every little drop," she replied calmly in answer to his hinted question.

“Oh, hell, I’ll just buy a new bottle!” he said, cavalierly tossing it in the air and guiding it down to the table with his wand. “Speaking of which, what is Tia doing up there? Maybe I should go check on her?”

"I have no idea," Jo answered, her brow furrowed. "Do you think you can walk that far without falling on your face? And really, the last thing you need is more...." she had this horror of him passing out and landing on her and Draco and Tia returning to find a tangle of limbs while she was busy trying to remove him. Besides, it was in her nature to take care of the idiots of the world, and though she tried very hard to fight against it - and usually succeeded - she just couldn’t over ride the built in instinct when it came to drunk people. She really suspected it had something to do with her formative years.

“This isn’t exactly the place for her to be wandering off alone,” he said with concern. He looked toward the bar, finding Tia, and then turned back to Jo. “Have you gotten the feeling she isn’t quite as cautious as she should be? Tends to dive in head first without testing the water, so to speak?”

"Yeah, I've noticed," Jo nodded her head, peering around Thane at the girl in question. "It's like Draco- no offense- but look at how fast she leapt into that. New school, she knows nothing about the guy, and yet she disappeared with him. She seems very trusting with her welfare, like there couldn’t possibly be anyone out there who might slit her throat opened just for fun."

“No offense taken,” said Thane, taking another drink from his flask. “But, still… what do you suppose it is we don’t know about her? Malfoy said she’s a Kavanaugh, you know.”

"Yeah, she told me that, though I guess being American the name doesn't mean as much to me," she continued to watch Tia over his shoulder. "I still can’t figure out why they'd move back here all of a sudden when she only had one year to go, though. The school she went to was very exclusive, so it would look just as good in her records to say she came from there as it would Hogwarts."

“You obviously don’t know the Kavanaugh women then,” Thane laughed. “But, I’ll leave her to tell you that story.”

“I’ve heard her mother's a treat-" she stopped, eyeing Thane. Was he digging for something? Well, if so he wasn’t going top hear it from her! "How long is Draco’s appointment going to take?" She switched subjects.

“I expect not long,” he said, casually glancing over his shoulder to find the redhead again and noticing a tall, cloaked figure moving in closer to where she stood talking to the bartender. The thought crossed his mind to actually wonder who it was, but he chalked it up to normal Hog’s Head activity and turned back to his conversation with Jo, which was actually pleasant for a change. “There isn’t anything that interesting in this town.”

"I've noticed," she replied ruefully. "But then it's so small I’m surprised it has much of anything. It’s probably the Hogwarts trips that keep the shops opened at all." She squinted, trying to see if the cloaked figure now standing near Tia was anyone they knew, but the black cloak was as non-descript as any other in the place.

“But the place is decent enough,” said Thane, not really caring one way or another. He was more interested in watching the way Jo’s body moved beneath her robes and the hint of breast he caught a glimpse of when she stretched her neck to see around him. Thank Merlin Tia was good enough to stay away. The girl might be smarter than he’d originally thought.

"Oh yeah, it's cute," she agreed. "Just a little dull, I guess. This no Muggle item restriction makes things infinitely boring," she shrugged, peering around him once more. "Um, could I get out for a second?" she asked, seeing the cloaked figure obviously striking up a conversation with the hooded redhead at the bar.

“Running away are you?” asked Thane with a smirk. But, upon receiving a withering glare from the blonde, he conceded and moved to stand from the booth to let her out. However, gravity, not being his friend, pulled him hard to the ground where he fell flat on his ass.

Jo groaned inwardly, sliding across the booth and trying to stretch her legs over the heap of Thane to find someplace to put her feet. "Hold still!' she commanded as he tried to stand again and was just as unsuccessful as he had been before, his hood askew and a broad grin painted across his face. "Let me get out of here and I'll help you up!"

“As you wish, m’lady…” Thane lay perfectly still as Jo stepped over him, taking the opportunity to admire those lovely long legs of hers as her long skirt fluttered past his face, a silly grin plastered across it.

"Now," she announced, once she was firmly on her feet, her hands on her hips as she surveyed Thane splayed on the floor at her feet. "Let's see..." she cocked her head, glancing for a moment towards the bar to be sure the cloaked figure wasn’t completely harassing Tia yet. "Okay, swing around this way," she directed with her hands. "Then give me your hands."

Thane did as he was told, looking up at Jo with sparkling midnight eyes as he held up both of his hands for her to take.

Shaking her head at the absurdity of it all she gripped his offered hands tightly and tugged as she stepped backwards, "Put your weight on your feet," she commanded, planting her own feet firmly on the dusty wooden floor.

The tall boy allowed himself to be hauled up by the petite girl, but once his weight shifted onto his own feet, he found himself falling forward quite unexpectedly. In effort to keep himself from falling again, he wrapped his arms around the girl and began to laugh hysterically.

"Oof!" Jo gasped in surprise, clutching Thane under his arms to keep him from crashing to the floor again and trying to ignore his somewhat imbalanced laughter. "Come on, we have to turn back towards the table..." she coaxed, turning her head towards Tia only to discover that her friend hadn't even noticed the scene they were creating, her back turned to the struggling pair.

Behind the debacle that was Thane and Jo, Michael Coultier walked up to the pretty redhead who had been abandoned by her boyfriend. He casually interrupted her conversation with the bartender to order a firewhiskey. Tia smiled cordially at the taller boy. He smiled back, his pale blue eyes striking as they looked at her. She shifted nervously in her position at the bar.

“Do you need anything?” he asked, motioning toward her half-empty glass.

“Oh… no. No thank you, I’m fine,” she answered and touched her hair nervously.

“Very well,” he grinned and offered her his hand. “I’m Michael.”

She looked behind her, catching a glimpse of the tangled mess that was Thane and Jo, and putting her hand gingerly in his, she said, “I’m Tia. Nice to meet you.”