Midnight Grace

Chapter Summary: Jo, now back from Hogsmeade, heads to dinner despite being unable to find Tia, and Is waylaid by Coultier. After threatening him soundly, she heads to the Great hall and is forced to endure Liz and Marianna, with only an interruption from Thane to save her from total madness.
While Jo fends off the girls’ questions Tia and Draco finish up their time alone together, the Prefect surprised when he doesn’t get his way as usual.


Chapter 13: To the Victor

Jo surveyed the empty dorm room, her hands on her hips. Her quarry, the red headed Tia, was nowhere to be found, and neither were Liz or Marianna for that matter.
Sighing heavily Jo headed to the wardrobe and quickly changed her clothes into something more comfortable, though less flattering, and paused to check herself in the mirror.

She and Thane had holed up in the barn until the storm had passed over – or until they’d thought it had. But half way back to the castle the rain had started again, and where as they’d paused in the foyer and used drying charms she’d this terrible fear that the make up the girls had applied had streaked down her face. Seeing that her fears were unfounded, she closed the wardrobe door and headed for dinner.

The common room had a handful of students left in it slowly trickling through the stone door on their way to the Great Hall. She and Thane had separated in the common room, each heading for their dormitories, and Jo could only assume he was still bathing or changing or whatever it was he needed to do before being seen again by the general populace.

He’d actually behaved, something Jo would have sworn was impossible for him, and though there had been a few disconcerting moments, he’d managed to not kiss her – or even try, for that matter. Maybe he was taking this bet seriously, though why he would she couldn’t imagine. It wasn’t like the prize was anything that anyone would fight for.

But they’d had a nice time, actually. They’d conversed like human beings about a number of topics, and it surprised Jo to discover that Thane was rather intelligent. Of course, she’d known he wasn’t a complete moron or anything of that nature, but he was always just the playboy skulking in Malfoy’s shadow so she really hadn’t realized that he had more than one side to his personality. He’d always come off as very one-dimensional and she’d just taken him at face value.

Waiting patiently for a group of sixth year girls to get out of the way she wondered suddenly why someone who was smart and capable of intelligent conversation came off as being nothing but a walking hormone with no more thoughts in his head than trying to get up a girl’s skirt. She’d really assumed that was all there was too him because why on earth would anyone pretend to be that shallow on purpose? So, which one was the real Purefoy was really the question now. Was he really a shallow playboy pretending to have more depth, or was he something more pretending to be devoid of personality?

Shaking those thoughts from her head she wondered once more if Tia and Draco had already left for dinner or if they were even back from Hogsmeade yet. After the scene Pansy had created she really couldn’t guess. Draco had looked furious, and she couldn’t see Tia being the kind to allow him to rant or rage without raging right back at him. Because of this, she almost suspected they were still in Hogsmeade yelling at one another.

Jo slipped through the stone door and was halfway down the corridor, trailing after the group of giggling girls, when a hand reached out and grabbed her arm, dragging her into a side passage.

Jo opened her mouth to shout at Thane Purefoy, but instead found herself looking at the annoying boy from the pub: Michael Coultier.

“What?” she demanded, jerking loose from him.

“Where’s Tia?” he asked, his brows furrowed in concern.

“I have no idea. Probably at dinner,” the blonde girl replied sarcastically. “It IS dinner time.”

“No, she isn’t and neither is Malfoy,” he scowled. “I saw them leaving Slytherin earlier but I didn’t saw either one come back.”

His statement ruled out Jo’s fantasy of the pair standing in an alleyway still screaming, but it was nice to know Tia wouldn’t be getting detention for not returning on time. “Why do you care?”

“I don’t like the way he treats her,” Coultier replied flatly. “And I want to make sure he isn’t… doing anything to her to punish her.”

Jo snickered loudly. “If he tried to punish her he’d find his head removed. Tia can take care of herself, she doesn’t need a knight in shining blue armor to come sweeping in and cause a bunch of trouble.”

Michael sneered, “Your boyfriend’s trained you well. You’re already kissing Malfoy’s ass.”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Jo hissed, her fists clenched and now furious. “I’m not kissing anyone’s ass, I’m telling you, leave Tia alone and quit trying to stir things up.”

“I’m not stirring anything up,” Michael defended himself.

“I know what you’re up to,” she countered. “You were in there with Parkinson and I doubt very much that was an accident. You want to spend your time with a fruitcake that’s your business, but leave Tia alone or you’ll be sorry,” she left the threat half hanging. Pansy already had one more shot and then she was going to get a visit from something that came from her darkest nightmares.

“I’m not scheming with Parkinson the way you think,” Michael stated flatly.

“Whatever,” Jo rolled her eyes. “If you’ll excuse me I’m going to dinner and I won’t be telling Tia you’re looking for her.”

The blonde walked back into the main corridor, and joined a small clutch of fifth years heading to the Great Hall.

As Jo headed for the Great Hall, Tia and Draco were otherwise occupied. The white-haired Prefect had finished inspecting his bandages, surmising that since his arm hadn’t fallen off as of yet, Tia must know what she was doing. They had been in lessons together long enough for him to notice that she knew her way around a cauldron in Potions and she rarely, if ever, asked him for help. He had pondered more than once the reasons for such a dismissal, being the top student in Potions for most of his time at Hogwarts. Well, that was excepting that damned Mudblood Granger, but Draco was more than comfortable with considering her ineligible. Now, after seeing the contents of Tia’s case, and her use of the items within, it was no longer a mystery as to why she never asked him for help.

He watched as Tia packed the final items into the ratty leather case, waving her wand over the contents to settle them neatly into their places. Her long red hair was pulled over one shoulder and the soft, black fabric of her dress clung to her every curve. Draco slid off the desk that had served as his examining table, and he took in her beauty as he slowly walked over to her, his hands finding her waist before sliding around to her stomach and he took her into a tight embrace. The familiar scent of lavender filled his senses as his lips met the soft skin of her neck.

“Draco,” she said, raising a hand to brush him away, his name a half-hearted plea.

“What’s the hurry,” said Draco, undeterred. “We have no place to be right now.”

“And being buried deep in a dank old dungeon is your idea of romance, is it?” asked Tia.

“You’ve never objected before.”

“Perhaps it’s time I did,” she said as she closed her case with an emphatic click.

Draco turned her around in his arms, he emerald eyes lifting to his grey ones. A smirk found its way to his lips without warning, and it was obvious Tia misunderstood its meaning. When he moved to kiss her, she closed her eyes and turned away from him. A stabbing pain centered in his chest as his hand lifted to her cheek, guiding her to look at him again.

“Don’t turn away from me,” he said in quiet demand, holding her gaze intently when she looked up at him.

“Draco, please,” Tia begged and tried to turn away again, but was stopped once again by Draco’s hand. She couldn’t help but be trapped by his pale grey eyes that now looked at her with unguarded passion. She sighed inwardly as he captured her lips with his and then she was lost.

He pulled her in tightly to him, his hand resting in the small of her back as he pressed her body against him. It only took moments before Tia fell into Draco’s kiss, the redhead unable deny him, despite her feeble attempts to do so. Her arms wrapped around his neck as their kiss deepened in passion and strength, each trying to dominate the other, both vying for control. Tia shoved Draco back until he fell against the desk he had just left and tore at his shirt, smiling as she heard the tiny taps of the buttons hitting the stone floor.

A devilish glint shimmered in his eyes as Draco looked at her, and an even more devilish grin formed on his lips. “You intend to have your way with me, do you?”

Tia continued to smile at him as her hands slipped inside his shirt and swept over his chest and stomach, finally coming to rest on his waist, her fingers toying with the buckle on his belt. “Did anyone ever tell you that you talk too much?”

“I may have heard that once before,” he managed to say before her lips covered his again and silenced him.

Draco engaged her bid for domination, eagerly accepting her advances and countering with his own. With little desire to waste time, he gathered up her long skirt and slid his hands easily beneath it, his fingers tracing the edge of her panties. Tia gasped when his hands slipped between her legs and she pulled away from him, her green eyes feral. He held his hand in place as she moved her hips, lace sliding sensually over his skin. But, just as he moved to further his quest, Tia pulled away from him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he said wickedly as he hooked his fingers inside the lace and pulled her back.

Her emerald eyes narrowed seductively before pushing away from him. “Wherever I want.”

Draco laughed as he was hauled up from the desk and turned around, Tia’s hands gripping his shirt. He smiled down at her evilly and slipped a hand behind her neck, his fingers fisting in her hair as he pulled her in and kissed her roughly.

“No,” Tia breathed, pushing away from him again. “You don’t get to win this time.”

“Is this a game?” asked Draco, smirking and more than willing to rise to the challenge.

“I’m not a game, Draco. And I’m not a prize to be won,” she said, her tone serious and the look in her eyes grave.

The smile faded slowly from the blonde boy’s face as he measured the level of emotion in his girlfriend’s eyes. Could she really not know how he felt? Everyone in Hogwarts knew Draco hadn’t so much as shared a meal with another girl, save taking Parkinson to the Yule Ball their fourth year. But even then he had abandoned her to the bumble twins in favor of sharing a scotch with Thane and sabotaging the Gryffindor couples hidden throughout the castle. It had been one of his fonder memories until recently. This year had already produced several memories he preferred to dwell upon.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” asked Tia, breaking Draco’s reverie. Her green eyes searched his grey ones, willing back the tears that threatened to spill onto her cheeks. She was fooling herself if she thought she could ever maintain any semblance of control over him. All she had to do was look up into those stormy eyes and she could barely remember her own name much less what her original intentions were.

“Are you going to answer me?” she asked, her words caught in her throat unexpectedly and that was it for her. She backed away from Draco before he even had a chance to react, and quickly snatching up her things, she walked quickly toward the door.

“Wait! Where are you going?” Draco called after her, befuddled.

“I’m going to dinner!” she said, pulling her wand from her cloak and aiming it toward Draco.

“Bloody hell, woman! Watch where you’re pointing that thing!” he said, throwing his hands up to cover his face.

Tia glared at her white-haired prefect with a snotty smirk as the spell left her wand, light dancing around the boy’s feet. “Good luck with your shirt!”

Draco watched with wide eyes as Tia walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her. He looked down at his buttonless shirt and then to the floor where the buttons, until a few moments ago, had laid peacefully atop the stone. He let his arms fall to his sides, deflated. His arm still burned beneath the bandages and his desire continued to burn elsewhere. He looked at the empty room around him and sighed heavily, “No girl is worth this.”


Jo arrived late for dinner and noticed right away that Thane was in his customary seat, as were Crabbe and Goyle, but their blonde leader and his girlfriend were conspicuously missing.

Walking past them she slid into her seat next to Liz and reached for a platter of bread rolls.

“Where were you?” Liz asked, eying her roommate. “We waited for you in the common room.”

“I got back late,” Jo shrugged. “We got caught in the rain on the way back.”

“We?” Marianna interrupted. “Who’s ‘we’?”

Jo sighed heavily. “I walked back with Purefoy – but it doesn’t mean anything. We got ditched,” she added quickly.

“Volusia and Malfoy?” Liz asked, nodding towards the head of the table. “I’ve noticed they aren’t here yet.”

“If Pansy has her way they’ll be off fighting,” she glared down the table at the pug-faced Prefect. “She tried to start a scene today – she and Michael Coultier.”

“The Ravenclaw?” Marianna’s voice warmed immediately. “He’s good looking, isn’t he? It’s those ice blue eyes, I swear! They have nearly as much money as the Malfoys, you know. He wouldn’t be a bad catch,” she paused, rubbing her chin thoughtfully, the wheels in her mind almost visibly turning.

“He won’t date a scrub like you,” Jo snickered, ignoring Marianna’s indignant grunt. “Besides, he’s teamed up with Parkinson.”

“Teamed up?” Liz asked, surprise clearly written on her face. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. It was no accident that they were there together setting the fight up,” Jo answered, her voice cold.

“Oh, you’re not still going on about that are you?” said Thane, startling Jo as he came up behind her.

“Nobody invited you, Purefoy!” Liz snapped, clearly looking put out.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not here to see you,” he said with a charming smile. Marianna huffed and turned away from him, pretending to examine her nails. “I’m here to see my friend,” he paused before sitting next to her, thinking better of using her full name, “…Jo. That is okay with two, isn’t it?”

Jo’s gaze flicked from Thane to Liz to Marianna and back to Thane again, her eyes growing wide as she caught sight of the onyx ring sitting proudly on the ring finger of his right hand. She looked up and met his gaze, his dark blue eyes alight with something akin to mischief she was sure.

“Are you kidding me? Since when do you have friends?” asked Liz snottily.

“Ever since you stopped following me around,” Thane smirked. “Amazing what happens when one gets rid of unsightly baggage.”

“So what’s Malfoy’s excuse?” the brunette countered, an eyebrow cocked.

“Touché,” Thane laughed and turned his attention back to Jo, who was still looking a bit bewildered. He mustered up a look that wasn’t unlike that of a hurt puppy dog. “Now, don’t go telling me you don’t want me here either.”

“Speak of the devil,” Liz interrupted, before Jo could answer, nodding towards the doors where Tia had just come sweeping into the room. “There’s one of them now.”

Jo looked from Thane, rolling her eyes at his exaggerated expression, to the red head walking towards the Slytherin table, her head held high and her long tresses trailing behind her. “Wonder what she did with Draco?”

“Maybe she misplaced him?” Marianna smirked cattily.

Thane caught Tia's eye briefly as she passed them and sat in Malfoy's usual spot, directing Goyle to move down so he wasn't crowding her. Biting the corner of his lip, Thane looked back toward the door expecting to see Malfoy trailing behind. It wasn't like him to let Tia out of his sight for very long if he could help it.

"Oh, you mean like how most boys misplace you?" Thane asked Marianna, his expression unamused.

Jo snickered, glancing at Tia and shrugging. She’d corner her later and find out how things went, but if she were sitting in her usual spot, almost as though she were waiting for Draco, then it shouldn’t be too bad. That or she’d killed him….

“What do you know?’ Marianna snapped, her dark eyes narrowed.

“He knew enough to dump you,” Jo yawned, reaching for her glass.

Thane laughed at Jo's remark and reached for the pitcher of pumpkin juice, filling his own glass with the drink. He silently wished for something a bit stronger than pumpkin juice. He thought about bringing a bottle of scotch back from Hogsmeade, but figured Jo wouldn't allowed and didn't bother to even try.

He looked at Jo as he raised his glass and took a drink. "So, is this what you ladies discuss late at night in your dorms?"

“Pretty much,” the blonde snorted in reply. “Who’s dating who, who used to date who, who should date who..” she rolled her eyes dramatically.

“We talk about other things!” Liz said defensively.

“Marianna discusses her make up tricks to keep herself from looking like a hag…” Jo smiled, trying not to laugh as the Spanish girl hit her hard in the shoulder, a look of pure indignation on her face.

"And you find this interesting?" Thane asked with sincere curiosity. The idea of discussing such things with Malfoy seemed a bit absurd to him. No, it was downright laughable. There were definite limits as to what was discussed with a male counterpart, and sadly, none of what Jo mentioned was on that list.

“Me?!” Jo asked, incredulous. “Hardly. Well, once in awhile who’s dating who can be interesting, but only a mention. No need for an in depth analysis-“

“If were so uninteresting maybe we should quit talking to you!’ Marianna seethed.

“Oh would you shut up?” Jo turned bodily, glaring at her and then turning back to Thane. “It’s all standard girl discussions. Clothes, hair, boys – and not particularly in that order.”

"Yeah, speaking of which, what's with the ring?" Liz asked haughtily. She was looking to get a rise out of the black-haired boy.

Thane looked over to the blonde sitting next to him, trying to gauge her reaction before answering. "A birthday gift from a friend," he said, offering a crooked smile to Jo.

Jo felt herself turn pink and cleared her throat loudly, she didn’t need the snickering that would accompany this. “Anyway, wonder if Tia and Draco made up-“

Liz waved her to silence, focusing her eyes on Thane. “What friend?” she cocked an eyebrow expectantly.

"Wouldn't want to ruin your late night talks now would I, Lizard-beth?" he winked, taking a moment to admire the ring on his finger.

“So it IS a girl!” Liz smirked in triumph. “But the question is why they’d bother, unless it’s cursed,” she added.

Jo swallowed hard, wishing the subject would just disappear. She shot Thane a pleading look, begging him not to implicate her.

“Well, I’ll give you a hint,” he said, leaning over the table as if he meant to divulge one of his deepest secrets. He waited until he had everyone’s full attention, Liz and Marianna both leaning in close while Jo tried desperately to escape being in the middle. After all eyes were trained on him he whispered, “You have to promise not to tell if you figure it out.”

“Merlin, it isn’t Parkinson is it?” Marianna gasped, her hand clutching her chest.

“Get on with it,” Liz beckoned impatiently.

“Alright, well…” he paused dramatically, “I can tell you with the utmost confidence that it was neither one of you.”

“Oh, Thane Purefoy! You’re impossible!” Liz huffed, throwing her napkin in the boy’s face.

“But who is it?” asked Marianna, clearly having missed the joke.

“You know you make it easy for him, don’t you?” Liz scowled at the brunette across from her.

“Easy. I think that describes Marianna all the way around,” Jo commented dryly, trying to calm her nerves. For a moment there, squashed between them all, she’d been sure he was actually going to tell them.

It was at that moment Draco Malfoy chose to enter the Great Hall. He wore a much deeper scowl than usual and marched with purpose, looking decidedly naked without his two hulky bodyguards flanking his sides. He sat down heavily next to Tia just as the food appeared on the table. Pulling his plate toward him, he began to pile food on it without so much as a casual glance toward his girlfriend. Both Tia and Draco sat next to each other, neither offering to be the first to acknowledge the other.

"Looks like trouble in paradise," Marianna commented with sadistic amusement. "I knew it wouldn't last."

"They're not exactly pushing one another away, now are they?" said Thane, defending his friend. Marianna really did grate on his last nerve. He looked questioningly at Jo, wondering if she knew something he didn't.

Jo returned Thane’s questioning glance, shrugging her shoulders. She’d taken Tia’s choice of seating as proof their fight was over, but it was painfully obvious that wasn’t the case.

“You’re right, it couldn’t possibly mean anything just because you could use the glance she just gave him to cool your drink,” Marianna smirked, rubbing her hands together in unabashed glee. “It was only a matter of time, you know. He’s far too picky to stay with one girl very long!”

“Maybe Tia’s the one who’s picky,” Jo said coldly, suddenly annoyed that everyone assumed a rift would be Malfoy’s choice. “Maybe she’s tired of his behavior.”

"Whichever way it is, it's hardly any of our business," said Thane, interrupting the girls. It was a bit aggravating listening to all this clatter. "And on that note, I think I'll speak with you later, Iosifina," he said, taking his chances with the use of Jo's full name. As he stood, he gave her a small wink before turning and walking toward Malfoy.

Jo opened her mouth to shout after him, “It’s Jo!” but decided there was no point. She looked from Tia and Draco and then back to her roommates who were now locked in a battle over whether it was Tia or Draco causing the fight and she sighed, her shoulders sagging in defeat at the idea of a dinner filled with this. There was only one place less desirable in the Great Hall right now, and that would be sitting on the iceberg at Draco’s end of the table.

*******************

Draco sat on his bed with the folded parchment in his hand. His father had given it to him – his father – in the midst of the whirl wind that ended with Draco having an aching arm and an assignment, the details of which lie inside the folds of this paper. He flopped back on his bed, and let the note lay on his chest. Staring up at the canopy of his bed, he tried to replay the moments in Hogsmeade when he once again stood face to face with his father. It had been so long, over a year since he had spoken with him and now the memories were nothing but a blur, tumbling over one another as they bled into one long streak.

“Are you going to read that bloody thing or are you going to wait until it sprouts roots in your chest?”

Draco opened his eyes to see the only person in this school he trusted – Thane Purefoy. “Sod off,” he replied, sitting up and once again staring at the note.

Slowly unfolding the parchment, Draco read the words transcribed in black ink. The Dark Lord was calling on him to perform a most dangerous task, particularly after the death of the former Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. His skin went paler than normal and his grey eyes seemed to lose their light as he stared at the words in disbelief.

“What in Merlin’s name does it say?” asked Thane, concerned.

Draco didn’t answer, but only held up the note for the other boy to take, which he did.

“How in bloody hell are you supposed to accomplish that?”

The blonde-haired boy peeked out from under his forearm just long enough to cast a withering glare at his friend. “If I knew that, Cousin, I’d already be doing it.”