12/19/2001

 

 

The Three Broomsticks

 

The Three Broomsticks is an inviting little inn and pub; in fact, it's usually quite busy, full of many interesting characters.  The wooden pub consists of many round wooden tables, surrounded by comfy little chairs.  There's also a long counter, and behind it, shelves and shelves full of various drinks (mostly alcoholic) including Gillywater, Red Currant Rum, and even Rosmerta's special Mulled Mead.  A crackling fireplace provides soothing heat at night and during those cold days when a warm mug of Butter Beer is all that's on your mind.  Quite a few square windows are set around the pub, allowing the sunlight to light up the area.  Usually the barmaid, Madame Rosmerta, will be around to serve drinks to anyone with a galleon, sickle, or knut in their pocket.  Another small set of stairs leads up to the rooms where people can stay for the night.

 

 

Visiting pubs isn't generally something that this particular student used to do, but after recent events... she needs a little time away from the school and places that she knows too well. Damn Professor Valeth. Somehow he creeps her out more than Snape ever did. Cho sits alone at one of the tables near the fireplace, picking through a couple written notes she made, trying desperately to concentrate solely on the pieces of papers in front of her. She has a drink within hands reach, non-alcoholic, but she has been ignoring it for some time. She reaches up and brushes a lock of straight black hair behind and ear and continues about the lists.

 

Visiting the Three Broomsticks is a bit odd for him, too, but because this isn't an official visit to Hogsmeade, then that means the pub won't be filled with the annoying chatter of students, just the occasional voice rising from the regulars. He goes no where without the cronies who lumber in behind him, then follow the young man with the slicked-back white-blonde as he makes his way to an available table. Draco unbuttons his cloak and dumps it over the back of his chair before flopping down into his seat. "Hey, Crabbe. How about you go grab us some butterbeer?" That's a good minion, off with you now. Even though the request was directed towards one, they both leave the smallest of the three alone at his table, which, for convenience sake, just happens to be rather close to Cho's. He leans back on the two legs of his chair, clasping his hands and resting them comfortably on his chest. Life is good. ~.~

 

Glad it's good for someone. Cho hears the voice and glances over, seeing three fellow students who happen to be enjoying an unofficial visit just like her. And though they aren't in her house (as signified by their crests and colors) she does recognize the smallest one. There are only four Seekers in the entire school, and it's near impossible to forget one when you happen to be one yourself; though she hasn't met the new Hufflepuff Seeker yet. Her eyebrows arch lightly at the way he leans back and sits there; a smile forming after a moment. It’s a while till she says anything, but when she does it comes out in a polite and friendly fashion, "Fancy seeing you here." She doesn't say a name, mainly because she's unsure how he prefers to be addressed. Every time she's heard his name its Malfoy, but she's one of those people who prefers to be on a more personal first name basis, but then again she doesn't want to insult him. "I didn't think any other students would be out today." She glances in the direction the 'minion boys' left. "Much less three."

 

He was just relaxing for a few moments by himself while Crabbe and Goyle fetched the drinks, not really expecting to be addressed at all, in any fashion, but then it happens. Draco's head turns, the look on his face being that of pure disinterest until he sees the owner of the voice, which merely causes an eyebrow to rise upwards. "Cho... Chang, isn't it? You're the Ravenclaw seeker, aren't you?" Why! Fancy seeing you in a place like this! Hi, nice to meet you! What did you think of that last game at such-and-such a time at such-and-such a place? There are tons of things he could have done to be more friendly, but in his own way, this is friendly, although it comes with a bored drawl attached on to it. "I've decided to take a break from school, myself, since the evening was free." A shrug and then a... "WAUGH!" He throws himself right off balance with that simple movement, his chair pitching backwards with him in it, he flails his arms wildly. Moments later, though, after a brief struggle to right himself and a crashing sound as he and the chair hit the floor, the young blonde looks up at the ceiling. @.@; Then gurgles something unintelligible. @.@;

 

There are a thousand things he could have said that were nicer, but just as many that would have been outright mean, so Cho doesn't seem to mind. She nods as he gets her name right; not surprising as she /is/ quite popular. She starts to say something, but it's cut off as the he starts to fall backwards. She immediately jumps up and moves over to kneel down beside him, hands going to check his head, looking for blood or swelling. It's a habit from helping out in the infirmary. The crash itself couldn't have hurt too badly, as long as he didn't hit his head or try to catch himself with an arm. "Draco?" Perhaps it's a stretch to call him by his first name, but she's in a moment here, so he'll have to forgive her. "Are you all right? Did you hit your head? Is your vision blurry or doubled?" The smile is gone for a few moments, as she's in a rather serious mode at the moment.

 

"Uh?" Comes the reply from Draco as he stares now up into the face of Cho instead of at the ceiling as he was, before. Why, he never knew she wanted to get so close to him so quickly. ~.~ And... even if she were, well, he certainly isn't complaining, either, as he comes to the conclusion, after a few seconds of disorganization, that the slightly older, Ravenclaw seeker is rather pretty up close. "My head?" Finally just drops out of his mouth, he moves a little in order to sit up, wrinkling his nose at the tinge of pain. "My head is fine; just a little surprise is all. Don't worry about it." Can Draco sit up, now? Q_Q Or are you going to fuss over him, still? Not that he'd be complaining, but, hey.

 

No blood, no swelling (besides ego-wise at least o.-), and his pupils look fine, so Cho releases his head and sits back on her heels, watching him carefully for any signs of injury. Her eye is no where as good as Madam Pomfrey, but she was prone to injury for her first few years here and she spent more time in the Infirmary than was comfortable before she made a full recovery and was given an okay to compete in Quidditch her 4th year. And don't get cocky; she'd do the same thing if it was Crabbe falling on his big head. "Probably shouldn't lean back like that." She says with a smile, not saying it in a teasing way at all. She stands up and offers a hand down to the fellow Seeker. She's smaller than he is but she can help him to his feet at least. "If you're in pain I can make a remedy. I'm sure that most the components could be found in here; at least for one of them." She knows about fifty different kinds now, for everything from muscle twinges to headaches. She's not allowed to use Healing Charms on people yet, so remedies are what she does best.

 

He sits up with a bit of a scowl, the back of his head pulsing with a hint of an ache, but not enough that it's worth drawing any attention to. He reaches for the outstretched hand with a thin smile coming to his lips. "I'll keep that in mind the next time I try to lean back in my chair." The boy soon draws himself up to his feet; but don't think Draco's too much taller, he's a seeker and they tend to be the smallest members of the Quidditch team. Taking a moment to sort himself, mainly the robes and smoothing back the few strands of hair sent into disarray by his unfortunate tumbling backwards with a hand, he shakes his head just afterwards. "Don't worry about it. Just a little bit of pain." He trails off, pressing a few fingers against the back of his head just to check and make sure. "But, I think I'll live."

 

Cho continues to give a smile to the not-so-much taller Seeker, and once her hands are free again, she too starts to straighten her robes, though they are in no way as much disarray as his. "If it's any consolation, I think the chair needed a 'reparo' even before you fell back. It looked a bit shifty." She nods at the denial of a remedy of any kind, but her smile fades for a very brief moment, before it reappears. "Glad to hear that. I'd hate to think what Professor Snape would say if one of his House got mortally wounded while in my presence. I don't know if Ravenclaw has as many points as he'd likely take away. It'd go down in history as the first time any house finished with a negative number." When she ends that her smile is touching her eyes.

 

A blink, his blue eyes vanishes for a moment, before he, too, begins to smile, though it's not exactly the same. It’s a bit like the thin smile from before, just add a little more feeling to it and there you have it. However, that is not all, because Draco Malfoy actually happens to throw in a slight chuckle there with it, straightening his vest and setting the silver and green stripped tie right. "Well, you know Professor Snape." He'd probably be a royal terror about it for the rest of the year if one of the Slytherins was horribly wounded, but the Potions teacher might actually carry on for even longer then that if he discovered that it was his most favorite out of the bunch. "I don't think they'd allow the house points to drop into the negatives. They'd probably forever keep it at zero."

 

There's no giggling, but there is a brief chuckle at the end. Cho nods her head, still smiling, "We can't have that. My House would never forgive me. Plus, there'd probably be a report in the Daily Prophet about how the 'Ravenclaw Seeker Brutally Sabotaged the Slytherin Team'." Oh, she knows good and well that the Prophet seems to be Slytherin biased. She doesn't read it herself, but a couple of her friends do, for the gossip, so she's seen the recent articles (some of them anyway), as well as most the ones written last year. "Everything seems to be all right, so we don't have to worry about that." She glances at the table he was sitting at, then back at her own. After a moment's thought, she asks, "Mind if I join you? I've heard you're quite good at potions, and I could use a little help with a project I'm working on. Professor Valeth has given me some help on it, but I could use another opinion." And an opinion that doesn't cause her to have a major moral dilemma every time she's in the same room as the Assistant Professor.

 

He's good at potions, indeed, and that's not because of being a favorite student. Draco is, actually, a fairly decent student with the typical strengths and weaknesses that most tend to display. If he were bad, though, he'd probably receive a lot more assistance then any other. Professor Snape would have probably seen to it that Lucius Malfoy's son would be able to do everything correctly even if it killed him. The blue eyes move away and scan the crowd for his two goons, who seem to be engaged in the usual 'grunt, snicker, grunt some more, laugh' conversation, their heads easily visible from where he stands. "No, not at all. Go ahead and take a seat. Looks like my company has found something shiny to look at."

 

(OOC Insert) Crabbe and Goyle: OOO! SHINY! *.*

 

Some body guards. o.o They didn't even notice when they're 'boss' fell back and could have killed himself if he would have thrown his head back at the wrong time. It's also easy to see where the brains of this operation are located. Cho doesn't say that though, as she goes over to the table and picks up the notes she has already made and moves over to find a seat (one that doesn't look shifty). "I'm working on a very specific sleeping potion. Most the ones I've located simulate a death-like appearance, or last for only a few hours, or are meant for large creatures, like dragons. The ones that are close to what I'm looking for have... slight flaws. Can't be taken more than once a month without nasty side effects, or they have physical signs that it's been used. Here's the lists of the different potions I've located so far." She passes the lists over. Her hand writing is very neat and detailed (hey, she's Ravenclaw) and there are references to book titles, page numbers, and even paragraphs. There are underlines under the potions that are close (the one that seems to be closest offers a full night's dreamless sleep with, but had a warning that it can't be used often).

 

He, in turn, takes his own seat, just directly across from the girl, accepting the list from her and taking a few minutes to scan it over in silence. His brow furrows slightly in thought, as if trying to think of a few potions or perhaps considering those on the sheet of parchment, before laying it back down upon the flat surface. "Is that so?" Finally, he speaks, licking his dry lips, followed by looking up at Cho for a brief second before he reaches down to scoop up the black robe from the floor, folding it around his arm. "It all depends on what you're looking to use it on. If it's a person or an animal. Who's it for?" His icy blue eyes flicker back down to the neat writing, giving a second scan over. Maybe he'll attempt to use some of these on Potter, one day. It'd provide a few moments of humor, that's for sure. n.n

 

Oh yeah. Can't you just picture slipping the Draught of Living Death in Potter's drink right before a Quidditch game and watching the entire school go insane thinking he's dead? Until, of course, Dumbledore corrects them. Cho stays silent as he scans over the notes, nodding when he finally speaks again. At his question, she looks reluctant, diverting dark eyes to the table. Her response is given voice after that pause, "Person. About our age, small bodied, average constitution." Just to be as specific as needed without outright saying who it is for. She reaches up and brushes a stray lock of straight black hair behind her ear, returning her gaze (and smile) to the year younger Slytherin.

 

Just as he figured. The boy returns her smile with a look of scrutiny, followed by an eyebrow lifting due to obvious suspicion. It only takes him a second to put two and two together to whom it might be for, but he doesn't bother with asking any more questions, just looks back at the sheet of parchment, pointing a few at a few of the potions. "Have you looked into maybe altering a few? I'm sure if a few of the ingredients were either increased or decreased, it may give a few different effects. Sounds pretty dangerous, though. Have you tried the restricted section of the library, yet?" Of course, Draco's being helpful by making suggestions while racking his brain to see if there is any that won't cause any unwanted side affects. Surely, there must be a few out there. Wizards probably use them all the time and there is no doubt in his mind that Professor Snape could probably list off a handful if he should ask.

 

The smile stays firmly in place under the scrutiny and suspicion. It isn't missed, its just ignored for the moment. "I haven't attempted altering any. If they messed up and caused an unwanted effect or lasted longer than it should..." Well, no one really knew about her 'project' before she spoke with the Assistant Professor, and the meeting with him... well... it didn't help solve the core problem. And it added more to it. She shakes her head about the library, though she doesn't seem to surprised at the question. She hasn't looked there because too many questions usually come before a visit into that section, and that's something she wants to avoid. Perhaps choosing a Slytherin to speak to about this is a bad idea all around, but for the moment, she's willing to risk it. Besides, he doesn't seem the type to pity or worry (not about her at least), which is why she would never choose on of her own House or any of her friends to confide in. The last thing she wants is people worrying about her.

 

There are some people in the world who cannot feel any pity for those whom they do not know too well. Draco just happens to fit that description, a lot of other Slytherins probably would, too (remember that the Slytherins are the ones driven by ambition and the will to do anything to obtain what they want or desire), because he doesn't know. "Professor Snape could probably think of a few ways to safely alter them. There's always the Sleeping Potion or the Sleeping Draught. The Sleeping Draft tends to be used for Dragons, so that's entirely out of the question. I bet if you used it on someone of that stature in which you described; they'd probably be out for a month or two, unless you used it on one of those dumb lugs." Draco thumbs towards Crabbe and Goyle, still immersed in their 'grunt, laugh' sort of conversation over a few empty bottles of butterbeer. "I'm sure you could also probably test a few altered potions on them, too. I doubt it would do any harm." u_u

 

Pity or worry reserved for himself alone (self-pity, self-preservation) is what she's mainly expecting from him. It’s not meant personally though. Its the one reason she's actually asking him about this. Well, besides the fact that she has heard he is good in Potions. The stabs at his lackeys earn a soft smile and a slight laugh, before she nods, "It probably couldn't make them any denser." They certainly don't look like the brightest candles in the hall. And besides, what if the potion gives a normal person the intelligence of a gnat? They'd never know until they tried it on someone who doesn't already have that. There's a moment of non-seriousness, then she asks a question, "Is there any way you could ask Professor Snape about it without telling him what it is for." Or who it’s for. c.c;

 

He doesn't worry about only himself. That is a cruel and biased statement. u.u If his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, was ever in a predicament, he'd probably express a large amount of concern for her. His father is a little bit of a different story, but outside of the family, those he would worry for are very few and far between. Draco doesn't make any close friends. He can be nice, but he can also ward people away with his bored drawl and nasty remarks. It's not because he has something to hide or because he's honestly a hurt little boy who just needs a hug, which he certainly is not. Draco likes the way he is and prefers such a lifestyle, he enjoys it. There are numerous reasons, but as stated before, he just doesn't make close friends, perhaps it's even because his lifestyle has made it so he can't, but who knows. He certainly has his fair share of aquaintences, followers and such. "I could probably ask Professor Snape about it, if you'd like." What are you gonna give Draco in return, though? ~.~

 

Okay, so she's not giving him enough credit, but she /has/ only spoken to him seriously only this one time. On the issue at hand though, Cho nods a few times. Good. He'll ask Snape. She was going to have to herself eventually, since she's sworn off ever allowing herself to be alone with a certain Assistant Professor again. Or in public for that matter. (Too bad the chances of avoiding him are limited since he's apparently pegged her.) There's a pause. He's Slytherin. Of course he's going to want something. And a 'Thank you' probably won't cut it. But she barely knows him, and what she does know is that he's got a big hate on for a certain Gryffindor student and... that isn't something she wants to get pulled into if she can avoid it. She spends a few moments trying to figure out how to word this, then finally says, "In return I offer assistance in any project you have in the future. That.. won't harm anyone." She glances down at the table.

 

A thank you definitely wouldn't of cut it, but it's not as though he would have demanded any favors in return right here in the Three Broomsticks. That probably would have come much later; he would have sought out the Ravenclaw, later, and then requested something be done to repay his actions. It seems as though Draco's been slightly offended by such a statement, however, opening his mouth, then reconsidering, closing it once again with a look around. He has his own ways of harming others, whether verbally and what not. "I'll be sure to ask the Professor about it within the next few days, then. If you'll be at the Yule Ball, I'll bring the results. How does that sound?"

 

There's a pause. Cho had really decided on whether she would attend the Ball or not yet. She was more than willing to remain in her room, but... She's the one who probably just insulted the young man (but not on completely unfounded terms, he /did/ dress up as a Dementor and try to sabotage Harry during the Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor match), so she nods, "All right. I will be there." Looks like she'll have to dig out those dress robes she wasn't planning on wearing quite yet and get them cleaned up and magically pressed, and she can probably still find someone to help her with her hair. (Hey, if she's going to go, she might as well look good going.) "I guess I should let you round up your... friends and finish what you came out here to do. Thank you for the help, Draco." If he's offended, well, it won't be the first time she's offended him tonight.

 

It's certainly true that he did attempt to sabotage the quidditch match, along with Marcus Flint, Crabbe and Goyle, but their plan was foiled, unfortunately, as Harry had used the Patronus charm on them which messed up everything. "Not a problem. I'll be sure to have the information from Professor Snape in time for the Yule Ball." Round up his friends? Once they finish their conversation, which could probably take hours, since it would go around in circles and probably eat away at itself. Draco'll have to distract them with something shiny, eventually. As for finishing what he was doing, well, he wasn't exactly doing anything besides taking a bit of a break, which he certainly isn't done doing, as of yet. "Don't mention it, though. If you need anymore help, Cho." Since she uses his first name, he should every right to use hers. The young man dawns a rather dashing smile, however. Sweet as sugar, it is. "Don't be afraid to ask."

 

The first name usage is no bother to her at all. It's actually what she prefers. She likes a casual atmosphere when it is possible to have one (with students at least), but she can be just as formal as the next person when the situation calls for it. Three Broomsticks isn't exactly that situation. It's the last bit that leaves her staring; eyebrows raised. Sweet as sugar, hmm? After a moment she turns her usual smile back on and responds with a nod, "I won't. And be careful with these chairs from now on." She straightens her robes and stands up, moving across the table. Once she stands beside him, she reaches down to reclaim her notes. If he's just going to ask Snape, he probably won't need them, but if he really wishes he can always stop her.

 

Nah, Draco doesn't need them. His memory is rather good and it's not as though he'd forget something so simplistic. But, as soon as the girl is out of sight and gone, he will proceed to look insufferably smug. Tee hee.

 

Smug little bastard. The notes firmly in hand (and stuffed into the folds of her robes by the time she's outside) Cho starts back towards the school building. At least this search for assistance turned out better than the last one. Of course, it couldn't have gotten much worse. Or can it?