Night Off

[NICHOLAS JASON BELBY]

Nicholas loved being a Hufflepuff, that was for sure. But, there were just some nights when he needed to get out. Normally, he was too lazy to leave the common room. But every now and then, he felt like he needed a change of scenery. And maybe a change of activity. As fun as doing homework by the fire with friends always was; Nicholas felt a little suffocated by the idea of school and trying to make something of himself. So tonight was going to be one of his Nights Off!

Nicholas leaned against the bar in the Hogshead sipping a Butterbeer. He was too young for any of the harder stuff, and he normally wasn't really one to break the rules. It was Saturday night, and the pub was pretty empty. The dim lighting highlighted a few customers at the other end of the bar, and a small party taking over a table near the windows. Nick took his drink and walked over to the pool table. Pool was a game that was mostly played by muggles in which two people would take turns using a stick to try and knock as many balls as possible into one of the six slots on the edges. The player who knocked out the most balls won the game. Nick took a Cue Stick and set up the balls in the middle of the table. He aimed the cue and then took his shot, using the white ball to knock two other balls into the side slots. He wasn't the best at this game seeing as the only time that he ever played was when he took a night off from being the perfect Hufflepuff and hung out in the pub. But he knew what he was doing... for the most part.

[EVELYN ANABELLE HOLDEN]

Evi had been hanging out with Jade from time to time lately. She was a prefect for the Hufflepuff house but she was starting to sneak out and drink and what not lately. She had learned how not to get caught and had planned to go out tonight and drink a bit but had not been able to go into the three broomsticks when she had gotten there. A Professor had been there and she was not feeling like getting caught any time soon so she explored Hogsmeade a bit until she found herself at the Hogshead Tavern.

She shrugged figuring she could at least hang out there even if she couldn't get her hands on drinks there. She opened the door and looked around. She spotted a familiar face. Most people in the same year and house knew eachother at least in part, and Evi being a prefect had to know everyone. So she made her way over to the pool table.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Out past curfew and in Hogsmeade no less. What am I going to do with you Nicolas?" she said raising an eyebrow.

Then after being quiet a moment, knowing he probably was thinking he was caught she laughed. "Sorry, I couldn't resist." she said as she walked over to him. "What brings you out here though?" she asked curiously.

[NICHOLAS JASON BELBY]

Nicholas knew most of the Hufflepuff house simply by being such a homebody and spending most of his time in the common room doing nothing but watching the other people who chose to hang around the common room. Nights like this where Nick snuck out and didn't really care if he was out of bed after hours were sort of a rare event, but they were getting more regular as the years went by. He never really drunk when he went out though, he mostly just played. And he wasn't used to seeing other people from school here. On the rare occasions that he did see someone that he knew, they were always Slytherins who snuck out to have some fun with friends. He had never seen a Hufflepuff out.

Which was why Evi's presence caught him so off guard, that even though he had spent so long lining up the perfect shot, when she spoke to him, he missed and ended up hitting the white ball into one of the side pockets. "And what have we got here? A Hufflepuff Prefect out after hours in a dingy pub?" Nicholas smirked and turned around. He had known the girl since their first year of course, and he had noticed her appearance and even admired it from time to time. But he didn't know her very well. "I come here from time to time: It's a nice break from being the Perfect Hufflepuff Gentleman." he shrugged. "What brings you out here?" He asked.

[EVELYN ANABELLE HOLDEN]

Evi actually felt bad about making Nick miss his shot. "Sorry for distracting you there. Feel free to take it again." she said with a smile as she moved the white ball back to it's place.

She leaned up against the table and looked up at him when he mentioned that she was a hufflepuff prefect out after hours in a dingy pub. She smiled. "What, just because I'm a prefect I can't break the rules sometimes?" she said raising an eyebrow but she smiled to show she was playing with him.

"Well, just like you I just like to come out and play every so often." she said with a shrug. "I was coming out to hang out with a friend of mine, but one of the professor's were at her work place so I wandered here instead. She looked up and ordered a butterbeer. "Want to play a few?" she offered.

[NICHOLAS JASON BELBY]

Nick wasn't the best pool player, so he didn't really mind missing his shot. It wasn't as though he was playing against anyone anyway. It didn't really matter if he lost a game that he was playing against himself. He wasn't that into the game, he only played to get his mind off school and take a break. "Nah, that was the game winning hit. I lost." He teased with a shrug. When she asked if she couldn't break the rules just because she was a prefect, Nicholas nodded, "Yes actually, that's sort of the whole idea of the Prefect system." he smirked.

"Yeah, we can play a few. Do you know how?" He asked her and got cue off the rack on the wall and handed it over to her, gathering all the balls back into the center and setting them up with the triangle mold to make sure they were all in place.

[EVELYN ANABELLE HOLDEN]

Evi chuckled when he said it was the game winning hit and he lost. "I'm sorry for making you lose to yourself." she joked. "Can you ask yourself for a rematch?" she said raising an eyebrow.

She scoffed when he said it was the whole idea of the prefect sytem. "Well, I still yell at everyone and make them do what they're told, that should be good enough right?" she asked though really she didn't yell at anyone, just made sure people were where they were supposed to be and not where they shouldn't be...well aside from a select few people who she got on well with.

She smiled. "Well, I'd lie to you and say I didn't so I could trick you and make you surprised at my beginner's luck, but I don't do things like that." she said with a smile. "I play from time to time." she said answering his question finally. "Should we make it a betting game?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. "But not money, we're students so that's not possible. We can do a dare or request for who wins type of thing. Interested?" she asked.

[NICHOLAS JASON BELBY]

"I think I should just accept the loss with the little dignity that I have left." Nicholas decided with a smile and a laugh. When she insisted that she still did all of her prefectly duties and just liked to bend the rules a little for her own sake, he wanted to insist that she was a cliche, but he knew that that would probably be taken the wrong way and thus out a damper on the light-hearted conversion the two were currently engaged in. Nick wasn't surprised to hear that she already knew how to play the game, it was a pretty popular game among muggles. Surely more students than just him spent summer holidays playing muggle games and hanging out in muggle joints. That was one of the major things about living in Muggle London. Muggles were all around. When she asked if he wanted to make it a bet, he smirked, "A dare bet? I can probably accept that... depending on what you have in mind for the dare." He bit his lip and then gestured to the pool table. "Ladies First." He insisted.