"I know!" Abby commiserated. "Silly, stubborn Sasha. I told him I could help, but noooo," she continued, missing the point of 'unarmed'.

If Raine hadn't agreed to help her, she might have had to go to Aileen, and that was always embarrassing. She really appreciated the girl ditching her date to rescue her friend. Though she supposed all three of them were friends now. The thought raised her spirits.

As Abby huffed her way up the stairs, clutching her heels in one hand and gripping the railing with the other, she muttered the password under her breath like a chant. Damn Deres for choosing the highest floor! She seriously started to regret all the holiday candy she'd eaten from Honeydukes along with the candy Mrs. Knight had sent her. Somehow, walking Roxy around the block did not prepare her for the ordeal of climbing seven flights of stairs.

At least the stairs had a bonus. No wonder so many Hogwarts boys looked fit!

"Which way?" She resisted the urge to collapse in a dramatic heap once they'd reached the sixth floor.

"What do you think we should do when we get there? Go in, wands blazing? Your wand blazing?" Abby clarified with a slight grin. "Or wait and see if we hear yelling or cursing or hexing first?"

Deus had been waiting. Or rather, biding his time, watching the strange, silvery shapes of past spells take place from the tip of the stolen wand, which had begrudgingly allowed the Prior Incantato to be cast. It was, all things considered, a pretty haunting slideshow. Or at least could have been, but Deus's life had its share of nasty spells, and so what might have been horrifying was more predominately, well, puzzling. And certainly informative. He made no physical notes, instead ticking away in his mental file and shaking his head once or twice as the spells wore on. Not caring to go further he waved off the spell with a murmured Deletrius to erase the spell that had been his meddling, twirling the clearly unhappy wand in his hands with a small " Huh."

And the portrait hole opened, and Deus turned, only to have the anxious wand tug as though to fly from his hands but he clamped his grip down and held firm while the expression on his face turned to black scorn. That  certainly wasn't polite (and never mind that stealing someone's wand could hardly be considered so either but Deus did so hate to be misunderstood). Moving like liquid over to the boy, the light humor was absent as Deus twirled the wand again, presenting it, handle first and free of tricks, to its owner. "Ye of little faith," he scoffed, clearly annoyed, "That spell, for the record? Usually works better with the wand. And ye've an ever so...interestin' one too." His hands disappeared back into his pockets--where his own wand was, in case Sasha chose to use his newly re-acquired one to hex him--and he stepped back.

Technically speaking, with that, he was free to go. After all, Sasha had what he'd come for. But nothing was ever really free when Deus was engineering it, and it was a safe bet that if Sasha turned to leave, a soft, Scottish drawl would have something to say about it.[1].

1.	I'm not sure if the girls have entered yet? I'm assuming they're about to, mwahaha.

Of course it didn't work.  That would require luck which, Sasha had long sense concluded, he generally ran short of these days.  Sasha's eyes fell firmly on the simple, purple-hued wand in the Slytherin's hand and he took a step towards Deres, his hand outstretched expectantly. 

His hand still outstretched, Sasha's back visibly straightening as Deres drew closer.  "You stole my wand," Sasha pointed out, flatly.  That, in itself, should be response enough to both of the Slytherin's comments.  Of course, he had little faith.  And, yes, Sasha was more than perfectly aware he'd have more success casting accio with his wand but, again, he didn't have it. 

"And ye've an ever so...interestin' one too."

Suspicion flickered across the Ravenclaw's face as he quickly repossessed his wand and gave it a careful once over.  What, exactly, had Deres meant by 'it's an interesting one.'  Were students capable of exposing a wand's secrets?  He remembered watching aurors force his previous wand to regurgitate its past but he didn't know if that was something students could do.  As he looked the wand over, there were no obvious signs of damage, the wand was in one piece.   "It's a Gregorovich," Sasha answered, simply, hoping to divert attention away from the wand's use and towards the wand, itself. 

Sasha waited, watching expectantly, waiting for the other shoe to drop.  This couldn't be it.  This couldn't be that simple!  Deres couldn't have gone through all that trouble just to hand the bloody thing back over. 

"What was the point?" Sasha asked, his wand still held firmly in his hand.  "You stole my wand and sent me on a wild goose chase just to give it back?  That's ... that's pointless!  Why?" [1]

1.	I'm happy either way - I think Abby and Raine are planning on eavesdropping, initially, and then come in but if you'd rather, they can come right in.

"Good question," Raine muttered as she led Abby towards the final flight of stairs- her head reeling with their possibilities.

Strategies for... attack? No, that was hardly necessary and she seriously doubted that Sasha would have initiated a duel- even if he had been in possession of his wand. The ransom Abby described was not aggressive. In fact, in the retrospect of their seven floor dash, it didn't seem quite as serious at all.

"No blazing wands," she finally replied as they ascended the stairwell up to the top floor. A wry expression pulled at her lips and she pulled herself up to the landing before turning around to face Abby. "Although I promise to keep mine at-hand."

If only because she suspected a wild card at work. It was not long before the pair found themselves in the specified corridor, approaching the portrait of Carratikus the Animagus. Raine knew that the classroom lay behind it and she could barely make out the sounds of voices beyond.

"We... we listen I suppose," she hesitated, stepping lightly towards the portrait- who seemed rather amused by her attempt at subtlety. "And enter at any sign of trouble."[1]

1.	Playing it sneaky for now but probably not for long, I imagine!

( I apologize if this is incredibly silly, but I have so much fun making Abby be ridiculous. Let me know if I should change anything!)


Abby nodded, appreciating Raine’s logic.

Though she was peeved at Deres for taking Sasha’s wand, Abby had to admit this was kind of fun! Now that she’d trekked up all those stairs (she ignored the fact that she’d need to head down at some point), Abby could pretend she was on a special secret mission with Raine. Abby with her charm and her shoes that she could probably chuck at least a few feet! Raine with her wit and spellpower! An unstoppable duo.

“I can barely hear what they’re saying,” Abby whispered, inching closer to the portrait. “Are they actually talking? I hope Deres isn’t trying to lick his face again.”

Frowning, Abby pressed her ear to the painting, whose inhabitant seemed startled by her proximity and promptly turned into a bear. It lumbered away toward a cave illustrated between the trees, its behind shaking with indignity. Abby clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

And then she realized Carratikus would need to be able to hear the password to let them in when they asked. Could he do that as a bear? What if he went into hibernation?

"Oh no! I'm sorry! Come back!" Abby whispered a little too loudly at the bear's retreating form.

"Borrowed,” Deus was quick to correct, stepping back and plonking himself down in one of the overstuffed chairs that littered the room, shifting restlessly until deciding on a comfortable position that had him mostly upside down, bonelessly draped out of the chair with his legs over an arm like an oversized cat. He waved a hand lazily, "Stolen implies no intention of returning, which, as can be evidenced by yer current possession of the bloody thing, is nae an accurate representation o" the situation.” He glanced up, twirling the ridiculous velvet tophat that was notably tree of mistletoe by now.

He snorted at the question, choosing to ignore it entirely (he did so hate to answer direct questions) and opting for a cheery, "Nae, it ain't!" in response to Sasha's assertion that his actions were pointless. Only if you didn't see the point, which the Slytherin would admit he hadn't gotten around to yet. He peered curiously up at the Ravenclaw and sighed. "Did ye scare yet date off? She was invited too, ye ken." He closed eyes, hat sliding over half his face as a result of the inverted position and added thoughtfully. "Valiant effort, I might add.” He didn't reference what. "Fer ye. anyway. Wouldn't worry too much—girls are wonky ‘bout timing.”

There w as silence for a moment as Deus considered this, opening his mouth to continue—

Oh no! I'm sorry! Come back![1]

Immediately, the Slytherin boy lit up, rolling over himself and onto his feet as swiftly as if Sasha had cast a hex in his direction, darting to the portrait and beaming like a small child at Sasha, "Oh good! Ye did bring ‘er!" He tossed open the portrait hole, poking his head out with delight, and swooping to peck her cheek in friendly greeting since she was conveniently only a few inches from his face. “Hallo, love!” He blinked, surprised to see the Gryffindor in tow, but his smile only broadened as he wriggled out to snag her—she got a kiss too, but to the forehead thanks to her height—tugging  her impatiently inside, "Lovely! Raine, yer on my team—how's yer aim'? Nevermind, the Quidditch bit, yeah? Sasha, ‘m assuming nothin’ stronger than butterbeer—ye do drink it, I ‘ope, if not, we're startin ye on it—Raine, Reid junior, ye got a preference?”

1.	If you don't want them overheard/noticed yet, I'll edit! Just PM me

Espionage was perhaps not the best line of work suited for Abby although, thinking about it, who would suspect her of subversive action?

"Abby," Raine stared at the squib when she had tried apologizing to the portrait. There was little time to express reproach however because a pair of footsteps were racing in their direction- from the other side. Not a particularly Schlawkward pair either.

The frame swung inwards abruptly and a familiar face poked out- Deres, as impish as she'd expected him to be. Raine's gaze switched quickly to the scene beyond the Slytherin's shoulder, discerning an unharmed (though likely to be unhappy) Sasha. Armed. Thank Merlin, too. She couldn't imagine having her wand kidnapped, it had become such a natural extension.

"What's goi--" the question was cut off as they were pulled inside the classroom, each receiving a light peck that reminded her a little bit of dodgy old ladies or visiting relatives. Meant kindly and yet a tad disquieting. With the portrait door finally swinging close behind, Raine eyed Dues Deres in full- and hoped (beyond reason) that Abby wouldn't detonate immediately.

Her expression was plainly suspicious for a good second and then the furrowed brow relaxed- she shrugged.

"Butterbeer, I've a date who needs me sober tonight..." Raine glanced at her Ravenclaw classmate again, forcing herself to appear nonchalant. "Feeling alright, Sasha?" she called to him.

"Borrowed," Sasha was quick to correct back.  Really?  Really?  Deres was going to give him a vocabulary lesson?  Especially when it was Sasha's wand that was in question?  Exactly how many languages had the Slytherin studied?   Glowering, at least a little subtly, Sasha watched as the Slytherin carelessly strewed himself across one of the chairs with complete disregard to the state of his dress robes.  "Implies an understanding of the return of an item.  There was no understanding.  You just ..."  All of which was beyond the point.  Sasha had what he came for and he felt no need to win any stupid terminology argument. 

Before turning, Sasha gave the wand a quick flick, murmuring "lumos."  On cue, and with the relief of an overdue reunion, the wand sparkled into life, casting a halo of light around the Ravenclaw.  "I appreciate you not doing anything to it," he offered, in a slightly lofty tone as he started to turn to leave. 

"Did ye scare yet date off? She was invited too, ye ken.  Valiant effort, I might add.  Fer ye. anyway. Wouldn't worry too much—girls are wonky ‘bout timing.”

Sasha hesitated, a brilliant blush rushing to his features.  "I don't know what you're talking about," he insisted without looking back towards the Slytherin.  But, before he could elaborate, or (more likely) say anything that would just get him into more trouble, Abby's whispered voice carried through the portrait hole. 

"I didn't bring her..."  Sasha offered under his breath even as he lifted both hands in a pointless gesture.  Deres wasn't listening.  The Slytherin had the selective attention span of an ADD bloodhound.  Fixate on one thought until...oh!  Something shiny!  How exactly did he get stuck here?  Sasha turned and watched Deres approach the portrait hole, kiss Abby then ... kiss Raine.  And, then, the offer of drinks.  Sasha threw his hands up together, again, turning on the spot, stuck in a moment of disbelief.  Oh...this just kept getting better and better all the time. 

"Butterbeer, I've a date who needs me sober tonight...Feeling alright, Sasha?"

"I'm peachy," Sasha answered, flatly.  "But...we can go now.  I have what I need."  No need for butterbeers.  Really.  There was no proof but the other shoe was dropping, he just knew it.

When the portrait opened and the two fearless adventurers got pulled in, Abby tried very, very hard to look offended at the peck on her cheek. She crossed her arms and pursed her lips, but the effect was ruined by her wide, surprised eyes and the slight twitch to her mouth.

This was the Evil Slytherin who had stolen Sasha's wand?

Huh.

He spoke in exactly the same casual, rambling, cheery fashion that he'd sent the note in. He just didn't seem... threatening. Or mean. Weird, definitely. But she had to do something for Sasha! She'd brought Raine, and they'd trekked up seven flights of stairs in dresses for this!

So she resorted to name-calling.

"Hey, Slurpy! We're here to get-"

Abby glanced at Sasha, and deflated upon seeing he already had his wand.

"Oh."

She walked further in, brow furrowed, and stood by her date. Raine seemed as relaxed as she ever was, and Sasha seemed pissy but unharmed. And Deus was acting like it was a party invite! Though she heard that Sasha wanted to leave, she was too curious to leave just yet.

“I don’t get it,” she glanced between all three of them, eyes landing last on Deus. “If you wanted to have drinks with us, you could have just said so." Abby sounded like she doubted that was his reason for doing this.

"Don’t you know how much wand drama he's been through?” Abby gestured at Sasha. She no longer had to pretend to look annoyed. “Do you really think that’s funny?”

Still somewhat upside, the Slytherin laughed. “Aye, borrowed. There was an understanding, nae me fault ye didnae understand, is it?” It was terribly difficult to resist heckling the Ravenclaw, but sternly, Deus tried to remind himself That Was Not Actually the Point Tonight. He hadn’t yet gotten up when Sasha turned to leave, but he made no move to right himself, either because he didn’t care if his fellow left, or because he knew he’d not make it to the door, it was hard to say. He thought about saying Who says I didn’t? but bit it back, the echo of his earlier thought interceding.

I don't know what you're talking about.

This time, Deus did laugh, “Aye-yeah, sure ye do!” He countered.

And then the girls were there and the conversation dropped—but was filed away.

Suspicious Raine earned a cheerful tug on red locks—not hard enough to hurt, but a sharp look that didn’t quite match the mischief, far more in line with the mostly silent slacker who sat in the back of class than the imp who made rare but…enthusiastic appearances.  Deus seemed calmer, the childish energy—or the appearance of it, it was hard to say what was genuine and what was affected for, well, effect—somewhat more restrained.  He blatantly ignored Sasha saying they could leave, addressing Abby instead.

Direct questions! Always it was direct questions, and always, Deus skirted them. You had to come at something sideways if you wanted a meaningful answer from him. He answered her first with a question in kind. “Aye, could’ve. Would ye ‘ave come?” Eyes dancing, he jabbed a thumb in the direction of Stiff Robes and soundlessly mouthed Probably not.

As for the second two, instead he just blew his breath through his teeth, sending a strand of brown hair off to the side. “Humor’s in the eye of the newt. Or is that glory?” It was a nonsense response, “But drama, or trauma, there’s coping skills fer that.” He grinned at Sasha, “Like, fer example, a friendly game o’ skill.”

Deus flicked his wand with a whisper, and green cups began to arrange themselves in triangles on the long table in the center of the room, behind which a fire flickered warmly, scattering light across wood and stone. “Muggle game! Nae magic.” He chirped, producing a roll of parchment from his robes that he tossed to Sasha with the the rules outlined, producing a bottle for himself that “Ye could leave, o’course.” He said, finally addressing Sasha, “But if ye do, ye cannae win! If ye win, I’ll leave ye be ‘till the first exam back from break.” He tilted his head, glancing to the ladies, as he produced a bottle of butterbeer from somewhere under the table, cracking the cork and offering it to one of them be poured into the glasses. “Ladies, anything tae add tae the stakes?”

Raine - as she had often done in the past - was beginning to suspect that you couldn't choke a straight answer from Deus if you tried. He was playing at some thing and it only took a minute of extrapolation for them to realize that he was literally playing at something. A game.

The formation of cups seemed familiar although not the green. No, she suspected Gryffindor colours.

"Thank you, I think..." she accepted the butterbeer with a skeptical frown. His frolicsome attitude didn't much match that look he'd given, tugging at her curls. "It doesn't sound like you have much to lose in all of this." In fact, the Slytherin's loss seemed very much a passive one should Schlawkward win. If the TetraWizard Tournament had taught them anything it was that a game couldn't be any real fun if nothing substantial was at stake.

Personal pride wasn't enough. Somehow she reasoned that it didn't mean much to Deres anyway.

"How about-" Raine glanced from Abby and then back to Deus. "- we lay down some coin?" A small sum here and there didn't mean anything to the three of them; it might to Hogwarts' resident bookkeeper. "Unless Sasha can think of some higher stakes."

Merlin knew if there was some measure of history between the two that he could draw on- she wasn't even certain exactly why they were all up here in the first place if not for some unresolved strain in the past. It was beyond her her presently logical frame of mind.

What was it about Slytherins?  Either they wanted to date him or humiliate him.  Was there no middle ground to the serpent house?  Sasha stared, half in dismay and half in confusion, at Deres' back as the Slytherin turned to address the Gryffindor and the Squib. 

“I don’t get it.  If you wanted to have drinks with us, you could have just said so."
“Aye, could’ve. Would ye ‘ave come?”

Sasha shook his head, blinking as his look of dismay officially conquered the confusion.  "What?!"  Sasha exclaimed, lifting both hands in a divine plea for something about this whole situation to make sense.  "You didn't think an invite would work ... so you ... you went with the next best option which was taking a hostage?!"  The last word emphasized just to make sure no one missed the absurdity. 

Coping skills, or the lack there of, was a bit of a relative concept.  But, Sasha glanced between the two girls before, against better judgment, taking the offered bit of parchment.  They were playing a game...a game's whose rules were simply scribbled across a bit of parchment.  He looked up from the page, at the bottle of butterbeer and back at the page. 

"We're playing Beer Pong.  But, without beer?" Sasha looked up, again.  Then, with the air of someone knowing he was walking willingly, and without any compulsive act of any kind, right into a trap, asked: "do I even want to know what it means to finger.  Or blow?" 

He looked up, nodding in agreement with Raine.  Deres leaving him alone until the first exam wasn't really much of a prize.   (And, lets face it, with a full schedule of 12 classes, how long was that likely to be?)  If his wand wasn't being held captive, Sasha was fairly adept at avoiding or ignoring pests.  "And he can't afford a wager that would make it worth my while," Sasha admitted, looking back towards Deres.  Sasha had never really been one to flaunt his wealth - and, in the wizarding world, the wealth of muggles was usually considered negligible - but, it didn't take much to guess that Deres didn't have the coin to make a financial wager worth it.  And, the wager had to be worthwhile. 

Sasha considered the options for a moment.  Then, a grin settled across the Ravenclaw's features.  He took the page of rules and tore off the bottom, just above the four clean lines.  He then tore the slip in half, handing one half to Deres and fetching a quill to scribble on his half.  He folded the slip over, sealed and concealed it with a few choice charms and set it on one of the empty desks.  "Blind wager.  I've listed the wager - both what I would win and you would  lose, should I be victorious.  You do the same.  If we're going to gamble, let's gamble."

She totally would have accepted a drinking invite! Well, sure, it would have been tough to convince Sasha, but she had faith in her persuasive skills. Sasha, of course, focused on the logic of taking a hostage, but at least he didn't seem to mind Abby and Raine coming to his rescue. Or trying to. If Sasha wasn't upset, she'd forgive Deus for his silliness.

Abby read the list of rules over Sasha's shoulder, and was sent into a fit of giggles at hearing his innocent questions. No, she would not be the one to explain what those things likely meant. Giggling too much would make her lose for sure.

She glanced at Raine, then looked at Sasha in surprise. From what little she knew of Deus, the comment about affording it would probably roll off his back, but she didn't want the wacky Slytherin to feel bad. It had not escaped her notice that he'd suggested a non-magical game so that she could play too.
 
A blind wager? That was adventurous even for Abby!

"Sneaky!" She teased Sasha. "Ok, but I'm adding to it. If Sasha and I win, then..."

Abby grinned.

"When Raine meets up with her date later, she has to answer every question he asks with an exaggeration. Not a lie, exactly. But just make everything sound more dramatic and silly."

She thought of an example.

"So if Theo goes: Raine, where'd you go? You can be like: I kicked down a portrait and drank ten bottles of beer with a bunch of your housemates! And Abby was hilarious and fearless as always!"

Abby nodded encouragingly. Such fun! She'd leave the serious wagers to the boys (or to Sasha, more likely).