Chance: "Here she is, in all 'er glory!  Well, at least all 'er glory yet to date that is..."

A pleasant, light Irish accent accentuated the young man's sentiments as he stared over his creation, a custom made billiards table.  Of course, the table was now an enchanted item and the game itself had changed quite a bit due to his tinkering.  Chance's best friend Kim Kim applauded somewhat mockingly.  It was interesting to hear the Irish and British accents conversing back and forth.

Kim Kim:"Chance, that's totally great and all...but why exactly do you need an actual mini shark making a simple game of billiards such a mess?"

"It spices th' game up a right hefty lot, wouldn't ya say?  After all, K to th' 2nd Power...why WOULDN'T an actual mini shark make any game better?"

Kim Kim shook her silky, black hair and couldn't hold back a rather infectious laugh.  She placed a hand on Chance's shoulder and shook him a bit.

"Well that's all well and good.  You sort it out properly, but make sure you study for your Potions quiz before class!  You better!  If you bring back another C, it's NOT going up on the refrigerator Mister!"

It was humorous how Kim Kim tried to encourage and remind Chance, in a friendly, yet almost motherly fashion though she was a year younger.  She had always been supportive of him and he could scarcely imagine Hogwart's without her around.

"Eeep!  I've gotta run!  Big festival planning committee meeting!  Ah!  I've gotta go!"

"So ya mentioned..."

"Sorry luv!  Alright...remember: Potions, potions, potions!"

"With some potions on the side?"

Kim Kim smirked, gave Chance a quick hug and trotted down the hallway.  This caused Chance's eyes to wander the vacant hallway for a moment.  He liked it in a way, that it hadn't really been spoken for or reserved.  He liked the idea of making it his own and installing this pool table here would be his way of "staking his claim."  He muttered under his breath, scoffing at the mental reminder...

"Potions..."

"Here Isis... Here girl... Where are you, you stupid cat?" Shuffling down the deserted hallway Reggie had a clear look of frustration plastered onto her face. Why did her little sister have to lose her bloody cat? Apparently her feline companion had saw it fit to go off on its own for a bit; a bit which actually turned out to be several hours. When she'd finally noticed the missing cat she had immediately come running to her big sister, eyes brimming with tears. Reggie had no choice but to go look for it. She really could not take those sad eyes Heather Elise often used whenever she really wanted someone to do something for her. Reggie couldn't remember ever being that persuasive when she was her age. Shame. She probably could have gotten away with murder if that were the case.

The reason she had come this way was the flash of brown fur she'd seen out the corner of her eye. While it dawned on her that it could very well have belonged to another wandering pet she still thought it best to give chase on the slim chance that it was her sister's pesky furry friend. Creeping forward she continued to call out the cat's name. Really it had never seemed to like her all that much. Many times it had unjustly scratched her for doing nothing else but simply looking at it. It really made her want to grab it by the tail and swing it out a window. But that would be animal cruelty. And not to mention it would get her in serious trouble with her parents when Heather Elise would eventually run to them and tell of what she'd done. In the end it was more beneficial for her to ignore the silly cat completely like she usually did.

Rounding the corner she sighed and ran a hand through her blonde locks. "Come on you..." Her words trailed off however when she noticed that she was now in the presence of someone else. That someone else being Chance Ryker. "Oh. Hey." She said, letting her hand drop down by her side. It amazed her how she was able to stand here in front of the boy she'd crushed on for the majority of last school year and not feel anything other than extreme nonchalance. Guess it wasn't anything other than a silly little schoolgirl thing. Huh. "Hey. You didn't happen to see a cat with brown fur trot by here did you? Please say you did. It would make my life a lot less sucktastic right now..."

Chance was still busy working the kinks out of his custom made pool table.  He ran his fingers along the dark, crimson felt of the table.  The wood was ebony, much like his prized wand.  All of the pockets were stylish, rather outlandish black leather, while the usual netting was silver chains.

"Still missing something..."

Chance racked the balls in a triangular fashion in a rather standard rack, then removed the rack and rounded the table.  He snatched up a cuestick, which was wrapped in brown cloth which dangled down somewhat toward the base of the stick.  Chance prepared to break with an opening shot, before he was interrupted by the appearance of a familiar voice.  He glanced over his shoulder, then turned to face Regina.

"Heyyy...if it's not the Regimatic herself!  How's it goin', lass?"

Argh!  There was that tell all slang which most clearly revealed Chance's Irish heritage.  Chance, as was typical of teenage boys-was oblivious to any feelings Regina had felt at one time.  As irony would have it...Chance wasn't a big cat person, but...cats rather loved him.  One had kept brushing up against his pant leg earlier, but he'd barely paid it any attention except for a simple greeting or so.

"That's not the guy, izzit?"

Chance gestured over to a couch which a feline had decided to claim and curl up on.  The pool table remained untouched...and thus its primary surprise was left dormant.

"Heyyy...if it's not the Regimatic herself!  How's it goin', lass?"

Reggie's mouth twitched up into a slight smirk at Chance's little nickname for her. Regimatic. She liked the sound of that. Even if it was a bit lame. "It's going badly." She replied, shaking her head. "Looking for my little sis' cat that's gone missing. Why she doesn't keep a shorter leash on that thing is beyond me." It was for reasons like these that she was glad that she didn't have any pets to keep track of. While she did enjoy COMC, once she left the class the creatures were no longer her responsibility. And she liked that. A lot. When it came down to it she was not good at taking care of things whenever there was no grade to be made.

"That's not the guy, izzit?"

Yes! Reggie was so relieved to see the familiar shape of the sneaky feline seated on the couch. "Hah! There you are." She hurriedly crossed over to the sofa where she wasted no time scooping the animal up into her arms. The cat simply yawned, sleepy eyes sliding halfway open to look up at her would-be rescuer. Then it shut its eyes again and burrowed into Reggie's chest. For once, picking it up hadn't ended in her getting scratched. Reggie was pleased. Very pleased. Rolling her eyes slightly she turned to face Chance. "Thanks. You don't know how long I was thinking it would take for me to find this bloody thing."

It was then that she noticed the rather large table behind Chance. Raising a brow she looked from it, to him, to it, then back to him. "Is that what I think it is?" She took a few steps closer to him and the table, a puzzled look on her face. "Did you make this yourself or something?" If he did... then wow. She was impressed. Seriously.

The closest thing to a pet that Chance had was stowed away in his custom made billiards table.  As for appreciating the freedom of not having to take extra responsibilities, Chance would agree wholeheartedly with Reggie's sentiments.

"Glad ya found th' nitwitty kitty then.  Yer sister'll be happy as a lid'l songbird."

As Regina turned her attention to his pool table, he couldn't help but grin.  True, he was proud of what he'd accomplished, but he was still perfecting it. 

"Yeah...it's a game o' billiards.  I call it Pool Shark.  It's not yer average game.  Fancy a game?"

Chance's game was still being developed, and as such...he hadn't had many opportunities to test it out with anyone else.  Just Kim Kim, up to this point...and the secret of the game made her quite nervous and jumpy around the table.

For once he needed another professor.  Thank Merlin it was one of the few he could tolerate.  Fleetfoot was a good man, rational, civil, and even though rumors were swirling over him and Ramsay, Bombay could understand the man.  Conversations were pointed, and typically ended with both sides having achieved their goal.  Today Graham just needed a few charms to defend his greenhouse against the first years.  They had been relatively well-behaved lately, to the point that he was contemplating letting them back into the greenhouse.

Except, as usual because he knew the castle hated him for talking about the Sorting Hat behind it's back, he lost his way.  The corridor was surprisingly abandoned, except for what seemed to be a billiard table.  And two students.  Gryffindors.  Trouble.

He made his way toward the twosome, split between two decisions.  The billiard table was obviously stolen, but from where?  And more importantly, were his colleagues running a game without him? He was slightly miffed to be left out, but honestly, he couldn't think of a single reason why they would invite him.  It's not as if he would have even wanted to spend time with them, anyway. 

"What are you two up to?" He asked suspiciously, spotting the cat.  He had seen the same feline skulking around the gardens from time to time, often followed by a some girl in pursuit with a handful of cat food.  He looked at the table, then back at the kids. He had some time to spare.  And you know what, it wouldn't hurt to earn some cred with the Gryffindor house.  Maybe then they wouldn't keep burning down his greenhouses.

"Rack 'em up. I'm in."  Despite his inviting himself, the look he gave the boy left no argument as to whether Graham was welcome or not.  If the staff wanted to have a secret billiard table, then he'd take advantage of their having absent-mindedly left it for others' entertainment.

Hall patrol wasn’t really one of those things Isaac looked forward too, but at least his turn was quickly coming to an end and he was attempting to take a shortcut back to his chambers.  As he crossed the third floor, however, he found himself drawn from his thoughts by the sound of voices down an unused corridor of the castle.  "Rack 'em up. I'm in.”  The Muggle Studies professor and newly appointed Head of Hufflepuff knew that voice and as much as he wanted to avoid Graham Bombay at all costs, he was curious.

There were two students in the corridor, both Gryffindors, along with Bombay and a billiards table.  He was sure the mixture of curiosity and confusion read very clearly on his face as he drew closer.  Somehow the combination of Bombay and non-Ravenclaw students never seemed like a good idea in Isaac’s mind.  He was well aware that Bombay tended to favor is own house.  Clearing his throat he prepared himself mentally for anything the shorter, younger man might throw his way hoping he would display at least a little decorum in front of the students and not resort to his usually accusations that something was going on between Isaac and Aileen Reed.  Of course his hopes weren’t set terribly high.

“Not running a billiards racket on the side, are you Bombay?” he asked with a smirk folding his arms across his chest.  It was meant at a joke, but he wasn’t sure how the other professor would take it.  Honestly he tried not to think too much about the other man’s though processes as it usually just led him to be even more frustrated with the outcome of their conversations.

So it was indeed a pool table. Hmm. She looked it over, letting the name Chance came up for it run through her mind. Pool Shark. She could see that possibly catching on in the right circles. It wasn't anything she'd personally get into, though. Hell, she had recently become a member of the Quidditch team, which she still wasn't too sure about. Sports and games and the like was not a big part of her normal routine. "Nah. Maybe another time. I sort of have to get this one back to my sis before she starts accusing people of stealing it." She had just started to turn and take her leave when Professor Bombay showed up out of nowhere. Oh great. She looked at him dubiously, hoping he wouldn't see it fit to take house points away for Chance's inventive billiards creation. That would be grossly unfair, especially since she had only ended up here under good pretenses.

"Nothing, I-" Reggie didn't even come close to getting her full explanation out when the professor decided he wanted to play a game. Well. Talk about a surprising turn of events. Looking from Bombay to Chance she shifted awkwardly, still holding the slumbering cat to her chest. No house points would be taken it seemed. Good. Real good. "Yeah umm... you guys have fun. I have somewhere to be."

And again, as she turned to leave, another professor showed up and inquired as to what they were all up to. Oh what the... This was starting to take a turn for the comical. She nodded at the professor politely, scooting away from Bombay and Chance the whole time. She didn't want to get caught up in whatever this was going to be. What if Chance beat Bombay and in retaliation he gave the both of them detention for the rest of the year? Although she was mostly indifferent towards the Herbology instructor she had to admit that there was a mild dislike for him buried away inside her. He just came off all wrong. Hence her eagerness to get the heck out of dodge before thing went south.

"See you Chance..."

If there was anyone in Hogwart's that was unlikely to be seen hanging out socially with Chance Ryker, it couldn't get much more unpredictable than Professor Graham Bombay!  There were a few attractive female teachers around that Chance didn't mind in his line of sight one bit though...

Bombay: "What are you two up to?"

Chance: "I've been working on a spin on billiards actually...I call it Pool Shark fer now."

Bombay did not cast the most endearing demeanor by any stretch of the imagination, but Chance found himself intrigued that the professor wanted to simply play a game.  The young Irishman hadn't actually ever even imagined Professor Bombay enjoying anything that wasn't scholastic...However, there was a little spark of mischief that danced in Chance's unusually deep, green eyes.  Chance handed Professor Bombay his cue stick.  There were only two for now, so they'd have to share.

"Feel free t'break fer us, Professor Bombay."

And then a SECOND professor was added to the mix!  As Isaac Fraiser approached, Chance snatched up the spare cue stick, which was wrapped in plain, white cloth and made out of simple cherry wood.  Chance extended the stick to Professor Fraiser, thinking that if he had the professors follow one another...then they'd be on opposing teams, and the chance of this game coming back to bite Chance in the rear would be lessened significantly.

"Fancy a game, Professor Fraiser?"

Chance was not exactly looking forward to hanging out with professors out of class, as he was not exactly the perfect bookworm...but he wouldn't mind having a couple new testers play his game.  However...if Regina left, then Chance would be left alone in AwkwardsVille!  As such, he snaked his way around her with his arm around her waist as he chuckled and leaned in to whisper into her ear.

"Doncha dare leave me with two of 'em, Reg!"

He turned his attention back to the table, where hopefully Professor Graham was about to find out the game's hidden secret and namesake...the miniature, living shark that would be released to swim through the table's surface unnaturally in an attempt to block and/or devour the balls.

Of course of every person available in the entire cosmos to show up in that corridor, it would be Fraiser.  It seemed as if the man sought ever opportunity to find him.  What a Hufflepuff.  Nothing was sacred to the man, not the staffroom, not the corridor, not even Graham's own greenhouses.  It was exasperating. 


"Maybe I am," he huffed back.  So perhaps that was one of Graham's original thoughts.  Particularly if it meant robbing Fraiser.  While Graham wasn't good at many things outside of Herbology, he had finally been taken pity on by one of his few regulars at Knockturn and shown how to shoot pool.  "Care to lay some sickles on the line?"  The other boy had already invited Fraiser anyway.


With the cue in hand, Graham stood in front of the pool table, oblivious to any warnings Chance had given.  He was just a student.  Graham wasn't there to listen to students, they were there to listen to him.  A movement out of the corner of his eye led to Chance whispering to the other girl, obviously trying to slink away.  Oh Graham knew that movement all too well. 


"Oy, we'll need a fourth," he growled at the girl.  Graham returned to the set up, leaning over the table as he lined up his shot, not even bothering to watch and see if the girl returned.  Of course she would.  Insubordination was punishable by house points, and it'd be lovely to see tears glimmer in Leviartian's eyes as the rubies trickled out of Gryffindor's hourglass. 


One eye open, Graham formed a circle with his thumb and finger, cue in center, ready to break.  Then the green felt rippled.  Graham blinked, afraid that he'd been weeding for far too long in the Greenhouse.  He lined up his shot again, moving the cue subtly in imitation of the break.  One.  Two.  As the cue hit the white ball, a shark the length of his arm shot up from the felt, pouncing the cue ball to wrestle it into the right side pocket.  "Merlin's--!" He shouted, jumping back from the table, not having the wit to finish his exclamation.  "What the devil did you do to the table?" He shouted, pointing at the now still felt and the slightly scattered balls. 


Feckin' hell.  A scratch.  A bloody scratch because of some trounced up shark.  Graham was beginning to regret joining their game.

The last thing he’d been looking for was an invitation but he grinned as Chance offered him a cue stick and gave a nod.  This would certainly make things interesting, and he wasn’t about to back down when Bombay offered the challenge either.  He also had no intention of leaving the other man with the two students since he was fairly certain the Herbology professor wouldn’t hesitate from taking points.

“I tend not to throw my money away on petty bets,” he said with a shrug.  “It’s also not a good example to set in front of the students…two heads of house gambling.”

He kept his tone light in an attempt to not sound condescending.  The snide remarks in private or in front of the staff was one thing, the last thing Isaac wanted to hear about in front of students were the legions of adoring housewives who had bought his first book that Bombay was usually content to throw in his face.  The only thing that would have been able to top that would be further insinuations about his personal life.

He watched the break carefully from the side of the table blinking when the green rippled.  For a moment he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him or perhaps he was finally being pushed over the edge to spiral towards insanity.  However when the shark shot out of the table a smirk formed on his lips as Bombay jumped back.  Apparently this wasn’t the normal game of billiards.

“Very clever,” he said, chuckling a bit.  “Certainly gives the term ‘pool shark’ new meaning, doesn’t it, Bombay?”