Chance Ryker had certainly taken Professor Myrni Levartian's advice to heart as of late.  The "king of slackers" had begun taking interest and getting involved, instead of just barely sliding by, doing nothing in his life at Hogwart's.  So why was he out in Hogsmeade at this hour?  Currently he was sipping on one of his beloved pumpkin juices as he glanced around, obviously waiting on someone outside of The Three Broomsticks.  The young Irishman was wearing a faint yellow shirt with a Gryffindor crest inlaid in a metallic scarlet shade, a pair of grey carpenter jeans, a black, pinstriped fedora, black boots, and a grey, army peacoat.  Chance had a Gryffindor scarf wrapped around the lower portion of his face and the tip of his nose.

"C'monnn...Grace, where're ya ruddy at, lass?  Yer s'ppossed t'be Ms.Prompt an' Perfect Princess o' Gryffindor after all!"

Chance paced a bit, stuffing his hands into his peacoat's pockets while grumbling under his breath.  He had something planned and was impatiently awaiting Grace Eddy's arrival.

Grace had no idea what she was doing here at this particular time at night. She was perfectly--or more aptly put, PRE-fectly--aware that if she were caught off school grounds, she was liable to be severely reprimanded and maybe even expelled from school. There seemed to be a lot of that going on around Hogwart's these days and she wasn't the type (these days anyways) to toe the line between acceptable and unacceptable because she wanted to leave school with barely a blemish on her record. Spending seven years working so hard just to have it ruined by Chase Ryker's antics.

Grace still wasn't convinced that he was Prefect material and even though she normally held Professor Levartian in high regard, this was one move that the 7th year did not agree with. Still, she could only accept it and deal with it. Like she was on her way to doing right now. When Chance had mentioned going into Hogsmeade to trail the professors, she felt she had to do something about it. Stop him, convince him it wasn't befitting his new position as a prefect. Anything to keep her housemate from doing something that would reflect badly on their entire house and likely get points deducted.

Of course, it hadn't fully dawned on her that in trying to trail after him, she might be tempting more consequences than if she just left well enough alone and pretended like she knew nothing about it at all.

Funnily enough, Grace Eddy had dressed for a stealthful mission, even if she had not realized it. She was wearing almost entirely dark hued clothing, in the hopes that it might keep her from being spotted easily. And, she had been careful not to wear anything that would draw attention to her being a student, much less one from Gryffindor House. She was hoping she wouldn't be out long enough to worry about that, as she wanted to drag Chance back to the castle and lock him there for the rest of the school year just so he wouldn't be able to cause trouble.

Grace's athletic, long legs moved swiftly through her winter-y surroundings until the heart of Hogsmeade came into view. Then, she inched her way more slowly to the place Chance had mentioned earlier. It wasn't hard to spot him and she approached just in time to hear his muttered words.

Her brown eyes flashed as she stalked up to him and hissed, "Oh I know you didn't just call me a princess. Do I look like that prissy Maeve 'I shop only at Twilfitt and Tattings or La Magicque Couture' Whitman? No," she said, answering her own question and shaking her head. "I highly doubt it."

With another more scathing look, she impulsively reached out and yanked at his scarf before lightly shoving it back against his chest. "And could you stand out any more with how you're dressed? Are you trying to get caught?" She stood back and crossed her arms irritably in front of her, sizing him up. "You are a terrible sneak."

So Chance had a bit of a...crush on Myrni Levartian.  This was the entire motivation behind his plot.  He wanted to make sure that while Myrni was letting her hair down, no sensuous serpent slithered up to her and got cozy.  Nope!  No one would be taking advantage of "his" precious Myrni! 

Ironic that this mission to "watch over her" actually followed Myrni's wishes to some extent.  After all, Professor Levartian was the one who had paired Chance up with Grace Eddy and convinced him to take up the role of prefect.  Chance was a Gryffindor through and through and was boldly taking this partnership up, despite his own uncertainty regarding its possibilities of success.  However, when his partner arrived in a rather sudden and huffy manner...Chance was startled.

"Good grief, Grace!  Whadda ya got there, th' ears of some superhuman, mutant bat-chick?"

After the initial greeting, Chance tried to wisely attempt some damage control with the fiery redhead.

"No...y'don't look like 'er that much t'me.  I do think ya'd look adorable in a big, puffy pink dress an' a little gold crown though..."

That trademark sideways grin crawled over Chance's boyish features as he lifted his shoulders and arms out to each side somewhat. 

" 'Ey!  M'not exactly a scarf man, Ms.Fashion Police!  Thought havin' somethin' t'cover m'face a bit was better than nothin'...though if ya miss m'gorgeous mug, I suppose I can take off th' scarf an' let ya gaze upon m'beauty?"

Hopefully Chance's sense of humor would diffuse Grace, but there was also a distinct possibility that it would only amp up her ire.  Odd...HE's the Irish one in this picture?  Nevertheless, now Chance got serious as he placed a hand on her shoulder, leaning closer, and making direct eye contact with her.  His green eyes seemed unnaturally deep as they locked onto Grace's.

"A'right...now Professor Levartian's been mighty kind t'me ever since she got 'ere...an' I don' think she really gets out all that much.  So m'wantin' her t'have a good, safe night...with no Gropey McPawsAllOver clingin' to 'er!  So...we're gonna do a lit'l dab o' surveillance...make sure everythin's on th' up an' up...an' make sure she gets back safe...then we're out!  Lickety split, no problem!"

Did Chance really just say "lickety split?"  His face contorted in surprise and distaste at the words as he mouthed them in surprise to himself.

"But yeah!  Yer gettin' th' drift, right?"


 

"No, just the ears of a normal, rule abiding prefect," came Grace's irritable retort. She reached out and walloped him in the arm when he spoke of a pink dress and a crown. "There's just one problem. I hate pink."

She proceeded to glare at her housemate, even when he grinned back at her. For the briefest of moments, she was reminded that Chance was one of the more roguishly good looking of her seventh year male classmates. But that sentiment faded just as quickly as it had come when she was reminded of how irritated she was that he was intent on getting into trouble.

"I'm not trying to be the Fashion Police," she began. "I'm just saying...are you trying to draw attention to yourself? You're going to stick out like a sore thumb." She indicated to what he was wearing. She cringed as she again took note of the colorful scarf and the Gryffindor emblem readily noticeable. Despite her desire not to be here with the threat of being caught looming, she also did not want him to ruin it all.

With a huff, she rolled her eyes and grumbled, "Grrr....I'm just going to have to come along and make sure you don't get caught." She would never admit it, but the whole thing did sound appealing to her adventurous side. So all the while she was openly protesting, her insides were screaming, "Yes! Do it!"

It didn't take much encouragement for Chance to draw her in and her brown eyes watched him intently as he spoke of his plan. She almost broke into interrupt him several times to point out the flaws in his line of thinking but she ultimately bit her tongue. But when he finished, topped off with a reassuring usage of 'lickety split', her brow shot up in a questioning manner. "No problem? Yeah, sure. If you say so." With another doubtful glance in his direction, she asked, "Just what is your plan, exactly??" After a pause, she accusingly fired off, "Do you even have one? Or are you planning to just 'go with the flow'?"

Grace certainly was snippy tonight!  Of course, Chance really hadn't spent much time with her.  That meeting with she and Professor Levartian was actually the most that Chance had spoken with Grace in all these years!  So...there would definitely be a warming up period.

"Ya got some anger management issues there, lass?  M'sure ya'd look like an adorable lit'l doll in pink by th' way."

The Irish Gryffindor hadn't really thought too much about Grace's rather striking looks, because he knew they were so incredibly opposite.  He knew that they wouldn't work out.  That and...he'd been rather preoccupied with Professor Myrni since her arrival...

"A'right, a'right!  I'll take th' ruddy tie off already!"

Chance did indeed remove the tie and stuff it into a jacket pocket.  He tossed up his hands with a bit of frustration.

"Izzat up t'yer standards...Princess?"

Grace certainly had the knack of coming off in a very condescending and overbearing fashion.  This was a shame, because Chance felt she was capable of being so much more.  Apparently so did their professor! 

"Well jus' remember...I'm Batman...yer-well...definitely not Robin.  Far too leggy t'be Robin.  Batgirl may be a tad better fit.  So long as y'quit hittin' me...or wuzzit hittin' *on* me?"

Chance had to tease her to keep from wanting to strangle her it seemed.  Still...his time with her so far had been anything but boring! 

"Jus' leave it to th' Master an' everythin'll be fine as frog hair!"

And now...Chance would begin to lead Grace to their destination...just outside of the Signature club.  He began analyzing the building.  Of course he hadn't been there to see there were no windows until earlier that day.  That was actually taking some initiative on Chance's part...but he certainly didn't have the building's blueprints.
 
"Now first thing's first...we gotta find a way inside..."

"I don't have anger management issues," she retorted, slightly under her breath. "I have Chance management issues. There's clearly a big difference." She couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was about Chance that set her on edge, but her annoyance levels were heightened with every word that he spoke. Maybe it was his smugness. Or, maybe it was his carelessness. His continued comments about her wearing pink certainly didn't help as it only made her want to box his ears. This could not have been what Professor Levartian envisioned when she planned their partnership

Grace was appeased somewhat when he agreed to take off the tie but as soon as the word Princess left his mouth, she reached out and landed a punch to his arm that might tell him she was nothing even close to that. "I'll stop hitting you if you stop stop calling me me Princess, 'kay?" After a pause, she muttered, "You're such a Putz."

She ignored his comment about hitting on him and instead rolled her eyes and letting out an exasperated sigh. But she was finding the more that she protested the whole thing, the more exhausting it was. And it occurred to her that if she worried too much about being caught, there was a good chance that would happen. She might as well try and enjoy herself and make the most of the situation.

And so, the straight as an arrow Grace Eddy allowed herself to follow behind after Chance. Literally, he was leading her to Signature where they would spy on the Hogwarts Staff while they engaged in their Holiday Celebrations. Figuratively, he was leading her on the path back to her old adventurous self.

When Chance spoke of what the first thing they had to do was, she smirked. Before she could check herself, she quipped, "Were you Captain Obvious in your previous life?" With a cheeky grin, she told him, "It looks like it's a good thing I came along afterall."

Somehow it was rather amusing to watch Grace just twitching and fuming over every little thing he said and did.  In a way, agitating Grace was quickly becoming a preferred pastime for Chance!  Perhaps his ears were in danger of being boxed after all...

"Ya can't manage all this amazin'ness by yer lonesome, lass!"

Grace's shots felt a little firmer than he would have supposed for flirtations, but she was a little bit irritable now wasn't she? 

"Y'know I rule.  Jus' somethin' I can't hardly help.  Rulin'.  With all my royal majesty an' such."

Grace certainly was expressive!  Her emotions seemed to shine through quite clearly with every huff, sigh, and groan.

"Yer wound tighter than a bad weave, Gracie!"

With every expression of her aggravation, Chance seemed to try another way to knock down her defenses.  His lighthearted mannerisms, speech, and playful behavior hoped to break down the walls that she had so thoroughly fortified.  And after her little Captain Obvious quip, he retorted.

"So...are y'normally so hostile with fun, nice, cool people or am I jus' special?"

Chance began examining for alternate entrances into the place...doors, ventilation shafts, chimneys, nearby manholes...Who knew what lurked inside the seedy underbelly of Signature?!?  Hopefully Myrni was safe and happy...and behaving herself!

"Oh I wouldn't dream of being amazing all on my own," Grace told her housemate in a wry tone. Before she could check herself, she flashed him a quirky grin. She was slowly letting down her defenses and attempting to enjoy herself on this little impromptu endeavor. Even if it wasn't hers and even if she didn't fully understand his motives for it.

Hanging around with Chance was certainly not a bore. Her emotions ran the full gamut as quickly as they had made their way to their destination. And his comments had a way of ebbing her back and forth so easily.

"Yes, you rule," she agreed with him half-heartedly. "King Ryker...and I just happen to be his minion.....who has no idea if his majesty is in his right mind...." She bit her tongue to keep from responding to his question of being wound so tightly. She was fully aware of there being a time when she was as reckless and irresponsible as Chance was most of the time. She simply believed that she had grown beyond that at some point.

She couldn't keep from responding to his inquiry about her hostility. "No, just you, it seems."

Grace went quiet as she mirrored what Chance was doing in scoping out the building. She pursed her lips and began a methodical rundown of all the possibilities. Absently, she began with the something simple and mused, "Well, do you think there is any possibility that we just look old enough to get inside? Or do you think they have an age line drawn or something like that? Maybe we could change our appearance to look a little more...." Her brow furrowed as she searched for an appropriate term. "Mature?"

Chance held up an index finger in protest.  Did Grace misunderstand him or did she just nail him with a rather stunning spin on his own words?  However, since she calmed down...Chance let it slide and simply smiled.

"Yea, yea...yer amazin' alright."

It didn't seem...*too* sarcastic when Chance said it, but he did have that faint smile on still.  It was good to see her loosening up, if ever so slightly.  Was Chance going to begin to question these mood swings as bi-polar episodes eventually? 

However, when Grace told him that he "ruled"...he grinned rather broadly and walked with a proud swagger, really hoisting his shoulders back and his chest puffed out gallantly.

"Don'tchoo worry yer pretty, wee, lit'l head 'bout that now, Gracie Poo!  Th' King is 'ere!"

Chance patted Grace's head faintly as he spoke.  Hmm...so he was the sole object of her hostility eh?

"Quite an honor, surely then."

Watching Grace contemplate a solution was an entertaining process.  She was quite expressive and made rather fun faces as she did this.  Chance tried to contain a snicker fit that was just begging to burst free.  When Grace began offering suggestions...Chance quirked an eye brow and canted his head on an angle.

"Ya don't havva Polyjuice Potion on ya by any miracle, d''ya?"

Chance was not the best with potions...as it required a lot of time and study to get the various mixtures down pat.  However..he suspected Grace would be a bit more adept at such a...bookish pursuit.

"Damn straight, I'm amazin'," Grace repeated with an impish grin. It was nice to know that as much as his antics disturbed her, she had the ability to eventually turn it around back at him with some humor. She imagined that feeding his ego too much could make him even more unbearable, so she made a mental note to not continue saying that he 'ruled' too much in the future.

When he used yet another nickname for her, Grace pursed her lips and swatted at his hand as he attempted to pat her head. "Look, let's just lay some ground rules for the rest of the time we're going to work together, shall we?" She narrowed her eyes and told him, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't call me Princess and you never called me Gracie....ever." She splayed her hands out to the side. "Anything else....just not either of those. Sound good?"

With that said, Grace felt confident that she could relax a bit and concentrate on the task at hand. When he asked about Polyjuice Potion, she sardonically replied, "Y-----eahhh, no. I don't really carry that on me in the hopes that'll I'll get to use it on spur-of-the-moment adventures like this one." After a beat, she became serious again. "Well, if there isn't an age line, maybe we can just try to go in and pretend like we're old enough to be there." She glanced over at him skeptically. "You can do that, right? Act mature and all?"

"A'right, a'right...yer head's gonna be tippin' over from sheer weight if th' conversation keeps goin' this route."

With Grace bragging on herself, it was sure to lead to inflating her already rather sizable self impression.  At least, Chance assumed that "little Ms.Perfect" HAD to be at least a bit arrogant.  Ironically, Grace was thinking fairly much the same thing about Chance simultaneously.

"S'then...Princess Gracie would be outta th' question?"

Chance paused and shrugged faintly.  He had to at least tease that question...but now he was being more serous about the various names.

"M'a nicknamer.  S'a bit of an addiction o' mine.  Guess we'll haveta keep tryin' out nicknames till they start workin'."

Of course, Chance didn't really believe that Grace carried around polyjuice potion...but it certainly would've been handy!  Yet when it came to looking older than he was...Chance was still yearning for a *need* to shave seriously.  He had been shaving for a couple of years, but there had been no real cause and very little effect from these efforts.  Maybe had he not shaven for...a few weeks, he would've had a bit of peach fuzz to shade his features.  Ah well.

"Are y'always this pleasant an' endearin'?"

Chance took Grace's arm in his own rather firmly and led her up to the door.  And now Grace would hear Chance implement his best British accent.

"Greetings there, chap!  Don't you adore it when the bloody women folk simply must doll themselves up so prim and proper for a night on the town?  God love them!"

He shook his head and chuckled, breezing on up casually.  For some reason, Chance thought that the Irish accent would make him stick out moreso than using a fake British accent.

Grace said nothing more in response to his antics, choosing to ignore any more attempts to gain a rise out of her.  She instead chose to focus on what they could do to be successful at getting inside of the club. She actually was surprised when he grasped her arm and nearly dragged her to the door. Part of her hadn't been serious in her suggestion to try to look and act mature. She wasn't confident they could pull it off. Maybe if she had worn something more sophisticated, then she would have had a chance. And maybe if chance looked....different somehow....then that would've helped too.

Before arriving at the door, Grace tried to pull free of his hold. She hissed, "Wait! Chance....I--" But she clamped her mouth shut as soon as they found themselves approaching the bouncer.

She also tried to hide her shock when Chance spoke to him in an accent other than his natural one.  She had no idea that her housemate had that talent. Or the confidence to use it at the drop of a hat.

Grace was at a loss for words, so she decided not to say anything at all instead smiled as prettily as possible at both the men before her, figuring it was best to let the two of them sort through the business of whether they should gain admittance into Signature.

Even Chance was surprised when he seemed to outwill the amazingly bullheaded Grace Eddy!  However he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.  He wasn't going to press his luck one bit here.  Chance was taking charge here and it was obvious he was uncharacteristically motivated.  Why did he care so much exactly?  This seemed far more than just looking out for a friend, when there was no reason to be especially cautious or suspicious.  There was something more to this...

Grace's protests came faintly too late for Chance to put a halt in his stride.  If they hesitated at that point, then it would give them away for sure.  Determined to enter without going overboard, he had to go about this thing casually.  Conferring before the door would've hurt the illusion that they belonged there and alerted the bouncer.  Luckily, if there was one thing men could bond over it was women.

"Well, your Missus looks right purty there, if I do say so meself, guv'nah!"

Chance began to question his own impersonation of a British accent after hearing this "bloke's" and feared that talking too much around the bouncer would throw him off.  Chance tipped his fedora to the gentleman and chuckled.

"Thank you kindly, good sir.  You have a pleasant evening, friend."

And with that...Chance continued strolling casually on inside Signature.  They cleared the narrow entrance hallway and were finally alone and out of anyone else's earshot.  Chance grinned and winked at Grace.

"Am I ruddy good'r am I gooooood?"

Chance knew Grace would have rebuttal, whether she was scolding him for rushing her, taking charge like that, or otherwise slamming his plans.  Although perhaps she would surprise him.  After all, they had gotten INTO Signature following his lead.

"Though I'm sure y'battin' those lashes didn't 'urt our case a wee, lit'l bit...Now we just gotta find th' professors' party an' we got this thing 'ome free!"

Chance had been blindsided.  The young Irishman whom was a "Brit" a mere 30 seconds or so ago had been ousted.  Another Signature bouncer was on the inside, whom tapped a thick finger on Chance's shoulder from behind.

"One problem there, my good boy.  No students allowed!  You're out of here."

The secondary bouncer had picked up the Gryffindor scarf that had fallen from Chance's person...and patted it back into Chance's hand as he grasped both Chance and Grace by the scruffs of their coats and "escorted" them to the exit.

Grace was skeptical about how he was going about this whole thing. She would have preferred that a bit more thought went into it, which she would have been more than happy to do if he hadn't rushed on ahead. Somehow the redheaded prefect thought that disaster was soon going to follow.

She kept that line of thinking to herself and proceeded to plaster the fakest sweet smile on her face when the bouncer man complimented her. Between the two Gryffindor students, they must have managed to do something right because the man allowed them to pass.

Grace released a sigh of relief and was prepared to eat her own thoughts about how her side kick was going to lead them straight into failure. Maybe that was something he rarely feared because he came face-to-face with it often? All Grace knew was that failure scared the Gobstones out of her.

"Yes, you are ruddy good," Grace said under her breath as she moved to stand close to him as they began to walk further inside. She was content to stay with whatever plan Chance did or didn't have. Now they were in go-with-the-flow mode, something that a younger Grace had been very successful at.

Of course, it appeared that they had both spoken too soon about their success. With as much swiftness that they had gotten in, Grace and Chance were now finding themselves on their way back out, ushered once again to the outside of the club in search of a new plan of action.

Grace probably would have taken the opportunity to bruise Chance's ego with an "I told you so" but something else became far more important. Her attention had become fixated on the figures of a man and a woman about to leave the club and her brown orbs widened with surprise.

"Mollath Dew en gegin!*" she exclaimed in her native Cornish. She abruptly reached out and took hold of his arm and yanked him towards the nearest population of shrubs that might to a plausible job at keeping them from being discovered.

Once hidden, Grace turned to Chance, knowing he was sure to want an explanation of what had just happened. Without saying anything more, she jabbed her thumb in the direction of the entrance where Professors Bombay and Levartian were now standing.

*God's curse in the kitchen!=essentially Cornish equivalent to exclaiming "oh shit!"

Chance could be pretty forceful when the situation warranted it, quite contrary to his easygoing demeanor.  Of course he always tried to be kind and considerate, but when the occasion called for his attention he gave it wholeheartedly.  This was the case in their whole sting operation regarding the faculty party at Signature's.  Chance had definitely grabbed the gusto on this excursion!

Chance couldn't help but smile at seeing that sugar laden curving of Grace's lips.  Sure, it was fake as could be...yet still he couldn't help but smile.  Had they been alone, he'd likely have been laughing as they surely would have been joking for her to smile like that.

It was good to see Grace's relief and to hear her praise...that was actually about the last thing he'd expected from her.  After all, she had always excelled and succeeded at everything.  Why would she take notice of anything Chance had done?  And...unfortunately this success was short lived.

Now it was Chance's turn to sigh.  He shook his head, disappointed to have counted on victory so quickly.  However, they'd been inside once.  That was some measure of victory.  Perhaps they could get in another way...Yet before this thought could be carried any further, Grace said something bizarre and practically tackled him into the bushes.

"What's gotten inta y'lass?"

Chance's expression was quite perplexed indeed...not understanding her vague Cornish expression, nor why she had so rushed him into hiding.  However, in following her gaze...Chance saw where she was looking and his unnaturally green eyes widened upon the sight.