10:03pm

"I'll have a whiskey, on the rocks, please," I said to the barman as I sat down on one of the barstools.

The man nodded and turned to go get the drink mixed as another man sat down to my left. The one to my left ordered a beer and the barman nodded again. I fiddled with the napkin in front of me as the man to my left looked at his watch and swore.

"Sorry, do you happen to have the time? My watch stopped working," he said, turning to me.

I rummaged through my purse and pulled out my small pocket watch, checking it. "Just past 10," I said, looking up at him. "Hold on," I said, recognition pulsing through me. "Malfoy? Draco Malfoy?"

The man looked at me, his grey eyes searching my blue ones. "Yes. Do I know you?"

I stuck out my hand for him to shake. "Astoria. Astoria Greengrass. You and my sister were in the same year at Hogwarts."

"Daphne Greengrass is your sister?" he asked, taking my hand and shaking it. "I guess I see the family resemblance. Although you are much more stunning."

The barman put my whiskey down in front of me and Draco's beer down in front of him. Draco took a swig from his bottle while I twiddled around with the drink stick in my glass.

"Draco Malfoy, you atrocious flirt!" I giggled, taking a sip of my whiskey, relishing in the burn as it went down.

"Are you insulting my flirting, or are you saying I'm a bad flirt?" he asked, winking at me as he took another swig of beer.

I raised an eyebrow at him and sipped a little more of my drink. "I guess that's up to you to figure out."

He chuckled and spun the bottle around on the bar top. "May I ask what you're doing here, Ms. Greengrass? A muggle bar. Really?"

I smirked and fiddled with the drink stick a little more. "Bad breakup. Muggle alcohol gets me drunk quicker. And I suppose I could ask you the same question, Mr. Malfoy."

"I guess we have something in common," he said cryptically, not taking his eyes of me.

"We've both been through bad breakups?"

"Muggle alcohol gets us drunk quicker."

I pursed my lips. "Now what would the great Draco Malfoy need to get drunk over?"

He grimaced and chugged down the last of his beer, quite quickly, I might add. "Let's just say that work's a bitch."

"Well then, we both must get right plastered, I believe," I said, giving him a coy smile.

"Oh is that right? Why do you think that?"

"Because both of us need to forget something and alcohol makes everything that much more fun."

"Fun? Now what kind of trouble has alcohol gotten you into that you think is fun?" he asked slyly, raising an eyebrow.

Thankfully I didn't have to answer as the barman set another drink down in front of me.

"Um, excuse me. I didn't order this," I said, staring at the pink umbrella in the orange drink.

The barman pointed at a couple of fellows at the other end of the bar. "Compliments of the gentleman on the right."

The man winked at me and I winked back. Free drinks were always welcome, even if they did look like an orange threw up in a glass and garnished it with a little mini umbrella.

"Right fucking git," Draco muttered and I turned to him.

"What was that?"

"He's a right fucking git, he is. Sending drinks over to a girl someone else is chatting up!"

I snorted. "That's your idea of chatting me up? So far we've talked about school and how badly each of us wants to get drunk."

Draco shrugged and smirked. "So far you haven't run away screaming. I think I've been doing a pretty good job."

"So if I go over to those guys and start up a conversation, you won't feel even a little disappointment?" I asked, nodding to the men who were trying to covertly stare at me – and they were doing a horrid job too.

Draco grimaced again. "A little bit, yeah. Macho man like me losing a pretty girl like you to numpties who look like that?"

"Bit cocky there, mate. And who's to say that I rather your looks over theirs. Bit vanilla, aren't you. White hair, grey eyes, pale skin. Now that man over there," I subtly pointed at one of the men, incidentally the one that sent me the drink I was still nursing, "he's not vanilla at all. Tall dark and handsome is what he is."

Draco puffed out his chest. "Well who's to say I think you're so amazing either? And you're pretty vanilla too!"

"Ah, that's my line. Find your own."

"Fine. You're white chocolate!"

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously? White chocolate? How is that anywhere near vanilla."

He shrugged. "Honestly I have no idea. And how did we get here anyways? I thought we were having a right nice chat and know we're talking about which one is better?"

"Better at what?" I asked, downing the rest of the orange drink and fiddling with the drink stick.

A strange smirk materialized on Draco's face as his eyes moved to fixate on the drink stick I was playing with. "At the end of the night, whoever has the most drink sticks wins."

"Fine," I said, taking my hand away from the finished drinks on the table and fiddling with my blonde hair. "What do I win?"

He smirked. "I think I'll win a date, with you. Tomorrow in Hogsmeade, you and I go to the Three Broomsticks."

"And when I win?"

"If you win, you can go on a date with me tomorrow in Hogsmeade."

I rolled my eyes again but smirked. "When I win, I'll tell you what I want. Deal?"

"Deal."

11:17pm

I laughed and lightly touched the man's arm. We had been flirting for a good three minutes but he still hadn't bothered to buy me drink. I saw Draco walking past, his eyes drilling into my own.

"Nine," he whispered as he passed by.

I smirked and as the man I was flirting with turned to the barman and finally ordered me a drink. "Twelve," I mouthed and felt butterflies as he scowled.

12:13am

I had just escaped to the ladies' washroom and opened the door to go in when a pair of hands grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into the storeroom. I was pushed against the door and a pair of stormy grey eyes met my cold blue ones.

"I've got twenty-two, Greengrass."

I felt his hands at my waist and I threaded my arms around his neck. My lips were a feather width away from his.

"Step up your game, Malfoy. Twenty-seven," I breathed.

Smirking, I pushed him back and left the supply closet.

1:01am

Draco was talking to three different girls, all of whom had allowed him to buy them drinks. I saw him subtly pocket their drink sticks and frowned as one of them slowly ran her hand up his arm. Slag, I thought darkly. Walking up to the group, I smiled.

"Hey, Vanilla! I've got thirty-five," I interrupted.

He looked over at me and smiled. "Fourty."

I scowled and walked away, leaving him to explain to the bints what we had meant.

2:22am

"Fourty-five," I whispered to him as we passed by each other on the dance floor of the bar.

"Fourty-nine."

Damn!

3:03am

"Last call, people," the barman shouted out.

I grimaced and made my way to the actual bar portion of the bar. Pulling all my drink sticks from out of my handbag, I laid them down on the counter. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Draco do the same, although he didn't have a handbag, so I assumed he charmed one of his pockets.

"Barman," he asked and the bloke turned to us. "We're having a bit of a challenge, you see. Would you mind counting these up and telling us who's got the most?"

The barman looked around and, seeing no one else in need of a drink, nodded and walked over to us. As he counted, Draco and I made idle conversation.

"So I saw you getting real friendly with that brown-haired boy in the corner," Draco stated, giving me a look. "Minunat!"

"Are you speaking Romanian, or am I really that drunk?" I asked, giving him a look.

He smiled. "Didn't know you spoke Romanian. And back to the point, what was that excessive mouth-to-mouth all about?"

I smiled as I thought back to that. We had gotten real friendly in the booth and now I had a love mark on my neck. I idly rubbed the mark as I reminisced about it.

"Well, I needed something to keep me going. Flirting with so many boys and not getting anything as recompense?" I winked and felt satisfied when Draco looked a little angry.

"Well you didn't have to act on those impulses," he growled angrily.

I smirked. "Yeah? Like you didn't do that either. I saw you macking that girl around midnight. Control yourself instead of telling me what to do. Jealous much?"

I rolled my eyes, frowned at him and crossed my arms. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry. That was very hypocritical of me." He stuck out his hand. "Apology accepted?"

I looked away from him, choosing to focus on the barman as he finally tallied up the scores. The man swiped away the drink sticks and threw them out for us. Draco finally realized the man had our scores and now we were both looking at him attentively.

"Fifty-two," he said pointing at me. Then at Draco, "Also fifty-two."

I felt my face go slack with shock. I looked over at Draco but he had a smirk on his face.

"Barkeep," he said, sliding muggle money – I wondered where he got that but then, he had been buying other girls drinks all night – over to the barman, "a whiskey on the rocks for the fine lady next to me."

I saw the hint of a smile on the barman's face and I turned to Draco. "How is that going to solve anything? We both get another drink stick."

"Actually," he said, grabbing the drink from the barman and taking out the drink stick, "you didn't agree to let me buy you a drink, so if I took the stick, it would be cheating. It's all yours."

I tried to stop myself from smiling but I couldn't help myself. "So does that mean I win?"

Draco smiled and shrugged. "I guess it does. So when's our date? Tomorrow? Next week?"

"As if," I stated simply as the barman snorted subtly.

Draco looked a little dejected and let his head drop. "Then do you mind?" he asked, gesturing to the whiskey.

I shook my head and grabbed his chin with one of my hands. "I'm not going on a date with you tomorrow because our date starts right now."

And then I kissed him so lightly I don't think he felt it. Pulling back, I jumped off the bar stool and said goodbye to the barman who smiled and told me to have a goodnight, a knowing smirk on his face. As I walked out of the bar, I heard footsteps behind me.

"Are you being serious?" Draco asked from behind me.

I smirked and turned around. "You best get over here so I can apparate us both to my flat."

He jogged over and held out his hand. I grabbed it and squeezed.

"You are one hell of a girl, Astoria Greengrass," he said admiringly.

I shrugged. "You're not so bad yourself, Vanilla."