Right, so any incorrect French in this chapter is entirely my own fault since I did all the translation. However, I'm pretty sure it's correct. Not that it's integral to the plot or anything...
Please let me know what you think and help me improve or encourage me to write more.
Disclaimer: Tattoos are for life. If you get one, make sure it's amazing enough to stop people mid-thrust.
"Sorry things didn't work out between you and Madame Maxime, Hagrid," Mike said. "I'd never have thought she was one of those people who's ashamed of who they are."
"S'not yer fault Mike," Hagrid assured him. The two of them were standing in Hagrid's garden, a few weeks after the second task had taken place. Hagrid was preparing something for his fourth years who would be starting on nifflers. He had been digging up a mound of earth so he could bury coins in it the next morning and Mike, who had offered to help but been turned down, was playing with one of the nifflers.
"No, but I should've found out about that," Mike was saying as he dangled an old watch in front of the fluffy animal's face and let it jump up at it happily. "Stupid mistake, really. Ah, well."
"I don't think I'm cut ou' fer romance," Hagrid sighed, shaking his shaggy head. "I'll jus' stick ter my job an' my animals."
"Hmm..." Mike sat in silence for a moment, letting the niffler run in circles around him. Then he saw something which made him smile. "I'm going to put this one back with the others." Mike pocketed the watch, then scooped the small, furry creature up into his arms and walked round to the other side of Hagrid's cabin. When he was out of sight, he ducked down and peered round the side of the building to watch what was happening.
Madame Maxime had just gotten out of the Beauxbatons carriage and walked over to talk to Hagrid. She stood on the opposite side of the fence to him, her jewelled hands clasped in front of her, her dark eyes sparkling. She was actually very pretty, even with her giant blood. It was understandable why Hagrid had fallen for her. Mike squinted, trying to make out what she was saying. Hagrid was leaning on his shovel and, to Mike's annoyance, was being very terse. He strained to hear what was going on, but his highly tuned ears which usually picked things up so easily couldn't make out a word. All he could hear was a strange shoof-shoof-shoof noise. Shoof-shoof-shoof-shoof-shoof.
"Dammit, it's you," Mike muttered, holding the niffler away slightly. It's face had been up by his right ear and its breathing had drowned out all other sounds. He glanced up again, determined to hear what the two were saying to each other, but it was too late. Madame Maxime was already climbing back into the carriage. With a grunt of displeasure, Mike shifted the niffler so its face was by his left ear, then moved back out to Hagrid.
"What was that?" he asked pointedly.
"Nothin'." Hagrid said. "She's tryin' ter get inter my good books again. She just came askin' about the third task. As if I'd tell her straight off. Wha' does she think I am, eh?"
Mike glanced out at the Beauxbatons carriage, wondering what the conversation had actually been about. He was sure that, deep down, Hagrid was hurt by Madame Maxime brushing him off and not talking to him back around the Christmas holidays. Of course, that article hadn't helped matters. He just had a stoney exterior, that was all. Maybe Mike could go and see Madame Maxime, to find out what had gone on, and-
"Ouch! Get it off! Get it off!" The niffler which Mike had been holding had just bitten into his ear. Muttering an oath, Hagrid dropped his shovel and leapt forward. Carefully taking hold of the niffler's upper and lower jaw, he slowly forced them apart. Mike gasped and jerked away, his ear throbbing with pain.
"I thought ye said ye'd taken all yer piercings out!" said Hagrid, hurrying to put the niffler back with the rest of them.
"I thought I had!" Mike protested, reaching up to his ear and wincing. It seemed he'd left one stud on the upper shell of his ear and the niffler had gone for it. Luckily, it seemed that all that had happened was he'd sustained a nasty cut. Nothing had come off anyway. Good, he could still go see Madame Maxime. Grinning, Mike walked out of Hagrids garden.
"Wait! Don't yeh want me ter sort yer ear?" Hagrid called.
"No! No, I'm good, thanks. See you tomorrow!"
000
Mike knocked on the carriage door, then stood back and waited. After a few minutes, it was opened by a blonde boy in pale blue robes. He was one of the students Mike taught, so he smiled in recognition.
"Hi, Françoise. Is Madame Maxime in? I'd like to talk to her."
"Oh, yes. Of course Professor. Please wait zere." He turned and headed off into the carriage. Mike could here him say, "Madame Maxime. Le professeur bizarre est ici. Il voudrait parler avec vous."
"Mais bien sûr, Françoise."
There were footsteps, then Fraçoise reappeared in the door and opened it wider. Mike grinned and stepped into the carriage. It had been enchanted so that the inside was bigger than the outside and it was full of pieces of furniture made from finely polished wood. Mike looked round, admiring the decor. It was really rather nice. Trust the French to do things properly.
"Um... Professor Smitt. What 'appened to your ear? Eet is... Bleeding."
Mike raised a hand to his face and felt something warm and sticky dribbling down the side of his head. "Oh, just a niffler bite. Nothing to worry about. Now, Madame Maxime... She's in here?" Mike stopped at a door which said 'Headmistress' on the door and knocked.
"Entrez."
Mike stepped through into a lightly coloured room with a large desk at one end where Madame Maxime was sitting. She smiled at him. "You are, Michael, oui? 'Agrid told me about you."
"Is that a fact?" Mike said, moving to stand in front of the desk, but not sitting down. "Well... Hagrid's what I want to talk to you about actually."
Madame Maxime's face darkened and she turned away slightly. "I 'ave nothing to say about 'im. I tried to talk to 'im earlier and 'e did not respond-"
"That's 'cos you talked about the third task," Mike interrupted. "And that's why I'm here. Now, Hagrid's a good friend of mine and I want to know how you feel about him. You two were very close when you first got here and you seemed to be getting along at the Yule Ball. But now you two have fallen out and nothing seems likely to get you back together." He paused, thinking of how to word his next sentence, then said, "Madame Maxime, I want to know if you genuinely had affection for Hagrid or if you just used him to get a leg up in the Triwizard Tournament."
"'Ow dare you accuse me of such zings," Madame Maxime said, incensed. "I do not use people!"
"Well then, you must genuinely like Hagrid."
"I-"
"In which case I suggest you think a bit about how you're acting. Look, he was really cut up about that Daily Prophet article and I know he won't admit it, but he hated you not talking to him even more. If you like him, I think you could maybe just have a normal conversation and talk things through. Be friends if nothing else. Or at least get to a point where you don't hate each other. He's a nice guy and his heart's in the right place, I don't want to have to watch him beat himself up. Please, just think about it. Think about your feelings for him and- And talk to him. Straighten things out. I'm sorry for taking up your time. Good night, Madame Maxime. Wish Fleur luck on the Third Task."
Mike turned to leave, but just as he was at the door, Madame Maxime called, "Wait." He paused and the French headmistress got to her feet and walked up to him. "Let me fix your ear for you first. Episkey. Scourgify." Mike felt a warm sensation over his ear, then smiled in thanks, said good bye and opened the door.
"I was not trying to get information on ze final task," she said softly, making Mike freeze. "I was just trying to talk to 'Agrid. I know 'e likes magical creatures so I talked to 'im about ze dragons from ze First Task. I was not thinking and I mentioned ze Third Task too. 'E thought I wanted 'im to tell me what was coming."
Mike looked back at her, trying to work out whether or not she was lying. It was hard to tell. He wanted her to be telling the truth, that was for sure. Sighing, he reached out and patted her arm. "Things'll get better."
He turned and walked out of the office, out of the carriage, and into the grounds. The evenings were growing longer now, but the sky was already darkening. Mike glanced at his watch. He had time for a trip to the Three Broomsticks. He'd reward himself for being such a good friend to Hagrid.
000
"You mean there haven't been any single women in the bar all night? Not even one?"
"No. It's been slow. There have been a few couples, though."
Mike thought for a moment, then shook his head. He didn't have the time nor the energy to try and get a threesome going. He sighed and leant against the bar. Rosmerta clicked her tongue in annoyance. She couldn't believe it had actually got to the stage where Mike had her looking for prospective one night stands for him. Well tonight he was out of luck, clearly.
"Sorry Mike," she said with a shrug. "The only person who's here alone is that man there at the end of the bar." She jerked her head backward to where a short, blonde man with a thin build was reading a book and nursing a drink. Mike sighed. This was no good at all.
Or was it? Mike suddenly remembered the night so long ago when he'd had the threesome with Dave. He had been embarrassed about it and said it was nothing he'd do again, but know that he thought about it... Why couldn't he do it again? It had been fun! What did he care about what anyone else thought. He was already a womaniser, may as well become a maniser as well.
"Rosmerta," Mike said,thinking hard. "What are those green drinks which are really small and you drink them in a oner?"
"Mandrake tequila?"
"One mandrake tequila, please."
Rosmerta handed him the drink. Mike took a deep breath, then threw his head back and gulped down the liquid. He gasped as it burned in his throat, then shook his head to clear it. With that, he strolled down and sat in the seat next to the man.
"What are you reading?" he asked casually, glancing over.
The man looked up. He had warm brown eyes which seemed to swirl down to black depths. Mike locked gazes with him, smiling.
"It's a muggle book," the man said, holding it up. "'Anna Karenina'. It's very good."
"What's it about?" Mike asked, leaning over to read the back cover.
From behind the bar, Rosmerta shook her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe it. She'd seen Mike work his powers on different girls every week since he first arrived and now it seemed he had moved onto men as well. She watched the moves which she had seen a hundred times before. A laugh; a comment; brushing his arm against the other person; and always that long, lingering gaze. It worked wonders. The man tonight was talking very interestedly to Mike, their heads close together. She knew what would happen next. Mike would ask for...
"Could I have a Firewhiskey please, Rosmerta?"
"Make that two."
"I'll buy his as well. You don't mind, do you Cameron?"
"Of course not. Just let me buy the next one."
The two sat talking and drinking for a good while and the bar slowly emptied. Their voices got quieter and quieter and they leaned closer and closer into each other. It was like this each time. After a long silence, Mike moved his head very close and murmured something softly into Cameron's ear. Cameron blushed and looked at Mike who hit him with the full force of his 'come hither' look. Cameron whispered something back, then the two got to their feet and walked out of the room to the stairs which led up to the inn's bedrooms.
Neither of them said a word as they climbed the stairs. Neither of them said a word as Cameron fished out his room key and opened the door. Neither of them said a word as the door was locked behind them. Neither of them said a word for a long second.
Finally, Cameron murmured, "I- I've never done something like this before, Mike. I don't know if-" His next words were cut off by Mike taking his face in his hands and kissing him.
There is a special stone, found only in Tibet, which has several quite interesting properties. When ground up and added to Essence of Euphoria, it causes the drinker to experience not only mental pleasure, but physical pleasure. When burned, it gives off red smoke which spirals upwards in appealing shapes. And when it comes into contact with more than one type of saliva at the same time it sends out strange, imperceptible, shimmering waves which course through living, human flesh. This stone was what Mike's tongue stud was made of. When he kissed someone, the waves which the stone sent out caused shivers of pleasure to flutter through both his and his companion's bodies. It was these shivers of pleasure which sent any doubts from Cameron's mind.
000
Rosmerta shut up the bar, locked the doors and stacked the chairs with a flick of her wand. Then, with a yawn, she headed upstairs to her room. She was just passing through the first-floor corridor when she heard something which made her feel incredibly awkward.
"The tattoo -Uh- The Tattoo is distracting me. Uh!"
"What do you -Ah- mean?"
"It's just -Ng- odd seeing it. The one on your b- back. Wh-Uh-y do you have a -Uh- tattoo of a -Uh- Is that a mermaid? Or a dragon? And is that -Ng- you in the bubble?"
"Long story- Ah!"
"But it's distracting-"
"Ignore it! J- Just ignore it! Please! Ah, fuck! Wha-Ah-tever you do, just don't -Ah- stop! J- J- Just keep going! Yes! Yes, keep doing that! Keep doing tha- Ah- Ah- AAAAAAAH! YES! YES! AH! AH! AH! FUCK! AH!"
Flustered, Rosmerta cast a sound-blocking charm on the door. She'd hate for Mike to wake up the rest of the inn then for her to have to explain to the other guests what was going on. Hurriedly, she went back to her room, but she couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she heard Mike's exclamations and saw him and Cameron having sex. This was the first time she'd actually been able to hear him, even though it was only for a short while, and it creeped her out. Rosmerta lay on her back long into the night, staring up at the ceiling. Just what was that tattoo which had been so distracting?