Title: "Beautiful Intelligence" Chapter 1
Pairing: Theodore Nott/Pansy Parkinson
Rating: Er... we'll see. For now? R for the language.
Notes: Based on real events from the Harry Potter RPG harrygoesdown on LiveJournal. Dedicated to all the players because I love you all.

Beautiful Intelligence

Chapter 1 – Just In the Lick of Time

So beautiful. How could she be drunk and dancing uncontrollably in the middle of the Hall, yet still be so fucking beautiful?

Theo downed his seventh shot as he watched Harry Potter sink onto one of the lonely chairs at the side of the Great Hall, with her following close behind. She draped her arms around his shoulders, the two of them singing out of tune at the tops of their voices; squealing and giggling like the adolescents that they were.

He whispered in her ear, and they both fell about laughing. In their own world. Theo didn't want to think what they were saying; his stomach lurched. They'll regret it, he thought. They'll regret it in the morning.

This did nothing to settle the growing feeling of dread that crept up the back of his neck. He grabbed another shot.

He was wasted. Wasted. How is it that everything around me is clouding over, yet I see them so clearly? Theo thought bitterly. He opened his eyes. Her tongue was dangerously close. What was she doing?

"I can't reach, Harry! I can't reach-"

"Nice one, Nott." Theo staggered and turned around, tearing his eyes away from the scene before him. "She's abandoned you for Potter already and the night's only just begun."

"Fuck off, Zabini."

"She's a whore, Nott. Move on," he jeered, backing out of the Great Hall with Katie Bell in tow.

"You don't know her," he replied simply. Blaise had already left.

He reluctantly turned back, only to see Harry Potter licking her face as though she were the most delicious ice-cream he'd ever eaten. Her cheeks. Her forehead. Her neck. There was nothing romantic about it, but Theo wanted to disappear. There was not enough alcohol in the world to undo what was happening.

"STOP! THAT IS IT!! NO MORE!!"

Ron Weasley. Theo had never been so relieved to see the git. The red-head ran at the two on the chair, and tore them apart with one swift movement.

"OH GOD, DAMN YOU PARKINBITCH!!"

She stood, swaying on the spot, casually wiping her forehead with a slender finger, as though people drenching her face in saliva was an everyday occurrence.

Mesmerised by her finger, carefully tracing lines on her face, his heart stopped momentarily when he suddenly noticed she was looking right at him.

She frowned slightly and blinked, as though trying to remember who he was and where he'd come from. Theo did nothing.

Before he knew it, she was making her way towards him.

So fucking beautiful...

"You know... standing next five feet away from me, regularly scowling in Potter's direction and then downing another shot does not count as looking after your date, Theo," she said, smooth as silk.

Pansy stumbled towards him. He's completely drunk and somehow he still manages to still look composed, she mused.

"You know... standing next five feet away from me, regularly scowling in Potter's direction and then downing another shot does not count as looking after your date, Theo," she said, surprised at the fluency of her words.

He frowned and chewed on the inside of his mouth. At least he has the grace to feel guilty, she thought.

"All right, I'll apologise," he said. "I was a bad date, and I shouldn't have let you drink so much."

Having thought that he'd deny having anything to do with her drunken state, Pansy was slightly taken aback at his upfront apology.

"You weren't a bad date. But you could've tried to stop me drinking, couldn't you?" Theo pursed his lips and said nothing. She tried again. "I'm still not sure it was Zabini who gave me those drinks–" She swayed dangerously and grabbed for a nearby table. For a split second it looked as though Theo was starting forwards to steady her, but when she looked up at him, he had crossed his arms defiantly and was surveying the room as though it were a rather dull art gallery.

"I'll confess to handing you a Firewhisky or two, but that's it." he said distractedly, still not meeting her eyes.

He couldn't look at her; he just couldn't. What had he been thinking, anyway? That getting her drunk would make her realise what a "great guy" he was? Parties have never been my thing, he thought, why did I even come here?

Because she asked you to...

He sighed and risked a glance; she was watching him carefully. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Her right cheek was still glistening.

"I don't like being made to look like an idiot, Pansy," he said suddenly. "I am perfectly capable of managing that on my own."

A small smile played on her lips.

"Believe me," she said, making her way to the nearest chair and sinking down onto it, "I'm the one that came out looking like an idiot, if anyone."

The doors burst open. Theo turned his head sharply towards the back of the Hall. Two seconds later, the door was in focus. His last three shots were catching up with him.

"OY, LISTEN UP!!"

The room went quiet. Ron Weasley was standing in the large doorway, propping up a giggling Harry Potter.

"EVERYONE HEAD TO THE AFTER-PARTY IN THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT NOW!! THANK YOU!!"

Everyone cheered, and many surged towards the exit. Strangely though, there seemed to be no members of staff left in the Great Hall to hear this announcement. Theo felt ill at the possibility of their being more alcohol to consume. Hopefully Pansy felt the same; he would walk her up to her dorm and then promptly collapse in bed. That sounded like a plan. He turned back to the chair she was sitting in, and found it empty.

"...Fuck."

"...AFTER-PARTY IN THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT NOW!! THANK YOU!!"

After-party... what? In the where? Ugh. No. Not more drink. No more-

Someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, Pans!"

With all thoughts focused on standing up straight and not being trampled on, Pansy was pulled along with the crowd.

TBC