This was mostly an excuse to see what was going on in the Captain's head this year.
Flint
January 1996
Winter Break
7th year
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He wanted to meet her family. The sister she was always going on about. The brother she cackled over. Even the father she so plainly detested. He wanted to know about her life outside the castle walls but she kept turning him down. He wanted to know so much about her and he wondered if the reason she said no was because she could tell he was keeping secrets. He didn't want to keep things from her but he was afraid of how she'd react. Part of him was afraid that if he didn't tell her, he'd lose her when she found out, another part was petrified that it wouldn't matter and he'd lose her anyway he went. So he kept his mouth shut.
He wasn't like his parents. They dangled his inheritence over his head but he'd get a job or two, hell, even three, if it meant Jocelyn stayed with him. His father was a dumpy, mustaschioed member of the Wizengamot, his mother was a house-wife; both were on the Dark Side. They'd jumped at the chance when the Dark Lord reappeared. It was honestly such a relief when his marks came in and showed he'd failed his NEWTs. The idea that he would go back to Hogwarts in the fall carried him through the suffocating summer. His stomach had filled with lead when Jo told him about the petition to get rid of Umbridge and threatened to dissolve the Alliance. It wasn't that he liked Umbridge, she was a lousy teacher, but she gave Slytherins attention and autonomy, treating them like they were the 'good' house instead of the 'bad'.
He wasn't like his parents. He was nasty to Gryffindors out of habit and a generations old rivalry. The Ravenclaws could be useful, when they could stay focused. Before Jocelyn, he'd barely noticed Hufflepuff; they had such a tendancy to be the silent watchers of the world. But then she'd come along and had shattered every expectation he hadn't even known he'd had. No one could ever hang 'meek' around her neck. She was the reason he'd proposed the Alliance.
He had no idea that when they went out on dates to restaurants, particularly muggle restaurants as they were tonight, she watched to see how he interacted with the wait staff. What he did when things didn't turn out right. She watched him to see if he was kind. To see if he was cruel. To see what happened when he lost his temper. To see what made him lose his temper.
Tonight she'd picked a fancy muggle restaurant and insisted on splitting the check. She'd had to give him a crash course in muggle money before they'd been seated. He watched her leave a good tip and then dug into his own wallet and added the muggle equivalent of an extra galleon. A very good tip.
He watched that challenging eyebrow tick up as she added some extra funds to her portion of their waitress' tip.
He grinned and doubled the amount she'd put down. He felt like they were playing poker or having a staring contest, whoever blinked first lost.
Invisible by virtue of simply being the waitress, the blonde stood there and stared as Jo matched Marcus' tip. She felt as though she were the banker in a Monopoly game as the money pile grew. She wondered if she should interrupt, stop them before they spent all the cash and coin they had on them. But the challenge in their eyes as they stared at each other was enough to make her hesitate.
Plus, who was she to say "no" to an amazing tip?