[Hogsmeade] The Hog's Head

[Thom Moen]

A small, shinny trail of saliva trickled over the man's lip, and he quickly unstrapped the wrist watch from his fat, scabby wrist. 'Yes, have it, have it! Here - have galleons!' he delved into his robe pockets, rummaging deeply, swaying as he did. Thom watched from a distance, twisting his wand in his fingers. The familiar happy, greedy glee was spread wide across Daniels's face, and Thom stifled a laugh as the boy cupped his hands in front of himself to receive the shinny payments like a hungry beggar.

He raised his eyebrows as Burgess pushed his small glass of firewhiskey towards the Slytherin, slipping the broken hairs from the boys arm at the same time. 'Oh how disgusting...' Thom muttered, grimacing. Although he immensely disliked the Slytherin, no one deserved to drink from the same glass as Burgess.

'Oy - if you want a drink, get your bloody own!' he snapped as he stood up and strode over to the two. 'I can't have you stealing from my mate Burgess here, you little fiend!' Thom growled, acting as if he had never met Daniels before in his life. 'Sorry about him, Burgess, let me get him out of your hair. Exquisite unicorns hairs, by the way.' he grabbed Daniels roughly by the collar and dragged him away before he could pick up the glass of firewhiskey. 'Come on, lets get out of ear shot.' he grinned.

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary was immensely put-out to see Thom stride over to them, and spluttered indignantly as he was pulled away. He just managed to collect the sac of galleons and wrist watch in his arms, and pulled away from Thom's grip as soon as he got the chance.

"Oh yes, interrupt at the most inconvenient of times." He spat, brushing off his robes, and slipping the coins into his pockets with the sneak only a Slytherin could posses. "Right, you want your part of the payment, I'm sure," he said, surprisingly generously.

He pulled out the watch, making sure the galleons were still buried deep within his layers of robes, and handed it to Thom, putting on his best sincere face. It was the Hufflepuff's own fault, he decided, for abandoning him with the massive man and not seeing the results of the trade. The watch was hardly half of the payment he received, and he blinked calmly, his expression blank. "Here you are," he dropped it into Thom's hand, and glanced quickly around the pub, holding back a smirk.[/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom looked down at the silver wrist watch in his palm. He raised an eyebrow at Zachary. 'A watch? You traded close to an entire unicorn tail for a watch?' The Hufflepuff was sure he had seen more glints of silver - and even a little gold - being placed into Zachary's hand from his hiding place a few tables away.

Glancing over Zachary's head he could see Burgess had collapsed back into his seat and was affectionately stroking the long silver hairs between his fingers. It was common knowledge that Burgess was always heaving with gold, and it was most unlike him to be stingy on his offers. 'Where's the rest of it?' Thom suddenly snapped, grabbing Zachary by the front of his robes. 'You think I'm a bloody idiot? Not even you would trade all this for a watch!' he was breathing heavily, close to fury.

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary pulled away with a scowl. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said roughly. It was unfortunate that as he pulled back his elbow it hit a witch passing behind him. She immediately dropped her mug of steaming, foul-smelling liquid and screeched, covering her eye with a protective hand.

Spinning around, with wide-eyes, worried for his life- He was certain that none of the suspicious characters here would hesitate to hex him on the spot- he forgot completely about the sac of galleons bulging in his robes.

At once, it fell out, landing just in front of Thom and toppling over slightly.

"Oh, just my bloody luck," Zachary cried, covering his ears with his hands as the hag's screeches continued.[/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom grimaced as the hag began to screech without any regard for the other scum loitering in the shadows. People were muttering and moaning as they scurried toward the door, unable to cope with the noise in their drunken stupors. Several warlocks were looking at Thom and Zachary with furious expressions for disturbing their peace, and Thom quickly grabbed Zachary by the scruff of the neck, ready to pull him from the pub.

It was then that the soft sound of coins hitting a wood came from the floor. The Hufflepuff looked down, puzzled. His face immediately turned dark and he looked at Zachary slowly. 'I bloody knew it!' he roared over the top of the hag, although he was still barely audible. 'Oh, shut up! Silencio!' Thom whipped his wand from his robes, jabbing the witch with it. She made a small choking noise before grabbing her throat, looking distraught.

Before anyone could react, Thom swept up the bag of coins and pelted out into the street, dragging Zachary by the scarf behind him. He threw the boy down into the snow, causing several passers by to turn their heads. 'You really are the scum of the earth - you honestly thought you could trick me?' he said in disbelief.

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary hit the snow with a loud oomf and felt the immediate cold settle down his back, seeping through his cloak. His scarf tangled in front of him, threads coming apart because of the insanely tight grip of the Hufflepuff as he dragged the shorter boy from the pub, not at all gently.

Zachary glowered back at the boy, still seated uncomfortably on the freezing snow while his scarf lay crooked over his shoulders. Only Thom's lips seemed to be moving for a minute, his ears still ringing from the awful hag's screeches, before his yelling finally got through.

"Actually yes," Zachary said dryly. "I'd have thought it would be easy to trick some Hufflepuff dolt. Of course, you never believe me either way- whether I'm telling the truth or not." He said with a roll of his eyes, remembering their last encounter in the forest.

Granted, Zachary didn't tell the truth often.

Pulling himself up from the snow, he brushed it off him as much as he could, before glaring at Thom. His gaze then travelled down to the hefty collection of galleons, and he eyed them carefully. "Alright then," he said slowly, walking forward a bit. "Lets split this up fairly, right?"[/color]

[Thom Moen]

'You're unbelievable!' Thom bellowed furiously, grabbing his own hair and pulling at it in frustration. 'Insufferable! I cannot wait for our next match. I swear I am going to kill you.' he growled exaggeratedly.

Taking the bag of coins from his coat pocket, Thom weighed them in his hand tensely. 'You wanted this to be fair did you? A likely story.' Grabbing Zachary's wrist, Thom turned the Slytherin's palm upright and emptied out only a small portion of the coins into his hand. He sneered at the boy's somewhat distraught expression. 'Expenses - and compensation for the various things you put me through in the forest.' he stated nastily.

As an after thought, and with a mean smirk, Thom dropped the grubby watch into his hand also. 'Don't go spending it all at once.'

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary stared at Thom wide-eyed for a moment, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Then, as if coming back to his senses, his fist clenched around what was left in his palm, and he narrowed his eyes.

"They were my hairs!" He said loudly, the watch digging into his gloved hand.

Seeing the look of satisfaction on Moen's face, he scowled and shoved the Hufflepuff back as hard as could, which wasn't much as he was half frozen by then.

"Don't you Hufflepuffs always go on about how you're so just and fair?" He made a face of disgust, before his eyes caught the sac of coins once more. They suddenly lit up, and he slowly reached behind him, gathering a heap of snow in his hand.

"Never stop talking about how you're the best house in Hogwarts, always so happy-go-lucky." He shuddered, before looking at Thom, his lips curving slightly into a smirk.

Then, with a sudden push, Zachary had Thom pinned beneath him, gaining advantage by the rather large, wet and very cold snowball he was shoving in the Hufflepuff's face. [/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom gave a high pitched screech as he was knocked from his feet without warning. His legs kicked into the air, his shoulders hitting the frosty ground first - snow and slush flying about him. He barely had time to even lift his head before something light weight but forceful landed on his torso and a dirty brown handful of snow was mashed into his face, covering his eyes and falling in his mouth as he yelled in surprise.

He kicked about, but his feet slipped on the snow so that he could not get a good enough grip to buck Zachary off, and he flapped his arms about furiously, hitting at the younger boy's shoulders.

'Get - off!' He finally choked, grabbing hold of Zachary's wrists and whacking him off, causing the Slytherin to do a small roll as he was swatted away.

Thom swiftly sat up in the snow, his legs spread, his hair sticking up from the wet snow. He was coughing loudly, glaring about him as passersby stared inappreciatively. Slowly he looked at Zachary, who had only just got back on his own knees. 'You - little - piece - of -' Thom swore loudly as he jumped up from the snow and ran toward Zachary, tackling the boy hard so that they both flew into a tall thick snow drift. ' I'll give you just, you little twerp!' he roared as the ice fell in a big load on top of them.

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary rolled off to the side, his hair and robes covered in snow and his face flushed with adrenaline. Loud, panting laughs escaped his mouth as he clutched his stomach, and he turned his head to look at Thom with a smirk.

Noticing the money bag laying off to the side, he began to pull himself up, ready to dive for it when something dived at him. Immediately, he let out a stunned yelp and was pushed backwards because of the forceful blow. Letting out a groan of pain, he tried to elbow Thom off him, when a thick blanket of snow surrounded them.

At once, the freezing snow covered his already numbing flesh, and he swore, his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to kick away the snow, hoping his kicking would also find the idiot Hufflepuff. Spitting out a mouthful of dirty snow, he growled and felt his foot finally hit a limb.

"Moen!" He yelled, his voice muffled and only managing to gather more snow in his mouth. "You'll bloody pay for this! What if I get pneumonia!? I have to save your life a million times and you thank me by trying to KILL me?" He let out another frustrated groan, his feet continuing to kick at the tangled limbs around him. [/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom's eyes widened in shock as clumps of wet snow toppled down the back of his collar, suddenly trapped inside his thick layers of clothing, torturing his skin with icy tickles. 'Oh it's freezing!' he snapped furiously, desperate to shake the snow from his clothing yet trying to stop Zachary from elbowing him at the same time. 'Stop it, you idiot!' he growled.

Another sheet of snow slid down onto their heads, and Thom reared back so that he managed to get his face out of the avalanche. Several people had stopped and were simply staring at the commotion with puzzled expressions. Looking down, Thom realised that only Zachary's boots and Thom's head was visible.

It was then that Thom realised he could no longer see the leather bag of money. 'Er, Daniels - do you have the money?' he asked, ducking his head back into the snow hole to question Zachary with a somewhat mortified expression.

[Zachary Daniels]

Feeling his face glow red with cold and his eyebrows growing frosty, Zachary let out a suffering moan. Just as he lay back his head, resigned, a face loomed over him looking rather worried.

"Money? Me?" He scowled, pushing his hand against Thom's face as leverage to pull himself up. "Only that pitiful amount you deposited into my palm earlier-- Now give me the rest." He finally opened his eyes when he reached the surface of the snow, and let out a few strangled coughs.

Noticing the look of horror on Moen's face, Zachary's eyes widened and he tried to lift himself up off the snow. "You lost it? You lost it?" His arms swung wildly around him as he continued to try and pull himself from the suction of snow. "All that hard work-- I had to steal from centaurs for Merlin's sake."

Letting his arms drop unsuccessfully, he sent a death glare in Thom's direction. "It must be in here somewhere..." swiping his hands underneath the snow, he clenched his jaw. "It can't have just disappeared... I can't believe you lost--" His eyes suddenly widened as he pointed shakily in front of him. "Thom- Thom! Look!"

A large boar hound stared at them challengingly, the bag of galleons hanging limply between his jaws. Then, with a wild wag of it's tail, turned around and quickly began to trot away, disappearing within an alley behind some of the more suspicious shops near the Hog's Head.

Zachary turned back to Thom, his mouth hanging open disbelievingly. [/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom growled as Zachary's palm was mushed in his face, forcing him out of the snow drift so that the Slytherin could clamber out. When Thom had finally pushed himself up enough to be rid of most of the snow, he grabbed hold of Zachary's shoulders and dragged himself to his feet. 'You pushed me! This is your fault!' he snapped defensively.

It was then that he saw what Zachary was pointing at in a panic. The dopiest dog Thom had ever seen was stood a few feet away, white, frothy slobber coating its chops - and the bag of money. 'How did it...' Thom gasped, then yelled out as the dog spun round and bounced off lazily down the side of the Hog's Head.

Thom stared back at Zachary for a few moments, his expression equally distraught. 'Get it.' he said bluntly, before racing off in pursuit.

[Zachary Daniels]

Zachary watched, stunned, as Thom ran off after the hound. Realizing that if Thom reached the dog first, he was guaranteed no equal amount of money, Zachary threw his wayward scarf to the side and trailed after the two.

His feet splashed around in the slush with every hurried step, and Zachary grimaced, watching his slacks splatter with mud. "You'll have plenty of money to buy new ones if you can catch that stupid dog," he told himself, following the dog around a corner and finding himself in a dark, dingy alley.

He paused, his loud footsteps echoing to a stop. There was no sign of the idiot Hufflepuff, or equally idiot dog anywhere and he scowled, panting for breath. "Moen!" He called, looking around, growing nervous with the stares he was getting from huddled, cloaked figures lining the murky streets.

There was a moment of silence, in which Zachary walked cautiously down the alleyway, when a loud yelp caught his attention. And then, the boar hound was skittering down the street in front of him, Thom following following closely behind.

"Hey! Hey, you two! Wait up!" He sped up, finally reaching just behind the Hufflepuff and pulled his sleeve, holding him back. "I'm going to get there first, Moen!" He cried, stumbling a little as he pulled Thom backwards and continued to run forward.[/color]

[Thom Moen]

Thom hit the alley wall as he skidded round the corner after the hound, yelping as yet another shower of wet, dirty snow slid off the gutter above him, soaking his head and shoulders with ice. The hound was having no trouble trotting on the snow, and Thom swore loudly as of of his feet slipped to the side, almost resulting in a rather painful split. He grabbed a drain pipe and pulled himself back up, shaking his head to rid it of the filthy slush as he darted after the thieving mutt once again.

It was then that Zachary appeared, having an equal amount of trouble staying up right on the slippery snow. 'Oy!' Thom shouted angrily as he made to dash off once more, but was pulled back so that the swift little Slytherin could over take him.

The dog gave a sharp bark as it existed the alley at the other end, turning left into a slightly busier but dark street. Thom recomposed himself, breathing heavily as he watched Zachary gain the lead. 'Not so fast!' Thom growled, quickly looking about him to see a rusty blue bike resting against a wall. Grinning, he mounted it and sped forward on the slick snow. As he passed Zachary, he gave him a hard shove in the back. 'Don't wait for me!' he sang mockingly, waving over his shoulder as he raced off.