[DDC] my heart could take a chance but my two feet can't find a way - Jane

Tonight was usually the kind of night Justin dreaded. It was a night were Ryan decided he'd prefer the company of other men and normally that left Justin all alone, picturing the faces of the boys that were getting the attention of the only person he wanted. He thought about how much more handsome, sexually talented, and just better they were than him. It tore him up inside, that there were others out there who could give Ryan whatever it was that Justin lacked. He wondered every night that Ryan spent with other boys would be the last night he ever saw him. Someone was bound to catch his interest, someone who wasn't an inept, silly little lovesick Hufflepuff.

Jane knew about the way Ryan still went out, how Justin let him be free in an attempt to keep him in his life. The two former Dumbledore's Army members had gotten close over the last few months, talking a lot and becoming better friends than they ever had been in school. Jane saw how miserable Justin was and she invited him out with her. The two could go out and have fun without their partners, just dancing and drinking and not caring about anything else. Justin had never been out clubbing, so he was excited to go and dance and try and forget his heartache.

Of course, Justin owned no outfits suitable for clubbing, so Jane had taken him shopping before their excursion. He was now dressed in skin-tight dark blue pants, his favorite pair of black Converse high tops, and a black tank top that showed off his strong arms and his muscular chest. Jane had even cornered him and styled his hair into a messy, bedhead look. Justin checked himself out in her mirror, feeling a little self-conscious. "I feel like not me," he confided. "And these pants are so tight. Where am I suppose to put my wallet?" Despite his misgivings, he rather enjoyed being Jane's dress up doll for the night. "And where are you going to take me?"

@Jane Lennon

Jane, ever the bad influence, had managed to, with great ease might I add, convince Justin Finch-Fletchley -- general do-gooder and nice guy -- to go out clubbing and drinking with her. Seriously. This dude was the nicest guy she'd ever met. No exaggerations. After all, he had been the one who had found her on the Hogwarts grounds and gotten her to a healer while she'd been spewing blood from her mouth like some sort of grotesque fountain. She wouldn't be standing there in a strappy little black dress, about to take him out on the town, if he hadn't done that. Hopefully, he didn't regret that now that he was complaining about his pants.

The blonde woman tried to stifle a giggle as he looked himself over. "I think you look cute. I'm wearing a dress, and you know I don't usually do that." Though she had also donned a grunge-esque, red flannel jacket and a pair of red, Converse sneakers instead of a more traditional choice such as heels.

"Nyx, naturally." She answered with a grin. "Now, come on. Before Ryan gets home and yells at me for corrupting you." She shooed at him with her hands like a mother shooing her child along. "Scoot." Obviously, she knew that her roommate was a bit of a hothead. If he was anywhere near as possessive as his older brother, he probably wouldn't like the idea of Jane, who had a bit of a reputation as she understood, taking his not-boyfriend out on the town. Not that he'd assume that she would shag him of course.

Justin was cute, but he was entirely too nice of a man for her even if he were actually attracted to women. No, Jane preferred bad boys. She'd really only mentioned it to Morwen, but she had even had a very, very brief period where she had found Ryan attractive. Temporary insanity, she told herself. She thought Justin was just as crazy for putting up with Ryan's shit, honestly. That was sort of why she'd wanted to take Justin out. She knew it bothered him when Ryan slept with other men; not that she had any intention of letting Justin go home with anyone. No, she, cockblock extraordinaire, would happily scare off anyone who got too friendly with Justin while they were out. She wanted Justin to be happy and all, but she was sure that with enough time Ryan could probably make him happy. Even if he was a complete prat. Well, that and she didn't fancy the idea of having another fight with her dear roommate/best friend. He had a temper like a goddamn Hungarian Horntail.

"Let's go."

Justin laughed as Jane shooed him out of the apartment she shared with Ryan. It was good to go out with someone and enjoy the night. The former Hufflepuff knew he was entirely too busy. Between his job at the Ministry and his law school classes, he had little time to himself. He usually spent that time with Ryan, but that didn't mean he couldn't do something for himself every once and a while. Besides, he'd made his own bed with Ryan. If this was as good as things could get, then he figured he should just get used to it. He could have fun out dancing and pass out once he got home. It would be a blast.

"But you look good in anything," he complained, stretching his arms up, his shirt riding up to expose his muscular lower torso. "I look like I stole my cool friend's outfit." He tugged down the shirt, blushing a pretty shade of pink. It was easy to fluster Justin. He was such a sweet and innocent soul that he blushed readily. Ever since Hogwarts, he had always been easy to get a rise out of. He was blushing less and less around Jane as he got used to how she teased him but it still happened with regularity. It was unlikely that it would stop completely.

He took Jane's arm, smiling his happy and unconcerned smile at her. "So, can we walk? Or should we apparate? I can tell you for a fact that if I'm drinking, I'm not going to be able to apparate home so hopefully you can guide me back to my place at the end of the night." He would follow Jane wherever she was leading.

Now he's exaggerating. An uncharacteristic blush rose to Jane's cheeks at her friend's compliment. "It's sweet that you think so, mate, really."

Jane gave a small laugh and a playful eye-roll to-boot. "You look great!" She insisted, looking him over once more. "If you were into girls, I'd give you a go." She teased, expectantly awaiting his flustered response. "You're plenty cool. I don't hang out with uncool people. But, if the shirt really bothers you then we can return it and find something else... for next time. Justin, stop it. You're being ridiculous."

Finally, it seemed, he was ready. Wasn't it women who were supposed to take so long to get out of the damn house? "We can apparate there. We'll walk back." She made the trip with Darren before and had wound up crashing on his and Ryan's couch. It was their apartment, then. Once Darren and Jane had started dating, Ryan had moved out, and when Darren had unceremoniously kicked Jane to the curb, Darren had moved out and Ryan had moved back in. She'd offered to move out, but she and Ryan had actually grown pretty close ever since the elder Hadditch had basically vanished.

Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't pissed about the way that Ryan played with Justin's emotions. He was such a nice guy! Then again, she didn't have the best history with nice guys herself. In fact, the only man she'd ever given the power to completely shatter her was Darren. Perhaps that was why she had so concerned herself with Ryan and Justin's... whatever they were? She didn't want to watch Ryan break Justin the way that Darren had broken her. She'd cried herself to sleep for weeks. She barely ate. Honestly, if it hadn't been for Ryan, she wasn't sure how she'd have dealt with it. He could be really sweet when he wanted to be. Why couldn't he just not be a jerk when it came to Justin's feelings??

Men. Ugh.

"I might need to crash at your place if that's going to be our first stop, though? If that's alright? Y'know what they say about drunk girls trying to get home by themselves and the bad things that could happen to them. Not this girl."

"Of course you can crash!" Justin smiled. "You can even have the bed if you'd like. I have a couch-bed, which is pretty comfy." He shook his head. "I think I'd feel worse for the guy who tried to start something with you. But I'll be your knight, tonight, if you need one!" Justin really wasn't the guy someone might picture to rescue a damsel in distress, but he would charge to the rescue if he was needed. It was what he'd done at the battle of Hogwarts, defending Jane and getting her to the healers in time. He wouldn't call himself a hero, but he wasn't a coward, either.

Justin held on as Jane apparated them to Nyx. The place was busy, unsurprisingly. Crowds milled outside, checked out by the bouncers. It didn't take long for the two of them to get in, with Jane's good looks and Justin's big hazel eyes and toned body. The Hufflepuff summoned all of his aplomb and walked as confidently as he could into the wall of noise. There were a lot of people, a lot of them writhing on the dance floor. Lights flashes and the music thumped through the air. Justin was more than a little daunted. "I think I need a drink," he told Jane, regretting his sobriety. There was no way he could face that crowd without being at least a little tipsy.

"Thanks." Honestly, Jane was a little annoyed that her friend had been okay with the idea of her drunkenly walking home by herself. Statistically, she was at far greater risk when attempting something like that than he would be. Cowardice, unintentional and unrealized or not, always disgusted her to some degree. That was part of why she had grown so resentful of her first boyfriend, Logan, when he hadn't been one of the many Gryffindors to join Harry Potter in forming Dumbledore's Army. She was certainly a lion, through and through. However, she was also realistic. A pretty little blonde stumbling home by herself, no matter her badassery, was going to be seen as an easy target. Didn't he watch the news? Hell, even Darren had had the sense of bravery and common sense in general to make sure that she got home safely.

She tried to mask the sour look on her face with a smile. "Yeah, well, even I have my limits. You know I live in a gang neighborhood, right? It's London, mate."

It didn't take them but a moment for her to apparate them to Nyx. She wasn't nearly as shy as the former Hufflepuff, but she still felt compelled to get some liquid courage before making her way onto the dance floor. Besides, she was a little blue from missing Ashley. He wasn't her boyfriend or anything, though she was working on it. However, they were sleeping together pretty regularly since Emily had dumped him. She'd told Ryan about it, and she had little doubt that he'd tell Darren. She'd known it when she'd told him, honestly, but she couldn't resist the idea of pissing off the eldest Hadditch.

"We should do a shot, first." Jane suggested, leading the way up to the bar.

Justin had always been very perceptive of other people's feeling. He wasn't sure if that was a Hufflepuff thing or just him, but he could always sense when something was off. And whatever he'd said, he could feel that it had made Jane upset. He paused, turning her to face him. "Hey," he said softly. "I know you're strong and you've saved yourself and others more times than I could probably count, so you're not someone who usually needs to be rescued. But that doesn't matter, because I'll be here. I'm always right here for you." And he gave her that same smile, the one he'd used as he deflected curses and hexes, when he'd carried her to the healers during the battle. It was a quiet and confident look, one that said you could always count on him, no matter the circumstances. "I know you haven't had the best of luck with guys, but I won't let you go it alone." He gave her a quick hug. "Besides, I need you to help protect me on the way home too," he teased, trying to get the mood lighter again.

He followed her to the bar, biting his lip nervously. "Okay, but can we drink something that doesn't burn?" Justin had a pleading look on his face. The music swelled and he didn't hear what Jane ordered them, but his shot was smoking faintly. "Oh, I have a bad feeling about this..." he muttered to himself. He grabbed the glass and raised it in a toast. "To good friends and bad decision!" He downed his shot, eyes watering. He coughed, gasping. "Oh Merlin that stings!"

"Cheers!" She downed her first shot of the night with some amusement at the expression on her friend's face. "I'm sorry, mate. I'm sure we can find something nice and easy for you." Jane teased, grinning and shaking her head. Turning back to the bar after downing her shot, she ordered the wizard equivalent of a "Skittles" shot, something she'd discovered on one of her trips to America with Ashley. They did a fair amount of drinking together. She was beginning to wonder if she had a problem, honestly.

Taking their second shot glasses off of the bar top, she handed him his. "This one should go down much more nicely. Then, I think you owe me that dance you promised." Wiggling her eyebrows, she downed the second shot -- no problem. Oh, this was going to be so good. She not-so-secretly loved the idea of corrupting his innocence even in the slightest. She fully intended to make him as uncomfortable as she could. It would be a good experience for the boy, she told herself. He really needed to come out of his shell more if he was going to run with her and Ryan. They were shameless.

"Better?" She reached for his hand. "I promise that I won't bite."

Justin managed to take his second shot, which was silk after the burn of the first one. He smiled at Jane, his face already a little flushed from the alcohol, nodding. "Better," he replied. He really was a novice and with how fast he got tipsy, a very cheap date. Justin was too sweet really, and once things got going, he was going to need Jane to watch over him. He figured things were going to get awkward, but soon he'd be too drunk to notice and then it would just be in fun.

He let Jane take his hand, moving out onto the dance floor. The Hufflepuff pulled a surprise move, spinning Jane into his arms and murmuring playfully into her ear, "But what if I ask nicely?" He was teasing, and when he spun Jane out again, she would definitely be able to see the way he was a bright shade of red. Even when he instigated the play, he still couldn't stop the blush that was staining his cheeks.

After that, Justin moved closer to Jane, dancing in the awkward white boy way. He was still too guarded to really relax, but the effects of the alcohol could be seen in how he was starting to loosen up and giggle wheh their bodies bumped together.

Merlin, Justin was a lightweight. Sure, Jane was feeling the effects of the alcohol a bit. However, her dear friend looked much more visibly intoxicated, already, than she did. Then again, Jane had been drinking pretty regularly ever since graduation and Justin, from what she could tell, rarely drank. He'd always been such a choir boy.

Which was why what he'd said next was hilarious. Jane was impressed, and actually left speechless for a second before a suitable response was able to process itself in her brain. With a wicked grin on her face, the blonde girl winked at her companion. "Well, if you're asking nicely, I suppose." Once she saw how red his face was, she couldn't help but giggle a little. "I didn't guess you to be one for liking it rough, though, I must admit. I'm impressed, sunshine."

That, itself, had ought to be enough to bring that nice, scarlet coloring back to his cheeks. However, never one to let herself be one-upped in any manner, Jane couldn't just let the moment die. Allowing Justin to move closer to her, she slowly began to turn to face away from him. Placing her friend's hands on her hips, she swayed to the music and began to move her hips and backside in one continuous, circular motion. She wasn't sure if he'd ever danced like this before; he always seemed so innocent! Then again, she had to remember who he was seeing. Ryan Hadditch was no innocent, and neither was she really. They'd have him corrupted in no time flat.

Justin was the very definition of a good boy. He was sweet, a gentleman, and very polite. There wasn't a malicious bone in his body. It was no surprise he ended up in Hufflepuff. He knew his personality could rub people the wrong way, and he knew most of the other students had found him pretty useless at times when they were in Dumbledore's Army. But he and Jane had always gotten on, despite how different they were. Maybe it was because they were different. They were like sugar and salt and they only seemed to bring out the best in each other. Jane made him bolder and he thought maybe he softened her edges just a little bit and reminded her that she deserved to be taken care of.

There was no masking the effect the nickname and teasing words had on him. He was red all the way to his ears. "Ryan calls me that, sometimes," he admitted, the way he looked like his head might catch fire at any moment could probably tell Jane exactly when Ryan used that particular endearment. It wasn't in public places or where anyone could overhear them, that was certain. "And I'm tougher than I look." Justin had was marshmallow soft emotionally, but his physique was on point. He definitely wouldn't break if handled roughly. He had to be a little sturdy to survive nights in Ryan's bed.

Poor Justin looked a litte lost when Jane began to grind against him. He'd certainly never had anything like this happen to him before! He wasn't quite sure what the etiquette of the situation was, so he carefully put his hands on her hips, moving in tandem with her body. He had surprisingly good rhythm although he was still rather stiff and uncertain, but he was slowly loosening up as the music and alcohol throbbed through his system.

Jane laughed a little at Justin's admission. "Awwwwwwhh! I wish he'd stop being such a douchebag. He's better than this." She shook her head, rolling her eyes at the thought of her best friend. He could be so sweet when he wanted to be. It was just a matter of getting him to want to be. The two had always been a little distant in school, back when Darren had held the title of her "best friend," but they were very close now that they'd been living together for months. Ryan had helped her through her breakup with Darren more than she'd ever expected him to and kept her laughing when she never thought she'd smile again. His Darren impression was spot-on and absolutely hilarious.

That was part of why she was rooting for Ryan's relationship with Justin, honestly. They were both such good friends of hers. Sure, she sometimes made fun of Justin a wee bit for being a Hufflepuff, but it was all in good fun. He was a great guy, and he definitely wasn't a sissy. He was just too nice. Jane felt that it was her obligation as his friend to try to toughen him up a little, but not too much as to ruin him. She just couldn't stand to see him let people push him around; even Ryan. And that was exactly why they were there, dirty dancing in the club. She knew that Ryan was going to be angry with her for being a "bad influence," but honestly she didn't care. It wasn't like she and Ryan never bickered. It was a pretty routine thing, actually. He'd forgive her. He always did.

But, it was important, in Jane's mind, for Justin to stand up to Ryan and let him know that their arrangement could lead to Justin seeing other people too. If he wanted to, which Jane was certain that he didn't. It wasn't as if Jane had any intention of letting Justin leave the club with anyone else, regardless. Someone needed to walk her home, and Justin was the only man for the job that night.

"Yeah, I know. Though you don't look very tough, if I can just be completely honest with you, sweetheart." Jane giggled a little bit, noting how lost he looked. She couldn't imagine he'd had much experience with girls before he realized he actually preferred men, and so she wasn't that surprised that he didn't really know what to do at first. He was getting better, though, and she was actually pretty impressed considering that it was Justin "patron saint of Hufflepuffs" Finch-Fletchley. Really, he was such a good guy. She was still impressed with herself for talking him into this.

"You're actually a better dancer than I expected, mate."

Perhaps she was a bit of a bad influence? I mean, despite her previous auror training and current Order of the Phoenix member status, Jane Lennon had not and still was not always on the straight-and-narrow. She'd started stealing at the age of eight, but had never really managed to get herself into much trouble over it. She'd gotten lucky. She knew plenty of other people in her neighborhood who had. Even currently, she had no qualm about scamming drunk men out of their wallets when she was running low on cash. Of course, Justin didn't know that much. Well... not unless Ryan had told him.

Justin turned a deep red, and his hand went from Jane's hips to cover the flush that was spreading across his cheeks. He kept swaying his hips in time with hers, and eventually his hands returned to their previous position. "He doesn't treat me badly," Justin protested. "I mean, I was the one to suggest our arrangement. I wish I was brave enough to just ask him to be my boyfriend and no one else's but I wasn't. He never would have said yes, anyway." Justin knew how Ryan liked to live his life. He just had to learn to be happy with the little piece of it he was allowed to share.

He turned Jane, wrapping his arms around her waist, bringing their bodies face to face and pressed together from their chests to their hips. Justin's face was a pretty tomato, but he was smiling just the same. It was hard to tell whether he was redder from the drinks or from the closeness of his friend. He pouted slightly. "I can look tough!" He protested, trying on what he thought was an intimidating scowl but really producing something along the lines of adorably confused. "I put on one of Ryan's leather jackets once and he told me I was the toughest little Hufflepuff he knew!" Justin was three sheets to the wind if he was talking so freely about what he and Ryan sometimes did behind closed doors. True, this was hardly x-rated stuff, but it was kind of private. Ryan wasn't really open about the fact that he was seeing guys, and Justin didn't really know how much Jane knew.

"You should see him in the morning," he sighed, eyes going all dreamy. "When his hair is all bed-messed and his face is soft because he's just barely waking up. He's so beautiful, Jane!" Poor Justin looked bewildered. "I think I'm falling for him..."

"Still, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you care about him. Then again..." Well, it was Ryan that they were talking about. He was the pretty Hadditch; not the smart one. Jane knew, first hand, what an insensitive prat her best friend could be. "He might! You're great! You never know. You should at least try."

When Justin spun her around, the blonde woman couldn't help but giggle a little. "Well, hello there." His face was beet red, and it was actually pretty adorable. His 'tough' face was even cuter, and she laughed out loud. "Awwwh! I'm sure you are." She could just picture Justin in one of Ryan's jackets.

When Justin started to talk more about Ryan, though, Jane started to feel a little awkward. She didn't know how to tell Justin that she had seen him in the morning and woken up next to him on more than one occasion. Of course, it wasn't for the same reasons why he would wake up next to Ryan. Though, if she were honest with herself, there was a short period of time when she did want to wake up next to her best friend for those reasons. She chalked it up to mere confusion on her part. Ryan would never. Regardless, deviance of that nature wouldn't have exactly been out of character for her..She knew, now, that it was an awful idea. Even if he did want to, which she was sure that he didn't, sex tended to change or even ruin things. She couldn't lose him. He was her rock; her safe place and she didn't want to ruin that. That and Darren would probably murder them: him first so that she had to watch.

Jane woke up next to Ryan on the mornings after nights when her mind terrorized her. She didn't want to tell Justin that she woke up screaming, sometimes, when memories from the war, and now the dome, would invade her dreams. She didn't want to tell him that she would get out of her bed, wake Ryan up, and proceed to crawl into his for comfort. She didn't want him to think that she was weak. She'd almost rather he think that they'd shagged, honestly. He didn't seem like he'd hit her; particularly since they most definitely had not.

"He's pretty, yeah." She smiled a little awkwardly. "You should tell him how you feel."

Justin smiled and laughed along with Jane. He knew he looked about as tough as fluffed pillows, but he was okay with that. He'd come to terms with himself and who he was a long time ago. The former Hufflepuff liked who he was, and his friends liked him too, usually. He knew he could be a lot to deal with, and his perpetually happy nature sometimes grated on people. If Justin thought about it, though, Ryan never seemed to get annoyed by it like a lot of other people did. The tough bad boy liked him as he was, as far as he could tell. Ryan never tried to change Justin or make him feel bad about being cheerful. Justin loved that about the slightly younger boy; he always felt accepted around him.

At Jane's suggestion, Justin just shook his head. "It won't go well. I can't see an outcome where Ryan doesn't just leave." The idea wasn't something Justin wanted, but Ryan had made no move to indicate he wished to take their relationship to someplace more serious. If anything, it seemed like Ryan was going out looking for other boys to entertain himself with increasing frequency. It hurt Justin to think of Ryan with someone else, but that was what Ryan wanted. The older boy just had to deal with it for as long as he could. Sometimes he wondered if there would come a point where something would break, and what he and Ryan had would become unsustainable. He worried that that time might be fast approaching. "He can get what he wants from anyone. There's no reason for him to want to commit to me."

He shook his head, giving Jane a wry smile. "Look at me. You took me out to get my mind off Ryan and I just can't stop talking about him." Justin gently took her hand. "C'mon. Let's get another drink. I want to see if I can just shut my brain off for a night."