Worse than hell (Willow and Jamie)

Jamie stood over the dying man with a frown,

"Oh come on man... you're on a date with your girlfriend, how bad could it be?" he asked as he knelt down and inspected the self-inflicted cuts on the man's wrists, "And you even tried to make it faster... dude your girl friend's hot! What are you running away from?"

Shaking his head he clicked his fingers to turn the toilet into a portal into the dark torturous abyss of hell. He shrugged a little and flung the limp teenager into the gash in reality before clapping his hands together,

"That's the end of that!" he chuckled, "I wonder if the tea here is nice?"

Upon opening the door he was almost physically hit by the sheer volume of pink that the room before him was decorated in. He shuddered a little,

"Okay..." he turned back to where the man had been swallowed up for commiting suicide, "I'm on the same wave length as you now man."

Deciding to take a gamble he walked over to the only free table and ordered a small tea. The tea had to be good.

Willow was sat at a table on her own, she had been told by Gervais to wait for him here but it had been a whole hour now and he still hadn't showed bowing her head slowly Willow fought the urge to cry after everything he'd done to her the least that he could have done was to show up.

Her head jerked up, curls of brown hair bouncing as it did so and she looked on with interest as a man appeared out if the toilets and took a seat on his own. Willow wondered why anyone would be here on their own was he stood up too?

Looking over at him and debating whether she should go over and say hello, thinking that she would Willow got up quietly and shuffled over to him. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear she smiled warmly and asked in her thick Russian accent:

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

Jamie smiled pleasantly up at the woman as she approached him,

"Not at all. Here... let me get that for you." he offered politely, standing up to pull her chair out for her. He was in life-time servitude to the devil but that didn't mean he'd forgotten the manners that his parents had drilled into him as a pure-blood. He smiled brightly as he took his own seat, "Would you like tea or coffee? I've heard good things about both from this place actually."

He waved over a waitress, who smiled prettily at him,

"What can I get you?" she asked, a notepad and pencil floating out magically in front of her. Jamie smiled back,

"I'll have a cup of coffee please. Just a regular filter coffee please." he ordered politely before gesturing to Willow, "And for the lady..."

Willow instantly became comfortable once more, the man seemed really friendly and it put her at ease, she blushed a little as he pulled out the chair for her and she sat down on it gracefully. Looking up at the waitress Willow grinned brightly and thought about what she would like.

"May I have an orange juice please?"

"Yes of course ma'am, is that all?"

"Oh! And a muffin please!"

Willow added with yet another smile. Willow clasped get hands in front of her and titled her head to look carefully at the man she was sat opposite eyes widening as she realised she hadnt introduced herself Williw held her hand out for him to shake.

"I'm Willow, Willow Hartman."

Jamies smiled brightly again as he took her hand in one of his own before bending down to kiss the back of it lightly,

"A pleasure to meet you Willow Hartman." he greeted her with a smile before bowing his head formally, "My name is Jamie Curtail."

Letting go of her hand, with a lingering touch, he lent back in his seat slightly,

"So what brings you to this spot Willow?"

Willow blushed deeply when he kissed her hand and she played with a ringlet if her hair to try and calm herself down, smiling widely at him she made a note of his name, she remembered everyone she met. Willows smile faltered as she thought about being stood up.

"My friend was supposed to meet me here, I think it was to apologise but he likes to mess me around so he's probably not turned up on purpose."

Trying to smile once more Willow tried to banish thoughts of Gervais from her head, she didn't want to think about him.

"Why are YOU here Jamie? Doesn't look like a guy scene to me, a little too pink."

Noting her blush with a small internal cheer at knowing that he could still charm regular women and not just succubus, Jamie's smile faltered a little bit when she mentioned being stood up,

"Really?" he frowned a little, "That sounds like he's not much of a friend at all..."

He covered one of her hands with his,

"If it were me I would have made sure to be here for you when you wanted me." he smiled faintly, "It would be the least I could do to say I was sorry."

At the change of topic he chuckled a little bit as the mood lightened but he didn't take his hand off of hers, just lifted it slightly so that it couldn't be felt as consticting,

"Yeah... the pink is a bit intense." he glanced over at the bathroom for a split second, "I came here to collect a friend. He sent me a message that he wanted to ditch his girlfriend here. It took me awhile but I eventually talked him out of it."

Willow blushed again as he placed his hands on her own she wanted to return the touch but her heart sped up what if Gervais walked in and saw them? Jamie would get hurt...so would she but Willow didn't care about herself. She could deal with it.

"Oh no! Maybe this is the venue for break ups, the decoration is enough to make one commit oneself."

She joked lightly and decided that she would entwine her fingers with Jamies, Willow linked them softly not being to constrictive.

"That's sweet Jamie, but he's not like that, I don't even know if he's my friend anymore I don't know what we are to each other. But in sure I'll figure it out!"

She added with a grin and a forceful tone. As an angel flew past and dumped a bucketload of confetti all over her hair she giggled and picked a heart shape from her curls.

Jamie chuckled a little, more at the irony of the statement than anything else,

"Well there is always that..." he smirked a little before raising an eyebrow, "Bit extreme just to break free of the pink though isn't it? Besides..."

He stroked her hand with his thumb,

"This place isn't so bad if you have the right company." he told her with a shy little smile. Sighing a little he smiled a little bit sadly, "I hope you can find a happy balance, whatever the two of you decide."

Just as he looked up at the angel the waitress came back with a tray, their order on it. She smiled prettily down at the two of them,

"Here's your order." she told them brightly as she watched Jamie struggling to get some of the confetti out of his hair. She giggled, "First time here is it?"

Jamie smiled a little,

"How could you tell?" he chuckled and squeezed Willow's hand lightly, "But it's got it's high points."

Willow grinned lightly and squeezed his hand a little tighter within her own, she was happy here, happy with Jamie much more than she had been in a long time. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear again trying to distract herself from her blush that only deepened when Jamie talked to the waitress.

"That muffin looks great!"

She declared grabbing it and licking some of the icing from the top unbeknownst to her getting some on her nose as she ate the top of the muffin gently, licking away more of the icing.

"So, do you have any hobbies Jamie?"

Willow asked looking up cutely with wide eyes through her wild frame if brown curls.

Jamie chuckled a little before taking a finger and wiping the little bit of icing off of Willow's nose, eating it himself. He grinned,

"You're right..." he licked his lips, "The muffin is great!"

He sat back slightly, still holding her hand while he idly traced patterns on the back of it with his thumb,

"Hobbies huh?" he asked as he looked up at the ceiling as he thought. Should he be honest and go with his real hobbies? They weren't too weird so he decided to take the risk. He smiled at her again, "I've dabbled into the Occult quite often, it fascinates me as a subject of research. Also I've begun to ride muggle bicycles a lot more now, they're a really fun way to get around. Of course I also fly occassionaly but that's more for work than anything else."

He squeezed her hand lightly, hoping that she wouldn't jump away from him for his interest in the occult,

"What about you Willow?"

Willow listened carefully to him when he told her what he was interested in, she had never thought much about the occult but it wasnt a problem for her, in fact she found it really interesting. Pricking her ears up at the word flying Willow smiled a large happy smile showing her White teeth.

"The occult? Like what kind of stuff? Forgive me... I'm rather ignorant of that sort of area."

Smiling once more Willow returned the squeeze on her hand to Jamie and she brought her other hand up from her lap and encased his hand with her other one too.

"Me? Well I love flying! That is my one passion besides me playing the guitar on the side on a band, I own a flying shop actually. I moved here from Russia with the intent to teach flying at Hogwarts but the position was filled. Sadly."

Jamie smiled a little more, for not being judged for his genuine interests,

"The occult is a lot of things..." his smile fell a little, "Most people think it's evil though because it involves looking at Satan and bad omens more closely. To get a fuller picture of the Divine struggle."

He shook his head a little before grinning,

"Flying huh?" he chuckled, "Well at the rate Hogwarts replaces it's staff you just might have the position before long. Oh but that's a terrible thing to wish upon the person who has the position now I guess."

Smiling a little more he took a sip of his coffee. His smile brightened,

"They were right... that's good coffee." he announced before chuckingly a little, "So what do you do now that the position has been filled?"

Willow nodded very interested on the occult subject, it sounded really interesting and she wondered if she should pick up done books on it or something. She pulled apart the muffin and placed a peice in her mouth before ripping off another peice and handing it to Jamie.

"It sounds really interesting, honestly it does, how did you become interested in the occult?"

Sipping at her orange juice Willow smiled again but a little sadder this time, she had no idea what she wad going to do now especially if her shop doesn't take off soon.

"I own a small flying shop in Hogsmeade, it's nor generating much now but it will!" Willow grinned optimistically "My gigs give me some money too... What do you work as?"

She asked playing with Jamies fingertips.

His smile faltered a little bit,

"Well I lost my parents... to a person who took it to an extreme." he closed his eyes tightly, "It put it in my mind to be sure. But after awhile... I realised that it was the man that took my parents, not his hobbies."

He smiled brightly,

"A flying shop in Hogsmeade huh?" he nodded, "A good idea Willow. That way students who forgot to get a good broom for quidditch that year can buy on the weekends. Not to mention get broom-care kits to keep them in top shape. Good business idea."

Taking another sip of his coffee he frowned a little,

"I'm sort of..." he paused for a second. Perhaps this was not something to be honest about. Willow seemed like a really nice girl and he didn't want to scare her. So he went with one of the many things he did to suppliment his income, "I'm a rare book seller. I buy from private collectors who are trimming their collections and sell to other private collectors who are willing to pay more. Not surprisingly my expertise is in books on the occult."

Willow was familiar with the faultering smile she mow knew that parents were not a topic to talk about, Willow herself hadn't had a very good childhood but she hadn't let that effect her and she was ready to talk about it. Sipping her juice again she nodded and took in the information , her eyes widened as Jamie mentioned books, rare books at that. Another thing she loved.

"Wow, you sound like you live a really interesting life Jamie, I might check out some books on the occult, which ones would you recommend? That is if you want to! You don't have to tell me."

Willow waved her hands frantically in the air as if to say that it was alright if it was a private sort of thing. She titled her head and giggled lightly she was just happy to get away from her loneliness for a while. Moving her hands back to the table she slid it back into Jamies hands.

Jamie smiled appreciatively when she dropped the subject of his parents. He gave her hand a light squeeze again as he went back to tracing idle patterns on the back of her hand with his thumb. He chuckled,

"Well I have gotten into quite a few exciting situations." he agree with a secret smile, "Of course sometimes it's better to have a normal life."

He chuckled and held one of her hands in both of his. He looked into her eyes with a smile,

"If you want to know..." he thought for a moment before deciding, "Well there's a book that kinda like a beginners' guide. It eases you into the point of the occult, to look at both sides. So I'll see if I can get you a copy of the Book of Judas."

Willow grinned and smiled widely at Jamie and nearly hugged him, it was so nice of him to try and get her one of the copies of that book, she of course would have to pay him there would be no question.

"Really? That's great. How much will it be, because, I'll need to pay you! And for the trouble of you getting it for me...I...I don't have much money right now but I will pay you I promise!"

She waved her hands in the air while she tried to explain herself, she really didn't have a lot of money, the move and setting up the shop had left her rather broke and of course Gervais had leant what was left of it to gamble.

"It's not...dangerous is it? Because, I don't know if I'd be able to cope with it."

Willow smiled and took off her army jacket draping it over the back of her chair, but she regretted it immediately, the bruises from Gervais' hands last night were still there on her arms and her hand flew to cover them and she blushed wildly.

Jamie smiled a little, stroking her hand reassuringly,

"Relax Willow... I'm the last member of a very old Pure-blood line. I do this job as more of an extended hobbie than anything else. That being said..." he paused for a moment, smiling faintly, "I still need some form of payment. And I think I know just what."

He smiled a little more, the smile taking on a nervous quality,

"How about we go out sometime?" he smiled a little more, "I can take you to dinner."

Shaking his head he gave her hands another gentle squeeze,

"No it's not dangerous." he thought about how best to describe it, "It's basically a part of the 'Bible' that was removed. Mainly because Judas betrayed Jesus in the end but it still holds much wisdom despite the last dark act of the man who inspired it. Totally non-magical and completely harmless."

His eyes widdened before narrowing as he noticed the bruises on her arms. Forcing himself to try and remain calm he gave a very forced smile before taking a sip of his coffee,

"Walk into a door or something Willow?" he asked tightly, seriously contemplating dragging the man who did it straight to Satan himself.

Willow blushed deeply and grinned happily at Jamie leaning over and kissing his cheek lightly. Feeling giddy with happiness she nodded her hair, brown curls bouncing up and down as she did so.

"I would love to go out with you sometime Jamie...t-thank you for asking me."

She thought that nothing could bring her down from her good mood but she would be wrong, Willow gaped at Jamie and bit her lip looking down at her knees. Great now he was mad at her. She could see it in the way he narrowed his eyes.

"N-n-no... It's a long story...he...well, it was an accident!"

Willow cried out placing her head in her hands and trying to calm down a little bit, the memories of last night flooding through her head.

"If you want to know...I'll tell you." she whispered

Jamie grinned widely as she accepted his 'price'. Now very happy, he moved his chair closer to her to give her a brief one-armed hug,

"Great!" he exclaimed excitedly, "I'll pick you up at six tomorrow. We'll meet in here. Is that alright with you?"

He swallowed a little hard. Looking at the bright bruises on her pale skin made him want to kill the person responsible. It was part of his job to take down the most destestible people in the world after all. He shook his head and gestured at the bruises,

"It was an accident?" he closed his eyes tightly before asking, in a very small voice, "Tell me Willow... how many 'accidents' have their been since you started seeing him?"

Willows heart pounded in her chest as she felt his arm around her, she even flinched a little half expecting a slap but she grinned and rested her head on his shoulder as Jamie hugged her.

"That's great! I'll look forward to it Jamie...we go Dutch right?"

She frowned a little wondering where she was going to conjure that money up from. Swiftly Willow deadpanned and her hand reached up to her light scar down the left hand side of her face, softly she whispered:

"I can't remember...a lot. But he doesn't mean to... Gervais just has a temper! He, well he's my ex and he won't leave me alone, he keep showing up borrowing stuff, money mostly and he just, gets a little angry..."

Willow sniffed lightly.

Jamie shook his head a little and hugged her lightly again as he stroked the back of her hand,

"Oh no Willow..." he smiled a little more, "I'm paying for it. It's my way of saying thank you for choosing to buy a book from me. And for agreeing to come with me."

He nodded, very quiet for awhile. After a few seconds he shrugged a little,

"If you'll let me I can put up a ward focused just on him." he looked away, "Nothing bad, one that will just make him turn around and forget why he came."

"You would do that? For me?"

Willow sniffed lightly and grinned at Jamie placing another kiss onto his cheek, Willow didn't even notice the shop door open and close quietly like she would have done. She was just happy that she might finally be rid of Gervais. At least from her house. Taking another sip of her orange juice Willow snuggled into Jamies chest.

"What are you doing?"

A cold yet familiar voice filled her ears and Willow froze where she sat...it was him. Before she knew it there was a firm grip on her hair and she was ragged away from Jamie. Crying out in pain Willow tried to get her hair out if his hands but Gervais only tightened his grip and tugged her out of the shop.

Gazing up into his face his dark eyes burnt out at her, he smelt like cheap perfume and Willow saw that his normal slicked back hair was ruffled. So that's where he'd been all this time...

"Gervais! Let go ow!"

"Selling yourself around are you? You whore. " he sneered darkly

"No it's not like that, ow you're hurting me!" Willow cried "Please let go!"

"This was supposed to be a date with me! And you're ogling another guy? Cheap tart."

He smiled warmly,

"For you Willow?" he shook his head, "I'm beginning to think I'd do just about anything for you."

He smiled softly as she snuggled into his chest. It felt a lot better than when any other woman had done it, usually after sex. He wondered idly why that was but put it out of his mind for now. He froze up when the man dragged her out of the shop, his rage immolilizing him temporarily. Briskly, with careful and precise movements, he strode out of the shop to where the man was holding Willow by her hair. He grabbed hold of his wrist and locked eyes with him,

"Burn." he said simply as the man's skin began to blister and burn where he was holding his wrist. As soon as the man let go of Willow's hair, Jamie kicked him hard in the groin, sending him sprawling to the ground. He glanced briefly at Willow to see if she was okay. He saw the tears the pain had caused her and felt a warm sensation run up his arm as he contemplated very dark thoughts. With the silent approval of the Devil spurring him on, Jamie knelt down beside the downed man and punched him once, breaking his nose, when the man tried to sit up. Very calmly he grabbed hold of the man's throat with one hand and slowly began to squeeze. The man panicked and tried to pry his hand off but it continued to apply pressure. Then Jamie did something that Satan didn't like one bit. He gave the man a chance to live,

"Listen to me. You are going to leave Willow alone." he narrowed his eyes, "If I find you have violated this agreement then I will hunt you down and kill you. Blink twice if you agree and you may be allowed to run as far away as you possibly can. If you do not accept this deal I will kill you now. Choose."