Drinking With The Devil

[India Nightingale]

"I only bring pain. Don’t you see. Drake?
You can’t love me, and I don’t know how to love either."


Plot Name:
Drinking With The Devil


Starring:


Drake Manning S7 | India Nightingale S6


Featuring:


Brianna Bowman R7 | Josephine Bowman S5


Noah Bentley R7 | Ryann Taylor G6


Caleb Donnelly S7 | Seana Melling S7 | Cyrus Thorn S7


Skye Nightingale G7 | Duke | Madeline Nightingale


Plot Summary:

Does one's reputation define you? India Nightingale, a notorious sixth year Slytherin, doesn't think so, but that doesn't mean she doesn't hide behind it. She just lets the students gossip about her as they will; about her personality, about her history, about her life. It's none of their business, but somehow India finds it comforting because her real self can never be exposed to anyone else ever again.

Drake Manning, a fellow Slytherin in the year above, has an equally famous reputation, but for very different reasons. The only things that matter in life to him are the booze and the babes, and people simply naturally assume he is also one to steer clear of. However, like India there is so much more underneath Drake that no one has ever bothered to learn about.

But that is all about to change. Both Drake and India are outcasts; both are alone, and they think they are destined to be. One fateful day during the summer, the two Slytherins bump into one another in a muggle park and wind up at a bar at Drake's suggestion - India having only agreed because she needed an escape from life. But this seems to be the wrong move for her, as her first taste of alcohol leads to another, and then another, until India no longer has any control over what she is saying. This results in Drake learning much more about the girl aptly nicknamed the spawn of the Devil, and the two become bonded to one another through an act of human insecurity.

Meanwhile, Drake's family's plans threaten to undo his flirtatious ways, because he will have to settle down soon with a stranger. Drake has every right to be angry. Who is this girl? Drake isn't going to give his heart to anyone anytime soon - the arranged marriage bothers him, yet what reason does he have to say no to his parents?

Back at Hogwarts after the long summer, Drake meets Gryffindor Ryann Taylor and switches on his charm immediately. Ryann attaches herself to Drake, but it seems he has another 'stalker' of sorts, as India also keeps on bumping into Drake around school. She just can't get away from him. However, how will Ryann affect this picture? And when Cyrus Thorn begins to repeatedly enter India's life and the picture she is trying to build with Drake, how will he react?

Perhaps Drake and India will learn that people aren't meant to be so alone in life after all. And once bonds are made, it's difficult to let go of them.


Not Ready To Make Nice - Dixie Chicks



Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I’m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I’m still waiting

I’m through with doubt
There’s nothing left for me to figure out
I’ve paid a price
And I’ll keep paying

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should

I know you said
Can’t you just get over it
It turned my whole world around
And I kind of like it

I made my bed and I sleep like a baby
With no regrets and I don’t mind sayin’
It’s a sad sad story when a mother will teach her
Daughter that she ought to hate a perfect stranger
And how in the world can the words that I said
Send somebody so over the edge
That they’d write me a letter
Sayin’ that I better shut up and sing
Or my life will be over

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should

I’m not ready to make nice
I’m not ready to back down
I’m still mad as hell and
I don’t have time to go round and round and round
It’s too late to make it right
I probably wouldn’t if I could
‘Cause I’m mad as hell
Can’t bring myself to do what it is you think I should

What it is you think I should

Forgive, sounds good
Forget, I’m not sure I could
They say time heals everything
But I’m still waiting


Thanks go to Adam for making the lovely banner!

[India Nightingale]

Season 1: Breaking Black Ice


India Nightingale spent a lifetime despising herself. She forced herself to hate everything and everyone she touched, but she never imagined that one day someone would touch her and not hate her. Quite the contrary, Drake Manning is intrigued by India. A boy with nothing to lose and a penchant for women and alcohol, and a girl nicknamed The Ice Queen for her hate of people, are two very different individuals, but they share one thing in common: neither believe in love. Ironically, they discover it within each other. However, neither India or Drake are willing to accept these feelings - resulting in bringing in several more people in their battle for understanding and acceptance of each other and themselves.



Drowning The Darkness
Caleb Donnelly, meet India Nightingale.
India thinks trivial, Caleb thinks fascinating.
The clock strikes midnight...
It's only the beginning.
"Fair enough Nightingale, I will stop my suggestions…
just for you."


Never Gray
India Nightingale, meet Drake Manning.
He loves to drink, gets her drunk, takes her home...
and in the morning she wakes up next to him.
'Drake’s room disappeared into blurs of grey.'


Life's Little Quirks
Drake Manning, meet Brianna Bowman.
He wants her; she couldn't care less.
This'll end uglier than anyone will realise.
"So you think buttering up to me will let you get into my skirt?"


Just One More
Ryann Taylor, meet Drake Manning,
the boy who will crush your heart even though Noah,
your true love, lies behind the corner.
"Don’t worry, I’ll give her back when I’m done."


Sober
India Nightingale, meet Ryann Taylor,
Drake's new 'flavour of the week'.
India's not jealous. How can she be jealous over Drake,
who she just wants to forget?
"You promised, Drake."


Skye (letter)
Stubborn will meets stubborn will.
The darkness has its way.
'Don't be late.'


My Darling India (letter)
A tender moment for her.
A brewing plot for him.
And she's not even his target.
'You're the only thing I miss when I'm at Hogwarts.'


Skye (letter)
Stubborn will meets stubborn will for a second time.
And it's a triumph for blonde.
'Happy now?'


Give It Up
Black meets white.
India meets Skye.
She bears a message, but she bears more than that;
she bears a grudge.
"No, screw ‘I don’t appreciate’, and ‘I don’t like’, I HATE it!"


Seeing Green
India and Ryann mix some colours,
but all either sees is green;
green over Drake Manning.
"You will fall."


You've Got to be Kidding Me!
Drake Manning, meet Brianna Bowman...
your fiance.
"This is going to be good. This is going to be real good."


Predictable?
Drake and India try to catch each other out
in a game that is slowly consuming their hearts.
It's already too late for the fallen.
"I get bored easily, and you’re starting to bore me."


Round Two
Maybe Mr Manning isn't so intolerable as a husband after all,
Brianna begins to think.
But it's too late. Drake has his heart set on someone else.
"That's right, we are going to be married someday."


Regular Casanova
Drake + Ryann + India = A war of emotions.
Unfortunately for Drake, he loses two women in one night.
"Y-You can’t expect me to… feel the same way."


I Am My Father's Daughter
Brianna Bowman, meet the face of Death.
"Do you remember your promise?"


Sick and Tired
Drake has one last confrontation with Brianna
before her fate claims her.
"You're sorry? For which part Drake Manning?
For using me in your constant game? Or for the fact that I'm dying?"


Is It Snowing Yet?
Brianna leaves behind a distraught sister,
and Drake gets to say his own goodbye.
"Nothing can change me. Nothing can save me. But... you tried."


To Kill A Mockingbird
Welcome home, India Nightingale,
to misery and pain and a past of lies.
Everything becomes unveiled in a flash of flame.
In days India loses everything she believed in...
including her own identity.
"Just… follow it. Aim… And fire."

[India Nightingale]

Season 2: A Grey Lining in the Darkness


Back at Hogwarts for Season 2, India has forgotten Drake Manning, much to his chagrin. To appease his feelings for India, Drake accepts his engagement to Brianna, only to lose his wife-to-be to the deathly claws of cancer. India eventually confronts Drake about the past, and in a night of shouting and admissions, India regains her memories. With her recovered knowledge, she plans on rectifying all the wrongs in her life. However, fate has different plans, throwing Cyrus Thorn into her path and, perhaps, knocking her away from her chances of returning to Drake and saving him from the losing war raging within his mind.



Living in a House of Strangers
India and Skye Nightingale, meet your mother:
Madeline Nightingale.
Meet your new life... and your new home.
'If Skye could handle it then so could she.'


Into the Dark
Drake can't seem to forget,
but India never had the choice to.
"I don’t know who you are."


Fire Whiskey
Drake may have been forgotten,
but Caleb is still very much existing to India.
Maybe Drake has lost his chance... forever.
'If he thought he could control her and have her
do things his way, he was sorely mistaken.'


Memories, Return To Me
India's memories finally return,
but this only throws Drake's feelings into further turmoil.
'I used to think I only wanted to be dark and crap,
but I'm through being dark and crap; I'm through being the fool!'


Excuse Me.
Cyrus catches India red-handed in the boys' dorms
searching for something belonging to Drake,
and immediately takes it upon himself to make her life a misery.
“No; if we’re in a classroom, even if Manning is there-
especially if Manning is there- you show your affection for me.
And you’ll do it happily.”


Sweet Sacrifice
India sinks as low as she can to retrieve Drake's sketchbook from Cyrus' hands
and leaves before a frustrated Cyrus can let rip.
“Who would want an emaciated thing like you anyway?
Even for company, you’re nothing – no laughter, no joy, no life.
What can you give a man, India?”


Spill
Drake meets the beautiful Seana Melling in the Courtyard
and the two strike up a conversation in a language both are familiar with...
“How’s the mental case doing? Does she remember you yet?”


Choose
Drake tries to find his missing sketchbook and
India feigns innocence, attempting to block Drake out with her coldness,
but Cyrus just had to ruin it all.
'Damn the fact that he wasn't able to just keep walking.
Damn the fact that she had that control over him.
Damn India Nightingale in the first place for ever entering his life.'


Momentum
India tries one last time to tear Drake open,
but this time, she goes too far.
"I said look at me," she hissed,
too little venom and too much herself. "Coward."


Never Ready to Make Nice
Deja vu: one year ago.
but this time, will they make the right choices?
'Unlike him, she could keep her promises, she thought with vengeance
and a bitter taste in her mouth that wasn't entirely the alcohol.'


Coming soon...


India and Drake are a fingertip away from happiness,
but for these destructive individuals,
will there ever be a happy ever after?