I NEED TO GO OUT TONIGHT

[.Vivianne Catherine Flint !]

As a seventh year, Vivianne's number of classes had dropped from years before. She was now only taking classes that would be needed for the N.E.W.T.s she planned on taking at the end of the year. Because of this, her schedule had lightened in that but increased in the work for each class. So, with her seventh year course list, Vivi had the hour before lunch off to do whatever she pleased every day. Usually it consisted of reading or finishing homework or something boring to pass the time until she had to pretend through lunch. Now, in the past few weeks, something had changed rapidly. Her wasted hours used to be spent hiding away from attention and taking up time.

Now she searched for free hours in order to sneak away to meet with someone. Vivi didn't seem like the type to do such a thing. She was small and innocent looking, nothing like the girl who seemed to be sneaking off every other minute with their boyfriends. She looked like the type who kissed them on the cheek and maybe let them kiss her good night if they were polite. No one would suspect her of sneaking off to meet a boy during her free periods. It just didn't seem like the limited bit of Vivianne Flint that they knew. Never the less, she had dropped a note by his plate that morning with a faint blush that told him that she knew somewhere they could hide away for an hour or so. They could even skip lunch and take up two hours before they would have to return to class. She had dropped the note and moved along so that no one would suspect any tie between them. They weren't even supposed to know each other, let alone know each other the way they had begun too.

Vivianne blushed at the thought, even as she was walking down the corridor to meet him. At the sound of some voices, Vivianne ducked behind a curtain and prayed that Peeves or someone wouldn't find her hiding from some group of girls and getting dust buddies in her hair. They passed with a laugh and she could breathe again. Checking the corridors for anyone around, Vivi pushed herself off the wall and continued to the deserted hallway with a line of empty classrooms. She made sure all of the doors were closed so that their location wouldn't be too obvious and ducked into one that had not been used for some years. Vivi was sure that some in this hall had never been used for anything besides the couples who, like herself, went down there to get away from everyone else.

Once the door shut behind her, Vivi leaned her back against it and sighed in relief. No one had caught her on the way down, and Damien was used to sneaking around. He would be fine, she assured herself, even though he wasn't there yet to confirm it. Vivi sank to the floor so that she would be close to the door when he came. Any minute now, really, since classes had let out a little bit ago. Maybe he was held after class for something or had to meet with the headmaster or... she didn't know. She couldn't let herself think about something bad, though. Nothing could have happened to him. She would have known, wouldn't she? He was just a minute or so late. There was no need to get herself all worked up over nothing. Vivianne leaned her head back on the door and waited for Damien's knock.

[damien]

You could say many things about Damien and he wouldn't agree, but even he couldn't deny that he was intelligent--he was a Ravenclaw afterall, so that pretty much proved it. Just because he was smart didn't mean he liked every subject Hogwarts offered, after all, so after his O.W.L.'s he had dropped down to the main classes that he liked, meaning he didn't have to sit through boring lectures and get eaten by plants, and at the same time he found himself with free periods. Free periods that had, lately, been quite the enjoyment, even the highlight of his day.

Vivianne had dropped a note by him and walked quickly away, her cheeks taking on that attractive pink color that always sent a thrill through him, knowing that he wouldn't be spending this free period in the library trying to figure out ways to get near her. The note had been enough to leave him with a smile on his face for the rest of the day, something that was happening more and more because of him being suddenly in a relationship. A real one, with kissing and whispers and the truth of his spying and his father out in the open. When he had first started changing to being a bit more...happy, there had been questions from those around him. Today, they had barely bothered to ask him what he was so happy about.

It seemed as if his free period couldn't come fast enough, and he found himself practically jumping up and down in his seat, waiting for Professor Flitwick to let them out of class. They had been forced to stay a few extra minutes to turn in and get the new homework, even though the bell had rang before and everybody else had other places to go and things to do. Finally, finally, Dey had been able to grab his bag and push his way through the crowded hallways, disappearing into a secret stairwell so easily that nobody noticed his absense. He knew he was going to cut it close with meeting Vivi, but he didn't think he would be late--that was, until, Peeves had decided to show up.

It was bad enough going through school as the quiet nerd, when Slytherins picked on you for being dirty-blooded, and others picked on you because you always had your nose in a book. Nevermind that he was a spy and constantly snuck around, never having true friends anymore. But add onto that the fact that Peeves liked to pick on him, because he was usually silent and usually unruffled, and it was enough to make him want to hex your bloody head off. Peeves had cackled and grabbed his bag, sending it soaring down the staircase against a wall, and Damien had to run down and pick everything up, cursing fluently under his breath.

Having a girlfriend like Vivi was truly wonderful in his eyes, but she was a Slytherin and he was a Ravenclaw, she was pureblood and he was halfblood, and so being together out in the open just wasn't an option for her--as much as he hated it. They only got to see each other when they could sneak away, and sometimes it was only for a few moments, but today they had a chance to be together for an hour, maybe even two, alone in an unused classroom, and a stupid poltergeist was making him late and probably making Viv worry.

Five minutes later, Damien stopped in front of the door the note had indicated, panting, his face a bit red and his dark hair disheveled. He glanced at the watch on his left wrist and tried not to curse again, realizing that he was a good six minutes late to their meeting time. Closing his eyes briefly, he took a deep breath before knocking on the door and slowly pushing it open. Peering his head inside he saw Vivi moving away from the door and standing, and he slipped through the gap and closed the door, locking it and trying to give her a smile.

"Hello, love," he said, letting his bag drop off of his shoulder and wincing a bit at the crunching sound it made from the broken ink well that was inside. He stood awkwardly, slouching a bit, wondering if he was going to get in trouble for being late. "Sorry I took so long...Professor held us after and then Peeves found me...bloody nightmare. But I'm here now, yeah?" Mustering up a bigger smile, he reached out to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear, staring into her eyes and realizing that the anger was quickly melting away from his tensed shoulders.

[.Vivianne Catherine Flint !]

His knock got her out of whatever worried state she was in. Vivianne quickly struggled onto her feet and started to brush her skirt off from whatever could have collected from the unused floors. She touched her hair self consciously and ran her hands down her sides to smooth her clothing. There was probably something she was leaving unattended about her appearance, but she only had a few seconds before he cracked the door open and could see her trying to fix everything in the last second. She tugged on the bottom of her shirt nervously as he peaked in the door.

He was only a few minutes late, but it didn't mattered when she saw him peak through the door. She smiled at him and felt her feet attach to the floor. She couldn't move, really, when he looked at her like that. She was so vunerable when it came to him, even if he probably didn't even know what kind of a hold he had over her. No one else had ever made her feel this way, and it still felt like probably the greatest feeling in the world. It was probably better for her that he didn't know. Maybe he would use it far too much for his advantage.

"Hey," she whispered in response to his greeting. It felt like she hadn't seen him in ages when it had only been yesterday that she snuck off to meet with him for a few minutes before Potions. It really was crazy how much she missed him whenever she was in class or in her dorm or somewhere he couldn't be. She would think about him before going to bed or in the middle of class and not be able to answer the professor's question. Really, he was getting to her head, and she couldn't even deny it.

"You're here now," Vivianne repeated with a nod when his finger trailed over her cheek to brush back her hair. She shivered involunterily when the tingle of pleasure moved down her cheek. He had seemed stressed when he came in, but now it seemed to be disappearing from him. Besides, how lame would it be to waste all of their time together being mad at him? She wanted to do more fun, more important things than yell at him for letting his teacher keep him over for some paper. School did come first, she supposed.

Before saying anything else, Vivianne took the steps toward him that she needed to press herself against him. With a small push she backed him to the door and reached her arms around his neck. She pulled herself up and pressed her lips against his. Vivianne pulled herself closed and waited for the warm feeling of his arms around her. She hadn't seen him for too long in her mind, so it only made since to kiss him and let him know how much he'd been missed. Vivi pulled away with a lack of breath at first. "Hey again," she whispered as she rose to her toes and kissed him again.

[damien]

Opening the door and seeing Vivi was like a breath of fresh air, in Damien's opinion. The worries and stress of the day seemed a million times worse if he hadn't been able to see her in a while, to feel her hand pressed into his or taste her lips. What did it matter if they had been kept late in Charms, or that peeves broke most of the things in his bag, causing a mess that made him late? All he needed was to see that smile spread over her face, to hear her voice that sounded breathless and shy, and things were just better.

He hadn't missed the fact that she had tugged on her skirt, and the nervous way she had seemed made him guess that she had been fixing herself up, which both amused him and made him want to frown. How could she think he cared about if her skirt was a little dirty, or if her hair was the least bit out of place? She was always beautiful to him, and he did try and tell her that often, but she rarely agreed with him to make him shut up, let alone believed it. Without a command from his brain, Damien's dark eyes looked at Vivi's body, her slightly lopsided skirt, a smudge of dirt on her shirt, and the small flush of her cheeks, and he felt his body relax completely, a smile forming on his face. She was gorgeous, and he didn't know how she thought otherwise.

"Finally," he heard himself say, as he stepped into the room and his hand went up to brush her cheek and tuck away a piece of hair. The shudder that passed through her body made his breath catch for just a moment, the way it always did when she was around and he found himself touching his skin against hers. How long had it been since they had been together? While his brain said it had only been a day, because they had gotten together for about five minutes before their Potions, his body refused to believe it. He ached as if it had been days, weeks even--and he knew that it couldn't all because he was a hormonal seventeen year old. Just because he was hormonal didn't mean he would sit in the middle of class and zone out thinking about the way her eyes had looked over him the other day, causing him to miss an important page of notes on bezoars.

He was going to say something else, maybe ask her how the day had treated her. He didn't really know, because after a pause, Vivianne stepped forward and was suddenly pressed against him, causing his heart to jump. She gave him a little push and he backed into the door easily, his eyes closing as she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck and press her lips to his. His arms wrapped around her tightly, helping her to reach his lips, and he felt a warm flow take over his body that had nothing to do with the actual room temperature. When she pulled back from him he felt a stab of disappointment, and opened his eyes a bit grudgingly, catching his breath.

"Hi," he whispered back, and Damien was delighted when Vivi lifted up and kissed him once more. His arms lifted her up and he leaned back into the door more, supporting her as he moved his lips against hers for a few moments of sweet bliss. He knew that they she missed him, and he missed her (really, really badly), but he felt a bit odd to just snog and not even talk. He was a bit old fashioned like that. Besides, they had an hour, maybe even two. For now, they had time. So after a minute of mind numbing kissing, where he thought his legs might give out, and where one hand tangled into her hair, he pulled back breathingly heavily, and set her down on the ground gently. He didn't release her, though.

"You look lovely," he said to her honestly, his fingers runing through her hair gently as he kissed her forehead. A rather goofy grin had taken over his face as he looked down at her, one arm around her waist still, holding her close. "I've missed you...How has your day been?" He felt a bit of wanker asking such lame questions, but his mind wasn't functioning properly--probably the lack of blood in it. So he contented with sounding like an idiot as he moved his mouth to rest against her neck, one hand cupping her side and one hand stroking her hair.

[.Vivianne Catherine Flint !]

Her day seemed to just get better when he opened the door, and she could see him. She had barely had the time or chance to glance at him all day, so it was a relief to have the hour off so that she could meet with him for a little while. It would never seem like enough, but it would have to do for today. They were lucky to find an hour, and she had to take advantage of it when she could. It was unlikely that she would get the chance to be with him for this long again for awhile. This was enough to make her day, anyway. Any time with him had the ability to do that.

Vivianne blushed under his hand and at the tone in his voice. The shiver ran up her again, and she couldn't even try to control it. He did this to her without even knowing. It was only heightened since she felt like she hadn't seen him in so long. It was really only yesterday, but it might as well have been a week ago for how it felt. His hand fit over her cheek like he had never left, but her body was telling her to get closer. She hadn't felt like this since she talked to him last time. Her body wanted her to move toward him and press against him and remember one of the reasons that she loved being around him every moment that she could find. Had he missed her even half as much as she had missed him? Could he barely concentrate in class because he was thinking about her like she was thinking about him? She didn't know, and it bothered her. She did hope that he cared as much as she did, though.

She couldn't wait, though, not when he was finally here and so close that she could touch him. She had to do just that. He went back to the door without much effort on her part as she kissed him and pulled him down to meet her more. He responded just as eagerly, and she felt her heart thud against her chest more quickly. After a moment or so, she pulled away but not far from him. She had to catch her breath and make sure that they did talk like a couple was supposed to and not just snog because they had missed the feeling of it so much. As much as she wouldn't mind and would love to spend time doing something like that, they didn't have enough hours together to not talk in between kisses.

They greeted each other briefly, and she smiled up at him. She didn't waste any time before leaning up and kissing him again. It was just so different to see him there and know that he was close enough that she could kiss him without anyone knowing. He seemed to think that they needed to talk some in their hour, though, so he pulled away. Damien put her down again so that it would be harder to reach him if she tried to lean up and kiss him instead of letting it go and talking. They had time to spend talking, she told herself. She didn't have to let go of him and didn't have to give him to someone else during this time. She could hold his hand the whole time, even if they were talking about unrelated things. His hands stayed around her, and she felt warm from the touch. Did he know what he did to her with the simplest things?

Damien's hands moved through her hair as they seemed to like to when he kissed her forehead. She turned pink at the compliment, but she didn't try to deny it. It would only make him argue with her, and she had no interest in wasting her time like that. If he thought so, then he could think so and stand so close to her more often. "I missed you too," Vivianne whispered back as if it was some kind of secret that she could barely say out loud. "Mine was all right. Far better when you got here." His mouth moved down to her neck with a hand still in her hair. She tilted her head back when he rested against her neck, making her skin tingle where his lips touched her. Vivi arched closer to him, to get him to understand how much she loved this and what it meant for them. Did he feel the same way? She asked herself the question over and over again as if that would get her the answer she wanted. "How was your day?" she mumbled into the air. Vivi moved her hands to rest around him and keep him close to her all the while.

[damien]

It had been a month now, a whole month (well not exactly, but close enough) that he had been secretly dating a Slytherin girl whom in the past he thought to be just like any other pureblood--mean, annoying, prejudiced, and more talk than walk. It was true that Vivianne was a pureblood, with pureblood views, something that they had argued about more than once. Damien had realized, though, that while she had those views, they mostly seemed to stem from her family, and not views that she herself was a vehement believer on. In fact, if he didn't bring up the subject someway, she wouldn't either, almost as if she didn't really care. She was different than the others, especially because she was currently pushing him against a door, a halfblood who she shouldn't technically be wasting her time with.

After not being close to her, the two kisses that they shared were not nearly long enough for his taste, and the way Vivi pressed against him made him want to go on for hours, but the mature half of his brain broke it off so that they could talk like the couple they were. Of course, just because they were talking didn't mean that he couldn't be close to her; didn't mean he couldn't run his hand through her hair, feeling the soft strands slip through his fingers. Dey let out a silent sigh of contentment at the feeling of Viv in his arms, happy that he could lean over and kiss her forehead now if he wanted to (which he did), or her nose, or her cheek. They were together, alone, and they could do anything together for at least an hour. Not enough, but it would have to do.

At Vivi's pink cheeks, his goofy grin softed into more of a satisfied smile, which stayed on his lips when she said that her day was far better because he had gotten there. So he wasn't the only one, then, that found his day brightened by being around one another. Dey leaned forward to press his mouth against her neck and his lips curled into a small smirk, causing them to skate across her skin lightly. His smirk wavered, however, when she allowed him better access to her neck and arched into him, their bodies pressed up against each other as close as they could go. Swallowing a bit distractedly, Damien realized that she had asked him how his own day was going, although his mind seemed to want to focus more on how close they were, especially after she moved her hands.

"Peeves was annoying," he whispered, pulling his face back just enough so that he could talk without brushing his lips to her skin, although he usually wouldn't take such care to do that. He didn't want to distract her too bad, though. "I'll need new ink. And quills. But it was fine...I did miss a few notes on charms." He paused, leaning down to gently kiss her neck a few times, trailing upwards until he was level with her jaw. He planted a kiss into her hair and pulled his head back, smiling at her, his eyes bright. He knew that kissing her neck was a bit of a...weakness on her part (not that he was any different), but he didn't want to lead this straight back into snogging. They were talking right now--snogging could wait just a bit longer. "Too busy thinking of you. You're very distracting, even if you're not there."

Damien let out a soft laugh, glancing over Vivi's shoulder to the desks that sat in this unused classroom. He paused a moment, not wanting to move, but then reluctantly detached himself from Vivi, letting his hand fall from her hair and his his other arm fall from her waist. However, one of his large, calloused hands reached out to gently take one of Vivi's smoother, smaller set, tugging her along with a crooked smile to a desk near the window. He sat down onto it and scooted back a bit, before tugging Vivi onto it and in between his legs. He dropped her hand and let his arms wrap around her waist comfortably, burying his face into her hair and inhaling softly. After a moment of silence, he pulled his head back and rested his chin on the edge of her shoulder so that he could turn his head and look up at her easier.

"So...I was thinking in class," he said slowly, "while ignoring the teacher, mind you. Such a bad Ravenclaw, I know. But..." He hesitated, not wanting to make this sound accusing or anything negative. It had been in his mind for a while, though--a curiousity as to why he wasn't just dirt on her shoe. Instead of asking that, though, he thought he'd go for a more broad subject...but one that might be touchier than just asking her why he isn't filth to her. "You...know about the spying and all, and the scars from...my father."

Damien paused again, before pulling back and shifting Vivi around, until she was sitting on his lap sideways, one of his arms behind her back and one around her stomach now. His eyes met hers, his expression serious now. "But...I don't know a lot about you," he said softly. "Tell me about your family? You never...talk about them."

[.Vivianne Catherine Flint !]

Vivi lifted her head back to meet his eyes when he pulled away from her skin. Not even a few words were in, though, and he trailed more kisses along her neck and up to her jaw. She smiled slightly against them, although it seemed like he didn't want to go straight back into their snogging territory. He just wanted to show how close they were, what they could do here that was forbidden anywhere else in the castle. "You should pay attention more, Dey," she teased him lightly, with no note of seriousness in her voice. "More like your Ravenclaw status." She nodded and leaned up to kiss down his jaw line, just as he had started with her. "It's Slytherins like me who can get distracted in class. Today, it was mainly you doing it all." It was incredibly hard to pay attention to anything when he was going in and out of her mind all day. What did potions matter when he would be here, kissing her, later?

Then he dropped his hands and moved to tug her somewhere in the small classroom. She let herself be pulled along and onto a desk in the back of the room. With a giggle, she felt him wrap his arms around her securely and bury his face in her hair. She laughed again and leaned back against him for more of her own comfort. He felt warm against her in the chilly air of the castle. Her common room was in the dudgeon, after all, so it took a lot to make her feel so warm at this time of day. She always seemed cold since the chilly air seemed to go right through her. Sitting here with him made her feel warmer, inside and out, than she had in a long time. His head moved again, this time to her shoulder, and let him talk to her more easily. Vivi turned her head to face him so that their foreheads and noses brushed.

"You're so bad, Dey." Her voice had a slight sing-song quality to her when she closed her eyes and leaned their foreheads together. She was still in a warm, happy state that couldn't be broken by much. She was barely listening to what he was saying, and rather listening to his tone and how he formed the words. It seemed like the best thing in to world to just sit there and listen to him talk with their bodies touching in a few places. It wasn't until he mentioned scars, that anything changed in the hazed state of her thoughts. What was he asking her about now? Hadn't they just been happy?

Then he turned her in his arms so that she was looking right up at him. His eyes had turned from the joking warmth that she was used to with something more serious and somber. Then he asked something she had been careful avoiding in the time that they had been together - talking about her family and herself. They talked about him since his conditions seemed to effect them both more quickly than anything else. His agency wouldn't approve of anything they were doing, surely. She had been skillfully moving around talking about her. "They... er," she began, turning her head to look away from him and across the room. She snuggled into his chest and looked elsewhere.

"There's me and Mother and Father, of course, and Meg. We, um..." What was she supposed to say? Most of the things she knew would upset him. She didn't want to spend their time angry with one another. She didn't want him to be angry at her for the way her family was and the bad answers she had to everything he would ask. "You know, we should talk about something else. We only have an hour or so..." Vivi turned back to him and looked up at his face. "Shouldn't waste it." She moved up and kissed him rather than thinking of anything to say about her family.

[damien]

As Vivi teased him, he lips pressing against his jaw line, Damien felt the smile on his face grow, a pleasant little shudder running through his body. At her reminder that him paying attention was more of a Ravenclaw thing, and that Slytherins would be more likely to not pay attention, he let out a low laugh, shaking his head a little bit. "Right, how silly of me," he said, his voice amused. "Just don't let me distract you too much, Vivi. I wouldn't want to be responsible for your grades dropping, or anything." This last sentence had a touch more seriousness in it--he didn't want to be the cause of her getting into trouble, or anything. Of course, them just being together could be a cause of trouble, but he tried not to think about that.

To distract himself, he set off to a back desk, the smile staying on his face as Vivi giggled. As soon as they were both comfortable, his arms around her and her leaning back against him, he felt a sigh of contentment escape his lips. He felt a warmness settle over him like it always did when they were together, which only intensified when Vivi shifted so that their noses and were brushing, their foreheads pressed together. The way she spoke, when calling him bad, made his lips quirk up, although after a moment his face took on a more serious expression to go with his more serious thoughts. Still, that didn't mean he was unhappy--on the contrary, he felt very happy, watching Vivi look relaxed in his arms, a smile on her own lips. As he hesitated, he heard her cheerful voice play over and over in his head, which made it harder for him to continue with what he had in mind to ask.

Dey knew that the mention of his scars and his father would clue Vivi in about what kind of things he was thinking of, so it didn't surprise him when her expression became more serious too. When he got her situated into the new position, so that he could see her and talk to her better, he saw her eyes peering up at him and it made him swallow, not liking that he was ruining the playful atmosphere. This had been bugging him, though, and as a Ravenclaw he knew the thoughts wouldn't go away. So he asked what had been on his mind, hoping that he wasn't digging himself a grave.

The way she looked away when she spoke made him bite his lip, half regretting asking this question. He was very curious, though, he wouldn't lie. He felt a bit better when she snuggled into his chest, and not too long after she spoke. However, all she did was name who was in her family, and when she trailed off again one of Damien's eyebrows rose just a bit. He didn't say anything, though, because she was already talking, saying that they should talking about something else. Both his eyebrows raised at this point, but before he could say anything to her she was saying they shouldn't waste their time together, and kissing him.

He wouldn't admit it to Vivi (even though he thought she might know already), but any kiss she gave him was distracting. They could be fighting, and she could kiss him, and they might stop fighting and even forget what was the start of the fight in the first place. Damien knew she had him wrapped around her finger, but he was afraid to tell her this--not because he thought she might use it to her advantage (much), but more because he was embarassed that it wasn't the same way for her. So when she kissed him he found his dark eyes shutting, and his lips moving against hers in a few moments of sweet bliss.

However, his mind kicked back in after a moment, and he pulled his head back, breathing a bit quicker as his eyes opened once more. He reached up with one hand to push back a bit of Vivianne's hair. "Viv..." he said. "I...I want to know about your family. You don't have to...you don't have to hide anything from me." A grim smile lifted one half of his mouth. "I'm a Ravenclaw. I know that you're a pureblood. And I know my fair share about purebloods." He paused, and then let out a small sigh. "Like the fact that your mother, father, and sister would hate me. And that I should be nothing more than dirt on your shoe."

[.Vivianne Catherine Flint !]

Vivianne would have perferred to cuddle into his chest and not think about what her family would say about them. Her mother would be silently disgusted, she was sure. She would want someone she thought was better and more worthy for her daughter. She would want someone who could easily provide for her and give her the assurance of a bunch of pureblooded grandchildren. Damien was not the type of boy that she would ever match with her daughter. Mother would probably be the best reaction, though, because she was the most predictable and would care too much about her image to do anything rash. Father would be another story.

Father would be angry. He wouldn't worry about letting his opinion be known. He wouldn't like Damien one bit, and he wouldn't like that she had thought that she could do something like this without his permisson. All relationships were supposed to go through him since he would decide who she married later. He would think the worse and not be afraid of doing whatever he thought was needed to keep her from being with Damien any longer. She couldn't tell him all of that, though, even if he thought that he wanted to know. Vivianne couldn't tell him how her parents would feel. He deserved much better than her, anyway, so she didn't want him to know. He would realize just how much easier it would be if he didn't try to stay with her.

Vivianne shook her head against his hand at her cheek. He just didn't realize that he really wouldn't want to know what everyone around her would think of him. She couldn't tell him. "Dey," she answered as she shook her head and heard her voice crack slightly. "My sister's a Death Eater." Didn't that tell him enough? Didn't it say what she was giving up by being with him? She would be labelled a blood traitor, and not worth anything in their minds. He didn't know everything that went on in a pureblood world. No one did until they were part of it. Even she was surprised at what the people around her could do with a clean conscious, and she had lived among them since her birth.

"And don't say that to yourself," Vivi repeated for perhaps the dozenth time to him. "Soon you'll believe it. And it's not true. You're much more than anything on my shoe." Vivianne lifted herself in his lap so that their noses were brushing again. She put a hand behind his head on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. "I promise." She wasn't sure that she could get him to understand, but she could at least try.

[damien]

Sometimes Damien really wondered if Ravenclaw was the best choice for his house. Sure, he was book smart, usually rather intelligent, the one thing that he couldn't deny about himself. Sometimes, though, he was really naive, and bordering on stupid. He didn't even think this to put himself down--it was because sometimes he skated over the obvious, or didn't even think that a person could be so bad, or didn't understand why somebody would say the things they did. Even with a father like his own, who had shown from his birth that sometimes people were just mean, Damien liked to try and find the best in people. Maybe that was why, when Vivi continued to not want to talk about her family, he couldn't figure out what could be so bad that he hadn't really heard before.

That was, until, she told him what her sister was. Suddenly, it made sense, why she never wanted to talk about the family. Her family wasn't just those purebloods who hated guys like him. Her family was those purebloods that wanted to kill guys like him. Were her mother and father the same way? Would her family finding out about him make him a target in this war immediately? Why hadn't the possibility of somebody in her family being a Death Eater cross his mind?

"O-oh," he said, and hated the fact that his eyes widened, giving him a surprised look. Dey took a deep breath, averting his eyes for a moment, trying to collect himself, so that his calm mask took over once more. He kept his eyes trained on his lap, his mind mulling over what this meant. So she was raised to hate, maybe even want to kill, guys like him? He was supposed to be dirt to her, something that wasn't allowed to look at her out of the corner of his eyes. He was to be avoided, despised, made fun of. Yet she was here, with him, in his arms. He hated when things didn't make sense.

When Vivi spoke, Damien lifted his eyes up to meet hers again. What she said was something they had been over a thousand times, but each time he found it hard to...comprehend. She should hate him, really she should. She should be off with one of those Slytherin guys, who could buy the world for her, make her father proud, charm her mother and make the big sis happy for the little sis. She shouldn't want a guy who would only make her life complicated--because that's all he would do for her. He was tearing her away from a life she had grown up in, and was risking her whole social status. She was with him, and she was risking everything, and sometimes he just didn't think he was enough.

When Viv's nose brushed his he swallowed, and felt her hand on his neck, tugging him down so that they were as close as could be without kissing. He believed her, when she said that he wasn't dirt on her shoe. He believed her when she said it wasn't true--honestly, he did. But he feared it wouldn't last, that one day she would turn out like any other pureblood, believe in what she had been raised to believe, and no longer think things like that. He was afraid he would lose her, because of him being a mere halfblood.

"Look, I'm not saying that to-to put myself down, or anything," he said softly, dark eyes closing as his lips brushed against hers. He took a deep breath, letting it out through his nose as his hand dropped from her face to her waist again, hugging her closer. "But I mean...your sister's a Death Eater. That just confirms that you should think I'm nothing more than dirt on your shoe. You shouldn't look twice at me, yeah? But you do."

Opening his eyes, Damien pulled back his face a little bit, hard pressed not to let out a frustrated sigh. His hope to hold a calm mask in her presense wasn't working out too well--his face showed frustration, and maybe even a little fear. "I'm a Ravenclaw, so things usually need to make sense for me. But this? Me liking you, you liking me..." Damien let out a humorless laugh. "It doesn't make any sense, does it? We run different circles. I'm sure you were raised to hate guys like me, and your sister would...well, I'll be honest, she would want me dead, or at least restrained somewhere. Yet here you are, giving more more than the time of day. And it's...sort of scary."

"And now I'm rambling completely off the topic of your family, which is the thing we were talking about in the first place," Damien said after a pause, one corner of his mouth lifting. "You know...you know that your sister being a Death Eater, or your family hating the mere thought of a guy like me, doesn't change how I feel about you. Right?"