Another chance (Lorana [img]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q83/kaptain_kassy/heart_bounce.gif[/img])

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

It was one of those days where Ivan was feeling like a million dollars as he stretched out on the mattress that he had laid out to pass out on. Looking around the dorm he was in, and merely looked at James Potter as he merely looked rather messed up. Funny how you could forget one fun night and not even know who was still sober for most of the night. Sure, Ivan, had actually hit it off with a few girls, but he had his eyes set on one that had caught his attention from the start. Ever since year one, he always had a slight crush on her, however, considered himself more or less a best friend with her now. Sharing candy was a pretty common thing between them now, and Lorana surely felt the same about him. Having admitted his feelings for her a while back, but was met with an awkward answer.

Ivan wasn't sure he was ready to commit himself to someone who was iffy about their feelings on the first day he confessed to her. Sure, over the past two weeks he had been fretting what she might say to change her mind or if he was going to be accepted just for who he was. Luckily, his disheveled hair was in disarray, however, that's what made Ivan him. Looking towards the ceiling of his bunk, and then kicked the top one to nudge one of the other Gryffindor boys awake. Just to make sure they were all awake to start the day out, and then ran his hands through his trunk to find a plain white muscle shirt. Sliding his pajama bottoms off, and then tugging on some black jeans that looked slightly baggy on his figure.

This was all after he had showered, and done his morning routine of course, and there was enough room for him to actually practice a little wand magic too. After the morning cleanliness was out of the way he started to keep his own mind on his own thoughts now as he soon did a few push-ups. A few of the students asked him what he was doing in the common room as he managed to find some black socks to wear with his sneakers he chose for the day. It was a usual weekend in the middle of summer, and it was going to be hot outside so he just left the muscle shirt on leaving most of his upper half bare. The brown eyes scanning the room for his certain soul-mate or so he saw her, although this was more or less just a crush of his he was hoping to reveal his true feelings to.

The revealing of his feelings last week had been just saying that he "liked her," not that he was, "incredibly in love with her and wanted her bad," so now here was his chance since it was just him alone after everyone else had vacated the premises to go eat their usual morning meal. "Hey, Lorana, looking beautiful as always, I have something I need to tell you, I'm sorry about what I asked a couple weeks ago, but you did leave me kind of hanging there," he said to her, smirking softly in return as he tossed her a bag of Berty Bott's Every Flavored Beans.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Mornings were somewhat forced for the ever-present chipper young girl. Lori had this need to bring the sunshine to her dorm mates’ mornings, which wasn’t always appreciated the way that she felt it should have been. That happened to be the case that morning as she brightly greeting the girls, jumping out of her bed to hurriedly make her way over to the curtains which Lorana threw open unceremoniously to let the rays of light beam through and shine onto the slumbering figures of the dorm mates. Hearing the groans and creaking of the bed as covers were raised over heads she simply smiled at the lumpy figures cloaked in bed sheets. How could they be wasting away the day in bed when it was so beautiful out?

Waving away the curiosity Lori went about her business dressing in a floral blouse and a jeans skirt, a pair of ballet flats adorning her feet as she danced around the room flitting from one side to the other in her morning ritual. Running the brush through her hair to make it extra glossy the other girls sluggishly began to stir filling the room with their complaints. It was too bright, who turned up the heat, where did you put my heels, all of which Lorana was blissfully ignoring. She was the first to head down into the common room needing to finish up a last bit of homework that she had been too tired to get to the night before.

Taking up place at one of the small tables in the back Lori obliged one of the younger students that she was acquainted with making idle chatter while she slaved away at the Arthimancy homework that had been assigned. Laughing at the joke the little boy told Lorana finally had to shoo him away, good-naturedly scolding him for distracting her. It was breakfast time anyway so there were no hurt feelings. Once her distraction had left she finished up in a jiffy and was packing up just as everyone was heading out leaving her, unknowingly until he spoke, alone with Ivan.

She had left him with too vague of an answer to be satisfying, but what was she supposed to say to that? I’m too much of a romantic to get involved with someone who can’t give me guarantees and I am a little afraid of being hurt? That would have been honest but Lorana didn’t want to force his hand in any decision making. Ivan would either come around when he was ready or he never would and she would have saved herself the heartache. Catching the box of Bertie’s Lori flashed him a friendly smile. “Hey you, really candy for breakfast? Such a bad habit we’re forming.” Then again she already had a fierce sweet tooth so he wasn’t too much of a bad influence. As for his apology Lorana didn’t think it necessary, it could have just been swept under the rug and be fine with her. “It’s okay, not of the worry.” She wasn’t sure what to say about leaving him hanging though. “Sorry about leaving you hanging though. Now that we got apologizes out of the way… how come your not down at breakfast?” Lori was deflecting.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan knew that Lorana was leading him on a little, but it seemed that his own conscience was the one keeping him from telling her how he really felt about her. Leaving her hanging all the time would just leave her disappointed in him, and in the end they really would have nothing after all they had been through. It was finally time to decide whether or not he wanted to take the huge risk in getting to know her further, and finally just left it up to fate. Eagerly licking his lips softly as he rubbed his hands together he walked up to her, wrapping his arms around her waist slowly. Now he was pressing his whole body into her as he whispered incredibly slowly into her ears and was already gyrating his hips a little to probably make a desirable effect happen against her.

Ivan was acting much different than usual, almost as if he had been drugged by a love potion without realizing it and was intent on taking her there without any regard for anyone around them. Standing tall, and towering over her a little he soon looked down at her eyes after backing a way little. What he whispered in her ear was something that would have left any girl blushing about what he really wanted to do to her right there. Even as nice as Ivan could be, he did have an incredibly wild side that had yet to be let out. Right now was one of those times until he pulled away completely breathing hot after having pressed up against her like that. Although all he had asked her in the time he had pressed up against her doing that was, "Would you like to be my girlfriend and go for a walk outside?"

Sadly it was simple and to the point that Ivan felt silly about how he did it. Funny, he wondered if there was a candy that could make a certain part of a woman change, although kept that to himself. Surely no one would think of that fetish in a million years or even event a way to thoroughly infuse it with a candy. Just a thought from a rambling mind that saw no end to his own crazy ways as he smiled warmly at her, quite proud of himself for actually getting it out finally. Ivan's heart was all a flutter and so genuinely innocent in the way he had put that. Finally looking at her calmly now as he held her hands in his own looking at her with a starry-eyed gaze that would remind her of an innocent lost puppy.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

She was frozen to the spot. Lorana wasn’t the most experienced when it came to boys. Yes, she had dated one of Gryffindors biggest players, but that didn’t mean that she still didn’t get that fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach and her breath hitch in her throat when someone was up against her the way that Ivan was. Lori hadn’t expected him to do something like that if she was being perfectly honest with herself. Ivan might have mentioned that he liked her and she hadn’t disputed that, but waking up that morning it certainly hadn’t crossed her mind that she would be in his arms, in the middle of the common room, in such a compromising position. Someone could walk in at any moment, but that only made excitement rise up in her quicker. She let out a shaky breath, a little bit scared and enthralled at the same time. Turning her head slightly Lorana was stopped by the chilling effect of his words whispered lightly into her ear, his breathe hot on her cheek.

Her gaze quickly dashed around the common room to check that they were indeed still alone before meeting Ivan’s eyes. His stature was a little bit intimidating to her in that moment in a good way. Ivan had finally given her what she had wanted; a guarantee of commitment to her so why was it that Lori was so nervous. It had to have been that hungry look in his eyes. Perhaps some insecurity that Ivan was just telling her what she wanted to hear in order to get what he wanted from her, but that wasn’t the impression that she had gotten from him over the past week that they had been hanging out. Ivan was a nice guy; he wouldn’t use her like that. Her thoughts were just putting the blame on him to avoid the truth of the matter in which Lorana was just a little bit insecure. Nothing drastic of course just the usual teenage girl level of it.

His smile and the warmth of his hands holding hers was enough assurance that Lori was able to actually speak and gather her wits back about her. “Yes!” It applied for both questions and considering she was too excited in a number of ways to get much more out just yet it was the best that she could do. Not that it would take long for Lorana to start yapping again in that random, run-on kind of way she was iconic for. She couldn’t help but to swoon at that longing look in his eyes, which did remind her of a love-struck puppy. Lori was almost certain that she had a similar look plastered on her face. What a pair they were. The kind of couple, which just the mere thought of them being such made her smile a bit dopey-like, that others saw and would roll their eyes at for being so sappy. But Lorana didn’t care. That was the kind of relationship that her romantic notions wanted for herself. “Where do you want to go?” She was beginning to come back from the stunned state. “The Whomping Willow is always nice, or the Lake. Most everyone else is going to be at breakfast- am I the only one that suddenly isn’t hungry anymore- so pretty much every where will be… secluded.” Maybe not every where but near enough for her.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan wasn't frozen anymore as he heard Lorana's compliment to him in return and was glad that she was thoroughly thrilled about being with him. This wasn't like all the other times when he could just go off to do whatever he wanted, but now he had something to strive for finally. Luckily he had finally bucked up to tell her this. Luckily his attention to her body had made him rather antsy to get somewhere more private, but he had to help these feelings now as he felt his own antics already starting to do the same feelings in return. Oddly, he was just going to relax a little more and enjoy the attention she was giving him for the moment. Finally letting that moment go as he walked up to her again and this time kissed her softly on the cheek just once. Not making the ultimate move just yet as he noticed she was wanting to be somewhere alone with him.

"Oh Lorana, I don't know about going anywhere right now, but I'm sure we could find somewhere nice to walk, perhaps around the lake or the whomping willow?" he asked her calmly, knowing that both were just fine with hanging out around. Not that the whomping willow was Ivan's first choice, but at least it would get them away from the common room after he had made sure to stock up on some sweets. There were some special ones he had ordered the other day, but those had yet to arrive. Right now he was going to just enjoy the moment, and hoped his mail had gone through to the candy factory as well.

"No, I'm hungry for something else," was all he said to her as made it sound rather promiscuous, but meant something playful out of it as he held out one of those straw-like candies to her that most muggle kids could be seen with. Now he was just enjoying his time with her already and finally let his body eagerly push away from hers as he tugged on her hand lightly to get her to follow him. "Or I could surprise you and just have you follow me instead," was all he said to her as he kept his eyes focused on her own, blinking respectfully of course as he was indeed blushing rather deep too.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Whether they were going or staying Lorana didn’t care. She just liked spending time with Ivan. They didn’t have to do anything special in order for their time together to be special. It seemed really sentimental but that was okay by her. Lori might have been a hopeless romantic but that didn’t mean that she had to be showered with flowers and jewelry to be romanced. It wasn’t about that for her, not that she would have complained about receiving gifts, it was just unnecessary. Lorana was the type to prefer being shown the she was loved rather than bought. “Of course.” She couldn’t agree more. Hogwarts was a beautiful place, though the setting didn’t matter to her.

Laughing lightly she shook her head rather fond of the innuendo. Lori was learning quickly that Ivan had plenty of them up his sleeve and so far they had been more innocent than an attempt to seduce her, which she respected. “Thank you.” Sticking the end of the twisted gummy in her mouth she chomped down on it chewing happily as the strawberry flavour coated her tongue. She associated Ivan with sweets because they seemed to always eat them together, which naturally put him in a very favourable place with her. Who didn’t like candy of some sort? And so it was the same for him; how could she not like him. After all Ivan was addictive like candy too.

Lorana tapped the candy gently against her lower lip pretending to think it over. “Hmmm,” She stalled trying to make it seem like there was anything to think about in the first place, which, of course, there wasn’t. Lori was willing to follow him anywhere and had proved that the very first time that they had met, officially and hung out. Going into the Forbidden Forest with him had shown a lot of trust, or naivety, whichever way you preferred to view it. “Surprise me.” Lorana suggested following him along where ever it was that he had a mind to lead her toward.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

"Very well, I will do my best to make this an intense surprise that you will never forget, haha," he said to Lorana as he watched her expressions change with what he was saying to her. Finding it rather amusing that she could look so innocent and beautiful just standing there with her clothing covering those delicious curves he knew she had. Nodding when she responded just so he wasn't standing there like some helpless bum waiting for a nudge forward. Instead he just went up on his own taking her hand to tug her forward with him to the edge of the common room and uttered the password to get out. Sadly, it was weird how it worked both ways, but still he could understand why as long as you knew the password every time it changed. Forgetting just how often it changed, but Ivan was certain there was some other gimmick to making it work.

Finally extending his hand out and helping her through the portrait as he shut it behind them and soon continued down the corridor looking at the many moving knights when you weren't looking. Some of them stood guard, but they were amusing in their own rights. Even the paintings themselves were starting to move around as he walked by and gave them an official greeting each time he passed by one as if he regularly chatted them up. It was probably true considering sometimes he preferred walking the halls of Hogwarts alone just to learn a few new things, and normally associating himself with Peeves was definitely one way to become one of the few well-known pranksters of the school. Such an open-minded ghost, and he was glad it had been that ghost that had helped him with a lot of his pranks on so many people.

It wasn't easy to convince him, ah hell, of course it was easy to convince a ghost that liekd causing trouble to do whatever you want. As he turned the corner to go down to the moving stair-case he noticed there wasn't very much traffic at this time since most of them were already doing something else and that left Ivan with more time with Lorana too. Another bonus to moving around the castle when no one expected you to, "Hmm...we could just even use one of the secret passages to walk through, but I think the Whomping willow would be nice to visit for a change don't you? I'm sure it gets lonely sometimes being a magical being despite it's name. If we don't irritate it, I'm sure it will let us sit near it haha," he said to her smirking softly as he soon kissed her cheeks when they had stopped to wait for a stair-case to stop at their floor. Hoping this one would take them straight down instead of randomly moving elsewhere. It was really hard to tell, but that's what made it fun to Ivan at times.

Soon enough they were on their way down and made it towards the ground floor after a few hops onto a different stair-case, but he made sure that they were close enough to just literally grab on to them and helped Lorana up each time or down as he normally would glance up to see if he could catch glimpses while acting innocent the whole time until finally they were out on the court yard making their way to the whomping willow.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

As far as surprises went Lorana didn’t have any complaints with them being intense. The never forgetting thing had a ring of interest to it too. If she had any doubts of going with him, which she didn’t, they would have been jumping into his arms rearing to go with the curiosity that it brought her now. She was aware of the way that Ivan was looking at her. Rather than feeling objectified or any of those other negative feelings that might have arisen, Ivan had a way about him that made her feel special when he looked at her. It was definitely strange. She had always thought that the portrait needed a password to get out for some kind of monitoring purpose. But if that was the case then why could students still get out after curfew? It seemed redundant if that were the case.

Lori took Ivan’s hand graciously more than grateful for the help. It might not have seemed it but that little ledge that you had to step over was very tricky. Sometimes she could have sworn that it would grow half an inch just to trip her up, which was silly of course but made her feel tons better about her lack of grace. Hogwarts was filled with all sorts of interesting things, including the armour. Lorana hadn’t had much luck seeing them in action herself, but she still heard the subtle creaking of metal as they passed by. It was enough to let her know that they did in fact move. Or maybe that was just one of those mind tricks, a draft from behind the suits that made it sway slightly and that lead her to believe that it moved. Who knew?

“That works for me. The Whomping Willow does seem to be neglected as far as popularity goes.” Her cheeks blazed from the kiss that Ivan laid on her. How did he do that? Make her heart skip a beat? It seemed so juvenile and yet didn’t it happened to even the most seasoned of adults if the chemistry was right? And more so, did Ivan ever feel like that around her too or was that completely one sided? Lorana let her mind take off with questions while they walked. Ivan knew the way and precisely where they were going, not to mention he was a big help offering to help her at every chance that he got. Once they were at the tree, its branches groaning in the light breeze she glanced around watching a few golden leaves tumble down to the ground in a spiral. “Its actually really nice here. People never give this place enough credit.”

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan was not sore about having asked Lorana out at all, and in fact was glad she was proud of him for giving her a rather definitive answer that lead to them going wherever it was they were heading. Oh yes, the whomping willow, one of the main attractions on the campus grounds and the most boring in his eyes. Yet at the same time, if you were able to sit there without being whacked to death by a giant tree, and would be sorely amused by how it would sneak up on you. Luckily for his sake, he had to keep his own eyes peeled for a moment or two before he saw any evidence of anyone else even approaching it. Ivan really did want to be alone with her underneath the boughs of the tree, okay, branches, whatever.

They were both part of the tree, and he rarely cared where he was with Lorana these days it seemed. Even in the common room he had made a rather bold move by walking up to her and asking her out the way he did the other day. Roxanne was no longer on his mind anymore, and was gone for good as he kept his cool. Smoothing back his hair a bit with his hands in a rough attempt to pat it down, but all it did was stick right back up again. Chuckling softly at this development, he soon had to realize what might really happen if he kept himself pre-occupied with all of the misleading advice some of his friends had given him. Ivan wasn't going to use trickery on Lorana, and nor would he need to.

Pulling pranks was his past-time, but right now he had a different one. Just hanging out and having fun with her with just the two of them like usual. It was really different this time since they were actually alone with no one to share their candy binges with. Finally just reaching the discarded tree, and the fact it looked rather lonely out int he court yard with all this empty space around it. Ivan kind of wanted to talk to it to just ease it's pain a little, but thought that was silly. Talking to a tree...might as well become a druid in his next life if that ever happened. "You know, I'd try talking to it, but I don't want to turn into a tree in my next life, I want to at least be a piece of grass...cause then I'd know I'd always grow back to laugh in people's face...until the winter...then I'm screwed," he said randomly as he stared at the whomping willow before moving underneath it to lean against it. Making sure not to disturb it's rest since it sounded like it was asleep, but he knew the pressure point to make it stop whirling around if it did so.

EVERYONE seemed to know where that branch was thanks to the Weasley and Potter family not really being able to keep that many secrets to themselves. Well, James had told him about it, but he wasn't sure about who else knew. "Speaking of, this is a rather neglected spot and I do agree with you...more people should actually visit here," he suggested to her, smiling warmly as he patted the seat right next to him.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Watching Ivan venture so close and then have the guts to lean against it even she couldn’t help that feeling of fear welling up inside of her. She had been out there with James in the past and knew that the tree could be immobilized by means of a pressure point in the trunk, that knot right there near its base, but it still worried her that the Whomping Willow might get the drop on Ivan and he would be hurt. This thought made Lorana antsy her gaze flickering from him to the tree to make sure that it stayed sleeping, which meant she didn’t join him lounging against the behemoth. She kept her voice low, whispering as though what she said was conspiratorial, “Trees are immortal though. Even when they are cut down new life grows from the very stem compliments of a fallen acorn or stray root branching off to spring up another tree.” She countered nervous about Ivan’s positioning.

Lori was glad that he agreed, it just added another thing onto the list of commonalities between them, which if they were going to be dating certainly didn’t hurt. It wasn’t that Lorana thought they should be exact matches, after all having differences was what made people unique. Besides differences meant that they could spend some time apart to do the things that they liked so they wouldn’t get too dependent on the other. Her mind was once again off in a tangent thinking of things that at this stage probably wasn’t necessary. When Lorana was nervous though, like she was right then, it wasn’t uncommon for her to try and distract herself with other things.

As Ivan patted the space next to him Lori refused to move, being too scared to. “Why don’t you come to me?” She suggested hopefully. Lorana might not have been over cautious most of the time but the respect that she had for the Whomping Willow borderlined on mega intimidation and Lori saw no point in trifling with things that shouldn’t be trifled with. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true considering her fair share of run-ins with the Giant Squid, but the willow was different and it held some sort of power over her that made her knee tremble with fear. On a sub-concious level she knew that she was being ridiculous but some things just couldn’t be helped.

To further persuade Ivan to come to her, and thus out of the trees reach, she started to babble. “I mean you just can’t get the panoramic view of such a beautiful scene from over there like you can here. And then there is that whole thing of being out of reach, which, I don’t know about you but I think it is a rather desirable trait- being far away that is. Plus you should take into consideration probably that it is the gentlemanly thing to do, coming to me rather than vice versa- not to mention, please!” Lorana offered him a half apologetic, half cheeky smile beckoning him to her eagerly in the hopes that Ivan wouldn’t torment her anymore with his tempting fate.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Well, Ivan for one wasn't really concerned about the tree himself, but he knew that panicking over something as little as this was a bit of an over-reaction. Ivan was quite content where he was sitting, but considered the fact this was the whomping willow. Even if he sat under it for a few minutes it could change it's mind in an instant to squash him flat without any recognition of anything have been there aside from the blood splatter of his remains. Yes, he supposed this tree was dangerous and had a reputation to uphold as he looked over the bark of the humongous tree bowing his head towards it. "I humbly request to leave your awesome presence, oh great tree of anger," he mused just to make it's branches sway a little, showing that it was irritated.

Ivan knew this tree had particular feelings about what words were uttered at it and then he instantly pushed Lorana back with him accidentally tripping over his own feet. Face landing directly in between her bosom, and soon pressed up against her chest on the left by accident. Hand groping near there to stand up hoping to find some semblance of a hand-hold to help himself up. Then just rolled off of her blushing deeply what he had just grabbed, and it had felt rather nice. In fact, it felt incredibly good, but he wasn't about to let her feel what he had gotten over the fact he had fallen on top of her. Looking away almost innocently as he then held out his hand to help her up as well looked back at the whomping willow. Who would make a tree so angry and then expect it to just stay still after so long of being neglected.

Gladly, Ivan soon moved further away from the tree as he eyed Lorana again and panted softly after he finally had her up on her feet again. Panting softly cause he had ran a little once he realized that the whomping willow had indeed tried to whack him. Well, he couldn't say that Lorana hadn't tried to warn him to come towards her, but he had done so hoping he hadn't hurt her in any way. Looking over her back and over her shoulder to peer down her front. Not letting her even know that he was probably catching a glimpse of something else more provocative not even realizing what part of his body was pressing up against her butt.

Shaking his hips a little after making sure he was still okay to make it back into the castle almost made it feel like a rather promiscuous action from him. Lorana might take it the wrong way as he soon wrapped his arms around her waist softly whispering into her ear, "Oh you're right, I'd rather be near you and I'll always come to you no matter where you are...this scenery is beautiful though...when you're not about to be mashed to bits by an angry tree," he whispered it so sensually, and seductively too.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Until Ivan was out of hitting range Lori refused to let out her pent up breath, at least that had been the plan until feet got tripped up and they both fell to the ground, knocking the air out of her forcefully. It took her a moment as she caught her breath to realize where exactly Ivan had landed. Looking down at him for a moment the awkwardness of the situation put tension in the air that needed to be cut with a bone saw. Lorana didn’t like that feeling of awkwardness and after another second Lori decided that she wasn’t going to let it ruin a perfectly good day. They were dating now Ivan feeling her up was bound to happen eventually. Letting out a thoroughly amused laugh Lorana shook her head getting to her feet with Ivan’s help.

“Easy there Sparky.” She teased flashing him a vibrant smile before turning on her heel to head out of the Willow’s bashing distance. Lori had grown up with brothers so it wasn’t like being tackled to the ground was enough to hurt her- that wasn’t something that Ivan would have to worry about at least. Nor did he have to fret over her being pissed about breaking a nail or having dirt on her clothes. Lorana was very low maintenance, which she was thankful for. It was always lost on her how some of the girls in her dorm got all squeally over things so simple. Not that she was grubby or anything but the most she did to her hair on a daily basis was washing it then run a brush through it while some of the other girls sprayed tons of hairspray in it and put it up in intricate designs… it was crazy the length some went to.

Her heart jumped in her chest as Ivan pressed himself against her feeling a little more than she bargained for, but it was more than okay with her. With his arms wrapping around her Lorana couldn’t help but feel that warmth rise up inside of her again. She liked being held by Ivan it just felt right and she enjoyed it immensely. His hot breath tickling her neck Lori leaned back into him slightly getting that weak sensation in her knees that sometimes happened in these types of situations. As far as she could tell Ivan sounded honest in his claim and that was swoon worthy too.

“No matter where I am?” Lorana asked wondering just how dedicated Ivan thought he would be for her in the future. It could have all just been that honeymoon phase where the happy, new, couple couldn’t get enough of each other and it felt like they would be willing to go to the ends of the earth for the other, but was it more than that? Lori found herself hoping that it would be. That was the kind of deep seeded romance that she had always hoped to find after all and how lucky would she be if she had managed to find it still at school?

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan was certain Lori had heard what he had said, but he kept his distance from the whomping willow now, very wary of it since he had almost been smashed like he had imagined. Funny how something so life-threatening could change your way of thinking in an instant, and he bet his nine lives that there was something else with this enchanted tree. Ivan really wanted to get to the bottom of whoever had put this tree here in the first place, knowing it was somewhere within those text books at Hogwarts just waiting to be fished out. Luckily, he had other things to worry about, like the aggressive attention to Lorana down below that Ivan was trying hard not to think with. It seemed she was showing some appreciation for said distraction, but now was just kissing her softly on the lips in response to that.

One hand grazed her cheek softly as he soon then started to tug on her hair a little at the same time after moving it along the outline of her cheek. Oh, she had such soft skin, and Ivan wanted nothing more than to just smell that scent she had on her all day. If only they could be together forever, but that was just the dreams of a hopeless romantic that usually didn't get his way unless he literally stalked said person until the ends of the Earth. Shocked at what he was thinking about himself just shook it off, and moved on with his life. Funny that he could just forget about a single moment when here he was indulging in one of the greater pleasures in life. Fornication was not on his list of things to do right now, and was probably going to roll off of Lorana soon.

Eventually, Ivan broke the kiss, but he had let out a soft delicious purr into the kiss showing how much he had enjoyed it. Smirking as he looked towards her, he'd rather have her on top of him trying to pin him down from getting away. Just a strange thought, but he then whispered into Lorana's ear slowly, very sensually, "Well, I won't follow you if you go below my waist-line," he teased her not letting her know the meaning behind the words since he then put her hands on his knee before moving it up to his chest. "Hands aren't allowed to touch the knees, but they're allowed to touch the chest, it's kind of funny how the human body tends to send signals for us to react to. I don't think there's a single person that can describe something without making hand motions, since they're programmed to do that," he added out of nowhere, but smiled towards Lori as if it were a known fact that he had just learned.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Lori was fond of the way that Ivan kissed her. She could sense the lust and affection that he felt for her in it, but more than that it was reciprocated in her. There were few people that could make her feel so wonderful but Ivan seemed to be one of them. Lorana was rather pleased with her luck. Each touch made her want to sigh, but she didn’t feeling it was a little bit inappropriate with them just starting out. Still Lori felt as though she was going to melt right into him. A smile seemed to permanently sew itself onto her lips. The smile didn’t discourage her from whimpering slightly, playful in her disappointment when he broke away from the kiss.

She didn’t know, in her innocence, what Ivan meant by that but if he found it amusing, which he seemed to, then it must have been worth laughing about. There wasn’t any protest from her when he moved her hand to his knees and then to his chest. Instead took the opportunity to feel how solid his chest was. Currently Lorana was getting some signals sent to her to react to but they had very little to do with his knees or chest. “What about the spaces in between?” She questioned rather curious as to his stand-point on it. After all if he did have limitations then shouldn’t she learn about them early on to avoiding making mistakes?

Getting back to the nonsexual topic she pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t know. I’ve never really paid much attention to how much a person moves their hands when they talk. I suppose it is possible not to though, like if you have your hands in your pockets or something like that.” Lori was sure to pay more attention with the people that she spoke to watching them to see just how much their hands would move. Maybe Ivan was on to something though. People did seem to be programmed to do certain things. Human nature was a curious thing and one that would probably never be solved no matter how much or how long a person mused on it.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan chuckled and then just merely tilted his head in her direction realizing how naive it was of him to even consider the fact she might have actually gotten his joke at first..although taking stuff like this seriously was sometimes a good thing. "Yeah, any part of my body is fine if you touch it, but no one else can have me. I promise to be true to you, even though this is basically our first date honestly," he said to her, blushing slightly, but didn't want this moment to end at all in the long run. Obviously getting much harder to focus on any other tasks aside from just hanging out with her, but her body was indeed rather desirable.

Ivan felt his own body starting to relax more as he lay there beside her enjoying the view he had now across the lake from where they were, and still near the whomping willow at a safe distance now. "I seriously do wonder if I could plant a tree like the whomping willow and befriend it...by raising it properly into a tree that wouldn't want to kill me even if i look at it funny," he said to her as he kissed her lips once more chuckling softly. Glad that he was able to have this talk with her after all and then started to kiss her on the lips once more. This time it was deeper and he leaned over even to just press further up against her towards her side. Then pulled away to chuckle softly for a moment, but not cause of the kiss.

"Would have been funny if it were the caressing willow or the screeching willow, although I think I'd prefer caressing over screeching myself," he said to her, thinking he was just spouting nonsense, but he knew Lorana would see it as something other than that. Perhaps he was just trying to make small talk. Chemistry was inevitable between them and it would be really hard to keep them apart as he just breathed in slowly letting out a deep breath that seemed to expel the hot air from him. Not that he was fully inflated with the stuff, hot air, but he just needed to get his mind off of so many other things he was thinking about.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Lori had always just assumed that faithfulness was in order for dating but regardless of that she couldn’t deny how nice it was to hear Ivan vow it to her so soon into the relationship. Maybe with him she was getting that fairytale romance that she had wanted since she was a little girl. Seeing him blush was turning into something that, like her sweet tooth, Lorana craved. That rosy colour rising up in Ivan’s cheeks was by far the most adorable thing that she had ever seen. Locking her gaze with his she slid her hand across the grass lacing their fingers together. “Thanks. I’ll be true to you too.” Lori promised. It wasn’t like it would be all that hard for her, but still it was the effort that counted, right?

She found it sweet that Ivan wanted to try something like that. To her it meant that he had dedication and patience, which were desirable traits in a man, especially when she sometimes wasn’t the easiest to deal with. Lori had a horrible problem with being in denial about things that didn’t fit perfectly into her little world. She didn’t handle change well and when it came Lorana had a bad case of putting it off. His kisses were delicious. Lori found that she would just melt into Ivan whenever their lips were touching wanting to be completely consumed by his presence.

When he pulled away Lori felt like yanking him back to her for further indulgence but resisted. “You know some say that plants grow better with more affection shown to them so it is possible that you could raise a tree like the Whomping Willow and influence it to be the way you want it to.” She smiled at the thought of a caressing tree. “A caressing tree could probably be very profitable.” Lorana wasn’t sure why her mind had took a more sexual tone but it had. She didn’t think that Ivan would mind all that much though.

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan was merely snickering at the fact at what Lorana said and almost thought it was feasible for a moment. After all it was his idea and he had brought it up in the first place so this was normally great for him to just let his thoughts flow when they were alone. Glad that she was at least willing to be a part of this conversation, however, he was considering just going off to another place besides here where the Whomping Willow wasn't so close to them. Every time he glanced over at the lake there was a glimpse of something rippling across the lake and finally just let his eyes rest on the ripples for a moment.

Many fish were jumping in the lake and it was obvious they were trying to deny the fact it was getting closer to winter. Especially when the top of the water froze up they would start to feel the warmth disappearing and want to migrate elsewhere if there were any rivers that lead off from the lake downstream. Most fish did migrate and it wasn't unheard of to see a few flop up onto the shore, which was odd. Ivan merely thought they would've stayed in the water to stay hydrated. What he knew about magical creatures was the fact they did whatever to survive. Then his thoughts went back to the 'caressing' tree as he chuckled softly at all the implications she could have meant. "I don't doubt it, maybe we should test the tree on you haha, just kidding, I'd rather test my own hands on you first if you know what I mean," he chuckled as he said this, blushing softly.

There was really no other way to take it other than a dirty one and that was indeed what Ivan was aiming for at the moment. Luckily, he was able to behave himself for the time being until she would change her mind about what the subject was. Ivan had to consider where they were and anyone could have overheard them to spread the story about them talking about such random trees. Luckily, he saw no one in sight and was going to keep it that way while then leaning back against a tree nearby wrapping his arm around Lorana if she was sitting beside him. "This is a great view though, and I don't want to move ever, with you here by my side," he added.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

Snickering, chuckling, jovial laughter, whatever the case Lorana was in love with his laughter, it had an ability to immediately slap a smile on her face and she had a strong feeling that he always would be able to no matter how blue she got. Lori really did think that it was something to consider. She wasn’t sure what Ivan wanted to do with himself in the future, mainly because she hadn’t thought to ask, but being a horticulturist was definitely an option. Testing out theories and creating new species seemed like it would at least be entertaining and it had the potential to be beneficial to the world. For all she knew there was a cure for cancer and it lied in the proper cross breeding of plants. You never knew.

Despite being naïve there was no mistaking what Ivan had meant by that comment. His blush discouraged Lorana from making a big deal out of it, not that it had even crossed her mind that someone might be hanging around to spread the rumor that they were getting sexual together on the first official day that they were dating. It could have been worse of course at least they were legitimate now. Doing her usual dismissive nonchalance, Lori giggled and leant into him slightly pretending for his benefit that she had taken it good naturedly, which really Lorana felt that it had been meant as such. “Well just be careful because I am very ticklish.” It was true as long as she was tickled in the right spot, which was just below her ribs.

She welcomed his embrace and leaned into him, letting her arms wrap over top of his to rest comfortably and keep him there. Any girl could have swooned at the affectionate words he sent her way and Lori did a little bit making a soft sound of blissful approval and leaned her head against his shoulder, but not before giving him an appreciative peck on the cheek. “My sentiments exactly.” While a silence blanketed them for a few moments Lorana relished in the feeling of Ivan’s strong arms wrapped around her. “What do you want to do after we graduate?”

[IVAN VLADISLAV KIRKE]

Ivan was glad that Lorana was taking everything in turn just like it was natural, and could almost understand why she had done so in the first place. Ivan understood her more than anyone else possibly could have, but at the same time there were still some things he was trying to figure out. Sure, he was compatible with her, but that was besides the point right now. Just dating would work for him and if he kept on going like this they could definitely be a fling in the end. Sighing softly, he soon just held her closer to him as he felt her kissing his cheek and then suddenly looked into her eyes. Blushing slightly when she had done that, but shrugged it aside for a moment to get on to more important matters.

"Well, honestly, I'm wanting to become a famous wizard obviously, probably an auror, or something involving magical creatures. I know dragons are up on my list of things to become, but right now it's really sort of one of those things where if I'm good at something. Then if someone tells me I'd be good at a certain job I might just go for it," he answered honestly. After all, he was more or less a go with the wind type of guy and usually liked making up plans on the spot. Just so he was at least a little spontaneous with decision making, otherwise a plan to make a plan would be incredibly boring. Getting a feeling that Lorana wasn't like this at all, but she sure did have quite the stock of candy to get their hands on.

Ivan had his own and he had brought some of it with him to share with Lorana. Smiling as he kissed her lips fully instead this time. Blushing as he did so, making sure that he was rather bold about it too so that it wouldn't bother her much. Finally looking into her eyes after a while, he stroked her cheek sensually again, and then settled for her just being there with him in general. "What about you, what do you want to do?" he asked her softly.

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[LORANA ALEXIS SMITH]

When it came to her own future Lorana didn’t have any desires of fame or fortune, she mainly just wanted to be happy and have a family that was filled with laughter and smiles. It wasn’t that Lori wasn’t ambitious when it came to a career, she didn’t want to necessarily be a stay at home mum or anything, but she figured that if her and her family was content then what she did for a living didn’t really matter. There were more important things than having a stimulating job- though Lori certainly wasn’t knocking it. Career wise she too had wanted to work with magical creatures. Dragons however terrified her and she didn’t have that stern, commanding hand that one needed to have in order to tame them or care for dragons at all.

As far as she could tell Ivan was more a gentle soul than anything else but underneath that she could just bet that if push came to shove he would definitely shove back. “That seems like a good policy to go by.” If you were good at something then it was logical to stick to it or go with it, whichever the case may be. They still had a few months, maybe longer depending on the situation they would be in after graduating, to figure things out so Lorana wasn’t in much of a rush. No, this wasn’t one of those things where she was planning their future together or anything- it was mere curiosity being indulged in.

“I’m not too sure myself, but like you I want to work with magical creatures. I was thinking something more along the lines of Centaur Liaison.” The creatures with higher intelligence appealed more to her tastes. Lorana wanted something that she could work with by communication rather than force and handling physically in any way. “With the way they’ve been carrying on lately with restriction of territory I have a feeling the Ministry will be in major need for one.” Centuars were mostly civil creatures but you could only push them so far before they started to act drastically. In her opinion it was necessary too, otherwise the Centaurs were liable to be walked all over.