Falling in love with a woman like you,
Happens so quickly there's nothing to do

Oralie Slughorn

Valentine's day, to Karel, was just an excuse for businesses to earn a lot more money from fools who wanted to shower their partner's with gifts in an attempt at making people feel special. Karel though, Karel saw through all of that, he didn't want to waste the money on sickeningly sweet things like teddy bears, flowers and chocolates. Maybe it was because Karel had never been in a relationship on Valentine's day and maybe it was from observing his father grovelling and trying to suck up to his mother, but at the end of the day, the snake still believed it was a waste of time, money and energy. Unless of course, you put the energy to good use.

Karel was surprising even himself about how bitter he felt today, he'd walked into the hall and it had looked like Cupid had vomited everywhere, so he'd made a quick exit after getting some slices of toast of breakfast. With everyone enjoying their breakfast and exchanging cards and gifts, it had been the perfect chance for a walk alone. It was starting to get warm, the brief snow spell they had seemed to have passed and Karel found that he hadn't needed to wrap up as intently, he fiddled with his scarf as he sauntered down the rolling lawns, his head was bowed and he tightened his scarf around his neck and crossed her arms.

The wizard started to kick the ground as the grass melted into stones and pebbles and nearby there was a single splash and the brunette glanced up in time to see a mermaid dive back into the lake. Karel had a feeling he'd probably disturbed something, but as usual, he cared very little for other beings and instead sat on a rock, looking out over the lake. He thought to the weekend, to the ball. It seemed like it was mandatory and Karel found it in poor taste, one day was bad enough but at Hogwarts, it seemed they were celebrating it twice. He couldn't fault the school and the staff, they never did anything half-heartedly, he just felt that there were better things that their time could be invested in other things, more valuable and important things. 

His brooding and distaste soon shifted to focus on something else, well... someone else. He began to think of Oralie, he'd contemplated attending the dance with her to see who they were paired with, seeing as they had no choice but to go; but his thoughts became annoyed and frustrated. He didn't want to see another man with his hands on Oralie, he hated to admit it, but there was intense jealousy there. If he'd had the chance to go to a dance with Oralie, then maybe he'd have considered it and heaven forbid, maybe even enjoyed it. Admittedly he could probably try and pull her away from whoever she was partnered with, but the blonde acted like a lady in the public eye and he had a feeling that she'd have at least one dance with whoever was picked for her, he just hoped that whoever it was, knew their boundaries or else he'd not hold back in making sure that they knew exactly where they stood. Karel knew it wasn't his place to feel protective over Oralie quite as much as he had, but after his meeting with his mother in Hogsmeade, he'd began to second guess all his thoughts and feelings. Karel had all but admitted to his mother that he had feelings for Oralie, but right now he was still trying to deny it to himself. But the upcoming dance was making it increasingly difficult to continue to pretend.

There was a crunch of stone behind Karel and the wizard glanced over his shoulder to see the witch that had been plaguing his thoughts. How it had started out as just two friends shagging, to Karel finding himself wanting more, he'd never know and honestly, for the first time in his life. Karel was scared to find out. "Looking for a quick round in public? I didn't know you were into that." Karel greeted Oralie, trying to put his defences up, he didn't want Oralie to know how he was feeling out of worry that it would scare her off, and he loved having her around and near him and their many escapades, but his heart was causing him trouble.

It's only natural

Nights can be empty & nights can be cold

So you were looking for someone to hold

Thursdays usually meant Quidditch practice in the morning, but she had given the team the day off. It was Valentine's Day and they were essentially hopeless anyway. They had lost to Hufflepuff--a shame that still mortified her. Oralie was already looking ahead to next season rather than lamenting over this one. She trained the team hard--she guided them as best she could, but only so much could be done with such an inexperienced keeper and chaser core. Brilliant beaters and her superior seeking skills could only take them so far..and quite often this season, it had not been enough to make up for the obscene number of goals their keeper had allowed.

But even though the team was not going to practice today, Oralie still had to keep fit herself. Her mother would know if she showed up at Avalon this afternoon without having done some form of exercise this morning. Isidore had very strong opinions about how Oralie should look and how much time and energy should be dedicated to keeping her figure fit. The witch was 5'7", but her mother was disgusted with the fact that she weighed over one hundred pounds (104.5 if we were to be exact, giving her a 16.263 bmi, which was underweight according to the scientific scale for her age and height--though not severely so). Isidore had made minor aesthetic modifications to her daughter, as well. Charms of a semi-permanent nature had been cast on Oralie to enhance her assets, narrow her nose, perfectly form her eyebrows, and lengthen, thicken, and darken her lashes. Isidore could not have her daughter on stage at Avalon showing any deficiency. That would have reflected on the elder Slughorn. She would not abide it.

So rather than risk the scorn of her mother, Oralie was going for a run...and really, the pounding of her feet against the ground would make for far better company than the lovesick fools in the Great Hall. She wanted no part of this silly manufactured holiday. Oralie was strongly of the opinion if you needed a special day to show someone you cared or to express interest in someone that you probably did not care that much or were a coward. She was terribly judgmental, though. It was just part of who she was.

Alchemy did not start until ten, so she had loads of time. She could manage a couple of rounds about the Black Lake with no problem. There was the possibility she might find some couples down here, too, and she could ruin their little romantic sneak away with a nice prefect scolding and take some points if they were Gryffindors or Hufflepuffs. Her feel led around the familiar path, and a blond head came into few. She knew him even from several meters away: Karel.  He was a far better surprise than a pair of snogging lions.  His greeting to her made her laugh. "You wish!" she countered, rolling her eyes and smirking at him. She honestly might be able to be persuaded--a shag was a much more enjoyable workout than a run...and it was sort of like flipping the v-sign to her mum, too. "Though I guess it would be in the spirit of the holiday to celebrate." She sauntered up to him, looking up at him through her lashes--all seduction and teasing. Oralie could not pass up an opportunity to rile the wizard up. 

_{@ gonna rile you up ♔ running clothes ♔ 573}

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

I only wanted

a little love affair.

Karel was relieved that Quidditch training wasn’t happening today, he wasn’t comfortable with surrounding himself around loved up teammates, or his ex for that matter, especially not when the woman he was interested in was going to be there too and if that wasn’t enough. Being with Oralie today of all days, it wasn’t going to help his feelings of confusion when it came to her. He would never reject the chance to be around her, but the awkwardness today of all days was not something Karel wanted to tackle. He didn’t even know what Oralie thought about Valentine’s day? Was she one of those poor fools who liked being showered in gifts, cards and proclamations of love? He didn’t think that was her thing, but girls became unpredictable messes on anniversaries and days like today.

Despite Karel being pleased that Quidditch training was cancelled, he was still glad to see Oralie. He knew the witch had taken their losing to Hufflepuff of all house particularly hard and he couldn’t blame her, it was Hufflepuff the stereotypically weakest house. So far they’d won only once and that was against them; Karel had no doubt it had wounded her pride. He hadn’t really talked about it with her yet, he hadn’t wanted to bring it up in case Oralie took offence to his words but still, he could see every time he looked at her that she was trouble. During every hook up since they’d lost, she’d seemed distant and closed off and Karel hated that. Oralie was supposed to be proud, she never took things like this badly and if she did, the blonde would shrug it off or mention it in passing to him so they could discuss tactics to try and avoid that again.

The wizard got to his feet and grinned at Oralie as she countered his comment, chuckling a little as he strolled over to her and closed the gap between them. He didn’t stop his gaze from going over the blonde, and he lingered on how tight fitted they were and the little bit of skin showing made his mind wander to the many times he’d ran his fingers over the soft flesh, tracing the curve of her waist.”Not just me.” He pointed out, scanning the area to see if they were alone before he rested his hand on her hip and caressed her stomach with his thumb. He didn’t like showing too much affection in public, but when they were alone, he didn’t see anything wrong with stealing a touch or a kiss. He knew it was probably a little more coupley than the duo wanted or needed, but it had become an almost automatic thing to do after the first ten or so shags they’d had. He just hoped that she didn’t worry he was overstepping his boundaries or scare her off.

Karel made a noise of distaste and wrinkled his nose, "Please tell me you don’t enjoy Valentine’s day?" He said, sounding a little harsher than he’d intended. She was right, this was a holiday to do with romance and for Karel, sleeping with the witch was a form of romance. He scanned over her face and bit his lip when she peered up at him through her lashes and the all too familiar, and unwelcome butterflies started in his stomach again. Karel shifted from foot to foot at her over and scanned her figure over again before focussing on the witch’s features. "But, for you. I guess we could manage a quick round, in the spirit of the holiday." He smirked, with an overly dramatic sigh and the wizard scanned the area behind Oralie again, they were alone after all, and there was something about the risk of getting caught that sent a thrill through the snake.

@driving me crazy  -  636  -  Uniform

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRPHY 2.0