Deciding it was time to find a new reading nook, Kasey had quickly abandoned the castle with her broom in tow to find somewhere she wouldn't be disturbed. She had Charms to practice, but that wasn't the books she had in tow. She was reading up on obscure spells and potions that she'd never heard of just because she had come across the book in the library. Who knew- maybe she'd find a way to make herself better at Charms, or find a way to make herself and Kathy invisible when they came in after curfew.

That had been a few hours ago- now she knew she was an hour or so after curfew. Tripping over her robes slightly as she stood from the roof of the Gryffindor tower, she grabbed her bag and broom and made her way back down to the ground as inconspicuously as possible. Afterall, if her Dad saw her let alone anyone else she was screwed. She hated his disappointed face...she'd prefer if he yelled at her.

Inside she stashed her bag and broom in a little nook just off the entrance hall and as to the norm took the route through the dungeons that eould lead her to the next staircase heading upwards.It was eerie being in the dungeons at this hour...it wad completely still and silent for the most part and soon even your breathing sounded too loud. Around this time she should have missed the person who was on patrol in the corridors down here, so she walked normally instead of keeping into the shadows. Three corridors to go....two corridors to go...

"SHIT!"

Someone suddenly came bursting out of a broom cupboard in front of her nearly causing her a heart attack, and her back felt bruised from how hard she'd knocked into the wall behind her in fright. Her hand came up to press against her chest as she tried to calm down and she sucked in a few lungfuls of air, wincing as the freezing cold from her hand seeped into her robes. Who the hell was hiding in broom closets at this time of night?! That wasn't normal! 
Kasey lifted her green eyes to meet the person's who almost caused her heart failure with a glare, but it fell away to shock as she recognised who she was.

"Why the hell are you bursting out on people at this time of night?" She cried quietly, an incredulous look on her face.


@jackiskar

The hour was late, Darien knew that. He knew it because he had given up looking at his watch around eight o’clock, and that had surely been at least a couple hours ago. He ought to have been out of here an hour past, but something wasn’t quite right with his potion. It should have matured by now; it should have been the deep, verdant green that signalled that it was complete, and ready for bottling. Instead, he was staring down at a sickly yellow-green bubbling mess.



He ran a hand through his hair for the umpteenth time, leaving it mussed and sticking up like he had just been dragged backwards through a bush. He took off a pair of glasses, placing them in his breast pocket and rubbed his eyes.



Naturally, the problems would occur in the final stages of the operation. This was his third and final satellite laboratory that he was shutting down. His new arrangement had made such a set-up unnecessary, and thus the risk was unjustifiable. Just one more batch. He had told himself, then he would close up shop.



Well, in this location, at least.



He froze as he heard footsteps in the corridor without. “Shit,” he swore to himself, dashing around the small, cramped cupboard in which he had set up shop. Drawers were pushed shut, blankets thrown over ingredients, the thick layer of dust was delicately but hastily reapplied. His heart was racing, beating a steady, impatient tattoo against his breast. He checked his watch. Shit. Well past curfew indeed.



The best part of his cover-up complete, he drew down the long curtain that hid his private compartment at the back of the cupboard. He cast a final glance around the room, meaning to sneak out into the corridor, and hopefully slip away amongst the shadows before whomever was out there noticed his presence.



He froze as his eyes fell on a small vial of potion; his previous batch, and a particularly potent one at that. He looked around desperately, the footsteps outside were approaching fast. With no other option, and no desire to get caught with the evidence, he unstoppered the vial and downed the contents in one go, drawing a hand across his mouth and wincing as the brew singed its way down his innards.



The effects began to take hold immediately, and so he was perhaps a little exuberant in the way he burst out into the corridor, not quite achieving the stealth he had so desired.



Any thoughts of stealth, however, were thrown well and truly out the window as a startled student filled the hall with the dulcet tones of some carefully selected French.



He looked down at her incredulously. Now they were in trouble. Surely someone would have heard that. He looked about wildly, barely even registering the question she was asking him, before picking her bodily up off the floor and tumbling back into the closet, slamming the door shut behind him, sealing it with a quick Colloportus.



He turned to face the madwoman, proffering a grin that in retrospect may have looked a tiny bit evil. Shouting out in a time like this, honestly! It was enough to drive a man to drink.



“Such language is most unbecoming of young ladies, don’t you think? And I should think I could ask you the same question? Sneaking about through the dungeons… There must be a story there.”

Kasey had been raising her hands to fix her hair, expecting Darien to come out with some witty comment as she had usually found him to around others. What she didn't expect was for her feet to leave the floor with no warning.

Stifling a noise of alarm, her hands latched onto him as he practically threw them both back into the cupboard, her hold on him fairly tight so he couldn't drop her. She flinched as he slammed the door behind them and locked it, the noise probably louder than her shriek of fright.
Hm. It wasn't a very big cupboard.
His grin when he turned to look at her was disconcerting, but she tried to manage a smile back at him even though her heart was thudding its mantra against her ribs. Realising just how close they were and especially the lack of distance between their faces and such, Kasey blushed and looked away then back again as he hadn't moved. "As fun as being up here is and all, y-you can put me down now..." She said after a moment, relaxing her rather intense grip on him as her blush deepened.

And finally, back on the floor she was. Then she began to giggle. Quietly, of course, but his admonishment only made her laugh harder till she was holding onto the front of his robes to keep herself upright as his words finally sank in so she could process them. What a ridiculous situation this was! Here she was, the daughter of the librarian, hiding in a broom closet with a random guy because she was out after curfew. It was the strangest thing to happen to her in ages! Clearly his Quidditch position was helping him greatly if he had lifted her...she may be small and such, but still!

Finally her slightly hysterical yet silent laughter abated and she released him, trying to take a step back in the rather crowded space. "If you hadn't come bursting out on me like some kind of axe murderer, such language wouldn't have been needed!" She replied with a cheeky grin, shrugging. "And I wasn't sneaking...I was just...coming in from the grounds quietly because I'd accidently missed curfew." The last part she prove by pressing her fingers briefly to his cheeks to let him feel just how frozen she was. "And surely, Mr Lee, there has to be a story aboit you being in a broom closet?...which happens to smell really weird."

She broke off and turned to look about herself in case there was something in there with them...but saw nothing.

As the matter eventuated, it was actually rather quite difficult to pick a young girl bodily up off of the floor and carry her into a cupboard, and Darien found himself a little out of breath.

Not that he would ever, ever, ever say anything like that out loud. He liked having two ears. And a face.

Kasey's voice dragged him swiftly back to the here-and-now, a situation which involved him with his arms wrapped around the poor lass, her feet dangling a few inches from the ground. He looked down at her face, which all of a sudden was very close, and gave her a much warmer smile. He opened his mouth to-

Ooh, green eyes are pretty.

Hellooo, holding a younger student against her will. If that doesn't sound like a lawsuit then I don't know what does.

Oh. Right.

He made to put her back down, but a single strand of her hair caught his attention; it was hanging down across her forehead, while all of the others seemed to be nicely and obediently tucked away. He couldn't well reach up and brush it aside - well, not without letting her fall - so he did the only thing he could think of.

He blew on it.

Right on her face, just a gentle breeze, enough to push a few strands of hair back to their rightful home. Much better.

"I like your hair," he said, finally setting her gently back down on the floor. There was a dull ache in both of his arms, but he was most certainly not going to let her know that.

And then, of all things, she started laughing. Darien just stood there, looking at her quizzically for a moment, but the sound was infectious, and he soon found himself smiling along as well.

Without thinking, he snaked an arm around her back to help keep her upright as she leaned into him, racked by fits of mirth. When she finally calmed down to a reasonable level of hysteria, and accused him of being an axe murderer, he stood there with his arms folded, a single eyebrow raised.

"Accidentaly missed curfew? As in, oh wow isn't this a lovely evening-ohmygodwherehasthetimegoneitsnowseveralhourspastbedtime? That sort of accident?" A small smile began to break out on his face. He leaned in closer, focused on her eyes.

"Who is he, then?" He said with a grin. "There's a fairly short list of what keeps young ladies out of bed past curfew, and I know exactly what usually sits at the top of that list."

Keep her on her toes, offense was his favourite form of defense; with a bit of luck, she might get frazzled enough to forget about asking questions. If all else failed, there was one final thing he had in store that ought to distract her.

Kasey returned his smile with a bright one of hers and wrinkled her nose as he blew on her face. Odd... but she noticed that the hair that had been plaguing her face was gone and smiled again. Well this Darien was a rather strange character to say the least... it was fairly entertaining. Pretty helpful too.

"My hair? Oh thanks. I uh- She paused, not sure if the remark I grew it myself would fit, "It has a mind of it's own!" She said amiably after a moment, shrugging. The last thing she needed while stuck in a broom closet was for Darien to think she was a little... off. Though he probably already that that considering how she had reacted just moments ago in the corridor.

She blushed furiously and ducked her head but her grin was still in place. "Er...something along those lines. I was preoccupied." She managed. Was it just her or was it getting kinda warm in here?
The younger Ravenclaw's eyes widened as Darien leant closer and she couldn't have pulled her gaze away from his if she tried. Oh he smelled quite nice actually... why was he so close...

When he finished his sentence she began to laugh again, this time incredulous that he had thought up such a notion. As if she had anybody like that! No guy had ever taken an interest like that... but it was admittedly sad that she had been out with a book and not  a person. Her mouth opened and closed a couple times but she was too distracted to formulate words for a few moments. Seriously it was getting bloody warm in here! At this rate she'd be thawed out long before she got back to the tower.
"I am so sorry to disappoint you, but in actual fact you're the first guy I've ran into tonight." Her tone was slightly sarcastic, but what kind of Ravenclaw wasn't at least a little? "I do know now that there's a place on the roof of the Gryffindor tower where you can sit unseen and read. It's a good fly up there."  She shrugged and smiled a little wryly at him. God she was a boring person.

Finally she managed to break their gaze and she cleared her throat, casting her gaze around them oncemore. There was something in here, and by the smell of it, it was either really old or something she did not want to think about. Now that she was looking away from Darien she was able to smell thingdls other than him, and whatever it was it was starting to bother her. "Seriously though, do you smell that? It's awful." Kasey said, wrinkling her nose and turning back to him. Her hands came up to fix her hair as she looked at the boy perplexedly. Then she remembered what they'd just spoken about and a small smirk began playing around her mouth. "What about you Darien? Why were you in the cupboard when I came along? Your hair looks like it's seen some kind of activity." She had a positively mischievous look come the end of her comment and tried not to laugh. His hair really did seem kind of wild... just like his eyes... his gaze was so intense her tummy fluttered...
'Don't look at them again, bad idea. Don't do it... he'll think you have a staring complex.' She smiled warmly at him and looked away, her hands fiddling with a particularly stubborn strand of hair that was threatening to land in her eye if she let it go. Evidently it would seem it were a losing battle- at least it was better behaved than Darien's currently.

Even as she blushed and tittered and averted her gaze like all good young ladies ought to, Darien still persisted with his modern version of the Spanish Inquisition.

"Reading? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" He put on his best high-pitched girly voice, prancing around Kasey in a circle, as he imagined girls probably did. "Oh sorry professor, I was late to class because me and Johnny were reading in a broom cupboard. Oh, my skirt? Silly me, must have been tucked in to my knickers all morning!"

All in all, he thought he did a most excellent rendition of a young lady.

Something else she said caught his attention.

"Wait- I'm the first guy you've met tonight? Me? Well, in that case, I mean... I can probably clear a spot on this shelf here... Maybe get a leg up there... I'm sure we could make it work."

He let out a burst of laughter, and shot her a wink, tapping her gently on the end of her nose to let her know he was joking.

Great, you're not coming off predator-ey at all, right now.

At her own insistence about the smell, and his activities of the evening, he paused to sniff the air. Come to think of it... shit. Shit, shit, shit. That smelt suspiciously like his potion may have been burning onto the bottom of the cauldron, which meant that it was possibly ready. His eyes darted about the room. He shuffled about in the combined space, moving Kasey about as he needed.

"Ooh, it smells nice over here!" he exclaimed from behind her. "Is that your shampoo? That's lovely. I'll have to get me some. Flower?"

On the final word he produced his wand, a small bunch of flowers sprouting from the end. Distraction and misdirection. Maybe he could give her a quick kiss and send her on her way... He froze, maybe that's what she'd been looking for. He paused, smoothing his unruly hair, a bright flush appearing on his cheeks.

Don't kid yourself you conceited twit. Focus. You could always get her to try the batch, see if it's ready. Tell her it's Pepper-Up potion, or something harmless.

I'm a genius! Darien remarked internally. Perhaps there was a way to get out of the situation after all without anybody being taken into custody for illegal potion-brewing, or anybody ending up with various bodily appendages inside of areas that they really ought not to be.

He gave a brief shudder at the thought. Girls are hard.

Kasey couldn't help her giggling at his antics, shaking her head in disbelief. "You're only in the year above, did you suddenly take a leap from 16 to 60?" She asked teasingly as her eyes followed him about. "And Johnny? Really?" She tried her hardest not to blush again and soon her efforts paid off as the red began to seep away from her face. He sounded like someone had shut an important part of his anatomy in a door, and she cracked a smile at that thought. What was this anyway, 20 questions?

What had she gotten herself into?

It would appear that her only defense in this situation was sarcasm- she had no experience with boys and what to say in these kinds of situations. Hazel would have gone slightly snippy by now,and no doubt Ruby would have been flirting back with him. Another thinf she had no experience with. "Oh? Are you flexible enough to do that? Interesting.." She trailed off playfully, finally finding a half decent response. Then he tapped her nose like her Dad did all the time. Was that just a guy thing? She did not want to be thinking about her Dad at the moment.  She wrinkled her nose slightly and move her face away slightly with a small smile, then ducked her head again briefly.

"You just can't keep your hands off me can you?" She said in disbelief as she was moved from pillar to post in the small space. What was he doing?! There wasn't enough room really for all this movement! She tried to turn to look at him but everytime she was almost facing him again she got moved out of the way. Hopefully whoever was in the corridor outside would move off soon so he coyld find whatever it was he needed.

And now he was on about her shampoo.... and it clicked that clearly something was going on here. His body language was almost frantic, not to mention the pitch of his voice as well. She junped slightly as flowers suddenly appeared from the end of his wand and stepped back to look at him properly.

"Why are you blushing? Are you okay?" Kasey asked with a frown as she stepped towards him again. Oh, now he fixed his hair. "Is something wrong?" She added as she took the flowers and set them down. He was nervous! Why was he nervous all of a sudden? Had she done something wrong?

'How could you have done something wrong? You're hiding in a cupboard for christ sake!'

She grinned at him and reached up to help fix a stubborn bit of hair he'd missed, shaking her head with a small sigh. He'd helped fix hers. "You are quite the character, Darien. Do you hide in broom closet's often?"

With a wink and the barest hint of a winning smile, Darien let out a bark of laughter.

"Well, you look like a young girl who'd be interested in a Johnny, what can I say? Johnny the Quidditch star, perhaps? Or maybe Johnny the quiet introvert, who bares his soul only to a chosen few. Oh, the fun you two would have!

"But alas! For tonight you have no Johnny, only me, but I shall do my best."

He waggled his eyebrows at that final, ambiguous statement.

As she had the bare-faced audacity to challenge his flexibility, Darien stopped immediately what he was doing, shuffling around to face her from the front.

"You doubt me?!" he put on his best mock-affronted gasp, simultaneously hoisting his leg up towards the shelf in question.

A very sharp twinge in his hamstrings, and a noise that sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of a highly embarrassing pants-tear pulled him up short, and he waved the act away as if it were nothing.

"Close enough, anyhow," he muttered, rubbing at his tender muscles and surreptitiously feeling all the seams of his trousers to ensure his unmentionables remained out of sight and out of mind.

Her comment about his touching her suddenly had him all a-dither about what he should do with his hands. After giving her the flowers he settled for perching on the edge of a shelf and sitting on them. They could do no harm from down there.

As she reached in to fix a strand of his out-of-control hair, however, he very nearly suffered a coronary. Here he was, jammed into the cramped confines of a broom closet after dark with a pretty young girl, and all of a sudden she was reaching up to touch his face.

He had seen the movies; he knew that was what girls did when they went to kiss you - whether or not you had undertaken sufficient mental preparation! He found himself staring at her dainty little fingers as they approached, as if they were poisonous. He wriggled his own hands, but they were well and truly trapped beneath him now. What a stupid idea that had been. His heart rate began to pick up rather alarmingly, and his breathing followed suit.

It wasn't until he realised that all she was doing was adjusting his hair, that he let out a deep sigh. That ought not to have been so damned stressful. Had he mentioned that girls were hard? They most certainly were. It went something along the lines of Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, trying to lick your own elbow, then girls. In ascending order of difficulty.

Talking, yes. Shit. That was what she was doing. Talking at him. Wait, what had she said?

"Err... yes? I mean no? Only when I'm hiding something."

You absolute, monumental, world-ending imbecile.

It's the eyes, I'm sorry. Green eyes make me... woozy, or something.

Well this was the strangest experience Kasey had ever had. Was she supposed to blush or laugh? Because she seemed to be doing so without any permission from her brain- which, apparently, had taken a brief holiday. Not a good thing in her opinion but it would appear she didn't have any other choice. Damn her yelling for getting her stuck in a confined space with a handsome guy!

"Two major clichés in one sentence..." The witch commented wryly, smiling up at him slightly. "I doubt either kind of person attend this school though, so I guess you're right. You'll just have to do." Then she sighed dramatically and looked away, fighting another laugh.
She had no idea where such a comment had come from. That comment had been far more brazen than she actually felt but she hoped it wasn't obvious, otherwise he'd just continue winding her up. And she was already blushing and giggling like a silly little girl- She didn't need more encouragement to continue doing so. This was such a difficult situation.

Kasey's eyes widened as he brought up his leg and a rather ominous ripping sound came from his trousers like the stitching had began coming away, turning away to look at a shelf as she really did laugh. Of all things to happen, it sounded like he had just torn his uniform. "Please tell me that your trouser seams have not just parted company." She said quietly between silent giggles, slowly turning and bringing her gaze back to his eyes. Then away from his eyes again as she remembered how bad an idea that was to do. "Perhaps you should wait until wearing less constricting clothing to try that again? Y'know, so your underwear doesn't become your outerwear?" She continued with a small smirk as she shook her head at him. Her thoughts travelled briefly to where she had stashed her broom and books and wondered whether both of them would have been better off had she spent a little longer outside. Then again she was enjoying herself strangely enough so she wasn't all that bothered. Hopefully it was the same for Darien... not that he had anything to be enjoying really but still...

She frowned as his features twisted into something akin to a mixture of anticipation and fear and he began to squirm, but went ahead and sorted his unruly hair regardless- it wasn't like she was about to hurt him for merlin's sake. Her brow arched as he sighed heavily and her hand dropped back to her side as he stammered a reply. "And what would you hide in a broom closet of all things except you and your leg lifting tendencies?" Kasey asked teasingly, casting another look around them before returning her gaze back to him.
No not the eyes goddammit! Look somewhere else... like his nose or something.

Darien caught himself before his eyebrows managed to disappear up into his hairline – just. He would have to do? Just what exactly was he going to have to do? What did she have in mind for him? All of a sudden he was beginning to feel like it was very warm in their cupboard, and he unbuttoned an extra couple buttons on his shirt to circulate some much-needed air.

Evidently, he had not quite been as smooth as he had hoped regarding the trouser incident, and he offered Kasey a nervous little laugh in response.

“Er, well… about that. It may look like a sliver of pink underwear, but I can guarantee you that it most certainly is red. Very red. A manly red. Not pink at all.”

He made sure to position himself with his backside flush up against the wall from that point forward.

He cast his gaze around the confines a little wildly, as her touch left him with a slight tingling sensation dancing across his head and down into his cheeks where it manifested as a healthy blush. It was definitely getting hot in here.

“Oh, well… nothing important. Just a little extra-credit work on the side, you know how it is…” he had as good as given up the secret now, he decided that playing it off as a trifle was the safest approach. “I can show you if you want, behind the curtain – here!”

On that final word, he sprung up from his seat in what, in his mind’s eye, was to be a very suave manoeuvre, attempting to slip an arm around Kasey and draw the curtain back with a flourish, spinning her into his hidden compartment with a dazzling display of grandeur.

In reality, what happened was that he got up, placed an arm around her, stepped on the hem of the curtain as he spun and flourished, tripped as his feet became ensnared by the fabric, stumbled, and fell flat on his backside on the ground, dragging Kasey down with him. The poor girl ended up sat crossways on his lap, the pair of them draped in great folds of curtain like a makeshift tent.

The alarming breeze that was wending its way up his leg signified that his trousers had well and truly torn right through, but more importantly he had more or less just tackled the poor defenceless girl who was now looking quite aghast sat in his lap beneath a bundle of fabric.

It probably could have gone worse, but at that moment, he couldn’t quite work out how.