Everything that he and Mila were around each other and they weren’t shagging, they were making stupid mistakes like bloody talking. They shouldn’t want to learn anything more about each other, let alone acting on that by asking questions or talking about bullshit they shouldn’t be talking about. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem that either of them were that great at stopping themselves from doing that, and as long as they kept to their deadline on this … relationship, or whatever, then he supposed that they’d have to get used to actually wanting to know about the other person. It was apparently too late to do anything about that, even if he knew it was a mistake. The more he knew about her life, her shitty uncle, and her even shittier father, the more he found it difficult to not attempt to intervene once they got home for the summer. Or, at least, get one of his people to intervene for him if he wanted to keep to their arrangement, technically. But he didn’t like putting his responsibilities on others, so he knew that if this got much further, Finn would have to do something about Mila’s father when the school year ended. And that would be a mistake—that would be letting this caring bullshit control an aspect of his life at home, which was a damn risk. A risk, annoyingly enough, that seemed more probable by the day.

Coming to Hogwarts had been a bad idea, but that letter was even more ridiculous. Apparently they had low fucking standards to send a homeless boy on the damn streets an invitation to this stupid bloody school. It would have been a hell of a lot easier for them to just look the other way as far as he was concerned. “You’re fucking tell me,” he agreed, scowling. Getting that damn letter was not something that he’d ever been expecting, and he still didn’t know what was going through his mind when he decided to go. Since Mila was apparently unable to stop herself from asking questions, Finn knew he should stop himself from answering them—but he also knew he bloody wouldn’t, because that was how out of damn control this was getting. “When you’re homeless and hungry, a place that has both a bed and food sounds pretty damn good, no matter how stupid the idea of magic sounded.” Finn replied, immediately irritated that he hadn’t just brushed off the question. “You?” Although he asked, he felt that he probably already knew the answer—it would have been a hell of a way to get away from her father, though he didn’t know why she’d agree with it. Perhaps at that age she’d just been in the way, which he supposed made sense. Her father didn’t seem like the type that wanted an irritating kid around, which worked for her benefit in getting away from him, luckily.

She wondered how this relationship even occurred between them, trying to pinpoint a specific event. Mila supposed there really wasn’t any specific event, annoyingly enough. It was almost as if they were bloody drawn to each other; it was bloody inevitable with everything going on. Since she had started at Hogwarts, she had been completely content remaining in her silence, only speaking when absolutely bloody necessary…and answering questions when called on in class wasn’t something she even deemed necessary. Even when she had first met Finn, or the second time she supposed, she hadn’t spoken all that much even after he was asking her questions. Every bloody individual in this damn school was the same; pathetic wastes of space that she really didn’t give a shit about. The only one that mattered to her was herself as that was what kept her alive at home. Hogwarts was a way to get away from her parents. She remembered getting her arse handed to her when her father realized she hadn’t learned anything ‘useful’ at school. This school seemed to be filled with perfect little prefect wannabes with nothing better to do than to kiss the arse of every professor at the school. That wasn’t her and that was why, she supposed, that the professors seemed to give up on her. She did decent enough at classes, but that was about it, really.

Then she met the other ‘failure’ of the school, someone she had vaguely heard about but really didn’t see the need in trying to shag him on the basis of him coming from the same area that she was trying to avoid when she was here. Go fucking figure that shortly after meeting him, she starts to actually bloody talk without a fucking purpose, it seemed. When the fucking owl came to their apartment, her father wanted to bloody shoot it on sight as he was irritated by the blasted thing that was clanking on the window. Mila caught onto the fact that he had said he was homeless at the time, but thankfully she was able to bloody stop herself from asking questions about that…for now, at least. “A bed, food, and a bunch of people off their bloody rockers,” she mused, rolling her eyes. From the second she had stepped foot here, she had been irritated by the lameness that appeared almost instantaneously. “Pops saw it as a way to get rid of his kid until she was of a less annoying age and he saw possibility with magic. What a surprise it was that I came home not able to use my wand and only learning how to make my wand be a fucking flashlight,” she stated before laughing lightly, amused at the memory. Of course, when the memory had occurred, she hadn’t been amused all that much, but now she could enjoy seeing how frustrated her father had been.

Now that they were down here, and finding themselves getting trapped in another dangerous conversation that would probably only succeed in making them give a damn about each other more than they annoyingly already did, Finn had other plans in mind. They still had plenty of places to shag before the year concluded, some of which were on the grounds. That would be a better use of their time, and wouldn’t risk this situation getting any more ridiculous than it was already getting. He would have to remember that and try to turn the topic toward that as opposed to where it was currently leading. It was easier than him talking about his family, after all, or more specifically his mother and how shit out of damn luck they had been when he’d gotten his letter to this school. They were doing better now, he supposed, so he could at least be glad about that shit—though no thanks to her, obviously, but he knew better than to think that his mother would ever be a damn help in earning money or anything that helped them to survive. There had been a very brief time when he’d needed her for that, and now the tables had absolutely turned. He knew that Mila wasn’t the only one who wondered why the hell he took care of her, as his friends back home wondered the same shit, but some of them were in similar situations having to do with obligations and did understand.

Before he could actually vocalize shit having to do with shagging, a safer topic, the conversation had turned to what had made her come to Hogwarts. Annoyingly enough, he did want to know this. Finn bloody wished it was easy to decide not to care about Mila, since he hadn’t wanted to to begin with, but now he was stuck—until the school year ended, obviously, and they went their separate damn ways… other than the increasing probability that he’d have to sort shit out with her father, but that was beside the point. “Bed and food almost made it worth it, now I’m not so bloody sure,” he stated, shaking his head. Everyone at this damn school made him think he’d made the wrong decision every damn day. Finn scoffed at her words, not surprised that her father had thought he could get some use out of her magic, but noting that he had been right about her father wanting her out of the way until she was at a better age. That did make him wonder what he wanted with her now, and that further made him want to sort the ponce out when he returned home. “Bet he fucking loved that.” Finn said instead, though his mind was already moving through possibilities of what her ridiculous father was up to now, as he doubted it was any good.

She should have just kept walking when she had seen him sitting here, Mila thought to herself. For two people who hated conversing with others, they sure did find themselves conversing with each other way too much for their own good. It was pathetic, really. She didn’t even talk to her damn uncle this much and she bloody lived with the bloke. Actually, she couldn’t remember the last time she actually had a conversation with her uncle now that she was thinking about it. They just avoided each other for the most part, wanting nothing to do with the other as they lived under the same roof. He barely even provided food for her during the summer as he was a pathetic excuse of a guardian. The fact that she talked more to Finn than she had anyone, really, was alarming. This caring shit was going to do more harm than good and the end of the year couldn’t come fast enough, even though a part of her was still regretting the end of the school year.

They would have both been better off having never met, that much she knew. Now, they couldn’t get enough of each other, apparently. “Young and fucking stupid,” she smirked in response, knowing that the bed and food was not worth the fucking ridiculous shit that this school offered. Never in her life had she had as many rules and she really didn’t fucking like it one bit. Her uncle was a dunce, but here at the school, she was bloody surrounded…except for Finn, she supposed. She snorted lightly at his response, grinning. Her father almost didn’t let her return to the school, but then he realized it still got her out of the house for really no cost at all. Having a fucking kid around was just such a hassle obviously.

Finn did wonder what would have happened if he had just ripped up that letter or just considered it a lie like he bloody almost had anyhow. He’d be making a hell of a lot more money by now, probably enough for more meals than he normally could afford. He also wouldn’t have to deal with the bloody ridiculous damn school. In fact, he regretted making this decision almost every damn day, even if the food here was better than anything he’d be able to afford at home. The only reason that he felt as though he was even here was because of Mila, and that was only because he wanted to take advantage of their agreement before it ended, obviously. Next year would be a different matter entirely, and he still very much doubted that he would be returning. What was one more year of free food for having to deal with all of this bullshit that came with it? Annoying classes, absolutely stupid fucking students and professors, and more rules than he’d ever had to deal with in his life. Not that he followed much of them, but bloody still—once this arrangement was over with Mila, food would be the only damn reason to come back and that seemed pretty ridiculous for him at this point.

“That just about sums it up,” he agreed, smirking. Being young and stupid were the only two reasons that he was here, finding it absurd that he’d thought this was all worth it back then. He must have been really fucking hungry that day, or some shit. It must have been an exceptionally bad damn night, though it couldn’t have been all that cold since it’d been in May. If he’d gotten a letter offering him a bed at this school in the dead of winter, he’d probably have accepted even damn faster. That was just bloody stupid to think about now, that he had been so willing to do something this damn stupid for food or a place to stay. At least he could take better care of himself now, which made there be even less reason to return at the end of this summer. “You coming back next year?” Finn asked, wondering if she had finally had enough of this useless place as well.

One day, she was going to really regret this relationship that had mysteriously formed between her and Finn, not quite sure how this had even happened. She had had other blokes that she had similar deals with…though, none ever lasted this long. She would bore of them easily and be done with it. Unfortunately, Finn had to actually be interesting…the fucking prat. She supposed if she actually wanted to think about it, she would realize the irony in that two people, considered by some to be wastes of space, who didn’t give a shit about anyone…were finding the one person to give a shit about. However, giving a shit about Finn was the least of her problems as the school year was coming to a close. Usually, she didn’t mind going home. This time, she knew precisely what was awaiting her upon her return. Luckily, Finn hadn’t seen all of the letters that she had received, especially the ones that were specifically from her father. He was in charge, again.

She supposed she could just relax until then, which she was planning on doing. After all of these years, she at least bloody mastered how to look like shit was in order when all she wanted to do was freak. Freaking out was absolutely never an option that she would ever allow. Mila listened to Finn’s comment, deciding to not answer at first. Her eyes followed a group of people walking into the castle in the distance before developing a response that was accurate enough. “I have other shit to do,” she shrugged, not looking at him, knowing that really, she would be lucky if she could make it to the next year. Her father, now that he was back, probably wouldn’t allow it at all. Well, not probably. Definitely. He already informed her that she wasn’t coming back and it wasn’t like she had much of a say in the bloody matter. This really was her last few moments of peace.

It seemed that this was both of their last couple of weeks at Hogwarts, then, though he did find himself wondering why she wasn’t coming back. He would figure that she’d want to get away from her father for one last year now that he was out, but that thought brought about the realization that he probably didn’t want her to come back. It was the only factor that had changed, him being out of prison, which meant there was a high damn chance that he was the reason she wasn’t returning. Finn cursed internally, glad that he could at least stop himself from outwardly reacting still, because that would be just damn stupid of him. Every moment that past was proving to Finn that he’d have to sort shit out with her father before he could move on from this caring bullshit… it was the only thing holding him back from that, obviously. Otherwise, he was sure that he’d probably be over it by now. But once he knew that her father wasn’t treating her like shit or causing her problems, then they could just both go on their separate ways. Then she could choose if she wanted to come back to this damn school on her own, even though he knew he wouldn’t be.

“Well, guess we both get to be free of this place then,” he replied, offhandedly. There was no reason for him to be here anymore, clearly. He’d gotten his use from the place, and knew that the daily food wasn’t worth the irritation any longer. Besides, he could make enough money to eat semi-regularly, he was sure. Rent took up an annoying chunk of his funds, and his mother took another for her habits, and the rest was bloody enough for enough food to get by. Staying here and dealing with this bullshit was not worth it, particularly not if Mila wasn’t coming back. Even though that didn’t matter, since this shit would be done by then anyhow. Yes, once he got rid of the problems that her father would obviously be causing her, then this shit would really be over.

This was why she avoided talking to people for so long; only bad things could occur from wasting one’s time speaking to someone else. She would hardly consider Finn a dunce, becoming far too…personally attached to think something like that. Before she met Finn, she was perfectly content sneaking out of the castle to find a bloke to shag while she thirsted on the only liquid she enjoyed. Though, sometimes she would stay within the confines of the castle, fulfilling her needs with what she had available. Then, Finn bloody came around….again. They shagged before, when they were both piss ass drunk, but now they were doing it willingly on a regular basis. Hell, they were bloody talking on a fucking ridiculous regular basis. It was like she couldn’t bloody stop herself from a ridiculous conversation with him, and she was even more irritated that it wasn’t even irritating her as much as it had before. It was almost like she was getting used to it, disgustingly so.

This was enough for today, she decided, before she said anything she would bloody regret. She made a noise of agreement at his words, opting to not respond as she glanced about again. Yes, they definitely had more important shit to do than to sit here talking about shit. “Might as well go out with a fucking bang,” she grinned, glancing lazily about until she saw the Gamekeeper’s cabin. Moving closer to him, she brought her lips to his roughly, knowing that this was her absolute favorite distraction for when they started talking way too much for their own fucking good. The closer they got to graduation, the more it really didn’t matter if they got caught and expelled. Apparently, they were both done with this place anyways.

Coming to this school had been a decision that had made sense at the time. Even when he had first begun earning enough money in the fights and with his other work, it had at least slightly made sense to continue coming here, since food had still been pretty damn rare to be able to afford on a daily basis—it had been more like something that happened twice a week. But as he continued to fight and continued to win fights, he was making more than enough money to at least each a few times a week, at least. If his mother wasn’t so hooked to whatever drugs she was attached to at the moment, then they’d have more, but he made due with what he got… which worked out for the most part. But that meant that, really, Finn shouldn’t have come back this year, or even the year before. Staying home made a hell of a lot more sense, which he apparently hadn’t caught on to. But now he realized it, particularly with the help in realizing that without Mila there, there was really no point in returning. Not that he would ever say that, or blame it on her in the slightest, as there were other reasons; but if she had to stay because of her shitty father, then that was all the more reason to stick around. He would have to make sure the man was taken care of, even if that did mean breaking this arrangement… he supposed he could sort it out without her ever seeing him or knowing that he was involved. Finn would just have to figure that out, slightly, which shouldn’t take too much work.

This conversation shit never helped them, and he was unsure why they hadn’t realized that by now. Well, no, he supposed they did know that it was a bloody awful idea—they just couldn’t fucking help themselves. It was shit that he didn’t appreciate at all, wanting to know more about what was going on with her, and he didn’t like that he even answered her questions when he should just tell her to piss off on the questioning for both of their benefit. His smirk widened at her words, pulling her closer as she moved nearer to him. He kissed her back roughly, his hands moving to her hips to drag her against him. He supposed they hadn’t shagged by the lake yet, which was technically an aspect of their list, though they could always try to check off a bigger location.

All of this would thankfully be over within a month or so then she wouldn’t have to waste her time thinking how Finn Harlow was doing again. If caring could occur so incidentally, then it should be easy to stop caring on purpose. It was difficult to do that now, obviously, because he was always around. Hopefully she could convince her father that it was time for them to leave the city, as he had mentioned in one of his letters, so that she wouldn’t accidentally run into him. She had no doubt that Finn knew her father and she had no doubt that her father would somehow find his way back to the circle, because he never could stay away…especially if he heard that Finn was breaking his damn records. If Mila could help it, she could somehow convince her father that living in London was not to benefit him in the slightest. Fucking fat chance that was as she’d have to pretend she didn’t want to leave for it to even be a damn possibility at this point.

They were both apparently getting lost in their thoughts which was better than actually saying what was on their damn minds. Regardless, they now had a much better way to spend their last few weeks together and it didn’t involve using bloody words. She smirked as he pulled her closer, knowing that this was how they belonged…until the end of the year, obviously. Really, they probably shouldn’t even sit with each other on the train on the way back to their shitty lives. No, they probably would because who else were they going to fucking sit with? If they occupied a compartment, surely no one would interrupt. She nearly groaned at the thoughts, realizing that this shitty agreement was too damn tempting to continue. The thought of moving to the Gamekeeper’s cabin was slowly fading from her thoughts as they continued. No, moving was absolutely the last thing that she wanted to do and they might as well work on crossing this location off of their list.

--End Thread--