After spending most of the afternoon flying, once again skipping his last class—which was apparently becoming normal for him, Evan had headed to the wooden bridge. He’d flown there straight from the pitch once a few younger Hufflepuff students showed up. At the current time, he really didn’t have the patience to deal with anyone at this school that irritated him, and that list was long—everyone except Isabella and Cecilia really. He’d concerned his roommate, Roman, a friend… for a time, but Merlin bloody knew what was going on with him. Apparently everyone was going bloody crazy this year, he mused, letting his broom rest against the side of the bridge as he leaned against one of the open windows. Luckily, this bridge was normally pretty empty, unless students were heading to classes or wherever bloody else they found themselves needing to go to. Evan really didn’t care so long as they didn’t attempt to bother him or generally be annoying around him.

The Easter holidays had been a nice break, simply because everyone had been gone. He, of course, remained at Hogwarts, like always. Evan didn’t feel the need to go back to his aunt’s house so that they could hate each other up close. It was far easier on both of them to just detest the other at a distance—preferably one that was incredibly, incredibly far away. At this point, he was all but counting down the days until he could move out, even if it was a year away.

Evan did wonder how shit had changed so much in the span of one school year. He had went from not giving a shit about absolutely anyone, to dating and actually caring about Isabella, despite how hard he’d tried to act like he hadn’t for a time. That had apparently only been stalling the inevitable, though her dating Damian had at least been a little bit amusing looking back at it. He smirked at the thought, though it fell slightly when he recalled everything that was going on with her. Even having lost his parents, he didn’t know what to do to comfort other people—empathy wasn’t exactly his strong suit, though that didn’t mean he didn’t care. All he knew was how not to act, and that was just not doing everything that had annoyed him when his parents had died. That wasn’t too hard, as he wasn’t bloody annoying after all, he thought, like half of the students at this school. At the thought, he realized that he heard footsteps echoing throughout the bridge, rolling his eyes in anticipation of whomever it was that was approaching.

@isabella

It had been nearly four months since the attack on her family and it seemed that the more time that passed, the more anxious Isabella became about what had happened, worried that she would somehow forget about her family. There had been a brief stint of time in which she had desperately wanted to forget them, if only so that she could selfishly live in her naivety. Now that her family had been victimized, another casualty in the brewing war, it was rather difficult for Isabella to turn a blind eye to the greater meaning behind what was occurring. Never in her life has she ever spent as much time in a bloody library as she had in the past month or so, doing research whenever she could…which was whenever Cecilia or Evan were otherwise occupied so that it wouldn’t be suspicious. Honestly, she hadn’t even really known where the library was until this year. And she certainly hadn’t known that the library had a bloody curfew…or closing time…or whatever it was called.

The year was almost over, aggravating enough. She had managed to stay at Hogwarts over Easter break, but she hardly thought she’d be able to convinced Headmistress McG that it was in her best interest to stay at Hogwarts over the summer. This meant she would have to go home with her aunt, irritatingly enough. Perhaps, she wondered, she could convince her Uncle Gino to let her stay with him, but she highly doubted that…at least, not for the entire summer.

The Slytherin had just finished up in the library, having skipped one of her last classes to do so. Instead of going back to the dormitories, she decided to take a walk outside, enjoying the beautiful weather before she camped up inside the cool dungeon. Her feet guided her to the Wooden Bridge, one of her favorite places. There had just been something about the quiet location that had appealed to her long ago and it never did leave her. However, today, the bridge was not empty. Squinting her eyes slightly, she recognized the back of the person immediately, having spent far too much time with him to not recognize him easily. Grinning, she continued her destination towards her, dropping her backpack next to his broom as she jokingly nudged his arm out of the way, of the window, settling next to him.

“Hey Evan,” she smiled, looking out at the grounds. “People at the pitch, I assume?” she continued, noting his broom and knowing that he wouldn’t just be sitting around with his broom and not actually flying it.

As much as he disliked the concept of all of the annoying and suffocating rules at this school, Evan would much prefer being here over being home. Besides, rules were easy enough to break, especially with practice. He didn’t understand how anyone who had been at this school for more than a few years still managed to get into trouble—it was like they hadn’t bloody learned how to get away with shit. There were ways around every rule, something that he’d found out a long time ago. Regardless, being able to bend these rules was another reason why being here was far superior than with his aunt and Evan knew that he’d be keeping his distance from her once again this summer. It was at least easy that they both disliked each other and had no desire to communicate, as it made living with the other that much easier. And once he graduated and got his inheritance, Evan really wouldn’t have to see his aunt anymore, and he knew that she was counting down the days as well.

But of course, he’d be graduating school next year right on time for the Wizarding world to turn into a complete shit-show. Just because he was at Hogwarts for most of the year and didn’t see what was going on firsthand, didn’t mean he didn’t realize how bad it was getting. His girlfriend’s family getting killed was proof of that, and he didn’t doubt they’d enter the Wizarding world as shit was getting even worse. As it stood now, Evan didn’t see it getting any better. It seemed as though nothing could ever be simple, especially since now he had to worry about his girlfriend being the target of these damn radicals. And concern wasn’t something that he was used to at all—at least, not for another person. Another first.

He could count on one hand the people he wouldn’t mind walking up to him right now, so the odds weren’t in his favor in the slightest. However, when he glanced up, he noticed Isabella approaching and a smirk grew across his face. Evan hadn’t been expecting her around here, because the school was way too bloody big to commonly run into people that he actually wanted to run into, but he certainly wasn’t complaining. He moved his arm enough for her to move next to him, chuckling under his breath at her words, “You assume right,” he replied, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. Who the hell had time to deal with annoying people at the pitch, after all? Isabella knew that better than anyone.

Living with her aunt was going to be torturous this summer, Isabella had already noted. They would be living in the woman’s old house and Merlin knew that there were simply way too many memories in that house to ignore. Even with as big as the house was, it wouldn’t be big enough to hide away from things she really hadn’t wanted to face. With four months having passed, Isabella had dealt with the murder of her family in her own way. She wasn’t angry that they were murdered anymore. Of course, she wished that it never happened and if she thought about it too much or even talked about it at all, she would probably depress herself, but overall, she liked to believe her mindset was clear. Honestly, there were even moments during the day that she didn’t want revenge on the people who took her family…even if the moments were brief. During the entire few months, she had only found herself drawn to tears once, and that was the moment she had discovered her family murdered. She knew that some people had been watching, waiting for her to have a mental breakdown of sorts, but it wasn’t coming.

Death was an end of life, and sometimes people died too soon. Their death had not been in vein though, as she noticed it was making her a stronger person…slightly emotionally detached, but stronger. Her recognition of the brewing war was strong, as she silently sorted through her thoughts on the matter. Her main concern was the safety of her best friend and her boyfriend, both of which were half-bloods that were in a relationship with a pureblood. It seemed that no one in this bloody upcoming battle was safe, each having trouble from their family and personal connections from either side of the war. Pushing her present thoughts out of her mind, she welcomed the distraction of seeing her boyfriend, not wanting to be consumed by the growing obsession of finding a solution to the world’s problem.

“Well, that’s disappointing. Guess I’ll kick your arse in flying another day,” she smirked, knowing that a large portion of their relationship included challenges, both being naturally competitive people. She supposed that had a large part in what attracted her to Evan, having someone that was afraid to actually try to compete with a girl. Most blokes, she found, would intentionally let a bint win, which really was a bloody irritation to Isabella.

Evan knew that they had an unconventional relationship in the eyes of a lot of the annoying students at Hogwarts. Bints at this school apparently normally thought that they had to know where their boyfriend was at every moment of the day and would bitch and complain if they didn’t. Blokes seemed to be the same way—he’d noticed that and the fact that he’d never been like that before in his ‘fake’ relationships was certainly translating over to this real one as well. He just didn’t understand why anyone would want to spend twenty-four hours a day with someone, even someone they were dating. It was because of this that he realized some people thought it odd that the pair of them could not know where they other was all the damn time. Or that they could just happen across each other like this completely unintentionally. But they were both independent, thank bloody Merlin—because there was no damn way that he could date a dependent little bint. Besides, it made everything far more interesting when they had their own shit going on too.

He smirked in response to her statement, shaking his head. Evan knew she was a bloody good Quidditch player—they played on the same team, after all. But he was the best keeper that Hogwarts had had in years, and he was no slouch at any of the other positions either. He could probably play a solo game against the entire Hufflepuff team and win, “I’m not sure you can handle finding out that there’s something else I’m better at than you,” he stated in response. It did amuse him that they were so alike as far as their overblown (but well deserved) egos were. It made competition between them far more interesting, though he was still convinced that he could beat her at just about anything. but it was always fun to find out for sure—Quidditch would certainly be interesting. The idea of intentionally letting her win at anything never crossed his mind—he always went all out, and it made it more amusing when wagers were involved—especially now that they were officially dating.

“Soon, the student will outdo the teacher, Evan,” she grinned, raising her eyebrows at him. If she had been normal, she supposed it should bother her that he was annoyingly better at most things than her, but not by much. Instead, she found it just to press her into being better, enjoying the challenge that it provided. Of course, with her practicing to become better, it only meant that HE would get better as well, but it was still a challenge for her. Annoyingly, her boyfriend before Evan would have let her win things, which just ended up annoying her. Why would she want to play games with people if they were going to be afraid to win? She remembered the first game she had played with Evan, back when they dated the first time. Luckily, he had known what football was and so they were able to go play a one-on-one game. She had been about to win, when he bloody ‘cheated’ and picked her up, running with her until he scored. Isabella grinned at the reminder, not really caring that that date had ended on a not so great note with her friends.

Of course, they had thought that he was using her…which he was, she supposed…but she was still willing to bet that he was himself during that date…as well as a few of their other dates. Though, it wasn’t like they sat around discussing at what point he decided he could be himself around her. That just sounded like such a lame thing to discuss when none of that really mattered at this point. Besides, Evan was now friends with her best friend, which made things all the more easier. It really had bloody sucked dating Evan when her friends, especially Cecilia, had been against him. “I’m still going to find something you’re terrible at. Just you wait. I still have what…six or seven months to go? You better start planning that date. I’m really picky, clearly.”

It didn’t surprise him in the slightest that he’d be able to beat Isabella at any competition that they’d had so far. He was cocky like that, and he certainly couldn’t think of a situation where that would be changing anytime soon. Evan knew that to some people cockiness was an annoying trait, not that he gave a damn what they thought—but luckily, Isabella was just as cocky as he was, which meant that their competitions were always incredibly amusing. He wasn’t surprised, either, that she was also really bloody good at most things. He was just always marginally better so far. Perhaps she would really be able to find something that she was better at at some point—just as of now it hadn’t happened. He also couldn’t really think of anything that he wasn’t good at, and it helped that he was a natural and a quick learner at most else. It would be interesting to see what she came up with, and he was sure he’d… at least probably, be a good sport if there was indeed something she was better at, “Soon? I’m not holding my breath,” he stated, still smirking as he glanced over at her.

He shook his head slowly, chuckling. Their bet if he ever did lose against her at any of their competitions was amusing enough in itself. Evan was fantastic at planning dates, after all—at least he had been when he was playing bints left and right, and he was sure it would translate over to dating someone he actually cared about. Before, he’d just had to be perceptive enough to know what the bint would want, and then deliver it in a way that ended with him getting what he wanted. Evan would do just about anything during a date—even shit he hated, if he had thought it would get him a shag for the evening. That just had to translate to this relationship, since he supposed he’d actually know Isabella and know what she’d like to do… or something. The whole being-a-boyfriend shit was still new to him, hence why he was bloody glad that they were unconventional, “It’ll take you six or seven months to even come up with an idea of something I’m bad at—and then you’ll still probably be wrong,” he replied, grinning, “Besides, planning dates happens to be something else I’m good at, clearly.”

There weren’t many people that Isabella actually enjoyed the company of, Evan being definitely one of the top on the list. Even if their relationship to the outside world was a constant competition, and never really knowing where the other was at any given moment, it was what worked for them. Girls in her year had thought it rather strange that she never really knew of Evan’s whereabouts, warning her of him possibly cheating on her with how his past was. Their logic was that because he was a player once, he would eventually tire of Isabella and slip into old habits…while apparently still dating her. Of course, Isabella always laughed at this, finding this to be slightly amusing. Ever since they started dating the first time, people had been against their relationship. It really wasn’t anything new, now. “Good, finding another boyfriend would be just too much of a hassle,” she smirked, rolling her eyes.

“Mmm,” she sounded, feigning a serious expression on her face. “I love it when you speak cocky…it’ll make the win all the more sweet,” she said, a glimmer of playfulness in her eyes. “Clearly? I’m sorry. I don’t recall any dates we’ve had. They must not have been memorable,” she teased, shrugging slightly.

Before dating Isabella, most of his relationships—or conquests, whichever word fit the situation better, had been the same. If he’d dated the bint, a lot rarer of an occurrence, then he was used to the typical dating bullshit and what a bint would expect. Dates, conversations, knowing where the other was at most hours of the day, and general bullshit like that… so it figured that his actual relationship with Isabella was so much different than that. For one, they really didn’t care to know where the other one was at all hours, finding it rather unnecessary to keep constant tabs on the other. Of course, they blood talked, but even that was far less annoying than his past relationships had been; Evan actually didn’t mind talking to her, liked it even, though there were still plenty of situations where he didn’t have a damn clue what to say, like about her family. And they actually hadn’t been on many dates, finding that playing football together was about as close as it came—unless he was counting the dates they’d gone on the first time they dated. He supposed that did also have a lot to do with the limited about of options for actual dates to go on within the castle. Regardless, he was finding that dating someone for real wasn’t bad at all—and they got to consistently shag, which was always a plus, “And I wouldn’t want you to go through any type of hassle,” he deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

What was amusing was that he knew that she was probably at least a bit irritated that he seemed to be beat her at everything they did. Even if she joked about it, Evan was sure that she was determined to best him at something and it really would end with a lot of entertainment on his part. Besides, they usually placed wagers, and that added a whole other incentive to beat her, “Back at you, sweetheart,” he replied, grinning. Her cockiness did make beating her in whatever they did that much more entertaining, as he really couldn’t think of a more amusing date than when they’d played football and he’d won, “Your memory must be shot, they were bloody great dates,” Evan stated, shooting her an amused look, “Maybe you’ve been hit by one too many Bludgers and are suffering memory loss.”

There had been a time that Evan had to actually convince Isabella that he was alright as she really hadn’t believed him in the slightest. It was nothing personal against her fellow housemate and teammate. She simply put every person in the same group, expecting them all to annoy her. It wasn’t like he started to talk to her when she was in a fantastic mood, though she supposed that was planned on his part. After losing one of her good friends for a stupid bloody reason, and after finding out that a bloke she had liked was engaged, she really hadn’t wanted to deal with people in the slightest. They really weren’t bloody worth it to her in the slightest. Then she met Evan in that tower and he smoothly, and annoyingly, talked his way into a date…her first real date, if she liked to be honest. The date had been…rather awkward…but they clearly got along well enough as it led to more dates…and then an actual relationship. She supposed he got what he wanted…or at least, what he had said that he wanted at their first meeting…something about helping her move on, or whatever terminology was used.

“Oh, what a caring and considerate person you are,” she replied, making an amused face. “Though, that’ll help me in trying to pawn you off on some other poor, unfortunate soul when I’m eventually sick of you,” Isabella stated seriously, the corners of her lips twitching slightly in a teasing manner.

Merlin, it really was aggravating that he beat her at everything, but she was confident that eventually, she would beat him at something…cheating or not. She supposed if worse came to worse, there was always distractions…and she definitely knew how to distract him…but even she wouldn’t go that low…maybe. “It all makes sense now. That explains why I could actually be attracted to you,” she laughed lightly, shaking her head in amusement. Yep, anyone who came in on any of their conversations would certainly find it rather odd.