Evan had no idea when he ran into Isabella in that tower all those months back, that she would be any different from the rest of the bints that he set his sights on. After all, at first it had been incredibly normal and all going according to plan. He knew that she was going to be a challenge, since he knew her slightly from Quidditch; but he figured that since she was trying to get over some bloke, she was looking for a distraction. And he was excellent at providing those. But somewhere along the way, shit had changed, which he hadn’t been expecting. Evan did wonder vaguely what would have happened if she hadn’t been such a prude the first time around, as then he wouldn’t have had any way to trick her into breaking up with him. He supposed that she would have been pining over that Gryffindor bloke still, and the relationship would have ended anyways. Merlin, he would never get sick of taking the piss that she’d ever dated that pansy. He was a bigger bitch than half the females in this school, but that was beside the point now. He shook his head, amused by even the thought that she’d get sick of him, “Don’t worry too much about that—I expect I’ll get tired of you first,” he said, solemnly.

He was sure that she wasn’t dealing with the death of her family nearly as well as she came off now. It had been a few months, of course, and there had been that patch where she tried to cut off all ties with him and Cecilia. Evan was glad that shit was over, but he knew that she was still dealing. It didn’t help that Roman just up and decided even earlier in the year that he wasn’t going to be friends with her anymore, and by extension, Evan now didn’t speak much to him either—as little as possible, at least, since they were roommates, after all. Bloody ponce, he thought, deciding he wasn’t worth another thought at the current time. “Everyone in this school knows you’re only dating me for my looks and superb date-planning,” Evan told her, shooting an amused look at his girlfriend, “That and I’m a great lay,” he added, dryly.

“Oh, now that would be an interesting bet,” Isabella mused after his comment, before figuring though that couples really shouldn’t make bets on who got sick of the other first. “I won’t embarrass you by making it,” she replied, sighing dramatically. Thankfully, the school year was almost over…though, that was a bittersweet realization. Sweet in the fact that she wouldn’t be at school, and bitter in the fact that she’d be at home. This would be the first summer without her family and she honestly wasn’t sure how that was going to go. Typically, her summers consisted of tons of family time, playing football and Quidditch outside, sneaking out whenever possible, and causing unintentional trouble. This year, she was going to be without her brothers and without her parents, but with her aunt and her aunt’s ‘husband’. Was she supposed to hang out at Ceci’s or Evan’s houses? How was she supposed to inconspicuously ask that without making it seem like she was really affected by her family dying and not really wanting to deal with that? Perhaps she could convince them to come over a lot, she supposed. But even that thought sounded ridiculous. She wasn’t weak and vulnerable and she could deal with things herself without having the awkward and uncomfortable conversations.

The Slytherin blinked her eyes a couple of times, shaking her head lightly while she pulled her thoughts away from her family and back on the present moment. At least if she kept her thoughts and her anger to herself, she wouldn’t sound so crazy. It took her a moment to realize what he had said, allowing a grin to spread across her features. “Everyone in the school? I feel honored that that many people even know who I am,” she replied. “And I’m glad you finally understand my priorities,” she replied, feigning seriousness. “Ready for summer?” she asked casually, figuring there was nothing strange about asking about the bloody summer.

He raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend, amused by the concept of making a bet about who would get sick of whom first. With such slim pickings in this school, Evan wasn’t sure that either of them would get sick of the other, plus he could grudgingly admit what he probably wasn’t going to get sick of the first bint that he actually gave a damn amount—at least not anytime soon, “Are you sure you’d want to place yet another bed you know you’re going to lose?” He asked, smirking. Their relationship really was unconventional, thank bloody Merlin; they challenged each other to random activities, they made bets, and they shagged… those were easily their three most favored activities. He supposed they talked too, not that he knew much of what to say when it came to anything important. For instance, he had no idea what Isabella had planned for the summer, now that her aunt had custody of her. The entire situation with her family was something that was pretty damn foreign to him. Well, losing family—he could understand that, albeit it was a bit different. His parents had been absolutely awful, and he’d been so young when they died he barely remember them. Whereas Isabella was really bloody close to her family; but regardless, Evan at least knew what not to do, remembering what annoyed him about people after his parents’ deaths. But Evan also didn’t have a damn clue about the rest of the family, as he knew it was so bloody huge, and that wasn’t something he knew shit about. Unfortunately, he did know he’d have to figure that out, assuming that he would be meeting some of them this summer. Though Isabella would not be meeting his aunt if he could help it.

“Of course people know who you are—you’re dating me,” Evan stated, as though the answer was obvious. Really, it seemed that everyone knew the Quidditch players, and on top of that he knew he had his less-than-flattering reputation, rolling his eyes at the thought. Regardless, people seemed to bloody know who they were and liked to talk, not that it made much difference to him, “I’ve always suspected those were your priorities, they just happen to be my reasons for dating you too—except planning dates, since clearly I’m better at that,” he replied, shrugging. He shook his head slowly at her next question, shooting her a slightly amused look. He supposed that she didn’t really know too much about his aunt, “Not bloody ready at all. Being back at my aunt’s house for months is not my definition of a good time,” he told her, realizing vaguely that both of their guardians were their aunts, which he supposed was a bit odd. Apparently, they both also bloody sucked.

Their relationship would forever be getting judged as people just didn’t get it. It worked for them, their relationship, obviously. Sure, they had their differences, but they had their similarities as well. First and foremost, they were easily, quite possibly, the cockiest pair in the school. Surprisingly, that helped the success of their present relationship, rather than tearing them apart. It helped them to both fully enjoy the competition with each other, and it, for the most part, put them at almost equal levels. Despite her so many failed friendships and other relationships in the recent past, it was nice to have someone like him around that she could trust. He always could cheer her up easily without much effort at all, which was quite the relief when things were always on the bridge of falling apart.

Isabella rolled her eyes at his statement, turning so her back was against the window. With her arms, she lifted her body up and sat on the ledge so that she was facing Evan. She supposed she shouldn’t be sitting on the edge of a bridge, but it’s not like it was a bloody long fall if she did fall. And really, she never would think of things like that as clumsiness was not something she was known for. “How many times do I have to tell you that I don’t lose, I just decide to let you win? Obviously. Gotta protect that pride of yours so I can get what I want later,” she joked, laughing lightly.

“Oh, the burden of dating the wonderful Evan Hurst,” she said, smirking. It really didn’t bloody matter who was watching them or what they were thinking. She was certain that enough people thought something negative about one of them or both of them, so that really didn’t faze them ever. Some people still thought that Evan was using her, which was fine if they wanted to continue in that nonsense. She trusted him, regardless, as he had given her a reason to. “Better at planning dates?” Isabella exclaimed, eyebrows raising in his direction. “I happen to recall planning the best date of our relationship so I don’t know what you’ve been drinking, sweetheart,” she stated defensively, joking clear in her eyes. Except, she had planned a bloody great day, she’d like to believe. She had successfully managed to surprise him with a date, and then…well, he kind of rushed out of there…oddly enough. Isabella frowned slightly at the thought, not really sure why he had left so soon after that incident when she had thought it was going well.

Isabella nodded slightly at his response, wondering how things were in the home of her boyfriend. She had known some, but knowing and seeing were quite different. “Well, you can always save me and come visit over the summer…whenever you want, really. She supposed she should ask her aunt, and she would eventually…but she was quite certain they’d prefer Evan visiting her at her home than Isabella visiting him at his any day.

He knew that Isabella wasn’t as put together about her family being murdered as she was coming off, as it was clearly something that was affecting her more than she let on. However, she was no longer attempting to drop him and Cecilia cold turkey, which he considered an improvement. But apart from that, Evan didn’t know what to think or do, really. It wasn’t something that he was exactly good at—all he was doing was trying to keep shit as normal as possible. He knew that being treated any differently would just piss her off, as he’d seen enough of her reactions to others attempting to console her. Keeping it normal wasn’t too hard for him, he supposed, knowing that their cockiness helped them in keeping their amusing competitions going. Even if he apparently still had to prove to her that he was better at everything, “My pride is impossible to wound, so you know you’ll still get what you want,” he replied, chuckling under his breath. He knew that eventually she would beat him at something—or, well, it at least was possible. But he would really be curious to see what that was. Nothing came to mind that he didn’t excel at, at least.

“Luckily for you, the benefits far outweigh the burden,” he told her, solemnly. It was lucky that neither one of them gave a damn about the gossip that went around this school, though even not caring didn’t prevent him from realizing that they were at the center of at least some of it. With everything going on with Isabella, and how she had been dating that Gryffindor douche that everyone had bloody loved, and now was dating him again… people were having a damn field day, particularly in talking about the fact that Evan was still playing her. The fact that any of them thought that Isabella was stupid enough to fall for that was almost amusing, but it wasn’t as if anyone in this school was smart enough to come up with any worthwhile rumors, “Are you kidding? That are hardly the best date of our relationship,” he countered, shaking his head. Hell, that had been a pretty damn good day, he recalled, not that he would ever admit that willingly.

Evan really bloody wished that he were graduating this year, if only so that he could move out of his aunt’s house and get his own place. That was an aspect of his life that he certainly wished would speed up; it would also give him and Isabella somewhere to shag…and hang out, he supposed, over the summer without interruptions. Dealing with the bullshit at both of their respective guardians’ houses was going to be an incredible annoyance. Luckily, they still had a bit of time before they would have to worry about that, though it wasn’t exactly easy to find privacy in this damn castle either, “I’ll be taking you up on that shit, often,” he replied, grinning crookedly at his girlfriend. Isabella hadn’t even been to that house, as far as he was aware—perhaps she’d have her own damn wing or a guest house. That would give them a measure more privacy, though he supposed his aunt was out of the house enough to make that an option. They would have to figure it out as they went along.

Sometimes Isabella had wondered if it would just be better for her to actually talk through what was on her mind in regards to her family, though she shut that thought down every time. Of course, it was a different excuse each time that it crossed her mind. This time, her excuse was on the fact that it was May, nearly half of a year after the event and mourning was simply uncalled for. She remembered getting a few looks because she hadn’t even managed to shed a tear at the funeral, far too angry to even contemplate that. Anger was her favorite emotion, the emotion that made her feel strong when sadness was threatening to render her useless. Now, enough time had passed that she could give up on most of her anger and just ignore the fact that her family had died and that her brothers were practically screaming at her from the walls that she passed in the school…memories threatening to destroy her growing happiness.

“Lucky for you I don’t want to wound your pride. I’ve proven you wrong before, don’t make me do it again,” she teased, remembering how he used to never actually date a girl until their relationship had turned into something a bit more real than either of them had been expecting. Being with Evan always seemed to cheer her mood, even if she was already in a decent mood to begin with. He was sarcastic and witty and his cockiness matched her own nearly perfectly. She wondered what it would have been like had they been friends first from the Quidditch team, slightly wondering why they never did connect there…other than the fact that she hadn’t wanted friends then either.

Isabella let out a light laugh at Evan’s response, nodding her head in agreement. “I do have great benefits,” she confirmed sincerely. Isabella thought for a moment, contemplating their past dates. “Well, clearly the first date is out as that was just…so awkward…on my behalf…but I almost want to say that football wins out, even if you cheated,” she grinned. “But it doesn’t win by much. By a hair, really,” she clarified.

It would be a lonely summer if Evan couldn’t visit so Isabella really hoped her aunt was going to allow Evan over…or would allow her to go over to Evans or this summer was going to drive her crazy. “I’m sure we can find a few things to pass the time,” she winked. As much as she despised the school, she knew it would be easier on her relationship with Evan for them to stay before he had to deal with all of her uncles and cousins and their hundreds of questions. That was certainly something that was very important to Isabella. Her family was the world to her and it was important that her boyfriend got along with them, her crazy, crazy family.

Everyone had known the DiTraversos really, since there were so bloody many of them. Isabella had actually been the one that was a bit more mysterious, but her brothers had all been rather well known. Evan hadn’t been friends with any of them, though everyone in the bloody school had been shocked to hear what had happened. It further showed just how shitty the world was actually getting out there, which didn’t bode well for the fact that Isabella was the only one that hadn’t been killed. He thanked bloody Merlin that she had been out with Cecilia, but he did wonder if the people who had killed her family knew that they had missed one. Evan would certainly be spending a hell of a lot of time with her this summer for his own damn sanity, or he’d be wondering if some radical was going to come along and finish what they started. Of course, he felt slightly better than her aunt was an auror, though he didn’t know shit about the man she had married. Being with them was safer than being in an orphanage, even if Isabella didn’t realize that. Evan would never say any of this out loud, obviously, as he wasn’t one to talk about shit like that, but he had made the determination all the same; he would be paying really bloody close attention to their surroundings, as apparently no one was to be trusted at this point.

“You’ve proven me wrong once, don’t get overconfident,” he said, trying to push the more serious thoughts from his mind. They still had a bit longer in the safety of this irritating castle, though he still didn’t trust bloody anyone around here anyhow. It felt like every other person could be a pureblood hating radical, and the next person could be a pureblood Death Eater in making, as he wasn’t stupid enough to not realize that Voldemort being long dead wasn’t enough to stop that group in its tracks. Especially when the Minister was pretty much giving them more reason to band together. He shook his head, glancing out at the grounds for a moment while he attempted to focus on what his girlfriend was saying. It wasn’t the time to think about this bullshit, as they would annoyingly have plenty of time for that. “I didn’t think it was awkward,” Evan replied, shooting her a look and raising an eyebrow, “But football was the definite winner of dates, and I didn’t cheat—no rules, remember?” That date had actually been incredibly amusing, and one of the first times that he had realized that this might have been a bit more than the normal game he played with bints.

He couldn’t decide if it would be safer to hang out at his place over the summer with Isabella, or at her aunt’s. On one hand, he was an inconspicuous halfblood who lived Merlin knew where and no one would ever really know that, and everyone knew where the DiTraversos were. But because of that, they would also probably have decent protection in order, where he didn’t. Honestly, this was bloody irritating; Evan shouldn’t have to be thinking about wards and keeping his girlfriend from getting killed by radicals. The world was simply going to shit, and apparently these thoughts were just going to become the norm. “I already have plenty of ideas,” he replied, smirking at her. His aunt was almost never home, after all, which would be quite the benefit to her coming over. Somehow he doubted that a DiTraverso household was ever empty. Meeting all of them was going to be another hurdle to cross, though he’d deal with that when he came to it.

When Evan had first asked Isabella out, she had thought he was out of his mind for doing so, and she thought she was just as out of her mind for agreeing. They were on the same Quidditch team, and that was really all she knew about him. Slytherins weren’t exactly known to being the friendliest so it really hadn’t been all that odd that she hadn’t talked to him much. Talking was hardly necessary in the sport; they just needed to know how each other played. Now, she was glad she had given him a chance, even if her mindset was in the wrong place. From their first date, he had been interesting and easy to talk to, someone she definitely found herself being comfortable around. Now, he was definitely one of her closest friends…well, more than a friend, definitely. Thinking back about all of the arguments she had gotten in with people, especially a few blokes who tried to warn her away from him, she could merely laugh at them now. She supposed they didn’t exactly have the most traditional of relationships, not that she would be any the wiser. However, it worked for them.

Isabella would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous to introduce him to her family. Introducing him at the funeral had seemed a bit off. Well, really, she seemed a bit off, not even remembering all who had even showed. But now, she would certainly have to introduce him to her family…and her uncles, which seemed miserable. At least…he KIND of knew her aunt…so there was that, she supposed. “Overconfidence? What is this nonsense you speak of?” she asked innocently, narrowing her eyebrows in false confusion in his direction. Really, something like over-confidence didn’t really exist in either of their vocabularies, which she supposed could prove rather fatal for their relationship…if their relationship was normal. They were both too confident for their own good, quite dangerous when they were on the same side on anything. Isabella could tell that his thoughts had seemed to be elsewhere, distracted by whatever was plaguing them.

“Not awkward? I’m pretty sure I was stumbling over my words and when I wasn’t, I had this annoying blush on my face,” she argued, rolling her eyes. That was her first date, after all and it was practically a blind date as she hadn’t known all that much about Evan to begin with. She remembered thinking then that she would never get used to him kissing her on the cheek. Well, she supposed that most certainly has changed, she smirked before bringing her focus back. “Picking me up and parading me about like some trophy hardly count as fair, but you’re right…no rules. I hope you don’t expect to win again. I’ll make sure to massage your arse after your fall,” she joked, turning her head when she heard laughter in the distance. Not seeing anyone, she turned back to Evan, supposing it was a nice enough day for people to be out of the castle.

Isabella returned his smirk, knowing precisely what his ideas entailed. “I look forward to seeing these ideas of yours,” she replied before the smirk fell from her face. “You okay? You seem distracted,” she stated, noting the fact that he seemed to have to force his mind to focus on the conversation.

Not caring about people had worked pretty well for him for the majority of his life. It had seemed as though everyone he had come into contact with when he was young had helped him to realize that it was for the best. There had been his parents, who he couldn’t even remember previous to them dying because of how little he’d ever even seen then. Partially, he could assume that being so young was to blame for that, but really, Evan did know that it was mostly because of how little they had given a damn about having a child. His aunt had furthered that along with her distain for him, not that he gave a shit about that. He disliked his aunt just as much as she did, and he certainly tried and succeeded in not giving his parents much thought. He wasn’t the type of bloke that would feel sorry for himself, obviously, especially when he hadn’t seen the need for any attachments like that in any case. All of that had been normal for him, and shagging whatever bint that caught his eye had always worked for him as well. He really didn’t think that it was anything that he would ever change or feel the need to change.

Certainly not for a random bint on his Quidditch team that he’d known of for bloody years without talking much to. That was the benefit of being a keeper, really, when he didn’t want to waste his time with people. Evan supposed the chasers at least sort of had to know each other in order to work cohesively together. Even the beaters, in his opinion. But he’d be able to play the sport he enjoyed without wasting his time with teamwork bullshit, as he hadn’t really felt the need to make friends with anyone, though he supposed he’d gotten along with Roman well enough. Now Quidditch was different with his girlfriend being on the team, and either of them being friends with Roman anymore. Partner that with Trey Ruldophi being the captain, and Quidditch practice was always a bloody disaster.

Regardless of that, Evan really didn’t think that shit was going to ever have a reason to change, and he hated when he realized that he actually cared about Isabella. Breaking up—or tricking her into breaking up with him, really, had only apparently made him realize that more, and now here they bloody were. Now he had to worry about her getting killed by radicals and all the other shit that could happen. It had been a lot easier to only care about himself, but apparently that mindset was long gone. “Overconfident—you know, that thing that people say we both are?” He replied, grinning. He had little idea why anyone wasted their time not being confident, but apparently some people just were insecure, for whatever reason. That wasn’t his problem, after all—he really didn’t think there was such a thing as being too damn confident.

“Fine, you were awkward—but I was bloody perfect, as always,” he stated, once again trying to recall if he had considered the date at all awkward. It had just been him playing the game back then, so he supposed he noted her awkwardness in a way that simply led him to realize just how little she actually dated. It had gotten less awkward as the night went on, after all, once she stopped acting like a simpering bint. Evan laughed at the thought of just how he had won that football game, though he was sure he could have won it fairly as well; it just wouldn’t have been as interesting. “If it’s one thing you’ll never beat me at, it’s football, but you can still give me a massage,” Evan said, finding himself smirking at the thought. Perhaps that would be a damn good reason to play football again, and it would give him a major incentive to beat her again, “Good,” he replied, his smirk widening, though it was difficult to keep it in place at her next question. It wasn’t like he was going to be a bloody ponce and talk about wards and keeping her bloody safe from damn radicals. Evan would just do that himself. “Distracted by all of those ideas,” Evan said, giving her a slow look over. That would do the trick in distracting her as well, more than likely.

Evan was quite easily one of the people that Isabella cared about the most in her life. Their relationship was far too complex for anyone to emulate, leaving Isabella curious how they had gone so many years playing on the same Quidditch team and being in the same house before actually coming together. She supposed that had a lot to do with the fact that she pushed everyone away, staying only with her brothers for the most part, and Roman, she supposed. When she wasn’t with them, she was off avoiding people, really not leaving any way for people to even try to open up with her. A part of her still wondered what would have happened between her and Evan if they had dated a year ago. Perhaps if she made an effort in trying to get to know her teammates, she and Evan would have been friends earlier and they would have dated earlier. There was nothing to be done about that at the moment. At least he attempted to make her one of his quick shags earlier in the year. That thought caused an amused smile to splash on her features, wondering if anyone had ever been thankful for being intended to be one of his quick shags.

She supposed she owed him a lot, if that was a thing. He helped her out of a desperate relationship and then he was there for her when her family had died. With everyone else trying to push themselves into her life because they apparently thought she wanted that, Evan and Cecilia refused to let her push them away to begin with because they knew she needed them. Now, she had her boyfriend and her best friend, making the year ending not seem as grave as it was headed. Even though the thought of summer scared her, she was ready to have this year commence. It would be her first summer back at her aunt’s mansion and it would be her first summer without her brothers, her first summer without Roman, her first summer with Cecilia, and her first summer with her first boyfriend to introduce to her family. Now that she thought about it, nearly everything about the summer was scaring her, but she was glad for some of it. Her uncles would probably be terrible to Evan, but hopefully she could convince them to bugger off. The meeting was bound to be…interesting, to say the least. She would have to make sure Evan stayed in her sight, afraid of what her relatives would do to him.

“Oh, that…psht,” Isabella stated, rolling her eyes. “There’s only confident and not confident. Overconfident would imply that we’re actually not perfect, which is obviously not the case…at least in my case,” she smirked, shrugging lightly. “You, perfect? Perhaps there is such a thing as overconfident, after all. I thought you were okay,” she stated seriously before a smile fell upon her face. “Don’t make me challenge you to another game, Hurst. I would hate to wound your pride when you realize I can bring you to the ground,” she laughed, wondering if they should just go play another game since Quidditch was obviously out. Her grin widened at his response, though she knew he had had something else on his mind at the time. He had proven difficult to get to talk to her, at least not out in public. People were just so nosey, it seemed. “And are you going to share these ideas with me?” she asked, watching as he looked her over, her mind beginning to wander slightly at what he had in mind.