Old Times (Vin / Keela)

[shava]

Vincent headed to the train with the cart, his, his younger sister's, and their little brother's trunks on board leaving his mother behind. She always preferred to wait away from the tracks, dropping them off and then making sure the train left before she went on her own way. While it would have been cool to leave off and go on their own way, the punishment for missing the train which she had threatened was enough to keep her kids in line. Besides their friends would be on the train, why wait? With his prefect badge on (a glance back showing his sister on his heels and the purple hair of his youngest brother right behind) he stopped at one of the train doors through the milling crowd.

Using his muscles to toss all three into the train made him feel good, nice to show off his developing body even if it wasn't for anyone but family. There was always a chance some other girls might see this and approach him later about getting a closer view, scant as it was, but hope was free. Soon as he had tossed them on, his sister went on up and dragged her trunk off on the train to find friends and Vin just turned and shoved his cart off so it rolled away from the train. he heard a muffled epitaph as someone encountered it but by then he was on board with Darius and didn't care.

Their fault for not looking out, right?

Putting their trunks into a compartment and leaving Darius nervously sitting on the window seat, Vin stepped into the hall and opened a window, leaning on it with hit arms to watch the crowd and see who he remembered. Several times he raised his hand to wave at some folks, but there were, as always, enough young kids to be strangers still wherever he looked. With half an eye open for Keela, his chosen mate (though she insisted they were just casual friends, he had seen the looks in her eyes enough to know not to let up on this) Vin smirked at the crowd, all the adults trying to send off their kids and get the last embarrassing hugs in first.

[kyla]

Her last year...Keela could hardly believe it. The entire morning had carried with it a strange feeling of surrealism. Cern, having started to come into his own, had all but abandoned her with shouts of 'See you later!' after tossing both her trunk and his own into the quickly-filling luggage compartment. She bit her lip, pausing a moment in her pursuit of a place to relax for the extent of the ride. Against her wishes, a persistent voice nagged in the farthest corner of her mind. She wondered, not for the first time that day, what Vincent might be up to.

They'd corresponded a few times over the summer, but no more than that. Keela was determined to remain as aloof as possible. After all, she only had to get through one more year before the age difference would separate them. He would have another year of school left, and she...wouldn't. Her stomach sank, and she frowned, irritated. She had already resolved that nothing could come of their relationship, Cern had only just forgiven her for all the drama from the previous year, and she still had yet to confess to kissing him. She smiled at the memory and started walking again.

She would probably never know what had possessed her to kiss him on the day they met. Despite several chances on both sides though, it hadn't happened again since. Keela was torn. Part of her was a bit disappointed that they had managed to toe the line so well, while part of her wondered if it might be the fates' way of preventing her from doing something incredibly nutters. She paused again, and this time an annoyed mew rose up from the carpeted floor. Beethoven had decided it was time to find a hiding spot. She smirked, bending down to scratch behind the offended cat's smoke-colored ears before lifting him off the ground.

She took a few more steps before a flash of red caught her eye. "Speak of the devil" she murmured to the cat, who seemingly 'meow'd' his agreement. There, looking relaxed enough to quite possibly be asleep, was Vincent himself. The rest of the compartment was surprisingly empty, or maybe, not so much since they were nearing the back of the seating compartments car. Keela hesitated, maybe he was in a bad mood and had wanted to be alone for a reason. She glanced at him covertly. He didn't look particularly irritated. She took a step toward the compartment door, hesitating before finally opening it widely enough for her to slip inside.

She settled into the space catty-corner from where he currently sat. "How did you manage to get a compartment all to yourself?"

[shava]

He spotted her as she got on the train not looking his way at that moment and licked his lips. There was something about her he found extremely enticing, not the least because she was nervous about their relationship. Last year to find out how far he could tempt her across the line before she would be temporarily out of his reach. As she walked up and stepped into his cabin, Vin turned and watched her settle in the opposite corner from his stuff, totally missing his little brother on the seat at the window. Stepping into the compartment, he shut the door behind him as he chuckled softly saying "Not exactly alone, but lovely to see you too, Keela," and he chose the seat on her side, sitting on the one next to her and holding out a finger for the cat to check out.

"The whole family got on and my sisters both vanished up the train leaving me with my little brother here who starts this year," he motioned at the younger boy who sat there looking out the window, clearly nervous and quiet. His hair was a very vivid purple and his eyes flickered over her briefly as Vin introduced him. "Darius, Keela here is okay, all right? If ever one of us isn't around, look for her, got me?" The boy glanced at her again in the face, longer, as he studied her face. He nodded once and then looked back out the window with no more acknowledgement as Vin chuckled again. "He's not been off the island much except with mom, not big on playing with those outside of the family so forgive him for not saying much."

When the cat seemed to be accepting of his smell, he tried rubbing one jaw with a finger and grinned as this one pushed harder against his finger showing approval of what he was trying to do. "Dad has these big cats from Egypt around the house and they love having their jaws rubbed." His eyes panned up to her face as he kept the cat entertained and studied her face a moment. She had developed a bit more over the summer and while he would rather study her form, that would have been a victory for her, catching him at it and he didn't want to concede that so quickly. "You've gotten prettier over the summer, Kee, if I didn't know better I'd say your eyes have gotten even deeper and your face is certainly as soft as I remember. How do you do that so well?" He was used to magic, after all, not muggle ways so he didn't automatically assume she had used nothing but her own natural changes.

Or at least that was how he came across out loud.

Crossing his legs in front of him, he knew her eyes would be drawn to his bare legs. He wanted to remind her that he was her type, the kind of young man she really was interested in, not a predator (though in some ways he did come across as one). "Did you have a good summer? Anything happen?" Vincent grinned, remembering when he had last read one of her letters. "Did Cern ever give up or am I still the ultimate enemy? I'd try to keep Ash safe, but she'd just laugh at me and cause some problem to distract me. Little sisters sometimes know too much for their own good. Kind of glad you came and found me, there's something I wanna talk with you about..."

Actually, Ash used her growing and developing body to throw off her brother frequently, the little minx, not ashamed at sending him some very mixed signals to her own advantage.

[kyla]

Keela jumped, startled, and then blushed. “Oh…wow…I’m sorry, guess I was off in my own little world.” She offered a warm smile to the younger boy. She glanced between them speculatively, checking the resemblance. It would have been fairly obvious, even if she hadn’t been comparing them side-by-side. The smile widened into a full grin. “Sounds vaguely familiar”, she acknowledged. “Cern disappeared a few seconds after we got on the train too.” She felt an involuntary pang of nostalgia. Her brother was growing up, and the knowledge that in a very short time they’d be living two very separate lives was both thrilling and a bit overwhelming to her. Turning her attention to Darius, she gave him a conspiratorial smile. “I remember my first year”, she told him. “Took me forever to master the stairs.”

She nodded emphatically, “I’m nearly always around, usually somewhere near the library or the pitch.” The kid seemed shy, but then, she was a perfect stranger, and one several years older at that. Vin’s next statement confirmed her suspicions. She shrugged, “no big deal, we’ll work something out; Morse code, smoke signals, something like that.” Worried that Darius might think she was making fun, she changed the subject. Having observed Beethoven’s reaction to Vincent, she gave her familiar a sardonic look. Resisting the urge to call him a traitor, she scratched absently across the top of his head. She glanced up, surprised, “ghosts and jungle cats?” she observed. “You guys really do lead interesting lives don’t you?” Her eyes widened, and she flushed. Touche, she couldn’t help thinking. Outwardly, however, she shot a rather pointed look in Darius’ direction, before turning her head to meet Vincent’s eyes.

Tongue in cheek, she responded, “just good genetics I guess”, and then she turned her head so that she too was looking out the window. She smiled softly, “same as always I guess, lots of chaos, a little quidditch, keeping Cern and the younger ones on their toes.” Wanting to see his reaction, she added, “I almost crashed into the balcony practicing flying stunts.” She left out the part about having been competing with her younger brother, and subsequently the fact that she’d almost crashed because she’d been determined to win. She smirked, thinking of the last time she and Cern had discussed Vince. It had been near the end of the summer, the day his last letter had arrived. Cern had beat her to the owl, snatching the parchment before she reached it. It had started as a playful teasing, but quickly developed into more when he’d discerned the sender. Whatever the reason, Cern didn’t trust Vince’s motives, which truthfully was fine with Keela because she wasn’t sure she trusted them herself. It wasn’t until he started making her feel as though she couldn’t take care of herself that a problem had arisen. In a tone that wasn't entirely sarcastic, she acknowledged: "Public enemy number one."

She tilted her eyed, eying him speculatively. “Sure”, she strove to sound casual. “What’s on your mind?”

[shava]

Darius had never been good around others, seeing those outside of the family as dangerous. Vin doubted he took to Keela, but maybe it was time he got to know another person who the family 'accepted.' Beyond just cousins and extended family, of course. He chuckled though at her comment adding (in a laugh at himself as well as her statement) "It's the hair. Kind of a dead giveaway..." He shrugged at her surprise though, somewhat proud his family was different in so many ways. "Dad is Egyptian and they remind him of home. Whenever we go to Egypt to visit family he always misses the cats so that's why we have them, though I doubt they would know what to do in a jungle..."

Actually that reminded him of something else. "Oddly, they seem pretty comfortable with the ghosts around, even if they don't make good scratchers. They are huge cats though, you'd be amazed if you ever come to see the place..." Not the first time he had offered and not the last probably either; Keela was a main goal in the top of his mind and that had gotten more so this summer while away from her. Her flushed face said she still valued his opinion despite what she must be hearing from her brother and he smiled at that thought. "I only speak the truth. Remember, I promised not to lie to you. And I don't find it a problem to tell you how much prettier you are then last time. You have to realize it yourself, don't you?"

A chuckle from the balcony comment. "Fortunately on the island there's plenty of space. I've managed to avoid the house so far. What were you trying to do before that? Did you just forget to watch or push too hard at something?" She was a semi-risk taker he judged, doing only what felt right to her instincts and not pushing it beyond that. Vin found that desirable in a partner, one of many things he liked about Keela. He shook his head, glancing at the door as if he could still see his sisters down the hallway. "I can understand that actually. Every time a guy is around my sisters I feel over-protective. Losing any one of them or letting them get hurt is like one of my worst nightmares even if they would tell me to go bugger off that they can take care of themselves. I'd still feel guilty."

Looking back to her he rubbed the cat's jaw and then in time with his words slipped his hand over hers on the cat, adding emphasis to his words. "I want to date you, Keela, seriously. I find you beautiful, smart, quick witted, and nice to be around." As she reacted he continued, letting her see he was trying to be sincere in his words and with his eyes. "I've always been told doing what I wanted to do was the key to enjoying life and caring what others might say is not worth the stress, but I find myself caring what you think of me. And that's not a line." He had once promised her in the dance he would be a perfect gentleman, but that time was long past. Fortunately only promised to that event, but now he took it up again as he slipped his hand in hers and lifted it as he bent down and kissed the back of her hand, not letting go of it.

"Let me take care of you, show you how good a guy I can be for you. I'll put up with your brother's moods and even talk to him if you want me to, but I want the decisions to be ours, not other people's." Darius ignored them, immune as most of his age to the attraction between guys and girls and steadily looking outside, wishing he were back home. "The only ulterior motive here is seeing if I can seduce you before the end of the year, have you waiting for me when I'm still inside here." He grinned at her looks, his confidence inwardly still showing on his face. C*cky, still, it challenged her to try and resist him, to prove she was better off without him when she had never dated anyone else at school. "Surely I've proved I am a gentleman by now? Don't I deserve a chance to make you happy?"

[kyla]

Keela laughed, still somewhat off-balance. Upon further inspection, she noticed the tell-tale signs of said hair. She separated a lock of her own hair as though to analyze it. “I guess I’m outnumbered”, she observed in a mock-disappointed voice; “Makes me feel kind of ordinary actually.” It wasn’t a feeling Keela experienced often. She occasionally went as far as to go out of her way to make something unique. She appeared momentarily distracted, busy with summoning the image of a bunch of jungle felines roaming around like house cats. She shook her head, “I can’t picture it”, she said after several moments. “I think I’d be too worried about being a midnight snack!” After he spoke again, she reconsidered. “So…they’re tame? Can you…can you pet them?” It was possibly an idiotic question, the idea of being able to treat a leopard as a lap cat was a bit of a stretch, but her curiosity won out over her need to remain aloof.

His next observation intrigued her at first, but she felt her walls come up at his offer. He’d made it a few times, always off-handed and well-timed. She had found some thinly veiled excuse each time, but if she were honest, it boiled down to a handful of deeply rooted secrets. First, and foremost, she was still determined not to give an inch, ignoring of course the fact that he’d managed to gain several in recent months. She kept telling herself she only had one more year to survive. She’d decided long ago they could be friends, so long as she kept him at arm’s length. They could talk, laugh, even flirt, but she wouldn’t, couldn’t allow more than that. The excuses were always different, but the result was the same. She cared about him, but when it came to matters of the heart she didn’t trust him. She’d heard too many stories, willingly offered up by dorm mates and girls from other houses alike. Everyone had an opinion, and she wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

She looked up startled, wondering if he had any skills in occlumency. She flushed scarlet, and mumbled a plea to whomever might be listening that it had been sheer luck. Still, she was obviously flustered despite her best efforts. “I…guess so”, she finally managed. While she normally would have joked her way out of this situation, she was still recovering from her earlier confusion. She’d become accustomed to his brand of charm, he was good at it, but fairly predictable after the amount of time they’d spent talking. Searching for a way to change the subject, she grasped at the open silence. “Are you going out for Quidditch?” It was a rather silly question, since both his trying out and making the team were fairly a given. However, he was a guy, and if there was one thing she’d learned over 7 years of school it was that the best way to distract men was to bring up either food, sex, or quidditch. The first wouldn’t have proven a distraction, the second was out of the question. That left the third, and she went for it.

“I thought I might go out for captain this year”, she confided, “see what happens at least.” He mentioned the accident over the summer, and she laughed as her muscles relaxed. “Bit of both actually”, she confessed. “I was too busy watching Cern to pay attention to where I was going, by the time I turned to pull up it was too late." It had gotten her a good bump on the head and a lecture, and she was fairly certain Cern would tell anyone and everyone who would listen, but that was that. From Cern they moved on to her brother’s issues with Vincent himself, and Keela felt herself tensing again. Despite her determination to keep things platonic, she’d defended her right to choose her own relationships avidly to her brother. It was paradoxical at best, but after all, she was only sixteen.

He surprised her by taking her brother’s side, and she wondered if he’d intended to endear himself that way. She met his eyes, searching for something she wasn’t quite sure of. She gave a little. “I know he’s only trying to take care of me, but still, relationship warnings from my younger brother do tend to get old pretty quickly.” The mood in the compartment shifted with an almost physical intensity. When he placed his hand over hers, she felt the immediate urge to pull away, but didn’t want to startle the cat, who by this point was purring as though he’d died and gone to heaven. She opened her mouth, intent on interrupting, but then closed it again. She owed him at least enough respect to let him finish, she wouldn’t shut him down without hearing him out. She watched him closely, searching his eyes for any hint that he might not be entirely sincere. She found none, and the realization rocked her impression of him to its foundations. When he kissed her hand, she felt the warm sensation of it travel up her arm. No, chemistry had never been their problem. The problem lay in her ability to trust him as something other than a good friend.

She trusted him with her secrets, with her tricks and occasionally even with her weaknesses, but could she trust him with her heart as well? Instead of turning him down as she’d originally intended, she settled on the first question that came to mind. “And what happens”, she found her voice and was surprised to realize she sounded much calmer than she felt. “Next year, when we’re leading totally separate lives, possibly on two separate continents?” Isn’t that what she’d wanted after all? To see the world from behind a camera lens? His appeal sent all the warm feelings through her blood stream just as he’d no doubt intended them to, but she found herself wondering if he’d rehearsed them.

She frowned, deep in thought for several moments. Did he deserve a chance? Could he? Another part of Keela whispered that even if he couldn’t, it would be worth the jump to find out. She was stubborn yes, but also tired of fighting herself. She wondered if he meant date as in exclusively or date as in casual. Knowing him, it was probably the latter, but she resisted asking, knowing that detail would work itself out.

She inhaled, searching for bearings that were just out of reach. "You deserve the chance to try", she finally spoke. “One date”, she allowed, sounding more nervously resigned than irritated. “After that, we’ll see.” She glanced out the window, watching the scenery blur past with only one clear thought in mind. Whatever happened, she still wasn’t letting him win.

[shava]

He shook his head at her and reached out, taking a loose lock of her hair and running it down through his fingers before tucking it back behind her ear. "You'd never be ordinary to me, Keela, but I'd like to give you things to make you feel more extraordinary..." Oh my yes, there were some little things he could see on her that would make her look far more attractive. And if his attention didn't make her feel special, well then there was not the same feeling between them he thought there was. He had some momentary confusion over her comments about the cats though and he gave her an odd look before realization came to his eyes.

"Oh no, Keela, there are not the big cats from the wild. Egyptians have been raising cats for centuries. These are a type of huge house cat, not like a leopard or a tiger. You have to use more of your hand to scratch a jaw, but when they lie down on your legs you have to convince them to move, the lazy devils. But they looks really regal. I'll try to find a picture of one for you sometime." He definitely did not mention that his father could turn into one of them with his powers, finding the idea of her stroking him on the head amusing. His father had done that for a class last year and Vin still grinned at the memory. Her sudden seemingly flustered look showed her caught off guard and he shook his head at her look, mock disappointment in his face though he was smiling.

"Keela. Surely you know me well enough by now to believe how I see you? You had a perfect face for that angel costume, trust me on this. With your soft skin and in that white dress that night I couldn't help but be on my best behavior. I'm not making it up to say you are beautiful and getting more so each year." She tried to distract his comments in another direction which he turned a hand over at, but went with. If she was too uncomfortable with the idea she was attractive...well, he had planted the idea in her head regardless. "Of course. And I can see you as a captain. Probably a good experience as well." He thought about it a moment, but he had already worked it through in his mind. "I think I'm the only one left on the team who has been playing so long so I may be the only candidate really."

Vincent saw her reaction and knew somehow she had been expecting it at some point. Her hesitation was enough to tell him she was sort of tempted by the idea. That was more then just a good thing indeed! "Well hopefully you will be exploring Europe with your camera so you can take me to the cool places you find. I'd like for you to save North America and Africa for me though, I want to take you to those myself..." She would be an excellent travel companion and that maybe tempted him more about her then what she figured he was after. "Dad has already helped me explore Africa, especially Egypt a bit and I can think of hundreds of places you might want to picture there."

Her acknowledgment showed he was making good progress, but he renegotiated anyway. "Traditionally it's three dates to get to know someone well enough to know whether there is a good connection or not, but we can start with one if that's all you are willing to dare. The woman always decides whether a second is acceptable or not anyway, right? I don't actually get much choice in that..." Taking the arm rest between them he pushed it up removing the slim barrier from between them. Holding his arm up out of the way he said to her "Here, I'll show you how simple this can be. Use me as a backrest, give it a try. That's what most dates involve anyway, contact and cuddling." She knew he wouldn't push it too far because if he did she would simply say no and he'd lose his chance for more.

Vin remembered the kiss and the passion he had been able to surprise out of her. She knew he tasted and felt good and he was willing to bet being near him would get into her mind again. His own ego told him that was a good enough reason for keeping his hands to himself. For now.

[kyla]

Keela arched an eyebrow at him. She wondered briefly what Darius was thinking, but a quick glance at the younger boy revealed that he’d tuned them out. She found herself somewhat relieved, thinking that at least there was no one else present who could give her a hard time later on…or worse, who could take the information to Cern for them to fight over later. She eyed up wearily at first, wondering what he was playing at. She’d kept expecting him to give up over the summer, for the letters to either change tone or stop coming completely. It was with mild trepidation that she realized how completely she’d underestimated his gall. She smiled to herself at the thought, wondering if he’d underestimated her in the beginning as well. She met his eyes, her own expression challenging, daring him to continue all the while being insanely curious as to what he had to say.

Keela blushed. She didn’t know much about Egyptian history, and she made a note to bone up on it later. Maybe she’d write her mum about it later that night. Her parents had done a lot traveling in their early years, and might be able to give her some insight. She almost blanched, thinking of the prying questions that would follow. She’d have to come up with a good excuse for her sudden curiosity about Egyptian culture, maybe she’d tell them it was part of a project for school, though what sort of project she couldn’t imagine. It occurred to her belatedly that she could even ask his dad if she really wanted to know. As far as she was aware, Professor Silver didn’t know anything of her relationship with his son, and that might be an easy way to get quick information. Lost in her own thoughts, it took a moment for her to form a response. She laughed a bit self-depreciatingly. “That makes a bit more sense”, she agreed. “I just couldn’t picture a bunch of jungle cats as house pets." His mention of a picture also brought forward another interesting thought, she wondered what it might be like to photograph them herself, and was intrigued by the idea.

Though she wouldn’t mention it, of all the things she did know about him, she was probably least certain about how he viewed her. She bit her lip, caught herself, and schooled her features into an expression of polite interest. His compliments had the desired effect, even against her wishes. She felt the tell-tale heat creep up her neck, and she rolled as though working the kinks out to cover the reaction. She saw his hesitation over the subject change, and was grateful when he went with it anyway. Quidditch was safe, she could talk about it for hours without fear of being taken of guard or blindsided. The thought of playing against him, especially as rival captains amused her. “Mum and dad were rival captains during their sixth year” she informed him. “Mum said she used to get teased for consorting with the enemy since they also got engaged then.” Keela’s eyes widened, she was older now than her parents had been when they’d committed to spend the rest of their lives together. The thought was staggering, and eve a little foreign. She couldn’t imagine getting married right now, though she’d certainly have to look into it in the next few years. While she wasn’t the heir, and didn’t envy Cern’s responsibilities, a part of her still acknowledged the expectations of her lineage, just as her brother did.

His answer came more quickly than she’d expected, and gave the impression that he’d given the idea some thought. Keela wasn’t sure how she felt about that at this precise moment, but refrained from comment. Truthfully, she’d been planning to stick fairly close to home for the first year anyway, easier to make it home for holidays and such while Cern was in school. Rather than reveal as much to Vincent though, she answered with a question. “Why those two specifically?” They did seem odd choices, with the exception of the fact that Egypt was in Africa, and she was curious. As he explained, she eyed him with new interest. He’d given specific thought to what she might enjoy taking pictures of? It raised her estimation even higher if such a thing were possible, and softened her slightly to the idea of giving him a chance. If he wanted to travel the world on a motorcycle, why couldn’t she go along for the ride? She shook her head, there were several reasons why not…she just couldn’t remember them at the moment. Realizing that she’d actually shaken her head at him, she searched for an explanation. “I was just thinking of trying to take pictures of the larger wildlife in Africa”, she suggested somewhat lamely. “I might look into procuring an invisibility cloak between now and then.” Only that wouldn’t work because the cloak would obscure her lens, but she didn’t comment on that fact.

He was bending, which wasn’t something he did often in Keela’s experience. Maybe he really did care about her enough to make dating him worth a shot, but she’d wait until after their date to make any real decisions. She resisted the urge to point out that if they were truly being pureblood traditional, they’d be courting at this age, not dating. The image of him in the garb of a muggle gentleman from the nineteenth century had her pursing her lips to keep from laughing. She recognized his wording as a challenge, insinuating she was chickening out by only agreeing to one date, but she wouldn’t be drawn. She looked momentarily blind sighted. She hadn’t had that much physical contact with him since the dance, and even then she’d been exceptionally careful to limit their interaction for her brother’s sake. She wondered how aware he was of the effect he had on her, and for her own sake she hoped that he wasn’t.

Trying to appear nonchalant, she shifted her body slightly, settling into him gingerly at first. Outwardly, she appeared comfortable, but her muscles were tense with uncertainty and she knew that given his closeness, it was likely he could tell she was ill at ease. She eyed Darius, who in all this time hadn’t said a word, too uncertain of him to say anything herself, she settled for following his line of sight out the window, wondering what he might be thinking. “So”, she couldn’t resist quipping with a cheeky sort of smile, “does this count as our first date then?”

[shava]

Her blush showed she had just realized she had jumped conclusions about people and he found himself unable to resist speaking to the point. "Oh come on, Keela, you know me well enough by now to know I'll tell you what you are curious about and I don't count your not knowing against you. As you said, my family's life is far from the normal ways. I think you said your family was Italian and Irish mixed?" He knew it for a fact having studied her heritage already on purpose; she was after all his chocen partner even if she hadn't agreed to it yet. "I'm sure there are tons of things about Italy you can surprise me with. I've just got the Egyptians in my background." Giving her the idea she could talk to him about anything and get a straight up answer was something he had been doing with her, partly because they shared the same interest in so many subjects.

Lying was one thing and he did it very well, but lying to someone you wanted to catch for a lifetime was a completely different matter. This one was a prize above most and he had no wish to warn off the treasure. "Really? Engaged during school? Now that you hadn't told me. That must have ruffled some feathers with other families!" Getting married at Hogwarts was definitely a touchy subject and he could not remember anyone else doing that at all. Besides, she already had Slytherins in her family; surely he was a candidate from that stand point at least? Her comment about being curious about his choices prompted him to go a bit further. "Oh there are lots of places in Africa I've heard about I want to go see, but North America is for the roads. You can go anywhere there on these huge long roads, thousands of places that look different."

He ran his eyes back to meet hers as he added "I thought we could enjoy discovering that place together. between my traveling and your photos, I doubt you will have many opportunities to travel and as safely as I can make it with someone who enjoys being spontaneous and changing plans..." Her timid leaning back showed she wasn't trying to actually get very comfortable probably because of the nerves of how they had---she had started them out. Keeping his hand above he placed it on her shoulder gently and said "Go ahead, relax. You know I'm not going to try anything right now goof. We have a chaperon whose probably going to write my mom all the time he's here. hey Darius?" The purple headed boy turned with a question in his eyes as Vin spoke again, Keela able to feel his breaths through her own skin. "You are planning on writing mom, aren't you? Don't forget to tell her about the train ride, okay?"

Brightening considerably, Darius nodded and reached for his bag, suddenly with purpose. "There, see?" he said softly in her ear, his lips much closer then they had been in months, "My mom doesn't know about you yet so you're safe." Vincent lowered his arm and placed it around her middle, not threateningly nor romantically, but comfortably the way most couples lay. As she challenged him back he chuckled softly and said in her ear again, this time turning his head so she could feel the heat of his breath on her ear "Ha, I wasn't planning on it, but if you agree to multiples then we could if you want. Not much of a date then since I can't take you anywhere different or cool or do much for you even except help you be comfortable." The feel of her in his arm was nice and he could smell her up close, a noticeable improvement.

While Vin had seduced to different stages several girls before, this one he felt was going to be the most important. Hell, she already wanted to travel and go places and with him she got someone at her back who could get them far distances to 'exotic lands' as most of where he wanted to go would be wildly different from their homelands. And if she didn't fall in love with him at school, the odds were very good she would when they were out on the road for a long time. Next summer, he was thinking, would be an excellent time to ask his father for permission to travel some parts of Africa with her.

[kyla]

The blush faded as she nodded, “Dad’s family came to England around three or four generations ago I think. Everyone married into the Italian line until Granddad broke tradition to marry Aryssa Burke. She was the only heir to the Burke line at that time, and her family was extremely wealthy.” She realized she was rattling off her ancestry like a textbook and blushed, but figured she might as well continue. “Grandmum and granddad got married against Gran and Gramp’s wishes. They wanted her to marry some rich aristocrat, one of the Malfoy’s I think, but grandmum chose granddad instead. After they got married, Gran disowned her and I don’t think they spoke until mum was born and Gran named her as the heir instead.” She hesitated, her mum and dad’s relationship had been complicated, so she opted for the simple version. “Gran wanted mum to marry a pureblood, and dad needed the betrothal contract as collateral for the loan that finished the property on the farm, so they teamed up and fell in love along the way I guess.”

She took a deep breath. That wasn’t the half of it, but it told him enough in her opinion. She hadn’t, for example, mentioned her mum’s brother Aramand, who had also been disowned for his place among the deatheaters, and had played an instrumental role in creating the need for a marriage contract in the first place, that could wait for another time. She thought about it, but then shrugged. “I know how to make homemade pasta the muggle way”, she admitted. She’d also taken the time to learn Italian a few years ago when she’d gone into a phase about wanting to know her history. “Chi aspettar suole, ha chio che vuole”, she told him. At his questioning look, she added: “It means ‘he who can have patience can have what he will.” It seemed to fit Vincent to a tee. She smiled at the mention of her parents’ circumstances. “Mostly mum’s family and the Malfoys”, she answered, nodding. “I think they were hoping for an alliance between Draco and mum, not that she’d have considered it.”

She thought about the geographical photography books tucked under her bed. She had one each on both countries he mentioned, and the images came in flash forward. “Might be a bit tricky”, she told him in a teasing tone, “taking pictures from the back of a motorcycle.” Actually, those were two of only a few places she hadn’t visited in her lifetime. Her parents had stuck mostly to European tours once she’d come around. She heard the way his voice changed, from informing to enticing. It both amused and frustrated her, because his words wove images of the future in her mind that appealed far too much for her liking. Grinning cheekily at him, she motioned to the cat. “Beethoven doesn’t mind being spontaneous, do you?” The cat glanced at her, but was too busy pleading attention from Vin to do much more. She frowned at him, “traitor”, she mumbled, but then smiled again.

At the mention of their mother, Keela blanched noticeably. Mum and the former Miss Moon hadn’t gotten along very well, both type A personalities and on very opposite ends of the opinion spectrum. She wondered if that animosity would carry over, followed by wondering if she could get away with dating their son without ever meeting her. She didn’t voice these thoughts out loud however, but simply nodded in response. She sighed, and relaxed into him, feeling the slightest bit silly for making such a big deal out of it. She shivered, the feel of his breath on her ear was sending sensations down her spine that were almost entirely isolated to the effect he had on her. He was doing it on purpose, and the knowledge gave her the distinctly childish urge to stick her tongue out at him.

She hadn’t expected him to take her seriously, and so was a bit at a loss. She settled for, “so what did you have in mind? When we go that is?”

[shava]

He listened closely to what she said, seeing how it matched up against what he had learned about her family and there were still a couple of surprises. Interesting, the things that didn't get actually recorded down but were told only word of mouth. He was especially surprised because of the loan; her family seemed the type to only marry because of heart feelings. "Wait wait -- a marriage contract got him a loan? I've never heard of that before! How did that happen?" Not that Vincent could imagine his family ever needing a loan, but it was an interesting twist to the story. And interesting was always good in his book.

Besides, it was the story about purebloods staying together and not about the war mess. That had to be worth a prize to begin with in this day and age.

He laughed as she spoke about food. "Mom is a terrible cook. She tends to throw sandwiches at us and hope the servant can do the rest. She's always got her head in books and off to other parts of the world for her work. Dad does far more cooking in out house." Which might be odd to think of, but when school was in session, three fourths of the family was at Hogwarts and the other two (now that Darius was at Hogwarts) were in another part of the world every week. "Funny thing is I can write more languages then I can speak, mostly due to her. Ghosts don't tend to translate well so she has learned to write down question in their language and accents from their times and some of that has rubbed off I guess."

With an arm around her waist and her accepting it Vin felt already accomplished. He had been very patient with her and her words to that point made him feel he was being encouraged a bit as if to say "don't give up on me." He wasn't planning on it! "Silly woman, you use the bike to get places you can't get otherwise, then get off to take the pictures," he chuckled, knowing full well she was teasing him. The light squeeze with his arm was to make sure she knew he was liking this. The mention of the cat whose jaw he was still rubbing, just on the other side from Keela (cats rarely had a problem walking over their humans and this one was no exception it seemed) had him chuckle again. "More like he knows a sucker for a good jaw rub whose been well trained by other cats. Would he want to ride along with us you think? I could manage a basket for him for the back of the bike I bet if you think so..."

Her question about dating spots did have an eyebrow of his going up. "Well there are a couple of places I have in mind, but mostly I was thinking about avoiding the same old things everyone else does. Like, sure Hogsmeade is a good place to go, but not every date has to happen there; how is that special really except for learning how another person shops? Do you know much about the Room of Requirement?" He had a half-an-idea for something unsual there, but he wanted to hear what she might expect as well. "Dating is a two way street, of course, I want to hear about what you'd like to do too. It's no good if only one of us chooses everything." Unless you want me to be in charge all the time which I won't object too heavily too, but I don't think you are that type to begin with...

[kyla]

Keela was unsurprised by his curiosity. “I’ve never seen anyone else who had anything like it either”, she agreed. “The lawyer for dad’s family is also something of a family friend. As he put it, ‘lawyers like to see rich kids marry rich kids, keeps the money coming.’ “ She attempted to imitate her father’s deep tone, then laughed softly when it came out sounding more like a garbled mess. “What it boiled down to was that mum was willing to use her inheritance to get dad the money he needed, but he preferred to find another way. Apparently just the promise of a proper pureblood betrothal was enough to get the lenders excited because the money came not long after they made it official.” She concentrated, struggling to remember, she hadn’t asked her parents about it in such a long time. “At least”, she acknowledged, “that’s how I remember it.”

When Vin mentioned his mother again, Keela smirked rather than be intimidated this time. It had occurred to her that if by some miraculous stretch she and Vin did end up married, her mum and his would be in-laws. While her father might not mind that arrangement too much, her mother mind take a bit to get accustomed to the idea. She could just picture the holidays now…but she shouldn’t. The fantasy in her head came screeching to a halt as she forced herself back into the present.

Keela nodded, unphased. “Mum and dad generally split everything pretty well down the middle”, she informed him. “They’re a team.” That wasn’t to say that her dad didn’t occasionally tease her mother with some trophy wife reference that seemed to bring back memories from a long time ago. Her mum always swatted at him affectionately with whatever she had on hand, and then they’d end up kissing, which was something Keela tolerated but didn’t want to think about.

She looked at him oddly, trying to picture writing down translations for ghosts’ speech. She considered her life somewhat abnormal to pureblood status quo, but the picture he painted was something truly unique and even somewhat extraordinary. Curious, her tone and manner instantly shifted.

“Which ones can you speak?” she inquired, eyes somewhat wider than normal, focused. She was fascinated by foreign culture, part of the burden of her desire to be a photographer. She didn’t just want to capture them, she wanted to understand, to explore. “I’d like to learn the romantic languages”, she confessed, “the rest of them that is”. She spoke a smattering of conversational French because of her lessons with her great-grandmother, but the rest were all Greek to her.

Keela flushed, not so much embarrassed as affected by the teasing in his tone. Covering as best she could, she managed a softly amused tone. “Now where’s the fun in that?” she asked him, mockingly serious curiosity in her gaze. The image was enticing, she admitted to herself. Having the freedom to do as she pleased, to explore the world, not only through her own eyes and experiences but someone else’s as well. He squeezed her arm, and she warmed to him, relaxing slightly as both his casual manner and her interest in the topic dissolved her tension. When he mentioned bringing Beethoven along, she was surprised, and a bit impressed despite herself. Her cat meant the world to her, she’d had him since she was very young. Being her familiar as well as her pet, he would live through most of her life. She had, however, assumed she’d have to leave him with her parents when she traveled. She could picture him as Vincent described it easily enough, claws digging into whatever foothold there was as the wind wreaked havoc on his dusky fur. The image made her smile. To Vin, she said only: “Do you think he’d survive?”

She really was beginning to wonder if he was a Legillimens, because he had to be getting information from somewhere. Out loud, she answered: “I know it fairly well, mum and dad both used it for different things during their school years, and I find it occasionally to brush up on my ballroom dancing when Cern’s too busy to play partners.” She wasn’t sure how he’d react to her mum being part of the DA. The group was now historic, infamous, and though the formal deatheaters had all but disappeared after the war, there still existed a general consensus among some of the older pureblood families that blood equality was a thing of myths. They hadn’t discussed it yet, in fact it was one of several topics that Keela had done her best to avoid with him. It would have to come up some time though, and by the looks of it sometime soon.

She wouldn’t have minded letting him plan their first date, but his asking her opinion alleviated some of her misgivings about his mentality. “I’m up for anything really”, thinking of how that might sound, she amended quickly, “anything within reason that is.” Realizing that sounded decidedly vague, she put some thought into elaborating. “I like the ocean a lot. Once, when I was really homesick during second year, the room gave me a copy of the shoreline back home.” Keela had been impressed, but too nervous to actually get into the water, she’d ended up sitting on the beach doing her Ancient Runes essay instead.

“We could go ice skating”, she volunteered, fairly confident she could make a good impression if they did; “or maybe just swimming”, less chance for a comedic injury if there wasn’t any ice. Then again, the idea of being barely half dressed and alone with him roused strong, barely acknowledged feelings that startled her. Biting her lip gently, she glanced up at him. “Maybe we should just go on a picnic.” From under her lashes, she watched his eyes. “What do you like to do?”

He was bound to have loads of dating experience, and the thought intimidated Keela much more than she’d kindly admit.

[shava]

Vincent was quite aware he had her in experience and this was from what he understood her first possible date ever. She had to be tense about what he knew and how far they might go. But his father had a strong romantic streak in him and an intelligence and good planning mind to trap his mother which Vin had understood took some time and then when it happened it was all at once. He liked to think he was smart enough to not scare away the sheep before the wolf got her under control. SO he was holding back on several things he might have otherwise have done to speed things up. This one required kid gloves, seriously. He did find the whole business of a loan because of a marriage to be interesting, but then his mind put together the timing and he suddenly felt a light bulb go off. "Ah ha, just had a thought. This was around the time the DE was moving in on the bank and the government wasn't it?"

That particular timing might have been the reason it had happened. "Okay this is making more sense then. I remember you saying you had a small farm but a big house at the ocean and I always found that hard to picture in my mind. But the house is like near one end of the farm on the ocean beach then?" He nodded as the farther the story went the more sense it made. Another piece of the puzzle which added up to the Summerby's and gave him another toe hold in getting a grip on their daughter. "Sounds different. I bet it's a neat house if he had the money to play with." The discussion turned to languages and he found again they were evenly matched, if in different directions.

Darius, Vincent noticed, had glanced up at them, but was mostly writing on the little hand table that came in every compartment. He was an odd kid, and Vin secretly thought he might be dangerous in some ways, but so far he'd been okay with things and he hoped he ended up in his dorm so they could keep an eye out for him. First older student who tried to pick on him was likely to get sent to the hospital wing and Vin wanted to stave that off as long as he could just in case.

"Egyptian and Scottish mostly. English obviously." He rolled his eyes, tho she couldn't really see that. "Writing wise, I've helped mom with old Peruvian, Aztec, ancient druidic, and byzantine so far. So maybe a smattering of each, but I've never heard any of them pronounced, just written out. Before the Ministry was formed, there wasn't much back and forth with languages in the older centuries. We have the old Peruvian guy at our place the most. He finds the hair thing so foreign it's fascinating I think." Vincent could remember how big the ghost's eyes had been when he first saw Darius' hair when he was a baby. Maybe they hadn't had much purple back in the jungles. Anyway, he remained fascinated in the kids that was for sure, but they didn't do anything like the kids of his day now did they?

The image of the cat in an open basket made him chuckle again. "Maybe a cat side car or little goggles for his face when we're riding? I wasn't really thinking of an open basket, but a closed one so the wind wouldn't blow him off the bike. Bikes are much faster in a way then brooms. And hey, he's your cat, wouldn't you be the one to know best what he could deal with? I already have my Octo, but he's good anywhere that muggles don't notice him. I'd probably have to do some concealment charms in his nature to take him along..." Her ideas about possible dates certainly sounded good and gave him some other ideas to work with. "Okay sounds good. How about the first one we take the ROR and treat each other to favorite places we've been? That way we can both have some control the first date, then either you or I can choose the second one then it will be the next person's turn. Agreeable?"

[kyla]

Keela flinched slightly, but managed to nod. He was too intelligent for his own good or hers. She wasglad he hadn’t pursued that line of thought. Discussing the technical aspects of her parents’ engagement had always made Keela uncomfortable. They’d always seemed so in love to her, like something out of a love story. The knowledge of the details surrounding their relationship had never quite fit, and Keela had always wondered if they would have ended up together without the contract. She wondered if the idea ever bothered her mother. She’d mentioned the idea to anyone else, not even Cern, but she felt compelled to share something a bit more personal since she’d been so standoff-ish up to this point. “Mum and dad love each other”, she assured him, “but when the issue came up, they were just really good friends.” She hesitated, “I’ve always sort of wondered what would have happened if things had been different, whether they would have found their way together eventually or…not.” She peeked up into his eyes from under her lashes, looking uncertain. “I like to think so, but it bothers me sometimes.”

When they moved on to the house, she exhaled softly, relaxing slightly. To Vincent, however, she shrugged. “Dad says mum was fascinated by it the first time he brought her to see the structure”, she informed him. “For us, we grew up there, so we’ve been used to it for ages.” She wondered how he would react, and what’s more, how her house would compare to his in Egypt, she found herself equal parts intrigued and nervous about the prospect. She noticed his attention had turned to his brother, and she eyed Darius covertly from beside him. The younger boy resembled his brother, though they weren’t near exact matches. She found herself wondering what worried Vincent so about his brother’s coming to Hogwarts. Part of her brushed it off as typical protectiveness, but there was a concern in Vin’s face that made him appear much older. It was both endearing and oddly disconcerting.

Keela laughed when he mentioned his hair, and reached up to run her fingers through the odd texture. It wasn’t something she thought she’d ever become truly accustomed to, if in fact she were given the opportunity to become accustomed. Though she tried to make the movement nonchalant, she was still cautious of covering entirely new territory, the only boys’ hair she’d ever run her fingers through previously had belonged to her brothers. This was…definitely different, and not just because the texture of his hair was decidedly unique. She lowered her hand, and glanced at him nervously, offering a small smile. However, the image of Beethoven in goggles broke the tension, and she laughed.

“Maybe the closed basket would be good”, she agreed, feeling the sensation of being on a rollarcoaster all too keenly. One moment she was relaxed, the next every nerve was on thin edge. Unable to resist teasing him, she tilted her head, eyes glinting in the last light before the sun broke below the horizon. “That is, of course, assuming there is a second one” she pointed out cheekily.

[shava]

He thought about it a moment before he returned a nod. "Well yeah, I can see that. If your parents had never gotten together then you and your brother wouldn't have been born. It's logical you would be curious. I wish sometimes my parents weren't still so..." he looked a bit uncomfortable for once before he settled on a word which seemed to have many more volumes then it normally. "...frisky. Yeah, that's it. They don't seem to see it as embarrassing as we do/"

While he lived on an island, she described this place of hers as if it was really big. He wondered what kind of house it was and why the structure would have fascinated her mother. "The structure? I don't understand, was he building it when she first came to his place?" And while she was a delight to draw in, he did worry about his little brother who had more then a tricky background. If he wasn't in Slytherin there would be big trouble Vincent knew.

But then she ran her fingers through his hair and he smiled at her slightly, enjoying her taking a liberty. "I know, it's not like other people's. I've felt hair before and no one's is like mine except in my family and not all of ours feels this way either. Guess I'm just used to it, but it does save a fortune in shampoo." When she gave him a look he laughed and said "It's waterproof. Nothing sticks to it so a quick rinse is all it needs." She laughed and he felt rewarded.

"Closed basket it is then. I can dream that up easily enough. You don't want to miss out on the fun do you?" he asked the creature while continuing the jaw rub. She tried to trick him cheekily and he laughed and squeezed her waist slightly with his arm. "Agreed. If there is a second one then. Though I certainly hope after all this time you will give me at least three tries. It is traditional to have three dates I think." he smiled at her, happy that she was agreeing in theory at least, if he could just find a way to keep her little brother busy while he got his chance.