A Simple Question (Iva and Damian)

Why did these things need to be so hard? Why?

Iva found herself at the edge of the lake, holding her hands to her heart. It was pounding so hard. She let out a chuckle- she was so nervous.

She was waiting for Damian to arrive; she had passed him a note telling him to meet her at the lake after breakfast. He should be there any second and Iva was no where near ready for it.

"Stupid- глупый!" She said, reverting to her mother language. Asking Damian to the dance? She was an idiot? She small candy she had bought for him burned in her pocket as if it was laughing at her.

Damian didn't like her at all. This was dumb.

Maybe she could leave before it was too late...

Damian made his way to the lake, warm robes pulled tightly about himself. Iva had handed him a note to meet her at the lake. True, they weren't exactly enemies, anymore, but they hadn't actually talked since that day in the Room of Requirement.

Curious to know what was up, the boy quickened his pace.

"You wanted to meet me?" he stated the obvious, as he didn't know what else to say.

Iva squeeked- yes, squeeked- when Damian spoke. She turned, her face a bright red.

"H-hello, Damian!" Oh gosh, it was actually happening. She jammed her hands into her pockets, looking away. Her hair dangled in front of her face to hide her embarrassment. This was so odd- to feel these butterflies in her belly. She scuffled her feet and coughed nervously.

"I was just wondering if... you... w-w-w-would g-g-go..." She shook her head angrly, like a child. She looked up at him, her baby blue eyes shining bright. "If... y-you..."

God, she could cry.

Damian found himself utterly perplexed by Iva's behavior. She seemed to be extremely nervous or embarrassed about something. Either that, or she'd contracted stammering from that older Ravenclaw girl who couldn't speak a word without stuttering.

"If I would go where?" he asked, his own blue eyes wide in confusion.

Iva looked away, rubbing her eyes.

"If you would..." She sighed. This was never going to work. She should forget about being happy with someone; it wasn't going to happen anytime soon. She wasn't pretty or tall or smart or anthing else boys wanted. She looked up at him again, her face even redder than it was before.

"Nevermind, you idiot," She sighed, "It was not important."

Turning away to look at the lake, she let out a shakey sigh.

Damian sputtered a moment. "I'm the idiot?" he asked incredulously. "You're the one who asked me to meet you here." The boy held the note up as evidence.

"If it wasn't 'important', then, what's with the note?"

Girls were seriously mental, sometimes!

Iva snatched the letter from his hand, squeeking again.

"I-I cannot say it," She whispered, holding her arms out of keep him at a safe distance. "It is too embarrassing!"

Iva took a deep breath to calm herself, them mumbled, "IknowyoulikeKarmabutIsortofwantedtoknowif..."

"Будете ли вы пойти танцевать со мной?"

It took her a second to realize she had spoken Russian to the poor boy.

It took Damian a moment to decipher what he could of what the girl had just said to him. His face turned crimson.

"Wh-what?" he squeaked, himself. "I don't! I-I mean, m-maybe last year, but... she doesn't even know I exist!" The boy scrubbed both hands across his face; partially in embarrassment, and partially in frustration.

"And I don't know Russian! You're gonna hafta say that again."

Iva giggled, looking up at the boy. His face was so adorable when he did that! With his nice bue eyes and his-

Augh, she had to stop doing that!

"You do like her. It is clear. She talks about you too." She shrugged, "It is nothing. SHe is..."

Iva could say she was nice or funny, so she settled on, "Pretty,"

Iva put her face in her hands and said, ever so softly. "Будете ли вы пойти танцевать со мной? in English means- "will you go to dance with me?"

Damian's face grew impossibly redder. "Well, yeah, b-but lots of girls here are pretty!"

He stared at her. Then blinked. After a moment, he blinked again.

"Oh," he said, voice equally soft. He scratched his head, shifting his weight self-consciously. "Um..." Damian's face maintained a bright, rosy color.

"Yeah, I guess, but... why me, though?" he asked in bemusement. Damian gestured to himself. He was a second year Hufflepuff, after all, and short for his age on top of that. A lot of other boys were taller. And older.

Iva's heart sank while he was quiet, then started racing when he guessed.

"I guess?" SHe said, puzzled. She thought that it meant that the person was unsure of something, but she could be wrong. "Is that a yes or no?"

Iva looked at her feet again, smiling almost madly. Why did she like him? Oh, she had thought about this for a long time, so she definately had answers.

"You are nice and strong. You are not too tall, and that makes me feel better about my height. You make me smile and you... what is the expression? Light up the house? Room?" Iva shook her head, dismayed.

"It all sounds stupid and..." She looked up at him and shallowe the lump in her throat, "I know I am not pretty like Karma... but, I wish I was, so you would like me,""

"Oh. It's yes, just, I was kinda... surprised?" His tone turned the sentence into a question when it really wasn't meant to be.

Damian shuffled his feet, still scratching his head. His ears were red now, too - he could feel them burning. No one had ever said so many good things about him. Well, except for... except for Theo, but she'd been his sister. She was supposed to see the best in him.

He shook his own head when he said it sounded stupid. "No, I... I think it sounds nice," Damian murmured shyly. "Thank you."

Iva looked at her feet again, her face in a tight frown. Surprised? Was that a good thing or a bad thing? She didn't understand these boys...

"You do not have to go with me, you know," She whispered sadly, playing with her hands idly, "I am not your first choice, yes? Do not feel like you have to,"

She brushed her face behind her ears, her face red. She giggled airy and nervously, biting her lip. "You are welcome, Damian,"

"No! I mean, it's not that. It's just..." Damian scrunched his brow. This was not working. "I wasn't really thinking about the dance, and then you asked me and- Well, a lot of people think I'm just some stupid kid so, I..."

The boy swallowed. "I... well, I'd like going with you. Y-you're pretty and kinda cool. I mean," he backtracked, "you're definitely cool."

He peeked up at her through his fringe, then looked down again. "Y'know... you have a nice smile." He bit his own lip.

Iva slowly looked up at Damian, a grin growing on her face. She wrapped her hands behind her back, playing with her robe.

"Y-you think I am pretty? Really?" Her grin grew slightly at the mere thought of that someone thought she was attractive.

Then he complimented her again and she gave a full out smile, her cheek painted with blush. She touched her cheeks and gave a tinkling of laughter before saying, "You are too kind! You are making me blush!"

"Well, yeah..." Damian said, "You've got nice hair and pretty eyes... y-you're real pretty." A crooked little smile pulled at his lips. He decided that she had a nice laugh.

Damian grinned at her. "Well, I guess I'll have to compliment you more, then," he declared impishly, "because you're really pretty when you blush."

Iva laughed again, her ears burning with embarrassment. It seemed as if he knew just what to say to make her smile and squirm. She giggled a bit before tentatively pushing him in a joking manner.

"You are attractive as well," She mused, looking up at him and meeting his eyes. She paused for a second, then grinned. "A very pretty Hufflepuff,"

Damian laughed, scratching his head. "Boys aren't supposed to be pretty," he protested.

"Alright. So, um..." The boy fidgeted a bit. "You want me to walk you - with you back to the castle? I mean, before classes start? Or... uh. We could always skip," he joked.

Iva smiled mischievously, turning towards the castle. "OOh, yes! Very pretty!" She teased.

The Slytherin looked at her feet, smiling madly. "Da. Yes, please. We should walk together." Pausing, Iva looked up, serious.

"Unless you are serious about skipping, of course," She said, "I would love to miss Potions class,"

Damian considered carefully for a moment, then let out a groan. "Master Chaos would kill me if I skipped," he sighed. "And I've already caused enough trouble, this year." He moved to stand beside her, tilting his head towards the castle.

"Shall we go?" he asked.

"We shall," Iva nodded as sashayed towards the castle slowly, yet happily. She looked back at Damian with a content smile, then looked away, blushing.

She sure hoped this wasn't a dream.

Damian let Iva get a little ahead, simply watching her for a moment. He grinned when she smiled back at him and blushed. Catching up, he fell in step beside her, a happy smile tugging at his lips and faint blush coloring his cheeks.