Another Year, Another Set of Cares

Damian had thought it stupid the previous year. It seemed no less stupid this year. Master Chaos had him stay at the school all summer. Why, in Merlin's name, did he have to go all the way to King's Cross just to ride the stupid express to school? At least he didn't have to take the little boats like they had first year. That was a relief. Of epic proportions - he hated water.

The boy slouched in one of the seats, watching people on the platform through the window. He had grown a lot over the summer. Now, rather than short, he seemed a little stretched out. To himself, in any case. Maybe it was the fact that all his trousers kept getting short on him.

Damian wasn't skinny, at least. Not truly. Lean, wiry muscle covered his young frame, as it had since his days of fighting off bullies in his muggle neighborhood. The training dummies in the Room of Requirement had seen to it that he kept in shape, not to mention his sessions with Asric.

He stretched, slouching further as he rested his head back against the seat. Maybe he would take a nap. Or maybe talk to someone.

Whatever. Either way, it was a new year... which would undoubtedly bring its own set of cares.

When Iva appeared on the platform, bags in hand, she felt new. New year, new clothes, new height, and, most importantly, puberty seemed to have finally given her the round hips she desired.

She walked through a group of second years, growling at them to back off and shut up. Her attitude, it seems, had gotten worse. Moody, she dragged her stuck on to the train and looked for a seat to sit in.

"Damian Grey," she remarked, leaning against the doorframe in her tight t-shirt and shorts. "Have a ever told you how much I love you?"

She strode into the compartment with a grand smile. She had missed him dearly. He seemed to have grown since the last time she saw him, she noted with a smirk. She had gained an inch or two, nothing as impressive as his height. Part of her wondered if his voice changed yet; Probably not. Pieter's still cracked sometimes.

"How've you been, love? Working hard?"

Damian looked up as someone stopped in the doorway, smiling in welcome before he had fully taken a look at the girl. His jaw dropped slightly, blue eyes widening. The boy scrambled to his feet.

"I-va!" he exclaimed, voice cracking embarrassingly. He cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean... hi. That is - yes. Yes, you have. But it's always good to hear it! I love you, too.

Stepping closer to her, Damian wrapped her in an embrace. "I've missed you. The summer was much too long." He pulled back and gave her a crooked grin before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips.

"I've been alright, mostly. Just been training and doing summer homework, mostly," Damian replied. "What about you, Tiya? Alright?"

Iva giggled at his voice as she accepted his hug with open arms. He was right; it was too long. There had been days were she wanted to write him, but doubted that her father would approve.

"My summer was boring. I had English lessons all summer, then helped around the house," she rolled a shoulder, sitting down on the bench. "I hung out with Tre too,"

She patted the seat next to her, waiting for him to join her. "Come on, sit."

Evangeline sprinted past the compartment, knowing that if she didn't hurry up she was going to die. She just wished that Karma had given her chance to explain herself, even though that wouldn't probably help. She dashed past it quicker than that thought, and just left breeze of air behind her.

Karma ran past the compartment at what seemed a regular speed to her but was really a vampiric sprint. The hallway seemed nonexistant. Only one thing mattered.

She disappeared after the blur that was evangeline wood, the girl who'd killed her brother.

Damian wrinkled his nose a bit at the mention of Treshawn. "Fun," he said a bit dryly. Sitting beside her, he took one of her hands in his own, playing affectionately with her fingers.

"I'm glad you're back," the boy told her.

His head jerked up, gaze going to the door. "Merlin... Was that..?"

Iva noticed his disgust at Tre, but silently ignored it. She enjoyed having Tre around, and she certainly wasn't going to ruin this friendship because of Dame. Curling her hand into his, she tuned just in time to see the two blurs.

"I think it was Karma and someone," she shrugged, "Vampires, right?"

"Right," Damian murmured distractedly. "How are they even students? I mean, for the first time students, or whatever? Vampires don't age, but I know Karma does. I've never read anything about people being born vampires." He frowned at this inconsistency in his knowledge, shaking his head to disperse the thought. It didn't matter, much, really. It was strange and potentially interesting, sure, but mulling over it would do nothing to solve the apparent mystery.

"So, what're you looking forward to this year?" the boy asked conversationally. "We're gonna have those exchange students from Durmstrang. That should be interesting, I bet."

Iva shrugged, unsure of the answer as well. "I've nvere heard to half vampires either." she sighed, running her hands through her hair. She stood up, going to her bag to pull out her robes.

"Training, playing with Zoya, playing with the Russians, you know," she pulled her robes over her normal clotheswith a yawn. Then, shebrought her hands under her robes and shimmied out of her skirt as if this was normal. Tossing her skrt into the bag, she smiled. "I'm ready for school now,"

"The usual," Damian concluded with a grin. He wasn't really paying much attention as Iva put her robes over her clothing. When she started to take off her skirt, however, he straightened abruptly in his seat in surprise.

The boy had to swallow before he could speak. "You... don't wear any sort of... except your underwear... under your... robes," he rambled out. Yeah. That was a distracting thought, alright...

Iva looked over her shoulder, confused at his actions. Another boy thing? Geez, these were sort of getting annoying "Of course not. Skirts get twisted under robes. It's easier just to do this,"

She sat next to him, giving her usual shrug. "I wear shorts for Hunting and when it gets hot, so I can open my robes, but, hey, nobody knows when I don't open it."

"That... makes sense," Damian agreed cautiously. He wore his uniform under his robes, except for a few particularly sweltering days. Now, he couldn't help but wonder how many of his classmates did otherwise. He'd never really thought about it before. Well, he would now...

Damian wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning his head against the top of hers and breathing in. He had missed the smell of her shampoo - not that he'd admit that aloud. That would just sound stupid.

Pandora was walking down the train to meet new people. She found a compartment with a couple of students in. She opened the door.

"Hello, May I join you both?" Pandora asked with Her Russian accent.

Iva had just snuggled up into Damian's touch, savoring the closeness that she had missed, when the Russian girl walked into the compartment. Her gazed snapped to her, giving the girl her famous attitude.

"Oh, look, a Russian. How wonderful," she gave a fake smile, her own Russian accent coming out more prominently, "You might as well sit- no one else will probably take you,"

She pulled away from Damian, then flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I am Iva Popov. I am from Russia too, but.. you have a different accent than me. You must not be completely Russian," she waved it off, not actually interested, "This is Damian Grey."

She looked in between the two, then said curtly, "He's mine,"

Pandora raised a eyebrow at the girl and sneered.

"Actully This is the third compartment I have been in to meet new People. My name is Pandora Reikhman. It's delightfull to make you aquintence!" Pandora said with a bow of her head. She sat down.

"don't worry my dear I won't touch him!" Pandora said as she rolled her eyes.

Iva sat back in her seat, a knowing smile rising to her face. This girl didn't know who she was messing with, obviously. She was Iva Popov and no one messed with Iva Popov.

"Sweetie," The Russian sounded comforting as she leaned forward business style, "I'm going to let you off easy this time, since you obviously are stupid enough to mess with me. I'm top Russian here and I can make your life a living hell for the next year if you don't back down. I have friends in high places all over this country and don't think I'd hesitate to get rid of a little annoyance,

"You see this?" She gestured to Damian, "He's the best thing this school has to offer and he's mine. I own him." She leaned over to Damian and kiss his cheek, her expression bright despite her harsh words, " You so much as look at him the wrong way, I will have you shipped back to the Russian slums you came from.

"Now, I don't like the way you spoke about him earlier. I think he deserves an apology. Apologize to my property, Pandora, "

Pandora paled and her eyes went fully black with no pupil. The Veela in her was showing. The girl had just thrown a big threat. Pandora Straightend her back and also spoke in Russian. Her eyes never changed.

"My Dear Iva, I won't take the your place as top Russian. I only came here to see a different culture and make new friends, which I see your really trying to do so. I know your a pure blood also like me. I aslo have friends in high places and even in more higher places. I can always arange a meeting with Vampire Sorin Zeklos to come and have a talk with you. He should put you in your place my dear?" Pandora said with gritted teeth, but she continued.

Don'y worry Iva I won't touch him. He is not my Veela mate and trust me, You will not be sending me to any slum. You won't be shipping me off anywhere my dear." Pandora said with a nod.

It was nice meeting Both. I must take my leave." Pandora said with a bow of her head. She left the compartment with her robes billowing around the door frame.

Damian had taken in the exchange between the two girls with a hint of bemusement. Iva's claim of him was... well, quite honestly, Damian rather liked it - not that he would admit that aloud.

"A pleasure," Damian mumbled with a lethargic half-wave.

He hung his head back with a groan. "I hate when people do that - I hardly understood a thing!" he complained, though his tone was lightly teasing. "Something about stupid Russians, apologies, and vampires. Oh, and veelas, I think? Trying to understand Russian makes me feel stupid." Damian grimaced. He didn't like feeling stupid, but learning another language was a lot harder than he had anticipated.

Iva laughed and rested her head on his shoulder. Her lips tickled his neck teasingly as she leaned closer.

"I'm sorry," she murmured apologetically, "I told her that she better not step out of line or I'd get her," her lips travelled to his ears, "And that I own the best guy in the school,"

She couldn't help but feel a bit... hurt though. Should she stop speaking Russian? Stop being Russian? The lilt of her accent started to bother her now, even as she made it as British as possible.

"Demushka, you're so smart. Russian is a hard language to- Wait," she shook her head, a grin over coming her features, "You are learning Russian? How cute! You're so adorable!"

His mouth curved into a smile as her lips grazed his neck. That was a rather... pleasant sensation. Damian was rather fond of Iva's lips, among other things. They were soft and warm and - his train of thought was momentarily derailed as she murmured in his ear.

Damian grinned back at her, reaching a hand to fondly stroke a strand of hair from her face.

"YA skazal, sh..." His brow furrowed a bit as he tried to recall the pronunciation, "chto nau...chites' govorit'. Vy ne pover...ite.

"Just don't ask me to say it fast," Damian joked, a pleased smile on his face. "And I'll have you know, I practiced that bit a lot - so I really am still clueless. For now."



(* "I told you, I would learn to speak it. You didn't believe me." ... or whatever Google Translate really spat out...)

Iva blinked at his words, then grabbed his collar sharply, holding his face inches from her own. She took a noticeable breath and kissed him long and hard. Her tongue traced his in a way she had never tried before. Almost... experienced.

Sh broke away and gasped, out of breath. Something about his voice, or maybe the mere fact he did this for her, made her wild. "I love it when you speak Russian,"

Damian was caught off by the suddenness of the kiss, but he recovered rather quickly, kissing her back with just as much fervor. At the end of it, he was gasping, as well. That was some kiss!

"Well," he said, drawing in a deep breath, "guess I need to learn faster, don't I?"

He shifted, reaching into his pocket. "I almost forgot," he said, pulling out a small box and handing it to her. "I was gonna give this to you when Master Chaos and I came over to your house for dinner, but I left it in my dorm. It's... not much, but I saw it and it made me think of you."

Damian shrugged a shoulder, trying to make it out as no big deal.


((Necklace for Iva))

"You don't have to give me anything," She insisted as she took the box. She had a dubious look on her face, not expecting anything fancy, but her face changed to surprise when she opened it. She automatically went to take off Tre's necklace, excited for the flower pendant. After untangling it from her hair, she managed to exchange the necklaces with a smile.

"It's perfect!" she crooned, pulling him into another hug. She giggled and kissed his cheek. "I owe you a present now!"

Damian grinned widely, pleased that she liked the necklace. The boy hugged her back, watching her fondly, blue eyes roving her features as he decided his gift looked perfect on her - it suited her perfectly.

"You don't have to get me anything," Damian murmured, reaching his hand out to caress the side of her face.

"I wanted to get it for you," he continued, leaning closer to brush his lips lightly against hers, "because you're my girlfriend." His lips moved to her ear, tone dipping. "You deserve to be spoiled."

Slowly, he began to trail tantalizing kisses along her neck, even as he pulled her closer. Sure, it wouldn't go much further than kissing, maybe some not-quite-appropriate touching, but Damian was going to enjoy every moment he had with Iva between right then and their arrival at Hogsmeade.