Lessons and Homework

Darien raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. I would never deem you similar to the likes of my family." He shuddered.

Diana's smile faltered a little. "I didn't mean it that way..."

Darien blinked. "Oh."

Then he laughed. "I guess I should hire an interpreter."

"Or you should just shut up and kiss me." Diana suggested.

Darien laughed. "An excellent idea."

And he proceeded to do so.

[Different Timeline: Mid-January]

Viper sighed, deep in thought as she sorted out ingredients in the potions cabinet. Her class had ended a few hours ago and all the paperwork she had to do for the day, and for the next few weeks, really, were all complete. Normally, she'd be off, racing away from the classroom, like all of her students, into the arms of Sevastyan, or to another location such as their quarters to wait to be in his arms, but, things had become rather... tense... between them.

Shared quarters, while full of bliss, proved to be more challenging than Viper had anticipated. True, their tastes in decor were fairly similar, both with that medieval, gothic touch, but the colors... well, those were another story. She was and would be, no matter what, a die-hard Slytherin, and fan of green, and Sevastyan, being from Durmstrang, was a fan of crimson, which she instinctively, and wrongly, interpreted it as 'Gryffindor'. The end result? A rather nasty clash between them. Not necessarily a full-blown, out of control argument, but given the fact that throughout their relationship they barely faced as a disagreement, this argument, in the Potions Mistress's mind.

She knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn't help it. She was a Slytherin and always would be, pride and judgement, and all. Not to mention she was pretty damn stubborn...

Taking a seat upon one of the student's desk, she pondered what to do with her current love-life dilemma.

Bubbling was hardly a word most would use to describe a 170 year old man, but bubbling Horatio McKevin was. Smile plastered on face and a sparkle in his eyes to rival the sun, he skipped into the potions classroom, joyously greeting the potions mistress he spotted at a student's desk.
"A wonderful good evening to you, my dear Viper!" he bowed, already fishing his pipe out of his pocket.

He continued to hum "April Showers" from the muggle movie Bambi, which was a favourite of Edwin's. "How are you?" He had sought her out, after almost literally bouncing out of Kiara's office in order to find another person to shout his great triumph to... and who better than his friend and colleague, Amaranth Viper.

At the sound of a booming, happy voice, Viper broke from her reverie. She raised an eyebrow at Horatio's mood curiously, wondering what had occured to add that extra boost of happinees unto him. True, the older wizard was always smiling with the sun. but there seemed to be more upon his step than usual.

She smiled in return at his greeting. "Likewise, Professor McKevin." With a snap of her fingers, Viper summoned two desire-based goblets, levitating one towards Horatio.

"I'm quite alright, I suppose." Viper replied with a confidant nod, not wanting to delve into details over her personal dilemma. "What of you? Might I ask what has brought about this added lustre to your happiness?" she asked as she heard the unfamilar, yet bouncy tune cascade from the older gentleman.

If it was possible, Horatio's grin grew larger. "Lovely to hear, my dear." he nodded, taking the floating goblet. Sighing at the sweet scent of cool chocolate milk with a dash of rum, he took a seat on the nearest student desk.
"Perfectly splendid, these goblets." he thanked her.

"And as for my sunny mood, I have been made the happiest man in the world." Never one to truly beat around the bush, Horatio spewed out his great joy. "A certain Transfigurations professor has agreed to my proposal." And what a joy it was; he had proposed once before in his long life, only to be later rejected for his friend... which had crushed his loving ego beyond repair for almost a century. "I am over the moon." he sang, sipping from his goblet.

This time both of Viper's eyes raised in suprise. While she knew that Horatio and Eglantine were an item, she was quite suprised that yet another Hogwarts couple were going to take a walk down the isle as well. At the back of her mind, she wondered what the future may have in store for her and Sevastyan. Not that she was very keen on marriage... merely that it seemed to be everywhere these days with people getting married left and right.

"My most sincere congratulations." she replied brightly as she raised her goblet towards him in a toast-like gesture before taking a sip of the vodka. Taking note of his comment about the goblets, she made a mental memo on a possibility she may give the couple as a wedding gift.

"Have you made any plans yet?" she asked curiously, wondering if this was a recent occurence or if this was the couple's way of sending out invitations to the ceremony.

"Thank you." Horatio bowed his head, taking another sip from his cup. "Eglantine does not want a large wedding..." he confessed, allowing the slight note of disappointment to slip into his cheerful voice. "But I only just proposed today. We did discuss marriage over breakfast one time... during which she did mention the wedding fact." Setting the goblet aside, he lit his pipe.

"Speaking of plans..." His eyebrows wiggled mischievously. "Have you and a certain Russian made any?" Their relationship had always fascinated and delighted him; mainly because he viewed them both as good friends and they seemed to complete one another. They shared enough to get along, in his humble opinion, but had enough differences to keep it interesting. The thought had already occurred to him; with Eglantine and him, that they had almost nothing in common... no doubt which would lead to an interesting union, but one Horatio could hardly wait to be part of. "I hate to pry; but call it Hufflepuff curiosity."

"Ah, I see." Viper nodded in understanding. "I can relate to that, I suppose. I've never been too keen on the thought of marriage, but if ever I were to find myself zapped into the wedding club, well... I'd personally want an elopement." she replied with a small smile as she allowed her mind the rare privilege of a temporary daydream of eloping with Sevastyan.

"I wouldn't want a loud, over-the-top ceremony filled with people I barely know or like. I'd want it to be a ...private... affair, I suppose. One whose memory only I and my would-be husband would share." she added, the smile growing slightly. Realizing that she was rambling and probably irritating the older wizard with her musings, she blinked herself back to reality. "But that's just my own thoughts." she hastily added.

Perhaps before the argument, a light blush would have tinged the Slytherin's pale features at her colleague's questions. However, with their recent clash hanging over her head, all she could muster was a sad smile. "To be honest... I can't be sure about anything, at this point..." she replied softly with a tone lightly splashed with melancholy.

She attempted to give him a small smile, followed by a forced laugh as she attempted to jokingly reply, "I doubt Sevastyan would want to anchor himself to me for all eternity..."

Horatio listened intently, a knowing smile tugging at his lips. She sounded in love; and it warmed his heart. Truly at her age and with her beauty, she should be in love and loved in return. It was only fitting and good.

Elopement did hold a certain poetic/romatic charm, but Horatio had had bad experiences with his love eloping 'on him' so, he was certain he didn't want to do it himself. No that it would be the same, for he and Eglantine or Amaranth and Sevastyan as it had been all those years ago.

"And worthy thoughts they are." Horatio assured her, beaming at her lit smile. She looked beautiful, he mused, smiling and happy. It was the way he wished he always saw her and hoped to see more smiles in the future. Indeed Sevastyan appeared to have been her prince charming.

His heart clenched painfully when her rosy smile faded into a more sorrowful one. Her laugh and attempted joke only reenforced his guilt as he realized that apparently he had brought up a "forbidden" topic.

Sombre, he moved to sit beside Viper, looking into her fathomless eyes.
"Why would you say that?" he asked softly.

Viper smiled her thanks in reply to Horatio's assurance. She wasn't sure what it was about the older wizard, but there was something about him that made his cheerful, optimistic aura infectious that made everyone around him, including her, smile in return. She had never seen Horatio in the flames of anger or in the depths of sorrow, and believed that nothing could ever tarnish his happiness. In fact, she had a theory that an antidote to any sorrow or depression would be to inject a bit of Horatio unto a saddened being to get them singing and dancing in joy.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little spat Sevastyan and I had earlier, is all." Viper replied, not wanting to delve into details.

In an effort to curb the conversation away from herself, she inquired, "How is Edwin taking the news? Is he as excited as you are?" she asked with an added, albeit a bit forced, smile.

Couples did have their quarrels and fights; it was a fact of life, one that Horatio knew usually deepened a relationship. Testing waters and building bridges... all that. He nodded, realizing she did not wish to discuss it.
"If you say so." He smiled, patting her hand.

"He was a little confused..." Horatio chuckled, remembering Edwin's twisted facial expression. Apparently the toddler hadn't before truly realized that Horatio wasn't his father or that his mother wasn't actually married. No doubt, Eglantine had explained it many times to him; but Edwin was not a child to remember such things, much less understand them. "But didn't seem against it."

Glancing up to the potion's cabinet, he took a deep breath, mainly to clear his airway of smoke from his pipe. He took another draw, sighing with pleasure at the woody aroma.
"How have your classes been?"

"Ah, lovely." Viper replied with a nod, glad to hear that the boy seemed to be having a smooth transition with the situation. She had heard of a few instances, particularly with a few of her own friends who were the second spouses of their significant others who already had children, that it was not always easy becoming a step-parent. Luckily, given Edwin's nature, it seemed all would be more than well and everyone would be happy, which was all Viper would ever wish for them, knowing that they all deserved happiness.

"They've been well, I suppose. There are much fewer accidents now than there were in the beginning of the year." Viper replied with a light laugh. "And your's?"

Meeting the History Professor's sapphire orbs, she hesitated a moment, wondering if her question was perhaps far too personal, before deciding in the end to stick to her roots and tentatively ask. "Professor, may I ask you a personal question?"

Chuckling, Horatio nodded. He could see how a lessing of accidents would be a good sign of any healthy potions' class. His own school years were proof of that.
"Mine have been well. Apparently my games, snacks and light homework are quite a popular adventure here. Although I dare say some disapprove... something about unorthodox teaching methods and an abundance of "too-much-fun". I ought to be shamed back into strict no nonsense military history if some had their way." he joked, laughing softly.

Still smiling from his laugh, Horatio noted the hesitation and his thoughts became less whimsical and more grave.
"Of course..." He was always happy to help no matter the personal levels.

Viper's laughter echoed Horatio's. "I remember having one of those no nonsense history Professors. Rather creepy bloke, he was. Can't say I remember all that much about him since I normally skipped that class and slept in, but, I remember him being a complete prick." she replied with a laugh.

She bit her lip slightly nervously before asking in a softer, curious tone. "How did you know Professor Delanquar was 'the one' ?"

Horatio shuddered. "Ah... yes, I was also a victim of such a history professor... Not sure who fell asleep more in the class though; him or I." He murmured, nodding in agreement with Viper. He had never had the courage in his youth to skip a class... something that he found humorous in his old age. The same vitality of character he saw in Viper was that of which he had always desired to have; let another reason he had befriended her.

It was a deeply personal question; but it was actually the depth of the question's nature itself that brought a sigh to his lips and a drop in his countenance. How did he know? Maybe it was the need to be near her even when she was right down the hall? The imprinted memory of her rare but lilting laughter... The soft glow of the fire reflected in her eyes... The patient manner in which she scolded him... The pain he felt when she was sad or hurt... Perhaps it was the long years he had waited for her... or the empty feeling that filled him when she had married another...

"She became apart of me..." he murmured. "It is so difficult to put into words; but I felt incomplete without her. How I truly knew she was the one was when I gave her away at her wedding." It sounded ironic and strange that he had loved her so deeply that he had left her go... but it was true.
"My continued affections confirmed she was the one. And now." His smile grew. "All those years have paid off."

Viper nodded, the corners of her mouth twitching. "Blackburn was the same way. Honestly, he was ancient inside and outside. His idea of fun was arranging the order of his books the muggle way from alphabetical order, to edition order, and to order of preference." she smiled in amusement as she recounted a few memories from her not so distant past. "I honestly only showed up in class maybe once or twice a month for tests. I never stuck around for lessons." she added with a light laugh.

She listened intently to Horatio's response, glad that he didn't appear angry or offended at how personal the question was. A soft smile played upon her lips as she thought of how Horatio's feelings were dead-on similar to how she felt for Sevastyan. His happiness was everything to her, and she would cross the depths of hell as many times as needed to bring a smile upon his face and erase any trace of sorrow from within his soul.

While most of the Slytherin's life was filled with her clashing with various, numerous people, it was almost unbearable being apart, torn by anger, from Sevastyan. She regretted starting such a ridiculous argument over something so trivial as colors, and allowing it to escalate so high, and immediately sought to make amends with the love of her life.

She nodded in reply with tears shining in her emerald orbs. "I see." she uttered softly in an emotion-filled tone. "I wish you both all the happiness in the world." she added genuinely with a bright smile. "My most sincere congratulations to you and Professor Delanquar, Professor McKevin."

Horatio chuckled at Viper's recount of her teacher. Suddenly his history of magic teacher did not seem as bad... well maybe not- after all the man had had his moments of sheer oddity. But currently Horatio found he himself could be set into that finely labelled box and thus his chuckles did not melt into total abandoned laughter as they might have had he been a good hundred years younger...

Viper was beautiful when she smiled, Horatio decided. Of course she was lovely in any situation and in any mood. But he liked her the very best when she was happy and purely so. He had never had a daughter... and at his age despite his upcoming nuptials... had no plans to ever have one.... but despite that painfully realistic knowledge, Amaranth Viper was exactly what he would have loved to see in his own flesh and blood.

Worry filled him as her dazzling eyes filled with tears only to evaporate as she wished him a sincere blessing of happiness.
"Thank you, Professor Viper." he murmured, smiling gently. He took her hand in his and softly kissed it, wishing again for the millionth time that the old customs of genteel days had remained within the rapidly modernizing wizard world... a man opened a door for a woman and received a death-glare... a chair pulled out was ignored... he remembered with a hidden wince the failed attempt two years earlier to be kind to a young witch by kissing her hand and the stinging slap that had burned his left cheek...

"It means a great deal to the both of us that you approve."

A softer smile illuminated Viper's face at Horatio's act of chivalry. Having grown up in a particularly traditional houehold, only to be plunged headfirst into the outside world's modernization, away from such gestures left the witch with a feeling of homecoming to witness that sort of chivalry. In a way, it reminded her of her deceased family, such as her eldest brother Leviathon, and Grandfather, who, unlike most traditionalists, had respect and affection for women and in no way did degrade them.

She wondered vaguely why it meant so much that she approved, but brushed it off and continued to smile. "Of course. You both seem very happy with each other. It is only fitting and proper that I wish you many more years of happiness."

Horatio smiled, rising to his feet and brushing off his slightly wrinkled robes. Patting Amaranth's hand again, he nodded toward the door.
"I would suppose that although I would desire to sit and speak with you all day, I must go." he sighed, his tone most sincere.

"Again, thank you, my dear. And may I be so bold as to offer the same wish for you and Sevastyan." he winked fondly. "I cannot imagine a more lovely "anchor" as you put it." he beamed, bowing deeply as he retreated from the classroom. Soon the soft echo of a hummed melody wafted from the stairway as he made his way up toward the Great Hall.

"Very well, I shall see you later, Professor McKevin. Once more my sincere congratulations." Viper replied to Horatio's retreating form. A light blush tinged her face at his added wish as she whispered her thanks, waving good bye.

When she was alone once more, she leaned back against the desk, allowing her mind to wander on the current dilemma between her and Sevastyan. And those damn curtains.

She had come home to their shared quarters one night, working on a bit of corresspondance and all of a sudden, as she took a quick glance around the room panicked at the colors within it, and flipped out. Like a firecracker, she lit up, conjuring up a storm, demanding that Sevastyan removed all the crimson objects in the room, claiming that it was too 'Gryffindor-ish', essentially picking a fight with him. Over curtains. The end result was a few days, though it felt more like a life time, of withdrawn words and affections, and the shadow of tension and barely concealed irritation. After a childhood of having her every wish fulfilled at the snap of her fingers, it seemed a small part of Viper carried it unto her and Sevastyan's relationship, expecting him to behave similarly.

However, the more and more she thought about it, the more stupid and cretinous the situation and the fuss she created was crept and sunk into the thick rock she called her head. Here she was throwing away the best thing that had ever happened to her away, over a few damn pieces of fabric! So much for having matured since her Hogwarts days.

It seemed that Professor McKevin had been right and taught her yet another important lesson. When one finds that one special person, the soul that seems to fully entwine with yours and complete you, you should treasure it, and cherish them and the time you have together, just as he was with his and Professor Delanquar's upcoming nuptials. Not throw it away and tarnish it like she had done to with her and Sevastyan's relationship over some damn fabric...

Shaking her head with disgust at her past actions, Viper resolved to change that all. She didn't care how or what, but she would go to Sevastyan and ask for forgiveness. She loved Sevastyan with all that she was and ever would be. He was her everything. There was no way in hell she would throw all that away and let him go so easily. Her only hope was that he would grant it and they could go back to all the affection they once had, with no holding back. With a quick glance to the mirror, inspecting her appearance, she made her way out the door, her heart quite a bit lighter than it had been the previous days as she formulated in her mind exactly what she would say to Sevastyan.

Too bad she didn't know that in just a few minutes, her heart would break and hurt like never before...

(Dun Dun Dun... xD))