A Happy Ending?

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina stood on the edge of the lake, staring up at Hogwarts New Zealand. As hard as it was to admit it, she was really going to miss the place. She liked Durmstrang well enough, but Hogwarts New Zealand...it just seemed to be a really nice place. She figured it wouldn't have been as bad an experience if it wasn't for Nic and Dom spoiling it for everyone - especially her, Katalina and Rhyspa. Katerina gave a small shudder at the memory of the Yule Ball.

But this was it, the last goodbye to the school. They were about to head back to Durmstrang, and to head home for the summer holidays. Before they left, however, there was one person Katerina wanted to speak to more than anyone else in the world. She could have spoken to him on the boat, however, she wanted to get everything out in to the open before she left. She had resolved things with Jaken, promised to write to Estrella, and would write to Katalina and Rhyspa...sure, she hadn't resolved things with Nicolae and Dominik, but she figured they'd suffered enough. The one person she really had to speak to was Yvan.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan made his way toward the lakefront slowly, going through the motions again and again and gathering his thoughts as he went. However these days it seemed the only constant in his thoughts were Katerina and how he was sorry for the way he had conducted himself in front of her that night. For the way he'd been distant from her since, and most of all, the lack of good reason for doing so. So many times he had wanted to approach her, and all those times he let the fear of rejection keep him away.
The ending of the school year was nearing, and Yvan was aware that these last few days were the ones for parting goodbyes. He figured that this must be the reason why Katerina wanted to see him. To say a final goodbye.
Picking his gaze up from his feet, Yvan glanced toward the edge of the lake where stood Katerina. He could not help but smile at the sight of her. It was one of the pleasant effects she had on him, and yet a painful one at the same time. Bitter sweet.
"Katerina?"

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Hearing her name, Katerina looked around to see Yvan. The very sight of him caused her heart to pound in her chest - more so than it already was. She smiled, a trace of nerves was contained in the smile, but most of it was her sheer joy in seeing Yvan again. She did not know how she was going to be able to say what needed to be said...and she didn't know how Yvan was going to react, either, but she knew she had to be brave. The worst that could happen was that the boat trip home would be awkward - in that case, she'd hide away until they returned to Durmstrang, and she could use the summer to mend her heart. Not a pleasant outcome, but it wasn't the worst thing in the whole world. Maybe everything will work out well, she thought, trying to be optimistic. "Yvan," she began softly. "I'm so glad to see you again," she blurted. "Erm, I, ah, wanted to talk to you...I wanted to apologise about the Yule Ball, properly. I haven't had a proper chance to say this, and, um, well, I behaved terribly that night, I shouldn't have reacted in such a manner, in doing so, I know I spoilt the night for so many people, especially you, and I feel honestly quite terrible about doing that, and, and...I wanted to say thank you, as well, for standing up for me, even though you really didn't need to do that...um, it means so much to me, and, well...um...yeah," she rambled. Attempting to stop the flow of words, she hastily shut her mouth and looked at her feet, blushing profusely. All she could hear was the loud pounding of her heart in her chest. She waited for Yvan to say something, anything, so she didn't look like a complete and utter (dare she say lovestruck) fool.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

A wave of relief washed over him, and for the first time in a long time he felt his face form an effortless smile. It came with no pain. "Sorry? Katerina I'm sorry. You did nothing but defend yourself and those other girls, if anyone should be saying sorry it's me. I should have known that escorting you to the ball would make you an even bigger target to Nic and Dom, and I shouldn't have trusted that they were going to be civil toward you, not even if it was for me. You deserve so much more, and I put you in a terrible situation. The whole thing was my fault, even if they were the prats first."
Taking a step closer toward Katerina, Yvan finally pulled his gaze away from her. Should I say it? Fumbling with his fingers, his mouth kept opening and shutting and every now and then he'd glance back up briefly. "I-..." he began, his voice barely over a whisper. "...sorry. I'm sorry." Taking a few steps back he turned completely into the opposite direction. How can I say it? I'd just ruin everything all over again.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina slowly looked up as Yvan apologised for creating the situation at the Yule Ball. Katerina found herself slightly shaking her head as he spoke, disagreeing with him on almost every point. She felt her breath catching as he took a step closer to her, and tried to say something. Katerina stood inert, panicking slightly. Am I dreaming? Is he really going to say what I've been...hoping he would say? she thought, listening closely. However, he turned away. Katerina felt her heart sinking as he turned away. Say something now, stupid girl! her mind screamed to her. "Um, Yvan...wait," Katerina began, her voice shaking. "Please don't go," she said, earnestly. "Please. It wasn't your fault at all. In fact...um...well...I'm really happy you escorted me to the ball. I'm sure if it wasn't for Nic and Dom, um...I'm sure it would have been one of the greatest nights of my life so far," she blurted, her face burning in embarassment. "And I mean it," she added, wiping her sweaty palms on her skirt, a nervous gesture.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan turned to meet Katerina's eyes once more. Her words had done the trick; his heart was pounding against his ribs and he felt he could hardly contain it any more. In a swift motion, Yvan closed the distance between himself and Katerina, and without thinking it through, he kissed her.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

As Yvan turned to meet her eyes, Katerina could not help but be ever so slightly worried. And now he's going to hate me, and he's going to tell me so, right now, she thought, pessimistically, until he approached her and kissed her. Katerina was momentarily startled, until she allowed herself to close her eyes and enjoy the kiss. She wrapped her arms around Yvan, enjoying being close to him - and it was at this moment that she realised that despite all the hardships of the year, exams, demons of the past being brought back, not being picked as Champion and the insanity of the TriWizard Tournament, coming to Hogwarts New Zealand had been truly worth it.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

When it ended, Yvan emerged red faced, his arms loosely wrapped around Katerina. "I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I was just scared that you wouldn't feel the same," he explained, his voice an octave higher due to all the nervousness. "If I had known... I wouldn't have wasted all this time."

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina nodded, beaming enthusiastically. "Since you asked me to the Yule Ball, I thought...well, rather, I hoped, that maybe you really did, erm, like me as more than a friend. I was panicking that maybe you didn't, but I thought I had to tell you now, before I became too scared and never told," she explained, carefully, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "I'm glad this has all worked out well, then," she joked, laughing as she looked at Yvan, feeling as though her heart was going to burst with happiness. He kisses much better than Nicolae ever could, she thought...but thought the less said about that, the better. Yvan was a much better person than either Nicolae or Dominik ever could be, and she was glad she had finally seen that.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan chuckled. "I'm glad too, really. For getting to know you better, and finding through you that my two best friends weren't who I thought they were... Thank you." The sun was setting in the horizon, and just at that moment, the last of it's golden rays reflected over the lake. "What do we do now?" he asked after a moment of staring at the scene in awe. He wanted to prolong the moment and avoid returning to the boat, and especially Nic and Dom. It was not that he was afraid of them, he was just afraid that they would ruin the day. Katerina did not need that, and neither did he.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina smirked, raising an eyebrow. She wasn't keen on going back to the boat just yet, and she could sense that Yvan wasn't, either. "You're welcome. And thank you for sticking by me, even when your 'best friends' denounced you," she said, with a more genuine smile. "What do we do now?" she repeated, thoughtfully. "Well firstly, you could kiss me again, because I rather enjoyed it," Katerina began, grinning up at Yvan.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

"As you wish, your highness," Yvan teased. Tilting his head down slightly, he leaned in once more for another kiss, this time he didn't hold himself back. Running his fingers through her hair gently, he let it linger on.
When they finally broke apart, Yvan chuckled again. "Come on, let's go tour the castle one more time before we never get the chance to do it again. What do you say?" There were no words to describe how happy Yvan was. But when are there ever enough words?

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina gave a slight scowl as Yvan teased her, but felt the scowl disappear as he leant towards her to give her another kiss, feeling her legs turn to jelly at the kiss. She leant in to him and held him close, partially for balance, and partially for the wonderful feeling of closeness. Grinning and blushing as they broke apart, Katerina nodded at Yvan's suggestion. "I like that idea. Shall we go, then?" Katerina asked, sliding her arm around Yvan's back and leaning against him, sighing in happiness.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

"Yes we shall," Yvan replied, beaming at Katerina. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Yvan guided her away from the lakeside and toward the Hogwarts New Zealand castle. This year had certainly been a good one, even throughout the hardship. And for the first time in a long time, he was happy that things had turned out the way they had.