Bugger Off, Baros!

[Sergei Zhefarovich]

Sergei Zhefarovich stormed off after he had confronted Preston Paine about being a mudblood. That really made him more mad than anything else, and Sergei could not seem to grasp the idea that his company was infected with a blood as dirty as that. What sort of luck did he have? Obviously, not much luck at all. Sergei just wanted to scream and such, but he could keep everything bottled up. And that Baros girl had to come around and make things even more complicated. The teenager did not know what he needed to do to assist him in getting over this, if he could ever get over the feeling of being betrayed like he did. Sergei needed to find a place where he could be alone, and after some time of wondering in the dungeons, he finally figured out where he would need to go, and how to do it without getting caught. The last thing that the fifth year needed was to get caught by any professor. Sergei was on his way to the Forbidden Forest to find some peace and quiet, and to think over what he needed to do about this entire situation. He could harass Preston to death, but then lose a ton of points for Slytherin. Was it worth it?

No, nothing was worth getting caught for. So, Sergei left the dungeons an made his way down to the Forbidden Forest where he stood at the front of the trees for a moment. He heard the stories of centaurs, acromantulas and whatever else was in here. Not even one twinge of fear hit him as he stepped into the forest. Sergei, however, discovered that he was not alone. Turning around, his silver eyes darted dangerously from one tree to another, until he recognized the figure in the shadows. It was her. Of all people, did she follow him here? "What the hell are you doing here, Baros?" demanded the fifth year Slytherin with nothing welcoming in his tone. "Going to lecture me about how mudbloods are people too and how little elves need to not be slaves?" He only assumed that since she seemed to be a lover of mudbloods, having said that she was one herself a long time ago, that she might be a fighter for elf-kind or something stupid like that. Sergei was angry, and he was bound to take it out on someone one way or another. Something about Valentina just made his skin crawl.​

 

[Valentina Baros]

Valentina liked hanging out in the woods around this time of day, it was quieter and easier for her to get some peace and quiet for five minutes while she was. Most of the student body was inside eating and enjoying their day among their friends and peers. Valentina on the other hand was curled up up in a tree, taking in the nature all around her as best as she could. Then came along Sergei. "Typical Zhefarovich, always stomping around whenever he doesn't get his way." Valentina rolled her eyes and pushed herself out of her sitting spot in the tree. Although she figured she should let the hot-head cool off for a bit, she also wasn't the type to just let things go without some type of closure. Valentina knew that Sergei didn't like that she had interrupted his little fight, but she hated people picking on others because of blood. Valentina didn't like muggle borns herself, but she wasn't about to go around picking on them. What was that kind of behavior going to promote? Nothing but another stupid war where lives on both sides were lost. It wasn't really beneficial to anyone or anything. So why do it?

"It's a free country Sergei, I can be wherever I want. Second, I really don't give a freaking hoot about the elves. I just think the whole blood prejudice thing is a bunch of bullsh*t. Plus you were getting a tad bit emotional in there. Upset that your lover lied to you about his blood status?" Valentina teased. She used to think that Preston and Sergei were the best of friends. Apparently one little rumor would rip that thought up just before it was even fully formed. Valentina knew that was only going to increase the anger that Sergei felt for her presence. Not that she could help it though, he made it so much fun! The brunette brushed some hair aside and waited for the volcano to erupt. Maybe if he got enough anger out now he'd be okay to head back to his common room and not kill Preston in his sleep later. "Come on tiger, let it all out. I know you're pissed." Folding her arms across her chest, Valentina figured that soon or later he would tell her what was on his mind. Hopefully he didn't make too much noise though, because she didn't want to deal with Professor Styx handing them a detention or two for being out here and being so loud.​

 

[Sergei Zhefarovich]

Sergei wanted to be left alone. Everyone he could have had a good friend with lied to him on several occasions, and he was tired of it. However, Valentina mentioned how it was a free country, and how she did not care about the elves and the whole blood status thing. He had to care about it. He had no other choice. If someone was a certain status was talking with him around the family, they would be slaughtered. However, as soon as she mentioned his lover, he gave her an odd look. He looked highly confused, as he did not even know what she was talking about. What lover? He did not have a girlfriend. Sergei did not hear the pronoun ‘his’ so it did not even connect in his mind that she was talking about Preston Paine. He raised an eyebrow as he repeated, “Lover? I don’t have a lover.” He did not even seem defensive about it, but she must have been changing the subject to make sure that he did not yell at her. Oh she was going to hear it from him. There was nothing holding him back within the forest. They were not too far in that they could be in danger, except from professors.

Valentina wanted him to let it all out. Let out all the anger that he was feeling. “Fine, you want me to let it out?” Sergei raised his voice somewhat before he paused, to find out what he was really angry about. He had something within him that was boiling and he had no idea what it was. Anger, for sure. There was something else, and every time he looked at Valentina, it sparked within him. It made him feel ill. “I am tired of all these lies! First, you lie for some unknown reason, when you are in fact someone that could be interesting, but you keep lying. Everything that comes out of your mouth is something I doubt each and every day! Preston lied to me, and now family knows that I was hanging around a mudblood. I am at risk of getting in serious trouble because of it! I am tired of everyone and have no idea who to freaking trust!” Sergei breathed out, feeling slightly better. The Slytherin stepped closer to Valentina, and he continued, “And there is something about you that makes me ill, but I can’t seem to shake it. You get under my skin without even trying. And I want to know why.” He thought that she might know.​

 

[Valentina Baros]

Sergei's temper made him easy bait for Valentina, and he barely even seemed to realize it. He didn't seem to get the joke she had made about Sergei and Preston having a little thing, but with the amount of humor he had in his system she didn't expect him too either. He did take her suggestion about letting it all out. Valentina was sure there was a lot he was keeping in, and maybe if he let someone else know how he felt, he'd feel better. Valentina remained quiet the whole time Sergei vented, carefully taking in every word that slipped past his lips. He was angry because she lied to him. Preston had lied to him. He must have been hurt by all the lies that people said to him. Now while Valentina understood why he was mad about Preston, what she didn't understand was why it bothered him that she lied to him. "Feel better?" Although he stepped close to her, Valentina could have guessed that he didn't expected that she was going to remove herself from leaning on the tree and approach him herself. Once she was close enough her fingers tenderly went to the green and silver tie he had laced around his neck.

Carefully she began to loosen it a little, and let his eyes meet with her honey colored ones before she smirked. "Trust me Sergei, you don't want to trust people to begin with. If they don't hurt you by lying to you, they'll find some other way. So you're really not missing all that much." Valentina continued to loosen Sergei's tie until it loosely hung around his neck, then she wrapped her skinny fingers around the end of the tie, she jerked Sergei so their faces were barely inches apart and Valentina could feel Sergei's breath on her cheeks. "What I don't understand is why you even care if I lie to you or not. You say that I mean nothing to you, but the things I do bother you and catch your attention. So explain it to me because I'm not going to take no for an answer." Valentina wanted him to explain why she did was such an issue to him. Normally when someone was liked to they chose to avoid the person and stay away from them, especially since they had no relationship with one another to begin with. It wasn't like they were ever friends or anything like that. ​

 

[Sergei Zhefarovich]

As soon as she asked if he felt better, Sergei had to think about it. Actually, he did feel slightly better. He narrowed his eyes at Valentina, and he wondered if she knew that this would happen, that he would feel better after yelling and venting. He was taught to hold his anger in, and turn it into a certain energy so that he could use it productively. However, all it did was eat him inside. This was the better option for him, and he enjoyed it. He nodded, "I do, which is strange." He shifted his position when she removed herself from the tree, and moved closer to him. He tensed up immensely when she wrapped his Slytherin tie around her fingers. This was certainly uncomfortable. He looked down at her hand and then at her, before he felt like it was suddenly getting really, really hot out here. 'What is she doing and why the hell is it so hot out here? It wasn't hot until she got this close to me, so what's happening?' questioned the vegetarian. He just didn't understand, and he felt like there was something he was supposed to do. She loosened the tie and he felt himself breathe a little bit. She said that he shouldn't want to trust people, and that they would hurt him one way or another. He needed to trust his family at the very least. But, there had to be trust between husband and wife, allies, or something. Maybe there wasn't. Maybe he couldn't rely on anyone.

As he was thinking that, Sergei felt a jerk, and then he was right in Valentina's face. His cheeks slowly turned red as he flushed. She didn't understand why he cared if she lied to him, if she meant nothing to him. But, somehow, she caught his attention. Especially with actions like these. Sergei allowed instincts to take over. His hands grabbed her shoulders forcibly, almost to push her away when something else happened. He hungrily kissed her, and surprisingly enough, there was no fight back but encouragement instead. Damn, this felt really good, but reality settled in. He jumped back, before he looked at Valentina with shock. It wasn't anger, which was surprising. "Let's go, Valentina..." Sergei looked down and he took her by the hand. The two headed toward Brightstone village, and off to their new adventure.​

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Fin​