Dream a Little Dream

[Jean Snow]

Jean took another look at the hand written information that Victoire had given him, the tiny map of where they'd meet and when because she knew he'd forget otherwise. With a grin, Jean grabbed his backpack, leaving his home without a word to his mom, his siblings, or his step-father. Now that he no longer had the trace, Jean felt above the rules of his household. He'd been sneaking out most nights, apparating to different places just because he could. Most of the time, it was just to some countryside where he could practice his flying away from the eyes of his family. He had big plans for next year, bigger plans for the year after that.

Tonight, he was sneaking away to visit Victoire. They'd dated for over a year, and true to her word, she'd invited him to Bruges. To her aunt's empty house. Jean was a whole mix of feelings, nervous and excited at the top of that list. It had only been a few weeks but he missed her something awful. When he was far enough away from the disapparation jinx on his family's land, Jean focused his mind on his destination, determination filling him to reach...Bruges. He was here, walking the fairly empty streets, note in hand as he made his way through the muggle town, noting the similarities and differences.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had never felt this strange mix of excited and nervous, she had spoken with her aunt who had given her the house while that family were away on holiday and she had assurances from the woman they wouldn't be returning for a while, Victoire didn't have much time to spend with her family and being on holiday, given that her job usually kept her pretty busy, but Victoire had taken off a well deserved week and was going to put it to the best use. The teen had arrived at the place, an old house on the canal of Bruges, it was the top part of the house with large windows and a very airy Belgian feel. The Gryffindor had tidied up a little, gotten some supplies for the place and had placed a few spells on the place so no one would hear them, even though she trusted that no one would find out, there was no need to take unnecessary risks, when the spells were so simple to cast, although she had plans to hold his hand and do all the things they couldn't at school in case of getting caught, now, here in Bruges.

The night was humid and warm, and many of the windows were open, white loose sheet curtains moved lightly in the wind which helped make the heat just bearable, and it was as she opened one of the few remaining windows that looked out on to the street that she noticed the familiar blonde hair of her boyfriend. Victoire put on her red bowed heels, pulled the bun her blonde curls had been in out and smoothed out the simple summer dress, she had worn before making her way down the old stone steps and opening the door to him, "Hey," she greeted in english with a smile on her face, leaning in slightly to him and kissing him lightly on the lips since with no one here who knew them they didn't have to worry about getting caught, "What do you say about a small walk around the old town, before we go upstairs?" the teen asked him, "You can put your bag upstairs first though of course," Victoire added as she noted the rucksack
​

 

[Jean Snow]

Victoire spotted him first, but his steps quickened as he made his way up the walk and into her arms. As she pulled away from the kiss, he finally gave her a vocal greeting. "Hey yourself. I like this greeting" he responded in French, not bothering with English even though she had. The teen listened to her and then nodded his head quickly. A walk would be good. He was even more nervous now with Victoire in front of him. She was even wearing the heels that he liked because they emphasized her...ahem... assets.

Jean took the stairs two at a time, guessing at where the bedroom was and opening it. He stepped in, quickly dropping his bag down. He'd packed a few things in the magical bag, his wand, his broom, a change of clothes, a single red rose, and a bottle of goblin wine he'd put near his wizarding village among a few other things. He stopped to gaze at the television, resting his hand on it for a moment and starting when static sounded from it. Keeping his gaze well away from the bed itself, Jean ran back down, flower in hand. "I'm ready for the tour, but before we go this is for you" he replied, revealing it from behind his back. "I've missed you these last few weeks, Victoire."

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had to admit greeting him as such was definitely something she would want to repeat, and she responded to his words with just a small smile, before turning around and leading him up to the room, taking the stairs rather quicker than was probably necessary but rather eager for this time they were going to be spending together, it had been a while since she'd seen him and she was so looking forward to spending the time with him. In a place where no one knew them, where they could just be another young couple without having to look over their shoulders to make sure they weren't being followed by anyone. The gryffindor prefect welcomed him into the room and then just waited for him, watching with a small smile as he made his way through the place, placing the bag in the bedroom, and then inspecting some of the other things, she wondered as he placed his hand on the television if he'd ever seen anything like it before, there were so many things in this place that he'd probably never seen.

Victoire hadn't quite noticed or been ready for the rose that he was holding out for her, and she blushed a deep red colour as she reached out to take it, "It's beautiful, thanks Jean," the switch back to french was easy for her and her english was just gone from her as she looked at the flower in her hand, smiling fondly up at him, "I've missed you too," she agreed with a small smile, before leaning in and kissing him lightly on the lips. She pulled away and put the rose in a vase adding a little water before heading back to where she'd left Jean, and taking his hand in hers, "Come on, the canal is so beautiful at night," she told him before leading him out the house and back down to the streets.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean allowed himself to be pulled out of the house. If he was being honest, it was easier to be away from there. He could do with another little bit to get himself ready for what the rest of the night had in store for them. Holding onto Victoire's hand, Jean followed her assured footsteps. It was obvious that she'd been here before and knew exactly where she was going. And, she seemed really keen on having him see this canal. It put a smile on his face how excited she was. At school, she was a bit quieter, a bit more reserved because they had to be when they were around each other. Too many members of his family were around, lurking and ready to catch him. Here, at least, he wouldn't have to worry about that. Here, it was just a bunch of muggles around them. Here, they were just a guy and a girl in love. Not a pureblood from powerful wizarding families and a muggleborn they were intent on pushing away from him.

"So does that...thing" he couldn't recall the word for it, though he knew it was something complicated, "really show pictures like our photos?" Jean had never seen a television before, so he had some serious doubts about how it worked. "And you can choose what picture it shows?" he added, his voice now decidedly skeptical. She'd explained television to him before, once, but now that he'd seen one for himself he was thinking that she'd been teasing him.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

For Victoire having Jean in her home country was something just so odd, she had never imagined that such a thing would ever occur, and they here they both were. She took his hand as she lead him out to the streets, there was something so lovely in beginning able to hold his hand out in public, in being able to tell him things and lean into him as she showed him around, describing the different things that were around them, giving him a very abridged version of the old canal's history, just enjoying this time with him, and telling him about it because it felt like the right thing to say and it wasn't like anyone could say anything, no one in this place knew who they were.

At the question, Victoire was momentarily puzzled not quite sure what he was referring to until he talked about the moving images that she realised he was talking about the television, though Victoire always knew that he knew very little about her old world, because she hadn't forgotten about it, remembering both what it was and what it did that she forgot that some might not, "Yeah, there are hundreds of possible pictures it can show," Victoire explained easily, "It's called a television," Victoire added with a small smile, "I can show you how it works later," she stopped slightly, since they stood on one of the many bridges of the old town, and she just leaned over the edge of the wall looking down, picking up a stick and smiling at him, "I bet my stick can beat yours in travelling under the bridge," Victoire challenged him with a small smile, sure that he would take her up on it.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean wished that he owned a time-turner, something he'd never wished before. It would be useful now though. Even though he'd basically only just arrived, Jean knew that this night was going to be one of the best he had all vacation. He listened to Victoire speak, smiling at her explanations, her knowledge, and just generally enjoying her company. He usually did, but tonight, knowing that they were well and truly alone, adults by their standards changed everything.

Hearing the challenge, Jean dropped her hand immediately began looking for a stick. "Yea right" he replied, breaking into English for the first time all evening. Finding one that looked like a winner, he moved back towards her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "What do I get when I win, love?" he replied, his blue eyes mischievous, cocky already and they hadn't even tossed their sticks. He glanced down, though it was nearly too dark to see the current.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire smiled when he accepted the challenge, letting go of her hand so that he could find himself an equally good stick as hers, she just watched him do so, with a small smile upon her face, and then finding herself leaning in when he put an arm around her waist, it was such a simple gesture but they never got to be like that, so it was nice to just do. At his words she just smiled at him before just letting a small pause, "Oh, I guess you'll have to win to find out," Victoire countered, before looking over the bridge and down into the water and then holding up her own stick,

"On the count of three," she told him, giving him enough time to get ready before she counted down to one and then threw the stick over, watching for a brief moment on that side of the bridge before breaking away from Jean and going over to the other side, leaning over, the edge of it, trying to get a better glimpse of when her stick would be the one that won. If she would even be able to tell if her stick did come through, it was fairly dark and their sticks had been very similar in colour, but it didn't matter, she was happy, and this was such simple fun, where it kind felt like they got to be themselves without worrying about others. ​

 

[Jean Snow]

Jean nodded his head, accepting those conditions. Whenever he had the opportunity to be competitive, he took it. Jean liked winning, and he was sure that he’d win this, even if it was something as small as a stick challenge. He held his stick level with hers, listening as she counted them down. Hearing the one, he dropped his stick, watching as the current took it under the bridge. His went under the bridge first, but he knew that didn’t mean it would come out first on the other side. Still, he was preparing for victory and not defeat.

Reaching the other side of the bridge, Jean gripped the edge and leaned his upper body over, waiting for a glimpse of his stick. “Come on, Come on” he urged it on as if hearing his voice would make the current drive his stick forward. Finally, he saw one. It was hard to tell if it was his though. He’d unfortunately picked up that looked fairly similar as there hadn’t been much choice. “It looks like mine” he proclaimed with confidence even though he genuinely had no clue. He looked at Victoire, expecting her to argue that it was hers. For all he knew, it was.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire as she leaned over the edge trying to see which stick floated through first, felt like she was on top of the world, there was nothing stopping the incredibly positive feelings she had, Victoire loved that they could just be like this, that they could be alone, and just themselves together, she couldn't help but glance over at him and smile at his competitiveness even in such a silly competition, she could help but be warmed by everything he was, and how different from his family. Victoire had no issue knowing this was so much to do with where they were, that she felt so happy because they could for once be themselves without worry about others or being spotted but she wouldn't give up the feeling for anything.

Instead at Jean's words she focused more and more upon the two sticks floating in the water, it was truly too dark to likely make out which stick was which so when he assumed it was his she met his gaze and shook her head glancing briefly back at the stick, "Very clearly it's mine," Victoire challenged easily giving Jean a little smirk as she spoke, wondering if he would push back, he was easily the more competitive of the two but this was a difficult challenge. There was nothing to win in this, it was a silly competition, but Victoire enjoyed this, she jumped up to sit on the wall, and smiled up at him.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean watched Victoire settle herself on the wall, having declared that the stick was hers. She could very well be right. With how dark it was, he couldn't even make out the sticks at all now. They had continued to drift away. Not that Jean was paying attention to them anymore. His gaze was on his girlfriend. Jean walked over to her, stopping right in front of her and bracing a hand on either side of her. "Well, it's really too dark for us to tell either way isn't it?" he stated with a smirk, not willing to concede that he might have lost.

Jean really could have stayed here all night. With the sun now down and the lights up on the bridge, it really was a lovely backdrop for the teenager's very beautiful girlfriend. He could understand why she spoke so fondly of this place. "Do you still have that camera that I gave you?" he asked, wanting very much to take a picture of this moment so he could keep it. Jean knew it wasn't a great idea. If anyone saw it, he'd have no explanation. But, Jean didn't care right now. He was trying to push anything related to his family out of his mind for the evening. This evening was for him and Victoire.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire was hardly surprised by his reaction, much like she had expected unwilling to give up the competition but that way they could never quite declare a winner, which she definitely thought was for the best, the blonde just gave a small smile, and added the smallest shrug, as if appearing to think about it, letting her gaze drift back to the sticks that continued easily down stream before giving a more certain nod, "I guess so," Victoire said with a little smile at the end of her words, there was no way to tell and this way it was almost like they had both won. Neither could lose if neither could win, and Victoire's mind only lingered on that for a moment before turning back to him and letting her smile grow.

A little nod of her head, "Yeah," and she then from her small bag, which had a small amount of things they might need and she held it up slightly with a small, little nervous smile, "Are you sure?" Victoire wanted to be sure he wanted to do that but, if Victoire was honest she really wanted at least one picture of them, since she assumed that was what he wanted, she placed her bag down, and then patted the patch next to her on the bridge and began to get the camera ready for a picture of the two of them.
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[Jean Snow]

Neither of them winning. Neither of them losing. That really was the best way to go about it in Jean's opinion. The Gryffindor wasn't going to dwell on it, and he was pretty pleased to see that she'd brought her camera with him. In seconds, he'd forgotten about the silly sticks. It was a wizarding camera, though to a muggle it wouldn't look much different than some of theirs. With a nod, Jean hopped up beside her, his leg touching hers as he placed an arm around her shoulders for the picture. "Ready...and sure" he declared, smiling at the camera. At the last second, he darted forward, his lips finding her cheek.

Jean would worry about where these pictures ended up another day. Tomorrow would do. Really any day would so long as it wasn't today. Pleased with himself, Jean urged her on. "Let's do a few" he suggested. The Gryffindor teenager enjoyed taking photos.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire smiled as he sat down beside her, unable to resist the warm feeling of his leg touching hers, of his arm around her shoulders, and she took a small moment to adjust her hair, and how she was sitting before taking the picture, smiling easily at the camera, and finding herself blushing little with a light giggle as he managed to get a kiss on her cheek and Victoire turned to him smiling so fondly at the taller blonde, she really did think she loved him, and though this moment was all about the now, she loved that they finally get this time to just be them. She would've told him to not in school, but here they could just be them and with a fond smile on her face she just leaned in and quickly kissing his lips before turning back to the camera, smiling for it.

"On the count of three," she said before counting down and easily taking the picture of them, she hoped that they'd all come out fine, that they'd really get to enjoy the pictures, and she raised the camera again, and leaned her head on his shoulder getting in a little closer to him and smiling up at the camera, "Just one last one," she said before smiling at the camera and taking the picture.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean didn't usually like smiling for pictures, but for this one, he wanted to. He left his arm around her shoulder, smiling into the camera as Victoire took it. The Gryffindor couldn't wait to see that picture, was already figuring out a way to keep a copy. He had his own, very large room and plenty of hiding places there if he chose to hide it. More likely than not, he'd keep it in his wallet where he'd always have it on him. They moved even closer for the next one, her head on his shoulders and just before she took the picture, he moved his head so his lips touched the top of her head. "I love you" he murmured into her hair. If anyone came across this picture, there'd be no denying that something was going on with them. It was too intimate to convey mere friendship. "That was a good one" he indicated as he hopped off the ledge. Jean knew that he wouldn't even bother asking to take that one home. Besides, he'd be happy with Victoire having that one, so she could know he loved her.

Heading down the bridge with his girlfriend, Jean was pretty content with life in spite of its difficulties. He was a seventh year, finally ready to graduate for his mother so he could head off and fulfill his dreams of playing professional quidditch. He had a wonderful girlfriend, and they'd managed to work things out in spite of his family. And, he was already an adult, able to do what he wanted anyway. "Where to next?" he asked, ready for anything. They had plenty of time as he'd already planned to spend the night.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had to just smile at his words, it was always good to hear and after the picture was taken she glanced at him, and just smiled, "I love you too," she told him, wanting to convey that she did too. With that done the girl placed the camera back in her bag, and once more took his hand as they continued on through the old town of Bruges, it was fairly late so she doubted much would be open, and while they hadn't been wandering the streets that long it had been more than enough time to allow them to see pretty much all of the old town, there would be nooks and cranies that they hadn't seen, but enough of it had been seen. The girl lightly squeezed his hand at the words before considering what they could do next, "I say we got back to the apartment," she told him, "There will be plenty of time in the morning for a breakfast of waffles,"

Victoire smiled easily at him before guiding them back to her family's place, and she kept a good grip on his hand, and though there was less to say now, she easily enjoyed the silence, and thought it was so lovely to just be able to hold his hand and just spending such an intimate time with him. It was such a perfect time, and she knew that they would never have to worry about who found out, and Victoire who knew that even if they got driven apart that she would always enjoy this time that they'd had together, eventually they reached the apartment and then after a small moment opened the door and dragged him up all the steps to the apartment, "I think I can get some music playing, you hear some of the muggle stuff I grew up with, if you want to grab some glass they're in the kitchen, in the cabinet above the sink,"
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[Jean Snow]

They headed back to the apartment, comfortable silence reigning over the pair as they walked. He was content with what he’d seen, really the town was only so big and he was pretty sure he’d seen everything that didn’t require it to be daylight to see. And, he was happy to have turned around and be heading back though he was nervous as well. The two slept in the same house, but they’d never slept in the same house before and tonight that would change. “Maybe we can dance so long as your music isn’t crap” he smirked. Jean headed in the direction that she’d pointed towards the kitchen. “I brought wine” he called over his shoulder as he entered the room.

It looked not too far off from his mother’s kitchen. He spent time in there, of course, but she did all the cooking. Moving towards the sink, Jean reached to the cabinet above and looked at the glasses. He took a moment to find the wine ones, removing two easily before making his way back to the bedroom where he’d dropped his bag before to retrieve the wine he’d stored in there. The man who’d sold it to him had given him a funny look, but he was of age so there’d been nothing the man could do but sell the stuff to him. Jean had tried a little bit of everything since he’d returned home, curious at what the different types of alcohol tasted like. He’d decided that firewhiskey was terrible stuff but wine wasn’t so bad. Neither was mead. He turned around, ready to head back to meet with Victoire, humming to himself contentedly.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire laughed lightly at his comment, her music was sure to be by his definition awful, she had fallen out of touch with the muggle world, with so much of her time spent at school she didn't get many occasions to be up to date with music, so from her aunt's collection she picked something that she knew that they could at the very least dance to, it took her a little while to figure out the old and exceedingly worn CD player which she was sure at this point was older than both she and Jean put together and after a moment of praying that it would work, a soft melody filled the room, and Victoire gave an excited exclamation at the music which filled the apartment easily, it wasn't the best song in the world but it was one she remembered from growing up. She turned away from it after adjusting the volume lightly and spotted Jean re-entering the main room with two glasses of wine. Victoire had only ever drunk French wine before, and even that was only just early in the week while with her parents, but tonight would be a night to remember so what was one glass of wine. She took her glass from him and mimicked what she'd always seen her father do with wine, swirling it in the glass before tasting, sipping lightly on the strange liquid and taking a moment to take in the odd but somewhat nice taste, "This isn't that bad," she admitted clearly show that she had definitely been somewhat nervous about the beverage, "What do think of Bruges then?" Victoire asked, her body swaying slightly to the music as she spoke.
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[Jean Snow]

"It's goblin made" he explained, knowing that meant something though not exactly what. Mimicking Victoire instead of just guzzling it down, Jean found that he tasted more of the alcohol. He realized that perhaps wine connoisseur was another title that she possessed. She was always surprising him, which was just part of the reason he loved her. This, him coming to Bruges for the night, had been her idea mostly, and as usual she had been spot on. "Definitely a lot better than the firewhiskey I snuck from my step dad's cabinet the other night" he quipped, trying to pull her in so they could dance together. "This music is crap by the way, but I like dancing with you" he explained.

"It's..." he took a moment to consider. This was his first time being in a purely muggle town, and he hadn't seen anything too different from what he found in his area. When he'd been younger, Jean had been immensely curious about what was wrong with muggles to make his family hate them aside from their lack of magic. It was part of the reason he'd befriended Victoire in the first place. He still hadn't found a satisfactory answer. "Nice. Quiet. Peaceful" he smiled at her. "It must be nice to visit here whenever you want" he added.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Until this year, or this holiday, Victoire hadn't so much as touched a bit of alcohol, it was just not something that she did, since it had been illegal for her to do so, the teen couldn't imagine that fire whisky tasted nice but perhaps she would have to try it to have a formal opinion of it, rather than just basing hers upon what he said. Victoire couldn't help but laugh in agreement over what he said about the music, she remembered it being far better than it actually was, but it fit the bill, awful but allowed them both to just dance slightly which was exactly what they both had desired from it, the Gryffindor prefect couldn't help but thoroughly enjoy it. She moved closer to him upon noticing that he pulled her in slightly and she just met his gaze with a small smile, feeling like nothing could ruin this moment for them.

And with one hand still holding the glass so just took his free hand in hers light and continued to dance a little to the soft melody playing, as Jean spoke of what he thought of Bruges, it was almost strange to her that they were even in this city that she'd used to visit as a child. Victoire couldn't help but agree with what he said, it was quiet, the days were obviously busy and filled with life but the nights were quiet, "Magic towns always seem to have a hum to them," she told him, "I noticed it more when I was younger, and you could feel the magic, hear the magic and here, it's just quiet," it was not a comment about which was better but just a statement as to what she'd noticed of both worlds. Victoire just looked up at him and sipped on her wine, "I'm glad we thought to do this," she stated with a small him of pleasure and then leaned into him, so that she could kiss him in the lips with a little smile on hers as she did so.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean hadn't realized it until he'd expressed his opinion about the town and she'd made her comment, but she was right. Magical towns always seemed to hum with the energy from so many wizarding people being in one area. It was an interesting phenomenon, one he might not have ever noticed had he not ventured out of his comfort zone. The Gryffindor continued to dance slightly, moving to the beat of the music that was playing as he just enjoyed being with his girlfriend. He adjusted the glass in his hand to accommodate Victoire moving in closer. "Quiet is good" he murmured as their lips met in a kiss. His hand tightened on her waist as they met, the other arm, the one with the glass carefully snaking around her neck. "Yes, thanks to aunt whats-her-name for being away tonight" he added before deepening the kiss. Jean would have to send the woman a thank you gift.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire couldn't help but take a small moment to glance out toward the window as she'd finished talking about the hum of magic, it was almost unnoticeable but she thought it made sense magic was sort of like an electric current. Even with all the issues that being magical threw up, she was still very pleased that she was in the magical world rather than the muggle one, it was certainly more enjoyable to be a witch than it was to be anything else. Or so she assumed, she didn't know where her life would be now without the magic. But all thoughts and feelings faded away as they kissed, just focusing then in that moment on the kiss between the two of them. She loved being able to do this without worrying about what others might see, this was the best feeling, just the liberty to kiss whenever. Victoire laughed slightly at the statement, "I'll be sure to thank her from us both," the teen assured him, before sipping on the wine again, and placing the glass down on the table so that she could put both arms around him and just lean into the kiss once more, smiling happily as she did so, pulling her into him do that they could kiss once more, the could drink the bottle slowly, and just enjoy this closeness, she kept swaying to the music, although moving slightly in the direction of the bedroom.
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[Jean Snow]

Jean watched as Victoire put her glass down, wondering why he didn't feel more nervous. He knew what was going to be happening in a few minutes and had been nervous about it for ages, though Jean would never admit that to anyone except perhaps Victoire. His arm was wrapped around her waist, his glass precariously in his grip as they slowly backed up towards the bedroom. Somewhere, he'd managed to lose the glass in his hand and he hoped that he'd just been so lost in the moment that he had forgotten about placing it on a table or shelf rather than the more likely thing - that he'd dropped it. He figured a good cleaning charm would work if it turned out to be the latter. As his back banged into the bedroom door, Lucien reached a hand behind him, fumbling for the knob. "Are we really going to do this?" he smiled against her lips as his fingers found the door's handle and managed to get it opened without letting her go with the other hand. For him, the answer was a loud yes, and even though they'd spoken about this, Jean wanted Victoire to be sure.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire smiled easily at him, this was part of the reason for them even meeting up during the holiday, for one, Victoire had longed to spend just some time where they could be just them, without a worry in the world, without a person who would care, and because they wanted to spend together. She knew that it was taking a rather large step in who they were but in her family little importance had been placed on it, and she knew whatever may come, she would never regret this decision, never regret the choice she had made for all of this, never question it. So upon being asked the question she smiled at him, pulling slightly away and just meeting his gaze, "Oui," she replied with a confident smile and a nod of her head before leaning in once more and pulling him inside. Things when they returned to school would surely be different, they'd have to watch out for his family once more, and pretend like they were nothing more than just slight friends and she was happy for this moment, this night they could share together without one care in the world or one thought to what this all could mean.
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