I Say "Hallo!" and You Say "Ciao!"

[Damian Metzger]

Damian was excited about today. He was going to be learning the good old language of love, Italian! Damian wore a cute outfit that actually could be told his gender. He had long since left the phase of dressing in girlie clothing, but he was still very fashionable. Damian was a good lad, walking down the corridors after arranging a meeting with Ostensia Romanes so that he can teach her some German and she can teach him some Italian. How was he going to do this? Nice and slow, like a turtle in a race. That is the best way to really start on anything. His sneakers lightly punched the ground and he had a rather broad smile on his beautiful soft lips. Damian waved at some of his friends as they walked down the corridors, and he would have to talk with them later. Right now, his only attention was with his teacher and his student. There would be no introductory lesson because that was covered when they first met. Damian thought that this would be the start of a beautiful friendship.

The fact that he was two years older than her did not matter to him. She was a second year, and he was a fourth. Nothing wrong about that, right? Damian entered the library, and he waved at the Librarians, greeting them with a huge and contagious smile that he carried. He went to the back of the library, and he sat down with his bag next to him. He shoved his hair aside because it was getting in his way. While Ostensia was coming, and not here yet, he could get to work on his essays and homework because he was getting behind in them all. Damian had to write down a lot of plays as well, because as a creative mind, he would have to just sit back and let the players see the brilliance that left this boy's mind.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia hurried past a group of students that crowded the hallway as she tried to make her way to Library. Today was the day that she was supposed to teach Damian some Italian while he taught her some German. She had been looking forward to this all week and didn't want to be late and end up having Damian wait for her to a long time. Their last meeting had gone so week and she ending up finding out that he was actually a really an amazing guy and they that really managed to hit it off once they got to actually talking to one another. Ostensia actually had a small thing for him as well, he was just so cute and exciting to talk to that she felt a little giddy just hearing his name mentioned around her. And today she was going to get to spend all day with him, well not all day but quite awhile and that was enough to make her feel like the luckiest girl in the world! If this was what crushes and love felt like no wonder people always wanted to be in love. Ostensia darted around a few more older students before she finally saw the entrance to the Library up ahead. Already she felt little butterflies flying around insider her thin stomach. She figured that Damian couldn't like her back or anything so she needed to try and keep her childish crush under control. The last thing she wanted to do was make him think that she was desperate or childish. Osa also wanted to impress the Glam Squad so maybe hanging around Damian would make her seem cooler and more like they were. There was just so many reasons to liking him, there was no way she could avoid hanging out with him to avoid showing her crush on him. Once she had reached the Library door she entered and glanced around with her blue eyes as an attempt to find Damian. It didn't take her long to find him and she carefully made her way over.

"Hey! Sorry I'm late, there was of students in the hallway that I needed to get through. Are you ready to learn some Italian?! I have so much I want to teach you." The blonde smiled softly as she sat down in the across from him and placed a dark pink book onto the table. Inside of it was a bunch of words inside that were in her native language that Damian could keep to study if he wanted to while she wasn't around. Her eyes lifted up to meet with Damian's for a moment before she turned a light hue of red and forced herself to look away and begin to look at the book she brought. Hopefully Damian did not catch on because that would be a dead giveaway that something was up. She fiddled to open the book but instead her elbow nudged her bag and knocked it onto the floor with a small sound. She squeaked in surprised and immediately apologized. Crushes apparently made her clumsy.

 

[Damian Metzger]

It was not until recently that Damian was named the full captain of the Quidditch team because of personal issues with Trinity, and Damian did not mind in the least bit. He would never replace her, he could never replace her. He would gladly make her Co-Captain again once she came around. Damian was super nice, and everyone knew it. Damian heard a voice and a smile glowed on his flawless face as his teal eyes gazed into a familiar set of lovely blue eyes. He smiled at her, and motioned for her to take a seat in front of him, greeting her with a smile, but once she knocked her bag to the floor and she had blushed a light shade of red, Damian started to get a little concerned. Was she running a fever? Damian even heard her squeak. That was cute all on its own. Damian raised onto his feet and he said with a small shocked look on his face, "Hey, nothing broke, right?" Damian hoped that she was not too sick to do their lesson because he was really excited and looking forward to it. He was going to learn some Italian, and she was going to learn some German. How could anyone not be so excited over this? It was a large event indeed. Damian would not even think about cancelling out unless she wanted to.

The Gryffindor was a young lad, someone that yet even developed crushes or anything on anyone. Damian cocked his head to the side, and he realized that when someone was running a fever, they did not flush like that at once, but it would stay and linger. This one did not. Yet, he still wondered if she felt all right. "Are you all right, Ostensia? You seem a little flushed, and a little more clumsy..." Damian was innocent. He did not know how much of a catch he was, and if people actually crushed on him and all. Damian was a good guy, too good actually. There had to be a catch, however, he was Half-Veela. Damian might not have the right blood, but he was charming, intelligent, and caring. Damian had a sarcastic side to him, but that was just when he was really annoyed with someone, and he was not ever really like that, except with Dietrich maybe."You are feeling all right enough to continue on with the lesson, right?" Damian sure hoped so, as he lowered his body down onto the chair once more and he folded his papers for Quidditch to the side and set them aside. Considering it would be a vocal lesson. There would be no writing or anything like that involved.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia felt so embarrassed that all of her stuff had fallen everywhere and that it was all right in front of the one person she really wanted impress. He asked her if anything was broken as she stood up and bent down to pick it up and retrieve anything that had fallen outside of it when it had fallen on the ground. "No, well I really hope not. The only breakable thing in there was my perfume bottle or my ink bottle. And both would make a really big mess." Ostensia opened her bag further and peeked inside to make sure nothing had broken. When she saw that everything was fine and well she signed and gave Damian a relieved smile before she pushed it away. She silently thanked him for not laughing at her and pointing out what a dork she was. Which he easily could have and she probably would have cared so much, it sort of meant that he was paying attention to her other than when she was talking to him. Then he cocked his head to the side and asked if she was okay because she seemed a little flushed and a little bit more clumsy. He must not really know what happens sometimes when a girl had a crush on someone. and as much as she thought it would have been a good idea to do it, she didn't feel like telling him what was up. So she thought of an excuse and she just thought of one quick because she knew the longer she waited the more awkward it would be. "Um N-no I'm fine just uh...a little flustered from um...running. Yeah running all the way to the Library." Osa gave him a soft smile and glanced around the room as she tried to gain control of her blush and her shyness around Damian. She hated knowing that she had a crush on someone because she never really had one before and it made her look and feel like an idiot in front of people. And Ostensia knew if she ever planned to gain any popularity of favor with the more popular kids she was going to need to act like less of a loser. Did her sister ever have this sort of problem when she was trying to make friends or talk to a guy she liked. Did Isabella even have a crush or something like that?

"Of course I'm okay to continue. I've been waiting for this all week!" She told him as she started to feel her shyness ebb away. The more she spoke to him the better she got with controlling her emotions and making sure that she wasn't so obvious with her stupid little crush. He was older than her and clearly out of her league so she would be just fine with being friends, it was just a silly school girl crush. Ostensia pulled out a piece of paper as well that had highlighted words and sentences that she had highlighted because it's what she wanted to focus on when she taught Damian. "I hope you don't mind if I teach you the basics like hello and stuff. Which by the way, Hello in Italian is Ciao." Ostensia told him with a playful wiggle of her perfect eyebrows. The way to say a simple hello in Italian sounded a little silly but she liked it. It was also the way to say some things in French but she couldn't remember what they were because she didn't speak French. It could even mean goodbye. Italian was a strange language but Osa still loved it all the same, she could only wonder how the Germans said hello.

 

[Damian Metzger]

Damian was mighty glad that nothing had fallen, but what curioused him was that she had not really been clumsy, not that he had noticed or anything. Not really. Damian scratched his head with his fingers, before combing out his hair and he smiled charmingly once more. Damian laughed, "Well, nothing really strong smells, so that can't be broken, and your purse is not dripping so I think we are good!" Damian spoke just has she checked to make sure that everything was safe and sound. He made sure to also smell the air again, and he smelt nothing out of the ordinary. Just his light, very light, cologne and her. She smelt nice, for a girl that is. Damian liked the smell of girls, just not on him. He preferred to smell like he did, nothing too overbearing, but something just right. Damian let out a soft laugh when she explained herself. Damian was part Ravenclaw, so the logical part kicked in. Damian smirked lightly, "You don't seem out of breath. Actually, you seem like Alyssa does when someone mentions Vincent. But okay, let's get off that before you might end up like, hyperventilating or something." He playfully stuck his tongue out at her and laughed softly. He did not want to make her feel nervous or anything. This day was something very important to him. And what he did not realize was that the crush and all was on him, and he just did not know that anyone could even like him in that manner, at all.

He had so much to tell her already. Well, he made Captain, complete captain actually. After some personal issues with Trinity, he had gained complete control of the Quidditch team. That was something he marveled. Damian smiled once more at Ostensia and he wondered what he could call her. Osa? He liked that. He liked it a lot. Damian watched her pull out papers and looked like things were highlighted, but he brought nothing. Made him feel like a fool. Damian laughed and he said, "Ciao, I like that. In German, we say Hallo, like Hello but with an A. Not that interesting huh." Damian already liked Italian, but he needed to get down to work. He smiled and he said, "Okay, I think we can go with a 'Hi, how are you?' in German." He figured that he would say it slow, and make sure that he got all the sounds right. When his native words rolled off of his tongue, it sounded perfect, but it was also a little slow that way she could mimic what he said, "Hi, how are you?" Damian wondered if she would be able to mimic that, and talk to him in his native language, before he would say something like that to her. Or maybe she would want him to learn how to say something instead. He wondered how this first lesson would go.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia shook her head nervously. Damian pretty much called her out about not being out of breath and her sounding like Alyssa when she mentioned Vincent. She knew that boy was the older Slytherin's boyfriend since she listened to the girl talk to her friends before as they passed by her in the halls. Did he realize that she sort of liked him or something? A thought came to her and she began to wonder something, perhaps it wouldn't be too be too bad to socialize a little. Maybe it would save her from getting discovered. "I uh, run a lot. So U-um how have you been since the last time we hung out? Are you going to the Yule Ball or anything this year?" Ostensia's cheeks were still glowing red faintly but she was gaining control of it as she tried to make it less obvious that she sort of adored him. His friends were lucky because they were able to hang out with him all the time and talk to him whenever they wanted. He had told her that the two of them were friends and such but she sort of felt like she hadn't earned that right yet because they just met. She sort of wanted to be like his best friend if it was possibly, which means she would need to be around him a little more. Maybe later after their language study session he could play some Quidditch with her, and teach her how to play Quidditch better. As a Quidditch captain she sort of figured that he would be willing to help her out.

"Teehee Hallo, thats cute!" He asked they could go with a hi how are you in German and she nodded her head softly. It would be nice to go with the basics so she didn't kill herself trying to say the things he could say. He told her a sentence in German and for a moment all she did was blink owlishly as she tried to take in what he was trying to teach her. then she repeated it word for word to herself, she even tried it with the same accent that he had. Then she looked up at Damian and repeated it to him slowly. She giggled when she finished and scratched the back of her head. "I'm sorry. That was probably horrible German, I wish I could actually get the accent down." Osa told him softly as a blush of embarrassment rose to her cheeks. She hated it when she looked like an idiot in front of people she was really trying to impress. Like Damian or anyone from the Glam Squad if she ever got to talk to one of them. Then again she wondered how Damian would sound when he tried saying stuff in Italian. Germans didn't really roll their tongue like Italians did.

 

[Damian Metzger]

Damian thought that if she had in fact run a lot then she would not have that issue with the blushing or flushing of the red hue in the cheeks. But the Gryffindor decided to drop it, because he thought that that would just end up badly anyway. Damian thought for a moment and he smiled, "I am now complete captain of the Quidditch team. I think it is pretty sweet. The other co-captain is having some problems so... About the yule ball, I am just going with friends. You are welcome to join us, you know." Damian did not even think about asking anyone out to the ball. He thought that it would not be something that he would be interested in. He went there for the food and to talk to his friends. Maybe he did dance for a bit, but one did not need music to dance, did they? Damian did not think that he needed to have a date because that would just be silly. Damian did not like anyone, so he did not mind. Damian in turn asked, "How about you? Got any plans about the Yule Ball?" Damian smiled charmingly at her, because he hoped that she did not because he wondered if she would hang out with him and his friends for the ball. He and his friends hardly had anyone other than themselves invited to hang out with them. So, this was what it was like to be popular.

The Veela boy thought that she was doing well. He had heard better, but he had definitely heard worse, that was for sure. Damian chuckled, and he said, "Oh it is all right. German is a hard language. Though I heard that English is even worse than German, so yeah. Okay, your turn for Italian for me." Damain was ready to attempt this Italian, and he knew that he would either get it, or completely butcher it. He thought that he would end up mixing it with his current German accent anyway. He still got some of his English wrong, but then again, he was sometimes just forgetting what language he was speaking. The boy plopped his arms over the table and crossed them. His hair moved slowly over one half of his face, but one could tell that he just did not feel like moving it.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia heard Damian mentioned that he was the complete captain of the Quidditch team because the other co-captain was having issues or something like that. She wondered if it was hard to be the Captain at such a young age, especially when she knew that sometimes the other kids could be a little annoying, then again Damian seemed like a people person. He probably didn't mind it one bit. "I bet your a really good Captain. You should teach me someday to be a better Quidditch player I mean. I'm not too bad but I need some work..I fall off a lot." Ostensia wondered if a girl able to play Quidditch would impress him any at all. Of course she had always wanted to learn, even before she knew Damian and everything. It was just that before now she didn't really have a reason or excuse to learn. Now that she did maybe she should take advantage of it before there was no one to teach her at all. Then again he never said if he wanted to teach her either, he may or may not just tell her to buzz off and mind her own business. Well not that mean of course because he seemed far too sweet for that, but in his own Damian-esque way. Then the topic of the Yule Ball came up and Osa gad to fight to keep a blush off of her cheeks and her facial structure normal. It was a good and a bad statement from him. So he wasn't taking some other girl specifically, but he it also meant that he wasn't intending on going with anyone who may ask him. Good thing she wasn't really planning on going anyways. "Sounds fun but I don't think I'd really want to intrude, your friends might get mad at me. I don't really have any plans, I didn't go last year because I got sick so I might just pop in solo this year to see what it's like. I could probably ask one of my classmates to escort me this year but naaaah." Osa didn't really know anyone in here year to be honest but with a small bat of her girly eyelashes and a simple glance with her pretty blue eyes and she was sure that it wouldn't be too hard. But that would only ever happen if she was desperate to go which she was not. There were plenty of fun things she could do other that going to the ball. But it also did give her a huge excuse to dress up and she liked to dress up and make herself look all pretty.

"Oh well then I don't feel so bad. Okay now for some Italian, I think I'm going to have you try and 'I am fine thank you." Osa told him in English what she was going to say before she cleared her throat and tried to get read to try and repeat it in Italian. The tongue rolling was something that still felt a little strange after learning English. "'I am fine thank you." It flowed our of her mouth perfectly. Speaking the Italian language was like serving brownies to her, it was easy and always caught attention. It was probably one of the most recognizable after English and French. It would be cute to hear Damian try and copy the accent too. Probably a lot better than her fail at German did.

 

[Damian Metzger]

Damian listened to her statement with curiosity. Not only was he going to be teaching Robbie Masters, another Hufflepuff, but he might just be helping out this one as well. Was he going to be training the rivals of tomorrow? That was something that humored the Veela lad and the corners of his lips curled into a beautiful smile as he pondered that. Damian spoke, his voice softer and filled with light, "I think I should, because I am a good teacher, and an excellent flyer at that. I can totally show you how to not fall off of a broom." He was the type to think that girls playing Quidditch was one of the best things in the world. He hoped that he could teach her so that he could actually go against her one day. Damian thought that Ostensia could or would be an awesome Quidditch player one day, if someone gave her the proper instructions. There was also the thoughts of asking the Quidditch Captain of Hufflepuff to do that, but then again, why bother really? She was Head Girl and had NEWTs to worry about. Perhaps someone being a friend would be the best. Damian did not mind the topic of the Yule Ball though, thinking that it was just a little silly to go to anyway. He did not like to dress up so much because he did not like tuxedos and such. So he always went in there with just a normal shirt and jeans. It was not anything big like he wanted to remember. He went once with Alyssa but that was over a bet. Though that was fun because he pampered her as well.

"Nah, if I invited you, the they probably won't. So come on and come with me. And if they don't like it, I can always just cover it with a white lie and say you are my 'date'," Damian did the little quotation marks with his fingers. Though that was something that he really did not think about, he thought that it would be better for her to tag along with him and hang out with him. Damian did not want her to feel left out of the group of friends he hung out with because that was just the way he was. He thought of Ostensia as a friend now, and he would not let his other friends exclude her because she was too young or something like that. They were once second years too. Hearing her speak Italian was all too perfect, and he attempted to mimic it, but butchered it. Damian blushed heavily. However, after an hour of practice, things were getting better for the both of them, knowing basics, but just needed to work on their accents. Damian had changed seats by this point, moved over to sit rather close to Ostensia. He was one of the most awkward people at times, because he wanted to observe the way she held her tongue while she was practicing German. Damian was able to mimic the Italian accent, but still needed some work done to it. Damian flashed Ostensia a gorgeous smile and he murmured, "I think that is enough for today, but I have to say, we should totally hang out like this more often!" He was being innocent about everything, but what he did not realize was just how close they were to each other.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia wasn't sure how she could admit to Damian that she thought it would be a bad idea to hang out with him when he was with his friends because they might think she was trying to barge into their group. The Hufflepuff actually didn't care all that much because she was friends with Damian and would be there because of him, still they were his friends first. If it was one thing Osa hated it was when she was friends with someone but their friends didn't end up liking her. So she was going to be cautious about them at the ball. Plus she didn't think the date thing was exactly as amazing as it sounded because the quotation marks killed it, it meant that she wouldn't really be his date or anything. "Well I'd really like to hang out with you at the Yule Ball if I can, So I guess I'll see you around that night. If anything you just help me sneak sugar cookies past my roommates." She knew her other roommates like Sureya and Sapphire may nor may not be into sweets because she had never really asked them if they did or not but she didn't want to risk it. Plus this little cookie raid would be a way to save it from being awkward if Damian's friends were bothering her a little bit, could Damian dance too. Not like a couple dance or anything but to pop songs and such. Ostensia couldn't really slow dance at all so she was mostly safe from that. There was a lot of things that Ostensia wasn't very good at but wished she was, especially since it made her look like a little bit of an idiot in front of Damian and others. Sometimes Osa wished she was more like her sister and that truly stood for something because it seemed that Isabella had no spine sometimes.

When The Hour Passed and they had actually gotten the hang of one another's languages Ostensia had to admit that she really had a good time, even if the accent was a still a little weird for her. She nodded like a million times with a pretty smile on her face when Damian mentioned that they should hang out like that more often, if every day when like this then she would be thrilled. It took her a moment to realize how close they were and she blushed a little. Ostensia was sure she could even smell Damian's breath because they were just that close. Her crush was still there whether she wanted it to or not, and that of course made her continue to grow closer like a magnet. Maybe he liked her too but was just too shy to say it or maybe she was being stupid. "I would like that." Before Osa warned him or anything she learned forward and gave Damian a soft kiss on the lips. His were very soft too, he must use some sort of lip balm or something. When she pulled away she blinked softly and waited for something to happen or for someone to say something. Ostensia technically just had her very first kiss right there and now she felt very awkward about it, what in the world had she just done?

 

[Damian Metzger]

Poor Damian Metzger did not know how to react when Ostensia suddenly pressed her lips against his own. His first reaction was to sit there, and just pretend it did not happen, but Damian could never ever do that. His teal orbs widened with shock and he pulled away with enough force to knock himself out of the chair. The Veela boy let out a small, "Eeeeep!" Damian landed on the floor of the library with a loud THUD! His legs and feet stuck straight up in the air. Damian managed to scoot around on the floor and he hopped onto his feet from the ground. He slowly picked up the chair and his face was as red as the Gryffindor main color. He fixed his hair and he cleared his throat to save his lungs from his heavy and panicked breathing. That was his first kiss, well he be damned. He did not expect that at all. He glanced down at Ostensia and he smiled and he said without much breath, "Oh, I am so sorry! I just...I don't kiss girls that is all. I um, well this is awkward." He felt the feeling of awkwardness spread around the room like wildfire, at least that was how he thought about it. Damian pushed some of his hair over his ears and he grabbed his things. He gave a sheepish smile to Ostensia, "Okay, I think we should go on ahead and uh, go back to classes. But like after the holidays, I do still want to see you at the Quidditch Pitch though, to learn how to fly. Promise? Okay! See you later Osa!" Damian fled the library, and all some people could see was a little blur zoom past. But he stopped at the outside edge of the library and he hissed in German, "Stupid, stupid! You should never lead a girl on! Stupid! You are just stupid, Damian!" Damian bowed his head and he walked on.

 

[Ostensia Metzger]

Ostensia didn't have to wait long to get a reaction from Damian so when he knocked himself out of his chair and made a noise that she had never heard a boy make before she felt her heart kick itself. "Oh my goodness! Damian are okay!?" Of course he probably was since he had gotten right back up after he had fallen but she figured that she should check anyways to make sure he was all right. Especially since she really didn't have much to hold against him and he was such a nice guy. He was really red at the moment and Osa was jsut waiting for the moment when he would explode at her for totally being unable to control herself. But she was only Thirteen so what did anyone expect from her? Impulse was something that many kids her age suffered from. He didn't end up yelling, but what he did end up saying made her mouth fall open just a little bit, in fact it ended up shocking her so much that when he spoke about going back to classes and meeting to to play Quidditch sometime all she could do was nod dumbly. She didn't know what to say or do otherwise because she was just that shocked and frankly embarrassed. Once Damian left her alone in the Library she shook her head softly. 'I can't believe it, Damian's gay. I really need to be more observant about these things if I don't want to embarrass myself. At least he doesn't seem to be that mad.' Ostensia sighed and started to pack her things away. Well this explained some of the things that Damian did, she really wished that someone had told her this ahead of time. She bet Isabella was going to get a kick out of this. Once all of her things were packed up Ostensia sighed and headed out of the Library. Hopefully there would be a cure for her embarrassment somewhere around here.