Not Settling for Less

[Ivaylo Zhefarovich-Dolohov]

There was so much on Ivaylo Zhefarovich-Dolohov’s plate, it was almost impossible for him to have some free time. Here he was, a prefect and a sixth year, and it took him ages to figure out that his best friend, what he called a girlfriend for the first two years of her schooling with him, only to figure out what that really meant and decided that Ivaylo did not know if he was ready for something like that. However, now that he was sitting by the lake, at sundown, he had some time to think for himself and figured that he needed to find someone worthy to settle with, and the only one he could think of was Charlotte Baros. No one else was worthy enough for him, and he hoped that he was good enough for her. He had a temper problem, but always was respectable around her. She seemed to hold the cap onto his anger, and was everything good. Ivaylo looked ahead at the orange sky, curious on when he should be expecting Charlotte. He was currently sitting down on the rocks, with his legs outstretched in front of him. His hair was neat and so were his robes.

Did the Slytherin prefect worry about the response about his offer? Of course he did. He actually feared her rejection. Anytime she wanted to be around him, he was there. Anything she wanted, and he gave it to her. Ivaylo knew that he had feelings for her, but figured out that now would be the best time to really act upon them. Emotions were considered weak in his family, and while he still considered them so, he also knew that some couples were stronger when together. He figured that it would be the same with him and Charlotte, should she give him the chance. He would have never asked someone to go steady with him, become official, if he did not have any intention of marrying them later. Yes. Ivaylo wanted to marry Charlotte one day, when the time was right. 'Can she hurry up? I'm almost losing my bravery here,' thought Ivaylo as he skipped a stone in the lake, watching it bounce five times before sinking.​

 

[Charlotte Baros]

Charlotte hurried down the busy corridor, knowing fully well she was fairly late to meet Ivaylo. She didn't mean to leave him hanging as long as she had, but unfortunately an accident happened in the potions classroom, and Charlotte happened to be one of the poor victims involved in said accident. The incident involved a new student, a tricky potion, and flames. The poor student stuck next to the person who had caused all the commotion happened to be Charlotte on one side, and another student she couldn't name on the other. One the brew exploded, Charlotte's sleeve had caught on fire, and before anyone else could react, Charlotte's arm wound up getting signed just ever so slightly. Professor Snow was pissed, not that anyone could blame him. Two injured students and a major mess to clean up. Poor guy. Charlotte finally made her way to the lakefront, slightly out of breath from all the running. "Ivaylo-" The blonde huffed as she walked over to him. It was probably unattractive to see her huffing and puffing like she was, but Charlotte worried that Ivaylo would think she stood him up or something. Not that she could ever do something like that. Ivaylo was her closest friend, and hurting him would only cause Charlotte pain as well.

"Sorry I'm late. The girl I was next to in potions let her cauldron explode. It burned my sleeve and part of my arm. Professor Snow made me go to the hospital wing.....guess I should have asked them to fix my robes too. Ooops." Halfway through her explanation she noticed the sleeve of her arm was still pretty damaged. Charlotte could possibly fix it herself if she knew the spell, which she didn't. Smiling softly, she sat down beside him. Even if he was upset, Charlotte was used to dealing with him when he was upset, so she knew how to handle him even at his worst. "I hope I didn't make you wait too long. I'll make it up, promise!" Charlotte would have done the whole pinky swear thing, but was unsure if Ivaylo would believe in such a thing. His family was quite strict when it came to the sort of beliefs they had. Swearing on a pinky finger might just be too outlandish for him so ultimately Charlotte decided against it. ​

 

[Ivaylo Zhefarovich-Dolohov]

Ivaylo looked at the time table he had in his pocket, before sighing. He was losing his bravery, but he reminded himself that this was worth it. This was Charlotte. This was the one he called his girlfriend for years, without knowing what the term meant, but now he was ready to take himself off the market, and same for her. He wanted to be with her, and her alone. She was the only one worthy to him. As soon as he heard his name, he looked up to see her, before smiling gently. Ivaylo rarely smiled as is, and only would do so for her. She has seen his worst, and his best. He stood up as she got closer, and she apologized for being late. His eyes wondered down to her robes, before running his hand across the burnt pieces. "I can replace those for you. I take it that Professor Pretty Boy wasn't very happy." Aleyha often used that term to describe him, but he knew that Theodore Snow hated it when anyone else called him that, which he wouldn't know about it since he wasn't here to hear Ivaylo speak his nickname. And it was true. Theodore was a very pretty man. Ivaylo didn't swing that way, but he knew beauty when he saw it.

"I can have her suffer, if you want. She should not have been careless to burn you," Ivaylo dropped his hand that was holding her burned robes. There was no telling if it could be fixed now or not. Although how Charlotte was holding up, it was still admirable. Then again, he knew that he had it bad when everything that she did was just amazing. Sitting back down, he didn't really reply to her promising to make it up to him for making him wait. Ivaylo felt that he was making her wait even longer. He looked ahead at the lake before he started, "I've been doing a lot of thinking, Charlotte. Sometimes, a lot of thinking makes my temper flare, but due to recent changes within the family, my talents have finally been recognized. I have the title of Viscount. I determine who is worthy within the family, and if they are permitted to stay." Ivaylo paused, trying not to get nervous, only to remind himself that this was normal for a teenage boy. "And, Charlotte, I have been thinking about us. And I don't want anyone but you in my future. You can handle me at my best and worst, and you are worthy enough for me, whereas I am not for you. I want to be yours anyway." While he was talking, he couldn't look at her, not wanting to see her reaction in case it was negative.​

 

[Charlotte Baros]

Charlotte looked back down at the sleeve of her robes and shrugged her shoulders. If he wanted to put in the effort to fix her robes then she wouldn’t deny him the pleasure. It wasn’t as if she couldn’t go out and buy a new pair though. Her parents were pretty easygoing went it came to giving her money to purchase new school supplies so it never bothered her to just replace something old or broken. At the term pretty boy, Charlotte raised an eyebrow. ”Pretty boy?” Was that a nickname for Professor Snow or something? Thinking about it, she could see why he was called such a name, he was pretty good looking. But who on earth would think of a name like that? On top of it, was it something that called him to his face as well? ”Well he is pretty handsome. Is that a name you Slytherins call him or something?” Maybe it was a Slytherin thing? It wouldn’t be the first time that house had come out with some crude nickname for one of the Professors. Ivaylo normally never participated in name calling, as far as Charlotte knew of anyways. When Ivaylo offered to have the girl who had burned her robes suffer, Charlotte laughed softly before shaking her head. Revenge was not necessary, but it was nice to know that Ivaylo had her back if she needed it.

”Her name is Runa. But don’t worry, it was an accident. She’s new so she was probably just frazzled.” Charlotte knew she had to warn Ivaylo to behave too. Otherwise he’d cause some problems for that poor girl. Listening carefully, Charlotte’s eyes widened when she heard that Ivaylo had been promoted to something called Viscount. The fifth year had no idea what that meant, but that didn’t stop her from being proud of her best friend! ”I bet that creates a lot of pressure on you. I’m proud though.” Ivaylo deserved this. He continued on about how he only wanted Charlotte in his future, but how he wasn’t worth enough for her. Eyebrows furrowing, Charlotte snorted softly. Ivaylo had tendency to be hard on himself in situations like this. ”Ivaylo, you’re such a cutie sometimes. Why on earth would you think you’re not worth enough for anyone, let alone me?” Charlotte was used to this sort of behavior from Ivaylo. It wasn’t the first time he mentally tore himself down to the point where Charlotte had to be gentle and begin picking him back up. He suffered a lot in his lifetime, and the only thing Charlotte knew how to do anymore was try to build him back up and be by his side.
​

 

[Ivaylo Zhefarovich-Dolohov]

Ivaylo wanted to be able to shower Charlotte with gifts, more than she could ever desire. He thought that she was amazing, and nothing could ever change that. He didn't hear a no, so he would definitely owl in something good for her. She deserved nothing but the best. When she repeated the nickname, Ivaylo chuckled in his throat. "Just do not call him that. We Slytherins don't, but it is something within the family. We tend to say it behind his back. His wife, on the other hand, calls him that regularly. That's how we learned about it." The Slytherins might be saying that anyway, but Ivaylo was not aware of it. He didn't talk to many others, only to his family and Charlotte. So, for all he knew, the Slytherins could be calling Theodore Snow that. There was another one that the family called Kalif, and that was grumpy. But that was about it. However, right now, his attention was on some lowly student that did this to his girl to begin with. Wait, she was not his girl just yet. He needed to see if she would be first before he would start saying these things. Upon hearing the name of the girl, his eyes widened slightly. Runa? That sounded familiar. Wasn't that the girl that Lucien was a little strung up with?

The prefect decided not to comment on the Runa, but did keep it in mind. When she noted on how it created a lot of pressure on him, he gave a short nod. He was under a lot of pressure. Being a trained assassin would definitely be a lot of pressure. He would have to kill for fun, and for his family. Ivaylo chuckled, "I was always informed by my family that the woman is worth the man, but the man is never worth the woman. Therefore, that is what I believe. It isn't a reflection of my self-esteem, that's for certain." Ivaylo paused for a moment, before he reached around with his arm and placed it around her back, holding her waist. He looked down at her sweet face, "I only care for you, and only you. I am only hoping that you feel the same about me. After all, you've been by my side for years." He wanted this, because one day, he intended on making her his bride one day.​