So Here We Are

[Dominik Milne]

As much as he liked being in his final year at Beauxbatons, he didn't think that they would have so much homework to do at the start of their seventh year but here he was, scribbling down everything he had learned in Charms class on the piece of parchment in front of him on the desk at ten o'clock in the evening. Some would have called him crazy for doing his homework at this hour of the day but he wanted to be well-prepared for when he had to take his NEWTs as he was serious about eventually becoming a dragonologist, especially since he wasn't the best at Charms. He turned another page of his textbook and let a yawn escape his mouth. It was getting to the point where he had to keep himself awake so decided that now would be a good time to take a quick break from his homework. Dominik leaned back in the chair and looked up at the stone ceiling, wondering briefly why he was doing this to himself before standing up and pacing up and down the room to stay awake.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace was both excited to be in her final year at Beauxbatons and terrified by the idea. She didnt really doubt she would do well on her exams, as she always did, but she still wasn't sure what to do once she graduated and how good she would be at anything that wasn't academic or quidditch related.

It was evening, but Grace wasn't tired yet. She was ready to get a head start on some of the reading for this year when she noticed someone pacing the room. She hadn't expected anyone to be up this late, and watched cautiously. She soon realized it was Dominik and she felt herself smile before she even realized what she was doing. "You're up late." She said with an amused tone to her voice. "Can you only fall asleep to the sound of dragon's breathing fire after the adventures you had on your break? " She tried to joke while reminding him of their letters over the holidays, though she thought it sounded a bit forced. After their exchange of letters, she had been eager to see him again. Especially since they hadn't been able to talk much at the quidditch try-outs. "Or are you already nervous about your first training under my strict regime?" She added. Truly, she was happy Dominik had made the quidditch team, but she did worry it would make him dislike her a little if she made the team train hard. That idea scared her, and she was forced to consider the weird feeling she got around him may be something more than friendship. He was a lot... goofier than the type of boy she had pictured she would one day like, but that was part of his charm to her now.

 

[Dominik Milne]

He'd still been pacing the room, looking down at the floor whilst thinking about whether or not it would be a good idea to maybe ask someone if they could tutor him in Charms when a familiar voice made him realise that he was no longer the only one still in the room. ''Says you,'' Dominik replied, looking up at her and smiling broadly. ''It's funny because you would think that after having spent several weeks being surrounded by dragons, right?'' he chuckled. He had enjoyed his stay at the reserve very much, learned things from the clan he wouldn't have learned in one of the many books about dragons in the school's library. However, part of what made his time there so enjoyable was that he got to look forward to reading the letters Grace would write to him. ''I was, eh, I was actually doing homework,'' Dominik said with a sigh. ''Wanted to be done with it so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore this week.'' With all the homework the Professors had already given them, he wanted to have the essays he was going to have a difficult time without of the way so he could have some free time between classes. He chuckled again when she asked if he was nervous about his first Quidditch training. ''Even though I'm pretty sure that you'll send me to oblivion if I let a ball go through,'' he said jokingly. ''I'm honestly looking forward to training with you, and the team, and I would love to see how strict that regime of yours really is.'' Dominik grinned as he stepped closer towards Grace. ''What about you, though, why are you still up so late?'' he asked.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace felt butterflies in her stomach the moment she met Dominik's eyes, and she knew she was in trouble. He shouldn't be her type, he was funny and dorky and loved dragons more than anyone else she'd ever met. She remembered him writing he liked serious girls in one of his letters, and she felt a little hope. It was silly, it wouldn't be like her to start dating someone in her seventh year. It would be such a huge distraction from her NEWTs, and quidditch. It wasn't practical at all. But maybe for once she didn't care.

Still, even if he liked serious girls that didn't mean he liked her. She had no idea how to tell if a boy liked her back, as she had very little experience on this front. She knew she was old to be new at this, but while she had liked boys before and even kissed and dated a few, she didn't really know how to handle the way Dominik made her feel. She missed what he said first as she was too busy reflecting on her feelings, but she latched onto his second statement quickly. "Homework at this time? Never knew you were such a nerd, Dominik." She said, smiling at him. "It's smart, though, good job. We'll start training soon so it's best to have it out of the way." His comment about quidditch made her smile a little, though she did hope he didn't really think she would be angry at him if he let a ball through. She herself missed goals often enough, it would make her a total hypocrite. "I look forward to training too, and I'll try not to be too strict." She felt another flutter as he stepped closer, though she sternly told her stomach to act normally. "I'm up late most days." She said with a shrug. "I prefer evening to morning, honestly, I always have some trouble waking up early." She didn't really show it, but she hated getting up early even for quidditch practice. She still did it, sure, but she much preferred staying up late and sleeping in. "I liked your letters," she blurted out, not sure why she even said it.

 

[Dominik Milne]

''Well, that makes two of us,'' Dominik said with a chuckle. ''It's September and already I'm knee-deep in homework assignments.'' he told Grace. ''I'm curious if they know that we seventh years also have other activities besides just following classes and stuff.'' he added, wondering if it was the same for the Professors back when they were students at the school. He tilted his head when she mentioned that they'd start training soon and asked, ''How many times a day are we going to practice?'' He didn't exactly know what classes she had but figured that she had to be just as busy as him since both of them would take the NEWTs at the end of the year. It worried Dominik for a second when thinking about how busy she must be at the moment with exams and Quidditch and whatever else she was doing that he didn't know about. He hoped that besides working so hard, Grace would sometimes take a break as well, because otherwise, he'd try and force his friend to take a break from her busy school life every once in awhile, preferably with him so the two of them could hang out more. He smiled when she told him that she wouldn't be too strict on them and pursed his lips while also nodding his head, not believing that at all because he knew how badly she wanted to win the next match against Hogwarts New Zealand. ''Good to know,'' Dominik replied. ''You can keep me company from now on.'' Like her, the seventh year also preferred evenings to mornings as that was the time that he could get most things done without having to worry about forgetting that he was supposed to be in class while he was studying in the library. When Grace suddenly blurted out that she liked his letters, he smiled once again, though this time his cheeks turned a reddish colour. ''I liked yours, too, a lot.'' he said.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace couldn't help but laugh and nod in agreement with Dominik. "True, but it makes sense that our last year would be the toughest, doesn't it? It's supposed to prepare us for the real world and all that." She shrugged, not having as much of a problem with it as he did as she had expected it and prepared for it mentally. "I don't know about multiple times a day, though your enthusiasm is noted. As much as I love quidditch, my parents would kill me if my grades suffered even a little because of it." She sighed, her parents pressured her to do well in school quite a bit, and neither of them understood her passion for quidditch. Her father had even tried to talk her into quitting the team for her final year, though she had refused. He had agreed with her decision, as long as her grades for the first semester were all perfect. If not, she may be forced to quit as captain at least in the second semester. But she wouldn't allow that to happen. "But maybe we could practice together sometime." She said, forcing herself to say it casually as she looked at him. "Chaser and keeper is a good combination, we could focus on both our techniques." She wondered how Jessica would do this, way flirtier probably, but Grace felt awkward even trying.

She quite liked the idea of keeping her company and smiled, gesturing to some chairs. "Maybe we can take a seat while we talk, it does make things more comfortable." His pacing was kind of cute, but standing talking just felt a little awkward when they were so friendly. "Maybe we can revise together, prepare for our next charms class?"

She noticed his reaction to her statement about the letter and couldn't help blushing too. "I... am glad. I know I whined a lot... And had no dragon adventures to write about. I'm glad it wasn't boring." She wasn't sure why she was talking them down, maybe she hoped he would reassure her? She could just have said thank you and left it at that, but she hadn't. She wasn't sure what this meant, but she really wanted to keep talking to him as long as she possibly could.

 

[Dominik Milne]

He had to agree with Grace that it did make sense for their last year to be the toughest of them all but he had never expected them to be bombarded with homework at the start of it, especially since every subject had become a little bit more difficult with each year. ''If they are supposed to prepare us for the real world, then where's my dragon?'' he joked, though hoped that she wouldn't think that he wasn't going to take their final year at school serious. He chuckled at Grace's response and shook his head slightly. He had heard that she could get tough during practise sessions, which to him didn't sound too bad at all since she was only trying to get the best out of everyone, or so he figured, but he hoped that she would take their busy schedules into account which so far seemed like something she was doing. ''Well, however much training we are going to do this year, I'm sure that you'll ace the exams.'' Dominik told her. ''I believe that you are one of the smartest people in our year.'' the seventeen-year-old added truthfully. Thanks to her help with Charms at the end of their previous year, Dominik managed to get a passing grade for the exam so was convinced that Grace was quite possibly one of the smartest students in their year if she could manage to do that. He wasn't sure if she was flirting with him or not but decided to go along with it and said, ''Chasers and Keepers do make a pretty good combination indeed.'' with a grin on his face. ''So yes, I would love to practice together sometime.''

He smiled when she gestured to the chairs. ''Yeah, that'd be nice.'' Dom said. The pacing had been helping him to stay awake so far but now that Grace was here he figured that he wouldn't need to pace the room any longer, as she was keeping him awake as well. He took a seat in one of the chairs and looked up at her when she suggested they could revise together. ''Yes, please!'' Dominik said. ''I'm struggling with homework already so could really use your help again.''

Dominik shrugged at her reply. He thought that it was kind of cute that she worried about his safety so much so didn't really mind it. ''Are you kidding? It wasn't boring at all! You might not have had any dragon adventures to write about, but if I recall correctly your holidays were pretty eventful too.'' he said with a smile. ''Who knows what might have happened if you didn't stop your cousin from her brewing schemes!'' Her holidays might not have been as extreme as his but boring they were most certainly not.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace laughed when Dominik asked where his dragon was, and she nudged him. "You'll be working with dragons, not adopting them." She teased gently. "At least, I hope that's it. I don't think you'll be allowed to keep them as pets, you know." The boy's fondness for the creatures was endearing, but she hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid either. It wouldn't be good if his love for dragons blinded him to their dangers, as she had the feeling that could happen possibly. But no, she had to trust him. He wasn't as goofy as he sometimes seemed. She blushed when he told her she would ace her exams, averting and nervously tucking some hair behind her ear. "Smart is relative, I don't think I'm the smartest. I work hard, that's all. You are going to do fine as well, you know, you're smart too." She smiled when he said chasers and keepers were a good combination, and she wondered if he was flirting back. "I'd like that." She said softly, nodding.
They sat down together, though Grace didn't really want to revise that badly she was happy for the excuse to keep spending time with Dominik. "What do you need help with?" she asked him as she looked over at the books scattered around. "Everything?" She added in a teasing note, though she hoped it was clear she didn't really think so.

Grace grinned a little, she shouldn't have said her letters were boring just to get this reaction but she was glad for it anyway. "It wasn't working with dragons, even though it came close a few times," she said with a small shrug. "I really looked forward to getting yours, it made the holidays a lot more fun. Do you think we could do that again over Christmas? I bet I'll have more family stories to write about." She paused. "Though... maybe we could meet up during that break too, if you'd like. Just... to hang out?" She glanced at him, trying to channel her inner Jessica as she attempted a flirty smile. She wasn't sure if it had worked, hopefully it didn't look like a grimace instead.

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik grinned at Grace's comment. ''It would be really awesome to have one as a pet, though.'' the seventh year said excitedly. ''I mean, I could raise it until it would start growing really big really fast. After that, it would be probably better to send it to one of the reserves.'' Although the idea of owning and taking care of a baby dragon sounded very appealing to him, he doubted that his mother and father would give him permission to raise something that had the potential to grow into something enormous and fairly dangerous so quickly dismissed all thought of hatching a dragon egg as long as he lived with his parents. He smiled appreciatively at her and said, ''Let's promise each other that we are both going to do fine,'' Dominik said. He was going to have to work hard and try his best to pay attention during classes but hopefully she would have time to help him with stuff such as charms too because even though he knew he would need a tutor, he doubted that someone else would be able to help him - there was just something about her that made him want to pay attention to stuff. He was excited about the fact that they would have a one-on-one practice soonish, especially because he wouldn't have to worry about everyone's eyes being pointed at him whilst a player was flying towards him. He would feel much more comfortable if it was just Grace witnessing his failures during practices. ''Good, I'm looking forward to it already,'' he told with a smile, moving his position in the chair so he could look at her properly

He looked at her hopelessly when she asked what he needed help with and nodded his head with shame at her teasing. ''Pretty much,'' he said softly. She knew that he was struggling with it badly already but couldn't help to feel a little stupid because of it. He couldn't figure out why he had been struggling with it because he wasn't bad at Defence Against the Dark Arts at all. ''But honestly, if it's too much you don't have to help me right now, we could do it some other time..'' Dominik said, not wanting to bore her to death with this at this time of the day even though he really appreciated the fact that she was willing to help him out again.

His smile grew wider when she asked if he would like for them to meet up during Christmas break and could feel his cheeks burning slightly. ''Of course I would want to hang out with you,'' Dominik said. He would absolutely love to spend time with her outside of school as well. ''And I would love to write to each other again, though this time mine will probably be the boring ones,'' he added with a small chuckle. Christmas at the Milne's was never really eventful, they had their usual Christmas dinner with most of his relatives and afterwards, they would unwrap the presents under the tree, so secretly hoped that something unusual would happen this year so he had at least something to write about.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace had to shake her head in disagreement about dragons as pets. "Maybe for a minute, before it burns down your entire house. Or you." She said with a snort. Though it worried her a little bit how seriously he seemed to be considering the idea. She wanted to talk him out of it, but didn't want to start nagging him. She reasoned he wouldn't try anything weird as long as they were in school, so she had some time to let him see what a bad idea that was.

Her teasing had been too harsh, she could see she had gone too far and felt bad about it. "I was joking because of all the books." She said quickly. "Dominik, I know you're smart, that's not what I meant. But there is nothing wrong with needing help either. The only thing you need is to organize everything we need to do so it's easier to see it at a glance and you stop being overwhelmed by it all." She said earnestly, "of course we can revise together and talk through the material, but I don't think the material is the problem. I can help you get organized, and you can help me train my scoring arm by practicing as my keeper." She gave him a hopeful smile, as she feared she had ruined the conversation and her chances at getting to spend more time with him. Her comment had been meant as a joke, but she definitely wished she could take it back. She just hoped Dominik would hear the truth in her words.

The topic of Christmas break seemed both safer and more terrifying at once. The idea that they would hang out together outside of school was odd, but thrilling. She shook her head when he said his letters would probably be the boring ones now. "You don't need dragons to be interesting." She told him with a small smile. "And if it is boring you can just poke your brother until he does something interesting. Or send me some drawings, I liked the one of the egg a lot."

 

[Dominik Milne]

Dominik had a feeling that Grace would disagree with him having such a dangerous creature as a pet but that was what made him like her so much. She had a clear view of what was dangerous and what not, which was something he obviously did not have since the thrill of being in dangerous situations was exciting to him. "That's why I would take care of it for only a short period of time, silly, their fire isn't really harmful to humans yet." the seventeen-year-old told his friend. Unfortunately for Dominik, he didn't know how nor where he could get a dragon egg since it was illegal to trade them so the dream of eventually hatching one himself seemed unlikely to happen.

He knew that she didn't meant it in a bad way so smiled reassuringly at Grace to let her know that he was fine. "I will only allow you to help me if you have the time to sit with me and organise stuff otherwise I will ignore you, I do not want you to help me while you have stuff of your own to do." Dominik said firmly. He knew that she would probably not let that happen, as she had her own things to focus on, but if there was even a small part of her that would want help him he had to let her know that she wasn't allowed to do that. "However, I will gladly help you train that scoring arm of yours. Can't have my favourite Chaser miss her shots." he said, smiling again.

He beamed when she told him that he did not need dragons to be interesting. He would like to think otherwise but it was nice to hear that his love for the creature wasn't the only thing that made him interesting. "Knowing Joe he will probably do something very stupid. He wanted to make popcorn once, but instead of doing it the muggle way, he used his wand. There was popcorn everywhere." Dominik chuckled at the memory of what would be known in his family as 'the popcorn-incident'.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace gave him a short look. "Not 'really' harmful doesn't make me feel any more reassured. You can't raise a baby dragon in your house." She said with a sense of finality. "But you can work with them and take care of them that way. You will be wonderful at that." She didn't want him to think she was disapproving of everything, just his incredibly stupid ideas. At least dragon eggs were hard to find.

Grace smiled at his worry about her time. "Of course, I have time. Helping you helps me too, you know. We have roughly the same subjects and things to study." She told him. "Besides, I like spending time with you. So the more I can combine study time with Dominik time the better." She teased him gently. She grinned when he called her his favorite chaser. "Can't have my only Keeper miss constantly either, you know."

She laughed at the story about his brother. "Oh please, like my cousins don't do stupid things. That's the fun part, isn't it? Getting to laugh at their stupidity." She grinned. "It's the best part of being the oldest of the family, isn't it? They don't get to see your at your stupid young age, but you get to see them mess up." She paused. "Though you also have to look after them all the time which can be a pain." She glanced at him, wondering if he also felt the growing tension between them, she wanted to get back to the subject of them meeting over the holidays. "So... uh, you live somewhere in the south right? I live in the north, but I bet we can meet up somewhere in the middle."

 

[Dominik Milne]

The look Grace gave him was enough for him to know that he should probably stop talking about hatching a dragon egg and then taking care of the baby dragon. ''Someday,'' Dominik said and smiled when she told him that he would be wonderful at it. He was working towards being wonderful at it, and with his parents finally behind his decision of choosing to study such a dangerous profession, he was sure that someday the world would know him as one of the best Dragonologists of their century - unless something would go horribly wrong and he would get barbequed by one, but he didn't like to think of that ever happening to him.

He blushed when she said that she liked spending time with him and said, ''It's settled then, study time and,'' the seventh year chuckled at how she called it, ''Dominik time will be combined into one whenever we can study for the same subjects together.'' Now that the topic of classes and homework had been dealt with, he wanted to move on from it as he no longer felt like doing his charms homework anymore - if she wanted to help him, it would have to be tomorrow night because tonight he felt like just sitting here and talk to her for as long as one of them got tired. His goofy grin appeared on his face and said, ''Oh no, definitely can't have that.'' whilst shaking his head.

He grinned at what she said. ''I'm not saying that they don't, you have told me all about what they are up to, I'm just saying that I'd probably tell you about the stupid things Joseph has done because those are more fun than the things I did, and less embarrassing for me obviously,'' he told her. ''I'm happy that he cannot see me when I did stupid stuff. I would most likely inspire him to do even more stupid stuff.'' Dominik said laughing. ''I think I once tried to get on the roof of our house by climbing into a nearby tree and jumping from one of the branches onto the roof.'' He chortled. ''Luckily mom was there just in time to save me from doing a very, very stupid thing.'' Come to think about it, there was quite a lot of stuff he could share with her in the letters he would send over the holidays. He nodded his head when she asked if he lived somewhere in the south and said, ''Yeah, Saint-Étienne.'' Dominik figured that if Grace would want to meet up somewhere in the middle, it would probably be Paris. He briefly wondered what they could do in Paris but couldn't come up with anything at the moment so made a mental note to look up things they could do there.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace was glad Dominik dropped the subject of raising a baby dragon and focused on them studying together. "Dominik study time." She said with a smile. "That sounds a lot better to me than regular study time does." She said with a small shrug. She wondered if Dominik would now try to focus on their own homework that they were about to do, but she honestly hoped not. It didn't seem like he felt like ending their conversation to study either, which was good. She would hate to keep him from his school-work unwillingly right after he admitted having some trouble with it. Seventh year was hard enough.

The story of him trying to jump onto the roof from a branch made her laugh. "Oh wow, that is stupid. And totally sounds like something my cousins would try." She said, shaking her head in dismay at the idea. "I was never that sort of child, neither is my sister. She's so quiet and serious, I guess the way I used to be too." Though with one big difference, as far as she knew Violette had no interest in quidditch and preferred to stay indoors. Grace had always enjoyed the outdoors more, though her parents hadn't been big fans of that and had encouraged her to stay inside and be more careful not to get mud on her clothes. Violette hardly had to be told that sort of thing. She nodded when he said he lived in Saint-Étienne, filing that information for later. "So... I suppose we could meet in Paris." She said, trying to sound casual. It was just the capital city of their country, but meeting Dominik there felt a bit different to her. She knew couples often went to Paris together. "Would that sound alright to you?" She added, a little anxious now.

 

[Dominik Milne]

He chuckled at Grace's comment and nodded his head in agreement. It sounded a lot better than regular study time indeed, mainly because the person whom he felt most comfortable around was going to help him with whatever he found difficult. He closed the books in front of them and made a pile out of them, indicating that no more homework was going to be done tonight.

He nodded and said, ''Yeah, that, eh, that sounds alright to me.'' feeling the tension between them grow more and more. If neither of them was going to say anything now then perhaps it would happen in Paris, but did he really want to wait that long to tell her about the way she made him feel every time she looked at him? No, he decided. So added, ''But I was thinking that, maybe, we, eh, we could meet up as more than friends?'' still nodding his head. ''I mean... I-I like you as more than just a friend, and hopefully I am right about this otherwise I'm going to be really embarrassed, but I'm getting this vibe that you might like me back in a more-than-just-friends way...'' Dominik, his eyes locked on hers, didn't say anything after that as his mind was racing with thoughts. It could go either two ways but he, obviously, preferred it to go to the way he wanted it to go - the way that would end in them going to Paris together as more than friends.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace blinked in surprise at Dominik's words. Maybe she had underestimated his courage, or his bluntness, but she really hadn't expected him to be so clear and in the open. Of course, it had been sort of childish what she had been doing, hinting at it without really admitting to anything. With how much work she had put in herself, her schoolwork and her quidditch, she just didn't have that much experience on the romantic front. The idea of admitting to her feelings and being rejected was mortifying, but now that Dominik had been so open, she knew she had to be honest as well. The idea that he liked her was wonderful and thrilling, and a slow smile spread over her face. "You like me?" She asked him, again feeling childish for the question. "I mean, yes... you're right, I do like you in a more-than-just-friends way. I ... didn't really know if you felt the same." She said, grinning even though she was nervous. She couldn't look away from his face, though she desperately wanted to because this was both exciting and terrifying. "So... the Paris thing, it's a date?" She asked hopefully. "Well, maybe we can have a date before Christmas too." She added quickly with a nervous laugh.

 

[Dominik Milne]

His heart skipped a beat when she told him that she did indeed like him in that way. ''And here I thought I was being subtle about it in my letters,'' he said with a chuckle at the girl's comment about not being sure that he felt the same way, feeling a rush of happiness at the realisation that she actually liked him back. He nodded his head and said, ''It is, and I would love to go on a date before that one,'' a part of the seventeen-year-old couldn't believe how easy this was going. He a dragon obsessed moron was going on a date - two dates even - with, without a doubt, the prettiest girl in the entire school. Dominik could not believe his luck. Last time he liked a girl this much he could barely talk to her without blushing madly, but with Grace, things had been much easier. Perhaps it was because both of them understood each other well seeing as both of them were pretty obsessed with something or perhaps talking to the co-captain had been much easier because he simply grew up - whatever it was, he was thankful for it. ''So,'' the boy began after noticing the silence. ''What happens now?'' he asked, looking back up at Grace.

 

[Professor Grace Holland]

Grace laughed nervously. "Oh, you were very subtle. I had no clue." She told him with a shy smile. "I mean, I may be a little clueless on this front though. I have no idea what I'm doing." It was a hard thing to admit, as she was confident in most things and good at a lot of them too. It was surprising that the boy she had only just realized she had a crush on actually liked her, and apparently for a while as he mentioned his letters. She wondered how likely it was that two people actually liked each other, it sounded statistically unlikely if she stopped to think about it. But she shouldn't ponder such things now, they had dates to plan. "It's a date, then. We can do ...something around the school, or at the grounds somewhere. Or wait until we have a weekend off." She actually had no clue what to do for a date, but she hoped Dominik would have more of an idea. Grace was suddenly aware of her pounding heart and she bit her lip as she considered this. Getting a boyfriend (could she call him that? Maybe after a date or two?) was exciting, but she didn't think it was very practical to start dating in their NEWT year. A part of her wondered if her parents would approve, and she thought they may not. But perhaps she shouldn't mention it, for a while at least. When Dominik asked what happens now she faltered, unsure what to say for a moment. "We... could kiss?" She suggested, all thoughts of her parents forgotten as she was brought back into the moment.