Steam

[Vulcan Zhefarovich]

The afternoon was a little on the quiet side, but since he now had a curfew, Vulcan Zhefarovich narrowed his silvery eyes as he watched the waves from the lake. It was nothing like the ocean that he saw a few times, but it was still peaceful. Beside Vulcan was a pile of sticks, before he set them on fire with the simple third year spell. He listened to the crackles of the burning sticks, before he closed his eyes. This was too relaxing. He laid down on the rocks, before he closed his eyes. He ended up drifting into a small nap. Sleeping outside was not too common for the Gryffindor, but anything to avoid the mayhem that the Gryffindors were causing due to their lack of ability to follow the damn rules. There was so much chaos and havoc, it was almost legendary. This was why he wished he was sorted into Slytherin, because everyone was bloody idiots! Vulcan's breathing slowed down as he fell into a deeper sleep, where he almost looked like the sleeping dead. But that was a common trait within his family. Almost like a defense mechanism. It would take a lot to disturb him from his deep nap.
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[Esme Lancaster]

When it came to finding Vulcan during her free time, the task was not difficult. The pyro may as well have had a giant beacon with him at all times. Esmè had only to find the scent of burning twigs and leaves, or a distant glow in the dusk, and he'd be there. As the Slytherin girl trudged lightly across the rocky shore, the Zhefarovich boy's sleeping, almost corpse-like body became visible, causing her to falter in her step. Her stomach twisted itself into a knot, but only for a brief moment before she reassured herself that it was fine. She'd seen the Gryffindor die before, and it wasn't here or now, nor hopefully any time in the future. Now that it had changed, she couldn't say so with a hundred percent certainty. Continuing her walk, the girl reached Vulcan's side and crouched down, leaving him alone while she replenished the low-burning fire with a handful more twigs before adding her own flames to his. With a wave of her wand a vibrant, burning bluebell blossomed in the air above his crackling fire and she sat down, using her cloak as a more comfortable padding than the rougher, rocky terrain.

"Hey, Zhefarovich." Esmè finally said, reaching out to rouse the boy awake. There was no fun in letting him lay there, dull and motionless. "Wake up, I think you've had enough beauty sleep."

 

[Vulcan Zhefarovich]

Vulcan felt someone shaking him, which made him sit up with such speed, it was alarming. He whipped out his wand and sent off a Stupefy before he managed to adjust to his surroundings. The spell only went over the lake, disappearing off into the horizon. His eyes looked over toward where the shake came from, and Vulcan let out a breath of relief. He uttered, "You should never shake me awake. I get a little violent." Vulcan put his wand away and looked over to see the fire and how it was still burning. This time, with her added flame. That was pretty cool. His eyebrows raised a bit before he turned back to see Esme. He scooted over closer to her, and that was when he noticed something strange. He cocked his head to the side and asked, "What's wrong? Something happened. Was it Professor Styx?" He knew that she got punished, but he didn't know what it was. Vulcan was very concerned because this was Esme, and he really liked her. He just never asked her to go out with him but maybe he could do that once he knew what was wrong with her. That would really cheer her up.​

 

[Esme Lancaster]

The Slytherin was not prepared for the Gryffindor to wake with such a start, and sat back as the jet of red light spiraled across the lake. "Merlin." She breathed, getting past the initial surprise as he spoke to her. She could admire his quick reactions, as startling as they were. "I don't mind a little violence in a person, it makes them interesting. But I'll keep it in mind." She responded, tucking away a reminder not to shake him in future in the back of her mind. It wasn't so difficult to believe he was related to Styx, she was just glad he wasn't nearly as bad. The thought of the professor caused her expression to falter, however. Her memories of the entire ordeal left her with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Vulcan seemed to notice her change. She'd never told him the exact details of what had happened, as she herself was trying to forget about it, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to now. Taking a deep breath, she glanced skyward, taking a moment to consider how to respond. How did you tell someone their relative murdered them when it hadn't happened? "Yes, it's him." She nodded, exhaling the breath she'd held. "I, well. The situation got out of hand after I was sent to his office. He seemed to just know when I only provided him with a half truth. He banned me from quidditch for the year and I lost control. I was furious. That James boy deserved what he got." The bitterness in her voice was evident, but her words trembled slightly as she spoke. She didn't want to think about it, but he deserved to know. "You know how, sometimes, when a person is upset or angry, magic goes a little haywire? I shattered a few of the more fragile objects in his office and let go of everything. I called him more things than I'd like to repeat, and-" She took another breath, calming herself down. "He wasn't fazed, he just took my wand from me and then...he killed you. Or, he told someone to, and then they came for me. Only, it didn't happen. Not yet." She added quickly, not too enthused on the idea of looking like a crazy. "I have visions - glimpses of the future. It comes from my grandfathers side of the family. It's not something I can choose to see, it just happens from time to time, and just how out of hand everything had gotten seemed to trigger it." Her eyes were welling up, but she wasn't going to allow herself to cry in front of the Zhefarovich boy. She held them back, trying to keep her voice as steady as she possibly could. "I think it's changed, now. I still have my wand, and the visions I've had since then have gone further into the future than what I'd seen. I just don't know what to do." She looked over to him, seeing him for as he was now - alive and well, not the cold corpse she'd been forced to see.

 

[Vulcan Zhefarovich]

Vulcan turned his body so that he was paying full attention to none other than Esme, as she spoke about what happened. At first, it confused him, especially when she mentioned about the future. Then it clicked. She was experiencing a vision, and one of the future. Setting the course to get on Kalif's bad side led them to their ultimate death, and apparently, they'd never marry or something like that. Vulcan sighed as his mind fought to process what he was hearing. Vulcan sighed before he said, "There's something you should know about Professor Styx. He is what we call the 'patriarkh' or Patriarch in English." Vulcan placed his hands on his lap, and folded them together. He looked nervous. Kalif never liked to get his hands dirty, so telling someone else to do the dirty work only made it seem even more real. Vulcan debated over the words within his mind, before he settled on what to say.

"The Patriarch in my family is a huge deal. When we are in his presence any where other than school, we must kneel to him. He decides on who lives and who doesn't. He makes the laws, and enforces them. Those that are not worthy of the family don't live to tell the tale. Professor Styx, well, Kalif, is the second strongest in my entire family. He can read minds, and won't let others into his head. I think they called him an Occlumens and a Legilimens. He can tell when you are lying." Vulcan reached over and placed his hand on hers, and gave her a crooked, reassuring smile. "But it was just a vision. If anything, I can help it so that we don't end up that way. Maybe we will end up at the end of the aisle instead. Though I think you should probably just call yourself my girlfriend first, huh." Vulcan attempted to lighten the mood up, while also asking her to go steady with him at the same time. While she saw a grim end for them for snapping at Kalif, Vulcan saw that they were definitely compatible enough to at least die together. He wanted to prevent that at least.​

 

[Esme Lancaster]

The Slytherin was all too aware that she may have sounded a little deranged with talk of their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor killing them both, she still struggled to come to terms with it herself, but Vulcan didn't seem too surprised by what he heard. Esmè listened as the boy explained his families background, intrigued by their hierarchy system. There came terms she wasn't familiar with, Legilimens and Occlumens amongst them. The power to delve into the minds of others and shield against the same at first seemed to trump her ability to peer into the future, but when she considered it, her own gift had already aided her on multiple occasions.

Vulcan's hand on hers was comforting, and Esmè breathed in, taking a moment to process everything she'd learned, but had little time to do that as the boy proposed their relationship take a more official stance. While they had been romantically involved for a time, neither had suggested going steady, but hearing it from him now left a smile on her face. "It's a start." She moved closer and rested her head against his shoulder, eyes on the expanse of water in front of them. "No one will ever come close to hurting us as long as we're together." The witch didn't want to think about what she'd seen any further, happy to simply watch the surface of the water ripple as fish and merfolk swam underneath, until it was time to return to the castle.

 

[Vulcan Zhefarovich]

Her head against his shoulder, and his hand still on hers, Vulcan felt as though he were in heaven. Absolutely nothing could come between them, and seeing as she already prevented his death once, in the future, perhaps they truly did have a good one ahead now. Vulcan kissed the top of her head, before resting his head against hers, his eyes staring ahead toward the waters. "Agreed. Forever and always, Esme." Vulcan did not want this to end, but he knew that it was only the beginning. This was something that he wanted since the day he met her. The day that the slightly older Slytherin crossed his path. Perhaps he had Lucien to thank. Some might have thought that Esme would have ended up with Lucien, but it was not the case. "Is now a bad time to bring up that my family has active Death Eaters?"

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Fin​

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