The Last Days At Durmstrang

[Katerina Ivanova]

It was coming up to the time for Katerina to leave Durmstrang Academy, and enter in to the world, a fully-fledged, eighteen year old witch. Just thinking about it was frightening. She felt too young to be alone in the world. Sure, she wasn't exactly alone - she still had her boyfriend, Yvan, and she still had her friends...such as Estrella, who attended Hogwarts New Zealand, anyway, but leaving school was not a reassuring thought.
Although Katerina had suffered nothing but torture at Durmstrang, the place was a home to her. She had learnt a lot in her year in New Zealand, and the last two years - although she had suffered a lot, she was stronger. She could deal with it better. She had become a prefect, she had responsibility, she had done well in her studies...
...and now it was coming to an end.
Sighing, Katerina pushed her now brown hair out of her eyes, and stretched out her legs as she took a seat out by the entrance to the school. The exams were nearly over, and her time here was nearly up.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan had finished one of his last exams and was in dire need of fresh air. Buckling himself up in his thick red school cloak, Yvan marched down the entrance hall of the Durmstrang Institute. With both his hands, he pushed open the big front doors, a bright smile forming on his face as he spotted Katerina sitting nearby.
"Are the exams getting to you also?" he asked his girlfriend, his voice rough with a thick Scandinavian accent.
The two years Yvan had spent with Katerina as her boyfriend had been two great years, and in his world there was no finer person than her. She had become his center, his love. And he was more than glad that they had come this far together, awaiting the ending of their NEWTs and, finally, their graduation from Durmstrang. Last year they had seen Dominik and Nicolae graduate happily, but that had been more of a relieved feeling. This time around, it was a feeling excitement, happiness and nervousness. They were both awaiting new beginnings and, hopefully, adding another chapter to their story. Whatever path they took after this year, Yvan was sure that they would be together. There was nothing he wouldn't do for the love of his life.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina smiled in relief as she heard the voice - that wonderful voice - of her boyfriend. Beaming, she gazed happily at him. They had been dating for two years, and Katerina was still ecstatically happy whenever she saw Yvan. This is love, she had told herself one morning, and truer words had never been spoken.
"You could say that," she said, with a shrug. "I have never been that good at Dark Arts," she added, pushing her hair back again. Dark Arts was by far her worst subject. Most subjects she was perfectly fine with. She had done well on Charms and Transfiguration, at least. But Dark Arts...Katerina did not have high hopes. She was too much of a placid person, never wanted to hurt anybody. She was barely even capable of hurting a fly. Sure, she had been known as the Ice Queen in former years. But the ice was a wall of protection. One could not survive seven years at Durmstrang without building a fortress for themselves. "It's quite frightening, how close we are to graduation," Katerina admitted, a little anxiously. Thinking about the fact that their schooling years were almost over was quite frightening to the eighteen year old girl.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan sat down next to Katerina, taking her hands into his trying to warm them up. "It is," Yvan replied simply. "And yet I am still undecided about what I shall do after. It is strange knowing that these will be our last days at Durmstrang..." Yvan lifted his gaze to Katerina. They had been through so much together, and Durmstrang had come to mean a lot to him, even if the teachers were a pain, and the environment too cold for his liking, Durmstrang was home.

EDITE [OoC - soo forgot to change that last sentence when I edited last. -facepalm-]

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

"I must admit, I have no idea either," Katerina said with a shrug, although she could not hide the worry in her voice. "It is strange indeed. I do not know if I have ever...liked Durmstrang, but it has been home." She looked straight in to Yvan's eyes, a glimmer of hope and happiness replacing the worry that was there seconds ago. It was just an effect he had on her. She would never forget that year in New Zealand, and would be eternally thankful to fate for throwing them together throughout that year. Perhaps, if they had not been sent there for the TriWizard Tournament, they would never have come together. Katerina did not like to think about that. She hated contemplating the idea of a life without Yvan.
"What will we do?" she asked, softly. Katerina knew that they were meant together, no matter what. But what was going to happen now was a mystery to the girl. Where would they go? What would they do? Did they have a future? She certainly hoped the answer to the last question was a resounding 'yes'. That was her answer to that question, in any case.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan inhaled deeply, contemplating on what they could do. Yvan had never given his future any real thought. He had always assumed that when the time came to decide, he would just know. And yet, here he was, some-odd days away from graduation with no idea of what his future held. All that he really wanted was Katerina to be a part of it, whatever he would be, wherever he would go.
"Move in with me..." Yvan stated, his voice more confident than he had ever heard it before. Katerina was his life now, and he wanted to share everything with her. If he was thinking about what he wanted to be in his future, it was definitely and unquestionably to be with her. "I want to be with you, now and in the future. I want to have many more years with you..." Yvan said hopeful, turning where he sat to look her properly in the eyes. "It does not have to be straight after graduation. It does not even have to be within the remainder of the year. Just please, say yes... Move in with me?"

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Katerina did not think twice about the answer to that question. She did not know what she was going to do in the future, but the one thing she knew for certain is that she wanted that future to be with Yvan. Where ever he would go, Katerina wanted to go with him. In fact, it didn't even matter where they went, as long as they were together.
"Yes," she said, simply, before leaning over to kiss him lightly on the lips. "Of course I'll move in with you. I want to be with you, no matter where we are and no matter what we do." Planning everything would come later. For now, they were going to be together, they were going to move in together and make a future together. And for Katerina, that was all that mattered.

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Yvan was beaming, soaring internally. He hadn't a clue what they were going to do for money, or even where they were going to live. But he didn't want to dampen his mood with financial problems, or even thoughts of what his family would say - not that it matter anyway; they were eighteen and free to do as they pleased now. Still, he figured he should meet Katerina's family, especially her father, to let his intentions - their - intentions be known. And vice versa with his parents. But aside from all the formalities and planning, sooner or later, they would be living together, and that was all that mattered.
Yvan kissed the back of Katerina's right hand. Nic and Dom had been so wrong about her - even he had been wrong about her before. Ice Queen or not, Katerina was perfect as she was. And Yvan was forever hers.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

Serenely, happily, Katerina gazed at Yvan, her eyes, which had become accustomed to being so dull and sad in her years at Durmstrang, sparkling with excitement. Questions and shades of plans were all forming in her mind - where would they go? Stay in Russia, maybe France or England - or perhaps New Zealand. Katerina loved that idea, she had grown to love New Zealand in the year of the TriWizard Tournament. What would they do? But none of it really mattered at the moment, she was too happy to worry and too excited for any of her plans to make sense. They were going to be together, and that was the important thing.
"I think..." she began, still beaming. "I think this is perhaps the most excited I have ever been in my life!" she laughed, leaning against the love of her life feeling quite content. "Where would you like to go? We have the whole world waiting."

 

[Yvan Petrov]

Katerina's voice was like music to Yvan's ears, and he loved that he could make her this happy. That was all he had ever wanted for her. Yvan smiled as he contemplated where he wanted to live. The first place that popped into mind was New Zealand. He loved the weather, and the friends he had made there. But mostly, it was his favorite place because it was what had brought him and Katerina together. Had the never gone for the TriWizard tournament, they probably wouldn't be where they are today, planning their futures together.
Yvan had one simple answer, "New Zealand." Getting to his feet, Yvan took Katerina's hands and pulled her up, lifting her feet off the ground and twirling her around. "I want to go back to the one place that blessed me with this. You." Yvan kissed Katerina, starry eyed and brilliantly happy.

 

[Katerina Ivanova]

New Zealand, that was exactly it, the place she really wanted to go. Of course, Katerina wouldn't have minded going anywhere, Yvan made her so happy and if she was with him, the location didn't matter. But the fact that he, too, wanted to go back to New Zealand was all the better, in Katerina's eyes. "Okay," she replied, simply, before Yvan pulled her up and twirled her around. "I will always be grateful that they sent us there," she said, brightly. "Even with all the bad things that happened, the good things were so much better. More memorable," she added, looking directly in to Yvan's eyes and kissing him back. All her worries about leaving Durmstrang were evaporating very quickly. Her future, right now, looked bright and beautiful. No matter what, Katerina knew that she and Yvan would be happy, and that was all that mattered.