When a Tornado meets a Volcano...

[Cassandra Zhefarovich]

This is not where Cassandra pictured herself upon her graduation. Sitting in the middle of a murky bar in the shadier side of Wizarding Collingwood, New Zealand. As shady as it was her bright wardrobe did not stick out here. All of the women dressed like, whether they were looking for a boyfriend, a quick lay, free drinks, or some other sort of gain. Cassandra did not use her body for such things. Not exactly because she was above such acts. If she had no money one night she would definitely bend over the bar further to talk to the barkeeper; a rather perverted man in his mid fifties with a taste for twenty somethings. Just show him some cleavage and you could get him to do just about anything for you. She nursed her firewhiskey as she sat up straight and tall, always using her posture to show off the Zhefarovich crest upon her back. This was one of the things about her body she was the most proud of. The pain had been unbearable but in the end it had been more than worth it. From her bar stool she began to swing one scantily clad leg back and forth, lettign her shoe make a small bump every time it hit a leg of her stool. She noticed a blond man out of the corner of her eye that looked a bit like Xavier, a man she had not seen in a few months now. Though still thought of from time to time, from fighting like cats and dogs to full on making out in the middle of the Medley with lips that set her on fire. The two had always been an interesting pair when together. But Cassandra didn't dwell too long as she took another sip of her drink. She couldn't help but wonder what he was up to now. Probably doing better than she was. She was still unemployed for goodness sake!

 

[Xavier Snow]

Xavier had admittingly had a very bad month. Actually a bad month wasn't even the word for it anymore since recently it had gone from bad month to just a bad life. Nothing was being easy for him and he was tired of not being able to control his life. It was range from Vincent thinking of proposing to his sister always being gone and never around when he needed her. It was like the whole world was against him! And that was probably the biggest reason while all Xavier had done recently was go out and party, drinking, and be with women. They always seemed to care about him despite the fact that he knew they only wanted the looks, fame, and money they knew he possessed.The only girl he wanted didn't want him back and he hadn't seen her in months now that he was out in the world and always traveling with his team. He figured that she was happy with her boyfriend anyways, he knew they seemed good together before, hell they had even slept with one another so he knew that Trilby and Sebastian were a perfect match made in that disgusting excuse for a school he had gone to. After what she had done to him, played with his heart like that he barely considered the memories at that school worth thinking about. But the past was the past and Xavier was going to move on and do other things, he was going to let her be happy wherever while he went off and did his own thing. As of right now he was only looking for a girl, one to love and keep close to him before he maybe thought of actually getting married. He had a job and was all set but before he found a girl he needed to fix how he lived a little, a job wasn't enough for most girls these days. But for tonight he was going to go out and party a little. Then he would work on fixing his life.

The bar that Xavier entered seemed kind of, sketchy. But he and his team were staying in town a few days until a big Quidditch game happened between another team around here, and this was the only bar around that the blonde knew of. So he figured that for tonight he was going to have to put up with it. Upon entering he felt eyes land on him before he sighed and walked over to get himself a drink. He asked for the strongest thing they had for some reason and when they gave it to him he thanked the man and took a hefty sip, and oh...was it strong. He started to head away from the man who gave him the drink when out of the blue, and to his great amusement he saw a familiar face. "Well...well...you and I just love to run into one another don't we Cassandra?" His voice wasn't so friendly and teasing as usual but this time was filled with tiredness and curiosity. He knew there was some form of chemistry there but he tried to ignored it because he thought she was mean and hateful. Then again with his luck Xavier considered himself lucky to be around any woman that didn't want to kill him. He advanced carefully toward the familiar Slytherin before his eyes locked onto his drink.

 

[Cassandra Zhefarovich]

To say life after graduation was not what Cassandra had planned for herself was quite an understatement. She had always had the highest expectations for herself and anything short of the best was entirely unacceptable. She had known getting a steady job a life pinned down would be hard. But he would have at least expected to have some sort of Job by September, even if it was just a stepping stone to what she really wanted to do. Instead she spent her weeks bouncing from interview to interview, ending them with weekends at this very bar; usually that exact stool, drinking away the large sums of money her mother threw at her, still trying to gain back the forgiveness of the daughter she had lied to about something so important as her blood for Seventeen years of her life, possibly more had she not found out the skeletons in her mothers closet for herself. Unlike the man that was currently occupying her thoughts; though not in the way most people would believe, Cassandra had not stressed herself much over romance, she hadn’t since she was about Sixteen. Though she was no longer as stuck on Josiah as she had been, some part of her did think that if he were to wander back into her life today she would chance something with him, regardless of blood. So long as no children came from it or any sort of marriage. Of course these thoughts were extremely rare. As Cassandra barely bothered herself with dating of any sort now, and surprisingly enough she hadn’t bothered with any Sexual encounters either. Probably one of the few 19 year old virgins around; seeing as Wizarding folk were known for getting it on early and often. A familiar voice rang into her ears and her raven eyebrows immediately shot up. Was that who she thought it was?

Swallowing a bit more of her drink she turned and saw it was exactly who she had suspected. Xavier Snow, in the flesh for the first time in months. The two had kept very spaced contact. AKA a letter whenever either of them had the time or felt like it, which really wasn’t that often. She hadn’t actually seen him since Christmas eve, in an incident that involved broken glass and a toppled over Christmas tree in her living room. The two had always had an amazing physical chemistry that if not blocked by their clashing personalities could be something beyond amazing in the bedroom, but she tended to ignore it… Okay kind of ignore it because of how irritating the boy got, even if it did get a little better over time. She looked him over once and immediately saw how the past months had taken their toll on him heavily. “It would appear we do.” She started with a smirk, not asking Xavier what was wrong. Even if she did find it urgent enough to care chances are he wouldn’t open up anyways.

 

[Xavier Snow]

Xavier wasn't all that surprised when Cassandra greeted him with such few words and with not much emotion but thats what one of his favorite things about her was, she didn't mess around. "I think I should also add that you look really good." It was probably the alcohol he was drinking or maybe he was just finally over Trilby but he knew that he was suddenly finding great interesting in Cassandra and her body, and her face, and too much for him to really be focused on completely. He had to admit that he hadn't really been very close with a woman in awhile so perhaps it was that. He took another drink and pulled out a chair to sit down at the same table that she was sitting at, his blonde hair flicking into his face gently. He looked like a mess and he knew it, Cassandra probably knew it but he was going to try and pretend that nothing was wrong with him anyways because he hated to think that Trilby had possibly won over him. He drink was sat down onto the table as he sighed and trued to find something to word and to say to her that wouldn't sound stupid. Perhaps he could just ask her to make out because really that was the one thing that he figured he could say without upsetting her.

"So...how have you been lately?" He felt like an idiot but that was all that came out. Perhaps he had not drink enough to really go out there and say stuff to her. He picked it up and took another hefty sip. Maybe one he was drunk and was more out of it he could say what he really wanted to say. He was a bit of a lonely guy right now. The woman that he loved wanted nothing to do with him and even though he had many adoring fans it didn't matter much to him.

 

[Cassandra Zhefarovich]

Cassandra looked down at her nearly empty drink and put it back down on the bar. Not ordering another just yet though the bartender knew her well enough to keep them coming till she told him to stop, so within a few seconds seeing as the bar was rather empty on that warm September night her drink was once again full, and ready to poison someones judgment. Despite their slightly lust filled past together she was still surprised to hear him start out with a compliment. "Thank you Xavier." she started, a bit of surprise lacing her voice as she called him by his given name instead of something like 'Puffboy' or 'Frenchie'. "You're not looking too bad yourself." she countered, her voice habitually lowering a bit as she did so; the universal sign of attraction. Sure Xavier was looking a bit tired and worn but if one looked past that they could see he was still definitely the most attractive man on the Quafflepunchers by far. She picked up the drink that was sitting there, almost calling her name and took a sip. This was her third and her judgment was already foggier than it usually got. Odd because Cassandra had eaten quite a large lunch. Either way she observed the blond man as he seemed to be having trouble with proper wording. It didn't really surprise her; puffboy hadn't ever been the best person to hold a conversation with. Not with her at least. The two were too different to ever really maintain a stable friendship. So instead they got... whatever this really was.

She quickly swiveled towards him in her stool, not wanting to make her neck tired from the angle she was having to turn it at the speak to him. "Well, I'm just shy of twenty. Can't find a job to save my life and spend my weekends alone in bars. I'm just peachy." she said a bit of sarcasm lacing her voice, but something inside of her; probably the alcohol made her add "Damn, sorry... I'm a bit crabby as of late." apologizing to him for the first time over a comment she had made, almost as if she were normally a kind pleasant person when they both knew that was far from the case. "How has the rockstar life been treating you Pinkie?" she asked with a grin, poking a bit of fun at his teams colors. She had seen pictures of him in uniform and while the pink was certainly distracting. He in an odd way managed to pull it off.

 

[Xavier Snow]

Xavier raised an eyebrow when he heard Cassandra respond to his first comment. It was a treat to get a response from girls sometimes because there were girls out there that just didn't want the attention from guys like him. For the most part it appeared that she hated him. "Thats the most endearing thing that anyone's said to me in awhile. I think I'm losing my touch. so thanks for that." He answered honestly as he stuck his lower lip out in a small pout. He was actually joking for the most part of it. He was used to girls flocking to him like he was the only man in the room. But that was no longer the case and he could honestly say that he missed it and was happy about it at the same time. He missed being care about and admired but at the same time maybe it meant that he was finally growing up and could forget about all the fun he was used to having with girls. It brought him nothing but misery in the past so he he knew that eventually he would have to break his habit. Although, maybe Cassie wouldn't mind entertaining him for one last night. The woman began to talk about how her life had been going and the more she said the more he started to feel bad, so they both had it rough right now. "Nah, it's cool, everyone needs to vent every once and awhile. I'm sure if you need a job that badly I can try seeing if any place I know is hiring for you. And as for the bar thing, it can't be all that bad. You meet some pretty interesting people in bars." Xavier was trying to find a brightside for her to look on so she didn't have to feel so bummed about her life. He didn't like it when people went completely down on their lives just because they were in a rough patch. Even though a part of Xavier missed Trilby he also knew it was time to move on and find something better to do. She obviously wasn't interested in him. Cassie called him pinkie and Xavier stuck his tongue out at her playfully.

"Well let's see, I haven't been with a cute girl in weeks, I get injured all the time, my best friend wants to propose to my little sister, Gabrielle is acting like she got sick with a case of stupid and I'm living with her temporarily, oh and my mom just had twins. My.life.rocks." Xavier's words were coated with so much sarcasm he was almost afraid he would choke on the thick and fake happy words. Why bother to even pretend he was happy when he knew there was so much he needed to fix. For starters he wasn't sure that being a Professional Quidditch Player was such a good idea. Secondly he needed to find a place to stay other than his sisters because if he heard one more thing about this Colton guy or her new job he was going to choke them both.

 

[Cassandra Zhefarovich]

Normally Cassandras near hawk like senses would have taken affect here as she observed the planes of Xaviers face. It was quite obvious to anyone around that he was looking worse for wear but without the haze of alcohol that was currently fogging up her mind as she took a sip from her third or fourth drink of the night, she did not have the will or ability to look any further into the worry and disappointment that now seemed to be permanently etched into his face. She instead tried to cheer him up a bit, an odd action for the normally cold, uncaring girl. The way she decided to go about this? Stroking an ego that a few months ago she thought didn't really need any more inflation. "Losing your touch eh? Well maybe I can help you out a bit with that." she said with a wink thrown in his direction. It was things like this that made sober Cassandra think that she should stop drinking. But at the moment she just didn't care. Tired of facing the bar she swiveled a bit to where she was facing the blond man, her already short skirt riding up the snowy flesh of her thigh. She rested her hands atop of one another on her knee and leaned in towards him before she responded to him. "Well, to be honest it's not so much that I need the money more than it is I need something to do. Lord knows I could drain my ***** of a mother dry of her finances till her dying day." she muttered, her voice going as dark as her raven locks towards the end. Sure she was financially secure but she knew for a fact that the Crabbe Family never had that sort of money, and that every dime of it had to be coming from the much larger Nott Fortune which Veronica had somehow managed to gain most of in the divorce settlement. "Would you really? While I don't need the money I do need the productivity." she noted before taking another drink. When he commented on the weekend bar lurking she nodded, "Well, I don't really mind drinking it up on the weekends. I just think it'd feel a whole lot more satisfactory after a hard weeks work." she confided, most people thought she would be lazy and coast through life but the girl honestly could not stand to sit idle.

Cassandra was dead silent as the man began to confide his troubles in her. It was during this that she realized, at some odd point down the line they had transformed from acquaintances who fooled around every now and then to forming a semi-decent friendship. though it only seemed to show when one or both were under the influence of the devils poison. She felt an odd pang of sympathy for their seemingly similar fortune, though she believed he had it worse at the moment. "Well I'm offended." she joked with a smirk, knowing just being in the presence of wasn't what he meant by 'been with'. "Wait what? Wow that has to be rough, isn't your oldest sibling besides Gabrielle like... 17?" she inquired, reaching to gulp down the last bit of her drink before saying. "Sick with a case of stupid eh? Seems to happen to everyone around here." she muttered before adding, "Well, I have a few extra rooms and I'd offer you one of em for a little while to get away from her, but something tells me one of us would be dead before sunrise." Cassandra joked in a good natured tone, though the statement did have a sliver of truth to it. "Congrats on the new siblings?" she added at the end, though he didn't seem too happy about them. Why on Earth was she being so talkative? Maybe she had had a few more of these than she had originally figured. "Sounds like we both need some stress relief." she added lightly, leaving the night open to whatever.