Closed When They Said Smell The Roses, They Didn't Mean Literally

[Aine Thompson]

Aine's head ached every time she thought about Defence Against the Dark Arts. Being put under the Imperius Curse had been just as awful as she'd imagined it would be, and of course it was her own fault for volunteering. It had been embarrassing, but she supposed she should be thankful that Professor Abberline hadn't made her do anything weird, not least because she suspected keeping his job would be a priority. Though judging by the fact that the other professor had been handing out roses there weren't many protocols in place for what professors should and shouldn't do. But when she thought about the class, she instinctively wanted to fight off a curse that wasn't there, making her head throb in agony. At least there weren't more nosebleeds. She tried to push it out of her mind and think of something else while she waited for Valerius, slowly drinking water and reading over transfiguration notes.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

-godmod approved-

Valerius was usually good at hiding his worries. But this was different. Aine had done something stupid that made him worry even more than he usually did. He'd tried to push it aside, but it was hard to. He finally just gave in and asked her to meet, hurrying down to the gardens as soon as she'd agreed. He felt his heart stutter when he saw her. He dropped down into the seat next to her, catching her up in a tight hug.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine involuntarily flinched as Valerius went to hug her, before she relaxed into the hug. Well, as much as she could, anyway. She was still pretty terrible with this whole physical affection thing but was trying to get better with it. Just for most people she didn't need to worry about it. "I'm okay," she said, a little insistently. "Really, it's not like the professor would've made me do anything weird." And if he had, there would have been hell to pay if she had anything to say about it. "Least now I know what I'm up against. You know, in the hopefully unlikely event I ever have to deal with it." Not that she could help but have a weird fear that all this stuff they faced in Defence Against the Dark Arts mustn't be uncommon, or else they wouldn't spend so much time learning about it.

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius let out a deep sigh, pulling back and cautiously reaching up to brush back her hair. "Aine, you are a strong, independent, brilliant woman." He chuckled. "And you're going to be the death of me, I swear to the gods." He sighed, sitting back and running his hands through his hair. "I won't try and tell you what to do, I highly doubt you'd listen to me." He gave her a gentle smile and offered out his hand. "I don't know how I'm going to do anything but worry about you, you know." He teased her gently.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine shrugged, raising an eyebrow slowly despite her headache. "Well, you said it yourself, I'm independent, so clearly you don't need to worry about me," she practically drawled, clearly at least partially joking. "Don't take it personally. I don't listen to me, so you're in good company." Part of her just hoped that she could offset any awkward emotional worry with jokes. She wasn't sure if it would work, but it wouldn't stop her from trying. "So, you can do better things like worry about your far more interesting love life." She cracked a small smirk, as weird as saying something like that felt, and indeed the smirk gave way to a wince. "God, I probably sound like your embarrassing aunt. Sorry."

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius chuckled and offered out his hand, wanting to hold Aine's. "You know I love listening to you talk," He replied easily. "Your mood swings are interesting." He reassured her. As she asked about his love life, he sighed. "I'd like it to be far less interesting," He admitted, running a hand over his hair. "Let's trade. What's your love life like?"

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine raised an eyebrow, shifting her hand a little but not moving it all the way, feeling a little strange about holding hands. It felt childish. "Interesting? Geez, no wonder your love life is like that. You don't comment on a lady's mood swings, dude," she jokingly reprimanded, though she was chuckling and giving an almost wicked smirk. Aine sucked at being sweet but she was sure that he knew her well enough to know that this was her means of being affectionate. "Mine? Non existent." Aine shrugged. "Summer romance with a muggle boy didn't end up happening and I've been too busy otherwise."

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius chuckled. "Well, I am still a boy. Stupid is part of the job description, isn't it?" He teased gently. He rubbed his thumb against her hand. "Bah, muggle boys have no taste." He tried to reassure her. "He didn't deserve you anyway." He leaned his head on her shoulder before shutting his eyes. "I'd say it's too bad we don't work that way, but I don't know what I'd do without my best friend." He admitted softly.

 

[Aine Thompson]

"I'll drink to that. Figuratively speaking." Aine snorted with laughter, though it wasn't as though she was doing a good job at not doing or saying stupid things. It was what she did best, in her opinion. She was glad Valerius wasn't looking at her as a flash of something crossed her eyes - fear, perhaps, of something like it. He could say that all he wanted, but the fact of the matter was Aine herself was weird and unappealing and nobody would ever like her that way. Anyone who claimed to was just playing with her emotions. "'Chyeah, can you imagine me as your presentable CEO girlfriend? You'd go bankrupt the second I opened my mouth." A part of her wondered if she shouldn't have pushed him away so hard before, but it had been for the best. "You'll have a beautiful wife with the most charming children and I will be a crazy cat lady you can pass off as your community charity work."

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius chuckled. "I don't know about that." He offered gently. "You're a strong woman, Aine. I think when you come into your own, you'll be amazing." He confided in her. "You just... need time to grow up," He sat up, smiling at her. "Once you figure yourself out, Aine, you're going to change the world."

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine frowned, rolling her eyes. "Don't patronise me." Her head throbbed again, partially with tiredness, partially annoyed at his comments. She stood up, stretching her arms over her head, sucking in a deep breath of air. "Don't see you taking an Imperius Curse like an utter champion, so you can stuff telling me to grow up. Plus, don'tcha know? Girls hate being talked down to." Aine sighed, pressing her palm to her forehead as another jolt of pain shot through. It was all getting to be a bit much, and she knew he meant well but it certainly didn't come off that way. Especially when she focused on the second bit. She bit back some harsher comments and pulled herself upright. "Now if you...if you don't mind, I've got like three essays due by Friday, so...but, you know, if you want to run any love poetry by me, do, I need a good laugh." She turned around to face him with a raised eyebrow, giving a mock salute. "See ya."

 

[Valerius Bianchi]

Valerius blinked, taken aback by her reaction. Oops. He stood with her, looking properly chagrined. "Wait, Aine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that," He apologized gently, holding up his hands in a quiet surrender. "I just meant- you have a lot of potential," He tried, unsure if he was digging the hole he was in further or not. He wanted to stop her, but he figured she wasn't above hitting him in the face. "Aine? You're my best friend, you know that right?" He asked her gently. "You mean the world to me."