Perhaps subconsciously, Aiden had realised that speaking Italian to his very innocent, honey-bee-esque Hufflepuff girlfriend, garnered a certain reaction... or perhaps he was just so accustomed to peppering his spoken language with enough words to cement the fact that he was not an Englishman... or perhaps a decent portion of both? Yet had Aiden known that rolling his rrrrs in his mother-tongue... well. He'd probably just revert to conversing in it 24/7, as he had done in his first half year at Hogwarts and that he continues to do with his twin sister when amongst the less cultured class... well calling them mates is a stretch and a half. Class companions? Thankfully the riff-raff were weeded out of his classes now that he was completing N.E.W.T.s...

... the little kiss, tantalisingly close to his actual lips brought Aiden out of his internal train of thought with a smile he was too slow to hide.

"Do you think it is some kind of social commentary that the horticulturalist named a poisonous plant after a beautiful woman, perhaps?" Aiden mused with a sly smile, his growing curls bobbing with the gentle movement of the pensive teenager tilting his head as if to think a little more on the subject before swifter than a jaybird, Aiden continued the movement to steal a quick kiss from the shy Puff. "I cannot imagine myself ever being called... lovey," Aiden replied with wrinkle in his nose. "Then again, I never imagined someone as sweet e tenera as you would... " steal my heart? Aiden was glad that he caught his tongue before such stupid words tumbled from his lips. They'd only been dating for a summer and he wasn't a love-struck teenage boy like the rest of the pathetic horde in Hogwarts. But Dio, when she smiles. "... end up not being so scared of me. I'm proud, carina mia." Good save, young chap. His ocean eyes sparkled with playful energy and he did not attempt to try hide the tender smile that crept across his features.

"Do not worry, I will not nick name you after a poisonous plant. Please give me a jelly-legged curse if I ever call you babe. I hear a few people call you Gracie though. Do you have other nicknames I should know about?" Aiden could not remember a time that he had been called anything other than gemello, fratello, figlio or wanker. None of them were particularly creative. "I am very happy for you to call me Aiden, or ... " Aiden leaned forward, his free hand resting ever so lightly on her hip as if to nudge her closer, " I'll also accept... Mr Valentino, if you like," he whispered, then returned quite quickly to normal.

With their fingers laced, Aiden was always surprised at how very... warm they were, so soft and delicate. They were never as cold and clammy or sweaty as he had imagined in their previous years.. in all the books he'd read, that's how nervous people's hands were meant to be. "I think the Professors enjoy scaring us in our last year - for most of the students, it'll be the professors' last chance to terrorize with mountains of assignments and see just what it takes to break us. Don't worry, Grace, you'll be fine," you won't be another Arthur were the words that Aiden kept to himself. " Trust me?"

Well, if she did before she probably didn't now, Aiden mused as the corner of his lip pulled into a half-grimace. He needed to hide his annoyance better, he knew, but he'd eventually forgive the indiscretion. "Let me put it in a way that may make more... sense, for you, perhaps? Imagine the disadvantage of starting Charms in your fifth year when everyone else has studied it for four years. You'd find that difficult, yes?" in Aiden's mind, Dark Arts were just as valid a branch of Magic as any other, so he had no problem likening the two very different classes. When had he loosened his grip on her fingers? Aiden was not aware, though he used that hand now to delve into his pocket and search for reason that would be palatable to the ray of sunshine and happiness that walked beside him now.

He failed. So honesty would be their first test.

"I like to know things, that is why," Aiden replied truthfully. "I feel I understand vampires better now that my sister is one - the text books are very biased against the creatures. So how can studying something that I am meant to defend against be a bad thing? we are taught blindly that this is bad and that is bad and as the good little children we are... we follow that thought process without ever questioning or figuring out for ourselves what is good and right," basically Aiden was the child that caught frogs and pulled them apart to see how they 'worked'. He'd be the one to try and make a bunny from thin air and document its unfortunate, severely deformed, demise. But he didn't think Grace could handle that truth of him ... not yet.

Aiden made sure that he caught the eyes of Grace no matter how she might not want to look at him right now. "Tell me - Are all the students in Durmstrang bad because they learn Dark Arts? Or have they simply learned more than what our DADA curriculum covers?"

Tag: GRACE LONGBOTTOM