arrays | [ closed ] take just a little bit of time just to make you feel right

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[ closed ] take just a little bit of time just to make you feel right

The thing Leo has come to love most about being a half-blood and going to wizard school isn't the magic - it's the parties. Any normal teenagers can throw a decent party if given half a chance, but throw magic into the mix, and all bets are off. And, of course, he knows exactly the right way through the secret tunnels to get to Hogsmeade, and there is this one bar that'll give something a little stronger than regular old butterbeer to a bunch of underage kids, and then there's the entrance to the kitchens where Piper can talk the house elves into just about anything... Add all that together, and it's simple math, when you get right down to it.

The only thing to make your standard teenage wizarding party better here at Hogwarts is to bring in all the Houses in the Room of Requirement. The best part? Not having to sneak in anything from Hogsmeade, because the Room takes care of everything for them, and the supply is neverending.

It doesn't take much for these affairs to start getting out of hand, and Leo of course isn't one to let a good party pass him by. The Room is making sure he has a steady supply of his favorite drinks throughout the night, and the stereo he rigged up for a friend in third year is still going strong, playing some of the better tunes that both the Muggleborns and Pure-bloods can get behind. It's all to hang out before Christmas break, and to celebrate a great game of Quidditch - and there are even a good number of Hufflepuffs around, those that are too good-natured to hold a grudge against the Ravenclaw team for doing their jobs. All in all, it's a great shindig, and it's not until long after curfew that Leo even considers going back to the common room.

By the time he actually does go, the task turns out to be more difficult as he'd imagined it would be. The portraits are about ten times as entertaining as usual, especially that one knight, and even the ones that chastise him as he stumbles down the hall, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous some of them sound, ordering him to get back to his common room before one of the prefects or professors catch him.

"The prefects are still down the hall," he slurs, and Sir Cadar- Sir Cardigan? Whatever the name is, Leo doesn't care, but it's still funny that the guy thinks he needs an escort back to the tower. Like he's that bad. He's walking in a perfectly straight line, except for where the wall curves. And he's totally almost there, anyway. At least, he thinks he is.

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Natalie closes her eyes, leaning her forehead against his, breath coming in soft pants. She thinks before she speaks, for once in her life, lightly drumming her fingers on his chest. She wets her lips.

"I just wanna forget about everything I've said to you to make you yell at me tonight," she murmurs, keeping her eyes shut. "That I've been a complete prat, that you called me a twat," she says, enunciating the last word, "because I don't appreciate using women's parts as a curse word, "I just wanna forget everything except the few good things that've come out of this."

"You pissed me off," he retorts, grinning in spite of himself. All of this sounds good to him, and he'd be perfectly happy to just stay here with her for a while, though it's still hard to get that one image out of his mind when they're pressed against a wall like this and...

"Puedo vivir con eso," he adds, giving himself a mental shake to get rid of those thoughts. This is the girl he was just yelling at, not five minutes ago, and now this. Bloody roller coaster, she is. "You're going to remember that tomorrow, right? Cuando estás sobrio? Didn't have enough to drink that you'll black out and forget everything, will you?"

"I... didn't have as much as you did," she informs him, scratching the back of her neck.

She's always been capable at being incredibly difficult sober anyway.

Her head tilts to the side curiously, eyes flicking over him. "You've been half speaking in Spanish the whole night. What are you saying? Or thinking right now?" Not that he has ever been dishonest with her but he is especially honest right now. Her hands drop again, resting at her waist.

"En serio?" he mumbles, brow furrowed. "Um... Puedo vivir con eso... I can live with that." It's hard to think about translating when it comes so easily to him, especially when he's completely knackered, denials or no. When her hands fall to her waist, his hand takes hers to play with her fingers while he considers her question. "I think..."

He doesn't know what he thinks, and frankly, he hasn't even noticed up to now that he's been switching it up on her. Shaking his head, Leo finally says, "I dunno. What part?"

"The nice parts, probably, though I think you've made sure to give me the insults in English."

Her eyes lower to stare at their joined hands, focused on how he fusses with her fingers. She lifts one corner of her mouth in not quite a smile, lifting her chin. "Or," Natalie introduces another option, "you could just keep saying nice things in Spanish."

Well, that he can do. He's already forgotten most of what he's said before he started yelling, or what was in Spanish or English.

"Déjame pensar..." he drawls, starting to grin anew as he looks down at her. "Ese vestido se ve bien en ti. Mejor que las túnicas. Eres..." he shrugs, "lindo. Muy bastante." Tomorrow, he'll be embarrassed about all of this, even if she can't understand what he's saying. But for now, the words tumble from his lips without much trouble.

She wets her lips, not understanding a word coming out of his mouth but still feeling the blush bloom on her cheeks and creep down her neck. Maybe romance, or whatever the hell this is that they have, transcends even language barriers.

That thought would be something to snort at in the morning.

"Yeah? Y'mean it?" Natalie chuckles, keeping her voice low.

He shrugs again, smiling as the blush spreads over her cheeks. That's a win for Valdez, and he will definitely accept that.

"Sí, claro. Pensé que lo que incluso antes de que tú... me besó. Te ves aún más linda cuando se sonroja." Pondering that for a moment, he clarifies, "You're cute when you blush."

In an unusual move, Natalie lifts his hand to curve it around her cheek. They don't - this isn't what they do, tender things. If they're close, it's hasty and in the dark, with no time for real affection. It's a small step away from the norm.

Her eyes close again, as if she's nervous to see his reaction to her gesture.

It;s odd, experiencing this when all of their little trysts so far have been rough and not entirely pleasant. They'd sort of been competitions, just another way for them to duel, to see who could get the better of the other.

This is different.

This is... almost as if they'd never had all those problems in the first place. It's weird, but not... unpleasant.

So he's not entirely sure what to do with himself when she moves his hand, except maybe move that curl out of the way and be fascinated by how easily her cheek curves into his hand. It probably wouldn't be so interesting if Leo weren't, well... under the influence, but there he is. Maybe it'll make things similar if he takes it as an invitation, leaning in to press his lips against hers, this time gentler than before. There's nothing to prove anymore - at least, he doesn't think there is - so it's easier to just roll with the punches and see where this goes.

She inhales slowly, nerves calmed, taking it slowly except for that hand of hers and loosens from his hold and pulls him full up against her, never wanting to be without that intensity, even with these gentle kisses.

It's not unlike their initial, awkward kisses on the train, but with more experience and, she supposes, aprpeciation for each other.

When they do part next, a while after that kiss, Natalie gives a playful side nod, silently asking if he wants to go somewhere else. Before she has to walk him back to his dormitory.

If they were to carry on like this from here on out, Leo decides, it wouldn't be so bad. That'll depend on her, of course, but he hopes Natalie means what she's said, and that she won't take it back later.

For now, he's quite interested in seeing what she's got in mind. Backing up a step, his eyebrows hop as he gestures for her to lead the way.

Natalie thinks about taking his hand but doesn't, deciding to let him walk behind her instead. She moves slowly and purposefully once she slides out from between him and the wall. There was an office here, now unused and mostly empty. Henry used to smoke there, but moved to a different spot with a better view, so he said.

"A failed Defense teacher's private office," Natalie tells him as she feels along the wall until she feels a shift in the stone. Her palm flattens against it and she whispers a password to slide it open.

It's gloomy and very suited to her taste. 'Casual gothic' is what she and Henry decided.

"Cheery," he comments, wondering why he hasn't found this place before. The secret passages were easy to find, but he hadn't thought much about secret offices, though surely there have to be more. Something to look into later, maybe.

He spins on his heel unsteadily, taking the whole place in with a single turn. It's small, enough to be kept hidden easily, but big enough to be serviceable. Not too shabby for a quick place to hide.

Natalie perches herself atop the desk, having cleared it of Prophets and old books with a wave of her wand. She crosses her legs and flattens the skirts of her dress, cotton and sheer, over her thighs.

Resting her cheek against her shoulder, she leans back and watches him idly, saying nothing as he looks around.

"I helped unlock it before," she murmurs after a moment,

Leo comes to a slow stop facing her, not even trying to be subtle about the way he looks at her. He hadn't noticed the fabric was sort of see-through before, but now it definitely has his attention.

"And how did you find it, exactly?" he asks as he walks over.

Natalie plucks at the hem of the sheer layer, not noticing his gaze when she focuses her own on the Slytherin green fabric. Simple, for Wizarding fashions, but fancier for her tastes, and she's suddenly fascinated by the thin gold threads that catch the light when she moves. She doesn't hear him at first.

"Oh, eh." She clears her throat. "By chance. Henry noticed that it was hollow behind the stone," Natalie replies, "He found another hideout so I'm here when I'm not in the dormitory." She uncrosses her legs, pointing her toes to the floor, feet bumping against the oak desk. It's not as warm in here, and she shivers, rubbing her bare arms.

"And you just guessed at the password and happened to be right?"

Green always did suit her, he thinks, as much as he might have hated to admit it. Gold, though - it's a better accent than silver, but Leo is hardly one to judge about fashion when he doesn't wear much beyond jeans and T-shirts, or whatever can stand to get a little dirty.

"Verde ve bien en ti," he says, more to himself than to Natalie. "Cold?" There are plenty of things they could do about that, his least favorite being lighting a fire.

"Oh, no." She snorts. "It took a great deal of trial and error and a little research into past employees." She grins up at him, cheek still pressed against her shoulder, the angle giving her a slightly brassier look than usual.

"And, yeah, I am a little bit. Cold, I mean. I didn't really anticipate wandering here," she murmurs.

That's a good look on her. If he's lucky, maybe he'll get to see it more often from here on out.

"You could go back," he suggests, obviously not a fan of that idea as he stops before her to rest his hands on her knees, "or I'm betting there's a spell or two that could fix that. Between the two of us, we can probably come up with something."

She raises her eyebrows.

"You could expand upon that 'something,'" Natalie requests politely, not moving from her position.

He shrugs.

"It could be a lot of things," Leo answers vaguely. "Some spell maybe, or maybe we start a fire. Y'know, I've been told I give off way too much body heat to be human," he adds with a snort, trying not to laugh as he remembers that look on Piper's face. "Depends on you - what d'you think would work best, Goodman?"

"Too much body heat?" Natalie straightens her spine, taking the weight off her one arm to pluck at the hair tie around her wrist once more. "I didn't think you were that hot when we were ..." Intimate? Two seconds away from shagging?

Which isn't a challenge, though coming from her, she won't be surprised if he takes it that way.

"I dunno, ask Piper. According to her, I'm a human furnace. You don't think so?" It isn't like he's gotten so close to that many girls. The only girl he's ever kissed is right in front of him, and they've... gotten heated, sure, but nothing that scandalous.

Though he could certainly if they did, his mind adds helpfully.

Urgh, that's not the point. That isn't why Natalie brought him here - at least, he thinks not. If it is, well. She ought to just tell him that, then.

...Anyway.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring some sort of jacket or a jumper," Leo admits, tilting his head. "I thought you were always prepared for these things."

"I wasn't prepared to go here tonight," Natalie sighs.

She reaches forward to tap his hand. "You know, now that you mention it, your hands are never cold." And she doesn't let anyone near her, really, unless they've managed to convince her of their trustworthiness and actual desires for friendship. The list is short. It may or may not be obvious, but physical contact isn't something she seeks, but she's never been uncomfortable with him, with this.

"What are you planning on doing with 'em?"

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