Waverly peeled away from Virgil and stood up from the bed. She'd heard about people visiting vampires for kicks but she'd never took them seriously; it seemed masochistic because it couldn't be anything other than painful and violent. Her mind was a little blown. Virgil hadn't exactly characterized the situation as an attack, but he and his friend hadn't gone in looking for a bite. Or had they. Now she wondered if that's why Earnest had been there, to chase that high.

Her stomach was doing those flips it did when she was getting going. She did a slow circle of the room, padding over the rugs, her feet welcoming the cool floor when she found it. The cat stretched out when she came near but she let him be.

Better than sex. People said that about a lot of things. Waverly never thought she'd hear that about a vampire bite. Everything, everything, she'd ever known about vampires was that they weren't human. They were something else entirely and what they were? Was dangerous. But this? She swore under her breath again and took a deep breath.

"How did you know he wasn't going to kill you?" she asked crossing her arms more curious than concerned, like she was calculating.

Blonde eyebrows rose quizzically as Waverly got up to take a stroll in his room, watched over by potted plants hanging off the ceiling and the various posters of musicians. Dante emitted a disgruntled little mreow as she resisted the cat's invitation. Ah, fuck. He should have known telling her about this was going to get her thinking - and he didn't even have to exercise any Legilimency to see where her thoughts were headed.

           "How did you know he wasn't going to kill you?"

"I didn't." Virgil sat a little stiffer against his shelf, feeling the hardbacks pressing into his bare and boney shoulder blades. "Not going to lie, I did think Hooker might have. Or worse..." he had to give it to her straight to discourage what could be a treacherous endeavour. His concern was sobering him up from the effects of the gillyweed.

Would that stop her, though? This was Waverly, not Nick or Nemo. Danger might propel her. Virgil bit his bottom lip for a second and then decided that it was better to be upfront where fellow Slytherins were concerned. "Realised later that he's a registered vampire, though. Would have to skip the country if he sucked someone dry."

Virgil pulled a face that implied he wouldn't put it past the ravenous vampire.

"If you're going to pay the coven a visit -" his lips twisted into a smile that matched the droll tone, "- let me know so that I can tell Roh where to find your body should you go missing all of a sudden."

Waverly tipped her head back and uttered an, "oh my god," through clenched teeth.

"Virgil," she said with an exasperated but docile scoff. He was being snarky with his warning this time, but what, she should take safety measures when he hadn't? That, and it was irritating for him to tease her about her Auror mother.

Her gaze got distant and she bit her lip, thinking. She realized her knowledge of vampires was shallow. The mechanics of death and being turned were unclear, she didn't realize they were 'registered', what, like werewolves.

She wondered what was wrong with her that the prospect of offering herself to a vampire in pursuit of a high better than sex but at the risk of death. Maybe it seemed survivable because Virgil had unscathed and blithe. Other than that scar.

She looked up and narrowed her eyes. It was almost a dare.

"Would you do it again?"

This wasn't about tagging along; if it really was as good as he said, he's surely risk it again.

Would he?

Sitting here, vulnerable in his nakedness but safe in the nest of a crumpled duvet, he considered that question directly. Virgil hadn't before because he did not want to be tempted - they were past that now. Describing the high out loud was enough to tempt, and temptation was only a step away from imagining.

Someone was singing drunkenly in the distance, further down Diagon, words he couldn't make out. Virgil glanced out the window at the glow of streetlights and then looked at Waverly, arms crossed over his pillow. His smile had faded into something more grave and thoughtful, though far from melancholy.

He nodded. This time, his cheeks coloured. Hooker would be impossible if Virgil walked into the pub looking for a high and yet he wanted so badly to feel it again, under different circumstances, to allow himself to enjoy the loss of any sense but pleasure.

"One day," he explained with a sigh, and hugged the pillow tighter. "Just to enjoy it properly."

Virgil took a long time in answering and Waverly envied him. He didn't have to try at all. She watched him and waited with her arms crossed over her screaming kitten t-shirt, long around her hips. Of course he'd go back. There'd been nothing in his retelling at all that sounded remotely like regret. So yes, Virgil said he'd do it again. He'd walk into a vampire coven and what, stick his neck out and pull down his collar? He'd do that, then come back here and make breakfast for Nicholas and Ariadne. Scones or something.

Waverly didn't answer. She stepped over to her jeans and pulled them on; she had to do the little hop in place to get them all the way up. She smiled and resolved not to let herself go sour. Action, not reaction. No one had a monopoly on London and its wilderness. His story deserved response, some kind of acknowledgement she'd heard him and appreciated what he'd been through rather than just a lusty interrogation. She went with something more Waverly.

"I'm going to go," she said at last, fine with the obviousness of it. "Was a lovely lovely night."

Her bra was there, her jacket was there. She gave Bowie a scritch behind an ear, and retrieved her boots, wand, and purse.

Whether his old housemate was going to go running off to the closest vampire pub didn't seem obvious to him - there were things Waverly still didn't know about vampires and Virgil hoped she wouldn't take his testimony as the only springboard into becoming one of Hooker's patrons. As awful as that night had been, though, he figured she would be fine. It's not like bodies and turned vampires were popping up all around Camden Town.

            "I'm going to go. Was a lovely lovely night."

Virgil slid down against his shelf, on to his back against the mattress. "Mm, you do that," he stretched like a particularly satisfied cat and let his head hang off the bed to watch the witch gather her things.

This was closer to what he expected when he decided to let loose and do whatever he wanted. Sleep with whomever he wanted, try to hold on to feelings a little less. Virgil once told Nick and Sasha that he only slept with people with whom he had an emotional connection[1] and he wanted to test that theory.... tomorrow[2] perhaps.

Waverly still counted as an emotional connection, they'd known each other since they were firsties at school. He gave her an effete little wave as she left through the door. "Sweet dreams, Wav!" his farewell uttered in a sleepy, fond voice.

1.	1st August - Fancy Meeting You Here
2.	29th Jan - 5th Feb - City Sang Such Mad Crescendo