She wondered, vaguely, if he had ever read any of her father's books. They were all about how it was important to keep the worlds separate (and there were allusions to keeping muggles subservient, but never enough to arouse accusation). He had not been as visceral in his beliefs as some of his counter parts in the second war, but he had believed enough to send his son into battle. Dom had only ever joined the Death Eaters to please Alec, to be the dutiful son. She wasn't sure what Niko believed about the whole political climate concerning muggle-magical relations because he worked so very hard to keep her young. In her brother's eyes she would never be more than five or six, with long braids and missing front teeth. He hated that she owned short skirts and had thoughts about politics, boys, and the future in equal measure.

In that sense her brother and father were very much opposed to the way Dianora tried to push Livi into relationships. They wanted her to be little Livi forever, Liviana found neither situation entirely appealing. She wanted to take the bits she liked from both and throw the rest in the fire for kindling. None of them quite knew what to do when their wee one came up with ideas all her own. Of course, as previously mentioned, she didn't think about muggles much. They were there, a thing in existence, the same way Dragons or Blood Lollipops were. "Perhaps pity is too strong a word. I imagine them all to be like Schlagenweit, constantly questioning the mechanics of magic when the whole point is that it's bloody magic," she sounded mildly amused as she shook her head. It was a silly thought, but it occurred to her that Ezra would completely pass the dad test.

Oh, not if she introduced him as her boyfriend, but if he were a friend that popped by over break or something... Alec would be pleased that Ezra seemed so aware of the importance of wizarding politics. Dianora would like him because he came from a good family and her wheels would turn and she'd match make in her brain and then Livi had to stop herself because she was having a nice time just being there in the moment with him. She could spoil so very many things trying to plan just a little bit ahead. She was terrible about that in some ways, getting caught up in the implications of events rather than partaking of the event itself. In some sense she had to do it because of social ramifications and blah blah still trying to fix things after the fallout from Lucas and the one time she didn't plan six steps ahead. Ezra wasn't Luc, she had to keep reminding herself the two situations had nothing in common, the thing right in front of her was made of completely different stuff.

And, as it turned out, what was in front of her was far more interesting than meandering thoughts about her parents, siblings, social order, and any of the other millions of places her mind could have gone. He was so good at kissing her. It was a bit like her brain stopped and there was nothing else in the world but the two of them. She didn't care that they'd look like some star crossed lovers plucked from different time periods standing atop a Scottish mountain side like one of those terrible books that were often marketed in the same section of the bookshop as Dolly's. It was cliched, stupid, and dangerous but she let herself get lost in the moment, the feeling of it all. Her fingers slid through his hair as he pulled her closer; not for the first time in the night she found herself cursing the cumbersome costume and corset (though it did give a nice lift to certain body parts). It was not ideal for the close contact they both seemed to need.

When he finally pulled back they were both left breathless, her doe eyes lazily opening, lips twitching with a half smirking coy smile, "Oh, just pretty good," an eye brow arched at him. She knew that it was probably a lot to admit to, this being their first pseudo-date and all but still. Wetting her bottom lip she shook a wayward braid from her face and gave a nonchalant shrug, "You'll find Inkwood that I'm rather excellent at a good many things". She didn't elaborate because that would take the fun out of it. She kept her smile just coy enough to leave the meaning ambiguous, long fingers idly twirling through his hair as she looked up at him. There was something magical about tonight, more magical than usually it felt. There was something in the air, a change in the winds or her fortunes perhaps? She couldn't be sure, but there was a spark of something that hadn't existed a few hours ago. It danced in her veins and made her feel a little lightheaded as she looked up at the boy currently snuggled against her.

Ezra smirked.  So she thought she was excellent at many things?  The arrogance of the statement combined with her coy smile was charming. She wasn't fooling him.  This girl knew exactly what she was implying with that statement.  She did it to play with him, to get to him.  What's worse, he thought to himself, it seemed to be working.  His body was getting hot and flushed and found that the shine of moonlight on her wet lower lip was more interesting and beautiful than the vista around him.  His scalp tingled as she slowly twirled locks of his hair around her slender fingers.  He felt a little lost; comfortably so, such a thing was even possible. 

He ducked in and said with his own damp lips against her ear, "I WOULD like to find out."  He closed his eyes and nuzzled her ear with his nose and inhaled the smell of flowers from her hair, dark with the tinge of smoke.  He pulled away with a heavy sigh but kept hold of her hands when he stepped back.  "We should probably go back," he said.  "Someone will have noticed you're absence by now." 

Liviana, as a member of the Monarchy, was highly visible.  If you combined that with her beauty and the string of dissatisfied suitors trailing after her, then she probably only rarely got a moment away unnoticed.  He was a little glad he'd brought her up here all of a sudden.  He wouldn't even begrudge her the opportunity to come back here if she wanted to, as long as she didn't start bringing all her friends along as well.  That was... if she needed that escape at all.  A lot of women thrived on the attention.  The ones who didn't... they pretended well enough because as Slytherins it was often expected of them.  At this point he would just have to wait and see.  He'd enjoy taking the time to find out, though.  If she'd let him.

"I was wondering," he said conversationally as he ambled back towards the path down.  "I was wondering if you would like to eat dinner with me some night."  He glanced over at her and gave a one-shouldered shrug.  "So we can get know each other a bit better than just classroom things.  What do you think?"  He squeezed her hand in a comforting manner.

She couldn't help the smile that twitched on her lips as he leaned into her ear. This evening had turned out to be vastly more enjoyable that predicted, but he was right someone would miss her soon and then there would be talk. It did occur to her that keeping this all on the down low for a little while, at least until she got to knew him better, would be for the best. The thing about boys that were neither social pariahs or already had Monarchy members clamoring for their attention was that... the other girl's might get ideas. It was too soon to stake her claim - and with Kitty it wouldn't matter much anyway. She wondered if he knew that, if that was part of whatever game they were playing... it didn't feel like it, but then who could trust their feelings?

She squeezed his fingers as they headed away from the view and back toward that damnable hike (though doing down would be easier than coming up...unless she slipped). She looked at him with an arched eyebrow and a sort of playful grin as she rested her chin on his shoulder for a moment, "We have dinner together every night Ezra". She was being sassy, and knew exactly what he meant but if she just gave in and said yes where was the fun in all that? Of course he continued and her expression shifted from teasing to contented as she gave a small nod of her head, "We should. I mean, if such a thing is possible between Neely talking about what she read in Witch Weekly and the rather alarming sound of a Hufflepuff feeding frenzy".

She grew quiet, mostly because she was focusing on not falling all over herself on the way down the steep trail and back toward the lake. If they really wanted to have time together, and she was sort of sure they did at this point. Biting her bottom lip for a second she considered the next massive social event they could be seen together at, "Slytherin verses Ravenclaw match is coming up. I wouldn't mind terribly we went together". She had kept her tone casual, moving in front of him easily enough to sort of swagger down the trail now that they were in a low lying area once more, making sure to throw a look over her shoulder, "Or we could not go at all and find a better use of our time if you like," that playful tone was back again, coupled with that cool coy smile (her brother would die and her sister would beam with pride).

Once again Ezra maintained a careful and watchful demeanor as they walked back down the hillside in silence.  She was focusing on the placement of her feet, with her skirts hitched up a little bit so she could actually see her feet.  He walked behind her so she could go at her own pace and kept a hand ready to steady her on the arm should she stumble.  A twisted ankle would spark gossip surely, but if she fell face-first down the rocky Scottish hillside he would never hear the end of it nor would he be able to forgive himself easily.  She was beautiful, intelligent, and well-connected, traits he had learned to admire greatly over the years.

He let her comment about eating dinner together every night slide past without comment.  He wondered if she was blowing him off.  His family was well enough off and had decent connections with the rest of wizarding world.  Also, they didn't have some of the same stigmas of wizarding families who'd gotten themselves involved in the second war.  But they certainly didn't have the same kind of status and Ezra had not done anything particularly noteworthy to gain an even higher personal status in the public eye.  His individual power out of the public eye grew every day but some people only cared about what others thought.  He also did not know if Livi was looking for someone to ally herself with publicly.  After all, she'd made it perfectly obvious that she wasn't interested in bowing to her family's demands.

She gave him a bit of hope when she mentioned going with him to the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw.  She was willing to be seen in public, at the very least.  He watched her hips swing back and forth from behind as she exaggerated every step on the now sturdy ground.  He lunged forward, grabbed her by the hips and hauled her backwards against him.  He held her tightly and growled in her ear, "Tempting."  He mouthed her earlobe for good measure and then let her go. 

Stepping around in front of her Ezra walked forward and then turned around.  He spread his arms out and cocked his head in a way that he knew accentuated his narrow hips and broad shoulders, not to mention his handsome face.  "I'm afraid you'll have to decide if you want to be seen in public with," he sighed mockingly.  "I'll be your kept boy if you want me to though, I think you'll find that I too am pretty good at a number of things."  He smirked and winked before turning to face front again, still walking.

There was a happy sort of squeak that escaped Liviana's lips before she could stop herself as Ezra caught her around the middle. She like that he pushed back, that he genuinely seemed interested in spending time her rather than all the ridiculous trappings that came along with it. For a moment she let her shoulders rest against his chest, slender hands placed over his...and then just like that he was gone and there was sort of a bad skip in her heart as she changed her posture. It was silly to so willingly let her guard down. She had to play this carefully because so many elements of it were obviously still a game. There were joking and sharing in equal measure and she wasn't sure she could keep score anymore. She wanted to trust him, but the paranoid part of her that had been a key component to her survival nagged that this all could be a ploy to bolster his visibility.

She didn't want to believe that, but it wouldn't be the first time. Of course all the other times it hadn't really mattered because she'd never really cared. Boys had been like shoes or a nice handbag, meant to attract attention but never outshine the girl they were attached to. Ezra wasn't the visible type, he didn't seem to want to be the visible type. He could have tried to snag time with any of the Monarchy girls but he'd chosen her... at least she was fairly sure he'd chosen her. She'd find out tonight when they all were getting ready for bed she supposed. Once again he drew her out of her own head, smile twitching on her lips as he talked about being a kept boy. That made it sound like he was some dirty little secret she'd have to keep - even if he was joking. It wasn't him she was worried about, not really. It was...the others really.

When he turned his back on her, she stopped for a moment hand on her hip before she gathered her skirts in one hand and quickened her step to catch him, free arm sliding easily around his middle as she pulled him to a stop, coming around to face him, her bottom lip between her teeth, "You question whether or not I want to be seen with you like it has anything to do with you at all," letting her skirts fall back into place she reached up and tapped his nose, "did you ever stop to consider I might not want the Monarchy trying to feast upon your bones in a frenzy overt advances that have more to do with a social power play than actual interest in you"? She looked up at him with big eyes, bottom lip protruding a little before she dropped a fleeting kiss on the corner of his mouth, "A girl in my position has to keep an eye on her interest lest they be stole out from under her," and as quickly as she had caught him she let him go and flounced further of up the trail.

She seemed to be joking but her words were telling more than perhaps she intended.  He watched her walk away from him with serious thought.  Was she really worried about the Monarchy girls seducing him away from her?  He could, he supposed, use his relationship to accomplish such a thing on purpose but that kind of blatant disregard for human feeling was personally distasteful.  He was a Slytherin and you didn't become one unless you were willing to sacrifice and manipulate quite a bit in order to get what he wanted.  But there was very little that any of those other girls could offer him that Livi couldn't also offer him.

He licked his lips and caught up to her.  He took her hand once more and smiled over at her.  "I like to have fun," he said honestly.  "I like to joke and goof off and make fun of the Gryffindors but I take my friendships seriously."  He pulled her in close as they left the closeness of the forest and tucked her under his arm.  He shrugged a bit lopsidedly.  "Besides, how do I know you're not using my tender young flesh to make some suitor of yours jealous?  If you are, you can tell me, and he'll be yours by December."

Ezra was okay with playing a part but he preferred to be up front about things like that.  He wanted to know and he wanted them to know that he knew so his participation would be recognized for what it was, a favor.  He hoped it was more than that though.  How many games did a guy have to play before he could just be with a girl and have a little serious fun.  He shook his head in exasperation with his own thoughts.  Serious fun, maybe that firewhiskey was actually getting to him after all. 

She'd shown her belly a little with that last one, joking about something that was too close to being true. It was a hard life when you weren't totally sure you could trust the people you called friends - but that's what the game was all about. The thing about the Slytherin game was no on ever really won. There was no victor at the end of their seventh year who got a crown and a sash. You just went out into the world and you perpetuated the cycle from what she had seen. Daz and Dolly (well up until last spring anyway) still did all the things they had done at seventeen. Dom obviously still did all the things he had done at that age - including being an angsty wanker unless she was around. It was as though no one ever really grew up, even when they were married with babies. Everywhere you went there were still Queens and their minions. It was a vaguely depressing thought.

Then she felt Ezra's arm around her and she tilted her face to watch him talk, realizing he was showing her a little bit of his belly too. The problem was neither one of them wanted to seriously talk about it so everything came out in little jokes one had to gauge for truth. She spoke without a trace of irony or humor, "If I were trying to make someone jealous I wouldn't have snuck off with you. I'd have had you front and center completely visible to the whole of Hogwarts. Besides, using people like that, unless it's mutually agreed upon before hand is completely distasteful. People aren't puppets - no matter how east it is to make them seem that way". Livi could own up to being manipulative, to planting ideas in people's heads... but using one boy to make another boy jealous was just petty in her book. If you couldn't catch their attention on your own why would you want it anyway?

The walk back seemed so much shorter than the hike up had been, soon they were through the clearing where he had danced her in a lazy waltz and then back on school grounds. She wasn't completely ready to go back. She didn't want the floating on the tips of her toes, giddy feeling to leave her yet. Part of it (a very small part of it) had something to do with the flask hidden in her skirts now. The majority of it came down to the fact there were a million little butterflies in her stomach and she didn't want that feeling to go away. In the back of her mind there was some silly worry that in the harsh light of November first neither one of them would be able to feel this way together. It was stupid and showed a foolish sense of attachment already but what could one do? He was just so pretty to look at and as a bonus feature had a brain that was interesting to talk to.

"Good."  He nodded firmly.  "I don't mind helping out but I will not allow myself to be moved about by someone else like a pawn.  That's why you'll never find me crawling after someone like Kitty."  Ezra's face had grown serious and sharp as he thought about the games in Slytherin.  Under no circumstances would he allow himself to be moved about and toyed with.  His great-grand Aunt had told them the story of how their ancestors had been manipulated when they first arrived in Louisiana and it hadn't worked out for the ones trying to manipulate them.  He'd been told that all the families and their descendants had been cursed but she wouldn't tell him with what.  It had apparently been too horrible for a 12 year old, which was saying something considering some of the gruesome things he'd been encouraged to witness during that summer.

But there was no sense worrying about something that wasn't happening, at least not with Livi tonight.  She had a definite point about showing him off if she'd wanted to make someone jealous.  Also, she'd seemed genuinely insulted by the insinuation that she would do something like that.  As they moved forward with this, if they moved forward at all, he would give her the benefit of the doubt but he couldn't be too careless.  She was a Slytherin Queen after all, devious in probably more than one way.  He liked to see people who knew when to draw the line though, that was important if you planned on staying sane and out of Azkaban.

They neared the castle too soon.  As they approached the bright well of light spilling from the open doors of the entrance, Ezra darted to the side and pushed Livi's back up against a column in dark in the shadow.  She was looking up at him in question at the movement and he answered it by kissing her soundly.  Like the other times they'd kissed, he became too absorbed by the act and ended up kissing her for a minute or more before finally pulling away.  He placed his forehead against hers, staring into her face and sharing her smoky breath.  He could definitely get used to this. He had trouble with his voice when he finally chose to speak so he had to clear his throat and try again.  "Will you be going back to the party now?  Or I could walk you back down to the dorms."

Despite herself she felt an eyebrow perk at the mention of Kitty, that was interesting. She pressed her lips together, trying to think of something clever to say because suddenly this all felt too close to the surface, too real, too much like saying I like you too much to play the hateful kind of games. In part it scared her because it was like she was asking him to just trust that in this instance she was a normal girl, not Monarchy, not a Queen Bee, not a spoiled little princess. The other part that was scary was that he seemed to be answering back, in his own way, that he understood and it was ok - and actually he liked that about her. To an outside observer those were really not problems to be had, they were how relationships worked, they grew from a mutual moment of understand... only how Livi had never had a normal relationship so it all felt weird.

And then he was kissing her again and everything went foggy and she couldn't follow one complete thought to it's end, because every little movement brought her back to what was right in front of her. She couldn't even completely the connection between how this was different than the last time she'd been good and soundly kissed. Then he stopped and her ears were ringing, heart thudding in her chest as she tried to understand what he was saying. She thought, possibly, he had snogged her so hard she'd lost her hearing but it was actually just that he couldn't breathe and his vocal cords were strained. The party? After an adventure like that in the woods? She reached up to touch her hair, finding a twig caught in the long tresses. She gave a small laugh all that was waiting in the Great Hall were bickering first years and that love struck lunatic Canterbury. Her smile was almost shy as she tapped the end of his nose, "Walk me the rest of the way home, I'm not ready to say goodnight yet". 

His only saving grace tonight was that she seemed as distracted and gone at the end of their kisses as he was.  Acting like this could usually mean he ought to expect a knife in his back at some point but he felt relatively safe at the moment.  That faraway look in her eyes was pretty comforting.  He stared into her eyes, black now in the shadows, and decided he'd like to keep that look there for a little while longer.  She tapped his nose again and he responded with a swift kiss.  It occurred to him though that that slight and patronizing gesture must be her way of regaining some sort of control in this situation.  If she felt off balance, that might explain it.  He backed off, both of her lips and her person and kept hold of only her hand.

"I don't think I am either."  They entered the castle and passed by the Great Hall.  Ezra glanced at the doors and the students hanging about talking and having a good time by the doors.  He didn't spend much time on them though as they both continued down the stairs to the dungeons and the Slytherin Common Room.  When they entered, there were a few students relaxing and chatting but the room was largely quiet.  He dropped her hand casually as they entered, certain that no one was the wiser about just how close they may or may not have gotten on their outing.   He stepped off to the side and looked around him to make sure no one was really paying attention to them. 

"So," he asked quietly.  "I'll see you on Monday?"  He licked his lips and raised his eyebrows expectantly.  He couldn't be sure that this wouldn't all just disappear, even though she'd mentioned going to the Quidditch match with him.  That might have been a polite way of brushing off future advances for a night of fun.  He hoped not.  It had been quite a while since he'd found someone so attractive who was not only open to the idea but well worth any effort put into it in a number of ways.

The nose tap had been a mistake - despite the swift kiss she reiceved afterward it was then that Ezra pulled away. She hadn't meant to be insulting... it had just been this strange urge to be increadibly cutesy with him in that moment. Still, he held her hand as they walked in and headed downstairs. It was going to be tough navigating this situation. It would require a lot of trust on both their parts and she had a feeling that wasn't either of their strong suits. Still, she had detected a distinct note of disgust when he mentioned girls like Kitty. She just needed to be careful with herself, that's what it all came down to. She had gotten caught up last time and that had been the problem. She didn't constantly have to be in control she just had to be sure that she and Ezra were on the same wavelength.

Of course that was hard when you were trying to find all the things out through a series of games and answering questions with questions. She did want to see him again but if she just said that it felt like he had the upper hand. She didn't want him to have the upper hand - she didn't even want there to be an upper hand. The problem was, in every situation you went into someone held different cards than you, from the outside looking in it looked like Livi had the hand to beat but she wasn't foolish enough to think all there was to this Slytherin Prince was what met the eye. He might not have made himself a player but that didn't mean he didn't know the major players and all their weaknesses. She was contemplating all of this when he dropped her hand, her eyebrows drawn together. Well! If he thought he was going to get the last word in he was sorely mistaken.

She gave a vague shrug in answer to his question, a pithy nod to if-I-see-you-then-I-see you. There was a shadow of a grin on her lips as she looked up at him - still in her transfigured flat shoes. Though she was fully aware that there were people scattered about the commons, she just sort of swayed on her feet for a moment, hands now clasp behind her back as she sized him up. Whatever interests in him she felt the need to protect from certain people were put aside as she craned her neck a little and placed a kiss square on his mouth, fingers knotting in the front of his dealer's jacket. It was short but tinged with promises when she finally pulled back and looked up at him, "Goodnight Master Inkwood," and then flounced happily toward the staircase that lead to the girls' dormitory.