"This sounds sketchy but I guess I'll give it a go," he said, stumbling towards the wall. He looked at it, really focused, but nothing happened. He tried tapping the wall, kicking the wall, knocking on the wall; and subsequently probably looked like a total idiot. And still, nothing was happening. He sighed, about to give up, but he didn't want to let Imari down so he closed his eyes and concentrated.

He couldn't really picture anything, he just tried to think of somewhere that was home to him, somewhere that he was most comfortable and most at peace with. As he opened his eyes, a door started forming from the wall, he looked back at Imari with excited eyes, "I did it!" He said.

He pushed open one of the big doors, and found himself looking into almost an exact replica of the lower level of his family's cabin in Vermont. It was different though, with stone walls like the castle had. But it had the kitchen area, the big living room, and the ping-pong table in the corner that looked like it had gotten used one time too many. "This is so cool!"

Imari walked in behind Damien and watched him as he took in the room.  "Amazing isn't it." she whispered beside him, "So, would you like to stay here, or would you like to see what I come up with." she said with a flirtatious smile.  She'd never shown anybody what the room of requirement made when she came up here, it was sort of private, something she didn't have to share with family or friends.  But Damien wasnt' family or friend, he was something else entirely and she wanted to share this with him.

Without waiting for an answer, she gently grasped his hand and led him outside of the room.  "Wait here." she told him and walked a little closer to the wall.  Closing her eyes, she thought of her favorite place in the world and passed by the wall three times.  When she opened her eyes there was a plain wooden door in front of her, "Are you ready?" she asked, looking back at him.  Imari was beginning to get nervous again, but she squashed the feeling, Damien would be there for her no matter what... she knew that.

She opened the door to reveal a cozy, but large bedroom "This isn't weird for you is it?" she asked him, her nerves about to get the best of her.  "I always have the room make this because it's the only place I feel truly comfortable aside from the library and the alcove I found here." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she waited for his response.

"This is really cool," Damien answered. He turned to answer him but was met with her grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room, "Alright, alright!" He said, laughing. Imari seemed eager to show him whatever it was that she was thinking of. He waited a foot or two away from the wall as she paced back and forth. He watched her walk by once, twice, then three times.

Slowly, he watching a wooden door appear in the cold, stone wall. He stared, still amazed before Imari looked back at him, inquiring as to whether he was ready or not. "Imari, if there is a pack of hungry dragons behind that door, I might be a little upset." He joked as she opened the door.

He followed her inside the large room, soon realizing that it was a bedroom. "No, it's not weird at all," he answered, thinking of how much Imari must trust him in order to be able to show him her bedroom. It was a private thing for a lot of people, and he could only imagine the kind of courage it took for her to be willing to show him.

"It's sort of gigantic," he remarked, looking around, noticing the television on the wall. "I assume it doesn't work because of all the magic around," he asked, more rhetorically than anything. He was just curious as to how the room of requirement could reconstruct a piece of equipment that was normally found faulty when magic was around.

"Obviously it won't work, actually, this replica of a tv isn't really a tv." She told him and walked across the floor to where the tv was on the wall.  "It's just a picture of a tv here, I guess the room hasn't figured out how to replicate the electronic stuff yet."  Imari looked around her room and finally sat down on the little couch in the corner, moving the book to the side.

"This is where I come to relax, to get away from everything." she told him as she made herself comfortable, "I think we can have more fun talking in here than dancing in that overcrowded ball anyway." Imari said with a chuckle.  "I never liked big crowds anyway."

"I know what you mean," Damien said, curiously inspecting the room. Everything he touched was solid and movable. The pillows on the bed, the lampshade could be altered; he'd never seen magic like this back home at Salem. And even for one who was well immersed in his magical life, there were still things he had yet to see or discover.

He plopped himself down on the edge of the white bed, ankles crossed, facing Imari. "This is a much better idea than dancing," he admitted. Even if it would have been nice to go to the ball and see his friends, it was worth giving it up to just hang out and talk with Imari. He enjoyed doing that more than twirling around awkwardly in a crowd of mostly foreign students.

"Oh, I just remembered something!" He said with a bright smile, pulling out his wand. "Remember I was going to show you my Patronus, well, I finally got around to working on it some more and it's sort of awesome. And he's kind of adorable. The dragon, that is." He said, going off on a tangent before standing up and moving to the more open space. "Alright, happy thoughts Damien, happy thoughts," he chided himself, winking at Imari.

He cast the spell and a whitish-blue light spilled from the tip of the wand. The adolescent Welsh Green appeared on the carpet, obviously feeling playful. It bounded across the floor towards Imari, skidding across the floor and stopping at her feet. It resembled an overly large puppy. He rested his head in her lap, even though he was weightless, it was still adorable. "I guess he likes you." He said laughing, glad to be in a good mood so he could hold his concentration.

Imari felt her cheeks turn red when he winked at her.  The emotions running through her right at this moment were new and exciting and she was still trying to figure out how to sort them all out.  When he cast the Patronus spell and she saw the playful little dragon lay it's head on her lap, she couldn't help it, she melted all over again.

"Oh, he's so cute." she said as she admired how fully corporeal the dragon was.  "Mine's not even fully formed yet." she said, "But I've got a shape now, and you can tell what it is."  Of course, the thought she had been focusing on with Professor Storm hadn't been near as happy as the ones she had now with Damien in them.  That would surely produce a spectacular patronus.

"Would you like to see mine?" she asked, standing gently to not disturb his dragon.  She took her wand out of her pocket and waited for his answer.

Damien was struggling to hold onto his Patronus as Imari stood up, the playful dragon running around her feet. Damien looked up to give Imari an answer, and the dragon disappeared in a poof of white mist. He smiled at her, "I think I'll have to name him, or her, later. Still not sure what it is..." He remarked.

"But yeah, give it a go. I'd love to see what you've got so far," he said, tucking his wand back into his pocket. The only reason he had been able to keep his Patronus for so long was because he was so overwhelmingly happy. He hadn't felt this kind of happiness in a while, but there was just something about Imari that made his stomach feel like it was full of butterflies, and something that just made his heart race.

Damien sat back down on the edge of the bed, waiting patiently for Imari to cast her spell. "Good luck!" He said, hoping she was in just as good a mood as he was, maybe it would be easier for her then.

Imari smiled at Damien, took a deep breath and said, "Expecto Patronum," in a normal voice.  The result of her spell came out better than the last time she'd tried it in Professor Storm's presence.  This time her macaw was almost fully corporeal. Okay, that was stretching it, but this time you could at least tell what kind of bird it was and it actually flew around the room a couple times instead of sitting on a desk. 

"This is even better than the last time I tried it." she exclaimed and then watched as her macaw flew once more around the room and then landed it's form on Damien's shoulder.  Imari blushed furiously.  "I guess she likes you." she whispered as she tried desperately to hold onto her concentration, and failed.  She lowered her wand as the bird slowly vanished.

"Look at that!" Damien said excitedly, his head turning to watch the macaw flit about the room.  Imari seemed happy with it, and Damien was very impressed with how corporeal it was. She must have been working very hard to progress so quickly.

It landed on his shoulder and he grinned, watching the bird slowly fade away. "I think," he said as he stood up, "We just like each other, and our Patronus' have realized that." Damien was flirting as best he could, but that last line felt like a weaker attempt than normal to him, even with his stupid lopsided grin.

Imari looked down and cursed inwardly as she felt a blush rise into her cheeks once again.  She couldn't really control it when she was around Damien.  "I think so too." she said shyly and sat down on the edge of 'her bed'.  "It's really neat that my patronus stays longer and is more clear when I'm thinking about you." she told him as she fidgeted with her hands. 

Damien wrapped a loose arm around Imari's waist as she sat next to him, giving her the chance to lean into him or stay right where she was. He was so delighted that she hasn't been fond of the whole dancing scene, it was much nicer just to spend some time alone and away from the crowded room of rowdy students. He had been worried, there was a rumor going around of a few Gryffindor's who were planning on spicing things up a bit.

"Mine too," Damien replied, "Before I could only get him to stay for a handful of seconds, but he was here for at least a minute or two this time." He said in reference to his Patronus. He looked down at his wrist, where his faithful watch ticked away the seconds. "It's getting pretty late, Imari... I'm thinking about heading to my dorm soon so I can see a couple of my friends off in the morning."[1]

1.	Hope this is alright to start wrapping it up, figured they could say good night and then we can plan when the next thread will be.

Imari sighed and tentatively leaned into Damien's embrace.  "I know, it's sad that the holidays are starting, but at least I've got friends here." she said as she looked up at him and winked.  "I don't think I'll be nearly as bored as I usually am." She stayed where she was for a moment before slowly standing up and turning to look at him.

"I'm glad we didn't stay for the ball Damien, this was a better idea by far." she said as she took his hand and just stood there, unsure what to do next, for he was still sitting down and she was standing in front of him. [1] As Imari looked into Damien's eyes she felt the room shift a little bit and she looked around, knowing the room was making a change.

She searched her recent thoughts and then looked down, "Oh no." she muttered as her face darkened with a blush once more.  The room had taken her unspoken wish and made it reality.  She slowly looked up to the ceiling above her head where the room had conjured a sprig of mistletoe.  If she could, she woudl of been beet red by now, but Imari was getting better at not being embarassed by things when she was around Damien.

"This room is better than I thought at reading desires." she muttered and hoped that Damien hadn't spotted it yet.  She knew she was grasping at straws, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for a 'real' kiss yet. 

1.	I hope you don't mind, but I figured this would make it easy to end the night

Damien snuggled into Imari's warmth, in the position where he could smell the sweet smell of her hair, she must have used a fruity conditioner or something like that. "I hope you won't be bored! We've got to go out and play in the snow!" He joked, a bright grin on his face.

"Me too," he replied, holding one hand as she stood up in front of him. It was late, so maybe she was getting tired as well and was ready to head off to bed. Damien was, and he wanted to be able to get back before his buddies showed up and interrogated him on his new object of affection.

He followed her gaze, and saw that the room had produced a little sprig on mistletoe... right above them. His heart thudded in his chest, was he supposed to kiss her now? Was she going to kiss him? Oh goodness, were they really going to kiss, for real?

He looked back down at her, meeting her eyes and noticing her obvious distress. He hoped to put it at ease when he leaned forward, capturing her soft lips with his. It was a sweet, gentle kiss; and probably the best kiss ever.[1]

1.	Cutest couple ever! Sorry, I'm totally fangirling over them right now!

Imari wrapped her arms around Damien and leaned into his shoulder.  She looked up at him and saw that he'd seen the mistletoe.  Her heart started beating frantically.  She watched as Damien leaned closer and placed his lips on hers.  She stalled for a moment, unsure of what to do, but then her instincts kicked in and she kissed him back.

After what seemed like forever, Imari pulled back, still with her arms around him and smiled.  "I liked that Mr. Reynolds." she said with a slight smirk, "But I need to get some sleep now." and finished with a pout. She summoned all her courage and placed a gentle kiss on his lips before leaving his embrace and heading towards the door.  "Good night Damien, I hope you sleep well." she told him as she slipped out the door and headed down the stairs before he could see how red her face was, once again.