[1]
Imari inhaled a deep breath as Damien clasped the necklace around her neck.  It was a moment she never, in her wildest dreams, thought she would be in.  When he leaned in and touched his forehead to hers, she couldn't help but let a lone tear slide down her cheek as she closed the distance and placed her lips on his.  Shifting her position on the ground - which was now soaking into her jeans and making her very cold - she wrapped her arms around his neck and broke the kiss off to look into his eyes.

"I.." she began, unsure of how to phrase this without sounding like a total newbie, "I don't want this to end." She said in a voice barely above a whisper.  Imari wasn't sure if he would realize what she was talking about.  For the past couple days all the thoughts in her head were about what was going to happen when the tournament was over and Damien went back home.  All she'd ever heard about long distance relationships was that they never worked out in the end.  She didn't want that to happen.  She was feeling things about this boy that she'd never thought she'd feel.... ever.

1.	Why can't real guys be like the made-up ones? And sorry, couldn't help it, it's Imari... she's a bit unpredictable at times.

They were getting pretty good at this whole adorable thing; the little acts that made Damien's heart pound in his chest, the touches that made his palms sweaty, the smiles that made him go crazy about her. It was a feeling unlike anything else; and he knew exactly how Imari felt right then.

He was here for the tournament, and that meant that at the end of this year; he would be returning to good old Salem, Massachusetts. A long way away from the school he was currently visiting. The thought of leaving tortured him at night; and drove a few of his roomates freaking crazy because he would stay up late and study to get his mind off of it.

On a few occasions, his buddies had chucked pillows, footballs, and random objects at him; always with a line that sounded something like, "I'm trying to fucking sleep here, you idiot," or the occasional; "Just because you have a girlfriend, doesn't mean you get special privileges to stay up and daydream about her!" Damien would roll his eyes, throw back whatever object had been turned into the projectile that night; and try to fall asleep on the uncomfortable thought of leaving.

But now, in the freezing cold snow, he tried to keep his mind from straying to those negative thoughts. "Neither do I," he said back, honestly meaning it. Even though he was only a junior in high school, Damien had found his match in Imari. She was always challenging him in her own way, even if she didn't realize it; and she brought out an overprotective side he didn't know he had. Some would say he had changed for the better; Damien would just grin and say that he was definitely head over heels for this girl.

"I hate to admit it, but I'm freezing my butt off out here." His teeth were chattering as he unwound his arms from Imari, leaning back a bit. "And I'm getting the feeling that hypothermia is setting in... what about you?"

Imari nodded slowly as she felt the loss as Damien took his arms away from her.  She felt so safe when he wrapped his arms around her.  "Yeah, I'm getting pretty cold, we should go back inside." She said almost regrettfully.  "I wouldn't want to get sick for the rest of the holiday." she said with a smile.  Imari got up slowly and brushed off the snow from her pants and held her hand out for him.  "Let's go."

Damien grinned and took Imari's hand; one glove on and one glove off. He had taken the other off to put the ring on that Imari had given him; and now he just looked like a dork so he pulled the other glove off so that he had both bare hands. He was going to put the other glove on, but he didn't want to cover up his Christmas present so soon.

Like he had done with the present, he accio-ed his bag and slung it on his shoulder; placing his wand back in it and wrapping an arm around Imari's waist as they walked back inside. "I think I won," he said, placing a chaste kiss on her forehead. His lips were freezing and his teeth chattering, but nothing beat spending time outside in the freezing cold. It reminded him of his much-loved Boston and Salem winters; and the fun times he'd had with his Dad in the snow on the Navy base he'd visited a handful of times before he got deployed on another tour.

"Hey, did you ever hear back about your nieces?" He didn't mean to sound insensitive, and he tried to keep his voice soft; not trying to push her in anyway. He cared about what was going on in her life, and he wanted to know if she was doing alright with the issue she and her sister had.

Imari thought for a moment before answering Damien, she wasn't sure that she'd processed her feelings about her mother's last letter home correctly.  "I asked if I could at least come visit once while they were there and my sister wasn't, but I didn't get the answer I wanted." she sighed.  Imari hated that her sister was so jealous of her magic that she was pushing her out of the family.

"I'd rather not talk about it though okay?" she said softly.  Thinking about the whole situation made her feel depressed and lonely even though she knew she wasn't. "It hurts to think about it." she said and looped her arm through his as they walked.

Damien pursed his lips, stupid question. That was a stupid question. He thought to himself as Imari said she'd rather not talk about it. Alright, good attempt at conversation Damien, new topic. But what was he supposed to talk about? It was rather difficult when you had this whole cross-continental romance[1] going on.

"I guess a new subject of conversation is in order then," he stated with a shrug. "Unicorns? You guys have those over here, we don't have a lot of them in Massachusetts. We have dragons, and no, I never got dragon pox if you were worried about that." Damien was rambling aimlessly, but he figured he'd hit a topic eventually.

"And I think I'm getting hypothermia, as I said before," he said, his lips still blue as they walked inside; but he was gradually warming up. "Funny story, well I think it's funny; anyways, my friends and I went up to this ski resort in New Hampshire last year... It was a trip for the Quodpot team, initiation for freshman; fun stuff like that. Long story short, I'd already gone through initiation, but one of the guys screwed up and thought I was a freshman too, so I got nabbed with the newbies. I ended up in the partially frozen lake for a second time, in only my pajamas. Now that was a very very cold experience."

"Do the Quidditch teams do initiations here? Or is that against the rules?" He asked, not knowing if Imari would know.

1.	I liked how they described them in the newsletter.

Imari was lost in thought for a moment and didn't hear his rambling until the last question and she snapped out of it.  "Oh, um... I don't think so, but I'm not sure.  Never really paid that much attention to the Quidditch teams here." she answered honestly.  When they finally were back inside the castle she stopped and looked at Damien, "Damien, I just remembered, I have something I need to catch up on... do you mind if I come find you later?" she said in a bit of a rush.

Truth was, now that her mind was on her nieces and how/if she was ever going to see them, she couldn't stop thinking about it.  "I'm sorry, thank you for the necklace, it's lovely." She kissed him lightly on the lips and then headed towards the Slytherin dorms without a backward glance.  She didn't know that this was unacceptable behavior in a relationships - - since she'd never been in one.  She kept going until she reached the portrait hole, said the password, walked silently past the chairs and couches and headed towards her room, which she was the only one in this holiday. 

Sitting on her bed she flipped through the picture album her mother had given her last Christmas and realized with a start that her mother had magically erased her sister from all the pictures.  Imari didn't know what else to do, so she lay back on her pillows and let the tears fall down her cheeks until she fell asleep.[1]

1.	I figured this would help with an idea of what Imari's feeling right now.  I'll get a post up in the next couple of days...