“You need to stop or I’m going to send you home,” Jordyn leaned back to her perfectly postured position from leaning on the table and tried not to smile as she pretend to reprimand him.  Honestly, though.  He was really trying to make her blush and that was just… there were so many younger years around and she was sure someone was going to hear. 

If it was the wrong younger year everyone would know and someone on the Hogwarts Howler would ruin her forever because it would be in print… and even if it held just about as much journalistic respect and credibility as the The Daily Prophet during the second wizarding war (one of those random facts she remembered from the days of history of Magic). 

But even if that was true, Jordyn was not going to risk it.  So, she took a prissy last sip of her cocoa and delicately wiped her mouth with her napkin.  She was able to breathe in through her nose and take the moment to let him hang on.  After all, he could use a little bit of a cool down, obviously.

Her eyes flicked upward, regarding him as he said it was up to her when they left.  Well, she took her sweet time putting the napkin down and reaching up to fix her hair a little bit.   If she’d brought a compact, she would have checked her make up just to prolong it.  Without one, she just wiped a little at the corner of one of her eyes. 

Clearing her throat a little, Jordyn turned her head and looked back at him – pretending she didn’t realize he was still there, she really tried to keep her smile muted.  “I guess we can go now,” she shimmied her shoulders just a little and stood from her chair, tightening her cloak around herself (very purposefully) and waited for him to offer his hand. 

Go? - Yes, it was definitely time to go. Not a single part of Jai wanted to have a run-in with his sister Lydie, who would also be here today. She’d be surrounded by a gaggle of fifth-years, gossiping about whatever latest teen scandal had hit the Howler. No, Lydie was the last person that Jai and Jordyn needed to run into at this moment.

Luckily as they began walking hand in hand, Jai spotted Lydie meandering into Honeydukes and was able to duck into a narrow alley-way between shops before she could spy them. He also yanked Jord in there, so that she would also escape Lydie’s nosy gaze. “Sorry about that,” Jai whispered. “I saw the little monster formerly known as Lydie.” Jai was grateful that Jordyn had been so patient and kind with his family (even Lydie) while she’d spent time with them over summer break. He didn’t want to ruin that streak.

He turned away from where he’d been watching Lydie and faced Jordyn, closer than he’d been to her in months. He couldn’t help it - Jai wrapped his fingers around the base of her head and pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss. It was a kiss four weeks in the making.

There had been no intention of being yanked that was for certain.   The squeak she emitted when the sharp tug brought her into the alley was decidedly not Head Girl worthy and her heart beat rapidly in her chest.  Slightly cross, as it had been entirely unexpected, Jordyn turned her pinched face upward, “what’s this about?” 

Never mind the fact that they were in an alleyway and she was fairly certain she’d heard some rubbish bins rattling which never meant good things.  Feral cats or rats held zero appeal to Jordyn.  She preferred her pets clean, which is part of the reason why she didn’t have any.  There had always been that nagging concern about feeding a pet.  The rattling stopped though, which allowed Jordyn to pay attention to Jai who explained he saw his sister.

Lydie obviously knew they were dating at this point.  Jordyn had been to his family’s home during the summer – she wouldn’t have been there for any other reason.  “Why does that matter?” she asked, still confused about the whole thing.  As though it really mattered!  Honestly, was he embarrassed of being back at Hogsmeade or something?  It wasn’t as though Jordyn could really do anything about that… she was going to ask, but she didn’t have a chance. 

Jordyn melted a little bit – the sensation of missing kissing and enjoying it sort of fused together and her fingers reflexively closed around his shirt.  Finding the motivation to pull away a little – to breathe, Jordyn licked her lips and sighed.  “Was this just an excuse to pull me into an alley?” she laughed, slightly husky, “because you’re going to shatter the illusion of my reputation.” 

"Why does that matter?"

Jai hadn't meant anything by pulling her into the alley, and he felt like he made his answer pretty clear once they started kissing. It was no secret that Lydie was an obnoxious gossip... and what he wanted more than anything right now was some privacy with his girlfriend. This alleyway was as close as they were going to get, and Jai certainly didn't want his little sister to figure that out.

The kissed ended with Jordyn pulling away, and Jai slowly swam back to reality. He was lost in a haze of Jordyn, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. He never thought he would be capable of confidently pulling a girl into an alley for a passionate snog, but evidently it was possible. As she spoke he watched her lips, waiting for an opening to push his against them again. Jai ran his fingers through her hair, stroked the nape of her neck. It felt so good to touch her again. He didn't realize how much he'd missed it, though he knew that he missed it a lot.

"Was this just an excuse to pull me into an alley? ... Because you're going to shatter the illusion of my reputation."

Smirking, Jai declined to answer and instead made a trail of kisses from her ear down to her collarbone and back again. "But what about my reputation?" Jai murmured against her cheek, leaving another smooch there. He held her face in his hands and pulled away to look at her with a goofy smile on his face. He sighed contentedly. "You're so pretty."

Jordyn squirmed when Jai planted a kiss on her cheek and asked about his reputation.  It made her laugh, considering, and she returned the affectionate little kiss.  “Are you saying that being seen snogging your incredibly successful seventh year head girl girlfriend is damaging to your reputation?” she looked up at him with teasing eyes, wrinkling her nose at him. 

“At least I have to be a role model for the young ones,” she pointed out with a little laugh.  “You have no such obligations, I think.”  She knew, really.  As one of the youngest people in his office, probably in any office, in the entire ministry it was probably expected.  Not that a seventh year girl wasn’t sort of expected to have the same… but she was supposed to be like an ambassador.  Ambassadors didn’t make out in alleyways.

At the very least, they didn’t get caught. 

Jordyn hoped they would be that lucky.  Taking a deep breath, she laughed slightly as he complimented her.  “And smart, and talented, and ambitious…” she trailed off at the end, shoving her hands into his pockets – since it was a little chilly.  “But, you’re not half bad,” she added, “what being handsome, and smart, and successful.”  It was all true, naturally. 

Pressing her lips together, Jordyn sighed thoughtfully.  “We should get some chocolate.” 

“Are you saying that being seen snogging your incredibly successful seventh year head girl girlfriend is damaging to your reputation?”

"Of course not," Jai responded immediately, smiling as he continued to kiss every spot of skin he could access. "I'm saying not being seen snogging my incredibly successful" - kiss - "and beautiful" - kiss - "and sexy" -kiss - "seventh year head girl girlfriend would be damaging to my reputation." He smoothed his thumb against her hipbone, his eyes twinkling. Jai really didn't think he was suave, but somehow Jordyn brought it out in him. He gave her another snog just for good measure. Soon enough he'd have to part from those lips again, 'til the next Hogsmeade weekend, which was eons away.

He laughed at her confidence, feeling proud that she didn't slink away and tell him he was wrong. There were sides of Jordyn that could be like that. He pressed his forehead against hers while he laughed and wrapped his arm around her once he realized she was getting cold. Perhaps she was right- the younger students didn't need to see them sucking face in alleyways. They would come to that discovery one day on their own, unfortunately, and Jai decided they didn't have to be the ones to ignite that fire.

"But, you're not half bad... what being handsome, and smart, and successful."

The assertion Jai had been feeling before in his smoothness was instantly overcome with bashfulness, as it always was when he received compliments. Jai's self esteem wasn't particularly high; he knew he was good at certain things, but didn't feel like those certain things were very important. It was only recently that he had begun to see their value. "It sounds like we're a good pair, then," he said finally, looking ahead. With his arm still around her, he gave in and led them out of the alleyway. They rejoined the pedestrians on the sidewalk, and thankfully enough it didn't look like anyone had seen them in their brief moment of intimacy.

"We should get some chocolate."

Although she couldn't see his face ,Jai couldn't help it -- he smirked, then laughed. They had just drank up some frozen hot chocolate, and now she wanted more. "One day you're going to turn into a chocolate bar," Jai said. Then he whispered in her ear "And then I might have to eat you." There was a hint of a raunchy double entendre there, but it was up to Jordyn to figure out whether or not he'd done it on purpose (if she even caught on).