Xavier paced the immensive  gardens in the back yard of the Wentworth Manor. Though he had been given full reign of the mansion for the summer with barely anyone to look after him he still felt trapped and cabin fever was setting in. He had thoroughly enjoyed the road trip he had managed to take with Huck and Strellie but felt as though it had ended too quickly and his drunken adventures so far this summer had taken over most of his nights. However it was almost dusk and there was to be a full moon. Despite his usual lack of rules Arathorn had forbidden Xavier from leaving the mansion grounds. He was afraid of his grandson doing something stupid on such a dangerous night which had left Xavier with little to do.

Instead of giving into despair or plain boredom he had sent an owl to Strellie asking her to bare the boredom with him. He could show her the gardens and the many many rooms of the mansion, they could pretend she hadn't seen them all before but Xavier knew full well that they'd end up in the massive forest that lined the end of the mansion grounds. The servants often whispered about it, from what Xavier had gathered it was almost as dangerous as the forbidden forest back at school though his grandfather had neither confirmed or denied the claims. He figured he could dare Strellie to help him find out for themselves. Afterall what else were two teenagers supposed to do when grounded during the full moon?

Demitria had visited her cousins in Hogsmeade the night before and had had little sleep. After meeting with Fyetka, who she hadn't seen since Jaska and Katrin's wedding back in May, she had gone and pestered Vasily for a few hours. Of course, the Ukranian trouble-maker had not cared in the least. Although she had been in the tiny Wizarding town multiple times over the summer, it was usually with the other Slytherins and she had not seen her cousin. He had seemed honestly glad that her father, damn his soul (if he even had one anymore), had not decided to show his face for most of the summer. She had been sound asleep for most of the day, but her mother had woken her up around noon with loud music on the piano. Demitria had scowled, but drug herself out anyway. Her mother didn't take kindly to being ignored.

After an afternoon of dancing around her kitchen, Strellie felt much better. It had been awhile since she had been at home and just been rather... well for lack of a better word, normal. She had been in the midst of making a batch of cookies when Xavier's owl swooped through the window, scaring Manx. Her cat hissed at the large bird and leaped all  over the kitchen, knocking over the bottle of cinnamon. She had been lectured by her mother, but Darya cleaned up for her while the small Russian took a long bath and got ready to go to Xavier's.

It was freshly clean and smelling vaguely of sugar and cinnamon that Strellie found her friend pacing the vast gardens at Wentworth Manor. Being around the massive building was like being back in Russia, even down to the dark and foreboding forest that surrounded it. It made a shiver go down her spine. Her memories of the Frozen Forest were not pleasant.

"Xavier!" She said, waving her hand above her head. A soft smile appeared on her rosebud lips as she walked towards the much taller young man. She also  was not wearing heels. Demitria almost never was seen without heels that boosted her to the impressive height of 5'3". Without them, she was barely five feet and next to Xavier, she looked absolutely tiny. She reached up to give her friend a tight hug. She couldn't believe they had only been close for mere months. Honestly, she couldn't imagine life without Xavier Tawse.   

Xavier stopped his pacing and looked up at the sound of his voice, rushing forward to meet his friend half way. He indulged himself in her hug, holding her tight and spinning her around. After everything he had gone through in the past year - his mix up with Ayla, losing Fig as a friend, Hitting Maddie, his whirlwind romance with Bella and whatever happened over the Christmas break that had brought him and Strellie together in the first place - his friendship with Strellie had been the best thing to have happened to him.

He pulled back and looked her over, "Ye smell like cinnamon." He chuckled before taking her and leading her to a bench within the gardens. The sun was just moving down below the horizon and the first of stars were starting to sparkle, "Arathorn's got me unda house arrest." He growled softly glancing back at the mansion. The old man wasn't actually home, he was attending to some legal matters dealing with his company, only the house elves and a few servants were left inside.

"Too bad there's nuthin ta do aroun here." He gave her a mischievious grin, "Unless ye've got sumthin in mind fer two dumb kids onna full moon."

Demitria squeaked and held on tight as Xavier spun her around. Even though she was used to the gesture, she'd never been able to control the quick surprise that was always present when her feet left the ground. In public, she was usually pretty good at acting unfazed, but when it was just her and Xav... Decorum usually went out the window. Mostly.

When her feet touched the ground again, the Russian smoothed her shirt. "Yes, I was making cookies before I came," she said with a slight blush. After leaving Russia in disgrace, Demitria and Darya were left to mostly fend for themselves as Darya absolutely couldn't stand the sight of House Elves. In Russia they had always had muggle or low class servants, but in England it was highly looked down upon. Thus, they had both developed some interesting habits. Demitria's was her fondness for baking. Most of the school would have no idea (as she had no desire to make it public,) but Xavier was a different story. He knew just about everything... No. Everything.

"House arrest?" She continued, a skeptical pout on her rosebud lips. "Really Xav, what did you do this time? Or have you just been on house arrest the whole summer and your grandfather is unobservant enough for you to be gone for multiple weeks. Also, I'm she there's plenty we could do, although I have seen your manor quite a few times. Rather quaint." She winked. Of course, any stone mansion was the furthest thing from quaint, Demitria loved to tease her friend. She was glad no one except Deus had ever seen her "manor" in Llanina... She just let everyone assume that she lived in the stone castle that she remembered from childhood.

"Also, Xav dear, I'm sure you have some mischief planned. If you didn't you wouldn't smirk as much as you are."

Xavier liked this, just him and Strellie. She didn't have to pretend, or fake anything in front of him. She could be herself and Xavier didn't have to worry about being who he truly was around her. Other than Bella, Strellie had been the only person to see him cry and she had been there for him much more than the Dark sister ever had been. In retrospect he wasn't so sure having gotten mixed up with Bella had been such a good idea in the first place.

"Cookies? An ye didn' brin me any?" He gave her an expression of mock hurt but he couldn't hold it very long. He was just enjoying teasing her and doubted he'd actually want any cookies anyway. Over the summer he had developed a nasty penchant for beer and liquor, much more so than he had the summer before. If he wasn't careful he was going to find himself becoming an alcoholic real fast, which didn't look so good on a sixteen year old.

"Pah!" Xavier waved a hand in dismissal of being under house arrest. Arathorn had been surprisingly lax in his authority over his wayward grandson for the majority of the summer, never seeming to care where he went or what he did so long as it didn't land him on the front page of the Daily Prophet. He stayed out of Xavier's way for the most part and had only stepped in once or twice when the surly Slytherin had gotten in way over his head. Tonight however seemed to be different and while he hated being told what to do Xavier couldn't escape the fact that his grandfather seemed more on edge than he had ever seen him.

Xavier feigned hurt, "Mischief? Me? Neva." He gave her a wink and looked over at the forest, "I know yer not one fer dark an broodin forests but I've bin hearin some pretty crazy thins about thee place we jus gotta check it out." Xavier suddenly reminded himself of Figaro.

Demitria smiled up at Xav and shook her head in amusement. He wasn't fooling anyone with that hurt, baby-face of his. And no one on the entire planet could pout as well as she could, so there was no way he was going to make her believe that he actually wanted to eat what she had made. As a matter of fact, she hadn't seen him consume much of anything other than alcohol for the past few months... Maybe she should start force feeding him her muggle baking. Sure, she wasn't an angel herself (the men in her life were terrible influences), but at least she ate.

She noticed that her face had fallen slightly thinking about that, so she pushed it aside. No, she was not going to let herself worry tonight. This was the first night she had had alone with Xav in awhile and they weren't even the slightest bit tipsy. Well, at least she wasn't. She couldn't smell any alcohol on him, but that didn't mean much. She did, however smell a hint of smoke. Even though she thought the habit disgusting, on Xavier, it fit. Was it bad that she was starting to like the mixture of alcohol and cigarettes more than cinnamon and jonquils? If only when it meant her darker counterpart was around.

She was just about ready to start laughing at his mocking dismissal of his grandfather's rules and his fake innocent face, but the cheery sound was cut off surely and quickly when he mentioned the forest. Now was the time to scowl and she did. Darkly.

"Xavier..." she paused slightly. She rarely used his full name when speaking directly to him, preferring pet names or diminuitive forms, but now she did. Her boggart wasn't exactly forests... but that didn't mean she had to like them even the tiniest bit. "I..." Her voice tapered off again. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Oh Merlin, she could sneak out of her house, set her sister-in-law's closet on fire, strip in front of the Slytherins, face her father, and drink like her older brothers, but she couldn't go into a forest? How rediculous, she thought to herself.

She opened her eyes, the ghostly green flat. "Fine. I'll go with you, but I swear Xavier Tawse, if we see anything that resembles a dog, I will begin to cry." And she wasn't kidding in the slightest. Ever since she realized she wasn't really a witch, just an awkward mixture of muggle and veela, the thought of crups had scared her beyond words. No wonder they hadn't stopped the night they haad killed Tanja. Both of them  had muggle and the wizarding creatures were made to listen to purebloods only. 

Demitria's pale hand drifted up to touch the scar on her cheek.   

Xavier hated the way the dark scowl looked on his best friends face and he wasn't too fond of the fact that he had been the one to put it there. The use of his full name actually made him wince and for a moment he thought he had gone too far. He knew all about the attack in the forest outside her castle. It had been one of the first true things he had learned about her. He thought back to that night by the fire in the Slytheirn common room, the way his calloused fingers had felt running along the smooth bare skin on her scarred back. The memory sent a shiver of delight down his spine and he push it away.

When she finally conceded to go with him a smile crossed his lips. He placed his hand on her cheek and gently ran his thumb over the scar there, "No worries luv, I'll keep ye safe." With a dark twinkle in his eye he took her hand and began to lead her through the massive garden and the large expanse of lawn behind the estate. By the time they reached the line of the forest the sun had dipped past the horizon and the stars were starting to come out.

At the tree line Xavier stopped, he wasn't sure if it was too dark to see the smirk that curled his lips or not but he still turned to Demetria looking as mischievous as ever. Sitting under one of the trees was a lantern and a woven picnic basket. He lit the lantern and picked up the basket, "Figur'd we migh as well eat while we're here." The placement of the items was enough to show that he had already planned this all out.

He once again took her hand and started to lead her in, "One o' thee cooks was sayin there's a rare magical flower tha' grows in this forest tha' only blooms durin thee full moon. I wanned ta find it fer ye." As they walked deeper Xavier adjusted the basket hooked on his elbow feeling the extra heft he knew was resting in the bottom of it.

After making sure he had packed a stellar meal and a bottle of wine Xavier had slipped in one of Arathorn's prized muggle revolvers full loaded with six silver bullets. There was rumor that a pack of wild werewolves actually lived in the large forest, which was one of the reasons no one ever went into it but he couldn't get an answer either way out of his grandfather. Whether the rumor was true or not Xavier wasn't about to take the chance and go in unarmed. Having just turned sixteen he couldn't take his wand with him but thankfully for him his grandfather owned a fully stocked armoury that required no magical skill to use.

Demitria could tell that she had bothered Xavier by her obvious discomfort at the thought of going into the forest. She thought of apologizing, but found she didn't care. She wasn't going to lie... the thought of seeing anything remotley dog-like in that forest was almost enough to make her cry already. She loved her quiet stars and growing plants and most of all, her music, but she hated dogs.

Feared Dogs.

And it was a full moon out. Which could mean about a hundred and fifty different were-beings were out and about in an unexplored forest. This was not going to end well. She found herself agreeing without really thinking about it. Xav's blatant dissapointment did make her feel bad... somewhere. It was enough that she took her proffered hand and followed him through the grounds to the edge of the trees.

The Russian scoffed as she saw the basket and lamp. No wonder he had been put out! He had obviously been planning this for sometime. "Really, Xav? Dinner in a magical forest?" She looked up at him and smirked, her rosy lips turning upward. "How charming. Then all of the Acromantulas and Forest Trolls can join us for a spot of tea, as you British are constantly saying."

Her eyes then fell on the forbidding mass of trees in front of her and she couldn't help the shudder. She unconsiously squeezed her best friend's hand tighter. Oh Merlin. Help her, she was such a coward. She felt the grass under her feet begin to sway to touch her skin. She looked down and realized that her anxiety must have been coming off in Veela Charm and was affecting the plants around her.

Mimi was distracted as Xavier mentioned the flower. "A flower? For me?" She couldn't help but blush. "Two questions, love: Do you have any idea where this flower is? And do you have any idea how hard it's probably going to be to get?" The light was fading, but she could still see fairly well.   

Xavier couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction to the picnic dinner he had packed for them. Any other girl would have assumed he was trying to seduce them, that was what he loved about Strellie. She found it amusing that he would go through all the trouble. The funny thing was, he wouldn't have done it for any other girl. The closest he had gotten to being romantic was giving Kit a sword for Valentine's. He just wasn't a romantic kind of guy and yet with Strellie, his best friend, romantic gestures came with ease. He supposed because they didn't mean anything with her.

He was about to cut her off by saying he wasn't British but Strellie was the only person who could actually call him out on that. While his mother was Scottish (as was the entire Tawse side of his family) Xavier had been born and bred in London and had only embraced his Scottish heritage when he denounced his father.

He pulled her along to try and reach a clearing he knew wasn't that far from where they were. He had only come into the forest once before and hadn't made it much farther than the clearing but he had found a plant that he had a feeling was the moonlight flower they were looking for. Once they were finished dinner he'd be able to grab it for her without much trouble.

He turned to her to comment about knowing exactly where the flower was in his usual cocky manner but paused halfway to getting his mouth open. She seemed to glow in the soft moonlight that was barely peaking through the canopy above. His eyes widened and his body ached. Having felt this sensation once or twice before while spending time with her he quickly tore his gaze away from her and let go of her hand for just a moment, "Darlin' I knew yer a lil frighten'd but could ye cut out tha' veela shite?" his voice was choked and heavy with unspoken emotion.

He cleared his throat and lead her to the clearing this time without holding her hand and placed the basket in the middle before answering her, "An it jus so 'appens I do know wher ta find yer flower, but less eat firs." He pulled a blanket out of the top of the basket and laid it on the soft underbush of the clearing before pulling out the containers of a three course meal as well as the bottle of wine.

As Xavier continued to lead her through the forest, she began to become entranced by the trees closing around her. In one way, the forest was so beautiful. The grass seemed to lean towards her. The late summer flowers turned their heads to her like she was light. The trees crackled as she passed. She heard a breeze drift around them. Charm was distracting, and she knew it made everything dangerously beautiful, but the forest looked so much better like this. Demitria's breathing calmed and she held on to Xavier's hand loosely.

She could tell that her best friend was about to give some snarky retort when he stopped short. Stopped walking, stopped talking... Just stopped. He looked dazed, entranced even. The Slytherin Princess looked up at him slightly confused. His usually bright blue eyes looked darker than she had seen them in months. "Xav, wha-"

He interrupted her question.

"Darlin' I knew yer a lil frighten'd but could ye cut out tha' veela shite?"

Strellie felt as if she had been slapped across her face. Hard. The artificial sheen that she had placed around her evaporated faster than a puddle in a desert. Her mouth fell open slightly at the sheer shock of it all. What had she been doing? Humans, especially hormonal teenage males, were the creatures that were affected the most by glamours. That had been lesson number one with her Babushka.

Use it to your advantage... She had been told, but how... how could she have let  herself use it around Xavier? It was the worst offense she could have committed.

He let go of her hand and started walking again. Mimi took a deep breath and followed cautiously behind. There was no more warm glow to light her path, not even a warm hand. The reached a clearing soon after where the other Slytherin laid down the basket. When he spoke, his voice sounded tentative. It was like a second slap to the face, to make sure the first one wasn't forgotten. It hurt worse than a hand in some ways. He wasn't looking at her. He wasn't looking at her.

Oh Merlin. She was so stupid.

She sat down next to the basket and reached out for Xavier's hand. "Xav. I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking." Getting an apology from the Russian was a rare occurrence, but even if she hadn't said anything, the ghostly green of her eyes said enough. She sighed and began to move away. "So what did you pack to eat?"

She was quiet after that.   

Xavier looked at her almost surprised when she touched his hand and apologized. For a long moment he tried to remember why she was apologizing. He suddenly realized that she was saying sorry for the glamour she had put around herself and the affect it had on him. He hadn't meant to be such a dick about it but he was terrified of the feelings it brought up inside him. He had felt the darkness stir within him, one that wanted to take Strellie for his very own. Normally that would be a feeling a sixteen year old boy would be more than just familiar with but Xavier had spent so much time pushing away his feelings for his best friend that having them brought so vivaciously to the surface, he couldn't help himself. He violently pushed them away again and ended up hurting her in the process.

He groaned slightly and when she pulled away he wrapped his arm around her shoulder pulling her tight into him and placed a brotherly kiss on her temple, "Ah darlin' ye don' need ta apologize, I was bein' an arse." He gave her one of his usual winning smiles hoping to Salazar she wouldn't ask why he had been so vehement about her dropping her enchantment.

Hoping to put it behind him he opened the food in front of them and started to dish it out. The basket had been enchanted to keep the food warm for them while they made their way into the woods, as well as keeping the bottle of wine chilled, "Only thee finest Wentwuth money cin provide." He gave her a cheeky grin. Strellie was the only person who knew that he'd be inheriting a right fortune when he graduated, "I'm told there's some traditional Russian food mixed as well. Cook seems ta thin' I'm takin' ye onna date an' wanted ta impress ye." He popped the cork on the bottle of wine and poured them both a glass then raised his own, "Ta thee best friend I've eva had."

Demitria pulled her tiny feet out of her shoes and ran them through the chilly summer grass around them. It felt good under her toes and it was a welcome distraction from her betrayal of Xavier's trust. Nevertheless, her darker best friend didn't seem to care. Only moments after pulling her hands away, a look of disbelief came over him and Demitria found herself being tugged into his arms. She laughed brightly at the silly gesture. If anyone beside Huck or her family members would have tried that, she would have slapped them for manhandling her. Not Xavier.

Relaxing for the first time since Xav had mentioned the forest, she leaned against him as he unpacked the basket. "Trying to woo me? Good luck with th-"

Suddenly, her entire face brightened. "Pelmeni? They made Pelmeni? And Ikra blinis?" This time it was Demitria that hugged Xavier tightly. She rattled off a few unintelligible sentences in a mixture of Russian, Ukranian, and English. To most people, this display wouldn't have made sense. Pelmeni and Blinis were two of the most common Russian foods, eaten by peasants and royalty alike. But Demitria hadn't been home in over seven years. She hadn't stepped a foot into Russia since they had left Moscova in disgrace. Paris, Egypt, Japan, Germany... She had been most everywhere in the world with her mother, but never Russia. The only time her mother ever made anything traditional, it was for a party and it was always the fanciest dishes.

Never Blinis and Pelmeni.

With a vibrant blush on her cheeks, Demitria sat back down and said, "I guess I take that back. If you had been trying to woo me, it would have worked without a doubt. Too bad I already love you unconditionally anyway." The last part was said with a cheeky wink and a bright laugh.

"What other suprises do you have in there?" She asked, her long fingers brushing through the remaining contents of the basket. They hit something slick. "Xav?" She looked inside and saw the gun. "What is that?"

Having been raised isolated and a pureblood, muggle weapons were not on her radar at all.

Xavier chuckled when she freaked out about the food. He made a mental note to thank Cook. For a moment he contemplated actually wooing her. The way her body felt wrapped around his, the way the moonlight sparkled in her eyes. If he was stupid enough to actual make on move on his best friend this certainly would have been the perfect time to do so. However the moment soon passed and her curious little hands came across Xavier's insurance policy. He froze for a moment sure that she was ready to call the whole thing off. His body relaxed when he realized she had no idea what the revolver actually was.

Xavier took one of the cloth napkins and tossed it over the gun, "Neva mind tha' luv, mustta bin left ova from thee lass time Arathorn used this." Xavier almost laughed at his own lie. The thought of Arathorn actually using the picnic basket was just hilarious not to mention completely ridiculous. The man didn't have a single romantic bone in his body.

Xavier dished out the food she had been so excited about and poured the wine. They sat in comfortable comraderie, eating and chatting. They reminisced about the road trip they had taken with Huck and the one time the boys had gotten completely pissed drunk and messed with a few muggles heads. Xavier's infatuation with her only seemed to be growing the more intimate time they spent together and over the course of the meal he had ended up sitting directly beside her.

With a pause in the conversation, their bellies full of delicious food and wine Xavier took a deep breath and began to lean in, deciding that he might as well just throw it all in and make his move. He had barely moved an inch when -

AAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The cry chilled him to the bone and Xavier instantly reached for the basket pulling the revolver from it's hidden place under the cloth napkin and aimed it at the other side of their forest clearing where two glowing eyes were suddenly very clear, "Ah feck!"

Demitria felt at home there in the brilliant light of the full moon. It washed everything around them in a soft glow once the light of the sun had completely disappeared. Her veela charm had dissipated into nothing, but she still felt an odd weight between herself and Xavier. It was like the air around them knew something was going to happen and she had not been let in on the secret.

She let her fingers glide over the slick silver of the metal once more. It looked so familiar. She was positive that Stone Manor had had something similar hanging on a wall, but it had been larger. She could vaguely remember Maxim stealing once or twice...

"Neva mind tha' luv, mustta bin left ova from thee lass time Arathorn used this."

She gave Xavier a skeptical glance. There was no way that was the truth, but instead of pushing him to tell her what it was, she sat down. If he brought it along, he must have had a reason for it. There was no use in pestering him about it.

The dinner passed slowly and calmly, the two of them simply talking and laughing. There was no rush. They had all night with no obligations. They weren't partying and risking getting caught. They weren't driving recklessly down muggle roads. They weren't hammered and messing with muggles. For a moment, Strellie wished that Huck were there with them, but then stopped. Sure, they were attached at the hip, but she couldn't imagine the third Slytherin there. No, this was right with just her and Xavier. If Huck were there, the entire atmosphere would have been different.

Instead, Strellie found herself sitting right next to Xav, her blonde curls a waterfall over his arm as she rested her head against his shoulder. The two of them were talking quietly, a small contended smile on the Russian's face. She looked up at her best friend for a moment and suddenly found herself caught. His gaze was dark again, but she was not exuding charm. For a moment, it was like she couldn't breathe. His face began to dip towards her slightly--

And the sky was ripped open by a piercing howl.

Demitria froze like a deer caught in a Lumos Maxima. Her mind was swirling with a thousand thoughts. What was going on? What had almost happened? What was happening? Like a flash beside her, Xavier had the silver object in his hand and was pointing it straight at two bright yellow eyes that shone across the clearing.  She vaguely heard the muttered expletive from Xavier. Her ghost green eyes were locked on the emerging form of the werewolf.  Growling deeply, it slunk from the trees. She could feel it's eyes on her as she was closer and a small bit of charm had begun to wind its way into the air.

"Xavier." She could barely get that one word out. She now recognized the silver object for what it was. He had known there were Werewolves in the forest! But all of her objections were pushed to the back of her mind as the wolf raised its head to the sky, howled, and began to run at the tiny Russian.

BANG!

Xavier squeezed the trigger as hard as he could, his blood burning through his veins with adrenaline, his heart pounding out of his chest. While he should have been focused on his survival through the next few minutes he couldn't help but berate himself for having put Strellie in such a situation. Unfortunately he hadn't taken into account the extra weight of silver bullets and his shot had gone wide.

The beast at the other side of the clearing growled again, stepping out of the trees and into their clearing. It's fur was mangy and missing in some spots, showing gnarled scar tissue, it's jaws were bloody and it's paws were muddy. If Xavier didn't know any better he'd think the creature lived in the forest even when it was human. It slowly stalked toward them and he readied the gun again, trying to think of the extra weight this time and trying to bear in mind how many bullets he had. Before he could get another shot in though the creature leapt toward them and Xavier once again screamed at himself for not having moved in front of Strellie.