“Oh my gosh, yes!” Vianna giggled delightedly as Airi began to list all of the wonderfully cliche girly things they could do. Though the Gryffindor wasn’t usually one to paint her nails or do many ‘girl things’, it didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy them. She just never really had the right company to practice these things with. It rather amazed her how she’d had Airi here all this time but had never really thought of any of this before.

Vince ignored Ned’s comment and grinned stupidly at the newcomers, scooting over to give them room to sit down. Since Ned had already proceeded to make himself comfortable next to Vince, Victor decided to sit on the opposite side of the table instead. Right next to Airi, of course, because why would Merlin have any mercy on the sweet girl?

And much to Airi’s misfortune, Victor didn’t just ignore her as he normally would once he sat down. Instead, he had focused his attention on her, and didn’t fail to notice her useless attempts at freeing her bag from the table. He raised an eyebrow at this. “Mondai, what are you doing?” #judgingyou

“So sarcastic already, Ned?” was Vianna’s response to Ned’s morning greeting. She took a sip of her pumpkin juice absentmindedly, blue eyes examining the boy curiously. Huh. He actually looked cleaned-up. Not that Ned usually walked around looking like he just rolled out of bed a-la-Vince, but it was obvious he had made an effort to look specially nice that morning. Vianna almost worried that perhaps her own clothes were too casual (just black skinny jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved henley shirt under a black leather jacket). But then she remembered she was just hanging out with good ol’ Ned. He was just taking her out because she’d lost the dare. Not because he seriously meant to date her or anything.

Right?
RIGHT?!
To this day, Vianna was still a little confused about what had happened at the party, though she’d made a decision to dismiss it as her being paranoid or something of the sort.

"It'll be great," Airi said, just managing to sound normal, even as Victor took the seat next to her, because she deserved this torture, really.

This was it, Airi was going to die, right there, right now of absolute mortification, it was a shame she was going to die so young, she'd had so much to offer the world. Airlia couldn't for the life of her understand why Victor had chosen to sit next to her, after all there was a perfectly good spot next to Ned or even on the other side of Vianna. He was probably doing it to torture her.

"M-my purse is stuck," Airi explained, her eyes still glued to the black little bag that was causing her so much trouble. She wanted to talk with Victor, really she did, but after the events of the party and the kiss, she was horribly confused and had no idea how to act around him. The stupid git, why did he have to go and make things so complicated? Airi was torn, on one hand she wanted to hex him to next tuesday, on the other hand she wanted to song him senseless.


"Don't act like you don't enjoy it Vianna," Ned grinned, grabbing an apple from the table and taking a large bite of the perfectly ripe fruit. He, unlike Airi was a master at causal flirting, and even sitting here, munching an apple and with her brothers nearby, he intended on charming Vianna's skirt off, not literally because was not a pig.... At least not all the time.

"You look pretty today Vi," Ned said, discreetly wiping his mouth and giving the young girl an appreciative once over. She didn't just look pretty, she looked hot, very hot actually, but Ned was trying to keep comments like that to himself, at least until he was out of Victor's arm length.

“Hmm.” Victor dropped his gaze from Airlia’s uneasy features and to her bag - apparently the object keeping her there - instead. He knew perfectly well she was desperately trying to escape, the poor girl wasn’t very subtle, and Victor had no intention of helping her out of her misery. “How troublesome for you.” He looked at the girl again, a serene smile on his face.

Perhaps, maybe, he was secretly getting a kick out of seeing her so terribly uneasy. And he knew perfectly well the reason behind it - the same reason he hadn’t seen her since that night. And in all honesty, he was just surprised she remembered still. He’d been certain everything after they sat on the couch together would’ve been a blank for her. Perhaps he should use stronger firewhiskey next time.


Vianna rolled her eyes at Ned’s comment. “It’s too early still for so much sass,” she declared half-teasingly as she pulled the goblet away from her lips to place back on the table.

At Ned’s following words, Vianna smiled genuinely. Just because she didn’t often get along with the boy didn’t mean she didn’t appreciate compliments. “Really? Thanks, Hall. You look nice too,” she replied, grateful for the kind words but obviously not taking them with as much emotion as she would’ve if the compliment had come from Peter instead.

Anyway.
Now that Ned was finally here, Vianna had no desire to lounge about wasting time. She had a date to survive, and the sooner they were done with it, the better. She was already dreaming of heading back up to the girls’ dormitories and returning to bed. “All ready to go, then?”

With a groan of agitation, Airi released the straps of her stubbornly stuck purse, it was as if the thing had a mind of its own, the way it desperately clung to the table leg. Airi knew she should have just kept holed up in her dorm, if she had, she wouldn't have and to deal with the incredible awkwardness that she now faced. The worst of it was, none of the others seemed even remotely aware of what was going on between the Slytherin and Ravenclaw.

She looked up briefly at Victor's uncaring words, her mouth slightly agape. What was wrong with him? He must not have been hugged enough as a a child. "You really get a kick out of watching others wriggle and squirm, don't you?" Airi asked, her incredulity and annoyance with his chevalier attitude giving her the courage to speak up. This was it, she was going to hex him.

At this violent thought, Airi remembered something that would have saved her life ages ago. She was a witch, she could literally could use magic to untangle her purse. Pulling her wand from behind her ear, and with a quick flick, the unstoppable knot unfurled itself and Airi with a small sigh of relief, took it up into her arms.


"Vianna, sass is like cold pizza, it's never too old for it," Ned replied, snorting at Vianna's illogical logic. Ned and Vianna's teasing arguments were one of Ned's favorite parts of their friendship, she unlike so many other girls, was always eager to challenge whatever notion he had set in his mind, and unlike so many other girls, she had the cleverness and the energy to back herself up.

Ned smirked as vianna returned the compliment, he shrugged with pretend modesty. "What can I say, I'm #blessed," Ned said, looking up to the heavens with a pious look on his face that had no business being on his face.

Ned finished off his apple and took a long cool drink of water, he was actually very health conscious, and tried to start off his mornings with fruits and water rather than the sugary sweets or the meaty man breakfasts that the others so enjoyed.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Ned said, a little annoyed that Vianna had taken the reins as he had wanted to be the one calling the shots, nonetheless, he was pleased by her enthusiasm.

Getting up from the table, Ned unconsciously felt for his pocket with the tickets to make sure they were still there, yep, still safe. Oh, he was going to be worried about these things all day.

Victor was almost amused by Airlia’s accusation. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Cute, how easily she deciphered his cruel nature. The boy watched quietly as the girl’s features filled with a sort of realization before she pulled out her wand and did what she should’ve done minutes ago.

“And you figured it out all on your own.” Congratulations Mondai, you’ve realized you’re a witch.
Victor couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed, though; he’d kind of hoped her struggle would have lasted a little longer. It was entirely too amusing to watch her little face give away all the terror and annoyance she felt inside.

“I suppose this is the part where you run off and I don’t see you again for another week,” the boy pointed out casually as he poured himself a glass of water. And though he was obviously addressing Airlia, his blue eyes were watching Ned and Vianna instead. Airlia might’ve been a pleasant distraction, but the boy hadn’t forgotten about his earlier intentions.



Vianna rolled her eyes but smiled with amusement as Ned accepted her compliment with the precise amount of arrogance she had expected. “Yeah, blessed in the art of being a royal pain in the rear,” the girl muttered under her breath, pushing her half-finished plate aside and finishing off her pumpkin juice just as Ned got up from his seat.

“I’ll see you guys later,” the girl said to the other three still sitting at the table, flashing them a smile that, had they not known her, would’ve left them thinking she was actually eager to go on this date.

Vince merely nodded his head and dismissed them, while Victor gave a little wave and a genuine smile that naively let his sister think he was completely okay with everything that was going on. He'd wait until the other two were completely out of sight before beginning the mission.

“Where to, then, Hall?” asked Vianna as she joined Ned’s side and the two kids became nothing more than silhouettes in the distance.

"Incredibly so," Airi said, rolling her eyes at the delighted manner that Victor had taken her slight. At least he was honest about his perverse pleasure in others pain, though she still found it disconcerting.

At his patronizing tone, Air had to clutch her purse to physically stop herself from hitting him, because she was dangerously close.
Boys weren't supposed to randomly kiss their girl friends, wander off and then treat them like this the next time they met. It just won't done! "You make it sound like I'm some helpless thing," Airi said passive aggressively, finally looking Victor in the eye.

Victor's casual words sent Airi's stomach into uncomfortable knots. The fact that he could read her so easily always made her uncomfortable, especially now, because it was him that she was trying to so hard to deceive.
Wait, he'd actually noticed her disappearing act? Since when was her absence something Victor was actually conscious of? Usually he barely seemed to be aware when she was around. "N-no, I'm not running off anywhere, and I was very busy this week," Airi said, nervously tucking back her wavy hair and pouring herself another cup of tea. No, she would show Victor, she would sit right there next to him, and she would be just as casual and calm as he was.

Airi smiled at Vianna and Ned as the couple went on their way. She was kind of on Ned's side with this one, and was hoping that the two would come back as something more than just friends.


"Well... First thing, we've got a portkey appointment to keep," Ned said, taking Vianna by the wrist (now that they were out of Victor's and Vince's line of sight Ned felt comfortable enough to do that much) and leading her through the Entrance hall and out the onto the grounds. The portkey was set up near the old Groundskeeper's hut, and should be in the shape of an old, deflated football.

"Soo.. Wanna guess what I've got in store tonight?" Ned teased, nudging Vianna's shoulder with his own in an affectionate, playful manner. He couldn't wait to show her the tickets, Ned knew how much Vianna loved Quidditch and this match was supposed to be a fierce one. He just hoped it wouldn't last too long, he like too get back to Hogwarts at a somewhat reasonable hour.

Victor returned his gaze in Airlia’s direction as she complained with passive aggression. Aww, she was so amusing when she stood up for herself. Look at that, she was even making eye contact! “I think ‘helpless’ is a fitting word for someone who can’t even complete the simple task of walking to her common room by herself,” he replied simply, blue eyes locked on the girl’s brown ones. He didn’t want to miss a single twitch or sign of uneasiness from her irritated features.

Right. Busy. Pfft.
Victor felt tempted to make another sly remark to let the girl know just how well he knew her real reason for disappearing, but decided he couldn’t waste time getting distracted with the wonderful task of torturing Airlia. He had important matters to tend to. Like stalking Ned and Vianna on their date.

“Excuse me, I have some things I need to take care of.” Without awaiting approval or even acknowledgement from his company, Victor stood and dismissed himself from the table.

“Later,” Vince muttered absentmindedly before getting up and going his own way. “See you around, Airi.”



Vianna raised an eyebrow at Ned. Portkey appointment? Now she was curious. “Where are we portkeying to?” she asked, her blue eyes beginning to sparkle with that childlike curiosity that was so typical of her. She watched as Ned took her wrist (since when was she a child that needed guiding? Hmph) but made nothing of it, following the boy’s lead toward the Groundskeeper’s hut while wondering what on earth Ned had schemed to put her through during this date. Maybe he’d take her to play paintball or something, that’d be pretty cool.

As Ned asked her to guess what he had planned, Vianna’s curious expression turned more thoughtful. “Hmmm… A trip to your favourite gentlemen’s club?” she guessed with a cheeky grin. She teased, but in all honesty she wouldn’t be surprised if the boy had planned something as inconsiderate and ridiculous. She just had no faith in the poor guy.

Airi blushed as Victor threw that fact that he had walked/carried The Ravenclaw to her common room in her face, he was just playing dirty now, very dirty.
"I easily could have made it up there, you were the one who decided to carry me, I didn't ask you," Airi replied, shivering as he locked eyes with her. If he thought she was going to back down, he was wrong, Airi was determined not to let him win.

What she hadn't expected was for Victor to suddenly excuse himself, saying he had "things," to take care of. But Airi wasn't done with him, no she had lean red her lesson after the party and she was not just going to let him walk off again and leave her, once more feeling confused and agitated.

"I'm going to, bye Vince," Airi said, jumping from her seat and following after Victor without another thought. The boy, with his longer legs and purposeful stride walked much faster than Airi generally did, but after a little time, she managed to catch up with him.
"E-excuse me Victor, but we, need to talk," Airi said, said, gesturing between the two of them as she walked along side of the boy.


Ned grinned as Vianna, her curiosity obviously piqued by his earlier reveal, asked him where the portkey was taking them to. Hmm, should he tell her or keep her in suspense? It certainly would be funnier to keep the information t himself. "Not tellingggg," Ned said, in a sign-song voice.

Ned laughed out loud, a gentlemen's club? Actually, the more he thought of it, the more he kind of liked the idea, though he wasn't going to say that.
"Nope, You wish," Ned said, shading his eyes as they walked out onto the grounds. It was a sunny, beautiful day and Ned couldn't have asked for better first date conditions.

Victor buried his hands in the pockets of his coat as he swiftly made his way down the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall, shoving stupid little first years out of his way as he walked through. The boy only slowed his pace as a familiar voice suddenly spoke from right beside him; Victor turned to the newcomer a bit wide-eyed. What was Airlia doing following him?!

“Not now, Mondai.” He dismissed the girl carelessly and continued on his way out onto the grounds, where he spotted the shadowy figures of Ned and his little sister far in the distance, near the Groundskeeper’s hut. That must’ve been where Ned had kept the portkey. With hurried long steps, Victor began to walk in their direction, though still making sure to keep a safe distance from the target.


“Aw c’mon!” Vianna whined as Ned refused to tell her where they were headed. “Give me a clue, at least!” she asked. Though she failed to realize there wasn’t much point in begging now as, in just a few more moments, she and Ned would be arriving at their new destination and her question would be answered.

At the boy’s following words, she rolled her eyes. “No, you wish,” she replied, stubbornly childlike. “Now tell me where we’re going.” If Ned thought she was going to leave him alone about this, he was completely wrong. If there was one thing Vianna was horrible at handling, it was mystery and surprises.

Not now? Not now?! No, this was not his decision and no matter how busy he claimed to be, Airi was not going to let this slide, she wanted to get to the bottom of all this weirdness before she lost her nerve. Hurrying along after Victor, Airi managed to keep within a few feet of the boy, but not to perfectly match his pace.

"Why not now? What could you possibly have to do that is so important?" The Ravenclaw asked, her anger fueling her, making her bolder, less of a pushover. She frowned as her eyes found the familiar shapes of Ned and Vianna, (who seemed to be getting on well enough), and quite suddenly, it clicked in her mind. Victor's sneakiness and sudden departure, it wasn't because of her, it was because he was trying to follow Ned and Vianna. "Are you, spying on them?" Airi incredulously asked, speaking softly so that her voice wouldn't carry to the oblivious couple.



"Fine one clue... You've been there before," Ned said, pleased at his own cunning. The clue was just ambiguous enough to make sure Vianna wouldn't be able to easily guess it's meaning, but clear enough that she wouldn't call him a cheat.

"How dare you, I am a well mannered, polite and good natured boy, I wouldn't dream of even setting a toe into one of those places," Ned haughtily said, toting back his head and sticking up his nose in a perfect impression of his father's dignified pose. "I'm not telling, You''l just have to see for yourself!" Ned added, with a laugh, as he searched the cabbage patch for the football.

"Aha! Here it is!" Ned exclaimed, picking up the deflated football and holding it out for Vianna to take.

Victor continued on his path through the old wooden bridge that crossed the black lake onto the other side of the grounds, where the Groundskeeper’s hut lay, ignoring the persistent little girl at his heels. He would’ve normally used this opportunity to irritate her further with careless comments, but this was no time to be messing around. He had a very important task to complete and no persistent little Ravenclaw was going to get in the way of that.

Until she spoke. Totally calling him out.
Victor stopped so abruptly that his coat almost continued walking without him. Turning around sharply to face Airlia, he hissed, “That is none of your business, Mondai. Now I suggest you run along before your Head of House begins to wonder where their prefect has run off to.”

He should’ve known Airlia would’ve caught on to his plan with ease; the girl was entirely too clever for her own good sometimes. But he didn’t have time to worry about that too much. He could see Ned holding something between himself and Vianna, and he knew it had to be the portkey that would take the couple to Muggle London.



Vianna scoffed. “That is hardly a clue! For all I know you’re taking me back to the Great Hall!” she complained, eyebrows furrowing above her blue eyes with annoyance. Somewhere she’s been before could be ANYWHERE! Why didn’t he just tell her where they were going!? Gosh! Stupid Ned Hall and his secret date mysteries. It’s not like this was a serious date anyway, he could’ve just told her.

At the boy’s following dignified act, she couldn’t help but laugh lightly, shaking her head at the boy. “You’re delusional if you think I’ll believe that,” she said, elbowing him in the rib playfully.

As the boy randomly held out a deflated football to the girl, Vianna raised an eyebrow. What, he expected her to grab this? Were they going to play football with a deflated ball? THIS was his grand plan?! “What— Hall, what am I supposed to d—” the girl started as she grabbed the ball, only to find herself being sucked away into a nauseating whirlwind, flying at impossible speeds like they had just been sucked into the eye of a tornado.

Airi hastily took a step back, as Victor rounded on her, hissing angry, biting words. But Airlia was angry to, and she would be spoken to as a little girl, not when Victor was doing something so wrong.

"I'm not going back, and you're just angry that you're not as mysterious and unknowable as you like to believe," Airi said, holding her ground, unwilling to let him bully her into submission. She was not one of his little Slytherin Groupies who did as they were told, no, she had her own mind, and was independent, and he couldn't talk to her like this. "Don't you think that spying on your sister's date is a horrible invasion of her privacy?" Airi angrily asked, her brown eyes shifting from Victor's face to the blurring shapes that had been Vianna and Ned.


"That would be awful, can you imagine? Surprise Vianna! We didn't go anywhere!" Ned laughed, shaking his head with amusement, but still keeping his lips shut about where they were headed. She'd see soon enough, and besides, she was adorable when she was like this.

"Ow, hey, I'm sensitive," Ned said, rubbing his side where Vianna had elbowed him. No really, what was with her and trying to injure him all the time? Ned needed to remember to ask that question later.

The Slytherin laughed as Vianna questioned him about the ball, obviously not getting the point. He was about to reply when he felt the familiar jerking sensation that came along with portkey transportation. He tightly closed his eyes, not much fond of the idea of watching the world spin by in a while of garish colors. He sighed when his feet hit land again and opening his eyes, he grinned as he took in the sights and sounds go Muggle London.
"Here we are done," He said, spreading out his arms to show off the city.

Victor tried to remain focused on the couple standing by the Groundskeeper’s hut, but it proved a challenging task as Airlia kept pestering him from only a few steps behind, like a persistent mosquito that refused to be shooed off. The boy found himself growing increasingly irritated with each interruption and demand, his eyes basically glaring daggers at the girl. Mondai would NOT stand in the way of his plan, he simply could not allow that. Neither Vianna or Ned could find out about his snooping, but keeping this whole thing secret was proving impossible now that he had a determined little witness around.

At Airi’s remark, the boy narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t you think chasing me around is coming off as pathetically desperate, Mondai?” he retorted. “I know why you’ve been hiding this past week, I’m not as blind as you think.”

There was a whooshing noise in the background, and Victor turned around only to find that Ned and Vianna were gone. Dammit. They had probably just portkeyed to Muggle London. Victor would’ve just hurried off to the deflated football and continued with his stalking mission, but he had something holding him back - a witness. There was no way in hell Airlia was going to keep her mouth shut about this, and Victor would NOT allow her to run off to mirror Ned or his sister and give them a heads up.

Without a word, the boy grabbed her wrist rather roughly and dragged the girl across the grounds with him, toward the deflated football that lay motionless and innocent on the grass.



Vianna had not been prepared for the rough ride that came after touching the football earlier, and landed rather ungracefully as the kids were spit out onto solid ground. Clumsy from the dizziness and with eyes still shut tightly, Vianna ended up bumping heads with Ned. “Ow.” The girl opened her blue eyes with a grimace, rubbing her forehead with one hand. “Ned Hall! What the bloody hell was—” She stopped abruptly as the young man spread out his arms to show off an amazing view.

At the sight of a city she was vaguely familiar with, Vianna gasped softly. London! They were in London?!
“Wha… is this— is it really London?” the girl asked with a large grin. Ned had been right, this was a place she’d been to before, but not very often. The Vincenzi family didn’t very often wander to the muggle side of cities, and Vianna had always been rather curious about the side of this beautiful city that wasn’t taken over by magic buses and witches and wizards apparating from one spot to another, reading magical newspapers.

“It’s so beautiful!” And in this weather! It was like something out of a fairy tale. Which was a little ironic, seeing as fairy tales were usually magical and that’s the world Vianna had come from.

The Italian's words stung sharply, and Airlia was glad that she was so angry, or else her embarrassment and the slight ache in her chest at his unthinking words would have sent her fleeing from him in a second.
Desperate, that's what he thought of her, pathetic and desperate? Well she wasn't ether of those things, not for anyone or anything, and certainly not over him. She stiffened as the boy went on to mention that he knew why she had been hiding all week, that he wasn't blind to her actions causing her unease and discomfort to flood back into her with a vengeance.

"I'm not chasing... It isn't like that," Airi fiercely said, grimacing, because it certainly seemed that way now that she thought about it. But she hadn't been desperate, she'd been angry and she was entitled to answers damn it! "It's true. I have been avoiding you. But you, you have no right to talk to me like this! Friends, don't talk to each other like this," Airi said, before shaking her head, throwing up her hands and turning away from the boy. She'd had enough, she was going back to her dorm, and getting away from this cold hearted man who she had believed at the very least, to be her friend.

But then he had roughly grabbed her by the wrist and was forcefully dragging her across the school grounds without her consent, what the hell was he thinking? "What are you doing? Let me go!" Airi said, furious at the rough treatment she was receiving and eager to put as much distance between herself and Victor as possible.


It felt like she had cracked his head open, what was her skull made of? Lead? It definitely felt that way. "Damn Vincenzi," Ned said, rubbing the sore spot, his eyes screwed up in pain. Though, his groan of pain turned to a bark of laughter at Vianna's reaction of disbelief.

"Of course it's London you silly thing, What else would it be?" Ned asked, with a grin mirroring Vianna's own as he watched her take in the sights and sounds of the beautiful city before them. It was a busy day and there were hundreds of people all about them, each on their merry little way. It was quite a sight to take in.

"Right? I love London, I came here with my dad nearly every summer for business trips, and I think its better than Wizarding London," Ned said, taking Vianna by the hand and pulling her out of the alley way and into trafalgar square.

Had they been under normal circumstances, Victor might have applauded Airlia for her sudden show of courage, but these were not normal circumstances. PFFT. No right to talk to her like that?! The boy felt an urge to point out she had no right to butt in his business - regardless how imprudent it was - but that would’ve only dragged on an argument he was quite eager to be over with. At this rate, Ned and Vianna were probably already involved in an intense snogging session and Victor would’ve been too late to stop it.

Fueled by his paranoia, the boy quickened his steps even more and ignored the complaints of the girl he dragged along. He stopped abruptly as they reached the football on the ground and picked it up with his free hand, using the other to pull Airlia into him. “You’re coming with me, Mondai, or I’ll tell Professor Duncan about your escapade last week.” The boy knew that by telling on Airlia he’d be telling on himself, but he had nothing to lose except for a few House points. Mondai, on the other hand, had her position as Prefect and perfect reputation to maintain.

“Now,” - Victor held the deflated ball between them - “hold on.”
He tightened his grip around the girl’s wrist, just in case she decided to spontaneously run away, and waited for her to take the ball.



Vianna couldn’t hold back the large ear-to-ear grin that had taken over her face as she took in the sight of beautiful, merry Muggle London. She could barely hear Ned’s teasing in the background, all her senses focused on the surroundings she found so fascinating. It was almost like stepping into a whole different world.

Unfortunately for Ned, an excited Vianna wasn’t one to just stand back and let herself be guided, though. And, as the boy took her hand, she began nearly running down the square. She had no idea where she was going, she just wanted to be in the middle of everything and touch everything and see everything and just EXIST in this moment in time.

“Ooooh!” The girl stopped abruptly and turned to Ned. “Can we use a telephone? Please, pretty please?! I’ve always wanted to use one,” she begged, her mind already making a list of all the muggle things she wanted to try.

Airlia stumbled after Victor, her high heeled shoes, were not meant for walking this quickly on grass and dirt and she was having some difficulty following Victor's lead. She breathed a sigh of relief when Victor abruptly stopped, she was hoping he'd come to his senses and was going to let her go, instead he picked up a deflated, old, football and held it out to her.
She narrowed her eyes at what she guessed must be the portkey. If he was expecting her to go with him, he had another thing coming.

First he kisses her, then he insults her, and now blackmail? This was just getting better and better, maybe if she was lucky he'd cut off her limbs next.
"You wouldn't dare!" Airi said, disbelief flooding through her, because this was just too much. But one look at the determined look on Victor's handsome face and Airlia knew he was as serious as a heart attack. With a deep breath to calm herself, and a look of loathing to Victor, Airlia reached out and took hold of the ball. She yelped as her feet hit the ground and the world around her began to shift and swim before her eyes, and the girl felt sick.




Ned chuckled as Vianna once again took the lead, dragging him happily along and he wondered if the girl even knew where she was going or if she was just blindly running. "A telephone? You want to use a telephone? Okay, let's find one," Ned said, looking about his surroundings in search of a telephone booth, there had to be one around here somewhere.

Hmm, did Muggle still use telephone booths? He couldn't remember exactly, but he thought so. Ned led Vianna through the square, looking in every corner for a flash of red. "How do you know about telephones anyway?" Ned asked, half turning to Vianna as he posed his question.

Bingo! There one was! Ned hastily made his way to the booth and jumped in before anyone else could. He wished in his pocket for some Muggle money and held it out for Vianna. "Who'd you wanna call?"

Thank Merlin for the beautiful art of blackmail, because Victor was almost certain Airlia was going to refuse to go along with his plan. Rightfully so, of course, and he would’ve still found some other way to force her into it, but that would’ve meant unnecessarily wasting more precious time.

The portkey trip for Vairi had not been any more pleasant than it had been for Ned and Vianna, and Victor felt grateful he hadn’t had anything heavy for breakfast that morning or else he would’ve probably coughed it all out on Airlia. Taking a brief second to gather himself, Victor looked around the alleyway for any sign of the other couple. Of course, they had already left the alley. Victor just hoped they hadn’t wandered too far away.

Still dragging Airlia along by the wrist, Victor returned to brisk walking, this time out of the alleyway and out onto the square. His blue eyes scanned the area for any sign of Ned or Vianna and, much to his relief, they weren’t very difficult to spot. They were, after all, the only teenagers running around like children throughout the square. Most of the muggles over the age of twelve seemed unamused.

“There they are. C’mon.” Victor began walking in the general direction of the other two kids, oblivious to the strange looks coming from the people walking by, who seemed a little concerned with the carelessness with which the boy dragged along who they could only assume to be his girlfriend.



Vianna beamed as Ned agreed to finding a telephone for her to use. Amazing how something so plain and simple seemed to fascinate the girl almost as much as if they were talking about a Quidditch match. Well, maybe not THAT much, but almost.

When the boy questioned Vianna’s knowledge of phones, the girl replied, “Muggle Studies, of course.” What did he think she was, a first year? By fifth year most students had already begun studying muggle technology.

And then, much to Vianna’s delight, Ned had spotted a phone booth. As the boy asked who she wanted to call, Vianna furrowed her brows. “I don’t know, don’t you have to dial a number? I don’t know any numbers,” she replied as if this was all very obvious. Which it was. Didn’t he realize Vianna liked to just jump into things without making plans or even thinking things through? It was one of the few things she had in common with Vince.

Taking the coins Ned offered, Vianna proceeded to feed them into the phone, giggling to herself as she began to dial a random set of numbers. She flashed the boy a playful grin as the line tone echoed in her ear, patiently waiting for someone on the other line to answer.

So basically Ned Hall had brought Vianna Vincenzi all the way to Muggle London so she could fulfill her dream of prank calling.

Airi absolutely hated Portkey travel, and she generally did her best to avoid it at all costs, not just because it left her feeling nauseous, but because it left her with a splitting headache. "Ughh, it's too early for this," Airi said, taking deep breaths to avoid being sick all over herself.

After taking a breather and getting back her balance, Airi was able to take a look around and take in her surroundings. London? Well, she hadn't been expecting that, but than she hadn't known what to expect. "Trafalgar Square, Neddy did good," Airi said, smiling despite her anger and frustration at the sight of the sprawling square.

And then Victor was once again forcibly dragging her (something she was just going to have to get used to, it seemed), and she couldn't help notching the odd looks their behavior was attracting. "Victor, slow down, people are staring," Airi said, trying to alert him to the concerned stares coming from the people around them.


"Oh, funny i always forget Muggle studies is a thing," Ned said with a slight frown. He himself had never taken Muggle studies, not because he wasn't curious or thought it a waste of time, it was that Ned spent fifty percent of his time in the summer with Muggles, dealing with Muggle business and he didn't need to learn about them, 'cause he already knew.

"Yes, Vianna, but I thought maybe you knew a number," Ned chuckled, leaning against the phone box and watching as Vianna dialed in a random sequence of numbers. Of course the girl's first thought on picking up a phone was to start cranking people. He shouldn't have expected anything else.

"Oh, oh! Tell them they'll die in seven days!" Ned suggested, jumping right into the silliness without a second thought.

Victor could barely hear Airlia talking in the background, and was only reminded of her presence when she warned him to slow down. The boy tore his gaze away from Ned and Vianna for the first time since they had spotted the pair, to glance at the muggles walking by. Mondai was right, some people were even stopping in their tracks just to give the kids strange looks.

Since they were already dangerously close to the target, Victor slowed his pace, allowing Airlia to catch up with him. This didn’t make the muggles any less suspicious though, and the boy figured he might as well try to look a little friendlier if he didn’t want to attract more unnecessary attention. He considered releasing Airlia but quickly decided against it - she would probably run off screaming bloody murder and catch Ned and Vianna’s attention. Instead, the boy let his hand slip from her wrist to take her hand instead, interlacing his fingers with hers while giving the passing muggles the politest and most charming of his cold smiles.

As Ned and Vianna locked themselves in a phone booth, Victor snatched a newspaper from a nearby old man that was sitting on a bench. He stood casually behind a nearby cart filled with all sorts of strange trinkets designed to catch the tourists’ attention.

“What in the world do you think they're doing in a phone booth?” the boy muttered thoughtfully, not really expecting an answer, but more as wondering aloud.



“We’re not all as knowledgable about them as you, Mr. Hall,” Vianna teased as she poked Ned on the side. She seemed to quite enjoy poking and elbowing the poor boy at every given occasion. It was meant as sign of playful affection, though.

When Ned suggested she should frighten an innocent muggle with the news that he or she would die within a week, the girl gasped loudly. “What? That’s awful, Hall! Prank calls are supposed to be funny, not scary!” Vianna reprimanded him with a frown, obviously not getting the boy’s reference to a popular muggle film.

And then a voice finally spoke from the other end. “Hello?”

Vianna’s blue eyes widened and she raised a finger to her lips to warn Ned to keep quiet. “Um, hello. This—this is, uh… um.” Crap, maybe she should’ve thought this out first.

“Yes? Who’s this?”

“Hello— yes, I’m calling regarding your order of seventy-five pizzas.”

“What?! I didn’t ord—”

“We will be there in five minutes! Please have your payment ready in cash.”

“I didn’t order any pizza!”

“That’ll be one-hundred and four galle— er, pounds… moneys.”

“Moneys? Wha— what is this!? I’m not paying for this! I didn’t ord—”

Giggling to herself, Vianna returned the receiver, successfully ending the call and leaving behind one very flustered and confused muggle awaiting a fictional order. The girl doubled over in laughter, far too amused by the success of her very first prank call. Who knew this stuff could be so fun?! Could they do it again?!

“I learned that one from a film we watched in class,” the girl confessed with a proud grin. See? The things you learned in Muggle Studies could come in handy in real life, after all.

It seemed Victor had taken her advice because the boy had slowed his pace and was no longer acting like an angry abusive boyfriend, much to the young woman's relief. Airi tried to smile and act like she wasn't being blackmailed, like she was having a nice day out, but her smile was half-hearted at the most, and didn't quite reach her eyes.

An electric sort of shiver went through Airi as Victor slipped his cool hand into her own, she knew it was simply a ploy to get the Muggles out of their hair, and yes she was still furious with him, but she couldn't stop her body from reacting to him. Airi made herself busy perusing the different Muggle pamphlets and various adds for a multitude of services (including bus tours, museum guides and a visit to the crown jewels), despite Victor's misgivings, Airlia had no desire to run off screaming for help, oh no, not when her academic career was in danger, so she would act civilly, and do as he said until this whole, stupid date was over.

"Knowing Ned and Vianna? Probably pranking people," Airi snorted. Picking up a map of the London Underground, she thought it might come in handy, during what was likely to be a very long journey through Muggle London.


"Obviously not," Ned said, rolling his eyes. Again with the poking! What was with her and poking, he knew it was a sign of affectionate teasing but so could be kissing and really, he was rather be kissed than poked.

"What are you talking about? It's totally funny, Pah! You don't know good humor," Ned said, taking a toothpick from his pocket and thoughtfully chewing on it as he listened to Vianna's prank call. He positively cackled when Vianna said moneys and ended up snapping his toothpick in half and poking the hell out of his sensitive cheek meat.
Of course, that didn't stop Ned from laughing hysterically as the poor Muggle tried to make sense of it all before Vianna hung on his face.

"Well, it was rather brilliant, also, why didn't anyone tell me they played movies in Muggle Studies?" Ned asked, his voice slightly hoarse with laughter.

Pranking people? Victor looked back at the distracted Airlia with a raised eyebrow. He was just about to blurt out how stupid the idea was, when he realized… this IS Ned and Vianna they’re talking about. Prank calling actually didn’t seem that far off. So the Slytherin boy said nothing, instead returning his attention to the couple in question. Hmm. So far so good, Hall seemed to be behaving and Vianna seemed quite happy. Good.


“Good humour?! That was just morbid, Ned!” Vianna exclaimed disapprovingly as the boy tried to defend his joke. PSH. Nothing funny about telling someone they were going to die! He really needed to stop being so sinister. Still, the girl giggled lightly as she watched him laugh hysterically. Perhaps, if they continued to share amused laughs, this date wouldn’t be so awful after all.

“It was totally brilliant,” Vianna arrogantly confirmed the boy’s casual comment, flipping her long brown hair over one shoulder as she stepped out of the phone booth. Cute as Vi was, let us not forget we’re dealing with a Vincenzi here.

“Perhaps you would’ve known if you had signed up for the classes,” she added with a chuckle as Ned wondered about movies in class. “So! Where to now, Mr. Hall?” she asked enthusiastically, actually a little eager about the date now. They were in Muggle London, for Circe’s sake! There must’ve been so many great places to visit, so many amazing things to see!

The girl remained completely oblivious to the suspicious couple in the distance, who slowly began to move closer as Ned and Vianna began on their way to their next destination.

“C’mon, Mondai, stop getting distracted.” Victor tugged at the girl’s hand and began to carefully trail the other couple.

Unlike Victor, Airlia had no desire to stare indefinitely at a phone box, instead she made herself busy looking through the various trinkets and tourist-y bobbles with vague interest. She smiled at a particularly silly fridge magnet with a picture of the youngest member of the royal family wearing a bobby hat and holding a baton, and she was just considering buying it as a joke gift for her mother, when suddenly, a dark, skeletal figure appeared in the corner of her eye. Airi turned her head quickly, her heart beating fast, but the figure had vanished as quickly as it had appeared.


"You're morbid!" Ned defensively replied. If they were going to date, she would really need to broaden her movie horizons otherwise they'd have a lot of miscommunication. Ned shook his head as his laughter subsided, his ribs ached and not just from Vianna's incessant poking, but from the his rather fierce amusement.

Ned followed Vianna out of the phone booth, squinting as his eyes got re-used to the harsh sunlight that was so rare for England. "Oh shut it," Ned said, laughing at Vianna's show of vanity and unthinkingly taking her hand.

Ned only snorted as Vianna playfully reprimanded him, he did not have the time to argue with her about his school schedule! He had serious romancing to get to! "Actually, I was going to let you choose, just for now... What do you want to do? Go shopping? Visit some museums? Anything you want," Ned said, walking along at a leisurely pace through the square. Honestly he didn't care what they did that day, he only cared that he was finally on a real date with Vianna Vincenzi, the girl he had had a crush on for nearly four years now. The only girl he considered worth going through all this trouble for.


Airi tutted with aggravation as Victor pulled her away from the cart and the sighting of the strange apparition to stalk after his sister and best friend. She wanted very much to roughly tug her hand from his grip and leave him to his own devices, but wasn't willing to take liberties with her reputation at stake. "Victor, did you see a strange... I don't know, I could have sworn I saw something that looked like a Dementor, but that can't be," Airi said, her curiosity and wonder overriding her anger.

Vianna looked around her surroundings as Ned spoke, deciding to leave their next destination up to her. Oh? “I wanttttt…” The girl’s brows furrowed over her blue eyes as her expression turned thoughtful, using her free hand to tap her chin with playful thoughtfulness. Her feet were absentmindedly moving along with Ned’s leisurely pace, when suddenly, she stopped. “I want to go on the Eye!” she decided with an excited grin. “Can we do that? Can we?”

Victor slowed his pace as did Ned and Vianna, carefully holding the newspaper up to his face just because it was such an amazing disguise. Ned and Vianna would totally never suspect the person walking around with a newspaper covering half his face would be Victor Vincenzi. He really hated not being able to use magic.

The boy was distracted for only a half second as Airlia spoke, muttering something about… dementors?
“Exactly,” Victor said sharply as Airlia answered her own question. “It can’t be. So you didn’t see anything, Mondai,” he decided for her. “Now, stop wasting time hallucinating stupid things and move.” Despite the fact that the boy was walking slowly to match Ned’s and Vianna’s pace, his longer legs still made his steps much longer than poor Airi’s.

Vianna looked adorable, walking alongside of him, tapping her chin, playful and thoughtful all at once, her bright, innocent eyes eagerly taking in her surroundings, and Ned was sorely tempted to kiss her, but... The timing was off, it was too soon, so he bit his lip and waited for Vianna to choose.

He had just been about to suggest The Eye damn it! There she went again, stealing his thunder, ruining his attempts to amaze and surprise her! He was starting to think she was doing it on purpose. "I think that can be arranged, come on, it's this way," Ned said, pointing to his left where the world's largest Ferris Wheel, and one of London's most iconic attractions stood not far from them.

"Hey, have you noticed something weird going on with Airi and Victor?" Ned asked as he weaved his way expertly through the large crowd. The subject of his two friends odd behavior had been on his mind for sometime now, and he was eager to hear if anyone else (specifically Vianna who was actually quite observant) had taken notice of it.



"I could swear.... " Airlia said, far too distracted by the strange apparition to care much about Victor's cold words. The vision was stuck in her mind the same way a song does, she could see it's gnarled hands and black skin, it had looked like a Dementor without it's hood, though unlike a Dementor it had eyes, but unlike any eyes she had ever seen. They had been like two mouths lined with (she shivered at the thought) sharp, yellowed teeth.

"I'm not hallucinating! I saw something!" Airlia said, turning back to glare fiercely at the young man. Again, poor Airlia was forced to practically run after Victor as the boy continued on his crazed mission. He was positively going to run her ragged if he kept this up all day. "Victor please, slow down," Airi pleaded, irritation coloring her voice.

Vianna’s grin widened, and she squealed with childlike excitement, when Ned began to lead the way toward London’s most famous ferris wheel. She had always dreamed of visiting this particular attraction, but her parents had never been too interested in visiting Muggle London, at least not enough to actually bring the girl along and let her explore as she wished. She’d definitely have to thank Ned for this later.

Vianna happily followed her date’s lead, blue eyes sparkling as she took in the beautiful surroundings, barely aware of the fact that she was holding hands with the boy. He probably just wanted to make sure they didn’t get lost in the crowds.

At Ned’s question, Vianna’s curious gaze turned upon him. “Something weird?” she repeated with furrowed brows, her mind immediately beginning to scan the past week for any clues of whatever Ned may be referring to. “Do you mean during the party?” the girl asked. “I did notice they were sitting together at one point, but I think they were just trying to keep an eye on Robert. I haven’t seen them together again since.” She shrugged her shoulders at this, making nothing of it. Airi had been distant during the past few days due to her studies, but that wasn’t unusual, was it? And Victor had been unusually inquisitive about the Ravenclaw’s health during the next morning when Vianna saw him in the corridor, going from her Transfiguration class to the greenhouses.

Wait.
Since when did Victor care about anyone’s hangover? And how come Airi hadn’t asked her to join her in ANY of her study sessions? They usually met up in the library or out in the courtyard to go over their notes together. HMMM. The more Vianna thought about it (ever the little investigator who liked to pick apart the most simple sign as if it was an important clue), the more she began to suspect something strange was indeed, going on.

“Did you notice something?” she asked Ned curiously. If he was asking, clearly he’d come upon something.



As Airlia insisted that she had seen something, Victor tore his gaze away from Ned and Vianna to look at the little brunette a couple steps behind him instead. “Keep talking like that and I will have to drop you off at St. Mungo’s,” he said, completely dismissing the poor girl’s warnings. Yeah no, they were in what was probably the most crowded place of all of Muggle Britain, how could a magical creature be hiding around unnoticed? It simply wasn’t possible.

Annoyed, the Italian slowed his pace to match Airlia’s. “You know, Mondai, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re being this slow on purpose,” he accused her casually, his gaze returning to the other couple that made its way through the crowds toward the city’s most popular tourist attraction. “Perhaps you’re trying to let Hall and Vianna get away…” That was it, wasn’t it? She was trying to sabotage his plan, wasn't she? What a cunning and sly little raven!