Flash! Bam! Alakazam! (Thius)

Sliding into the bathroom before she was due to meet up with Melanthius, she hurriedly ran her fingers through her hair and parted it properly, then stepped back a little, turning left to right, to check her dress was right. No - it wasn't tucked into her knickers, it wasn't creased, check. As she smiled slightly into the mirror, she stopped admiring herself when the reality of the matter sank in.

One - she had made an effort to change out of her uniform after classes. Two - she had spent some time selecting this particular dress, which was a rather simple black round-neck and short sleeves, that came in at the waist and out at her hips, and rested several inches above her knee. She'd paired it with her net stockings, her lace-up boots and neck ribbon. It was showing the swell of her chest.

Three - she had done all this, knowing she was going to meet up with Melanthius in particular.

Why had she gone to so much effort for duelling?!

The thing was, she knew that he had been looking at her in that way. As far as she was aware, no one had looked at her quite like that before. And after a series of rejections from various boys, including that Veela who had outright insulted her; Bellona would never admit it, but it had made her feel slightly insecure. Now someone was actually noticing her as a young woman!  

But it was... well... Thius. He certainly didn't look like the catch of the day, but he wasn't ugly. He wasn't ugly at all, actually. He was quite... handsome.

Exiting the bathroom and trying to pull herself together, she made way to the duelling chamber and decided to fire off a few spells just to push her mind away from Thius and onto the task at hand. After a short while, it was pushed to the back of her mind again.

@Melanthius Burke

Although he normally didn't put in so much effort just to practice a few spells on the dueling dummy, Thius felt compelled to look nicer than usual. He did the usual thing of pulling his hair back to keep it out of his face; it was a bit arduous to manage, but he had enough hair for it to work. Barely.

He couldn't just change into a white tee-shirt and call it a day like he normally would, nope. It was one thing to just throw on something less nice to duel with one of the lads. But Bellona?! It'd feel like he was insulting her! He needed to put more care into it. So, he went with more of a navy blue. It'd be less likely to show the results of his buckets of sweat, and it was considered more flattering than white.; a good presentation was imperative, very imperative.

Thius also sprayed on some cologne to make himself and the inevitable sweat smell nicer.

It was like he was possessed by Cupid's arrow.

Finally, after refilling his water bottle, Thius finally entered the dueling chamber to find that Bellona was already there, waiting for him.  His eyes took a long time scanning what she was wearing before settling on her bust. Merlin, she was sexy. His cheeks turned scarlet before he could contemplate how that was a teem he'd usually never use to refer to a lady.

The door was left slightly ajar as he gaped

@Bellona Lestrange

"Reducto!"

The dummy splintered slightly and shed some of the straw stuffed in its head, but it didn't break apart like the curse was supposed to achieve. She wondered whether it was because of her stance, and looked at her feet to spread them further apart. Her next attempt didn't have any greater impact.

She pursed her lips.

Where was he? Had he forgotten? Suddenly she felt very silly if that were the case: this meeting had completely gone from his mind and there she was, out of uniform and everything. She turned to look at the doorway, and saw him. He was sort of... lingering.

"What are you doing standing around out there?!"

@Melanthius Burke

His heart, his stomach, virtually every body party fluttered watching her destroy the dummy. The fact that it wasn't the best attempt didn't occur to him.

"I was watching you..." Thius answered almost breathlessly as he finally closed the door behind him, fully entering the chamber. "I would've gotten here earlier, but a surprise quiz in my last class threw me off. My apologies if I kept you waiting."

That was only a half-truth. Much of the time between getting out of class and meeting up with Bellona was spent with him freaking out, deliberating just how well to present himself. Of course, his fancier attire would've been unsuitable for dueling, but he didn't want to be careless enough to remain in his school robes.

He joined her near the splintered dummy, examining it. "Have you tried hitting it with Bombarda instead?"

@Bellona Lestrange

"Oh..."

His hair looked nice.

"I haven't been waiting long. It's not like I was just standing her twiddling my thumbs," she said, indicating how she'd taken the first few steps on practicing spells.

Was he wearing cologne as well?

She suddenly started to grin and tried to stop herself from grinning at the same time. "I can already do that spell, so I wanted to try one that was more advanced. There aren't a lot of fourth years who can do a good Reductor Curse."

@Melanthius Burke

"Swell, I was afraid that I was leaving you hanging."

Good, good, he got there with decent timing. He was typically more punctual...

Thius nodded as he pointed his wand at the dummy and nonverbally restored it. "Ah, I see."

Taking NEWTS defense made some of the spells feel like child's play. "Can you demonstrate it again please?" He was eager to see her stance, how well the dress accentuated her curves, how-

He should've used the lunch period to have some private time for himself....

Thius didn't realize he'd be feeling so excited.

@Bellona Lestrange

"Fine..." she sighed, "But I'm aware that it isn't strong enough, okay?"

Urgh. She never really enjoyed showing weakness, so this was putting a bit of pressure onto her. Still, frowning in concentration and urging herself to do better, she stood to the side, had her legs about a foot apart, and focused on the target. What was it that Riddle said? If you're feeling nervous, envision the face of your enemy.

Although he laughed and said he was joking, Bellona found it a useful tactic.

"Reducto!"

The dummy splintered a little more that time, but it wasn't near enough to disintegration. Bellona scowled.

"Urgh! What is wrong with my bloody wand?!" She shook it about in annoyance.

@Melanthius Burke

Stroking his chin, he observed Bellona. Well, he was mainly checking her out, but he was paying attention to how she was casting the spell!

"What are you visualizing as you cast the spell?" Thius inquired as he restored the dummy once again. "Are you putting any emotion into it? I've riled myself up before so I could practice such a spell to its fullest potential... Is there anything that's been bothering you? Try to channel that..."

Although he didn't want her to feel worse, maybe it wouldn't be of any harm to demonstrate it himself.

"Watch."

Thius adjusted his stance and closed his eyes, allowing his blood to pulsate and heat up from the anger of being compared to Ptolemy, the fear that he's insane. "Reducto!" he yelled at the dummy, the head exploding into a cloud of dust.

He took a deep breath and smiled at Bellona. "Give it another shot..."

@Bellona Lestrange

"Cinders, ashes, that sort of thing," she explained, thinking that was correct. Actually, her studying of this spell hadn't been particularly great. She was probably looking over it when Jeneva was talking her ear off, or something.

She watched as he made very light and easy work of the spell. This must have been particularly annoying for him, who was a NEWT level student.

"Okay..." She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. Something bothering her... something bothering her. Mackenzie. Gabriella. Alayna. But what really bothered her was that they all had someone, and she didn't. It was just the same in a big family: no one stood out in particular to her Dad, and she said that it didn't bother her but... "Reducto!"

Aiming for the one next to his, the head completely split this time and was reduced to splinters. It might not have been the entire dummy, nor was it dust, but it was a vast improvement. "Yes!" she cheered, bouncing up and clapping herself.

@Melanthius Burke

Merlin, she was splendid once she really focused.

"Excellent!"

He was ready to swing out of his hands out for a high-five of sorts as if she was one of the lads only to tuck his arms behind his back, giving her a wide grin.

"By focusing on those feelings, you'll be able to destroy whatever comes to mind. I consider it to be quite cathartic and more effective than taking it out on the punching bags in the gym..."

Why would he exhaust his hands until they were black and blue when magic was more effective? That's what he didn't get about some of the other men at Hogwarts...

"Repetition is key to mastering. Give it another go."

If he was the reason she mastered that spell, he'd be one happy beaver. Thius bit his lip and stared at her rear. Black really was her color...

@Bellona Lestrange

Bellona giggled.

"You're starting to sound like one of the Professors," she teased, although it was quite endearing. She didn't really expect him to be teaching her anything like this: she just gathered they would be chatting while having a go on the training dummies, like in classes. "All right..."

She performed the spell several times, repairing the dummy again between turns, until it became progressively better. "Do you ever think about... other curses? You know, like the ones Theodore used on Atticus." Perhaps it was best that she hadn't turned to face him at that point, as they wouldn't meet eye-to-eye.

@Melanthius Burke

"You mean unforgivables?"

Thius turned away for a moment so he could formulate a response; how exactly was he going to explain his feelings towards them to her?

"Only as deterrence," he began, brushing some of the sweat off from his face before turning back around. "Unforgivables and I have a complicated relationship. I do not think I'd be capable of casting them. If I was in a life or death situation, it might be possible."

That was why he excelled in defense. Those weren't the kind of spells you'd use outside of offensive reasons. "My grandfather is in Azkaban for use of them during the war. He was also the victim of a crucio through friendly fire..."

He sat down to prevent his legs from locking up.

"He was deemed too insane to be in the everyday spell damage ward. Most of it was before the crucio..."

@Bellona Lestrange

"Mm," she said vaguely in acknowledgement, as she did several more rounds of the reductor curse, unaware of his anxieties. When she did finally turn around, he was talking about a Grandfather.

Given how small their community was, she hadn't actually heard this tale. If she had, she probably would have forgotten it soon after, as her association with Burke before now hadn't been as familiar.

"I see," she said, seeing how clammy his skin was becoming. "Well, you've probably heard of my Aunt and Uncle, no doubt." She'd never met them. She didn't feel comfortable about meeting them. He probably felt the same way about his Grandfather. "Have you ever met him before?"

She sat down next to him, placing her hands inside of her lap.

@Bellona Lestrange

"Yeah, your aunt and uncle are notoriously more infamous than my grandfather..."

He chuckled softly trying to distract himself from the anxieties stirring within him. Instead of counting out loud or in his mind as he usually would, Thius attempted to use his fingers to defuse it before it would take over him.

"I have, multiple times. We try to visit at least twice a year, and I only go along because I'm his blood..."

Sighing, he faced Bellona before looking down.

"There was one particular time when I was, I want to say, six? It was around his birthday, so my parents, brother, and I went to Azkaban to wish him a happy birthday in person. He wasn't particularly well that day for traditional visits, so we had to have a supervised visit at his padded cell. He was rocking, trying to gnaw at his own flesh, not recognizing that we were there. It was frightening, and it stuck with me. Ever since, I've been deathly afraid that I'd end up like him..."

It was so tempting to reach out and feel her icy hands, but he didn't want to come onto her like that. It wasn't exactly gentlemanly...

@Bellona Lestrange

It even sounded awful, just having to sit there and listen to it. She tried to imagine this shell of a person, but the only thing she could remotely compare it to was the insanity of lycanthropy, or something of that nature. It made her feel slightly unwell, so it must have been tenfold for a six-year-old.

"You won't end up like him, because you're afraid of ending up like him," she said, "You're conscious of the difference between sanity and insanity. You know? I mean, people like that don't realise they're insane."

She didn't really know if that made any sense. It was something she heard her Mother saying about Discordia, that her version of sanity was another person's insanity.

She touched his cheek with her thumb, dragging over the droplets of sweat that were beading there. They cooled to her touch.

@Melanthius Burke

He smiled trying to absorb in Bellona's reassurance that he was, in fact, perfectly sane. "But sometimes I get these thoughts that make me question my sanity, thoughts of stuff I wouldn't dare to do. If I don't count, I'll end up doing as the thoughts command..."

Thius checked his fingers. How far did he count to? He lost track. Agh!

5... 10... 15...

"Yet, if I'm distracted enough, the thoughts never come, and I forget all about my worries. It's a rather pleasant momentary bliss."

Then came her touch. Her soothing, relieving touch. His eyes closed, mouth grinning widely. If he could, he'd like to feel it all day, every day...

Just like when they were in the common room.

"I don't know how it never affected Hector... He always had an easier time knowing that our grandfather was put in the loony bin than I did..."

@Bellona Lestrange

"We just need to keep you distracted enough then."

She smiled very slightly as her fingertips trickled over his forehead, then down the side of his temples.

She couldn't imagine having to continuously count whenever she got a sinister thought. Thoughts came and went, but that was all they were. But how did you teach that to someone else? How did you teach something that was second nature?

"Oh, I know the answer to that. And it's quite simple."

She ceased touching his face and leant to his ear, whispering:

"Because you're smarter than he is."

@Melanthius Burke

"You really think I am smarter?"

Since forever, he always compared himself to his older brother. Hector was classically handsome. He wasn't. Hector was more charming to the ladies. He wasn't. Hector had ambitious plans to get the business back in the family. He didn't make plans... He was too afraid mulling potential insanity that he never thought about a career. So for Bellona to say that he was smarter...

Wow...

Butterflies and other flying creatures were doing all sorts of acrobatics in his stomach; his face probably looked very stupid with how gleeful he was feeling.

"May I ask what your ideas for a distraction are?"

@Bellona Lestrange

"No doubt about it. Only smart people overthink! That's why I don't."

She laughed there, but it wasn't entirely true. She did overthink a lot of things. But was she the brightest, most capable witch amongst her peers? Probably not.

"Well, we're in a duelling chamber," she indicated brightly, "So why don't we duel? I know you're a bit ahead of me with magic, but I think I can handle a bit of a challenge..."

She grinned back at him. That probably wasn't what he had in mind, and part of her was aware of it. It was exciting to think of his attraction to her - very exciting - but she was also terribly conscious about coming across In a certain way. 

@'Melanthius Burke"

Smirking, he got up and took position. Okay, Thius was definitely hoping that it was a kiss, but would that be proper? If he wanted to keep as closely to courtship traditions as much as possible, they couldn't just snog to start with.

"We did come here to duel, didn't we?"

Although he wouldn't say he was as excellent as his mother, Thius did think he was rather competent at dueling. So, he was curious to see how well Bellona faired at it.

"Ladies first!"

@Bellona Lestrange

She imitated him, standing up, and taking a spot opposite, ensuring the right amount of space was between them. Although it was considered more formal to bow before commencing, she gave a small curtsey but nothing too elaborate.

"You might regret that," she said craftily, smirking as she twirled her wand above her head and chanted: "Fumos."

A thick fog emanated from the tip and encased her inside of it, obscuring herself from sight. She could still make out his figure, but hopefully the fog was thick enough to entirely engulf her. She took several strides to the right, taking this time to look around the room for any objects she could hurl from the cloud.

@Melanthius Burke

Bowing slightly, he noticed that his surroundings were becoming foggy rather quickly.

Safe to say that this was going to be quite the challenge. Smirking, he spun his wand around hoping to get any hint of her silhouette.

"Expelliarmus!" he chanted in a random direction, stepping around cautiously.

@Bellona Lestrange

A jet of light shot past her, and was surprisingly close. As the smoke screen began to fade out, she tried very quickly to hit him with a twitchy ears hex.

@Melanthius Burke

Thius ducked down and circled his wand up towards the ceiling. "Metelojinx!"

If he could get it to rain a steady, light shower, it'd be enough to figure out his next move.

Oh, who was he fooling? Himself? He just wanted to see her hair lovely and wet again!

@Bellona Lestrange

A rumble of thunder tore directly above her, and she shrieked as rain drops the size of acorns seemed to crash down on her, soaking her within a matter of seconds. Her hair flattened down against her eyes and the skirt of her dress stuck to her legs. Yuck! Pulling herself together, she glared about for a solid object, focused on the training dummy and chanted: "Carpe Retractum!"

That got her out of the weather front at least. Seeing him through a sheer curtain of her hair, she cried: "Flippendo!"

Damn hair! She fumbled the spell a little as she pulled it off her face.

@Melanthius Burke