eyes that burn like cigarettes [vi]

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Dustin had every Hogsmeade weekend of the school year marked on his calendar in his bedroom. His parents had thought that it was sweet that he had gone through the trouble to figure out when he could see his sisters, and he didn't bother to correct them. It was probably better if his mother didn't know he was getting tangled up with a Slytherin, and an old-money, pureblood one at that. It would probably break her fiercely Gryffindor heart. At any rate, it wan't any of his sisters that Dustin was meeting this particular Hogsmeade weekend - it was Viovinnia. He had sent her an owl later the night before, late enough that it probably was technically early this morning, instructing her to meet him at Madame Puddifoot's. It wasn't Dustin's scene, but girls seemed to like the place, and who was he to argue with girls? It had taken quite a bit of doing (and several autographs) to get the owner to agree to let him have a table reserved - normally reservations weren't allowed, apparently. Dustin had had to make sure they got a table in the corner, though, so that none of Vinnie's friends could be scandalized by her dating a Gryffindor boy. The tiny little reserved sign had been there when Dustin appeared in the morning to check on it, and he had been satisfied enough to duck out of the shop and locate a decent florist. He wasn't sure what kind of flower Vinnie liked, but she seemed like a hydrangea kind of person to him, so he had gotten a literal armful of them. He had asked Viovinnia to meet him in front of Madame Puddifoot's early enough in the day that they wouldn't be easily spotted by her classmates. Even if someone did see Dustin now, though, they probably wouldn't recognize him through the veil of flower petals. Vinnie's secret was safe for now.

@vi

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Viovinnia had been surprised late last night when an owl had found its way to her with a letter from Dustin Bainbridge. When she saw the familiar handwriting of the Quidditch player she was still getting used to thinking of as her boyfriend, she had felt that familiar fluttery feeling in the bottom of her stomach. Suddenly, she had found herself quite excited for the following morning almost too much to go back to sleep but eventually, her eyelids found peaceful sleep.

The next morning, Vi skipped breakfast with the Hexens to hang around the common room to ready herself for the Hogsmeade visit. Once again, just like the last visit in whcich she had gone off to meet Dustin, Vi ventured down to the village by herself. She preferred it this way most days, anyway. She walked the streets of Hogsmeade, glad that the crowds were still very thin. She had beat the thick of the student rush, thankfully. After a few minutes, Vi found herself outside of the designated meeting area and she finally became full aware of where they were meeting and that this was a place for boyfriends to meet their girlfriends and Dustin was her boyfriend. It was weird, yet exhilerating.

Viovinnia entered the small little cafe and looked around. It wasn't necessarily her first choice for a date, but in the very back of her mind, the idea of Dustin picking this place made her fight back a smile. She asked one of the waitresses if they had seen a shaggy haired blonde and the woman giggled at her words. "Oh the Quidditch player? He's over there!" And then she scurried off with her tray. Vi raised her eyebrows at the woman as she walked off and then she headed in the direction the woman had pointed. Luckily, she found herself in a corner that seemed fairly well secluded and in front of her was a person hiding behind a bouquet of flowers that Viovinnia instantly recognized to be hydrangeas. She bit her lip, fighting back another little smile. "Your disguise isn't working. You have the waitresses all starstuck, you know."

@dustin

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Dustin wasn’t waiting for long before he saw a certain blonde-haired Slytherin walk in from between the gaps in the hydrangea blooms. He grinned to himself as he watched her first approach a server, and then make a beeline over towards him. When Viovinnia reached him, she wasted no time in saying that his disguise wasn’t working. Dustin dropped the flowers down slightly so he could see over their tops, and winked at her. “Who ever said I’m trying to be incognito?” Dustin was a master of disguise, as they both knew. If he had wanted to disguise himself beyond recognition, his Transfiguration skills were good enough that he could have done so with ease. “As for them being star struck, that might work out for the better.” Dustin said with a shrug. “You know, I can exchange my autograph for their sealed lips or something. Wouldn’t want news of this getting back to your Slytherin friends, right?” Dustin cracked a self-deprecating smile. They both knew that Viovinnia being seen with a Gryffindor, and a half-blood at that, wouldn’t help her social standing one jot. Dustin wasn’t exactly fond of being someone’s dirty little secret, but he wanted to continue to see Vinnie, and if this was the only way, then he was going to have to accept it. Without warning, Dustin unceremoniously dumped the hydrangeas onto his girlfriend. “Have some flowers.” He said with a smirk.

@vi

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Viovinnia felt her heart... skip a beat when Dustin flashed her a wink. Silently she damned him for always being such a smooth talker. It was like he always knew just the way that led directly to her heart. The Slytherin rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. I forgot... You are only incognito when you're a bird..." She smirked at him, poking fun at his ability playfully.

Vi settled comfortably into her seat across from the Quidditch player. Her smirk remained still on her face. "Boy, I'm lucky I got myself a man who understands the trials and tribulations of having a reputation to uphold," she went along sarcastically. It was fun being able to actually joke around with someone who... kind of had the same sense of humor she did. It was refreshing, and part of the reason Vi liked Dustin so much when she first met him. When Dustin dumped the flowers onto her lap, Vi caught the bouquet and eyed them a moment before looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "How did you know these are my favorite...?" She asked him, somewhat accusingly. Vi couldn't recall ever mentioning it to him... And she doubted Dustin could read minds too but sometimes she just couldn't be too sure...

@dustin

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Dustin couldn’t help but chuckle when Viovinnia said he was only incognito as a bird. It was true that his Animagus form was his most often used disguise, but one didn’t become an Animagus by having poor Transfiguration skills, and he wasn’t going to let Viovinnia forget that much. “You know, I could cast a couple Transfiguration spells to actually go incognito, since you don’t seem to be so fond of my face.” He raised an eyebrow when he raised his wand, daring her to tell him to do it. Which was worse – going on a date with a Gryffindor, or going on a date with someone who had boils all over his face?

“Reputations are important among more than Slytherins.” Like he had said earlier, his teammates were prepared to tease him relentlessly about his friend who was a girl (who, at that point, had not been his girlfriend). Then again, their Captain was a Slytherin, so they had all inherited some Slytherin traits by osmosis. “Let’s just say a little birdy told me.” Dustin responded with a smirk when Vi asked about the flowers. That was an easier answer than that he had guessed, especially since he had guessed correctly, in this case. “So, are we going to get tea, or just sit here snarking at each other?” Either way was fine with Dustin.

@vi

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Dustin's challenge caused Viovinnia to slightly widen her eyes as she raised an eyebrow at him. As much as she was impressed by his Transfigurarion skills, she was rather fond of his face. She just wasn't very keen on letting him on on how much she liked his face. Her signature smirk slowly returned to her face. "I'd rather look at you undisguised, if that's quite alright," she said as nonchalantly as she could. Vi could never give away too much.

Viovinnia's eyes narrowed into a playful sort of glare at the Gryffindor alum. As much as she wanted to respond with a snooty remark, she couldn't. The gesture was simply too sweet, even to Viovinnia Nott, that she was left momentarily speechless. She has never received flowers before. She regained her composure by shifting in her seat. "I would like some tea. Though, I can't promise there still won't be snarkiness..."

@dustin

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Dustin watched, amused, as Viovinnia’s eyes visibly widened when he talked about Transfiguring his face. That was actually kind of cute. “Do you like my face, Vinnie?” Dustin couldn’t help but tease, sticking his tongue out at her. “You like my face!” He repeated, chuckling slightly. Leave it to a Slytherin to find the most roundabout way of admitting that they were attracted someone – if that was, indeed, what Viovinnia was trying to say in asking him not to disguise himself.

He had caught her off guard, he was sure, with the comment about the little birdie. It was normally a cop-out answer, but given his skill with those with wings, no one could say that actually wasn’t the truth. Well, no one who knew – which, so far, amounted to exactly one person. “It’s alright, we can have both.” He told her, reaching for her hand. If they were going to do this whole date thing, they ought to do it right. “I like peppermint tea. It’s supposed to be good for energy or something.” If Dustin had had less self-restraint, he would have wiggled his eyebrows and hinted at an innuendo at that point, but he wasn’t sure that Vinnie would be above hexing him for such a thing. You never could tell with her, and that was exciting.

@vi

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Viovinnia's eyes narrowed into a glare as Dustin chuckled at her but her mouth betrayed her by twitching into a half smile. Curse that Gryffindor for being so darn smooth. Vi looked away and raised her chin up, pretending to be disinterested as per usual. "It's alright," she said. After a second, she looked back at the Gryffindor alum and smirked. "Much better undisguised." Vi was usually not bad at flirting, but for some reason... she felt it to be more difficult with Dustin. Like... he made her nervous.

It was kind of funny how Viovinnia managed to find someone of her likeness and sense of humor. Not many boys could handle her snarkiness, but Dustin was just as cheeky if not more! As Vi thought for a moment, he was definitely more cheeky than she was. But that only made him more interesting in her eyes. (And cute, but she would never, ever, EVER admit that.) Viovinnia normally didn't partake in tea unless she was home with her parents. She did like it, although she was just used to someone usually picking what kind she had to drink for her. So she was quite overwhelmed with the choices. "I'll have the same, then," she decided with a simple nod.

@di
@dustin lol I'm not fixing that first tag

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Dustin laughed to himself when Viovinnia said that his face was better undisguised. That was probably the best that he was going to get out of her, but it was a compliment nonetheless. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me, Vinnie. Well, rather, my face is flattered that you think so highly of it.” And since the face was attached to Dustin, yes, he was flattered, too. Dustin waited until after Viovinnia had ordered and the waitress had left to raise his eyebrow at her. “Do you not know about tea or something, Vinnie?” He hadn’t expected her to just go along with whatever he ordered. Dustin hoped that there was some explanation for what had happened, because some of Viovinnia’s allure was that she absolutely refused to go with the flow on most things. Dustin hoped he hadn’t misread her, and he didn’t know why he was winding himself up so much about something relatively minor. It was totally normal for people to choke when they were asked their order for something. “Should we have a tea party? Sample every tea that the dear Madame had to offer?” By the end of it, they’d really have to use the bathroom, but Dustin thought the idea sounded fun.

@vi

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One side of the Slytherin's mouth twitched into a smirk. "Well, it should be," she continued. "It certainly isn't half-bad, after all." She teased him. Teasing Dustin Bainbridge was becoming one of her favorite things to do, if only because it usually followed with his charming smile as a response. When the waitress walked away, Vi saw Dustin's eyebrow raised at her and she instinctively rose her own in response. Vi blinked at him, not quite understanding his question at first. It dawned on her then, after he said something about a tea party. "Oh," she said, finally understanding. "Actually... that doesn't sound half bad. Looking at that menu, I hadn't heard of half of those."

@dustin

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His face wasn’t half-bad? Well, that was the closest thing to a compliment that Dustin would ever get. He had to resist the urge to kiss her. He didn’t want her to think that he was getting too romantic or anything. (He totally was a romantic, though, so Dustin didn’t know why he was trying to keep up this silly persona. They were in a tea shop, for Merlin’s sake!) Dustin chuckled when Vi raised her eyebrows in response to his own facial expression. When she seemed to realize what he had said, Dustin’s smile faded into something softer, a little less teasing. “They’re going to think we’re a little weird.” Dustin warned Vinnie. “Normally people only order tea so that they can stay here and snog.” At least, that was what he had observed from the tea shop. Maybe he was wrong. “So what do you want to try next?” There were probably too many teas even to try in one day, so he wanted Vinnie to get to pick the ones that interested her most.

@vi

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Viovinnia was always very concerned with her image and reputation, which was why she hadn't told anyone about her relationship with Dustin. But if the situation were to ever arise, Vi was confident enough in her smooth talking that people would think twice about calling her (and Dustin,) weird. She looked at him with a determined and somewhat challenging half smirk. "Let them." She then looked back down to peruse the tea menu once again, searching for one that caught her eye. "There's chocolate tea?" She said aloud with a disgruntled look of disgust. "That sounds awful." Then she saw the tea shop had a cinnamon flavor so obviously the Slytherin was hooked right in. "That one! Cinnamon!"

@dustin
This is the cute little tea menu I picture.

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Vinnie looked absolutely disgusted with the idea of chocolate tea, so much so that Dustin laughed. “I’ve tried it.” He informed her with a shrug. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Just…really watered down hot cocoa I guess would be the best way to describe it.” It wasn’t something that he would willingly order again, but he had finished the cup that he had been given, so Dustin considered that a win. Vinnie seemed excited by the fact that they had cinnamon gum, and Dustin laughed again. “You really like cinnamon, huh?” He asked, flashing back to the cinnamon gum incident. At that moment, the waitress returned with the peppermint tea they had previously ordered, and Dustin asked for two cups of the cinnamon tea, winking at her to expedite the process. They didn’t have all day – except for that they did. Dustin took the cup of peppermint tea, and raised it in a faux toast. “To the most wonderful snake I know.” Dustin said with a smirk. Vi was the only Slytherin his age that he knew, so he didn’t feel bad saying she was his favorite.

@vi

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Viovinnia raised an eyebrow at Dustin's explanation of the chocolate tea then she looked down at the table and chuckled softly. "You'll get a kick out of this: I've never had hot cocoa," she said, eyeing him expectantly. She knew he, of all people, would find that shocking and still find some way to tease her about it. But he was also the only person she would ever let do that. Vi looked at Dustin as if she was shocked that her love of cinnamon wasn't obvious, but the hint of a smirk was behind her open mouth. "I love cinnamon," she stated. "Or, do you not remember how much I love cinnamon?" She wiggled an eyebrow at him.

The Slytherin let out a little huff that was more of a chuckle than anything when Dustin winked at the waitress. If Vi thought any other guy was worth her time, and she was out on a date with them, that probably would have made her angry - seeing him wink at another girl. But with Dustin, the gesture just fit his personality so well that Viovinnia found it funny. That, and she would have done the same thing were she in his position. Vi happily picked up the cup of peppermint tea as Dustin proposed a little toast. "And to the... most tolerable lion I know," she mirrored Dustin's smirk with her remark. She felt it pretty much went without saying that he was her favorite lion.

@dustin

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Dustin raised his eyebrows when Vi said she’d never had hot cocoa before. Was that a pureblood thing, or just a her family thing? Or was it a Vinnie thing, where she just refused to drink something that was essentially a dessert? Dustin didn’t have the guts to ask. “We’ll fix that soon.” He told Vi breezily. If she wanted to argue him on that, she could, but until such a point, Dustin was going to assume that their next date would include hot cocoa. When Vinnie commented that she loved cinnamon, Dustin smirked at her. “Oh, I think I remember fairly well how much you like cinnamon.” He responded, trying to keep a relatively straight face despite the fact that Viovinnia Nott was wiggling her eyebrows at him.

Vinnie made a little huffing noise when he winked at the waitress, but it sounded more amused than anything. Dustin was certain he would have known if Vinnie was displeased, so he elected not to comment on the noise. “I’d hope you’d do more than just tolerate me.” He told Vinnie, tapping his cup against hers before taking a swig of tea. “Because if you only tolerated me, I wouldn’t be allowed to do this.” Dustin leaned across the table and pecked Viovinnia on the mouth, his lips still laced with peppermint.

@vi