How long is a stroll? (Vi)

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Daniel hadn't expected the form he signed to come back to bite him so quickly. Honestly he thought it was a joke but even then he was just going to ignore it. That was till someone noticed he hadn't put his name down. All it took was the joke of being a chicken and the dare to do that followed for him to snatch the form back and sign it. This was all just a joke after all, nothing to worry about. Daniel had completely forgot about the stupid matchmaking joke till a letter arrived while he was having breakfast. No one sent him letters besides his friends back home but they didn't normally come by owl, it was just too far for the poor things. "No..." Daniel muttered as he read it, it would appear it wasn't a joke after all and he instantly regretted it.

This still had to be a joke he tried to convince himself as he spent part of the day looking over it, waiting for a punchline to appear that he must have been missing. It wasn't till others talked of receiving letters that Daniel finally believed that it was true. He had to meet someone in the courtyard at night for a stroll. This wasn't something he wanted to do and decided he wouldn't, there wasn't a name attached to his so the other person didn't have his. If Daniel didn't show who would know? No one and this could be over. Yet he found himself feeling bad for this person. What if they just stood out there waiting forever, what if it ended worse than that.

Daniel thought he could ignore those thoughts but here Daniel found himself, sitting in the courtyard as the stars were now out. "It's night, I'll wait for a little bit and when they don't show I can go back in." Daniel said looking up from his grassy spot on the ground leaning against a wall looking at the stars. Openly cursing whoever this Blishwick person was for the situation he was in.

@vi

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Since Christmas, Vi had been desperate for anything that served as a distraction from herself. Her thoughts were constantly clouded by the stupid, blonde Gryffindor boy she had fallen for in the last couple of months only to find out he was a halfblood. Vi had been raised to despise anyone who wasn't like her, but along came Dustin and she found herself... in love. But then she found out about his family and his bloodline and... she ran. She constantly tried to convince herself it was the right thing to do but deep, deep down she knew it wasn't.

It had been two months and she hadn't heard from Dustin but did she really even have the right to be surprised? She had been the one to run. She found herself often thinking of where he was, or what he was doing... and she knew she needed to stop. If she wanted to forget at all that that relationship even happened, she needed to distract herself. So, what better way to do that than sign up for a blind date?

Dating wasn't Vi's thing. The fact that she had fallen for Dustin at all was a funny little happenstance in and of itself. It wasn't likely Vi would find herself falling for another, but it was nice to think maybe, just maybe she could try. When she got the owl explaining where she was to meet her date, Vi had decided to be "fashionably" late. What better way to keep them guessing? Viovinnia, after all, never liked to give other people the upper hand. It was getting dark now, Vi realized, as she stepped out into the empty courtyard. She scanned the courtyard as she walked and then about seven feet in front of her sat a Gryffindor. That could only mean one thing. "Oh, you're kidding."

@crimson1

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The chance to sit there alone in the courtyard gave Daniel a chance to think about why he even signed that silly paper over a dare. He didn't own anyone anything or need to prove anything as well. At the same time he enjoyed the laughs about it that followed, at least till it proved to be real. Daniel missed having a stable group of friends and not the just the few people he had gotten to know here. Just being here this year didn't compare to the bonds he had made in five years back at Ilvermorny. Still as he looked up at the stars which had come out while he had waited they seemed familiar enough. This possibly didn't have to be as bad as Daniel was making it. A fleeting moment of trying to come to terms and accept this school, all of which was smashed as he heard a voice of a girl near him.

"Nope, sadly I'm not. Or more appropriately Blishwick isn't kidding." Daniel said eyeing the Slytherin girl. Knowing most Slytherins that he had met so far this was going to be interesting to say the least. Not many were friendly in his experience, which worked out well enough cause Daniel hadn't been very friendly in the past either. "If it makes you feel any better I can only assume he matched up the names using darts or something stupid like that." Daniel said with a shrug as he was coming to realize he shouldn't have felt bad about not coming as this girl was probably as excited to see him as he was about this whole blind date idea. Still no matter how much Daniel disliked this he didn't want to be completely rude as he stood up and brushed himself off. "I'm Daniel by the way." With that he finally introduced himself.

@vi

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Viovinnia had expected being paired with someone that she didn't know. She had only been at the school now for about two years, after all. But for some reason, she had been hoping against hope that she wouldn't be paired with a Gryffindor. Yet, here he was. Vi's brow furrowed when the boy first responded to her. "Blishwick?" She repeated with a raise of an eyebrow. Who in Merlin's name was Blishwick? The name sounded familiar, like maybe she had seen it on paper, but she couldn't remember. The Gryffindor went on to make some kind of a joke about their names being matched up with darts. She made a sound that sounded like something between a scoff and a sarcastic laugh.

Vi didn't say anything for a moment, but then the Gryffindor introduced himself as Daniel. For an instant, Vi considered not even responding but then she thought of Dustin. He had been a Gryffindor and he had been perfectly pleasant; more than pleasant, really. So who was she to really judge this poor guy on his being a Gryffindor? Vi took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment that felt like an eternity and she opened her mouth to speak. "I'm... Vi," she finally spoke. Viovinnia rarely introduced herself as "Vi," for no one ever really called her that growing up. Dustin had. He even called her "Vinnie," but that was something she'd never, ever tell anyone.

The Slytherin didn't move from where she stood near the Gryffindor but instead folded her arms across her chest a little uncomfortably. "I've never... seen you around this school before," she stated, looking anywhere but at the Gryffindor. Talking to people she didn't like was hard enough, but trying to be even a little bit civil with an absolute stranger was even harder.

@crimson1

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Daniel didn't blame her for forgetting the name of the person doing all this matchmaking business. Honestly he had hardly remembered this whole blind dating thing till the letter came in. "He's the fool who set all this blind dating stuff up." Daniel explained, as she would probably remember it then. "It sounds like a fake name to me, probably some professor having a laugh setting all this up." As Daniel thought out loud it really did seem fake but at the same time there had been plenty of names both first and last he hadn't heard of till he came to London. The most ridiculous probably being longbottom.

After a long pause, one he didn't feel the need to break she finally spoke her name. Daniel smiled, more out of just trying to be nice than an urge to smile. He was trying to be nice about this and so far she hadn't given him too much of a reason to be his sarcastic self just yet. "Well, its.. nice to meet you." Daniel replied as there wasn't much else to call their meeting just yet as it hadn't been a total disaster but he hadn't been anything great either. Mostly awkward small talk so far.

Daniel watched as Vi folded her arms and stated she hadn't seen him around. "No you wouldn't have, I just started this year." Daniel was used to that question, even from people not in the same house. People just seemed to pick up on the fact that he hadn't been at Hogwarts long no matter where he went. "I was at Ilvermorny before this, the magic school in the United States." Daniel explained as he had run into people who hadn't heard of it before. Everyone back in Ilvermorny had head of Hogwarts but that was probably just because it was such an influence on Ilvermorny creation to begin with.

@vi

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"Oh," the Slytherin let out as she looked around the courtyard. She had forgotten that there was an actual person behind this silly matchmaking business. "I've... heard that last name," she thought for a moment about the wealthy pureblooded Blishwick family, but doubted that it could be them. But then again, what did she know? "So, why'd you sign up for this thing anyway?" She asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

It was odd, meeting someone under such circumstances as these and then not immediately finding a reason to tear them down like she usually did. Maybe it was the fact she was growing tired of such behavior the older she got, or maybe she was just out of energy - period. Whatever it was, Vi nodded in agreement to the stranger's sentiment. So far, it had been rather nice. And there weren't even any signs that it would head south! That was a new one for Vi.

Viovinnia's eyebrows rose when Daniel said where he was from. She had certainly not expected that answer, that was sure. If anything, she thought she would have just missed him since she had only been at Hogwarts herself for only a year and a half. "How about that," she said eyeing him up and down, as if it should have been obvious that he was American just from his appearance. "Never met someone who went to Ilvermorny." She thought back to whether or not that was true, and couldn't put her finger on anyone in particular so she left it at that. "I was a transfer myself. Homeschooled until last year," she said matter-of-factly.

@crimson1

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with the girls oh Daniel figured she finally remembered who he was talking about. It was just a weird last name to Daniel, that was probably why it was easy for him to remember. It was followed by her saying she had heard it before. "Well yeah, he set this all up." Daniel thought to himself, keeping his sarcasm to himself for right now. It only hit him after that thought that she might have been talking about aside from this whole matchmaking thing. "So it's not a fake name? Some professor didn't just open a text book and throw two random words together?" He asked with a laugh as that was what he assumed had happened. The girl asked why he signed up for this, which he had to ask himself when he first got the letter this morning. "Honestly, I thought it was a joke and I was bored. How about you?" Yet he did leave out the part where he was dared to do it as well.

So far this could have been worse, that for sure was true. It was still incredibly awkward but at least it hadn't turned out to be bad just yet and hopefully it would stay that way. He didn't expect this blind date to turn into anything but if he could make it through this with a decent conversation and nothing worse he would take it.

As the Vi explained that she hadn't met anyone from Ilvermorny he wasn't completely surprised. There was only one other student here that he had met that was from Ilvermorny so it wasn't like it was that common. "Well now I'll have to be on my best behavior, can't let the first people you met from Ilvermorny give a bad impression." Daniel was just kidding on a few things, he didn't plan on doing anything to count as bad behavior anyway and he wasn't too worried about the impression Vi got from him about the school. Still Daniel did find it interesting that she was also a little new to the school as Vi explained she was transferred here last year from homeschool. "Homeschooled? Now that's interesting. Did your family do the teaching? Or tutors?"

@vi

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Viovinnia took a moment to respond, wanting to be sure of herself. "I think so. I've heard that name before at..." She paused, not wanting to really come flat out to this stranger and explain that her family were known, pureblood blood purists. "At social events," she finished with a shrug. That was harmless enough. Daniel turned Vi's own question around on her once he had answered and Vi should have seen that one coming, but she still wasn't sure how to respond. "Uh," she started, looking anywhere but at the Gryffindor. "Just figured it would be an interesting distraction. I guess." She said lamely. Honestly, she did it all in hopes of moving on from Dustin, but one little matchmaking date wasn't going to change that.

Vi's date joked, then, about being on his best behavior and the small joke was honestly enough to elicit a small, half smile out of the Slytherin. So far, so good. Vi knew little to nothing about this stranger, and perhaps that was a good thing that he came from another school. At least they could both relate to being fairly new. Viovinnia shrugged when he asked her about who taught her. "Tutors mainly," she said, not adding that the tutors were usually also some sort of maid to the Nott family as well. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "So, why did you come to Hogwarts if you were enrolled at Ilvermorny?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at him in curiosity.

@crimson1

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Vi explained how she had heard the name before and he'd believe it, he had no reason too. While the last name sounded made up to him it was entirely believable it was just a European name that never made its way to America. Which was for the best Daniel thought for a moment, it sounded ridiculous. "Elegant dance parties I can only assume." He replied just making an idle joke, he didn't really expect her to tell him the exact place she heard the last name. As she answered his question Daniel gave a short laugh, it was better than her expecting to find true love through someone's blind date service. "Well I've certainly been called worse things than an interesting distraction so I'll take it." Wasn't that the truth, all in all he didn't have a problem with this just being a way to kill sometime. It was better than it turning into the train wreck he thought it might.

Daniel listened as she explained it was normally tutors that trained her at home. It made sense and he didn't need to question it much more than that. The idea of home school was just so foreign to him. He knew plenty of kids got home schooled but they just didn't have a home like him, they had people around other than a nanny when he was younger. The question of why he was here always came up, before it used to bug him but he had been asked so many times now it was like the answer was rehearse to him. "My father accepted a job with the Ministry shortly after last school year was over. I didn't have much choice or family to stay with back home or I would have stayed there, so here I am." When Daniel first started he made no attempt to hide how much he hated being here but over the school year he had calmed down. Just accepting it for what it was and waiting till he could go back home. "It's an interesting distraction till I can go back home." Sure, he stole her words from before but that was the point and that's just how he felt about being here now.

@vi

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Vi couldn't help the small smirk that appeared on her face at Daniel's little joke. He seemed to have the type of humor Vi usually gravitated toward. "You assume correctly," she shrugged. Was she really that predictable? She supposed she did fall right into that stereotypical, blood purist ideology. This American seemed to pin her into the right category right away. How was it that Dustin hadn't managed to?

Viovinnia raised an eyebrow as Daniel spoke, his answer seeming like he had expected her to ask just that. He probably got it a lot, but now Viovinnia was feeling a bit more insecure wondering if she really was that predictable. She smirked when he stole his words, pleased that the date she had managed to get paired with had at least a tolerable sense of humor. She looked him over once before asking, "so, do you not like it here or something?"

@crimson1
4ever l8 but i like these two so cAnT sToP mE

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"Just a lucky guess." Daniel replied with small laugh, she so far seemed like the elegant dance party type if she was going to some social event. Still this was just a first meeting so it was hard to get any idea who a person might have been just from that. "You seem more the classy social event type than the drunken pub social event type," he said with another laugh attempting to keep the conversation going.

After Daniel explained how he ended up in Europe and in Hogwarts Vi asked if he didn't like it here. That's probably how it sounded from the way he explained his situation. "It's not that.. well completely," Daniel paused as he had slowly learned in the months of being here to separated his hate for the situation he was in and how he felt about Hogwarts and Europe as a whole. "I'm sure if I had come here willingly I might have felt different in the beginning or about this whole situation but it wasn't a choice." That was the part that got him the most, he didn't have a say or even allowed to try and fight it. "I just came home for the summer and was told that we were going to Europe and leaving everything. I didn't take it well obviously."

@vi

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Viovinnia's brow twitched momentarily when Daniel said she looked like the 'classy social event type.' Was she easier to read than she thought? Then again, it wasn't like she had ever had much choice to grow up any other way. "Hm. I'm an open book, I guess," she attempted a lighthearted laugh that surely sounded awkward. She normally didn't make small talk like this, after all.

The Slytherin raised an eyebrow and watched the newly sorted Gryffindor as he paused before continuing his explanation. Viovinnia realized, as he spoke, that she could empathize fairly well with his situation. Daniel had had no say in whether or not he wanted to come to Europe, much like Viovinnia had no say in her betrothed or her upbringing. One side of her mouth curved up into an empathetic half smile. "Well then," she began matter of factly. "There's something we have in common. Great children who do whatever their parents want them to." Her voice was laced with sarcasm, but she offered up a playful smile in the end.

@crimson1

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Daniel laughed for a moment following both Vi’s comment about being an open book and what sounded like a slightly forced laugh. He wasn’t going to read too much into that. This was already an awkward situation as is. “Call it a lucky guess. That or I just know far too well what the getting rowdy in a pub type look like to know one that doesn’t.” He explained and it was hard to say really, he was just going on an assumption after all. Even if he turned out right he had no proof in what he was assuming anyway. “Can never judge a book by its cover but you can get some ideas I suppose.”

All Daniel could do was laugh again as Vi claimed that they had that in common, great kids doing what their parents wanted. While her smile was playful enough he could only feel shewhat it was like also to be forced into doing sometime from a parent also. “Yes, what did our parents do to ever deserve children such as us?” He asked jokingly in return with a smile of his own.

@vi