Tomorrow You'll Be Worlds Away (Dan)

[Irina Rose Krum]

It was one of the last days of Irina's trip to Bulgaria - Mori had left the day before and her father Viktor was set to come stay for a night or two before traveling with the sisters back to England.  Irina planned that night to try and wheedle out of her father what was going to be happening at Hogwarts this year; she KNEW he knew, and was frustrated that he wouldn't tell her.  The day had dawned bright and beautiful, it was definitely not a day to stay indoors and whiddle away the time.  She had already flown around her grandparents grounds with Gabi and eaten lunch with their grandparents.  While Gabi and Tania had decided to head into the village, Rina opted to stay at the manor, wanting a chance to climb her favorite tree on the edge of the wood.  To her grandfathers best estimation, it had grown about 6 or 7 feet since last summer, and Irina was determined to reach the top again.  She jogged over to the tree, a giant poplar, and found the footholds she had made years previously.  Sweating with the effort, she climbed slow and steady, until she reached the place she had reached last year.  She swung herself onto one of the thicker branches, giving herself a breather.  She let her legs dangle over the side, looking through the leaves to the grounds below.  As she watched, she saw a speck of a person come towards the house, pause, and start towards the woods.  She stood up and waited; it didn't seem to be her father, whose tall hunching stature she'd recognize immediately.  So, who could it be?

@daniel

[Deleted]

Aleks had let Daniel know that some of the Krums were going to their grandmothers house in Bulgaria this summer before school started and that he should swing by if he had time. He had been to the manor, of course, and was well enough friends with Aleks' grandparents too that it wouldn't be weird for him to just show up. He was busy this summer though and didn't end up making it over until late August and he wasn't even sure if they'd still be there...

He arrived, wearing a dark grey jacket over his casual jeans and button up. He approached the house, only to soon find out that Irina was the only kid there and that she was in the back at the big Poplar. Dan shrugged and made his way there.

He wasn't surprised to see her up in the branches, seemingly standing on one. He didn't greet her even as her shape became clearer. As he got closer he could start to feel the emotions coming form her...  he didn't speak til he was right under the tree. "This thing got taller."

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

As the figure came into sharper relief, Irina realized who it was; Daniel Hoh, her brothers' best friend. She felt her heartbeat quicken for just a second, and scolded herself. You prat, he is your brothers' best friend and thinks of you as his sister. YOU think of him as a brother, she reprimanded herself. "Trees are known to grow taller over the years, Hoh," she called down with a smirk. Though she hadn't reached the top just yet, she began to climb down with the ease of an experienced climber.  Once or twice, she hopped down several branches at once; being a witch helped her not come crashing to the ground.  When she reached one of the lowest, most sturdy branches, she sat down, her legs swinging beneath her.  "You know Aleks is away in England with the team; he's not supposed to be coming this time," she told him, looking at him curiously.  Rarely did she see Dan without Aleks; the two were inseperable whenever they were around each other.  There was one time though when Dan had joined her in a cave excursion a few years ago; he had caught her from falling after a swarm of bats they disturbed came rushing towards them.  Aleks hadn't been there then.  Irina chased the memory from her mind; this wasn't the time to be thinking back on that.

@daniel

[Deleted]

There was her usual smirk and sass, which he was expecting. Even for a witch her maneuvering down the branches was impressive and it got him itching to climb the tree as well. So he did.

He moved up right about the same time she sat down. "So do people. Though, apparently you missed that memo," he added casually, taking a seat on a branch near hers, about the same height.

He was far enough away that her emotions weren't overwhelming, but he could still feel them. She was curious , confident and... something he didn't recognize. Confused? Conflicted?

He shook thoughts of that and shrugged about her next comment. "What, I can't climb nice trees just because Aleks isn't in them?"

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina wrinkled her nose in his direction. "Are you calling me short? Because last I checked, I was nearly as tall as you!" she teased, though she couldn't be sure.  Dan had seemed to have gotten taller since they last had seen each other, but Rina was now nearly five feet, eight inches, a far cry from the 'shorty' she used to be when she was twelve and barely five feet tall.  She watched as he sat down on a branch not too far away from her; she could just see a tiny shadow of facial hair resting on his jawline.  The look suited him.  Bloody hell Rina, stop noticing his jawline, she scolded herself.  She didn't know why she was noticing this now; she felt very confused and a little concerned for her well-being.

Rina stood up on her branch, determined to push aside her inner thoughts.  "You're welcome to climb any tree you'd like," she said, a smirk playing at her lips.  "Of course, now this means you have to try and beat me to the top of the tree!" she exclaimed suddenly.  Without giving him a minute to process what she'd said, Irina began to climb.  Higher and higher she climbed the limbs; she had just done this mere minutes ago, and though her limbs had begun to feel a slight ache she welcomed the pain.  Pain was weakness leaving the body, after all.  

@daniel

[Deleted]

That wrinkled nose cause him to smile smugly, her teasing coming through loud and clear. He had always felt more connected to Irina than the other sisters, probably due to the fact that she had been the person who woke up his ability in the first place. He would never tell her that though, obviously. He nodded at her words, "nearly being the key word there, Rina," he said with his own teasing smirk. He had grown a bit two, though he was pretty sure the growing was stopping now. She was quite tall, though, something that seemed to happen rather suddenly. Same with her looking less like a twelve year old and more like a... well, there was no point going into that. Point was, she was a sight to see and he couldn't deny that.

He was glad she couldn't sense his emotions. Luckily he was so distracted by those he didn't catch her little moment of scolding herself.

She stood again and he rolled his eyes, "oh, thanks for your permission! I was afraid I'd have to call for you any time I wanted to climb a tree," he said. Before he knew it a race was afoot though and he stood as well, starting to climb as soon as she had moved upward. He was a great climber, but so was she. She had longer limbs now, though, and he knew he was underestimating her.

Irina Rose Krum
(she can win )

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina could hear Dan climbing the tree branches behind her, but it made her even more determined to win.  She wasn't really sure why she felt so determined to beat him - maybe it had been the comment on her height.  It could have also been the fact that Dan usually beat her in these sort of races, due to her being far shorter than him.  Most likely though it was so she could push away whatever these strange feelings she had and become hyper-focused on the task at head.  She pushed through and finally her head popped up at the top of the tree, the leaves brushing her shoulders lightly.  She looked down and realized that, finally, she had won.  "Woohoo!  I am victorious!"  she cried, pumping her fist in the air.  "Now you do have to get my permission every time you want to climb a tree," she teased him.

Rina steadied her hold on the top branches and looked around; the view was the same as it was last year, though even the foot or two higher seemed to make a difference.  To her left she saw the mountains that hid the caves they had hiked through several summers ago, and to the right she could just see the ocean, deep blue with the suns' rays reflecting on it.  "No matter how many times I climb this tree, this view could never get old," she breathed, a small smile spreading across her face.

@daniel

ooc: we can pretend that the branches they stand on are completely secured...her grandfather uses dragon fertilizer or something XP

[Deleted]

Her focus was oddly intense as she raced ahead of him, almost as if she was trying to distract herself from something. He couldn't figure out what, though, which he was grateful for. Reading minds would be terrible and this was bad enough. Finally, she reached the top and cried out victory, even though he was only a second or so behind. Breathless, he slowly applauded, "congrats monkey arms, I didn't know you took tree climbing classes at the zoo this summer," he muttered, shaking his head at her next comment, "what about when you're not around? What will I do then?" he pouted. He felt a welling sense of satisfaction because, in fact, he would be around. At Hogwarts, that is. But he couldn't tell her that yet. That caused his smile to grow exponentially and a small chuckle to escape him. He cleared his throat.

He could feel that sense of serenity sweep over her as she looked away from him, out at the view around them. That feeling was strong enough that he started to feel it himself, not realizing he was climbing closer to her until he was standing by her side. He nodded, "I don't come up here as often as you, but it's definitely one of the best," he agreed, slightly glancing at her out of the corner of his eye before quickly turning back to the ocean

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

"It's a new course offered at Hogwarts, doesn't Durmstrang offer it?" Irina said airily, flipping her braid behind her shoulder.  "And you'll just have to send an owl to get written permission from me.  But don't worry, you can go swimming any time you want," she added with a teasing grin. Irina liked to swim as much as the next person, but she didn't like to go too deep.  After the caves incident she preferred to stay where she could at least catch a glimpse of the bottom.  

A breeze rippled through the canopy of leaves, and Rina closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the feeling.  She savored it a bit too much though, for she lost her footing for brief moment.  She wobbled on her branch shakily, and grabbed the nearest thing to steady herself, which happened to be Dan.  Her breath caught for a moment when she realized what she had done; she looked straight at him, locking eyes, then immediately looked away and let go.  "Thanks," she said, then quickly changed the subject.  "So what were you laughing at just now?  Do I have any twigs in my braid?" she asked him, pulling the long dark plait in front of her to check.  She hoped he couldn't hear her heart pounding.

@daniel

[Deleted]

Dan's nose wrinkled as he tried not to laugh at her little hair flip and her joke about the class being taught at Hogwarts. He nodded, accepting that answer and moving onto the permission issue. "But an owl takes so long. I have to wait?" he asked again, his eyebrow raising high and his smirk ever present. He shook his head at her comment about the swimming, "but Durmstang is freezing. There's barely anywhere to swim," he joked. He wasn't a big fan of swimming anyway. All that unfamiliar dark space made him uncomfortable.

He felt her slight moment of panicked adrenaline before he realized she was slipping, and suddenly her hand was clutching his arm. He felt that moment of realization flowing through her, as well as a slight sense of embarrassment. He wasn't sure if that was hers or his. She let go, and that's when he heard it. Well, figuratively speaking. Her heart was pounding. She was... he swallowed, completely unable to tell whose feelings were whose now.

"Do I make you nervous?" he asked before he could think about it, not even answering her question.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Oh crap. He had heard her heart pounding almost painfully in her chest.  How could she even begin to explain something she didn't quite understand herself?  "Nervous?  Why would you make me nervous?" she asked, successfully hiding the tremor she was feeling.  Score one point for me, she thought sarcastically to herself.  "I've known you for years Dan, since we were little kids.  Of course you don't make me nervous," she said pointedly.  She wasn't exactly lying, Dan himself didn't make her nervous.  It was the weirdly annoying little flutterings in her stomach when he was around that made her very nervous.  This was her brothers' best friend, after all.  No matter what she hypothetically felt, it wouldn't happen.  "Do I make you nervous?" she teased, trying to move the conversation off of her.  "You know, you still haven't answered about what made you laugh earlier," she added.  She was talking a lot, she knew it, and he probably realized it too.  But she stood her ground, wanting him to talk so she would stop.

@daniel

[Deleted]

Her nervous emotion spiked and he felt a sharp pain in his head.

He needed to get out of the situation, and fast, otherwise he would be shaky from the nerves all day. She could try to hide it as much as she wanted, but he could feel that she wasn't entirely comfortable right now. Her voice was steady enough and her words calm, but he knew. He always knew.

He kept quite as she went on, saying that he didn't make her nervous, that she'd known him her whole life, asking if she made him nervous... and then pointing out that he hadn't answered her question. He felt this overwhelming urge to tell her the truth then. Not about why he was laughing... but about why he knew he was nervous.

"I'm only nervous because you are," he said, a little more snappy than he meant to. He turned away, annoyed that he wanted to tell her the truth now of all times. Standing in a tree, Aleks not even around.

"And the reason I laughed is a secret. You'll find out soon enough," he added.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina recoiled back when he snapped at her; he never usually snapped.  "I'm only nervous because...the tree branches up here are still new, and I'm growing concerned they'll snap," she retorted quickly.  Casting a glance out at the sea, she hopped down a few feet to where she knew the branches would be steady.  Before Dan could react, she took a deep breath and pressed her back into the trunk.  Relax, you're fine she told herself.  

She distracted herself by thinking on what else he had said.  A surprise, what kind of surprise would make him laugh like that?  Was he transferring to Hogwarts?  No, that'd be silly, he was in his last year like she was; he probably had loads of friends at Durmstrang, he wouldn't want to transfer.  Maybe it had something to do with what her parents were talking about the night before she had left with her sisters for Bulgaria.  Seriously, did everyone know what was going on while she remained clueless?  "I suppose this has to do with whatever is happening at Hogwarts this year that requires dress robes?" she called over finally, breaking the silence.

@daniel

[Deleted]

Dan could tell he had upset her with his attitude, even without being able to feel her emotions. He sighed, frowning as she jumped down to lower branches. He didn't follow after her yet, but simply just sat on the branch he was already on. He heard her question lift through the air toward him and he looked down at her between the leafs, eyebrow raised. "Dress robes?" he said, a smirk appearing on his face. He wasn't that good at keeping secrets, at least not fun ones. He shrugged, "beats me," then he felt a strange tug at his stomach at the thought of her in a nice dress, dancing at the Yule Ball with some other guy. He frowned, looking away from her again for a moment.

He'd be upset if any of Aleks' little sisters went on a date, right? They were like his own sisters, after all.

He left his branch then, going down to where she was. "Sorry about being snappy," he said, standing on the same branch she was on, holding onto the branch above his head for support.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

"That's alright," Irina said simply. She had calmed down just by sitting on the sturdy branch.  People snapped at each other all of the time anyway; they didn't always have to mean anything by it.  She glanced over at him and gave him a small smile.  "The last time my father had to wear dress robes at school was the Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament," she said, and then laughed.  "Once when my mother was out of town with my sisters he told me about it; he had taken a Hogwarts student, Hermione Granger with him to the ball, and almost caused a huge falling out between her and her future husband.  He said he had fun at least; he always jokes how she's the one that got away," she said with a chuckle.  This was probably the reason why Rose Weasley and herself did not get along; her mother WAS Hermione and her fathers' animosity of her own had clearly spilled into Rose.  Luckily Hugo was much nicer and didn't seem to care that Irina's father was Viktor Krum; they never talked about it anyway.

"If it was the Triwizard Tournament, I would definitely enter, I'd welcome the challenge," she said with a hint of relish.  She didn't think they'd actually go through with another tournament; it had been what, fifteen,maybe twenty years since the last one?  If it did though, it'd give her a chance to prove she wasn't just some Quidditch Legacy.  She'd be Viktor Krums' daughter, Triwizard Competitor.  No, Triwizard Champion.  Her father had come in third place out of the four contestants the year he had participated, but she'd show them all how different she was from her family.

@daniel