we were just kids when we fell in love - dan

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina nodded, feeling a wave nervous energy at the prospect of Dmitri and Dan hanging out one on one, but found that it quickly dissipated. They had been best friends for as long as Irina could remember after all, and she had been the one to be very adamant with Dmitri after their breakup that he should try reaching out to Daniel, but to not tell her about it. She hoped he had, and from the sound of it their relationship was going back to the way it was. She was glad of it; Dmitri was a good soul, even if he had been initially angry with what happened between them. She had never wanted to be the cause of the breakup of the real bromance between the two of them after all. “I’m sure you’re doing just fine. They wouldn’t have been so interested in scouting you if they didn’t think you could keep up,” Irina commented confidently. She flashed back to the fall scouting session, when the former Captain of the Arrows had taken a particular interest in Daniel. Really, she shouldn’t have been surprised that they ended up recruiting him, especially with her older brother on the team and her father still very influential with them. She just...hadn’t expected him to still accept it after he left England. She had to admit she had mixed feelings when she realized he was back in the UK, but the more she thought about it (and she had thought about it plenty between their first meeting and tonight) she was more happy about it than any other emotion. That had to be a good sign, right?

Irina finished the last bite of the toffee pudding and let the spoon fall with a clatter. She knew they were coming up to the inevitable talk about them, if there even was a them. She let go of his hand and stood up, brushing away the small crumbs that had fallen onto her lap while they ate. She couldn’t help but smile with a chortle; she still ate with gusto, not paying attention to crumbs when the food was that good. “It’s not a far walk to Saint Paul’s, if that’s still where you want to go?” she told him, posing the last part as a question. The ball was in his court as they said after all, as he had been the one to suggest this in the first place.

@daniel

[Deleted]

Daniel felt her nerves at the mention of him spending time with Dmitri, but it was gone fast. He could understand her being nervous about it, to be honest. This was her... ex (ugh) boyfriend and her brother. But it was probably short lived because he and Dmitri were best friends and that was more important... hopefully. Dan was sure Dmitri wouldn't make it weird. Irina said that he'd do just fine and his brow furrowed. He looked down at the table and started tracing the wood with his finger, "yeah... yeah, I'm sure, he said, still feeling a little... unsure at the moment.

Once the pudding was gone, Irina released his hand and he felt himself letting out a sigh of relief at that. He needed his own emotions for a moment. Then she stood and he stood, too. "Sure, yeah let's go there," he agreed, smiling, putting his hands into his pockets as they paid and headed out the door. 

It was a bit chilly for this time of year, or maybe Dan was just being a drama queen. "So... guess we're supposed to do that talking stuff now. Maybe we could just keep kissing instead and never talk about it," he half joked, but he forgot to chuckle.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina glanced over at Dan as they walked, he seemed to be a bit chilled even with his leather jacket. His hands were in his pockets, and he probably didn’t notice that he had his arms clamped down to his sides for warmth. She smiled, unable to help herself. “If I had a jacket I’d offer it to you,” she told him teasingly. Irina always had run warm so currently she was not feeling chilled at all, though a breeze ruffled through her hair, causing gooseflesh to rise up on her arms. She crossed them, and looked up at Saint Paul’s Cathedral as it rose up to meet them. It really was a beautifully designed church, with its’ great dome that, from what Irina had read, offered magnificent views of all of London. The price to climb it was exorbitant however, and Irina didn’t think it was fair that churches charged people to enter. What if they believed in that God? Why couldn’t they just go and visit a church they believed was holy to them? It made no sense, and Irina shook her head despite herself.

They stopped in the park and she turned to face Dan. Irina had already decided she would remain silent until he began to speak, as the dinner had been his idea, as had the idea to walk and talk afterwards. She was not expecting the next words to come out of his mouth though, and her own opened in a faint surprise. That was incredibly forward of him; she had noted he had become more forward and confident in himself just from their chance encounter in Diagon Alley. She had to admit, she found this new side of him incredibly attractive. Irina had changed too; she had become more confident in her ability to calm her emotions, to learn how to breathe, to appreciate what was right in front of her. And right now that was Daniel Hoh. “Well, that is always an option,” she started, taking a step closer to him. “An option I daresay I do enjoy the thought of.” One more step; there were just a few inches between them. “We did agree to talk, however...” She was now lightly pressed up against him. “One kiss couldn’t hurt,” she finished softly. She leaned in and brushed her lips ever so lightly against his before tilting her head back. She looked at him, her blue eyes expectant, as if saying ‘your move Hoh.’

@daniel

[Deleted]

She said she would offer him a jacket and he rolled his eyes, but smiled a little. He didn't comment on it, though. Soon they were at the park and she turned to face him when he spoke, her mouth opened slightly. He turned to look at her, too, his expression a little pained. Brows furrowed together, nose scrunched, eyes a little wide. She said that 'kissing' was always an option and he froze as she took a step closer. He leaned forward a little, expecting a kiss now. She said she enjoyed the thought of kissing, and the right corner of his lip raised a little as she took another step.

She said one kiss couldn't hurt, and her lips were barely touching his. He felt electricity start in his toes and run straight up his body until his lips were tingling with it. He shook his head, just a tiny jerk, "just one?" he questioned softly, not giving her time to answer before pressing his lips to hers.

He kept his hands in his pocket as they kissed, and didn't make it last too long. He pulled back, straightening up and raising one eyebrow, not knowing where to start with the talking thing. She was always better at that.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina didn’t have time to think before Dan’s lips were on hers again, and she let her mind go, just blissfully being in the moment. It wouldn’t last forever, but it would give her time to become centered. When he stepped back, he raised a brow at her and she rolled her eyes with a small smile. Talking had always been Irina’s strong point, perhaps a little too much sometimes, especially when she was talking of something she was passionate about, like history or Potions, or her family. She was passionate about Dan as well, but she had realized that she didn’t necessarily need to use words to express herself around him. It was a blessing and a curse; if she was speechless, Dan would know what she was feeling, but if she was angry or upset, he knew this too. As she thought, she realized that the latter was actually a good thing. What was the point of being petty and pretending she wasn’t angry when she was? Wasn’t honesty always the best policy?

Taking that to heart, Irina reached out and tugged on the sleeve of Dan’s leather jacket, indicating he should follow her to a bench under a cherry tree to talk. She knew that there was the possibility of her emotions swelling, and she wanted him to at least be in a seated position before their talk began. She sat and crossed her ankles, turning to face him slightly. Taking a deep breath, she finally began to speak.

“It’s hard to know where to start.” Great way to start this Rina, she thought to herself sarcastically. “I honestly...I didn’t know what to expect when I showed up at the Leaky Cauldron this evening. Admittedly, I let myself get into my head too much while I was at home searching for what to wear. I realized that even though it’d been months I still wanted to...wow you,” she admitted, blushing slightly. Honesty was the best policy, and she’d be honest to a frank if she needed to be. “I know this dinner could have gone a multitude of ways, but I don’t have to go into detail on that, because we both know which way it went.” Irina turned to face him a little more, their knees inches apart. “When you kissed me again, I felt the fireworks, the electricity….it was like, I didn’t realize how much I missed it, how much I missed you, until that moment.” She looked down, and took a deep breath to steady herself. She was saying a lot, but she still felt pretty centered in her emotional state. Small waves of affection, sentiment and desire flowed through her, but she kept herself perfectly composed before looking back up. “I want what is best for you Dan, and I want to be what is best for you. As a partner, as a friend, or even as a penpal, I don’t care. I want to be back in your life, whatever you decide,” she told him finally, holding his gaze. Her hands were clasped firmly in her lap, and she felt if she let go she’d lose the anchor to the bench they were currently sitting on. She took calming breaths while she chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for him to take his turn to speak.

@daniel

[Deleted]

Dan grinned when she rolled her eyes, smiling a little as well. This felt normal, this felt like Dan and Irina. That was a comforting thought, and a comforting sentence. It was strange, though. She wasn't angry. Not that he necessarily expected her to be but... he had said so many things to her about loving her and loving every part of her, every emotion -- and while all that was true, he just had been more talk then capable back then. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but it also felt like they were just picking up where they left off, meeting up after he promised her that he'd come back.

She tugged on the sleeve of his jacket and his grin left his face, making way for a nervous look of expectation. She just pulled him over to a bench, which was actually really smart considering his habit of getting all weak at the knees and stuff. Joking and not joking. He sat, making sure their legs weren't touching or anything for the moment, and turned to face her, too. 

Her deep breath made him lean forward slightly, ready for whatever she had to say. He was glad she was willing to start the talking, since he was the worst. 

Yes, it was hard to know where to start. She said she didn't know what to expect. That was fair, neither did he. She got into her head, of course she did, so did he. Constantly. Always. This was Dan, after all. She admitting wanting to 'wow' him and his lips curved upward a little and back down again, then up again. A twitching motion. His eyes flickered to the slight warmth in her cheeks as her emotions fluttered toward him like butterflies. He took in a deep breath through his nose, as if he could suck more of her emotions out of her by doing so.

She turned toward him more, their knees almost touching now, and he felt like heat radiated from that spot between them. They were like two magnets, pulling toward each other at high frequencies but something holding them back on the other side. She talked about him kissing her, and how much she missed him and slowly he felt that ache. Hers and his, the emotions of missing. So many emotions made up 'missing'. All of them were mixed together like a bag of different colored glitter. They were impossible to separate, so the whole bag was just the feeling of 'missing'. He had tried to dissect it before, tried to find out exactly why he missed her so much -- but it was impossible with so many different parts involved.

He could tell she was working on her new techniques to stay calm and he appreciated it, but also wished she didn't have to. Maybe, for now, they could use those tools to ease into things but then she could be completely free with him. He didn't want her to feel like she had to hold back, even if he had been an ass and snapped at her about pudding. He was just nervous. And stupid.

He breathed a literal sigh of relief when she looked back up at him, catching that affection, desire and sentiment coming from her. His emotions were similar, but also had a wild lace of obsession,  admiration, worship even. All those things that drove him crazy. But they weren't bad, they just needed to be logical. He couldn't put himself down just because he loved her so much. 

She said she wanted what was best for him, but said that she wanted to be what was best for him. He recalled saying something similar to her while they were dating. That he wanted to be what she needed him to be. She was holding his gaze as she wrapped up, saying she wanted to be in his life whatever he decided. 

"Feeling you is like waking up," he whispered quickly, not knowing exactly where that came from at first. His eyes glanced down to her hands in her lap, clasped tightly together. He lifted his gaze back to her face, stopping for a moment at the sight of her teeth biting down on her lip, before moving back to eye contact. 

He opened his mouth and then suddenly he heard music. He blinked, his face suddenly contorted with confusion. Was he imagining things? He tore his eyes from her to turn around, seeing one of those street players tuning up on the corner. Then, La Vie En Rose. Dan smiled slowly, then that smile turned into a chuckle, a laugh. He turned back to face her. "Magic," he said, nodding back toward the music. He wasn't referring to the wizard kind of magic. 

Dan, he heard a voice saying in his head, this is the part where you talk. He nodded, literally, and took in another breath through his nose, then focused his eyes -- an intense focus -- on Irinas. "They're just words, what the hell," is what came out. He was trying, he really was. He was forming words in his mind, but not sentences. "I wish... for just a moment you could feel what I'm feeling. Then you could just know," he said, admitting that he wished she could have his ability, just for a moment.

"Don't say anything yet," he added quickly. The song kept playing, dancing around the air and wafting toward them. He had never been good with words, but he had to be in order to explain everything he was feeling. The more he sat here staring at her, though, the more he was sure they could both explode at any moment. 

"Okay, okay. I can do this," he said. He suddenly reached a hand on to place on top of both of hers, and he squeezed tightly. "I meant what I said, all that time ago, that I wanted you. All of you. Every inch, every moment, every emotion, every second, everything. I just didn't know how to love you and myself. So I only loved you," he explained. That made sense, right? His capacity to love was so small he could only use it on one of them at a time. And he was... well, him. "I'm not saying I'm all 'Team Dan' now but I am Team Dan and Irina. Darina, I guess," he managed another one of those chuckles. "I never stopped loving you," he leaned forward a little more so their knees finally touched, and his other hand reached up to gently clasp the bottom of her chin, "I just think I understand more what love is now. So," he smirked, "I'm yours, if you'll have me," a pause, "again." 

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina heard the music before Dan even said a word. The song, La Vie En Rose, held so many memories for her, from her mother singing it to her and Dmitri before bed, to falling asleep with Dan in the Hospital Wing that night they both ended up in there.  At the time, it had seemed so coincidental, a simple chance of luck.  But Irina had wondered since if it hadn't had a touch of destiny entwined with it.  She closed her eyes and listened to the melody, floating through the air as if she was in a dream.  She felt the touch of his hand on top of hers, and she opened her eyes, a small smile playing subconsciously on her lips.  A small giggle escaped her mouth as he declared they were just words; Dan always had an...interesting way with words, and she found it comforting.  "It would be beneficial at times, wouldn't it?" she agreed softly, letting another small laugh escape again.  It would be really useful if someone, anyone could understand what he was trying to convey, though for obvious reasons she wanted it to be her.

Dan began to speak, finally, and Irina found herself leaning forward, unaware she was doing so.  She knew what he meant; she could picture the day she found him, near frozen, in the stands at the Quidditch Pitch.  He had been so...broken, so defeated.  She should have known then, that he would leave, not forever, but needed help beyond what she was capable of at that point in time.  But she was stubborn, and wanted to believe that she alone could fix him.   She had been naive, but that girl had grown into the woman she was now, sitting across from the man she knew deep down had never stopped loving her, and she had never stopped loving him.  She smiled at the term 'Darina'; it was a combination between their two names obviously, and it had a nice ring to it.  Her chin tilted up, cupped in his hand.  She never broke eye contact with him, and when he said those words 'i'm yours, if you'll have me', she forgot to breathe.  She had been waiting for this moment, since the day he had placed the necklace currently lying on her collarbone around her neck, even though sh ehad tried to deny it so many times.  She was done denying her feelings, and from the look on his face, his words, so was he.  

But it wasn't the moment for words; instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, closing the gap between them.  Fireworks explored under her eyelids as she breathed in deeply.  Time seemed to stand still, and the world just faded away, leaving just Dan and Irina in its' wake.  Though every fiber in her body protested, Irina finally broke away, to just speak one word.  "Always," she whispered.  Her eyes felt wet; she laughed a little, as she realized it.  "Happy tears, I promise you," she managed to get out, laughing again despite herself.  She kissed him again, and squeezed his hand.  "When did you learn to be so good with words?" she asked him, smiling.

@daniel

[Deleted]

She kissed him, thankfully, thank gods, thank everything.

Her emotions were comforting and, if he dug a little deeper -- which he did -- were wild under there. She was staying calm and keeping them at bay, but now he was pretty determined to get them out. For a moment he kept his eyes closed, leaning toward her. Then she laughed a little, and he opened his eyes to see the tears on her face she was talking about. He knew they were happy, of course he did, that was kind of his thing. She kissed him again, squeezing his hand, and he kept his eyes closed again when she pulled away and asked when he learned to be so good with words. "You know, during all those months I was off being a selfish prat," in reality, though, he wasn't be a selfish prat. He was learning to be better. For himself, definitely, but it helped a lot of other people in the process.

Suddenly an idea hit him and he grinned, standing and pulling her up harshly, til her body was flat against his and his arm was around her waist, his other hand holding hers out to the side. "Let's dance," he said, starting to step without even waiting for her to agree, "and then, afterward, we'll say goodnight so I can get my head on straight. And then," he pulled her even closer, "we'll plan a time for you to come see my dinky apartment," he laughed. They didn't dance for too long, enough to enjoy the moment and each other before parting ways again.

Dan didn't sleep that night, not much at least. He started the night by laying in bed staring at the ceiling, thinking about Irina and that song and... he reached over to his dresser and pulled out the journal, her dream journal he'd taken, and he started writing. Ever since he stole it he had kiiinnd of been writing letters to her as a way to journal his progress... he figured he should give it back to her sometime...

Irina Rose Krum
(the end)