Beating curfew

[Dylan Cooper]

Chirping angrily at her comment, his projected anger was not fully supported by his cheery mood. Tilting his head to the side slight, he watched as she flicked her wand once more, transfiguring back to his normal, human form. Smiling wordlessly at her kiss, he watched as she dropped from the window and felt a familiar tingling sensation on his lips.

Peering into the closest mirror, he saw that his appearance would not do at all around his peers. Grimacing, he shuffled into the bathroom and turned the water up to a slightly extreme heat. Locking the door and derobing, he broke the steady stream of water with his body, savouring the effect it had and tilting his head back, exposing his neck to the very hot water.

Emerging after fifteen minutes of attempting to do only one thing, he had finally calmed himself down. Making his way back over to his trunk, he extracted a set of clothes and put them on, eventually resulting in him wearing a pair of close-fitting jeans and a light, blue, button-up shirt. His hair was still wet as he ran his towel over it roughly and finally satisfied with it being only slightly damp, he dumped the towel into the bathroom laundry basket.

Descending the dormitory stairs, he found that the common room was significantly busy, presumably because of the curfew that had been enforced approximately twenty minutes ago. Searching for the nearest seat, he located a deep blue couch that provided a slight view of the grounds. Dumping his body onto it wearily, he lifted up his feet and lay down, his head lying on the armrest as he waited for D'rorah.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

Landing in the room of her own dormitory, D'rorah transformed back to her human form. Catching sight of herself in the mirror, her eyes widened slightly. She grabbed her bath basket and a large towel and quickly made her way into the bathroom for a shower. Glad that no one else was around, she disrobed and allowed the water to run over her, the hot water cascading over her body as she took time to calm herself.

Finally she stepped from the water and brushed her long hair out, drying it as well as she could with her towel before wrapping it and pinning it securely in a tight bundle to the back of her head. She caught sight of herself in the mirror as she finished dressing and frowned. She had nearly forgotten during their extended afternoon the scars which covered her. She also caught sight of a new mark on her neck... a small circular bruise, just beginning to come to the surface. With a smirk, she turned from the mirror and finished dressing in her usual austere robes with high collar, long sleeves, and ankle-length skirt.

Finally, judging herself to look as she would on any other day, she made her way down into the common room and immediately saw Dylan, stretched out on the couch. "I think it is so rude when one person commandeers an entire couch for himself," she remarked in a mock-scolding voice as she approached him. She sank to the floor in front of him, leaning her back against the couch, the back of her head mere inches from where his own head rested against the arm of the couch.

[Dylan Cooper]

His eyes were shut as he heard a remark float through his ears. Smiling in response, his eyes opened to find D'rorah seated before the couch. "I've had a rather intense workout today, I need to rest my legs," he said, a hint of a laugh hidden in his voice. "You could always join me," he said in a quiet, teasing voice, his hand draping over her shoulder. Wondering if she would dare to take up his offer in front of so many people, he offered up another option. "I could sit up if you really want me to, however."

Smiling contentedly at seeing her again, he watched the actions of his fellow Ravenclaws around their common room. A small group of girls were huddled beside one window, playing a game of Exploding Snap and making a bit of a racket. A pair of young boys, perhaps in their third year of Hogwarts, were trading Chocolate Frog cards, and a few students of mixed gender were over on one of the larger tables, appearing to study. A discontent frown emerged onto his features as he remembered the Transfiguration homework still noted down in his journal.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

D'rorah smirked. "A rather intense workout? Well, I suppose our aspiring quidditch keeper owes it to his housemates to keep in proper physical form." At his second comment, she playfully scoffed. "Why Mister Cooper, if you are so exhausted, I should feel quite guilty to interrupt your respite," she teased.

She leaned back a bit and gave him an appraising glance. "Why, were you practicing with a real bludger?" she asked, her voice epitome of innocence. "You seem to have taken a slight injury to the neck." She reached up a hand a gently touched the newly forming bruise. "You really should be more cautious while you are practicing."

Rising from her seat on the floor, she made her way to the other end of the couch. Lifting his feet, she took a seat and allowed his legs to rest across her lap. "You were absolutely correct. They seem a bit tense," she remarked as she began slowly massaging his calf muscles through his jeans. "You should take care not to overexert yourself," she admonished.

[Dylan Cooper]

His features formed a smirk as she proceeded to maintain a veil of innocence. "Oh, I don't know. Perhaps it happened when I fell..." he said quietly, his eyes twinkling mischeviously. Feeling his feet lifted as she made room to sit down, he smiled brightly at her, his eyes narrowed happily in what might be perceived as desire. "Oh, I try, but I just can't get enough of.. Quidditch," he said in a teasing voice, relaxing slightly as she began massaging his calfs.

A particularly loud snap echoing from the small group of girls nearby, his attention was diverted momentarily. Thinking about when he might get a chance to wake up next to the woman in front of him, he pondered any possible situation. While they were still at Hogwarts, their absense would almost certainly be noticed from their dormitories. If she was coming to his house for vacation, he couldn't risk his mother finding them under any circumstances. Sighing lightly, his mind continued to roam for an answer.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

"Yes, while I will never quite understand the obsession with quidditch among the students, I suppose it is a fairly innocuous past-time. Perhaps I shall make it a point to attend the games this year nevertheless," she added with a thoughtful smile as her fingers carefully worked at the knotted muscles in his legs.

Hearing the snap, her eyes darted to the other side of the room. No matter how relaxed and off-guard she may have been earlier, she was certainly alert now. Seeing that it was only the game, she allowed her eyes to return to Dylan's face and smiled a bit. She was thinking of the translations she still had to work on and felt rather decadent at having taken the entire morning and afternoon away from them. She smirked as she considered beckoning to him, having him switch so that his head would res in her lap. After a moment of debate, she decided that that would betray too much on her parts. There were so many people in the common room... and it was rather difficult to know whom to trust.

After a moment, she rose to make a quick round of the common room, checking to see that it was not too out of order before the end of the day. She had the most uncanny ability to shift from temptress to a bit withdrawn and proper... she wondered briefly if Dyan had yet noticed and what he might think of that particular aspect of her personality. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, she took a seat on the couch Dylan was lying on and stretched a bit. It appeared she was rather tired herself.

[Dylan Cooper]

Smiling at her comments on Quidditch, his legs began feeling slightly better at her touch. Feeling exceptionally hungry after the activities of the day, he checked his watch and found it was only half past four. Sighing with discontent, he knew that he could not wait until the feast was served at six-thirty.

His legs were lifted, and Dee was off. He watched her make her way around the common room, assuming that she was carrying out some of her Prefect duties. Watching the progress of a game of wizarding chess in which a white knight had just toppled a bishop of the opposing team. He wondered at why he'd never been particularly good at chess. While he was generally very good at sports, Muggle and wizarding, he was usually found at a loss in games. He knew chess was supposedly intelligence based, the more intelligent members of society excelling and leaving others in their wake, but for the life of him he could never win.

Shaking his head of irrelevant thoughts, he smiled at the woman now sitting beside him once more. "How about we catch an early meal?" he asked her quietly, his hand surreptitiously slipping into hers, a barely noticeable movement to the rest of the common room occupants.

[D'rorah Philosophy]

"Very well," she agreed, just as quietly. Her fingertips whispered against the palm of his hand as he took hold of her hand. She wondered for a moment at the point of their secrecy... they had already been seen arriving to breakfast in the Great Hall the other morning hand in hand. She pushed the concern slightly aside, deciding that it was worth maintaining whatever secrecy they could from this point forward. She still found herself concerned for Dylan's safety, wondering what would happen to him if word got around to unfriendly ears about their involvement. Then, remembering that it technically already had, as Professor Spade had commented about it at breakfast the other morning, she decided there was little point in the charade. However, propriety was still a bit of an issue, especially around their fellow Ravenclaws... at least, they wouldn't have to come up with some elaborate ruse about leaving together, as she had initially thought they would.

Having finally come to somewhat of a decision in her own mind, she stood from her spot on the couch and began making we way to the door of the common room, expecting that Dylan would follow.