In the Middle of the Field [Dimitri & Nerisei]

Guest

Summer was finally here, school was over and the holidays had just begun in the best way possible... The Quidditch World Cup! Nerisei was a fan of the sport, but Hogwarts did not offer half the quality plays the World Cup did, hence why the young witch was so excited for the event. Even though the schedule did not go as planned, since her brother had not been able to make it to the event in time, Neri decided not to allow this to spoil her day. Plus, Nikolaj would be there on the next event, so it didn't matter.

Too early for the actual event, they young witch found herself amongst thousands of people who were chattering and laughing. She could already spot a few guys trying to set up bets, whilst some others were arguing over the team roster, as usual. Nothing was out of place, and that was quite comforting for the Ravenclaw witch, who was slightly on edge. Her father had not made any appearances since his... unexpected letter, but the girl was still not sure she was safe. He was a Muggle, yes, but he had access to almost anything. She was sure he's be able to find a Portkey, if he really wanted to.

"Nerisei!"

A female voice shook her out of her thoughts, and the brunette was immediately met with a pair of shiny blue eyes. "Hello, Anne." The Russian witch greeted, giving the fellow Ravenclaw a warm smile. Anne Parr was not Nerisei's best friend, but she was her roommate, and the closest thing to a friend she had so far. "You're here alone?" Anne asked, earning a soft nod from Neri. "You shouldn't be. Nikolaj's busy? He won't come?"

"Anne, I'm starting to think you're more interested in my brother than me, and that's a very, very disturbing image." The other Ravenclaw had -at least- the decency to blush and drop the subject. "Well, you should come with us! Ellie said her brother will join us. And he will bring his friends along..." Anne trailed off, nudging Nerisei softly, who in turn, rolled her eyes dramatically. "I might join you later. I need to grab a few things first." Nerisei answered, pulling away from the other Ravenclaw, before she had a chance to stop her.

"Sometimes, you're more than a little pain in the butt, Anne..." The young witch muttered under her breath as she kept walking, pushing past people and not really watching where she was going. Getting away from her classmates was the desideratum in that moment.

Guest

The Quidditch World Cup had arrived! Italy was hosting the World Cup this year, putting on one of the most beautiful of backdrops as it opted for Rome to be the centre of the attention this year. Or, as close to Rome as you could get, at least, with thousands of Wizards turning up from around the world to watch the biggest spectacle in the Wizarding calendar.

The nature reserves south of Rome had been carefully changed to accommodate the Quidditch, and the centre of it all, a newly fashioned Quidditch pitch specifically for this event had been erected. To say the Italians had done well would have been an understatement with the crafting of the Quidditch Stadium's structure, which looked almost like a nest with the manner in which the steels had been crafted.

Shops had been put up throughout the reserve to cater to every need you could think of, small buildings fashioned as hotels for those who did not wish to partake in the camping lifestyle stood out like sore thumbs in and amongst the greenery, and further out, as far as the eye could see, tents littered the landscape. Fans from all across the world had turned out for the event, and the mixture of races, languages, and flags denoted each nation present. Even flags from countries who hadn't qualified were proudly sitting atop some tents, denoting the family's true likes even as smaller flags sat beside them.

This was the first Quidditch World Cup Dimitri had come to, and his father had not been wrong when he'd told him that it was a wonder to behold. The Moreau family had bought the penthouse suite of one of the pop-up hotels, a luxury that could not be imagined for a hotel that would last only one month in total. The stay of the whole family would be for the whole of July before they returned to the UK, and Dimitri was going to make the most of it.

Whilst his mother and younger sister had been caught up with some pampering session the Moreau heir did not care to understand, and whilst his father was too caught up with business meetings across town, Dimitri had slipped out of the pop-up hotel and out in to the crowds, heading towards the shops that had set up residence here.

With England not making the finals, nor Greece, Dimitri was not sure who to back in this World Cup. There was, of course, France, but the country of his ancestors was truly awful at Quidditch, so he wasn't sure that backing them was a good idea, either. The top seed was a North American team that Dimitri didn't know much of, and it was always a bad omen being the top seed, so he was at a loss. Perhaps walking around the shops would give him some kind of indication of who was going to do well, or else he'd pick a team at random, and hope for the best.

The Gryffindor was making his way through the crowds carefully as he looked over the heads of others to see what was going on at each stall. With so many people around him, Dimitri wasn't paying much attention until he caught a glimpse of someone he recognised. It took him a moment to locate the familiar face again through the bustle, before he found his eyes once again upon the witch.

Nerisei Volkova.

The witch was not someone he knew well -- he could not attest to really knowing her at all, truthfully -- but in a crowd of unfamiliar faces, it was something of a welcoming find. Managing to navigate his way through the crowd, Dimitri gave the witch a small wave as he made his way to her, hoping to catch her eye so she would wait up.

"Hey Nerisei," the wizard greeted as the crowds finally allowed him through. "Wasn't expecting to see you here." He continued, before realising that was kind of redundant because they hadn't discussed the world cup at all. "Are you here with anyone?" Dimitri added, looking around to see if he recognised anyone else, but he didn't.

"I'm just trying to decide who to back, what with England not being in the running." Dimitri explained, before returning his attention to her once more. "Any pointers?"

Guest

The young witch didn't really have any things to pick up, but this was a good enough excuse to move herself away from Anne and the group she was not interested in joining. Anne was a great girl, perhaps a bit too bold to be in Ravenclaw, but she was smarter than what she came off to be. Her habit of fooling around with boys had given her way to many nicknames Neri didn't really want to repeat, but Anne didn't care. 'Just having some fun!', the blonde insisted every time. But for Nerisei this was more than just harmless fun, and definitely something she didn't want to deal with right now.

A thankful sigh escaped her lips once she was a good three hundred meters away from the crazy group of hormonal teenagers, but with no actual destination, Nerisei found herself stuck. People kept pushing past her, and some even threw a few curses at her, therefore the brunette quickly moved to the side, her eyes scanning the environment for anything that could potentially occupy her until the start of the event.

And that's when her eyes landed on a male figure she barely knew. Dimitri Moreau was waving at her, causing the Ravenclaw witch to raise a questioning eyebrow at him, especially when he started making his way over to her. Was this real? He must have confused me with someone else, Neri thought, dismissing the thought that Dimitri actually recognised her. They weren't strangers per se, but they weren't friends. A word or two had been exchanged during lessons and that was pretty much it. After all, he was a Gryffindor.

"Hey Nerisei,"

Shit, he actually recognised me, Nerisei thought, her eyes widening a fraction at the realisation. His question of whether she was accompanied by anyone cause Nerisei's heart to stop for a moment. Did he mean anyone, or anyone? "Um, I'm here on my own." The witch replied truthfully, her eyes avoiding his, as she was trying to hide the small blush from forming on her cheeks. True, she didn't know the guy, but that didn't mean she wasn't flattered at the thought of him actually being interested in her. Not that they ever had a chance. since he was a Pureblood and she was.. well... not one.

"I'm just trying to decide who to back, what with England not being in the running."

A small smile touched Neri's lips, and her eyes were back on the charming wizard before her. For the first time, Nerisei actually noticed how handsome Dimitri was, for a teenager. Deep brown eyes and strong features that mesmerised you... For a slight moment, she even wanted to lean in and trace the sharp lines of his jawline, but the witch quickly mentally slapped herself. She didn't know him, and she wasn't even sure she wanted to know him. He could very well be just like the other Purebloods Anne usually hangs out with. The ones who got into your pants and then made a fool out of you. No, thank you.

"Mauritius. At least that's the team I am supporting."

Guest

"Me too," Dimitri replied as the witch explained she was here on her own. Well, out in and amongst the shops at least, anyway. He doubted very much Nerisei was on her own entirely, but trying to voice that was not something the Gryffindor wished to do in that moment, already rambling on enough in his head about such things. His eyes caught the light dusting of a blush upon the witch's cheeks and averted his eyes, not quite sure how to deal with the information right now.

The answer to his question on who to follow given that England had not made it was one that came as quite the shock. A number of people had already pointed out that supporting Ireland would be the best idea as it was the nearest country -- save France, who were truly dismal at Quidditch and still a questionable addition to all the sides lined up.

"Really?" Dimitri asked, his eyes not able to betray the surprise that he'd found in those words in that moment. "I wouldn't have put you down for following them. Do you have any connection with Mauritius?" The boy asked, clearly quite intrigued by this notion.

Standing in the crowd of people, though, was not the best idea in the world, and so, instead of remaining where they were, Dimitri's eyes quickly scanned the stalls for ideas before his eyes landed on the pop-up ice cream stand. "Would you like to get ice cream?" Dimitri asked, motioning to the shop in the hopes of getting out of the hustle and bustle of the crowd, but also trying to keep the idea as casual as possible. It was a very warm day, getting ice cream was not going to raise too many eyebrows.

Guest

Nerisei had expected the surprise that came from the wizards, once she made known which team she was supporting. No one really expected Mauritius to win, given that Ireland was quite the strong team, but the young witch had been following them for some time, and their gameplay was definitely much better than what people thought. "No actual connection, no. I have been following them for a while, though, and they're so much better than what they used to be. Plus, Russia is out, so I can't really support my homeland." The Ravenclaw stated, giving Dimitri a small smile.

Nerisei's eyes scanned the place discreetly. She wasn't trying to find a way out, per se, since Dimitri hadn't really caused her that much of a discomfort, but she did not know him, therefore she couldn't really make assumptions. Also, was she sure that Dimitri actually cared enough to get to actually know her? All in all, the signs showed that she should keep her distance, just to be sure.

"Would you like to get ice cream?"

"I beg your pardon?" The question left her lips before Neri could even think about what she had just said. The Ravenclaw witch wasn't really sure what to make of such invitation, but truthfully, Dimitri was simply being... kind. He didn't really have to have an ulterior motive. And that's when the witch immediately felt bad. Her question had definitely come out harsh, and with her rough accent lacing her words, it may have even sounded violent. "Apologies. I didn't mean to insult you. Ice cream sounds great, actually." Neri quickly added, offering the young boy a smile, and motioning for him to follow her as she made her way to the pop-up ice cream stand.

"What's your favorite flavour and why?" The witch asked, curious as to what the Pureblood male would answer. Did he like the unique flavours, or did he settle for the simple ones?

Guest

The explanation on how Nerisei had decided upon Mauritius made a little bit of sense. Though there was no connection, she at least had some background knowledge, which was better than just picking at random. "Ah, yeah, I was hoping England would get through, and if not them, then Greece, but sadly neither one complied, and the US opted not to come, so..." Dimitri explained, showing his top three choices had been completely removed from his grasp. Though, the US were definitely bottom of those three.

"I just hope France get knocked out as soon as possible." The boy continued, though there wouldn't be much sense in that to people who didn't know anything about his family, and there was always the choice of the English disliking the French to hide behind with the comment too.

The almost instantaneous response to his question had Dimitri slightly taken aback in that moment, and the Gryffindor male looked quizzically to the witch before him. Was it a euphemism for something? Or... was that offensive in Russia? The boy had no clue, but as Nerisei recovered, the worry that had accumulated from her outburst faded from the boy's features.

Following her instructions to follow, though, the boy fell in to step beside the witch, and for a moment looked for something to say. Did he ask what he'd said wrong, or did he just pretend that hadn't happened? Not totally sure, in truth, Dimitri decided to go for the latter. Surely Nerisei would tell him if he did something wrong?

The question, though, made the boy smile slight. "Salted caramel, with pecan nuts sprinkled on top." Dimitri provided, considering the second part of her question for a moment. "I always feel you're never quite sure if you're going to get the sweet taste of the caramel when you're eating, or whether you're going to get the slightly bitter taste of salt, keeps you on your toes whilst you're eating. Sometimes you get both when you're eating, which is an experience of it's own. Then, the nuts add a little bit of texture to the ice cream, so that you're not just eating softened ice."

The answer was, perhaps, a little bit longer than even he'd expected, but Dimitri looked across to the witch to see how it had been received. "How about you? Which is your favourite and why?" Dimitri returned, curious to see what kind of answer Nerisei would provide. Perhaps chocolate chip? Maybe strawberry? Cookie dough seemed to be popular amongst the girls in the Gryffindor dorms, but Dimitri didn't think Nerisei would opt for that for some reason.

"Where are you staying?" Dimitri asked as they continued towards the shop in and amongst the crowd of people. A number of his friends seemed to be staying in the campsite, but Dimitri hadn't ventured down there yet.

» Happy Birthday, Nerisei (Dimitri & Nerisei)
» CLASS: Winter Term -- CoMC (Nerisei & Dimitri)
» Do You Need a...Hug? (Nerisei)
» 'Us' [Dimitri]
» Is It Too Late Now To Say Sorry (Nerisei)