Blown Away [Dimitri]

“I can’t.”

That was all Nerisei said. She had never learned how to swim, and felt incredibly self-conscious about it. Almost everyone knew how to swim, but to her, this was a nightmare. To be honest, her parents had tried to teach her, but she just.. Didn’t get along with it. But just the fact that she admitted her secret to him made her more than nervous. If he offered to teach her, she was going to faint, she was sure. Just the thought of hands around her body was enough to give her butterflies in her stomach. Though she doubted he would ever make such an offer. So, they were good!

Then came the dancing subject. As he repeated her question, Nerisei gave him a ‘See?’ look, proving that she was right? Purebloods didn’t know anything about fun, it seemed. Though as he said that he could dance most of the Ballroom dances, Nerisei raised an eyebrow.

“The Viennese Waltz is more to my family’s tastes. Our origins are in France.”

Nerisei scrunched her nose in distaste and laughed. “You people are like, so boring. The Vienesse Waltz? Really? My Grandma can dance to that!” Her giggles were quite loud to be honest, but at that moment, she didn’t care. She was having so much fun. Though in her mind, she was imagining him dancing the Bachata, a very sensual dance with a lot of rubbing. Thinking about his face, and how awkward that would be made her laugh even harder.

“But, you can always put my dancing to the test, if you’d like. The tango… well, that one is great fun, but the serious facial expressions are always my downfall.”

The offer was one Nerisei, of course, wanted to take advantage of. Her crush had just invited her to dance with him, in a way. What sane girl would decline that? Plus, he was talking about the Tango. And to be honest, Nerisei couldn’t think of anything hotter at that moment. Though, serious expressions? The tango was all about passion and flames and… yeah. Why force them to keep a straight face?

“Well, from what I know, the tango is a passionate dance. It’s very… expressive. Keeping a straight face during that is practically impossible, if you ask me. Especially if your partner is the person who creates all that… fire and need in you.” By the time she was done explaining, Neri had already pictured them in her head. Biting her lip, she cleared her throat, trying to calm the heat that was wrapping around her already. “But we could always dance if you would like. I am warning you, it’s me who’s going to be terrible.” A small chuckle escaped the witch’s lips. When was the last time she had danced?

But then, there was also the offer she had made to him. Nerisei was more than willing to help him with his homework. Spending more time with him was something she had been wanting for a long time, and now she actually had the chance to do it. Plus, all of her evening were empty. Revising with him would be ideal.

“You’re one of a kind, Nerisei…”

The moment these words left his lips, Nerisei’s breath caught in her throat. Every inch of the sentence was… shocking. From what he had said to the way he was pronouncing her name. The shivers that travelled down her spine proved how much of an effect he already had on her. This was crazy. Though what followed right after was even more shocking. Dimitri had actually accepted her offer, and asked for her help. Nerisei, once she had managed to unfreeze herself, nodded, a little too eagerly, at him with a big smile.

“Of course!”

The smile that touched the wizard’s lips when she stared at him made her melt even more. Nerisei knew very well that he knew she was staring, and instead of freaking out he was… smiling? Was this a dream? It almost made Nerisei want to pinch herself, just to make sure she was not dreaming. That this was real and she was actually living every single second of it.
But her scarf was still in his hands instead of around him, and Neri was seriously going to yell at him. The Ravenclaw witch knew he was probably warm from his run, but that was exactly why he would catch a cold!

“If I put this on now, you’re going to end up with a sweaty scarf…”

Taking her scarf from his hands, Nerisei moved a little closer. Standing on her tiptoes, she wrapped her scarf around him without asking, making sure it was well secured, before pulling back with a smile. He looked so adorable. Plus, sweaty or not, it would still smell like him, and that was what Nerisei wanted in the first place.

“You were saying?”

“Are… you scared of the water? I mean… if you wanted to learn how to swim… I could…”

Why do you have to be so perfect?, Nerisei thought to herself the moment Dimitri decided to offer his help once again. He was making way too many offers the past few minutes, offers Nerisei should have turned down before he even had the chance to voice them, but how could she, truly? It had been a whole year since the Ravenclaw witch had accepted that she had a crush on the young man who was currently walking by her side. Their brief exchange in the Music Room, had left Nerisei wanted more. So much more. But it was just that. A brief exchange, and she was once again left on her own, thinking about him every single day.

It wasn’t her fault though. The more she was trying to avoid thinking of him, the more he kept running through her mind. Plus, they were in the same House, so avoiding him completely was sort of hard to do. Especially when… when she didn’t want to avoid him. She liked watching him, even if that sounded -and truly was- quite creepy. He was handsome. The way his hair was messy, and how he kept running his fingers through it, making it even messier. To the way he was smiling and how beautiful his eyes were. Plus, she had also taken notice in the way he usually tapped his fingers in a sort of rhythm every time he was bored or when he was stock during an essay. In a way, she was learning everything about him from afar.

And now, here he was, suddenly coming back into her life. But that was not the problem. The problem was that he was already being friendly and offering things because to him, she was just another friend. A fellow Ravenclaw, a girl he could befriend and all. But to her, everything was twice, maybe thrice harder to deal with because in everything he was offering, she could find so many temptations. How could she not think if his hands all over her body, when he had just offered to teach her? Him, in a bathing suit, while his hands were caressing over the naked skin her bikini wouldn’t cover…

Neri, you must stop this right now!, she mentally scolded herself. He was driving her crazy, and she was ready to say no to him. “Yes…”
But her mind was just not going to cooperate, and that was how she had just ended up agreeing to allow him to teach her. Nerisei was definitely out of her bloody mind.
And things were about to get even worse.

“I meant sultry, sorry. You know, passion, but with mild aggression. A sultry lover, maddened with the passion of love. And, then you have me. Trying to look sultry, powerful, foreboding, driven to the ridiculous by a woman I supposedly love? Believe me when I say that that look is not for a man like myself.

“Perhaps I can teach you some of the classical dances -- or refresh your memory of them. And, you in turn can teach me your preferred styles? Though, I must warn you, I’m not too into modern music, so I don’t know whether I’ll be able to get in to it. But, I’ll try.”

Did he actually say he could not be passionate? Dimitri was one of the hottest and most passionate people she had had the luck to meet in her life. But for some reason he couldn’t believe that?
“I understand what you are saying, but I truly believe that you can be much more than what you think. The tango is a very passionate dance, and in order to actually feel the flame, you must be in love, Dimitri. Maybe you just haven’t found the girl yet. And that is why it seems so hard for you to portray that. You can’t pretend to love.”
A sad smile touched the girls lips, remembering Prim and Max. They had truly loved each other so much. For their age, it was a love so pure and beautiful. It was simply amazing and one of a kind.

“But I’d love to dance with you sometime. Even if it’s the waltz. As for the modern stuff, I won’t push you too much, I promise.”

Once that was out of the way, Nerisei focused on how cute her scarf looked on him. Even after he had been running, he still managed to look exceptionally hot, even more so now that he was dripping with sweat. She was glad she had made him keep the scarf, because later on, she would allow herself to cuddle with that same scarf, feeling no shame. She was just a girl. She wasn’t strong enough to resist that temptation!

“Shall we… umm… go back inside? I don’t want either of us catching a cold…”

Looking around, Nerisei finally noticed that it had gotten quite late, and the snow was a lot heavier. Nodding at him, she turned around and started walking towards the Castle, with Dimitri by her side. It was a beautiful day.