Beaxbaton Academy of Magic, France, 1988 (Vanessa - Mature)

Louis wasn't surprised when Vanessa agreed to his plan, Merlin knew she liked to agree to his wishes more than was probably healthy. It was why they'd gotten in so much trouble since being kids, or, at least, he had, taking the blame for Vanessa as well. Grandmere could tell him off until she was blue in the face and Louis wouldn't bat an eyelid, so long as Vanessa wasn't pulled in to it too.

"I want to see it... but I don't want to get lost in it..."

"You only get lost if you doubt your destination, Ven. How can you get lost when you know you'll always be coming back to me, hmm?" Louis asked, his fingers moving up to her hair, carefully running them through the long shimmering strands. His voice held no authority in it, no words to say she had to come back. Louis merely hoped that she agreed with such sentiments, because if she didn't... No, he wouldn't think about that.

"But, Ven, if you're not happy here, I can write to my parents and ask them to move us. To Durmstrang, or Hogwarts, if you'd be happier?" Louis whispered, almost daring someone to hear him speak so freely about moving. "It wouldn't take much..." He coaxed, knowing that more than moving from here, it would give them the freedom of being further from prying eyes. They could be themselves more.

If that was what Vanessa wanted, he would give it to her happily.

Because her happiness was more important than his home country.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

"You only get lost if you doubt your destination, Ven. How can you get lost when you know you'll always be coming back to me, hmm?"

"That's why I want to see it with you," the witch replied, a contented smile on her face his fingers played with her hair. "Being lost wouldn't be so bad then," she added, the ghost of a laugh escaping her. Her fingers toyed idly with a button, examining its shape and make out of random curiosity.

"But, Ven, if you're not happy here, I can write to my parents and ask them to move us. To Durmstrang, or Hogwarts, if you'd be happier?"

Vanessa pretended to consider the offer, never doubting the sincerity behind it. But it was like her acceptance of not playing Quidditch years ago. Some things were not possible, not at that point in time anyway.

"And what of Dominic?" she asked softly, no spite or accusation in her voice. They both knew Dominic needed them at school with them. Even at home. Dominic always needed someone and even if Louis would never admit it, he had taken on the duty of protecting his older brother a long time ago.

They had never discussed it, it was just one of the things she knew. And she could appreciate it. People could say whatever they wanted about Louis. Perhaps his methods were unconventional but his intention was always to protect those he cared for.

"I'm joking," she added just in case there was doubt. "Maybe after we finish school... we could finally travel around the world... If Grandmere permits." The button snapped in her fingers, making the witch frown.

"Sorry."

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Beaxbaton Academy of Magic, France, 1988 (Vanessa - Mature) - Page 2 Rsz_ve10

"And what of Dominic?"

Louis let out a soft sigh at the thought of leaving Dominic behind. There was no chance of him being shipped out of the country for school, he was too... sick. Even if Louis had believed when they were younger that Dominic would grow out of the sickness that was taking more of a hold with each passing day. Dominic couldn't move, which meant he in turn could not leave the school.

Dominic wouldn't last a day without him here.

"I guess I have my hands tied in two places." Louis replied, the annoyance clear in his voice. Though it was neither Vanessa nor Dominic's fault. It was life, and though the Clement family believed themselves to be above everything, there were some things that all the power in the world couldn't change.

"Maybe after we finish school... we could finally travel around the world... If Grandmere permits."

"When we're finished with school, we'll do-" But Louis stopped speaking as the notion of a button coming undone was realised. No, not undone, broken. The soft sorry made Louis laugh softly. "It's only a shirt, Ven. Though," Louis lowered his voice slight, "if you wanted it undone you should have just asked, I liked this shirt!" Which was true, but like most things, it could be fixed. Moving his fingers down to hers, Louis took the broken button and place it on the side.

There was a brief pause before Louis' hand moved back to hers, showing her to the next button down and showing her how to open it without breaking it. "I know you have a ladies maid, Ven, but come on, even I know how to do buttons!" He teased, resting his head against hers. The boy moved their hands down to the next one, repeating the process as his lips ghosted against her forehead. Everything in small, slow steps was how he planned to play it, not holding her hand too tightly incase she wanted to pull away from him.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

"I guess I have my hands tied in two places."

And I have my heart tied down in only one, the witch replied wordlessly. There was nothing anyone could do for Dominic. Healers, mystics, psychics, everyone had tried. Everyone the Clements could afford to hire had been hired and there were no results. Through the Gods design or cruelty of faith, the older Clement was plagued for life, making him forever dependent on the people around him. Not that anyone minded. He was a nice boy really, removed from all the seriousness with which he took the world. But then again, who was Vanessa to judge? The world had simply crept up on her without any warning, leaving her scrambling to find her footing. Perhaps if she had been as studious or as straight in he thinking as her older cousin, she wouldn't be as uncertain as she was now.

"It's only a shirt, Ven."

His soft laughter made her face color slightly in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to to," she mumbled, not looking up at him as he laughed.

"Though," Louis lowered his voice slight, "if you wanted it undone you should have just asked, I liked this shirt!"

"Oh, don't be so unkind," she pouted, letting him know his teasing wasn't appreciated this time. Vanessa hadn't felt clumsy in a long time but this was making her feel so. "I'm sure the seamstress will be able to fix it in no time."

And then his fingers were on hers, gently guiding her to the next button, demonstrating how to undo it. Vanessa almost wanted to snap at him, to let him know that she did in fact know how to undo buttons. And that he would need a ladies maid too if his formal wear came with a corset and complicated laces at the back. But all the annoyance varnished from her mind as his fingers didn't stop there, gently guiding her to the next button.

A thrill of something shot down her spine as that button too came undone, not standing s chance against their combined efforts. Cheeks stained a deep pink now, the brunette hid her face in Louis chest, trying to work out what this feeling was.

And realized his chest was bare.

The buttons they had just collectively undone exposed the top of his torso in a neat square and the skin was currently occupied by her.

It was a startling realization to know this was the closest Vanessa had ever been to his heart.

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"I didn't mean to to,"

"I know, Ven, I know." Louis whispered, joking set aside now. But even as she continued, Louis didn't raise any objection to the shirt being capable of mending. He knew that too, but he wouldn't get it fixed, fixing the shirt would be like trying to cover up a dirty secret, and Louis didn't want it to be that. The broken shirt would be a reminder of this moment, as silly as that might seem.

The waiting for her to pull away was only silly, Vanessa didn't pull away from him, instead utilising his bare skin as a pillow. If she'd been blushing, Louis didn't know, but when her hand remained in his, Louis continued moving them both down the buttons until they were all undone. The boy merely led quietly, his fingers tracing small circles on the back of her hand where it rested after the last button.

The weight of Vanessa's head on his chest served two purposes, the first making him feel like this was where they belonged, showing the perfection in which the two had been crafted to come together as if it had been arranged even before their parents had agreed to it. And the second was to prove that his heart had indeed began to beat faster with the new found level of intimacy. The excitement of the situation, perhaps, sending his body in to overdrive as they lay there with one another.

"You know I'll never let anything hurt you, right, Ven?" Louis asked after a short while, hoping that he wasn't overstepping the mark or even scaring her right now. Whilst his body had always wanted one thing, Louis had the power of mind to put that away for her sake, to show her that he was content with just cuddling her. Especially as she hadn't said anything and had taken the easy way out of not looking at him right now.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

Even with her face hidden, the witch was hyper aware of everything. It was as though a few buttons coming undone had heightened all her senses. Her hearing had somehow tuned itself to now register both their breathing, the slight hitch in hers as they navigated the second to last button. Her vision may have been compromised due to her own wishes but her sense of touch was now so great, she could feel the hard muscles she lay against, their definition outlined for the first time in forever with such clarity.

The knowledge was both confusing and exhilarating. And both emotions seem to be battling for dominance as she lay against him, her face hidden from the world and the boy who held her as carefully as someone would hold their most prized possession.

"You know I'll never let anything hurt you, right, Ven?"

Of course she knew. It was the one thing she had known all this time. Life had been difficult at times and strange at times and downright unkind at times but through it all, Louis had been there, always doing his best to keep her safe. From childhood when he would let Grandmere scold him for what had rightfully been Vanessa's fault to offering to fight her case to his parents to now, willingly taking her wherever she wanted. Tied down as he was, he still always tried to make her happy.

No, he did make her happy. For the most part.

Plucking up her courage, the girl kissed the bare planes of his chest softly, just to see what it let like to kiss him there.

"Just don't leave me alone," she whispered, finally raising her face to look at him, her eyes softened with emotion and sincerity. "I wouldn't stand it if you left me all alone."

Dimly, the witch recalled saying something similar almost ten years ago. Back then, it had been a joke. Something to laugh at. Now she was deadly serious.

Because they both knew she'd fall apart without him.

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The soft kiss on his chest made a smile touch Louis' lips as he allowed his eyes to close. He didn't need to see the world to know what was happening around them. The boy was more than aware his breathing was not staying at one rhythm at the moment, excitement mixed with nerves mixed with countless other feelings were working havoc on him and at times even something you didn't consciously think about doing was becoming a conscious effort.

"Just don't leave me alone," she whispered, finally raising her face to look at him, her eyes softened with emotion and sincerity. "I wouldn't stand it if you left me all alone."

The boy opened his eyes the moment Vanessa's head moved from his chest, noting the look in her eyes. Noting that the look was completely new to him, despite the fifteen years they'd been together, almost every single day... And her words seemed to have a different affect on him today. Instead of a childish promise, this was growing in to something more serious. "Nobody can ever take me away from you, Vanessa. I promise." Louis whispered, his hand reaching to her chin to bring her lips up to his.

Moving on to his side as he held the kiss, rectifying the height difference as he moved down the bed a little, Louis moved his hand away from her chin, resting it softly on her hip. A pause in the kiss, allowed Louis to look at Vanessa, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "And, I would never want to lose this." He added, reaching down and claiming her lips for his own once more his arms pulling her flush to his body, the soft silk of her chemise the only thing holding her away from his chest now.

Many things in life were trivial, but there was one thing Louis could say for certain.

Vanessa Sheridan was the only one who could make his chest ache so much when she was away. Only Vanessa Sheridan had the power to make him drop everything he had in return for making her happy. In life many people couldn't find the one person they could spend the rest of their lives with. But Louis had, and he wouldn't change her for the world.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

"Nobody can ever take me away from you, Vanessa. I promise."

The teen nodded as he sealed his promise with a kiss, touching his lips to her in an all too familiar way. But this time, instead of simply the excitement that followed such kisses, there was something deeper there.

An understanding, a bond of... It was difficult to explain even to herself but Louis and Vanessa had crossed some sort of boundary today from which neither could ever return. From which neither wanted to return. Their parents had made the decision for them years and years ago and both had grown up with the knowledge that essentially, they were meant for each other. But only today had they made the choice once more, this time far more conscious of their decision and what it implied.

"And, I would never want to lose this."

Heat spread through her face as he kissed her, shifting to accommodate her height on the bed as he pulled her closer. Louis, closer... so much closer than she had ever been to him. Even as she returned his kiss, sucking gently at his bottom lip in a manner that had proven quite successful in the past, Vanessa was all too aware of their bodies pressed so close together. His chest against her nightie, the silk completely useless in providing any kind of protection.

No that she needed any protection, the witch thought quickly. This was Louis. He would never do anything to hurt her. He would never do anything unwarranted.

The knot in her stomach tightened at their proximity, at the way his hand rested on her hip, as the way his lips molded to hers, as if their only purpose in this world was to kiss her until she forgot everything.

And the realization was entirely mutual. Everything of hers was made only for him too.

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Kissing Vanessa was not like kissing any other girl, holding her close was just as incomparable too. Nobody else moved like Vanessa did, nobody fit his arms like Vanessa did. In short, nothing compared to Vanessa because it was only Vanessa who could be his in the grand scheme of things.

Pulling away slightly, Louis rested his forehead against hers, his breathing a little heavier from the kissing, but only marginally. Why could the world not just go away and leave them to their own devices, why did everything have to weigh so heavily on their shoulders the moment they moved away from one another? How Louis wished they could just run away from it all, just be themselves somewhere in the big wide world.

"Ven..." Louis whispered softly, the sound barely registering in his own ears as his eyes sought out hers. "You know everything of mine is yours, speaking past, present and future..." The boy continued, the nerves of asking the question becoming quite clear as he bit his lip for a moment, trying to buy himself time as he continued to try to work out to ask his next question. It had hit him a while ago that his feelings for Vanessa were something more than he had felt for anyone else, and sometimes that made it very difficult for him to say what he needed to.

But, he didn't see as he had much choice any more.

"I... just wanted to... my feelings for you, Ven, are like nothing I've ever experienced. No-one compares to you, Ven. I want you to know that..." Louis whispered, his eyes slowly closing because he didn't know how the next bit was going to be taken, and for the life of him he could not watch Vanessa get hurt. "I want to show you how much you mean to me, Ven. Now..."

It was no more than a whispered secret in the room that was silent save their breathing. Louis was nothing less than terrified as he waited for her answer, waited for retaliation...

For her to leave.

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~ Lord Clement ~ Profile ~ 55 ~

Thank you to the amazing Ruby for the signatures! <3

"Ven...You know everything of mine is yours, speaking past, present and future..."

The brunette made no reply, there was no need. There were some truths that were deeply understood and this was one of them. That they both belonged to each other. The gods had made it so, their families had made it so and now.... Now even they had confirmed it so. Why Louis felt the need to say it escaped the witch but she was not going to object.

"I... just wanted to... my feelings for you, Ven, are like nothing I've ever experienced. No-one compares to you, Ven. I want you to know that..."

"I know," she whispered, placing a tender kiss on his lips once more to relax him. Vanessa wasn't sure why he was so nervous. But she could feel his heart beating fast against her and the witch tried to eleviate the tension the only way she could think of.

The same way he made all her worries go away.

Tentatively, the witch reached up to entwine a slender arm around his neck, her fingers threading gently through his hair as she kissed him, letting him know it was alright. She knew how he felt.

She felt the same way.

"I want to show you how much you mean to me, Ven. Now..."

"Show..?" Another small frown of confusion touched her forehead as he considered what he meant. Surely he knew he could show her anything at this point in their lives. They were as close as it was possible for two people to be. So close that she could feel the air entering and leaving his diaphragm as Louis kept his eyes closed, waiting for something.

Waiting for me, she realized a moment later.

"What do you mean...?"

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» Beaxbaton Academy of Magic, France, 1988 (Vanessa - Mature)
» Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, France, 1985 (Louis & Vanessa)
» And You Let Her Go... (Vanessa - 1988)
» And You Let Her Go... (Vanessa - 1988)
» Beauxbaton Academy of Magic, France, 1985 (Louis)