I Will Follow You Into the Dark

“They’ve put the cup in the great hall this morning,” Fred said as Svetlanna, Ron, Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and George walked beside him for lunch. The eager child in him was dancing for joy after they had gotten the news and he and George hadn’t shut up about the stupid cup ever since. It amused Svetlanna how two sixteen year olds found a large cup so fascinating.

“So it chooses who will be in the tournament, yes?” Svetlanna asked as they sat down in their usual seat and began to pile the desired food onto their plates. Svetlanna looked over at the large goblet with curious eyes, and just as she was looking away she locked eyes with a blue-eyed stranger she had never seen before. A blush consumed her cheeks when she noticed he was smiling at her and she looked away hurriedly as to not make a fool of herself while he still gazed at her.

George noticed Svetlanna’s blush and smirked, thinking it was because he was sitting next to her. He had known of her small crush on him, but didn’t know that her feelings for him ran deeper than he ever thought was possible.

Svetlanna swallowed the contents in her mouth before looking toward the goblet once again; however, this time the strange, yet attractive boy, was walking away from the sealed item with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. His cropped blonde hair attracted the sunlight causing it to glow, his tall body towered over the tables as he walked, and his muscles showed almost perfectly through his school uniform.

Lanna thought she was going to have a heart attack if they continued to keep eye contact like they had been for the long passing several seconds. She hadn’t snapped out of her silent communication with the stranger until Leonardo had nipped angrily at her ear to get her attention.

“Ouch!” Svetlanna yelled accidentally knocking orange juice on the table. She glared softly at her pet and grabbed the letters out of his beak before petting his head gently and reading the small lettering. It was obvious by the messy cursive that Nui had written from her nanny in France (probably about how miserable she was) and the barely readable doctor’s handwriting was from her mom (obviously checking on her).

“Close your mouth,” Ginny giggled in her ear, “you’re drooling over.”

Svetlanna looked over at her gingery friend and smiled shyly, “There’s nothing wrong with looking, and even if I were to speak to him it’s not like he would care anyway. I doubt he’d even give a rat’s ass if I’ve ever even snogged someone before.”

Ginny was taken aback by how Svetlanna was talking. She had never heard her friend speak so bluntly and carefree of her language. She looked over to Ron, who had heard what Lanna had said, but he seemed to be focused on something else. Svetlanna followed his gaze and saw a very pissed off Aurora walking into the great hall with vengeance in her eyes and fire on her feet.

“Bloody hell,” Ron muttered, watching each and every step Aurora took on her way to the table. His red ears brightened when the said girl slammed her cup, spilling milk all over everyone in close range.

The group decided to leave before anything could go wrong on their part and walked toward the still humid hills just outside of the school. All around them different students from different school chatted and laughed, but only the girls from Beabaxton academy caught the boy’s eyes. Fred and George wolf whistled as the passed a group of giggled blondes and Svetlanna rolled her eyes once she heard that.

George was never going to change.

Deciding to break away, Svetlanna grabbed Hermione and Ginny so they could walk in peace instead of listening to the humans containing the Y chromosome talk about which girls were better looking than the others. As they ventured further from their friends, the girls noticed that they seemed to be drawing a lot of attention from the Durmstrong boys. The attention was gladly accepted from the girls, but Svetlanna looked more so at her feet than anything in fear of looking like a complete idiot in front of so many people.

Bad idea on her part.

Almost as soon as she looked to the ground, Svetlanna tripped over a person’s foot and fell over onto her chest, causing it to sting from the sudden action. She groaned lowly into the ground but stayed where she was so she didn’t have to look into the amused eyes of who ever she had ran over with her petite feet.

“Eto bylo ochenʹ izyashchnye Svetlanna,” (that was very graceful Svetlanna) she muttered to herself before feeling a small tap on her head and looking up and into the eyes of the boy she had seen before. His eyes burned with amusement, but his face showed nothing more that pure worry.

“Ochenʹ gracefull, po suti,” (very graceful indeed) he replied in perfect Russian, “are you, how would you say… not harmed?”

Svetlanna nodded and smiled at him shyly, her heart speeding up unusually for a boy other than George, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention and I figured Ginny would tell me if something were happening.” Speaking of Ginny, Svetlanna looked around and only spotted her friends because of Ginny’s hair. Once she caught her eye, Ginny winked and continued walking with Hermione.

“I am Alik,” the boy introduced while picking Svetlanna up like a gentleman, “I am from Durmstrong. Who, may I say, are you?”

Svetlanna pushed a piece of lingering hair behind her ear and smiled up at the towering boy, “I’m Svetlanna.”

“From Beaubaxton? You are just as beautiful, if not even more so than they,” Alik complimented generously; causing Svetlanna’s knees to weaken a little by his words. George had never complimented her.

“No, actually I’m from Hogwarts,” Svetlanna said with a smile. She never smiled at boys she barely knew even if they were attractive. She had always been too shy to do any of that, “ you were born in Russia?”

He nodded and smiled, “Ever since I was very little.”

“I’ve only been twice,” Svetlanna told him without worrying if she was giving him more information than anyone other than her friends knew, “it’s too cold there for my liking.”

“Well maybe next time you’ll have me to warm you up,” Alik said with a small wink and then a laugh, “but don’t worry. I’m talking of my coat of course. For now” –he bowed gracefully- “I have to get to classes.” –he kissed Svetlanna’s hand, taking her off guard- “until next time, Moĭ milyĭ angel.” (My sweet angel)

That’s when Svetlanna recognized that the ocean was full of other charming fish waiting to take her off her feet. As she watched the lean, muscular Russian boy run toward his friends, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was time for her to start showing her interest in those fish.