It had been a long and tiresome day for Minerva as she walked down the corridors toward her private quarters there in the castle. It had been one of those days where she could not seem to catch a break. She had a second year quite literally melt a tea cup in transfiguration, which took a good bit of spell work to clean up, then there was a whole issue with two students in her own house going at each other wand to wand over opposing quidditch teams. Minerva was certainly a fan of quidditch and was in stout support of the Tornadoes but she certainly was not going to hex a person for feeling that the Wingtown Wanders were better. She might have a few choice words on occasion but that was not the issue at hand. She was not only appalled that two students would go to wands over quidditch teams but that both students were from her own house. Thank Merlin they weren't in the same year or she would potentially have another case of James and Sirius when they were fighting for the brief stint they did. To think she was the one that pushed for them to get along.
Beyond all that, there was also an incident with Sybil having had a bit too much to drink and going after Frienze the centaur who taught as well. Nothing ill came of it as far as Frienze was concerned but Minerva had to fight with Sybil to get her back to the astronomy tower and confiscate the sherry bottles the poor woman had acquired. Her heart did go out to the Divination teacher even though they didn't always see eye to eye but sometimes her excursions were a bit 'much'. The divination tower was exactly where she had come from in her trek back to her living quarters. All she could think about at that point was taking a seat propping her feat up and delving into a nice cup of hot tea and a good read.
Upon entering her living quarters Minerva was taken aback by what stood on the desk of her room. Standing there in the middle of it with a beautifully curling ribbon was a full bouquet of blood red suckers. Upon seeing the token upon her desk she could not help but chuckle at the sight of them knowing full well who they came from. Over the years Minerva had grown accustomed to seeing a single rose sitting upon her desk from time to time but this this was not expected in the least.
Reaching for one of the suckers she plucked it from the bouquet and pulled the wrapper off allowing the sweet cherry flavor to dance in her mouth as memories from so long ago played in her mind.
"You have an insatiable sweet tooth," spoke Minerva across the table to the young man who sat across from her. He had a poise about him that just drew a person in. Then there was the whole concept that he fit the bill of tall dark and handsome, what with slicked back and slightly long dark brown almost black hair, and then those piercing blue eyes that could make a girl melt it was simply impossible to resist. Nicholai was one of a kind. "What do you mean?" he asked looking up from his work in surprise a solitary white stick coming from his mouth looking very much at home on his practically perfectly formed lips. "The suckers," answered Minerva gesturing to the stick that was in his mouth before it moved ever so slightly, before Nicholai pulled it from it from his mouth. The other end of the stick was perfectly round and bright red as it glistened in the light. "I suppose I do, it's why I fell so hard for you," spoke Nicholai softly as he leaned in closer to Minerva causing her heart to race a bit. A smile sparked across Nicholai's features almost as if he could hear her heart rate jump before his lips met hers briefly. "We are supposed to be studying for our winter exams," answered Minerva a rose color reaching her cheeks. "That we are," answered Nicholai quietly slipping his sucker into his mouth a gentle smile playing upon his lips as eyes drifted down to the book before him. Minerva tried to pull her focus back to her work but her mind lingered a bit longer on those suckers of his and how Christmas was just around the corner. She had decided upon the perfect Christmas gift. She was going to get Nicholai a whole slew of cherry suckers, as that was the only flavor she ever saw him with. If she didn't know better Minerva would have suspected that he loved those suckers of his more than he did her.
With Nicholai everything had a point and a purpose, and there was certainly a point and purpose to his sending the bouquet of red cherry suckers. He was planning on visiting Hogwarts in the near future in accordance with the Slughorn Christmas party which hadn't happened in several years. It was the perfect time to be able to return to the castle and see Minerva once more. Considering that his visit was going to be all too brief he wanted to have fond memories of their time together at the forefront of her mind. It was exactly why a simple rose would not do, though he did have every intention of making sure that there was one on her desk just before he arrived at the castle.
Of all the things he could send Minerva the suckers were one of the best choices he could make as, out of all things he could send, they held the most memories.
"What in Merlin's name is this?" asked Nicholai in surprise as he opened a bag that was filled with red suckers. All the pop's looking up at him as the clear plastic that encased them glistened a bit in the light. "Merry Christmas," answered Minerva with a bright smile on her face. "I figured since you eat so many of those cherry suckers that you could do with a whole stash of them." A whole stash of cherry suckers? If only Minerva knew. With a very dry swallow Nicholai smiled warmly not exposing his teeth as was customary for him. "Thank you, I absolutely love it," he answered moving the bag to the side and kissing Minerva gently on the cheek, her smell intoxicating as ever. If only the bag had been full of blood pops, but really it was the thought that counted. Thus, after kissing her he pulled one out and unwrapped it not certain of what cherry would taste like to him. It was mere fortune that the pop was rather bland to him it was most liken to a human placing a piece of cardboard in their mouth to suck on. The only difference was that it didn't feel as such in his mouth. As Nicholai worked on the sucker he figured he might be able to fake his way through the batch as bland as they were, that was until the pressure in his head began to set in. He kept the cherry sucker in his mouth so as not to hurt Minerva's feelings as they talked but he realized that something in the sucker was not processing well for him.
In the end Nicholai had to excuse himself from his time with Minerva, cutting their last moments together in the castle, before Christmas break shorter than he liked. The head ache had become to much to bear and was not something he was eager to repeat. That night while Minerva slept, he carefully unwrapped and re-wrapped each cherry sucker, replacing them with a blood pops. He did not want to hurt her feelings over something that she meant to be a thoughtful gift nor was he ready to admit the truth of what he was to her. She was sixteen at the time and despite his undeniable feelings for Minerva he thought things would be over come the end of their seventh year at school.
It wasn't how things would end, they actually ended years after that Christmas, Nicholai had given up on hiding things and assumed that Minerva being the bright woman that she was had figured things out, and was content to remain with him. It was uncouth but he had fallen in love because she was the one woman who didn't fall all over him and want to be with him because of his being a vampire, she loved him and was with him for who he was as a person, not his natural attraction.
Sadly when the truth of it all did come out Nicholai was left alone with an imprint of Minerva on his heart, never able to forget her but respecting her decision to leave. He could not blame her for being afraid of what he was. To be honest if he were not a vampire he would have feared himself.