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DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANY OF THIS, EXCEPT FOR ANY CHARACTERS YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE. JK ROWLING IS AMAZING!

CHAPTER 53

"Ollieee!" She laughed, as he put her down and she kissed his forehead.

"So that's his girlfriend!" said one of the men.

"Good call, lad!" said another, who foxwhistled. Oliver grinned and said quick thanks, telling the team that the two had a lot of catching up to do. He grabbed his girlfriend's hand and led her to the stairs.

Catching up was a bit different than most would expect…

As soon as the door closed, he pinned her to it and kissed her greedily. She returned the kiss with just as much fire, pulling his head closer. They broke apart moments later grinning.

"So that's what I've been missin'?" He breathed. Asia nodded, blushing slightly. She walked across the room and sat down on one of the chairs near the window, Oliver pulled up another across from her. He took her hand in his.

"Can you believe it's been a half a year since we've last seen each other?" She asked, her eyes searching his face.

"I can." He said softly. "I've been counting the days."

"You would…" Asia giggled.

"What else was I to do? I was going crazy without seeing you." He grinned again, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Understandable, I was near insanity weeks back. I entertained a bloke who looked just like you! It was awful." She looked down for a second.

"Was he ugly?" Oliver asked.

"How could he be ugly if he looked like you?" She replied, slightly perplexed.

Oliver laughed. "I was just testin' ye. Was the lad around our age?"

"About ten years older, I believe. He looked rather awkward, I was trying to keep it together around him but it didn't work out so well…" She blushed again. "He's not going to hire me for anything ever again, but quite frankly, I don't mind."

"Enough about that, tell me about being a professional." She cooed, smirking. Oliver let out a laugh.

"Definitely different, less rivalries that I've encountered so far. Not like at school, when we automatically hated the Slytherins from the start of our Quidditch career. It's a lot of male bonding, so much that I'm slightly uncomfortable-" Asia doubled over laughing.

"No," Oliver said. "really, it is. My mates said I'd get used to it, told me it was a little weird at first. But mostly, if the talks not about Quidditch, it's either about food, our lasses, or about what we're going to do when we have breaks."

"Sounds exhilarating." Asia said sarcastically. "Just as exhilarating as spending hours practicing with Hisoka."

Both of them looked at each other and began to crack up, and then there was a long silence. Asia broke the silence with a whisper.

"I hate this."

"Me too." said Oliver in a soft tone. "It's not fair to either of us."

"If I would have gotten Peter that night…" She said, looking at the tabletop with tears pooling in her eyes.

"Hey!" Oliver said, squeezing her hand. "Ye' did your best. I don't think anyone knew what was going to happen that night. He caught ye' off guard for a second, and one day, he'll get what he deserves. Your Dad is free, he's vindicated, and that's all that matters."

"But what's so good about him being free, if no one will believe his story? Not only that, but now that Peters loose, he's ruined so much. And we don't even know if he's told anyone yet!" She started to cry.

Oliver rose from his chair, picked her up in a swift motion and carried her over to the bed. He lay down and placed her on top of his chest.

"Peter's too much of a coward. He doesn't even have enough brains to find any of his foul friends." Oliver replied, stroking her hair.

"He's just as vindictive as Flint. He'll give away any valuable information just to make sure his ass is saved." She sniffled.

"Well, with his luck, he may have been picked off by a thestral or something." Oliver waved his hand. Asia giggled, and looked at him.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mood killer. Probably not what you thought would be an ideal night for us after not seeing each other for so long…"

"It's fine. I was thinking about the same thing. Peter ruined it for us." He rubbed the back of his head. "I hate not seeing you, it drives me insane. You really value someone ten times more when they're not with you anymore."

She nodded. "I just didn't picture our lives being like this a year ago…I thought we would just get out of school, and just live. Like everyone else does."

"We are living. I'm pretty sure I'm breathing right now." said Oliver jokingly checking his pulse. Asia hit him with a pillow and then kissed him.

"You're quite violent." He said, gesturing towards the pillow. "And slightly bi-polar. First you throw things at me and now you want to kiss me? The nerve!"

She giggled and kissed his forehead. "Sorry, Ollie!"

"Get over here." He growled, pulling her in for another kiss. She broke into more giggles. "That's the girl I like to see." He grinned. She ruffled his hair.

The rest of that night was just perfect, because it was how we would normally be. It pained me to go in the morning, but at least I had gotten my fix. Enough to hold me over for a while, I hoped it wouldn't be so long until I saw him again. I didn't think my heart could take it. We left Finland, and ventured onward. We entertained another vampire gathering in southern region of Italy, they were much more tame than Mr. Isamu and his guests, though tame truly is a stretched word.

Hisoka and Asia had finished performing and sat at a table resting while the guests mingled. Asia had a weird feeling, like she was being watched. Her eyes shifted and she noticed a man staring at her from all the way across the room. He looked like he was squinting.

"Hisoka…" She whispered, moving her eyes toward the man.

Hisoka followed her gaze.

"Oh Ivy, he's nothing to worry about! Do you remember the painting of me as an apprentice in my apartment in Tokyo?"

Asia snorted. "Which painting? There are nearly fifty."

"Don't snort." Hisoka gave her a small glare. "It makes you sound like a man when you snort. I was referring to the painting in my front hall, the one with the sunset."

Asia nodded quickly and replied, "Yes, I do know of that painting."

"Well, that man over there painted that painting." Hisoka's eyes wandered back to the man. "And by the looks of it, he's coming to see you."

"Me?" Asia replied skeptically. "Don't you mean, that he's coming to see you? After all, you're the one he painted."

"Shh." Hisoka hissed as he was getting closer. "Bonjour David!"

"Bonjour 'Isoka" He replied, with a sultry smile. "It has been too long."

"Over a century in fact!" She replied conversationally, returning a smile.

His eyes traveled to Asia.

"Oh! Forgive me, David. This is my protégée, Ivy."

"Ah." He smiled again. "I was thinking to myself She looks delicious, but I come closer, and I smell no blood. I am disappointed." He frowned dramatically.

Hisoka giggled. "Well, David. You did not think I would bring a human to a vampire gala did you?"

"No." David sighed. "I know 'Isoka is not stupid, but I could only dream. But what a stunning creature you 'ave brought here, no?"

"Yes, Ivy is quite lovely. I noticed you have been staring at her all night." She replied, a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Oui, I was telling you that she looks delicious, and when I heard her music…Oh, I fell in love! The angles of her face are exquisite too-" He grabbed Asia's chin and slowly pivoted her head from side to side. "Especially with just the right lighting."

My first impression of David Girard was an accurate one; for lack of better terms he was a vampire in a muggle blood bank when it came to viewing people. He seemed to find beauty in everything, a very lovely trait, but something which frightened me so. It is something that is very surreal to me when someone says that I am beautiful. I hadn't had much of a concept of physical beauty, Hisoka believed it was due to my last memories of my mother being in an awful state, and because I had been around men most of my life. I had a lack of feminine influence, therefore no concept of physical beauty.

Years after Hisoka had agreed to be my mentor; she told me that she wasn't sure at the time if she could "fix" my "boyish" behavior. It was something I didn't understand, I wore skirts, most of my friends were girls, and I wore makeup. It is something that still boggles my mind. What I didn't know at that time was that David was a world-renowned artist, his work had been featured in many wizard advertisements. He was probably the only vampire to be accepted by wizard society. Why on earth he wanted to paint me, I did not know…

The portrait was a gradual process that was done over months. So between our travels we would back track to France to David's studio. Before I knew it, time had slipped from February to June. Honestly, I didn't notice until I was sitting outside at a party one afternoon and noticed the sun, and the leaves on the trees.

"What troubles you, Ivy-san?" said Hisoka, as she watched her stare out at the trees.

"Is it really the summer already?" She asked in a tired voice. Her eyes were glazed over.

Ten months straight of traveling had really caught up to me by then, by not being one of them I was always under the impression that I had this sort of advantage over humans. I thought that I had so much more stamina, yet I felt so tired and deflated. I don't know if Hisoka noticed...

At the end of the month, Viktor had called me back to accompany him to the final task for the Triwizard Tournament. He told me he'd feel so much more comfortable if I was there, whether he won or not. Hisoka and I arrived at the castle the night before, and retired to the guest quarters of the castle and went to sleep early.

Despite the fact that I was sleeping on a regular basis, fatigue still plagued me. I had been so tired; that I did not register on any level that I was tired at all, my body simply kept going. The day of the task, there was a small gathering party for Viktor and his Durmstrang comrades that I was invited to attend.

"Viktor, I must ask you something." Asia said.

"Yes, Ivy?" He replied with a smile.

"Why didn't you ask Hermione to come with you, Viktor?" Asia asked conversationally, as the two walked down the castle steps.

"Ah. I vas going to…but I felt torn." He said in thought as they headed towards Durmstrang's ship in the Black Lake.

Asia cocked her head.

"I was worried Hermon-ninny would be uncomfortable around those people." He said, a little quieter than before.

By "those people" he was referring to the pure blood maniacs of Durmstrang. Viktor had often told me how difficult it was to go to Durmstrang as someone who did not believe in blood status. Though there were others like him, he never voiced his opinions about the topic in school. Being in the spotlight constantly, that was what was best for him. So at Durmstrang it was naturally assumed that he was a pure blood elitist. All of his "friends" at school were.

"As soon as I graduate, I am never talking to those people again." Viktor said, furrowing his brow.

"I understand. I don't blame you." Asia replied. "I-
She tripped and Viktor caught her.

"Thanks." She said, giving him a smile. She was about to continue walking when he grabbed her hand, she turned to face him.

"Are yoo okay, Ivy? You seem different today." He said, furrowing his brow.

"I am fine, Viktor. I'm just a little tired from the traveling; we've been through a lot of time zones recently. Don't worry." Asia smiled at him.

He still looked concerned, but shrugged and held out his arm for her. She accepted it and they continued on to the ship.

Like many things in the magical world, the ship was enchanted to be much larger on the inside. Viktor lead her through a hallway and into a study where a few of his friends were waiting with the headmaster.

We mingled for a while; Viktor's comrades were very kind to me. I remember that I was very tired at this point of the day; my limbs began to feel like lead. I kept pushing myself to stay awake, cheerful, and engaging.

"So you are the lovely Ivy." said an accented voice.

Asia had turned around to find Igor Karkaroff staring at her with an unctuous smile.

"Yes, sir." Asia gave a small curtsey, still remaining in character.

"Viktor has told me a lot about you." He replied, kissing her hand.

I felt the hair on my neck raise, my stomach dropped. Something felt terribly wrong, but I could not place it. I continued to play my part…

"Only good things though." Karkaroff continued. "He is very happy that you're here to support him and Durmstrang."

It felt like he had added that last bit to push me…but I continued to be Ivy nonetheless. Had I not been in character, I would have corrected him. I began to feel a little bit off, my vision was blurring slightly. I remember that I had to blink a few times to adjust…

Asia gave a coy smile and replied. "It is always a pleasure of mine to support Viktor in his endeavors."

"Ivy!" Viktor called from across the room, motioning that it was time to go.

Asia turned back to Igor to find that his facial expression had changed.

There was a look of remorse on his features and his eyes were dark…

He took her hand once more and said something in another tongue. Asia could not place the language but she understood it clearly.

He said. "Please forgive me, I am so sorry."

Karkaroff then kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear, in English this time. "You are beautiful, like your mother."

I felt my stomach drop…he knew I was in cover, and how did he know of my mother?