Well..here we are again (Lavender)

David was walking through the portrait hole after a nice quiet walk along the black lake. Jack was back, and life was about to get 10 times worse for David in the next year. He had even unknowingly dragged his best friends into the whole thing. SOmething he would never have wanted to do. The time had come for Davdi to stop running and return back to his common room, where he would only have to face Mio and Sierra.

What he didn't expect was to see Lavender by the fire. He said "Er..hey." He still felt awkward about the whole Sierra thing, even though Lav had no clue David had felt for her and still did..

Lavender's hand danced back and forth across the parchment, the sound of her quill scratching it an oddly soothing one. Her assignment was almost complete, and she was just adding the finishing touches when she heard the portrait entrance swing open. Despite being a curiosity-filled gossip lover, she was far from the type to turn her head jut to see who had entered. She wouldn't have known had the sound of a somewhat familiar voice not filled her ears. Glancing up, a smile appeared on her face and she said, "Hello David. Long time no talk, huh?"

David scratched the back of his head at her response and said "Yeah, it has been" He stood there, unsure what to really do with himself, nor what to really talk about, so he settled for the classic "What did you get up to this summer?"

Lavender placed her quill and parchment gently on the coffee table in front of the fire, where the fresh ink was sure to dry. David was not someone who she came across often outside of classes, as he was usually busy with his friends, and she hers. Not that she minded all too much, but it was nice to have the chance to speak to him again. He was funny, she remembered, as he's joked with her about accidently using his owl. "Nothing overly interesting, really. Visited family, are too much, the usual summer things. How about you?" Her answer was simple, and far from a lie.

David nodded slowly "Basically the same.. had an awkwardish family get together with my Aunt and my Mother, who until that moment had not met each other yet.. that was fun. Then I hung with Mio, Ian and Artemis a few times. Other than that.. well.. Reading..and working out" He shrugged, that was normal for him. He did however work out more because he had had hopes of getting on the quidditch team.. if it weren't for the Tourney, he probably would have made it

"Your Aunt and Mum have never met before?" Lavender asked, "I bet that's a story on it's own." Pulling her hair over her shoulder, she raised an eyebrow as he relayed the events of his summer. "No time with your girlfriend?" she wondered. Sierra Logan had caught Lavender in the commonroom, where the two girls had spoken. Tensions had risen, though Lavender had yet to figure out why. "I don't think she likes me all too much."

David nodded slowly "It is a long story. To make it short. She's my father's sister.. the one who died when I was very young. My mom never knew of her, and went to canada. Anita tried to search for me, but never found me..until first year. Since then I have been spending time with her alone, without my mother. She would drop me off and my aunt would pick me up" He shrugged. He loved his Aunt, but loved his mother more, naturally. Any notions going through his mothers head of Anita trying to replace her was outlandish.

When she mentioned David's girlfriend, his heart sunk. "I have no idea why she would..as for spending time with her..I never really considered it..i mean shes great..I just..don't know" He shrugged defeated. He wanted so bad to say 'shes not you' but instead went for "Shes not Ember."

Lavender chewed on her lip as David shared some of the inner workings of his family. She wasn't sure what to say but she refused to not say anything at all. "I can understand your mother's fear, though I'm sure your aunt has no intentions of anything more than knowing you. Did they get along well enough when they met, though?"

The blonde laughed, shaking her head, "I mentioned that I was jealous of her. Just her having a boyfriend might I had. And she though I meant that I wanted you, so went off at me." Taking a sip from her water glass, the Gryffindor couldn't help but frown, "Ember? You went our with her for ages didn't you.. I surprisingly missed what happened to break you two up,"

David simply shrugged "Now that is information for another time, I don't know you well enough" he winked chuckling. he had to have SOME mystery to himself, or else Lavender would never stay interested. His heart leaped when she said she had been jealo0us, but dropped when she mentioned it being just a boyfriend in general. He then grudgingly said "She slept with another guy, I 'forgave' her, but it basically broke us up."

he then growled when her earlier words crept into his mind. "What did she do" He growled quietly.

Lavender smirked at David's response. She thought it very coy of him, telling her part of the story and failing to tell the rest. However she simply offered a curt nod and listened to his explanation for the break up. "Well, then.." she said quietly, not exactly sure what to say. She didn't want to insult either David or Ember, so she simply added, "That's understandable. I hope it wasn't a messy break up."

The Gryffindor girl raised an eyebrow and shrugged, "Sierra? She just started yelling at first. I tried telling her than she took it wrong, but then she went kind of crazy. Nothing I couldn't deal with." Her face softened a little, as she absently brought her fingers to her collar bone where her fingertips traced the red, freshly healing gouges where her housemate had scratched her. It was one of a many marks that she had ended up with, though she had not laid a hand on the other girl. Not because she couldn't, but because she didn't like being involved in fight at all, let alone trying to hurt someone.

David nodded "It wasn't messy per say. We had just had enough of pretending nothing was wrong. Judging from the fact Arty didn't stop talking to me, I gather she agrees I made the right choice. She was quite angry when she learned Ember cheated on me.. I think in a way she considers Mio, Ian and I closer family than Ember. I can't fathom WHY" He smirked "Maybe its because we are all sexy beasts, and she likes have the good looking men around her." He chuckled softly, trying to up the mood. He wanted Lav to like him, and being a despresed person was not the way to get that done.

David did not miss Lav's motion to her collar bone, and with a few long strides, was right in front of her, moving her hand away and gently rubbing the mark on her chest. "I'll kill her" He growled quietly, not making any motion to move his hand. He looked her in the eyes, a mix of anger and regret in them. had he given Sierra some reason to think he was going to leave her for Lav?

"I see.. it's always better to be honest, isn't it?" she said, feeling a little pity for David. He had been cheated on by his first love. That was surely a difficult thing to get past. Though, obviously he had, since he'd moved on now. "It's always better to admit when things aren't working than stick with it because you feel that you have to. That goes with anything, really," she replied as she pushed fallen strands of her blonde hair away from her face yet again. A loud laugh left her mouth at his overly cocky words. Obviously he was just trying to poke fun, and it had worked.

Her eyes widened as David approached her, her eyes flicking to where her hand had rested. "It's noth-" she cut herself off, because there was no use. He'd already seen it. At his words, she looked up. "No," she said firmly, her fingertips lifting his chin so that he was looking at her face instead, "you won't." It was not worth David being angry with his girlfriend over. "I didn't defend myself," she added, "so it was all my fault, really.."

David nodded slowly "yes, it is better." He silently noted to bring that up for when he broke the news to Sierra. He had let his body get the better of himself the one time, and to come back and have her expect to be the most important thing in his life was too much.

But now to learn that she had HURT Lav just because she suspected something between them, He had to take actions. It was his turn to say "no" as she explained. He lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked it softly "Do not blame yourself. If the fault belongs to anyone, it is me. If I had never dated her in the first place, or given her the impression I had fallen for you.." He just sighed, feeling guilty that the crazy bitch did this to her.

Lavender was glad to hear David agreed with her. At least she had been able to give some kind of wisdom to someone. The girl wasn't sure exactly what to do when his fingers brushed her cheek, but despite the want to move away she was rooted to the spot. She was about to argue the point when she heard his entire statement. Her jaw fell ajar and she blinked a couple of times. "What do you mean.. you gave that impression? Or you have been.. doing that," Lavender asked quietly, wanting to know exactly what he had meant before she gave any proper response.

David finally threw his hands up in the air "I don;t know.I may have mentioned running into you a few times. Maybe I even mentioned finding you cute. Maybe that is what ticked her off. I don't know. Shes a crazy overly attached girlfriend. hell she is even jealous of Arty and everyone knows we are just friends, and that will never change." He said in frustration at the whole situation. He then sighed and placed a hand on her waist. "I am sorry for what she did, and I want you to know it is over between her and me. I don't care about the lame ass excuses she will come up with. I will have no one hurt because of me. Especially you."

Lavender would be lying if she said that David's outburst hadn't scared her a little. Not because she was afraid of him hurting her, but because it was such real anger and she wasn't used to it. Placing a hand on his chest, she offered a small smile and said, "You need to do what you have to, David." She then collected her things and headed to the stair wells. As she was about to he's to her dorm, she turned and added, "I think you're attractive too.." It wasn't until she was sitting on her bed completing the last of her homework when she realised that she liked David.

*A week later*

Lavender descended the stairs to the girls dormitory, her hair damp and face bare of make up. With her bathroom around her, she glanced around and smiled when she saw that the common room was empty. It was around two o'clock on Saturday morning and she hadn't been able to sleep. Sitting on one of the armchairs before the cracklings fireplace, she rested her novel in her lap and began to read the first page.

David simply nodded at her "I will." he said quietly, her hand sending electric sparks through his body. He was slightly disappointed when she moved it, but understood that she wanted to leave, so was not upset about it. When she turned around to say she found him attractive, he smiled slightly, feeling his body warm up..and like that she was gone. He sighed and went up the stairs to his dorm, where he lay in bed, dreading the morning for when he broke the news to Sierra.

*week later*

David was already in the common room. He was behind a chair drinking a butterbeer and reading a book. He had to do this early in the morning to avoid Sierra. He had broken up with her the morning after his last talk with Lavender and she was..stalkerish to say the least. She kept trying to get him back.. too seduce him. It got to the point that all his free time was spent in his dorm away from everyone else..to get away from her.

When he felt the couch move as someone sat down on it, he jumped. looking over he saw it was Lavender..in a bathrobe. he blushed slightly before he stood and said "A lady in a bathrobe.. in a coed common room no less.. She is just asking for trouble." He then walked around and sat beside her on the couch. He offered her the can "you want some?"

Lavender should have expected that someone would interrupt her. She had determined a long time ago that every time someone did. But when it was a familiar voice that broke her relaxed silence, she didn't know whether to leave or stay. She had heard about the break up, of course. Lavender Brown heard everything, but she would never admit aloud that she had paid particular attention to the waves of gossip that lapped at her about David Shuter and Sierra Logan. No, it wasn't the biggest break up of her schooling life, but it was the one that she seemed to notice the most.

"Well, I was sure that I would be safe around my fellow Gryffindors," she said. Looking up as David sat down next to her, she laughed quietly so as not to wake any other students. Of course he would say something like that.. but in a way that seemed to seep a boyish kind of charm. Stop it, Lavender! she scolded herself, before instead smiling at David and taking the can from his hand. "Thanks," she said quietly, taking a sip before handing it back.

David smirked "gryffindor's are the most dangerous. We do house Harry Potter.. the most famous bad boy since James Potter. We also house Mio Snape..and that is enough in itself to convince you not to try and seduce men in our house." He then slapped his knee quietly "Oh yeah, and theirs me, the sexiest bad boy since.. well ever!" When she took the drink, he couldn't help but tut and shake his head. "Really, you are going to get drunk with another boy while in your bathrobe. no wonder you aren't in ravenclaw" he chuckled softly as he teased her, poking her side teasingly, before taking his can back and taking another chug.

"So what are you doing here at this time of night anyway?"

Lavender raised an eyebrow and nodded her head, "I'll admit that, but we usually look after our own." It was true, though on occasion it was necessary to not be to caring toward a Gryffindor or two. "I am not trying to seduce anyone!" the girl exclaimed, though her voice remained on the quiet side, "I honestly didn't think anybody would be up at this time of night."

She quickly realized that David was only messing with her, and she shot him a playful glare. "I'm plenty smart enough," she quipped, "it's just that I'm also not afraid of much. Besides, if you're looking to get drunk, butterbeer is far from the way to go about it. How about something like Firewhiskey?"

David had to smirk and said "you sure, cause you are doing a great job of it. " He looked over her body teasingly. Before he turned his attention back to her eyes. He then said "Its the only time i can be out here without her getting to me" He then chuckled at her next response "Why would I get drunk, I want to remember this.." he slid closer teasingly, until they were touching. He leaned close and whispered "Maybe you should be afraid of me.."

Lavender was surprised by his admission, and honestly had no time to hide her surprise. Usually she would have just shrugged it off, but over the past week she had noticed more and more as when she saw David in the great hall and during classes. It wasn't that she was hopelessly in love with him or anything equally disgusting. It was simply an attraction that she couldn't seem to shake. "Well, it wasn't my intention at all.." the girl said quietly, her hand moving to take the book from her lap. "Most boys our age would love to get drunk.." she trailed off when she realized what he had said at the end of his statement. "Remember what?" she whispered, though she had a fair idea already.

David took the book moving off her lap in the wrong way, like she expected what was to come next "Sure it wasn't." He murmured quietly, before closing the distance and kissed her gently on the lips, wrapping an around around her, pulling her closer. He was leaving a little room for her to pull away if she wanted. He had not kissed a girl in this way since Ember..unlike with Sierra when it had all been lust. He then pulled away and murmured. "That"

Lavender hadn't expected him to kiss her. In fact, she'd expected that they would talk about his break up, since she was the cause of it.. in a way, anyway. But instead, his lips softly caressed hers and she was surprised to note that he didn't seem to be searching for more than that. Letting out a shaky breath, her gaze dropped to her lap and she chewed on her lower lip in thought. "You shouldn't have done that, David.." she whispered, a weight in her stomach dropping as she did. She wanted him to do it again, and again. But instead she was telling him he shouldn't, all because of what she though what 'right'.

David sighed as she dropped her gaze and told him he shouldn't have done that "It was you since the beginning.. since the Owlery. Sierra was a moment of weakness." He sighed and looked away "I didn't want her to feel like a slut so I agreed to stay with her." He looked back at her. "The reason I was so angry last week.. was because it was my fault. The whole thing. I am so sorry.." He pulled her robe open enough to expose the now almost gone mark, and pressed his lips to it softly, before kissing his way back up to her lips. "If she even looks at you wrong again, shes done for" He murmured against her lips before he started to kiss her again.