more than just a "hey there, baby"

Summer had began just as fast as it ended. With her school years over, Ginevra didn't find much care in looking forward to another month to start or end. Everything was the same, month by month. Back at Hogwarts, she hadn't cared much for the summer months and now, oddly enough, she felt the same. It was too hot, despite the constant lack of heat that flowed through her vein. Work slowed because people travelled and if they were in need of care, they went to the closest possible place. St. Mungo's may have been the main hospital in the wizarding world, but that didn't mean where she was placed would be the busiest. Being the type who needed something to do on a consistent basis, it was no surprise that she was out and about on her day off. It had only been two weeks since her return to her childhood area and honestly, it felt odd returning. Having left without explanation, to anyone, she could feel the nerves that built up for when she had to face Darren. Walking down the cobblestone road of the all too familiar street, she turned on instant when she reached the Quidditch store. Travelling hadn't allowed her to keep her broom with her and the blonde had decided it was time for a new one anyways. Allowing the sweet aroma hit her nose, a smile hit her pale pink lips and spread genuinely. There was nothing to chill her nerves like a broomstick. Ginevra loved to fly. Disturbed by the sound of the store owner cracking his knuckles, she instantly shot him an ice cold look. There were ways to make this blonde mad, and then there were ways to make her irritated. You'd think they were the same thing, but those who had come across her in the past knew that she could control herself better if she was simply mad. Irritated, on the other hand, she had the noises or action the culprit had done lingering in her head, playing over and over in her head until she snapped. Breathing a deep breath, she exhaled slowly and continued on through the store. There was no way she was walking out of the store without a broom. This was going to be a happy day.

Chuckling mentally to herself, it had been awhile since she had been "happy." In all truth, it seemed like the meaning of the word had blurred throughout the years. Too many distant memories carried sadness in her heart, weighting the possibility down a ton. Fully aware that it was possible for her, it just seemed unlikely. As Mariana used to tell her back in school, trouble always seemed to find her, whether she liked it or not. Feeling like a new start could be possible now that she had a stable job that she liked- no. no she loved, things were brighter. Picking up the newest broom, she examined it and nodded. This was the one, but not the exact one. Taking the second of its kind off of the rack, she replaced the one that had been on the front and went to the cashier. It was clear her action had perplexed him but she could have cared less. Reasons were personal and everyone had a weird quirk and that, well, that happened to be one of her many. Walking a little faster than she usually would have to leave a store, it was about time she got up into the air and tested it out. There was no wait, it had been too long. Swinging the door open, she took a sharp turn and felt a body collide with hers. "Merlin!" she exclaimed, catching herself before she fell. Her balance had improved over the years, but barely.

"That's ten thousand… I want ten percent," Darren declared, dropping a bag of galleons in front of the head goblin, Ragnok. He had just returned from Egypt, having been sent there to retrieve a hidden gold stash for Gringotts. It had been a successful trip but, as usual, the goblin was anything but grateful. Darren watched with distaste as the goblin began to argue with him about the pay, he had never been fond of half-breeds, and that had not changed one bit. Deciding that he would rather not be there in their company any longer than necessary, he settled on seven hundred galleons and was on his way. That was his third visit to Gringotts since he had become a curse breaker, and Darren had grown to enjoy the job. It suited him really, for Darren had only ever grown excited with things that involved action and danger. As a curse breaker, he could travel the world, which also meant that he didn't have to spend any more time than necessary in Britain. Of course, the old him would have never settled for such a job, but Darren had changed quite a lot since then. It almost felt like he had been someone else in the past. That was part of the reason why he had broke contact with his friends: they were a reminder of the person he used to be, and his past. The past was not something he was ready to face now. Darren was, for once in his life, happy. He had far less worries than he had ever had before, now that he was just another ordinary citizen of the Wizarding World. It was strange, such a thought would have troubled the old him to no end, but Darren had changed his opinions about what mattered and what didn't.

The plan had been to go straight back to his room at the Leaky Cauldron, but with plenty of money in his pockets, Darren decided to take a little detour. When he had first left Hogwarts, he had taken care not to spend too much time in public places. It only later occurred to him just how many people there were in the Wizarding World. The chance of running into someone who knew him was very unlikely, and even if he did, Darren doubted anyone would recognize him. It had been two years since any old friend had seen him, and his features had changed quite a bit since then. As he made his way to the quidditch store, Darren noticed there were far more people around than usual. Not surprising, he reflected, considering it was the end of summer and the Hogwarts students were about to go back to school. He was looking around quite a bit as he walked towards the door of the quidditch store, and suddenly bumped into a girl.

"Hey, watch where your-" Darren exclaimed before stopping suddenly. It had been a long time, but it only took a small glance for him to realize who she was. "Ginevra," he whispered out loud when he realized. The shock of seeing her threw him off momentarily, but Darren recovered himself soon enough. "I'm sorry," he said shortly. Turning away, he darted into the quidditch shop, hoping that she would not follow.

The words echoed through her mind as if they wanted to torment her. That voice, she would never be able to forget it. On top of that, everybody who knew her outside of work were from her past, which meant that they knew calling her Ginevra was not the way to go. Sure, it didn't bother her as much as it had in the past, but she still preferred to be called Gin. There was only one person who hadn't ever cared what she wanted to be called and that was Darren. To him, she was Ginevra, Gin, blondie. Anything that suited his mood, really. Blinking a few times as she took in his complexion, he had changed over the past few years. Unsurprised by this, whether she had heard him say her name or not, there was no doubt in her mind that her heart would have started to race. Some things just couldn't be changed on a person. For example, his defined jaw line and the way his eyes searched forward whenever he was caught off guard. Unable to get anything out before he darted into the Quidditch store, Ginevra stood where she was. This was her kind of luck. Think about having to encounter him sooner or later and bam, no more thought could be put into it because there he was, right beside her. It was like a sign. Without thinking once more, the blonde nervously opened the door to the store and re-entered. If she put this off for any longer, she wouldn't be able to do it.

The curiosity that ran through her made several questions appear in her mind, lingering there until she would let them be released. One thing that hadn't changed was her eagerness to know anything and everything. Boy did she hate being left in the dark. Scanning the isles, what if he had darted for a reason? Did he really not want to see her that bad? Feeling the contents of her stomach starting to turn, she took a deep breath, exhaled and continued the search. She would not be a coward and run away. Seeing that he was down at the other end of the store, she started towards him. Expecting a bitter reaction, at this point she felt like it was deserved. If he had ever disappeared on her without explanation.. wow. There would be no end to how angry she would be, especially after years of built up emotions. But then again, that was her and considering her condition, well, it was only to be expected. Reaching out, she touched his shoulder to try and stop him from moving any further. Her frail body would be unable to keep him in place if he wanted to take off again but in that case her voice surely would be made loud in an attempt to stop him yet again. "It's been years and your reaction is to take flight when you see me, really Darren?" the words spilled out of her mouth and honestly, they surprised her. There were so many things she could have said and considering it was her fault for leaving in the first place, that was probably one of the worst choices. How far had he moved with his life sinec she had left? Did it do him better in the long run? Mentally kicking herself, she did all she could and waited.

It was only when he entered the shop did Darren realize that he probably should have went to the Leaky Cauldron instead. It was quite a large shop, but there wouldn't be much point in hiding. He had forgotten how stubborn Gin could be, she simply would not get the point. Of course, he was proved right in his assumption as he watched her enter the shop after him. The shop was quite crowded, so at least no one would overhear their conversation. Darren watched with a blank expression as she walked nervously over to him. In truth, he didn't quite know how he was feeling about seeing her again. Excited, angry and hell, even a bit nervous. Most of all though, he was relieved. Ginevra had been gone for a year, and no one had seen or heard of her since her disappearance. Darren had never really thought she had died, but it was nice to see that she was alive and well. Strangely, she looked much more lively than the last time he had seen her. From that, he wondered what exactly had she been doing in the past two years. He had long assumed that she had moved on with her life, like he had done, and now his thoughts were confirmed. Darren was not quite sure how he felt about that. If she was happy now, then he would live with that. After all, Darren had always thought that they could not really ever be happy together. Time's had changed, he was no longer dangerous to be around, but he still thought that she deserved better than him.

It was quite clear right to Darren right now that he would have to talk to Gin at least for a while. He wasn't sure what exactly he would say though. It had been so long, and so much had changed. It would have probably be best if he had simply casually conversed with her, but him fleeing upon seeing her had ruined that. As she came up to him and asked her question, Darren's eyes flashed with anger. Really, he would have thought that she would understand that much at least. Had she really thought that he hadn't noticed her disappearance? He hadn't written to her, that just wasn't the type of thing he did. But he had looked for her, tried to find out if she was still around. Admittedly, they hadn't had much contact even before that, but at least he had known where she was and that she was safe. Darren took a deep breath, trying to relax himself. Calmly, he raised his hand to hers, pulled it away from his shoulder and let go. "I looked for you," he replied shortly, not facing her directly but staring at the broomstick in front of him instead. It had always been difficult, looking into her eyes. She always saw far too much, as he had never been able to hide his emotions with her. No doubt from those words she would at least slightly understand his feelings. "Speaking of which, where were you exactly?" Darren asked, in a slightly bitter tone.

Times changed, people changed but one thing Ginevra wasn't sure about was if feelings changed. Her conclusion came pretty simple as she entered the shop. Separation could do one of a million things- the two most likely being allowing one to let go or making the heart yearn in a way that almost hurt. Ginevra was feeling far too many emotions and really, she was more nervous of how he felt around her than anything. When she had left, they hadn't been on the best terms. Ginevra had become a werewolf, something that he wouldn't be too fond of. Darren was close-minded, a bigot as some would say, and hated half-breeds. Although the two were best friends, she had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to fully look at her the same ever again. Still, to this day, she wasn't sure of the answer. As much as she could read his feelings and tell when he was lying to her, his mind wasn't something she could get inside of. A rather frustrating fact, in all honesty. Allowing the waves in her hair to drop onto her shoulders, the wind had made her little hairs stick up on the top, a look she had been used to on a regular basis while she was gone. Ginevra had never been a girly girl and when it came to what she looked like, sure she was insecure, but she knew that she wasn't ugly and it didn't matter if one single hair was out of place. Never would she be able to stop rolling her eyes at the girls who made such a big deal about it all. Preying that Darren would actually talk to her, Ginevra was going to go from there. When it came to him, her impeccable organization skills stopped mid-steam. The blonde was great at making a plan and going forward with it in her work life, but with him... that was a whole other story. Every situation ended up being some sort of flight and think later sort of scenario. Sighing, she looked at the broom he was concentrated on, letting his voice travel to her ears. As it had been before, the familiar voice was comforting.

Wishing he would turn around so she could interpret what he was hiding from her, perhaps he had changed over the years she had been gone and there was no longer that subtle hint in his eye that she could pick up on. Then again, he knew better and that could be why he hadn't turned to face her in telling her off. Leaving it where it was for now, she felt her heart ache once more. Hanging her hand limply beside her body, she stared at the broom to her side. It was a wonder how interesting they could all be even though she had just left the shop no longer than five minutes ago. Why couldn't everything just be sunshine and daisies? The girl was sure her heart wouldn't mind that. Holding back a 'well you obviously didn't do a very good job' comment, she had worked on her snappy remarks in situations where they weren't needed. Ginevra had worked on a lot. But hell, don't get anything wrong, she was still far from perfect. "I've had practice disappearing." trying to make him feel a little better with this fact, if anyone would have been able to find her it would have been him but she had disappeared with him a majority of the cases in the past and knew where to avoid because of that. Her reasoning's for leaving had included him having a better life away from her, so what good would it have done to be found? Biting her lip, she definitely had been far from ready for this all. Why did she have to be so damn stubborn? "I.. I was in the muggle world. A place you wouldn't know. I went there as a child, it was Brittney's favorite spot. There's a little fort by the water, it's truly beautiful. A forest nearby where people can hunt. Not really safe considering the children that used to play in the park but no one goes there anymore. To that park, that is. Parents petitioned against the hunters and lost." musing off, she was bad for either one word responses or a million mile long explanations when she got nervous around Darren. Being quite like an open book, Ginevra decided that hiding her emotions wouldn't do any good and she really wanted to make everything good. If it turned out that he was better off without her, then the wall would go up but until then, she was here to talk whatever needed to be out.

Placing her hands behind her neck, she leaned back on them and stretched it out, releasing some of the stress that she could feel building up in her joints. "What.. what have you been up too? Job, girlfriend, self? How are you?" she asked this quietly, her voice slowly escaping her. There was so much she wanted to know and understanding how he was upset, she couldn't stop herself from prying. It was Darren, and never would she be able to stop herself in that area. He was, ultimately, her second biggest weakness.

Darren was surprised at how awkward and nervous he felt around Gin right now. Had it been like that when they had last met? He remembered that day vaguely. They hadn't been in much contact then either, and she had suddenly told him that she had become a werewolf. Darren didn't even remember how he had reacted to that news. He guessed he would have been angry, though more at the werewolf who had bitten her than her herself. Still, he was quite sure that he hadn't comforted her much. Darren just wasn't good at caring for people like that. Caring meant showing your emotions, and that wasn't something he liked to do. Darren scowled at her reply, she was just increasing his frustration here. Darren had always thought he could read people well, but that was before he met Ginevra. He had never been able to figure out what went through her mind and why exactly did she do these sort of things. What did she hope to achieve by disappearing? Darren assumed it had something to do with him, and that just made him more bitter. He wanted to ask her why, but Darren wasn't sure he wanted to know. "I see," he replied shortly, not really listening to her. She had mentioned her sister, and his thought's were stuck on her. Darren had never met her muggle sister, but he did remember when she had been murdered, a long time ago. He had blamed himself for that death, as with so many others, and frowned as he was reminded of it. He sighed, and shook away those thoughts. It was all in the past, and he could go back to hiding from it all as soon as he got away from Gin. "You were there all by yourself? For so long?" he asked inquisitively.

At her question, Darren looked away again, wondering how to respond. How was he? He was, in some ways, quite happy. However, it was only because he had abandoned all the dreams and goals he had in the past. It occurred to him now how strange a thing like happiness was. If you simply stopped caring about everything around you, happiness was easily obtainable. On the other hand, when he had responsibilities and people to care for, he had only ended up in stress and hurt. As for the job, it only now struck Darren how mediocre and unimportant being a curse breaker was. He had accustomed himself to it, and had learnt not to care about it much. But now, he was reminded of the boy at Hogwarts who had dreamt of being the Head of Law Enforcement, or perhaps even the Minister. Darren had certainly always had the potential to do so much, and now he reflected on how much he had underachieved. The thought saddened him, and he sighed involuntarily. "To be honest, I'm not sure." It would be pointless to lie, she would simply see through it all. "In some ways life has been a free fall since I graduated and I don't really know where I am now. But, strangely, I'm feeling better than before, or rather, I was," he replied, rather awkwardly, fully aware that what he was saying didn't make much sense. "I have a job as a curse breaker," he added, shrugging. "It's going okay I guess. I travel a lot, so that's good, although my girlfriend doesn't like it much." His eyes drifted to her face as he said that because, despite himself he was curious to see what her reaction to that would be. In truth, he had grown to care about his girlfriend just a bit, but experience in the past had kept him from getting too close emotionally.

For a moment in time, Ginevra could hear nothing but her own heartbeat. It seemed as if all the voices in the store were blocked out and in a separate universe than the one she was living in. A girlfriend? Darren... had a girlfriend? The thought perplexed her far more than she would have imagined and to be honest, the reaction that was displayed on her face almost was how she felt- hurt. Instead, the blonde caught herself and went flat- until she could be fully sure of the fact her emotions were intact. Although he may have had issues reading her in the past, she was out of practice in keeping herself together. Being a werewolf and suffering from bi-polar separated Ginevra from every girl out there. Typically, it was one or the other and going away had allowed her to reveal what was inside of her, see what would happen if she didn't keep the reigns in twenty-four seven. The result was less stress, a weight of her shoulders per say. A stress-free life was overrated for Ginevra. A majority of the world would find her crazy but she felt if there was nothing negative around, reality hit harder when it came around; because eventually, it would. People were fools to think otherwise. Ready to go for it, she smiled her best smile, doing her best to not speak through her teeth. She had pulled better one's over on him than this, why would it go wrong now? He was happy. She couldn't ruin that. Every muscle in her body was yearning for her to run out the door and across the planet, as far away from him as she could get. Keeping her feet planted, disappearing could happen after she got through this conversation. Though this time she wouldn't leave the neighbourhood. Ginevra had to start living her life and this was where she was comfortable. She had been through worse, right? Her best friend had been fine without her and moved on, that wasn't so bad, right? "I've just recently started a position in Healing." stating her new job, Ginevra found that she was proud. She had done well for herself, especially considering what she had been through. Sighing mentally, he always did this to her. He always made her thoughts race a thousand miles per hour.

"I wasn't alone, per say." she replied, shrugging. Being the typical girl she was, this time around she stayed vague. It really depended on the subject and how amped up her emotions were when it came to how much she revealed. Sure, she was good under pressure but that didn't always matter. Weaknesses could always come into play at any time and destroy everything she had built up on her wall. Tilting her head to try and look into his eyes, a familiar face was nice. Had she hurt him so much by leaving that he wasn't going to make contact except when talking about his new life? That could be a message. Beginning to read into what he was saying, she zoned out instantly. "If seeing me is really that bad, I can just go." Ginevra felt helpless. The stubborn nature she was born with was fading, though only slightly, and the flight-risk she had grown only minutes ago was rising. In any other situation, looking from the outside, she would have called the girl in her place a coward for not taking the chance that she was being given to say what needed to be said, or at least spend time with someone she had missed. However, along with being stubborn the girl had always cared. A lot. For her family, for her friends. In the past, Ginevra had been in great danger by being reckless. In her mind, she was doing the best she could to keep others safe and that was all that mattered. In this situation, she wasn't putting herself in danger but by offering to leave, she felt like her old friend's life might be that much less of a hassle. Waiting for this words, she expected Darren to be harsh about her leaving. Blunt with his words, looking right in her face. Anything that would have happened before she left with unpleasant news. She knew him, and well. Then again, she knew the him that didn't believe in love; or so she had been told by him. Recalling the reckless situation where she had admitted bits and pieces of her feelings for him, it was in the past and she felt embarrassed recalling it herself. Preying that he didn't recall it as well, her feet didn't move an inch and they wouldn't until she was shunned away. Offering was one thing but wanting was another. Closing her hands into fists and opening them, Ginevra stood there mainly concentrating on trying to keep her palms as sweat-filled as possible.

Darren frowned as he watched Ginevra's reaction to the news. The look of hurt was quite obvious. It was the reaction Darren had expected, though not the one he wanted to see. He could gather from her reaction that her feelings towards him had not changed much, she had clearly not moved on like he had. Darren wasn't sure how he felt about that. Several times, at least before she had gone missing, Darren had thought of getting together with Ginevra again. After all, despite all his efforts of moving on, he could not deny that Gin had been on his mind quite often. But the more he had thought about it, the more he rejected the idea. Their relationship had never worked, not even as friends. He remembered when he first met her, she had been so much more happy and carefree than she later became. It was true that happened to everyone growing up, but Darren had put her through a lot, most of it unintentional, but he had never quite been able to shrug off that guilt. He could keep it away, but it surfaced again whenever he saw her. Because of that, Darren did not think that they would be happy together, and he believed in that firmly enough to discard any seconds thoughts of a relationship with Gin. "A healer.. That's great," Darren replied, in a rather blank tone, looking away from her as he said it. He recalled that a healer was what she had always wanted to be, so she had been quite successful. Once again, Darren bitterly reflected upon his own job. Why had he so comfortably settled for so little?

Darren's gaze drifted back to Gin as she offered to leave. He could tell that she was finally beginning to understand his situation. Watching her intently, Darren thought for a second of just letting her go. That would be easier, he knew that. And with most people, he would just walk away, not caring much about that person's reaction. The problem was that Darren was a touch too soft when it came to his closest friends, particularly Ginevra. But either way, it had always been in his nature to confront things head on and deal with matters at the moment rather than letting them lie around. He knew that allowing her to leave now would, no doubt, come back to haunt him later. Besides, they could depart on a better note than this, he just had to make her understand. "No... don't leave… it's just... been a while since I last saw anyone from Hogwarts and... it's just kind of strange," he replied slowly. He was trying to be careful, but ended up just sounding awkward and not entirely convincing. Darren sighed inwardly, he simply did not have the patience to deal with such complications. "Look, there is no point talking here, why don't we get something to eat," he offered.

Food. That seemed harmless enough. Ginevra was very unsure of how to move forward. However, upon entering the Quidditch store again she hadn't exactly been sure on where she wanted any conversation to be lead anyways. That was what was referenced to as progress, no? Yes. Trying to pull comfort from that, it was rare for the Darren that she knew to make any sort of gesture that showed a weakness. Ginevra knew deep down that she was someone who could always hit close to her heart, but as always when she stood there in front of him she forgot that all and questioned it. Not that it showed half the time- Ginevra didn't like coming off as faulty and she had learned from the best. Becoming close friends with Darren had altered her look on life, made her more independent and, well, stubborn. The two often clashed in ways that other friends wouldn't make it through. A good example for them was fire and ice. There was no winning against the other, both were the others biggest weakness. "Yeah, it is. Nothing else would make me happy and there was no way I was going to a job just to make money." shrugging it off, a smile appeared back on her face at the thought of helping people. It would never get old when it was one of her deepest passions for an ongoing number of years to date.

Allowing a laugh to escape her lips, she raised her eyebrows and glanced down at the floor. "Strange." she repeated, nodding her head slowly before she looked back up at him. "That is.. one way that you could put it." Brushing her hair away from her face, she let it fall back right where it had begin seconds later, creating the action to be pointless. This had become a new habit of hers over the time that she had been absent, though, one she hadn't yet figured out the hidden meaning too. "Food it is. Lead the way." not sure of where she wanted to go, there were a few places that brought back memories she wasn't sure she wanted to relive yet. Some including Darren, others not. The whole town she called home was really a hit and miss but there was no other place that would ever have the ability to get her settled down. Ignoring the awkward tone of his voice, it was best that she looked past the obvious and paid attention to how vile her emotions were running. Having an emotional disorder and not being medicated, she could get riled up real fast. Working on the control part of everything while she had been away, Ginevra learned ways to calm them before they exploded. Of course, this didn't mean it was anywhere near perfect. Avoiding any further talk about his girlfriend, she would most likely give in later due to pure curiosity if he weren`t to talk about her. Why? Because Darren + a girlfriend? Did. not. match. It was funny to really even think about. No one had understood him throughout Hogwarts, how would someone now? Boy would Jess get a holler out of that. Keeping away for now for her own reasons, she wasn't fully interested because of how she felt. Ginevra did have other motives besides the "love" and being away for so long gave her an upper hand [s]most of the time.[/s]

"Yes, of course," Darren replied, with just a hint of cynicism. Gin had always been like that, caring infinitely for everyone around her. As for himself, he has learned long ago to always put himself in front of others. Darren did not believe that selfishness was a weakness and that caring was an advantage. All hearts would be broken, so it was better to simply distance yourself from it all. Still, Darren could not help but care a little bit about his closest friends - Jess, Gin, Sophia, Mari. It was a fact that frustrated him, and as with all weaknesses, Darren had tried his best to be rid of it, to somehow forget that all of them even existed. But the strength of a strong relationship was only becoming clear to him now - some things just remained in your head, no matter how much you tried to get rid of them.

Darren watched her curiously as she laughed, then let out a small a bitter laugh himself. "Yes, one way. How would you put it I wonder?" he muttered under his breath, but just audible enough for her to hear it. It was probably not the smartest thing to say. Hell, this whole thing was stupid, if he had any sense he would just walk away right now. But, his intelligence often betrayed him in such moments. As they left the shop, Darren noticed it wasn't so bright and sunny anymore. Clouds were slowly gathering. It would probably rain later, Darren figured. He didn't mind that at all. "There's a nice new cafe here that I go to sometimes," he explained, as he turned and made his way to Cafe Twin Montez. He kept his distance from her, and walked firmly and just a little faster than normal.

Watching her from the corner of his eye, Darren sighed inwardly. In all honesty, he had never felt so awkward around someone. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about… At Hogwarts, Gin had been the one person he could open up to, even if just a little bit. He wanted to do that now, to talk to someone who cared about things that mattered. But he couldn't. As far as he was concerned, they were friends from a distance for now, and he would try to keep it that way. He could ask her the same question she had asked him earlier, but was afraid that might send the wrong message. Not only that, but he was pretty sure he knew the answer to it too. It was obvious from the way she reacted, the way she looked at him. Darren had never been able to decipher what went on in her mind, but this much he could notice easily. Nevertheless, the whole situation did confuse him. It had been so long, and he wondered how could an obsession last all that time. It wasn't love, Darren did not believe in such ridiculous things as that, but even so, there were millions of other guys that would suit her much better. Darren had never exactly been popular amongst girls. At Hogwarts he had generally dismissed most girls as a waste of his time, and though he could be charming when he tried to be, his natural way of handling with people was to push them further and further away until he could be left on his own. So it was strange that after four years, Ginevra's feelings towards him hadn't changed a bit. Not knowing what to say to break the silence, Darren just continued walking.