The weakest link shall always fall

Andrei tapped his fingers on the table that was placed in the corner of the room. Patience wasn't one of the best strengths in his character or something he had ever possessed. Nevertheless, he was going to wait as it seemed that the other party wasn't late but he was rather early. He wanted to make sure that the room was set up to his liking beforehand.

A large dueling area in the center of the room with comfortable sofas tucked away in the corner. Also a table between the two, having a bottle of butterbeer and wine he had managed to sneak in from Hogsmeade placed neatly on it. To some people alcohol was distracting and ill influencing but Andrei found that normal amounts actually relaxed him and cleared his mind. Perfect for today's activity.

You could never be too prepared or too good at something was the line his father constantly repeated to him throughout his childhood. And although his dad wasn't necessarily the person he looked up to, he lived his life by those words. With everything that was happening in the world, loosing your edge would make you a sitting duck. Even in Hogwarts, a place that was considered to be safe, it could be a fatal mistake. And it was one that Andrei wasn't going to allow himself. Practice was necessary of course, but even more importantly than that was finding the perfect partner to practice with. Well, it seemed that he had found exactly that, and with ease.

Speaking of the devil... The door opened while he was sitting on the sofa and examining the last piece of the room changes. His head turned to the door and he grinned. "You're late", he mused through a smirk on his lips.

The change from Potter's Army to the Dark Followers wasn't exactly the hardest one to do. And most of them had to admit that having her with them now brought an advantage to their side over Potter's Army, she had been a part of that faction for a while which meant that she knew most of their weaknesses and that was a very good for them all. For instance a certain fourth year girl who had the potential to be a powerful witch, her biggest weakness is her twin sister. It had been made pretty clear during their training exercises in the first meeting.

She had to admit, it was better to be in the Dark Followers. They actually plan, do things the right way. Unlike Potter's Army, who just sat around twiddling their thumbs or doing stupid training exercises that wouldn't really help them with anything. Damitrius had been in the Gryffindor common room, somewhat hiding in the dormitories from Potter's Army members who had realized she left the group. She wasn't going to give them answers to their many questions about why she left, and the best way to do that was to stay away from them.

However, she had a certain appointment she needed to attend and that meant that she would have to risk being seen by those members just to leave the common room. But she was willing to risk it. Luckily for her though, it seemed that most of the Gryffindors were still in class, she had had her free period during the last class period and she quickly made her way to the Room of Requirement where she had agreed to meet up with Andrei Dolohov, a fellow Dark Follower and she rolled her eyes at his words as she walked in, closing the door behind her.

Damitrius walked up to where he was seated and she smirked at him. "Better late than never." she replied simply, knowing she wasn't even late. Or rather, wasn't that late.

"I don't expect any different from a lion like yourself. But fear not, you're forgiven. Seems like I have too big of a heart to be broken", said Andrei with a teasing smile. He poured them both a generous glass of wine and offered her one. "I suppose you would want a taste. It really does improve concentration. That's my excuse and I'm going with it", he said with a grin on his face. He took another sip of wine and waited for her to take a seat on the sofa. "Do you approve what I have done with the place? I may lack decorating skills but it should do just fine."

Andrei was glad he had finally arranged this meeting with Damitrius. As time went by, he found that his usual victims for practice were now restricted to the minimum due to higher teacher alertness. He was sure it couldn't last long of course, but while it did he decided to keep a low profile. Losing points for Slytherin and getting himself into detention was not his favorite things to do. So he controlled his urge to hex the many annoying students that passed the halls of Hogwarts. Before he knew it, he found himself out of shape and practice. His skills weren't diminishing of course, but he wasn't at the top of his game either. And for him, that was a problem that needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

That was exactly the reason he had thought of Damitrius. Even though he knew she was a worthy opponent, he didn't have any previous experience in fighting with her. This meant he couldn't predict any of her spells or moves, which made her the perfect practice partner. Even so, Andrei was an ambitious person as an Slytherin and he enjoyed winning in every situation. Surely competition and motivation was a good things, even in a friendly duel such as this one.

"We have a little tradition among the Dark Followers that we use quite often, I'm not sure if you're familiar with it yet. Before the duel we place a small bet, anything you'd like. If you win for example, you get whatever you want from me and vice versa. Keeps the competitive spirit alive, don't you think? Now tell me Damitrius, what would you want your prize for winning to be?", he asked rather curious about her answer.

Damitrius scoffed and rolled her eyes playfully at Andrei. "I guess I should be grateful then?" she asked him, an eyebrow raised. She tried to keep herself from being annoyed about the comments of her house now, since she knew that those comments would be going around everywhere. A Gryffindor Dark Follower wasn't normal... Gryffindors were supposed to be the good guys, the just, and the brave ones who stood up for those who couldn't defend themselves.

Though that was her house, Damitrius found it pathetic. She found it even more pathetic that she had been willing to act exactly like the natural Gryffindor she was. She couldn't believe that she had actually supported all those things said about them. Gryffindors were no different than some ambitious and cruel Slytherins. They made fun of others, harmed them... called them names, told them they didn't belong. And that was just from her own personal experiences.

Damitrius took the glass of wine he had handed her and she took a quick sip of it. Glancing around the room, she shrugged and nodded. "I suppose that it'll do." she smirked, looking back at him. She tilted her head to the side for a moment before she walked closer to the sofa and sat down next to him. "I know about that little 'tradition', though I've never really been dragged into it." she told him. He asked her what she would want should she win, and she had a good feeling that she might, being a half-Vampire did have its perks, and she sighed, placing her index finger on her mouth carefully.

"How about..." she began. "You go around the castle telling any and everyone how wonderful Gryffindor is?" she rolled her eyes again. It was a pretty good deal for her, since he was a Slytherin and he doubted that his Slytherin pride would actually allow him to do something like that. It would be just like embarrassing himself, and even worse that it was because of a Gryffindor. "What would you want if you win?" she asked him.

"Of course you should", said Andrei continuing his teasing. He had to admit that he wasn't expecting her bet to be something related to Gryffindor. After all, even though she was part of the house, he knew Damitrius wasn't very proud of that fact. Of course she shouldn't be, but letting it stand in her way of achieving the things she wants would be a mistake as well.

So if it was not because she wanted pride for the house of Gryffindor, it was probably just because of embarrassment. She knew his resentment towards that house and making him shout out his affections for the Gryffindors would surely be very damaging to both his reputation and his status. In the end, she picked her perfect prize. Which was seeing Andrei at his lowest, confessing his love for the people he hates. It was just perfect.

"Now Damitrius, you just have no heart", he said with a smirk. But a bet was a bet and he had to accept it. The only thing he had to concentrate on now was not to lose and everything will be fine. "I better be in my best shape then", he added with a laugh.

He thought a bit about what his prize would be. It certainly had to match Damitrius' in both size and embarrassment level. Having her shout of her love for Slytherin for example just wouldn't be enough. And then he thought of something that suited him perfectly. "Well if I win, dear little lion, you can go on through Hogwarts and confess to everyone your love for me. That I 'rock your world' shall we say. And in those exact words as well", he said with a smirk. He didn't chose this for his own ego, well maybe just a bit. But he mostly chose it because he knew she wasn't the type to brag about boys and their skills as many promiscuous girls do at Hogwarts. That would surely embarrass her just enough for this duel to be completely worth it.

Damitrius scoffed slightly at his comment abou having no heart. In one way or another she truely didn't have one. Well...one that was beatng anyways. Se smirked at him ad rolled her eyes. She thought her prize wa embarrassing and then he had to choose something much moe embarrassing for her. Express her love for [i[him[/i]? Yeah, right. That just wasn't going to happen. She was going to have to win, no matter what.

"Alright, seems fair enough." she told him. The best thing to do was not freak out about the circumstances and keep her cool. If she seemed calm enough, maybe he would think that she didn't care that she would have to go around saying that she loved him should she lose. Or maybe he would just take it as a challenge, somehow like her saying that she wasn't going to lose. That she was stronger than he.

She was preferring to think of the second one.

Having a thought like that go through his head would keep him focused and it would undoubtedly cause a good duel between the two of them. That was something to look forward too. "Well, shall we start then?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, her hand quickly getting a grip on he wand. Right now, the only thing going through her mind was that she wasn't able to lose, she wasn't going to go around telling everyone that she loved him.

That just wasn't going to happen.

OOC: Sorry that it took me so long to post back! School has been crazy lately.

"So you agree?", he asked rather surprised. Andrei was almost sure she would comment on his choice of the 'victory present'. But she didn't say a thing about it. That could only mean two things. Either that she was confident about winning or she wouldn't dread telling that to people that much anyway. He found both options rather amusing.

"No objections?", he asked with a chuckle, but soon he regretted saying anything in the first place. He didn't want her to change her mind after all. They came here to practice, that was the primary point of this in the end. But if he got a nice little victory during that process, then that would be fine too. "Yes, let's just start", he said with a nod.

Andrei stepped into his side of the dueling arena that was already set up for them. The grip on his wand tightened as he faced Damitrius. Only one thing was on his mind at that time - winning. They heard a long bell ring which marked the beginning of the duel. Without much though, he raised his wand as quickly as possible and pointed it at her. "Confringo!", said Andrei releasing his spell at her. He kept his wand out in the air as he patiently waited for her answer. He knew her spell would be coming at him soon and he wanted to be sure he was ready for it. No surprises this time.