When The Weather 'Aint Good

Vivianna just shrugged, not everyone could be a fan of heights. Besides, if everyone adored them the way she did, the girl would never get any peace up in her favorite tree. Perhaps it was for the best, she needed her quiet sometimes.

And then, of course the topic of Quidditch. It wasn't that Vivianna loathed the sport, she just hated the mentality that surrounded it. If it was a more relaxed environment, she might've even considered playing. But it wasn't relaxed at all. There were people who considered Quidditch their everything, it was just a school team! If one was a world champion player, that mentality would be understandable, but the way people focused on the game like nothing else was insane in her opinion. Besides, Vivianna was the one who decided when she did and didn't want attention, and being a member of the Slytherin team would completely destroy that.

The younger student's eyebrows shot up at the mention of volleyball and soccer. The girl didn't mind muggle things, she was technically a half-blood herself, even if she liked to jokingly call herself a three-quarter-blood. She was just a bit shocked that such a sentence had come from Darius, she was almost certain that he was a pureblood. "I know them," she replied with a smile, "I wish I could play, volleyball looks quite fun, but I'm not the most coordinated person when on the ground." Both the girl herself and all who knew her well, had marveled over her grace when she climbed, simply because the Slytherin was quite clumsy with two feet planted on the floor. It was one of those mysteries that would never truly be solved, and another reason why she tended to spend as much time in trees as possible.

He could not hide a smile when he saw her expression once he stated that he enjoyed playing soccer and volleyball. It was really fun and he'd reccomend those games to some, but fear that they would dislike his little hobbies was bigger than the fear that he might become an outcast because of this all. Like mentioned, he did not care much about other's opinions or how they looked towards him. Right now all he deeded was a graduation paper and a nice stable work after that. His plan was to escape from England and go somewhere else and start with a new life, maybe even a new name, who knew.

His smile widened when she informed that she knew about those games. It was pleasant that another Slytherin kept her eyes open. Had something more to talk about rather than dueling, flying, hights and vampires. “They teach it,“ he said. It was one of those rare things that was taught to him by another person, not by himself, and that he actually enjoyed. First he had hard time hitting with his hand against the ball that was coming towards him in a rapid speed. There were many times when he got hit in the head with the ball and it was hard to understand which one was more painful: the fall itself or the hit on the head. But it all was equalized by the fun he had during those hours on the beach.

“If you want, I can even teach you something. Its quite easy when you get the idea and the rules.“ he offered. He'd even teach her how to play soccer, but here, in the study room, this was nearly impossible. Bookshelves and the tables took almost every inch of the free space they could've used as an area. “Its really cool that you know about those things. I'm not even feeling that lonely after all.“

"That would be cool," Vivianna said slowly, her smile growing. So what if she ended up in the Hospital Wing half an hour in, as long was she had fun doing something to get there. It wasn't like she didn't end up in that blasted wing often enough. It had long ago hit the point where the school nurse didn't even bother getting exasperated over her injuries anymore, just asking her what she did and handing her a potion.

Vivianna put a ridiculous amount of effort into keeping from the school just how clumsy she was. People weren't often around when she got hurt, that helped an infinite amount. And then there were the times when she fell, would turn to the person next to her, point at someone she mildly disliked, and murmur that the bastard over there had sent a trip jinx at her. So while people might think that she was one to occasionally loose her balance, the truth was that her body didn't seem to know the definition of balance.

"I already know the rules, the basic ones anyway," Vivianna told Darius, "I just, um, really wasn't kidding about the coordination thing. I'd love for you to teach me, but if I last an hour without breaking something it'll be nothing short of a miracle." The girl was almost certain that as soon as Darius actually saw her attempt to play either sport, any sport involving footwork, he'd give up on her in an instant. Truthfully, she wouldn't blame him for it.

Darius pressed his hands together. So that was settled then! He could already see in his minds eye how they'd both play during the summer, hoping that Vivianna would actually agree. When it came to playing, Darius often forgot that it was just a competition. Winning was important for him. It reminded him the start of his piano lessons. Only because he wanted to become good, better than most, did he continue playing with the instrument. So was with the volleyball and soccer. He studied the rules first and then he started playing. First he was really bad and only because he was in the ring with those who were patient enough to teach him, did he become succesful.

“You shouldn't worry about your balance...“ He thought, although it had an important part in the game. Corners of his mouth lifted again. “But why do you have this... disturbed balance? I know that balance is perfect when you see, hear and your proprioception are working together. You don't seem to be deaf and it seems that you can see good as well.
You don't feel faint while you're walking, right?“

He sometimes hated his „older brother“ issue. He worried too much when it came to those he knew. Maybe she should get a professional help? They could cure her at St. Mungo's and he could even go with her if she was afraid of going alone. “I don't mind teaching you, but now I'm afraid that if you'd fall, then you'd end up breaking a bone or something.“ They could also put her into a costume. He imagined that running in one would be uncomfortable, but at least she wouldn't get hurt if she'd lose her balance again.

As Darius started to question her, seeming to think that her balance issues might be something medical, Vivanna just smiled. The girl almost wished it was something medical, at least then it could be fixed or healed or something. "Don't worry Darius," the girl said with a wry smile, "I'm just your classic klutz, nothing to really worry about."

"It's been checked out, something to do with bad hand-eye coordination, or just limb-eye coordination, unless I purposely put my mind to it," she smiled as she rambled on, shrugging off any problem. The healer's explanation didn't explain how Vivianna could be so good at climbing, but the girl didn't care to look a gift abraxan in the mouth. Apparently she should grow out of it once she was fully grown and everything was properly-proportioned, whatever that meant.

Damn, Darius wasn't going to want to teach her anymore, not wanting to be blamed of she got hurt, or just not wanting her hurt at all. The Slytherin girl couldn't be sure which, but they both lead to the same outcome. "No, you don't need to worry, I might get a bruise or two but so what, right?" The girl instantly attempted to take back. "Besides, I end up in the hospital wing all the time, no big deal," she said lightly. Infirmary visits really weren't a big deal to her anymore, only half of them even resulting from her clumsiness. The girl adored potions, and her experimental ones had an irritating tendency to blow up and cause some ill-effects.

Even if she assured that it was nothing, Darius couldn't stop being so concerned about her well being. He hummed quietly, considering all his chances of training her. Alright, if they will really end up playing soccer or volleyball, he had to make sure that the surface would be something soft in case Vivianna should fall. Really, only a bruise or not, he would not tolerate or fogive himself for letting her fall under his watch. Right now he didn't even think about her claimed ability to climb the trees with an ease while she had difficulities standing on the solid ground.

“Yes, but it can end up being a broken bone...“ he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He suddenly felt regret for offering her something like that. If anything would happen, he'd blame only himself for allowing her to do anything.

“Okay... if we will end up playing a game together, would you be willing to wear a suit? And proper protections?“ By that he meant helmets, shields for knees, elbows, something for her ankles maybe, a nice vest for her chest and back and few other things to make her safe.

Vivianna wanted to roll her eyes when the possibility if broken bones came up. She'd lost count of how many bones she'd broken through some event or another. If she wanted to, she probably could have figured it out, but the girl didn't see any point in it. It wasn't like broken bones were hard to fix, but she wasn't going to say that to Darius. The girl wouldn't say that out loud to anyone, truthfully, at risk of sounding like an idiotic self-sacrificing Gryffindor. She wasn't one, Merlin forbid, she'd just learnt the difference between what was truly important and what wasn't a while ago.

When Darius suggested a suit of some sort, Vivianna cringed. Not only did she really not want to wear that, all the extra padding would likely get in the way just as much as it would help her. After a short moment of consideration, Vivianna came up with a compromise. "What if I cast cushioning charms on my clothes? It wouldn't be quite as good, but it's easy and won't get in the way," the girl suggested. It helped that just wearing charms wouldn't make her look like an idiot either.

Biting her lip, the witch considered when Darius could teach her. Certainly not today, as the weather outside was terrible and she still had that essay to write. She'd completely forgotten about the essay, but the student figured she had plenty of time to work on it still.

He raised his eyebrows when he saw her cringe. What was the matter? He'd wear suits if he'd have distrubed balance, but, thank Merlin, he was born perfectly fine and he felt well on his feet on the ground. Well, people are different and the same goes for their habits and their lifestyles.
“It could work...“ he agreed, but like Vivianna said, the cushion spell wasn't as effective as those suits were that he suggested. What was all this fuzz about them anyway? He understood that it was like wearing a helmet while riding a motorcycle. It looked funny to some, but it was a life savor, Darius could say that from his side. After all, he was curious and he obviously Had to try out anything that was new to him.

“But I'd rather you'd wear something... you know, that would make your landing softer.“ Again with his worried character. Sometimes it annoyed him. He was like a mother, not a seventeen years old school boy, but what could he do about that? Nothing.

“Alright, now for our schedule then?“ he asked, clapping his hands together. Spring was coming. Even if that was equal to all those blooming flowers, it also meant that the snow would start melting and they, again, didn't have any places to practice and play. They could go to that room of requierments, though. Students used it often, why couldn't they? “When are you free?“

Vivianna just ignored Darius' continued concern. Most people would take silence as a reluctant agreement, but she figured that if necessary she could do more convincing later.
The girl paused for a moment, mentally running over her class schedule, homework load, and work hours. "I should be free this weekend," the girl said hesitantly. "I work until about two on Saturday, so I'll be back around half past and free pretty much until Monday," she said with a nod.

The girl had been planning on working on her most recent potion this weekend, but she could do that anytime really. In fact, it was probably best if she worked on this particular potion on a Friday night, but she had work this Friday to prevent that. Last time she'd decided to experiment, it had been a Tuesday night, and the resulting explosion had kept her out of classes for the next day. It shouldn't happen again, but it was better to be safe, she hadn't considered needing something to counteract the bicorn.

The Slytherin girl was still exceptionally displeased about that, especially since some of her notes had been destroyed. She'd learnt a lot of important lessons that day. Her notes were now charmed against such things.

Okay, so now the planning part. Darius was free almost all the time. He did his homework fast, or sometimes left it like it was, or asked someone else to do it for him, but he knew how to manage his time.
“You work?“ Wow. He never imgined that a Slytherin would be doing a part-time job somewhere. First of all, almost every slytherin was from a rich family so it wasn't even necessary to do anything. Family provided all the luxury one student could need. He knew that it was like this in his life. His family name was famous so the doors swung open when he introduced himself.
And second – Slytherins were just little lazy kids. They had Someone to do job for them.

“Where do you work? Maybe I can come and see you there?“ if that was okay with her. He looked down at her papers and raised his eyebrows. “May I?“ he asked, pulling the papers closer to him not even waiting for her response. Homework. Oh dear Merlin. Did he distract her from doing that? That wasn't good.

“What are you studying right now?“ he asked, looking back up. Darius had hard time reading other's handwritings. It was a miracle that he somehow handled his own, though the professors and everybody else seemed to like his script.