This is classic, really.

Hey Ry!

I know this really short notice and we had planned to finally be able to spend the day together after my missing your birthday last week, but something came up. I'm really sorry, I'll make it up to you another time, promise!

~Yuri

An empty promise, that was all it was. Written words meant nothing when your actions did not take an even slightly similar course. He had expected this, though, and he had planned to do other things for the day, knowing his baby sister would cancel on him the day of their plans. Sayuri had a habit of doing that, and he knew that it was his fault she always had some excuse for not wanting to actually be around him. He was the reason she was a creature of the night, a Vampire, though she couldn't say she hadn't deserved what had happened to her. Of course, she would try.

Her owl had gotten to him a few hours before he had to meet up with his sister and a loud sigh mixed with a groan could be heard from the Vampire's mouth. He left his room, scratching his head as he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up. He had been awake for a while, but he hadn't bothered getting out of bed. He'd say in the silent room, engulfed in darkness for a while before he decided that he should actually move from where he was. His birthday had been the previous Tuesday and the fact that Sayuri had said happy birthday to him on Wednesday was enough to let him know she didn't care enough to actually want to do anything with him.

It was okay, though, because Ryo had never been the type to want to celebrate his birthday anyways. Especially now that he was twenty-five and he had a lot of work to do. He'd originally taken the day off from work because he hadn't wanted to show no effort into spending the day with the twenty year old. But at the same time, he'd really only planned to have breakfast with her before heading off to work. Now that meant that he had to morning to himself and he could just leisurely go into work whenever he decided, mostly because he was sure he would be having breakfast by himself.

Before anything, though, Ryo sat himself down at the park across the street from his apartment a sketch pad in hand. Seeing as it was fairly early in the morning still, the colors in the sky interested the ex-Hufflepuff and he wanted to capture the sky with the colors and cloud placement. Maybe he would include the few people that were walking in the park at that time. He sighed again, placing an unlit cigarette in his mouth as he drew, his mind and hand hard at work to capture the image he was seeing, and not allowing him to light white and brown cylinder in his mouth.

Relaxing and inter peace, that was what Maura needed about now, she was sick of the stupid so called family gathering her parents had last night, they were useless and disappointing in her opinion and she hated them. It was always the same thing,  how was she doing and has she found someone to settle down with, she knew that she was twenty-three years old but she didn't want a man in her life.  Besides she was fiercely independent on her own, she didn't need the support of an man, but he's parents hounded her constantly on the matter.  They weren't getting any older, blah...blah and yada yada Maura didn't listen to half of it anymore, it was always the same thing.  She loved her parents but she wished they would get off her back about finding someone, she didn't want to and she was too busy with work to worry about such things, and she was happy with her life.


Although people say that she's a loner and didn't get out much, she was just reserved and didn't trust many people, even when she did meet people they say she was sassy and too bluntly honest for them.   Apparently people didn't like it when you were too honest to them, Maura didn't understand it, why lie to someone when you could tell them the truth?  Maura was a horrible liar for one, and she couldn't lie to her parents or brother, who were the only people she was always around anyways.  Although she wasn't perfect by any means, she did try to lie, but she sucked so badly at it that she ended up telling the truth in the end.


Trying to clear her head, Maura took her German Shepherd named  Max and went walking around the park that wasn't to far from her apartment or her parents house.   The whether was once again hot and muggy even in the early morning time,  she didn't like it much, but then again she really didn't like summer and it didn't like her either. She always gotten sun burned, it'll turn into a little tan, but other then that she was pale. Although she didn't mind,  she preferred the rain and cold over the heat and hotness any day, she just liked it better.  She was a bit weird and people thought she was seeing how she didn't like summer, she didn't think it was weird she just loved the winter time better.


Maura walking Max around the park was humming a song to herself in her own little world, she didn't see a man on the bench until Max barked at him snapping Maura out of her own little world.   "Max! Leave him alone, can't you see he's busy!"said Maura petting her dog.  "Sorry I do apologize, he's just very cheerful and friendly and apparently likes meeting new people."said Maura.

"No, it doesn't look right.. Maybe if I did this," The scratching on the pad in front of him was the sound of an artist who was being hard on himself over one tiny aspect of the work that anyone else would tell him was perfect. He wouldn't believe it was perfect, though, not my any means. It was easy to tell someone their work was amazing, but it was hard for the artist to see what was amazing about it. Maybe after weeks and weeks of slowly making adjustments to it would he finally see that it was okay enough to show others.

Not that he did that anyways.

The pencil finally stopped where it was on the sheet of paper, and Ryo lifted the pad in front of him to have it at eye level. He looked at it one way, then another, and another as he took the now lit cigarette from his lips and blew out a puff of not quite gray smoke. He sighed, tapping the end of the cigarette with his index finger to get rid of the ashes that hung at the tip.

It wasn't perfect, but it would have to do, for now. Just as he brought the cigarette back to his mouth to take another drag, Ryo heard a bark not too far away from him and he glanced in the direction of the noise. He saw a woman with a dog not too far away from him, watching them get closer and listening to her explanation of why the dog had barked. Ryo stood up, extending his hand to the dog to sniff while looking at the woman brown eyes examining her face. "Don't worry about it. He's a dog, it's what they do. He can't help getting excited." he told her softly, glancing back down at the german shepard before him.

Maura looked at the man before she shrugged.  " Yeah I suppose so,  I just never seen him happy to see people other than family,  so a bit weird seeing him this way. "said Maura.  Maura had Max since he was an year old,  she gotten him at an animal adoption that was actually happening in this park,  Maura now had him for three years now.  Maura loved animals,  she loved magical or non magical she loved them all, well...all but snakes and spiders.  She stuttered at the thought of them,  and petted Max for some comfort as he looked at the man before him with as if he was getting to know him, he didn't mind to be petted which Maura was relieved about.  She knew that some dogs were very mean,  and bit you when trying to pet them,  but Max wasn't he was a very friendly dog.


Maura took a seat on the other side of the bench before she turned to look at the man.  "Is it OK if I sit here,  sorry should have asked before I did just a bit tired from jogging around the park with Max,  I'm Maura. " said Maura.   After a long awkward silence,  Maura reached into her book bag she always carried with her and opened it before she gotten out her journal and started writing in it,  as weird as it seems, writing down her thoughts and feelings in this journal helped her alot.  Although she was always writing in it,  alot of people wondered what she wrote in it,  but she didn't dare to show anybody anything.   Alot of things were in this journal,  like songs as well as her thoughts and feelings, so it was her journal that she never went anywhere without.  After a few minutes of writing,  she tucked her journal back in her book bag,  letting out some what a relieved sigh,  she gotten some steam off her chest that she needed to get off.


Maura was just tired of her parents trying to hook her up with people,  she was happy the way she was,  she didn't need anyone.   As much as her parents wanted her to settle down,  Maura didn't see it happening,  not anytime soon or ever.  She was too busy with her work to worry about dating or anything like that,  she loved her job and loved helping others,  she didn't show it often but she always put others before herself.

The sunlight from the sky above them had begun to get stronger and Ryo winced a bit. He glanced down at the watch on his wrist and began counting the time he would be able to remain in the sunlight without getting too badly hurt. The woman had sat down on the bench next to him shortly after he'd sat back down and introduced herself after asking if it was okay to sit.

"I don't see why not. Besides asking after the fact doesn't make much sense." He told her, letting out a small laugh. With his lips curled up, his sharp fangs showed a bit, causing his smile to droop almost immediately. He cleared his throat and ran his hand gently over his mouth before replacing the cigarette, that was now almost gone back in his mouth to take the final drag before he dropped it on the ground and put it out.

He stared at the little stub, watching the stream of smoke that still emanated from it as though it was fighting to remain lit. When had smoking become a habit of his, he wondered. It had to have been recently as Ryo was never really the type to drink or smoke but now that he thought about it, he'd actually been doing both a lot more recently. Maybe it was because of his failure to find his mum. Yeah, that had to be it. "Maura, right?" He asked, "That name sounds familiar." He hadn't heard it in quite a while but he was sure he'd heard it somewhere before. He studied her face once again, trying to remember where he could have seen her or heard her name before.

"Ah. Hogwarts. You went to Hogwarts right?" He inquired, dropping his gaze from her face a bit and looking off to the side. That could have been the only place he could've heard her name enough to actually have memory of it. He didn't strike her as someone he would've worked with, he knew practically everyone in his department so that ruled work out.

He felt a slightly colder breeze of wind on his skin and he looked up to see that there were rain clouds moving in trying to cover the blue sky and sun. "It looks like it's going to rain, we should get going and find someplace dry." He told Maura.

"There's a cafe nearby, would you like to go?"

Maura looked at the sun shining and groaned, the sun was never really friendly to her during the summer time, she always ended up extremely red and sun burned.  It wasn't that she hated the sun, it just hated her for some odd reason, although she didn't care in the slightest.  Maura didn't like summer anyways, she loved rainy days and the winter time more, she was odd but she didn't care.  People thought it was odd that she loved winter time and rainy days, but Maura didn't see what was so wrong about it, she didn't think she was odd just unique.  Besides, being normal was over rated, who wanted to be normal anyways?


Maura chuckled. "You're right about that,  I should have asked before hand."said Maura. Maura smiled back at him and suddenly chuckled.  "Well...this is a way to meet someone,  I'll never forget meeting you like this!"said Maura chuckling.  Maura looked over at him smoking, she never snoked, but thought about it recently to rleax and calm her nerves.  She knew that smoking was bad for you, but so was drinking,  which she really didn't do no mattrthow annoyed with her family she was.


Maura snapped out of her trance and looked at him and nodded.  "Yeah that's my name, although my friends and family call me Mars for short,  it just an nickname that stuck over the years."said Maura.  Maura laughed when he said her name sounded familiar. "I don't know why, I'm basically a nobody, I'm a bit of loner and don't have much friends."said Maura. Maura looked at the man before her, he did look familiar to her as well, she just couldn't remember where she seen him at.  It wasn't work or anything, then all the sudden it clicked, he was at Hogwarts with her in the same house as her.


Maura laughed and nodded.  "Yup and was in the same house as you,  you're Ryo aren't you, I remember seeing you around."said Maura.   "I remember seeing you around the common room,  you were two years ahead of me at Hogwarts,  so you probably know me from that."said Maura simply.  Maura was quote surprised that he knew her name, not many people did, she was quiet and a bit of a loner at Hogwarts which she still was. That Parr of her didn't change, after all nothing about her really changed, only the fact she was older and more mature.


Maura looked up at the rain clouds covering up the sun and smiled.  "Yeah it does, which I don't mind, I like rainy days more then this dreadful heat "said Maura.

"Sure, sounds like a good idea,  it looks like it's going to start pouring down raining any minute!"said Maura.

"Ah that's right. You were the girl that was always alone in the common room." He said as he stood up and started to walk toward the southern end of the park. The cafe they were headed to was personally his favorite, the people were nice and the food was good, what more could he need? Well, now he had company so he didn't just stare off into space outside of the cafe through the glass at the table he always liked to sit at. The table was almost always empty whenever he went, the people who worked there knew he liked the seat and often kept it open for him.

As he walked he began to feel droplets of water falling in his head, then one on his cheek and another on his nose and he cussed softly under his breath. "It's starting to rain already, we're almost there though so we should make a break for it," he told her, his pace quickening to try and beat out the rain before they became soaked in it.

At least now he didn't have to worry about the sun burning him.

Judt as they reached the cafe, the rain began to come down somewhat hard and Ryo sighed, "Wow, looks like we made it just in time." He was slightly out of breath, panting softly from the sudden run he broke into to escape the wet clutches of the rain. "You okay?"he asked the woman behind him whom he'd actually almost forgotten about while he ran and wandered off in his own mind.

He looked over at her and thought about how she was in Hogwarts. She didn't seem all that different but he'd never really interacted with her. He couldn't say he had never had an interest in her though, because she never seemed to want to be around anyone. "Y'know, back in school, I thought you were odd but not in a bad way." He began telling her as he led them to the table he always say at. "I thought you were odd in an interesting way because you didn't seem to care if people were around you or not. You just kinda did your own thing." He stated while looking at a menu that had already been on the table.

The waitress who was always ready to wait on him came up to the table with a big smile on her face.. Until she saw Maura there. "Morning Ryo, who's your friend?" She asked in an almost jealous sounding tone, though Ryo didn't catch it. "This is Maura, I just happened to bump into her. We were just housemates at school." He told the waitress named Kelley, who seemed to be giving Maura dirty looks.

Maura bit her lip as he mentioned how she was at Hogwarts, now she thought about it, she was still that way at times. Although the older she gotten the more opened up she started to be, although she still had trusting issues, and didn't trust people much. "Yeah...I didn't have very many friends during my Hogwarts years, so I was a bit of a loner."said Maura honestly. Maura followed him walking Max who was ahead of them who seemed to be happy to have more company then just Maura, although maybe she just thought that, but whatever. Maura loved going to the cafe by her house and looking out the window, especially on rainy days, she would watch the rain.


Maura looked up at the sky and back at Ryo as little by little her hair started getting wet. "Yeah you're right, before we look like we just gotten out of the shower!"said Maura brushing her somewhat wet hair out of her eyes. Maura took a ran for it, Max running beside her, but no matter how fast she ran she couldn't keep up with Ryo.


As the reached the cafe the rain poured down harder, although she loved rainy days, this was over kill in her opinion. "Yeah luckily we did, not everyone is as lucky as we are."said Maura nodding to a couple who was running towards the cafe as well. "Yeah... just let me catch my breath, got to work on my Cardio more."said Maura jokingly panting hard.


Maura wasn't all that different from her Hogwarts years, she didn't trust people and had trusting issues, so she was a bit of a loner. Although she still was and had trusting issues, she was slowly starting to open up to people, but it was a work in process. Maura had a couple of friends during her Hogwarts years, but she wasn't insanely popular but she was very bright and clever and had a gift in Charms. Maura laughed. "It's OK I was very odd in Hogwarts, you don't have to tell me, I'm still odd even to this day."said Maura. "I didn't think I was odd, I thought I was unique from the others, I stood out in a different way but thank you."said Maura. He opened the menu before looking through it, she didn't know what to get, it all looked good. "So...what's good here?"Maura asked.


Maura looked at the woman, and looks could kill Maura would have been dead already. Maura couldn't help but smirk at the thought of this Kelley girl being jealous of her, she didn't understand why she was jealous of her, she wasn't nothing special. As Ryo introduce her to Kelley Maura gave her a soft warm smile as she took their drink order before she told them she'll be back. "I don't think she likes me, if looks could kill I'll be dead!"said Maura.

Being a vampire living as a human could be difficult at times because, obviously, they were two different species. A vampire was a creature of the night, one that everyone seemed to be afraid of because of lore that they hear from others or watched on TV. A blood sucker, that was what they were described as, and he hated being clumped in with the rest of them with that name. Not all vampires were bad and blood thirsty, there were some that didn't like drinking human blood for sport. He was one of those vampires, he hated the thought of hunting humans for fun, especially since he used to be one.

Yeah, well you aren't one anymore, so deal with it.

"I've been dealing with it, since I was nine, now leave me alone."

There it started again, the voice in his head chimed in, the voice that was meant to represent the vampire within him. The less tame version of him who wanted to take control all the time because he wanted to feed, against the twenty-five year old's will. He glanced down at the menu he'd picked up, trying to keep his mind from straying too far into itself and leaving him seemingly uninterested in the woman before him.

"To be quite honest with you, I don't eat much from here. I love the drinks, but I'm not a huge fan of the food, but that's how I am with food in general, so nothing against this place, obviously." he began explaining to Maura after the awkward little display of jealousy that Kelly had put on. "And don't worry about her, that waitress has apparently had a thing for me since I started coming here. She went to Hogwarts too, she was in my year but she was in Ravenclaw." he started explaining what the relationship between him and the other woman was.

"According to her friend, who also works here, she had a crush on me in school too but I never noticed, I wasn't interested in girls when I was at Hogwarts, I was more worried about my family and studies." He caught his words and found himself sounding like more of a Ravenclaw than a Hufflepuff and it make him chuckle a bit. "Sorry," he apologized for laughing in the middle of his sentence. "I just thought it funny that I'm a Hufflepuff who acted more like a Ravenclaw in school as I talk about an actual Ravenclaw."

Maura was in deep thoughts about how she was compare to her Hogwarts years,  she never had many friends, probably because she was too much of a loner to try.  She wondered a few times with it'll be like to be popular, but the ideas slipped from her mind, she didn't want to be the center of attention she hated it. Maura sometimes stood out in her own way, she was unique and different from other people, she didn't try to stand out but some people say she stood out in her own way.  Maura was in deep thoughts so much, she completely forgotten about the man sitting across from her.  That was Maura for you though, always in deep thoughts about things, which was why people thought she was odd.

Maura looked out the window at the rain, hitting against the window next to them,  once again people watching as she seen people running in the rain to people under the umbrellas walking in the rain.  Maura didn't mind the rain, she loved it,  one time she stayed playing in the rain so long that she gotten sick although she didn't care.  The sound and watching the rain calmed her down, it was so soothing and relaxing, well..to her it was.


Maura snapped out of her trance as she heard Ryo speaking once again.  "Um...sorry,  I tend to go off in my own little world at times."said Maura.  "That's OK, I'll find something that looks good and appealing, can't be that hard considering how it smells good."said Maura chuckling.   "Well... it's not like we're on a date or anything, so she really doesn't have a reason to be jealous of me,  I'm just a fellow ex house mate you met in the park."said Maura simply.


Maura nodded in a understanding way, she knew actually what he meant, she was the same way.  "I was the same way, people thought I was a loner, but I was focused on my studies."said Maura honestly.  Maura laughed. "Now you mention it, it is quite funny, actually quite amusing really."said Maura.  "I was actually almost sorted into Ravenclaw, but apparently I guess the sorting hat saw more loyalty in me I guess."said Maura shrugging.