Among the dust and cobwebs | Genevieve

[Francis Eric Thorne]

School robes stuffed into his bag and his wand tucked in the back pocket of his grey school trousers, Francis made his way up to the library. He was suddenly pleased he didn't have many friends because it meant there was no one to question him about where he was going when he slipped away from the common room only about half an hour after he'd arrived at school. A smile had fluttered across his lips as he'd walked through the chairs and sofas full of other Hufflepuffs, longing to know what their reaction would be if they knew he was going off to see his secret Slytherin girl.

The library was, as Genevieve had predicted, almost completely empty today. Most of the students must have been with their friends rather than doing work (or not doing work as it were). Francis made his way through the dusty shelves, looking along each one for Gen, not sure exactly where "by the restricted section" she would be. As he got further into the maze of bookshelves he found himself wondering if he'd actually ever been this far into the library before. Or if anyone had. It was definitely a good place for a redezvous.

[Genevieve Stark]

When Genevieve walked through the library doors she immediately noticed two things. First, she was right. The library was almost completely empty. She only spotted a couple of Gryffindor boys at a table near a window talking quietly and looking through magazines (probably Quidditch ones). And second, Madam Pince was nowhere in sight. Gen hoped she wasn't in the library at all, and not back in the restricted section dusting off the cobwebs. Because that was just the area she was headed to. That dark, dusty and far off part of the library that hardly anyone ever bothered to visit.

"Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all," she thought as she put her bag down on what looked like an antique mahogany table with four chairs. The spot she chose was right across from the blocked off entrance to the restricted section with a row of shelves separating it from the main walkway. It wasn't completely fail-safe, but it would work just fine.

While she waited for Francis to arrive, she began perusing through the shelves around her, her mind racing with thoughts of the thrilling little make-out session they had just had. She had never been this excited about a boy before. There was just something about Francis that made her heart pound and her hands shake and her body yearn for him. Perhaps it was the taboo factor that first attracted her to him, but now it's more. It's definitely more.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of footsteps. She turned around when they got closer, hoping it was Francis and not Madam Pince or some random student she was going to have to run off in a mean way.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis found a almost closed off section of the library and surely enough, when he walked around the end of the bookshelf, he was met with the sight of Genevieve. She was as beautiful as ever, even amoung the dust and cobwebs. A small smile twitched his lips.

"You're acting jumpy," Francis smirked, crossing to the table she had claimed and putting his bag down on it. "You wouldn't be doing something wrong by any chance, would you?"

[Genevieve Stark]

Genevieve smiled, happy to see him again so soon. She noticed he had ditched his school robes and wondered if it was something he did often. Unfortunately, she had never paid any attention to him before (or any other Hufflepuff for that matter) so she couldn't be sure. But he did look great without it. She'd never found the Hogwarts uniform capable of making anyone look good, but on him, it looked fantastic. She rolled her eyes inwardly at this. She's really in trouble here, isn't she?

She sniggered at his question. Was she doing anything wrong? Well that had to be a major understatement! "Wrong" didn't even begin to describe her situation.

"Me? Doing something wrong? Never!" She laughed, placing the book she was holding back on the shelf behind her before turning around and leaning back against it, watching him with almost adoring eyes. "I would ask you the same question but we all know that Hufflepuffs only ever take the straight and narrow road. Breaking rules is a statement they wouldn't even understand." She bites her lip to hold back a laugh. Knowing that he was in pretty much the same situation as she, although she had a feeling his friends and family would be a million times more forgiving than hers.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis grinned at her response, crossing the dusty floor that separated them. "Well, you know," he said, stopping just in front of her. "I'm am a bit of a goody two shoes." He smirked. If anyone knew how to break the rules, it was Francis. He'd been doing it years before she'd taken any notice of him, it just hadn't ever felt this good before.

His eyes fixed on hers, Francis leaned towards her, his arm reaching past her. He waited until it was blindingly obvious he was about to kiss her before pulling a book off the shelf behind her and stepping away again. Grinning.

Looking down at the book, he crossed back to the table and perched on the edge to begin pretending to read. The stunt probably would have worked better if he hadn't managed to pick up a book titled "The Changing Ethics of Magical Medicine in Twelfth Century Arabia" - something he would never read in a million years - but he hoped she just didn't notice that fact.

[Genevieve Stark]

Gen let out a playful "Ha!" at his response. They were both full aware that he was as much a bad boy as any boy in her Slytherin class. But the fact that he was a Hufflepuff made him that much more exciting.

When he stepped closer and leaned in to her, she braced herself for another passionate kiss, her heart racing and her eyes on his, full of expectation. But when he pulled away and left her there eager and waiting, she felt...cheated. She recovered quickly though. The teasing game is one she'd played before, and she was quite willing to play along.

She sniggered, having actually caught a glimpse of the title of his book, and grabbed a seat at the opposite end of where he was perched. Leaning back with crossed arms and legs she asked, smirking. "Working on extra credit, are we? Merlin forbid you get another detention for poor grades. You never know who you'll end up stuck with in there."

[Francis Eric Thorne]

"I'm just so interested in..." He looked at the front cover of the book and winced. "Twelfth century magical medicine, apparently..." He laughed before putting the book down on the table and sliding along the dusty wood of the table top so he was sitting with one foot resting on either side of her on the chair seat. Hea leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked down at her.

"So what were you coming to the library for before I so rudely accosted you?" He reached one hand out and tucked a strand of firey hair behind her ear, letting his fingers brush her cheek as he did so.

[Genevieve Stark]

Gen bit her lip when he tucked her hair behind her ear, her cheek leaning in toward his touch as he grazed it, sending a cold shiver down her spine. "Solitude" she replied. "I was quite enjoying the peace and quiet in this place. That is until students started showing up out of the woodwork so suddenly." She sniggered, there was only one person she was happy to see again, and he was sitting right in front of her. And it took all she had to keep from pulling him down and kissing him again, but she refrained. So she settled for scooting forward and resting her arms over his knees, her hands threading together to hold up her chin. "So tell me about your holiday, Francis. How many muggle girls did you take out for a ride on your glorious motorbike while you were away?" She raised a suspicious eyebrow, daring him to say what she didn't want to hear. But she was only playing, she was not to the point where she would be insanely jealous of other girls...yet.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

"You didn't miss me?" he asked, half teasing, half hoping she really had. He'd missed her like Hell! It would be nice to think the feeling was reciprocated, even if just a little, no matter how improbable.

Francis had to try hard not to shudder when she moved closer, laying her arms over his knees. He let his fingers play in her firey hair as he looked down at her. "Not jealous, are you?" he asked with a smirk. He wished. She could have any guy she wanted. She was hardly going to be jealous of some plain muggle girl - the sort Francis knew back home - ones he'd known all his life, gone to junior school with.

[Genevieve Stark]

Gen tilted her head to the side and flashed him a smirk. Of course she'd missed him! He was pretty much the only thought in her head since he left the school. She had gone to bed every night fantasizing about seeing him again, and worrying about how this new attraction was going to affect their lives. But should she let him know that? Probably not. At least not to that extent. So she settled for giving him a hint while still letting him wonder. "Maybe.."

She leaned back on her chair and crossed her arms, smiling smugly as she thought about his second question. She was honestly not worried about the muggle girls he hung out with at home as she was positive that none of them could compete with her. But the picture that formed in her mind where he had his arm around some random girl, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, really bothered her. She wanted to be the one he took on motorbike rides. The only one he cuddled up to in front of the TV while watching mindless movies about whatever. But that could never be. She had to be realistic here. They lived in two completely different worlds. And he didn't care much for hers to begin with.

"I'm jealous of the fact that they know you better than I do. That they can share with you that half of your world I don't get to see, or be a part of." After saying those words she thought of her parents, of her friends, and what they would think about her new-found interest in a half-blood and his muggle world. She knew that it was due to her Ravenclaw grandmother's influence that she had such an open mind about these things. Gran always tried to teach her that the fact that wizards could do magic did not make them superior to anyone. That muggles had their own talents and should be respected just the same. But her parents saw things differently. They did believe in "wizard superiority" and tried to teach her that as well. So it was easy for Gen to be conflicted right now, as she always had been. A Slytherin with an understanding side. Perhaps it was true what people said about all houses being equal one day...or not. Perhaps she was just her house's black sheep. The one who was always a little bit...different.

Gen smiled coyly and bit her lip, feeling that she may have given away too much in her last statement.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis smirked at her reply. "I'll take that as a yes then", he said, resting his knees on his thighs, his hands over hers where they were crossed over his knees. He hadn't been able to get her off his mind all holiday, and he was bloody glad he was back here now. He'd been worried she'd have time to think and completely go off the idea of him. Apparently she hadn't. Not completely, anyway. He licked his lips.

Francis let his hands move back to the table top as she sat back, watching her. In reality, Francis had only taken one girl on his bike this holiday, and that was Lucy from across the road when she needed to go to Morrisons and her parents had gone out with the car. Lucy was a plain girl, with relatively stylish glasses and clothes but mousy hair which always hung lankly around her shoulders. She was nowhere near as stunning and captivating as Gen with her piercing eyes and flame red hair. He'd known Lucy all their lives, and even when he was younger, he'd never considered her fancyable. Gen, on the other hand, had caught his eye since he'd been old enough to start noticing girls instead of only games and boys' books. She really had nothing to worry about in the jealousy department, but he didn't want to let her know that. Not just yet.

"Well, how about you get to know me?" Francis said, the smirk still playing over his lips as he sat casually on the edge of the table. "I'll show you whatever you want to see. Take you wherever you want to go." He grinned, standing up and leaning forward so his hands were on either side of the back of her chair, trapping her in the middle. "I want you, Gen..." He bit his lip, still grinning, although his heart was fluttering. As far as Francis ability of expressing feelings went, that was a bloody big step. He didn't care what house she was in, or what their friends or parents would think. He wanted her. Badly. And he wanted her to want him just as much. Screw jelousy and his slash her worlds. All that was just a load of bull. They wanted each other, and he wasn't about to stand around and let the most amazing girl in the school slip away from him because somebody, centuries ago, said that Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, Pure Bloods and Muggle Lovers, weren't compatible. Everything about the way he felt was screaming the exact opposite. As if to prove his internal argument, he kissed her, keeping her trapped on the chair with his arms. They had serious chemistry, and he knew she felt that too.

[Genevieve Stark]

Gen's hands lifted up to hold his cheeks then slowly moved to tangle themselves up in his soft dark hair as they kissed. He had said he wanted her. And the rushing she felt through her body right then was a certain giveaway that the feeling was mutual. But did she have the strength to express it too? She certainly wanted to. She wanted to take him up on his offer to show her anything and take her anywhere. To let him know that she wanted him just as much, if not more. But there was no use, she couldn't do it. Not in those words anyway. She only hoped that he'd be able to read it in the passion behind their kiss.

When they finally pulled away, she looked up into his eyes and smiled. "It'll be hard getting to know each other when all we can do is go from one hiding place to another, you know. Pretty soon the library will be out of bounds for us as well. And where will we go then? Broom cupboards? Disused bathrooms?" She couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Moaning Myrtle showing up and trying to shoo them away from her bathroom. "It's not going to be easy."

There. She let him know she wants him too by telling him she's willing do do anything to keep seeing him. And again, she hopes he understands the meaning behind her words. Merlin! Why is it so hard for her to just say what she means? It must be her Slytherin nature. It's got to be!

[Francis Eric Thorne]

"I don't care," Francis said sincerely, brushing her hair back from her face as he looked down at her, straightening up a little. "It'll be hard and irritating to have to sneak around, but we'll manage it, yeah?" He nodded as he was speaking, leaning back against the table. Reaching down, he took her hands and pulled her up so she was standing. Putting his feet up on the chair either side of her, he pulled her close and slipped his arms around her. "Anyway," he said quietly, with a little smirk. "We're alone now." He looked around at the deserted library as if to emphasise his point before looking back up at her, his fingers playing against the small of her back.

He smirked, looking down again. "You know... there was only one girl on my bike this holiday," he said, looking up to meet her gaze. "And that was only to give her a lift to the shops." He grinned, running a finger up the line of her spine. "Didn't let anyone in my garage."

[Genevieve Stark]

Gen closed her eyes when he ran his fingers up her back. Feeling his hands on her body sent shivers through her like she'd never experienced. She didn't think she'd ever wanted a guy as much as she wants him. And didn't know how she was going to handle having to part ways from him after this - after every other stolen rendezvous.

She wrapped her hands around his neck and pressed her forehead to his, looking down into his eyes with a smile. "Well, I hope she was ugly. With horn-rimmed glasses and buck teeth." She laughed. "And you better keep all girls away from your garage from now on. Your private sanctuary should be reserved for your one special girl. And that's me...in case that wasn't clear." She flashed him a quick smirk before closing her eyes and giving in to the call of his lips once more.

[Francis Eric Thorne]

Francis grinned. "Oh, totally ugly," he said, agreeing with her, nodding his head. Lucy wasn't too bad, but next to Gen she looked like a complete shrew. And she wasn't particularly interesting either, whereas Gen completely captivated him.

Francis was a little taken aback when she called herself his special girl. She certainly was, but he hadn't realised she actually wanted to be. "My one special girl," he repeated with a grin. He kissed her back, still holding her close, his head tipped back, his eyes closed. She was such a good kisser. He wished he never had to let go of her...

Still after a moment, he pulled back at licked his lips, looking up at her again. "So we're... you know? Exclusive?" he asked, raising one eyebrow. "If I'm not allowed other girls in my garage, I don't want you snuggling up to your Slytherin boys down in the common room." It wasn't as if she didn't have other admirers. She had to have. She was stunning. And if he couldn't let people know she was his in public, he hoped he could trust her not to screw him over behind his back.