Mayhem - G.Weasley

25. To all new Heights

"Ladies first." Atanas bowed mockingly.

"I'm no lady." Ivy joked as she returned his bow, gesturing for him to go first. "After you."

He snickered and began climbing. Ivy slipped off her heels and hid them off to one side. She followed after him, trying not to admire his built legs carrying him swiftly up the side of the astronomy tower. They had climbed over the railing, risking the thousands of feet fall down towards the lake. The astronomy tower was the tallest building in Hogwarts, and Ivy often found herself slipping away at night to watch the stars. Sometimes she'd have to hide a bit as some classes took place at midnight on the balcony below where she usually sat.

Ivy kept her chest close to the tiling of the roof so Atanas wouldn't be able to see down her dress.

Not that he was looking anyway.

She scooted next to him and leaned back on the angled tiling of the pointed roof of the tower. They sat on a particularly large covering of a window, to which Ivy had no idea how anyone would get to on the inside.

The wind was heavy and chilly on top of the tower, sending goosebumps all over her skin. She relished in the cold, letting it cool her temper.

He slipped off his crimson jacket and laid it beside him, a silent offer he wasn't forcing on her. Underneath was a black tank top, tight on every muscle that flexed when he breathed.

"So what's a girl like you doing in a school?" He brought up one knee to rest an arm over as he peered at the scenery of the forbidden forest.

"On the run." Ivy told the truth, but her tone made it sound like a playful lie.

"You and me both." He chuckled, seeing right through her tone. "What are you hiding from?"

"I don't know." Ivy put his jacket over her shoulders, not slipping her arms through, using it more like a blanket. She smelled mint and lemon. "What about you?"

"My family." Atanas shrugged, being brutally honest.

"How is it hiding if everyone already knows who you are?" Ivy found the idea of it to be contradictory.

"Hiding in plain sight." He explained further.

"Family that bad huh?" Ivy sympathized with the man whom everyone seemed to fear. So far, she couldn't see any reason to be scared of him.

"You have no idea." He shivered, either from the cold or from the thought of his family. Ivy put her money on the second one. "What's your family like?"

"Dead." Ivy didn't know if it was the emotional draining from earlier, but she for once, spoke without any emotion.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Atanas looked over at her, a sorrowful expression on his face.

Ivy just gazed down at the crystal lake.

"Is the tall ginger cocktail your boyfriend?" He switched gears off the sad subject.

"No." Ivy didn't have it in her to snort at the idea.

"He sure acted like it."

"Wait a minute." Ivy gasped dramatically. "Were you spying on me?"

"Don't flatter yourself Ivy. I wasn't the one having a debacle in a public place." He teased poking her side.

"What a little wallflower." Ivy poked him back with a sly smile.

"You could say that." Atanas just smirked as he owned it.

"Why are people afraid of you?" Ivy was daring, something Atanas realized he quickly liked about her.