With his hands tucked into the pockets of his pants he ducked out of the castle after breakfast with no certain place in mind. It was exactly one week after all hell had broken loose in the castle and they were no closer to getting any answers than they had been that night. No one was saying much of anything, of course there were whispers and idle gossip but none of it was anything that he actually chose to believe. Most of his house was sticking close to the common room in fear of retaliation from the rest of the school. Luca however did not have that same since of fear that the rest of them did. He could care less what the rest of the school felt, as quite frankly beneath him. There were much bigger fish to fry and things to worry about.

Heading down across the ground and up into the stands he walked to his favorite spot to lounge about in. The air was crisp and cool as fall had settled in around them finally. It didn't bother him though as fall, true fall was his favorite time of year. When then leaves started to change and fall, and when the mornings were crisp and cool. The perfect time to run and clear his head. Sure running was a bit abnormal for someone of his standing but he liked to do it all the same. Plus at the time he went no one else was ever out and by the time he got back and showered his housemates were just waking. His own brother had no idea where he went, not that he would have cared anyway.

With a kick of his feet up on the bench in front of him he leaned back against the hard back of the stands with a sigh. Leyton, his own flesh and blood but more of a stranger than most of the people in his own house. For years he had wanted a closer relationship with his brother only to be pushed away every time he tried. There was only so many time he could face that rejection before he truly gave up and wrote his brother off as lost cause. Luca knew that this was time the time that he needed his brother the most and he quite frankly just didn't know what he needed to do to get through to him. The time was growing short, that feeling that the Dark Lord would call on them sooner rather than later and he had no idea how exactly he would answer. He did not want to go down the same path that his father had, no desire to follow in his footsteps.

Blowing out a breath he closed his eyes trying to put it all from his mind, all he wanted was one peaceful Saturday morning, away from all the drama and the trouble that surrounded them. It was unlikely that he would get it, but one could only hope.

She wasn't sure exactly how or when the idea had struck, but struck it had and now Danni couldn't let it go. She had to figure out how to make a broom for John. Her oldest brother had done so much for her and her brothers, but mostly for her. He'd given up the life he could have had and grown up way faster than necessary to take care of a baby he didn't make. He'd done what an irresponsible guy who was trying to suddenly be just the opposite would have done, but he'd never been that irresponsible guy. John hadn't made any mistakes. Ever. He'd been a great kid, a perfect student, and he'd had so much ahead of him. And then Danni was born.

The biggest point was that she wasn't even his kid. She was his sister. His baby sister who killed his mom and took away his whole life. And he still loved her. She felt so special just to have him in her life. Merlin, he'd given up everything to make her life good, and she wanted to show him how special she felt for that. He'd gotten her through school and growing up... The fact of the matter was that Danni was fast approaching the half-way-mark of her final year at Hogwarts, and she had John to thank for that. He had to have a great Christmas gift this year.

The day after Halloween was when she'd planned to start working on the gift, but with all the craziness about the castle, she hadn't had the chance. Now that things had calmed a bit, the golden-haired girl could focus on her goals again, which led her to gather a bunch of small sticks and a rather large branch, which she levitated with her to the pitch. It was her favorite place to be, so why not work on the broom there?

Once she got to the stands, Danni noticed another person in them. It was one of the Lestrange twins- she knew that much from classes, but she didn't know his name. That meant he could be her new friend of the day. Perfect. Two birds with one stone. She grinned happily and took a strawberry sucker from her back pocket on her way up the stands, tossing the wrapper and popping the sucker between her lips as she settled the branches and such on the seat in front of the boy, just to his right a bit. The plum-colored hoodie-clad girl sat to the right of the Slytherin so her supplies were just in front of her. She pulled a pocket knife she'd gotten from Anthony for her birthday from her other back pocket and grabbed the biggest hunk of wood, examining it for a minute before she started shaving it down, working toward a proper broom handle.

As she shaved the branch and sucked on her candy, Danni looked over at her fellow seventh year and offered a grin. "Sickle for your thoughts?" she asked, nearly slicing the tip of her thumb off but moving it just in time and not even noticing. It was really no wonder Luke and John had both threatened to send howlers to Anthony when she'd revealed her present to them in letters. The boys knew their sister all too well, and Danni was nothing if not accident-prone.

Hearing movement in front of him on the stands he sighed internally, of all the places in the castle this person had to choose this place in the stands, over all of the other empty places the school offered a person. He finally opened his lids, his green eyes taking in the girl in front of him as she posed her question towards him. Shaking his head he continued to relax back and close his eyes once more.

"The last time I checked I was not in the habit of sharing my most dark and deepest thoughts with strange girls, especially those from Gryffindor." He could not place her name of the top of his head, and he pretty much knew every girl in his year, but her name for some reason was escaping him at the moment. She wasn't half bad looking but he usually made a point of avoiding the people in her house which was probably the reason why he couldn't conjure up her name.

"As such you probably should have found another place to do whatever it is you are doing because you are disturbing my nice quiet morning I was trying to enjoy." It honestly did not matter if she stayed or went, he knew that there would be others around, only they were usually smart enough to leave him alone. This girl however was obviously either stupid or honestly did not know a thing about his reputation.

"Well, aren't you a sour puss?" she muttered, rolling her eyes and continuing to shave the branch as best she could. Danni wasn't exactly sure how well this was going to turn out, but John was likely to love it no matter what, and that was all that really mattered. She sighed around the sucker, shifting it from one cheek to the other before speaking again. "Also, I'm not strange. There are plenty of strange people around this castle. I'm just fun."

The Gryffindor focused a bit too much on the guy beside her, wondering if she should introduce herself despite the fact that they'd had classes together since first year. Pompous Slytherins… they all pissed her off with how easily they seemed to ignore the rest of the entire world. It was sort of a talent, she supposed, but it was definitely one she did not appreciate. Distraction and sharp objects really didn't mix well, as Danni kept shaving at the branch while not even looking at what she was doing, and inadvertently shaved the skin from the side of her hand.

She gasped and looked down at her thumb, the whole side of which from wrist to tip was now bleeding profusely, a large layer of flesh hanging from the tip of her thumb and blood dripping from the knife that shook in her other hand. "Fuck!"

This was definitely not good. Considering the way the Slytherin beside her had seemed so irritated with her even asking about his intense concentration, she figured he wasn't going to be much help. But shit. She didn't know how to fix this. The most she'd managed to do medically was fix James's hangovers and random bruises that his drunken self seems so prone to acquire. What the fuck was she going to do about an injury like this?

And dammit, there was blood on her favorite hoodie and jeans! And on the damn branch she'd been working on. Now she'd have to start over on that… And get someone to fix her clothes. Maybe James knew how to get stains out of clothing. He had to get alcohol and barf on his enough to have acquired such a skill…

"Hey, I know you want to be left alone in your thoughts or whatever, but I'm pretty sure if I don't stop this bleeding I'm gonna pass out, and I'd really rather not do that so… A little help please?" There. Now the idiot had to talk to her. Or at least figure out a way to stop her hand from bleeding all of her blood. That would be more helpful. She was getting dizzy already, and Danni really didn't want to pass out in the stands and end up dying of bloodloss or something. That would really put a cramp in her style.

Straightening up slightly to watch her do whatever she was doing with that bloody stick. "Actually no I'm in quite the fantastic mood or I was until you showed up and ruined it."

She actually wasn't half bad he supposed but he really had wanted a morning to himself, a quiet morning to get his head on straight and formulate a plan regarding his brother. It was obvious now what his cousin and Riddle had been up to and he figured there was no better time to figure out things with his brother. Of course he had tried a few times over the years and none of them had stuck but maybe this time would be different. Either that or it would blow up miserably in his face and leave them both for the worse.

Closing his eyes he resigned to settling on just ignoring her for the moment, which lasted all of forty five seconds before the strawberry blonde in front of him was shouting out expletives. Cursing himself internally he opened his eyes to see the girl covered in blood. How the hell could one person be so clumsy.

Holding back a gag he pulled off his shirt and wrapped it around her hand the best that he could. "Could you drop the knife please before you end up doing even more damage. I'm not exactly the best at healing spells." Pulling out his wand he waved it over her arm he muttered something darkly. "Come on we need to get you to the nurse before that wears off. I really don't feel like having any bodies on my hands today." Pushing up he grabbed he by the arm to lead her down.

The boy was still being a jerk and Danni wanted to just haul off and punch him in the face, but she was bleeding and she was also not too keen on pissing off a temperamental Slytherin, so she kept her hands to herself. Her mouth, however, was much more difficult to put a leash on. "Oh, I'm so sorry to have interrupted your boring day of boring thoughts. If that's what puts you in a good mood I'd hate to see what puts you in a bad one."

His shirt was too bulky to be doing much, so it was a good thing he did some kind of spell to lessen the bleed. He looked like he was about to be sick, and that was just plain irritating, cause it was her bloody hand that was bleeding puddles and Danni wasn't losing her lunch! She also wasn't passing out yet, which was a good thing in her opinion. She held the stupid shirt on her hand, unable to keep her eyes from roaming over his body.

[color=#990066]"I will most certainly not drop my knife! Bloody lunatic. This was a present from Anthony for my birthday! You do not get to tell me to drop a special present from my brother. Just because you're too much of a wuss to deal with a little blood…" She used her up to push the blade back inside the handle of the pocket knife, mentally making a note to use the best cleaning charm she knew to get the congealed blood out of the thing later. It would be a nasty mess if she left it alone. Poor branches. She'd definitely have to start over on those…

Before she could say anything else she was being pulled along down the stands and Danni let out an undignified grunt and tried to dig her heels into the stands. "Hey, hold up, mister. Who said I was just going to take orders from you and trot along after you like some loyal puppy, hmm? You did a good enough spell to stop the bleeding. I'm not some damn cripple or something. You can let me walk on my damn own, thank you."

So, maybe her mouth would get her into more trouble with the Slytherin than her fist would have. So what? Danni wasn't about to let some idiot snake lead her through the bloody castle like a prized pony! Even if he did have delicious abs. She licked her lips and stuck the sour expression back on her face. "An escort would be appreciated. No more of this grabby crap though. Merlin's tits…"

Rolling his eyes at the girl as she continued to spout off at the mouth he kept the urge to want smack her locked down tight.  There was a lot of things he was but hitting a girl was not something he would resort to, hexing her mouth shut was a different story.  His fingers flexed dangerously around the end of his wand as he glared down at her green eyes flashing.  "Will you bloody shut up already.  What is it with you Gryffs always thinking you can spout your mouth off however and when ever you want."

"I have seen how good you are with it in your hands and I rather not be stabbed today, not high up on my list of things I want to happen to me."  Merlin there was no shutting the girl up.  Finally though she put the knife away which meant somewhere in that rambling head she actually could comprehend what he was saying. It didn't last long though and she was off on another tirade.

"Yeah well you have about thirty seconds before I leave you here on your own because gentleman or not I would have no greater pleasure than leaving your yappy arse here alone to fend for yourself.   And obviously you are a bit of a cripple based on the sheer amount of blood that is currently ruining my shirt.  Now like I said that spell isn't going to last forever so we have about five minutes before it wears off and then we will have an entirely new problem on our hands."

Sweeping his arm out to point towards the exit of the stands he gave her a narrowed look.  "You have 10 seconds to start moving and then I am going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you down whether you like it or not.  Now, stop checking me out and get to walking, lest your true desire is to be carried out of here."

The Slytherin sure did talk a lot for someone who complained about her rambling. Danni rolled her eyes at him and dug her feet into the ground when they got down from the stands, an irritated look stuck on her face. "First of all, you do not just get to threaten to manhandle me like a sack of potatoes. And second," she tried to look flippant and completely unaffected by the shirtless male, despite the slight pink tinge to her cheeks. "I am not checking you out."

Yes, it was a blatant lie, but Danni didn't really care. It was ridiculous for him to behave this way, as if he ruled the world or something. She'd only ever spoken to the brute in class before, and even then it had just been to tell him to get out of her way as he proved to be just as much a brute there as he was here. Hmm... Brute. Yes, that really did describe him well, didn't it?

"Listen here, Brutus. You aren't going to bully me into doing what you say just 'cause you have a nice set of abs and a crooked smile, got it? Not that you smile much at all, of course. Bloody cranky ass..." she muttered, only barely noticing that time was going by and her hand was still bleeding a little bit, despite the spell. It would start gushing again soon, and she wouldn't be able to get herself to the nurse then, but she didn't want to admit that she actually needed the Slytherin, so she ignored that.

For now she stood there with her good hand on her hip, which was popped out moodily, her other hand not quite as secured in the shirt as it probably should have been, and a sour look on her face. The Gryffindor was like a petulant child, really, and this man probably had no idea what he was in for now that he was dealing with her. "Now are you going to be a proper escort or shall I just stand here for the remaining four and a half minutes or so until I can coat you in blood until you do something about this injury? Time isn't getting any slower, you know, Brute."

Staring at the Gryff like she grew a second head he crossed his arms over his chest staring down at her with an amused smirk crossing over his face. She could act all high and mighty if she wished but Luca could see straight through it and it did not bother him in the least bit that she was checking him out. You can look but you'll never touch sweetheart, he thought to himself holding back a chuckle as she continued to rant and rave.

As friendly and outgoing as he could be, usually when he wanted something, there was a limit to that and this bird was beginning to push every button that he had. Rolling his eyes he began to wonder if hexing her tongue to the roof of her mouth would do any good or if she would somehow figure out a way to talk around it.

Finally it seemed as if she were done, looking every bit the part of a child throwing a hissy fit as he had heard it called. He was practically a master of dealing with such mood things as his brother had loved to throw them when they were little. Thankfully he had grown out of them for the most part. Every now and then he would get that look in his eye, and that was usually about the time that he would take off and leave him to it.

Uncrossing his arms from over his chest he took two steps towards her lifting her up without a word. "Seems as if we are going to do this my way since you want to be so bloody pigheaded and not listen to me. You could have just kept walking but nooo you just had to cop an attitude." He muttered holding her in place as he took off towards the castle as fast as he could and still balance her over his shoulder.

The Slytherin sure did like to roll his eyes and look all unbothered while being bothered. Danni was going to point out this conundrum to him, but then he was uncrossing his arms and approaching her and she figured out what he was about to do just as he reached out and lifted her as if she weighed next to nothing, propping her up over his shoulder like some animal. Or vegetable. Something less than human, at least.

She squealed, kicked her legs wildly in the empty air, then started beating on his back to no avail. The idiot didn't even seem to have noticed her doing so! Was he that damn muscular or was he just that use to being hit? Either way was a little unnerving and had Danni grumbling into his back... until she looked down a bit and noticed her view. Mmm, what a nice ass. She licked her lips and wiggled her fingers before reaching down and clamping them over his perfect globes. She could tell they were gorgeous even while covered by his slacks, and when she dug her fingers into them she was only met with more great knowledge of how lovely his assets were.

This was all probably a bad idea, since Danni was set to fall flat on her face over his shoulder if the boy decided to drop her and he was also moving rather fast for a surprise attack like this. She just couldn't help it though! You only looked at a perfect ass for so long before you just had to grab it. It wasn't her fault, it was her duty! It would have been a crime against nature to resist the urge and let the stud of a cocky man strut about without getting a good grope in.

At least, that was going to be her argument when she got to the pearly gates from bleeding out and God or whoever asked her why the hell she'd died from grabbing an ass and making her potential savior leave her for dead. She had to do it. It was the natural order of things. Girl sees perfect ass, girl grabs perfect ass, perfect ass is a perfect bloody ass of a man. See? It all just fit so well, like some horrible musical about the human body and its natural processes or something. Makes sense, but incredibly disturbing. The summary of Danni's life.

"Damn, that really is nearly perfect..." she muttered, giving him another squeeze. Hey, might as well take what she could while the opportunity was there. She was probably about to meet the ground with her face anyway, so she could at least get in another happy groping.

Luca had no idea what he was doing other than trying to get the squirming witch on his shoulder to the Hospital wing without covering him in blood.  It was a bit harder to hold onto her without his shirt and of course she wouldn't make it easy on him, because that would have been the simple thing to do.  No, she had to take the hard way as most Gryffs were prone to do.    It wasn't every day that he carried someone over his shoulder, in fact it had never happened but he wasn't exactly some scrawny little first year either.  He could hold his own against the other guys in the castle, a fact he was quite proud of. 

Grumbling under his breath he continued to make his way up the hill towards the school trying to concentrate on getting them both back in one piece.  He was sure he would have bruise or two on his back after the smacking but he had no plans of letting her down.  That was until he felt a hand grasping his ass.  What in the name of Merlin was this girls problem.  His step faltered just slightly but he continued to walk albeit a bit slower.  

"Really you must have a death wish, or else you really just want dropped on your head. Now if you want to get there in one piece stop.." growling under his breath he scowled as she groped him once more.  Seriously this girl was something else entirely.  Reaching up with his other hand he slapped her on the ass as he walked and squeezed it. "Now how's it feel to play grab hands?" 

He was nearly to the castle at this point but he wasn't letting her down now, nope.  She was going to get a personal escort to the nurse carried there all the way like a sack of potatoes.

((sorry to make you wait for this, and sorry its a bit shorter than normal  ))

Did this guy ever stop with the empty threats? Well, Danni supposed they weren't completely empty, since he really had tossed her over his shoulder like she wasn't even a person at all, but he'd also already threatened to leave her for dead at least three times and she noted that he was definitely still striding toward the castle and the medical attention she needed. He wasn't all that bad, so it was kind of funny how he pretended to be such a badass. It was kind of like she pretended to be a skank. All for show.

Of course, all thought kind of broke off from Danni's brain as the studly snake smacked her ass and she couldn't hold back the squeal and the wiggles of her hips on his shoulder, groan deep in her throat. Mmm, then his hand was squeezing and massaging her ass in such a way that she wanted nothing more than to stay slumped over his shoulder in this somewhat degrading way for the rest of forever. Merlin's saggy man tits, nobody would ever understand just how wonderful some attention to the rear end felt. Maybe it was odd that Danni was so damn turned on by a smack and a grope to her ass, but she really did love it, and she didn't give a damn if that did make her strange.

"Mmm, feels good, you sexy brute," she groaned, moving her hips in a silent plea for his hand to move on her ass again. She could definitely see herself playing 'grab hands' with this Slytherin as much as he cared to if it led to things like this. The only downside was that Danni wouldn't let it go further than hands, but she had a feeling that wouldn't be too frowned upon by her current companion. After all, there were more ways than sex to get one's rocks off.

And while she was so distracted by the thoughts of hands over clothing managing to make this boy writhe in her clutches that she didn't even notice when her injured hand started to bleed again. A lot. "Oh, fuck! I think I owe you a new shirt, Brute. And I might pass out soon from blood loss. Any chance of high tailing it to Pomfrey? Much as I love staring at your ass I'd rather it not be the last thing I ever see." Melodramatic? Definitely, but dammit, now her hand hurt again and the stupid blood was turning everything so red it was more obnoxious than the Gryffindor tower.

Hopefully her escort wouldn't just drop her on a bed and leave though. Danni didn't think she wanted to be quite finished with the boy just yet. She was... enjoying his obnoxious company.

Luca continued to walk without strain up the hill and towards the castle. He really was all talk, and it did take a lot more than something like her to provoke him. For the most part he was the exact opposite of his brother, calm and rarely showing his temper. Though those who had seen it knew it could put Leyton's to shame. He truly was his father's son in that aspect which was why many people were quick never to bring him to anger.

Glancing up at the squirming witch upon his shoulder he raised a brow at the squeal. Given the situation she seemed to be greatly enjoying herself. Luca had dealt with strange girls, but she might have just taken the cake. After all it wasn't every day that a girl bled all over him and then got turned on and wiggled all over his shoulder. With a shake of his head he couldn't help but chuckle.

"I think you might be growing delirious from all the blood loss but what do I know." Moving his hand again he made sure he had a good hold on her as he pulled open the door and strode into the hallway. After all if she fell off now and busted her head it would be a hell of a lot harder to explain than just the bleeding alone.

"Ok, ok. Simmer down we are almost there. We can talk about how you ruined my favorite shirt later, okay?" Striding down the hallway he watched people jump out of his way. After all it wasn't every day someone was carrying a girl over their shoulder like a sack of potatoes down the hall. Within minutes he was walking into the hospital wing with Pomfrey on him within seconds.

Moving to an empty bed he leaned forward to let the girl down instead of just dropping her like he wanted to. "This one decided to nearly slice her hand off, so we need a little bit of help please."