Professor Viper's Personal Chambers (Located Nearby Slytherin Common Rooms)

Fighting the urge to burst into laughter, Viper clapped her hands twice. "Nissy!" she called out, her voice drenched in mirth.

With a soft pop, the little elf appeared with a disturbed look at the image before her. Shaking her head, she turned to the wizard laying on her mistress's bed, next to said woman. "What you is doing here?" she hissed, her long fingers pointing at him in an accussing gesture as her charcoal eyes narrowed. "You is not suppose to be here. You is suppose to be there!" the elf gestured widely to the living room where she had turned the couch into a more sleepable state with pillows and blankets.

((LOL! Nissy's reaction is great! xD))


Sevastyan did his best not to laugh at the physical reaction the House-Elf had to the pair of them laying side-by-side in Amaranth's bed. It was the fact that House-Elves had a powerful magic of their own that kept him from actually laughing. After being accused of being caught in a romantic moment at court when he hadn't really known any of the staff outside of the friend-and-colleague context... well, let's just say he found Nissy's accusatory body language rather comical. At least, that's how he found it for the moment.

"Amaranth and I... had a change of plans," Sevastyan replied tentatively, having only dealt with the House-Elf one other time before. He turned his head toward Viper and smiled before leaning over slightly to kiss her forehead.


Nissy's eyes widened in response to seeing her mistress being kissed by this... this... well, Nissy had no idea what exactly to call the wizard but her first thoughts were not of the friendly variety. It was clear that she thought he was intruding on her mistress's privacy. "Mistress is letting... him stay here?! Sleeping in here?! He is not supposed to be being in Mistress's bedroom!" she replied shrilly.

Viper mimicked his smile which brightened at his affectionate gesture. To show her agreement, she reached for his hand, entwining it with her own.

She winced slightly at the elf's shrilly response before replying. "Yes Nissy, he is staying here. He may stay here as long as he wishes. After all, it is Mistress's bedroom. Now, will you please bring us something to eat?" she asked, placing her most charming smile, accompanied with the "innocent look"

Nissy glared and scowled. "Fine. Whats its yous wants, Mistress? Whats its you and you's friend wants?" she looked over at Sevastyan, waiting for his reply.

Sevastyan mimicked the hand-entwining to return the gesture, and fought the mirth that arose upon hearing Viper's reply. He hid it behind a similar wince in response to still hearing the shrill voice in his head.

The wizard quirked a brow at the House-elf's hostility toward its mistress while he deliberated. A list of foods just wasn't coming to mind despite the fact that he was indeed hungry. "I vill have the same as votever Amaranth vould reqvest," he replied before once again focusing his gray orbs on the woman beside him.

Nissy rolled her large eyes at the unhelpful response but said nothing, looking to her Mistress now to see what she wanted to eat.

Viper pondered for a moment, wondering what exactly she wanted. True, she was hungry, but she didn't quite feel like eating "breakfast food" or "lunch food". The thought of plates of food and bowls of soup between them on her bed didn't really appeal to Viper.

After a good few moments of thinking, an idea struck the Head of Slytherin. "An ice cream sundae sounds quite lovely right about now. One half sweet with the normal toppings: sprinkles, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and the other half the sour side with fruit flavored italian ice." she replied, looking to Sevastyan to see if she was alright with her choices.

Sevastyan took a moment to contemplate her choice and then nodded: once to Amaranth, and again to Nissy. Once the elf had confirmation she left the room in the same manner which she'd appeared.

"And now ve vait..." he trailed off mostly blissfully, his thumb caressing the soft skin of her hand.

The Russian contemplated the evening, before he'd been led here. About the duel and all its happenings before and immediately after. Would Viper understand why he'd been more or less branded with the symbol, and would she feel the same way? That was why he hadn't told her, why he was reluctant to tell her. Sevastyan sighed; he really didn't want to keep secrets from her if they were now indeed to be a couple, as they assessed.

"Are you curious? Vot the symbol means?" he asked quietly and used his other hand to pull back his robe just enough to reveal the marking she had no doubt seen all last night and into today. It wasn't exactly unnoticeable... the good thing was that the skin now merely appeared irritated, though it really looked odd to see the absence of chest hair where he'd been burned.

Viper smiled at Sevastyan's nod, wondering how he would feel about a possible ice cream fight...

She bit her lip slightly as the atmosphere took a more solemn tone. Slowly, she nodded her head. "I am. But not enough that I'd badger and prod you until you tell me. If you choose to tell me I want it to be because you want to." she replied as she thought of her own markings such as the dark mark burned into her ankle, courtesy of her father, and the family crest upon her lower back, wondering if Sevastyan had noticed those.

A grateful smile crossed his lips, eyes softly gazing upon her face. "It is... nothing really, considering who put it on me. You have seen for yourself that Headmaster Orlov has a rather tvisted idea of things," Sevastyan began, not really sure how to go about it.

"I do not vant to keep secrets from you, Amaranth... so I vill tell you vot it undoubtedly means to the Headmaster. Last night... I vos ashamed that he had managed to get that attack through my defenses. I felt as though I had failed in defending myself. That is vy I said nothing earlier, and tried to pretend as though it didn't exist.

"The Headmaster often refers to me as 'The Traitor' ... because I vould not choose a different position at Durmstrang and instead came to Hogvarts. Or at least that is the main decision I made that did not go over vell vith him. He likely thinks I vill divulge Durmstrang's secrets at the drop of a hat. After his surprise attack I might just do it to spite him..." A surprisingly sinister grin swept across his features for a brief moment but then relaxed into its former, happier smile from earlier.

"Anyvay... the symbol is from the Cyrillic alphabet. It vould likely translate into the letter 'p' in English. It is the first letter in particular for the vord for traitor: Предатель," Sevastyan explained, getting to the very heart of the details. "I am thankful that, vith your skills and kindness, it vill not be a scar I vill visibly need to vear."

More than a little nervous about how Amaranth would take this information, Sevastyan's countenance shifted from happy to worried. After attacking the man on the tower, she wouldn't have the same ideals as Kazimir, would she? Especially not after... last night and this morning...?

Viper raised an eyebrow for a moment as she took in fully the information given to her. As a Viper she could in a way understand the logic behind it: loyalty and sticking to your kin and roots. However, in no way did she wor would she agree with it.

Not knowing what to say she merely moved forward to rest in his arms once more, curling into him. "It's ridiculous..." she replied softly. Her lips skirted across the exposed mark gently in case it was still aching, kissing it lightly as she rested her head against his chest. "I can't imagine Hogwarts without you..." she whispered with a small smile.

As she shifted into his arms, Sevastyan instinctively held her gently close to him. The line of worry etched into his forehead eased as she curled up; this was not an action attributed to someone that agreed with Headmaster Orlov. The Russian professor heaved a sigh of relief and contentment at her reply.

A sharp intake of breath that had distinctly nothing to do with pain escaped him as he felt her lips upon the burned flesh of his chest. Sevastyan could feel his heart quickening its pace once full direct contact had been made. Where he had almost expected pain, Sevastyan instead felt bliss at the touch.

Sevastyan smiled at her quiet statement, providing a gentle squeeze of acknowledgment in addition to reaching down to kiss the top of her head lovingly. "I have no idea vot it vos like here before, but I know I for vone can't imagine Hogvarts vithout you, either," he murmured in return.


He barely even noticed that Nissy had finally returned...

Viper smiled softly into his chest. What was life at Hogwarts without Sevastyan? Well, to put it lightly...lonely, relishing the tingling sensation that lingered from his kiss. Her evenings were spent alone in her chambers or lab developing potions and formulas and she rarely spoke to anyone besides exchanging pleasantries. Thankfully, it now seemed those days were over.

She was just about to say something when Nissy appeared, carrying a tray loaded with a huge ice cream sundae rather sulkily. "Yous food is here, Mistress," the elf glared, placing the tray on the bed none too gently as she disappeared.

Viper fought the urge to laugh, turning to Sevastyan. "She likes you." Viper nodded with an affirmative nod before dissolving into a cadence of laughter.

Sevastyan received the house-elf's glare with a curious quirk of a brow that seemed to ask 'What precisely is the problem with my holding her?' As the elf disappeared the Russian was certain he wasn't going to get an answer to his nonverbal question. Really... it wasn't like he was hurting her. The wizard wouldn't even dream of harming his newfound love. He'd rather rip out his own heart using nothing but a spoon and a wooden toothpick!

"The vord 'like' vosn't qvite vot I had in mind in regards to how she takes to me..." he replied, laughing just as merrily as he shifted to sit up straighter. With a wandless levitation spell, Sevastyan hovered the tray nearer to them. Once Amaranth was situated - either realigned against his chest or no - she could take over from there.

Viper sat up as well, leaning against Sevastyan's chest as she settled the tray to levitate in front of them so both could reach it. She reach for one of the spoons and scooped some of the whipped cream unto it.

"Well, as you said earlier, she'll just need to live with it all." Viper replied before purposely splattering the whipped cream on Sevastyan's mouth, rather than in it, turning back to face the wizard with a smirky smile. The image brought Viper a whole new meaning to the words Russian Ice Cream.

Sevastyan wrapped his arm around Amaranth's shoulders as she leaned against his chest. It was a benefit of ambidexterity that he could do things with either hand. With a woman he loved at his side and this mountainous treat before them... the Russian comically asked himself: Have I died and gone to Heaven? But Sevastyan knew he really hadn't.

He took up the remaining spoon after Amaranth had claimed hers. Sevastyan had opened his mouth to reply and/or accept the spoon headed his way, not realizing what Viper had planned to do. His first reaction was to blink in mild surprise as the cool cream made contact with lips and the small patches of bare skin between lip and beard. Next second, though, he smiled and laughed merrily. Sevastyan licked his lips to get a majority of the cream off and readied his own spoon with a majority of chocolate sauce.

"Of course," Sevastyan finally replied to her statement, a splash of mirth still in his voice. The route of the spoon in his hand seemed innocently enough aimed to Amaranth's mouth....

.... until Sevastyan rose the spoon's height and gently tapped her nose with the chocolate-covered backside of the utensil, leaving a dark brown dollop of the confection behind. The semi-cream-covered mouth was twisted into a similar smirky smile, though a dash of flirtatiousness was added to the mix.

If a playful ice cream fight was what Amaranth wanted, in her own bed no less, then Sevastyan was more than willing to participate! The gray orbs sparkled playfully to reflect this sentiment.

As the spoon inched closer to her mouth, Viper obediently opened, not expecting Sevastyan to change course, therefore she was fairly suprised when he seemed to follow her example, splashing chocolate sauce all over her nose.

In reaction to the dripping chocolate, she wiggled her nose very much in a rabbit-like manner, causing more of the sugary delight to trail down her face. Turning to face Sevastyan with as much dignity as a person with a face covered with chocolate could, she smiled at him, giggles escaping her, for a moment before wiping some of it off and pushing him down on the besd so that he was laying down on his back.

With an innocent smile she took a cherry off the sundae, feeding it to her love before reaching for a handful of topping-loaded ice cream with her other hand, splattering it on his face with a smirky, mischevious look. "Vanilla ice cream is a lovely accessory on you, love." she managed between laughter.

Sevastyan couldn't help but chuckle at Amaranth's reaction, and was reminded very much of a rabbit as she wiggled her nose. He temporarily set his spoon back onto the tray. A vague notion about the possibilities for her "counterattack" ran through his mind as she removed some of the chocolate from her face.

The last thing he expected was to be pushed back into a reclining position: a rather more vulnerable position, he noted. The chocolate on her fingers was now smeared across his skin as well. As he went backward, Sevastyan flashed a 'Vot are you going to do?' look to Viper that was more curious than anything else.

Sevastyan accepted the cherry without question, though in his current position the Russian couldn't quite reach the other cherries about the sundae so he instead non-verbally summoned one to his hand... Only to be "attacked" with a handful of ice cream. As frigid treat made contact Sevastyan stiffened momentarily out of surprise. It was also a natural response, or at least a natural one for him, whenever something that cold came in contact with an area of skin that warm.

Gray eyes were the first feature to appear from behind the simulated blizzard that was the sprinkle and whipped cream-topped vanilla ice cream. When his lips parted he almost looked like he had a full beard of snow rather than the dark hair that was truly underneath. Laughing he wiped off his eyes and attempted to sit up a little bit, catching the ice cream falling from his upper lip and nose with an outstretched tongue. "Vell, you know vot they say about vanilla..." he trailed off once the ice cream in his mouth was consumed, shivering slightly as his talking caused the ice cream on his chin to plop onto his chest.

Sevastyan propped himself up on an elbow to return the gesture of feeding a cherry to his loved one. The moment the cherry was accepted the wizard summoned a small amount of chocolate ice cream - about a handful - to be removed from the tower of flavors to hover in front of Amaranth. Without warning it seemed as though the ice cream had imploded into a kind of semi-melt-y spray onto Amaranth, gently flecking her face and shoulders with the treat.

"It goes vell vith chocolate!" the Russian practically crowed with mirth. They were bound to get the stuff all over sooner or later...

Viper giggled at the sight of Sevastyan covered in ice cream, gathering a drop of ice cream on his chin with her finger, licking it off. Obediently, she opened her mouth, accepting the offered cherry with a hint of flirtatiousness.

She barely heard Sevastyan's exclamation as the chill of chocolate ice cream met her face and shoulders, dripping its icy glory unto her exposed neck. When she adjusted a bit more to the icyness, she met his mirth with a look of pure playfulness.

"Does it really? Perhaps we should test that theory..." she breathed out as she leaned closer as though she was intending to kiss him. But barely an inch from his lips, she paused to summon a handful of chocolate ice cream, smearing it on his cheek and gently drawing a small heart upon the chocolate.

Sevastyan quirked a suggestive brow at her statement, causing a stream of ice cream to cascade from his eyebrow to his cheek with an icy plop. He barely had time to consider her words as she leaned closer. Since he was covered in vanilla, and she in chocolate, Sevastyan automatically parted his lips in preparation to kiss her.

When Amaranth paused, Sevastyan was about to close the gap between them but was stopped by a further ice cream assault. He couldn't help but laugh as he felt her draw a heart on his ice cream-soaked cheek. For just a second, he appeared pensive before replying, "I think ve need to test the theory just a bit more..." Before Viper could pull away Sevastyan placed a vanilla ice cream-coated hand at her neck and drew her in for a tender kiss.

He didn't care that the tip of his nose would be smeared in chocolate afterward: this seemed like the best way to prove chocolate and vanilla went together like... like peanut butter and jelly.

Or, more personally: like Amaranth and Sevastyan.

Both were definitely going to need a shower after all this, but Sevastyan was enjoying every minute of his time with her and wouldn't trade being cleaned up for anything right now.

Viper lay awake staring at the ceiling deep in thought. Today was her 23rd birthday and although she wasn't the type of person to celebrate it, she felt something should be done to at least acknowledge it to make it be memorable and not jsut be a lost day in time. After all, this birthday was quite different from the others that had passed, with one of the main reasons for the difference laying right beside her, she noted with affection.

She pondered for a moment before coming up with an idea that would definately be symbolic and memorable, and would also be something that she had wanted to do for quite sometime.

Viper turned to face Sevastyan, smiling softly before lightly pressing her lips against his to gently kiss him awake.

Sevastyan lay next to his love in blissful slumber. There were no purgers to worry about in his dreams, and even the nightmares regarding the rift between him and his brother had diminished to a degree. A lot of it perhaps had to do with the fairly recent development in his life: the fact that he had found love again. Though he was deep in sleep, the Russian knew that when he woke it would be Amaranth's birthday... and for a good portion of the day he would have her full and undivided attention. It would be his job to keep her busy and entertained while the rest of the staff put together the decorations and such for a surprise birthday party she hopefully won't suspect...

Muscles in his face twitched when he felt the press of her lips to his, slightly tickled by a lock of her hair. Waking up, Sevastyan moaned pleasantly as he kissed her in return.

A pair of gray eyes opened and blinked once or twice, though closed playfully a second later. "Good morning," he murmured, smirking as he pretended to still be asleep...

Viper's smile grew as grey eyes opened to look at her, though she pouted playfully as he closed them once more. "Indeed, it is. However it'd be an even better one if you'd wake up." She mock-whined as she moved a stray look of hair out of his face.

"Please?" she pleaded playfully. "I have an errand I want to run." she informed him as she kissed his cheek gently.

"But if you'd rather sleep in, I'll understand..." she teased as she began to rise.

His smirk widened at her reply. "Either that or you could go back to sleep vith me..." Sevastyan replied, deliberately making his voice sound thick with sleep. As she swept a stray hair from his face, Sevastyan couldn't help but revel in the touch. Personally he wished the contact had lasted longer.

A quiet chuckle was the initial response to the plea. However, at the information and the kiss on the cheek, Sevastyan opened his eyes about half-way to see if this was a trick. Did she suspect something? "Vot kind of errand?" he asked softly.

What was there to understand, he wondered? However, as Sevastyan noticed Amaranth starting to part company with him, the Russian propped himself up and immediately snaked an arm around her waist. Sevastyan gently pulled Viper back to him. "Of course I'm getting up..." he said with a smile, no trace of sleepiness present as he gazed straight into her emerald eyes.

With that said Sevastyan leaned forward to place a tender, loving kiss soundly upon Amaranth's lips.

Viper mock-glared at the faux sleep-addeled voice, though the twitching of the corners of her mouth and the added sparkle in her eyes made the playfulness in her response more than obvious.

She smirked at the soft inquiry but before she could reply Sevastyan had wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back to him. She sighed happily upon feeling Sevastyan's kiss, responding with one of her own before breaking it off to rest her forehead against his.

"Perfect." she beamed. "That means you can help me pick out a new tattoo and piercing."

"Your vish is practically my command," he stated simply, smiling back at her as he reached forward to caress her cheek. "I vould like that... perhaps aftervard you could accompany me on an 'errand' of sorts as vell?" Sevastyan elaborated, and followed up with a request of his own.

At the feel of Sevastyan's hands on her cheek, Viper's eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into the touch. At Sevastyan's request, her eyes opened once more, "Of course." Curiousity illuminated the green orbs. "What would this 'errand of sorts' be, exactly?" she asked as she kissed him once more.

It wasn't that she didn't trust him. Oh no, the exact opposite, in fact. She was just genuinely curious as to what Sevastyan would have her accompany him on.