The Path of True Love Never Runs Smooth...

[Loren Hayes]

Saturdays in Hogsmede were the busiest days of the week, namely because it was when the Hogwarts students were released into the narrow little streets, free to cause havoc and noise. Most of the village's residents were quite happy to see their magical youngsters every once in a while, as some parents used the Hogsmede weekend to visit their children. Lucky for Loren her parents were about as magical as a spoon, and so she was able to do what she wished.

On a rickety old bench outside one of the bigger bookshops on the high street, Loren sat crossed legged and humming to herself, smiling at anyone who did the same. It had been ages since she and Dax had been able to simply have a quiet day out together. She was so appreciative of him finding time to be with her today that she didn't even mind that he was fifteen minutes late.

Reaching into her pocket Loren pulled out a pink paper beg, her fingering wiggling inside to find some Expanding Candyfloss. She popped a bit in her mouth, smiling as she felt it grow in size with every chew.

[Dax Simmons]

Dax gave a loud yawn as he slowly opened his eyes, the dorm was quite as normal and the light was shinning in through the windows. Dax scratched the top of his head and wiggled his toes that were poking out from under the blanket. He loved Saturdays, he would be able to relax and know that the castle would almost be empty due to the Hogsmeade trip. Stretching his arms and letting off another loud yawn Dax searched for his watch on his side board and noticed that it said it was 10.
‘A nice time to wake up’ Dax thought as he pushed himself up in his bed. ‘Also a nice time to met your girlfriend.’ The other side of Dax’s brain seemed to have kicked in and the realisation slowly spread across the rest.

Swearing loudly Dax jumped out of bed, flung his trunk open and pulled out the clothes that were on the top and pocketed a small bag of coins. He was still pulling on his socks and trying to flatten down his hair as he hopped down the stairs into the common room. As he burst through the portrait and headed towards the entrance hall he search his pockets for some kind of mint. ‘A mint peppermint perfect’ Not quite, he was almost out of the castle grounds by the time he had got the wrapper off and it was so chewy that by the time he had entered the village he was picking the final bits from his teeth.

As he looked up from the ground and down the street he saw her, sitting on the old bench. Dax could not believe he forgot they were meting up, it had been so long. As he slowly approached he looked down at his wrist to find he had forgotten his watch, all he could hope was that he was not too late. With a small smile he walked up to Loren and kissed her straight away.

“Sorry I am late….yum candyfloss.”

As he sat down next to Loren he licked his lips savouring all the taste of the candyfloss. At least she had something fun to do while she was waiting. The two of them seemed to sit in silence for a moment before Dax decided that he best say something.

“So, where would you like to go today?”

[Loren Hayes]

Loren smirked as she caught sight of Dax zigzaging through the crowd, several people shouting indignantly as he accidentally barged into some people in his haste. Quickly pretending she hadn't seen him, Loren began examining the sky. He skidded to a hault next to her, breathing heavily as he apologies. Loren simply nodded, pretending to be annoyed, but after a moment of Dax waiting awkwardly she giggled, threw her arms around him and kissed him happily. 'You sod! I knew you'd forget about our day! Oh, I haven't seen you in aaaaages!' she laughed, standing up and pulling him with her.

Hand in hand they began to walk along the worn and narrow pavement, the chilly sun peeking through the clouds every couple of moments. The market in the village was always set up on Saturdays, and as they rounded a corner in loomed in sight, the stall's covers and tent tops brightly coloured, music, bizarre sounds and smells and differently coloured steam rising from all over the place. 'Shall we take a look? They always have such weird stuff... you can buy me a present.' she teased, smiling up at him.

Loren tuggedf him into the first line of stalls, enthusiastic and happy for the first time in weeks. The weather was nice, she was out of that drafty old school, and she had Dax on her arm - what could go wrong?

[Dax Simmons]

Dax was quite happy to let Loren lead the way, she pulled this way and that as they made their way through the crowds. Shopping was something that never exited Dax, the thought of browsing through item after item and not actually buy it seemed pointless to him, but if it was what Loren wanted to do then he would happily stand by her side. At the mention of buying Loren a present Dax found it hard not to laugh.

“You actually want to buy some of this tat, I bet half of it is illegal. To be honest I would not waste my money, spend it on something that will not break after a day.”

Dax suddenly became aware that the stalls trader was looking straight at him with a very dissatisfied look on his face. He really did not look like the type of wizard you would want to mess with, but it backed up Dax’s opinion that these products were most likely stolen. With a very nervous smile at the trader Dax turned his back and began to push his way through the crowd once more dragging Loren with him. It was in Dax’s nature to move away from anything that would possibly turn into a fight and so headed off towards a stall that seemed to be heavily decorated with pink material.

“This stall looks better, a much….”

Dax broke off mid sentence and stared at the range of products, his face suddenly becoming rather pale. Love potions in all shapes and sizes. There were ones in liquid form, others hidden in cakes and even ink. He tightened his grip around Loren’s hand and frozen even more when he noticed the witch selling the products. He had met her once before in Madam Puddifoots tea shop. That was the day he met Loren for the first time because this witch was giving him the same smile the as she was now. With a nervous chuckle he walked on once more to another stall dragging Loren with him again.

[Loren Hayes]

Loren looked round at Dax, smirking. 'Well I for one don't mind tat - otherwise I wouldn't be with you!' She giggled, elbowing him playfully. They past a stall stacked with objects that ticked, whizzed, puffed smoke and sang, but as Loren tried to drift over to the hypnotic sounds she was quickly pulled along by Dax, immediately finding herself stood in front of a a stall that obviously mixed personally made love potions. Loren was slightly confused as to why Dax had stopped here of all places, but she leaned forward to take a gander anyway, raising her eyebrows to see the astronomical price tag attended to one small vial. These must have been powerful.

Tapping Dax, she picked up a sparkling white concoction that smelled of sugar. 'Fifty galleons for this!' She whispered. She caught sight of the woman who owned the stall, and although she was smiling strangely, Loren still quickly put the bottle down, afraid she had offended her.

'Oh darling, no!' The woman suddenly laughed in a deeply posh voice. 'Please, feel free to take a closer look!' She suddenly reached forward and plucked the stopper off the bottle, holding up to Loren's face very closely. Loren, taken a back for a moment, simple stared, but as the sweet fumes drifted up her nose she began to feel very light headed, her vision beginning to tint rose coloured...

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan slumped out of the Hogshead and looked around the crowded streets of the village. Everything was a little unstable as he had already downed 3 fire whiskeys and half a pint when he realised he did not have the money to pay for it. So his exit form the pub was an attempt in rather secrecy, and with the streets so full during the weekends it would have been easy to mix into the crowd. He looked from store to store as he passed seeing what artefacts there were. There was a very interesting stuffed eagle that interested Dan but the trader would not let it go for a bottle cap and a few stick of gum.

Stumbling along some more Dan noticed the back of two heads he knew far to well. He was not so drunk Dan did to know what he was doing but the rather quick drinking session meant that his head was not all there. Slowly he walked up behind them, straighten his back trying to make himself as tall as possible before he turned them around. Then by clamping his hands on both of there shoulders he spun them around to face him. Dax seemed rather petrified and had a look of guilt in his eyes while Loren…. She seemed positively happy to see him.

“What Miss Hayes no sadistic remark? That must be a first”

Dan gave a small chuckle almost in hope that someone may have heard what he had said. After all he received was silence Dan cleared his throat and shifted his weight onto the other foot, something was not right, Loren was smiling at him.

[Dax Simmons]

Dax wanted to get away for that stall as quickly as possible but Loren seemed to have stopped and was actually talking to the trader. With a groan Dan walked back to her side and wrapped his arm around her just to reinforce to the lady that he was with her, however she seemed more interested in making a sale then flirting with Dax. Still it did not stop the uneasy feeling Dax had about standing here, and it was not helped when the witch opened up the bottle. Before Dax could even stop her from doing it the fumes seemed to surrounded Loren.

Panic set in, what was Dax meant to do, who knows what was in that bottle it might have been poison. But all the Hufflepuff could so was stare opened mouthed his girlfriend as the smog around her finally vanished. She still seemed to be breathing, and she blinked that was a good sign.
‘That is a strong love potion, she best not see anybody else….maybe I should get in her eye line just incase….yeah that would work.’

After coming to the conclusion of being the first person Loren saw Dax was about to turn her around to look at her when something happened that would ruin it all. Professor Hubbles interrupted and Loren was looking at him. Dax felt the colour drain from his face and if it was not for the Professors strong grip Loren was sure he would have fallen on the floor. Loren was smiling at Dan, all Dax could cling onto was the fact that she did not drink any of the stuff. The effects had to wear off….they had too.

[Loren Hayes]

Well, hello handsome!

Loren pupils dilated to an unnatural size as she was spun round by a heavy hand, suddenly coming face to face with Professor Hubbles - and never before had he looked so attractive! His short blonde hair shone in the strong sunlight, and a confidant, charming grin rested on his masculine features. For a moment Loren simply stared at him, then broke out into uneven little giggles. 'Hello, sir...' she said shyly.

How could I have hated him all this time...? Wait, DID I hate him? Could've just been a bad dream... it must've been! Look at him, he's marvelous! Loren began to twist a lock of hair around her finger as she mused, her cheeks blushing slightly. 'How are you today, sir? That jacket looks really good on you - new haircut too?' she asked brightly, her eyes positively beaming with fondness.

She became aware that Dax had his arm clamped firmly round her waist, and with an irritated huff she wriggled out of his grasp, casting him a look that said you're embarrassing me in front of Professor Hubbles! Another high pitched giggled escaped Loren, and she bit her lip, grinning even more.

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

“Yes I have had it cut…do you think it suits me?...I mean erm…”

Dan looked from Loren to Dax in confusion, the whole concept of Loren being nice was hard to accept. His attention was then snapped away from the Hufflepuff as Loren seemed to let off some sort of giggle. Dan started to become a little on the edge not knowing what type of game she was playing, what ever it was it was working as Dan wanted to run off in the other direction.

His sensible side warned him that something was up but the slightly tipsy Dan wanted to explore the area a bit more, try and beat her at her own game push her so far that she will break. Maybe once she sees the look on Dax’s face, when his heart is breaking she may turn against it. And if she goes far enough it may break them up and all his problems would be solved. With a smug little grin crossing his face Dan stepped a little closer to Loren.

“Your hair too is lovely today Miss Hayes, have you done something new or is it just that now I am seeing your…” It was hard for Dan to say, after a deep breath he carried on with the best charming smile he could muster “your beauty in a new light. Your complexion is like one of a…a…mermaid.”

With a nervous glance he looked over at Dax only to see the Hufflepuff’s mouth hanging open and it seemed hard for the poor lad to take everything in. Maybe he needed a few fire whiskeys to get the colour back in his cheeks.

[Loren Hayes]

OH. MY. GOD.

Loren's heart lept over her head, beating at a thousand miles an hour, her entire being filling with a tingling that bought stars to her wide, glazed eyes. An impossibly loud giggle erupted from her, drawing a lot of attention. She batted Professor Hubbles on the arm. 'Oh it's really not!' She blushed in denial, thoroughly embarrassed but loving it at the same time. 'You're so nice, professor - I'm shocked you don't have a girlfriend, I really am!'

A mermaid? Oh, how romantic! She thought elated. She could see Dax standing next to her thoroughly mortified. She cast him a puzzled look for a moment before turning her attention back to Professor Hubbles. She jumped - skipped - a little closer to him, swinging her arms from side to side as she gazed up at him brilliantly, basking in his attention. 'Oh, I know! Why don't you spend the day with us, professor! I - we'd - absolutely love for you to come along!' Before either Professor Hubbles or Dax could protest, Loren slipped her arms through Professor Hubbles and latched on firmly, much like a limpet.

Her head was swimming now, and it seemed that the more she looked at Professor Hubbles the more everything else began to blur around the edges. I've never felt like this before, Loren thought dizzily, sighing softly as she gripped his arm a little more possessively. How do I tell Dax? He's nothing but a thorn in my side!

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan winced as she produced an even louder giggle, it would soon reach a pitch that only phoenixes could hear if she was not careful. However when she shot him yet another smile he simply gave her a small wink before his normal smug look. This was going to be difficult the girl was not giving in at all, maybe poor Dax will be broken heart, it looked that way anyway. The guys eyes seemed to have increased insize when Loren linked arms with the Professor and gave him puppy dog eyes. Dan did not know what to do, only to play along. Linking his arm tighter around hers he shot her another winning smile.

“Shall we Loren. I see a nice free bench over there. I think we should state claim to it before anyone else does. It looks good enough for two, Dax can perch on the arm or something….shall we walk on my dear.”

Dan took a long stride forward and started to lead the way, he could feel the eyes of many in the village looking at them, their hatred to each other is known throughout the castle and this must be a strange sight. As they reached the bench Dan took hold of Loren’s hand and let her sit down before gently planting a kiss on it. As he turned away to take is own seat he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a stripe of chewing gum. That was the most revolting thing he had ever done, he could not believe it was going this far.

“Lovely day, I would be happy to sit on the bench with you for ever Loren.’

As he sat down he streched out his arm and wrapped it around her sholders like any couple would do, but this was not romace, this was revenge.

[Loren Hayes]

Loren bit her lip happily as Professor Hubbles kissed her hand like a gentleman. Dax seemed to buzz around behind them anxiously, and it only irritated Loren more that he had not taken the hint that she wanted to be alone with Professor Hubbles... why did she even LIKE Dax? He was absolutely nothing in comparison to a real man like the one on her arm! If only she weren't a student... did Professor Hubbles truly know how Loren felt about him? With each passing moment she felt it growing stronger, and it was torturing her! How could she have not known her only feelings about him until today - HOW?

I would be happy to sit on the bench with you for EVER Loren.

Loren felt his arm curl around her, and without warning all rationality leave her. Her senses were a mess with her racing heart, shallow breath and giddy gestures, and she wondered how much longer she could take all the civility. Why was she holding her feelings back like this? And why hadn't Dax left yet?!

'Dax,' Loren cleared her throat heavily, turning to him. 'I'm parched. Could you go to the cafe around the corner and get my an orange juice please? The one right round the corner, okay?' She gave him a firm, commanding stare, willing him away. Dax seemed rooted to the spot in some bizarre way, and Loren had to stamp her foot before he would even begin to edge away.

'Isn't this lovely, professor... or can I call you Dan? It's so silly that we have all this formality between us. I've practically left school already, so it shouldn't matter! Don't you agree?' Loren gave a coy little smile, one eyebrow raised. How had she not thought to wear eyeliner today?

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Dan watched as Dax slowly began to walk away, his broken heart and soul weighing him down. In a strange way Dan was sad to she him go, it mean the was alone with Loren, he shuddered to think how far this girl would go but one thing he knew is that he was going to win he was not going to break. With a sickly smile Dan turned to look at Loren as she rambled on about something or other.

“Darling I think that Dan is so…formal, what my friends call me. No I think Daniel would do far more….personal. And anyway I think it would roll off your tongue with such elegance that it would sound like a nightingales song.”

Dan was disgusted with his own cheesiness and had to look away, he was ashamed to be saying such words and yet Loren seemed to be socking them in as if they were perfect. Maybe he needed to go a bit more extreme, fancy words and kind gestures were not enough. But he thought he would do one last attempt with words before he was forced to take action. With a small cough to clear his throat and pulling Loren closer to his chest Dan rested his head on her head and sighed.

“What is the old saying Loren, you always love the one you hate. I think that anybody who has seen us in the past could not fail to notice that our displays of aggression was all down to our pure…lust for each other.”

Dan found it hard to say the last part of his sentence. His lust for Loren was to wrap his hands around her neck and strangle her, it was quite hard to try and play the opposite end of the spectrum for once.

[Loren Hayes]

'Daniel?' Loren chimed dreamily as she said it, gazing up at him with pure love that couldn't be mistaken for anything else. Merlin, he was so gorgeous... why did she never see any other girls fawning over him? Andie liked him of course, but she didn't stand a chance. It was quite clear Daniel only had eyes for Loren!

The whole world seemed to melt into beautiful, pink daze as he pulled her closer to him, and although his heart was beating unusually fast in his chest, she realised that he must be feeling exactly the same way as her - there was no doubt about it! 'Oh Daniel...' She sighed, looking up at him. 'I don't know what all that nonsense between us was about, but it's in the past now. It means absolutely nothing! I... I...' She trailed off, not knowing how to express herself with words alone.

It was then that he said it.

Our pure... LUST for each other.

Loren sat bolt up right, her mouth hanging open. 'You feel it too?!' She squealed. All she could see now was the man next to her, surrounded by fuzzy pink figures. Were they angels? It definitely couldn't have been anything else - it was a sign!

What seemed like horror passed over his face as Loren placed her hands on his cheeks and drew his face closer, but it was surly just the sheer amount of emotions running through him that was making him so nervous. 'Oh Daniel, I'm in love with you more than anyone I've met before in my life! Kiss me!' She sang, pressing her lips to his...

[Professor Daniel Hubbles]

Panic indeed set in as she took hold of his face, and the dreaded words came out.

'Oh Daniel, I'm in love with you! Kiss me!'

Dan had no time to react, he was ready to lose he did not want this he…she was kissing him. For a brief second Dan was incomplete shock then his killer instinct kicked in again. He was not going to lose this now. Loren would soon lose her nerve and pull out, he had seen the way she had looked Dax in the eye at the ball, although she was giving Dan that same look.

Pulling Loren closer Dan decided to add more passion to the kiss, a small peck on the lips would scare no one, but what if tongues came into play. Fighting back his nervous Dan went for it, he even lost his chewing gum in the process, that would definitely win it for him. As he pulled away he stroked the side of Loren’s face.

“My dear that was an experience. Shame old Dax was not around to see it hey, break his little heart.”

Dan voice was no longer sickly nice, he was back to his normal tone every time he dealt with this brat, however her eyes still seemed slightly dazed, maybe one kiss was not enough. With a reluctant sigh Dan closed up to Loren again, half wondering if he would get his chewing gum back.