Kalli blushed as Josh patted her bottom so she would stand up. "Sure," Kalli said with a small smile as she stood and followed Anna.

"Hey, just because she said you could hit me, doesn't mean you actually can!" Drew said with a laugh as Josh started swatting him. Darting down the path, Drew swatted away Liam and Josh's "abuse", all three acting like a bunch of second years in their playful game.

----

"So much for taking a bath," Leane laughed breathlessly as she buried her face in his neck, trying to calm her heart and lungs. Resting her forehead against the crook of his neck, Leane's breathing slowly returned to normal as her fingertips gently caressed the small of his back.

"Why is it you're always so good to me?" Leane murmured with a smile as she left a light, chaste trail of kisses from the crook of his neck to his lips.

As Kalli walked beside her, Anna hesitantly drew the blonde's arm through her own, giving a questioning smile and look as she did so. "I'm really sorry for upsetting you so, just now, Kalli. I really... I didn't mean it like that. I'm generally not that used to public displays of affection myself, and just..." Shaking her head with a sigh, the young Belgian straightened her back and picked up her step in order to look a little less miserable.
Looking to the side, as always searching for eye contact with her partner in a conversation, Anna simply stated again her very heartfelt apology. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said a word - even as a joke, it was going too far. I think you and Josh are amazing, as far as couples go - and as far as human beings go."

- - -

The answer Fynn offered up first was, "Because I was so lousy to you before...?" but then he corrected it right away by saying, "No. I don't think i'm being particularly good to you."

His hand caressed her face, wiping away the water and letting his palm rest against her cheek as he looked at her. A light crimson rose in his cheeks, and Fynn pressed their foreheads together in an attempt to hide it. Then, with a voice much more steady and smooth than his face revealed, he said, "I simply love you, Leane. And my heart knows that I can never stop doing so."

Kalli blushed a deep scarlet as she offered a small laugh, "Oh Anna, you don't have to apologize and say such things. I know you weren't trying to be mean, and were only saying how you felt. I'm not angry with you, I promise. I just never realized how open we were with our relationship.."

---

"That's because your heart beats in sync with mine," Leane whispered before capturing his lips in long, sweet kisses. "I'll always love you; my heart has always called out for yours, and it always will. It makes me so happy to hear you say what I've always hoped all of these years.. You have no idea how happy," Leane added softly between kisses as she pulled him closer to her.

"But isn't that a natural result of being crazy about eachother?" Tucking a stray strand from her bangs behind her ear, Anna walked leisurely down the path, feeling relaxed and at ease again. Then she tucked her hands in her coat's pockets, and continued towards Hogsmead with Kalli's arm snugly wrapped under her own.
"I think that's what being crazy in love might be all about," she then continued her theory, smiling affectionatly as the boys' horsing around came into their view. "Just look at Leane and Fynn. From the gossip I've heard in the common room, he's as much of a stickler for the rules, as Leane is a rebel. And yet, he hasn't exactly been following any rules, and I'm pretty sure they can't keep their hands off of eachother. It might be just a natural result of loving, you know?"

- - -

Taking her hands, he pressed them against his heart, sharing with her one of the most embarrassing things he could think of - the rapid beating of his heart. "Oh," Fynn murmured against her lips, locking her hands against his chest by their sheer proximity, and caressing her lower back underneath the water, "I can imagine quite well, Leane."

"I believe your theory might be right," Kalli said with a warm smile down at the young girl beside her, "I think Leane's rebellion stems from wanting to hurt Fynn where it hurts the most, in his pride and in his beliefs. Leane wasn't always a rule-breaker, you know. It sort of progressed into this full-blown Leane you see now after she and Fynn... Well, after first year ended, let's put it that way.

"It will be most interesting to see if Fynn's being a stickler for rules will change just as Leane's rebelliousness has. If you've noticed, she's worn a little less make-up and less show-off apparel lately," Kalli said with a wink and a small laugh.

----

Leane smiled as her fingertips curled gently into his chest. Leaning into him, Leane pressed him back gently against the edge of the tub as her lips chastely pressed against Fynn's. "I love you," Leane whispered as she rested her forehead against his, finding something swell inside her as she felt his heart beat in sync with hers, so that together they created a steady rhythm.

Feeling his heart beat, as well as her own, Leane felt a peace wash over her as she let out a small, soft sigh. "I love you very much my crazy, sweet, loving, darling Gryffindor."

"I certainly think", Anna laughed, eyes sparkling with excitement, "that it will be interesting to observe them. Though I think that that one-" with a nod at Josh, "will be much less interested in it. Maybe if Fynn changes for the 'worse', and Leane for the 'better'?"
As she said it, the only Gryffindor in the present group lifted her hand to make quotation marks at 'worse' and 'better', trying to make extra clear that she had no intention of supposing that either a renewed love for rules, or a new love for rule-breaking, was good or bad in any way.

- - -

"And I love you, my insane, beautiful, intelligent, alluring Slytherin."
As he said the words, the black-haired young man snorted, and shaking his head lightly in between the kisses he was placing on her cheeks, he muttered, "Never thought I'd ever get the chance to say that."

Kalli laughed as she nodded, "It surely will be an interesting bet to wager. But yes, Josh would be completely against any such observations. But he'll come around in time. He just can't bring himself to forgive him for hurting his sister so much. He loves her, you know. He also hates his parents for the way they treat Leane.

"You can't blame him, really, after everything they've been through together. You'll have to forgive him for being so protective and cruel to Fynn, it's not different than how he treats his parents, in a different way. When it comes to Leane, he'd to anything to protect her. He's just afraid Fynn will relapse and be a complete jerk yet again.. I hope for their sakes, it doesn't happen," Kalli added softly.

--------

"Aren't you glad you manned up and stopped making an arse of yourself?" Leane teased as she teasingly, playfully, stuck out her tongue. Placing a light kiss on his nose, Leane smiled as she continued softly, "Though it makes me very happy to hear you say it after all these years."

As they walked, Annastasia bit on the nail of her thumb a bit, thinking over Kalli's suggested scenario rather seriously. "Of course, this is just a guess, but... I don't think that Fynn is the fickle type, though. He doesn't strike me as being like that, at least," she finished lamely, giving an awkward laugh and helpless shrug while looking at Kalli.

Then, her curiosity pushed her to ask, "I take it they have a pretty lousy bond with their parents, then...?" Anna cleared her throat a bit, trying her hardest not to inquire about Josh and Leane's bond too much. After all, she had not forgetting what had happened only the previous day, when she had asked matters similar to the current issue.
Still, the whole situation of their having different names and still being so close had tickled her fancy, and with the September winds whipping against her face, the brunette's eyes shone both with curiosity and a mild concentration of protective fluids as she looked at the blonde Hufflepuff beside her, awaiting a reply.

- - -

"Manned up, my ass," Fynn snorted, combing his hand through her hair as he gave a self-mocking smirk. "I was just too pissed off at Anna suggesting I was a dumbass for not speaking up before, that I blurted it out. But you know..." His expression turned tender, and whilst donning a sweet smile, he leaned forward to capture her lips once more, whispering, "I'm happy too."

"We're not sure, to be honest. Leane and Josh being placed into Slytherin together really hurt Fynn, even more so because they were together while he was on the outs. He sort of.. shunned Leane for it. As for the Suptons.. Mrs. Supton works for the Ministry, a pretty high position in the department. Mr. Supton works with muggles, the tycoon of a vast electric industry over in Japan. It's said there isn't a house in Asia that doesn't have electricity that comes from a plant owned by Supton. Whether that's true or not, we've never really looked," Kalli said with a laugh.

"But no, the relationship between Leane and her parents is dismal. They adore Josh to death, and don't really mind his rudeness to them at times. He may be adopted, but he's more of a real son to them than Leane is their daughter. For Leane.. they see her as a stepping stone to gaining more power and keeping the business within the family. There is so much expected of her, that she rebels. You could argue that falling in love with a Gryffie was a rebellion against her family as well, but I don't think Leane even planned that one. The amortentia? Well, that's another story," Kalli said with a wink.

"I think for you to understand Leane, and even Josh for that matter, you'd have to spend part of your summer at the Supton Estate. It's... an experience in itself," Kalli said hesitantly with a blush.

Having eyed Kalli while she was talking to Anna, Josh stopped harassing Drew and left the rest to Liam for a bit before joining his girlfriend and Anna. Linking his fingers through Kalli's free hand, Josh placed a tender kiss upon her scalp before asking breathlessly, "So, what are you girls talking about?"

"You, in fact," Kalli said with a grin before capturing his lips in a tender kiss by mere impulse. Blushing, Kalli regained composure and Josh let out a disappointed sigh. "Me, huh. My dashing good looks?"

"Your parents, actually," Kalli said with a small smile.

"I see... and what about them?" Josh asked hesitantly as he eyed Anna.

-----

"Oh, so if the prying Anna hadn't transferred this year, you would never have admitted anything to me, and we wouldn't be here right now? It seems I owe Anna more than I thought," Leane said miserably with a scowl. "I very much hate that you only admitted your feelings for me because of Anna Van Orsenhoven.." Leane added softly.

"Mostly," Anna hesitated, before giving Josh a reassuring smile, "that I'm going to need to take my time to understand you, Leane, and everything surrounding you. Though," she then continued in a flirty tone, nudging Kalli's hip and winking at her to indicate her joking, "your good looks did come up at least once."

- - -

Holding her slim face in his hands, Fynn slowly shook his head at her dejected expression. "I don't mean it like that, sweetheart. I was sick of being the only one in love, to start with." He shrugged lightly as he added, "I simply acknowledge that Anna's interference prompted me to blurt it out sooner than I probably would have. At least, I think that's so. Keep in mind," his voice dropped, and with a hand underneath her chin, he tilted her head up in order to catch her eye, "that I was as much convinced of your hatred for me, as you were of my hatred for you. Did you have any intention of throwing yourself in front of the lions, without any hope? I probably wouldn't have."

"Ah. So I see my dear little chatterbox has been giving you the lowdown on the family she's going to marry into in a few years," Josh teased as Kalli's face turned a scarlet red.

"N-n-not details.. Just generalities. She deserves to know some things about the situation. After all, we can't have her going around accusing you and Leane, now can we?" Kalli teased as she lightly bumped her hip against Josh's.

"No, you're right about that," Josh said with a laugh. "Though from the way you two were talking, I don't think you two gave my looks hardly enough justice," Josh added with a smug grin.

----

"Saiyuri has been pushing me for 5 years to tell you... I've kept her at bay all this time because I knew that one day, she would convince me to tell you. But no, I hadn't planned on saying anything until our seventh year.. close to our graduation time. At least then, if I were rejected, I wouldn't have to bare it long," Leane added in a small voice as she nervously looked up at Fynn. "But I would have told you whether Anna came here or not."

While laughing cheerfully, Anna suggested, "Well, if you give us a little twirl, we'll be sure to admire your good looks and fine figure a bit more. Though I have to admit," she continued her teasing, winking at Kalli in a conspiratory manner, "that your grin isn't really doing it for me, right now."

- - - -

"I'm kind of..." Fynn swallowed a bit, trying to hide his blush by tilting his head away from her, "really happy to hear that. Because... no. I wasn't planning on telling you. I think... I guess my pride wouldn't allow it?" He turned his head back to face her, catching her nervous look with an open, bold one of his own. "I could only imagine one scenario - a scenario of you laughing at me in my face, and consequently of Josh laughing at me."

The slim Gryffindor lifted his shoulders in a mild shrug as he explained, "Because while I didn't think you'd keep it hanging over my head for a long time, I was sure he would have. And I wasn't naive enough to think that we would never be amongst the same company again - part of me hoped we would be, at least." A tender gesture followed this, a lift of his hand to caress Leane's face. "Not seeing you again, even after a failed confession, would've been torture."

Josh, exaggerating a look of shock and hurt, acted out his emotion as he pretended to stab a knife through his heart, fell to the ground, and began the twitch of death. "Happy now Anna? You wounded me. You killed me," came Josh's muffled voice from the ground.

--

Leaning into Fynn's hand, Leane smiled affectionately as she placed a long, sweet kiss upon his lips, her hand slipping around his waist while her other hand linked with his. Resting her forehead gently against his, Leane sighed with her eyes closed, "But seeing you, knowing your hatred for me had you not confessed, would have been the greatest torture ever bestowed. I would have the constant feeling of longing, and wanting, while you seemingly went on none the wiser. It would have pained me greatly to have that reminder of what could have been, but what never would be."

Soon after her words, Leane placed a long, warm kiss upon Fynn's lips. "Thank the Gods we will never have to endure either scenario. I love you Fynn," Leane murmured between light, soft kisses, "I love you so very much. Can you ever forgive me for all these years of torment?"