Snowflakes and Ice queens. (Angela)

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin just kept looking at the clock that hung over the door to the Quidditch shop as it slowly ticked on. He could swear that the clock was going slow on purpose just to taunt him. He tried to keep from looking at it but his eyes were just drawn right back as he waited for it to be closing time, which was still an hour away. Dustin's attempts to get Thurston to close the shop early hadn't worked at all, in face with it getting close to Christmas time he want to stay open even longer. He was able to talk him into holding off staying open later till next week but now he was doomed to an extra hour a day, an extra probably dead hour. “hurry up...” He muttered to himself as he looked at the clock once again, which hadn't moved a bit. He could normally kill an hour or two with customers but the place was empty as he was sure it would be. Christmas break hadn't started for Hogwarts yet and students were the stores main customers.

“What are you so anxious about?” Thurston said with is big smile as he came out of the back room and stood next to Dustin. He just laughed slightly as he turned to the old man. “I've got plans that's all and I don't want to be late.” Dustin said in an upbeat tone as he thought about tonight. “Another wild night with some strange girl I'm guessing.” Thurston said with a smirk as he just looked forward out the shop window. “Not unless you were hiring strange woman when you hired her.” Dustin said with a laugh as he looked over to Thurston and just smiled. “Really? I never thought Ava would be the type.” He said with a smirk turning to Dustin. “What's that suppose to mean grandpa?” Dustin said as he just stared at Thurston. “Well I just thought the girl had more sense is all.” Thurston said letting out a big laugh. “I'm just kidding, take a joke.” He added with his smile all wide from messing with Dustin. “Ha ha, that was a good one and I didn't think you were the type to have hundred of cats in your houses.” Dustin said as he tried to make a comeback but Thurston was already walking off. “Just think, I was about to let you off early till you came up with that little gem.” He trailed off laughing as he went back into the storage room.

He kept walking around cleaning up the shelves and anything else that was out of place, he didn't want anything to stop him from leaving on time. Dustin kept cleaning and just when he thought it was time to go he looked at the clock and could tell he still had half an hour left. “Dammit...” He cursed under his breath as he toke a seat behind the counter once again and just waited. “Just leave already, I know you want too.” Thurston said as he walked out from the storage room once again. Dustin just smiled as he said up and headed for the back room. “Just be on your best behavior alright, I don't need you damaging my one good employee.” Thurston said with a laugh and Dustin joined in with him. “Don't worry, you know me.” Dustin let out with a smirk as he left the front room and right into the storage room. “ I know that's what bothers me.” Thurston muttered with a smirk as he could hear the fireplace light up and Dustin was gone.

It only toke Dustin a few minutes to get ready, just change into a better shirt and he would be gone from his house before anyone stopped him to ask where he was going but there was a slim chance of that. It was just him and his mother while everyone else was at school and he was sure she wasn't home either. “maybe I could sneak her back here..” He muttered to himself as he made his way out of his room then just shock his head. “No, that wouldn't be right.” He said as he realized what he had just said and laughed. Dustin was treating Ava very different from how he normally treated other girls he went out with and he wasn't even making an affect to do so, it was just coming naturally. Dustin made sure to grab a cloak and put it on, he was sure it would be cold in Hogsmeade. Dustin would have picked his coat but something about a cloak just screamed Wizard which Dustin just couldn't pass up.

After killing a few minutes Dustin walked to the fireplace and was off to Hogsmeade, he came out in the Three broomsticks fireplace and just looked around. Now all he had to do was wait for Ava to finally show up. Dustin still had a while to wait but he didn't mind he just wanted to make sure he was here on time and that part was done. Dustin walked outside and was instantly glad he brought a cloak with him, it was freezing outside. Dustin then just leaned up against the door frame and started waiting for Ava to appear in Hogsmeade any minute now and hopfully somewhere close to where he was. he didn't want to have to search for her half the night.

[Angela Merciano S7]

Life had become far more complicated than Angela had originally planned. Her life was supposed to be fairly simple. Well, as simple as it possibly could be considering her very well…complicated family history. She was supposed to go through her schooling like a good daughter and Merciano child, but of course fate could not let that happen. Fate just couldn’t let her be happy. Fate wouldn’t hear anything about letting her graduate to continue to do business for her family and it definitely wouldn’t allow her to fall in love with a loyal and respectable Cavalieri boy like she had planned to. No, fate was never that nice to her. She just had to fall in love with the perfect damn disease that would cause the end of any simplicity that was left in Angela’s whirlwind of a personal life. Now was she not only putting on an act for society, but she was also putting up a façade to her family as well as her boyfriend.

Angela hated the word boyfriend. Even though her “iced heart” had long since melted, she was still very reserved about her “thing” (yes, she also bitterly tried to avoid the word relationship as well) with her former co-worker at the Quidditch shop in Diagon Alley. She couldn’t escape her feelings for him, no matter how hard she tried. At first she did try. She tried very, very hard to deny her feelings for him. But that didn’t last for very long. She was forced by her family to spend day after day with him in that shop and she couldn’t possibly escape her affections. Even after her job was done, her grandfather still thought it was a good idea to keep her around Diagon Alley to not only keep an eye on Dustin Hemingway, but other businesses that were starting to fall under Entourage territory nearby. According to Angela’s father, most of the shops in Diagon Alley as well as Knockturn Alley were run by Entourage members. The small Italian bakery was one of the three businesses that were under the Cavalieri control in the area, and that included Knockturn Alley as well. Even though, thanks to Damara Hemingway’s mouth, her mother was safely back at home, Angela couldn’t escape Dustin. The saddest part was, most of her didn’t want to escape him. It used to be a small part deep inside of her that had such an infectious attraction to him, but now that small minority had turned into a huge majority. She was damn addicted, and there was no escaping that fact anymore. So, for her own good, Angela prepared herself to get her next fix, spending only five minutes in the shower as opposed to the half hour she usually spent to kill the hot water. Damara would probably be shocked.

Angela found that she was beginning to attempt to act a bit more tolerant of Damara Hemingway. Damara had been a victim of the same curse Angela was currently under, and her “addiction” had been snatched away from her in the blink of an eye. As unbearable as that little wench was, Angela supposed she had only herself to blame for putting the Hemingway girl through such torturous pain. The least she could do was lighten up a bit. It was amazing what just a few months with Dustin had done to her. She was beginning to feel sympathy for those who she knew were her natural born enemies. It was incredible. But right now Angela had something else to worry about. Her disguise. Since Angela had returned to Hogwarts, the spell her grandfather had placed on her had been reversed, and she was back to her usual self.

Of course her grandfather would put the spell back into effect during the holidays so she could work back in the Quidditch shop, but she needed to make it work while she was seeing Dustin in secret. So, with the help of some books from the restricted section, Angela came across the “see who you expect to see” enchantment. It would allow Angela to look like Angela to those who expected to see Angela, and allowed her to look like Ava to anyone who expected to see Ava. However, the problem was she couldn’t speak to someone who expected to see Angela and someone who expected to see Ava at the same time, because then her cover would be blown completely. So, she tried to avoid public areas.

Angela took the carriages into Hogsmeade, still without a disguise, and walked into the Three Broomsticks. The second she walked in, she noticed Dustin Hemingway. Their eyes met for a moment, but then Angela remembered that he didn’t know he was looking right at his girlfriend Ava. He was probably about to get very defensive, because he thought he was staring at the evil Angela Merciano for a good five seconds. Angela took her eyes off of him and continued to walk to her destination—the bathroom. She pushed the doors open and was glad to see a room full of empty stalls. She recited the spell quickly, and the next thing she knew, she was disguised. Dustin would now see her as the lovely (and newly brunette) Ava Jackson. She pulled the hood of her cloak over her eyes so no one in the Three Broomsticks would see her face and walked outside and met Dustin’s eyes, this time smiling a bit. Thankfully, he was standing right by the door so Angela was able to pull him right out. Once outside, she smiled back up at him. “Hello there.” She said cheerily, kissing his cheek. “Come on, I’ve got a surprise for you.” She said, pulling him down one of Hogsmeade’s emptier side streets with no exact destination in mind. She’d figure something out, hopefully.

(I hope I explained the disguise spell clearly enough. If I didn't, then let me know and I'll explain it better in my next reply.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin couldn't help but think of Ava as he waited for her, she seemed to always be on his mind no matter what was going on. While he was home he would think of her and yet think about his family too, if his mother knew he had a serious girlfriend she would probably demand to meet her for some reason and he wanted to avoid that at all costs. His mother would probably be full of questions for Ava and be suspicious of her the whole time. Also he was afraid to even think about telling Ava about his family and what they did. He could lie for awhile but sooner or later she was sure to find out if she stuck around Dustin long enough. If only he had been born into a family with no criminal past then he wouldn't have to worry about any of this, about hiding what his family really was.

He could live with being related to a family of criminals but if something happened to Ava just because of his family he didn't know what he would do. Dustin was used to being around the dangerous aspect of his life, even if he didn't want anything to do with The Entourage he was still a big target for anyone looking to hurt them but if anyone found about Ava. They might take advantage of her not knowing and use it against him. Dustin just sighed as he put his hands into his cloak just to keep them warm and kept looking around for Ava. He didn't want to think of any of this right now, he just wanted to be with Ava before she had to get back to school.

As Dustin waited he looked at some of the people walking passed him and into the Three Broomsticks, they all seemed to ignore him completely as they walked on. Soon one face stuck out immediately, a face which he hadn't expected to see ever and didn't really want to see. “Angela...” He thought as he watched her walk passed him all the while she was staring right back at him, she soon looked away but Dustin kept watching till she was inside the Three Broomsticks. “Great... just great, that's what I needed today.” Dustin thought to himself as his mind raced about her. “Why was she here, why today of all days did she have to show up?” Dustin instinctively grabbed a hold of his wand which was in his cloak but he didn't pull it out. Dustin didn't have anything against Angela herself and if all this gang stuff wasn't in their lives she might have been yet another girl to go out with yet due to their families history Dustin wanted to be ready for anything.

With his hand still on his wand he turned every time the door to the Three broomsticks opened but so far Angela hadn't come back out. He still couldn't figure out why she was here, it had to be a coincidence. No one besides himself and Ava knew he would be here and hadn't told Thurston about where he was going. If he wasn't waiting for Ava he would probably have just left Hogsmeade altogether, he wasn't afraid of Angela but he still didn't want to get drawn into this life anymore then he had too. The door opened once again and this time he let go of his wand and just smiled as he saw Ava. “Finally, I could have been killed out her waiting for you. Then again it's worth it to see you.” Dustin said with a laugh as she kissed him on the cheek and Dustin just smiled a little more. He laughed a little as she pulled him down one of the empty streets around them talking about some surprise. “So you actually are a werewolf? I knew it, I always thought you were too cute to just be human.” Dustin said teasing her slightly as he just followed her down the road and hopefully as far away from Angela as possible.

[Angela Merciano S7]

So now Angela needed to figure out what exactly she was going to do about this “surprise” thing of hers. She didn’t know where exactly she was going to take Dustin, nor did she have any idea where she was right now. Maybe she could come up with something clever within the next couple of minutes while he was distracted for a bit. Right now he was just happy to see her, so she had a little window of opportunity to figure out where exactly she was going to take him. Maybe there was some sort of little park or wood somewhere she could say she found after a day of wandering. But she didn’t see any sort of little forest or anything around this part of the neighborhood. In fact, it was kind of eerily quiet. It was, what her father would describe, “a place for easy business”. It was very poorly lit and not many people ever walked by, so if anything sneaky was to happen, here was the perfect place to do it.

Angela glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. She hated having to be so sneaky like this, but she was used to it. All her life she was taught to be cautious. The authorities had been hot to the plan of the Cavalieri for years. All they needed was their proof. Angela knew this, so she knew how to be cautious with herself. She just didn’t like the feeling of always holding back a part of her, especially to Dustin. But Angela could never tell him who she really was. He would hate her. She was the one who had torn his sister to pieces with just one word to her grandfather. She was part of the other side. He would never accept her if he knew she was really Angela Merciano. Their relationship would be crushed, and so would Angela. She hated to admit it, but she knew it was true.

Angela sighed heavily, finally noticing the long silence she had created and the drastic change between the peppy “I have a surprise” Ava, to the silent and serious Ava that arrived about two minutes later. She couldn’t help it though; she did have a lot on her mind. She just wished she could tell Dustin. She really did. Angela rested her head on his shoulder as they walked. “You’re hilarious. No, I’m not a werewolf. You’ll just have to find out for yourself.” She said with a light smile as they continued to walk down the long, winding street. She wondered what life would be like if she told Dustin about her secret. Being with him would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? Once she did get him to accept her, they could live in peace. Sure, she’d still have to hide from her family, but she could handle that. But the essential problem at hand was whether or not he’d accept her for who she was or not. She wasn’t all too sure about that part.

Angela bit her lower lip for a moment, deep in thought. She barely even noticed the light snow that began to fall. “But what if I told you I was…let’s say a werewolf. Just for the fun of it. I mean, werewolves are like men’s mortal enemy you know? Think you’d be able to deal with that?” Angela ventured. The werewolf wasn’t that bad of an analogy. Damara Hemingway didn’t call her the demon for nothing. To the Hemingways, a Merciano with a past like Angela’s was just as bad as a beast like a werewolf. And the “man’s mortal enemy” part wasn’t too much of a far cry from the real situation either. The Mercianos and the Hemingways had been mortal enemies for years. Maybe she could get some idea as to how Dustin would react to her being a Merciano if she knew the answers to some of these other trivial questions. That is, if he didn’t admit her to a mental hospital first.

[Dustin Hemingway]

Dustin couldn't help but notice where they were going as he followed Ava. Dustin had visited this area many times during his school year right before he was expelled from Hogwarts. You could buy anything in dark streets like this if you can find the right people and had the money. Both of those things weren't a problem for Dustin with his families background back then but now he didn't care much for places like this. He wasn't afraid of it he just didn't care to bring up memories like those especially when was with Ava. Dustin just wanted to be happy with her but she also seemed quiet too for awhile. He wanted to bring it up but he held it back, he'd bring it up later if she was still quiet. After a while she rested her head on his shoulder as they walked and Dustin just smiled and put his arm around her.

He just laughed slightly as Ava denied being a werewolf once again and they kept walking. It was silent once again for awhile as Dustin soon noticed that it was starting to snow, nothing heavy so it seemed kind of nice to him. He kept looking down to Ava not sure where they were going but he didn't mind if they had even gotten lost. Hogsmeade wasn't a very confusing place so finding their way back wouldn't be too hard. As he looked down to her she finally spoke again and Dustin just couldn't help but laugh slightly as he listened to her question. Dustin thought about it for a second as he wondered what it actually would have been like if Ava was a werewolf.

“Well you would only be my mortal enemy one day out of the month, so I'm sure I could deal with it.” He said with a smile as he finally looked away from her, not because he wanted to but if he didn't look forward soon he might have tripped over something and he didn't feel like looking stupid in front of Ava. “Besides I love the girl not the mortal enemy so I'd have to just get past you being all fluffy and dangerous. We will have to get you a cute collar just in case you ran away though.”Dustin said laughing slightly then realized now my be a prefect time to find out how Ava would react if he told her the truth about him.

“My turn for random questions I guess.” Dustin said with a laugh as he looked down to her and smiled. “What if I was dangerous somehow? Not a werewolf though... lets see..” Dustin said trying to pretend he was thinking about something else that was dangerous. “What if I came from a family of criminals?” He finally let out with a slight laugh as he hoped her answer wouldn't be too bad. If she did say something like she would have to leave him Dustin would just have to hide it all. “It couldn't be that hard, I'd just never talk to my mother or sister and brother and move far away.” Dustin thought to himself and kept walking. He could deal with not talking his mother, she was always wrapped up in entourage business anyway but his sister and brother he'd miss a whole lot but he'd still have Ava in the end.

[Angela Merciano S7]

The subject matter of Angela and Dustin’s conversation was getting dangerously close to the actual situation they were actually in. Part of her mind had red flags going up everywhere, warning her not to push any further. But the other half just wanted to blurt it out, just to see what he’d say. Maybe he wouldn’t react so harshly. He was never really into the whole feud between the two families anyway. She remembered her sister telling her about Dustin’s very loose personality while she was at Hogwarts with him. He wasn’t at all like the rest of his family, who were devoted and loyal in every possible way. Angela was beginning to think that maybe, things would be easier if only Dustin knew her secret. They were on common ground and he didn’t even know it. She just had to tell him. It would be unfair to him if she didn’t. Plus she wasn’t all too sure how long she could keep this mediocre disguise up.

But there was one question that still remained. How was she going to tell him? How could she possibly tell him that she had been keeping such a secret from him for so damn long? It seemed almost cruel that she had been lying to him all this time. If anything, that would be the fact that Dustin would have gotten upset about. But then again, he wasn’t exactly rushing to tell her about his big secret either. Or maybe he was silently preparing to do just that right now? Angela had no idea, but either way, she knew in her heart that she really did need to tell him. She not only needed to tell him, but she needed to tell him now. She knew her confidence in the subject would only get worse from here. She was quiet for a moment, still deep in her own thoughts. She hadn’t even answered his half-joking question about the “family of criminals” yet. Finally, she refocused the glazed and lost look on her eyes so she was staring at him right in the face again.

She smiled at him. “I’m sure I could manage. I’ve seen a lot of danger throughout my life anyway, so I’m sure dating a guy whose family consisted of only harmless criminals should be no problem for me.” She said with a slight laugh. She still had no idea what she was going to say. So, nervously, she continued on. “I mean…they couldn’t be as bad as my family. My grandfather’s pretty controlling. He runs the uh..family business. He’s not very popular amongst our competitors though. But then again, neither am I. Their entire family thinks I’m some kind of cold heartless witch who’s out to get their daughter. I’m not really like that though. I may be an Ice Queen, but even Ice Queens have souls. They make lots of mistakes….like keeping big life altering secrets from their boyfriends. But you understand how we Ice Queens can get on occasion…right? I mean in the end of it all, some Ice Queens have secrets they simply have no choice but to keep.” She stared at him, her tone getting more serious with every word. She felt tears welling up in her eyes, not being able to believe herself and the way she was acting for this Hemingway boy of hers. She’d really gotten herself into trouble this time. Either way, there was no turning back now.

[Dustin Hemingway]

“Stupid, I should have just been quiet.” Dustin thought to himself as he kept walking with Ava, why did he even think about asking her anything like that. He didn't need to give anymore hints to who he actually was. Second guessing himself was something Dustin never did but only around Ava, he didn't want to make any mistakes. Dustin let out a slight sigh as he thought to himself and kept his arm around Ava. “It's not like I hadn't planned to get as far away from my family as possible so maybe I don't have to tell her the truth.” He thought to himself still waiting for her response but shock his head at that idea. If he waited too long and Ava ever found out he had been lying to her she would probably leave him right away and Dustin didn't want to imagine that.

He just smiled as she answered him and he felt slightly relieved but then again this was all just jokes, it might be different if he let on that it was all true. “Yeah, harmless.” Dustin said letting out a weak laugh while his mind followed up with “If only they were.” His mother was a murdering, torturing thief and his sister wanted t be just like her, not as harmless as he wished. Dustin just decided that he was going to have to tell her no matter what but it didn't have to be just right now but soon. Who knows she might even think it was kind of exciting Dustin thought with a slight shrug as he looked back to Ava as she started to talk again.

As he listened to Ava speak he couldn't help but notice the tone of her voice changing. It was pretty obvious that she was talking about herself and she was hiding something from Dustin. Dustin's mind went off trying to figure out what it might have actually been but he didn't come up with anything. Dustin just stared back at her and could see the look in her eyes. “It's okay beautiful, I'm sure you... I mean other ice queens have a good reason to hide things but you can always tell me.” Dustin said smiling at her and just stared back. “I'm sure I can handle it either way you'll still be my wonderful Ava. So take your time and when your ready, I'll be here.” Dustin added as he kissed her forehead, he thought he would be more annoyed by someone hiding something from him but then again he was hiding something from her so it must seem only fair.

(Sorry it toke so long.)

[Angela Merciano S7]

Angela should have known that this was going to take a bit more explaining than what she was doing. She knew Dustin well, and she knew he wasn’t very good at picking up a hint. She was really going to have to come right out and say it wasn’t she? Angela’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t do this. No, she couldn’t tell him. Could she? Angela took in a quick gasp of air through her slow stream of tears. Everything about this relationship was against what she knew as 'the normal Angela'. She didn’t even know who she really was anymore. Dustin had done such a good job of shaking up Angela’s entire state of being that she didn’t even know what was going on anymore. The future that she used to look forward to was now a blurry shadow that she couldn’t distinguish anymore. This was all too much, way too soon. Angela didn’t know what to do. Everything that seemed to make sense to her before now made absolutely no sense at all.

Angela looked around her. The snow was falling silently, landing in Dustin’s sandy brown hair gracefully. It seemed like everything happened so easily for him. He fluttered through life and through conflicts like the snowflakes fluttered to the ground. The snowflakes knew they were going to land on the ground and melt eventually anyway, but they fluttered down gracefully knowing their inevitable end anyway. It didn’t take long to realize that unlike Dustin Hemingway, Angela was not a snowflake. She was more like a raindrop, or maybe a piece of falling hail. She couldn’t continue fluttering along like this. She shouldn’t have even got herself into this situation with Dustin in the first place. Where did she think this was going to end up? Was she going to just abandon the people who had loved, raised, and nurtured her all her life? Whatever happened to the old phrase “blood is thicker than water”? Was Dustin really that important that he was worth forgetting about her family for? There was absolutely no way she’d be able to come to any sort of compromise to keep the both of them in her life, because that was simply impossible. Dustin was a Hemingway: the enemy. He’d never be welcome in Angela’s life by her family. So it was either one or the other.

Just the fact that Angela had to make that choice horrified her. She didn’t want to have to choose. But she knew that maybe, one day or another, that would have to happen. Angela didn’t know what to do with herself. Her mind was overcrowded and even more disorganized than she could ever imagine possible. She felt dizzy, lightheaded even. How would Dustin even react if he knew her secret anyway? He’d never been the type to be too enveloped in the family, but she knew that Dustin hated Angela Merciano. He never stopped mentioning how much he loved the Ava Jackson he saw all the time, but there was a completely different side of her he didn’t even know. What would he do when he found out his girlfriend was the one and only cause of his little sister’s state of emotional instability? Angela sighed. This was too much. Angela needed to get away from all of this, just for a little bit.

Did she even love Dustin? She was almost sure she did. In fact, it had even been proved that Angela couldn’t even stay away from him for too long of a time period. He had become a necessary evil in her life; one that she couldn’t avoid no matter how hard she tried to. But the word love was too strong. Angela didn’t want to say it. She didn’t even want to think it. The moment she uttered that word, Angela would make a commitment. She could feel the word bubbling inside of her, but she refused to say it. She refused to get herself any closer to him than she was now. Angela had always believed in self preservation. Now it was time to preserve her heart, before she ended up doing something stupid. But she couldn’t pull away completely, not just yet. She’d simply leave it up to him. “Dustin, I can’t do this anymore. Just think about what I said. Really think and reflect on it. Once you know my secret, then you can decide. But I can't continue seeing you, not like this. Not while you still have no idea what exactly you're dealing with. If you find that you still want me as your...'Ice Queen' or whatever, then you’ll find a way to come and find me. Until then...” Angela couldn’t finish her sentence. Tears were streaming down her face at a rate even she couldn’t believe. She needed to get away. For five minutes, five days, five weeks...she didn’t care. It would pain her to be away from him for so long, but she was just going to have to manage. So, without another word, she threw a small potion on the floor, causing the entire area to fall into pitch black darkness. Even though she could barely even see, she ran. She didn’t know if Dustin was following or if he had seen where she went, but she hoped he wasn’t. He needed time to figure out if Angela Merciano was really the girl he wanted to be with.