People often said that opposites attracted, perhaps that was true when applied to friendships as well. No, perhaps it was particularly true when applied to friendships. It seemed that the two women complimented each other in every single way, not just to their appearance but also to their very nature and personality. Whilst the one was blonde and vibrant, the other was dark and soft. Whilst the one was bubbly and energetic, the other was thoughtful and timid. Regardless, both seemed to want a little part of the other, and they seemed to bring out that quality in each other in the most complimentary way. Illyana never felt pushed to be bold when she was around Catherine, she simply felt the desire to not over-analyse and just enjoy herself, and so she did. In a strange way Catherine was her sun. Well, it was a compliment of course. Illyana wasn’t sure if it was her heritage or her family but being called someone’s sun was an extremely precious compliment that only a few people truly earned or deserved. Illyana constantly thought of Catherine as her little ray of sunshine and when writing to her family she did not refrain from referring to Catherine as her sun. It was a strange costum but a very fitting one. Catherine simply brought happiness and warmth into Illyana’s life. This was not saying that if Catherine had a problem that Illyana’s wouldn’t listen. Of course she would listen, and give advice and hug and cry with if needed, it was just that ever since Catherine had entered into Illayan’s existence, things had been just a little big brighter, for the most part.

The ladies-out-night they were having had been exactly what Illyana had needed after a week of rain and nostalgic dreams. Her attention was entirely focused on Catherine and her funny story about the strange things that always seemed to befall her, and so Illyana was oblivious to the glances men cast her way. It was not saying that Illyana wasn’t interested in men, in fact she hoped that she would one day find someone to trust again, it was just that she didn’t feel any spark. In that sense Illyana was extremely romantic at heart. She still believed in chivalry and grand gestures, and she wanted all of it.

“You always seem to get into the strangest situations,” Illayna laughed, her hand resting casually around the empty glass in front of her. “The only remotely interesting happening to me are my little Huffies quarrelling over who ate their chocolate in the common room,” Illyana said with a grimace. It was somewhat of a pathetic story that made Illyana smile nonetheless.

A state of haze and bliss had started to form inside the little brunette. She was not nearly drunk enough to flirt with a stranger, but she was not about to refuse a conversation, if it so should be presented to her. The otherwise kind and gentle history professor seemed rather radiant with a confidence that rarely showed on her features. It looked becoming on her though. With a laugh she cheered when the bartender came over with two vividly pink drinks with pomegranate and umbrellas on the top. “Thaaaank you,” she said in a singsong voice. “I am forever grateful to whomever introduced these drinks to Hogsmead,” Illyana remarked to Catherine as she took a sip of the delicious juice cocktail.

Sometimes it was hard to keep track of exactly where Catherine was in the present. Her mind shifted and changed as quickly as the wind, and unless you expected such leaps of topics and emotions one could be quite caught off guard. Thankfully Illyana was used to Catherine’s erratic and jumble mess of thoughts and feelings, and in many ways she welcomed it. Illyana’s life was so structured and planned. Everything was planned out. It wasn’t one of those lives that her parents had planned out for her, no; it was she who had planned it out for herself, which in most people’s eyes made it seem even worse. Illyana didn’t really see it as a bad thing that she had set goals for herself in life that she had actually accomplished. However, she did understand her own need to rebel from her own path and simply, as Catherine would put it, go with the wind.

Illyana’s eyes followed Catherine’s pointing finger and landed on a handsome face, coming towards them in the crowd. She instantly felt attracted, and whether it was the fact that she had always been awkward with men or the fact that she hadn’t gotten laid in quite some time, she blushed a little. Thankfully it was a small blush that could easily be mistaken for a side effect of the alcohol they were jugging down. As Catherine jumped up from her seat Illyana was left a little unsure of what to do with herself. She had had a few drinks by now and was not as keen to revert back to her shell like she usually was. She wanted to be seen and heard, like Catherine. As she jumped into the arms of he uncle all eyes were on her. And although Illyana sometimes wished with all her heart that she had the guts to pull off a stunt like that, she simply couldn’t stand the limelight.

A smile passed over Illyana’s lips as the attention was reverted back to her for a moment. “Oh, you can just call me Illyana,” she laughed. He was neither her students nor someone from a social call, why be so formal? Why don’t you join us for a moment? She thought to herself, unable to voice it out. After all, this was Catherine’s uncle! This was not the time for attention seeking, but rather a time for being Catherine’s charming best friend.

When Illyana had first heard the utterance of uncle, she had been sure that the man was off limits. After all, her best friend’s uncle? Surely that was a little too much. Even as Catherine had introduced James as her ex-uncle Illyana had gotten the feeling that he was off limits, however, that didn’t mean she didn’t find him incredibly attractive. Illyana had always had a thing for older men, but she had never had to really feel on that attraction before. She had had a boyfriend, heck even a fiancé, for such a long time. Her commitment was admirable. It was like a switch inside her. Once her mind-set was on the fact that she was together with someone her attraction to other men was instantly cut off. Sure, she still found other men physically attractive and handsome, but it was never something she thought about too much or even responded to at the time. Since her break-up she had become much more aware of her own desires and what, or who, she was attracted to.

Knowing Catherine she had probably picked up on her feelings and Illyana was surprised when Catherine dashed away, quite indiscreetly. Illyana was left confused for a moment. Why would Catherine just leave her alone with this handsome older man? Unless… No, that couldn’t be it. Illyana internally shook her head and smiled slightly at her friend who dashed away. She cradled her drink, suddenly feeling very young. It had been some time she had been in the dating game, in fact she hadn’t been on a date with someone since her ex-fiancé.

Illyana’s attention was reverted back to James and she looked up with her clear, azure eyes. She smiled pleasantly at him. “Yes, I am the History Professor there,” she said, a hint of a foreign accent in her English. The woman was born and raised in Greece and was bound to have a slight accent to her second language. “And, what do you do?” she asked in return.

Under the influence of alcohol Illyana was much more open and charming, not to say that she wasn’t under normal circumstances, but she was always so much more guarded when she was in her full wits. Illyana had always been of the careful type, the calm and collected, she had been pleasant to be around but never as fun as her crazy friend Catherine. Illyana did not like to compare herself to Catherine, after all they were two completely different people with two completely different stories, but she often admired Catherine’s way with people in general, how she seemed to make them all like her. Illyana usually faded away into the background in light of such a flamboyant person. She held no grudge towards Catherine because of this, she was just happy that she had a real friend. Friends were a luxury Illyana had not had much of in the past, in fact her best friend turned out to be her ex-fiancé.

Illyana raised her eyebrow a little at his keen skills of observation. Not many people recognized the dulled hint of an accent in her voice, although to be fair it was much more pronounced when she was tipsy. “You are correct,” she confirmed with a charming smile. “I am from Greece,” she said, proud of her foreign heritage. She lived and worked in England, yet Greece would always be considered her homelands. “Oh, thanks but no thanks, Cat just bought me a fancy umbrella drink,” she said with humour. Although not particularly classy, these strange and colourful drinks were quite tasty, and they easily got her drunk, when that was the goal of course. However, with this man she somehow felt like she should’ve order wine, instead of drinking these ridiculously tasty umbrella drinks.

The woman listened intently (as intently as an alcohol affected person could listen) to his job description and pondered it a little. “It sounds interesting. Although it’s hardly the same, I have interacted a lot with muggles before. I sometimes find it a little difficult because of the non-magic part,” she admitted silently. She was just about to answer his question about the plans for the evening when she felt a force hit her in the back, making her loose her balance on the little stool she was sitting on. Illyana was careful not to knock over the drink as she lost her balance, but in the effort ended up falling into the other man’s arms, steading herself on his shoulders with her two hands. Her deep blue eyes flew wide open as she stood nose to nose to with James, and she let a gasp of surprised pass her lips in the process.

At the mentioning of his ex-wife and kids Illyana heart sank for a moment. If she had married Garret all those years ago she might’ve had kids by now. Despite Illayan’s drive towards her career her biggest dream was still to have kids and have a loving family. It was a dream she had had all her life, but one that she never saw herself able to fulfil. There never seemed to be a man that quite suited her for that to happen. So Illyana had cast the dream aside as something a foolish girl would dream of. At this point in life she saw herself lucky if she got as much as a kiss from someone, however it still cause emotions to stir in her whenever someone mentioned a family.

Illyana did not even realise it when the man’s hands were on her hips, she was too busy trying not to spill her drink all over her, or worse, James. Utterly perplexed at what had happened she found herself staring right into his grey eyes. She stood mesmerized for a moment, until she realised where his hands were placed. A light flutter of pink rose in her cheeks, both embarrassed and excitement overflowed her emotional boundaries. She stood still, literally frozen for a moment, her incredibly blue eyes wide and shocked, her lip slightly open by the surprise. The blush deepened in colour as she realised how temptingly close they stood. If she moved only a little…

The woman felt even younger than before. What on earth was going on with her? She wasn’t a hormone infused teen, yet felt like she acted like one. She inhaled, snapping out of her trance. She pulled back, yet not as much as she probably should’ve. She only arched her back a little in surprise, so that their faces weren’t that close. “I- I’m quite all right,” she managed to stutter, still feeling the effects of his hold on her hips. Those warm, manly hands. Her heart thumped loudly. She swallowed. “That’s quite a reflex you’ve got there,” she said, taking just a slight step back, steadying herself. Her hands slid from his shoulders and away from him, one of them resting on the table. She assumed by doing this he would let go of her body, yet there was a part of her that hoped he would just pull her back in and intensify the intimacy. God Lord, I am turing into Catherine, she thought to herself as thoughts of his hands roaming her body entered her imagination.

The woman composed herself. Honestly, she needed to get on grip on herself. She was not some young teenager, despite the fact that she had never been particularly flirtatious as a young girl. However, this was mostly because most people found her obesity unattractive and they never engaged in small talk. Of course as a teenager she had found herself attracted to other people, but she had never been one of those girls who could pick and choose, in fact, she had never chosen. Her ex-fiancé had chosen her despite the odds, and although they were no longer on speaking terms anymore that fact was still sweet in her mind. However, back into the present moment Illyana still felt like a teenager. Those uncontrolled emotions and desires, well wasn’t those characteristics befitting a teen? And besides, with all her self control, James was making it incredibly difficult not to act on those desires. Was he even aware of what an attractive man he really was? Or perhaps it was Illyana’s taste in older men.

The man had moved to take her spot, shielding her from the violent, drunk men who had almost knocked her over. She was momentarily surprised. These kind of gestures were of the dying kind, and she appreciated his manners. Illyana was very much a modern woman, but unlike a normal modern woman she truly appreciated chivalry, in fact she truly did like those qualities in a man. The man shielded her from harms way, placing himself slightly behind her. She turned her head sideways, looking up at him through her curly tresses with a smile on her full lips. “Thank you,” she said softly. Staying there, rooted to the floor, Illyana couldn’t help but to feel this almost magnetic pull in her, like leaning her back against his torso would be the only reasonable thing to do.

Illyana was far from drunk though, and instead of giving into her impulses she turned just a little bit, to better face him. However, this move seemed to almost bring them closer, or at least his gesture suddenly seemed a little bit more intimate with her half-facing him. She tried to ignore it, even though all she wanted was to inch closer to his chest. “Yes, indeed it does,” she said, trying to engage in small talk once more. “Actually, I wrote my thesis about Greek Mythology,” she said, referring back to her profession as a history professor, although she left the subject kind of open. She did not want to bore him with her tedious passion for Greek Mythology.

“My family is from a small fishing village on Zakynthos, one of the Ionian Islands,” she said, wondering briefly is his knowledge of Greece would be that vast. Not many people she knew had even heard of the Ionian Island, even though the isles were quite a popular tourist destination for muggles.