I heard that you like the bad girls—Honey, is that true? [Seth]

Lorin straightened her skirt, and unhooked her heavy cloak as she rounded the corner to the rendezvous point, feeling alive. Being a prefect was horribly boring; Lorin never got to do anything wicked anymore. It was far past time she break a few rules and get into a little trouble. She'd never tried to sneak out of Hogwarts before, and it was simply disgusting how easy it had been. Like the great Fred and George Weasley before her, Lorin was familiar with many of Hogwarts' secret passageways. She had merely needed to follow one to the end to find herself directly in the cellar of Honeydukes.

Of course, her cover had helped. Lorin didn't doubt that she would have been able to get past the other prefects, Filch, and the professors with patience and caution... but she had an engagement she was loath to delay. To her, this meant that this was an opportune moment to put her diligent practice into action.

Lorin had spent years of her life poured over books and articles about animagi. She'd hunted them down and smuggled them in. She wrote to known animagi about their skills, and watched her older friend, Rosaline, begin her study, too. She'd began learning in her second year, and, finally, last November she had realized she was ready to attempt her full transformation. Since then, Lorin's work ethic had nearly doubled. She'd been carefully practicing for months to replicate that performance, and was delighted by her progress.

Still, the transformations had been purely scientific until this point—only ever performed within the confines of a private room. She knew she wasn't perfect. She still struggled sometimes to change into her cat form, and even sometimes she struggled to change back to normal. She knew she didn't fully behave like a real cat... but the hallways were dark and the walk was short.

Lorin changed soon after exiting the dungeon. She managed to creep past Filch when he wasn't looking, then slip into an empty classroom immediately adjacent to the statue of  Gunhilda of Gorsemoor. After changing back, Lorin felt giddy and proud of herself. She quickly opened the passage and let the statue slide back into place behind her. Using her wand for light, she began the long trek to the wizarding village.

Despite the nearly hour-long walk (in heels!), Lorin was vibrating with excitement. It wasn't just her sense of achievement and her mischief that was affecting her, either. More than either of those things, Lorin could barely contain her excitement at what waited at the end of that tunnel. It was worth all the trouble she might get into. She was visiting Seth. Or, well, really... he was visiting her.

Lorin had harbored a very annoying and embarrassing crush on Seth Stanton since the latter part of the last school year. She'd awkwardly reached out to him over the summer in some feeble hope that he might take pity on her and  give her a visit. Lucky for her, Seth did. Their first meeting went much better than she'd anticipated, and he'd even asked her to be his date to her mother's ministry fundraiser. After that, Seth had visited her once during the fall term, and she'd seen him twice over the winter holidays. Though still horribly infatuated with the older boy, Lorin was beginning to feel increasingly comfortable in his presence. They'd been sharing a bed frequently, though not regularly, and Lorin was beginning to feel less like a silly girl whose advances he would reject, and more like an actual friend. She trusted him to a degree, and sometimes allowed him to see some of her more candid (read: less polished) moments.

Even so, they certainly weren't together. Lorin made sure to keep this in the front of her mind, and made a point to have her eyes on other guys, just in case. This included her ex-lover, Conall. Lorin had surprised herself when she kissed him during a study session the previous term. He'd been holding onto her, helping her to clear her head while she attempted to pull out her happiest memory in hopes of producing her first patronus. She felt warm, safe, and comfortable in his embrace. Before she knew what she was doing, she'd turned her head just a little and allowed him to turn her body to face him. Before she knew it, she was pulling him into her, eyes closed. The kiss was brief, but the tension lingered, ultimately climaxing when he brought her to the famed Regan New Years bash. He showed her off like she was his girlfriend to his family, then they left early to enjoy a more intimate welcome to the  new millennium. Things were weird between them after that, different.

Conall was a far cry from Seth, but Lorin didn't necessarily want to share his affections. If Seth seemed to be disinterested, maybe she'd consider dating the older Slytherin instead.... but at the moment, Seth didn't seem disinterested at all. In fact, Lorin might have even ventured to call this rendezvous a date. He was still giving her plenty of attention, and as far as she was concerned, she would take as much as she could get. Pathetic, wasn't it?

Lorin paused by a window to check her makeup and her hair, then approached her friend.

“Hello stranger.” She teased. “What's a guy like you doing here at this hour? I hear these streets are dangerous at night.”

Seth didn't really prefer real dates now that he was out of school and had no unnecessary pretenses to put up. He didn't like pretending that he was having a good time with a girl he really just wanted to slip in and out of, honestly -- it gave them ideas and it was a hassle for him most of the time. In a way, he didn't like deluding them for a night into thinking there would be more dates or more anything. Innocent girls, especially, ones that weren't a little damaged in their own rights, deserved better than that. They deserved sunshine pretty boys who could lay their hearts out on a platter -- and Seth wasn't going to change anytime soon. He'd had several experiences with women who thought they'd be the token girl, the one to defrost his icy heart, and none of them had been successful to the finish.

There was one girl, however, who he didn't mind going on dates with. He rather enjoyed his time with her whenever they could manage to parallel some open time slots, even. She was very different from most of the females he knew. She was smart, generally go-with-the-flow, and he didn't feel guilty going home with her and telling her goodbye later that night (or, on the rare occasion, in the morning). Lorin didn't ask too many prying questions, had a good sense of humor, and he didn't have to walk on charming eggshells around her. Seth liked that he could settle into what was comfortable for him -- not the demeanor he'd switched on and off around girls in school -- and that she still seemed to be okay with it.

It was a lot less tiring and a lot less false and he thought that maybe that was why he wasn't opposed to doing things like this with her. Tonight, they were going to Grimli. This was something he'd toyed with quite a bit, entertaining the idea before fully committing. He didn't want to put on the protective brother persona like he did with Aline -- Lorin wasn't his sister. She played a very different role in his life and Seth knew when he'd rationalized the situation that she was capable of handling herself and didn't need any of his rationalization. So, he'd conformed to her curiosity about the fight club in a way he'd felt okay doing. He wasn't going to fight tonight, but he'd take her there, they'd sit at the betting tables, and they would watch. A tiny nag in the back of his head hoped that seeing people getting the pulp beaten out of them by a series of cavemen would make her want to stay far, far away, but knowing the gross satisfaction he often got from it, somehow he doubted that would be the case.

He was waiting on the corner of the street where the passageway she had planned on taking let out, and with no surprise, he saw that she was dressed up when she walked into his line of sight. Seth couldn't quite say the same for himself. He was dressed in semi-heavy denim and boots -- Grimli wasn't someplace he'd wear robes or anything too bulky and restraining, just on the off chance that he got himself into a sticky situation. A mischievous smirk quirked the corner of his mouth and he shrugged, hand combing through cropped hair. "Hey." A heavy pause lingered for a second before he went on. "You know, I could ask you the same thing. I think it's a pretty girl like you who should be worrying about unscrupulous guys like me. I feel pretty normal in the dark parts of certain alleys."

Seth's low laugh escaped into their atmosphere, and he took a few steps forward, eyes scanning her figure. She looked great, as always, and he'd have to be sure to behave until the time was right. Being distracted in the fight club was never a good idea.

"Anyway, danger's where I thrive. Seeing as we're going to watch a bunch of burly dudes beat the shit out of each other, I thought you'd have figured that." He removed one hand from his pocket to offer her his arm, nodding toward a distant part of the street. "You ready to go?"

It really didn't matter what Seth looked like, how he behaved or what he said. The very fact that it was him was an intoxicant in its own right. She didn't want a boy to pretend to like her just to get something from her. If she wanted that particular thing from a boy, he wouldn't have to sweet-talk her to get it, and most of the guys she encountered seemed to know that. Seth was rough around the edges, but that was endearing. He was honest. He was one of the few boys she found that she trusted to be honest. If he said that she looked beautiful or if he paid her some other compliment, it was because he really felt that way. It wasn't a show. It wasn't to gain her favor. She knew that he knew that he already had her full attention. As scary as that was to think of, it was exciting, too.

She took his arm graciously, then smiled. “I'm more than ready.” She assured. She'd been looking forward to this ever since he promised her that he'd bring her. While she was still a little unsure how she felt about Seth getting into these fights, she was both thrilled and excited by the idea of seeing such violence up close. She had always been attracted to aggressive men. Watching boys beat each other up was an aphrodisiac. She could only imagine how much stronger that feeling would be if the men were fighting over her, but she tried not to. It was already hard enough being around Seth without jumping his bones, and she really didn't need to up that temptation. Doubtlessly they'd have a chance for that later on.

They didn't walk far before Lorin felt the familiar feeling of apparation overwhelm her as Seth began the trip. She had been practicing in her class, and was looking forward to next month when she'd be able to do this herself. That sounded so weird. She'd be an adult in just one month's time. It was surreal in a way, but it also seemed delayed in many others. She already felt like an adult. She believed that she already behaved like an adult, too. Still, it would be exciting for her magic to be unlocked. Her stomach jumped into her throat at the landing, and she tried to not show quite how ill she felt. She didn't like apparation. Of course it was the most convenient form of transportation, but she always felt ready to vomit afterward. She held herself up, the corset she was wearing making it difficult to bend over at all.

Looking around, she felt a little over-dressed, This was a usual occurrence for her, but she kept close to Seth as she looked around. She didn't see many girls there at all, certainly none who looked like her. There were a few girls in scrappy clothes, doubtlessly fighting in their own matches, and a few girls sitting at the betting tables. Lorin felt out of place, and she looked to Seth for reassurance. She should have worn something different, but she wasn't sure what. She cared that he be impressed by her. She didn't own a single pair of trousers. She covered her clothes self-consciously with her cloak, thankful for the chill.

The place was darker than she expected, though she wasn't sure how. She knew this was an underground fighting club. What else would it look like? She took a deep breath, “So, do I get a tour?” She teased, despite her feelings of insecurity. As long as Seth was with her, she was safe. She trusted him with her life, though that was a startling thought in and of itself.