вот такие дела [Marja]

Daniil couldn't believe that he was already in his final year of schooling. Time had flown far too quickly for the boy's liking and he honestly didn't know where the past year had gone, nor where the first few months of his seventh year had disappeared to. Was it really already November?

Quite honestly, Daniil had spent the last several weeks in a state of near constant panic, a result of the combined pressure of his impending N.E.W.T.s and the fact that he still had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do after he graduated. Did he want to go into dragonology like his mother or should he just start working full time at his grandparents' perfume business? Or perhaps he would go way out on a limb and do . . . something else? No, probably not. That sounded scary, not to mention it would require him to come up with ideas of what this 'something else's would be.

Naturally, it would just make too much sense to try to relieve stress by doing things such as actually studying for once, or examining his career options, so the boy had resorted to distracting himself instead. That was why he found himself in the dragon stables with his camera around his neck and Anya, his mini Romanian Longhorn, in his hands. He'd decided to combine several of his destressors and asked Marja if he could take a few pictures of her with Anya and some of the other dragons.

Quite honestly he considered his friend one of the most rational people in his life and he found her to be a calming influence, at least in terms of school stress. On the other hand though, Daniil had had a crush on Marja since his fifth year and was always at least mildly worried about doing something stupid in front of her. He just hoped he wouldn't do anything too awkward or embarrassing today.

Daniil had come a bit earlier than the time he'd told Marja, and was sitting cross-legged on the ground trying to keep Anya from touching his camera while simultaneously attempting to make sure she was calm and happy before he started taking pictures. He'd learned from experience that alarmed dragons were not the best subjects to photograph.

"Agh!" He exclaimed, as the mini dragon raked her claws over the hand protecting his camera, "Merlin's hairy nostrils Anya, that hurt!" In hind sight, he probably should have just removed the camera before handling the dragon, but by this point he figured he might as well just wait until Marja showed up, which hopefully would be sooner rather than later. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep Anya from the camera

@Marja Kirkkomäki

It was already November. Her final year at Durmstrang was flying by and the N.E.W.Ts were quickly approaching. Marja had been increasingly coming to terms with that fact though, even looking forward to it. She was excited to leave the school and go out into the World. She felt she was ready. Everything had planned out to how she wanted it, she would become a dragonologist, plain and simple. Working with dragons was her calling, everyday that passed made her more sure of it. She couldn’t just study all day every day even if she wanted to though, as she had her student librarian duties to worry about as well. Not that she did worry about them, they were much more of a pleasure than a chore now. Being around books was comforting and Marja loved it.

When her closest companion and best friend Daniil had randomly asked if he could take pictures of her with the dragons, Marja had readily agreed even if she was a bit surprised by the request. She knew he was fairly decent at photography, so the photos would probably be worth it. Deep down, the Finnish witch knew that she’d probably have agreed to anything Daniil requested of her, just for the excuse to spend time with him. For a couple of years now, Marja felt these weird butterflies in her stomach whenever she was near him, and that day was surely not going to be an exception.

She was taking far longer than usual to get ready, but she had luckily given herself enough time to allow for this. Marja wanted to make sure she braided her long hair properly and that there were no flyaways at all. She even managed to create a crown from the braids and even managed to interweave some blue cornflowers into it which she thought looked pretty. Extra effort was put into her make up as well, though she still tried to keep it natural. The hardest part was choosing her outfit, she wanted something really pretty but didn’t want it to look like she was putting too much effort in. In the end, Marja chose a blue blouse paired with a white cable-knit jumper and a simple black skirt that went down to her knees. Of course, as usual, she completed the look with some simple blue flats to match the blouse.

As she looked in the mirror at her reflection, Marja smiled to herself as she felt the bubble of nerves rising up. Why was she so nervous? It was just Daniil. Hurriedly, Marja strided down the Durmstrang Halls and outside towards the dragon stables. Quietly, she opened the door and shut it behind her just as quietly as she spotted her best friend in the distance. She watched his antics with Anya with a soft look on her face as she giggled, inadvertently announcing her arrival. “Hi Daniil… and hello Anya.” She greeted them both gently with a calm smile on her face.

“I’m not late, am I?” She asked, already knowing that she most certainly wasn’t.

Daniil jumped a bit as he heard a small laugh. He hadn't even heard the door open. "Oh, hi!" He said, leaping to his feet with Anya held tightly in his hands. The poor thing hadn't expected such a sudden movement and dug her claws into his hand, though Daniil didn't even notice. "No, of course you're not late. I was just early."

At that moment Daniil really took a look at his friend. A whispered "oh" escaped the boy's mouth as his eyes moved from Anya up to Marja's face. While he thought that the girl was always pretty, today he thought she was especially so. Her eyes seemed more blue than usual, and she had done some fancy braid thing. Marja had even put little flowers in her hair. Those would look very nice on camera.

After a moment, Daniil realized that he was staring and quickly moved his gaze back Anya as he gently stroked the dragon's back. "Oh sorry," he mumbled, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks and desperately hoping Marja didn't notice. What was going on? His stomach was feeling funny and his tongue was oddly heavy in his mouth.  "I, you just, um, you look very nice today." He said, trying disperse the awkwardness he felt, before hastily adding,  "Er, I mean, not that you don't look nice every day. Because I, um, you do . . . always . . . look nice." Daniil attempted to conceal a grimace as he groaned internally. None of that had come out how he wanted it at all.

Daniil shook his head slightly, still staring down at Anya, who had become quite calm at docile. Why was he being so weird? Marja had been his best friend for a few years now, and he missed the time when he'd been able to just talk to her normally, instead of getting so tongue-tied all the time. She probably thought he was a blubbering idiot.

"Um, anyways," he said with a small and slightly embarrassed smile, "Are you ready to get started? I was thinking we'll begin with Anya, since she seems to be in a good mood now, if that's okay?" He lifted Anya up to his eye level and stared at her for a moment. "You had better be nice, okay? No biting or scratching." He really hoped she didn't bite Marja. That was just not what they needed today.

"Here," he said, holding the dragon out towards his friend. "And um, don't worry. I have bandages if she does scratch you or anything."

“Hi…” Marja repeated unnecessarily, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a small smile. “Oh good, I’m glad.” The student librarian replied with a slight nod, already knowing that she was not late anyway but feeling appeased by the confirmation for some reason regardless.

She felt colour rise in her cheeks, noticing that Daniil was staring at her. Had she done too much makeup? Had she put too much effort into her hair? Was it falling out and making her look ridiculous? Marja reached up a hand to check that her braids were all still in place. Despite feeling self-conscious about her friend looking at her, the Finnish girl felt a distinct twinge of disappointment when he lowered his gaze back down to Anya, the dragon, and mumbled an apology. So he did think she looked nice! She tried and failed to suppress a giggle, biting her lip to fight against the beam that his awkward compliment caused and failing to conceal that too.

“Thank you! That’s… really nice of you to say so.” Marja said softly, gazing at her friend. “It’s not too much?” She asked anxiously, gesturing to her attire, hoping for more approval and compliments.

“I’m ready, yes!” Marja nodded a little too enthusiastically, and she felt that she’d have to restrain herself better as she felt one of the flowers wobble from the movement. “Of course, I’m always happy to be with dear little Anya.” She loved all dragons obviously, but Anya did hold an extra special place in her heart. Firstly, because she was so tiny and cute and secondly, (and the reason she didn’t really want to admit) because Anya was Daniil’s dragon.

She giggled again as Daniil spoke to his dragon, telling her to not bite or scratch the student librarian. Marja would be extremely surprised if Anya had done such a thing in her presence. Ever since that Summer two years prior, she’d had an even easier time connecting with the beautiful creatures. She was positive that no injuries would be occurring. Gently she held out her palm, her fingers curling slightly as she beckoned the dragon to come to her. Anya did so quickly, crawling up her arm and settling on her shoulder, nuzzling her snout against her neck and flapping her wings slightly.

“There, see!” Marja smirked triumphantly, quirking her eyebrow slightly towards Daniil. “No bandages necessary. Anya would never hurt me, would you, Anya?” She looked down at the dragon who seemed perfectly happy to curl up in the crook of her collarbone, which only proved her point. “I think this would be a good photo, don’t you?”

“I’m not trying to be nice or anything,” he mumbled softly, noticing the girl's smile and the grin that accompanied it. He decided this was probably a good sign. “it’s just the truth. And no,” he continued, a bit louder, “it’s not too much. The blue and white will look very nice on camera, and, um, also I really like how you did your hair today." The words were rushing out of his mouth now in an uncontrollable stream, and the boy could barely process what he was saying as he blathered on. "I don’t know how you managed to braid the flowers into your hair but you look very pretty. I mean, your hair, the flowers, uh, it all looks very . . . nice. Yeah, very nice." An almost pained look came over his face. Nice? Was that really the best compliment he could think of? Daniil was half tempted to throw himself into a pile of dragon dung to hide, but managed to stand his ground as Marja beckoned to the little dragon.

He watched with pang of mild jealousy as Anya practically jumped onto Marja’s shoulder. She seemed to be so good at everything, and she was particularly good with dragons, especially with Anya. It was one of the things he liked about her, though sometimes Daniil wondered if the mini Romanian Longhorn preferred the Finnish girl over him. Though he hoped Anya really did favor him, Daniil understood. After all, as fond as he was of his dragon, he liked Marja a bit better.

The boy shook his head slightly as he realized Marja was speaking to him, and blushed once more as he realized he’d been staring again. “Er, yes, sorry. I think that would make a perfect shot, hold on a minute.” He said, looking around for his camera before realizing it was still around his neck. Crouching down slightly and moving around a little bit to find where the light would look the best, Daniil snapped first one picture, then another, the flash on his camera giving a small puff for each shot. Though he couldn't see the results yet, he was sure the photos would turn out well.

"Okay, next shot." He said, standing upright. "Maybe try holding Anya in your hands out towards the camera a bit, or maybe you could crouch down with her on the ground and feed her a treat? Or actually it would be really cool if we could get a shot of her flying off of your arm or something!" Daniil was feeling more confident now, feeling quite in his element and for the first time in a few years he did not feel even the least bit awkward or nervous around his best friend.

The seventh year lifted his camera, trying to imagine which shot would look the best, when he once again found himself gazing at Marja. She really was pretty, and good with dragons, but the thing Daniil admired about her most was how his housemate somehow seemed to have her whole life figured out and was extremely well put together, or at least she appeared that way in Daniil's eyes. Spurred on by his sudden bout of courage, the seventh year decided to ask a question he'd been wanting to ask for quite some time. "Marja," he began, lowering his camera, "how did you decide what you want to do after you graduate?"

A vibrant blush spread across Marja’s face as Daniil said he was just telling the truth, feeling butterflies suddenly flying around in her stomach. “Oh…” She breathed, unable to keep the smile off her face. “Thanks.” She murmured, as she reached a hand up to touch the flowers in her hair as he talked about her braids. Her cheeks burned an even brighter shade of red as he called her pretty. “Gosh, are you trying to compliment me to death?” Marja giggled, shaking her head in bemusement. “Thank you, though.”

The Finnish witch smiled warmly as he agreed that Anya resting in the crook of her collarbone would make a perfect shot. She waited patiently as he grabbed the camera and moved around a bit, before giving a serene smile into the camera when he was ready for the first shot, and then moving her head slightly and glancing downward towards Anya for the second shot Daniil captured. “Good girl, Anya.” Marja crooned to the little dragon who seemed to be intrigued by the little puff of smoke from the camera, but remained where she was.

She relaxed a little as Daniil stood up and started brainstorming the next shot. She nodded along as he suggested things, humming her consent to each one as she thought that they were all genuinely good ideas. Marja smiled, trying to suppress a giggle as Daniil seemed more confident in his final suggestion, and she nodded emphatically in agreement. “Oh, I agree! That last one would be so gorgeous!” She looked down with a bemused smirk at Anya, who seemed perfectly happy to remain nestled in the crook of her collarbone. “Might take a bit to convince her to fly though,” she added with a soft laugh.

“Hmm?” Marja put her attention back on her best friend as he lowered the camera, and she furrowed her brows in curiosity before he finished speaking. “Oh, um…” She bit her lip, her brows furrowing further at the unexpected and somewhat random question. “I… don’t really know, honestly.” Marja replied properly with a shrug of her shoulders. “I just knew I had to work with dragons. I knew that long before I came to Durmstrang, before I really ever saw a dragon in person.” She smiled, remembering the first time she had ever laid eyes on a real dragon in the Dragon Flying class. “And when I did see one, I knew then that I would never change my mind. They’re so beautiful…” She smiled, gazing down at Anya who had now uncurled herself and was slowly making her way down Marja’s arm. “Aren’t you, Anya? You’re the most beautiful creature in the World.” She talked sweetly on the miniature dragon, becoming distracted by her favourite topic.

“Why do you ask?” Marja piped up, turning her attention back to Daniil again. “Has that been bothering you?”