Orpheus meandered down from his dorm at around two in the afternoon. He was truly not all that happy to be back at Hogwarts but his father had insisted. It had to look like he really was involved with the school - like he needed them to help him secure a place in society.
This in truth was rubbish as he was already settled in and probably going to be an important figure in a few years if all went as he hoped it would. Orpheus leaned against one of the tables, arms crossed over his chest, watching the people wander in and out of the common room. Oh it was so good to be back.

Laura was happy to finally leave the Library after a heavy studying session. She felt that the only way she could truly relax was to pressure herself to finish all her work on Saturday which kept Sunday completely free.
She made her way down the less crowded corridors towards the Slytherin Common room, thinking that a hot shower and a nap wouldn’t hurt one bit.
She gave out the password patiently, and moved aside to let two older Slytherins walk out of the common room before walking inside herself, and casting a look around the room.

Orpheus smiled when he saw the familiar Slytherin girl. Even when it was obvious she had been practicing studious activities, he thought she looked attractive. He usually didn't find those studious people of the female persuasion to his liking, but she was most certainly and exception, in more ways than one. "Hi, Laura," he said as she walked by, not wanting to startle her.

Laura slowed her pace when she heard her name, and turned calmly to the direction it came from. A soft smile played on her lips when recognized Orpheus, and without hesitating, dropped her bag on the nearest table and walked over to where he was seated, the shower already forgotten.
“Hello, Orpheus. Good to see you’re back.”

He was happy to see that she had left her bag meaning she wanted to talk. He was a sucker for being the center of attention. "It's nice to be back, Laura." He gestured to the couch beside him. "Care to sit and talk? It's been too long since I've seen you and I'm interested in what you're doing these days."

And as it happens, Laura liked being given the proper amount of attention as well, which was why she sat down when he motioned her to, her eyes watching him curiously. “I’m afraid there isn’t much going on nowadays, aside from schoolwork, and I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that. Why don’t you tell me about your doings? It must be more interesting, seeing as you were away from school.”

Orpheus smiled. His favorite subject, himself. "Just work related things and fixing up my town house really. There really is very little to talk about unless you have a real pension for curtains or carpet design." But he had to be fair to her as well; talking about himself was probably only interesting for him. "Work I'm sure is much more boring. Tell me about the match."

Her eyes lingered for a moment longer, and then turned to look down as her hands idly smoothed her skirt. “The match? Well, despite the result, I’d say you missed out on it. Our team played very well- it was most unfortunate when the Ravenclaw seeker got to the snitch first.”

"So I heard, so I heard. It's a shame really but there is always next year for them." Orpheus stretched his legs out in front of him, his arms out behind his head. "It's a real pain to always be away. I feel like I'm missing out on half of my life, you understand." He turned to look at her and smile. "But it's nice to come back and see that some things, the best things, haven't changed at all."

Laura wanted to ask about what he thought were the best things, but since, in her opinion, the most possible answer would be Quidditch or something of that sort, she preferred not to.
“And it’s not possible at all for you to delay your ministry position until you graduate? So you get to enjoy your last few months at Hogwarts, of course.”

Orpheus looked at Laura quizzically. "Delay it?" He turned away from her and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well it's not really something I considered to be honest. There were a lot of things that needed to be done, loose ends to tie up," he turned to look at her again, "and when they asked I was more than ready to assist." Perhaps being over eager had not been the way to go.

Laura paused for a moment and nodded, “I see. I suppose one must sacrifice sometimes. At least you won’t have to worry about finding a job or a house anymore.”

Orpheus laughed. "Yes, the idea of living with my parents for the rest of my life does not suit me. I can't imagine what I would do if I was trying to work and had my sister running around and such. But truly, I do miss being here. And it's not the school work that draws my attention," he looked pointedly at Laura, his features less sharp and demanding then they usually were.

Laura tilted her head just enough so she could gaze at his face fixedly, her eyebrows raised in curiosity. His last sentence had managed to catch her attention and his expression even more so. “Then what does?” She asked daringly, reaching up to brush a brown strand from her face.

Orpheus smiled again. "Miss Laura, you don't give yourself enough credit." He leaned back once more, stretching his arms behind the sofa, his fingers nearly catching the end table behind them. "It's my friends that I come here for; I really couldn't care less for the classes at this stage in the game. And the NEWTs of course, since we all have to take those to graduate."

Laura smiled at his answer, feeling a small blush creep up her cheeks. She usually liked compliments, even so when they seemed exaggerated and out of place. “But how do you plan on excelling in your new job if you don’t attend classes? I mean, they keep on stressing that the final year at Hogwarts is in fact the most important one; how do you keep up?”

Orpheus smiled again, feeling like he was about twelve for some reason. "Would you like me to tell you my secret?" He leaned closer to her like he was going to share some deep, dark, ghastly information.

“Please do.” Laura prompted in a completely casual tone, although her body tensed when he moved closer.

Orpheus quickly kissed her on the cheek and shrugged. "No secret really. The professors OWL me the assignments and I complete them." His eyes were dancing even though his voice sounded causal. She smelled very provocative if that was at all possible, which up until this point he hadn't thought it was.

Laura’s cheeks turned crimson, but she didn’t look pleased with his action one bit. She moved her face back, looking up at him with fierce eyes and a flushed face. “You did not have my permission to do that.”

Orpheus faked a horrified look with himself. He grabbed her hands. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry." He leaned forward again, his face trying to control itself but he looked rather amused. "Should I take it back?"

Laura felt herself inwardly loosing her cool composure. His amusement was unnerving, he acted as if he was allowed to do anything he liked whenever he liked, and she didn’t know whether she loathed or admired that in him. Outwardly, however, she maintained that stable unfazed gaze and a tight lip. “I wasn’t joking.”

Orpheus wasn't hindered by her un-amused behavior in the slightest. "Alright then, I'll take it back." He kissed her again on the opposite cheek, but less quickly this time. "There, it's all gone. It never happened." He sat back on the couch. "Now what were we talking about? Oh right, school. Yes, so they send me my work and I finish it and send it back. It's very organized."

“Do you suppose this is funny?” Laura was half in mind to slap him and stalk off, but for some unknown reason, she stayed where she was, attempting the most dangerous glare she could muster, and trying her best to control her flushed cheeks.

"No, not at all. I've fully apologized for my actions and taken back the unwanted kiss." Orpheus tried to keep his face serious. "Is there anything else I can do to show you how truly sorry I am?"

“You could stop treating me like I’m stupid.” Laura offered, looking rigid.

Orpheus crossed his arms, his face turning a little dark. "Anything else?" he asked his voice slightly sharp. If she didn't want to laugh, that was fine, but she needn't make him out to be something awful.

Laura looked somewhat taken aback by the change of his expression. She shook her head as a reply to his question, momentarily dropping her sharp glare.

"My intention was never to insult you." Orpheus added, a bit of his annoyance drifting away. It wasn't his fault if she lacked a sense of humor but he had always thought she wasn't quite so straight laced.

“I don’t enjoy surprises when it comes to,” Laura paused, trying to find the appropriate word to use here. But ‘Kisses’ sounded wrong, so she decided to brush the thing off as fast as possible. “Things like that.” She continued, leaning back in her seat.

"Alight then, I suppose that's fair. I will be sure to warn you before any, things like that, come your way." Orpheus resisted the urge to smile again. Life was too short to get caught up in all that nonsense. "So, what else would you like to talk about then, since the issue of my schooling seems obsolete?"

Laura lowered her gaze again to stare at her hands, and shrugged. She was usually good at reading people, or expecting the right reaction of them no matter what the situation was. This wasn’t working with Orpheus, and she had to wonder what was it about him that made him so… she even couldn’t find the right word to describe him, either.
“I don’t know. What do you want to talk about?”

Although he wasn't feeling quite as confident as before, Orpheus was determined that he was going to get another kiss. When Laura lowered her gaze he knew it was to his advantage to continue the conversation. "Well enough talking about me. Let's talk about you." He sat up, trying (and he thought, succeeding since he really was) to look interested.

“I’m not that fascinating.” Laura managed a small smile as she held her head up to look at him, flicking a lock of hair behind her shoulder with her hand.

"Well I doubt that's true." Orpheus wasn't about to let her get away that easily. "Tell me about your family."

“My family?” She was surprised he seemed interested in her family, but she didn’t pay it too much attention. “Well, you know my father, as you’ve already mentioned. And there’s Anthony and John, my two older brothers. Have you met them as well?”

"I believe I've had the pleasure of meeting Anthony, but not John." Yes, he thought it was Anthony once with her father he had met. "What is it that they do?"

“You’d like John, he’s a funny guy.” Laura smiled to herself, realizing now just how much she’d missed her family. “Anthony decided to join my father and work with the French ministry, and John, as far as I know, is still indecisive.”

Orpheus smiled. "Then you'll have to make it a point to introduce me." He had been right; her family was most certainly well involved with the cause. He resisted the urge to pat himself on the back for a job well done.

“Perhaps I will, sometime during the upcoming holiday.” Laura nodded, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “What about your family? You’ve mentioned a sister?”

"Ah yes, Klio." Orpheus rolled his eyes. "Every big brother wishes he had a Klio. I'll bet your brothers felt the same way about you though. She's wonderful and I love her to death but it's always 'Orpheus this' or 'Orpheus that'. She's a fourth year Ravenclaw though, so I feel like I should have done my part to get her into Slytherin." He shrugged. "But she's a downright nerdy little beast, so I suppose there isn't that much I could have done."

Laura smiled when he talked about his sister; taking in his familiar words with amusement. He was right; she had heard it loads of times from her brothers before.
“Ravenclaw isn’t that bad.” Laura pointed out, basing her opinion on what she knew Slytherin families agreed on. Slytherin was first priority, always, but Ravenclaw was always better than Gryffindor or Hufflepuff.

"Most certainly. At least she didn't end up with those dimwitted Huffepuffs but I knew she wouldn't." Orpheus leaned forward. "To tell you the truth, anything would have been better than her landing in Gryffindor - the Travers family hasn't had a Gryffindor in almost 200 years. I would hate to have the sort of shame that comes with that. Imagine those poor Blacks..."

Laura moved uneasily in her seat at the mention of the Blacks, immediately directing her gaze around the room, at anything but him. She wasn’t exactly sure what she thought of Sirius’ situation, but she’d always preferred not to think about it.
She nodded idly, as an excuse to avoid giving her proper opinion on the matter.

"But who wants to talk about shaming the family anyway. Neither of us has to worry, we're the epitomes of the perfect children." Orpheus smiled; totally unaware he had made her uncomfortable.

She had purposely avoided thinking about this exact subject for long now, and now that he’d mentioned it, she was feeling guilty, and the happy mood she was in after her last meeting with Sirius seemed to be slowly evaporating.
She nodded again, forcing a smile.

"So, lets see, we've talked about school, family..." Orpheus searched for another subject. "How about plans for the future? What do you want to do once you get out of this place?"

Laura was grateful he changed the subject, and she took her time to consider his question before answering. “I’ve thought about joining the medi-witch training program in St. Mungo’s, but really, who knows what will happen in a year and a half.” Although, to be honest, Laura knew what will happen then. Her family was a traditional one, and she knew that she will most likely be married soon out of Hogwarts, and her only job would be to take care of a husband and a family.

"A medi-witch," Orpheus was thoughtful. "That sounds like quite the commitment." He paused, weighing his options. "Would it be rude of me to ask what your parents thought of this?"

“Well, not exactly. And to be honest, I think my parents have a completely different plan for me.” Laura replied in a casual tone, not finding a need to explain any further. She knew he was well aware of what that plan was, anyone coming from a respectable, traditional family was.

"Of course. Well, we'll just have to find you a husband who doesn't need a wife to take care of him." Orpheus shrugged, both for her benefit and his own. She could go to school to be a medi-witch if she wanted. He didn't need her coddle him - he had a mother for that.

"We?" Laura raised her eyebrows curiously, an amused smile playing on the corner of her lips.

"Well yes of course, we." Orpheus pretended to look shocked. "You don't think I'm going to sit by idly and watch you marry some man who wants you to baby him, do you? My friends deserve only the best..." He winked at her.

Laura grinned up at him, still looking rather amused. “Thank you, I suppose, for considering me a friend.”

Orpheus realized he had been leaning closer and closer to him and now they sat rather, for lack of a better word, close. He smiled and tapped the end of her nose with his finger. "But of course." He looked down at her, his gaze piercing but not hostile or unfriendly.

His eyes fixating on her were not only disarming, but made her feel impossibly vulnerable. She didn't like the feeling. Laura tore her gaze from his to lean against the couch in a futile attempt to relax.
“So how long do you plan on staying here for? When do you have to go back?” She asked casually, looking at her fingernails to busy herself from looking at him.

Orpheus knew he was wearing her down. He too leaned against the side of the couch, resting his head on his hand, supported by his elbow. "I'm unsure this time. It really all depends, but I do hope it's for longer. There are more things to keep me here this time, so I might not go unless I absolutely have to."

Laura nodded slowly, and stood up without showing any sign of hesitating, or so she hoped. Her hands went to smooth the creases on the back of her skirt after she turned to face him, giving him an apologetic smile.
“I’m afraid I must leave for my dormitory now, but I certainly hope you stay around longer this time.” She gave a nervous smile, and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.

Orpheus smiled in return and stood up. “I really ought to be going as well; I was planning to meet someone this afternoon. It’s been nice to see you, Laura and hopefully I’ll see you very soon.” With that he took her hand and kissed it, smiled boyishly and then left the common room.