Iliana couldn't help but laugh at his correction. "I wasn't going to say stick in the mud ." She looked up at him with an expression that suggested she absolutely had been thinking exactly that. "...I was thinking exceptionally dedicated prefect ." A beat. "It just happens t...

She gave him an entirely innocent smile. "It would be terribly scandalous if my tutor started taking advantage of his position." The corners of her mouth betrayed her almost immediately, curving into a grin. "I suppose I'll have to keep you honest." She noticed he'd finished eati...

Iliana couldn't help the smile that spread across her face when he admitted he'd missed her too. It wasn't some grand declaration. Just three simple words. Yet somehow they settled warmly in her chest all the same. Her answer was equally quiet. "I missed you too." There wasn't much more to...

Iliana laughed quietly, unable to miss the implication behind his words. "So that's your grand academic strategy?" She tilted her head, feigning deep consideration. "Hope to distract your girlfriend just enough that she remembers Orion forever?" Her smile widened. "I have to...

Iliana listened with genuine interest as he explained what Professor Starling had said, her brow knitting together thoughtfully. "So..." She looked up instinctively, even though the evening sky was only just beginning to deepen. "We're essentially looking into the past every time we l...

Iliana couldn't help but laugh at the image he painted. "Oh, she'd absolutely do that." She smiled into her drink. "And somehow she'd make Cassiopeia look fashionable." The thought of Nova arguing that a constellation needed a different silhouette was amusing enough that Iliana c...

Iliana smiled when he turned her hand over in his, her fingers curling naturally around his. It still amazed her how easy it felt to be here again, sitting across from him as though the time they'd spent apart had only been a detour rather than an ending. "I think we can," she agreed quiet...

Iliana smiled to herself when he said he hoped Nova found something else to occupy her evening. "I imagine she's probably halfway through designing six more dresses already." The image made her laugh quietly. "Or she's cornered some unsuspecting first year and convinced them they desp...

Iliana followed his gaze when his attention drifted toward the Ravenclaw table, noticing the brief check on Rachel and Oliver before he seemed satisfied they were where they were supposed to be. It was such a Nate thing to do that she didn't even comment on it. Instead, she waited while he found the...

Iliana looked entirely too pleased with herself when he finally surrendered. "Of course I win." The answer came without hesitation, accompanied by a grin that suggested she'd already decided that outcome several minutes ago. The kiss to her cheek only made it worse. She was still smiling a...

Iliana caught the I can't help it shrug immediately and laughed. "There it is." She pointed at him again. "That's the exact face." The one that said he knew he was fussing, knew she was going to call him on it, and had absolutely no intention of stopping. His explanation only pro...

Iliana smiled as he defended Sophie yet again, entirely unsurprised. "See? That's exactly what I mean." She glanced up at him. "Most people hear malicious gossip and stop at malicious. You somehow manage to get all the way to she's naive and doesn't deserve to feel guilty." There...

She rolled her eyes affectionately when he immediately ignored her request not to lecture her. "There it is," she sighed dramatically. "I was beginning to worry the stress had damaged your ability to fuss over me." The kiss to her forehead drew a softer smile, however, and she wa...

Iliana couldn't help the small, satisfied smile that appeared when she saw the immediate effect the kiss had on him. There he was. The Nate she knew. Still worried. Still carrying too much. But no longer standing on the edge of being overwhelmed by it. Apparently she had discovered a rather effectiv...

Iliana listened without interrupting, her hand remaining against his cheek as he worked through the question. The admission that he didn't know what he needed didn't surprise her nearly as much as it seemed to surprise him. In fact, it felt painfully predictable. Of course he didn't know. Nathaniel ...

Iliana stayed quiet once Rachel and Oliver arrived. This wasn't her conversation anymore. The Wrights had spent years carrying pieces of this burden separately, and for perhaps the first time, some of those pieces were finally being laid on the table where everyone could see them. It wasn't pretty. ...

The moment Iliana heard Nate's voice, her pace quickened. Not because they were arguing, that part wasn't unusual where Sophie and Nate were concerned. It was how he sounded. The sharp edge she'd heard in the stairwell earlier was gone. So was the irritation. What remained underneath was something f...

Iliana’s eyes lit a little at Nova’s explanation, already able to picture the idea evolving in that whirlwind brain of hers. “Convertible formalwear?” she mused dramatically. “Nova, you’re either a genius or about three steps away from taking over wizard fashion entirely.” A second later Ili continu...

Iliana caught the little night sky note scribbled in the margin and immediately softened. Of course Nova had already themed it. Tiny stars and all. “That is dangerously pretty,” she informed her gravely, though the smile tugging at her mouth ruined any real seriousness. “You realize if you make it t...

Iliana laughed softly at Nova’s dramatics, already able to picture the whole scene vividly in her head. “An extra butterbeer? Well, now I’m practically obligated to help you,” she teased. The offended pout only made her grin widen. “See? There it is again.” She didn’t miss the way Nate seemed to rel...

Iliana laughed quietly at Nova’s dramatic relief, shaking her head as she slung her bag over her shoulder. “You say that now, but if half your answers are right already, I reserve the right to complain while helping you.” Nova’s sing-song teasing earned an immediate warmth in her cheeks again, and s...

Iliana smiled faintly as Nova explained herself, glancing sideways at the increasingly detailed sketches appearing across the page. “I think people just aren’t used to someone offering nice things without expecting something back,” she whispered back honestly. “Which is sad, now that I say it out lo...

Iliana couldn’t help the quiet laugh that escaped her as she listened to Nova and Nate go back and forth. There was something endlessly entertaining about the way Nova steamrolled straight through Nate’s stoicism without a shred of fear. “You say that like greeting overwhelmed first years isn’t exac...

Iliana felt him before she saw him, the touch at the center of her back enough to draw a small smile to her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Mm. Onto the next,” she agreed softly. And when he left the choice open subtle as always she answered it without hesitation. Her fingers slid eas...

Iliana felt the words settle somewhere deep, quieter than the teasing that usually passed between them. The honesty in it, the way he admitted what she did for him; made her chest tighten just a little. And then he had to go and say that . She blinked at him, caught off guard, and sure enough, a fai...