after the dance |Azzurra|

[urdabomb]

Alec had finally located his girlfriend at the dance. She had been hanging out with a bunch of her fifth year friends, presumably trying to find him as well. After dancing for a few hours, he had led her outside where they had walked over to Hogmeade to get a room. Alec hadn't yet told Azzurra this, but figured she would like his plan. She was so easy-going that it didn't really matter anyway.

He led her along by the hand through the village. He had reserved a room at an inn earlier in the week. Realizing that he was almost running, Alec slowed down to let Azzurra, with her pretty yellow dress and wild hair, come back to his side so he wasn't pulling her arm out. Soon they would be at the inn.

[violethorses]

Azzurra hurried to keep up with her boyfriend, wondering briefly why he was moving so quickly tonight when normally he moved with such ease. "Where are we going?" she asked, once she was back at his side, her arm no longer being pulled at. He said nothing, so she merely shrugged, hiked up her dress, and continued on. A few moments later, then pulled up at an inn and Alec held the door open for her. Azzurra smiled at him and entered the place, looking forward to a butterbeer or something of the sort.

[urdabomb]

"I got us a room here for the night," Alec explained once they were inside. He quickly paid for two butterbeers at the counter and handed one to Azzurra, keeping one for himself. "We can just hang out for a while or something," he added, leading her up the stairs to the room he had reserved.

[violethorses]

Azzurra nodded slowly, wondering why Alec had gotten a room for the two of them. It was awfully sweet, but they probably could have just hung out at Hogwarts. She supposed this was more private. Taking the butterbeer, Azzurra followed him up the stairs and into room twenty-three. She slipped her cloak off and hung it on a chair, then took a swig of her butterbeer.

[urdabomb]

Alec unfastened his tie and took off his coat, throwing them over a similar chair on the other side of the room. Placing his butterbeer on the table by the bed, he sat down and gestured for Azzurra to come sit next to him, as chairs were often not the most comfortable of places.

[violethorses]

Azzurra smiled and sat down on the bed next to Alec, placing her butterbeer on the identical table on her side of the bed. She took his hand, propping her now bare feet up on the mattress. With a sly smile, Azzurra kissed him lightly on the lips.

[urdabomb]

Azzurra's light kiss turned into a more passionate one, as Alec pushed the boundaries of their relationship a bit further, by turning slightly to kiss her more firmly. He wrapped his arms around he small frame, enjoying every moment of their kiss. They broke apart for a moment and Alec smiled at her, then he kissed her again, even more passionately than the first time.

[violethorses]

Azzurra soon had her arms wrapped around Alec's tall frame as he pushed the boundaries a little bit with each new kiss. Every time their lips touched again, he seemed a little bit more persistent, less like a gentleman and more wild. Azzurra didn't mind for the time being. In fact, she enjoyed the passion.

[urdabomb]

As they broke apart once more, Alec found it necessary to say something to avoid Azzurra thinking he only wanted her to kiss. Not that that wasn't true, but it wouldn't serve him well if she thought that. "I love you," he whispered into her ear, kissing her neck tenderly.

[violethorses]

Azzurra didn't have the words to reply, so she smiled and remained silent as Alec kissed her once more. She found that his hands kept moving to the back of her dress, which was beginning to annoy her a bit. Pausing for a moment, Azzurra pushed him back slightly, wondering what was going on. Alec did not usually act this way.

[urdabomb]

Alec barely noticed Azzurra pushing him back, merely pushing closer to her to where he was practically on top of his girlfriend. His air elemental swirled around him, but Alec didn't seem to notice that either. Now he was simply concentrated on what he wanted. After unzipping Azzurra's dress, he tugged it off her body, despite her protests.

[violethorses]

"Stop," Azzurra said, pushing against Alec's skin. It was no use, he didn't even seem to register her voice, let alone stop his attack on her body. Alec was too strong for her, and Azzurra soon found herself without any clothing, despite the blows she landed on his bare skin.

*Later*

Azzurra was aware of two things. One was that Alec had raped her and the other was that she could not move. There seemed nothing physically wrong with her, but she could not will herself to stand up and leave the room. Warm tears were still on her cheeks, though Alec had left the room a while ago. Slowly she found that she did have control over her body now. Pushing herself up, she pulled back on her bra and underwear, then looked to her dress. It was ruined beyond repair, and there would be little use in wearing it. Azzurra held her arms to herself, shivering, trying to think of what to do.

Looking toward the window, she noticed an owl just outside, sitting in the snow. Unable to find her voice, Azzurra tapped at the window sill, opening it to allow the owl inside. A shaky hand reached for a pen and paper that the inn had in the drawers. Slowly, hand shaking nearly unbearably, she wrote.

Zelphar,
Please come get me. Room 23 at the inn. Bring a sweatshirt and pants if you can.
-Az

Unable to make herself write more, and hoping that the shaky slant in her handwriting would cause Zelphar to hurry, she placed the note in the owl's beak. "Gryffindor common room," she said in a hoarse voice. Hoping Zelphar was up at his usual time and still in the common room, Azzurra watched the owl fly away from her, then pulled herself into a ball and sobbed.

[squiggle]

Zelphar held the note loosely, puzzled expression on his face as he read it. Something obviously wasn't right; Azzurra's normally neat and pretty handwriting was shaky, and a few of the words were smudged, as if she had cried on it. The dark corner of his mind nagged at him to leave her wherever she was, they hadn't talked much of late; it was almost as if she had forgotten about him. Zelphar shook his head, as if to dislodge the thoughts, she could really be hurt. He practically sprinted up to his dormitory and threw open his bag.

After a moment of rummaging through his trunk he tossed in a pair of black sweats and a plain blue shirt, and then for extra measure an old cloak. Just in case. Still in his pajamas; Zelphar didn't even bother to get formally dressed, he just pulled a sweatshirt over his bare chest and slipped on flip-flops. He ran from the castle, pushing people out of his way and nearly flattening a third year in the entrance hall. Although the walk to Hogsmeade from the grounds would have normally took around an hour; Zelphar made it to the inn in twenty minutes.

He burst through the door, bag slung over his shoulder, face flushed and a stitch in his side for running so long. The landlady looked at him, eyebrows raised. "Room- twenty- three!" Zelphar panted. He could see the laughter hidden behind her face, but he didn't care. "Up the stairs to your left." said she. Zelphar nodded once and walked the remainder of the way. He stood outside the door until he had caught his breath, and then knocked gently. "Azzurra?" Zelphar whispered through the door, praying she was all right.

[violethorses]

Azzurra was in the same position when she heard Zelphar's voice through the door. Jumping slightly at the knock, she was up on her feet and about to answer the door when she realized she still wasn't wearing anything. Sure, she had known Zelphar for a long time, but they weren't quite that close.

Her eyes settled on her ruined dress and she held it awkwardly over her bare body, unwilling to put it back on again. Her hair lay limply around her pale face as she stepped toward the door with bare feet. It opened slowly and Azzurra peeked her head out to find her best friend standing there. It seemed vaguely like a miracle that he had come. "Zelphar," she croaked in a voice that was a mere whisper.

[squiggle]

Zelphar slipped in, closed the door and then dropped his bag; jaw falling simultaneously. It didn't take a genius to piece together what had happened. He felt anger boiling in the pit of his stomach; he was going to kill Alec. No, take care of Az first, his conscience reminded him. Zelphar didn't need to say a word; he merely handed Azzurra the clothes from his bag and turned away to give her privacy while she clothed herself.