To Fix This Mess

To say she was entirely furious would be an understatement. Nessa had intended to go the entire rest of her life without running into Dylan, but here he was as this school she was now forced to go to. She didn’t know of anywhere else that she could find the things she needed to go through with her plan. She didn’t care that she hadn’t eaten since she’d arrived at the Hayes’ school, or that she had to see him when classes started up again that afternoon. Sure, she probably could get away with skipping, but on her first day there? Probably wasn’t a wise decision. Someone would come looking for her and ask what she was doing.

Thankfully, the classes that morning had included Potions (though she found the class rather dull, herself, considering she already knew how to make the draught they wanted), so Nessa had been ‘so kindly shown’ where the room was by some blonde she’d never seen before. The woman had clearly known one of the people they had teaching, though, because she clung to him like a leaf to a tree in fall. Rolling her eyes mentally, Nessa had wondered after what the blonde could possibly see as appealing in being so dependent on someone else. The Slytherin wanted nothing more than to be independent. If this potion didn’t get it for her, then she would just have to leave.

Honestly, though, the last thing she needed was for Dylan to be living in the same house as her. Maybe she would be lucky and he would actually live with his slave driver, Moira, and not be around come evening. Frankly, though, she didn’t expect him to talk to her after last time. Her hands floated over the ingredients she had laid out before her, chopping and organizing as she thought back to the second reason why she was so furious with him.


Leaving the forest that night had taken little effort, especially once Dylan had mock-saluted her and ambled away like what had just happened was nothing. Meant nothing. Though, Nessa mused, it shouldn’t have meant something. She didn’t even know him. Frankly, she just had no idea what had come over her in the moment. Upon returning to her room, though, Nessa made to get ready for bed, only to find out why her shoulder had been hurting for the past hour.

One ignored letter, two weeks of research, and many furious outbursts in her room later, Nessarose found herself leaving Hogwarts (the law apparently did apply to those forced into turning) to search for Moira. Her ‘alpha’ or whatever the woman was. Disgusting. As far as Nessa knew, they were staying under Knockturn Alley in secret; finding it had been slightly difficult at the start, but now that she had arrived, she was determined to see what could be done about it and how to handle it.

It didn’t help, though, that upon entering, as she tucked her hair behind one ear, she caught sight of the last person she wanted to see. His hair was what first caught her attention across the room, but soon her anger bubbled over, the desire to throttle him returning full force. It hadn’t quite subsided, but not only had she received her letter that morning regarding the Marriage Law, Nessa was quite unsure how to deal with her new situation and feeling rather anxious.

After she managed to catch his eye, Nessa shot him the darkest glare she could muster (which, frankly, was said to be rather terrifying. Especially to the first years that got in her way). “Dylan.” She snapped, marching over to him and setting her hands on her hips as she watched him. Lucky, she mused, that she had chosen heels to add to her already rather-tall stature. At least he couldn’t look down at her now. “You are the most foul, awful git that I’ve ever met. D’you know that? You are. How dare you?”

He had to know what she was referring to, she decided. There was no getting around the fact that he had actually bit her, while they were… well. Regardless, he was the most awful person she’d ever met, Nessa reminded herself. It didn’t matter how he made her feel when he got too close. And it certainly didn’t help that she felt a burning sense of betrayal in her gut as she scowled at him. She knew full well that she didn’t have a right to think he would respect her wishes. He hadn’t exactly respected any other part of her, if she decided to look at it crudely. But that didn’t mean that he was somehow allowed to get away with what he had done. No matter how often she had to remind herself: no, she didn’t want him around. No, she didn’t want him to touch her. Yes, she did hate him.

At that point, the last thing he wanted on his mind was Nessarose. But at the same time he was glad that she as all he could think about. From that one time, he had memorized her scent and the feel of her body. It was something he didn't want to forget, ever. He had enjoyed the time he spent with her and if he was going to be honest, he would do anything to have it happen again. But he also knew that if he tried to get near her, it wouldn't go over too well. It kind of sucked, because now he had to steer clear of her for a bit.

That's why when she appeared at their den, he hadn't known how to react. Especially when she had directed her attention to him. His mind panicked but he had managed to remain calm on the outside as she walked up to him, seeming furious. And why wouldn't she be like that? He had taken advantage of the situation and turned her while they.. Well, it wasn't like she was the only one who was turned that way. So she shouldn't feel special about it.

He knew how she felt about it though. Except soon after he didn't care about it. He got used to it quickly, because Moira had proceeded to train him quickly after she bit him. Nessa wouldn't get that because she didn't want to be around them, she didn't want to live in the den with the rest of the pack, though at some point she would change her mind. Dylan would make sure of that. She needed a way to deal with the transformations anyways. Unless she wanted to deal with the pain on her own and go berserk and kill people.

He stared into her eyes as she snapped at him and all her ranting got from him was a smirk, like he didn't even care. "What are you talking about? I don't even know you, you crazy harlot." He responded to her words, a glint in his eyes to tell her that he did in fact know what she was talking about and who she was, though he claimed the opposite. The other pack members had stared momentarily but as he spoke, the turned their heads, believing Nessarose was just crazy.

"Maybe you're looking for someone else. But I've never seen you before in my life." he stated in a cold voice, before turning away from her with a smirk on his face. This was a good way to stay away from her, if he denied everything maybe she would just go away and he could maintain the distance he was supposed to keep for now. Afterwards, maybe he'd be able to go after her and clear things up. But with the way she acted, he kind of doubted that he could convince her to forgive him, not that he really cared if she did.

So maybe he had done wrong in denying that he knew her. Moira had seemed pleased with the way he had handled her but something was bugging him. And it had been since she had arrived at the den and he had denied her in front of everyone. And now he had to see her at the Hayes' school and he continually scolded himself for being such an arse to her. But what was he supposed to do? He could disobey Moira or James.

Not if he valued his life.

It sucked even more that he had decided to stay at the school too. He wasn't going home to the den afterwards. Moira had given him the option but he had decided on his own that he would stay because he thought it was better that way. He thought that if he stayed, Nessarose wouldn't be able to find him if she decided to go to the den again, but that had backfired. He had forgotten that she would be thrown out of Hogwarts because she was Werewolf now too.

He had noticed that there was something off about her lately though. She hadn't eaten most of that day, and for some reason that was getting him worried. He shouldn't care, if he was honest, but he couldn't help it. He wouldn't let her know that he was worried though, it would only give her a reason to think he liked her or something. Or it would make her angry. Either way, he was screwed. He'd followed her around most of the day without alerting her to it and when she walked into a room he hesitated for a few minutes before deciding to walk in after her.

He sighed. This wasn't going to go well. After their last two encounters, he knew that she really hated him. Dylan's expression went serious and cold, and he pushed the room to the room open as he walked in. He looked at Nessarose as she stood on the other side of the room, cutting up ingredients for some type of potion and he smirked at her, knowing she would look up to see him there. "Hey." he greeted, his voice sounding uninterested.

Letting out a loud huff, Nessa dumped a handful of chopped baneberries, wondering if consuming the potion would truly be a good idea; the berries were the most poisonous part of the plant. Shaking her head she gave the liquid three clockwise turns and looked back at her list.

The door opened and Nessa swallowed silently before glancing over her shoulder just as he spoke. Rolling her eyes to cover up the immediate dread she felt, she turned back to her tabletop and scowled at the instructions.

"Get out." She practically growled, ignoring the irony of the idea. "I have nothing to say to you. Not anymore."

Her eyes wanted to widen in fear. Nessa could feel her entire body wanting to stiffen and change demeanor entirely. She was having none of it, though. It was pointless to imply that she wasn't afraid; her eyes flickered with something dark and hateful, but the undercurrent of fear lingered. Surely Dylan would realize how much he affected her.

Since his lie at the den, Nessa had practically been shunned for her outburst. Did he think she could or would ignore that? If so, he was dumber than he had acted before. Even Dylan had admitted how stupid he could be sometimes. Then again, so could she.

Suddenly, as if she could feel him watching her, Nessa bristled, shaking her head to make her hair fly back behind her shoulder instead of hanging in her face. "Actually," she added suddenly. "There is something I want to say."

Not taking her eyes off her work, Nessa thought back to her meeting, to Baldric and Ana Levski and the stinging embarrassment and anger that had lit her veins. "Go to Hell."

Her words stung a little for some reason. She really didn't seem to want anything to do with him. But then again, he had brought that upon himself when he had lied right to her face. When he had made her seem like a crazy person for ranting at him about something she had every right to be ranting at him about. He'd seen the way she had been treated by the pack after that day. It seemed like everyone wanted almost nothing to do with her at all because of that.

He honestly hated to think that he was the cause of that. That he basically ruined her reputation in the pack, before she even actually had one. But it couldn't be helped and either way, why should she care? She didn't even want to be a part of the pack in the first place. Why should her reputation there matter at all? It was stupid since she hated him, the pack, and probably everyone else.

His smirk at her didn't shift from its position though. Dylan wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of seeing that he felt guilty about anything that had happened. No way. He shrugged at what she said and turned to leave. "Alright."

When she said there was something that she had to say to him though, he stopped and turned around to face her. The Werewolf chuckled at her words for a second before flat out laughing at her for saying that. "Oh believe me. That's exactly where I'm going." he admitted, a cynical looking grin on his face. "But don't think you're safe from going there. We're both going to burn in the fiery pits of Hell together." he grinned at her, suddenly walking closer to her.

"So you might as well get used to being around me." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to him, making sure he had a firm grip on her so she couldn't push away. Something in her eyes made him freeze though. Besides hatred, there was something else.. Fear. Did she fear him? A small amount of guilt flashed in his eyes but it quickly disappeared as he looked away from her for a second. His attention was drawn to the potion she was making when his eyes landed on the ingredients.

"What're you making?" he asked, changing the topic, forgetting that she had just told him to go away. He knew that she wanted him to leave her alone, but that wasn't going to happen. Just because he didn't feel like leaving.

Even without looking at Dylan, Nessa could feel the dramatics he undoubtedly presented on his face. Although she didn’t want to agree with his sentiment, she couldn’t deny the fact that he was probably right. With what she was working on right now, and everything she planned on doing to find the girl or doing to get her parents back for it.

Even as she heard him approaching, she forced herself to keep her eyes on her work. Nessa’s breath caught, her hands freezing as his arms encircled her waist. Looking up at him, she inhaled sharply at how close he was to her face, eyes finally widening of their own accord. Even as he looked away, she watched him and took in his features. Although she knew he had freckles, as she had seen multiple times; but being this close to him made it obvious how very many dotted his cheeks. Something about them caught Nessa’s attention for too long, her fingers nearly dropping the fine they held as he spoke.

He couldn’t know what she was up to. What would he do if he did? Yell at her for being stupid enough to get pregnant? It was half his fault; for all she knew he’d just walk out. The only thing she couldn’t imagine was him telling her he wanted it, or that he would stick it out or something ridiculous like that. Dylan would never. Her gaze fell back to the cauldron, wondering how long they had been standing there. The potion couldn’t sit for ages.

“It’s nothing.” She attempted first. “Just for practice.”

When he didn’t seem to believe her, Nessa frowned and turned her head away. She wanted to say that it was none of his business, but that wasn’t true. It was half his if not entirely. She had to come up with something else, immediately, that wouldn’t be a lie she had to cover up with aggressive snark. Instead she just muttered under her breath, “It’s dark magic, okay? I’m not supposed to be working on it. So I won’t tell you.”

Stubbornly, and rather stupidly, Nessarose turned to look at him again, lips parting slightly as she met his gaze again. Her eyes flicked to his mouth for a moment before returning to the blue of his eyes. No, that definitely wasn’t happening. Not now. Not when he didn’t know and she couldn’t tell him because he might explode on her and make her life even worse than it was. He really needed to let go of her before she hexed him, that’s what he needed to do.

There was something she wasn't telling him. Somehow he could tell that she was hiding something, her body language seemed nervous about something and though he knew it was because he was near her, there had to be something else she was trying to hide from him. He had to try and find out what that was, it would bother him too much if he didn't know. He didn't want her to be the one with any secrets that involved him, or could involve him.

Refusing to let go of her, Dylan stared at her for a second before looking at the cauldron where her potion bubbled. Dark Magic? What could she be up to? Was it poison, was she planning to kill someone off? What if that person was him? He wasn't stupid enough to drink something that came from the girl who probably hated him the most in the world now. But instead of asking if it was for someone he asked, "What is it?"

He doubted he would get an answer from her, but maybe he could find a way to get it out of her. "Just tell me. It's not like I win anything by telling someone. You'd probably get thrown out and I really don't want that. Even if you don't believe me." Again he was lying to her face. But not entirely. He did want her gone, because he didn't want to be around her. But at the same time he wanted her there because he liked being near her. He was definitely a messed up soul.

He noticed her eyes wander down to his lips and a smirk grew on them. "Oh. You want something, don't you?" He asked tauntingly, pulling her closer to him, pushing himself into her slightly. "You just can't resist, can you?" He asked licking his lips.

He thought for a moment. He was sure she wanted him and he wanted her, but he doubted she would allow him to kiss her again. She was probably too hurt by what happened and she might lash out at him. Was that really something he wanted to risk? The answer? Yes. He would risk it, just because he wanted to feel her lips against his. So even if she hit him or hexed him or anything like that, he leaned in closer to her and stopped with barely any space between their mouths, wanting to see what she'd do.

Nessa just shook her head at his insistence that she explain. Of course she couldn't believe him; all he seemed to do around her was lie. She set down the vine she held, hardly registering the fact as she did so. His sarcasm wasn't at all endearing, if that was what he was going for. Instead, it simply annoyed her so much that she grumbled under her breath about annoying werewolves. Turning in his arms to face him, Nessa leaned back, knowing full well that he was about to get very angry with her. She only wished he would let her take a few steps back first.

"It's for me, okay?" She huffed out reluctantly. "I'm going to take it. It will make things less complicated and free you from some unwanted trouble. So don't you get all nosey with me, you git. This whole mess is entirely on your shoulders. So screw you."

Her brows drew down into a disappointed scowl, not catching the irony in her own words. Giving up, she raised her hands to press against his chest. She didn't want to give him time to guess what she was up to; that would only end up wit her getting herself into more trouble. If he was lying about his promise not to tell anyone, at least she could disappear without anyone wondering. The monent she voiced the truth she would want to flee like the cowardly part of her suggested.

"It'll get rid of-" she started, breath catching for a moment before she shoved hard against him, lifting a knee in threat until she could step away from him. "It'll get rid of the baby. I don't want it; it's not Baldric's of course, so he probably doesn't want it. You sure as hell won't want anything to do with it. So this," she gestured to the cauldron that severely needed attention, "will solve all our problems."

Letting her shoulders relax a bit, Nessa closed her eyes for a breath before returning to her work. Time was of the essence. Her three weeks would be up soon.

Dylan tilted his head to the side and stared at Nessarose. His fault? The issue she had was his fault? What issue? There were two things he could think of but what could she be making a potion for? Was it something to make her a human again? Dylan couldn't help but be curious about it. If this was really something like that, maybe.. He could convince her to give him some. But, he couldn't. He just couldn't.

At her words, Dylan smirked and leaned in toward her. "Oh you already did." He whispered in her ear. No matter how sincere he tried to be with her, he couldn't help himself.

She began to speak again and Dylan's grip on her loosened when he felt her knee too close to him. Get rid of..? What was she trying to get rid of? As she finished her sentence, Dylan's grip on her loosened completely and his arms dropped to his sides. He let her finish what she was saying but he wasn't really listening anymore. She was trying to get rid of a baby? And it wasn't her match's child. He doubted she'd been with anyone else besides him so that meant.. It was his.

His gaze had been lowered to the floor but when he noticed that she was working on the potion again, he lifted his head and stared at her. "Stop." He started. His voice was quiet, like he didn't know what to say. Which was actually true. He didn't know what else to say besides stop. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to stop her though, he couldn't let this happen. He couldn't let her get rid of the baby.

"Nessarose. Stop. Now." He almost commanded, pushing himself between her and the cauldron. "You can't do this. You can't get rid of the kid. I'm not going to let you. You're not going to get rid of my child." He told her, words just spewing out of his mouth. There was anger boiling inside of him somewhere, but it wasn't really registering right now, he was just shocked by what he'd just learned.

"Please." That was the one word he hadn't expected to say to her. He could expect anything else, but he was beginning to plead. Dylan Davies, was pleading. This was just something too important. He isn't want we to get rid of his kid.

All she could think about was that he was going to be furious, maybe even so angry that he hurt her again – he hadn’t exactly been gentle with her before, even when he perhaps should have been. Past experiences considered, Nessa was pretty sure he would blame her or try to hurt her more than he already had – verbally or otherwise. Her fingers held too strong of a grip on her list, unable to actually read the words written before her because she could practically hear him thinking it over. It would only be moments before he figured it out and-

Stop.

Ignoring him, she shook her head, and forced herself to move more quickly. She couldn’t listen to him right now. He wasn’t making any sense and she couldn’t listen. Dylan was supposed to be angry, but not because she was trying to change things. More because she had ‘let it happen’ or something along those lines. It made absolutely no sense. She couldn’t even look at him.

Well, at least until he stepped between her and the table, making her drop the sheet of paper onto the floor beside their feet. “No, Dylan. I can. You don’t get to decide in this. You don’t get,” she punctuated the word with a sharp jab of her finger against his chest, “to decide anything regarding me. Not about this. Not today. Not ever. Not after what you did.”

She could feel her eyes watering in pure fear and shame. Crying wasn’t something she ever did; this was so insanely wrong. She couldn’t handle this. Please? No, Dylan. That wouldn’t work on her. Not when he was probably just saying everything he could think of to get to her. To get under her skin. Throwing her hands up, Nessa stepped back, trying to get as much space between them as she could manage. When the back of her legs hit a desk, she let out a frustrated groan that was far too high pitched and involved her hands combing through her hair.

“Get out, Dylan. Get out.” She pointed at the doorway, eyes on the floor as a gleaming tear dropped and landed by her shoe.

What was he supposed to do now? He didn't know how to handle things like this. He didn't know what he was suppose to say or do. She wanted to kill the child within her, and while he normally wouldn't care what anyone is in situations like this, he had to care. It was his kid and he couldn't allow Nessa to kill it. She didn't seem to care about what he said, not that she should after everything he'd done to her but Dylan needed to find a way to change her mind.

Dylan stared at her as she spoke and her words triggered the anger that had been residing within him to explode. His eyes narrowed and he grabbed her roughly by her upper arms. "You're wrong about that. I at least get a say in all of this. It's my kid and I'm not going to let you get rid of it. I want this kid Nessarose. If you don't, that's your problem. But you are going to have it. And if you still don't want it by the time it's born, then I'll just take it. It doesn't matter to me either way, as long as the baby's alive."

He never thought that he'd care about a kid, even if it was his. He always been told that he wa too immature to even think about being a father and here he was defending the life of something that wasn't even developed within it's mother's stomach. His vision started to get blurry and his eyes began to sting, that mean that he was starting to cry. His immediate reaction was to release Nessa and turn away from her.

A picture of Moira and James flashed in his mind and with tears glistening on the edge of his eyes, Dylan turned back to Nessa and looked at her with anger flashing in his eyes. "Or would you prefer to get killed yourself?" He asked. "I can't tell Moura and James that you were pregnant and you got rid of the child. They wouldn't like that. At all. You'd be getting rid of an addition to the pack as James doesn't take kindly to that. After you get rid of the kid, your life will be in constant danger." He said darkly.

"And I won't help you."

Dylan didn't know what else to do. Threatening her shouldn't have even been an option, but she'd pushed him to that and he kind of hate her for it. He didn't want her to get killed, but he wasn't going to stop James or Moira if she actually got rid of the child within her.