This was it. His monologue of separation. Aleksander Ostrowski was ensuring that any to all considerations for them to be together was pointless and meaningless because of what he was. Little did Aleksander know how Maya's year had been. She began to chase after her supervisor, Marcus Iwasaki, the Head of Ravenclaw, and had no idea why. She found him to be interesting and wanted to get to know him better. Only to figure out that he was a werewolf himself.

Maya realized that the connection was no coincidence. The feeling she had with Marcus was the same she had in the presence of Aleksander. The difference, however, was that Maya knew Aleks. Maya loved Aleks. And here he was, sharing his love for Maya but because of his fear of being a werewolf, they must not be together.

Maya could feel the blood in her body begin to boil. She was not the type to get angry so easily, but she was a woman of war, and she would fight for what she believed to be right. Maya handled her glass drink and stood up, throwing the glass onto the ground the minute he thanked her for the drink.

She knew all eyes were on her in the pub, but at this moment, she did not care.

"I may not be fearless, but I am not afraid of who you are, dammit. If you want to talk about damaged goods, then let me share you mine. I'm a woman of war who has seen and done things no one should ever do. And let me add it was without magic," she said, angrily. Her heart ironically swung open its doors. He was giving him one last chance.

Maya walked to him, not caring of the glass on the floor when she got closer. She tugged on his shirt, wanting him to stand up with her. If he stood up, she would be close to his face, looking at his blue eyes, slowly gazing turns between his eyes and lips.

"I'm giving you one last chance, Ostrowski. Take me or leave me," she whispered at the end, taking in his familiar scent. "I want you the way you are, fur and all," she added, looking back at him, hoping he would choose correctly.

He was honestly surprised by the sudden outburst from the usually quiet and reserved woman in front of him. He didn't say a word, she clearly had something to say and it was not his place to interrupt her in this moment. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the rest of the pub turned to look at the pair of them. It was difficult for his sensitive ears to drown out all their murmurs and whispers, but at least it didn't hurt as much as the sharp sound of the smashing glass.

She mentioned her soldier's past. Another thing they both shared, although if he remembered correctly she had been a career soldier much longer than he had. Once he had fulfilled his contract with the Polish armed forces he had left immediately. He had vowed to never again fight on someone else's orders.

She pulled on his shirt, if he had wanted to he could've easily stayed seated. Yet he didn't want to, he wanted to stand to be close to this woman who claimed to feel fear and yet was unafraid to declare herself in front of so many people.

The scent of her hit his nostrils, his overtuned sense of smell able to detect everything about her from just one sniff, from this distance, the pair of them so close. She was intoxicating. Yet she had gotten her moment. It was time for the hunter to hunt.

He didn't allow her to finish her final sentence before he pulled her towards him and locked his lips to her's, his hand moving up her neck to the back of her head, fingers softly running through her brown locks of hair as he kissed her deeply, passionately. The denizens of the Leaky Cauldron applauded, some perhaps believing this was some kind of scripted soap opera.

If she pulled away he would make no attempt to stop her. If not the kiss would continue for nearly half a minute before he would gently pull away, though their lips would still be and inch apart as he pressed his forehead against her's.

"I hope you know what you're doing Galim, because I don't."

Maya watched as Aleksander stood up. When standing next to her, she could feel her heart beating. It was now his move and she wondered what move he was about to make. But that did not stop her from sharing how she felt.

Nonetheless, the more she shared, the more angrier she got for opening up her heart. Only for it to be closed on. However, now was different. Maya was interrupted with lips pressed against hers. She could feel the warmth of his hands that made the hairs on her back rise. With any kiss, there was a slight pause. Their foreheads were touching and she could not help but to smile.

Was it because of their dynamic? Most likely. But the clapping that was coming from the Leaky Cauldron customers could also have helped. Only now did she realize she was in public. When in the moment, one could forget who is around and focus on what is present. But Maya did not want to come back to reality. No. She wanted to stay on cloud nine.

"That's the fun of it," she agreed, knowing that whatever they were doing, it was going to be filled with unknowns. Maya wrapped her arms around Aleks' neck and went in for a kiss. It was just as passionate as he had given.

When her lips separated from his, she came out of his embrace and moved her chair closer to his and sat down. Her hand reached for his and her chocolate brown eyes looked at him differently. Their spark was not yearning, it was growing.

"What now?" she asked, playfully, laughing right after. She did not mean anything by it but really wanted to know what they were supposed to do now. Do they sit down and stare at each other forever? It had been ages since Maya was in a relationship herself.

Though he would never admit it, as he was dourness incarnate, Aleksander felt overwhelming comfort and warmth in the embrace of Maya as their lips pressed together, he felt at ease. Calmness and serenity washed over him. For the first time in almost a decade, he felt safe.

He was almost hesitant to stop kissing her. The denizens of the Leaky Cauldron had lost interest at this point and returned to their drinks as the pair sat back down. His bright blue eyes avoided the warm hue of her browns for a moment, but this time it seemed like it was out of nervousness, rather than any want to avoid her. Eventually though, he mustered up the silent strength to stare her back in the eyes and offer up his usually smarm "We are going to have a rough go of it if neither of us have any semblance of a plan." He chuckled gently, somehow the prospect didn't bother him as much as he suspected it should've.

When she asked him what they were to do next, he almost leant forward to kiss her again, but he resisted the urge for a moment as he pondered over her question. "Well in my admittedly limited experience with these things my suggestion would be we give in to our passions, book a hotel room, rip each others clothes off and do things to one another that you would not be allowed to repeat at work." He smirked gently, the candlelight of the tavern creating flickering shadows that crept into the many crevices of his scars. He was fully prepared for her to slap him round the mouth for such a brazen comment, but something told him she wouldn't be that put off by his comments.

@Aleksander Ostrowski
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His forwardness made Maya's heart skip a beat. It had been ages when someone was just as interested as her as she was with someone. "A bit forward, isn't it?" she smiled, and her hand reached out to his face, caressing the scars that made him who he was today. Maya moved in with a smirk. "So... What are you waiting for?"

Both of them stood from their chairs, their eyes glued onto each other went to the hostess and booked a hotel room. Just like giddy teenagers, both of them ran upstairs into their room where they would experience a new connection with one another.

-- Time Lapse --

Maya was laying down on the bed staring into the ceiling. For so long she felt like she was searching for a missing piece to her neshama (soul), and for the first time, she felt like it was all complete. Maya closed her eyes, taking in the moment of laying down with a man who she had fallen for, and who had fallen for her. She then looked over at him, scanning him.

They shared their love, but now there were logistics that needed to be made. Maya lived at Hogwarts. Aleksander just came back from Hamburg and is making a life for himself. Did he even have a place yet? She worked full time, and with everything happening at Hogwarts, she often had to stay on campus. Perhaps during times that are dull and on her time off she would spend with him. But again, it went with making sure that he had a place to stay.

"Aleks, do you have a place to stay? I can't keep meeting you here," she said, not seeing as coming to the pub as romantic. She would rather be in a space that was meant for just him that she can come visit.

Aleks took a long drag of his cigarette and softly blew the smoke towards the ground next to his side of the bed. He wasn't sure of the Leaky Cauldron's policy on smoking, but at the moment he didn't particularly care. "It has been a long time for you? I sensed those were not the movements of a woman who has done this recently." He teases gently.

As she begins to speak of such sensible things as the future he takes a breath and settles back into his pillow. The clawmarks on his muscular chest creasing slightly as he adjusts his position. Once she was done asking him where he had to stay he would snuff out his cigarette and reach to the pocket of his discarded trousers.

After a bit of fumbling he would produce a photograph and pass it over to her. "I pulled the last of the strings I was able to pull and secured myself some land near Loch Katrine. It is isolated...safe." He explained. [color]"Very few people nearby. I am heading out soon to start building my home. I have got the proper logging permits, as well as licenses to hunt and fish. My favours also afforded me the construction of a basement to contain myself...just in case. There is space to grow most of the ingredients for Wolfsbane potion, and I have supplies coming once a month."[/color] He explained the full plan to her. It seemed most of his time away had been spent planning this out.

"It will be safe...but rather boring. You might have to bring me some books to read." He looked away from her for a moment. Trying not to picture them both living a peaceful provincial life. In a cosy little village somewhere, accepted, at peace. He couldn't run the risk. His mind had calculated all present possibilities, and had determined this as the safest.

"Mimo to bije pub, prawda?" (Still, beats the pub right?) He sighed softly.

@Aleksander Ostrowski

Only on occasion would Maya invite a cigarette to her lips. She gently reached over and grabbed the cigarette from in Aleks' hand and with a devious smile, took a puff herself. She then gave him back the cigarette and tried to make rings come out of her mouth. Unfortunately, just puff of smoke came out, not looking one bit like rings. Oh well.

"That's great," she said, thinking about the kind of home he would be living in. It was secluded away from people and nearby Hogwarts. She would have to find the time and way to get there from work, but it was all doable. "It sounds like you've really thought of all this," she said, thinking he was just around for a second and ready to leave. A part of Maya was wondering if there was going to be disappearance in the near future. It's like any romance novel gone sour: lovers at first until someone leaves forever.

"I would bring more than just books," she teased. Maya looked at the time of a manual clock on the wall and bounced up from the bed. She began to slowly put on her clothes. It was already early morning and Maya was on shift to do early morning rounds. "I need to go back to work," she said while putting on her yoga pants and shirt. "I'm off again in a couple of days. There's a lot happening during this years' summer camp. Thank goodness it's all normal things," she said, thinking of all the terrible things that usually happen on campus from dolls and trolls to hags and masks. It was all so complicated. But this time, it was as children should be experiencing.

Aleks chuckled gently as he leant over to crush out the cigarette on the bedside table. "I do miss my old job, teaching potions." He returned his gaze to Maya as he watched he re-dress. "But the constant need to make sure idiotic children do not get themselves killed, that I do not miss."

"That and all the questions pieprz mnie (f*** me) I want to throttle whichever moron said 'there are no stupid questions' because I was asked at least one hundred times why a cauldron was not bubbling only for the student to not have lit the fire underneath."

He paused for a few moments, running a few idle fingers through his hair as he stood up and out of bed, trying to locate where exactly his trousers had been thrown. "Ah, I suppose it kept things interesting though, every day a new mental challenge to overcome. And maybe I admit some of the students were...promising even. He sighed deeply as he retrieved another cigarette and lit it. He took a deep and contemplating drag, blowing the smoke out of his nose as Maya made herself presentable. "I fear the boredom I am soon to bring upon myself, endless repetitive days. I was not cut out for the simple life Ma- Galim..." It seemed he still had reservations about addressing her on a first name basis.

"What if I do not enjoy the peace and quiet? I need to think at all times. Need to be distracted by mental pursuits. What am I do to with myself otherwise?" He looked down at the cigarette like he only just noticed he had it, his piercing blue eyes were brimming with uncertainty.