Valkyrie stretched silently as she made her way down the hall and through the door that led to the barracks. Even though the exciting events of the werewolf hunt had happened the previous day, she still felt like she hadn't gotten enough sleep. Hence why, while everyone else was out and about across the facility, she found herself wandering back to her bed to just relax for a while.

The room was, miraculously, empty. The girl had figured that, after so many of her house had been at the hunt, at least one other person would be thinking the same thing she was. She shrugged. No matter. All that meant was more peace and quiet for her.

It was sheer habit that had her bending to check under her bed. Back at Hogwarts, she'd stashed so many things in so many places around her bed, she'd taken to always checking her usual hiding places when she was alone just to make sure nothing had been tampered with. She'd been alone this morning, and all was well.

Which was precisely why the knife under her bed threw her off.

It hadn't been there this morning, of that she was absolutely certain. Glancing around once more to make sure no one was around, she pulled out her wand and muttered what few spells she knew to check for curses or poisons. Sufficiently satisfied that it wasn't going to kill her to touch it, she slid it out from under her bed to get a better look at it.

The thing was gorgeous, of that there was no denying. Exactly the kind of thing she'd lift off someone, and either keep as a treasure, or sell for a profit. The bone handle had a highly intricate white tree carved in to it. After admiring that handiwork, she let her gaze travel down the long, silver blade. Right to the name carved at the end.

"Tyson Payne?"

Well now, that was interesting. And opened a whole mess of possibilities to Valkyrie. She could turn the knife in. That would be the easy choice. But then the questions would come. Namely, why was it under her bed? Like she knew. Besides, that was also the fastest way to destroy what was fast becoming a powerful ally.

She could ask Tyson about it straight up. But that would be stupid. If he'd planted it, better to get that out of him before he knew that she knew about the blade. And if he didn't, then she could tell him the truth and maybe, just maybe, he could help her figure out how it had ended up there. Plus, if she was caught with it, the natural reaction would be that she stole it, which would make finding the truth that much harder.

Making up her mind, Valkyrie slid the blade under her mattress. She'd figure out a way to get Tyson talking about missing family knives the next time they were alone together.

Sliding his hands in his robe pockets, Tyson had his head bowed down, looking at the cold ground underneath him. Despite that it was nearing summer, there was still a chill in the air. The teenage boy had been thinking more than usual, something which never happens and could have potentially been dangerous to him. He hated Furiae. He hated everything about being here, but he couldn’t shake this feeling that he was meant to be here. Yeah, he had killed his father, but that was a piece of karma that had been coming to him. Dominic was abusive, vicious. He got what he deserved. He had made Tyson’s life miserable, and it was only fair that the boy had made his father’s life just as equally miserable. Tyson had used the Cruciatus Curse on his father, subsequently being followed by the death by use of the Killing Curse. It was only fair, right? Although, if he hadn’t been here, he wouldn’t have met Valkyrie. Well, that wasn’t true. He had met her back at Hogwarts. They were on the same Slytherin quidditch team, despite them being a year apart. But it didn’t matter. He just needed to go back up to his room and make sure that nothing had been taken. There was some stealing that was going on. Tyson wasn’t surprised because of the place that he was currently in.

Taking in a deep breath, he half ran up the stairs to the second floor where the Alecto barracks were. He placed his hand on the door knob and opened up the door, only to see the black haired petite girl standing on the side of his bed. Raising an eyebrow, he crossed his arms, shutting the door behind him with his foot. Tyson tilted his head to the side, his eyes glancing up and down her body before staring into her eyes with a mischievous smirk crossing his features. Obviously something was up because, typically, no one would dare come and sneak into the boys’ dorms.

”Incarcerus." He said quietly before speaking agin. "Miss Black, what in the hell are you doing here? I mean, I know that you want me, but I didn’t know that you wanted me enough to sneak into my bed.”

Oh. Well. This just made things interesting. She'd successfully gotten the knife under her mattress before Tyson arrived, so she was ready to play the whole thing off, be cool, play innocent. This was her domain now, keeping things hidden. This was where she'd win.

She hadn't been expecting the spell that suddenly had her rooted to the spot, unable to do anything but watch the former Slytherin approach, a smirk gracing his features.

Yeah, this changed things.

"Look again, Mister Payne. This would be my bed we're standing next to." Valkyrie quirked one eyebrow back at him. "I know you want me, but I didn't think you wanted me bad enough to mistake my bed for your bed. Could cause some... interesting situations if you make that mistake on a regular basis."

She was toying with fire here, she knew that. She was magically bound to the spot she was standing, more at Tyson's mercy than the average person should want to be. But the Black girl found it oddly thrilling. They were on an even keel now - he'd won the duel, she'd proved herself against the werewolves. She was intrigued to see what the next move would be.

There was something thrilling about seeing Valkyrie being magically bound by an invisible force. It made him feel more superior, dominant, in a sense. It was interesting, seeing both Slytherins in the same room, giving each other thetaunting and sly comments that each were known for. They were, in fact, only a year apart from each other, both of which played for the Slytherin Quidditch team. He couldn’t exactly remember what her position was, but Tys had been a beater since his first year. Looking now at V, he couldn’t help but smirk knowing that he essentially had her under his control, under his mercy. And it just seemed like nothing better could happen ever.

Seeing the smirk cross her lips, Tyson knew exactly that she was now playing into his game. A small chuckle escaped from the blonde haired boy, shaking his head as he heard her words. They were in such a tone that he couldn’t help but laugh. With a quick flick of the wrist, he muttered a quick, ”Accio Valkyrie’s wand,” and watched the wand come out from the girl’s robe pocket and into his hand. He shook his head, crossing his arms and raised an eyebrow.

”Did you really think I was going to potentially give you a chance to get away? I may be a boy, but I’m not one of those stupid, foolish boys.”

Walking over to his bed, he set her wand on his nightstand, silently making a mental note to keep an eye on it. Valkyrie was infamous for figuring out ways to get what she wanted. Sticking his wand on the inside of his robes, he walked back to her, his head hanging down as soon as he came to a halt. A couple of silent moments passed as he built up the tension before looking up, his blue eyes gazing into hers. Tyson raised his hand and set it gently on her cheek, just barely resting it on there. Taking a step forward, he closed the distance between them until they were only inches apart. His fingers trailed down her face to her neck tantalizingly, intentionally teasing her.

”Even if I did want you, V, why hadn’t you made an effort to do anything, hm? I’ve seen the way you look at me,” he said to her cooly, lowering his face close to hers. Her breath hot on his skin, he took a few moments to let the feeling of power sink in. Pulling back finally, the boy’s lips curved up into a smirk, taking out his wand from his robes. ”But, no, this was a one time incident, I assure you.”

Shifting his weight on one foot, he sighed. ”Now, would you like to share with me why you’re in here? And, no, that was not a question. That was a demand in question form.”

The smirk vanished almost instantly as she felt her wand whisk from her robes to land easily in Tyson’s hand. That threw a whole new level to this entire encounter. She was the master thief, not Tyson, and she was not about to let him trump her in that. This encounter was not going to end without her getting her wand back, of that she was sure.

It was easy, natural, like breathing for Valkyrie to slip back into her cunning conwoman self. Tyson was just another person who had something she wanted, and she was going to have to do what she always did – play the right game to get what she wanted. She’d done it a million times before, and she could do it again. She hadn’t gotten caught for failing at a con, after all.

“Wasn’t saying you were,” she replied, letting the smirk settle back on her features. Her eyes followed him as he made his way to his nightstand, instantly memorizing the exact position of her wand.

All rational, coherent, and connected thought flew like her head from a flock of bird as Tyson stepped right up to her, ice blue eyes boring into her own, close enough to touch, hand first on her cheek, then trailing lazily down her neck. It was like fire, electricity, and Valkyrie was damn glad she was in a binding spell so that the shiver that ran down her spine was not visible.

Then, something brushed against her hand, and everything snapped back into focus. Her wand – her real wand – was still in her pocket. She’d gotten so used to not having it, to having her Furiae issued wand, that she’d almost forgotten that the Warden had given a select few of them their wands back for everything they’d done. It seemed Tyson too had forgotten this little fact, which was going to work in Valkyrie’s favor.

Keeping her mind now focused on her goal, she was able to hold Tyson’s gaze as he lowered his face close to hers, her smile still coy and cocky. “Leave it to a Beater to misread signs from a girl. Stick to what you know Tyson – hitting around Bludgers.”

As he stepped back and demanded information, she muttered the counter spell to the spell Tyson had put her under, fighting to not move, to not give away her new freedom. Her wand, as it always did, responded to her wandless spell, working wonderfully even being near her hand, but not in it.

“You want answers, do you?” she asked. Her wand was out of her robes in a second, and Tyson bound in the same spell he had put her under. “So would I, dear Mister Payne.” She stepped right up to him, barely inches away from him, and dug out both his wands as she spoke. “Forgot my real wand. That was your first mistake. Your next,” she moved then to retrieve her Furiae wand, tucking both of Tyson’s into her pocket, “was stealing from me.”

Climbing up to stand on the bed behind the former Slytherin, Valkyrie draped herself over his shoulders, murmuring in his ear. “Now, why don’t you tell me why there was a knife with your name hiding under my bed? Give me a good, honest answer, and I’ll consider letting you go.”

Nipping once at his pulse point, she leapt nimbly from the bed to go lounge across the way on the foot of her own bed, a deviously coy smirk on her face. “Answers, Mister Payne. Before I lose my patience. And we don’t want that.”

Being bound, helpless at the mercy of Valkyrie’s grasp was something that was both uncomfortable yet so thrilling at the same thing. He loved the fact that she was suddenly so dominant, but the way that she was teasing him, touching him so delicately that it made him want to scream, well, it drove him absolutely nuts. Tyson couldn’t help but let out a shuddering breath when her teeth bit his pulse point, and he couldn’t help but let his body erupt in a full body shiver. She was teasing him, and she knew it. But the thing was, he didn’t have the answers that she wanted. And that was probably the most aggravating part. The full blood tried to put a scowl on his face in an attempt to put off the fact that he was enjoying the teasing that she was giving him.

A small chuckle escaped from the boy’s lips as he looked up into her aqua-green eyes, his own sky blue ones gazing into hers in a challenging manner. ”V, if I knew anything about it, I would have told you by now. Why the fuck there’s a knife under your bed is out of my control, and why it has my name on it, I have no answers for you. So why don’t you let me go and we can figure this out? Honestly? I didn’t even know I had a knife with my name on it. Just like everyone else, my possessions were taken away. Remember? Unlike you, I’m not a wonderful smuggler.” His tone was solid and matter-of-fact, showing no fear, but silently he wanted her touch one last time.

This shouldn’t have been so much fun, this game of cat and mouse. They were toying with one another – Tyson first, with her, and now Valkyrie with him. She’d played this game before, with people who had tried to double cross her, but never before had it been so much fun. She’d done the “toying information out of people” thing before, but this time… this time, she was actually enjoying it. Usually, she only pretended to enjoy tormenting those she trapped, but with Tyson… with Tyson it was different. She was honestly thrilled by the whole thing. And she didn’t really want it to end.

She noticed the shiver run through him, and she grinned to herself. She had purposefully been easier with her binding spell on Tyson than he had been on her. Whereas he hadn’t been able to see her shudder, she’d easily been able to see his. That, and she heard the hiss of a breath, and both damn near sent a response shiver through her.

She let her eyes flicker over him as he retorted to her demands, making sure he saw her looking. If she was going to wrestle a truthful answer out of him, she was going to have to keep him off his guard. And this was just the way to do it.

Besides, she was enjoying the view.

As he finished his rambling, V rose languidly from the bed and sauntered over to him, eyes locked with his. She moved until she was standing so close, they nearly touched. And, if she released the spell binding him, they would. And she knew it. And there was no way in hell that Tyson didn’t know it either. She could feel the heat radiating off his body, and she tilted her head up so their lips were so close, she could feel his breath on her lips. She grinned a sultry grin at him.

“You expect me to believe that you know absolutely nothing about all of this?” she asked softly, eyes coy. “Please, Tys.” She took another moment to let the tension build in the air, before sliding her wand from her pocket, careful to not touch the Slytherin boy. “Unfortunately, I don’t have many other options.” She wasn’t about to admit that something about his confession felt heartfelt and honest, because that would give him the upper hand. “So, I’ll let you help me figure out what the hell’s going on. I’ll be nice. Just because you admitted that I’m better at smuggling than you.”

And with a sudden, unprompted wave, she released Tyson from the binding spell.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, he tried to relax and let his racing heart stop pounding so furiously beneath his chest. He swallowed harshly at the closeness and intimacy of the distance between the two former Slytherins. The fact that they were going back and forth between the dominance of the two was something that he knew for a fact was to be expected out of the two. Back at Hogwarts, he always had his eye on her, looking at her and vying for her even when she wasn’t looking. He knew as soon as he saw her that he wanted to make her his. And tonight? He was going to do that. It wasn’t until she tilted her head up so their lips were nearly touching that he realized how badly he wanted her. It wasn’t until then that Tyson realized what he wanted to do tonight, and if people were going to hate him for that, so be it. He was going to have her. He was going to make Miss Valkyrie Black his.

As soon as the blonde was released from his invisible shackles, he took a couple of steps forward, his hand placing itself on her cheek. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips to hers, releasing all of the built up tension that he had that had been building up for months on end. After a couple of moments, he pulled away, his blue eyes locking with hers. ”Trust me, Valkyrie. You may have your way right now, but I’m going to have my way the rest of this night,” he murmured to her seductively before looking at the door, grabbing his wand quickly and flicking his wrist, locking the door. Screw the rules…

Fade to black