Forgetting her food for a minute, Victoria couldn't help but lay her head back on the booth and close her eyes. What Alec described sounded wonderful. When she flew with Cyreen, it was more about the connection she had with the beautiful creature, than simply enjoying the freedom and the mobility. She had mastered some body commands for her, but most of the time, Victoria wasn't in control. She envied people who could just let go and fly.

"That sounds amazing."

Hearing about his work in the muggle world, Victoria felt her heart flutter. That had been one big problem with Bronn. He didn't understand how much the muggle world meant to her, and never cared to. It made being with him very hard, as if she had to choose between the two worlds.

Not wanting to jump to conclusions too soon, imagining the benefits of...whatever they were. She sighed and decided to get it out in the open, just in case it was going to be a problem. "I hope you don't have a problem with the fact that I'm muggle born, then." Of all the similarities between Alec and Tess, Victoria hoped this was one of them.

Alec took another bite of his food and nodded. Not many people understood the importance of flying. Many women before found it to be a simple hobby that made him feel young, after one woman said that to him, well he simply put her to the side and told her the hobby in his life was actually her and he no longer had interest in the hobby. Once he took a sip of wine he nodded.

"Yes, maybe I should take you flying sometimes, so you see the feel of control, and freedom that comes with a broom." he said smiling.

Her comment took him by surprise. He knew she was a muggleborn, he remembered vaguely that Tess would be giving her a tour of their home and explain magical objects, such as the complimenting mirrors, or the knight's armor that moved with key words, or the pictures. Her muggle origins were clear to him, so why was she making a deal about this.

He took another bite of his food to give him time to process why she would even comment on that. Perhaps it was his families dislike of Muggles; it wasn't a great dislike, they just found them a bit naive. Tess, well there was obviously no issue on her part, it was probably just curiosity. Refilling his glass he took a sip and turned to face her.

"Why would it be a problem? I don't see any differences between any of us" he replied.

Victoria couldn't help but smile genuinely at Alec's idea of taking her flying. It meant he was planning on seeing her again. And though he had said that they could try not being lonely together, talk of future dates was different. She nodded her head at the idea. It would be nice to finally understand what it was all about.

Biting her lip at the curiosity written plainly on his face, she shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure. I wouldn't be surprised if a handsome pureblood, such as yourself, had a problem with it. Though I'm very glad you don't."

She couldn't help but let her eyes drift to his mouth, thinking of that kiss. She tore her gaze away to continue eating, feeling her pulse beat strongly in her veins. Taking a sip to clear her throat, she turned back to him, feeling a little more in control. "So what do you actually do at your job? Both of them?"

While she knew her chances of being an Auror if she wanted to were slim, she was still curious about it. It was definitely be an adventure.

Alec realized that perhaps he had inadvertently promised her a future of sorts. Usually he would retract his comment as smooth as possible and work on something else that would make the woman happy. But he was surprised in himself that he didn't panic over his slip up, in fact he genuinely meant it, which was out of character. He hadn't been like this unless it was with his mates in school.

He couldn't help but feel a bit off; perhaps it was because she thought of him to be a stereotype. He found it funny how there were stereotypes of purebloods that there were with muggleborns. Still, he figured that there were worse preconceived notions that could be put to him.

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

He knew he was good looking, after all there were woman in his life that told him repeatedly, including strangers. He let out a dashing smile as he noticed her eyes not looking at him or her plate, but at his lips. He was definitely handsome.

"For the Ministry, Aurors and I try to make devices that could help Muggle law enforcement and government succeed in protecting the civilians. As for an Auror, we are the equivalent of secret service, we work on cases given to us, and we try to protect the law." he explained.

Victoria smiled cheekily at how Alec latched on to that part of her comment. Crossing her legs, she let her top leg rub against his calf. "Don't act like you don't already know it. Naive doesn't suit you."

If she was being honest, Victoria loved that he knew how good looking he was. While it could come off as arrogant, she loved the confidence he had because of it. He wasn't always wondering how people saw him. He could just...be.

Trying to hold on to the thread of their conversation, which was becoming harder by the minute, she rolled her eyes. "I know what they do. I'm not stupid. But what is it like? What's the best part? Or the worst! Maybe I can't become an Auror, but I can live vicariously through you."

Alec lifted his brow as her leg rubbed against his calf and he let out a lazy smile. Naive definitely did not suit him, he knew that. He was always the boy who knew too much, and soon became the observant man he was now. He wondered if she had done that on purpose, or it was just a coincidence...he didn't believe in coincidences.

"I guess I should cut the act, I was never a good actor" to her tactic, he played along and placed his hand on her thigh as he leaned forward to chuckle.

It wasn't as if she didn't lust after him, that was the obvious part the way she leaned towards him, her eyes on his lips, her touching. Whether conscious or not was to be questioned, but either way he was going to go for it.

"Some of it is classified" he explained, his hand not leaving her thigh. "the best parts are traveling and feeling like people depend on you. But I hate the hours, and of course the danger that comes with certain missions. Some are based on the levels of hardships and so forth, so it does come with little amount of free time."

Victoria jumped a little at his hand on her thigh. Not that she was complaining. But she wasn't used to the ease with which he made physical contact. She was used to Bronn's obvious intent's, the way he only touched her if he wanted it to lead somewhere. It resulted in her associating male attention to only one thing. But it seemed as if Alec was happy to simply enjoy each others company. It made her heart ache in a weird way.

"Oh, I imagine you're better than you think. If you don't like talking about feelings, how else do you get all those women into bed?" She wiggled her eyebrows, obviously teasing.

At the mention of 'classified', Victoria couldn't help but lean into him, completely enthralled. It all sounded so mysterious and amazing. "Merlin, I'm jealous. I'd love to go off on dangerous missions. Never knowing what's coming next. It must be thrilling!"

She wouldn't even mind the hours. Along with her love of food, Victoria had the wonderful ability to fall asleep at any time of day, almost anywhere.

From her reaction, Alec didn't move his hand away from her, he simply kept his hand placed lightly over her, not wanting to be too forward. From her eyes, it seemed she was not used to having someone touch her intimately in public. Perhaps her past beaus didn't touch her, or she didn't allow it.

"I'd like to keep those secrets to myself" he purred.

He smiled at her excitement over his job, he knew it was definitely a mysterious and challenging job. Whether it'd be fighting the Dark ones, or preventing attacks, he knew it was hard.

"It's thrilling but definitely not for everyone." he said chuckling. "But enough of me. As much as I love to talk about myself, I'm tired of talking about just me all night. What about you?"

As he asked this, he trailed his hand from her thigh, and back to the table as he placed it over hers.

Victoria felt a chill crawl down her back at the purr in Alec's voice. She couldn't help the excitement she felt at him having secrets like that. She was both glad and sad when he moved his hand away. In truth, it was something she wasn't used to.

She took a small sip of wine. Turning to him, she tried to keep her smile going. "What would you like to know?"

She started listing off things he obviously knew about her. "You know who my best friend is. Where I went to school. That I worked with dragons." Victoria wasn't sure how far his questioning would go, but she told herself that she would try to be as honest as possible.

Alec smiled at the glint in her eye, she was obviously enjoying their conversation. But as much as the whole mysterious woman thing did entertain him, and entice him (he had after all gotten attracted to her right away) he didn't appreciate opening up a bit (alright a lot more than he'd usually to do any other woman) if she wouldn't.

Her coquettish nature made him be entertained not to mention the enticement was still there, but her comments were vague, much more vaguer than his. Taking a sip of his glass he thought about how to word his next question.

"Why did you come back?"

Victoria looked down at Alec's hand over hers. Merlin...here we go. She looked at him, not sure where to start. As she opened her mouth, she stopped, and took another drink of wine. She knew it probably looked bad, but this was better remembered from the bottom of an empty glass.

Setting it down, she turned back to him. "Well. I hope you're ready. It's going to include feelings." Victoria couldn't help the corner of her mouth turning up a little.

She took a deep breath and decided to just plow through. "I already told you I went to Wales to study dragons. Well...I went with a friend of Tess and I's, Bronn. I actually fell in love with him. Or so I thought." She noticed a couple over Alec's shoulder that looked so in love. With the current topic, and that to deal with, she hoped her meal would stay down.

"One night I saw him leading a raid on the camp with a big group of people. Most of my friends didn't get out of there alive. I, I really don't know what happened. I just got on Cyreen and got out of there as fast as possible." Closing her eyes she tried not to cry. It had been hard to tell Tess. But maybe it was getting easier with time.

At her long sip of wine he figured that it was going to be either a long story, or one with suffering. At her attempt to make a joke, he forced himself to let out a small smile and simply sipped his wine calmly not wanting to utter anything but simply listened.

He briefly remembered the Bronn fellow, vaguely. He was one of the little twerps that Tess used to be around with, she rarely was around Slytherins really, that always bothered him. But none the less he listened attentively.

Love; that made him wince. He had been in love once...it wasn't a pretty experience and it had been a long time ago. It had ended up in heartbreak and from her face, he knew that her experience wasn't that far. The end of her story, he sighed and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead with the softness that he never really had.

"I'm sorry" he whispered against her ear.

Victoria had been happy for a split second, having held back tears when remembering what had happened. But at the feel of Alec's lips pressed against her forehead, they finally spilled over. He said he hated feelings, but then he did this. She wasn't sure if she'd ever understand that, but she was willing to try.

The feel of his warm breathe at her ear gave her chills. She pulled away, laying her hand against his cheek. Before Bronn, she would have thrown herself at him, throwing caution to the wind. Maybe she would have done that before this date. But now, seeing how caring he could be, she just wanted to lose herself in his eyes.

Sighing, she tried not to let her eyes wander down to his lips again. "I think, maybe, I should go home now." It was just as well, because the waiter came by with the bill.

Alec had no idea why he had kissed her forehead. It was something that compelled him to comfort her. He didn't like it when women cried, in fact it made him uncomfortable, but at the very moment he wanted to wring Bronn. He remembered that bastard well ,and he'd gotten close to the girls, and the fact that he was a traitor, a traitor that hurt a woman who was obviously irrevocably in love with him. He wondered briefly if he was being used at the moment as a rebound of sorts. Well wasn't that discomforting, usually he would love these moments knowing that it would never be anything serious, but now, now it bothered him greatly.

He looked straight at her as she caressed his cheek. It was weird, but he found himself almost nuzzling her, this comfort made him a bit uncomfortable. Her hazel brown eyes reminded him of honey, and he let out a small smile and a nod at her comment.

"Perhaps it is" he whispered.

He paid the bill blindly leaving a bigger than average tip, and slid out of his chair and offered her his hand.

It was hard for Victoria to pull her hand away from Alec. Part of her mind was shouting for her to make a move. To show him she could still be the thrilling girl from the bar. But she didn't want to risk losing him. Especially since he knew how vulnerable she was now. And she didn't want him thinking her actions were because of that. She really did like him.

She took his hand and followed him back out of the restaurant, wondering how she could have forgotten a jacket. She rubbed her arms and smiled up at him. She noticed that he was still a few inches taller than her, even in her heels, which she loved. "I really had a nice time. Honestly."

Not wanting to say too much, she took both of his hands and softly kissed his cheek. She suddenly remembered that she would be apparating to the gates of Hogwarts, having to walk all the way to the castle in the cool autumn night. Perfect!

Alec saw her body language as they walked out of the restaurant. He slid his jacket off smoothly and placed it around her shoulders so she would be warmed up. He was rarely cold, and he figured it was the gentlemanly thing to do. He wanted to be as perfect as possible because while the date had it's ups and downs, he knew that he wanted her to remember the good things.

He did the most out of character thing for him. He grabbed her significantly smaller hand as they walked out of the restaurant. He didn't care if anyone took pictures, or would gossip, but he wanted to show her she mattered. Despite his comment and genuine dislike of extreme emotions, she needed comfort, and at the end of the day he wasn't heartless.

His eyes widened a bit by the kiss on the cheek, but let out a small grin.

"Tonight was pretty good despite everything" he told her.

Victoria was sure Alec could see the slight shock on her face at him giving her his jacket. No one had ever done that for her. Sure, she'd read about it in books and seen it on movies, but...She couldn't help but laugh. It was perfect, and she couldn't help but smile.

She nodded at his comment. "So...will I see you again?"

Yes, it had been a good date overall. But she didn't want to jump to conclusions and ask when would she see him again. She wanted to leave it in his hands. If he didn't want any more, she would live with that. At least she had a semi-perfect night.

Alec was definitely surprised by her reaction. Had people not treated her like they were supposed to? He didn't mind, it was more beneficial for him and he played along acting oblivious to her shock.

At her question, he merely leaned down, and this time kissed her. He wasn't going to be rough, nor aggressive, but a simple kiss, lightly and full of promises he hoped he could keep.

"Of course you will...after we tell her" he whispered. "I think I'd want more than two dates."

Victoria felt breathless after Alec's kiss. It didn't ask anything of her. It didn't demand to go further, or lure her in. It simply gave. She couldn't help but feel a little lightheaded. She wasn't used to any of this. While she preferred them to get along, even the bickering was thrilling and new to her.

She smiled softly at his answer. "Me, too. I'll try to get back to her flat this weekend if you're free then. I'll let you know."

Knowing it was getting late, she pulled away from him reluctantly. When she was a few feet away, she smiled brightly at him and apparated away.