Victoria landed in the snow lightly, smiling at the gentle fall of perfect snowflakes. This was one of those moments when she was glad for her time spent in the dragon camp. They'd learned many spells to live in a colder climate.

As she waited for Alec to arrive, she got to work, pulling a small blanket out of her charmed bag. When she had it laid out perfectly by the beach, she started in on the spells. Some spells were to put the ground in stasis, so it wouldn't soak through the blanket or feel cold. Some created a bubble of warmth around the area that didn't effect the falling snow. And others augmented that warm area so that the snow wouldn't fall directly on them.

Finishing up the last spell, she stepped into the circle and sighed, feeling the perfect temperature. If her and Alec were going to get to know each other better, as individuals, there was no more perfect place in the world.

Alec had visited an awkwardly happy Dorian today, and had chatted him up about how he was. He was relieved to see he was doing better, and he chatted him up about how he had problems with Victoria. While teased for a bit, he soon began to give him good advice, to take his time and open up.

As he walked towards the lake, he smiled slightly seeing her by the blanket; he noticed that Victoria looked so peaceful and hopeful. He walked a bit quicker and tried to catch her in surprise. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

"Hello stranger"

Victoria jumped slightly. She'd been so wrapped up in watching the snow fall that she hadn't even heard Alec sneaking up. She couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. She folded her arms on top of his, reveling in his warmth. Leaning back into him, she nudged her nose under his chin, delighting in the smell of his cologne mixed with pure him.

"Hope you don't mind, I didn't really feel like sitting in the cold and snow all day." She had a sudden thought. "Unless you prefer the snow, that is." She hoped that was a small enough question to start off with.

Planting a kiss along his jaw, she moved to sit down on the blanket, tugging his hand along.

Alec chuckled and shook his head. He was glad that the fight had done nothing for their intimacy, but rather strengthen it as he was forced to learn about her and her doing the same towards him.

He sat beside her and chuckled.

"Not in this clothes" he responded. "But I do enjoy the snow, especially during Christmas time. There's no Christmas without snow."

He knew that this was the beginning of their conversations, twenty questions...now wouldn't be that a good idea. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

"Are we playing twenty questions?" he asked curiously. "I wouldn't mind that"

Victoria laughed a little at his firm statement that Christmas equals snow. She'd been to the Black house a few Christmas holidays during school, but really didn't remember much of Alec. He never really liked to hang around her and Tess, since they were so much younger.

Her eyes fluttered shut as he kissed her cheek. It was something she still hadn't gotten used to. His subtle touches made her skin tingle. She lifted her brow at how easily he agreed to questioning.

Grinning, she bit her lip, thinking. "We could do that, if you're up to it." Latching onto the idea of Christmas, she smiled brightly. "What was your favorite Christmas gift ever?"

Alec smirked at her reaction; it always interested him how she reacted. As if all the touches were brand new, or if each kiss was their first one. Her shyness intrigued him and wondered just when she could be comfortable enough.

Thinking about Christmas, he thought about what they did for Christmas. For his family Christmas was usually about him and his family to move away from the cold and go to a warm place and enjoy Christmas time there, his mother always hated the cold. Still, at the mention of his favorite birthday present he really thought about it.

"When I was seventeen, I managed to get my license, a muggle and magical one; and for Christmas I was never expecting a flying motorcycle. I always admired them since I learned about Sirius. It was probably the best thing ever."

Turning to her he tilted his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulders relaxing.

"What was your best and worst present?"

Victoria really couldn't stop smiling. This place, being here with him. And him being open about himself, it was perfect.

She was shocked, to say the least, that he would ride a motorcycle. And a flying one at that! She made a mental note to ask for a ride someday. It was probably easier than having him give her flying lessons. That way he could do all the work.

"You'll have to introduce me sometime."

At his question she leaned into him and looked out at the frozen lake. The snow created a clean layer of white overtop. She giggled. "Well, my first year at Hogwarts, I wanted to do some Christmas shopping at Diagon Alley. My parents and sister wanted to get me something from there for me, trying to get into the spirit of my new life. My mother didn't do so well. She's always thought that magic is all about divination and trickery. So, when she found a tarot deck in a shop, she thought it was brilliant." She smirked. "Didn't know it was a joke."

That was for another talk. She went on. "Kathleen had better success. She wandered into Florish and Blotts, a bookie herself. She actually gave me my first book on dragons." It was Victoria's first step towards her dream.

Alec chuckled at the idea of tarot cards; honestly Muggles were terrible tricking one another with those things. But then again Divination, stupid thing as well, at least in his opinion, was in the Wizarding world.

"That's terrible, at least it was a bit better than bloody Divination, waste of time I tell you" he said smirking.

He wondered how Victoria had managed to know what she wanted to do. Her passion for dragons came from her sister (he assumed) who got her that book. He looked up at the snow and smiled.

"Any questions for me?" he asked.

Victoria sighed. "Yeah, rubbish." It was something she could never get her mom to understand. While her dad and sister went along with the magic just fine, her mom seemed to think Victoria's whole life was some big lie. That's why she didn't visit often. And when she did, she did so when her mom was out.

Lost in her thoughts, she'd forgotten their game. "Yes! Hmm." It took her a few minutes, but she thought she had a good one. "Where is your favorite place in the world and why?" He'd mentioned the night they met that his family used to go to Paris or something, but she imagined he'd been all over the place.

Alec tilted his head and wondered just where she was off to. Victoria was distracted that much was obvious from the look of nostalgia with a mixture of solemness. Still, once he brought up the game once more, it seemed to kick her out of her stupor.

He sighed at the question end began to wonder. He had traveled all over, whether it be business, or pleasure. Usually most of his traveling in youth were from his parents that dragged him and Tess to places, but there was one clear place in his mind.

"Los Angeles, California" he replied. "I was born there, lived a few years there and when we could the whole family would travel there and spend out summers. I love it there because of the beaches, and the sun. As much as I love the snow, I do appreciate that you can go to the beach at any time there."

Looking over at her he wondered what to ask her in return. It seemed a bit unfair to ask her the same question she had come up with.

"What is your favorite thing about being a witch?"

Victoria poked him in the side. "I remember visiting you guys out there. You were nowhere to be seen, most of the time, though. Always figured you were too good to hang with us young folk." She grinned at him.

She tired to picture Alec laid out on a beach somewhere. Or swimming in the ocean. She loved the heat herself, over the cold. That's why she'd loved her childhood in Raleigh. The dry heat and red clay earth. You could practically feel the heat sucking the water off your skin, which made swimming all the better.

Laying back on the blanket, she stared at the falling snow. "Maybe the food." She tried to hold a straight face, but it didn't last. Bursting out laughing she sighed. "But really, I love the wonder of it all. When I was a student I was fascinated by all the new things about this world. And even now, I'm still learning. It's like....like you think of something. Like 'oh, wouldn't it be cool if you could' dot dot dot. And then someone does it! With magic!" She knew she was getting excited, but she couldn't help it. "It's amazing."

Feeling a slight blush creep into her cheeks, she chewed on her lip. "Sorry 'bout that." Suddenly she had a thought. "Oh! What's your favorite food!"

Alec chuckled at her comment and shrugged. He wasn't there that was true, after all, he had run off to make his vacation worth everything. He ran off always on his motorcycle, or whatever muggle car they got, and he would meet with Muggle teens. They showed him things like smoking, drinking, drugs, surfing and things of the sort. He had quit his vices, other than drinking, but as a teen he had no limits. Oh the things he learned.

"I couldn't hang out with kids still enjoying to be 'chased' by waves" he said smirking.

He copied her movements and laid back placing his hands behind his head as he admired the clear sky.

"I should have guessed it was food" he teased. "You always paid more attention to food than anything if we had dinner with the family."

He wondered how different it was, walking into the world oblivious to the wonders around them.

"Yeah...I guess we are lucky"

At the mention of food he let out a lazy smile. He remembered moments that Dorian and him lacked any food they always ate the same thing.

"Pizza" he replied chuckling. "Pizza, any kid, especially pepperoni"

Turning to face her he wondered what to ask her.

"Favorite animal, other than dragons"

Victoria laughed and rolled to rest her arm on Alec's chest, her chin on top. She stuck her tongue out at him, pretending to be the child that he remembered. Hearing his comment at her answer, she tried to look embarrassed, though it was a poor attempt. It had been a new experience getting used to muggle British food for the year before she went to Hogwarts, but magical food was something else entirely.

She was genuinely surprised at his answer. "Pizza! Really.' It was so...muggle! And messy. It was hard for her to picture the man in front of her, always dressed so well, eating pizza, a hands-on food. And that he would love such a typical topping. Hmm.

As she thought of an answer, she chewed on her bottom lip. "My favorite magical animal is the Augurey. And...my favorite muggle animals is a cat. I've still got my cat from Diagon Alley in first year, actually." Kai was a fiercely loyal black cat, who insisted on following her wherever she went when at home.

Looking down at Alec, she ran her finger along his jaw, thinking. "When was your first kiss?"

Alec wrinkled his nose at her sticking her tongue out to him. Honestly she was so childish sometimes, but it was entertaining. He really loved pizza, it was greasy and cheap and it had filled his bachelor stomach on nights when he craved something unhealthy.

"Pizza is cheap, delicious, and I can't cook so delivery is the best thing." he said smirking.

The Augurey? He thought it was an ugly bird, preferring the phoenix himself, but he still shook his head. At the mention of a cat he was surprised, his owl was still alive, still sending messages.

At her question he let out a smirk and closed his eyes remembering. Ashley Simmons, the prettiest Slytherin a year older than him. He had managed to get her to be interested in him, and at twelve he had gotten her to want him.

"Eleven, almost twelve" he said sounding nostalgic. "It was pretty great"

He chuckled and looked at her.

"What about you?"

Victoria smiled knowingly. "So THAT'S why you hired a caterer for that dinner." She really would have cooked if he'd let her. One didn't love food like she did without learning how to make it.

She'd asked the question out of a curiosity, wondering how long he'd been in the game of seducing women. Besides the shock of his first kiss being at eleven, she felt a twinge of jealousy. Which was completely bonkers, since she would have been seven at the time. Still, the memory playing across his face, and his mention of how great it was, stirred some of the emotions she felt in the bar. "Oh, I bet it was."

When he turned the question around on her, she wasn't expecting it. They'd been passing different questions back and forth til now, she she'd just expected it to continue. Trying not to let the memory affect her like she knew it had been in the past few weeks. She looked past him, into the intricate webbing of dead trees around the lake.

"I was fifteen. It was okay." It had been an awkward moment in the common room, long after everyone was supposed to be in bed. Looking back, Victoria guessed that's where they had started, though they didn't start dating until well into sixth grade.

Brushing off the memory, she tried to smile. "How did you know you wanted to be an Auror?"

Alec chuckled at her comment and shrugged. He wasn't too terrible of a cook, he could cook egg and make toast and things of the sort, but nothing too fancy. Breakfast was just about it.

"Yes, I didn't want to food poison anyone" he replied chuckling.

He grinned at her and shrugged. He had no idea that she was jealous of his first kiss. But a first kiss was memorable at least to him because Ashley was his first crush. He sighed and figured she'd want to know, women were complicated like that.

"Her name was Ashley Simmons, she was a year ahead of me, and the bird that I was attracted to for a long time" he said chuckling. "I had been looking at her from afar and one day, she finally paid attention to me and then, she just leaned down and kissed me. It was a memorable one. Who knows what happened to her."

At her question, he looked up at the sky and sighed.

"Everyone in my family is naturally good at being an Aurors, it's a tradition. I had a passion to make a difference in society, especially with wartime tensions."

He looked down at her and tilted his head.

"What was your first kiss like?"

Victoria gritted her teeth. She figured honesty would be the best solution. Trying to stay emotionally steady, she looked at him. "Thank you for telling me. A part of me is glad for knowing. But, I seem to have a bit of a jealous streak, I'm realizing." And she really was. She'd been one of a few people at camp, so when her and Bronn had really become serious, she'd never felt a need to compete. "Please, don't be upset about that. I'll try to work on it."

She cringed inwardly at his continued line of questioning. Trying not to become a blundering idiot again, she tried to talk about it as if it had happened to someone else. "Bronn. He was my first." Her only actually, at least that she counted. In a camp full of young me, she'd kissed some when dared or as a joke. But until the raid and meeting Alec, she'd never seriously kissed anyone else but Bronn.

"It was stupid really. We'd been up studying for a History exam. I just looked up from my book, not realizing it was so late, and he was there, sitting close. I didn't really see it coming. It wasn't like we were dating or anything. That was it between us for over a year after." She turned her head to the side, resting it on his chest. "Kinda stupid."

She took a deep breath, happy to have gotten through that with no tears. "What was your worst subject?"

Alec raised his brow confused at how she could be jealous. Ashley Simmons had been out of his head immediately after he dated her for a year before losing interest. It was years ago, over a decade and yet this brought on jealousy? He would never understand women.

He wondered why he would get mad, but as she said that Bronn was her first kiss, he tried to ignore the vile that he felt rising to his throat. Hearing her talk, he took a deep breath and grabbed her hand softly.

"I knew that it could have been possible" he admitted. "But ignore the bad memories, just think of the more innocent times."

First kisses were important whether bad or good were memorable. He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly trying to comfort her.

"I was the Head Boy" he replied chuckling. "But I quit Divination so I suppose that would be it. And you?"

Victoria had gotten through telling Alec about her first kiss without tears. But his reaction to it, and his comment about her focusing on the better memories, threatened to reduce her to a blob of emotions. She wasn't used to someone telling her how to be strong. She just usually was.

She smiled softly. "You make it easier." And he did. She was thinking of Wales, and Cyreen, and Bronn, less and less as the weeks went on. It wasn't because she was forgetting about them, because the memories were as fresh as ever when they came. It was because Alec was giving her so many good memories and things to think about.

Laughing lightly, she made a show of rolling her eyes. "Of course you were Head Boy." Thinking back, she closed her eyes, relaxing against him, feeling carefree. "I quit Divination too. But not cause I was bad at it. I actually was okay, but I just couldn't really believe in most of it." She wondered, sometimes, if being muggleborn had something to do with it. "I guess my worst would have to be...Occlumency. I'm just kind of an open book. Or was."

Alec smiled and lifted her chin to give her a peck. He wasn't really doing anything to help her but as long as she was happy, that's all that mattered. She was helping him too, making him feel less jittery and making him happy with just relaxing.

He puffed up his chest before chuckling. Of course he was Head Boy, he had beaten Parker Emery for head boy that boring bastard before graduating. He had pride and wanted to be the best, that year Slytherin had won the house cup as well.

He figured that no one really loved Divination, and it was a waste of his time, seems Victoria felt the same way.

"I love Occlumency, the power to actually see others, and the power of blocking and making you stronger was interesting to me."

Tilting his head, he figured out a question.

"If you could teach a subject, what would it be?"

Victoria was sure she was smiling like an idiot. She loved being this at ease with Alec. Just lounging around, sharing small kisses that don't ask for anything more. It was really nice. She wondered if this was how most people lived. Happy. Happy with someone else. She knew she'd been happy with Bronn at one point, but it all seemed tainted now.

She laughed at his love of Occlumency. It was so...him. She hummed. "I think maybe Defense Against the Dark Arts. Or Care of Magical Creatures. They're both wonderful opportunities to learn new things about the magical world. And I love the animals."

Victoria had always felt like she connected easily with animals. It had been one of her easiest subjects. She figured it was one reason she went into dragonology.

She started tracing small patterns on the front of his shirt, thinking. "What is the weirdest thing you've learned through Occlumency?" She was actually quite curious about the art. She'd never been good enough to put it into practice.

At her replying that she wanted to teach DADA if possible, not to mention CoMC, he chuckled. DADA was his favorite subject, well one of them alongside potions and Occlumency.

"If I wasn't an Auror, teaching would be something I was thinking of doing" he commented. "It was still the best back up"

He chuckled and looked at her wondering why she wanted to know that. It was a bit complicated.

"Weirdest thing? Creating false memories in peoples minds" he replied vaguely not wanting to tell her more. "It was frightening"

He shook his head and sighed.

"What was your best memory at Hogwarts?"

Victoria couldn't hide her look of shock. Alec, teaching? It was so...attractive. She could just picture him, wearing glasses he didn't need, lecturing a bunch of students with that wonderful smirk on his face. Delighting at having all the answers, the young girls staring at him like he was the hottest thing around, cause he would be. And the best part? She'd get to see him more often.

At his comment, she tilted her head, confused. She'd never heard of such a thing, let alone be able to imagine what it would be used for. And who Alec could have worked with that made him do it. The curiosity was itching at the back of her neck. She couldn't stop herself. "Would you tell me?" She laced her fingers through his, hoping he'd trust her with it.

Alec raised his brow at her question.

"Is that supposed to be a question or a request?" he asked curiously.

He laid back and sighed letting out a lazy smirk. Her gaze seemed a bit like she was distracted, but at the end of it all, he didn't know if it was something he said, or something that distracted her.

"It's not something I'm allowed to tell you, but it's a painful process to learn, but at the end it's worth it"

He wondered what would have happened if he would have taught Occlumency. It would have been a bit hard, but worth it, especially if it helped others become better wizards and witches.

"If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?"

Victoria raised her eyebrow at his question. Of course it was a request. How could she not want to know about it! So many questions! She chewed on her lip, trying not to ask them. She understood, logically why he couldn't tell her. It was part of the job. But it sounded like something she'd want to know about just to know more about him and what he's been through.

Trying to keep her mind off of her curiosity, she ran through the few places in the world that she'd been. One memory came to mind. "I think it would have to be Ireland." She could see it now. So green in comparison to the white around them. A green that you could almost taste it was so vibrant. "One of my first times riding Cyreen, we flew across the way, all the way to the coast. We found a little beach, it was perfect."

She closed her eyes, picturing it. "What's your favorite color and why?" Yes, it was a simple question, but she was curious.