Attraction (Ellie)

---

Even after all these years of living in Hogwarts, he still didn't understand the way the English were. When he first arrived here, he was just shocked by the lack of defence the students had for one another. It was downright terrifying, and completely threw him into a loop that he didn't know how to respond to most. Even the teachers and their methods were so foreign and different, he didn't know how to handle them. No one got punished when they did something wrong, no limbs were broken, no families were threatened.

Just...point reductions.

He had no idea how that was suppose to motivate others into succeeding and in the first year he lashed out violently at the slightest brush of contact, giving him detentions that was equally as pointless as he was not tortured for it. The only reason he stopped was because...none had the training like he did. None knew how to fight like he was trained too and he didn't sit well with his warrior attitude to hurt those that could not even defend themselves.

It was a strange and foreign place that is still like that to him even after all these years. Slang by the other students was just...awkward at best and what they did was just...strange.

Sighing he sat down in front of the lake. His body covered in a light sheen of sweat as he pulled off his bandana and began pulling off his shirt and arm gloves, revealing the mass of scars on his body. His back looked the worse, appearing as one large scar, there was multiple other decorating his arms and chest, varying from size and thickness, but none looked as worse as his back.

Cupping some of the water he splashed his face, before beginning to place water on himself to help his body cool down from his morning work out.

The petite brown haired girl had been up for some time now. It was early in the morning but practically breakfast time by now. She had woken up about an hour or 2 ago so she could do her morning practice. Her father might not be there to know whether or not she actually did practice but she woke up to do so regardless. It was just a little harmless practice after all.

Ellie's long hair was tied back in a pony tail and dressed in her white karate gi, or karate uniform, what ever you preferred to call it. Her father had been dead set on her learning this type of muggle defense even though she was a pureblood and her parents were slightly purist. She was a purple belt at this point in her training and the proof of it was tied tightly around her waist. She had been told to practice in the mornings even while she was off at school, which she was fine with. It wasn't like she was hurting anyone while practicing off by herself in the courtyard.

Seeing as she didn't like to use it all to often but practicing it was fine. That didn't mean that she couldn't use it occasionally when at school though. It came in handy when there were students giving her sass over getting detention. Of course she was never particularly violent when dealing with them but would put them in a hold till they gave up. She didn't have to do it all that much though as most people just accepted their detention and went on their way.

Being a prefect had its ups and downs after all but she didn't mind. She never did and liked being a prefect nonetheless. It gave her a chance to just think about things while she was patrolling unless she was helping Miles out. He was her best friend as well as her fellow prefect for her house and their year. He seemed to get lost rather easily in the school even though he had been going there for as long as he had. She found it humorous but she didn't mind helping him out at all.

Ellie finished up her practice and looked up at the giant clock tower connected to the school. It looked like it was about time to be heading in for breakfast but she wouldn't show up like this. She knew she'd get weird looks especially from other purebloods who didn't know about muggle things. She disliked how ignorant the other purebloods liked to be but that wasn't something she could really help she guessed. She figured she might has well go sit by the lake until she cooled down from her early morning practice.

It seemed she was the only one out on the grounds this morning and a grin kind of planted itself on her face. She knew the outline and white hair of the male sitting there quite to well and he was where she was quite ignorant herself. She kept walking towards where he was sitting in particular and tried not to frown as she could see his scar rendered back as she did. As soon as she found herself standing next to where he was sitting, she sat down herself and took her shoes off as well as her socks. She put her feet in the cool water of the lake and looked up at Junjing with a light smile.

"Morning Jun~" Ellie greeted him cheerily.

---

The morning was a time of training, or awakening your body so that it was prepared. It was a side effect from his training in his family, every summer or holiday was not for relaxing but for more training, so that they know you have no been slacking. Da Min is the only exception to this rule as unless the Empress order's it, he does not need to head home for it, he may head home occasionally, and it always confused Junjing how he retained all his skills when he never practices.

Da Min was a drastically different person at home under the eyes of all the adults then here at Hogwarts.

”Hey Jun!”

He tensed at the sound of a voice and mentally belated himself for being so relaxed that he was taken by surprise by someone approaching him. He looked over his shoulder and relaxed as he saw who it was. A small petite girl with long brown hair tied back, a woman that he has known since his first years in Hogwarts. A woman that made him relax and yet crave her at the same time. It was strange and he didn't understand it, this one girl who was nothing like his Empress had gotten his attention.

They were nothing in common, his Empress was strong, tall, imposing, she was powerful, a leader, cold. Ellie Vann was nothing like that, she was caring, small....fragile. Well not truly, she still knew more then most other lowbloods, but no where near the full potential she could have. He was...fond of this Lowblood, along with another, but only because they insist on shoving their way into his life. He wasn't even friendly to them in first year, he acted out on instincts, lashing out with fists or kicks, got into trouble numerous of times for it.

And despite that she still stuck around, til it got to the point that he didn't even react to her presences in a physical manner any longer. It was strange as only family has reached that and then it was only a selective few from his family.

Ellie knew he could break her like a twig over his knee, but she still showed no fear when standing beside him.

It was...kind of nice.

“Ellie.” He voiced out in acknowledgement. Glancing down to her legs that were dipped into the lake water he tilted his head, “Your ankle is not twisted?” He enquired, as he couldn't think of any other reason on why she would be dipping them into the water. Water was something that helped ease burns and pain but it did not appear that she had a burn on her leg. So the only logical thing to assume was she hurt her ankle.

He might have to carry her to the nurses office if that was the case.

Would it be weird if she mentally kicked herself? It took a lot to notice that Junjing had tensed when she said his name. He must not have been paying attention and she had startled him. She would have to remind herself to get him some cookies when she was in Hogsmeade to make up for it. After knowing him for so long she knew his weakness for sweets and knew it would be the perfect thing to make up for startling him.

Ellie wouldn't admit that that was what they were for though. She wouldn't want to hurt his pride or dignity or something. No, she would just simply hand him the cookies and not speak an apology or anything. She had a basic understanding of Junjing by now and she assumed this would be the best way to handle such a thing. She'd just be ignorant about any feelings that might stir up on her part when handing him the cookies.

The brown haired female was pretty much ignorant about everything when it came to Junjing. She wasn't normally such an ignorant individual but when it came to Junjing she was the most ignorant person ever. She was very well aware of several things about him but she choose to close her ears to it. The fact that she even hung around him was enough to keep her from making very many other friends at Hogwarts. She was rather close friends with a Li-fen after all and not the one that smoked weed either.

She was very well aware that he could easily break her in half if he so pleased but this was where her ignorance showed up. She'd been very well aware of this fact when she first met him in their first year but she never seemed to care. Not even when he had hurt her on several different occasions for greeting or talking to him. There was bound to be people who thought she had a few screws loose in her mind but she didn't. There was just something about him that had her attention and that's what fueled her determination to be his friend in first year.

A small smile came to her face when he said her name acknowledging her appearance. She kept the smile to herself though because it was her little happiness that he called her by her first name unlike he did for everyone else. She looked back up at him after she got the smile off her face and noticed him glance down at her legs then tilt his head to the side. It was probably her favorite gesture that he did and she awaited the question he was about to ask. She giggled lightly when she heard him ask her if her ankle was twisted and shook her head no lightly.

"No. The water is cool." Ellie answered his question with a light smile on her face. "It feels nice after a morning practice, right?" She continued explaining her reason for her feet being in the lake water.

---

Yes it did, water always helped with leveling out one's body temperature after its on the brink of overheating like when on trains under the mid-day sun. It was always better to work out in the morning to avoid such a case of dehydration. So he nodded his head in response to Ellie's explanation, cupping some of the water in his hands and sipping some into his mouth before splashing the rest on his face, feeling much better from the cold sting against his hot flesh.

Grabbing his towel he patted his face before looking over to Ellie. Studying her. Trying to understand what it was about her that made him so relaxed around her. She wasn't the prettiest female he's ever seen nor the most beautiful, both of those titles were held by his Empress, the only woman he was aware that could look so beautiful covered in blood. He couldn't imagine blood on Ellie, not without it followed by tears and her face twisted in an pained expression.

She wasn't demanding or cruel, she was kind and warm, so her hurting someone just didn't seem as likely. She wasn't like him or his family, she wasn't trained to be strong, nor to fight until death. Then what was it about her that he just couldn't ignore her? He hated seeing her sad or hurt, and was absolutely outraged at her crying to the point he would hunt whoever it was down and make them suffer.

What spell did she cast upon him? He should only feel this way to his Empress, the woman that he has spent most if not all of his life training for in order to protect. He hasn't met the Empress face-to-face, oh no, she had more things to worry about then just one warrior amongst the hundreds she had already in the main branch. The Empress was really the only woman that he desired in a physical way, she had the perfect form too, large breasts, slender body, tempting hips, perk ass, she was what any man would desire to have.

But this small woman, border lining tiny, has caught his eye. Her delicate frame, her average sized chest, her slender hips, all in all inferior to the woman he was meant to follow, but he still felt a physical lust for her. Why? Why did he?

Sighing through his nose from his own frustration, he looked back to the water's surface, “Would it not be better to submerge yourself fully and not just your feet?”

Her reasoning seemed to make sense to Junjing, which she depicted from his nod. That was another thing she had gotten used to over the years about him. He was a man of very little words unless he had a reason to speak more than a sentence or so at a time. She was fine with this though and she always had been. She just smiled as he proceeded in cooling himself down from his morning practice.

Ellie's gaze wondered away from him as she looked about the grounds and out across the lake. The school grounds were always so nice to look at in the morning hours. There was never anyone else out there in the morning so it made it peaceful and quiet. The outdoor scenes were always nice to enjoy in the morning hours, which was why she practiced outside. Her mother had been opposed to the karate and the outdoor practice so while she was off at school she disobeyed her mother.

Her mother was strict with her behavior and she was told to never raise her voice or rough house. So her daughter taking lessons to defend herself was the last thing she had wanted. Too bad Ellie's father had gotten his say because he was the man of the house and what he said went. She wished her mother would just leave her be and worry about her younger sister. Then again even she wouldn't want to wish their mother upon her little sister but it was probably too late by now.

Her mother was tiring and just thinking about her now was making her want to sigh to no end. She took her mind off her mother though because she didn't want to end up sighing for it might give Jun reason to worry about her. She didn't want him to worry over her for no reason but that of her mother being terribly evil. She was just happy that she hadn't been forced into an arranged marriage and she was free to like or marry who ever she liked. She looked over at Jun with a sheepish smile after hearing him sigh and looked away with a light blush on her cheeks because of her previous stupid thoughts.

Ellie had to look back at him though because he had addressed her with another question. She laughed lightly and shook her heard. She was only wanting to cool down and dipping just her feet into the water was a enough to do that for her. She probably didn't work as hard at practicing as Jun did so it didn't require much cooling down. If she needed to cool down any more she'd do that while taking a shower since she would be doing that before heading off to breakfast to freshen up; she's a girl after all and her mother had drilled this into her mind.

"No. Just my feet is fine." Ellie said answering his question with words. "I don't work as hard as you when I'm practicing, Jun. It doesn't take much for me to cool down." She continued on with a light smile coming to her face.

---

Junjing furrowed his brows together, mostly in confusion. “Would it not feel good regardless of that fact?” He knew most didn't train like him, with a single minded intensity until his muscles screamed at him for mercy and he was having trouble breathing. It was just who he is and was trained to be despite what others might think, it was his way of life.

But still if she was working out he would assume it was until she was panting and sweating as well, maybe not as bad as himself but still...

Like many things at this school, he didn't understand her reasoning. Most of the time he hated this foreign land with all of its foreign customs and clothing. It was no secret that he was fond of tight clothing, but the ones here seemed fond of making it out of material that was not flexible like those 'jeans' that he had several pairs of but didn't wear all that often.

They clung to his legs and made it hard to flex the joint of his knees, not to mention if he stretched his groin area more then the fabric allowed it tore and that was just plain weird, it was so weak compared to his usual clothing that he just wasn't use to it.

Strangely enough he had the sudden, childish, urge to push her forth into the water, but he squished that urge, he hasn't done something like that since he was a child.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he sighed before standing up, “I'm heading back to the school.” He informed her, before standing up and began walking back to the castle.

There it was again. Sometimes she felt the urge to giggle when something sent him off into confusion. She always held back the urge though in fear that it would only make him further confused. She didn't want to confuse the poor Li-fen anymore than he already was. A smile was enough to suffice for the urge to giggle though.

Ellie couldn't help but nod yes in response to him though. It was true despite how much one actually trained the water would feel good either way. She was just gonna save the rest of herself for when she got back into the school and went off for a shower. But it was true that she didn't train nearly as tough as he did. She knew this only because she had seen him train before and she could never be quite that enthusiastic about it.

"Yeah. It would. I can't deny that." Ellie said with a smile. "I was just planning to save that for when I went to shower before breakfast was all." She continued explaining her reasoning further for only placing her feet into the water.

The brown haired girl was pretty much a pacifist but she was never against using force if it involved ill-behaved students. That was the only time she ever used force was when she absolutely needed to otherwise no violence from her. She only seemed to need to worry about it when Miles was getting picked on or students wouldn't take their detentions like they should. She was small and her father had thought she would be too fragile so that had mainly been her father's reasoning. Even if it was a muggle thing to do and they were purebloods.

Speaking of Miles, she needed to find him after she cleaned up so they could do a quick round before breakfast. They always had to do one before they went to eat just to be sure that there was nothing bad going on. Some students staggered behind to cause trouble before going off to breakfast and that was the purpose of their patrol. They also had to do patrols after the first class of the day started to make sure no one was skipping classes. It was funny just how many students actually did skip and in the same place they did day after day as if they didn't learn their lesson.

At the sound of Junjing's sigh, Ellie looked over to him seeing pinching the bridge of his nose and then stand up. She kept her eyes on him even as he stood up only making her tilt her hand back further to see his face. He told her that he was heading back to the school before he started to head in the school's direction. She nodded and grabbed her socks as well as her shoes so she could follow after him. She got up off the ground quickly not bothering to put her shoes or socks back on and started walking by his side.

"Let's head back to the school together, Jun." Ellie told him with a soft laugh. "Oh yeah. Have you seen Miles today?" She asked him as she looked up at him again.

---

Hearing her ask about Miles made him pause. Now that he thought about it, he hasn't seen that brat anywhere lately, which was weird since the green-haired male loved sticking close to his side even snuck into Slytherin to sleeping in his bed and then complain about stains on the sheets of something. Junjing truthfully had no idea what the other male was talking about his bed was clean as it were thanks to the House elves.

Then again Junjing didn't sleep in his bed too often, usually for a few hours or so. He couldn't sleep all that well in a place that was far from his home and customs.

“No, I haven't.” He said truthfully something in his gut tightening from the lack of appearance the other has around them. Miles was a bright child, always smiles and happiness, it strange to Junjing that any human would have that much cheer in them but Miles did. Him not being around Junjing lately was...unsettling. The green-haired teenager was like a boomerang, no matter how far Junjing threw him, he always came back.

“Has he not been around you lately?” Perhaps the reason he hasn't been around Junjing lately is because he's been around Ellie? He doesn't blame him if so, Ellie was also sweet, kind and rather motherly, he had no doubt that she would dot on Miles if come the chance.

She would make a very fine mate.

Junjing stopped completely this time, his eyes widening as he stared ahead in shock. What did he just think? A mate? But...but she couldn't be his...she was below his standards for a female, below the family's standards of a female that should be apart of the Li-Fen family! But his instincts wouldn't lie to him, he was the Tiger of the Li-fen, his instincts and nature was more feral then the rest of his family as was the gift shared by all Four of the Sacred animals.

He thought of his Empress and wouldn't lie that there was some attraction to her as well as the urge to make her his mate as well...But Ellie was more available...below him yes but she was of Pureblood and stronger then most in this place...

Snarling he raised a hand to his head, frowning darkly.