Natalie was lost in a hormonal haze of pleasure that their joined actions were invoking, but his reply to what she thought was a teasing, playful question was like a bucket of ice-cold water being dumped over her head.
»You know what? Never mind. Shouldn't have brought it up anyway.« Giving him an awkward and quite clearly strained smile, she picked up his hands and placed them off her body before climbing off of him herself and taking a seat at the edge of the bed, back turned to Fenris. Her mood for friskiness had vanished quicker than a snowball melts in hell when her confidence dropped with his reply. That's where your stupid attempts to be sexy get you…
»I've changed my mind, I really would like to go to lunch. There's plenty of time left. I'll just leave you to… collect yourself, yeah?« Getting up and picking up her blouse from the floor, she tugged it on as fast as she could and threw him another tense smile over her shoulder before hurrying to the door. A muttered Alohomora and she was off, striding down the corridor and hoping against hope that Fenris would take plenty of time to come down to lunch. She honestly had no idea what to say to him when he inevitably asked her what he did wrong and apologised for something that wasn't truly his fault. But that was just how he worked and on her way to the Great Hall, Natalie thought furiously about a story that she could tell him to avoid sharing the complete truth while not exactly spouting bald-faced lies.

((sorry for the delay and ruining their fun. it was simply what the muse insisted i do ))

((Bring on the drama! XD))

"...I've changed my mind..." I've changed my mind. I've. Changed. My. Mind. I've *changed* my mind.
These words stung what Fenris imagined would feel like being impaled through the chest with an icicle - and a large one at that. Her backed showed him nothing nothing of her expression, and he was not a sufficient expert on voice tone to divulge the subtext from the way she said those words. Not that it would likely have helped much even if he were; his mind raced elsewhere, drawing conclusions that may have been completely inaccurate. Did she renounce him completely? Did his answer offend her? Was the question some kind of metaphor or wordplay that he did not comprehend? Was he pushing things too far?
He wanted to embrace her, tell her she could talk to him, but not a moment later than the thought of the intended action, she had already risen and taken her leave with a smile that was as fake as none that he had seen cross her lips up until that point. This too, served to further his uncertainty and drove him into full panic mode. Was this it? The end of all they had shared, all they hoped to share, all those feelings and emotions? It couldn't be - and yet, would she had left so abruptly if it were not?
In a daze, he rose from the bed and absently dressed himself. The world was a haze, as if everything had a same-coloured aura, or as if he had needed glasses, but forgot to wear them. He tripped and stumbled over objects that, while not exactly tidily packed, he would have otherwise avoided without even looking.
Finally, he had left the dormitory, but did not proceed to the Great Hall. There was no food in the world that he could stomach. Instead, he went to the lavatory and splashed water on his face so as to be rid of the haziness of his vision. It was not until the water touched his eyes that he realized the fog was in fact a consequence of holding back tears. He saw no-one in the room, but it probably wouldn't have changed anything if he had; he would have let the waterworks flow regardless.
Standing at the mirror he dared not face, his hands gripping the sink with strength he had no idea he possessed, he wept in silence. Not because boys are only allowed to cry manly tears, if they must cry at all, but because he simply had no voice left.
His thoughts had dulled, his mind stilled. One verse, part of a song by Finnish Muggle band, dominated his being;
"Where have all the feelings gone?
Why is the deadliest sin - to love as I loved you?"
He was so absorbed in the vehemence of his self-pity, he did not even hear the footsteps behind his back...

((No harm done, I was going that way myself As much as I might regret the end of the sexy part, it wouldn't really be IC if things escalated too much at this point ))

Natalie had been pushing the vegetables and roast potatoes around on her plate for quite a while before finally coming to terms with the fact that she had no appetite at the moment. Her thoughts refused to stray from Fenris, for whom she was starting to get quite a bit worried. Surely it doesn’t take so long to get dressed and come down? Something must have gone wrong.
Sighing and getting up from the table, the blonde slowly started back toward the dungeons, all the while going through the events of the last half an hour or so in her mind, trying to figure out what could have possibly delayed her boyfriend. Accustomed to the path she had walked more times than anyone could count, Natalie reached the common room in no time even when her mind was wandering. Speaking the password and watching as the solid wall reformed itself into an archway, she entered the mostly abandoned common room. Up the stairs and to the right door, Natalie rapped her knuckles gently on the wood and waited for a reply. None came, so she tried a second time, but only silence greeted her again. Slowly, she pushed down on the handle and opened the door, only to be faced with an empty dormitory.
Now the blonde was thoroughly confused. He wasn’t in his room nor was he downstairs, but he hadn’t come to lunch either. So where could he have gone? She looked around, trying to think of another plausible place and her eyes caught the thin strip of light coming from underneath the door at the very end of the corridor; the bathroom. That, of course, didn’t explain why he would have taken so long, but she thought it a sensible enough place to check for him.
Slowly pushing the door open, she was assaulted by the image of Fenris leaning over the sink, his tear-stained face clearly visible to her in the mirror hanging above him. Her immediate reaction was bewilderment – What the fuck did I do to get him to a place like this? She suppressed the slight annoyance she felt though, approaching him in silence and placing a hand upon his shoulder, trying her best not to scare him.
“Whatever I did wrong, I am sincerely sorry, Fenris. It was in no way my intention to hurt you… How about we go to your room and talk about what happened?”

((Whoo boy, I’m racking my brain for a good excuse as to why it took me so long to reply, but I honestly don’t have one. I guess it was just a really tough cookie for me? Sorry :/))

((Them cookies can be tough. Watch your baking soda Then again, I did stop at a rather 'all choices open' point, which can be just as difficult to continue as when one is given too few possibilities ))

Her voice and even more so her touch had elicited sufficient surprise from Fenris to throw him out of the depths of his misery and self-pity. He stood there for a moment, abashed, unable to utter a word, but eventually his mind began to work again. Whether it was the tone or the manner in which she said the words, it did not matter; her sincerity was evident, and that in turn made him reconsider her words. He noticed however, that her not wanting to cause him pain and being sorry about having done so were not in direct opposition of what he perceived was the meaning of her previous abrupt leave-taking. Still dazed, he splashed water on his face and wiped it off, though drops still clung to his front hair, before he dared face her.
"What is there to talk about? You've changed your mind. You don't want me after all. I was an idiot to even consider the option of someone like you ever taking interest in someone like me. We're in Slytherin after all, and I'm a halfbreed deviant." What his words had hidden, his eyes and the tremor in his voice had betrayed; it was not anger that spoke from his lips, but disappointment and frustration.
"I just thought..." he added quietly, while slinking back to lean on the sink. "I thought with everything we've shared with each other, there was an actual chance... but then I had to ruin the illusion by not stopping before things got too... physical. And now you don't want to have anything more to do with me." He truly believed that she had come only to assure that there would be a clean breakup between them; the thought of it being just a giant misunderstanding based on him overreacting had not yet crossed his mind.

((Whew, here you go. It is what it is xS))

As Fenris turned to her, droplets of water clinging to the tips of his locks and started talking, it dawned upon Natalie why he had been so devastated. Coincidentally, she also suddenly felt a strong urge to slap the stupid boy for drawing conclusions based off of nothing but his self-doubt and pessimism. The blonde felt more than just a little hurt that he apparently thought so little of her loyalty and to even consider the option that she’d leave him so easily after the things they had shared and gone through. Instead of letting her own hurt and anger overrule her though, she stamped down the feelings like so many times before and focused on the boy in front of her who refused to meet her eyes.
She placed a finger underneath his chin and gently lifted it up so that she was looking directly into his indigo eyes, speaking with a soft voice. “Fenris, I am not a fan of violence, but right now, I would like to ask you to slap yourself. The load of bullshit that you just told me was so incredibly dim-witted that I really need you to slap some good, common sense back into yourself.”
Taking a deep breath, she took a step back from him and continued in a firmer voice. “I have got absolutely no clue from whose ass you pulled the idea that I was breaking up with you, but it is definitely one of the most senseless things I have heard you say. Do you honestly believe I would leave you over something as little as a tumble in bed gone wrong? Do you think I place no value in our relationship, in the things we shared and endured together?” Running a shaky hand through her golden tresses, Natalie looked him over with incredulous eyes. “And besides, what the hell is ‘someone like me’ supposed to mean? Or ‘someone like you’, for that matter? I thought we were past labels and presumptions like that. Honestly, Fenris.” She stepped closer and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. “Why all that self-doubt?”