Just Hanging About Being Lazy

Zadox sat in the Ravenclaw Common room, his arms wrapped around Caterina as she read her book. It was late at night, but Zadox and Caterina usually stayed up just to talk. After all, they have been dating since fifth year and were evidently not about to break up anytime soon.

Smiling down at her, Zadox took the book from here. "Wow, I'm actually the one taking the book away from you for once." Zadox teased, kissing her forehead sweetly.

Cat snuggled up to Zadox as he held her. She liked just being able to sit on his lap and read or talk to him. Everyone else was in bed, unsurprisingly. Cat and Zadox were just night owls. Maybe.

It was during one of these late night sessions that Zadox asked her to be his girlfriend back in fifth year. Of course, she said she would.

She gave a small squeak of protest before her boyfriend kissed her forehead. "Oh come on. I was reading that!" She pouted a bit and crossed her arms. "I always let you read. Unfair."

Zadox let out a laugh. "No really? I had no idea you were actually reading the book!" Zadox threw the book onto a chair, far out of Cat's reach. "Yeah, but you wouldn't want to be scene as an uncaring girlfriend, no would you? What about my needs?" Zadox pouted slightly, forcing Caterina to face him as they sat on the couch.

"So, how are you my love?" He wondered, smiling brightly at his beautiful girlfriend.

"Oh no, I was just staring blankly at the pages. Reading's for wimps," Cat teased. "You're a bad influence on me, Zazu." She rolled her eyes. "But that's me, uncaring ice queen. Since when have I cared about your needs?" she asked, feigning innocence. She punched Zadox's arm lightly for throwing her book on the chair. "You're a git, you know that?"

Cat couldn't help but smile at his question. "Tired," she replied, yawning. "How about you?" She leaned forward, her arms snaking up and wrapping around the back of his neck. "It's got to be humanly impossible to be this tired." She yawned again and nuzzled his shoulder. Cat liked being out here alone. It was nice.

Zadox grinned, "That's what I thought. See how smart I am? No wonder I'm a Ravenclaw." He boosted in a smug voice. "I'm the bad influence? Uh huh, says the girl that likes to ditch studying to snog in the library when no one is watching." He teased, sticking his tongue out at her. "Good point. I doubt you've ever given me a second thought." Wincing in mock pain, Zadox snorted. "Yep. And I'm a proud git at that."

"Tired as well," Zadox said, resting his forehead against hers. "I don't know. Maybe because we stay up almost every night just to talk. We're slightly insane, but that's a good thing." He reassured her. He held her close against him, just enjoying her company. And enjoying the knowledge that he had the ring he was going to give her on graduation in his trunk upstairs.

Cat rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Right, of course. You're so smart that I pale in comparison. I'm so ashamed of myself," she teased. "Yes, you're a total bad influence. Oh come on. You know you love it. And I refuse to go any further as of now." She winked at him.

"Oh come on. I've always given you second thoughts. Especially when you're being a bad boyfriend." She stuck her tongue out at him as well. "You're my proud git."

She closed her eyes as Zadox rested his forehead against hers. She "hmm"ed, telling him she was in fact listening. Cat lifted her head up and kissed the tip of Zadox's nose. "You're more insane than I am, though," she muttered tiredly. "I want chocolate or something. I'm hungry." Cat had eaten more than her share at dinner.

She had an excuse.

Zadox grinned crookedly at Caterina. "Now, that's the spirit!" He exclaimed, leaning down to kiss her on the lips in a teasing way. "Oh, you know that you're much smarter than I am. No need to cause my ego to grow any larger." Zadox replied, running his fingers through her hair. "Yes, I do love it. But, I don't love it so much when I almost fail the test because a certain brunette beauty is clouding my senses. Yeah, your fault."

He sighed, "I suppose you have. There's not point in insulting your girlfriend skills, because you are not lacking in the slightest." Zadox grinned as if he won a prize. "Damn right I am."

"Oh, hardly!" Zadox retorted in a hushed tone. "Let's go to the kitchens then." He suggested before knitting his eyebrows together. "Are you sure you're okay? I know you eat a lot, but this is getting out of control." He replied, in a worried yet joking tone.

Cat protested a bit as Zadox pulled away from their kiss. He was such a tease it wasn't even funny. "Ego? What ego? Ha, ha, ha ha, you make me laugh. I am not smarter than you. Otherwise-" She stopped there. He could draw his own conclusions if he wanted to. She pouted slightly. "I know. Tests are important. More important than me at times. I get it."

She smirked proudly as her boyfriend complimented her profusely. Well, in her head he did. It was all she needed. "Good. I'm not leaving you any time soon."

Cat laughed quietly. "Okay." She sighed. "Zazu, what would you do if I told you something important that could probably change our entire relationship and life as we know it?" she asked, rambling a bit.

She sincerely hoped Zadox would take the news well.

Zadox pouted like a kid at Caterina. "My ego. I have one you know. No thanks to the verbal abuse I have to deal with everyday." Knitting his eyebrows together at her pause, Zadox tried not to assume too much from it. It couldn't have been all those weeks ago, when that happened, because he knew they before enjoyed that. "Kitty, you need to learn that if I could marry a test, I would. You're second best." He joked, before kissing her deeper this time.

He tightened his arms around her, "Good, because there is no one else I'd rather be with." Zadox whispered into her ear honestly. Caterina was the only one for him and that was that. He would be completely unsatisfied if he was with anyone else.

"What is this thing?" He wondered, his tone apprehensive. Cat never usually rambled on like this, except when he first asked her out and she didn't know whether to say yes or not. But, aside from that, this was uncharacteristic. He had no clue what it would be.

He just prayed to Merlin that she wasn't leaving him.

Cat's eyes widened in faux shock. "No way! I thought you were just pretending and boasting for no reason! Looks like I was wrong. Again. I'm sorry for abusing you. It's just too fun!" she teased. Zadox's eyebrows knitted together and Cat was admittedly afraid. What if he'd figured it out already by just her pause? Wait, what if he thought she regretted-? No. She didn't regret it at all. It was just- ugh. How was she going to explain herself?

She smiled sweetly. "I love you. You know that, right?" she asked, wondering if she ever told him enough times. Probably not. He should know by now though... Oh well, better safe than sorry.

Oh great. A bit late on the "safe but sorry" thing.

"I, uh, you... Do you remember the time we- uh- you know? And we didn't use- have- yeah that? Well- ugh. Be the smart Ravenclaw I know you are and figure it out, Zadox."

Zadox stared at Cat for a long time, processing everything she had just said. Everything. And, a million emotions rushed through him at once. Anger, for being so stupid and not being prepared. Sadness, for putting Cat through this. Excitement, because what wasn't there to be excited about. Apprehension, would he be a good dad. But, mostly, happiness. Because, he would have a family with the one person he cared most about in the world. And, he knew that everything would be okay, because he loved Caterina and they would be fine.

Pulling her flush against him, Zadox pressed his lips to hers firmly. He kissed her for a long while before pulling away, "You're serious?" Zadox wondered, a large grin on his face.

My god, he was going to be a father.

Cat nearly cried. It was taking Zadox so long to answer her and it looked like he had no idea what his emotions were doing. Was he upset? Was he angry with her? She wasn't about to blame him.

It had been a mutual agreement. She was the one to come up with the idea.

The experience was life-changing. It was painful for a little while, yes, but it was good. Good because they were in love with each other. That was all that mattered wasn't it?

But throw a bit of stupidity and naivety into the mix and it went downhill.

Cat was extremely worried, even if Zadox wasn't going to leave her or anything. What would she tell her parents? "Hey, I slept with my boyfriend and got pregnant"?

Oh yeah, that'd definitely go over well.

She was surprised to say the least when Zadox pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. A few tears made their way past her eyelashes and she kissed back. She nodded and smiled, wiping away the tears. "Yeah, I'm serious. You're not mad or anything?"

Zadox helped Caterina wipe the tears away. He hoped they were good tears and not bad tears. He also hoped that his silence earlier hadn't scared Cat. He just needed a few moments to process everything. And, as of right now, he was extremely happy. And probably would be happy for a very very long time.

"Why would I be mad Kitten? I love you and you mean the world to me. I wouldn't throw you away because we did something that resulted in this. And I'd be damned if I call this a mistake. Because, it wasn't." Zadox grinned, "In fact. I'll be right back."

Rushing up the stairs, Zadox quietly but quickly search through his trunk. Finding the small velvet box, Zadox pocketed it and went back downstairs.

Inside of climbing back up onto the couch, he got down on one knee in front of Cat, wiggling his eyebrows in a seductive manor, opening the velvet box and exposing the ring. "Caterina Aurelia Marquez-- damn that's a mouthful-- I was hoping that you would give me the honor of being your future husband, because I have to settle for second best because I can't marry tests. And, our kid is going to be too fucking adorable. And, I suppose, I'm madly in love with you." He smiled, "So, will you marry me Kitten?"

Cat laughed as Zadox helped her wipe away her tears. "I'm sorry, you just really scared me right there.

"I just want to make sure you're okay with everything and- and-" She sighed again. "I want you to be happy, that's all.' Her tears didn't really stop as he talked. "Ugh, you're making me cry even more. I hope you're happy now!"

Waiting for Zadox to come back was pretty hard. She decided that if he told anyone right now that she would hex him or something. Cat hoped her boyfriend wouldn't wake anyone up. She hoped she didn't wake anyone up either.

She was surprised to say the least when he came back with a box. "Zazu, what's that...?" Her question was answered as Zadox got on one knee in front of her and opened the velvet box, revealing a ring that had to be pretty old. "It is not a mouthful," she muttered. "Settle my arse! Yes!" She slid down off the couch and sat next to him. Placing her head on his shoulder, she said, "I don't want to leave you ever. Ever ever ever."

Everything was going right, for the moment at least.

He laughed as well, the smile still on his face. "Sorry babe. I didn't mean to scare you, I promise."

Zadox stared at his girlfriend in amazement. She was the one going through so much more than he was, but she was still worried about his happiness. God he loved her. "No, I hate making you cry. But you're amazing, you know that, right?"

When Caterina slid off the couch to sit next to him, he wrapped his arm around her tightly, feeling happier than he had been in a long time. "Rawr, you're a feisty thing, aren't you." Zadox teased. "Good, because I don't want you going anywhere."

Once she sobered up, Cat scowled slightly. "You know I hate being called 'babe,' Zadox. It's almost as bad as me calling you Foo Foo Cuddlypoops. Remember when I did that first year? You hated it."

She cocked her head to the side. "What is it?" she asked with a slight smile. "You'd better hate making me cry. Crying sucks." She grinned. "Of course I know that. Why else would you be able to stand being around me for long periods of time?" she teased.

"I am not feisty. You have no right to call me feisty. I can't put my head on my boyfriend's shoulder without being accused of that? I see how it is." She nodded as best she could in that position. "Believe me, I wouldn't even if I tried."