*Tristan had been 'hooked up' with a girl that he'd never met before by Harshing, who didn't approve of his relationship with his boyfriend, Aiden, whom he wasn't allowed to see anymore. At breakfast, Tristan had recieved a formal owl from Harshing telling him that he would be meeting with Isabella Freeman outside the statue of the one eyes witch on the 3rd floor, and that they were excused from their morning classes to become better aquainted. So after breakfast, Tristan walked up to the 3rd floor, hoping that at least they would become friends so they could fake-date.*

*Bella was sitting next to the statue catching up on some reading for one of her classes. She was being forced by Harshing to date someone who would never like her, so of course she wasn't running around and jumping for joy at the thought. Right now, she was just concentrating on not failing school and not dying, and disobeying Harshing's commands would bring at least one of them. She noticed a boy coming down the hall, who was definitely attractive, but was also definitely the epitome of a stereotype. She stared up at him, silently hoping it wasn't Tristan (if she was going to have a gay boyfriend, she would at least like for him to be able to pass as straight).*

*Tristan smiled as he saw the girl sitting by the statue look up at him. He figured he'd at least try to be nice, despite the fact that she didn't look all too pleased to see him. He took a deep breath and stopped a little back from the girl* "Er, are you Isabella Freeman?" *He asked, biting his lip.*

*Bella nodded*
Bella:"Which means that you're most likely Tristan Cavalli." *she replied, sounding a bit bored.*"I'm sorry that Harshing's making you do this. You probably aren't too thrilled about it."

*Tristan nodded when she confirmed his name* "Neither do you." *He said, setting his bag down on the floor and then sittnig down next to it so he was across from her* "It's nothing personal, obviously.....I take it you know about the...circumstances?"

*She nodded again.*
Bella:"He shouldn't be allowed to do this- force you to change. It's morally wrong." *she said awkwardly, trying to keep the conversation going. Or she could see how long they could sit together in silence...that would be nice, too. Harshing wouldn't approve, though.*

"I feel worse for you...being stuck with me all the time. I wouldn't enjoy that very much." *He smiled and pulled his legs up to his chest, hugging his arms around his legs and resting his chin on his knes, a very characteristic position of him.* "I guess we should get to know eachother then...." *He sighed, then paused* "Oh, wait, I have something for you..." *Trisan reached over to his bag and pulled it open. He rummaged for a moment before pulling out a bar of honeydukes chocolate along with a small white teddy bear. Trist smiled guiltly and offered them to her* "I feel really bad about all of this..." *he explained, looking up at her from under his eyelashes*

*Bella was shocked, and she found herself starting at Tristan with wide eyes. He was being really sweet....She hadn't expected that. She predicted that he would walk up and have a huge fit and never actually talk to her....Right now he was being absolutely adorable instead. She shook off the surprise and carefully took the chocolate and the bear from him.*
Bella:"Oh...thank you." *she responded, again a bit awkwardly.*"I...you shouldn't feel bad. It's not your fault." *she tried to make him feel better, but she had horrible people skills, so it probably wasn't going to work.*

*Tristan smiled and returned to his previous position with his head on his knees.* "Aiden, my friend. well..." *Tristan's face fell a little* "He was my boyfriend...anyway......he thought the teddy bear was for him...and he threw a book at me when I told him it was for you." *He smiled ad sighed* "Anyway....what do you like to be called? Isabella, or Izzy, or bella......?" *He regretted that they had to meet under the current circumstances. She seemed like the kind of person thath he could have been friends with anyway*

Bella:"Bella, please, or I'll have to throw a book at you, too." *she joked. Then she realized what she said and that it probably made her sound like a monster.*"Oh geeze, I didn't mean that, I just- I'm sorry."

*Tristan was suprised when she appologized* "No, I understand completely...my little sister mandy freaks out when someone calls her amanda. Do you have any siblings?" *He asked, then added* "I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?" *He asked, just wanting to be sure*

*Bella was glad that he didn't think she was some raging psychopath who randomly threw books at people.*
Bella:"No, I'm not uncomfortable, I'm just...surprised...pleasantly. I expected this to be horrible, and it's not." *she blushed a little bit, as she always did when she told people how she was feeling.*"You're being really sweet." *then she remembered the question he had asked her.*"Anyhow, I have an older brother, Zack. He's 23 and he's a complete bum- he still lives off of my parents. What about you?" *she asked, genuinely interested.*

*Tristan smiled when she said it wasn't horrible. Truthfully, he had been expecting it to be horrible as well. He breathed a small sigh of relief. He thought it was really cute that she was blushing.* "Just my younger sister Mandy. It's almost her 9th birthday. She's really sweet....I love her to death...which my parets don't really approve of" *He added disdainfully*

*Bella smiled. She liked kids...not for extended periods of time, but in moderation.*
Bella:"Tell her I said happy birthday." *It was odd though...why would his parents disapprove of him liking his sister? Her parents begged her brother to be nice to her...*"What's wrong with you loving her?" *she asked. After it had been spoken, she got an idea of what it might be, but wasn't quite sure if she was right. It would be horrible if she was.*

"My parents don't like me talking to her....they say I'm a bad influence." *He sighed and looked down at his feet* "My parents disowned me a few years ago." *He explained. Tristan looked back up at her* 'Because they, like Harshing, fel that I'm an abomination to the wizarding world." *He shrugged* "I don't mind...I just don't like that I'm not allowed to talk to Mandy that much."

*Bella looked away from Tristan when he started talking about his parents disowning him. How could someone do that? Just give up their kid and let them fend for themselves before their ready?*
Bella:"No offense, but they sound like complete a*sholes. If anyone will be a bad influence on her, it's them. They're the ones teaching her hate."

*She sighed* "I'd say I was sorry for that, but I'm really not. I can't stand things like that."

*Tristan smiled.* "Yeah, well....I agree...They're horrible. I'll be glad when Mandy's here in Hogwarts. By then I'll have my own place and she can choose to come stay with me durring the summer. She can't stand them either." *Tristan yawned and relaxed slightly* "You're right....this isn't horrible at all. I thought it would be." *He paused for a moment to think* "What else should we know about eachother?"

*Bella tried to think of something worth telling him, but she really couldn't think of anything. Which, redundantly enough, made her think of something.*
Bella:"I'm incredibly boring- borderline repulsive, to be honest. I'm miserable at Quidditch, and I'm not that good at conversation. So I'm almost expecting you to dislike me by the end of today."

*Tristan rolled his eyes* "I don't tihnk you're borring..I think you're sweet...and you're nowhere near repulsive....and that's something, coming from me, if you know what I mean..." *Tristan wagged his eyebrows and laughed at himself* "Well, if I'll hate you because you're borring, you'll hate me because I'm very high energy and extreamly immature."

*Bella smiled, which was something good considering the mood she was in right before he came.*
Bella:"Well, I'm honored." *she joked back, another shocker. She didn't normally do anything worth smiling about (on purpose)until she knew someone well.*"I don't hate high energy or immmaturity...I like it. Opposites kind of seem to attract or something. Besides, I get a bit more fun than this eventually." *She assured him.*

*Tristan smiled* "Really Bella, I understand....I wouldn't blame you one bit if you didn't act the same around me as you did around everyone else." *He sighed and shifted positions slightly once again* "Hod did you get selected for this anyway? Did Harshing tell you?"

Bella:"No, it's not you that makes me like that!" *she shouted, a little louder than necessary, just to make sure that he didn't think that he was the problem.*"It's because...I'm not quite...I don't....See, I seem to have this thing where I don't find things very amusing when I don't know people...which doesn't make sense...but I promise you that I'm not lying. It's not you. But, uh, I think I did something and this is his idea of punishing me. I don't see why it's so much of a punishment, though. Of course...that's only my theory...."

*She raised her eyebrows and smiled a little bit as she shrugged.*

"He might have thought that you'd hate me more than anyone else in our year...that could be it."

"No, I doubt that...He'd want me to like you. He wants to change me, remember? You're not the punishment, you're the remedy." *He smiled, hoping she would find that complementary* "The punishment," *He continued* "is being beaten once a week with a cane."

Bella:"I don't see why he has to beat you, too. He's taking this way too far...definitely not taking any risks for his plan to end up as a failure." *she shook her head. She couldn't believe that Harshing could be this horrible to one person...well, yes she could, but even so, she was disgusted by his ability to do so.*