Beyond The Gray Sky

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna found herself in the library absorbed once again in research. She silently wondered why all the interesting books were always on the top shelves. She glanced down the row of books for some type of stool. When none were in sight, her eyes turned back to the spine with the words Atlas of Wizarding Britain. She stood on the lowest shelf and reached up for the volume. The few inches gave her enough to put the tips of her fingers around the sides of the book, but not enough to pull it from it's place.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver was on his way toward the back, to sit with his books, when his eye flicked reflexively down the aisle he was passing. He might have continued on his way, but his eye caught on a girl standing on the shelf. That didn't look at all safe, and so he turned down the aisle without a thought toward his usual shyness. He didn't want to startle her, so he didn't reach past her, but spoke, his voice library-soft. "Can I help?" he asked, one hand raising a short distance behind her back, in case she should fall.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna hopped off the shelf, startled at getting caught doing something she knew she shouldn't be. Her back brushed against his outstretched hand briefly before she swirled around to face the body belonging to the whisper. She looked up, and instinctively took a step back so she didn't have to arch her neck quite so much. "Oh yes, thank you. It's such a burden being so short." She responded with her own library whisper.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's hand retreated the moment the girl stepped far enough away that she wasn't touching it anymore, feeling distinctly unsettled at his usual reflexive response. His gaze dropped momentarily, then he pulled a deep breath and looked up at the shelf, his eyes scanning the rows of spines. He remembered which one she'd been reaching for when he saw it, and slid it from the shelf, handing it to the girl. "Don't you have your wand with you?" he asked, his mossy green eyes meeting her rich brown. A swish and flick could have gotten her the book, not that he particularly minded having gotten it for her.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Well, yeah." She replied, thrown off by his question until she realized his meaning. "Oh, I don't like to use magic on books as a general principle. I'd feel horrible if I accidentally damaged one." She took the book from him and glanced at the ones in his other hand. With a slight gesture of her head she asked "Anything interesting?"

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver blinked, then followed the girl's gaze down to the books tucked under his other arm. His hand shifted slightly as he pulled them up a bit to glance at the spines, having momentarily forgotten what it was he'd picked out. He was momentarily embarrassed at how large a stack he had. Catcher in the Fluxweed rested on a translation of Malecrit's Hélas, j'ai Transfiguré mes Pieds, a dog-eared copy of Hairy Snout, Human Heart, and, of course, his journal. Silver looked back up from the books to the girl, attempting a sheepish smile. "If you're into reading literature for fun," he said. Nothing he had was exactly light reading.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

She looked more closely at the books in his hand and was able to make out part of the titles. It was an impressive stack. Anna shifted her book to her left hand and held her right out to him. "Of course. I'm Annabelle by the way. I run Mystical Magical Books."

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's eyes widened slightly, as though he'd just met a celebrity of sorts. He found himself smiling as he shifted his books as well, tentatively taking her small hand in his much larger one. "I keep meaning to go in there," he said, "but the timing just hasn't been right." Especially the past week, though he didn't say as much. It took him a moment to realize he hadn't introduced himself. "I'm Silver," he said, forgetting to release her hand for the moment. "Well, Sylvester, but I go by Silver." He suddenly realized he was holding her hand and retreated, though his already warm palm was warmer for the contact.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle closed her hand in a fist reflexively. She was surprised at how cool the air felt against her palm after their contact. She flashed him a smile at his excuse. The bookstore was pretty quiet most of the time, but she had enough regular customers from the locals to keep it alive. "I can't blame you, after all I still come here for most of my reading. It's pointless to buy most books if you can borrow them for free. I just buy the ones I read over and over, and the ones I want to take notes in, and the muggle ones I can't get here of course."

[Silver Blackwood]

"Of course," Silver echoed, catching himself watching Anna, and glancing away out of habit. "Shouldn't you be telling me they're all worth buying, though?" he asked, surprised at the almost teasing quality of the words. But it made sense; if she owned the book store, why tout the benefits of the library? Silver decided that he liked her already.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle let out a light laugh at his comment. "My parents always taught me the old saying 'practice what you preach.' I can't afford to buy every book that I want to read, and I would never encourage someone to limit their knowledge." Her lips turned up in a big smile, "So in a way the library is a necessary evil to me." She motioned down the aisle as her body turned to walk. "Care to join me in a hunt for some cozy chairs?"

[Silver Blackwood]

Cozy chairs, Silver repeated silently, that one phrase bringing up a visual that had him dropping his gaze, though he managed to incline his head in the direction he'd been heading. "I was just going that way," he said. He'd intended to choose one of his books to begin, or maybe decide if he really did need to borrow them all. Logically he knew he would, but it was always worth pretending he might only walk out with one, like a normal person. "So do you spend a lot of time here?" Silver asked as he turned down the aisle. "I think if I owned a book store, I wouldn't be able to make myself leave."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Lately it's either here or the shop. I love sitting outside, but I haven't had much opportunity lately." Anna decided not to mention that she was afraid of running into certain people outside. "My only salvation from locking myself into my store is knowing that I have to sell the books as used if I read them. That still doesn't stop me if I'm really interested, though." She glanced up sideways at him as they walked past rows of books. She knew she'd seen him around before, but their paths had never crossed.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver managed to glance down just in time to catch Anna's eyes. His own paused, then flickered away, distancing himself more than her. "So what kinds of books do you read?" Silver asked, trying to keep to the conversation. He knew he wasn't much of a conversationalist, he did his best thinking with a quill in his hand, but it was worth a try.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle covered her mouth as a laugh escaped her mouth. Quickly recovering, she gave Silver a reasuring smile to let him know she wasn't laughing at him. "Sorry, I was laughing at myself, because there aren't many genres that I don't like. I mean, I have my favorites naturally, but I don't think I've ever picked up a book and disliked it. Have you?"