Education (Anna/Adara)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna unlocked the door, opening so the two of them could enter, then shut it behind her. She didn't bother flipping the sign to open, since she was still officially closed, but if someone happened to stop by, she wouldn't turn them away. She took a moment to look at the shelves, trying to remember where she'd placed the books they were looking for. "I remember, they're at the end of this isle." Anna walked to the section of miscellaneous books, where she'd tried to organize as best she could. Under a section titled 'Self Help' there were several books ranging from pregnancy, raising children, controlling one's spouse, and muggle disguises. She began to look through the titles, seeing if she could find what they were looking for.

[Adara Snow]

Adara followed Anna, though she couldn't keep her gaze from moving around the shop as they walked. It was smaller than the library at home, to be sure, but there were so many types of books that it seemed enormous in comparison. There were, of course, gold-edged books with heavy covers, but there were also pocket-sized paperbacks and magazines. Adara's eyes were wide as she looked around at the books, Anna all but forgotten for the moment.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna started fingering the bindings, touching each one as she read the title. Occasionally she pulled out a book, glanced through it and either tucked it under her other arm or put it back on the shelf. When she had a collection of 4 or 5 books she held them up to Adara, who had become distracted looking over the shelves of books. "Here, want to help me see if there is anything in these worth reading?" She held up the books to Adara so she might take some and look through them more closely.

[Adara Snow]

Adara blinked, her attention drawn away from a series of books entitled Cockatrice Soup for the Soul. She looked at Anna and nodded, then slipped the top few books off the stack into her own hands. "Where shall we go?" she asked, looking around the shop again. Adara's eyes caught on a small table with chairs nestled against it, and her lips curved. "May I sit here?" she asked.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Of course." Anna replied, making her own way to the setting and claiming a chair of her own. She opened the first book, scanned the table of contents, which mostly contained information on infants, then turned to the only chapter dedicated to pregnancy and pre-pregnancy. She started reading, skimming the pages for anything having to do with magical preventative methods, or even conception and pregnancy in the general sense.

[Adara Snow]

The first book Adara picked up had a picture of a happily smiling witch on the front with a gurgling baby in her arms. Adara tilted her head slightly as she looked at the picture, then opened the book. Within moments, she was riveted to Chapter One, which contained detailed sketches of the male and female reproductive systems. Again, she forgot Anna's presence.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna realized very quickly that the book she'd started on was a muggle one. Since the basic concepts were the same, she continued to peruse the material, getting a much better understanding of the biological process then her mother had shared with her. The section went into the actual pregnancy however, and Anna set it aside, picking up the next book. She glanced over at Adara, who seemed to be immersed in reading, and inquired, "Find anything useful?"

[Adara Snow]

Adara blinked and looked up at Anna. "I am not certain that these drawings are accurate," she said. "Emilian is much...well, the drawing seems far too small. I am wondering if it is missing something." Adara flipped toward the front of the book to look for a publish date. Perhaps the book was only old, and not well prepared, or prepared without proper information.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna stuck out her hand, marking the page that Adara had been on. "Mind if I take a look?" She shifted and flipped back to the page Adara had commented on, her cheeks turning bright red when she saw what Adara was referring to. "I, um," Anna stuttered, then went quiet for a while as her eyes focused on the drawing equivalent of something she'd never actually seen before. Her eyes widened as she studied the picture, correlating what she had previously felt with the diagram in front of her. It did seem on the small side, or perhaps it was as Adara said and not drawn to scale. "You might be right, or maybe people are built different, much like height and weight. I don't know, I don't have anything to compare to." The last bit was said quieter then the rest, she'd never felt like she had been missing out on anything before, but now she was a bit embarrassed about her innocence.

[Adara Snow]

"Oh," Adara said softly, then chewed her lip a moment. It occurred to her now that Anna must be something like she was before she had given herself to Emilian. Perhaps Anna didn't know; it seemed likely. "I suppose you are right," Adara said, taking the book back. It made sense, of course. Adara gave the page one last look, then flipped past it, further into the book. "It seems to be mostly about biological functions," she said to Anna. "I see nothing about sex or babies yet."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna returned to her own book, the one she had just picked up and looked at it. Rather she looked through it, her mind still focused on the drawing, and how it related to recent events in her life. She couldn't help but think that the drawing was funny looking, and wondered if it was inaccurate as Adara had suggested. She couldn't tell from her encounters with Chase though, and wondered what it would be like to see more than a drawing. Anna's mind continued to wander, forgetting herself as she focused on the one person that had made her feel more alive than any other.

[Adara Snow]

Adara moved to turn the page at last, glancing up at Anna as she did so. Her gaze paused at the look of distraction on Anna's face. "If this is not interesting to you, I would not mind continuing on my own," she offered. Adara didn't know how much knowledge Anna had of such things, but if she already knew this information, Adara would gladly buy all the books Anna had chosen and take them with her. She rather enjoyed Anna's company, though, and hoped that they could continue as they were.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna snapped back to the present at the sound of Adara's voice. "What?" She replied, then processed what she had said. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I'm actually very interested, and I'm sure I'll need the same information some time in the future as well. My mind just wandered after seeing those pictures." Anna knew the blush hadn't faded from her cheeks. She had almost denied her interest, but she figured if Adara was open enough to share her lack of knowledge about pregnancy, it wouldn't hurt Anna to admit she was intrigued with the idea of the male anatomy and sex.

[Adara Snow]

Adara nodded, finding nothing strange in Anna's words. Some day could be in the distant future, and Adara took it as such. As much as she might read the Daily Prophet, the latest gossip column seemed a thing of sadistic fantasy, so Adara did not associate the Prophet's implications about Anna and Chase with anything that Anna had said. Rather, she resumed her education, fascinated with the descriptions and diagrams she found, whether they applied to her original questions or not.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna turned to her book as well, flipping it open to somewhere in the middle. Her eyes widened as she saw what the book contained. After staring she flipped the page and proceeded to be shocked again. She continued studying each page and moving on before finally seeing something she just couldn't believe and asked without taking her eyes off the page, "Have you ever heard of couch canoodle?"