Caught! (Anna/Markise) (gates/lawns)

[Markise Sterling]

Markise had skipped Mano's place this time. Truth be told, it hadn't even occurred to him to stop by. He'd partied like a rock star tonight, and maybe he was a little tired, maybe he ached a bit, but damn he felt good for it all. The only reason he'd left was that creep with the hairy arms who wouldn't leave him the hell alone. He'd decided to just make an exit and let the guy find another mark.

He'd had plenty of fun before he'd left, though. He'd danced with at least a bazillion guys, all of them hot, and one in particular he hoped he still remembered in the morning. He worked to fix that unnatural burgundy-red hair in his mind, the tattooed arms, the piercings, before he forgot. They'd only danced, but it had been a hell of a dance. Or three.

He reflexively checked the hood of his night-black cloak as he slipped through the gates. They were already in the slow, arduous process of closing, and he knew if he'd left a few minutes later he wouldn't have made it. There was only a sliver of moon in the sky, but it was enough to see by, so Markise made his way as quickly as possible, still grinning from everything.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna tried to fix her ruffled appearance as she quickly made her way up the path to the gates. She couldn't believe she'd fallen asleep while reading in her shop! It had never occurred to her that she would be out so late, so the apartments above her shop remained bare of any furnishings. When she rounded a curve and the gates came into view, her eyes widened. She picked up her pace to make it through before they completely closed her out.

Anna was oblivious to the dangers of walking alone late at night until after the potential of having to go back and spend the night in her shop had passed. Not having an immediate goal in mind, she finally took in her surroundings. She heard a crunch of a footstep on the gravel ahead, and snapped her gaze to the area it came from. A black silhouette was visible, blocking her path to the castle. Her hand fumbled to her wand and shakily pointed it at the unknown figure. "Wh-who's there?" She hated confrontations, and knew she'd probably loose any duel, but hopefully she could get off enough decent hexes to get away.

[Markise Sterling]

It took a moment for the voice to even register, and Markise's eyes widened. Sh~! His heart beat a little faster and he sped up, hoping ridiculously that he could get to the castle and slip into the shadows before the person behind him caught up. The lawns were so big though! He checked his hood again, and began speed-walking, a difficult task when the ground was so damned lumpy. Why couldn't they have just made it flat?!

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was almost excited when the figure headed away from her, until she realized that she was heading the same direction. Crap! She glanced back at the gates to watch them clang shut. Running back to her shop wasn't an option to avoid him. "Reveal yourself!" Anna demanded, hoping that it was just another student, but the figure looked too intimidating completely covered. "I'll, I'll hex you!" She couldn't let him out of her sight; for all she knew he'd ambush her in the castle if she let him get away.

[Markise Sterling]

"Hex me then!" Markise called over his shoulder. He hoped she was bluffing, because he couldn't get caught. His parents would freak if they found out how he'd been spending his Friday nights, and he could only assume it was a prefect after him. All the same, he sped up again. He had issues with being hexed, not least because he couldn't throw a decent shield to save his life.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna paused a moment, thinking the voice sounded familiar, but unable to place it. She hesitated before taking his dare to heart. She said the only one she could actually remember because of it's funny name. "Stupefy!" The flash of red flew past him and hit the ground several feet away. She sped up her pace a bit, wanting to be closer for the next one so it might actually hit him.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise swore as the spell sparked against the ground and he jumped at least half a foot in shock. That had gotten his attention. His heart beat furiously and he turned, raising both hands up. And dammit, his wand was still... in his wand pocket. Maybe he didn't really know much, but he was sure he could figure something out. "Okay! I stopped!" he called, his voice rising with the words. "Please don't tell my parents!"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna was visibly confused at his reaction. Tell his parents? Obviously he was just a student sneaking in then right? Her mind continued to work through the possibilities. Unless he's pretending. He could still be a threat. She remembered Emilian, how he'd gotten expelled for rape, and decided not to take any chances. "Who are you?" She rephrased her earlier demand, hoping she'd recognize the name or face as someone she didn't have to fear.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise gave an audible groan at that. He did not want to do this! He just wanted to go back to his bed and pull the curtains and think about that guy. He couldn't quite recall his face, but he'd had an eyebrow piercing, and a lip piercing that was so hot. It took him a moment to bring himself back to whoever the girl with the wand was. "Please just let me go back to my dorm. I made it in!" He gestured back toward the gates. "See? They're closed and I'm in here. Can I go now?"

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Why would I care that you made it in? I'd prefer you on the other side of those gates!" It suddenly hit her that he must think she was going to turn him in for being out at curfew. She didn't point out the flaw in his reasoning, that she was also out when she wasn't supposed to be. Instead, she changed her tactics. "Reveal yourself and I might let you go." She continued to approach him, slowly so she didn't spook him into action. She kept her eyes on his hands - the only part of him that was revealed as they stuck up in the air wandlessly.

[Markise Sterling]

"Nuh-uh," Markise said. His New York accent had a tendency to come back when he was excited, or when he'd had a drink. Thankfully, none of the people here could tell the difference. It didn't occur to Markise that he had an American accent either way. "If I tell you who I am, I'm just gonna get caught anyway." Was it his imagination, or was she getting closer?

[Annabelle Hennessy]

A siren was going off in her head, she knew she knew his voice and it gave her the courage to continue forward. "If I stun you, then you'll be caught for sure." She took a breath, making her wand steady as it pointed at him. From this distance now that he was standing still she was pretty sure she could hit him and even if her spell was weak it would affect him somehow. "Your only chance of getting away is telling me your name." She hoped reason worked, the thought of casting another hex made her stomach clench.

[Markise Sterling]

"Come on!" Markise complained. "Perfects aren't apposed to stun people anyway. How 'bout I tell you my House and you can take away like fi'ty points or somethin' instead? I'm Huffap... Huff..." Crap, why did the houses have to have such bizarre names? "Just come on and gimme a break!" Markise started moving backward, wise or not. She was too close, and he was starting to think maybe he should just use that spell Ariel taught him. It had gotten him away from Michael.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I'm not a Prefect." Anna corrected him, wondering what was wrong with his speech. "Stop moving! I swear I'll hex you if you take another step and don't tell me who you are!" She would let him go if she just knew that he wouldn't try to retaliate and wasn't a real threat. Why was he being so difficult? She just wanted to get this over with so she could go crawl into bed. The cold was starting to seep through her clothes, and she let out an involuntary shiver.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise stopped again and groaned loudly. "I can't!" he said, his voice tight with pleading. "Please, just let me go, I swear I won't do it again!" At the moment, he almost meant it. He'd been so careful! Something occurred to him, and his voice began to show real fear. "Are you a Slytherin?" he asked. Michael had warned him, had told him to stay away from the Slytherins, implied they'd treat him no better than he'd been treated at SWIM. And she kept threatening to hex him! "My sister knows karate!" It was the best he could come up with.