Bring on the Night (open)

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna walked back to her shop with her uneaten lunch and locked the door behind her. She didn't bother lighting any of the lamps as she made her way over to the sitting area in a partial haze. She flicked her wand at the fire, and curled up in the overstuffed chair staring at the flames.

She was in denial. Her mind kept playing back her relationship with Chase, all the times that they really connected and talked. If it had remained purely physical, she would have been disappointed, but she wouldn't feel such a great loss. She knew there was so much more to him though, beyond his exterior front of not caring, she'd seen that he did care.

The fire blurred into a mass of moving color as her tears fell freely now that she was alone. She ached for Chase, to talk to him and find out what had happened to make him go and agree to get married. Even without knowing when he'd become engaged, Anna knew that must be the reason he'd stayed away, it now made sense that he would avoid her.

She didn't understand why he hadn't told her when he'd returned the letter, or even before that. It was the least he could have done to help her avoid the feelings she was now, and had been for the last few weeks, dealing with. Her mind searched fruitlessly for answers to this and many other things that just didn't add up to her.

She was completely unaware of time, only pulled back to awareness of her surroundings a few times when knocks at her door broke through. She presumed they were from customers that saw her through the cracks in the blinds and ignored them each time; eventually they would give up and go away. Anna caught glimpses of sleep and dozed off for periods of time when her eyelids became so heavy that they stayed shut after blinking. When they would open again, the passing of time didn't register.

The sun setting signaled the time she originally dedicated to return to her dormitory, while everyone else was eating. She didn't see it, not caring about her bed enough to try and keep track of when she was supposed to walk back to the castle. When the street grew dark and quiet it didn't phase her, nor did the sounds outside as darkness turned back into day.

[Zane Mezzanotte]

(I hope you don't mind)

Every time the girl inside wouldn't answer, he would walk down the street to give her time, maybe she was just closed, but after visiting every other shop that was opened, he had finally had enough. He knew that it was too late at night, and that everyone was asleep, but she just... lied down doing nothing.

After hours of spending the night just sitting on a bench across the store and staring up at the sky, he didn't want to go back to his dorm, he realized that the sun was slowly returning to the sky, making his wide eyes blink in confusion... he seriously needed to get a hobby.

Walking back towards her little store, Zane told himself that if she didn't open he would force himself inside, besides, if he got in trouble, he could lie and say he thought she was in distress because of how long she stayed in there unmoving.

Finally peering in one last time, he knocked once more. Her lack of response annoyed him, all he wanted was more information on the book he found, and maybe find a few books worth reading. The library at Hogwarts had either books that was meant for studying, or books that only girls would find pleasurable, no doubt the librarian was one of those ladies who loved books that served no purpose other than give them false hope of love that doesn't exist.

With one last aggravated sight, he knocked hard on the door, he'd give her one last chance.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna glanced up to see the same guy outside, banging on her door. She was getting rather annoyed, clearly the closed sign should have been a clue that he should come back some other day. She thought about heading upstairs, but the prospect of hiding out in a bare room with only boxes of overstock didn't sound appealing. She really should go back to the castle and take a long, hot shower, but didn't feel like walking all that way.

When the knocking came again, she finally got up to dismiss him since he apparently was illiterate. She ran her fingers through her tousled hair, trying to pull herself together a little. Anna unlocked the door and opened it a crack, putting her foot behind it to block it from opening farther. "I'm sorry, we're closed today. You can come back tomorrow." Even though it was poor customer service, right now she really didn't care. She began to shut the door again, not waiting for a reply.

[Zane Mezzanotte]

While she was shutting the door, he stuck his foot out, stopping the door from completly closing. Not only did he drag himself to Diagon Alley, but now he was going to be sent back without even finding out more about the book her had.

"I was patient enough to wait since night, I don't think I'm patient enough to wait another day." his eyes flashed for a moment, and he pushed the door a bit with his hand, not too much force, but enough for her to notice.

"I do not wish to linger any longer than needed, I would be honored to acquire your assistance in a small matter." he allowed his accent to thicken, maybe it would help, it tended to around a lot of the foreigners who visited, it helped in more things than one.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Annabelle, being emotionally and physically drained, wanted nothing to do with anyone. She did however, realize that her store was one of the only things that she really had going for her. No matter how out of it she was, a customer was still a customer, and she didn't want to piss any of them off. That didn't mean that she was going to let this guy push her aside and walk all over her. She was about to send him away at his testing push against the door, but his polite words were such a contrast that she paused.

She didn't bother trying to put a grin on her face to have good customer service, knowing that it would come out completely forced and fake looking. "What can I help you with then, Sir?" Annabelle inquired through the crack in the door. She wouldn't budge until she knew if it was really something worthwhile that she could assist him with. She wished Markise was here, so she wouldn't have to deal with a possibly pushy male customer alone.

[Zane Mezzanotte]

The girls didn't seem to be in a good mood. The way she looked spoke for her, she seemed so tired, for a moment, he frowned with one brow raised, however, the look was gone before he coudl allow her to register it. Zane decided to ignore whatever state she was in, maybe she was just exhausted from a long day, it really was none of his business. Pulling out the book from underneath his robes, he showed her the cover.

"Would you be willing to tell me about the writer of this book? His writing intrigues me and I wish to know if he has any other works?" the Oscar Wilde book was a bit tattered, and as far as he knew, it didn't belong to the library for the librarian shook her head and nodded when he asked.

Zane watched the girl intently,he wouldn't push his luck by trying to force his way in, he's allow her to take her time, although, he wasn't willing to have her slam the door in his face.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

The book caught Anna's attention and she couldn't help the slight curve of her lips. She knew of the author; her mother's ban of certain authors and works had only increased Annabelle's desire to learn about and acquire information to read. She always got rid of the evidence once she'd finished with the books so she didn't get caught with them.

"Oscar Wilde, have you never heard of him?" Anna remembered the bits of biography she'd read and tried to summarize them as correctly as possible. "He was considered to... lead an eccentric lifestyle... for his time." She shook her head at the interesting life he'd led, then remembered to answer his other inquiry. "I don't have anything of his right now. He was more famous for his plays and poems. That was the only real novel he wrote."

[Zane Mezzanotte]

Zane looked at the novel once again, the words eccentric made his lips curve into a smirk, he wanted to know more about this Oscar Wilde.

"Would you care to educate me on his eccentric lifestyle." the way he spoke the word was so sharp, yet held a soft edge. Curiosity was a trait that he couldn't quite shake off. It was always something that got him into trouble, but this wasn't one of those moments, learning more couldn't hurt.

"Maybe you could recommend other authors that you may have, that is, if you would be willing to do so." he looked down at his foot still caught in between the door. He turned his gaze back towards her and gave her a slight grin, either she would let him in, or they would continue the conversation in this manner, either way, at least he managed to grab her attention with the book.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I might have something." Anna wanted nothing more than to return to her solitude. With a sigh, she resigned herself to the fate of putting up with this one customer for a few minutes. She opened the door for him, turning and leaving it wide on it's hinges as she led the way to the muggle used book area. She quickly found the section of history books and scanned the shelves.

"Here it is." Anna pulled out a biography of Wilde, old but in relatively good condition. She ran her hand over the cover before holding it out for the guy. "This is the one I got my information from. I always prefer going to the most reliable source rather than listening to it second hand."

[Zane Mezzanotte]

Zane followed her into the store. He made sure to shut the door behind him, not wanting the cool air to ruffle the books, even from where he stood they looked fragile. Following her, his eyes managed to scan the books she had. Some he had heard of, others captured his interests, maybe when she was in a better mood he'd come and check them out.

Zane frowned, it reminded him of how she looked. Although he's never seen her before, he could tell that she wasn't the type who always looked so... depressed. It wasn't any of his business, but once again, curiosity got the best of him. He surveyed her slowly, taking the book when she offered it. Zane's eyes went down to the book, scanning the first page quickly. His brows quirked up, through only the first page he knew he really wanted to read more.

Zane didn't say anything as he kept his eyes on her. He knew that he shouldn't ask, but maybe, just once, he could help her. It could be a simple matter, maybe he coudl help her.

"If you don't mind me asking, but, are you alright?" his voice came softly as he returned his gaze to the book, not wanting to meet her eyes.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"I'll be fine." Anna replied, completely avoiding his question because she didn't want to talk about it, especially with a stranger. Before he could try and pry, she changed the subject back to business. "His biography has mention of his other works. If you send me word, I can order any of them. My muggle supplier is fairly prompt with my special requests and he can usually get both new and used, whichever you prefer."

[Zane Mezzanotte]

He let it drop after that, if she didn't want to say anything else, then he wouldn't take it that far. Zane eyes returned to her as he nodded his head.

"I will, expect an owl, or maybe even a personal visit." he tilted his head in a small bow, it was the least he could do after almost prying into something that he had no business in. She was obviously lying about being alright, he could see the exhaustion radiating from her, it almost hung like a cloud over them, the weight slowly threatening to overwhelm him.

Zane's eyes was now on the shelf, his hand absentmindedly scanning the few books beside him on the shelf. His eyes lingering on a few titles, his head turned to scan the whole shelf, it seemed these were all muggle books, funny how the people his society hates have such appealing literature.

"In fact, I think I might come here often, have you read all of these?" his question was harmless, he knew it was foolish of him to believe that just because she owned a book store, doesn't mean the person read all the books, but recently, lots of stereotypes have been proven right.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Not all of them." It was true that Anna read a lot, but she'd only had the store for not even a year, so she hadn't made her way through all the used inventory. Some of it wasn't her type of reading anyways, so she knew she wouldn't ever find herself knowing each book from cover to cover. She gestured around to the shelves around the bookstore, "I don't read any of the new books obviously without moving them to the used section, which would be bad for business so I try to stick to all the used books."

[Zane Mezzanotte]

"Well, it's not exactly a great idea to lock yourself in the library, I hear that some people have been sucked in by books... but stories are always blown out of proportion." an imagery came to mind and he internally rolled his eyes, then again, he had heard from a few girls that there was something called the restricted section in the library at Hogwarts, maybe she would know what's in there.

"I have another question, what is inside the restricted section... in Hogwarts I mean?" might as well get as much information as he possible could, he wasn't sure he would find a willing source, not after he scared Markise away. For a fraction of a second there was a smirk on his face, that was a fun game while it lasted.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna ignored the bit about reading too much. She'd never heard anything that could be considered more than just gossip or fairy tales, and she'd been reading a lot less lately anyways. "The restricted section just has the books that have more advanced magic in them. It's nothing big really, you can get a pass from a professor if you need information out of one of the books."

She wondered why he was interest, but figured some younger students were probably talking about it with awe. "It just has books that would probably be dangerous to a younger student, you know, they might try one of the spells or potions, and end up blowing up the school."