Wistful Thinking (Anna/Markise)

[Markise Sterling]

"I don't know," Markise said truthfully. "I owled my mom letters and she owled back, so it was mostly questions. They put all my stuff in the apartment and argued when I said somethin' about my room, so I'm on my own. Not like I wanted to go back anyway. It's New York City I wanted, not letting my parents boss me around."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

“Wait, you mean they cut you off? Completely?” Anna’s eyes were wide and her attention was definitely focused on the harshness of the situation. Her face paled, wondering if her family would have reacted the same if she had moved out during the summer. She just couldn’t believe they would act so drastically. “I thought they were supportive of you and everything?”

[Markise Sterling]

"Well yeah, I mean, Ma still wanted me to visit and she found the apartment for me. It's not like Pa evanesco'd my stuff. But I said I wasn't coming back and it probably pissed my dad off that I wasn't living alone." Markise would love not to explain that, but Anna was so dense a lot of the time that even when she got it, she wanted it spelled out. She was too smart for him to think she really didn't pick up on things. My dad doesn't like that I'm gay, and I wasn't living alone. You already know I had a male roommate. Figure it out. And for the love of God, don't try to get me to name him. I'm not drunk enough to put up with that.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna didn't associate Markise's roommate as anything more because he'd already said he'd dated someone that ended up already being in a relationship, so that person obviously wasn't his roommate. The thought that his roommate was another love interest didn't even occur to her; Markise said it was a friend. "So did your friend keep the apartment while you're at school? What did you have to do with all your stuff?" She couldn't imagine having her parents mad enough to completely remove all of her things, but she assumed when she moved she'd take them anyway to let her sister have more space in the small room.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise saw an invaluable chance in Anna's questions. "He went back to school too," he said, deciding he could just pretend, as far as she was concerned, that his roommate had stayed in New York. He wondered a moment why she hadn't guessed anything about him and his roommate, then realized that she might have assumed his friends were gay. He'd only ever had one gay friend before, and that was Ariel. He didn't count boyfriends, and he didn't count Dare, who was bi.

"I moved the apartment into the second floor of the shop. It's packed in there now, but it's not like there was much to move." A couch, a couple end tables and lamps, a wide mirror, and his and Ariel's bedrooms, parts of which were shrunken and in the bedroom closet out of the way.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Oh, that makes sense." Anna said sheepishly, feeling stupid for not thinking that because he had his shop he also had a flat above it. She paused for a moment as a thought popped into her head before voicing it. "You aren't going to stay there like Dare does are you?" She could only imagine the temptation he would face then, and she'd probably see a whole lot less of him too. She realized she probably already would now if his shop was open during the week and he didn't come hang out at the bookstore with her like last year.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise shook his head, but diverted his gaze to do so. "No, I'm staying in the dorm," he answered. He wished he could stay in the shop, keep Ariel with him and have a decent night's sleep. He'd gotten so used to sleeping together that it was impossible to fall asleep alone now. But they had to stay in their dorms. If they both went missing, if they spent too much time together outside work, someone might notice and they'd be screwed.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

"Good, so am I." Anna informed him, as if there were ever a doubt. There was no reason for her to do otherwise. Even if she had the rooms above her shop nearly cleaned and habitable now, there was still no furniture, and she had no desire to be so secluded and alone. That left little to say on the topic so she moved on. "What classes are you taking? Hopefully we'll have a few together."

[Markise Sterling]

Markise had to think a minute before he came up with the list, latching onto the change in subject. "Ancient Runes," he started, trying to think through them all. "Arithmancy, Charms, Defense, Languages and Transfiguration, but I had to drop astonomy. Anyway, I figure I ought to get at least a couple NEWTs that way."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna's eyes lit up. "Oh good. I have Charms, Defense, and Transfiguration too, so we might have classes together this year." The NEWTS were going to be stressful enough, maybe it would help to have a friend in some of the same classes. It wasn't like they'd have much social time in classes anyways but it would be nice getting to see him during the day instead of just after hours.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise ran through a mental list of Ariel's classes, hoping Anna wouldn't be in them, too. As much as he loved her, it would be hell wondering all year whether she was watching him, whether he'd slipped up, and whether she knew. Defense and Transfiguration. Ariel hadn't shown up in Transfiguration for the first class, so maybe he'd dropped it? Either way, that was likely one less chance for them to study together. Markise forced a smile, hoping it looked genuine enough that Anna wouldn't ask questions.

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna noticed that Markise's smile was a bit strained, but she was used to others not being as interested in school so it didn't seem out of place. "I already know I'm probably overdoing it, but this is my last chance at really being taught." She knew all about Muggle universities, but she'd never heard even a whisper of a wizarding equivalent. Sure, there were training programs for whatever job she chose, but this was her last year to learn all the general wizarding subjects.

[Markise Sterling]

Markise's lips curved. "You're such a nerd," he teased, shifting to nudge her with his shoulder. Over the summer, he'd forgotten exactly how studious she was. Maybe she'd be too absorbed in learning to notice if he gazed at Ariel across the room all period. Not that he would, but knowing they'd be that safe would be perfect. "You need to find some kind of Muggle college to go to."

[Annabelle Hennessy]

Anna laughed at the name calling. It felt so good to have a friend that she could feel comfortable around to just be herself and know that she was accepted for all of her odd tendencies. His mention of University wasn't as out-of-the-blue as it would have been to most other Witches or Wizards. Her parents had already suggested the path, not realizing how unusual it would be for someone like her. She had wanted to appease them and ended up researching the possibility so she wouldn't blindly turn away their suggestion. What she discovered was far too many hurdles to even attempt to gain admittance and hardly any long term benefits unless she were to chose to work as a muggle afterward.

Shaking her head at Markise, Annabelle tried to summarize her research. "Firstly, I'd have to lie and obtain false muggle school certificates to even gain admittance. And once I was there, I'd probably be years behind because I doubt anything I've learned for 7 years at Hogwarts would be of use. All the muggles my age are studying other subjects that most likely are expected to be retained for use at the University level. Not to mention it would only be postponing my future career since Wizarding professions don't need, or even recognize muggle degrees." Those had been the major downsides of a Muggle University and had been more than enough to discourage further pressure from her parents, no matter how disappointed they may have been.

[Markise Sterling]

"Oh," Markise said, most of what Anna said completely lost on him, since he knew nothing about Muggle college. "I just meant like, going to learn stuff." And now he felt a little stupid for not understanding half of that explanation. He had no idea what else to say about that, and his mind was a bit tired just from trying to keep up.