Upon further research, I have decided that Michael Corner is iconic actually. The only women he's ever dated are Harry's love interests and that's really fucking funny. Dated Cho once Harry and her had broken up. Dated Ginny while Harry had a crush on her. My guy just wanted to kiss Harry but wanted to be straight.
I was looking at character name meanings for reasons and there's a Ravenclaw student in Harry's year named Michael Corner who I'm pretty sure ends up crushing on Ginny, and it's so dumb. The name Michael means "who is like God?" which is a question, but is more commonly associated with Michael the archangel, and the surname Corner means "someone who lived in an area with sharp corners". So, basically, his name means Angel Angle. I hate it here.
This piece was inspired by a long-ago post by andythanfiction combined with how much I empathize with Mike and Terry. And also me wanting to swoop in and make things better for my favorite characters, because mother instincts.
Disclaimer #1: The views about the LGBTQ movement in this story are those of the character, not me. She's talking about a tiny minority inside still-a-minority, and that makes it hard to get any coverage...which is legitimately frustrating.
“Yurr cute.”
Mike nodded at the weaving Muggle woman, keeping his arm around Terry. “Thank you, but I am here with my friend.”
“No, I mean...together.” She made a lazy circle with her drink that was, apparently, meant to include both wizards. “Saw you at the parade. Yurr a cute couple.”
Not again, Terry whispered.
Don’t worry. “We actually aren’t gay. Just very close friends.”
“S’okay. Gays always leave us out of their parties anyway.” The woman set her drink on the bar and extended her hand at the young men, grinning lopsidedly. “M’name’s Lizzy.”
Us?
“Who did you think they should include? I’m afraid we aren’t very familiar with your...movement,” Terry commented, finally entering the conversation aloud.
“Trans and bis and aros and aces...like me! I don’t do sex, so I’m not straight, so I’m in the LGB...too many letters...thingy, but unless you just like your sex, you don’t get seen a lot.”
“Across” and “two”...who knows what the others meant. Hypotheses?
She called herself “ace”, so perhaps something with sex? It’s...curious.
Mike rubbed Terry’s shoulder absently at his friend’s tone. “Sorry, what is ‘ace?’ You mentioned something about sex?”
Lizzy slid onto a barstool and straightened, clapping her hands together. “So there’s liking someone for sex, and liking someone for romance, and liking someone for friends. That’s sexual attraction, and romantic, and platonic.” She paused, eyeing her audience, who both nodded.
Plato’s ideal was a bit more complex than merely “liking someone for friends”...
Mike sneezed to cover his snort.
“With most people, the sex and the romance go together, but not all! You can have one and not the other, or swapped, or lots of one and none of the other or...does that make sense?”
Does she mean that you can be romantically attracted to one type of person, but sexually attracted to a different type?
Or experience one form of attraction but not the other? I...believe so. “I’m sorry, can you explain what you mean by ‘lots of one’?” Mike asked politely.
“Lots. Poly. Wait, no, that’s for partners. Pan is for liking everybody. So pansexual is wanting to fuck everybody. Or, well, being able to maybe want to fuck everybody. And ace is wanting no one!”
“You mean asexual?” Terry asked from behind Mike.
“’Xactly! See, I’m ace, so I’m never gonna look at you and go ‘hey you’re hot, let’s fuck.’ Even though you are. Hot, I mean. I can still get horny with hormones and touching myself and shit, but not just wanting someone. That’s attraction, not stimulation. And I can still like people, and have boyfriends and all that, I just don’t want to fuck ‘em.”
Terry? You okay?
...I believe the term “eureka” may be appropriate.
So you think her word describes you? Mike glanced at the woman, who had settled her chin on her arms and was peering into her beer glass, now a scant two inches from her nose. She seems rather...
But if love and sex are two different things...hasn’t that been what your girlfriends complained about for so long? That you enjoyed sex with them, but loved me? And when have you known me to seek sex, or even any romantic relationship?
But...you’re so full of love, Terry. You can’t think that you lack romantic attraction, even if you’ve never experienced a sexual one.
But I don’t have to lack romance, Mike. I have you. And you have me. Even if we don’t wish to have sex with each other...if romantic and sexual attractions are separate, then that wouldn’t invalidate our feelings for each other.
Quos amor verus tenuit, tenebit?
Semper te tenebo. Amantem meum.
Mike kissed his head, deciding to examine the thought later.
Lizzy blinked slowly at them. “Cuties.”
* * *
"Across" and "two" and... = 'trans' is a Latin preposition meaning 'across', 'bi' means 'two', 'a' means 'away from' or 'none'. ('Pan' and 'omni' both mean 'all' or 'every', and 'poly' and 'multi' both mean 'many'.)
Eureka = I have found it (Ancient Greek) - Terry's having an "IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW" moment.
Quos amor versus tenuit, tenebit = Those whom true love has held, it will hold. (Quoted from Seneca.)
Semper te tenebo. Amantem meum. = I will always hold you...my love. ("My love" is the direct object, so it's equal to "you".
Basically, Mike is going "We already loved each other, so we'll still love each other (just maybe more)?" and Terry is going "OF COURSE."
