Books Are a Guy's Best Friend

Hello, there. My name is Anthony Goldstein and I am a proud member of the Ravenclaw House. I have to admit, sometimes I prefer books to people, but I'm here if you need to chat. (Formerly part of a group RP, but now an indie blog. Message me if you want to RP!)

[thegoldraven]

The One That Gets Away II zeller-rose & the-gold-raven

[zealous-rose]

Pressure built in the back of her throat. Before she could even think (which wasn’t so hard, considering it was her), she blurted out “It’d bring bad luck upon you.” Her brain couldn’t catch up with her mouth, it was going so fast. Words tumbled out like a waterfall and couldn’t stop no matter how hard she tried.”The spirits of nature would revolt against you. Make you regret your actions. Well, indirect actions, anyway. How would you like it if I had to explain to them that they were starved of their water because I was talking to some Healer? I’m sorry, I just don’t think they’d understand.”

She nodded her head at his dismissal and was about to turn to walk away, carefully this time, when she stopped. Her foot hovered on the ground and her muscles tensed. What was it that he just said? 'My office is always open to random strangers, if you’re ever in need of a chat.'

Huh.

What gave him the idea that she needed to chat with anyone? Or wanted to for that matter? Maybe she had just been visiting St. Mungo’s that day to see how some of the Healers were doing? She was there often enough that they had known her by name and were, sure enough, almost annoyed when they saw her. Heck, she was annoyed how often she had to go in sometimes herself but she appreciated their concerns. Not so much their scolding looks and that certain shake of their heads as they treated her, but appreciated them nonetheless.

This, though. This, not so much.

"I’m sorry," she started, turning on her outstretched heel so she wheeled herself around in a circle to face the blue-eyed doctor…person. "Are you suggesting that I need to chat with you?" That came out with much more bite than she had intended. Her bright eyebrow jumped up, disappearing under her fringe. "As if I can’t go on without chatting with you? I’m fine. I don’t need a…a…" she stopped and squinted at the name plaque that sat by the door. "A…counselor to talk to, Mr. …Goldstein! I’m great! Maybe…maybe I just came by to say hi? ‘Cause I’ve seen you around and I know a lot of people in here, may as well say ‘hi’ to all of them. Especially since I’ve seen you around Hogwarts from time to time. Maybe I just recognized you one day and wanted to say ‘hi’ without freaking you out but couldn’t figure out a way to do it. That does happen you know.”

Rose’s lungs screamed for air by the time she stopped rambling and she took in a short, loud breath, releasing it only to take another one. She scrunched up her mouth and twisted it to the side as she noticed the expression on his face. “Stop looking at me like that,” she finished, although with less energy as she had spoken to him before. She spoke as if she was used to that look.

[thegoldraven]

Anthony blinked, taken aback by the girl's sudden outburst. He hadn't meant to offend her, it was something he said to anyone who had shown any interest in what he did. And personally, he would definitely consider showing up at his door at least once a week interest. Holding up his hands like he was surrendering, he gave her an innocent look. "That's not what I meant at all. I said you could come in if you ever needed a chat, not that I thought you looked like you needed a chat." He wasn't sure if he was helping, but he was feeling a bit indignant, as he was just trying to help.

"Another thing, how can you say you have just-" He held up two fingers and used them to make quotation marks, "-seen me around, when the only times I've ever seen you before is when you spend a great deal of time standing in front of my door?" He felt a bit guilty for pointing it out, but she wasn't going to be able to help herself if she was in a constant state of denial.

He cocked his head as she uttered a last sentence, his curiosity piqued. The way she said it implied that she was used to his exasperated and concerned expression, and that told him more than anything else. "Like what? I'm just looking at you in the way that I usually look at random girls who show up at my office and then accuse me of.. whatever it was you were yelling at me for." Usually he was a very level-headed, patient person, but something about this girl, Rose, made him defensive because he didn't want her to think badly of him. Not that her opinion should really affect him, but for some reason it did.

[thegoldraven]

The One That Gets Away II zeller-rose & the-gold-raven

[zealous-rose]

"Me? Yeah. I’m fine. Great. Dandy, even," Rose rattled, her hands flying up to her hair to smooth it down. She was sure that it had become a mess when she tripped over her own feet. Who does what, anyway? She made a mental note to put a balancing charm on herself or at least watch where she was putting her feet next time. “You didn’t startle me, I was…uhm…checking the traction on my shoes! Yes. It doesn’t hold up well. I need a new pair. But I stuck that landing!”

She laughed, trying to ignore that it sounded incredibly false. She looked down the hall where workers in their shockingly bright lime green robes shuffled from one room to another, going about their business. None of them seem to have noticed her ungraceful move. Well, they do have more important things to do rather than watch you fall over your own feet.

"I wasn’t startled," she said, shaking her head. Her flame-colored hair made a brief halo as she twisted and turned her head. "No siree, just, uh, y’know, staying alert." Tucking a loose strand behind her ear she added, "Good thing to do these days. You know,  what with everything that went on." Then, as if just noticing his gesture, she stuck out her hand, grasped his, and shook it vigorously. "Hi Anthony, I’m Rose. Now that that’s out of the way, I really have to go. Need to water my plants. Make sure they don’t die."

Geeze, Rose, talk any longer and your mouth’ll become a desert. Just leave and quit wasting this guy’s time.

[thegoldraven]

Anthony couldn't help but analyze everything the girl was doing, as he had become accustomed to doing it with his other "patients". She was obviously very nervous about something, but he could tell already that she had an outgoing and friendly personality. He wasn't sure if the babbling was natural or an effect of her nervousness, but he didn't particularly mind. Some people were boring when they rambled, but this girl captivated his attention and made every word she said sound important.

He gave her a friendly smile, hoping to put her at ease. He still felt guilty knowing that he had startled her, and he wanted to fix it. "I see. Well, I certainly wouldn't to inadvertently kill some poor, unsuspecting plants." He removed his hand from hers and stuck them in his pockets, for a lack of a better place. "It was nice meeting you, Rose. My office is always open to random strangers, if you're ever in need of a chat."

[thegoldraven]

The One That Gets Away II zeller-rose & the-gold-raven

[zealous-rose]

How many times had she walked up to that door? She didn’t know. How many times had she walked away? Too many.

Stinging pain made Rose pull her thumb from between her teeth. She gazed at the indents from her teeth on her skin and peered at her nail. A spot of blood appeared. She had bitten too far down again. Dropping her arm she wiped her thumb against the side of her slacks, brushing off the saliva as she stared at the door in front of her. She had memorized the split in the wood long ago but still she let her eyes trail along the busted seam as she lifted her hand to knock.

But why did she bother? She hadn’t let her knuckles rap against the wood every time she came to visit. What would be different this time? Maybe the dreams would go away this time. Maybe the guilt would loosen its hold on her lungs. Maybe she wouldn’t feel as if she were trudging through quicksand, struggling to stay afloat.

And maybe nothing would be different at all.

She dropped her hand in defeat, wrapping it around her stomach. She shuffled weight from foot to foot and looked down at her scuffed up trainers. Once again, there was no sense in coming. If she couldn’t even knock on the door how could she talk to someone? Rose laughed, but the situation wasn’t funny. She was laughing at her own cowardice. No matter how much she wanted to forget, wanted to let go, wanted to move on, she couldn’t. It was as if the universe wouldn’t allow her to be fully happy, no matter what she did. It’s hold wouldn’t loosen.

Then the door opened, catching her by surprise. “Yikes!” She yelped, stumbling backwards. Her shoes caught on each other and she fell back in her haste to get away, landing half on her bum and half on her side. Cheeks aflame, she scrambled to her feet and brushed any dirt off the seat of her pants and checked her hands and elbows for tears in her skin. “Me? Uh. No. No, I’m fine. I don’t…I don’t need anything. Sorry, for bothering you. I’ll just be goi—I’ll go now.”

[thegoldraven]

Anthony's smile disappeared as the girl tripped and fell to the ground, and he bit his lip. He was about to offer her a hand up, but when she stood up by herself he just let his hand fall again. "Wait, no, it's okay! Are you alright?" Now that he was finally talking to the mysterious girl, he wanted to know more about her. Now that he saw her up close, he could tell that she had bright green eyes. He was captivated by them for a moment, thinking that he had never met anyone with eyes quite that color. Shaking his thoughts loose, he stepped forward and held out his hand. "I'm Anthony. Sorry for startling you, I just saw you waiting outside."

[thegoldraven]

The One That Gets Away II zeller-rose & the-gold-raven

Anthony looked up when he heard footsteps outside the door. Listening carefully, he slowly got up and treaded softly to the window. He discreetly peered through a crack in the curtains, unsurprised at what he saw. The same red-haired girl was hovering right outside the door, looking like she was going to knock. Anthony sighed, hoping that she would do it this time. She had come at least once every week for the past month, and he was beginning to get worried. The whole purpose of this organization was to help people, but he couldn't help her if she wasn't going to ever knock. He'd never spoken to the girl, but the few times he had caught a glimpse of her face she had seemed sad, almost haunted. He wished that he could help her, but he didn't want to impose on her feelings. However, the last time she had walked away he had resolved to talk to her the next time, and now the moment had come. Taking a deep breath and striding quickly to the door, he opened it with a welcoming smile. "Hello! Can I help you with something?"

[zealous-rose]

"Ah, yes. Ravenclaw. I just call all of you that, Hope you don’t mind," Rose replied. "Ah, see? It is! I always expect you Ravenclaws to be freakishly smart. And you usually are. A good deal of your lot has helped me on some essay. Good to know you’re nice." Rose blinked and then looked at him as if he had just asked if their eyes helped them see. "Of course I named all of them. There’s Sigfried, of course, and then there’s Roy and Gadget and Amphibius and Benji and Gub-Gub and Jinky and Junebug and, of course, Frogger. They each need a name ‘cause they each have their own personality."

[thegoldraven]

Anthony couldn't help but let out a snort. "Gub-gub? That's.. an interesting name." He suddenly felt something hop onto his foot and he looked down in surprise. "Oh, there's another one."

[zealous-rose]

"You don’t?" She peered at the tie around his neck. "But you’re a Bird,” she said, confusion evident in her tone. She lurched forward, grabbing onto the frog as it made an attempt to escape her hands. “Well, yeah, it seems I do. Sigfried here is an escape artist. But we’re missing the rest of his pals. I think they’re down this hall somewhere.”

[thegoldraven]

He quirked an eyebrow, amused. "A bird? If you mean Ravenclaw, just because I'm smart doesn't mean I know random facts about frogs." He blushes, realizing that he sounded a bit sarcastic. "Sorry, it's fine to assume that I would know things. If anything, I guess it's a compliment." He looked warily up and down the hallway. "Did you name all of them?"

[zealous-rose]

Rose sighed in relief and took the frog from him, cradling it in between her palms. “I try and help you escape and what do you do? You run off on me. How is that fair?” she addressed the frog. It croaked in response. Chuckling she lifted her head and looked at the boy. “Thanks for finding him. I don’t think the others will be that hard. They couldn’t have gone that far, right?”

[thegoldraven]

Glad to be rid of it, he wiped his hands on his pants. Smiling awkwardly, he stood for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Er, I suppose. I don't really know too much about frogs. Do you, uh, do you need any help?"

[zealous-rose]

"Err…if anyone’s seen a bunch of frogs hopping around please ignore it. Or! No, rather, let me know which way they went? I’d really appreciate it," Rose said as she wrung her hands together and tried to keep the nervous smile off of her face. "No need to panic, or anything. I’d just like to know."

[thegoldraven]

"Um... here's one." Anthony replied hesitantly as he approached her with a squirming frog in his hands. His face was scrunched up in disgust as he tried not to drop it. "I haven't seen any others, though. Sorry."

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

"Anthony Goldstein!" Rose said, laughing a little. "Did you happen to block out the part of us crossing the lake with boats just to get to the castle?" She shook her head and said in a teasing tone, "Someone’s had their head in far too many books. You’ve been sniffing too much of that old glue. I think it’s starting to have some adverse effects on your memory. Quick, what year is it?” She shook her head and sighed in a relaxed sort of way. “You’re silly sometimes.”

When he stopped walking she almost walked right into him. Regaining her balance she pointed in the direction that the boat house was located. “Sorry, I should have told you where we were going,” she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. “It’s over here,on the other side of the lake. I hope you don’t mind the walking distance. it was either this or risking broken ankles on the stairs. I think this is a better option, right? But let’s hurry, it’s a bit cold.”

She lightly pulled on his hand to get him to start walking in the proper direction of their location. She couldn’t wait to get there. She was beginning to lose the feeling in her ears. Just because she came from a place where the cold was inevitable during certain times of the year doesn’t mean that she particularly liked it. “Did I tell you what some of the first years have gotten up to?” She asked him to make conversation. She didn’t wait for him to respond. “They keep asking me about you, now. They don’t want to focus on their schoolwork, they keep asking about our relationship and everything. I think some of them want to plan our marriage. It’s funny. Apparently they even had a bet going on, seeing how long it would take for us to get together. From what I can understand Bonnie is winning.

"But that brings me to a very important question, I must ask," she continued. She breathed out heavily, having spoken a lot in one breath and then sucked another one in. "Examinations are coming up soon. I’m afraid I won’t pass Potions. Will you please help me study? Pretty please?" She batted her eyelashes for extra help to convince him to help her. She knew sometimes she could be a nightmare when it came to trying to get her focused on one thing but he was smart and she could use his help to get a few more points on her exams. “I’ll be your best friend if you help me.”

[thegoldraven]

Anthony laughed at the first years antics, mostly to cover up how much he was blushing. Sure, he had heard them whispering and giggling at him and Rose, but marriage? He shook his head, bewildered, pondering the silliness of young kids. "I'm not surprised. Actually, I think Bonnie had her sights set on me for a while but she seems to be taking the rejection quite well." He grinned at Rose and squeezed her hand to show that he was kidding. All of the first year girls were cute, but in a very different way from how Rose was.

His eyebrows shot up, surprise clearly visible on his face. "Why wouldn't I help you? Did you think I would say no?" His heart fell just a bit at her last words, but he kept a smile on his face. "Best friends, huh?" Maybe this was her subtle way of telling him that she wanted to step back a bit. But then again, when had Rose ever been subtle? A sudden thought occurred to him, and he bit his lip. He glanced over at her sideways, then came to a decision. Skipping slightly, he jumped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Wait. I might consider helping you, but there's one condition." He cleared his throat, suddenly nervous.

Anthony took the hand he was holding and squeezed it. "Rose, I don't want to be your best friend. I don't even want to be your more-than-friends-friend. I mean sure, it's been great, but there's just so much gray area. I'm already confused enough, and gray areas just make things worse. And so... well..." He let go of her hand and put his hand on her cheek, then leaned down and kissed her. When he pulled back, he stayed a few inches away so that he could look into her eyes. "Rose, will you just throw caution to the winds and maybe consider becoming my girlfriend?" When he was done with his speech he leaned back all the way to wait for his answer. He knew that this was a big step to take, and he also knew that he would be devastated if she got angry at him for taking it too far.

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

"I’ve been there once or twice," Rose replied. "I found it on accident. Not that it was hiding or anything. That is, i was scoping out different parts of the castle and I stumbled upon it after taking a wrong turn. It’s pretty cool. A lot of windows, the lake is right there, pretty vines and stuff. I saw fireflies once but I don’t know if they still hang around there. Maybe we’ll be lucky and see some."

Rose looked down at their entwined hand and prayed to anything that would hear her for her palms not to sweat. She wanted the date to be perfect and turn out right. Never in her life had she wanted something to work out so badly, not just for her but for Anthony as well. She didn’t want him to be nervous the entire time. She wanted him to relax and enjoy her company and have fun and he couldn’t do that when he was worrying about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. But maybe she was part of that problem.

She nibbled on her bottom lip. She guessed she wasn’t making it easy for him to navigate waters when she was involved. But she didn’t know what she was doing! She’s never been in a relationship before, she didn’t know the ins and outs of the whole thing. It’s no wonder they were at a standstill for a while. Granted, he did give her the power to decide how they proceeded and when they did and as sweet as that was it annoyed her a little. She wouldn’t be against him taking charge with certain situations every now and then, in fact she’d welcome it. She didn’t want to be the only one initiating certain steps.

"But, wait, where did you think the boats went?" Rose asked, using her free hand to scratch the side of her head. "They didn’t just disappear, silly. Or did you think they floated up into the sky or something?" She laughed at her own mental image. "I know this world is strange but I wouldn’t think that it would be that strange. I mean, the strangest thing I’ve seen in the magical world, I think, would have to be pictures moving on their own. Going back to a world where everything stays still makes it all so boring in retrospect.”

[thegoldraven]

Anthony shrugged, glad that he hadn't blushed. Maybe he was getting better about being less embarrassed by her teasing. "I don't really go outside that much, I didn't even realize we had boats at Hogwarts! There's not any boating classes or anything. Besides, how to people go out on the lake with the Giant Squid? I for one would not like to end up in that freezing water." He was amazed that even after seven years he was still finding out new things about his school.

The sun was shining brightly in his eyes, reflected off of the small patches of snow lying here and there amongst the grass. Spring was definitely in the air, but winter wasn't leaving without a fight. Anthony hoped that Rose wasn't cold, and was relieved that he had thought to grab a blanket. How lame would it be if she caught a cold on their first date? Despite his worries, he could feel himself relaxing. Finally something positive was happening between them, and he was going to spend a fun, carefree afternoon with the girl that he lo- really really liked. He still didn't let himself complete that thought because it seemed to large for him to handle. The negative, snide little voice in the back of his mind reminded him that he was going to have piles of homework that night when he got back, but this was going to be worth the sleep deprivation.

After a few minutes of walking in companionable silence, he realized that he didn't exactly know where he was going. He stopped, and turned to Rose with a sheepish grin. "Uh, so where exactly is this boathouse?"

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in such a good mood before," Rose commented, nodding towards their swinging hands. It was funny, he was almost acting like a girl in their relationship. While she was an emotional person in general he was taking over the mannerisms she always suspected she would go through in the situation: nervousness, the frequent blushing, going around as if he were floating on cloud nine. She even checked to see if little wings had grown on his shoes. "Oh the courtyard would have been fine, we spend a lot of time there after all. Only this time it would be without the first years running around but I would rather be out of the sight of the Ministry. I want your full, undivided attention."

She moved her mouth to form an exaggerated version of a pout when he ran off to do something in the Ravenclaw Tower. The timing was almost ironic. She counted the amount of stone slabs on the floor to pass the time as he did who knows what. She had counted up to seventy-three when he approached her, cheeks bright red and panting. “Did you know that there are more than seventy-three stone chunks in this floor alone? Imagine how many there are in the entire school. No wonder Filch doesn’t like us, having to clean this entire place alone. I feel kind of bad for him.” She snapped her fingers. “Remind me to leave him a basket before we leave, okay? He deserves something and maybe it’d brighten his day a little bit. I know a basket of muffins would make my day better.”

She twisted her fingers and started rocking from side to side. “Anyway, I was thinking…we could maybe play a little baseball?” She hopped once at the end of her question, as if forming the question mark with a body movement. “I played with Padma once, it was fun. We just tossed the ball around and, well, hit it of course. I did anyway. She didn’t want to try. But maybe we could do that? Or we can do whatever it was you needed to grab. Maybe a puzzle?” She sucked in a deep breath and then let it out to stop her rambling. “Maybe we should just go first?”

[thegoldraven]

Anthony snorted. "I would feel bad for Filch, but I can't bring myself to because he was so enamored by Professor Umbridge. Anyone who likes that old hag must be pretty mean, at least in my opinion." He couldn't help but smile at Rose's thoughtfulness, though. It was amazing how she could see the best in even a crotchety old man like Filch. He had a sudden idea, and before he could chicken out he bent down and gave her a quick kiss. Part of him was still shocked at his boldness, but at the same time he felt as if he was finally expressing something that he'd wanted to do for a very long time.

His eyes lit up at the mention of baseball, and he nodded eagerly. "Okay! I don't know what we can use as a ball, unless there's something in the boathouse. We'll figure it out." He laughed at her enthusiasm, although he knew exactly how she felt. It was extremely adorable when she hopped like that, and he wished that he could draw a picture of her as she was right now, excited and rambling. She always seemed to be embarrassed when she caught herself rambling, but he followed every word. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. We'll see what we want to do when we get there."

He took her hand once more and they continued down the corridor. "Are you very familiar with the boathouse? I didn't even know we had one until a couple years ago, and I've never actually been inside it." He looked at her for a reply as they reached the door and he held it open for her.

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

"Yes. Yes you should have," Rose said, poking him in the arm again with every syllable. "And I remember a conversation we had where I told you the guidelines for such an event. I said I wanted fireworks, remember? And I don’t see any. So I hope you can deliver them during some part of the date or else I’d be very upset!"

Her mouth stumbled over the word date. It felt strange to say. And every time she said it the butterflies in her stomach flapped their wings with such urgency she thought they would take off but then they would settle back down, waiting for another chance to make her stomach tumble in only the best sort of way. “Come to the dark side,” she said, dropping her voice as he ran his hand through his hair. “We have more fun!” All kidding aside his focus on his studies lately was beginning to worry her. He seemed distracted more than usual, a different kind of distracted as compared to when he worried about his sisters. A couple of times she thought the stress would make him snap, sometimes he would get a bit more forceful with a first year than usual but they knew by now to take it in stride.

Much like a kid, she clicked her heels together in happiness when he started packing his things away. Partially because she managed to pull him away from his studies and convince him to take some time away but also because she was going on her very first date ever! She wondered how much excitement she was allowed to show or how much would be proper. Yeah, they were only going to the Boat House but she was going with Anthony and he always made her day ten times better just by being around.

"You are!" She said, but she was confused as to why he was smirking at her like that. Had she said something funny? She tried to think back to what it was that she had just said but nothing came up. She shrugged it off. "I want to go now," she replied. "Er…that is…" she cleared her throat and looked down at her feet. "No sense in waiting, yeah?" She asked, toning down the burst of enthusiasm that shot out of her. Her smile widened at his compliment and she stood on her tiptoes to reach his cheek and plant a kiss on it. "You’re okay with the boat house though? I’d much rather Hogsmeade be the backdrop but…we kinda can’t be choosey, y’know?"

[thegoldraven]

"Okay, now it is then." Anthony grinned as he pulled her through the library to the door. His headache was already starting to fade, and even though he knew that it meant a later night of homework for him, he couldn't help but be excited. Once they were out of the library he slowed to a meandering walk and swung their hands back and forth between them. "Of course, the boathouse is fine. It's probably a good thing I asked you where you wanted to go because I probably would have picked somewhere boring like the courtyard or something."

He wondered how he could possibly incorporate fireworks into a date in the boathouse. There probably wasn't going to be much to work with, although he'd never actually been in the boathouse so he didn't know for sure. He imagined that there would just be boats and a whole lot of empty space. It was also still a bit cold, now that he thought about it. When they reached the hallway that led to Ravenclaw Tower, he let go of her hand and took a few steps toward it. "I'll be right back, there's just a few things I need to grab."

Anthony quickly climbed the staircase and sprinted through the common room, getting him a couple strange looks. Once in his room he grabbed his sketch pad and pencils, a blanket, and a bag of chocolate frogs. He wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting on her first date, but he would make it as fun as he could. He placed the items into his bag after emptying it of books, then rushed back out  and down the stairs. When he reached Rose, he was panting a bit. "Okay, now I'm ready."

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

Rose chuckled at his compliment. “You goof, how does someone smell like sunshine?” She asked and lightly pushed his shoulder. “It’s impossible.” She gave her head a shake and sighed. “You and your strange compliments. I should be used to them by now, shouldn’t I?” While they were amusing they did touch her heart in a certain way. How many people out there could say that they were the epitome of sunshine? She would brag about that for days to anyone who would listen.

"Is that all?" Rose sucked in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you didn’t like me anymore," she said and then she made a face when she realized that she had indeed, said that out loud. "Ignore that!" She said hastily, waving her hands as if she were shooing away her words. "You’ve made it clear that you do. Ignore me." She bit her lip and looked at him from beneath her eyelashes. She hoped what she said wouldn’t start another fight. She didn’t like fighting with him and she didn’t want to start another one after things got good between them again.

Rose stuck out her tongue and grasped his hand. “Now who’s the oblivious one?” She teased. “I think I’ve been more than obvious about it but you just didn’t seem to get it.” She turned her attention out the window and scanned the grounds beneath them, thinking of where they could go. He did have a point, there weren’t that many places since Hogsmeade was out of the question but who would want to have a date trapped in the four walls they see every day? A first date at that? Not her. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe…the boat house?” She suggested, her eyebrows lifting. “I know it sounds strange but then no one could bother us and we could do anything we want out there without the Ministry barging in…”

[thegoldraven]

Anthony smiled, recognizing that she was trying really hard to keep the peace. It was a little sad that she even had to do that, and he wished he could do something to fix it.  "No, it's fine. I can see now that I should have asked you a long time ago." Now that he thought about it, she'd been dropping hints for a long time. "I guess I've just been kind of distracted by school and such. I never realized that the last year of Hogwarts was the most stressful." He looked down at the textbook he had been studying, then ran his free hand through his hair and sighed. "This book is giving me a headache, I really do need to get out."

He turned to look out the window as well, seeing the boathouse far below. She was right, but he wondered if she realized how what she had said might sound to anyone else. He smirked at her. "And you say that I'm oblivious." The fact that she wasn't even thinking about it in that way was kind of endearing. He turned back to his books and started shoving them in his bag, glad to be rid of them at least for the moment. When he was done he stood up and slung the bag over his shoulder, keeping his hand in Rose's. "Shall we go? Unless you meant later. I've heard that girls like to spend hours getting ready for date, but I think you're pretty enough right now."  Hopefully this didn't offend her, she tended to act weird about compliments.

[zealous-rose-archive]

There's a First Time for Everything || Anthony & Rose

Rose usually had a tough time staying concentrated on her homework but lately it has gotten worse. At first she suspected that her father may be right, that she was probably suffering from some muggle mental illness that made it hard for her to keep focus on one thing at a time and made her want to get out of her seat and actually do something other than work. But then, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was because she was simply frustrated.

She was frustrated that the school hadn’t lightened up on their rules despite no one else getting hurt over the past couple of months. She was frustrated that she still couldn’t go to Hogsmeade, not just for a candy run but for a breather from the school in general. She was frustrated that Padma still hadn’t returned, no matter how many letters she had sent to the Patil household asking to the point of desperation for them to allow her best friend to return. But, at the tip of the iceberg, she found herself more frustrated with Anthony. He hadn’t done anything, but that was sort of the problem. She felt that they were going in a good direction in their relationship or whatever it was and their like for each other was established a long time ago. So she figured he would have asked her on a date by now. But day by day went by and still nothing. She thought after their “discussion” of her writing to his sisters that he’d ask then but…nothing.

She set down her quill and it hit the table with a light smack, giving up on her homework. She thought that it would be easier to gt her work done if she were in a more comfortable environment, such as the Huffleuff Common Room but that backfired in her face. It didn’t help that she had her blue-eyed friend stuck in her head. Abandoning her books and ink bottles she went i search for him. She wanted answers. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare him away by being too straightforward but she figured she had been patient long enough.

"Okay, If I were Anthony where would I be?" She muttered while tapping her chin. The passage to the Hufflepuff Common Room had closed behind her when it hit her. She even smacked her own forehead at the obvious answer. "Oh, of course! The Library. He’s always hiding out there. Duh, Rose.Didn’t even need to think about that one.”

She made a beeline for the Library, trying to keep down the bounce in her step. It had appeared only recently and didn’t seem to want to go away. Not that she was complaining about it. Once in the library she navigated her way through the tall bookshelves, looking this way and that to spot her More-Than-Friends-friend. She finally found him tucked in a corner with a pile of books around him. One particularly large one was opened on the tabletop and he seemed drawn into it. The font was small so she guessed whatever it was he was reading or researching was important.

Rose pulled back an extra chair at the table and took the time to look at him for a moment, taking in the look of total concentration on his face and the way he moved his lips as he silently read. She wasn’t sure if he noticed that he did that. She found it cute. She reached out a finger and prodded him in the arm all the while stretching out his name, “An-thon-yyyyyyyyy.”

She dropped her arm in her lap and squinted at him. “Okay, tell me the truth. Do I have cooties or something? Do I smell? Are you embarrassed by me? ‘Cause I’m always the one to kiss you first and you seem like you’re scared to touch me sometimes and I’ve been waiting a long time for you to ask me out and you haven’t done it and it made me worry that there was something wrong. ‘Cause I’m fun! I’m the life of the…well, life! Who wouldn’t want to send more time with me? They’d be crazy not to. So…you must be crazy.” She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Hi, by the way,” she added.

[thegoldraven]

Why in the world would anyone even consider using that spell? Anthony was just barely able to comprehend any of the words on the page, but he knew that he had to get through it. He had been working for weeks on this project for his Specialized Charms class, but he had yet to even decide on a thesis. And so he had been studying an incredibly dull and extremely lengthy book for hours, giving him a throbbing headache and probably straining his eyes.  It didn't help that his mind kept wandering to Rose, not that he really objected. He had begun to feel guilty about his lack of initiative in their relationship, but he was still wary of being too forward. He still was unsure about the definition of More-than-friends-friends, and so he wasn't clear on what she wanted him to do. It didn't help that he had never really had any sort of romantic relationship before.

When the object of his thoughts poked his arm, he jumped. He had been so wholly absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed her come up. Anthony looked up at Rose, feeling like he was being blown away with words. Nodding, he tried to follow what she was saying. He might have missed a few things, but he got the gist of it. His cheeks instinctively turned a bit red at her kiss, but he wasn't too distracted by it. "Er. Hi Rose." He stared at her for a moment, his mind still trying to adjust. He quickly reviewed what she had said, then tried to come up with a suitable answer.

"Okay. I feel like this is going to have to be a pretty long answer, so bear with me. First, no, I don't think you have cooties unless there's something you haven't told me. No, you don't smell. Well, actually you always smell a bit like strawberries and sunshine, but that's a good thing." He took a deep breath, trying to remember the rest of what she had said. "Sorry, I didn't realize that I was holding back. I'm just not entirely sure where the line of More-than-friends-friends is, and I don't want to upset you by crossing it." He smiled and took her hand, squeezing it. "And I didn't realize you wanted me to ask you on a date or anything, there's not really many places to go since we're not allowed to go to Hogsmeade. Where would you want to go?"

[slytherinhearted-deactivated201]

Muggles

[slytherinhearted-deactivated201]

I know but still…How do they survive without magic in the house?

I don’t know whether I should be impressed that they manage or sorry for them.

[thegoldraven]

I've always been pretty impressed by them. I mean, they had to think up all that stuff!

[slytherinhearted-deactivated201]

Muggles

Muggle witchcraft is so weird. Sorry, muggle creations are so weird. It’s probably witchcraft anyway.

And if it’s not, well, the world would be a much more confusing place.

[thegoldraven]

I'm pretty sure that they think the exact same thing about us.

[thegoldraven]

Letters From Home II Anthony & Rose

[zealous-rose-archive]

Rose visibly flinched at his outburst and slapped her palms against her forehead. She had a wonderful way of ruining perfectly good moments. If her feet weren’t attached to her legs at the moment she wouldn’t be surprised to find them stuffed into her mouth. Maybe then she wouldn’t say anything stupid.

"That’s…that’s not what I meant," she said, shaking her head. "That was the wrong word. I’m not implying that you’ve acted like a Slytherin, I just mean…" What? That she couldn’t see what was so special about her? That compared to the Greengrass girls or even Padma that she felt like a little kid standing next to them? She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She didn’t mean to make him upset, she was only trying to talk about how she was feeling but still she was horrible at it if it was misconstrued. She twisted her mouth to the side. Maybe she’d stop trying to explain herself around him, she wasn’t so good at getting the right words out anyway. And he would probably talk his face blue trying to disprove what she said about herself.

Not unless he loved her like he said. The word sounded so strange directed at her. She couldn’t process it. It went in one ear and then her brain squashed it before it was a recognized entity. And he corrected himself so fast there was no point in over-thinking it, was there? No, none whatsoever. And now she was frustrated, more so at herself than him.

"I don’t want you to do anything, okay?" she replied. "Just forget it. Forget I said anything, okay? Can we just go back in time three minutes? Or change our memories. I now memory spells but I’m not so good at them but if you want me to do it I can try. Just don’t be mad at my anymore, please? I don’t want to lose anymore friends."

[thegoldraven]

"Oh. Okay." Anthony sat back down and stared at the ground, feeling stupid. He had gotten all emotional over nothing, he had even said that he loved her. Which wasn't that strange of a possibility, but even if it was true she would probably be overwhelmed by it. Sighing, he turned back to her. "No, I think we should keep our memories. Otherwise we won't be able to tell when we're having the really good ones." He considered taking her hand, but maybe she didn't want him to.

"And sorry for the outburst, I just have had a lot of stuff today. First I was really angry about the sister thing, and then I was sad thinking about it, and then I was really happy because things between us were going to well. I don't think my brain has the capacity to handle all of these emotions at once." Anthony smiled at her ruefully. "And you don't have to worry about be leaving you, you can't get rid of me that easily. You attract me like a bee to a flower." Then he blushed again, realizing how strange that sounded. "Wait. That was weird. Scratch that. But you know what I mean."

And it was true. At this point, even thinking about his life without Rose in it was unbearable. She brought a happiness that he hadn't felt in a long time, and now that he had had her, he would be lost without her.