i’d rather be a comma than a full stop [anna]

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Oscar knew that you were never supposed to return to the scene of the crime - that was how all the best criminals got caught. They were cocky (a lot like somebody he knew) and thought that they were the one exception to the rule and would not be caught reveling in their glory. To be fair, Oscar had returned to the scene of his fight with the redhead not because he wanted to gloat over a victory, but because he needed to get to the fourth floor library, and the staircase was once again being contrary. Really, this wasn't even a crime scene. Neither of them had done anything wrong; they had just fought a little, insulted each other a little, and parted ways. The redhead was nothing to him anymore, not when there were other fish to catch in the sea. (He was getting a lot better at figurative expressions, but Oscar was pretty sure he had messed that one up.)

As Ozzy walked through the corridor, he was trying to make a mental map of the floor. He knew where the staircase was located based on his last excursion, but he had no idea how to get there - last time, he had taken so many twists and turns that he might as well have been trying to navigate a maze. Oscar wasn't going to ask for help this time, though. He was determined to get to the staircase on his own. He rounded a corner, strides long and confident...and immediately ran into someone. stumbling backwards, Ozzy barely recovered his balance quickly enough to save himself from falling over. When he looked at who he had run into, though, Oscar's blood ran cold. The redhead.

And that is why you should never, ever return to the scene of a crime.

@annelise

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Anna was studying, as she had been all day. Actually, the majority of her time was now spent studying. She studied for NEWTs, the tournament (just in case she was chosen as champion), and for anything that could help Phoenix Rising, to name a few. Honestly, she had too much on her plate. Not that she was complaining; on the contrary, she liked it, but sometimes she needed a break and today was one of those days. She'd been in the library studying all day long- except for her classes- and was tired of it. So she checked out a bunch of books and stuffed them in her bag haphazardly. One glance at her bag and anyone could see she was overloaded but she didn't care. She was on her way to the Lake and she'd study there.

As she moved through the castle, Anna constantly glanced down at her bag, checking to make sure it wasn't about to break or that she wasn't about to lose a book or two. She had no intention of letting anything happen to those books. As she left the fourth floor, she felt her attitude and excitement rising. She really should study outside more often.

That was when it happened. Anna was about to round a corner when she ran into someone hard. She cringed as she fell to the floor, but not for herself. Her books were all over. Without even looking up at the person she ran into, she started apologizing as she quickly gathered her books, smiling ruefully at herself. Of course she'd drop her books just when she didn't want to, even if it wasn't entirely her fault. "I'm so sorry, I should've been looking where I was going. I really didn't mean to run into you, I promise." She nodded and smiled once she'd gathered all her books, then she looked up to see Oscar standing in front of her.

Against her will, she blushed lightly. Great. Now the cute foreign guy who hated her would probably think she ran into him on purpose to start a fight or something. After their last encounter she hoped she'd be able to avoid him for the rest of this year, but apparently not. Anna forced her smile to stay in place as she slowly rose to her feet, glancing down quickly to make sure her books weren't about to fall out again. "Sorry," she repeated, not sure of what else she could say. From the look on his face, she figured she was the last person he wanted to see.

@oscar

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Oscar slowly began to recover from the shock of the situation, and realized that the redhead - fine, Anna - had been carrying a bag full of books that had promptly divested itself of its contents as soon as they collided. One of the books was lying literally on top of Oscar's feet, and he bent down to pick it up, listening all the while to Anna as she babbled and gathered up the rest of her fallen supplies. Mostly, she was speaking too fast for him to be able to process exactly what she was saying, but Oscar surmised that it was an apology of some sorts for running into him. "It is...nothing." The Beauxbatons boy finally said when the Hogwarts girl had finished her speaking. She only seemed to register that it was him after she stood up, and if Ozzy wasn't mistaken, she was...blushing? He did normally have that effect on girls, but most of said girls weren't in the habit of carrying around books, so this was a new situation for him.

Carefully, Oscar extended his hand with the book in it to Anna, unsure whether or not their conversation would devolve into another argument. Granted, it had been a bit of his fault the first time, but she had been an accomplice. Maybe if they both tried to be civil with one another, they could have a decent conversation. "Did you buy all those books, or are they from the," Oscar paused, searching for the English word, "Library?" He asked, the question in his voice for the word he had chosen as well as the overall phrase. English vocabulary was not his strongest suit. Ozzy couldn't help but be a little bit jealous of the girl if even the fraction of the books she was carrying belonged to her. Since the deaths of his mothers, and then his adoptive father, he hadn't had any familial income, relying instead on his inheritance to buy the necessities. Naturally, that didn't leave a lot of room for extra books, considering Ozzy didn't know how long his inheritance would have to last him. "My mothers used to enjoy reading." He added as a point of conversation. The small library that his mothers had amassed was still in his possession, but Ozzy hadn't taken it with him to school, for obvious reasons.

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Anna didn't know what to say when Oscar said that it was nothing, so she nodded her head, internally telling herself to stop blushing. However, when he held out his hand with one of her books, she got even more embarrassed and she knew her blush wasn't going away any time soon. Why? Anna wasn't the type of girl to get embarrassed in front of people, even boys, heck, even in front of cute boys! She was pretty well-known at Hogwarts for keeping her cool in awkward situations, but right now? None of that was showing, to her complete humiliation. "Thanks," she answered quietly as she reached forward to get her book back. Really, how did she not notice him picking up one of her books? Granted, when she was busy retrieving her books off the floor, she didn't know it was him she ran into, but still. She should've known one was missing, should have been prepared for this.

She fully expected him to roll his eyes and her and stalk off, or something of the sort. What she didn't expect was for the Beauxbatons boy to stay and start a conversation, much less one that didn't sound angry at all. Did he even recognize her from their last meeting? She was sure that he did and was puzzled by him starting a conversation, but she didn't show it. She didn't want to offend him again. She merely smiled and shook her head as she answered his question, "No, they're not all mine. Most of them are from the Library." Only now did she realize that he actually spoke English quite well, especially compared to some of his companions, who she heard talking in the Great Hall sometimes. She tried to speak a little more clearly so he could understand, but at the same time she didn't want him to think she thought he was stupid. So she didn't speak louder or enunciate more, she just spoke a tiny bit slower than she usually would. Unless she was angry. When Anna was angry, she had a habit of speaking slowly and enunciating her words well. It probably had something to do with emphasis.

Then he said that his mothers used to enjoy reading and Anna saw two directions this conversation could go. She could ask what they liked to read or why he said used to; rather, what happened to them. Seeing as how she didn't want him to get upset again, she decided to go with the safer option. "What did they like to read?" She asked with interest. Maybe his answer would help her understand the boy in front of her, who was a complete mystery. Why was he talking to her still?

@oscar

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Oscar felt like he should look away when he saw how deeply Anna was blushing. At first he thought it had just been an embarrassment thing, but the pink wasn’t fading from the girl’s cheeks, and he felt as if he was invading her privacy by continuing to hold somewhat awkward eye contact with her. He cleared his throat when she took to the book from him, repeating what he had said early. “It is nothing.” With the repetition, his voice became slightly steadier, and he didn’t sound nearly as hesitant about the assertion. It was the truth – it really was nothing special for him to bend down, pick up a book, and then hand it to her. He was just being a decent human being. Then again, after their first meeting, maybe Anna didn’t think that he was a decent human being.

Oscar was relieved to hear that the majority of the books did not, in fact, belong to Anna – if they did, it was probably a sign that she was wealthy, and…and what? It wasn’t like her wealth, or lack thereof, was of any concern to him. They had had one conversation together, and not even a particularly nice one! Oscar was going to huff out a breath, but then realized that it probably wouldn’t go over well with Anna, who couldn’t hear the frustration in his thoughts. At least he had gotten the word right – library. “Does Hogwarts have a large one? Library, I mean?” Ozzy wasn’t known for hanging out in the library, but things were changing – sort of. Besides, new books meant knew opportunities. He was certain that there were new history books to be found, at the very least, since each nation had its own version of history. Hogwarts almost certainly had its own history book, with how old it was. He would have to ask Anna about it. Either that, or find the library and ask the librarian for assistance.

At the question about his mothers’ book preferences, Ozzy had to pause. There was no singular word to describe their taste in literature. “Anything you could read.” He answered after a beat. “Hugo, Dumas, Voltaire, Flaubert…” Oscar paused again, and licked his lips. “Mystery and history and action and adventure and drama and romance…” Once again, he felt the need to repeat himself. “Anything you could read.” Ozzy blinked, suddenly finding himself overcome by emotion. What would his parents say, if they could see him now? His mothers would chide him for his laziness, as they often did when living, and his father would tell him that he was more than capable of winning the Triwizard Tournament, if he applied himself. Uck. Oscar hated those words – applied himself. They were just a funny way of saying that he could be less stupid if he tried.

@annelise

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Anna's face was finally not burning anymore and she was so relieved she felt like laughing. But she didn't. Because that would be weird, right? And Oscar might think she was even crazier than he already thought she was. Not that she cared what he thought. She repeated Niko's words in her mind, "It doesn't matter what he thinks. Or what any of them think, for that matter." Anna was trying really hard to not let anyone get to her lately, and she wanted to prove she could have a normal conversation with someone without having to argue with them.

She nodded when Oscar asked if Hogwarts had a big library. "Yeah, it is pretty big," she confirmed. "It's actually only one floor up," she told him, pointing to a nearby staircase, even though she had no idea if he even liked libraries. Still, she was trying to be nice. She didn't want to get into another fight with him. If she did, she'd probably just end up living in her common room for a while, hiding. 

When he started listing off something, Anna was a little confused. After a moment, she realized he was probably naming authors, french authors. She'd never heard of them before, which wasn't really a surprise. Then again, when he started listing genres, Anna smiled. Those she understood. "That sounds like fun. I read a lot before school but now ..." she shrugged, "I mostly just study. Do you like to read?" she asked before she really realized what she'd said. Then again, it seemed like the natural way for the conversation to go so she didn't feel self-conscious about asking. If anything, she was interested to hear his response. Maybe she could get to know him a little without them fighting.

@oscar

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Oscar tried to ignore the excitement that flared in him when Anna said that the library at Hogwarts was large. He wasn’t supposed to be excited by academia – he was Oscar Gauthier, cool kid and academic slacker. The only books he read were history books, and everyone knew that his reading of history was just a character quirk. They assumed that it was a small blemish in his otherwise shining personality. Everyone knew that he didn’t read books, and he didn’t go to libraries. Ozzy nodded, though, to show Anna that he had been listening. He seemed to do that a lot; nod to make sure that she knew he was still engaged in the conversation. He didn’t want her thinking that he was rude. Repairing his image in Anna’s eyes was oddly important to Oscar, which was silly, because as he had noticed in their previous meeting, she wasn’t even that attractive. Oscar was only supposed to care about attractive people. And he did, because he didn’t care about Anna! He cared about Margaux! He was just talking to Anna about the library.

At the question about his reading habits, Ozzy balked. “I…used to, when I was little.” He said, figuring that was a safe answer. “I have not had a lot of time to, lately. I have had to do many, many things, for my family…” There had been funerals to organize and estates to manage and inheritances to budget, and Oscar had probably spent more of his last few months thinking about numbers than letters. “I was hoping to be able to read more this year, but the tournament has taken much time.” More like Margaux had taken much more time, in his pursuit to win her back. Oscar knew it was tasteless to talk about an ex with a girl who wasn’t his friend, so he developed a plausible cover.

@annelise

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She could let the conversation end right there, it would be super easy. He didn't really ask her any questions or anything, so her continuing the conversation wouldn't be an obligation, but Anna wanted to talk with him. This was a different Oscar than the one she ran into a while ago. Instead of being angry and easy to offend, this time he was polite. While it didn't look like he particularly wanted to continue the conversation, he wasn't leaving or ending it.

When he said that he liked to read when he was little, Anna couldn't help but smile. "What did you like to read when you were little?" She asked, oddly curious about him. Maybe his taste in books would explain him a little, though she doubted it. She noticed that he said it was because of his family he didn't get much chance to read now, but she didn't want to pry. She was nervous that if she said the wrong thing, she'd make him angry again. So she kept her comments general. "I can understand being too busy though. I rarely have time to read things that I enjoy anymore. Most of what I read now is part of my studying," she admitted, gesturing to the books in her bag. Studying for school, for the tournament, for Phoenix Rising. That was probably more than he wanted to know though, so she kept it to herself. She decided to venture into a new subject, mostly just wanting to learn more about him, though she wasn't sure why. "What subject do you like the most?" 

@oscar

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Ozzy was shocked that Anna was continuing the conversation; the two of them seemed to have drawn up some sort of truce without either of them realizing it. He would happily continue to answer her questions, but Oscar wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be returning questions, but his English grammar wasn’t quite superb enough that he was comfortable asking more complicated questions. He’d probably just end up throwing Anna’s questions back at her. “You know, same books as you. Story books. Fairy tales.” Ozzy said with a shrug. “Beedle the Bard?” He asked, glad that he had read English story books as a part of his language learning. He remembered most of them in French, but it helped build familiarity with the language. Oscar hoped that their conversation wouldn’t devolve into a discussion about children’s stories, because that would just make him feel silly.

At the question about the subject in school that he liked the most, Ozzy didn’t have any hesitation. “History of Magic. Anything history.” He said, smiling broadly. “Where we have come from helps show where we are going.” Ozzy added, wishing he had the English words to describe the way history made him feel. He hoped that his fascination with history would help Anna understand why he was so intent on becoming the Beauxbatons champion, and having Beauxbatons win. They deserved their page in the history book as much as Hogwarts or Durmstang did. “And you? What do you like to study?” Her books seemed varied in subject matter, so Oscar remained clueless.

@annelise

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Anna nodded, though she wasn't sure if he really read all the same books she did when she was a child. She did read all the normal wizarding story books and fairy tales. She just also read a bunch of muggle ones. For some reason, they fascinated her. She loved the idea of finding your soul mate, even without magic. It was sappy, she knew that, but she still loved them. "Yeah, I read Beedle the Bard." She confirmed. It was a classic, of course. Not her favorite, but that was all right.

He said he liked history and then he smiled. Anna's eyes widened, but she didn't blush this time. He looked so good when he was smiling. For a second she zoned out while he spoke, distracted, but she pulled herself back quickly enough that he didn't notice, hopefully. "I like history. It's fascinating," she agreed with him. At least history was an interesting subject and not a super hard one like potions. She wasn't going to tell him how bad she was at that though. She didn't want him to know. Not that he would even care, but still. "I like charms a lot," she told him. Enough that she'd like to teach it someday. "I think it's amazing to see all the things we can do with magic. The possibilities are endless," she told him, trying to keep herself from ranting. He didn't want that, she was sure. She wanted to think of something else to tell him, but her mind was coming up blank.

@oscar

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Someone else liked history? Most of Oscar’s classmates seemed to think it was boring, or pointless. “France has a lot of interesting history.” He told Anna happily. Then, realizing that he might have offended her by insinuating that England didn’t have history, Ozzy added, “I am sure that Britain is interesting as well.” He added diplomatically. “But we have had many revolutions and many heroes.” French history was rich and complex and beautiful, and once again, Ozzy didn’t have the words to describe it.

Oscar was pleasantly surprised to hear that the class that Anna preferred was one of the only other classes that Oscar could stand. It was a short list, so it was interesting that Anna had picked one of them. “Magic is still too limited for my tastes.” Oscar replied sadly. Magic did not erase hate, and that was what had caused his mothers to die. Magic could not bring people back from the dead, and that was why he was still so alone. Ozzy cleared his throat, trying to clear his thoughts as he did so. “Your Charms teacher at Hogwarts, is she good?” It was only because of his History of Magic teacher that Oscar had taken any interest in the subject, and he was curious to know if the same held true for Anna.

@annelise

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Anna's eyebrows furrowed a little in thought. She cocked her head slightly to the side, smiling when he made the comment about English history. Did he make that for her? So she didn't get upset? She wouldn't have, but the gesture was nice. If that's what he was doing, after all. "I don't know very much about French history, but that sounds interesting." Maybe she would have to look it up once she got a free ... what was she thinking? She wasn't going to have a free moment, ever. Not this year. If she wanted to learn about French History, she was going to have to make time for it. "I'd like to learn more about history outside of Britain," she confessed, sure he wouldn't care either way, but wanting to say it all the same.

Magic was limited? How was it limited? Well, there were things that couldn't be done, but not many. So why was he sad about it? She was nervous about upsetting him, but her curiosity was raging. "Why do you say that?" she asked in a soft voice. Hopefully he wouldn't get offended or thing she was being nosy. 

She smiled when he asked about Charms. "She's really good. I really enjoy her class. It's interesting and there's always more to learn. She doesn't give us pointless homework either." Anna didn't know what else to say about it, but maybe he would have more questions. She couldn't believe they were still talking with one another.

@oscar

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Oscar nodded when Anna said that she didn’t know much about French history. That was to be expected, he supposed. Most people were only interested in the history of their own country. Of course, French and English histories had quite a bit of overlap due to their geographical proximity, but the scope that one saw through was also different when it came to stories from different countries. “Perhaps I can tell you some, sometime.” He offered quietly. Ozzy was going to have to spend some time with his French-English dictionary if he intended for his story telling to be a success, but perhaps he and Anna could build on their mutual interest, one that had not yet resulted in them getting angry with each other.

The Beauxbatons boy couldn’t help but physically flinch when Anna asked why he said magic was so limited. There was no way to explain it without the truth, so the truth he told. “Most of the people that I love are beyond the realm of magic’s reach.” He replied carefully. “My mothers died shortly before my coming of age, and my adoptive father is also recently deceased. Death has made them untouchable.” It was easy to recite the story like it was a series of facts, rather than a series of events that had shook Ozzy’s world down to its foundation.

“My History of Magic teacher, Madame Moureau,” Ozzy began quickly, glad for the change of subject, “Is my favorite woman in the world. She is smart, and kind, and she believes that I can do great things.” It was more than anyone else believed of him, at least. “I adore her.”

@annelise

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Anna's eyes opened wide in surprise when he offered to tell her some stories sometime. She thought he would ignore her interest in that for sure, but he was ... offering to spend more time with her? Willingly? "Really?" she said, more out of surprise than actually doubting him. "I'd like that," Anna added quickly. She didn't want him to think she didn't want to. Now that they were having a conversation that didn't involve yelling at one another, she was oddly interested in having another one with him. As long as they could be civil with one another, she was (dare she think it?) excited to get to know Oscar.

After her hesitantly asked question he flinched and Anna jumped slightly in response, instantly feeling guilty for her question. It was obviously very personal. Then he told her what was obviously the truth and Anna didn't know what to say. How could she possibly say something to respond to that, something that wouldn't make it worse or make him mad at her. "I'm so sorry for your loss," she whispered, not knowing if she even spoke loudly enough for Oscar to hear. She couldn't imagine loosing both of her parents, but he had. Recently, yet he was still here. Still going on with life and trying to make a difference with the tournament. Her hand moved instinctively toward his arm to try and show support, but she stopped it quickly, hoping he didn't notice. They were basically strangers and she had no idea how he would respond to something like that.

She couldn't have been more grateful when he changed the subject by starting to talk about his favorite teacher. Anna smiled, "She sounds like the best kind of person, and an even better teacher. And I'm sure she's right about you." Anna meant it. She didn't really think Oscar would believe her, but he believed his teacher and she was sure he needed to hear things like that more often. Growing up, Anna always knew she was expected to be able to do good things by her parents and almost all her teachers. She couldn't imagine having one main person believe that of her. Surely he wouldn't get offended now, but she still felt like she was walking on eggshells.

@oscar

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Ozzy’s eyes widened a little when Anna asked him if he would really teach her more about French history. It took all of his willpower not to snap at her about how he didn’t say things if he didn’t mean them, but he managed to keep his tongue in check. When the Hogwarts girl added that she would like the opportunity, the fire inside of him was quenched entirely. It was a good thing he hadn’t spoken out prematurely, Oscar thought, a little bit sheepish despite the fact that he hadn’t actually said or done anything wrong. “I will send you owl.” He told her firmly. That way he could be sure to give himself enough time to memorize the necessary vocabulary and jot down a few notes in English to make sure he was giving Anna the most accurate account of history possible, given their slight language barrier.

Oscar looked away from Anna when she said that she was sorry for his loss. He had heard those words already, so many times before, and they had all but lost their meaning. “The world is a darker place without them.” He answered, hoping that it was an appropriate response. The three people he had had the privilege of calling his parents had all been wonderful people, and it was not just Ozzy’s world that suffered from their absence. The changes in others’ worlds were just a little too small for them to notice, like a dimmer switch being moved just a fraction of a centimeter. They would only begin to notice that the world was darker when night came, and there was no one left to illuminate them.

“I would not be so sure about me.” Oscar replied dubiously. Even with Madame Moureau pushing him to do better, he was still far from an exemplary student, and being away from her constant support wasn’t going to be doing him any favors. “I am not what you would call a scholar.” He wasn’t a scholar, or an athlete, or anything of any merit, except for a pretty boy. He had almost forgotten that, talking to Anna, but Ozzy jerked himself back to reality with that statement. No one ought to expect anything of him, because he would just disappoint them.

@annelise