tune for the taking [edith]

Despite the fact that it was mid-June, Elias was shivering. He had been seated on a stone step for over an hour in the dark as the temperature continued to drop, the cool night breeze making the leaves rustle all the way along the empty street.  The source of his goosebumps, however, wasn’t cold. His Ministry robes were plenty thick to begin with, and he had even charmed them earlier in the evening to stay warm.

The real problem was that he couldn’t seem to find a way to relax, even after the initial adrenaline kick that had brought him to the front door. The stress of everything that had passed at Durmstrang, the anxiety over seeing his friend again, and the uncertainty of nearly everything in his life going forward was enough to keep his heart racing. Sitting on the quiet street, waiting for what felt like an eternity after a long and action-packed night, there was little to distract him from his own thoughts.

Those thoughts were of the woman whose doorstep he was currently occupying: Edith. What he could say to her to show how sorry he was for the way he had treated her, or how he might accurately express how much he had been missing her over the past two months. They had gotten so close after everything that had happened at Hogwarts, and then after only a few short months, she had disappeared from his life again. As foolish and dramatic as it felt to admit it, he didn’t think he could be happy without her anymore.

It was true that his last encounter with Edith had gone poorly, but that seemed like all the more reason to try talking to her again. They hadn’t parted on good terms, and he hadn’t said what he had needed to. Now that he knew what he desired, he couldn’t leave her alone without making sure, absolutely sure, that she wanted him to stay away. If she told him, once and for all, that they couldn’t be together or couldn’t even be friends, he would try to respect that. But she needed to know how he felt in order to make a fully-informed decision.

Once he realized it was the wrong time of night for Edith to be home, he could have easily apparated to the Ministry of Magic and intercepted Edith there. But after all his haste, he had been glad of the opportunity to rest a bit and gather his thoughts before seeing her. Besides, judging by the way their last conversation had gone, she might not want to see him at all. He would hate to corner her in a place where she couldn’t leave easily if she wanted to, like the office. It would be easier to have a conversation without the risk of gathering an audience anyway.

He looked up at the sound of approaching footsteps. He hurriedly stood, brushing the dirt off of his robes and running his hands nervously through his hair. He was sure he looked a mess, having just spent hours dealing with the crisis at the school. Staying up all night hadn’t been difficult in all the excitement, but he wished now that he had stopped at home and cleaned up a bit before coming by. He stepped forward as she approached, calling out her name uncertainly. “Edith?”

Edith Holthouse had just about perfected her morning-after-night-shift routine by now. She stowed her robes in her backpack before leaving the Ministry, bought a styrofoam cup of tea from the corner shop, then meandered to the nearest bus stop. Taking the bus offered her a chance to decompress from the night of work, especially if she was still on the early side of everyone else’s morning commute. Then the nearest bus stop to her apartment was right next to another little coffee shop where she would have a quick sandwich before heading home.

Today was nearly like that. The night of work had been long and boring, with a grand total of zero trips outside of the office to do any field work. Edith was feeling restless, deciding instead to take her time and walk the half hour or so home. But by the time she was almost home, she was regretting her rash decision making, feeling exhausted and tempted to skip her breakfast altogether in favor of getting some sleep. She’d have to walk past her apartment to get to the shop, anyway, so the sleep option was becoming more and more appealing by the moment.

As she turned the corner onto her street, Edith shrugged one strap of her backpack off so she could retrieve her keys from its outer pocket. She was too preoccupied with not spilling the rest of the contents of her bag on the ground that she didn’t notice the man sitting on the stoop of her building. Maybe if she had, she could have turned around, pretended like she had never been there. The least she could have done was figure out something a little more cool to say when she did notice him.

She stopped abruptly at the sound of her name, nearly dropping her keys to the pavement in surprise. She didn’t need to look up to know who was there; she knew exactly how her name sounded on his lips. Swallowing hard, Edith looked up to confirm that she wasn’t making things up, though she would be lying if she claimed she hadn’t thought about this exact scenario playing out. Though now that he was here and talking to her and she was feeling that surge of emotions once more, she wasn’t sure what she had been hoping to accomplish with seeing him again.

“Elias.” Her response was quickly followed by an awkward pause as she stopped to consider just what, exactly, was going on. The last time they had been in this spot, he was telling her goodnight and giving her a kiss on her cheek, and she was still thinking about it. But since their last run in at work when he had, in not so many words, told her that he regretted kissing her, Edith had been successful in avoiding him. Unlike Elias, she hadn’t regretted what had happened, actually enjoying the thought of there possibly being something more to their friendship or relationship now, but he had made it perfectly clear: Edith needed to move on with her life. Needless to say, she wasn’t expecting him to actually show up on her front step.

She took a tentative step forward as she looked him over, clearly dressed to head to work after whatever was happening here. “You alright?” She couldn’t think of one good thing that would warrant a face-to-face rather than a letter, especially if it put him at a risk of being late to work. If something was wrong, she could put aside her own problems for him, and it would probably only set her back in her recovery from catching feelings a couple weeks. No problem.

It was indeed Edith, looking thoroughly surprised to see him there. He couldn’t blame her; she had no reason to expect him to be awake at this hour, let alone waiting outside her building while the sun came up. At the sight of her and the sound of his own name, everything he had worked out that he wanted to say slipped from his mind. It all seemed stupid, anyway, now that he was actually standing here with her. Where was he supposed to start, to make up for all the time they had lost? Should he just dive in and sweep her off her feet?

No, that definitely wasn’t the right course of action. Acting rather than thinking or communicating was how he had gotten them into this mess in the first place. Elias was there to work things out and to have a real conversation, not to force her into anything and confuse them both even more. Before he had the chance to reformulate his plans, Edith had broken the silence.

“I’m fine,” he replied automatically before remembering that part of this meeting he had initiated was supposed to be about honesty, particularly when it came to his feelings. He tried again: “I’m a bit tired. It has been a long night for me. I'm glad to see you but I am also a little anxious, I think.” Apparently once he started talking about himself honestly, it was hard to stop. Now he was just babbling like an idiot, not at all his usual careful self. Clearly, staying up all night had taken a toll on his ability to navigate a conversation normally. “So, mostly alright,” he finished awkwardly.

“What I mean is, could we talk? Or are you too tired?” He stepped forward again to look at her carefully, checking for signs that she thought he had gone nuts or that she wanted him to leave her alone. At least he had been courteous enough to offer her an easy out from the conversation, if she wanted it. All she would have to say is that she needed to sleep, that she had been working all night, and he would take his cue to head home. He looked down at her, hoping she would already see on his face how sorry he was about everything that had happened over the past few weeks. He took a deep breath, trying to get back to his usual manner and actually communicate why he was there. “I just have some things I think I should say.”

Edith let go of the breath she didn't realize she was holding when he told her he was fine. But her relief that he was fine was short lived, as the next question about why was was there popped into her head. She was under the impression that they had agreed to be friends from a distance, that they would maybe try to be friends again sometime in the future, once she was able to be around him without contemplating ruining his impending nuptials. And she was certain about one thing: that time was not now. She didn't need reminding of the reasons she was avoiding him in the first place.

But he started over, and Edith watched him with raised brows as he spoke more words to her than he had in the past two months combined. She wanted to stop him and ask him about every sentence, why he was so tired, why it was a long night, but most importantly why he was glad to see her. Yet she just stood there watching him, moving no more than offering a slight nod as she listened. Now that he had mentioned it, he definitely did look tired, though she had joined the ranks of the other night-shifters who didn't take pity on people with regular hours who just so happened to be sleepy. Still, it was Elias, and as much as she was determined to not care about him, she did.

She held still as he took a step towards her, resisting the urge to either take a step back to keep the distance or to close the space between them and pull him into a hug. Neither of those seemed like viable options, though. "I'm not tired," she answered honestly, his sudden appearance pushing all thoughts of sleeping to the back of her mind. They could talk, or rather, he could talk since she had done most of the talking the last time they were together, and she could hear him out, and then they could part ways like two adults ending a relationship that they had never had. She could congratulate herself later for being so mature.

"Okay," she agreed after a minute of consideration. Yet as she agreed, a woman walked past them, turning around to take a second look at Elias dressed in robes. "But we should go inside," she offered, motioning to her building. She may have lived in a strange neighborhood to start with, but most of the weirdos moved about at night and now that the sun was coming up, their safest bet was heading indoors. "I'll make coffee." She turned to the door, her keys still in hand, and unlocked it, letting Elias follow her inside. They walked up the stairs in silence and she could feel him watching her as she unlocked the door to her apartment.

She held the door open behind her, closing it and locking it once they were both inside.  "Claudine's out," she said in reference to her very old and very muggle roommate, who was on holiday with her son, or grandson, or great-grandson, or all of the above, but point was: she wasn't in and Edith wouldn't need to explain why she had a visitor at dawn. "You can sit, I'll be a moment." The seating options were limited, either the sofa in the small and cramped living room, or the two chairs at a small, round, lace-covered table in the smaller and more cramped corner of the living room that served as the dining room.

Shrugging off her backpack, she hung it on the back of one of the dining chairs, pulling her wand from her pocket as she set about the little kitchenette to make the coffee. It only took her a minute or so to have it ready, and she set down two mismatched mugs full on the coffee table in front of the sofa where Elias was sitting, not wanting to give herself a reason to unintentionally brush against his hand if she had handed it to him. She sat down, keeping a safe distance between them, before picking up her own mug and resuming her quest to look at anything except Elias. "So," she started, "talk."

Her agreement lit a flicker of hope in Elias. He had been afraid he might have hurt or angered her enough at their last meeting to make her not want to see him anymore, let alone speak with him privately. This wasn’t the first time he had shown up unannounced at her home, but they had been friends then. He hadn’t doubted then that she would be pleased to see him, but now he was grateful that she wasn’t yelling at or shoving him, both of which she had done before.

He followed her up the stairs, not failing to notice the rather icy silence. The light joking and casual conversation that they usually carried while together were absent, and Elias was struck again by how drastically things had changed between them. Elias nodded silently at her comment about her roommate, thankful that they were alone. He liked Claudine well enough but he was hardly hoping for an audience for a conversation that was already sure to be a difficult one.

Elias did as he was told, moving over to the sofa and waiting as patiently as he could for Edith to make the coffee. It was his instinct to start up a conversation, to ask how her shift had been or how Manchester was doing, but he stayed silent. If he managed to get them into some other conversation, which he doubted Edith would allow anyway, he might be tempted to back out on his plans to address the source of all the tension between them.

“Thank you,” he responded politely as she set his coffee down on the table. He picked it up at once, glad for one last moment of delay before he had to confess the reason for his visit. It wasn’t the greatest cup of coffee he had ever been given, but the familiar taste was a welcome one after missing a night of sleep. After he felt he could delay no longer, he set the mug down and turned to face Edith, who was sitting as far from him as possible on the couch.

“I don’t regret it,” he finally said, holding her gaze. “I don’t regret kissing you. It has taken me some time to figure that out, and I am truly sorry. I should have told this sooner.” He paused for a moment to check her expression, to make sure she was understanding what he was saying. They couldn’t afford any more miscommunications, not if he wanted a chance at happiness with her. "That afternoon was one of the most happy I have had in a while, and I am glad that we had it. The kiss made me think over many things. It changed many things in my life for the better.”

The words were accelerating as he talked, speaking getting easier now that he had finally broached the subject. He scooted a bit closer to her on the sofa, tentative in case she wasn’t pleased to be hearing this, but anxious to close some of the distance between them. They had been apart for so long. Speaking so honestly about himself and his emotions was new and uneasy territory for Elias, but it was thrilling too. Edith had somehow become his closest friend over the past months, the one person he felt he could share some of his fears and insecurities with. Someone he didn’t need to be perfect for. Someone he could be vulnerable with.

“I think it changed me for the better, and I am grateful for it. For you. I do not want to go back to the way things were before. I don’t regret it.”

Edith held on to her mug, more to give her hands something to hold on to than because of an actual desire to drink the coffee. The silence dragging on was almost enough to convince her to drink it, even though she was well aware that it was terrible, but she mimicked Elias when he set his own down and turned towards her. She sighed, bracing herself for the inevitable and final letdown that was sure to spill from his mouth any second now.

Her expression softened as Elias started, jumping right in to telling her that he didn't regret it. She didn't need to ask him what he was talking about, clearly remembering the question that she had posed to him weeks before. His answer then, if it could have been called an answer, had been less than ideal, and now that she was hearing what she had found herself wanting to hear, she wasn't sure how to react. Edith could feel her cheeks growing warm, but she couldn't bring herself to take her eyes off of him, the tiniest part of her afraid that if she looked away he would change his mind.

She couldn't tell if she had stopped breathing or if she was breathing harder. A lot of things were happening at once and she couldn't on focus on such silly things as breathing. The things Elias was saying were quite the opposite of what she had been expecting, especially as he spoke about how happy he had been in that courtyard, about how his life was better for it. She smiled, both at what he was saying but at how he was saying it, the speed and the dramatic appeal he gave everything. It wasn't a common occurrence for either of them to be this honest about their feelings, though the last time it had happened had been in this very spot. She'd have to think about that later; now, there were much more important things to concentrate on, one important thing being him moving closer and Edith not minding the slightest bit.

She was grateful when he started speaking again, as she still had no idea what to say in response. None of the scenarios she had played out had ended in her favor. That had always seemed like the least likely option to happen. "Yeah," she started, agreeing but immediately regretting her word choice. "I mean," she restarted, "Me either." She didn't regret it at all. She had felt terrible about complicating his life for him, but that didn't mean she hadn't liked it when it had happened. "I mean," she scooted closer to him still, trying to string together words that would accurately convey what she wanted to say.

“I just, er,” she looked down at her hands, her fingers fidgeting with themselves. She couldn’t think of anything she could possibly say that would somehow match the eloquence with which he had said his bit. She could only think of one thing right now, and that was what to do with her hands when she finally did what she had been wanting to do for months. She had to be jumping to conclusions. He had never said he wasn't getting married or that he wanted to be with her or that he even liked her as more than a friend. For all she knew, he was just reiterating the fact that while he may not have regretted kissing her, he didn't want any more from her.

Whatever. She would blame any misunderstandings on the language barrier. She leaned in before she could reconsider that this was what he really wanted; she planted her lips firmly on his, her hands on either side of his face, his stubble rough under her fingers. She didn’t second guess herself this time, not after what he had just said to her. It just felt right. Her right hand slipped around to the back of Elias’s neck as she pressed into him, determined to get as close to him as possible, to somehow make up for all the time they had lost. And on the off chance that she had misinterpreted what he had meant, she could get this out of her system once and for all.

Her stuttering and half-begun phrases were hardly the enthusiastic answer that Elias had been hoping for, though what she was managing to get out was bordering encouraging. At least she wasn’t asking him to leave or looking at him in that disconnected, disappointed way she had in his office earlier that month. As she moved closer to him on the couch, positioning herself so that their knees were almost touching, Elias tried to focus on her face and not the now-familiar urge to reach out and touch her.

“What is it?” he prompted, hoping she would look up from her twisting fingers and speak her mind. Although there was a clear reply he was hoping for, it would be better to just hear what she had to say outright, even if it was a rejection. Instead of an answer, she was suddenly looking up at him and leaning in. Before he could read the expression on her face or process what was happening, her lips had met his and all other thoughts were swept from his mind.

Kissing Edith for a second time was different. When before it had been Elias who had suddenly crossed the line from friendship into something more, it was Edith who was surprising him this time around. Their first kiss had been gentle and a bit shy, but Edith had clearly gained a lot of confidence in the months they had been apart. Although he hadn’t had time to prepare for their closeness, Elias couldn’t find it in him to be upset that she had made the first move or to deny the excitement that was suddenly rushing over him.

As Edith slid her hand to the back of his neck, holding him tight, he moved his own to her lower back, gently pulling her closer as she kissed him. He had really expected there to be more talking and negotiating and figuring out what they were to each other, but Edith had never been one for long, emotional talks and this got her point across as well as anything else, in the end. He was tempted to pull her fully onto his lap to close the distance between them completely, but he didn’t want to get ahead of himself. As relieving as it was to have a sign that things might work out between them, Elias didn’t want to get carried away again. Honesty was his new policy, but not recklessness.

“So you don’t regret it either, then? You aren’t angry with me?” He asked when he had finally managed to find the resolve to pull back a bit. As wonderful as kissing her was, he couldn’t see her at the same time, and he needed to look into her eyes and know for sure that he was acting the right way. He was still wanting one last verbal confirmation that he and Edith might actually be, for once, on the same page. “This is what you want?” He was praying for the right answer so that he could close the space between them again.

The hand and pressure on her back was sign enough that she hadn’t heard him wrong. She hadn’t been wrong in her conclusion that her attraction to him wasn’t just a thing that happened when she was drunk, and she was fairly certain that Elias wasn’t intoxicated now either. This was good. This was happening. She still didn’t quite understand how to move while kissing, but she could surely figure that out with more practice.

But just as abruptly as Edith had initiated it, Elias ended it, pulling back and looking at her. The ‘but…’ that she had been expecting earlier was about to happen, she could feel it. Or maybe she was just a much worse kisser than she had thought? But Elias neither expressed his disinterest nor his disdain for her skills or lack thereof. He wanted to talk more. They had just had two months of not talking, where was the harm in five more minutes of not talking?

Hadn’t she already said she didn’t regret it? At least twice? And wasn’t that kiss proof enough that she wanted to be doing that? “I can be angry, if you’d rather,” she said with a slight grin and a shrug, still surprised with what she had just done. But now that she had gotten the second kiss accomplished, she was ready for a third. And a fourth. And many more after that. There would be plenty of time for questions later. Edith was about to prove her point once again before she was rudely interrupted with another question.

She had thought she had made it obvious that this was exactly what she wanted, but she nodded all the same. She scooted back a bit, putting the space back between them that she needed to properly respond to his question and finally moving her hands back into her own personal space. She had to refrain for answering with sarcasm, feeling that this situation warranted a slightly more serious response. “Yes,” she confirmed, adding another nod to reiterate her answer. “I want this.” Now that she was talking though, she was starting to remember that she had plenty of her own questions to ask.

“Do you?” She raised her brows as she asked, quickly adding the rest of her thoughts to the end of the question in one fell swoop: “Only because last time I checked you were planning to get married and not to me and I’m not about to ask you to ruin things for yourself or your family just because I’ve discovered I like kissing you and I like you.” She stopped to take a breath, her cheeks growing warm again, though she managed to ignore her embarrassment enough to maintain eye contact. “I just,” she sighed again, her smile returning to her face, “I think that about sums it up.”

Elias bit his lip as Edith scooted away, her cheeky answer not what he was hoping for. Talking about such things might be hard for her, but this was a conversation he needed to have, foreign and uncomfortable as it might be. Waiting patiently while Edith settled herself was a challenge, and Elias had to remind himself once again that he couldn’t just move over on the sofa as she did, whether to encourage an answer or to kiss her again. If she needed a bit of space and time to consider the right answer to his questions, then he would give it to her.

Hope and relief washed over him once again at her confirmation and he couldn’t hold a smile back. No matter how many times Edith made it clear, whether with actions or words, that she was interested in being with him, Elias had a hard time believing it for more than a few moments. It was difficult to forget all the time they had spent apart since the beginning of the year -- first because she had vanished and he had failed to go after her, and then because she had intentionally removed herself from his life and he hadn’t tried to fight back. At least, not until tonight. He wanted to pull her close again and celebrate the moment of belief that things could work out between them, but Edith wasn’t done. Right. It was only fair to her that he offer some explanation for his rather erratic and inconsistent behavior over the past two months.

With a slight sigh, Elias leaned back into the sofa, looking up at the ceiling. Where to start? “I do,” he said after a moment, turning his head so he could meet her eyes. “Really I do want this, Edith.” He extended his hand cautiously and caught her fingers in between his own, resting their hands on her leg as he tried to find the right way to explain everything that had been going on in his head since Christmas.

“I like kissing you, too,” he admitted with a small smile before turning back to face the ceiling again. It felt strange enough to think it, but hearing the words out loud were even odder, and a bit embarrassing. Where these feelings had come from, Elias had no idea, but there was no denying the intensity of them. He gently moved his thumb up and down her first finger, marveling at the fact that he was allowed to touch her in this simple but intimate way. “I don’t want you to think you ruin things for me, Edith. This decision, about my parents and Zofia and the rest of my family, I am making it on my own.” He paused again, considering how much to say. The priority was to make sure that Edith felt no guilt going forward. The fact that she had played a part in the decision-making was something she didn’t really need to know, but how could he make her understand the rest of it?

“I want to do what is right for my family always,” he started again, cautious. “But what they are asking from me, this is not only about my family.” Agreeing to marry another pureblood was something Elias had always assumed he would do, though he had hoped it would have been motivated by more than status. What his parents were requesting, that he marry a girl simply because she was a pureblood and for no other reason, had implications that Elias had only recently begun to understand. “Have you ever been to Durmstrang? Do you know what has been happening there this year?” Having attended Hogwarts for a year himself, Elias knew something of the differences between the schools. The cultures were so different, and it was difficult to imagine Edith being able to understand or accept what being educated at the Institute was like. How much the ideas and environment influenced their graduates.

Edith watched him with raised brows, her smile not fading the slightest bit even as he looked away from her. And she only smiled more as he looked back at her, confirming that he was on board with whatever this was. She nodded, happy to have his hand in hers, realizing now that she had been thinking about the little things, like holding hands with him, the past couple months. She laughed at his next sentence, not sure if she was more embarrassed that she had admitted her feelings about kissing him or if she was more embarrassed for Elias because he liked kissing her too. Both seemed like such absurd options.

But things were serious again as he continued on, and Edith returned his serious look with one of her own as she listened about his family and a woman she could only assume was his fiancée. Or ex-fiancée? That was what he was saying, wasn’t it? That his ‘decision’ was to not get married to her just because he was told to, right? That was enough explanation for her, for now anyway, when there was still the prospect of more kisses on the horizon. She could make herself completely sure of her understanding later, but now that she had started this closeness to Elias, she didn’t want to stop.

She scooted closer to him again, more than ready to get back to the other thing. But apparently he wasn’t done, and the fact that he was still talking about his family made her think that he wouldn’t be done soon. She wanted to listen, to properly understand what he was saying, but being this close to him and not taking her eyes off of his face and holding his hand were clouding her priorities.

“Er,” she started, not sure if this was really the proper time for her to express all of her opinions, most of them negative, about his alma mater. It was her turn to take a look at the ceiling. They had been having such a nice conversation, and even with his out of the blue questions about Durmstrang, she was almost confident that she would be able to steer things back to kissing, and going off on a tangent about the lack of muggleborn rights would probably not work in her favor right now. She had never had to think this hard about what whether or not something was an appropriate response, never having the opportunity to ruin the mood.

But Elias had ruined it by asking about the school in the first place. “I think you know as well as I do that I haven’t been to Durmstrang.” She could only assume it was in Germany, but that was only because Elias was from Germany and he was the only graduate she was familiar with. Then there were the minor details of the dark arts rumors and the lack of muggleborns. And did she mention the dark arts? The only other things she knew about Durmstrang were the things she picked up during her fifth year, when Hogwarts hosted the Tournament, and really, none of them made her want to even try to visit.

“And I was a little preoccupied with Hogwarts so do forgive me for being unaware.” She at least refrained from rolling her eyes, though she was sorely tempted to. But as soon as she said it, she regretted her sarcasm. Having serious conversations was seriously the worst, but something told her that her usual evasive maneuver of flat out ignoring seriousness and changing the subject wouldn’t be fully appreciated. She gave his hand a quick squeeze, adding a quick apology as she tried to redeem herself. “Sorry, no,” she started, attempting to be as serious as possible, “I don’t know. Why?”

He closed his eyes at Edith’s voiced uncertainty, wishing that he had a clear way to explain everything that had been going on in his mind over the past months, and especially in the past hours. How seeing the destruction in the school had finally given him an image, a tangible experience, that reflected precisely what it meant to have any kind of blood prejudice, no matter how small. He had run away from the war in England and missed out on the various terrors that the muggleborns had been subjected to during the Dark Lord’s reign. Hearing the stories hadn’t been enough to convince him that what he was doing, who he was becoming in spite of all his intentions to be good could somehow be bad.

The sarcastic tone with which she finally answered him was enough to make him snap his eyes open and look over at her. Of course, how had he been so insensitive? Edith had plenty on her plate without worrying about the goings-on at Durmstrang. To assume that she would be following what was occurring at his alma mater after everything that had happened at hers, and when they hadn’t even been speaking for weeks, was unfair.

In spite of her apparent regret at her tone, his reaction to it was instinctual: he pulled her close again, closing the last bit of distance between them, and offered a kiss that served both to apologize for his blunder and to distract away whatever bad memories he might have brought up for her. Once again, his desire to protect her was taking priority over honest communication, but it was hard to notice or mind when she was so warm and close.

“It is not important,” he finally said, pulling away but letting his forehead rest gently against hers. The details could be saved for a later date, when she was less vulnerable and, if it was ever possible, less kissable. “I have visited the school last night. I went with a group to intervene in a -- situation.” He pulled back from her as he hesitated, cautious around the subject of the students’ imprisonment and the resulting battle. It might all hit a little too close to home for Edith.

“I have only come to realize that I was not valuing all the right things. I want to be grateful for the things and people I have.” He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek, hoping she would recognize who he meant without having to say it outright.

Instead of answering her question, Elias was kissing her again, bringing their count up to a resounding three. It was a really effective maneuver to make her forget all her feelings toward him, her regret, annoyance, and opinions on the bloodstatus issues. Everything was replaced by how much she was enjoying this, especially as she wrapped her free arm around his waist, pulling him as close as possible. Her glasses were being knocked askew and she was sure they were being smudged to hell by both of their faces but that was the last thing she was worried about.

“Okay,” she found herself agreeing as she leaned against him, the act of their foreheads touching feeling so much intimate than what they had just been doing. She didn’t loosen her grip around his waist, not wanting to give him any reason to move back any farther than he already had. She wasn’t even sure any more what she had just agreed to or what they had been talking about moments before, but somehow she wasn’t bothered.

It wasn’t until he managed to put more space between them that she remembered that they had been speaking about Durmstrang and apparently he had been there last night for a ‘situation’. Edith arched an eyebrow at him. In her experience, that wasn’t usually a word used for good things, and anything that required a group of, presumedly, ministry officials visiting a school in the middle of the night was never a good thing. Yet before she could ask him to elaborate he was speaking again and this time she thought he was talking about her.

She smiled as he kissed her cheek, but it turned into a grin as they separated again. “You like me,” she let out a laugh as she wiggled her eyebrows at him, more amazed that they were having this conversation than the fact that they had just been kissing. They could have their serious conversation some other day, but it was pretty clear that neither of them really wanted that day to be today. She leaned in to kiss him again, only stopping as her stomach gave a very audible rumble.

“You distracted me from breakfast.” Not that she minded or anything, but she was starting to realize just how hungry she was. And if he had been up all night instead of just waking up like he had previously thought, then there ought to be a pretty good chance that he was too. She was torn between staying curled up with Elias for the rest of forever and eating an entire loaf of bread, but as her stomach gave another loud turn, her mind was made up. Edith gave his hand a final squeeze as she stood up, stretching momentarily before walking the few feet back to the kitchen.

She wasn’t very well-versed in the kitchen, but really anything that she could offer him would be better than the sad excuse for coffee that she had given him earlier. “Tea and toast?” Both wouldn’t take too long to fix and then they could get right back to other more important things.

Edith's enthusiasm for the kiss was both satisfying and astounding. He felt sure now that he had made the right decision in getting back to this rather than bothering her with the unpleasant details of how he had spent the last several hours. Plus, the added bonus that she still seemed to be enjoying -- and even encouraging -- all this had his blood pounding. His heart skipped a beat when she pulled him even closer and he could suddenly feel the warmth radiating from her body. It was all new and very, very exciting; Elias would be happy to spend the day there, sitting close to Edith in her small flat, exploring this new and very promising turn in their friendship.

“I think I do,” he replied with a laugh, pleased that she had picked up on what he had definitely failed to say and amused by the understatement of it all. It was hard to pinpoint when things had changed, but they certainly had. The awkward distance between them had given him plenty of time over the last months to remember the celebrations of her birthday and how things had suddenly shifted: Edith asking him to defend her from a rather pushy suitor, how stepping into that role had felt comfortable and strangely natural, how she had stayed close to him even after the threat had passed and he hadn’t minded in the least. Everything about that day had seemed so normal in spite of it being completely out of the ordinary, and he was left with the feeling that he must have cared for her for a long time before all that, and much more than he had realized.

He leaned in again, ready to demonstrate just how much he ‘liked’ her, when Edith suddenly changed course. It was difficult not to protest when she instead squeezed his hand and stood up when he would have much preferred her to stay put. It was odd how cold he suddenly felt, not having her snuggled up next to him. Even though breakfast was not high on his priority list at the moment, he was hardly going to deny her food when she had just gotten home from work. The real world hadn’t been on his mind over the last ten minutes, but he remembered now that Edith had been out all night, too.

This time, though, Elias wasn’t going to be left alone on the couch while Edith busied herself in the kitchen. He followed behind her, leaving the coffee that she had made them earlier on the table. “Sure,” he replied to her offer as he entered the small kitchen, not really minding what she served him. Instead of letting her work, though, Elias wrapped his arms around her again. Very aware that he was in the way and not minding in the least, he began softly kissing her cheeks and along her jaw, smiling as he went. “Let’s have toast,” he said, as though there was no reason she couldn’t be working on their breakfast while he had her leaned up against the cabinets.

She hadn’t been expecting Elias to follow her into the kitchen, but she would be lying if she said she minded. Edith didn’t bother finding bread or a toaster or tea or anything that closely resembled her sad excuse for breakfast, instead returning his gesture and wrapping her arms around his neck. It wasn’t the way she had ever grabbed on to someone before, but just like everything else they had been doing, it just felt right. She stretched up on her toes, smiling as she brought her face to a more convenient height for him.

“Toast,” she nodded slowly, though once again every other thing that wasn’t Elias was pushed out of her mind. The kisses along her jaw were quick and light and a little ticklish and completely and incredibly distracting and maybe her favorite yet. “Yeah, toast,” she said again, more softly, before she moved her chin just enough to find his lips with her own. She was getting more confident in her very minimal kissing abilities the more she did this, and even being sandwiched between Elias and the cabinets wasn’t throwing her off. If anything, it was only fueling her enthusiasm for everything.

Well, everything except toast. Her stomach gave another lurch and she pulled back as much as possible, loosening her grip from around his neck just the slightest bit. “You’re not helping,” she said after catching her breath. If she didn’t stop now, there was a very real chance that she never would. She grinned before placing a light kiss on his lips. “I’ll have to hex you if you don’t let me eat.” Nodding, she unwound her arms from around him, doing her best attempt to put some space between them. Edith placed her hands on his chest and pushed him backwards, though he didn’t go too far, considering he was still holding on to her.

Did he think she wouldn’t hex him? Maybe grinning and kissing him while also threatening him wasn’t the best way to go about things. Her face fell as she put as much space between them as possible, doing her best to look as sincere as possible. “Seriously though, I will hex you,” she said with a very serious nod, patting his chest lightly with her hand.

He finally stepped back and after a few seconds of regret, Edith stepped to the side and grabbed the kettle, for once using magic to speed the process of tea and toast making along. “It won’t take as long if you help,” she mentioned, not wanting to look up from what she was doing lest she get distracted again.

She was wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning up and into him and returning his kisses and as far as Elias was concerned, everything was perfect. Despite the fact that Elias had pretty limited kissing experience himself, he didn't need to think too much about what was happening in order to make it happen. Everything was warm and light and he was pretty sure as long as they didn't stop and he didn't let go, things would remain good. He was smiling in spite of himself, almost giddy at the waves of relief and excitement that were washing over him. This was actually happening. Somehow they had managed not only to figure out that they both wanted the same things but also to acknolwedge and act on their feelings. There was a distinct possibility that they could do this again, that they could spend evening after evening together, walking arm in arm or cuddling up together on the sofa or --

Elias' thoughts were cut off by Edith pulling back. "Very sorry," he apologized with a smile, but didn't let go. He thought they could probably figure out a way to prepare breakfast without taking too much of a break from the fun stuff, if they really put their minds to it. "Is that so?" he replied teasingly, returning the light kiss. She had threatened him before, and there was a real possibility that some day he might actually get on her nerves enough to find himself with an extra ear or feathery arms, but it was hard to imagine today being that day. She pushed him lightly but he didn't let go, simply letting her force move them both backwards into the kitchen.

He was ready to give her another kiss, wondering how long he could distract her from eating, when she suddenly looked much more serious. He released her at once, moving back so that she could get to work. It was hard not to take the rejection personally, but the morning so far had been a constant back and forth between actually believing Edith wanted him and feeling a bit foolish for being so vulnerable. Elias moved over to lean against the counter, putting the most space between them since they had sat down on the sofa together only a quarter of an hour before, and trying not to look too sulky but mostly failing.

At her request for help, Elias pulled out his wand. He had limited cooking skills, but what he did know could be done by magic alone. "What do you need?" he asked, watching her. It seemed like she pretty much had everything under control. The water was already steaming in the kettle and the toast was crisping under the warmth from her wand. At her direction, he flicked his wand at the fridge so that the door opened and a jar of jam and the butter tray made their way to the table. He conjured two tea cups for them as well, placing them carefully on the small eating surface. Elias ate his toast obediently and quietly, resisting the urge to move closer so he could be brushing up against Edith again. Clearly he had made her uncomfortable or gone too far too soon, and he didn't want to risk upsetting her and ruining this after it had just started. Things were complicated betwen them an it seemed he was constantly on the verge of wrecking things.