[gravesend] a half written story without any ending || isaac

When her arm suddenly looped with his again and she began walking faster than before Isaac nearly pulled back. Why was she suddenly in such a hurry? It couldn't possibly be because she was that excited to go to get something to eat. Well, he desperately hoped that wasn't the case because even though the food was decent the pub wasn't exactly the kind to write home about. Soon enough the teenager realized they were moving out of the light and her words only furthered his idea.

"Do you know this area?" He asked, knowing she was from Gravesend but not sure exactly when. "What is wrong? Why are you walking so fast?" Isaac asked as he tried to keep up while also fishing his wallet out of the back pocket of his black jeans. Somehow with one hand he managed to get the wallet, flip it open, and use the hand of the arm looped with hers to grab his ferry pass. Since she had never been he assumed he would be swiping his pass twice, not that it was very expensive to cross.

As soon as they got close enough to the ferry she slowed down again, her mind a little consumed with the thought of how much trouble she’d be in for (1) lying to her father about her whereabouts, (2) on the arm of the type of boy he’d never approve of, and (3) for wrapping up Mavis into her lie without her best friend’s consent. “Yeah, I do actually,” she said after a moment, turning back towards the road and nodding at the big, white house on the corner, that was still well within eyesight but far enough that she didn’t feel the eyes of her father on her, “In the big white house over there,” she added, just in case it didn’t stand out enough on its own. Gravesend was known for being one of the nicer parts of town and the home of a former Quidditch superstar only meant that it was a little bigger than the rest, too.

 â€œBut don’t worry about it,” she added, though her actions clearly indicated that she was worried, “probably shouldn’t have said I was staying with Mavis, now I’m feeling paranoid,” she explained, which was for the most part true but that’s what she got for going to a party so close to home. If JR was any bolder, he might have wandered out, found her there, and promptly gone back to tell her parents, that was the sort of thing he’d do. It wasn’t a thought she lingered on for long, instead, Magnolia watched him as he took his wallet out, pointing at the card in his hand.

 â€œWhat’s that? Is that muggle money, too?” she asked curiously, feeling guilty that she hadn’t brought her own and that he was once again paying for something on her behalf but the girl never really made it a habit of keeping sickles on her. And in her dress, there wasn’t much space for her to carry a wallet or purse either; if she had she would have lost it anyway. “You’ll have to keep track of what I owe you and…I’ll figure out a way to pay you back,” she added with a smile. Had she known they’d make a whole adventure out of this, Magnolia would have been better prepared, now that she was sobering up all those pesky feelings were coming back again and it was starting to feel like just another thing she wouldn’t be telling her friends back at school.

"Wait, that is your house?" Isaac asked, not that he was entirely surprised by its size or grandeur, but he was shocked that she lived so close. Half an hour walking and taking the ferry between their homes, maybe, it was shocking to him. He thought about pointing across the river, past the sewage treatment plant and the shipping docks, and telling her where he lived, but the teenager thought against it. "Lying to your parents, staying out all night, getting drunk at a party... Maybe you are not as big of a square as I thought?" Isaac chuckled, bumping into her, "Maybe," He added dramatically, laughing once more.

"It is a ferry pass," He began, almost forgetting that she was a pureblood and probably had no use for public transportation. There was no floo system where Isaac lived, he had to walk three blocks to find a decent fireplace, and he wasn't old enough to apparate yet, so ferries and trains were his go-to. "Sort of like money," He held the little plastic card out for her to look at, showing her the black stripe on the back, "You add money to it, and the kiosk tracks how many times you ride the ferry; it is more convenient." There were a lot of things about the muggle world that were that way. Sure, wizards had enchanted bags to carry their coins, but muggles didn't carry them anymore.

Pointing at the little machine and turn style that separated the side of the dock they were on from the one they would board the ferry from, Isaac shrugged. "Do you want to do it?" He asked her, eyes curious, wondering if she was as impressed by muggle technology as he was.

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” she replied, a roundabout way of complying to his question without giving him a straight answer, but only because that was just one of the many subjects she didn’t want to dwell on for too long. The last thing she needed was for him to make a big deal about her dad or to ask about him, regardless of whether the feedback was positive or not, she didn’t want to hear it. Much like she hadn’t wanted to hear his explanation for middle ground earlier either, Magnolia was allergic to discussions that could somehow turn too personal. Fortunately, Isaac moved on to one of his more classic moves: giving her an underhanded compliment on something she had done that defied his expectations. Even if he was only teasing her, she liked hearing them. It was the closest thing she could get to something definitely nice so she would gladly take it.

“You only think I’m a square because you don’t know me,” she clarified, hoping that it added a little allure to her otherwise very boring life. “But I know how to have fun, you’d be surprised,” she continued, bumping her shoulder into him playfully as if to insinuate that there was more to that statement that had not been explored. Maybe there could be, she considered now that they were on middle ground or whatever he had said. Magnolia looked at the item in his hand with much curiosity, realizing how interesting it was that muggles had somehow managed to put sickles on a piece of plastic, she had always found them to be pretty inventive. “But it’s a piece of plastic,” she countered, not sure how that worked or why it did, at least it was convenient.

“Oh yes, yes!” she said excitedly, taking the card from his hand and skipping over to the machine that he had pointed at, pausing for a moment as she tried to figure out exactly what to do, “Wait don’t tell me,” she warned him in case he was ready to say something, and as soon as she saw what she believed to be the plastic-thing reader, she swiped it, impressed as the bars that had resisted her from entering gave in once she pushed into them. Magnolia had seen something similar before, so that bit was easy. Crossing onto the other side she smiled, “I’ve done it!” she said triumphantly, waiting for him to come along.

Magnolia told him not to make a big deal out of it, and he didn't want to, but he couldn't help but wander over what her house must have been like. It was probably big; it must have been if they needed witches like his mum to keep it clean. And he bet both of her parents were still around too; he knew she had a younger brother and some other siblings, so imagined big family dinners and holiday traditions. And all of the things he'd missed out on.

Then again, Isaac thought having a bunch of siblings sounded highly annoying. Why would he want to be around people all the time? He wasn't good at sharing or listening, and he certainly wasn't very nice. He didn't like spending the holidays with his mum, no matter how many times she told him they were all the other had, so why bother with a big family? No, thank you.

"I would like to, though," Isaac said, breaking through her playfulness with a more serious tone. Isaac was starting to believe that Magnolia was so much more than the person he had initially assumed her to be. Some of those things were still true, but there were just as many unexpected discoveries. Her liking music was probably his favorite thing so far, but he was curious to learn more about her. She had one thing right, though; she was surprising to him; it was insane how much.

Handing her the card, he couldn't help but laugh when she spoke, "It is more than just plastic, see, this part, it holds information," He pointed at the magnetic stripe on the back as she turned it over in her hand and lit up at the idea of trying to swipe it. Isaac followed her to the turnstile, expecting he would have to show her what to do, but tucking his hands into his pockets idly when she told him not to. Eventually, and in not much time at all, she figured out the system and was granted access to the docks. "Nice work, now, how about letting me in as well?" He asked, eyes flicking from the card still in her hand, and out of his reach, and smiling.

I would like to, though, he had said and she had paused for only a minute, a fraction of a second, really to let that information sink in, to enjoy it, and thereafter to forget it had even been said. When he did things like this, Magnolia wondered if he was aware of what he was doing, if he enjoyed tangling her up in a web of feelings that she couldn’t make sense of just because he could. But a small part of her wanted to believe the opposite, that he actually meant those little phrases he spoke, that they weren’t just words spoken to fill the space between the more playful things that they said. She figured it was late considering how deeply she was thinking about things that probably didn’t matter; this entire night had been a rollercoaster ride of confusion.

When he asked if she would let him through she looked at the black line he had pointed to only moments earlier, “But is it going to let you do it twice?” she wondered, though realized it was probably too late to be worrying about things like that when they were on opposite sides of the dock. Though it would be something he would do, leaving her stranded there while he disappeared into the night, not telling her how to get out of the ferry, and leaving her to ask the muggles on site what to do. Magnolia assumed there was something of an invisible barrier there, otherwise, it would have been just as easy for someone to jump over the turnstile without paying.

“Let’s hope we don’t break it then,” she concluded, reaching over to swipe the card again to see what would happen. Muggle technology was interestingly fascinating, “Suppose I should’ve actually listened in Muggle Studies, huh?” she gave him a smile.

For a second, Isaac thought Magnolia might mess with him by not swiping the card or letting him join her on the other side of the barrier. He smirked at the idea, it wouldn't have been the first time he jumped the turnstile, but then she swiped the card. "It charges you every time, so it does not care how many times you swipe it; they still get their funds." Who they were Isaac was not entirely sure, but he didn't like them on principle.

"You, listen during class?" He scoffed, "Never going to happen," Isaac knew for a fact that she was quite distractible, especially since he had been the source of that distraction on more than one occasion in the last few months. She was intelligent, he knew it, but some people just weren't made for rigorous study. Snatching the plastic card back from her, he slipped it into his wallet as they walked toward the dock's edge.

Thankfully there was no one else around, Isaac enjoyed how things were with Magnolia when it was just the two of them, but it did make the scene a little more ominous. Well past midnight now, the fog on the river was thick and rolling up onto the dock. The lanterns made the little clouds glow, and it was nearly impossible to see the other side of the river. And it was cold, the breeze from the water making him shiver a little.

Isaac leaned up against the railing of the dock, not one to wait patiently, and folded his arms across his chest. "The boat better hurry the fuck up; it is cold as shit out here," He admitted; it was probably because the alcohol had worn off (and someone had stolen his sweater), but little goosebumps were spreading across his forearms.

“Clever,” she pointed out as Isaac explained, having already decided that Isaac had to be muggleborn to know so much about muggle things, not really sure how else he’d explain all of this knowledge he had. At the very least, it was obvious that Isaac had experience using muggle transportation, which only opened the floor for questions on whether he’d gone on the bus and train before, or better yet if he had taken the taxi. Magnolia had always wanted to try it but though she was an adventurous person, it felt like territory too unfamiliar to even begin exploring. More than that, it was always easier when there was someone else there to explore it with, maybe she’d have to ask one of close friends to try it out with her.

“I listen,” she insisted, rolling her eyes at his assumption even if she knew it was one-hundred percent true. But maybe the witch would be willing to pay more attention in class if the lectures were more entertaining than literally everything else happening. That whole, sitting in your desk and listening to someone drag on and on about the thing written in the textbook was not her style, especially if that information included remembering a ton of facts she would probably never encounter again. Magnolia couldn’t understand how any of the Ravenclaws did it, though she always suspected that they had enchanted their quills and parchment to take notes on their behalf so they could do homework for other classes, that’s the only way she thought they were so capable of keeping up with their studies.

“It’s so creepy here, innit?” she noted, tucking her hands inside of the sleeves of the hoodie as they walked along the dock. These were the types of things Magnolia didn’t always bring up in conversations with acquaintances, which only made her feel more in tune with the idea that they were past that phase and closer into the friendship one (or a little beyond it, it was hard to put on a scale) but whatever they were reflected in her speech, the things she said, the more comfortable she felt speaking to him in the same slangy way that she did with her closest pals. It felt nice.

“Should’ve brought a jacket,” she teased, well aware that he had kindly given his up because she had left hers earlier, but instead of rubbing it in because she really had no intention of giving him his hoodie back, she moved to stand in front of him and opened her arms, “Don’t be weird about it,” she warned, before she hugged him, “I’m just being nice.”

"Yeah, I am not very good at planning, I suppose," Isaac teased her right back, shrugging his shoulders as they played. He wasn't going to ask for his hoodie back, but he did wish he was old enough to do magic outside of school so he could summon another, or a heating charm, or just travel instantly.

As much as he loved the wizarding world, there were things to look forward to in the magical one. Isaac hated that they weren't allowed to do magic until they were seventeen. It was such a fucked up rule; they should have been able to do any spell they had mastered, regardless of age. Especially when most students would turn seventeen, be technically adults, and still have time left to go to Hogwarts. It was a useless system as far as Isaac was concerned.

His mind went blank when she moved to hug him. Isaac tensed at first as she held her arms out, but Isaac wrapped his arms around her when she stepped toward him. He leaned against the railing again, pulling Magnolia with him, as his arms held her close. She was warm, and he was thankful for it; this was much better than summoning a jacket, he thought. "Guess I am not used to you being nice to me," He taunted, smiling as his chin came to rest on top of her head. He could smell the flowery perfume she had on, and something told him his sweater was going to smell like Magnolias when he got it back; if he got it back.

"It is only creepy late at night, during the day, it can be bloody annoying here," Isaac remembered what she had mentioned earlier and decided to comment on it now. Suddenly he felt an immense need to keep the conversation going even though he would have been just as happy to hug her quietly. Isaac needed to keep the conversation moving so that she wouldn't move away.

“Shut up,” she chastised him quietly, it felt like a moment too important to ruin with the usual shrill with which she spoke, “I’m always nice, you just never notice,” she continued. Sure, she could have always been nicer but it wasn’t their thing, it didn’t feel right to engage in conversation like normal teenagers even though she was still trying to figure out why. It wasn’t just playful banter, at least not anymore, it felt like something else lingered there, feelings or words both of them knew existed but neither of them wanted to express.

And though Magnolia might have otherwise made a fuss about it, demanding to know this entire thing she felt she was missing out on, it was hard to complain when his arms were wrapped around her like this and they fit so comfortably together. So maybe there was a side of him she liked more than all the other sides she had already encountered.

“You take the ferry a lot, huh?” she observed. It felt a little odd to have a casual conversation while they were invading each other’s space like this, but Magnolia figured that if they stopped talking, things would take a very serious turn. And it was that seriousness that they had been actively avoiding since when they had been sitting on the porch earlier that night. But that awkward situation felt far away now and the emotions that had accompanied it had more or less died down a little. That had been two-thousand and three, and she was no longer that person, now it was two-thousand and four. That, she decided, made a difference.

“I kinda like it though, even if it’s creepy, feels like a movie,” she noted, then realized he would probably take it the wrong way, so she felt the need to add more to what she had just expressed, “like picturesque, you know? But also sort of, right before something terrible happens” she continued. Well that had turned into a dark thought. But she was not really expecting him to agree with her or even answer the question that wasn’t really an actual question but wanted to say it regardless.

There was something peaceful about holding Magnolia on the docks like this. It was so quiet out, the fireworks and the party-goers had mostly died down, and there was very little traffic on the road. Even the river was still, well, as much of it as Isaac could make out through the thick fog that blanketed everything. It was like a barrier, separating them from the rest of the world, and tucked together inside this little space they had, things were calm. His thumb traced idle circles on her lower back as he watched the water, hoping to see the lights of the ferry but also hoping it would take as long as possible.

"I would not say I like it, but I use it often; it is easier to get around than navigating the trains." If Isaac could get into Gravesend, it was a two-minute walk to a pub that would let him floo to London or wherever he headed on the network. If he took the trains, he'd have to switch over twice to get to London. "My mum’s flat is not connected to the floo; Gravesend is." It wasn't a genuine hardship, the ferry cost basically nothing, and he didn't mind the boat ride. And the magical district in Gravesend had most wizardry things he needed; London was just more fun.

"Feels like a movie," Isaac couldn't help but agree with the sentiment, and he nodded against the top of her head. "Yeah, I can see that," Agreeing, he let his eyes scan the waters again, and she was right. Isaac sighed as the lights from the ferry broke through the fog; if only they could stay tucked into their little pocket for a while longer. "Here it comes," He acknowledged but made no effort to remove his hands from around her waist.

Magnolia closed her eyes for a moment, feeling calm, collected, and most importantly very aware of his fingers on her back. Without meaning to, the first thing she thought about was whether this was something he did with Allison, too. Was this the middle ground he was talking about? And if it was, then maybe his and her definition of relationships were entirely different, because this seemed like the sort of thing couples did, not sort of friends. Of course, Magnolia was also well aware that it had been contact she had initiated, much to her chagrin, and whatever compliance he made might have just been his way of making nice after she almost left earlier. But she didn’t want to let those thoughts ruin the moment for her, they had been doing a lot of deceiving as of late and it was driving her crazy.

So, she focused on how nice his fingers felt against her back and how much more she might have liked it if it had been done under the thick material of the hoodie. Their little area where they stood, hidden by the fog and unaware of the realities of the world, but she didn’t want to think about it, because the more she thought about it, the more she wanted this sort of thing to happen again. But how did one go about approaching the subject? The circumstances had aligned this time so perfectly that Magnolia doubted they’d do so again.

“I heard that the trains are full of people that are mad,” she commented with a giggle, but only because she didn’t have much of use to offer to the conversation. Magnolia sort of just wanted to hear him talk but also felt responsible for contributing to the conversation. She wasn’t supposed to feel this comfortable and yet, she would happily stay like this until sunrise. “Soon we won’t have to use the floo, I’m getting my apparition’s license as soon as I’m able,” she stated proudly, the only test she would willingly study for. “But yeah,  I suppose Gravesend’s alright,” she added.

The lights broke her concentration enough to alarm her a little and so she turned back to look at the ferry as it approached the dock, not sure if she ought to insist they pull away from each other or if she ought to go along with it. She decided to take half a step back, holding on to the material of his shirt but with enough space so that she could look up at him. “I guess we should um—“ she started, not really sure what to make of it but having a very hard time not staring at him like this. If her feelings hadn’t been obvious before, they were plainly written on her face. “Get on the ferry,” she finally finished, wrapping an arm around his waist as she watched the ferry begin to dock.

"I heard that the trains are full of people that are mad," Laughing at her thought, Isaac agreed. "The Hogwarts Express, especially," Isaac noted, recalling the first time they had met on the train and felt like that was a lifetime ago now. In reality, it was barely four months ago, and they had been arguing less than twenty minutes ago, but standing here made it feel like someone else's experience. Like this, standing still, arms wrapped around her, deep thoughts and kind words, was the real them. Everything else was just fog and nonsense.

Isaac understood her next sentiment profoundly; the wizard couldn't wait until he was old enough to apparate (and all of the things that came along with seventeen). It was the ultimate form of freedom, not that Isaac didn't already do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted, but when he could apparate, it would be that much easier. And better. Everything would be better. "Same," His answer was resounding but straightforward, only one more year. Less than that actually, eleven months seemed so close and yet entirely out of his grasp.

Cutting through the fog and hellbent on destroying this moment, the ferry pulled into the floating dock with enough force to bump into it. The platform shifted slightly, not enough to cause any damage, but enough to make the new distance between Magnolia and Isaac entirely too much. She had taken a step back, and Isaac was remiss to let her go, but eventually, he knew he would have to. "Yeah, time to go," He agreed, pushing away from the railing and leading them to the boat. Isaac stepped onto the ferry and led them to the bench seat in the back, the one furthest from the driver, and let her have the seat closest to the window if she wanted it.

Sliding onto the bench, Isaac wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and half rested it on the top of the bench seat. "Have you never been on a train either?" He questioned quietly, "Other than the Express?"

“You mean like when you’re on it?” she teased lightly, though the label fit him. Isaac was a maddening person, the sort that made you want to punch him and kiss him in the same breath and it made her feelings a confused mess that she couldn’t even begin to resolve. And yet, here she was in the middle of the night, waiting on a ferry, and wrapped around this boy that had been practically a stranger to her several months ago. Things had progressed quickly she noted but not in the way that she had been expecting them. Maybe that was the beauty of spending time with someone like Isaac, one never knew where it would go or how long it would take to get there. Only Magnolia would appreciate that level of insecurity.

His agreement was not an answer that she heard often so she cherished it, even if it was on something as silly as excitement over an apparating license; it meant that at this very moment the two of them had come to the same conclusion and that was enough to get any trashy romance novel aficionado like Magnolia excited for the sort of symbolism she’d find in his words thereafter. But he hadn’t really added much for her to read into, and she supposed there wasn’t anything else to say. Magnolia enjoyed the silence but it also had a tendency to make her uncomfortable, as if she were missing out on a great opportunity that she had not realized just yet.

The shifting of the platform made her grip onto Isaac a little tighter as she remembered all of a sudden why she didn’t really care for muggle transport. Magnolia wasn’t going to back out now, Isaac would probably hold it over her head forever, but she was going to at least hesitate before she let herself be led onto the ferry and towards the back. But the two of them didn’t really need any more privacy, the ferry was practically empty with the exception of a few groups of what seemed to be like couples. Oh, the irony.

But as soon as he put his arm around her, Magnolia did not hesitate to lean into him, resting her head against the crook of his arm and feeling very comfortable when doing so. She pulled the sleeves of the hoodie over her hands and held them there where they were nice and warm and being kept politely to herself even if (technically) they could have rested in many other respectable places without consequence. “No,” she shook her head. “Well maybe I have but I don’t remember it, probably when I was a little kid. I don’t mind the Floo, I guess muggle things aren’t really like a thing in my family. My family’s not like anti-muggle or anything,” she clarified, hoping she wouldn’t offend him, “but magic’s easiest all around. What about your parents? Do you do a lot of muggle things with them, too?”

"Or when you are," Isaac replied, "No, especially when you are," He couldn't help but correct himself as they finally broke and headed toward the ferry. Isaac found it endearing that she had never been on the boat before, or the train even, as she admitted to it. Something about the fact that he could show her this whole other world she had never explored was increasingly attractive to the wizard. Like he knew some secret and now he could share it with her. There was an excitement to it, too.

Feeling her push up against him made him smile, and his hand moved to rest on top of where her shoulder and arm met. They could never be like this at Hogwarts, not really, and a part of him knew that already. Even if they were as together as Magnolia's idea of boyfriend/girlfriend must have been, they still couldn't. Isaac wasn't interested in dating in that way, any way, but if for some reason they were, it would never be like this. Each one of them had their pressures, friends, images, and everything else to maintain. It was a difficult thing to navigate, but being cute and cuddly in public didn't fit into that image at all. Maybe that made this better, more special because it was rare, and it was just for them. Regardless of whatever label was on this, or lack of, they would always have this moment.

Until Magnolia did her thing and set it all on fire, he grimaced when she brought up his family, his hand retreating from her shoulder, and his body stiffening a bit. They hadn't spoken about it explicitly, and she probably had no idea that his father had abandoned him as a child, but it didn't matter. Isaac had thought she knew enough not to bring it up, not to pry, but obviously, he had been wrong. "Yeah, no, we are not talking about my family," His words were cold, far more distant than before, as he turned away from her to stare out into the river.