Hearing Ben talk so comfortably of the future, and not just as some far-off fancy, bent a little of her reality away from the surreal. With her arm on his, strolling along the promenade as two young people, Millie thought for a moment how oddly proper it felt. They were not the only sharply-dressed pair taking in the sights today, after all, all of them following the marvelous dance of being seen in each other's company. Though not yet in her sixteenth year, the young witch felt positively seventeen already, boldly strolling where no portrait or classmate could whisper rumors behind her.
"You make it sound so easy," Millie remarked quietly, a thoughtful cadence inspecting her words as they emerged. "You have your parent's shop to tend, and I have my parents..." It hardly needed to be said aloud, not with her shadow trailing them from a respectful distance. At least Zin was not the nosy or judgemental type, thank Merlin for that. Of course it wasn't proper for them to be seen without one, but just once Millie would enjoy even a fleeting sense of freedom from thinking about what should not be done. "Perhaps when I am seventeen as well, it wouldn't be so unseemly to be going about alone."
If only she had a free hand to reach for her yearning necklace, but they were all taken up by clinging to her friend instead. The young witch let a sigh reach its links instead, and it didn't quite help settle the fluttering of her stomach. Ben was more than a friend, though she didn't quite have the right word for that yet, she didn't suppose mere friends kissed together in shadows and went gallavanting off to seaside towns to promenade in the open.
"Oh, if anyone is to be snapped up at Coming Out, it will be Miss DeCroix or Miss Grace." That much seemed obvious to her, and it seemed like a strange thing to need to explain to Benedict. He had attended one already, that seemed a certainty by how he described the dances with last spring's most notable ladies. By now they had to be well into a courtship, and they would certainly be reading about Miss Abedayo or Miss Parkinson's engagements any day now.
That was the future that Papa wanted for her, Millie knew. To attend her Coming Out, be courted, find a suitable match, all things right and properly. Only Papa didn't have to live at Hogwarts more than in his own home, or face his OWLs knowing that they could doom him just as easily as set him free. The young witch didn't think she could bear a year of not seeing Ben every day, in passing through the Great Hall if nothing else. It might be worse than the prospect of Finishing School at this point, but she could stomach an entire education devoted to making her the ideal woman just so long as it was with Ben.
Millie found her hand pressing into his arm a little tighter, pulling her closer alongside the sturdy boy who knew the way forward. He didn't have to think about OWLs or fatherly whims. If only her thoughts of a future could be as playful as his to speak of. Her head came to rest on his shoulder, letting him lead her as easily as he chattered along the seaside promenade.
It didn't matter how proper it looked when she was properly standing beside Ben.
"You make it sound so easy," Millie remarked quietly, a thoughtful cadence inspecting her words as they emerged. "You have your parent's shop to tend, and I have my parents..." It hardly needed to be said aloud, not with her shadow trailing them from a respectful distance. At least Zin was not the nosy or judgemental type, thank Merlin for that. Of course it wasn't proper for them to be seen without one, but just once Millie would enjoy even a fleeting sense of freedom from thinking about what should not be done. "Perhaps when I am seventeen as well, it wouldn't be so unseemly to be going about alone."
If only she had a free hand to reach for her yearning necklace, but they were all taken up by clinging to her friend instead. The young witch let a sigh reach its links instead, and it didn't quite help settle the fluttering of her stomach. Ben was more than a friend, though she didn't quite have the right word for that yet, she didn't suppose mere friends kissed together in shadows and went gallavanting off to seaside towns to promenade in the open.
"Oh, if anyone is to be snapped up at Coming Out, it will be Miss DeCroix or Miss Grace." That much seemed obvious to her, and it seemed like a strange thing to need to explain to Benedict. He had attended one already, that seemed a certainty by how he described the dances with last spring's most notable ladies. By now they had to be well into a courtship, and they would certainly be reading about Miss Abedayo or Miss Parkinson's engagements any day now.
That was the future that Papa wanted for her, Millie knew. To attend her Coming Out, be courted, find a suitable match, all things right and properly. Only Papa didn't have to live at Hogwarts more than in his own home, or face his OWLs knowing that they could doom him just as easily as set him free. The young witch didn't think she could bear a year of not seeing Ben every day, in passing through the Great Hall if nothing else. It might be worse than the prospect of Finishing School at this point, but she could stomach an entire education devoted to making her the ideal woman just so long as it was with Ben.
Millie found her hand pressing into his arm a little tighter, pulling her closer alongside the sturdy boy who knew the way forward. He didn't have to think about OWLs or fatherly whims. If only her thoughts of a future could be as playful as his to speak of. Her head came to rest on his shoulder, letting him lead her as easily as he chattered along the seaside promenade.
It didn't matter how proper it looked when she was properly standing beside Ben.
![[Image: uHwnE8q.png]](https://i.imgur.com/uHwnE8q.png)