June 7th, 1894 - Padmore Park

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The pair of teens sat quietly next to each other on the grass overlooking the lake. A plait blanket with a few sandwiches furnished the ground and Millie’s chaperone sat not far away from them. In Ben’s hand was the next instalment in their shared reading experience, a tale of wizarding peril from war across the Atlantic almost exactly one hundred years prior. With a side tale of romance between an Englishman and a woman of the rebels. They were already a couple of chapters in, with nothing but the beautiful sunshine, the breeze, a good book and a friend.

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Rustling pages passed the minutes of their outing, but Millie was measuring by the moments between hers and his. Mr. Hunter was early this time, forcing her eyes down the words on the rest of the page before she could hastily flip. It felt easier in the castle, each in their own house dorms, exchanging thoughts in notes between classes. Or brief meetings in the library. Here, with endless time beneath the summer sun, her lips stayed silent, the young witch speaking only through the turning pages of their novel.

Oh, Zinnia Gallagher must see them both as quite mad.

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Benedict Hunter

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   Benedict Hunter

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Trumpets blared loudly and the sound of muskets firing across the battlefield filled Ben's imagination as he read the prose in front of him, it was easy to take himself there in his mind's eye. He looked across at the dark haired girl next to him, trying to work out what page Miss Potts might be on. He let out a little chuckle as the writer tried some dark humour to juxtapose with the otherwise bleak description. Ben wondered if Millie had gotten to that part yet, he might have asked her but he kept silent. More pages went by.

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Grisly depictions of war haunted her eyes even after turning the pages, harder to do with one hand stuck at her throat. Millie hadn't expected Benedict's choice of novels to be such a grim affair, or feel so real. She was only too happy that no one had yet enchanted a manner by which to see these scenes for real. They were only trapped there, on pages to turn quickly past, to live only in the young witch's memory as her eyes sought the better moments the next chapter would bring. Perhaps their next book should return to mysteries instead.

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Benedict Hunter

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   Benedict Hunter

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The book was getting really rather good, the current chapter was a little intense, but it was enjoyable. He wondered how Millie might be taking it, he was sure that his friend was as not tied to “girls books” as the professors might like. Perhaps though, he should be grateful when the scene changed to a quieter after battle setting, it was still a challenging read, the titular pair of the book bonding whilst they tended to wounded. Benedict felt the chill in the air as the narrator described it, despite the warmth of june, such was the writer's quality.

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Millie Potts

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   Millie Potts

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Millie spared a glance at Benedict, finding a shared crease in his forehead as the protagonist, as described by his belle while deep in concentration. Curiosity asked the question itself, whether he shared anything else in common with the brave, undaunted hero of the book. Those were trait of Gryffindors, after all.

Recognition swarmed the young witch, fearing where her idle thoughts might lead her. Demurred, she took to the book furiously, turning pages with a swift sound to lend Mr. Hunter no ideas toward any further fantasy beyond the little the author had infused into the pages they read.

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Benedict Hunter

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   Benedict Hunter

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The romance part between the pair was lovely, Benedict was sure that had they not been chaperoned by the multitude of injured soldiers, the spark that passed between their exposed hands might turn to a kiss, but it was not to be. Instead Benedict felt the urge for tears as the scene continued and they bonded over the death of one of their charges.

Ben glanced at Millie and offered her a small smile. He didn't know what she might think of him if a book brought him to tears, but her presence was comforting and helped him remain stoic.

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-Millie Potts-

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   Millie Potts

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