Closed The Talk

[Margo Fox]

Margo had always been very good at putting things she didn't want to think about in neat little boxes and then throwing herself into anything that would keep her busy and far away from those boxes. For the longest time it the biggest box had been her brother, all of him, shut tight and kept far away. But she had opened it and faced her fears. Too bad it ended pretty terribly. But after all of that she was still standing and she knew she had to muster all of her courage to break the seal on her most recent problem. Michael.

He was the farthest thing from a problem. Besides her friends and family, he was the most important person in Margo's life. She loved him. And she was about to be away from him for the better part of a year. Something they had both done an incredible job not talking about. She had wanted to spend more of the break with him, to savor the time they had left together, but with her job keeping her so busy with the kids back to school shopping there never seemed to be enough time. But tonight they had planned a date and Margo was waiting outside of Flourish and Blott's looking for him. Her heart was already racing by the time she spotted him down the street and started waving. She was excited to see him but more importantly they needed to talk.

 

[Michael Watson]

Michael would have been lying if he said he wasn't 1) aware that they needed to talk about the next year and 2) putting off having that conversation as long as reasonably possible. He had a very strong tendency to overanalyse, to look at things from every possible angle and, frankly, when it came to emotional matters - catastrophise. The very facts of the matter were simple. Margo had graduated, he had not. Michael loved Margo, that was not in any doubt. Realistically, however, how was he supposed to be there for her and be a good boyfriend when he was stuck at Hogwarts, head down with NEWTs and Quidditch? And he knew she cared about him, but how could he actually ask her to just put everything on hold and wait for a whole year? To just take advantage of her endless patience and kindness some more, and likely offer nothing in return? After all she'd been through with her brother, to not be able to be there for her when she needed it?

There he went with the catastrophising. Logically, Michael knew what was probably for the best. Emotionally, it wasn't something he at all wanted to do. And maybe a fresh perspective would clear things up, maybe there would be a way to make it work. He just knew it was selfish to insist. He nervously raised his hand when he saw her outside of Flourish and Blott's, hastening his steps as he got closer. She was stunning, and he told himself he was an idiot for even entertaining the idea of letting her go. "Hey! I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," he said, leaning in to give her a swift kiss on the cheek. He wasn't too big on public displays of affection, but he wanted to make the most of it with little gestures. In case everything went downhill.

 

[Margo Fox]

Margo smiled as Michael kissed her on the cheek. It was a common gesture between them but it still made her stomach flutter. "Not long at all." she insisted as they started walking together. They had only made it a few steps before her hand found his and she gave it a gentle squeeze. Her nerves were in full force and they were threatening to keep all the words she wanted to say locked down deep. She took a deep breath and hoped she could just force them out before she had time to think. "So, you're leaving for school soon. Are you all packed?" she asked keeping her eyes forward and pointedly not looking at her boyfriend. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to say so she closed her eyes for a moment and tried again. "Because we haven't really talked about it. Next year. Or I guess it's this year now, depending how you look at it." she was rambling now and she hoped Michael would stop her eventually.