Who Marietta and Grant When: BACKDATED to Saturday, December 10, 2010 Where: Dunmoody near A Novel Idea Summary: Grant and Marietta chat. Mistletoe may be involved. Rating: PG
Marietta Edgecombe did not have a lot of Christmas shopping to do (the trouble with having almost no family and not that many friends) but the little she did have to do needed to get done and it seemed like a fairly decent day for it. And with a job like hers where a case could break out at any minute, it was best not to leave things until the last minute.
She couldn't say she was pleased with whatever jokester had put up all the mistletoe, however. It seemed to invite all sorts of horrid PDA no matter where she went and really, it's not like she wanted to see it. It was probably that George Weasley who had done it. She could see him doing something aimed at making everyone but slags utterly uncomfortable in their own towns.
At any rate, she'd just picked up a present for Cho (and maybe something for herself) at Hygeia and she decided to go down Bones Road over to A Novel Idea. She would probably find a book her grandfather might like there, and she never could resist a bookstore.
Grant was adamant about waiting until the last minute to do his Christmas shopping. He really had no idea what to get his family and wandering around the different shops of Dunmoody wasn't giving him any ideas. Though he always could use Quidditch as a fall back and get his family tickets or other Quidditch related things.
He was headed back to his flat after a day of uneventful window shopping when he took note of all the mistletoe he had spotted all over town. It made him feel a little bit better about being single, he could kiss anyone he liked without having to worry. Well, Grant wasn't worried about kissing other single people. He'd politely kiss the ones who were taken on the cheek.
With mistletoe on his brain, Grant saw someone he recognized from school and hadn't seen in quite a while. "Hey, Marietta!" Grant shouted and jogged to catch up to her.
Grant. Marietta remembered him as a Hufflepuff from her year who she believed was named after some Muggle movie reference she didn't know details of. And he'd grown a funny looking mustache last month. And most importantly, he was kind to her, so she didn't mind talking to him (as a girl with a - largely unremembered - past that including making people quite angry, she always appreciated kindness.)
"Hello, Grant," she said, stopping so he could catch up, "What brings you out today? Christmas shopping? Or something more exciting perhaps?"
"The attempt was to do some Christmas shopping and failing that, I've just been looking at all the mistletoe." Grant answered when he had caught up to her. "Are you doing the same? I mean, Christmas shopping. Or have you noticed all the mistletoe around today as well?" He asked. He didn't want to seem at all weird by pointing out mistletoe to people he didn't even know and asking if they had even noticed.
"Christmas shopping with some success," Marietta replied, holding up her Hygeia bag, "For Cho - but don't tell. And it's kind of hard to miss the mistletoe, isn't it?" she wrinkled her nose, "I can't believe people think the rest of us want to see them snog. So I guess you could say I've been looking at it as well. It's not upsetting to you, is it?" she asked suddenly as the thought occurred to her, "with your recent break-up?" Since that meant he didn't have a ready-made person to snog. Perhaps that question had been a bit insensitive.
Grant mimed crossing his heart. "I promise not to say anything to Cho," he said using "serious" voice. "Only when there aren't people gathered around it. At least, I've been lucky enough to get by if one happens to be in my path." Grant shrugged his shoulders thinking about his break up. "It's not upsetting to me. I'm a tough guy." Truthfully, it wasn't upsetting, though he was still working through the issues that the break up presented. It was a little weird if he had to talk to the boss because then he would have to talk to Viv. At the same time, he did want her to be happy and was glad that the break up ended sooner rather than later. "The mistletoe does give me the perfect excuse to kiss anyone I want," he said with a grin. "Is there anyone that you wouldn't mind kissing?"
The question took Marietta off guard. "I...I don't know. I've never kissed anyone before." Probably not the coolest thing for a near 32 year old woman to admit and she ducked her head down, letting her face be obscured by her strawberry blonde curls as she tried to gain composure. It would have been easier to keep on about his break-up, insensitive or not.
She looked up and brushed her hair back. "I try not to think about it." That was true. Oh, she had her dreams, but she'd pretty much accepted her life as a single career woman and usually tried not to make things harder on herself with unrequited crushes.
"I'm glad you see the mistletoe advantageously rather than depressingly," she added, "It says a lot for your character."
He had not expected an answer like that. Sure, she probably had it rough in school at times. Grant had heard about the sneak incident. "Ah. You certainly got lucky in school and missing the mistletoe there. Now that was some tricky and mean mistletoe," Grant chuckled softly. He didn't want to really drag on that sort of conversation. To him, it seemed that she was worse off than he was. At least he had dated and fallen in love and out of love a few times, but she hadn't kissed anyone.
"Thanks. I'd probably have mixed feelings if we had ended our relationship now with all this mistletoe around. At least I didn't get her anything for Christmas! That might have been a little awkward." Grant commented.
"Yes, I suppose I was lucky to miss it. The stuff around here doesn't seem to be enchanted at the very least." Thank Merlin for small favours. Being forced into anything would not have been Marietta's idea of a good time.
The sneak thing had been hard to miss and had shattered what had been originally semi-fragile self esteem. It had taken quite some time for Marietta to recover and get on with her life. But she had, eventually, thanks to an inner strength she hadn't realised she possessed.
"Might as well save money where you can," Marietta agreed with a shy smile, "You should use the money you would have spent for her on Christmas and get yourself something nice instead. That's what I would do, I think."
"It would be so cruel to do it to adults. When it happened when we were in school, it wasn't serious and just for fun. Of course, there was drama sometimes." Grant's older sister constantly complained about the mistletoe while they were in school and how she wasn't getting along with this person because this person kissed her boyfriend or whatever was going on at the time.
"That sounds like a good idea. I actually had a voucher for that TerrorTours thing that happened ages ago and didn't even use it. Though, none of those adventures really appeal to me. Maybe I'll take a holiday somewhere nice. There are still places I haven't seen yet." Maybe he'd go to Greece and experience Greek food there. "Have any exciting plans for Christmas? Besides avoiding mistletoe?" Grant grinned.
"I must admit I'm glad that whoever put it up isn't that sadistic as to charm it all. I imagine that could make it quite awkward for a lot of people. At least in school, no one was married, after all." And forcing someone to cheat on their spouse if they were stuck under mistletoe with someone else would be beyond cruel, in Marietta's opinion.
"I plan to have a nice quiet Christmas," Marietta admitted, as if her Christmas would be anything but, "I'll probably visit my grandfather a bit, and spend sometime in front of the fireplace roasting chestnuts and drinking cocoa. And at the risk of sounding morbid, stop by the cemetery to see my mum." It had been close to eight years since Maria Edgecombe's passing, but having grown up with just her mum, it still made the holidays quite hard, "And yes, avoiding mistletoe."
"What about you? Any big plans?"
"That sounds like a nice way to spend Christmas, even visiting your mum's grave." Grant said honestly.
"I'll probably hang out with my family. I haven't seen them since last Christmas." Grant really needed to spend more time with them. They were one of many reasons why he returned to England two years prior. "It will be a simple affair. Mostly catching up with each other." Grant told her. "Though, I won't be avoiding any mistletoe. Unless there's a bloke under it and I don't know him, I'll be avoiding at all costs."
"I think simple is nice," Marietta told him, "I always thought Christmas was about family - well, and getting pressies from Santa when I was wee, so I just don't understand making it into a huge production. If you put so much stress into getting ready, it would seem the end result might be a bit of a let down. A day with family sounds perfect to me."
Marietta gave a small grin at his plans for mistletoe. "I see you're not very discerning with who you share your kisses. Is it worth it when they're meaningless?" Maybe it was. She, doubtfully, would ever know. Even if she did eventually meet someone, she couldn't picture herself as someone who would just go off and kiss anyone. It was completely opposite her personality.
Grant nodded his head. "It was definitely about presents when we were little. Totally worth it. I can't wait to have kids and see how delighted they are on Christmas morning after Santa comes. Then it's all family time."
He laughed. "Nope. I'll kiss any girl. I don't think it's entirely meaningless. I'm doing it for the fun or a laugh. Maybe I'll come across the one. Kiss a girl and just know I want to spend the rest of my life kissing her. This could just be practice for me."
"I always wanted to have children. A big family," Marietta said a bit wistfully. It was doubtful that her dreams of lots of children and a doting husband would come true at this point in her life, but it had been what she'd wanted for as long as she could remember. As much as she loved her mum, she'd always thought if her dad had lived and they'd had more children to be brothers and sisters for her, the family would have been perfect.
"I suppose that is one way of looking at it. Practice. I'll wish you luck that you do find this woman in your search." He was nice, and she could see him being a good husband and father. It was really too bad he'd been broken up with. He deserved better.
"Big families are nice. I want a big family too." Grant told her. "Do you still want that? A big family?" He was curious that she wanted a big family but she wasn't seeing anyone. "You don't have to answer it. I know it's really personal and probably a very rude question."
A crazy idea popped into his head. Grant also spotted a bit of mistletoe nearby, just a few steps away. "Thank you, Marietta. I should probably leave you to your shopping. You were headed to the book shop? I'll walk with you. My flat's right above it."
"I still do," she said softly, then gave a wry smile, "Although I suppose I have a bit more practical thoughts about it these days. With my job, ten children is probably off the table, but eight year old me would have insisted that was my future. And no, that's not a rude question. At our age, it's probably natural to wonder what our peers want for their futures.
"I was headed to the book shop, yes. It must be wonderful to live above a bookstore. I would be buying books all the time and then I would be completely broke. And that probably would not be good."
Marietta was enjoying the conversation and had, at this point, really had stopped thinking about the mistletoe.
"I'm sure with the right bloke, you could have ten kids. Or maybe you compromise and have a few number. It's still a good outlook for the future." While Grant wanted to have a big family, but with his job he'd have to make changes and of course whatever number of kids his future wife wanted, that would be perfectly okay with him.
"I'm not much of a reader, but I do have to refrain from buying some of the language books. I could live in that section. At least it's not a bakery and making me hungry all the time," he laughed. "I don't know if I could even last a day living above a bakery."
Grant came to a stop. Right under the mistletoe. "Oh hey look. Mistletoe." He said, pointing up to the mistletoe.
"Ten seems like a much bigger number now than it did then. More than one, for sure. I always wanted a brother or sister. It's a bit lonely to be an only child." It was an easy discussion, without even sinking into the thought about how she likely had no children in her future.
"Merlin, half of my paycheck is split between Bitten, the Sugar Baron and Yogurtouille, and I don’t even live above any of them. I'd be round as a ball if I had that easy of access to sweets." As it was she had a wee bit of pudge that she was trying to fight off. But her sweet tooth was quite strong.
Marietta wasn't sure why he stopped until he pointed up. And then she went beet red. "So...so it is." He hadn't done this on purpose, had he? But it was everywhere, this could have just been an accident, except he'd stopped and...
"Yes...yes it is," she said softly, looking up at it and all of a sudden feeling extremely awkward and self conscious. Another girl would not be flustered by this, she was sure, but unfortunately, she was Marietta Edgecombe, and she looked over at Grant, unsure.
"You don't need to kiss me if you don't want to." That way, if this had been an accident, he didn't have to feel obligated to anything. That was a safe answer, right?
"I can't imagine what it must be like being an only child. I may have hated my brother and sister from time to time, but I love them dearly and can't imagine a world without them. Siblings is definitely a good thing to wish for a child." Grant commented.
"Mmm. I love going to those places. I never knew how delicious cupcakes are until I had them from Bitten. And those chaos beans at the Sugar Baron were brilliant. Well, at least it was for me." Grant tried staying away from the sweets. He didn't want to become overweight if all he did was eat sweets. He at least wanted to get married first.
Grant noticed her face turn red after he mentioned the mistletoe. He should have expected that. "I won't kiss you if you don't want me to. So just tell me and we'll just continue on and forget about the mistletoe," he told her. He didn't want to make her feel so uncomfortable if she didn't want to kiss him. Grant wanted her to feel comfortable about the whole thing.
Did this mean he wanted to? Marietta wasn't quite sure why, if so, aside from the fact that she'd been nice after his recently broken heart, but he didn't seem to make it out to be an idea that disgusted him.
Did she want this? It certainly wasn't the fairytale that the younger Marietta had expected (but then again, as a child she always thought sixteen would be the perfect time, and she was nearly twice that). But she might never have another chance and here she was being given a bit of control - an option, which, would be nicer than if someone in a mistletoe frenzy forced her into anything. And it was something she wanted to experience. Yes, he would meaninglessly go on and kiss other girls under the mistletoe, she was sure, but maybe this one would have a bit of meaning for him - even if it was only pity.
"If...if you want to, I don't mind. I mean, I'd like that, I think." Merlin, could she say anything without sounding completely awkward? She was beginning to think maybe not.
Grant smiled and leaned close to her. He lightly kissed her on the lips. After pulling away he smiled again. "That wasn't so horrible was it?" Grant had surprisingly enjoyed it. Well worth the madness of the mistletoe.
Considering she wasn't sure exactly as doing, she could have spent much longer analysing everything. But there was something almost instinctive about it, and it was quite nice indeed.
"Well, now I know why people like doing that," she said with a small smile, and a big blush which she was sure was never going to leave her face, "It wasn't horrible at all. Thank you."
But now what? "I...er...still need to do shopping." That was probably the wrong thing to say, but it was best to say something, right?
"Yes. It's quite enjoyable," Grant said with a smile. He thought she looked very adorable blushing like that. "You're welcome."
Grant nodded his head. "Oh yes, sorry. I'll let you get back to your shopping. I didn't mean to take so much of your time away from it." Grant smiled again. "I hope to see you around more, Marietta. Enjoy your shopping!"
"Yes. Yes, that would be nice." Marietta agreed. Whether or not it actually happened remained to be seen, but she was pretty sure it would be.
"Have a nice day," she told him before ducking into the bookstore. Maybe by the time she found a biography her granddad didn't have yet, she'd have regained enough composure to get this blush and silly grin off her face.