On the steps of the Magical Municipal Museum Since the picnic on the office floor the night they had been working late, Barnabus felt he was hyper-aware of Delphine’s presence. Of course, he had always been considerate of her, and for a long time captivated by her, but now it had reached the point where it physically hurt, to have her sitting just a few feet from his office but feeling so far out of reach. He was glad that he had not acted upon his feelings that night. as he still felt that it would have been improper. She had been there helping him with his work. It would have been an abuse of his position. Here, in this building, she did as he bid her. For all that he spoke politely, for all that he took her to lunch, here she was obliged to do what he asked. It was a confusing note on which to found a relationship. But now, he had to do something.
The. day drifted by in a haze of limited focus, of quills twirled between fingers, and of documents looked at but not taken in. At five thirty, he gave up his pretence of work, walked out of the office, past her desk where she was packing up. He hoped that she couldn’t see his hands shaking as he took their coats from their pegs.
“What are your plans for the weekend?” he asked as casually as he could.
“Oh, nothing much. Perhaps have lunch with my sister. You?”
“I thought I might go to the Magical Municipal Museum. You'd be very welcome to join me. Though you're not obliged to, of course. It's not a work thing, obviously.”
“I'd like that very much.”
Leaping up and punching the air seemed like a reasonable, if not very dignified, response. However, he managed to control the impulse.
*
Sunday dawned bright and clear, and he met Delphine at the apparation point nearest the museum (it was a security feature of the museum that one could not apparate or disapparate directly into it). They walked along to the entrance through an old antiques shop, which led onto a large square which housed many of Chicago’s magical museums, up to the mock-Roman frontage of the Magical Municipal Museum.
“Is there anything in particular you’d like to see?” Barnabus asked.
“What’s your favourite part?” she asked.
“I have three favourite objects, and a favourite room….” he pondered, eyes roving around the entrance hall, the possible routes of the familiar place clearly being mapped out and weighed up, eyes shining with excitement at the possibilities. “Let’s do the room first,” he decided, reaching out and taking her arm to lead her before he quite realised what he was doing. “Is… is this ok?” he added.
“Perfectly,” she smiled, not sure whether he meant his choice of itinerary or that fact he was touching her in such a friendly way, but really not objecting to either.
“It’s the story of… of everything else that’s here, this room. How we discovered things. How we classified them… There’s this fantastic- no, let’s start at the beginning,” he decided, drawing her up to the top of the long thin gallery. The room itself was wondrous to behold, from the marble floor to the ornately plastered ceiling.
“Walk clockwise around the case,” Barnabus instructed her. Delphine did as she was instructed. The inscription at the start of the case explained that it was an exhibition of pottery crafting techniques over time. She peered in at the various vases, plates and ornaments, reading about the charms that had been developed to decorate them over time. Barnabus hung over her shoulder, half reading, enjoying seeing his favouites again, but also watching her.
“Now counterclockwise,” he directed her, as did the panel on the case. Delphine began to walk the other way, and suddenly the objects had rearranged themselves into quite a different story. China from vastly different eras were now grouped together, based on the art they displayed, the evolution of how different aspects of wizarding life were depicted - what was the standard of a beautiful witch, what was considered light and dark magic, the ways that flying or casting charms was depicted in different eras.
“Very clever,” she smiled at Barnabus, who seemed to be waiting eagerly for some kind of reaction from her, before she moved onto the next case, which dealt in a similar way, with magical creatures, exploring their classification both according to the British ministry standards of how much danger they posed to wizard kind, versus breaking them down into related groups, or other categorisations, such as the functions they served in wizarding society.
Having examined the room in detail, it was approaching lunchtime as they left, so Barnabus led Delphine out, planning to head to the courtyard, where there was a cafe.
“I always liked that room as a child. It made me think about being an explorer, discovering new things. Getting to decide what they meant.”
“Depending on whether you’re more interested in the glazing techniques or the stories they tell,” she added with a smile. “Each item can fit into so many groups, or fields of study.”
“Yes! Exactly! I knew you’d get it,” he beamed, and she realised that he had been waiting for that reaction from her.
“Is this a test or a- an outing?” she faltered.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… I just wanted to know what you thought. I’ve been here so many times, and I didn’t want to spoon feed you my opinions about it all-”
“I’m only teasing,” she smiled, squeezing his hand. “I like when you talk like this to me. Like I’m smart.”
“Delphine,” they had reached the museum steps now and paused. He could not let that remark go unchallenged. And there were so many other things he wanted her to say. To know what she thought of him.. He tried not to imagine that she might not feel the same way, which hurt so badly in itself, and which also presented the dilemma of what would happen next… Would he have to see her and suffer the embarrassment of it every day, or would she find it insupportable to be in the same office as him? She was holding his hand… Surely she wouldn’t be doing that if she didn’t feel… He took both her hands, facing her. “You are smart. And beautiful. And determined. Whenever I compliment you, you seek to diminish it. But truly, I have come to admire you very greatly. Delphine, how would you feel about us becoming an item?”
She had known what he was going to say before he said it, just from the way he was looking at her. And he knew, from the way she was looking back, what she would say.
“I would like that very much.”
The sunlight shone down onto them, as they stood poised on the steps of the museum, as he leant down and she raised herself slightly onto the balls of her feet, and the rest of the world faded away, as they kissed.