Hannah Abbott (hannah_way) wrote in witchway, @ 2008-01-22 15:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | ernie, hannah, hannah's house, quinn |
Hannah and Ernie - Trip to the Animal Shelter
Who: Hannah and Ernie, and later Quinn
When: Wednesday, January 9th, after work (two weeks ago)
Where: Ernie's office, a Muggle animal shelter, Hannah's house
What: Hannah and Ernie discuss what happened at the dinner with Quinn's parents, find something unexpected at a Muggle animal shelter, and then talk about their relationships over dinner.
Status: Complete
Hannah appeared in the doorway to Ernie's office just after five o'clock, holding a half-eaten chocolate bar in one hand. "Hi," she said, smiling at him, although her eyes were distinctly cast with tiredness and her shoulders were sagging slightly. "Did you want to go by my place to get Pierce first, or head straight to the shelters? I figure most of them will close by seven tonight, so we could get dinner afterwards."
Startled out of his work induced reverie, Ernie jumped at the sound and looked up at the door - his breathing returning to normal upon seeing Hannah. "Hannah! Hi, sorry, I'd lost track of time," he apologized, shuffling papers into various organized piles on his desk and refiling them in the drawers behind him. "Let's go to the shelter first, then maybe pick up some take out and bring it back to eat at the house?"
"That works for me," she said, leaning against the door frame to wait for him. "I thought we could go to the Muggle shelter near here first. Our shelter keeps all of the animals until we can find them homes now, but other shelters...can't."
"Wherever you want to go, we'll go," Ernie insisted, grabbing his coat from near the door and shrugging into it. "Do you have an idea of what you want? Male, female, breed? Or are you staying open?" he asked, shutting and locking the door with his wand before heading down the hall with her to the lift.
"Open, mostly." A silver ring shined on her index finger as she unwrapped her chocolate bar a little more. "Although, I think I prefer male cats, all in all, but it depends on the individual cat. Like Ramona--I love Ramona," she said, and then took a bite of the chocolate.
About to ask her if everything was alright, considering her state and the presence of a chocolate bar, Ernie was distracted by the glint of a heavy ring in the light of the lift. Reaching out he took her hand and pulled it closer to examine the design. "This is a man's ring. Why did you buy a man's ring?"
Hannah's cheeks grew hotter the longer he held her hand, staring at it. "I didn't buy it," she said. "It's...Quinn's. I was wearing his rings for him last week when he had to take them off for something, and he never took it back."
"Good quality..." he murmured, staring at it a second more before releasing her hand and shoving his own into his coat pockets. "Does he know you still have it?"
She nodded, and took another bite of her chocolate bar. "He must. I mean, it's sort of hard to miss. All the little old ladies noticed it." She made a face.
Ernie's lips twitched as the lift doors opened and released them into the Atrium. "Oh? Did they ask when Noella's dad was going to give you a proper ring instead?" he laughed.
Still blushing, Hannah laughed. "That, and told me how sweet it was that we were back together after all these years, and that they commend us for thinking of Noella. I just thanked them for the fruit basket and made an escape."
"Smart move, they don't really want to be corrected," he commented dryly, leading them through the throngs of Ministry workers trying to leave the building. "So, long day I take it? Obliviation wearing you out?"
She nodded, her expression sobering completely. "The headaches aren't as bad now, but it's the memories I have to find, they're...I almost wish that Shacklebolt hadn't made that decree about training on volunteers instead of Azkaban inmates. At least their memories wouldn't remind me of...well, I certainly haven't experienced the things I might encounter in a criminal's mind."
"Yeah, I can't imagine that's..." shaking his head, Ernie tried not to think about it. "It's all been going well though? No problems or anything?" Reaching the Apparation spot, he held out an arm to Hannah. "I don't know where the shelter is, so you should Apparate us to the closest point."
Hannah finished her chocolate bar and pitched the wrapper into a nearby bin. "No mistakes. Yet. But I'm terrified, after talking to Mr. Chambers about it...here, hold on." She took his arm and turned, popping them through space to a dark and dirty alley. "This way, I think." She led him out of the alley and down the street to the south.
"Mr. Chambers?" Brows furrowing, Ernie put a protective arm around Hannah as they walked through the alley, dropping it once they reached the street. "What does he have to do with this?"
As they walked, stopping from time to time as Hannah tried to get her bearings on the Muggle streets and find the shelter, she told him about the deal Quinn had made with his parents, and about the going to dinner and meeting Quinn's father. "It was good advice, really, but the way he said it...I never want him to remember me for that. Never. So I have to be flawless."
"Hannah, no one is ever flawless," Ernie reminded her as they turned a corner. "Even me, though I try to be less flawed than most in my career. I bet your father's even made a mistake from time to time."
An image of her father came before Hannah's eyes, tall and strong and steady, with a mind to match, at least when it came to his work. "Maybe, but I can't imagine it," she said. "I just have to be flawless for a month, anyway. Then they'll let me go back to the Squad."
"And you think they'll just let you go back to the Squad if you're the next flawless prodigy?" he pointed out, his eyebrow lifting with the question.
"They'll have to," she said, brow furrowing. "It's my real job. I've barely made any mistakes there, either. A few, certainly, but nothing completely irreversible--oh, I think that's it." She pointed to a faded sign with a cat and a dog up ahead.
"The Obliviators outrank, they can keep whoever they want," Ernie told her, giving the sign an untrustworthy glance for a moment. "Are you sure? Where are we?"
"You don't want to know," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the door, "but any cats here really need someone to love them."
Inside, the shelter was surprisingly clean but extremely worn, making Dramatic Paws look state of the art. Hannah spoke to the middle-aged woman at the front desk, and soon they were in the back room, surrounded by bare cages with just enough equipment to keep the kittens and puppies, cats and dogs healthy.
"Maybe I should take them all home," Hannah said, her eyes turning a little sad as she looked around them.
"Let's start by seeing the cats that have been here the longest," he suggested, glancing around the shop warily.
She nodded. "Good idea," she said, and started to check the dates on the cage's tags. "Anyway, that wasn't the strangest part about the dinner. I wasn't expecting Mr. Chambers to be nice to me at all."
"There were stranger parts?" he asked, backing away from a large grey cat who was hissing and spitting whenever he tried to read the tag on the cage.
Hannah drew him further down the aisle. She couldn't have a cat that hated her best friend, after all, and besides, she didn't think that a cat that angry would get along well with Ramona. "Yes. I wasn't expecting either of them to be nice to me. Mrs. Chambers...was. Well, when Quinn wasn't there."
Looking up, Ernie gave her a double take. "I thought she was awful to you? Why was she being nice to you? Does she realize that she's insane?"
"I don't know," Hannah said, sticking her finger through a cage at a ginger tabby who ignored her completely. "It was like a...like a light switch turning off and on. She was mean to me at dinner, and then Quinn went off with his father and she changed completely, and now I'm twice as confused. She said something about how the more they told Quinn not to do something, the more that he'd want it...but that could go either way. She told him not to date me, but now they're inviting me around for dinner."
"Why would she be nice to you without him around if she wanted him to break up with you? Wouldn't she be completely approving and raving about you to him?" he asked, poking at a huge, fluffy, white and grey Persian who glared at him with slitted eyes.
"Maybe, unless she knows he'd see right through it," Hannah said, giving up on the ginger tabby and moving onto a cage with four calico kittens. "He's already suspicious that she's playing some sort of mind game, and she's not unintelligent. Nuts, but intelligent. Maybe she's trying to get me to put my guard down around her."
"I think you should be careful," he warned, scratching a black and white cat under the chin with his index finger. "Be polite, but not warm, and keep your distance."
"Yeah..." Hannah said, her attention caught by a long-haired brown and white cat who started purring as soon as she came near. She stuck her finger through the bars, and the cat started rubbing its cheeks against it vigorously, almost seeming like it was trying to clean its teeth against her ring. "It's probably best not to count on her either way. And it doesn't matter anyway, because Quinn promised me he'd never leave me, even if they disinherit him."
Moving over to her side, Ernie tentatively reached a finger in to stroke the cats forehead. "That's good. Dangerous, but good. How does your family feel about him being disinherited?"
She frowned at the question, watching the friendly way the cat reacted to Ernie, and then turned around in the cage before pressing its face against the bars towards her again. Smiling a little, she scratched the cat under its chin. "Quinn said something at the ball about my dad saying that he wouldn't let Grandpa send me to Canada to live with my cousins if it happened, but they were both drunk, and I haven't brought up the possibility with anyone otherwise. I'm just hoping it won't happen. That's the whole point of going to the dinners, anyway. Not the money, but...I think it's everything else that would be hard on him if he did get disinherited."
"If you can manage to get through the courtship without him being disinherited that would be ideal. Just keep your head up, Hannah. You're brilliant and they'll figure it out sooner or later," he told her, watching as the cat opened huge orb like eyes and stared up at them.
"I hope so," she said, biting her lip before she said anything about how long that courtship could be. It was too soon to be worried about it, much less fighting about it with Quinn or trying to explain it to Ernie. Besides, she was starting to get distracted by the real matter at hand. "She seems to like us."
Enough serious talk, Ernie decided. They were here to find a cat, and that should be a happy time for Hannah. So he forced a smile and turned to the shelter worker walking a few steps behind them. "Can we see her, please?"
The woman opened the cage and let Hannah take the large cat into her arms. Hannah started to shift her around, but the cat seemed to be perfectly happy to be held on its back like a baby, because it started up at her with its huge eyes and thrummed with happiness, curling its long, fluffy tail back and forth. "She's about two years old, maybe a little less. We've been calling her Astrid, on account of her being a Norwegian Forest Cat. She's very sweet, very friendly, very playful."
"I can tell," Hannah said, her smile growing.
"How long has she been here?" Ernie asked, figuring Hannah would be too enamored to ask the technical background of the cat. "History, that sort of thing? We're looking for a cat that plays well with others."
"Yes, my boyfriend has a cat--a blind cat," Hannah said, looking up. Calling her "eyeless" tended to scare people. "She'd have to get along with her."
"She's a bit like a dog, this one," the woman said, with a smile. "Very gentle and loyal, but not possessive. I doubt she'd have a problem with her."
"Good," Ernie murmured, stroking a finger down her forehead. "Her history?" he prompted again, looking back at the woman.
"Oh, yes," the woman said. "She's been here quite awhile, actually, since last May if I remember correctly, and it's her history that puts people off. It's a bit sad, actually. The neighbor found her outside, scratching at the door. Turned out her whole family--a young couple and their two children--had all died all at once inside. It looked like there had been a bit of a struggle, but no one could find a cause of death, or where anyone could've gotten in or out. But she was outside the whole time, never went in the house again. She wasn't touched by it."
Hannah looked up at her at this, her eyes wide. "No cause of death? They just died?"
"Yes, miss. It was like their hearts just stopped."
Hannah turned to Ernie, trying to gauge if he was thinking the same thing she was.
Ernie's eyes narrowed as he studied the cat closer. Her size, the shape of her ears, the intelligence in her eyes. If her family were all killed by the Killing Curse... looking at Hannah, he nodded in two slow motions. "I think she might be a good fit for you, and for Ramona. She seems intelligent," he said, enunciating his words and hoping she caught his meaning.
Hannah nodded twice, although quicker than he did, but she hoped he'd see that they were on the same page. Then she turned to the woman and grinned. "We'll take her."
Half an hour later, they walked out onto the street, with the cat safe inside a cardboard carrier. "I wonder how many more are out there in Muggle shelters," she whispered to him. "I mean, even if she doesn't have a drop of Kneazle blood--Norwegian Forest Cats are a big breed, after all--she's one of ours, you know?"
"You can't save them all, Hannah," Ernie said slowly, starting to walk towards the alley they Apparated into. "You save what you can. Dramatic Paws is full enough as it is, you can't bring them all in."
"Mmm," Hannah said noncommittally. "Think of it, though. Krup and Kneazle blood getting into the Muggle pet population...the Ministry probably hasn't even had a chance to think of that yet. No one's paying much attention to the ones we do know about."
"They have bigger matters right now. But, maybe, if you're really worried about it, you can go around to shelters and bring animals in to Dramatic Paws -- when you have room. Don't overfill. You can say they tested positive for some virus and you run a support house," he suggested while they walked. "But a little kneazle or krup blood here or there won't hurt. Their Muggle will just think they have a very intelligent pet. Which they do."
"True, with a Kneazle, but with a Krup...well, I wouldn't want a Krup myself," she said, her mind on bigger plans than Ernie would approve of without several flowcharts to back them up. She turned into the dark, dreary alleyway, her hand resting on his wand. "Don't worry. I won't overfill the shelter. It's just something I hadn't thought of before."
Giving her a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye, Ernie hurried them to the spot, took her arm, and Disapparated them from the alley - landing in front of her Wimsic Alley house with a perfunctory pop. "Go set up the cat, I'll go get dinner. Any preferences? Not curry, ever since Padma's started making it for me take out curry just tastes... wrong, or something."
"Oh, right," Hannah said, her smile faltering a little at the thought that their usual lunch spot was a curry place. She put it back in place. They'd just have to get a new spot. "Maybe just a salad from the Green Owl? I've been eating a lot of chocolate lately."
"Sounds perfect," he said, forcing a smile when he caught the brief way hers had trembled. "I'll be right back." Pressing his cheek against hers, Ernie turned and headed down the walkway, Disapparating in midstep.
When he was gone, she let herself inside the house, letting Pierce out and then showing the cat the litter box and the food and water bowls she'd already set up that morning before letting her explore how she wished. Keeping one eye on the cat, Hannah started getting out plates, silverware and glasses to put the food on when Ernie returned.
Balancing the bag with two large salad containers in one hand, Ernie let himself into the house with the other - locking it behind him after he entered. Heading to the kitchen he held up the bag. "I figured we can find our new ethnic culinary treat, so I got a Mexicali salad and a Shanghai salad. We can see which we like better and find a restaurant," he suggested, taking the salads out of the bag and presenting them. "First, we have a spring mix, with mandarin oranges, carrots, snowpeas, peanuts, crispy wonton noodles and sprinkled with crushed red pepper and doused in an Asian peanut dressing." Holding up the Shanghai salad he moved onto the Mexicali one. "And then there's the one with romaine, tomatoes, red onion, corn, black beans, tortilla chips, cheddar, pepperjack and sprinkled with crushed red pepper and cilantro, covered in a chipotle lime vinaigrette. So," he asked, pointing to each, "pick your poison."
Hannah grinned. No one but Ernie could memorize all of that over take out. "Um...well, if it's going to be a real test, we should each of half of the two salads," she said, taking the salads from him and starting to divvy them up between the plates. "Then we can compare and--" She felt something brush against her ankle, and she looked down to see her cat rubbing against her, tail high in the air. "I think she likes it here," she said. "Oh, can you let Pierce in before we eat? I think they'll be okay together."
Unable to stop the grin which flickered across his face, Ernie took his coat off and draped it across his chair, crossing to the side door and opening it. Immediately the small dog leaped into Ernie's open arms, small pink tongue shooting out to cover his chin and cheeks with kisses and his tail wagging so hard it seemed his tiny body might break in half. "Hey boy, how are you? Glad to see me? I'm glad to see you too," Ernie laughed, forgetting for the moment that Hannah and the cat were in the kitchen watching. Pressing his lips against the side of Pierce's head, Ernie rose from the floor with the dog in one arm, turning back to Hannah and shutting the door. "Are you sure about this? Because if you're not it's okay," he forced himself to say, needing to offer her one last chance to keep Pierce.
If Hannah'd had any second thoughts about giving Pierce back to Ernie, they were gone in the face of the welcome Pierce gave to Ernie. She smiled and shook her head, although she could feel a couple of tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm completely sure about it. It's the best thing for him, and I'll be able to babysit him during the day once I'm back on the Squad."
"Here that, boy? You're coming back with me," Ernie told Pierce, holding him up in the air. "I set your place next me for you. Your favourite blanket and pillow and everything. It'll be just like old times." Grinning once more, he set Pierce on the floor, who gave him one last adoring look before becoming distracted by the cat - though he waited patiently until Ernie gave him permission to go investigate.
Crossing to the sink, Ernie scrubbed his hands thoroughly and wiped them on a dish towel before returning to the table. "What did you decide to name her? Are you going to keep Astrid, or call her something else?"
Hannah took the plates over to the table, keeping an eye on the two curious animals. So far they were behaving. "I'm not sure. Astrid is a pretty name, but I'm not sure if it suits her. And I might ask Quinn for input. He came up with a great name for Ramona." She finished setting the table and sat down across from him.
"Where did he come up with that name? Ramona... it seems pretty arbitrary. Why not Cassandra? Something referencing the blind?" he asked, picking up a fork and starting on the Mexicali.
"It is a reference," she said, stabbing at the Shanghai half of her salad. "'Ramona, come closer, shut softly your watery eyes...' It's from a Muggle song."
"Ah," he said, pausing to take a bite and swallow, "explains why I never heard it." Silent, he continued to eat his salad, watching the animals from the corner of his eye before something that had been tugging on his mind since he'd met up with Hannah forced him to look at her ring again. "Excuse me if I'm speaking out if turn," he started, looking down at his food, "but... what is it that ring symbolize? Is it supposed to be a promise of things to come, or what?"
"Oh," Hannah said, her fork pausing in the air as she looked at the ring. Her brow furrowed deeply. "I...I'm not sure it means anything. Especially since we were...disagreeing about marriage the next day." She set her fork down so that she could twist it off of her finger. It expanded to its normal size as she held it up to look at it. "He has all these rings that he always wears, so...maybe it symbolizes that he always wants a part of him with me. Or maybe just that he trusts me with his jewelry." She turned it in her hand, and after a second she laughed a little. "I'd never wear it myself if it wasn't his, but...to me, I guess it's a promise that we're together. No matter what," she finished, echoing Quinn's words from before they went to face his parents.
Ernie was silent, moving the salad around on his plate with his fork. "I was just... I was thinking. And it's probably a silly thought, but it's just an idea." Letting a breath out through his nostrils, he lifted his head up to catch Hannah's eyes. "Everyone wants me to go to India with Padma. She does, you do, her parents do, my parents do... my mother even told me to quit being a fool the other day. I looked into vacation time the other day, and I have a couple weeks in March where it would be possible to schedule a holiday. But I wouldn't feel right unless there was something... but it's too soon for engagement. We just started dating, and I'm nowhere near financially secure on my own without my parents or the family fortune to support a family. And I want to be. She deserves that..." pausing, he pierced an orange slice and held it up on his fork, studying it. "So I was thinking... would a promise ring be inappropriate? To let her know, and everyone else, what my intentions are for sure?"
Hannah was smiling before he even finished. "Of course it would," she said, slipping her own ring back onto her finger and feeling it shrink down to embrace her tightly. "Especially if it would make you feel comfortable with the idea of the trip. Have you thought about when to give it to her?"
"Well I want it to be special. And I know she gets very sentimental and dreamy whenever she speaks about visiting the Taj Mahal... so I thought about there. But is it to much for a Promise ring? Am I treating it as a bigger deal than it is? Because it's a very large step for me," he confessed, feeling his cheeks flush as he bit the orange off the fork.
She took up her fork again. "No...no, I don't think it's too much. You don't have to make a huge show of it, but...but she knows you well enough by now to appreciate how serious you are about it. It really is a big step. I mean, look how much I like this ring, and it didn't even come with a promise." She felt herself blushing, but resisted the temptation to hide it by glancing down at her Shangmexicali salad.
"I should approach her parents about this, yes?" he asked, chancing a look in her direction. "I know it isn't typical, but they should know I'm not bringing their daughter on a holiday without at least having an assurance that my intentions towards her are honourable."
"True," Hannah said, reaching for her water glass. "I...well, there's something to be said for having a promise like that be just between the two of you, but in your case I think the piece of mind that it would give you--give everyone--is worth it. Plus then they can be excited waiting to hear from her afterwards."
"It makes it seem so official, doesn't it?" he said, a touch distracted as he stared off towards the pets. "I know we've been 'official' for a few months now, but it brings a sense of finality to everything. The promise that one day, when we're both ready, we will have a proper engagement and a wedding. That this is it." Shaking his head, he slowly chewed his food, his eyes clearing as he smiled at her. "It's a good feeling."
But Hannah wasn't looking at his eyes to see that. A line creased the place between her eyebrows and she stared through the water in her glass. After a moment, she lifted her eyes to Ernie's. "What does it feel like?" she asked in a quieter tone.
Ernie's forehead furrowed as he thought about her question. "Well... it's freeing, in a way. A sense of relief, like a burden you didn't know you were carrying has been lifted. You can stop looking, stop searching, stop wondering. The admission, even if it's just to yourself, that you've found the person you are meant to spend the rest of your life with... it's like nothing else. And it's so surprising, because I've always pictured myself with a very proper British woman, who had a job at the Ministry and would make campaign speeches when I became eligible to run for Minister," with an embarrassed look at her, knowing they both knew who he was referring to, he cleared his throat and continued. "But she's none of those, and it doesn't matter in the least. In fact, I'm glad, really. She's opened me up to so many different things - a new culture, a new language, even a new way of thinking at times. And I can't imagine not having her. Knowing that, if she is agreeable to the Promise, we are both committed to having a future together, forever... the feeling can't really be described in words."
A moment before she'd been blushing, but now the blood was gone from her cheeks. In fact, it had started to drain when she'd realized that the proper British woman he'd been talking about was her. No, before that actually, but whether or not she wanted to marry Ernie, and no matter how happy she was for her two friends, it didn't help that he'd joined the ranks of everyone who didn't want to marry her. "Oh...but I...I think Quinn is the one I'm meant to be with, and that I want to be done searching, and wondering, and he says he'll never leave me...so why don't I feel any relief? Why don't I feel free?" She looked up at him, and her eyelashes grew wet when she blinked.
"Hannah..." rising from his seat, Ernie hurried over to her side and pulled out the chair near her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and bringing her into his as he had done so often when they were young and she'd hurt or upset herself. "I don't know. It's something you have to figure out, both of you, together. There's a difference between just saying the words and backing that up. That's what a ring really is, isn't? A token. Something tangible attached to your words to remind you? And maybe that's why he let you keep his ring? I don't know, Hannah, but you should talk to him."
"I did," she said, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Sort of. He told me he loves me too much to marry me. Because of his family, like what Mrs. Chambers said about the jewelry shop. He doesn't want me to have to give up my career. Which is good--it's exactly what I want, but all I hear is that he doesn't want to marry me. He offered to get me a ring, and tell everyone we were, but...it's just not the same. It's not real."
Ernie bit back all of his comments that first jumped to his tongue. She didn't need to hear his disapproval about a couple not getting married, about how her family wouldn't like this, how he knew this Chambers fellow would disappoint her. Instead he ran a hand through her hair, whispering to her that it would be all right. Everything would be fine. "It isn't you, Hannah. It's him, something is off with him. And until he figures out what that is and works out how to fix it he isn't going to want to marry anyone."
Pulling away from him, she nodded. "I know," she said, looking down between them and seeing her cat looking back up at her with wide eyes. Hannah reached down and scratched the top of her head. "That is, I know that he's not ready. And I don't know if I am or not, anyway, but...I just want to stop feeling like I have to be ready to walk away from him if it's not going to work out. I'm so afraid of him leaving, but he's right...I'm the one who keeps leaving him. I could wait forever if I just felt settled."
Ernie knew Hannah well enough after all these years to know that what she wanted right now wasn't advice, but support. True, in the past he'd usually given her the advice instead since it was the more sensible thing, but he'd been learning to be more supportive and less advisory ever since meeting Padma, and if there was a clear cut example of a situation in which to put his lessons into practice - it was this. So Ernie swallowed back his advice and just nodded. "It'll be okay, Hannah. Everything will work out," he told her, the white lie managing to come out without choking him.
She raised her gaze to meet his, and her eyes narrowed slightly. "You really think that?" she said skeptically. After all, she'd just told him a number of things that she knew couldn't possibly approve of, but...well, maybe he'd gotten to know Quinn when he helped with the house? But still, he had to disapprove of the idea of not getting married.
"I'm being supportive," he confessed, his expression bashful. "Hannah... you knew what you were getting into when you decided to date him. You knew this might be an issue. So you've either got to figure it out - or get out now. But -" he clarified, holding up a finger, "I think you should figure it out. Anyone who rebuilds your house... even if he doesn't want to get married, there's some commitment in that."
Hannah--suddenly, unexpectedly--beamed. "You approve of him," she said, and reached down to scoop up her cat when she felt a gentle tap of pinprick claw tips on her knee. "I knew you'd see that he wasn't a bad person when you got to know him."
"Let's not go overboard," he muttered, holding up his hands. "I don't think he's all bad. Doesn' mean I think he's Merlin's gift," Ernie clarified.
"A few months ago you would've told me just to get out now, not even given me the option of figuring it out," she said, capturing the cat's tail in her hand before it could unfurl over the edge of the table and into her salad. "I'm trying to--figure it out, I mean. I love him, and he makes me so happy...it seems like that should make everything easy."
"A lot of things have changed the past few months," he admitted, grudgingly, reaching over to pet that cat. "Important things are never easy. It's why they're important. If it were easy than it wouldn't matter so much to you. Like going to India, for example. It should be an easy decision for me. I care for Padma, we're both adults, and our parents are practically making the travel arrangements for us. But it's not, not to me. It's a very big deal to me. A holiday with a woman I'm not married to? A few months ago I'd have called you absurd if you told me I was even considering it. But when you care for someone..." shrugging, he looked up and caught her eyes, "you compromise. And you sacrifice."
Hannah thought about this for a moment, her eyes on the cat trying to get the most out of the two hands petting it by moving back and forth on her lap. "It's hard to compromise on marriage--you either are or you aren't. All I want is for it to feel right. If it did, I...I'd move in with him tomorrow," she said, blushing as she glanced up at Ernie, "and leave the future to itself, as long as he was in mine. But I suppose there's a good reason that doesn't feel right." She gave him a sheepish smile. "But Ernie--I'm really, really thrilled that you're going to do this with Padma--the trip, the ring, everything. You're going to be so happy."
Ernie tried very very hard to hide his horrified expression at the idea of Hannah living - unmarried - with her delinquent musician boyriend who didn't want to get married. He even managed to force a smile. Even though it probably made him look as if he were trying not to be sick. "Yes, well, that's a decision you have to come to yourself. Just give it time," he said valiantly, patting her hand with his, though he brightened when he answered the second part of her comment. "I think I will be too. Do you know how fascinating sign language is? A whole way of talking without saying a word. It's brilliant, really. Almost as if we have our own way of talking. It's brilliant."
"I'm so glad that worked out for you," Hannah said, trying to focus on her friends' happiness instead of the way Ernie had reacted to the idea of her living with Quinn. "Do you think you could teach me to sign a few things to her? As long as it doesn't encroach on it being special to the two of you."
"Sure!" he agreed, the part of him that always wanted to enrich the education of others brightening at the prospect of showing off his newly acquired skills. "What were you wanting to say?"
"Um...well, how about 'hello' for a start?" she said, turning toward him a little more so she could see what he was doing properly. "'Hello' and 'How are you?'"
"Those are easy," he stated, showing each with a few quick movements, his wrists flicking expertly as if he'd been signing all his life.
She watched carefully, and then tried to mimic the signs. "Is that close?"
"Make sure you interlock your fingers. That's 'how,'" he explained. "lt's 'how,'" he did the sign again, both palms up, fingers slightly curled, moving them together to interlock his fingers, "and 'you.'" Finishing, he pointed at Hannah.
Hannah repeated the motions until Ernie seemed satisfied, and then a few more times for good measure. "Okay...how about 'You look pretty today.'" Padma was a beautiful girl after all, with elegant taste in clothes, so that would be useful almost any time they met.
Circling his face with his index finger, the sign for pretty, he moved into the other signs in a precise manner, executing each cleanly so Hannah could catch all the intricate pointing and flicks that went with the language, also paying special care to his facial expressions which were a large part as well.
This series of signs took Hannah a little longer to master, and she made Ernie repeat his demonstration twice before she finally got it. "Is that better?" she said, trying it one more time.
"You're doing fine," he assured her. "Just match your facial expressions to your words. Like you would if you were speaking." Finishing up his salad, he pushed his plate to the side and held his hand down to get Pierce's attention. "So which did you like better? Mexican or Chinese?"
"Chinese, I think," Hannah said. Her salad was still only half finished. Every time she tried to stop petting the cat in her lap, the cat reached up and touched her gently with it's paw.
"I think I might agree. I'm quite partial to the oranges," he admitted, using his fork to steal one of hers.
"Me too," she said, picking up her fork again before he got all of hers. "And Cho's dad is reopening his restaurant, and he's a brilliant cook. That saves us from having to search up and down London for the best place."
"Wok and Roll, yes?" he asked, trying to remember what Cho had said the name was.
She nodded. "That's what everyone voted for. Except Cho."
"Well we'll have to go to the grand opening," Ernie decided, standing up and placing the dishes in the sink. "I should probably get going."
"All right," she said, flicking her wand toward the sink and sending the glasses there as well, where the sponges started soaping everything up. "I should probably see if Quinn wants to meet the cat." She looked down to the floor and spotted Pierce, her smile turning sad as she picked him up. "I'll see you soon, I promise," she told him, petting his forehead.
"You can visit whenever you want," Ernie assured her, waiting patiently for the two to say their goodbyes. "And you'll look after him when I go to India, won't you?"
"Of course," Hannah said, smiling at the thought. She handed Pierce to Ernie. It would be easier to hold her tears back until they were gone if she just let them go. "Especially since we already know he gets along with the cats."
Tucking Pierce into his coat where he'd be warm, Ernie leaned forward to take both of Hannah's hands in his - bringing her closer so he could kiss her cheek. "You'll let me know... if you ever need to talk about an of this, right? I promise not to lecture. Or I promise to try not to lecture, sometimes I can't help it."
Her smile faded. "I'd fully expect a lecture for some things I'm contemplating," she said, remembering his tortured smile earlier. "But...I sort of need that. So many people tell you that you should do whatever makes you happy, but they don't get that you have to feel like you're doing the right thing or you're not really going to be happy. Or, at least I do. So if I need a lecture...lecture me. I'm counting on you for that."
"If you need a lecture I'm the best person for the job, really," Ernie confessed, forcing a laugh. "I'll keep you updated on India if you keep me... with this."
"Deal," she said, returning his kiss on the cheek, and then she led the way to the door and unlocked it, pausing with one hand on the doorknob to scratch Pierce's forehead. "Thank you for coming with me today."
"Of course, I hope she works out for you. You seem like a good fit," he remarked, fastening his coat so Pierce was secure and warm. "Until next time." With a final smile, Ernie exited the house and headed down the walkway, Disapparating once he'd reached the end with a barely audible pop.