All You Wish For and All You Need

Marcus lay in the hot sunlight, his skin warm but still pale white. His head rested on one of his hands, whilst with the other he held Anne’s hand. They lay together in the playground near Marcus’ house.

Anne and her family had come back from their holiday to the Caribbean only the day before and her skin was a golden brown. Marcus opened his eyes and turned his head to look at her. Today was the first time he had seen her since the end of their fifth year at Hogwarts.

He had spent the holidays thinking only of her and Harry Potter. He couldn’t get a moments rest from either of them. They were combined in his every thought, their faces entwining into a horrible mash of opposing forces.

Marcus closed his eyes and turned his head away from Anne. It had somewhat abated since her return. Now he could see her as Anne, instead of a composition of her and the man he hated.

Anne’s closed eyelids flickered as a gentle breeze blew around them. She inhaled deeply and sighed contentedly. Marcus let go of her hand and rolled onto his stomach. When Anne opened her eyes, his face was mere inches away from hers. A small smile spread her lips.

She had thought of Marcus every day during the holidays. Admittedly he was not in her every thought, but when she did think about him her heart would skip a beat and the butterflies in her stomach would come out to dance. Her legs would turn to jelly and sometimes she would fall over from merely thinking about him.

She had been craving the sight of him. She didn’t even have a picture of him that she could take with her. Anne remembered how he used to make her feel. It hadn’t changed much, apart from the fact that she wasn’t terrified for her life every moment that she was with him. Now, she felt utterly safe when she was with him, like nothing would ever hurt them.

Her smile widened as he leant closer to her, letting his breath brush over her neck. Anne bit her lip as Marcus gently kissed the hollow of her neck. Her breathing became shallow as his lips moved up towards her chin.

His flat black eyes met hers as he lowered his lips to hers. He didn’t break eye contact as they kissed. Anne couldn’t pull her eyes away, she was almost mesmerised by them, they drew her in and she was unable to escape. But at the same time, she knew that if it were in her power to pull away, she wouldn’t. She was caught up in him in a way that she thought would never be possible.

Marcus watched the way her eyes sparkled even when they weren’t moving. He watched the way her nose twitched slightly as she breathed in. Anne closed her eyes as Marcus’ fingers trailed through her hair. She wanted to speak to him, to say what was on her mind. But like him, she was stuck for words. They ran around in her mind, but when her lips moved to form them, they left her.

“Did you miss me?” she mumbled into his neck.

Marcus pulled away from her, “What?” he asked quietly.

Anne cleared her throat, “Did you miss me?” she repeated her question, her voice quavering slightly and she looked away from his probing eyes.

Marcus studied her expression. She bit her lip as she waited for a response; every moment that passed she became tenser beneath him.

Marcus sighed lightly and kissed her neck again. Anne pushed against his chest and wriggled away from him.

“Did you miss me?” she asked for the third time.

Marcus exhaled sharply and stood. He walked away ten paces and then turned to face her. Anne blinked rapidly to prevent the tears from spilling over. She had ruined everything with one simple question. With those four words he had turned away from her. But she had needed to say them. Without words between them there could be nothing. She had to feel that she was able to speak with him, hold an actual conversation with him.

Marcus watched her as she quivered slightly. He looked away and then back towards her. He wanted to tell her that he had missed her, because that was the truth. But there was something inside of him that prevented the words from spilling out.

He walked back to Anne and sat beside her, gathering her into his arms. He kissed her cheek gently and whispered “Yes, I missed you more than you can imagine.”