Part Seven

Winter dwindled on as January started off with a decent amount of snow and freezing conditions.

Ailene took advantage of the fact that she was on holiday, so she would often leave her crazy building and get some fresh air by taking a walk through London. She was particularly fond of the snow, even if winter wasn't her favorite season. She'd catch up with old friends, shopping for new dresses and shoes.

The first Saturday in January, Marden paid a visit. Though they never revisited the topic of discussion on Christmas day, it weighed heavily on both of their minds. Marden would lie awake at night, thinking about her, their situation, and the fact that, at least to him, they were dancing around their true feelings for one another. It was so much easier to kiss and rub on each other than to truly speak their minds. But Marden had a much heavier secret.

She let him in right at 12:30, seeing as she wasn't at the café as he walked by. Marden greeted her by leaning in and pecking her lips. She made him coffee and he sat down at her sofa, toying with her radio.

She sat down with him, his coffee black, hers with cream and sugar. Ailene watched him fiddle with her radio, trying to find a station that played some relaxing music.

"Can I ask you something?" Ailene piped up. Marden nodded, his attention not breaking from the needle over the notches in the station as it moved.

"Are we...um...what are we?"

Marden paused and turned his head to look at her. "What do you mean?'

"Well, I don't know. Are we, are we dating?" She asked him, feeling rather good in finally asking that question. "I'm sorry, I just...I would like to know where we are going, I would like to be with you." She said softly, laying it on him easy.

For a long time, Marden sat in silence, looking off into space, his brow furrowed. Then he stood, walking towards the window, his hands at his hips.

"Look...I think it's time I tell you the truth." He said with a grave voice.

Ailene sat, even more confused then before.

"And I'm telling you because..." He started, walking over and pulling her to her feet by her hands. "I've..." He choked on his own words, shaking his head to try and get them unstuck.

"There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about you, that I don't long to be with you. You've changed everything, you've changed my life."

Ailene was shocked, she'd have thought that she would be the one to say these things first, not him.

"And that's why you deserve to know the truth. You deserve to know everything."

"What truth...?" She asked him, again in a whisper.

His mouth opened, but nothing came out. How was he supposed to tell her?

He took another big breath, gathering all of his courage and strength.

"I'm a Wizard."

Ailene's face went straight, and she was silent for a few long moments. "A what?"

"A Wizard."

"L-like a magician?"

"No..." Marden turned away from her and rubbed his eyes.

"I can do magic, I'm part of a society of people who can perform magic..."

Ailene was rooted on the spot. She's never heard of such a thing in her life.

"So... you pull rabbits out of your hat and can make things disappear?" She asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"No, God no! We don't do any of that Muggle stuff."

"Muggle?"

"It's what you are."

Ailene's eyes widened. "What I am?" She looked dumbfounded, unsure of whether that was meant to be an insult or not.

Marden walked back over to her. "There's two societies in the world, people who can't do magic, or Muggles, which is what you are. And then there are Wizards and Witches, which is what I am. Muggles aren't allowed to know that Wizards exist, it's against the law. But I-" He stopped himself. "It was time you knew the truth, you deserve to know."

"So you don't work for an insurance company?" She asked. "You lied to me."

"I had to, if I told you the truth I'd be in Azkaban, or have a black eye."

"In a what?"

"Prison...I'd be in prison. The Statute of Secrecy is one of the highest laws in the Wizarding World. It's basically like treason." He drew his wand out of his pocket, and Ailene took a step back.

How does this always happen to her? "I had such faith that you weren't a lunatic..." She stared at him dejectedly, her shoulders dropping to her as she stepped away from him.

"No...I'm not a lunatic." He gripped his wand, knowing that if he drew any incantation that he would be in trouble for doing magic in front of a Muggle...again.

He scratched his head. "Look...I can show you...but you have to trust me. And you have to make sure that you follow my lead, understand?"

"No...no. You need to leave; you need to leave right now..." Ailene took a few more steps back, her voice firm. "Leave and don't come back..."

"Ailene...please." He said to her, taking steps forward as she withdrew. He feared above all else that this would happen.

She then bolted for her telephone on her counter top. She began to spin-dial the police when the phone shot out of her hands and crashed against the wall next to her, ripping wires out of the drywall. She screamed as it happened, but she wasn't hurt. She turned to Marden, his wand raised and his eyes wide. Shit. Now he'd done it.

"What the hell did you just do?!" She shrieked, looking at the busted phone on the floor before turning back to him.

His chest rose and fell rapidly. "Magic..." He answered, waving his wand slightly. "I'm not lying to you this time, and I'm not crazy..."

He walked over to her, she shaking and cowering. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders.

"How did that drunk fly from your table to the counter top? He didn't fall."

She looked at him, in complete shock, unable to process the thoughts or words.

"Where d'you think I got those golden coins from? Why Owls follow me? Things haven't been making sense to you, have they?"

Ailene furrowed her brow at him this time, thinking back to all of the strange things that were happening as a result of him. From things that he mentioned to the strange men after the drunken incident, his sister suddenly popping up out of nowhere. It all started to piece together in her mind, even if she didn't want to believe it did.

Everything in her life leading up to meeting Marden were strange-free.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I promise you...you deserve to know the truth." He whispered to her. Ailene's mind was spinning, she felt absolutely sick to her stomach.

He tried to pull her in for a hug, but she was not reciprocating. "I-I don't know what to think."

Marden looked at her, defeated. He nodded his head and stood, walking over to the window and opening it. He seemed to wave his wand in the air, and in only a few minutes, a large grey owl swooped in and landed on the windowsill.

Ailene moved away from the wall and took a couple of steps towards them. Marden placed the owl on the back of one of Ailene's dining chairs.

"When you're ready to talk to me again, just write me a letter and give it to him. He'll know where to find me." Marden walked and grabbed his robe, pulling it over his shoulders.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to her, and as always, he was gone.