Day 2: 2 pm meeting

(OOC: This would have happened before Christmas Break)

Ana frowned into her coffee mug before taking a gulp of it. Day two of the Hogwarts meetings had yet to draw to a close, though she desperately wished it had. After a much-needed (and, she thought, much deserved) lunch break – where she pointedly avoided Professor Hayes and kept to herself (it was easier that way). - Ana reluctantly returned to the second floor office she had been assigned to await the next round of trouble that was headed her way. At the very least, she told herself, there was a promise of change in the future. And that was all she could really ask for.

Two o'clock rolled around, marking the time she was to expect the next two students. Two Ravenclaws had been matched together, and Ana could only hope that between the two of them there was enough sense to accept what was happening without any major fighting. Then again, the only time that had actually happened had been with a couple Durmstrang Graduates, as well as Professor Hayes and his Gryffindor match. If she was reading this right, one of the students coming in that day was related to the Durmstrang set (who, apparently, had already gone about getting married. At least someone was doing something right these days.)

Ana had quickly learned, in these meetings, not to judge people based on house or school. She had been surprised one too many times.

All she could do, of course, was wait for one of them to show up. So she pulled out their file, glanced through it, and hoped that the meeting would be shorter than the others had been. Ana could definitely use a little down time in between, judging by how strangely things had gone that morning.

Trisha's studying had been cut off by a tap at her dormitory window. When she lifted the window and took the note the owl offered, Tris frowned before sinking onto her bed, all thoughts of getting work done that night having been flitted away with the owl as it departed. Pushing her curls out of her face, she sighed and read the letter over and over. The time had come.

That next day, her thoughts were consumed with questions about the meeting, wondering who she would see there and if they would get along or even if they would know each other. At that point, all she wanted was to get it over with. So her day felt far too long and far too worrisome. Lunch was hard to actually sit through, glancing around the hall for signs of other frightened students. There were a couple here and there, even a few at her table, but she couldn't figure which boy she would walk in and sit next to.

Feet scuffling down the hallway, Trisha found the office mentioned in the letter, clutching the parchment to her chest in fear before her gaze flicked over the length of the hallway, searching out anyone who would show up at either end. She was rather early, though, so she figured it would be weird if anyone was actually there yet. Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair before pushing the door open after a knock, peering into the office.

“Good morning, Miss Bates.” Ana greeted lightly, before she gestured to a chair. No one else was there yet. “Please, have a seat.”

Tris nodded slowly before walking in, leaving the door open behind her and sat down. “Morning..” She replied quietly, glancing over her shoulder at the door a few times.

Caspian would normally be the type of person who just went along with whatever was going on. He was usually very passive when it came to most things. And this time everyone had expected it to be the same. But it wasn't, not really. Cass was freaking out. Externally, he seemed fine, but internally he was a mess. He didn't know what to expect from all of this. He didn't even know if he knew his match.

His parents weren't happy about this either. They, especially his mother, wanted him to marry another pureblood. Caspian didn't really care about that, but it didn't really matter since he didn't have much of a choice anyways. So in a way he was glad about this marriage law. It was something that contradicted what his parents wanted and though he didn't like being forced to marry, it was amusing to see them angry about it.

He'd received his letter that morning and once it was time to go, Caspian got up from where he was seated with Nathan and sighed. "Wish me luck." He glanced at his best friend and Nate smirked. "Good luck. You'll need it." He replied before Caspian walked away toward the Guidance Office. "I wish there were a way to avoid this, like just skip it." He murmured to himself as he approached the office.

He knocked on the door before entering and saying, "Good morning.." His gaze moved immediately to the girl who he assumed was his match. He'd seen her around the common room before, which was good she was a Ravenclaw like him, but he felt like he'd seen her elsewhere before. Caspian moved to the chair beside hers and stood behind it with his hands grasping the sides.

The door opened again, making Ana look up and Tris stiffen. She wasn't ready for this. At all. Looking around, Trisha was surprised to see another Ravenclaw looking back at her. He looked massively familiar – maybe he knew Baldric or Nathan? She had a feeling she was right, but didn't say anything in greeting, instead just offering a slight nod.

“Morning, Mr. Ivanov,” Ana replied, looking between the two students. Caspian was gripping the chair like it would be stolen out from under him while Trisha couldn't seem to stop playing with the fabric of her skirt. Probably in an attempt to keep from having to make eye contact. Ana had never seen two people so massively shy, even in these meetings. It was a bit unnerving, if she was being honest.

“Would you like to take a seat? Get comfortable?” She suggested after a moment, gesturing to the char he was standing behind. Tris glanced over, not having realized he hadn't sat down.

Suddenly, Trisha flushed bright red, turning to look at Ana's desk. He must have been expecting someone else. That or he just didn't want her. That was equally traumatizing. If that was the case, why wouldn't he just say as much and put her out of her misery? Let her be rematched? Her brothers would never let her live this down. And Hayley would threaten the guy's life. The thought made her smile to herself.

Ana waited for Caspian to choose if he was sitting or standing before continuing. “Alright, Trisha. Caspian. Clearly, you know why you are here. Today we need to talk about the next few weeks, administer a fertility test-” Trisha practically choked, but Ana kept going, “-for both of you, and then go over any questions you might have.” She glanced at Tris for a moment, who shrank under the woman's gaze. Ana sighed and leaned back in her chair. “So, the run down for the next few weeks: You'll be given two weeks to get to know each other before you need to have some sort of the plan started for the wedding. By the end of the fourth week, you should have completed the ceremony and be married. After that, you'll have a follow up meeting or two if necessary, but we hope that you will get on well enough not to need those.”

Tris glanced at her match, whose name she had barely caught at the beginning of the speech which was clearly rehearsed. It seemed like Ana didn't like having to give it every hour, but Tris couldn't exactly feel sorry for her.

“Do you have any questions about the timeline? Or concerns in general?” Ana added. Tris shook her head, trying to think over things she could ask. Currently, she was so panicked by the idea of a test being administered on her by Mrs. Levski that she couldn't think.

The girl seemed like she was really uncomfortable with this entire thing and Caspian couldn't blame her really. He was freaking out on the inside about all this but he was trying his best to seemed normal, mostly for her sake than for his own. It was odd though, that he was trying to be so calm for a girl he didn't even know.

Well that wasn't entirely true. Even though he couldn't remember where, besides the common room, he had definitely seen this girl before somewhere. She had to know one of his friends and he had just been oblivious to it from the start. Maybe he'd seen her at Nathan's house once? He sighed and nodded when Ana asked if he wanted to take a seat.

The boy cleared his throat and set himself on the chair quickly. He side glanced at Tris for a moment, trying to remember where else he'd seen her before he looked at Ana as she spoke. He secretly prayed for all this to be over soon so he could go back to Nathan and tell him what happened so he'd be prepared for his meeting which was undoubtedly soon.

At the end of her discourse, Caspian shook his head and said, "I don't think any of this will be a problem. We can surely get along." with a slight smile toward Tris, before he allowed the woman to continue. The easiest thing to do right now was to go with whatever she said and not fight back. That would only cause problems for him and the girl seated next to him. Don't argue with her. It'll only make things worse. He said to himself as he waited for her to continue.

When Trisha didn’t produce any questions or bring up any issues, Ana looked to Caspian. He seemed to be taking things surprisingly well, though she couldn’t say the redhead wasn’t going along with things well enough. Nodding slowly, she glanced between the two students in case any sudden questions showed up. When neither spoke again, she nodded again, more firmly.

“Alright. If you come up with anything, stop me.” She said, before continuing with anything she thought she might need to tell them. “The Ministry won’t be in charge of your wedding plans, so you’re free to have whatever sort of ceremony you like provided you have one in the specified time range. Today, we really only need to take those tests. I can tell you what gender your first child will be, if you like.”

Tris blanched but said nothing, staring at the floor. She was definitely not prepared for this, Ana mused. The girl didn’t seem the type to have been too invested in guys over school. But at least Caspian had spoken, when Trisha was silent. Ana wondered briefly which of these particularly shy students would wear the pants in the relationship. Pushing the smile away, Ana sent the thought to the back of her mind and stood.

“Miss Bates, if you would stand, we can go through with the test.”

Trisha’s face fell. She hadn’t registered that her last name hadn’t been provided in Ana’s initial greeting to the both of them. Of course. Now the bloke would know who she was, if he’d failed to catch on before. ’Spirit Girl’. How lovely. She stood, regardless, and moved to place herself in front of Mrs. Levski.

The woman lifted her wand, passing it through the air in front of Trisha’s torso. The air was suddenly colored, the tones changing in patterns Tris didn’t understand. Ana smiled, clearly pleased, before she looked up at Trisha. “You’re going to be just fine.” She provided, by way of answer.

Turning to Caspian, Ana gestured that he should stand even as Trisha was moving back to her seat and clasping her hands in her lap to keep from fidgeting. “Your turn,” she started, leaning back against the edge of the desk. “Would either of you want to know what gender to expect?”

Something suddenly clicked in his mind when her last name was said. Now he knew who she was and where he'd seen her before. She was at Nathan's house during the summer, the day when everyone met up there. He also remembered her reputation and name of 'Spirit Girl' but that didn't bother him.

He was sure she would assume something about him if he remembered who she was by her nickname. Caspian didn't like to judge though, and he never really understood why people made fun of her the way they did. Being around ghosts and all those spectral beings was something Caspian always thought of as being cool and interesting.

He watched silently as Ana performed the test on Tris and he took a deep breath when she said it was his turn. The boy rose from his seat and walked over to the woman as Tris went back to her seat. He really hoped that he didn't have any problem that would make things awkward or embarrassing for both of them.

He had to admit that he was curious as to what the gender of his first child would be, but he wasn't sure if he should answer yes to Ana's question. He wanted to be surprised but at the same time he really did want to know. He glanced at Tris and decided that he would let her choose first. If she wanted to know, then he would ask too. If she didn't, then he would wait until they actually had the child to find out.

Ana looked over at Trisha after the Ivanov boy had done so, going with his decision to ask her rather than choosing himself. The redhead looked almost taken aback by his wanting her opinion. Ana guessed that Miss Bates was more likely to expect the boy to take control of the situation if not to play the role of the pants in their relationship. That would be interesting to look into later, she decided.

Finally, the girl nodded subtly before adding, "I-It would be nice to know." Trisha swallowed hard, eyes searching Caspian's for any sign of approval. Ana didn't wait, though, passing her wand in front of him and eyeing the colors.

"You're perfectly healthy, Mr. Ivanov," Ana said, disregarding Trisha's continuing blush at the whole situation, "And you should expect a girl." She added that last bit with a small smile, gesturing for Caspian to return to his seat next to Tris.

From her perch on the edge of the desk, Ana looked between the two. "On the assumption that neither of you wishes to spend time in Azkaban, I take it that this will go smoothly and you both will go along with the law?"

Tris nodded immediately, far too afraid of being arrested or sent to deal with the dementors to even consider going against the Ministry. Her gaze flashed to Caspian's, blue eyes searching out his response. If he said no, would she get in trouble, too? That didn't seem like something he would do. Though she knew little of him, he hardly seemed the type to get anyone else into trouble. Especially if it meant his getting chided as well.

Regardless of Trisha's fear of this whole situation - not to mention her paralyzing fear of having to carry and have children - there was no getting out of it that she could see. She would sooner marry someone she didn't love than be sent to Azkaban. Her pain tolerance level was embarrassingly low - hence her avoiding Quidditch. It also explained her avoiding any dealings with boys. The idea of rejection wasn't one she took well to. Thus, when the realization that he could say no - that he could back out at any point - actually hit, Tris practically shut down.

Curling her arms around herself, she just prayed that the meeting would end soon and she could escape. Maybe Caspian would let her have time to herself. It probably wasn't wise, though, she reminded herself. Time alone meant time to think, and time to think meant panicking and convincing herself that he couldn't ever want her the way the marriage law said he should. It wasn't the first time Trisha had pondered the possibility that she would end up alone, and it wouldn't be the last. But at least with the law she had someone to go through it all with her. Even if he didn't really want to.

Caspian smiled in response to Tris’ reply to Ana’s question. Although he wanted to know what the gender of his first child, he was a little worried about it. He didn’t have that much of a preference but sometimes he wished he’d have a girl before a boy. With his way of thinking it was just because he mostly had brothers and he never had a sister to interact with much. Of course, if they had the girl first he wouldn’t want her to be an only child because he thought that would be too lonely for her, so they’d have to have another child.

When his thought processed in his mind he blushed and Ana announced that they should expect to have a girl. He tried to cover his blush for a few moments before he decided it wasn’t really worth it and he smiled at Tris. Though she wasn’t the girl he expected to be married and have children with; to form a family with, he really didn’t mind it at all. He only hoped she wouldn’t end up not wanting to be with him. Of course he couldn’t and wouldn’t stop her if she decided that she would rather be paired with someone else, or go to Azkaban.

Caspian didn’t have any objections to anything happening, or anything that was going to happen with him and Tris, so he nodded in response to Ana’s question. He glanced at Tris, who had also nodded and he figured she did it because she didn’t want to get in trouble if she said no. The Ravenclaw boy nodded because even though he didn’t agree with the law, he figured it was best to stay out of trouble, not that he minded going to Azkaban if she didn’t want to marry him or anything. But he also didn’t want to risk getting her in trouble also if he decided that he didn’t want to marry her.

He wondered what else was supposed to happen now. “Is there anything else we need to do?” he suddenly inquired, after looking to Tris who seemed to be uncomfortable still. He thought she probably wanted the meeting to end and she wanted to leave, just like he did. But he also just wanted to know if there was anything else that they needed to do before she let them go.

His mind was having a little bit of trouble processing everything that had just occurred though. He had just found out who he was supposed to marry, that he was supposed to have children, and the gender of his first child with Trisha. He wondered if anyone would tease them about it, because of her reputation as Spirit Girl. He immediately decided that he wasn’t going to allow any of it.

He knew that even though she might be used to it already, she definitely did not like being called that name. Caspian always hated when someone was called names, even if they didn’t mind it. He looked at Tris and opened his mouth to say something but he caught himself and closed his mouth. He felt like he needed to speak with her but he wasn’t going to do it until they were out of the meeting, whenever she felt like speaking to him. He didn’t want to seem pushy if he asked to speak to her and she didn’t want to.

Capsian’s smile was strangely reassuring in the moment, because Trisha could make understand his accepting their fate as well. But that didn’t mean he was pleased, or wanted to have children with her, or actually wanted to get to know her. The idea of being married to someone she didn’t know or love made a chill run up her spine but she kept that to herself. No need to put pressure on the poor guy getting trapped in this law with her.

As he returned to his seat, Tris felt a completely bizarre urge to reach for his hand, but decided that she was being weird and tried to keep still. Worse than being stuck with someone you didn’t want was being approached, or having your shoulder or hand grabbed, by someone you weren’t even friends with nonetheless someone you didn’t like or want around. She had no idea how to act around guys – especially not ones she was meant to be in a relationship with – the need for either had failed to come about. Hayley would have to deal with Tris’s letters coming rapidly for the next few weeks – or maybe even months. At least her sister would know what was going on, Tris hoped.

Ana shook her head at Caspian’s question, clearly ready to dismiss them. “Unless you have another question, Trisha, I daresay you two are done here.”

Tris shook her head, pulling her bottom lip into her mouth to worry it as Ana continued. “Then you two are good to go. We’ll be looking to hear about the wedding in the next few weeks.”

The thought made Trisha’s mouth fall into a frown, but she stood and glanced warily at Caspian before making her way towards the door. They needed to have a talk. She had to explain that she was grateful, but also that she was sorry for his getting stuck with her. Now he would have to deal with her reputation as much as she would, and that simply wouldn’t do. After passing through the door and making her way into the hall, Trisha turned to wait for Caspian, hoping he would be willing to go somewhere and talk.

“Um,” she attempted, pushing her rather frustrating curls out of her face, “could we maybe take a walk and think through all of this?” She glanced up at him, offering what she hoped was a friendly expression. “You probably have some questions about my family and, um, my nickname.” Her tone implied air quotations around the word ‘nickname’, though she didn’t actually manage to make her fingers lift and create the shape in the air. She was too afraid he would correct her, explaining that he already knew and thought they were all crazy. Tapping her heels together anxiously, Tris just waited and hoped he said yes.