15 July '77: The Best of Times: Ana

[Hestia Jones]

15 July 1977

Sprawled across the bed of her best friend, Hestia was content. Summer vacation from school was going just as wonderful as ever. The early part of her summer had been spent at home in Wales, days easily passing her by in the magical village that she lived in. It was only a quick pop away to visit another of her closest friends, and it’d become a tradition to go and visit the Dearborn’s in Cardiff every summer. But here in London at the house of the Savages was really Hestia’s second home, third if you counted Hogwarts. Friends since they were four and enrolled at the Academy of Broom Flying, Ana was the one person who knew all of her secrets.

“So something happened between me and Doc,” she said as she sat up, looking over to Ana. “His parents were busy at Cardiff and we had some time to ourselves, and we took our relationship to the next level you could say.” She popped another piece of chocolate in her mouth, chewing it thoughtfully before she continued. “Not that we are in a relationship, but we had sex. It was nice.” It had seemed like the natural next step in things between her and the other Hufflepuff, seeing as he’d been her first kiss. Things had always just been fun between them, even if sometimes she wondered what it would be like to call Doc her boyfriend. “Tell me your thoughts, I know you have some.”

[Anastasia Savage]

"What happened?" Ana asked, half distracted by the gleam on her broom as she polished it. She was sure vanities were not usually used for broom maintenance, but it really was a perfect place, she thought as she sat before her own. Hestia laid across her bed, chatting away and the darker girl smiled to herself as she went on. "Uh-huh." she encouraged, flipping her Silver Arrow over to begin shaping the bristles back into place. But she never got to that part, in a flash her eyes were on her best friend in the vanity mirror. "Sex?"

Ana took a deep breath, looking back to her broom as her mind worked overtime to process what Hestia had just told her. Hestia, her best friend, had had sex, with Doc. Not that she was surprised it was Doc, just that she was surprised in general. She had always known that they were extra friendly...it just seemed...weird. Strange that they should all be old enough now that being intimate was a thing. Wasn't it just yesterday that had been playing that the floor was lava? It was just strange that two of her very good friends had seen each other naked and had done things while naked.

"Thoughts?" she asked, pulled from the crazy spiral of her mind by Hestia's last. Placing her riding instrument on the surface before her, she turned to her blue-eyed friend and found herself smiling. "I mean, I don't know, this is crazy." Ana wondered to herself if she would ever be on the other end of this conversation. But this wasn't about her right now, this was about Hes. Ana popped up and joined her fellow Hufflepuff on the bed, whispering in quick words, working hard to keep all of her words in English. "I don't really have thoughts yet -I mean other than you two not being 'together', but that's your choice, and we've been through that- I have more questions right now. Like...how was it? Are you happy it was Doc? Wow, this is like, exciting Hes! Tell me about it."

[Hestia Jones]

Hestia knew she would get this sort of response from Ana, but that was half the fun. This conversation had been a long time coming, at least in Hestia’s mind. Doc was one person she felt safe around, and that was important. Knowing how close she could have come to being assaulted was something she hadn’t yet forgotten, and it had taken her a while to want to trust anyone besides Doc and Ana with that information. As far as she knew, the Slytherin had never really faced any consequences for his actions. But she’d sworn off dating that year - and most of fifth year as well. Arnie had been a sweetheart to her, even though that had wrecked her relationship with another one of her good friends in Ravenclaw. But the past year? Well, it’d been her and Doc as they always were, together but not together, not in any official sense. It was what worked for them, made them both happy. No reason to change that.

She met Ana’s gaze as her friend turned to look at her, a grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. “Good crazy or bad crazy?” she asked with a laugh, moving over on the bed as Ana came to join her. “I mean, it’s not like we talked about being anything official. We never have though, you know that,” she said, helping herself to more of the chocolate she’d brought over with her. Perhaps it was a conversation she needed to have with Doc, did he want something more with her now that they’d taken things this far? “It was nice, although Doc wasn’t thrilled with that answer, but what was I supposed to say? It was the first time, it’s not like I had anything else to make a comparison to.” And it had been nice, which was a much better word to use than some of the gossip she’d overhead from other Hufflepuff’s about their first times. “I mean, I guess I always figured my first time would be with Doc. I trust him, you know? And after third year…” Scrunching up her nose, Hestia gave a shrug. “He’s one of the only guys I feel like I’d have been comfortable with. I mean, we’ll probably do it again next time I go down to Cardiff.”

[Anastasia Savage]

Sitting next to Hestia on her bed, gossiping, sharing laughs and whispers and looks, it was nothing new to Ana, it had been her whole life and she loved that. But the content of their talk now was very different and the dark-eyed girl found her cheeks flushing as her best friend turned a laugh to her. She laughed along, pushing through her slight discomfort, letting her curiosity win out easily. "A good crazy, I think. I mean this was always bound to happen eventually. It happens for everyone." she admitted, nodding as Hes went on.

Yes, Ana knew that neither of her friends really needed a 'label' for what they were and for the life of her she couldn't wrap her mind around it. And now factoring in sex? But it was not her place to tell them what to do, especially Hes, whom she knew needed to work at her own pace with all matters of love and intimacy. There was a momentary, horrible flashback from the third year and Ana shut her eyes tightly. She simply listened as her friend went on and she saved the rest of her commentary for after, trying to push away that traumatizing experience her best friend had gone through. And indeed, Hestia seemed to be thinking along the same lines if her last statements were anything to go by and Ana reached out and took her hand, issuing silent words on the topic.

"After what McLaggen said about her first time, I would say 'nice' is a pretty big compliment. And I understand, now that I'm thinking of it, I couldn't imagine you doing this with anyone else." She was sure that Doc had probably thought it was more than nice but like Hestia had said, what was there to compare to? Ana hoped her first time wasn't so bad, maybe even better than nice, but how would she know either way? Anyway, right now it was about her friends. "Well, sounds like you're already planning something to compare it to." she giggled, giving Hes a wink and laying out on her stomach next to the girl. Her mother would come looking for them for tea soon, so that meant that for right now, they were alone but Ana was whispering again anyway. "Did it, you know, hurt really bad? I heard it always hurts, because of just female anatomy -we really got the short end of the stick there- but sometimes it's not so bad, depending on...you know...the size. "

[Hestia Jones]

Hestia was glad it was a good crazy, because she’d been practically going bad crazy keeping this to herself for so long. While she didn’t believe in much, Hestia believed in soulmates. Her and Ana? They were meant to be best friends, they were soul mates like that. If anything were to ever happen to Ana... Don’t think like that, it’s not that bad. It would be a lie to say Hestia didn’t worry about her best friend in England, not when so much Death Eater activity seemed to happen here. And while she was positive that the Savages were not the type of family to associate with evil, rumors were rampant that purebloods were often approached by the Dark Lord himself.

The very thought of that evil man being anywhere near Ana or her family was enough to make Hestia’s blood boil. Much like, Hestia imagined, Ana’s blood did when they spoke of the attack Hestia had experienced. Hestia had been a blubbering mess by the time she’d made it to Ana. Doc had gotten her to calm down in the kitchens, but the second Hestia had seen her best friend after  they had gotten to the common room, she’d been in tears. Hestia was glad in this moment, Ana was there for her once again, reaching out for her hand.

“Oh McLaggan’s story had me even more nervous about it than I needed to be,” she said, giving her best friend’s hand a squeeze. In fact, of all the stories she could think of that she had heard, none of them had really been mind blowing moments. Hestia grinned at Ana’s words, nudging the chocolate towards her friend. “Well I mean, it’s like anything else you do, you have to practice to get better, right?” Her and Doc had practiced kissing plenty until they’d gotten good at it. And well, it had been fun to have a good snog with him when the opportunity presented itself. This was a big step in her relationship with Doc, but it wasn’t a relationship. It was complicated, but would it complicate things? Her and Doc would still be the same Hufflepuffs that had bonded all those years ago.

Hestia watched as her best friend settled in next to her, grinning at her words. “I mean, a little? It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be,” she said, lowering her voice to match Ana’s, laughter escaping her. “This is not a conversation I thought we’d be having but it was...you know...normal size I guess.” Hestia couldn’t stop the snort that escaped her with the next laugh, and covered her face with her hands as she tried to contain her giggles. She reached out to find Ana’s hand and give it another squeeze, shaking her head. “If you could shag anyone at school, who would it be?”

[Anastasia Savage]

"Thank the heavens for that because that story gave me nightmares." Ana shuddered at the thought of her housemates haunting words. She should have known though, that not everyone was the same and nor would everyone's first time. McLaggen had a horrible experience, while Hestia's was nice, and maybe her's would be even better. The darker girl told herself that it was not something she should worry too much about. After all, if her best friend was willing to do it again -and millions of people who praised it to the highest powers- sex couldn't be too bad. Still, thinking of Hes and Doc practicing made her face scrunch up in a funny way. It wasn't bad, just something she would have to get used to. "I guess you're right." she conceded, knowing that in any case, her friend was right. "Practice they say makes perfect."

Soon she was past the odd feeling and joining Hes on the bed, sighing and rolling her eyes at the offered chocolate but taking one anyway. "You know sweets are my worst enemy." she said offhandedly, eating it anyway as she listened to her friend. And when Hestia's voice pitched lower, Ana leaning in to hear, giggling madly along at the surreal moment. Indeed, she too had never expected to be discussing the size of Doc Dearborns...little friend. But the thought had her giggling like a firstie, all awkwardness gone. Hes took her hand then and Ana was trying desperately to catch her breath when the other girl asked a question that sent her into another little bout of laughter.

She held firmly to her friend's fingers through it all even as she began wiping her watery eyes with her other hand. "I'm sorry, I guess I just wasn't expecting that and for some reason, it seemed a hilarious notion." But was it really, or was it a good question, who would she shag if given the opportunity? She mulled it over as she regained composer. "That's a bit of a complicated question for me." she said soberly after a long moment of thought, and two more chocolates. Ana laid out on the bed across from Hestia, propping her head up on her arm and looking seriously at her friend. She took a deep breath before revealing a secret she had been keeping to herself for a while now. "I haven't been too into anyone since James. But I guess if we were talking about anyone at school, no matter history, or past, or connections, or any of that stuff. If everyone was available to me for my choosing...it would be Sirius. It would totally be Sirius Black. But that's never going to happen. So, moot question. Next question for you: Do you feel any different?"