Oh...This wasn't good. 

Sasha's long, hurried stride left almost no time for sightseeing as they made their way through the deathly quiet corridors of the Ministry of Magic[1].  The taller blonde hadn't said a word since curtly informing Tessa that Anton was a muggle and not a squib, leaving Anton to only speculate what was going through that worrisome head. 

Sure, Anton hadn't expected Sasha to be thrilled.  For starters, Anton had sort of known for several weeks that they were both connected to the wizarding world and hadn't quite found the right time to tell Sasha.  He hadn't intended to lie but he'd guessed that Sasha's response would be less than pleasant.  Anton had expected something like this and had been in no rush to dive right into it.  Yes, in retrospect, he should have worked harder to find a better time but ...

"Look, I'm sorry," he said to Sasha's back as the other pulled the golden metal lift grate closed behind them but Anton only saw Sasha's shoulders tense in response.  Anton sighed, loudly, gazing up at the lift ceiling above him and listened to the lift rattle into the awkward silence. 

Like Pig-Pen's faithful cloud of dust, the awkwardness continued to follow them as Sasha led the way from the lift and across the atrium to the now-familiar visitor's entrance. 

Thank you for visiting the Ministry of Magic.  Wishing you a magical day, came the cheerful voice from the phone booth's headset. 

"Oh, thank you, phone.  How nice it is to have some lovely conversation." 

The phone booth doors clinked open onto the perfectly normal, muggle street but even the vastness of London seemed to be conspiring to contribute to the uncomfortable silence.   Even the busiest of cities seemed to fall asleep in the early hours of Christmas Morning.  "Think we'll catch a glimpse of Santa Claus?" 

"Or, we could just continue in painful, awkward silence because there's obviously nothing to talk about." 

Yep.  That was exactly what they were doing.  Without a word, Sasha was opening the passenger door to the Aston Martin before climbing into the driver's seat. 

"Yep, yep.  Cool.  This is fun.  Totally fun," Anton said to the cold night as he climbed in.  "Just don't take me straight home, okay?  Mum can't find out about this.  I'll pay for an Über back to Cambridge or crash at Kenny's." 

It quickly became evident that Sasha wasn't intending on taking him home; the little sporty car sped sportingly towards the North.  Anton let out another long, loud sigh and leaned back to stare out the window at the darkened city rushing by.  There was, apparently, a thin wispy line between angry friend driving you home and kidnapping and Anton was starting to wonder what side of that line he was on.  Jokingly, of course, but he wouldn't turn down some verbal confirmation. 

Another fifteen minutes of silence ticked by and Anton let out another long, pointed sigh.  "You know, maybe I'll go back and chit chat with that vampire, again.[2]  Of my choices of company tonight, he's been the most-"

In hindsight, that might have been a line he shouldn't have crossed.  Suddenly, Sasha swerved the car to the side of the road and skidded to a stop.  The lights on the dashboard illuminated a set of eight white knuckles wrapped around the steering wheel. 

"What the hell were you thinking?!" 

Here it came.  Anton took another deep breath and turned to face Sasha. 

1.	All is Calm, All is Bite
2.	Oh Holey Night