While adjusting the shoulder bag suspended on his left side a slight with a slight tug, Sasha offered the girl ... Professor Reid's squib sister ... a slightly awkward, lopsided grin before glancing at his shoes in an effort to hide the slight blush rising in his cheeks.  If one remembered the purpose of this rendezvous, there was something innately embarrassing about this whole meeting.  They were meeting in Muggle London so he could fetch his assignments - assignments he couldn't get on his own on account of being dismissed from Hogwarts.  For the second time that year. 

"Um...allo," he offered with an awkward shrug as quickly sent off the text notifying Akiva of Abby's arrival and the expected time of arrival based on that information.  He flipped his phone closed and slipped it in his pocket. 

It was taking some getting used to - this whole letting someone know where he was and when he'd be back.  His parents had always had strict guidelines and expectations but had never been exactly present during the course of a day.  Most of the year, boarding school absolved them of parenting.  His mother had been all but absent as a parent; his stepfather's parenting tactics were to ensure appropriate behavior by discipline inappropriate behavior.  As long as he didn't do anything that would prove embarrassing, they generally left their kids to their own devices. 

"I ... we should just be in time for the next train.  So, it sounds like, you know, you've done this before?"  Even if she'd called it an undertown ... underroad...something ... she'd called it something.  "Oh, and, sorry - how are you?" he added, belatedly, well aware that question should have come first. 

He led the way down the stairs to the terminal, pausing at one of the machines to purchase a ticket.  "So ... you know how to put it through the terminal, right?" he asked, handing Abby the ticket before pointing towards one of the turnstiles. 

Abby made her entrance, coming up to Sasha with a big grin and lots of waving. She'd just been on the escalator (multiple times) and had even tried going up the wrong way, which had earned her quite a few stares.

She greeted Sasha with an enthusiastic hello, peering over to see what he was doing with the cellulite phone, but he flipped it closed and tucked it away, then asked her if she'd been on a train before and how she was doing.

Abby didn't notice any breach in etiquette, as many of her questions often jumbled together and came right after the other in no specific order.

"I'm good! How are you? I've been on one of these things twice. Mr. Trevelyan - he's my investigator friend - showed me how to go through the..." Abby paused, glancing at the rows of turnstiles.

"Turnpikes? Turnpickles? I like that word!" Abby nodded, taking the ticket. "It's like turnip and pickle, combined! Those veggies must be dating. Do you think?" She laughed, and without waiting for him to respond to her ridiculous question, turned and went through the turnpickle.

Or she tried to.

After she'd successfully put her ticket through, her purse, large enough to hold a pile of bricks or her crup (though it didn't - she'd only been joking with Neely), got stuck between the stiles. She tugged, then went flying out a few steps into the crowd on the platform.

Emerging a moment later, grin still on her face, Abby shrugged at Sasha. "I did it!"

Sasha blushed slightly at the girl's exuberant greeting but covered up the response by fishing in his wallet for his travelcard.  Imagining that the girl's eager, exaggerated gesturing had drawn the attention of at least half of those gathered in the underground station, Sasha glanced quickly around them before.  Most seemed to not have noticed or, at least, they didn't care enough to gawk. 

"I'm doing well enough." he answered, turning back to Abby.  "Getting settled into being back," referring as much to getting back to London after the week of travel as to being back from school. 

"Mr. Trevelyan?  You mean Jonas Trevelyan?"  She was actually friends with Trevelyan?  It seemed everyone around him considered themselves friends with the man.  Sasha wasn't sure what he, himself, thought of the man.  The Eleors seemed to trust him and his sister seemed to think he was amusing, but Sasha hadn't met him under the most casual of circumstances. 

Had she really just said vegetables were dating?  Not wanting to hurt her feelings, he offered an amiable grin before shrugging.  "Turnstile.  Turnpikes are types of roads that you have to pay to drive on.  Turnpickles...don't exist."  Outside of plantlife dating or ... whatever. 

"Pass auf!" He reached out to try to catch the girl's arm when her purse was tugged loose.  He pushed through the crowd to make sure she was alright then parting back to touch his card to the reader and returning to Abby, offering a belated hand to steady her, if necessary.  "Are you alright?  You're not-"  Given the celebratory look on her face, it was unlikely she was hurt. 

"Yes.  Good job," he offered, sneaking an awkward grimace to a fellow in a business suit that passed close enough to overhear a segment of the conversation.  "I'm surprised you don't use the underground more, you know?  Since you can't...well...how do you travel?  Just floo?" 

"I floo, mostly. Or side-along apparate," Abby told him as they waited, used to questions about how she got around town. Like a typical teenage witch, she often resented that she had to rely on other people to apparate, and because she knew it wouldn't change once she turned seventeen, her resentment went a bit beyond what was considered normal.

However, she hid it well, and shrugged at Sasha. "It's no biggie. I'm glad that I'm learning to use the... Underground," she said, though in her head she still thought of it as 'underbelly', and would likely forever think of turnstiles as the friendlier 'turnpickles'.

"And!" She continued cheerfully. "I'm grateful that you're willing to teach me," she nudged his arm and grinned. By 'teach', she meant travel with her and endure her blunders, which he seemed to be doing with a great amount of blushing and one instance of "Pass auf!"

"This is us! Isn't it?" Abby wondered when a new train arrived, checking her ticket and then heading with him on it. Unlike the old-fashioned trains of the Wizarding world, clanging and hooting so much that it made you feel like it would fall apart at any second, the London Tube was sleek and clean, and decorated on the inside with bright primary colors, like a children's toy. When they took their seats and the train moved, the passengers seemed to stand in their own little bubbles, reading, listening to i-pods, or texting on their cell phones. Though she'd ridden the Tube once before, Abby looked around her with interest, exclaiming at every new announcement or unexpected turn.

"Oh! Did I tell you?" Abby started, though she was sure she hadn't. "I did mean Jonas Trevelyan," she nodded, answering Sasha's earlier question. "Otherwise known as the Mysterious Red-Headed Man," she had titled him such because it amused her, even though he was about as mysterious as her crup Roxy. The Mr. Grimm she'd met a few weeks ago fitted the Tall, Dark, and Mysterious description better. Though she was still on Team Trevelyan.

"He and Aileen are... friends. They're working on a project!" She went on, omitting significant details, like the fact that her sister was furious with him for some reason, and hadn't spoken to him about the cursed artifact since Valentine's Day weekend. "When we got together in January, I convinced them to go to the British Museum with me, and we had to use the Underground. It was so crowded that we were all standing together, and Aileen was really cross about it, and she said 'well why doesn't this train expand and provide more seats', and this super old guy sitting behind her overheard, and was like 'but that would ruin the lovely view!' and I couldn't help but laugh, and Trevelyan was laughing too, and that's why Aileen refuses to go on the Underground again."

Abby paused for a half a second to catch her breath. "So how do you know him?"

"But, not every place is connected to the floo network."  It wasn't hard to figure out what that meant.  If a place wasn't connected to the floo network, she had to rely on side along.  She might have hid the frustration well but it wasn't that hard for Sasha to come to the same conclusion on his own.  It was probably an assumption most teenagers would come to readily enough on their own.  Sasha had never been a sneak-out-to-parties kind of kid (at least, not before New Year's) but he hated being cooped up and confined. 

"I guess we're kind of in the same situation."  He shrugged and peered down the black tunnel towards the pair of oncoming lights.  Knowing the air pushed ahead of the train and the train itself would drown out his voice, he stayed quiet until the train pulled to a stop in the station.  "I, obviously, can't apparate either - but, if you get used to using public transit - muggle transportation - you'll be able to go just about anywhere they can by apparition.  And, you interact with more people." 

Then, she ... well, touched him.  Blushing madly, Sasha quickly looked down at the place on his arm where she'd nudged him in surprise.  By the time he looked up, Abby was already stepping on the train.  He cast a quick glance around before hurrying to catch up - that whole sense of gratitude would, likely, dry up quickly if the train left the station with her onboard and him standing on the platform. 

Sasha was familiar with muggles, of course - just as he was familiar with wizards.  However, years of keeping the two worlds so carefully separated in his own life left him with little experience with wizards encountering the muggle world.  It was strange - and slightly embarrassing - to be riding the train with a girl his age who was acting, for all intents and purposes, like she was a foreigner who'd never seen a subway before.  That wizards really didn't even have foreign sounding accents only made it more embarrassing.  Whenever he thought she wasn't looking, he offered his fellow riders apologetic grimaces while answering any questions as best he could. 

The conversation turned back to Trevelyan.  And, yes, it was this Jonas.  Small world - though, he supposed the wizarding world was rather small.  He wasn't sure how 'mysterious' this Jonas was, though.  Just ... he really wasn't sure.  The small world feeling grew as Abby mentioned Professor Reid working with Trevelyan.  "They're working on a project?  Something involving Runes?"  Of course, he knew it was possible for Professor Reid to be involved in a non-Runes related project but it did make him curious.  Even if it wasn't any of his business.  He, of course, wouldn't go asking for details from Professor Reid herself. 

"He's an Auror," Sasha offered in brief explanation at first.  "Well, he used to be - he was helping the Aurors with ... questioning after ... you know."  Did she know?  He assumed she did - after all, she knew he left school.  Though, it was possible Professor Reid hadn't explained the reasons for his dismissal.  He watched Abby closely for a minute, trying to gauge the level of confusion before pressing on.  "Well, I - long story short - he was asking me about this fellow I stayed with at the end of last term during my, you know, suspension.  Everybody says the guy's a criminal so...Trevelyan was hoping to get information from me." 

Abby gaped at him when Sasha told her how he knew Mr. Trevelyan. He looked sincere. He wasn't blushing or grimacing or anything else that made her wonder if he had a health condition earlier. 

"Are you serious?!" Abby exclaimed. "An Auror?" She glanced around as if the muggles might overhear and understand, and then lowered her voice. "I mean, an Auror? Isn't that like... conflict of interest? Or something? He should have told me." She crossed her arms, looking disgruntled.

"Maybe that's why Aileen's so peeved at him," Abby went on, thinking out loud. "Their project's not exactly Runes, but more like," she paused, knowing Aileen would be extremely peeved if she gave specifics. "A different language. Anyway!

"I did remember to bring your Runes homework, no worries." She told him, patting her purse. "Oh hey," Abby interrupted herself, jumping to another subject. "What was it like? Being kidnapped and all?" Her eyes went wide and she looked at him with interest, hoping he had a dramatic story to tell. Kronos Malvivicus had quite a reputation.

His answer to the question might not have prompted a round of blushing but her response to it sure did.  He could feel her staring open-mouthed at him, even without looking at her but he made a strong conscious effort not to fidget in his seat. 

"I ... I think so," Sasha admitted, though he sounded less sure of himself than he had a moment before.  Why was that so surprising or confusing?  "Or, somehow connected.  I mean...he came with the other Aurors and he was sort of ... he did a lot of what the other Aurors did.  He certainly acted like one so I just assumed he was, you know, connected somehow?"  He shrugged slightly but shook his head in confusion. 

"How's that a conflict of interest?  You mean with the project?  Why-" Quite quickly, Sasha got the sense that the answer to the question of 'why was an Auror being involved a conflict of interest in Professor Reid's project' was really, very much, none of his business.  Was it really that illegal though?  Or just, not something the Aurors would be happy with?  "A different language?  Like translation?" Sasha asked, cautiously curious. 

He nodded, about to offer his appreciation for her bringing his homework when the conversation took an unexpected shift.  This time, he couldn't resist shifting in his seat and glancing out the window as they pulled out of another train station. To be honest, no one had really asked about the whole ... situation.  Sure, some had asked about facts - the literal who, what, when and where.  But, not to talk about what had really happened and Sasha had grown used to knowing that most probably didn't want to hear it, either.  Kronos had been a criminal; Sasha had been kidnapped - most people seemed to see it as being that straightforward and Sasha had quickly learned people were uncomfortable or disapproved of him talking about it in any other light. 

"I don't know," he answered vaguely, at first, shrugging his shoulders as he looked back at her.  "It wasn't like that, you know?  It didn't feel like I'd been kidnapped.  Well, I mean - at first ..."  It was remarkable how readily his mind looked past that part.  "Kronos was always nice to me.  Strange but very hospitable.  I mean - I know all everyone's wanting to hear me say is that he was horrible and cruel and mur- dangerous and all that.  It was the others there, though, that were scary.  Not him." 

Sasha explained more about the Auror situation and Abby decided right then and there that she'd be sending an owl to Jonas soon to get to the bottom of this. Of course, the Auror status only added to her idea of him as this heroic and hilarious investigator that just had to be perfect for Aileen once they stopped hating each other. She'd get to the bottom of it and mend things, she would!

Her big mouth might have gotten her into trouble if Sasha hadn't cut off his own question about the conflict of interest between Aileen's project and Jonas' new job. "Yup, like translation!" She answered very vaguely, giving him a bright smile that she hoped would shift the subject of their conversation.

Though Sasha shifted in his seat and looked awkward for a moment, he began to answer her question about what being kidnapped was like. Unfortunately, his summary of events wasn't nearly as excited as she'd hoped.

"Oh," Abby replied, a tad disappointed. She didn't wish cruel twists of fate on him, of course, but for her, other people's drama and gossip was just fascinating to hear and made her forget about what she considered to be her Very Boring life.

"It's probably better that he was nice to you," Abby remarked breezily, having no real idea of what she was talking about. "Considering his reputation, I just thought he'd be super scary and hide bodies in the walls and send out his army of cats to fetch unwitting victims." Her eyes widened for effect, and then she shrugged. "I guess I don't get what his goal was."

Abby shrugged again, acting as if they were discussing the motivations of common garden gnomes instead of wanted criminals. "The others were scary, though?" She looked morbidly curious, too caught up in his story to consider that Sasha might not want to keep talking about his misadventures. Until he fell over from embarrassment or changed the subject, however, he was stuck with her prying.

"That's interesting," came the simple and uneducated response.  Translations were something Sasha could relate to and, at least, seemed to fit with the whole Runes part of things.  "Translations can be interesting - especially depending on how similar things are, you know?  Like, when you can't translate things literally.  I speak a couple languages but my sister studied a number of them in school - she was telling me about how they might have mistranslated Tolstoy's War and Peace.  Since, in Russian, "peace" and "world" are the same word - so they aren't sure if Tolstoy meant it as War and the World or War and -

She was pureblood.  And, she wasn't a nerd.  She probably didn't have the slightest idea who Tolstoy was and probably didn't really care.  "Sorry," he offered, his face flushing as he looked awkwardly down at his hands. 

Slowly, Sasha glanced sidelong at the girl.  She almost sounded ... disappointed.  Had she really wanted to hear the details?  The other details?  Most of the time, when people asked, they were looking for information to fulfill their own goals.  Peg Kronos as a cold-hearted criminal.  Reassure themselves it hadn't been as bad as they'd feared.  People usually wanted to hear the summary - did Abby really want to know the details? 

"You really ... want to know what it was like?" He asked slowly, shrugging slightly.  Of course, in retrospect that was probably why she'd been asking. 

"I guess I don't get what his goal was."

"I ... I don't really know, either.  I mean - he said he'd read-" He blushed and shrugged, scratching the back of his head.  "Skeeter wrote an article a while back about how I ... you know, ... was hiding being a wizard from my parents.  He said he read it and saw himself in it - me.  So ... I don't really know why.  And, I don't really ... I don't remember the explanation.  I was still ..."  He did actually remember, though, being so terrified those first few days that he hadn't really heard the explanation. 

"I was convinced he thought he had gotten the wrong person, you know?  I was convinced that, once he figured out I wasn't who he was expecting he was going to kill me.  But, it seemed he never got disappointed.  But, yeah - the one that took me from Hogsmeade.  I had to practice dueling with him.  I was certain, the only thing keeping him from, well, killing me was Kronos."  He glanced sideways, again, at Abby certain she was bound to be bored with all of this. 

Abby raised her eyebrows as Sasha explained that Kronos had been able to relate to him, to his secrets and problems with his parents. Though Abby had occasionally entertained the idea of living with a bunch of teenagers in a mansion (with an army of cats), she wouldn't go so far as to kidnap someone and make them her friend. Guilt trip someone, maybe! But kidnapping got you into too much trouble, especially if the old man had only wanted company.

So, perhaps he hadn't only wanted company. Perhaps Kronos had wanted Sasha to be his protege. Abby gave the blushing, nervous boy an appraising look, trying to picture it. He could have been trained in the art of murder and then unleashed upon the world!

When Sasha began to talk about dueling, actual dueling, Abby nodded, her theory forming in her mind. He just seemed so... shy. She felt totally safe sitting with him on the muggle train. He'd even expressed concern earlier over her accidentally hitting bystanders with her purse! Despite the dueling, Sasha the Killer as a concept didn't make sense.

She was about to joke about her theory with him, but he surprised her by admitting that the person who'd kidnapped him had acted like more of a murderer than Kronos had.

Abby's eyes widened in interest and alarm. "Maybe he was jealous of all the attention you were getting! Maybe he wanted to be Kronos's protege, and got upset that a youngster was taking his place and being awesome at dueling and everything."

She wasn't sure why she imagined Sasha as 'awesome' at dueling, only that she exaggerated most witch's and wizard's skills because a wand was useless in her hands.

"That does sound scary," she nodded in agreement. "I wonder why Kronos didn't fire him if he was being disrespectful like that." Threatening to kill Sasha = disrespect, of course!

"Is this us?" Abby wondered, hopping up when the train came to a stop. She'd never read Tolstoy, but she could figure out her muggle train ticket! Baby steps.

"Jealous?"  Sasha stared at Abby as if she had a screw loose.  Terry?  That Terry?  Jealous of him?  That idea would have been comical if Terry wasn't so terrifying.  Finally, Sasha slowly shook his head.  "He's not jealous - I'm not ... I'm no protégé." 

The only reason those 'duels' hadn't been as much of a joke as they could have been was because of Kronos.  "I'm actually not really that good with a wand.  I mean, I'm getting better but I'm not ... I'm much better at Runes." 

"Yeah, this is us."  Sasha confirmed as they pulled into the station.  He got up and offered a hand to Abby to help her to her feet before leading the way off the train.  "I don't think Kronos knew," Sasha admitted.  Or realized.  Or saw.  Or chose to see.  Or, more than likely, he just saw it as part of the learning experience. 

Sasha shrugged as he slipped his hands in his pockets and made for the stairs.  "But, that was the weird part, you know?" he mentioned over his shoulder.  "I kept expecting Kronos to get annoyed or lose patience since I never actually came close to hitting Terry, he never really seemed disappointed.  In fact, he was always ... he always seemed proud of me.  No matter what I did.  It was really weird."  And, nice. 

He glanced, again, over his shoulder, not sure if the question that was on his mind was appropriate to ask or not.  It wasn't until they were out on the street that he, finally, verbalized the question.  "Are your parents, you know, disappointed?  That you can't do magic?"  It seemed like almost an opposite scenario from his own - or what had been his own.

Abby listened as Sasha explained that Terry couldn't have been jealous and he wasn't that great with dueling. At least he got to duel, Abby thought, then pushed it away. Dueling at some murderer's mansion with a scary bloke trying to kill you didn't actually sound very fun.

"Huh," She remarked, glancing around at the last of the Underground as they went up the stairs. "That is a bit weird," she agreed. Murderers, in her opinion, didn't have the best patience and would likely get irritated if their chosen proteges failed at becoming the Next Great Killer. "Seems more like he thought of you as family or whatever." Family was supposed to be proud of you, no matter what.

When they walked out onto the pavement, Abby craning her head at the muggle buildings and sights, Sasha's question caused her to glance at him in surprise. Perhaps Sasha wasn't as shy as she'd thought.

"Yup, you could say that!" Her voice sounded overly bright and cheery.

She grinned at him to show him that the question was alright. Abby was the type who would grin her way through a funeral if she thought it were appropriate, just to make herself feel better.

"They were disappointed that I came along in the first place! I wasn't exactly planned," She lowered her voice and widened her eyes at him in confiding manner, still smiling.

"It was just another slap in their faces that I wasn't magical. They held out hope until I turned eleven, right up until September first. But then when the letter didn't arrive, and they argued for weeks with the School Board about it, they finally had to admit there wasn't an ounce of magic in me. They had to return all my school supplies and tell the nosy relatives that I was going to be homeschooled," She giggled, acting as if homeschooled was terribly embarrassing for her parents.

Abby didn't mind talking badly about her mother and father. In fact, she jumped at the chance. It was better to admit that she was unwanted on her own terms, by joking and smiling and giggling, than to act sad and talk about her feelings, whatever those might be.

"Really?" Sasha paused at the top of the stairs, giving Abby a chance to catch up.  "He was nothing like my family."  He snorted a half-laugh at the idea.  Kronos was about as opposite as it got from his own family. 

"He actually came by my house, once.  The night before-"  Quick, change tactics.  "Christmas eve.  My step-father saw him there.  Seeing them next to each other - I don't think it is possible for two people to be more opposite."  And, even before his stepfather had any form of identification from the man, he'd hated him on appearances alone.  "Kronos is very ... eclectic.  Colorful."  Sasha was, very clearly, choosing every adjective with precise care.  "My stepfather was about as straightedged and conservative as they came." 

A block and a half down, Sasha stepped up to the door of a coffee shop and pulled the door open for Abby.  Once inside, he held a hand out for her coat before shrugging off his own.  He didn't question her bright and cheery answer.  She seemed bright and cheery most of the time and on plenty of other occasions when it seemed out of place.  Like passing through turnstiles or when looking at advertisements for calling cards on the underground.  It seemed to be her thing.  An emotional tourettes of sorts. 

"Oh?" Sasha did look over at the lowered voice, the change of tone catching his attention.  "Were you ... it was just ..."  Sasha blushed, slightly.  "I wasn't planned either, really.  My mum had an affair so I was kind of, you know, a mistake."  He was trying to sound interested - trying to participate in the conversation but the topic was creeping a little too close to sex. 

Sasha had a vague ability to relate to Abby's circumstances though he'd had the fortune (or misfortune) of being able to hide his disappointment from his parents for much longer.  "That must have been ... all your school supplies?" Sasha asked, looking confusedly at Abby.  "How did you, you know -"  He was trying, but there seemed no discreet way to ask the question in the midst of a muggle coffee shop.  "choose your wand?" he whispered, leaning in, slightly. 

"And, why didn't you just, you know, go to a different school?  That's what I was considering, if Snark actually kicked me out."  He stepped up to the counter and pointed at Abby to give her order to the barista.  "It's not the only school, after all.  You don't have to be homeschooled."

Abby nodded at Sasha's description of the differences between Kronos and his step-father. She didn't see much of Kronos' colorfulness rub off on Sasha, at least based on appearances. Sasha seemed very meticulous and well-dressed, but not outrageously like some of the wizards she knew. Then again, they were in muggle London.

She noticed how gentlemanly he was acting as he opened the door of the coffee shop for her and took her coat. Earlier, he'd taken her hand to escort her off the train. Good manners! She supposed some things stayed the same, whether you came from a rich, uptight muggle family or a rich, uptight pureblood one. No wonder her sister approved of Sasha's polite behavior in classes.

Her eyebrows raised for a moment when he admitted he was a result of his mother's affair. Yes, definitely not as shy as she'd initially thought.

"Choose my wand?" She repeated at her normal volume, then glanced around at the muggles and giggled. "Oh, my parents threw a fit in Ollivander's. I was there for two hours, in tears the whole time, trying to find the right one. I knocked a bunch of things over when I thought they weren't looking to try to trick them, but they were too perceptive for that. And then after Ollivander's, they ordered in a bunch of you-know-whats from other shops, but none of those worked either, yet they kept trying up until I didn't get my letter. We still might have spare you-know-whats laying about, somewhere."

Abby smiled at the barista, who was staring at her like she was bonkers. "I'll have a mocha latte. Can you add whipcream? I like whipcream."

As she waited for the order, she gave Sasha a funny look when he told her she didn't need to be home-schooled. "Oh, it's not worth going to if it's not Hogwarts. At least that's what my mother would say, the snob," she continued cheerfully. "Or do you mean muggle schools?" She shook her head and giggled. "My parents would just die before that happened."

Oh, right. His family. His dead family. Abby glanced away to the side for a second, hoping the barista would hurry up so she could sip at her drink instead of putting her foot in her mouth.

Sasha cast a quick, uncertain glance around the coffee shop but quickly offered Abby a sympathetic grimace as she described her experience with wand shopping.  It didn't seem anyone in their vicinity had noticed the comment - or if they did, they hadn't shown much interest.  Chances were, anyone who overheard would, likely, assume they were involved in some sort of Dungeons and Dragons game. 

Still, he dropped his voice as he replied.  "So, you really didn't know?  You didn't have the slightest idea?"  He grimaced, slightly, as, even in his head, he could hear how that sounded.  "I'm sorry- I didn't mean that like ..."  However it had come across.  "Vienna, please," he told the barrista, finding the distraction quite welcome.  He handed a debit card over to the barista.  With his sister's help, they'd managed to work their way through the family's will and trust fund arrangements.  A power of attorney had been established and a predetermined sum was being transferred, monthly, into an account jointly managed by Sasha and the lawyer.  The estate in Guildford, the land in Schönau am Schwarzwald and the other major assets of the Schlagenweit estate would remain in limbo until Sasha was a legal adult.  At least in the eyes of the muggle authorities.  There would be a year - between his seventeenth and eighteenth birthday - when he, himself, would remain in limbo. 

He took the drinks and carried them over to a table by the window in the corner.  He settled himself in his seat and shrugged his coat from his shoulders before returning to the slightly awkward conversation.  "I guess, you know, at school we're always talking about how we first knew.  Especially amongst muggleborns.  Halfbloods too, a little.  Some found out pretty early - I mean, we didn't really know until the school officials came but, in hindsight, it was clear.  But, we didn't know it was even a possibility." 

"I never actually chose a, you know, Stab, either."  He raised an eyebrow in Abby's direction, hoping she'd pick up on the meaning.  Discussing wands discretely by translation just seemed easier than 'you-know-what's.'  "I kind of just came across mine." 

"Maybe," Sasha countered, with a slight shrug.  "I mean - Hogwarts is good but isn't something better than nothing?  There's a wizarding school that accepts squibs now.  And, you could -" 

"Or do you mean muggle schools?  My parents would just die before that happened."

Sasha looked down at his glass and took a sip of the coffee.  He gave himself a moment before forcing his mind clear and actually returning to the real conversation.  He barely knew the girl - he could only imagine what she'd think of him if he allowed himself to become emotional.  "I'm sure it wouldn't be that bad," he offered.  Hopefully, it was just his mind playing tricks on him and making his voice sound so ... coarse.  "It would open up your world, though.  Isn't it ... you know ..."  he hesitated a moment.  "... a little lonely?"