Of Muggles and First Love
A chance encounter or maybe more?
"Oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry!"
Molly exclaimed. She had just picked up her coffee and turned around… and spilled it all over someone. She quickly grabbed a handful of napkins, dropping some on the floor and slightly mopping it with her foot before turning her attention to the mysterious stranger. Looking up, her cheeks turned the infamous Weasley red as she came face to face with the most handsome boy she'd ever seen.
"I err…" she made a move to clean his jacket, but decided against it and held out the napkins instead. "Here," she said, looking up again.
"Thanks," the boy replied, starting to wipe what he could off his winter coat. Molly smacked herself internally. Idiot; pull yourself together! He's just a boy… with piercing blue eyes and adorable spiky dark hair… Her thoughts were interrupted as he looked up and caught her staring, and the redhead struggled to find words.
"I'm really, really sorry about that, I should've been looking and I just –"
"Don't worry about it," He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and causing butterflies to take flight in her stomach. He bent down, gathering the wet napkins and tossing them in the rubbish bin before drying his hands as well.
"I'm Carter, by the way," he turned back to Molly, holding out his hand. "I'm Molly." She shook it, her smile shy and innocent.
"Nice to meet you Molly; and really I should have seen that coming! Err… I'm sorry I just made you spill all your coffee," he grimaced, running a hand through his dark chocolate hair. "Can I buy you another?" The fifteen year-old shook her head.
"No, no it's my fault, I wouldn't make you –"
"I want to." Carter smiled easily, making Molly's insides melt.
"All right, if you're sure… but just this once!" She finally consented. "Deal."
Carter made his way back to the counter, turning around when he realized Molly hadn't followed. "Aren't you going to tell me what you want?" He asked. The young Weasley blushed as she hurried over to join him.
"I'll have a Peppermint Mocha, please."
"Make that two," Carter told the barista, "And we'll take a vanilla muffin as well." The barista disappeared behind the counter as he started conversation again.
"So, do you come here often?"
"No, I actually just saw this place today as I was walking by… I go to a boarding school, so I'm not around here very often…" Molly realized sadly that the chances of this going anywhere were slim, seeing as Carter was a Muggle.
"Ahhh, boarding school… But you don't seem like a snooty rich girl," Carter said good-naturedly. Think Molly, think.
"Well, err; my school doesn't exactly have tuition…" All these years of Muggle Studies and that's the best you can come up with?! Carter's eyebrows knit together in confusion.
"No tuition?" See what you've done? "Err; yeah… it's not a well-known school… It's in Scotland, but you just pay for your supplies and clothing…" Carter seemed to be considering the idea.
"Really. Wow. So what year are you in?"
"Five," Molly spit out before she remembered the Muggle school system.
"Err, I-I mean, tenth."
"Oh ok, so you're fifteen?" He asked.
"Yeah, how about you?" She replied.
"I'm in eleventh, sixteen for now… I just got my full motorbike license," He said, gesturing outside to a bright red motorbike, a Union-Jack helmet hanging from the handlebar.
"Two Peppermint Mochas and a Vanilla Muffin," the barista called out. Carter handed Molly her drink as he picked up his own and the muffin, Molly leading him to a corner booth where she had left her belongings. She slid in first, and when Carter's leg brushed hers as he sat down she found herself blushing once more.
"This is really good," Carter remarked, holding up his cup. Molly nodded, sipping her own.
"Thanks," she said simply.
"What for? This is nothing! Here, try some of the muffin; someone said it tastes nice with the Peppermint Mocha." Carter replied. They sat in silence for several minutes. Many would believe this to be incredibly awkward, but the two involved would describe it as serene, contenting. Carter tossed the rubbish away when they had finished, but posed a new question as he returned to his seat.
"What's in the bag you have there?" Oh, right; forgot I brought that… "It's my camera bag… I'm kind of an amateur photographer…" Molly tried to shrug it off, but Carter was intrigued.
"That's what they all say…! Can I see some pictures? I'm sure you're amazing!" Molly hesitated. She barely knew this boy; would she be able to show him that which she kept hidden for herself; that none but her had laid eyes on? But as she looked at him she saw truth unlike any other, and decided to reveal the most intimate part of herself, even if he didn't know it was.
Molly reached into the bag and pulled out her camera, silently handing it over to Carter. She watched nervously, subconsciously biting her lip as he looked back through her shots, starting with the ones she had taken that morning. They were mainly stills, with a few candid shots thrown in as well. She loved to capture the simple beauty of any scene; not the posing, forced type of pictures. Although those were fun with friends and family, they were just that – pictures. Photographs, however… her photographs… well those were either a focus on a tiny flower in a field, or the drop about to fall from a tree, or that one person standing out in a rushing crowd... that one smiling face; the one person that wasn't running anywhere, enjoying themselves in the simplest way possible. There was a scarce tranquillity in those few who noticed the little details, one that Molly recognized often as a mirror to her own. When at last Carter looked back up, it seemed as though he was seeing the world for the first time anew.
"These are… incredible," he said. He noticed Molly was about to brush off the remark, and put a hand on her arm, stopping her. "I mean it, Molly. This is… you're an artist; a true artist."
She didn't know how to react to the comment. No one had ever said that about her work – well granted, no one had ever really seen her work, but this was far beyond anything she had imagined. Before she had to respond however, Carter stood up, pulling on his coat.
"Hey Molly, I've got to go… my family is expecting me for lunch, but it was really, really lovely meeting you," He continued with a smile. "Would you… err… maybe want to meet again; here, tomorrow, at 10:30?"
"I'd love that." Molly replied as she put away her camera.
"Okay… well, err… see you then." Carter said with a final wave as he walked out of the coffee shop and rode away on his motorbike.
Molly didn't bother to hide her smile as she pulled on her navy blue pea coat and matching cream-coloured beanie and mittens. She slung her camera bag over her shoulder and made her way out of the small establishment, walking along the snow-covered sidewalk in the opposite way as Carter. Even in the cold, her smile didn't fade all the way home.