Chapter II
Crush
I had made it through most of the week without another run in with Evan at the cafe. No idea why, but it left me feeling let down. Crushed. I hadn't realised how much I had fallen for a stranger — and a muggle at that — after a single encounter. I had no way of knowing whether it was a crush that would even lead somewhere. For all I knew Evan was straight. But no matter how many times my head tried to reason with my heart it couldn't stop my stomach from doing somersaults.
Part of me hoped I wasn't getting sick since I had no reason to feel the way I did.
Regardless, I entered the cafe on Friday morning with trepidation, hoping that I would get another chance to talk with the handsome muggle. My expectation was met with a wave from him as Evan had turned where he stood in line at the sound of the bell. But that wasn't all. Oh, no, Evan had instantly recognised me. It almost felt like we were old acquaintances instead of total strangers that had happened upon each other by total chance.
Evan waved me over, and I, like a fool, weaved around a few other people until I was standing next to him. He was smiling, straight teeth a dazzling white that caught me off guard. I was officially gone by that point. No turning back now. I had been sucked into his vortex.
"I thought I would never see you again," Evan said, voicing my own thoughts. "So, tell me, do you feel something here?"
I swallowed, throat suddenly feeling like I had stuffed it with cotton balls. I blanched. How could this stranger tell that I was gay when my own family had no clue?
"Relax," Evan said. "I've just gotten used to picking up on cues since I came out. I'm assuming, by your reaction, that you're still in the closet."
All I could do was nod.
"Don't worry," Evan said. "I'm not going to put any pressure on you, unless you want me to, then I will."
"How could you tell that I was, er, well, you know," I said, letting the sentence trail off the deep end. I was left in the churning of my emotional anxiety upon being caught by a complete stranger.
"You didn't seem at all interested in the Barista," Evan said. "Most straight men fall over themselves to hit on that particular Barista. You appeared un-phased by her attractiveness. Then you seemed bashful when I stepped in to pay when you realised you didn't have your wallet. And then there's your reaction just now when I waved you over. You really are cute."
I hadn't realised that I had blushed during that first encounter. Then again, it was possible since it had been a hectic, rushed morning. Only natural that I hadn't been tuned in to my body's physical reactions to the muggle that stood before me.
Then it was our turn in the queue. I paid for our drinks and we waited at the pick-up counter.
"What will it take for me to get a date?"
I blushed at Evan's straightforwardness.
"You're adorable," Evan said. "But I'm serious. I really hope that our paths converge again. Perhaps next time it can be on purpose. Are you available tonight?"
"I'm working overtime," I said, leaving it at that. It was best to keep my career to myself at that point.
"Ah," Evan said. "What are your plans for the weekend?"
"Not sure," I said. "I'm on-call this weekend, so it's unclear if and when I'll be called out."
"Public server?"
I knew what he was referring to so I nodded. I had taken Muggle Studies while at Hogwarts so I had a bit of knowledge on muggle careers. I could say that I was a police officer, but that would lead to the question of which company I worked in; that would be beyond my knowledge.
"Hats off to you, mate," Evan said. "I have loads of respect for anyone working public service jobs. You have to really love what you do."
"Yeah, I do," I said. "I just sometimes wish that I had chosen another career where I wasn't constantly being compared to my Dad. Not to mention there's no escaping the comparisons since Dad is my boss."
"That's rough."
"You're telling me."
"So, shall we swap mobile digits?"
I didn't have a mobile, or even a landline. Wizards had no use for mobiles since we had fire-call, two-way mirrors, and other magical means for communication. But I couldn't exactly tell that to Evan since it was uncommon in the muggle world to be without a mobile. So instead I told him that we should meet up for dinner Saturday night. It was the only way I could avoid giving him a nonexistent mobile number without appearing rude and uninterested.
"I'm game," Evan said. "Meet up here and go from there?"
"Sounds like a plan."
I walked away with my coffee after securing my first date with an attractive man. I was a bundle of nerves, yet I also felt the best I had in a long time. I was finally getting somewhere. Sure, my career was taking off, but I hadn't focused on my personal life since, well, ever.
The day seemed to pass without incident and it was in no time that I found myself floo'ing to my parents' for dinner. I had told Beasley that I would meet him at Pixies and Stardust later for our final night of patrol that week. It had proved useless patrolling the nightclub since there hadn't been any further incidents that had occurred. But at least we only had one more patrol until we could complete our report.
I had only just stumbled onto the rug from the fire grate in the living room of my childhood home when I was enveloped by Mum.
"Al! How've you been?" Ginny asked, holding me out to inspect as she always had. She was so much like Nana Weasley in that respect. Dad had told us that Mum had been strong willed while they were in school, but had softened the instant she started popping us out, though I still wouldn't do anything to cross her. "A bit peaky. You haven't been overworking yourself again, have you? I'll have a talk with your father."
"I'm fine, Mum, honest."
"Very well," Ginny said. "At any rate, I'm glad you've come to dinner. Teddy and Victoire should be here soon with the kids. Lily should also be here, however James sent a patronus earlier saying that his coach had extended practice due to their recent loss. He's not sure when he'll get here now."
My eldest brother played Professional Quidditch for England; he had played for Appleby Arrows from the time he finished Hogwarts up until the previous season before he had finally landed a contract offer from the International Quidditch League to play for England. That meant James would have a chance to make it to the Quidditch World Cup now that he was playing internationally. It had been my brother's goal. But apparently England was having a rough season since most of its seven players were newly acquired. England barely scraped a win in their pre-season scrimmage against Romania, then last weekend's first match of the season they had gotten creamed by Australia.
My sister, Lily, had become a journalist, like our mum. Lily had received an offer to join the The Kaleidoscope Underground as an Investigative Reporter, which she had accepted without a single hesitation, a few months ago. That paper reported thought provoking pieces, as well as detailed reports on anything of political importance in the wizarding world.
I followed Mum into the kitchen and helped set the table while she finished cooking with flourishes of her wand. It wasn't long until Dad had finally arrived; he had still been in his office when I left. Teddy and Victoire had shown up with kids in tow shortly after Dad. Teddy worked as an auror, too, though he was higher ranked than me, obviously. It had been at least a month since I had last seen the kiddos, and they had grown quite a bit. Or it could have been my imagination.
"Wotcher, Al?" Teddy asked, as we stepped out the kitchen door that led into the back garden with the kids. "Anything new?"
I shrugged. "Just working. Beasley and I have been patrolling Pixie and Stardust all week. Riveting stuff, let me tell you."
"You'll get more exciting cases," Teddy said. "Just you wait. I have it on good authority that Harry has noticed both of your hard work and is just about ready to start letting you in on cases with the core unit."
Teddy was like a big brother to James, Lily, and me. Always had been. He had been around our house so often when we were younger that he was basically part of the family. The only thing that contradicted that was that he wasn't related by blood. But now he was really part of the family since he had married into the Potter-Weasley clan.
Dad was Teddy's godfather, as well as the only father figure he had ever known since Teddy's own dad had passed when he had been a couple months old during the Battle of Hogwarts. Teddy had also lost his mum in that battle. Uncle George's twin had been killed, too. So many lives lost. Yet worth it as we no longer had to worry about Voldemort. Dad had seen to it that Voldemort was defeated at the end of that battle.
Just then the door cracked open to reveal Lily as she stepped out to join us.
"It has been a week," Lily said. "I'm so glad it's over. Though I'll probably end up working through the weekend."
"What are you working on now?"
"The werewolf strike," Lily said. "It's been refueled since those attacks a couple years ago. Werewolves are tired of being prejudiced for the misdeeds of a few rogues."
"It really is a shame," Teddy said. "I wish people could see that not all werewolves are bad."
Teddy's father, Remus Lupin, had been turned at a young age. Not to mention, the lycanthropy gene had somehow skipped Teddy, yet he was still a carrier of it; Teddy's son, Remus, had been born with lycanthropy and changed each full moon. The twins had been lucky enough to skip the lycanthropy gene. One of the twins, little Dora, had inherited Teddy's metamorphagus, which she had been passed down from his mum, Nymphadora Tonks. We all teased about Teddy's mum being reincarnated in his daughter, her namesake. It was a huge coincidence that of Teddy's three children, the one to inherit his metamorphagus abilities was his daughter that he had named after his mum when they had caught her changing her hair color every other minute just hours after Victoire had birthed the twins.
Just then, Dad stuck his head out to tell us that supper was finished.
Several minutes after we had all sat down to eat and James was barreling in through the kitchen door having just apparated on the doorstep. My brother looked like he had came straight from practice without bothering to shower and change from his sweaty quidditch robes. I cringed as he chose the empty seat beside me because of the body odor emitting from him in waves.
"You couldn't have done us a favour by washing first."
"This is the smell of a man, Al," James said. "But I wouldn't expect you'd know that since you're so posh."
It wasn't that I was posh so much as I liked presenting myself by appearing fresh. Proof that I knew how to take care of myself.
"James," Ginny said, "be nice."
"Ugh, I can smell you from down here, James," Lily scrawled. "Go take a shower."
"That'll be enough of that," Ginny said, forever the buffer between her children, even now that they were adults. "We're happy that you could make it, James. How was practice?" All this said whilst the table was scrunching up their noses at the stench.
"Rough," James said, scooping up mounds of food onto his plate. "I don't fancy losing another match. Coach has announced that we'll have two-a-day practices from now until the next match to ensure we win."
"Who's your next match against?" Harry asked.
"Ireland," James said, grimacing. "I wish it weren't, though. Ireland is looking wicked tight already this season. They completely dominated Bulgaria in their first match."
I should have been used to the topic of conversation being focused solely on quidditch by now having grown up with a father who was obsessed with it as much as James was, but that didn't make me any less bored than I was the longer they discussed quidditch tactics. I quickly tuned out until I had to leave.
I made my exit as cleanly as was expected. Sure, they had said bye, but I could hear them revamping the quidditch talk as I slipped out the front door. I spun on the spot and disapparated from my childhood home.
After I had apparated, the first thing I noticed was that Quentin was already standing in the alley that led to the side entrance/exit of Pixies and Stardust.
"How was dinner with the fam?"
"All right," I said. "The usual. James showed up and spun the conversation toward quidditch and I felt as bored as you'd expect."
"You're the only bloke I know who doesn't like quidditch," Quentin said. "Honestly, it's baffling."
"I just don't see what all the hype is, especially when there are more important topics to discuss," I said. "For instance, the werewolf strike."
"Did you hear about the sit-in at a restaurant just up the way from here earlier today?" Quentin asked. "All the wizards and witches silently protesting were arrested. I think it was that place across from Fortescue."
"I hadn't," I said. "What were they protesting?"
"Better chance of employment," Quentin said. "Apparently quite a few werewolves have had their applications denied there and they had decided to make it known that the restaurant wasn't being fair in offering employment as equally as they should have been."
"How long are they being held?"
Quentin shrugged. "Not sure. I'm sure they'll be released soon enough."
The patrol was as uneventful as it had been every night that week. It also meant that the likelihood of my being called out would be slim tomorrow night. That meant I would be able to enjoy my date with Evan. Or hang out, whatever it was. I wasn't exactly sure what Evan's intentions had been. Either way, I would be able to enjoy my time with the English man.
