CHAPTER THREE:

Around half past seven, Percy started towards the village. He'd decided that it would be better to walk a little in the cold, to make his appearance more… mundane. It didn't hurt, he felt, that the cold would hopefully take his mind off of his queasy stomach. Or that it meant that he could slip away from the party before anyone could remark upon his date. The hour following dinner he'd practically hid in a corner of the kitchen, praying no one noticed as he quickly packed some of his mother's Christmas biscuits into a basket that she'd handed to him with a knowing smile.

Percy's cheeks burned again thinking of it. "Best to bring something to her, dearie," she'd said. "A lady always likes to know how thoughtful you are."

"But I wasn't thoughtful," he'd pointed out. "You were."

"Not to worry. It's the idea of it." And then she'd bustled away without another word.

The night was cold but clear as Percy neared the village. The stars glittered, frigid and faraway, refracting off the snow that had fallen the day before. It was a lonely, frozen, glittering scene, and he felt, for once, that this was a place that he belonged. Without warmth or life; just silence. His stomach relaxed a bit.

He knocked on the café door at precisely eight o'clock.

"Hold on!" he heard Audrey call. There was some shuffling noises, then the sound of something falling, followed by, "Shit." Percy grinned a little. That was unexpected.

He quickly wiped it from his face as, a few moments later, the door was thrown open to reveal a wild-haired, flour-smeared Audrey. "You're one of those people," she said accusingly, stabbing a spoon towards him.

"Sorry?"

"One of those people who comes on time."

"Oh… yes?" Unsure of what else to do, Percy held out the basket in his hand. "Peace offering?"

Audrey took it and peeked beneath the cloth. "Why, don't you know the way to a girl's heart." And with a brilliant smile, she took him by the arm and led him in, past the dining space and into the kitchen.. "You did catch me by surprise - I was hoping I might be finished by the time you arrived. I should've cast you for a timely type."

"I like being timely," Percy said defensively.

"Well, as long as you don't mind me looking like this for the next few minutes, I'm fine with it too." She gestured to her flour-dusted apron and shirt. "Dropped a whole bowlful on me when you knocked - clumsy."

"I'm sorry."

"Oh, yes, how dare you knock at the exact time you were supposed to."

Unsure of how to handle the sarcasm, Percy smiled weakly, and said, "Well, um, you look lovely regardless."

"Please." But she blushed lightly, and her smile turned shy, pleased.

Percy felt his heart warm a little. He'd made her blush.

Maybe he could do this after all.

He watched as Audrey picked up the metal bowl from the floor, scooping as much of the flour into it as possible before throwing it away and setting the bowl in the sink. She paused, eyes fixed on the mess with pursed lips. "Sweep first," she muttered to herself, making Percy smile again. As she went to rummage in a closet for a broom, Percy rolled up his sleeves, sidestepped the mess, and turned on the faucet to do the dishes.

"Oh! Percy, you don't have to do that!" Audrey protested when she reentered the kitchen. "Really, you're my guest."

"Well, I did startle you into making one mess. The least I could do is help clean up," he said, shrugging. "And I'm quite good at doing dishes."

"Is it possible to be bad at them?" Audrey mused as she began to clean up the mess on the floor.

"Clearly, you don't have siblings."

"In that guess, you are absolutely correct," she said with a laugh. "I must have missed a crucial aspect to my dish-washing education."

"On the contrary, it is they who seemed to have missed it. Fortunately - " Percy stopped short of saying, magic makes up for their shortcomings, but only just. He coughed a little, trying to cover his awkward pause, then said, "Fortunately, they have improved with age."

Well, it wasn't a complete lie. Although he doubted any of his siblings would have any great hand at the Muggle way of doing anything.

If Audrey had noticed his correction, she didn't let on. She dumped the pan full of flour into the bin and moved next to him to towel off some of the dishes he was setting in the rack next to the sink. "And how, then, did you become so proficient?" she asked teasingly.

"I live in a tiny flat in London by myself. One gets used to cleaning up his plate when he's only got one."

"No one visits?"

"Oh - not really. Most of my siblings don't live near it, and they're all rather busy for such a long trip. I usually visit them instead." No need to tell her about the estrangement. It was much too complicated, and much too entwined with the wizarding world to try and explain it to a Muggle.

"I see. Here - " Audrey took the final bowl he was holding and set it in a cupboard. "Thank you for helping wash up. Now we can actually start the evening."

Percy's stomach flipped. "Oh, er, yes. Of course." What does she mean, start?

Audrey led the way up a narrow staircase and into a small flat above the café. Percy wasn't sure what he was expecting - perhaps just taking tea downstairs in the dining room - but this wasn't it, and his heart was beating uncomfortably fast. Although whether it was from nerves or excitement, he wasn't entirely sure.

The space was small, and the ceiling was so steeply pitched that Percy had to bend awkwardly in several places to avoid hitting his head. There was little furniture - only an overstuffed sofa and armchair near the fireplace, a coffee table, and bookshelf, with a tiny kitchen over to the one side. "There's a loo just behind there," Audrey told him, nodding at one closed door off of the kitchen. "And there's the bedroom," she added, nodding at another.

"Ah." Percy fervently hoped that she couldn't see his neck reddening.

"What would you like to drink? I can make us some tea to start, if you'd like. Or I have eggnog, of course."

"Ah - sure." How eloquent.

"To..?"

"Oh, um, eggnog."

"Mm. Man of my own heart." Audrey pulled a pitcher from the fridge and poured two glasses, handing one to him. "I'll be back in a moment. I just want to go and change." She disappeared into the bedroom. Percy stared after her before ducking his way into the living space. He was about to sit in the armchair when her bookshelf caught his eye and he went for a closer look.

"Admiring my collection?"

Percy started, nearly spilling his eggnog. He nearly dropped it again when he saw what she was wearing.

She looked lovely in the dark green sweater and black skirt, but she had a Christmas hat on her head and reindeer slippers on her feet. As he stared, she smiled at him and gave a twirl, making her shoes jingle. "I hope you don't mind - they make me happy."

"No - not at all… I'm sorry, I'm not really good at this," he said, rubbing his neck and looking back at the books.

"At reading?"

"At… talking. No, that's a lie," he amended. "I can talk. I'm not good at being friendly. I..." He could feel her approach him, and didn't jump this time even when she lay a hand on his arm.

"You're doing just fine."

Percy felt like he'd been punched. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been fine, but in that moment, looking down at this beautiful woman, he remembered the ghost of what it felt like. And more than anything, he wanted to kiss her.

Really, really, wanted to kiss her.

Instead, he looked back at the shelf. "You like to read medical texts?"

"I wanted to be a doctor." Audrey sighed and took a long sip of her eggnog. "When I was younger."

"You are young," Percy pointed out. She couldn't be any older than him.

"I'm old enough to know when to stop dreaming." Audrey shrugged, but she stared at the texts wistfully. "I haven't got means to go to university. This café is all I have."

Not knowing what to say to that, Percy took a swig of eggnog and sat down on the sofa. To his surprise, Audrey sat down next to him rather than in the armchair.

For a while, they chatted about schools, and jobs, and all the sorts of bland things that Percy had to significantly edit to make suitable for Muggle ears. Even as he became more drunk, he couldn't tell how much of it was from the alcohol and how much was because of her. He was acutely aware of how she shook when she laughed, how she embellished her stories with wild gestures of her hands, and how at some point she'd slung her legs up into his lap. She was so unapologetically, intoxicatingly alive in every way that he wasn't entirely sure if it was the eggnog or her touch that was making the room spin.

"Tell me about your family," said Audrey, at what must have been near midnight. She was leaning against his shoulder, and he couldn't see her face.

"Ha. It's big. I've got one sister and five brothers - no, four brothers." Percy stumbled to a stop, for the first time since arriving thinking of Fred. Something must have shown in his face because he felt Audrey take his hand.

"You lost one?" she asked quietly.

"Last June."

"There's nothing worse than losing someone close to you."

"We weren't that close anymore." He took a large gulp of eggnog and shook his head. "We'd only just reconciled."

A warm hand touched his cheek, and he turned to look at Audrey. Her eyes, dark gold in the firelight, were soft. "It doesn't make the pain any easier."

"No," he whispered. "It doesn't."

The room was quiet but for the crackling of the fire, but even though he knew he should look away, should break the silence, should do something, he continued to stare into her eyes, enchanted. He became hyper aware that her hand was still on his cheek, and without breaking eye contact, he turned his head slightly and let his lips brush against her palm.

She gave a sharp intake of breath, but didn't move her hand away. Instead, she rearranged her body so that she could bring her face closer to his. Her gold eyes flicked down to his lips.

She's waiting for me to make the first move, he realized. For all of her forwardness, Audrey was, in that moment, shy.

And in spite of the fact that he too was shy, he moved forward and closed the gap between them.