"Memory … like an old music box, it will lie silent for long years;

then a mere nothing, a jerk, a tremor, will start the spring,

and from beneath its decent covering of dust,

it will talk to us of forgotten passion and desire."

- Thomas Burke

Since Wednesday afternoon, my mind had been fixated on the conversation I'd had with Granger and how she'd behaved in my presence. There was clearly more going on with her than she was willing to admit. She'd looked exhausted and overwhelmed, like she hadn't been able to sleep for a week. Work stress wouldn't phase her in that way; she'd been through Potter's paternity leave twice already.

I'd wanted to help her in any way I could and it drove me crazy that she wouldn't let me take her out of that office. I knew we weren't friends, but she needed a break.

Her tears, the forced conversation, the way she'd asked me to talk so she could take her mind off things… I could tell she needed more than she was asking for, but I didn't know how to handle her and I didn't want to come between her and Blaise. On my first day, he'd made it more than clear that he didn't want me to be alone with her.

The broken expression on her face had haunted me for the rest of the day and I knew she'd silenced the room as soon as I'd closed the door. I'd stood there for a minute, waiting to hear the cries I knew she'd kept at bay while I was in her office, but they never came. Even though it nearly killed me, I'd walked away, knowing that it wasn't my place to push her to open up or to be the one who comforted her.

But I'd dreamt of her and I'd known I would be back at her door when given the opportunity. I had to check on her.

When I walked into the office on Thursday morning, Blaise and Mel were moving frantically, trying to get things together. They'd been in Italy twice already this week — I was beginning to think that they should just stay there until this case was wrapped up.

Greeting me with a smile, Mel said, "It's happening this weekend. We've identified a target and determined that it'll be relatively unprotected. This is the kind of chance they've been waiting for."

"Do you need an extra wand in the mix?"

She grimaced. "I don't think Blaise will really want you to come with us, and I don't know if Harry cleared you for field work before he went out."

"Potter cleared me," I stated. "If Zabini wants me to come, just let me know. I'm working on my potioneer case, but I haven't made much headway yet."

"I'll let him know you offered," she replied. "Thank you, Draco. I'm going to try to get to the bottom of why he has such a huge problem with you. You'd be an asset to our team."

Nodding, I said, "Stay safe out there. Don't worry about me and Blaise. We'll eventually work things out. We always have."

I watched her walk away, her long blonde hair tied up in a knot on top of her head. Her wand was stuck through it and I nearly laughed. While she was a bit different from most purebloods, Mel was certainly a great Auror.

As I made my way to my desk, Blaise cut me off and walked into Granger's office. It took all of my willpower to not follow him in, though I had no desire to see him kissing her senseless. I continued on, sitting down in my chair and opening the case file that had been the bane of my existence for the past week.

When I read over all the information the Ministry had on this rogue potioneer, I was shocked no one had gone after him yet. They'd been collecting data for years and he was still operational.

The thought of the wrong person getting their hands on something like Amortentia made my blood boil. I'd seen too many girls given love and lust potions at revels when I was teenager. It made them so incredibly pliant.

Before long, I heard Blaise come out of Granger's office, shouting out to Mel and a few others, and they all headed for the lifts, carrying bags with their personal supplies. I watched them all depart, half wishing I was going on this mission with them and half excited that most of the department would be gone. I wanted to check on Granger and it would be best if I could do it without an audience.

Looking at my watch, I decided I'd give her an hour or two to get through her own work and then I'd check in on her.

While I was reading through all the notes from previous Aurors or interviewed patrons, I found a weird commonality. The illegal potions seemed to be sold mostly in the morning. How no one had spotted this bit of information and connected the dots before, I had no idea.

In addition to that, in a photograph of the building, I'd spotted several runes painted on the front of the shop. A lot of stores in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade had strange symbols painted on them, their meanings long forgotten, but these seemed to be fresh, and I had a feeling they were significant.

The DMLE just happened to have an employee who was nearly an expert in both Arithmancy and Ancient Runes…

Knowing that Hermione could help me, I rose from my chair and stretched. It was nearly midday and most of the remaining Aurors and support had already cleared out for lunch. I grabbed the photo and brought it with me so I had a legitimate reason to visit her office this time. If she felt like I was checking up on her too often, she would likely ask why, and I didn't have an answer for her.

Not one that I was willing to share, anyway.

As soon as I reached her door, I tapped lightly on the frame. Granger looked up, her dark eyes focusing on me. She put on a small smile.

"Malfoy. How are you today?" she asked politely.

"I'm doing well," I began. "How are you?"

The small talk seemed so ridiculous. I hated every second of it.

She shrugged. "I'm fine. I've been organising the final details for the Florence mission. I have to take care of the accommodations and all of that since Harry's assistant is useless when he's not in the office."

Laughing, I said, "How does she still have a job then?"

"Honestly? I have no idea," Granger replied, signing something and setting her quill down on her desk. "Did you need something?"

She was so blunt with me, and I wondered if she treated everyone that way.

"Actually, I do," I said, grateful that I'd found a reason to speak with her. "I've not looked at runes in quite some time, and I think there are some on the front of this apothecary that's under investigation."

She gestured for me to come closer and I took the opportunity to sit in the chair across from her. After sliding the photo across the desk, I sat back in the chair and watched her examine it.

Just like I remembered from Hogwarts, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed while she looked closely at the runes. She waved her hand over the photo and I saw the colors shift.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

She looked up for a moment. "Enhancing the colors. I'm trying to see if two of these lines are connected or not. It's hard to tell since the lighting is so poor. I've developed a spell to help with it. Come around and look."

I stood and moved to the other side of her desk, leaning closer to examine the altered photo, but still keeping my distance from her to the best of my ability.

"See that?" Granger said, her voice quieter than it had been before. "I'm relatively sure that's the Arabic symbol for invisible, but if those two lines aren't actually touching, it could mean something completely different."

I let my eyes venture sideways, taking in her profile while she talked. There was a pink tinge to her cheeks, and I wondered when she'd started flushing.

I swallowed hard. "Yeah, I see what you mean. It's hard to tell."

Her hand waved over the photo again and it became the tiniest bit clearer, but I couldn't focus. I just kept looking at her.

"I can't tell," she stated. "Have you been to Diagon Alley to look at them in person?"

I shook my head. "No, I just noticed them this morning."

She angled her face towards mine the smallest amount. "I think you should go and take a look. There aren't many people who know you're working with the DMLE again, so you'd draw the least attention."

Another test in willpower. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't let myself look down at them like some sort of unsure, lovesick teenager.

"I could do that," I said, pulling back even more. "I could pick up some lunch from the Leaky while I'm there. Do you want anything? I'll… bring it back for you."

Granger's teeth sank into her lower lip. "Sure. That would be nice. Can you just tell Hannah that you need my usual? She'll know."

Nodding, I replied, "I can do that. I'll see you in an hour or so."

"If no one's paying attention to you, get new pictures with better lighting, for the love of Merlin," she ordered. "I don't know who took that one, but it's complete rubbish."

Standing and turning to face me, Granger stretched, her arms lifting into the air and her head tipping back and rolling from side to side. The hem of her dress rose up and I quickly averted my eyes, not wanting her to catch me ogling her legs. The hem fell above her knee when she wasn't stretching, so I'd caught a glimpse of her thighs…

"Malfoy?" she asked. "Why are you staring at the wall?"

"Oh, um, no reason," I replied, clearing my throat. "I was just… thinking. I wanted you to look at the runes, but I also came in here to talk to you."

Her pink cheeks started to lose their color. "About what?"

"I wanted to see if you were okay. Yesterday… you were upset. I wanted to check on you."

Waving her hand at me like it was no big deal, Granger said, "Really, I was fine. I don't know what got into me. I'd spent the past two nights at Harry's with James and Sev and they climbed into bed with us."

"Us?"

The word had escaped my lips without a thought.

Looking away, she reached for an empty coffee mug on her desk. "Blaise stayed there with me while Pansy was in the hospital. That's why I was out at the beginning of the week. I was taking care of the boys."

"Ah, I see. Practicing for when you have your own little Zabinis," I blurted, unable to stop the sickening jealousy that was hidden within my response.

She still hadn't looked back at me.

"I suppose you could say that," Granger answered. "Everyone seems to think that's what we were doing. It wasn't my intention, but—" A ringing sound cut her off and she picked some sort of Muggle device up off her desk. "Speaking of Blaise."

She flipped the device open and held it to her ear. "Hi. Did you all get into the hotel okay?"

I couldn't hear his reply, but she clearly could.

"That's good." Pause. "I'm fine." Pause. "I'm working, obviously. I'm going to have some lunch in a little bit." Pause. "I'm having someone pick it up from the Leaky for me. I'm sure Hannah will send over my usual order."

Someone. Not Draco. Not even Malfoy. Just someone, like I wasn't even standing here to hear her conversation.

"—nothing to worry about, Blaise. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Granger waved her mug in the air and gestured to the door, not even speaking to me while Blaise was on the other end of that Muggle contraption. She mouthed 'see you later' and was on her way, leaving me standing dumbstruck in her office. As she'd walked out the door, I'd heard her voice deepen, like she was scolding him for something, but I hadn't been able to concentrate on the words. I'd watched the sway of her hips, the bounce of her curls, the flexing of her calf muscles in her heels.

I was lusting after her like I was sixteen bloody years old all over again.

With a sigh, I grabbed the photo and walked back to my desk, the jealousy churning my stomach once more. It was becoming apparent that I wanted Hermione Granger's attention whether I was married or not, whether Astoria curled her hair and fucked me six ways from Sunday every single night or not.

If I didn't have Scorpius to think about, I knew I'd be acting on these… urges. I wouldn't even be giving Blaise a second thought.

I'd be finding my way into her knickers and never letting go.

The trip to Diagon Alley and the Leaky had been fairly uneventful. As usual, Granger was right; no one had paid me any mind since I wasn't wearing my Auror robes or making a spectacle. I'd taken a few quick photos and moved on. When I'd asked for Hermione's 'usual' at the Leaky, Hannah had eyed me sceptically until I'd told her I was working in the DMLE again and had business in the area.

"How is Hermione?" she asked. "I've not seen her for a while and I'm starting to worry a bit."

Such a Hufflepuff.

I shrugged. "She seems fine. I've only been back to work a short time, and I don't really remember much from when I was working with her before. You'd do better asking Blaise."

Hannah smiled brightly. "Ah, yes! I was so excited when I'd heard he'd finally asked her out. That man has been in love with Hermione for years."

Perking up, I sat down at the bar and put a charming smile on my face. "Oh really? I thought it was fairly recent."

My dormant Slytherin traits kicked in. I was going to get information out of this little Puff.

Laughing, she shook her head. "Oh, I think he was sweet on her back in Hogwarts, if I'm honest about it."

"Who wasn't?" I asked, gesturing for her to continue.

Hannah hesitated for a moment, so I threw her a wink. "Ah, of course, I mean, even Neville was. He told me all about it when we first got together. But back to Blaise… Hermione used to come in here a lot a few years back — right after Harry married Pansy and started having kids — and Blaise would almost look after her."

"What do you mean?"

Again, she looked ambivalent about continuing. "Well, I probably shouldn't say this, but Hermione had a bit of a drinking problem then. I think she was mostly lonely." I watched as she ran a hand through her hair. "Anyway, men would start to approach her, and Blaise would basically tell them to fuck right off — that it wasn't okay for them to try to sidle up to a drunk witch. I'd have looked after her, of course, but Blaise was around more often than not."

"Really? Did he take her home then?"

Hannah shook her head. "No, never. I always kept her here. I usually keep a room or two open just in case someone needs to sleep it off. I don't want anyone to get splinched or harmed if they have one too many."

"Did Hermione know that he was watching her?" I asked.

With a laugh, she said, "You make it sound like he was stalking her! I don't think she knew, but he didn't really hide it. He was usually here with a few other blokes or occasionally a girl."

"Oh, so it was more of a coincidence that he was here."

With a shrug, Hannah replied, "Maybe. I can't be sure." She took a drink order from another customer and fulfilled it. "Do you want anything while you wait?"

"Working," I reminded her. "I don't think the Ministry would like me drinking firewhisky while I'm on the clock."

"Water? Or tea?" she asked.

"Thank you, but I'm fine."

She started to bustle away, but paused and looked over her shoulder. "It was good to see you, Malfoy. I'm glad things are getting back to normal for you and that you and Hermione are friends again."

Thinking about what she'd said, I tried to remember a single time that Granger and I had seen her or why she'd think we were friends.

Of course, I couldn't bring anything forth. But I knew now that someone had considered us friends, and that meant others must have, too.

When I got back to the DMLE, I headed straight to Granger's office, hoping to show her the photos and talk about the case. I was also going to find a way to bring up what Hannah had said, both about Blaise and about our previous friendship.

However, she wasn't at her desk. The disappointment that flooded through me was expected, but still irritating. I set her food down and picked up her quill. She had a stack of tiny square papers on the corner of her desk and I reached for one. The whole lot of them came up, somehow stuck together. When I pulled the top sheet, it came free.

"Must be something Muggle," I mumbled, setting the stack back where she'd had it.

I wrote her a note, telling her that I had new photos to show her and would be at my desk when she was ready for them.

An hour later, a piece of paper folded into the shape of a bird landed on my desk. Picking it up, I examined it, impressed with how its tiny wings were still moving. The charm work was extraordinary — not that I'd expect anything less from Granger. I unfolded the blue paper carefully, not wanting to tear it.

Malfoy, I'm ready when you are. Come and see me whenever you'd like.

Her words made my mind whir, thinking of other contexts they could be used in. I began wondering if I was like this before; had a single note from her made me go running? Did I always look for hidden meaning, or was that new? Honestly, I found myself looking for meaning in everything since the accident, always desperate to remember something from the past.

One thing was certain — any feelings I had before seemed ten times stronger now.

Looking at my watch, I resolved to wait five minutes. I didn't want to just immediately get up and run to her.

I examined the photos, narrowing my eyes at the same spot Granger had been looking at earlier. It was the strangest thing, but it seemed like it was angled slightly differently than it had been in the first photo.

Flipping through some of the others, I saw a pattern appear. If there was a person standing close to the runes, they shifted the slightest amount.

I forgot all about my plan to wait and jumped out of my seat, rushing to her office.

"I think they change," I began. "Look at these. If there is a person standing right in front of them, this little bit here looks like it moves."

Automatically, she held out her hand and I gave her the photos.

Brows drawn together in concentration, she said, "I think you're right. There's definitely something different about them. It's only that one line that shifts, so if you're just passing by, it wouldn't even be noticeable. You'd have to be looking for it."

"Interesting, right?"

Her head tilted back and she looked me in the eyes. "Definitely. We're going to have to send people out on a rotation to get more photos over the next couple of days."

I nodded. "Do you have any books in here that I could use for this?"

"Maybe…" she said, trailing off as she read over the titles. Reaching for one, she opened the front cover, scanning the title page before handing it to me. "If you want, you can set up in here. I don't like to loan my books out."

I laughed. "Oh, that's so shocking, Granger."

Narrowing her eyes at me, she replied, "Don't tease me, Draco. I've lost books when they've been borrowed."

Before I could point out that she'd called me Draco, her little Muggle device vibrated again. She looked down at it. "Oh, for Merlin's sake! I'm not a fucking child." Flipping it open, she said, "Hi, Blaise. What's going on?"

In order to avoid listening to their conversation, I walked out of her office, getting some supplies from my desk. I dragged it out as long as I could, arranging things as neatly as possible. When I walked back in, I noticed that her cheeks were red and she was furiously writing on a piece of parchment.

"Are you alright?" I asked tentatively.

She huffed. "I'm fine, though Blaise seems to think I can't survive a day on my own."

"Why would he think that?"

Again, she didn't look up or stop writing. "Because I had some issues last year. I guess it doesn't matter that I've made progress or that I don't fall apart like I did before—"

"Slow down. Look at me," I said, and her quill paused. "Come on, Granger. Is it a big deal that he's worried about you?"

"It is," she responded, making eye contact with me. "He should trust that I'm telling him the truth. I just spoke to him at lunchtime and he knows I'm at work."

As I tried to make sense of what she was saying, one question came to mind. "What kind of issues did you have?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said sharply. "Merlin, why do all men think it's their job to worry about me?"

"Is that a rhetorical question?"

A laugh escaped her. "It is. Please don't answer it." After a moment, she added, "And no more questions if you want to stay in here and use that book. I'll be fine once I finish writing all these notes out."

"Okay," I conceded. "But I'm going to give you one piece of advice."

"Oh, really?" she asked.

With a nod, I said, "Don't get angry with him. He doesn't mean to hover or smother you. He just loves you and wants to make sure you're okay."

"Are you that way with Astoria?" I didn't respond right away and she looked down, continuing to make her notes. "That's what I thought. You trust her to take care of herself."

Running a hand through my hair, I sat down where she'd indicated. I didn't know if I should say more, so I stayed silent. I opened the book, scanning the table of contents until I came to the listing for Arabic.

I looked through page upon page of runes, making lists of possibilities for the others around the door. Everything still seemed slightly off and I couldn't tell why. However, I didn't dare interrupt her.

On top of that, I was distracted by thoughts of Astoria and Granger's reaction to my lack of reaction. Why would she have given any thought to how I treat Astoria at all?

Eventually, Granger stopped writing and quietly said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

"I shouldn't have pried."

I could see her chewing the inside of her cheek, the skin on one side of her face stretching tight and then moving. She was feeling anxious — that much was obvious.

"I've only just realised," she began, sounding nervous, "because I wrote out the date on that note, your birthday was on Tuesday."

How did she know exactly when my birthday was? Because we were friends before?

"It was. I just spent the evening with Astoria, Scorpius, and my parents. It was uneventful," I replied. "Better than last year when I had an awkward dinner with Potter, Pansy, Blaise, and my family."

"Well, happy belated, then. I hope it's a wonderful year for you."

She didn't acknowledge my comment about last year; she just looked away.

Her awkwardness and my confusion filled the room. Granger bringing up my birthday shouldn't have been uncomfortable, especially now that I knew we were friends at one point, but it was. And it was obvious she felt it too.

I knew we couldn't just sit here in silence. I decided to move things along. "I have possibilities for the other runes, but nothing seems quite right. There's always something slightly off about them. I can't put my finger on it."

When I slid my notes across her desk, she smiled gratefully, likely happy that I was willing to change the subject.

"I agree. I think we're going to have a really hard time figuring this out until we have more data though," she said, flipping through the images and looking at the possible runes. "Or we're looking at a slightly different dialect. I'll send an owl to the new Hogwarts professor. Maybe there's something I don't know about Arabic runes…"

Smirking, I said, "Granger, did you just admit that there's something you don't know?"

Her head snapped up, her lips parted and ready to retort. When she saw the expression on my face, she relaxed and smiled at me. "I said maybe, Malfoy. I didn't say that I don't know for sure."

Shocked that she'd read me so well, I decided to continue the banter. "Well, I suppose there must be at least one book you haven't read on runes somewhere in the world."

Chuckling, she replied, "It's entirely possible, though highly improbable."

She looked so much more gorgeous when she smiled.

"Well, I'm going to head home for the day," Granger said, starting to neaten up her desk. "We can pick this back up tomorrow. I'm hoping the runes look different in the morning."

Glancing at the clock on her wall, I realised it was already past seven.

"Fuck. I didn't know it was so late. Are you going to Floo or Apparate?"

As she packed up her handbag, she replied, "Floo. I'm going to mine since Blaise isn't home."

I chuckled. "It's not like I know where you live, Granger. I wouldn't know how you get there."

She looked flustered. "Right. Of course."

"I'll walk you to the Floo," I said, gesturing towards the door. "I really need to get home too. Astoria's going to be furious with me for being late."

Slowly, she forced a smile. "I'm sure she misses having you home all day."

"I'm sure she barely notices, to be honest. She spends a lot of time out of the house," I replied.

For just a moment, her big brown eyes looked the tiniest bit sad. She blinked and her expression changed, reverting back to the professional version of herself.

"Right. Well, I'm sure she's been waiting on you. Shall we?"

I stepped through the door first, allowing her to close it and ward it before matching my strides to hers. She moved towards the lift with purpose, her heels clicking when they hit the floor. The rhythm of her gait seemed familiar beside me, like I'd heard the sound of her heels clicking along a million times before.

When I turned my head to the side to look down at her, she was discreetly looking up at me, her eyes quickly looking away as soon as I noticed her. Then, when we reached the lift, she didn't extend a hand to push the call button even though she was closer, like she knew that I would be the one to do it.

After I'd pushed the button, she smiled and said, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," I replied as the doors started to open. I gestured towards the lift. "Ladies first."

I kept my eyes trained on her left shoulder, not allowing myself to look down at her arse when she stepped in front of me. There were a lot of people in the lift, especially when I considered that it was after seven. Since there was no room, I found myself squeezing in behind Granger, her hair nearly touching my face.

When I took a deep breath through my nose, I was assaulted by a memory.

Muggle London — a shopping district.

Christmas decorations.

A store that smelled like hundreds of different scents mixed together.

A small box wrapped in some sort of film.

I must have made some sort of sound because she asked me if I was okay. I shook my head and she laid a hand on my arm.

Looking down at her, my mind started racing but found only gaps. I tried to refocus on what I'd seen before — the Muggle shop, the little box — but I got flashes of other things instead.

A red dress.

A rather large diamond necklace.

"Draco!" Her terrified voice broke through the fog and shut down the tiny flickers of memory I was having. She'd turned to face me and was looking up into my eyes. "Malfoy, are you okay?"

Again, I tried to breathe in through my nose and fell back into the gaps between my memories.

"Draco, you need to breathe! Breathe in through your mouth!"

Obeying her command, I took in a lungful of air. When everything came into focus, everyone in the lift was staring at me. My eyes looked down, meeting hers, and I saw something there. She was terrified. I needed to put her at ease.

"I'm fine," I lied. "I'm sorry. I just… there are too many people in here."

As soon as the doors opened, I pushed my way out, heading towards the Floo and leaving her behind.

"Draco!" she called, but I kept moving.

When I heard her heels clicking towards me again, I sped up, heading for the nearest empty Floo. I knew I couldn't go home right now, so I said the first thing that came to mind.

"The Leaky Cauldron!"

I stepped through the Floo and out the door as quickly as possible. I was taking deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. I didn't know what had set me off, but my brain was firing in a way I hadn't felt before. I could feel the missing memories. Connections were broken, but something had triggered this response in me.

What had I lost that my body so desperately wanted me to remember?

The London air flooded my nostrils — particularly pungent in the warm summer air — and I started to calm. It was well after seven, but the streets were still light. Keeping my head down, I walked and thought, concentrating on the slivers I could remember.

Muggle shopping area. A store. Christmas decorations. The small film-wrapped box. A huge diamond necklace. A red dress.

I couldn't remember specifics, but I remembered those things. I tried to piece them together logically.

What was the most out of place?

Christmas decorations. Those are seasonal.

Right, likely November or December. I was definitely in a Muggle area, and I knew they always decorated more than we did in the wizarding world.

Muggle shopping district. Christmas shopping? But for whom?

The dress, the diamond necklace… those things led me to think they were for Astoria, but I was certain I'd never seen her wear either of them, and she'd want to show off a necklace like that at every opportunity.

Though we hadn't really been to many functions or events over the past year and a half…

Frustrated, I ducked into the nearest alleyway and leaned against the wall.

Muggle shopping area. A store. Christmas decorations. The small film-wrapped box. A huge diamond necklace. A red dress.

My head was starting to hurt, but I needed to figure out what I was missing. I needed to figure out what had prompted the memory.

I'd been feeling an odd sense of déjà vu when Granger and I had been walking towards the lift, but it couldn't have been enough to cause this memory. Again, I thought about the way she waited for me to press the button, the way she seemed to know to step in ahead of me. I thought about her proximity and the way I'd forced myself not to look down at her arse.

I thought about the deep breath I'd taken through my nose, and it hit me like a rogue bludger.

I'd smelled something.

The store that contained all the different scents, the small box — it must have contained perfume or cologne.

Someone's scent had triggered the memory.

As soon as I'd realised it had been a scent that triggered the memory, it all came rushing back.

I popped into the Apparition Point in Muggle London and started walking towards a large shop that reminded me somewhat of St. Mungo's. There were large glass windows in the front with mannequins dressed in winter clothing and Christmas decorations framing the pictured scenes. I moved swiftly and with confidence, like I had done this more than once before.

When I entered the shop, I moved straight towards a large, brightly lit area. The scents were overwhelming but I seemed to know what I wanted. Reading all the labels, I paused when I came to a golden box, One Love stamped on the front. It was covered in a thin film, but I lifted it to my nose anyway.

A second later, a Muggle woman approached me. "Do you want a sample? We have a tester right there." She lifted the bottle and sprayed it on a small square of thick paper. "Here. Is this what you're looking for?"

I brought the sample to my nose, inhaling deeply. A contented smile spread across my face. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. My wife will be so pleased. Thank you for your help."

With a wink, she said, "You're welcome. Let me know if I can help you with anything else."

When I came back to myself, I was breathing heavily, barely holding myself up even though I was leaning against a wall.

Why had perfume affected me like that if it was only something I'd bought for Astoria?

Author's Note: And let the yelling commence!

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