Chapter Five

It was a very slow day at Slug & Jiggers.

Sunday tended to be, as Ministry workers who needed ingredients were taking a day off. Diagon Alley tended to be quiet on Sundays, unless it was summertime. In the sunny glow from the shop windows, Kayla was reading Magical Mediterranean Water Plants to pass the time. Mr. Jiggers never minded if she read on the job, as long as she wasn't avoiding customers or there wasn't a shipment waiting to be set out.

Kayla thumbed through the index curiously, searching for any plants she recognized, first. Though she still grew a couple of magical plants on her windowsill, they were nothing like the ones she used to grow. Some of her fondest memories at school were working in the Herbology greenhouse with her father.

She was halfway through reading an article on Gillyweed when the door jingled. She looked up, starting to push her book aside when she saw Albus, holding two coffee cups.

"Good morning," he greeted, setting down one of the cups in front of her on the front counter. "Thought I would offer your favourite coffee as a bribe."

Kayla raised an eyebrow, though she was trying not to smile too widely. She didn't want to give away how surprised and touched she was. "Rosa Lee's isn't my favourite. But I do love their coffee."

"Good enough?" he said hopefully, going around the counter to step closer to her. "Or do I need a bit more incentive?"

She blushed; she hadn't flirted in ages, but she could definitely get used to this. "Maybe a bit more."

He chuckled and opened his rucksack. She could see a few groceries before he brandished a small brown paper bag from within. He held it out for her, and she peeked inside; there was a slice of banana bread inside.

"This looks good," Kayla said shyly, taking it and brushing her hair behind her ear. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, chuckling, "but I'm not going to lie, I really am bribing you."

She split the cake into half and set it down on the paper bag. "For what?"

He shifted his rucksack on his back and shrugged. "Well, I'm not working today, but my boss wanted me to extract Venomous Tentacula seeds for this potion that will be ready tomorrow morning."

Kayla wrinkled her nose. "You want me to help?" To her surprise, Al reached up poked her nose lightly.

"Merlin, you're cute," he told her, smirking. His ears were turning pink again as she blinked up at him, unable to reply.

He grabbed half of the bread and took a bite. "So, are you in? I'm rubbish at Herbology, and I brought you the best thing in the world."

"Banana bread?"

"Coffee."

"Okay, okay," Kayla conceded, taking her coffee cup in her hands, taking off the lid and inhaling her drink with closed eyes. She loved the smell of coffee more than coffee itself. "I do need to put in cream and sugar anyway."

"I already did. Two creams, one sugar." She looked at him, but he was suddenly very interested in the banana bread.

"How did you know that?"

"I guessed."

Kayla hid her smile behind her cup. Maybe Al had noticed her before she realized it. "Good guess. Yeah, I'm in. Venomous Tentaculas are easy to deal with, if you have the right tools."

"What's that, now?"

She went to the back room, rummaging through the pantry to find a large jar full of tiny, spiky, black bugs. Luckily, they were dead. Al looked quite apprehensive as she came out with the jar, holding them up.

"Chizpurfles," she announced.

Kayla was allowed to close up shop for lunch, so that was what she did when she went to visit the North Side Apothecary across Diagon Alley. She could see Al in there alone – the shop was closed on Sundays – so she knocked on the door, peering inside. He opened the door and took her hand to pull her inside, locking the door behind him.

"I brought the Chizpurfles," Kayla said, gesturing to her bag as he led them to the back room. "All we have to do is distract the Tentacula with it and then their seeds are very easy to take. They get sleepy from eating and as long as you don't bonk them on the head –"

Kayla suddenly stopped as Al turned around, grinning at her. She felt the heat in her face as he and stepped closer to her, pressing her back into the doorframe of the back room.

"What?" she asked, almost defensively.

"Hello to you too?" he said, raising an eyebrow. His smile was much too mischievous for her not to feel suspicious.

"Hello," she replied carefully.

"Putting aside the fact that you are holding an enormous jar full of dead parasites, you look very lovely right now."

She blushed furiously and looked down at the bag. "I actually only brought enough for three Tentaculas."

"And you're smart!" he complimented in a teasing voice, squeezing her hand.

Kayla, feeling too nervous to banter back, cleared her throat and sidestepped him to enter the back room. It was halfway between a pantry and a greenhouse; there were shelves and shelves stacked up the ceiling of potions ingredients. The sun was pouring into the room onto a few small plots of soil that had been made in large wooden crates.

On the back corner on the table were two large Venomous Tentacula plants. They looked deceivingly like normal plants, but they had large, eyeless mouths that were covered with leaves. Kayla knew from handling them at school that they needed thick, dragon-hide gloves to protect her hands from their deadly thorns. The seeds lay in the stems of the plant, and she'd have to cut it open once the Tentacula was asleep.

"I have half a mind to sell the seeds once we got them," Albus joked, tossing her the gloves. "We could just Stun them, right? I remembering using the Severing Charm at school."

"We get more seeds if they're asleep," Kayla explained, putting down the bag of Chizpurfles on a table. "They tend the retain more if they're Stunned, but if they're asleep, the seeds are very easy to peel off."

"You know a lot about something that's a tiny bit illegal," he commented slyly.

She busied herself in putting on the gloves because his gaze was making her heart beat a little too quickly. "My dad showed me while I was at school."

"Are you close to him, then?"

"We were closer while I was in school." She opened the bag of Chizpufles and grabbed a few. The rotting smell made her eyes water. "I don't get to see him much, since he's at Hogwarts most of the time."

"I get that," Al said, wrinkling his nose at the smell. "My dad's usually out of Auror missions. Mind you, I saw him last night at dinner and it wasn't exactly pleasant."

"Why not?"

"He wants to get me this position at the Ministry," he explained, folding his arms across his chest, "but I don't really fancy working for the government if I don't have to. He insists that he could get something higher paying."

"And you don't want that?"

"Not at all."

"Why's that?"

"I dunno…" He trailed off, his shoulders stiff as he shrugged. "I don't need my father to get me a job. Anyway, it's not like I have children or something. I make enough and I learn much more here."

"I don't learn much at Slug & Jiggers," Kayla shared.

He leaned in a little. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Sure."

"I'm not just working here," he said quietly. "I'm doing an apprenticeship. My boss didn't really want to take anyone on, but Professor Slughorn talked him into it when I was graduating. He's getting a little old, so he said he'd take me on so I could take over when he retired."

Kayla was amazed. "That's… incredible, Al. Doesn't North Side Apothecary supply St. Mungo's and the Ministry? And your dad?"

"Yeah." He looked around. "So that's why I'm here, on a Sunday, working on all this. Some of these are so complicated that I have to watch them all night."

"You're really dedicated," she told him, feeling a little small. "I remember you were top of the class in Potions while we were at school, too."

"Thanks." He smiled warmly at her, and she felt a tiny rush of affection for him. "A lot of people don't really see it that way. I mean…" He suddenly reached for the back of his neck, looking away. "That's why my last girlfriend broke up with me."

"Oh yeah." She suddenly remembered Al the previous year, quiet and torn up for a few weeks. Kayla would never say anything, but Lily had commented on the dark circles under his eyes. Rose and Scorpius had gotten engaged at that time, as well.

"Anyway," he said, shrugging again and pulling on another pair of dragon-hide gloves. "What do we do, throw the bugs at them?"

Kayla looked back at the Venomous Tentaculas, rattling and shaking their leaves. Oddly, she felt a sense of calm wash over her when she went from thinking about heavy emotions to tackling a deadly magical plant. "We could do that."

They spent the next twenty minutes working on extracting seeds. Al fed the plants (very hesitantly) and collected the Chizpurfle carcases while Kayla would hold the sleeping mouths in a firm grip with one hand and make small incisions with a knife with the other hand. She hadn't felt so comfortable in a long time.

She found herself thinking back to the little plants she had growing on her windowsill. She hadn't experimented on them forever. There was a time when she would be so attached to the plants, waking up early in the morning to work on them even after she'd just studied until two in the morning for an exam.

That was at Hogwarts. Now, she barely did enough to keep the plants alive.

"You're a natural," Al said as she dumped about eighteen seeds into a small jar. She could hear a hint of admiration in his voice. "No wonder these are a Class C non-tradeable. I definitely couldn't have done that."

"There are easier ways," Kayla told him, trying not to show how flattered she felt. "We could have just severed it from a few different places. But dead Venomous Tentacula seeds aren't as powerful."

"Good point," he said, screwing the jar shut and pulling off his gloves. "I'll have to be careful with that when I'm adding them to the potion."

"Definitely."

"Do you want to see it?" he asked and she nodded. He led her into the other back room. There were wall-to-wall tables of cauldrons, most of them empty, besides three; one was simmering and smoking grey liquid, and Kayla recognized it immediately as Pepper-Up; another was an Antidote to Uncommon Poisons; the last was bright purple, and she didn't recognize it.

"It's a Memory Potion," he explained as they approached the cauldron. "It's a bit difficult, but we brew it every once in a while for the Magical Accidents wing at St. Mungo's. This is the first time he's let me brew it myself."

"Helps you remember things," Kayla said, nodding. "We don't brew that at Slug & Jiggers. We do brew the other two."

"We always have Pepper-Up brewing, everyone needs it. And the Antidote was just in case of a Venomous Tentacula accident." He paused as he put the rattling jar of seeds down next to the bubbling cauldron. She had the feeling as if he wanted to say something.

"I'm not going to tell anyone," she said softly.

"It's not that." He stepped a little closer and brushed her bangs away from her eyes. "I mean, Rose and Scorpius know about it. It's not a huge secret or anything."

"Sounds like it might be."

"It is for my boss." She felt his hand on her waist then, and while not unwelcome, their proximity was making rational thinking very difficult. He pulled her closer. "You're really cute when you're handling dangerous plants."

Before she could stop herself, she took a little step back and felt her butt hitting the edge of the table. Some of the empty cauldrons clanged backwards, and she squeaked in surprise.

He looked at her questioningly then. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not nervous," she said quickly, mentally slapping herself for being so obvious.

"You most definitely are." He wasn't flirting now as much as he was thinking. She could practically hear his brain whirring.

"I'm not."

"Come on, Kayla," he said gently. "You know that I'm never going to do something you're not comfortable with."

This was true; he was very good at reading her – a little too good. Even as her feet were edging backwards on reflex, there was a huge part of her that wanted to move much closer to him. There was a part of her that was transfixed on how nice he smelled and how close his lips actually were.

"I know," she said quietly, looking down at his shoulders. His very broad, very attractive shoulders. "It's just been a while since I've dated anyone."

"It's been a while for me too."

"It's been longer for me."

"Okay." He shrugged, moving back a step from her. She almost wanted to pull him back, but she didn't feel quite so bold. "That's fine."

"Are you sure?" she said, her voice feeling quite small.

"Yeah. It's a bit confusing and strange, but…" He trailed off, and she finally looked at him.

"It's strange?" she repeated, a little stung.

"It's a bit strange," he confirmed. "But it's okay. If it's really been that long, then I guess it makes sense." When she didn't say anything, he chuckled. "We've known each other forever, Kayla."

"Right," she said, turning away.

"Don't you think I actually care about you?" he asked softly. And when she looked back at him, she realized he was telling the truth. A little guiltily, maybe, but he was always honest.

Then it occurred to her that perhaps he didn't know her as well as she'd thought.

"Kayla!" Hugo had found Kayla where she was hiding, behind a menu and a plate of chips in the corner of a crowded Leaky Cauldron. He sat down across from her. "Kayla, last night I had dinner with Gemma, and she is amazing."

She peeked up from behind the menu, interested. "Really?"

"Yes!" He said happily, stealing a chip off her plate. "She knows loads about Quidditch, she's also a fan of the Chudley Cannons and she is hot as hell."

She snorted. "That's all you need, isn't it?"

"Well, that and she fancies me as well," Hugo said smugly. "Are you going to put down that menu or what?"

"'Or what' sounds good to me."

"What's up?" he asked, snatching it from her and putting it onto the table. "Why are you eating dinner? Don't you have your date with Al tonight? He was going on about it last night."

"I didn't eat yet," she told him. "Last night?"

"Yeah, we went to this comedy show after dinner in muggle London," Hugo said, stealing another chip. "He kept saying that he was really looking forward to your dinner tonight. Which is Albus-speak for he wants to shag you."

Kayla groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I'm not going."

"What?"

"I can't go to this dinner. Date. Whatever it is."

"Why not?" He asked, poking her arm. "I saw you two yesterday. He was so into you, I was surprised Lily didn't notice."

"I –"

"And don't even pretend like you weren't making googly eyes at him."

She sighed. "I know, I know. I'm not used to this."

"I know, but you have to go," he argued, poking her again. She put her hands down to look at him. "I think he actually fancies you. You can't stand him up because you're scared."

"I was going to owl him."

"That's still pretty bad," Hugo told her, and she looked determinedly. "Look, you have to put yourself out there. Just because your last few dates weren't great doesn't mean you should put off dating. One day we'll all be married off, and you'll be alone."

"Gee, that makes me feel loads better." She could feel a lump in her throat but she pushed it down.

"It's what I do."

"I was being sarcastic."

"I know."

She went quiet for a moment, taking in the idle chatter and clanging utensils against plates. It wasn't as though Kayla particularly liked being single, but it wasn't as much her decision for happiness as it was a choice of safety.

"The last two guys – the only two I've ever dated – cheated on me," she mumbled, so quietly she wasn't sure Hugo could even hear her. "Al's just going to be bored of me."

"What?"

"You know." She threw him a look. "Albus isn't like me at all. He's dated more. He's confident. He's ambitious. He doesn't just sit around and wait for things to happen – he goes ahead and does it."

Hugo sat back, the smug smile spreading across his face again. "Merlin, you really fancy him, don't you?"

"Shut up," she retorted, her face flushing deeply. "I just mean that I'm not nearly as interesting as him. All I do is go to work and write stupid emotional poetry."

"Hey," Hugo said indignantly, throwing a chip at her. It hit her in the nose. "It's not stupid!"

"You've never even read it!"

"Look," he said, leaning forward and putting his bony elbows on the table. "This is what I'm saying when I tell you to do the open mic. And why you should date Al. And also why you should quit your job."

"Quit my job?" Kayla said in horror.

"Yes! And write that book you wanted to write, and study with that magical herbs author you're always going on about."

"Hugo –"

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that there's a lot more to life than sitting in a pub every night?"

Kayla eyes were welling up. She stared down at the table determinedly, staring at a particular scratch. "It's not. I'm just – I'm not really that kind of person, Hugo."

"Why do you think that?" he asked wearily, getting up and stepping over to sit beside her in the booth. "You wanted all that stuff in school. And then suddenly you bailed on that graduation trip with Lily to Paris and holed up here."

"I know."

Hugo put an arm around her and handed her a napkin. "Was it Daniel Finch-Fletchy? I know he was really horrible to you at the end of your break up."

"Maybe." She was still staring at the scratch on the table. "He just made me realize that all those things aren't that important. It's not as though any of those things make money or support me."

"Well." Hugo seemed at a loss. "I just don't really understand what's so great about going to work every day at a job you don't like."

"I don't mind it."

"Kayla," he said quietly as she dabbed her eyes, "you're a great friend. You're so kind and funny and you bake some mean brownies. Lily and I love you. We're always going to be there for you. But don't you also get to fall in love and do interesting things?"

"Why?" she asked, voice trembling. "I'm just… I'm too quiet and shy. I'm not the kind of person who can do those things."

Hugo sighed. "Well, Al was like that, remember?" Kayla looked at him questioningly. "He was super quiet when we were younger. His brother James was always the loud one, he always felt overshadowed by him. But in school he ended up playing Quidditch, he got that award for Potions after working all those years…" He shrugged. "Al didn't just magically become the way he is."

Kayla chewed her lip. "I didn't remember that."

"Well, he is my cousin. I wouldn't have remembered either, otherwise." Hugo ate another chip before dusting off his legs and getting up. "Kayla, do I need to drag you to his place or are you going?"

She chuckled and wiped her eyes again. "Yeah. Okay, I'm going."

"Make sure to shower first, you look horrible."

She chucked another chip at him and he caught it, grinning. "Thanks, Hugo."

He waved a hand at her, chuckling. "I'm going to check on Lily now. Want to come up with me?"

"Sure."

Ten minutes later, as Kayla was showering and slowly getting ready for her date, she did feel a little better, knowing a little more about Al. She was realizing that maybe her anxiety about him was a bit silly, even if she couldn't control it. He'd never been anything but kind to her. He expressed his own admiration just that afternoon.

Maybe it was just that she didn't know him that well, either.