Muggle London
Approximately 12:00 PM

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He had worked a rather horrendous graveyard shift the night before, and was using his day off to recover and relax. That usually consisted of taking naps, taking care of his plants, and perhaps making a couple potions. However, his little kitchen-mop of a dog insisted on taking a walk, and absolutely would not stop chewing on Flynn’s fingers, toes, and occasionally his ears until a walk was acquired. Sometimes, Flynn felt like he spoiled his animals too much, what with a dog that constantly demanded attention, and a cat that secretly wanted to kill him and take over the world.

The hair on the back of Flynn’s head was sticking up, and because he was in muggle London, he doubted that he would see anyone that he knew who would judge him for not taking care of his bed-head earlier. His clothes were clean but slightly wrinkled, a result of being kept on the floor for a week without putting them away.  Just because he was organized at work, absolutely did not mean that Flynn was organized as soon as he got home.

Henry (his ugly little dog) was in front of him, every now and then tugging against the leash. Flynn’s casual pace never seemed to be fast enough for the creature who was so intent on sprinting everywhere it went. For a moment, he pondered doing some of his grocery shopping while out and about, but he was not so sure that muggle shops would be too happy with the idea of him bringing in a dog that so highly resembled a rat. Now, if he went to Diagon Alley, that would be a totally different situation. However, Flynn was not quite sure how much effort he wanted to put into grabbing groceries, just one extra step seemed like it was too much work.

As these were the extent of his problems, his life was a fairly simple and happy one.

Fauna trudged along the pavement with her hands in the pockets of her favorite army jacket, head down, dwelling on the week’s events. SAWS was in shambles, she felt like she’d lost a friend in Figaro, and most importantly, a werewolf student’s life could be ruined. It had affected her at work, and she hadn’t even been able to come up with a good lie when she’d gotten caught writing letters to students. I’m sorry, a club at Hogwarts was involved in a Great Hall fight, what was it you needed me to file? Oh right, those very important murder cases.

At least grocery duty was getting her out of the house on her day off. One of her housemates had found her in the kitchen late this morning, staring at her cold tea in her fluffy bathrobe that needed a wash, and had simply handed her the list.

A shaggy blur suddenly ran across her feet, making Fauna jump as momentum carried her forward. Her legs caught on the leash. The pavement rushed up to meet her.

But some semblance of Auror training kicked in. Bending at her knees, she turned her head to the side slightly and slapped the ground with her palms. Then she rolled over onto her bum, sitting stunned for a moment. What had she almost killed?!

“Shite, shite, shite,” she shifted to peer in panic at the dog, who was barking and running half-circles around her. Hyper, but seemingly ok. Face flushed, Fauna looked up, giving the dog's owner puppy-dog eyes of her own. She glanced at her stinging palms before wiping them on her jeans.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, intending to stand in a second. His hair was sticking up, and she had the fleeting thought that a little moppy dog accompanying a scruffy bloke somehow fit.

Flynn had been so lost in his little ridiculous internal debate between laziness and his need to buy food that he hadn’t even noticed the beautiful brunette when she was approaching him, which was entirely out of character for this stud. So, when he felt a strong tug on the leash, followed by loud, frightened yapping coming from Henry’s direction, he was very surprised. The skill and grace at which this woman had fallen made it apparent that she either fell down a lot, or was just incredibly lucky.

“Shh, Henry!” Flynn said, waving his finger at the dog in a lecturing manner, “Use your inside voice, even though we’re outside.” Immediately, the little mop-creature stopped barking, and resorted to looking at Fauna with nothing but annoyance, if dogs could possibly look annoyed. The wizard’s eyes followed the dog’s gaze, and rested on the sight of the young brunette. Flynn had a weak spot in his heart for dark haired women with fair skin, and Fauna was no exception.

“Ah, what’s with all the cursing? Am I really that horrendous to run into?” He teased, “I know I look scruffy, but I promise you that I’m not a vagrant.” He bent down and offered his hand out to her, intending to help her get back on her feet.  “My name’s Flynn, what’s yours, sweetheart?” Really, with those big blue puppydog eyes, no other nickname could come to his mind. Fauna looked like a sweetheart—and the way she was sitting there, he thought she looked like an adorably pathetic one at that. 

When the dog quieted, her ears soon stopped ringing. The stranger with the friendly expression didn't seem mad, or even annoyed his dog had just been used as a speed bump. He was joking around with her! A slight smile flickered on her face. No, he didn't look much like a vagrant. Her cheeks flushed even brighter at 'sweetheart', and she took his hand.

"Uh, Fauna," she crossed her ankles and stood, then dusted off her jeans.

"Sorry about tripping over your dog," she gestured with weighty seriousness at the creature, who looked at her with accusing eyes.

"He's alright, isn't he? He's not... well, he did stop barking."

Glancing down worriedly at Henry, Fauna was tempted to bend down and pet the mop-head, make amends, but she didn't.

“Oh, Henry’s resilient. Just a drama queen.” He picked up the dog, “You can pet her if you want, she doesn’t bite.”  He scratched the top of the dog’s head, and gave the brunette a wide grin. “Fauna. That’s a lovely name.” He mused, and examined the woman’s features-- a slight, slender build, freckles, gentle hands, and big, blue eyes. Although many would think that her skin tone was rather gaunt and pasty, Flynn saw it as more of a peaches-and-cream type of complexion.  “Fauna.” He decided, “The name suits you. Mine makes people think of some sort of scoundrel.” He shook his head.

 “Why is a lovely lady like you out here alone on a Friday afternoon?” He inquired, hoping that he wasn’t coming on too strong. Flynn’s intention was mostly to be kind and charming, but he couldn’t deny that he thought that she was attractive; he knew what his type was, and so far, this ‘muggle’ seemed to fit all of the qualifications. “I was going to take a nap, but Henry here decided to chew on my face until I woke up and took her for a walk. I’m deciding whether or not I should get groceries while I’m out and about.”

After a moment's hesitation, Fauna lifted her hand and patted mop-head, then scratched her behind the ears. The dog tolerated it stoically. She glanced at Flynn, studying his face. His eyes were definitely flirty, his name rogue-ish, and though he looked a bit older than her, the flattery was, well, flattering. She'd done the bare minimum getting ready this morning - face washed, teeth brushed, hair combed. This meant he either liked the way she looked a lot, or flirted with any girl who tripped over his dog. Or both!

"It's my day off. I'm actually on grocery duty too," she paused. "I live with a group of friends so the list is not really long, but... there's a bunch of weird things." And she had to decipher the handwriting, and read around the crude doodles Dax had likely added.

"I could... walk with you?" Her eyes widened as if she'd suggested something ridiculous. "In that direction? To make up for the, you know, trauma Henry has faced." Fauna kept the serious expression on her face for a few more seconds, and then smiled. Oh look! She was joking back!

As far as Flynn went, he flirted because he liked the way Fauna looked, but also because he honestly didn’t know what else to do when someone tripped over his dog—hell, if it had been Declan, he probably would have attempted to flirt briefly before remembering that it was Declan he had been flirting with. When she offered to walk with him, Flynn couldn’t help but give her a large, goofy grin and a nod. Of course she could walk with him! He would like nothing more than to get to know this new person.

“Psh, Henry's not too traumatized. She's been through much worse-- she's even been at the mercy of Mildred." He said his last sentence in a rather dramatic tone that was supposed to be spooky. Instead, he sounded like a hippogriff with an acute case of laryngitis.

"It’s your day off? What do you do for a living, Fauna?” Flynn was also quite curious as to what was on her grocery list, but he felt like that mildly nosy question would be one to ask later, after all the basic getting-to-know-you questions were covered. He also wanted to get some idea as to what sort of jobs pretty young muggles got.

"Who?" Fauna wondered about Mildred, smiling shyly at his goofy grin and tone.

"Well," she hesitated for a long moment as they began walking.

"I sort of… want to be an artist. I graduated from a boarding school in Scotland in the spring. They have a great art and music program."

That was the standard, very idealized version of a life she could have had, had she not gone to Hogwarts. And if her mum could afford muggle boarding schools. Still, her muggle relatives had believed it for seven years, and they now believed she was in her first semester at the Edinburgh college of art.

"I go to university... around here," she gestured. "Um. I'm waiting tables to help pay my way through it." That explained why she had a day off, right?

"I’m not so good at it. Still working on my balance,” she glanced at Henry, who looked up at her with what seemed like a bark rumbling beneath his lips. He let out a dog-sigh instead.

Fauna resisted the urge to fidget with the hem of her jacket. There were no laws against socializing with muggles, but how could you build a real friendship, or anything else, based on lies.

"How about you? Is it your day off too?"

“Mildred is my cat.  She wants to kill me in my sleep and take over the world. I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” Flynn shrugged. He had grown used to the feline, though he still had his suspicions about her every now and then. When Fauna hesitated, Flynn chalked that up purely to her being a bit shy—but then he was able to pick up strange pauses. His question hadn’t been particularly difficult, and it sounded like she was eitehr having a hard time remembering, or that she didn’t want to tell a guy she barely knew what her job was. Both were very valid reasons, so Flynn didn’t think too much of it.

But then it was his turn, and he realized that he had not thought of a good muggle job.

“I’m a he—health doctor.” He said, “I work at St…. Mar…Marmalade’s.”  He nodded, “I deal with long term patients.” He hoped that there had been an hospital around here named St. Marmalade’s, but he highly doubted it. Flynn felt like his story sounded fake, but if she showed any signs of suspicion, he would have to come up with another story.  “It is my day off. I worked a long shift yesterday, so I’m dressed like a bum. But hey,” he wigged his eyebrows goofily, “Some ladies like this look.”

For a split second, while Flynn was fumbling for words, Fauna was about to say Mungo's and completely embarrass herself. She didn't know of any St. Marmalade's around here. Or anywhere, actually. It sounded more like the name of a cat. But his cat was named Mildred. Odd!

She looked at him curiously. He seemed to be struck by the same awkwardness and shyness that so often afflicted her, yet just as quickly, he was back to being awkwardly charming.

"They- they do!" Fauna agreed with a chuckle. "I can't judge. I mean, I was so tired this morning that I could barely get a comb through my hair."

She bit her lip, realizing too late that announcing how low-maintenance she was didn't exactly sound flirtatious, and she hadn't really told him she'd liked his look. Just that ladies did. Merlin, she needed to work on this flirting thing - if that was what she was doing.

"Do you like working at St. Mu- Marmalade? If you want to talk about work," she added. Taking care of long-term patients sounded very stressful. Fauna thought the term 'health doctor' was strange, but maybe he didn't want to explain a specialty.

“Pssh, do I like it?” He scoffed in a joking manner, “I love it. I couldn’t possibly be happier with it.” It was often a lot of paperwork, and he did deal with grumpy patients from time to time, but in general he truly liked what he did. “The children are the best patients. They’re so resilient.” Although he liked talking about work, it was not exactly a fun topic—especially since he had to be vague in his answers to keep this muggle  from thinking he was absolutely mad.

When she mentioned that she hadn’t put effort into her looks this morning, Flynn very obviously looked her over. “Hm. You look beautiful to me. I wouldn’t have been able to tell that you didn’t try. Some people naturally look great, no matter how dressed up or down they are.” Henry soon was starting to get jealous of the attention that Flynn was giving Fauna, and began to nibble on his shirt.

And of course, Flynn didn’t notice.

“You said you went to a school with a musical program—do you play an instrument?” Flynn had been playing piano from a very young age,  and oh he wished that Hogwarts had more of a focus on the arts. His mother had always joked that sometimes Beauxbatons may have been a better choice.

Fauna nodded, interested to hear that he loved his job so much. She hadn't thought of children when he'd said long-term patients, and knowing that there must be kids suffering made her feel awful for them. She could imagine him joking around with them, making them smile. Choosing that showed he had a good heart.

At the sudden scrutiny, she reached up to smooth her hair, assuming she'd missed a few strands this morning, but instead he complimented her. Casually, but earnestly. Fauna didn't feel like it was a line.

"Thank you," she smiled, ducking her head for a moment. She too neglected to notice the dog nibbling on his shirt.

"Yes!" Her expression brightened. "I play the piano. I learned from my grandda when I was little." Fauna often wished he were still alive, but she was grateful that she and her older sister had grown up around music. While Hogwarts had a choir and orchestra of sorts, Fauna had never been very involved in it. She had continued to play at home during breaks.

"There was a place I worked at last summer. A record store." Reducto Records!

"I taught piano lessons - mostly to kids. It was a lot of fun. Tiring sometimes, but fun."

She glanced at him, looking amused as she thought back on it. "Some of them would, you know, expect... instant solutions? They'd want to learn everything right away. I liked the kids with more patience. Even if it took them a little longer. More rewarding, I guess," she shrugged. Teaching piano had been a job she'd enjoyed alongside her internship with Covadonga at the RCMC. Rampaging runespoors or a crying seven-year old? It was a hard choice.

“A record store?” Flynn raised his eyebrows. “Which store was it?” The only record store he knew of was of course, Reducto Records, which he visited on occasion. He did not ever recall seeing Fauna there, so he figured that she must have been talking about some other record store in London. Muggles listened to records too, right?
Henry had managed to puncture a few small holes in the shirt, and that was when Flynn noticed the chewing. He glanced down at the creature and sighed. “What am I supposed to do with you, missy?” He pouted, “I pay enough attention to you at home, let me talk to the lady. You know I’m growing fond of her.” He scratched Henry’s ears and then set her down on the ground, and she immediately ran ahead of them, tugging on the leash.

Flynn was quite pleased that they had something in common: Piano. “I play piano too! My father taught me. My mum never was too fond of playing music, but she loves to listen.” He was careful not to talk about his parents too much. He was such a momma’s boy, and he wasn’t sure he wanted Fauna to know that quite yet. After all, some women would find that to be odd at his age. “Maybe we should play together sometime.” He didn’t have a piano at his flat, but there was one at his parent’s house that he used whenever he felt like it.

He was starting to get a bit frustrated—there were so many things he wanted to talk about, but he also had to be careful about making references to anything magical. It was becoming difficult, and although he enjoyed Fauna, he didn’t know how long he could keep this up.

"Um... Reduced... Price Records," she winced. Had she really just said that?

Luckily, the dog’s antics distracted them both, and Fauna covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. “I have a pet rat at home,” she told him. “Bernie. She does the same thing when she gets bored.” Little nuisance. But she loved her anyway.

"Yeah," Fauna smiled, gaze lingering on his face, excited to find out he played piano as well. "Do you live around here? Oh wait, that sounds- hey, the grocery!"

She pointed at the open market, quickening her pace a bit, which caused the little dog with his mop feet to scuttle faster in competition. Merlin, she wasn’t going to invite herself over, or agree to go home with some bloke she’d just met. The things that came out of her mouth when she didn’t give herself time to pause awkwardly between sentences!

Fauna rummaged in her purse for her list, being careful to hide her wand beneath her pens and wallet, and produced a crinkled piece of lined paper with several sets of handwriting covering the surface. She glanced over it, then passed it to Flynn with a grin.

“My housemates,” she shook her head, hoping he’d share her amusement, even if he wouldn't understand half the references. At the top of the list, they had relatively normal items, like milk and the ever important toilet paper, but the list descended into chaos the further one read:

owl repellent
^What is this? Dion-repellent
Dax's brain
  If you can find it
Boot polish
^someone's a suck up
Quack tape for the portraits
Quack tape for your face
It's Duct tape.
Girls!
Like there aren't enough in this house?
Pretty gir--...
...
...
Bandaids.
Your a baby
(don't bring back a baby Fauna. Just blokes. Cute ones)

Reduced Price Records? Somehow that name was suspicious to him, though he couldn’t pinpoint why it felt that way.  Flynn gave her a sideways glace shiftily. Oh well, maybe it was nothing. He could chalk it up to her being nervous because he was the most studly, the most handsome man she had ever met. Oh yes, he’d go with that. It was a good self-esteem booster, and Flynn felt like it should be accurate. “Hey, Henry was almost a Bernie! It was a tie between Bernie, Alfred, and Henry.”

Flynn grabbed the list and realized that he couldn’t read it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some thick-rimmed glasses and put them on. “Owl repellant?” He laughed, “Does your house have a nasty owl infestation?”  Flynn looked down the list some more and grinned. “You’ve already found a handsome bloke. You should take me home with you.” He wiggled his eyebrows, “If you have a piano, maybe we can play together.” He handed the list back to her and attempted to put the glasses back in his pocket. He missed, and the glasses fell to the ground. Henry decided to take the chance to bark at the offensive glasses.

“Psssh Henry. Relax.” The wizard bent over to pick up his glasses… Only to have his wand fall out of his pocket and hit the dog in the face. Henry's bark changed. Usually her bark was a bit of a high pitched yap, but this time her voice was much deeper and manlier than it should have been. His face turned bright red and he picked up his wand. The shaft was a light brown color that spiraled around—the handle was smooth, and a darker, richer brown than the shaft.

“Uh.” He looked from his wand, to the barking dog, and over at Fauna. He shoved the wand in his pocket. “Sorry. I was…. Roleplaying. You know, with friends. Live action roleplaying. LARPing. Do you LARP? We should LARP sometime.” If she had been a muggle, she would have fallen for that, right?