5:30 Pm


Spending time with Fauna was probably among Flynn’s favorite things to do. Flynn found Fauna to be adorable, insightful, and sweet. He admired her ambition, becoming an auror was known to be difficult and rigorous, and he knew it was never something he could do. No, his place was in St. Mungos, healing people who needed it, caring for the sick and the injured. He couldn’t even imagine apprehending dangerous criminals or placing people in Azkaban. Fauna, he thought,  must be very brave to pursue such a career.

Tonight was a night of celebration! In the middle of November, he had received a promotion at St. Mungos, though he had yet to announce it to any friends who did not already work at the hospital. He had been so focused on the job itself that he has simply forgotten to tell people. His parents knew and so did Audrey, but that was due to the fact that his family liked to pry their noses into every aspect of his life—especially his mother.

Flynn had managed to get Jacoba to babysit Henry, so he took Fauna to a rather nice restaurant in Diagon Alley, where he would tell her the news and that he was also (eep!) invited to the Yule Ball because of it. He definitely wanted to take Fauna as his date, and he hoped that she would say yes. After all, it was a big event and an excuse to dress up formally. He already had his dress robes picked out—unfortunately, they were not Santa Claus red, but blue would suffice for a Ravenclaw alum. 

“What do you think of my shoes?” He asked Fauna, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. The bright red sneakers definitely were not appropriate for the setting.

Fauna felt thrilled to be out with Flynn tonight. After the drama she’d had with some of her housemates lately, the stress (good and bad) of Addie moving in, and her eventful day at work, the reality of being here on an actual date with a bloke she really liked made her giddy. And nervous. But mostly giddy. They’d been spending time with each other at parties and the like, but this was the first time they were out, just the two of them, since the day she’d met him by tripping over his dog.

Candlelight casted shadows on the table linen and flickered over the silverware, and the faint smell of fresh flowers wafted from the bud vase. Fauna sneaked shy glances at Flynn over the menu, admiring his tie and his easygoing smile, while worrying about the prices in the back of her head. Since he’d asked her, she likely wouldn't need to worry about it, but she'd offer to split the bill once they were done eating anyway.

This was not only her first date with Flynn, but her first real date. Ever. She'd begged Grace to help her curl her hair, and found a dress in her closet that she'd worn once a year ago. Seeing Flynn's red shoes had made her night. The hostess had glanced down at the offending footwear with a frown, and Fauna had smiled at Flynn as they were led to their table, as if they shared a secret. A secret of dorkiness.

Fauna glanced under the table, then looked at him and grinned widely.

“Very... comfortable?” She paused, trying to think of something funny. “We could switch, confuse the waiter,” Fauna joked. Her flats kept sliding off her heels whenever she crossed her legs, yet if Flynn tried them she imagined it'd be a case of the ugly stepsister squeezing into a too-small shoe.

“So, how have you-“ With typical great timing, she cut herself off when the waiter arrived, asking what they'd like to drink. That was a good question.

“I’ll have water for now, please,” she flipped over to the wine and drinks section of the menu with a glance at Flynn. He probably knew what all these drinks were. Fauna just didn't want to pick one that had any kick to it, because she'd be on the floor giggling after the first sip.

He got exactly the response he wanted from Fauna—Flynn suspected that most other ladies probably would have frowned upon his shoes in such a fancy restaurant, but not Fauna. No, she accepted his dweebery—red sneakers, penchant for dressing up his dog, jungle apartment and all. In fact, he thought, she didn’t just accept him, she actually liked him. It was a good feeling, being liked. His family loved him, but that didn’t necessarily mean that they actually enjoyed him. Like Audrey. She loved him, but they drove each other crazy. She didn’t like his weird hobbies or the fact that he had a weird fixation on his pets. She accepted him, but didn’t like it. Flynn believed that Fauna both accepted who he was as a whole, and liked it.

Flynn looked under the table and looked at Fauna’s slightly-too-big flats. Cute. They had a bow! “Yes!” He exclaimed enthusiastically, “Let’s switch.” He started loosening one of his shoes by pressing down on the heel with his other foot, daring Fauna to stop him. He doubted his feet could fit in her shoes, but maybe he could squeeze his toes in.

However, when the waiter came, he was distracted and looked at the menu. “You know..” He gave Fauna a devilish grin before looking back at the server, “Surprise me. But I prefer sweet things.” Flynn was not a picky eater,  but as long as his drinks were sweet, he was a happy camper. He raised his eyebrows at the auror trainee,  “You don’t need to order water, I’m sure they have some sort of sparkling juice. Or wine.”

That grin! Fauna ducked her head but was grinning back. Sweet things? He meant something by that, didn't he.

Flynn seemed not at all concerned or formal about the drinks, so Fauna glanced at the waiter and smiled. "Ok, um... what's good here? I mean, not that everything isn't good."

The waiter asked her what she liked - dry or sweet, red or white, and since she had no clue, she glanced at Flynn and followed his adventurous lead.

"Something sweet sounds good to me too," she held back the urge to snicker. "And something not too strong?" Fauna gave an embarrassed shrug.

At their lack of direction, the waiter merely looked pleased and told them he'd be back in a minute with their surprises (the real surprise being the number of galleons on the bill, she bet).

Once he left, Fauna made a show of peeking at Flynn from over the menu, as if she were trying to hide her amusement yet fully aware he could see her.

"Are you going to try to play footsie with me again," she let out a giggle, then quickly added, "What's new with you?"

“We don’t need to get anything too strong.” He nodded, guessing that Fauna did not want to get totally pissed. “We don’t need alcohol to have a good time.” He winked at Fauna, meaning his words in a completely innocent way—though they could easily be taken far differently by someone else. Hopefully, Fauna knew Flynn well enough to know that he wasn’t being too serious. “yes, yes! Surprise us! Money is no issue!” He called out as the waiter walked away. Even though he got a promotion, he didn’t plan to change his standard of living too much, therefore he would have a lot more money than he was used to.

Oh right, his promotion!

He flushed when he saw her hiding behind the menu, though not really hiding. It was adorable and potentially flirtatious, which he had no problem with. In response to her footsie comment, he playfully tapped his toe against the side of Fauna’s foot—silently declaring to himself that he would win this footsie war, even if she wasn’t really playing footsie back.

“Well. I have serious news.” He said with a grave face. “You see, I….” He gulped dramatically and leaned across the table—eyes watering as if he was about to admit that Henry got slaughtered by a hungry plant. “I….” Flynn looked away, feeling like a B grade actor. Finally, he looked Fauna in the eye and said, face lighting up. “I got a promotion! I’m the healer-in-charge of spell damage.”

Now he was the one blushing! Fauna lowered her menu in surprise, pleased that her attempt at flirting had worked. When he tapped her foot with his toe, she smiled and narrowed her eyes playfully, tilting her head and her foot away. Really, she could see them having a good time anywhere, with or without drinks. He brought out a fun, more relaxed side to her.

And apparently gullible.

Fauna leaned forward, her expression worried and confused.

She leaned forward even more, glancing around at the other patrons and prepared to offer him her unused napkin.

"Flynn!" She scolded after his demeanor completely changed, realizing she'd been duped.

But her eyes lit up a moment later. "Wait. Really? A promotion?"

No wonder he was not concerned about money here. "Healer in charge of spell damage," she repeated. "That's amazing!" It really was, Flynn being in his late twenties. He must be fantastic at his job.

She almost wished she could leap up and hug him, and the urge surprised her, since she often felt awkward about big displays of physical affection. Fauna settled for grinning, happy for him and happy he'd told her.

"Your family must be proud! When do you start?"