Delivering to the third floor mid morning on Monday, Elixa was merrily restocking items on the shelves for the healers in the floor stores, humming to herself as she stooped and reached, bottles clinking and refilling with efficiency. She rattled through the jars and bottles, checking labels, dates of brewing, unstoppering the odd one for a tentative waft of the hand and sniff to check it still smelled fine.

Finishing up, she stacked a pile of empty bottles and jars by the door in a crate, ready to take away, but paused, fishing her hand into her pocket to pull out a clipping of the Daily Prophet from the weekend, the accommodation section to be precise. One was ringed in purple ink, and she nodded to herself, leaving the crate out of the way to retrieve on her way back.

Finding Hollingbury's office wasn't too difficult, and she learned a few new names of the healers on the floor from the labels on the doors and the lists on the wall. Green robes and patients milled around her as she made her way down the corridor thoughtfully, eyes busy reading the names and hands in her apron pocket. The door to his office was slightly ajar, and taking a look up and down the corridor, she laid a hand gently upon the wood and peeked round into the room behind.

Oddly it was empty, and she felt both relieved and irritated at discovering this. The door must have rebounded or been left open purposefully by someone. Shrugging to herself she pushed it open a little more and slipped inside, her eyes nosily taking in the surroundings while nobody was watching. Approaching his desk, she tiptoed round the side of it, surveying the scene and working out where best to place the clipping, and if he had a quill and parchment to write a note with. She had been hoping to catch him, utter a few words and press the clipping into his hand with a smile.

She caught sight of a pretty girl in a photograph on his desk and stopped, staring and peering a little closer at it. A girlfriend? A wife? No, surely not? Bother if so, but she wouldn't be all that surprised.

After gawping a moment, she remembered the parchment and rifled quickly through the paperwork on the desk in hope of finding some scrap, nudging Hollingbury's chair out of the way slightly as she reached about his desk.

The door came open properly as she had her hand half under a set of notes, having spotted what looked like a suitable piece of writing parchment, and her head flew up, face incredibly guilty as she was caught - looking very much like she'd been going through his desk.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, blushing, her Swedish tinged accent rather obvious as she hastily explained herself.
"I was just leaving you a note!"

Elixa looked down at what she was doing and brought her empty hands to her shoulders in defence, dropping everything.

"You think I'm going through your desk," She gushed, feeling incredibly awkward, "I was just looking for a piece of parchment to use, I oh hell."

She cringed visibly, screwing up her face, her hands raised at shoulder height, hoping he wouldn't shout too loudly.

Arcturus had been looking forward to a quiet day at work. Unfortunately for him, work always had other suggestions, mostly involving him running around after nurses, patients and other healers carrying the relevant paperwork. This meant that he had to dart into his office to pick up the right documents. He'd taken to leaving the door slightly ajar instead of shutting it properly.

He returned to his office after a hurried bout of running; he was in the midst of running his hand through his hair to smooth it down when he swung the door open, looking forward to sitting down for a few minutes before he had to get up again. Given his distracted mindset it took him a minute to realise someone was in his office. He froze, and so did she.

"Oh! I was just leaving you a note!"

There was an awkward silence. Arcturus still had one hand in his hair and was trying to take in the fact that it was Elixa. She had just dropped everything she was holding.

"You think I'm going through your desk. I was just looking for a piece of parchment to use, I oh hell."

Elixa's cringing, as if she was expecting him to yell, jolted him to his senses. "Uh...no, I'm just wondering - why are you in my office?" he asked, bewildered. "For the record I keep fresh parchment in the second drawer, not loose on my desk. Um."

He wasn't quite sure what to do now. She was standing right next to his chair, and after the thirteenth he didn't really want to get near her. But if he had to, then...well, there wasn't much of a choice.

He didn't shout, thank Merlin, but she was still the wrong side of his desk.

"Uh...no, I'm just wondering - why are you in my office? For the record I keep fresh parchment in the second drawer, not loose on my desk. Um."

Elixa's hands dropped slowly from before her shoulders and she blinked in surprise.
"You do? That's most organised." She hadn't thought of going through drawers, for some reason that had seemed more intrusive than glancing round his office, staring at the photograph and then rifling through the items on the desktop.

Then she quickly remembered herself, and dipped her hand into her apron pocket.

"I saw this in the Prophet, thought it might be the sort of place that would do. I've been in the stores down the corridor, thought I'd just pop by as I was here rather than have to post it to you when we work in the same building and all." Giving a smile, though a little uneasy, she stepped round his desk and approached the healer, extending the slip of newspaper to him with the purple ringed flat for rent.

Perhaps it wasn't the perfect fit, but in terms of reasons to pop by his office, she'd not had too many since that day when he'd come to the apothecary. Three bedroom flat above some shops in Diagon Alley, two floors, rent seemed a bit steep, but London seemed to be that way. It didn't mention which shop it was above, just the house number. It would be just their luck if it was the magical menagerie.. perhaps Hollingbury would know.

"Your door was open, I figured I'd just leave you a note, but hey well, you came back, good timing." Elixa remarked brightly, not sure if she was out of 'what are you doing in my office' yelling territory entirely. The smile was now a grin and she looked up at him, standing ever so slightly within the comfortable range between two relative strangers. Once he had taken the newspaper clipping, she rested her hands on her hips and watched him read it, admiring his features, and his hands, such lovely hands. No wedding ring, she'd been trying to remember from their previous encounter, aha good, not his wife in the photo then.

"I was going to go down there later, take a look at where it is." She added more quietly, lowering her chin slightly and peering up at him hopefully. "Wondered if you'd be finished here to join me, perhaps?"

Yeah, this not being too forward lark wasn't quite working out. Then again, it wasn't often she met good looking healers who intrigued her quite like Arcturus Hollingbury. There was something about him she couldn't quite place her finger on, and if they didn't end up living together that was no loss, because in the process, she would perhaps discover what about him was capturing her attention since she first clapped eyes on him over the apothecary counter.

"That is, if you're not out with your girlfriend?" She thumbed over her shoulder bluntly at his desk where the photo was.

"I saw this in the Prophet, thought it might be the sort of place that would do. I've been in the stores down the corridor, thought I'd just pop by as I was here rather than have to post it to you when we work in the same building and all."

Arcturus took the slip from her and read it quickly, his eyes moving down the paper. It sounded fair to him, and it being in Diagon Alley was even more convenient - he wouldn't have to hole himself up in the house anymore when he felt like going out but couldn't be bothered to apparate or use the Knight Bus. The rent was a bit higher than he'd expected, but it was Diagon Alley. He wasn't surprised.

"I was going to go down there later, take a look at where it is. Wondered if you'd be finished here to join me, perhaps?"

He looked up at her. She was peering up at him. For a moment, some small advice on body language that he had read in a Muggle book flashed past in his mind, and then he mentally shrugged it off. Elixa's flirting wasn't anything to get bothered about; he'd find out soon enough exactly what she was seeing in a stick-thin recluse like him.

"That is, if you're not out with your girlfriend?" She indicated the photo frame on his desk.

At this, Arcturus chuckled. Still keeping the amused smile on his face, although he wasn't going to tell her what was so funny, he answered, "She's not my girlfriend. Actually, I've never had an actual girlfriend." He looked back at the paper. "Well, it sounds pretty good. I can come down with you, I guess. I'm not doing graveyard tonight, so I'm free for any househunting."

"She's not my girlfriend. Actually, I've never had an actual girlfriend. Well, it sounds pretty good. I can come down with you, I guess. I'm not doing graveyard tonight, so I'm free for any househunting."

Elixa was surprised on several accounts.

"She's not, oh, sorry, I kind of assumed that she was about your age - hang about. How old are you exactly?" He surprised face had turned to a curious twist of the head as she looked up at him, hands still on her hips. He was a properly trained healer, so he wasn't very early twenties, mid perhaps at youngest. Still, that was an awfully long time not to be loved.

"Sorry, that's the whole stalker thing again, just after you caught me pawing through your desktop papers." Her right hand went to her forehead in realisation. "Sugar, I'm sorry, I really am not usually like this. I just need to move out, not live in the back end of beyond in Cambridgeshire with a relative who feels more like a father figure bless him," Her eyes flashed wider a minute as she explained, "complete with attempts to date women of a more mature age too, I'm kind of cramping his style, if you get what I mean?"

Laughing at the situation she shook her head and closed her eyes, dipping her head and dropping the hand from her forehead.
"Good, we'll take a trip and see where it is tonight. You'll be done by six? Got time to grab some dinner or something at the Cauldron too? Only if you, like haven't got plans... not because I'm ridiculously bored out of my mind on an evening and I've just proved I'm proposing we live together and I don't even know how old you are."

She stared up, met his eyes with hers and said deadpan:
"I'm thirty three, by the way, thirty four in a few weeks. That's not going to make a difference is it?"

"She's not, oh, sorry, I kind of assumed that she was about your age - hang about. How old are you exactly?"

"Twenty-nine. Coming thirty." He wasn't going to tell her when. Birthdays were strictly family and best friend only, and he hadn't had a best friend as long as he hadn't had a girlfriend.

"Sorry, that's the whole stalker thing again, just after you caught me pawing through your desktop papers. Sugar, I'm sorry, I really am not usually like this. I just need to move out, not live in the back end of beyond in Cambridgeshire with a relative who feels more like a father figure bless him complete with attempts to date women of a more mature age too, I'm kind of cramping his style, if you get what I mean?"

"Uhuh," said Arcturus in a completely deadpan tone, just to see if she caught it.

"Good, we'll take a trip and see where it is tonight. You'll be done by six? Got time to grab some dinner or something at the Cauldron too? Only if you, like haven't got plans... not because I'm ridiculously bored out of my mind on an evening and I've just proved I'm proposing we live together and I don't even know how old you are. I'm thirty three, by the way, thirty four in a few weeks. That's not going to make a difference is it?"

The way she looked up at him. The last time someone ever flirted with me was in Hogwarts, I don't think I've ever been more of a fish out of water on this, he thought, but shrugged. "I bring my dinner from home, I'll be having it in here before I change out of my work clothes and leave for Diagon. And no, it's not going to make a difference because I don't care much for age. As long as you are not twenty years older."

He folded the slip of paper and gestured to it. "You want to keep it, or should I? Not that it would make much of a difference since we're heading to the same place, but since we're still busy..."

"I bring my dinner from home, I'll be having it in here before I change out of my work clothes and leave for Diagon. And no, it's not going to make a difference because I don't care much for age. As long as you are not twenty years older."

The explanation of his dinner routine and then changing didn't go past her, and she blinked and raised her eyebrows.

"Alright, I'll get something myself later. I'm not that anally organised to sit by myself and eat. No I'm not twenty years older - potions are good but not that good without some effort." She chuckled.

"You want to keep it, or should I? Not that it would make much of a difference since we're heading to the same place, but since we're still busy…"

"You can, I've got another copy downstairs, and I'm only going to use it to strain something putrid otherwise." Elixa shrugged and her eyes lingered just that bit too long on his hands again.

"What time will you be done stuffing your face then?" The witch asked bluntly, "Hope you don't leave your door ajar when you're changing robes, never know who'll walk in."

MERLIN. SHUT UP.

"I'm … I'm just going to leave you before I say anything else mortifying." Elixa uttered and hastily sidestepped him looking like she'd just choked on something.

"Just - what time should I come by?"

"What time will you be done stuffing your face then? Hope you don't leave your door ajar when you're changing robes, never know who'll walk in."

What.

Arcturus stared at her. Eventually he just decided to pretend he hadn't heard that. From her expression, he could also see it would be the best approach.

"I'm … I'm just going to leave you before I say anything else mortifying. Just - what time should I come by?"

There was something in her expression that made him decide not to deadpan her. He tucked his hair behind an ear, sighing to himself about the odd people who had recently come into his life and knowing he couldn't back out of talking to them. For a moment he closed his eyes; when he opened them again he looked directly at her with a bit of sympathy.

"Quarter past six. I'll be done by then." He smiled wanly at her to show he hadn't any hard feelings about her bluntness - wanly because he was a bit tired, but it was tiredness that came with his job. "I assume that we're travelling by Floo to the Cauldron since you're dropping by my office, right? I'll make sure I'm ready so that you don't have to wait for me."

Memo to self: Lock office door while changing.

"Sure, floo, perfect - see you then!" Elixa squeaked and hastily made her exit to try and hide her mortified blushes which in her mind's eye made her look like a giant red balloon for a head.

The rest of the day passed altogether slowly. She found herself glaring at the clock at regular intervals, willing it towards half five given that was around the time she often managed to wrap up for the day. As it got closer however, confidence failed her - how could she go back after saying that stupid thing about dressing, oh Merlin.

Her colleague called to say goodbye to her, and ended up wandering over to her cauldron she was muttering into because Elixa was completely absorbed, ticking herself off for the previous encounter with the third floor healer. Soon the apothecary had shut down all apart from one nighttime colleague who was rather droll and didn't have to deal with the usual healers prescriptions for the public, and just nighttime rushes for materials. He didn't seem to care much for Elixa's jokes so she left him be.

Brewing tidy, she tidied her hair and went elsewhere to change from her own uniform, back into a set of deep grey skirt, long boots, cream shirt and a tailored black pinstripe jacket which rather made her look like a less formal version of a Ministry worker in the end. She figured it was a good getup for meeting a potential landlord, and good looking healers, by the side.

Her journey to Hollingbury's office took her less time than she anticipated, so she knocked upon his door oblivious to the fact it was early. Knocking, yes, something she would always do in future. (Unless to her advantage).

"It's Elixa, you ready yet? Can I come in?"

Well, that was tamer than 'are you decent, I don't care either way I'm coming in' which was the line that had first popped into her head... She heard what she thought was acknowledgement, and tried the door cautiously.

Compared to Elixa, Arcturus spent the rest of his day working without thinking of her. Much. In the intervals where he didn't have anything to do, he kept trying to not remember what she had said to him about dressing. Fortunately he was never short of work; a few minutes after he'd sat back to relax, someone or something was bound to catch his attention and pull him back into the world of potions and patients.

By five-thirty, though, his work was done. He sorted the paperwork out in increasing order of priority for him to deal with the next day before thoughtfully pointing his wand at the door and locking it. Then he went to change.

The cold weather outside meant that at least Elixa would not have to deal with his faded green jacket. It would just be a black longcoat and his green scarf over an untucked collared shirt, though. There was something about him and green. He didn't know why, but he did have a close association for it. Probably from working in the hospital for so long.

He was finishing his food with some satisfaction when the knock sounded on his door. "It's Elixa, you ready yet? Can I come in?"

Early. The doorknob clicked a bit. Arcturus eyed the moving doorknob and swallowed before setting down the container and going to the door, pointing at it with his wand again to unlock it.

With a pull on the knob he opened it. "You can come in. I'm just finishing my dinner." He left the door as it was, she could either come in or linger outside to wait. It was her choice.

"Ah, damn, sorry,"

Partially.

"Don't rush it, its all good." She replied as carefree as she could, slipping into the office again and closing the door behind her, tucking her hair behind her ears even though it was already there.

Arcturus had changed, thankfully, he was just at his desk to eat. Rather organised, if she said so herself. She'd taken to a mad dash upstairs for something quick in the hope of striking conversation up with some of her newly acquainted colleagues.

By the time she reached home every night she was exhausted. A couple of times Edwin would be having breakfast when she emerged to find something herself, and inform her he'd come upstairs to find her door ajar, lights still on and fast asleep on her bed with an encyclopaedia in her grip.

Each time he'd prised the volume from her hands, placed it on the floor and thrown a blanket over her than wake her, rather like looking after a child. It only emphasised the fact he was a temporary father figure for her as well as a friendly relative offering her a temporary home.

"What's on the menu this evening?" She asked, stepping across the office, and taking a seat where Hollingbury's patients would probably normally stop. She was feeling rather hungry herself, but it would wait until they'd found the place. Her eyes peered into the container quickly and then she gave him a smile, crossing one leg over the other and inspecting the rest of his office instead, watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"How many years do you have to be a healer before you get a posh office then?" She asked, breaking the pause where she'd been letting him eat in peace. "Or is it just for clever ones like you?" She cracked a smile and blinked, looking to him and then resuming her unmasked browsing. 

Arcturus didn't really respond much to her questions about his food, only looking up at her once or twice as he made short work of the remaining dinner left. Not that most people would actually recognise what he ate, since it tended to be of Greek origin.

"Greek. Vegetarian," he said curtly, in response to her question.  He wasn't being short with her because he found her annoying; he just wasn't used to talking to strangers while he ate. It was a family thing. Possibly it was the only reason why he never liked to eat out with colleagues. He watched her look around his office.

"How many years do you have to be a healer before you get a posh office then? Or is it just for clever ones like you?"

He swallowed his last mouthful. "I don't know. It seems to work on how responsible and reliable you are when you're on the job. I may be an ex-Ravenclaw but cleverness wasn't the only thing that got me up here." Such as having trouble with Divination. The only reason why he managed to get good grades in that subject was because he basically holed himself up in the library after classes and dinner until he was shooed out. His brain had had trouble accepting the randomness of the subject, so he forced it to.

With his food finished, he carefully tucked the container into the slingbag sitting on the floor next to his chair and used the napkin on his table to wipe his mouth before balling it up and chucking it into the bin. "Technically you don't need to have an office, but when you start having to seriously deal with all the paperwork," he gestured to his desk, which was a display of what he was talking about, "you've got to put it somewhere. It's not all peaches and potions, I attribute about forty percent of my day to paperwork. Joy gets more than I do, so that'll give you an idea I guess."

After a pause he said, "You've...met Joy, right? She likes meeting new people, so I can't imagine you wouldn't have met her before today."

Vegetarian? Well, that might make cooking together a bit difficult, she wasn't vegetarian, but she decided not to bring up the fact while he was eating. Best not to put forward any items of incompatibility just before going to check out a place.

"Ravenclaws? Yes, heard there's quite a few of them here. People keep going to ask me which house I belonged to and changing their minds." She smiled at Arcturus, her eyes were darting between his face and his attire that was for once not his healer's robes.

"Yes, yes I've met Joy, she's an absolute gem. We had lunch together[1] the other day. We discussed the impact of acromantula venom and ashwinder eggs for one of the patients here." Elixa shook her head. "The things people do, but the miracles you all work in the circumstances. Admirable, fantastic, extraordinary." She reinforced each of her statements with a pat on her knee, looking admirably at Arcturus, who she included in this description.

"Do you specialise in a particular area? Joy mentioned she tends to see a couple of the most serious cases each day, but you've got wards up here for categorising your patients - long term, short term, side rooms and such. I figure its not just the paperwork that happens in here, outpatients, right?" She patted the chair she sat on with both hands, looking quizzical, studying his face for confirmation.

"Well, if they're not down renewing their remedies with us downstairs, huh?" Her Swedish accent burbled as she spoke the longer phrases in English, trying to keep her words clear, eyes bright. He was a somewhat conservative dresser. The rest of the outfit was hidden behind his desk as he was seated. 

"You and Joy get on well?" She asked suddenly, realising it might be rude not to continue his conversation diversion. They had time, the floo was just there beside them, but she'd got his full attention, and somehow didn't want to lose it.

1.	Jan 14, Nature Time & Patience

Arcturus smiled a little at her comment on the healers' work. "Acromantula venom and ashwinder eggs? Wonder what she's up to now." The statement was more to himself; it had been a while since he had spoken with Joy.

He had his legs crossed at the moment under the desk, but now he uncrossed them and leaned forward to pick up the slingbag. "I usually deal with long-term patients and emergency cases. We're not that well-staffed on this floor, so I do a bit of outpatient meetings as well on the side if I have to." Arcturus gestured vaguely in the direction of the wall. "But from what I've noticed the other floors have fewer or just about the same number of healers than we do, so it's not much of a difference."

The slingbag went on the desk as he got to his feet. "Yeah, we get on fairly well." He smiled at a thought. "I see her more of a superior to me, but she dislikes being treated and addressed as such. Still, she's the person who runs the floor. I would be closer to her, but personally I think she's got enough on her plate to deal with than having to hang out with a socially incompetent recluse like me." The smile on his face was more wry this time.

Arcturus unhooked his coat and pulled it on, not noticing Elixa or her roving eyes. Not bothering to button it up, he draped the green scarf around his collar and let it hang. If anything, Arcturus was not a neat dresser; outside of work his appearance was meant to be comfortable and not to attract attention. He never needed it to be, since his hair did that job for him. At least the one thing he could be guaranteed to wear was jeans, which he was wearing right now.

"I hear you're training to be a healer," he said, making sure the lengths of the scarf were at the same level. "What would be your floor of choice? Creature Injuries, Spell Damage, Bugs and Diseases?" He turned around and slung the bag over his shoulder; if anything, he didn't want to linger in his office with Elixa. Going out would give her eyes something else to focus on, and they would get the job done sooner. "Or, given your skill with potions, would it be the triple P just like us unfortunate souls?" He flashed her a smile, both to inject some humour into his usually emotionless tone and to signal to her that he wanted to go.

"Socially incompetent recluse?" Elixa queried, "Surely not! Well, at least you'll be a quiet housemate… but you won't go out…" She pondered a moment, staring at him, not that she perhaps wanted him to go out, or that she might bring someone back that made her particularly want him to go out.

Her gaze ran over his coat and scarf, part of her wanting to reach out and loop his scarf around his neck to keep him warm, but he was adjusting it.

"Yes, at some point I will return to it." She confirmed when he asked of her career. "I don't much fancy diseases, and although I've perhaps grown up hearing much of werewolf bites - my parents are both healers specialising there, its not what most interests me." She too had got to her feet, smoothing her jacket, smiling.

"Quite possibly would be, but it'll depend very much on where I can fit in - I trained about a decade ago, but never qualified. I'd need to study, take the specialism. Also, make that final decision to commit again."

She shrugged, not looking his way as she admitted things,
"You're not unfortunate souls unless I do join, and I make a hash of things again. That's why I chose to switch to apothecary business, its less risky. Shall, we?"

Unintentionally, she'd joined Arcturus on his wish to leave, and was gesturing to the fireplace. That'd be about right, want to know everything about him but say awkward things about yourself, Elixa's internal monologue chastised.

"Not sure which end it is, so Leaky Cauldron be a good place to start at, given the hour?"