June 25th, 1888 - The Woodcroft Residence

One sickle and fifteen knuts.
That left him with – Charles counted the coins in his hand - five sickles and fourteen knuts to spare. Perfect. He didn’t have enough for the owl he wanted – he’d need over a galleon and given the fog in Hogsmeade and his occupation, Charles knew not to ever carry more than about six or seven sickles. He’d just have to go to Diagon Alley again at some point.

Peering into a new bakery that had recently opened, the Hit Wizard stepped inside and bought a few sweet treats for Miss Woodcroft, bringing his shopping list down from three items to one. Now he just needed something for her mother. What was it mothers liked? His mother enjoyed flowers but that was not appropriate, Charles thought. He looked up at the sky and smiled. Oh, that was an idea.

Once he’d gotten his gift for Mrs Woodcroft, Charles went back to his house in Irvingly and put on the best dinner outfit he had and, of course, his sister teased him a little to which Charles responded with his usual snark.

It was quite the blessing working in London. He managed to consistently be outside of the fog and see the sunshine. Plus, he could use magic. Granted his magic was mostly used on criminals – but he could use it nonetheless. Being back in Irvingly was a little disheartening once he realized the present he’d bought for Emmeline’s mother wasn’t going to work. He opted then to leave it at home, certain she wouldn’t mind.

Showing his pass to the Ministry officials, Charles got the train into Hogsmeade and made his way slowly toward Emmeline’s house where he was greeted by her family and they spent a few hours enjoying dinner. It was quite a delightful experience and Charles managed to share a few of his work details; such as what kind of job he did. He elected to omit the whole killing people on occasion thing, though.

Once dinner was over, Charles had found himself cupping a glass of rum whilst in conversation with Emmeline’s father. After a short while, her father excused himself to do something.

Charles turned to Emmeline and smiled softly, “That was a pleasant dinner, Ems.”

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Dinner had been surprisingly..relaxed. Emmeline hadn't been sure what to expect out of it. Charlie had left her home just a few days prior with promises (of a sort) made and then her mother had requested of her to write to him and see if he'd be interested in coming to dinner. Clearly, she'd had something up her sleeve. It would have been the only explanation that made sense in Emmeline's mind. However, nothing glaringly obvious had come up. Instead there had been plenty of free flowing conversation and laughter shared between them all.

And then as Emmeline and her mother had seen to cleaning up, her father had fallen into conversation with Charlie while they drank the rum he'd brought. Emmeline had smiled the whole time they'd been cleaning up and found her cheeks almost aching from the smiles when she sat in the chair opposite Charlie after her father had excused himself. Her mother had left to tidy up as well and even made mention of a slight headache. Emmeline knew better though.

"It was," she responded with a sweet smile though her cheeks were flushed from the cleaning and her hair No longer perfectly tucked and pinned. She was comfortable though, especially once she'd pulled her knees up to her chin much as she had the other night. "You seem to be winning both of my parents over," she said with a smirk.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles smiled at her remark. He wasn’t trying to win her parents over – that was just a nice little bonus to his time spent in Emmeline’s company. If the truth were to be told as simply as water was clear, it would have been painstakingly obvious that the true motives behind the Hit Wizards expedition to Hogsmeade was to spend just a slither more of time in the company of Miss Woodcroft.

He couldn’t lie. He wouldn’t lie; spending time in her company was soothing to him. There was no ill intent and no bad aftertaste. It was plain. Uncomplicated. And he liked it that way.

“I’m glad,” Charles responded, “though I must admit I’ve no intent on winning them over. My focus, it seems, is on yourself.”

Leaning forward, Charles reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag, sliding it over to her.

He poured himself another drink and nodded towards it, “I almost forgot – I got you a little treat. You said you liked them.”

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Emmeline should have expected a comment of that sort from him but it still made her blush. They'd already essentially told one another there were feelings between them but ones that couldn't be acted on overly much. Not until she'd finished school and started a career. Not until he'd gotten his own promotion. Because if he was going to be insistent on her sticking to her goals, she'd be insistent on him sticking to his.

She watched him curiously as he slid something over to her and saying her gotten her a treat. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was her gotten her.

"You didn't," she stated quite simply but there was an obvious glint of excitement in her eyes as she pulled the bag towards her and caught the sweet smell of icing And the spicy hint of cinnamon.

She pulled it out from there bag though, all smiles, and simply looked at it for a few moments before glancing to him. "Would you like to share?"

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#LovelyLadySet

“Well I got two for a reason, Ems.” Charles smiled softly and took a small sip of his rum. The glint in her eyes reminded him of the stars that he could once see from his bedroom window before the fog took over; shimmering in the night sky with sparks of serenity and tranquillity ebbing to and fro as the light pulsed against the dark wash of night. It was mesmerising.

Charles truly felt as if he could look into her dark eyes for eternity and never bore. As if he could jump right into them and feel at home. It was as if, and he had no other way of describing it, her eyes were nothing short of a charm that had captured his attention and taken him in thrall.

“Have you any plans for the summer then? Presuming this fog was to clear, of course.” He said with rapt attention; his eyes focused intently on hers.

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Emmeline frowned at him, attempting at being funny. "And here I was thinking they were both for me," she said with a light laugh. She was fairly certain she could down the both of them herself quite easily but he didn't really need to know just how bad her sweet tooth was.

She got up from her chair then to retrieve a fork for each of them before sitting atop the table next to him instead of in her seat. Pulling the cinnamon rolls between them, she didn't hesitate to dig into her own. She hummed to herself, a sound of pure satisfaction, as she enjoyed the bite. Her eyes even fluttered closed as she enjoyed it. It had been quite some time since she'd had one. It wasn't exactly a luxury they could afford and her mother was much too busy to make them. And where Emmeline excelled in other aspects of life, she was not the best when it came up anything in the kitchen.

She looked to him after he asked his question and gave a small shrug. "I'm not sure. Perhaps the festival as long as they are all indeed free of any sickness," she answered honestly, "I got sick the last time they were around. Luckily it was a mild case but I'm a bit hesitant to be around them again. What are your plans?"

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles laughed and shook his head as she stood up, “I’m nice, Ems, but not that nice.”
Once she sat down in front of him, Charles watched her contentedly as she began to eat her treat. The way her lips curled into a satisfied grin, how she closed her eyes to take in the flavour. Everything about how she was acting was assuredly adorable and it made him forget, for a brief moment, about his own roll.

Once she’d started talking, he began eating with a nod. He didn’t particularly enjoy sweet things though the cinnamon balanced it out nicely. He’d much rather know she was enjoying herself than him to be enjoying himself, “Likely Ministry work. With everything that’s going on, I’m certain I’ll be having to travel across the country doing… whatever I’m required to do. And I’m glad it was only a minor ill. I’m not entirely sure what I’d do if you weren’t here,” he shrugged and brushed his thumb against her leg lightly before reaching round and grabbing his glass, offering it to her.

“Aren’t you meant to be sharing this with me, Ems?”

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"You'd likely be quite bored in this fog without me," Emmeline answered with a smile, "After all, it's not every day you find a girl crying in the middle of the street and she turns out to be as amazing as I am." She laughed lightly as she finished, feeling as though she were making a rather grand joke of their first meeting.

She shook her head when he offered his glass to her and pointed at her cinnamon roll. "Not until this is gone," she said, looking at him as seriously as she could, "Can't ruin its deliciousness." And with that, she took another big bite of it but smiled at him while she savored it again.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles smiled and nodded, “Of course, I doubt I’d never meet a girl as amazing as you full stop, Miss Woodcroft.”

In their times together, Charles had come to learn that if there was anything that could make her almost-speechless and turn her cheeks into the reddish hue he was beginning to know often, it was to compliment her.

Once she’d declined his offer of alcohol, Charles shrugged and pushed his roll toward her, “Then I guess I’ll have the rum and you can have my bun.” He nodded and then chuckled.

“Cinnamon roll,” he corrected himself, “You can have my treat.”

Turning his head to the side slightly with an almost embarrassed though more what-the-fuck-are-you-even-saying kind of look, Charles simply smiled and took another – though much larger – swig of his drink, finishing his glass.

“Anddd… Anyway. They caught the wizard from the other night. Though I had to explain why I didn’t turn up – easy mistake. The fog is making it hard to see. My bosses seemed to understand.”

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Emmeline did blush at his compliment though it wasn't quite as brought as it normally would have been. She had started to find she quite enjoyed hearing such things from him. He seemed sincere and that was a pleasant thought to her.

She giggled as he mentioned she could have His bun then thought to correct himself. She'd understood what he had meant but it was funny seeing him fluster himself in such a way.

"Are you sure?" She asked as she looked at his offering. Hers was a bite away from being finished and there was surely at least half of his remaining. She was sorely tempted but she also wasn't sure what he'd think if she could indeed eat all of it.

"I'm glad you weren't in trouble for it though," she said before finishing the last of her treat, "I quite enjoyed your company that night but I'm sorry If it kept you from your work."

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#LovelyLadySet

“Of course I’m sure. I’m not one for sugary sweets,” Charles shook his glass and stood up, moving to the cabinet where the rum had been placed.

Pouring himself another glass, Charles sat back down and placed both the bottle and glass on the table, “Don’t be sorry. I enjoyed your company too – and nonsense. There was a squad there, apparently. As it turned out, I hadn’t needed to even go. I, er, I was told I was a little too willing to help. But, as you know, I have my reasons.” He smiled once again.

“You were clearly in danger, Miss Woodcroft. So of course I had to save you.”

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Emmeline still hesitated when he said he was sure. She watched him as he got up to get the bottle of rum but didn't actually take a bite from his cinnamon roll until he'd sat back down and started talking again. She took smaller bites this time though as she listed to him.

"I thought we established I can take care of myself," she said with a slight questioning tone to her voice as she looked to him, "You could just admit you were looking for an excuse to see me again. I'm just glad you didn't kick down the door before I got here. That would have taken some explaining."

She grinned at him as she finished before taking another bite of the cinnamon roll.

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#LovelyLadySet

“I never insinuated you couldn’t, Ems.” Charles grinned a little, “And I will admit it. Though that was not why I came the other day.”

At that Charles ran his hand through his hair and sighed a little. God, this was somewhat embarrassing.

“I was a bit presumptuous and assumed you were in danger, like you know. I left very quickly. I am glad you were safe, though. And yes, I will always look for an excuse to see you,” Charles leaned toward her, “Emmeline,” and he grabbed his drink and sat back in his chair, taking a sip.

Sometimes, he wondered, what kind of relationship would they have should he begin courting her? A good one, he thought. But would they bicker all the time like his parents did? Or sit in silence contentedly… like, well, his parents also sometimes did.

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Emmeline watched him as he spoke. The questions forming in her mind may as well have been written on her face as he continued on. There was still plenty of confusion over why he felt such a strong response to seeing to her well being. Especially that early in their acquaintance.

"I still don't understand why," she said as she watched him, "We may have talked through letters and then when you gave me back My wand but I was still a stranger for the most part."

Not that she minded it. She liked him, probably even more than she was willing to admit. They'd enjoy one another's company and then she'd leave for school. They'd be stuck strictly with letters except for when she was home on a Hogsmeade weekend but surely he'd move on and forget about her by the time she graduated. She was just a silly schoolgirl after all And he was a man with a career.

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#LovelyLadySet

Charles sighed again. They’d been through this. In depth, if he recalled correctly. Why was she so uncertain in her own ability to be liked? It was exasperating and tiresome.

Shrugging, Charles simply took another sip of his rum, “We’ve talked about this, Emmeline.” He said plainly, “I’m not going to go through it again. I like your company and you – as a person. I want to spend time with you and I am not going to go into my reasons why, not again. I don’t need – I shouldn’t have to explain myself.”

He didn’t sound annoyed or even the slightest bit angry. It was as if he was tired with her self-doubt though he didn’t want to let that ruin their nice evening, “Please just accept it and allow yourself the pleasure of being someone another person enjoys the company of. Please.”

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He didn't sound mad or annoyed but Emmeline still felt guilty over having brought it up again. All she could do was nod in response as her cheeks colored with embarrassment. She finished off the rest of the cinnamon roll instead then slipped from the table and took their forks to the sink to wash them quickly and clean up the small mess that had been made. She lingered at the sink though, not entirely sure what to say now that she's gone and put a damper on the light and fun evening they'd been sharing.

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#LovelyLadySet