With her cheeks flushed by embarrassment, Irene delegated to not turn around to face him, and focused on a spot of chipped paint on the doorway across the room. She let herself detach from the scene and make a mental note to sneakily dab a bit of paint on the spot next time she was in his flat. It would only take a few — oh Merlin, the whole door frame needed touching up. When was the last time he’d tidied up this place? She didn’t dare move her eyes from the singular entrance, because without a doubt if one of the door ways was in disrepair, the others would, and then Irene would never be able to get out in time. Feeling the ties come unloose, Irene relaxed and opened her mouth to chide him about the lack of paint in his doorway when she felt something at her back.
It felt like a fluttering at first, and she almost reached to swat whatever it was away until — oh Merlin. Words died in her throat and it felt as if her brain had momentarily forgotten how to supply the rest of her body with oxygen. The pinched rosiness in her cheeks had absolutely nothing to do with her lack of time management now. Other than nibbling at her bottom lip in nervousness, Irene tried to keep extremely still; as if a butterfly had just landed on her shoulder. She figured she must have been succeeding at the task, because her breathing had suddenly become shallow.
But it had also felt as if someone had put a silencing charm on everything outside, and a magnifying charm on everything inside the flat. Surely he could hear her heartbeat hammering in her chest, because she could hear everything he was doing: the occasional creak of the flat’s floorboards; the drip of the faucet in the kitchen; the slight picking of fabric as the button closures came undone; the steady fluttering of his breathing that told her he was concentrating on something. It had become a symphony of sounds that somehow overlapped in perfect synchrony.
And then it stopped, and he was gone and she inhaled sharply, breaking out of her reverie and moving quickly to doff the apron and step hastily away in any direction possible. “Thank you.” With her supplies all packed in a bit of a haphazard way, Irene absently patted at her pockets. The strange emptiness of them reminded her that she’d forgotten her wand. “Erm…right. I’ll…be off now.” She murmured, catching his eye once more as she stammered through her farewell and turned to leave. “Thank you - I mean - bye.”
It felt like a fluttering at first, and she almost reached to swat whatever it was away until — oh Merlin. Words died in her throat and it felt as if her brain had momentarily forgotten how to supply the rest of her body with oxygen. The pinched rosiness in her cheeks had absolutely nothing to do with her lack of time management now. Other than nibbling at her bottom lip in nervousness, Irene tried to keep extremely still; as if a butterfly had just landed on her shoulder. She figured she must have been succeeding at the task, because her breathing had suddenly become shallow.
But it had also felt as if someone had put a silencing charm on everything outside, and a magnifying charm on everything inside the flat. Surely he could hear her heartbeat hammering in her chest, because she could hear everything he was doing: the occasional creak of the flat’s floorboards; the drip of the faucet in the kitchen; the slight picking of fabric as the button closures came undone; the steady fluttering of his breathing that told her he was concentrating on something. It had become a symphony of sounds that somehow overlapped in perfect synchrony.
And then it stopped, and he was gone and she inhaled sharply, breaking out of her reverie and moving quickly to doff the apron and step hastily away in any direction possible. “Thank you.” With her supplies all packed in a bit of a haphazard way, Irene absently patted at her pockets. The strange emptiness of them reminded her that she’d forgotten her wand. “Erm…right. I’ll…be off now.” She murmured, catching his eye once more as she stammered through her farewell and turned to leave. “Thank you - I mean - bye.”
![[Image: 9EDhNw4.png]](https://i.imgur.com/9EDhNw4.png)