True, museum fundraisers were not exactly his cup of tea even in magical society, but the event at the museum in muggle London had afforded him at least a very vague excuse not to visit his mother—she had a friend with an unmarried daughter coming for tea. Muggle London was glorious in that he was all but unrecognizable, though as he made his way through an exhibit on Greek vases he remembered how utterly boring such anonymity was.

Then he saw her.

It was a recognizable face, one he had seen at numerous fetes in magical Britain. Surely she would offer him at least a brief moment of recognition before melting back into the bland, magicless crowd?

"I had thought myself alone in this particular crowd," he offered by way of greeting as he came alongside her.