He hears the soft jingling of the bell as the door to the shop opens. Straightening up at his workbench, he sets down the pastry bag he'd been holding and glances up at the clock on the wall.
Half an hour.
Enough time for her to have gone or at least started off for wherever it was she intended, realise her error, and turn right back around.
Stilling in his seat now, he listens carefully.
... Is it her, or perhaps another customer?
But when he hears the distinctive sound of heeled shoes against the linoleum flooring at the front of the store, he knows for sure it's her.
Smiling to himself, he tips his head to one side as he listens to the soft, subtle sounds of movement.
He won't go out - he won't move from his perch.
No, best to let her collect the folder she forgot privately, unbothered.
He didn't look - didn't peep at the contents of the file. He's far too principled for that. Instead, he left the folder exactly where she had set it down on the countertop.
And if she hadn't come back?
I'd have held it back here for at least several days, safekeeping it for her just in case.
Unscrewing the piping tip off the bag, he begins quietly searching through his work kit for a new one as he continues to listen to the sound of her soft movements just beyond the partially opened door.
The sounds are as follows: her walking up to the counter, and then a prolonged silence. Finally, after another long moment, the sounds of her feet carrying her away again. Then, most surprising of all, a sudden stopping, and the unmistakable sound of her walking quickly back towards the counter once more. Another short silence, then finally the sound of her heels fading, the bakery door opening and shutting behind her.
...
... She nearly died of fright, of pure panic when she neared Malfoy Manor and realised her terrible error.
The files -
The information!
And her poor heart never stopped racing the entire way back to that bakery, her worry over what her Lord would do to her, of how terribly she'd be punished if her mistake were ever discovered.
Fear on top of dread, to say nothing of her trepidation and embarrassment at the notion of having to crawl back to the handsome muggle baker after flying so abruptly out of his shop in the first place.
Yes, make no mistake about it - she's completely on edge as she stands outside the bakery, debating her re-entry.
I, who fear no one -
Well ...
I pretend to fear no one.
And usually I do a damn good job of it.
All the same, she forces herself to reenter the bakery, her relief nearly instant when she finds it once again completely deserted. And even better still ...
There - right there -
Yes, right where she left it, the Ministry intel.
But wait ...
What's this?
On top of the plain manila folder, a small, white cardboard box. Unable to fight against her overpowering curiosity, she lifts the lid and is met with the sight of two small pastries, a palmier and a single choux à la crème placed neatly side by side on a small square of wax paper. Hesitating, she blinks down at them then glances furtively around the store.
No one.
He's not here.
Or, most likely, he's in the back again, back to working on his cakes.
Biting at her lip, she carefully shuts the lid to the box, taking the pastries and the folder into her hand as she turns to leave. She's halfway to the door when she hesitates. Debating with herself, she turns back around and rushes back to the counter. Tugging a nearby napkin off the napkin dispenser by the register, she lays it flat exactly where the folder and pastries had been. Glancing around once more for caution's sake she covertly pulls out her wand and quickly traces some elegant script above it, letters magically appearing on the napkin. And with that, heart wildly racing, she pockets her wand and tears back out of the bakery again.
...
... When he's certain she's gone, he finally rises up from his stool and slips out the door to the front end of the store. Spotting the napkin, he walks forward and leans over. Just two words. Two words scribbled in hurried yet elegant cursive script:
Thank you.
...
... She's supposed to deliver the file immediately. That's the unspoken expectation. Especially after her colossal mishap just now, she definitely shouldn't delay.
They could have been lost permanently;
And if he looked ...
... If he looked, this certainly counts as a violation against the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy;
Point is -
I really, really, REALLY messed up.
Yes, she should return to Malfoy Manor straight away. She knows this. And yet she turns and ducks down the first alleyway she happens across - she simply can't help herself. There, in the shaded shadows afforded to her by the tall buildings above and around, she falls back against a faded brick wall and stares down at the box in her hand. Smiling shyly, she opens it once more and considers the two pastries.
They are beautiful;
They're just so beautiful.
She tries the palmier first. Then the chou. And then she does something she almost never does; she cries. Not simply because of what a terribly stressful day it's been, but because she finds they're unquestionably the best sweets she's ever tasted in her entire life.
YOU ARE READING
Coiled (Book 1 of 2)
Fanfiction"This is our story: Reggie, Evan, and I." A Marauders Era story that follows the reader (FMC), Regulus Black & Evan Rosier through their last year at Hogwarts into the First Wizarding War. This is book 1 of 2, and contains the first two parts of th...
