Closest To Heaven That I'll Ever Be

30. Tonight Is The Night

The flowers did not stop.

Thursday morning brought another arrangement to the shop.

By this point, I'd almost started expecting the owl. Almost.

I was serving a young mother who needed a calming draught for her son's first year at Hogwarts when the familiar shadow passed across the front window. I glanced up just in time to see an owl struggling heroically beneath a box that looked far too large for it.

"Oh, for goodness' sake."

The woman followed my gaze and smiled. "Someone likes you."

"Apparently."

The owl landed outside with a rather disgruntled flap of its wings and abandoned the box on the doorstep. I finished serving my customer before retrieving it.

Today's flowers were beautiful. Again.

Deep purple and dusky-blue blooms were mixed with creamy white roses and delicate greenery, tiny enchanted droplets of light suspended between the petals like morning dew.

And, tucked neatly into the centre—

To Addalie.

Nothing else.

I turned the card over. Blank.

"Still no name?" the woman asked.

I looked up. "No."

"Secret admirer."

I frowned. "Or someone with far too much money to spend on flowers."

She laughed. "Could be both."

Wonderful.

By Friday, another arrangement had arrived.

They were getting ridiculous now.

My house had flowers. My kitchen had flowers. My living room had flowers. The shop had so many flowers that customers were beginning to ask if I'd started selling them.

And I still had absolutely no idea who was sending them. The strange thing was that I liked them. I probably shouldn't have.

Anonymous flowers arriving every day should perhaps have concerned me more than they did, but there was something incredibly sweet about walking into the shop each morning wondering what would arrive next.

Someone was thinking about me. That alone was enough to make me smile.

Although the flowers weren't the only strange thing happening outside my shop that week.

There was also Harry Potter.

Harry, unfortunately, was considerably less subtle than the flowers.

The first time I noticed him was Thursday afternoon. I'd been restocking the shelves behind the counter when something made me glance towards the window.

There he was. Standing across the street.

Just... standing there.

I froze with three bottles floating beside my head. Harry stared through the window. I stared back.

For perhaps two seconds. Then I immediately looked away.

No. Absolutely not.

I flicked my wand towards the bottles with far more enthusiasm than necessary. "Top shelf."

They flew into place.

I grabbed another crate. Very busy. That was what I was. Exceptionally busy. Possibly the busiest shopkeeper in the entire wizarding world.