Gravity

Chapter 15

Knock, knock, knock

"Just a second!" she called.

He waited nervously, his heart pounding in his ears, adrenaline from his spontaneous idea still pumping through his blood. Then the door opened.

"Oh! Hi," she said, a little out of breath and clearly surprised.

"Bad time?" he asked, fear settling on him. His visit was unexpected, he knew that. They didn't hang out anymore, even though they'd last parted, after Christmas, on relatively decent terms. There had been no fighting, shouting, or yelling. But bugger it all, he missed her. So he was going to try to get back what they'd once had: a real friendship. He knew it was a tricky thing, that he was playing with fire, but he was confident that he could keep his feelings under control. That it was worth the risk of getting burned.

"Oh, no. I was just cleaning. Come in?" She opened the door further.

He hesitated. "Okay. But I'm just here for a minute."

She closed the door behind him. "What's up?"

He looked at her. Her hair was pulled up in a loose bun, and there were quite a few strands that had come free and fallen around her face. Her cheeks were flushed, obviously from cleaning. It smelled like lemons in the flat, and he heard music coming from somewhere. He tried to find something in her expression that would give him a clue to her thoughts. Nothing, though.

He took a deep breath and plunged. "A client gave me two tickets this morning for something called the Harlem Globetrotters. It's some kind of show. It's tonight. Want to come?" He held his breath; his heart was racing, his palms were sweaty.

She cocked her head. "What is it, again?"

"I have no idea. It's a Muggle show from the States."

He held up the tickets and she glanced at them, then looked back at him and a wave of uncertainty passed over her face. He feared she would say no. She bit her lip and it was obvious she was thinking about her decision very carefully. Finally the shadow passed and she smiled hesitantly. "Sounds fun. It'll be an adventure, discovering what these Globetrotters are all about." She glanced back at the tickets in his hand. "When is it?"

"The show is at 7:30."

"Okay, why don't you come by at six? I'll do something for dinner."

He nodded, refusing to show his relief and excitement. "I will do that." He moved toward the door. "Oh, and I don't think it's anything fancy."

"No formal dress and updo, then," she said, smiling and following him to the door. "Where are you going now?"

"Back to work. I've got a meeting at three, then another at 4:30. I just popped over during a bit of free time."

She leaned against the doorframe, looking at him speculatively. "It's good to see you again. I've missed ... our talks."

"Oh. Right, me too. That's why I thought of you for this. It's been awhile since we, um, spent time together."

"We're good as friends, aren't we?" she said, an odd pitch to her voice.

He swallowed hard and nodded, fighting the gnawing feeling in his gut and reminding himself that all he had wanted to do was see her again, to be friends again. Then it hit him: they were going to spend the evening together. He smiled. "I agree. I'll see you later, then."

"Yes. Bye."

He Disapparated, feeling light and nearly like he was flying.

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