Faces in a Crowd

[Raffael Fox]

Raffael walked with his hands in his pockets down Obsidian Harbour, staring blankly into the shop windows. He had taken to doing this a lot and he couldn't really explain why. Maybe it was just something to do with his time to keep his mind off other things. He looked away from the windows, hoping the shop keepers didn't recognise him by now. He was back in New Zealand with not a single familiar face. Sure he had his adoptive family back in Australia, who he stayed with quite reguarly, but it wasn't the same as having a friend. Or a fiance. He had really screwed everything up. He wouldn't admit to himself how lonely he was. He pulled his hands from his pockets and rubbed his face, trailing up into his hair afterwards. He messed it up as much as he could. His one rebelious habit that he had picked up after his parents disowned him. His posture and good manners however, stayed perfectly intact.

Raff's eyes scanned the crowd moving in the opposite direction to him on the street. His heart skipped a beat every time he saw a face that looked like hers. It was kind of pathetic. He knew she would probably kill him if she ever saw him again, but deep down he hoped he would accidently bump into her some day. He would explain everything, apologise and beg for Hadan's forgiveness and she would give it... Well. One could dream right?

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily rolled her head from side to side, cracking her neck. It had been a long day at the store. Her back was killing her and she could tell she was still out of shape, like she had been since the baby was born. She was dying to get back in playing shape, but as long as she was still breastfeeding, her usual workout schedule was off limits. Yeah, she was able to do some basic things with her husband, Sumner, in the backyard at their house in Minnesota, but it was no where near what she was used to. Her stomach was not as flat as it was before, but she was getting closer. During the pregnancy, Lily didn't gain a lot of weight. Most of it had dropped off, but there was still an annoying 10 pounds that would not budge as of yet.

She moved through her office and gathered her things for her trip home. Lily locked up her office and said goodbye to her evening staff on her way out the front doors. She always felt so grateful that she had employees that she could trust to run things when she was not there. Being on hand was her favorite thing to do behind playing Quidditch and being with her family. "I need coffee," she muttered, reaching in her handbag to check how many galleons she had with. She was glad that she didn't need to stop and pick any up from the bank before getting her favorite drink at the shop down the street. Lily stepped off the front step and ran smack into something tall. "Oh, excuse me! I am so sorry! I was not paying attention at all! Are you okay?" she asked her unintended victim, hoping she hadn't hurt him too badly.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raffael pulled his hand out of his hair, once he was sure he had messed it up as much as he could. His mind was washing over a million things, the warm Summer breeze not doing much to get the thoughts out of his head. He supposed it didn't matter. Maybe if he thought over everything long and hard enough he wouldn't feel so stupid about what he did. The sad part was, he wasn't even angry at his Mother for dragging him away from his life. If anything he just felt sorry for her. She had truly snapped after the second divorce with Raffael's Father. Even after everything she put Raff through, the hell his parents caused him at school leaving him the way they did, he hoped that she was doing okay. He knew she'd be giving the doctors the hardest time she could being in that hospital, but they'd learn how to deal with her eventually.

Raffael was about to return his hands to his pockets, when suddenly he was thankful he didn't have time to, or he may have lost his balance. He was smacked into by a smaller body and he quickly reached out to steady the woman (at the same time, himself), before withdrawing his hands. That sure shook him out of his thoughts. "That's okay, no worries, I wasn't really paying attention either. I'm fine, are you okay?" He returned the gesture of making sure she hadn't hurt herself. Although she hadn't bumped into him too hard, it was just unexpected. After he was steadied and the initial shock of what had happened wore off, Raffael looked down at the woman. She seemed so familiar and after a moment of searching through his memories, he recognised her from Hogwarts New Zealand. She wasn't in his year, but after another second Raff remembered Lily who had been in Ravenclaw with him. He was about to voice his discovery, but then wasn't entirely sure he had got it correct. He didn't want to create one of those awkward situations where you identify someone that is not the person you thought it was at all, so he kept quiet for a little longer.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily felt strong hands steady her after the collision, not that she needed a lot of steadying. She still had her balance, but was more concerned that she had hurt the man in front of her. He had reassured her that she hadn't, but it was his voice that caught her off guard. She quickly started processing where she knew it from as she raised her eyes to the face of the man she accosted. Tilting her head to the side so she could flip her blond fringe away from her eyes, Lily blinked a few times as she registered the boy she knew within the man in front of her. Raffael Fox was a year behind her in school, same as Sumner. In fact, the two men had been roommates during her last and most wild year at school.

"Raff?" she questioned, her voice not one hundred percent sure. "Raffael Fox, is that you?" Lily was surprised to see him, but happy too. It had been since Sumner's graduation ceremony that either of the couple had seen the fellow Ravenclaw.

 

[Raffael Fox]

After only a second more of debating whether Raffael would identify her, Lily beat him to the punch. She had a tiny bit of uncertainty in her voice and Raffael couldn't really blame her. His square jaw was lined with a light stubble and he had done a lot of growing up since school, and by the looks of it so had Lily. How many years had it been since he had seen her, or anyone from the old days for that matter.

"Lily!" Raffael exclaimed cheerfully, easily hiding his rocky emotions when around people he knew. He was also genuinely happy to see a familiar face that he was willing to forget all that for the time being. Recently it had felt like he didn't have a single friend, so the fact that Lily had remembered him was a pleasant feeling. Raff had shared a room with her boyfriend, fiance, husband? He hadn't really kept in touch, so he wasn't sure where things were at with them, or if they were even still together at all. All he knew is that the pair had been crazy about each other and Lily had spent quite a bit of time in the dorm for Raffael to know her well enough. "How have you been?" He asked, suddenly wondering what path all his other school mates had taken now that school was over with. He had been engaged for a time, it was equally as likely that people had gone past that stage.

 

[Lily Drage]

Once Raffael confirmed that she was right in her identification, she launched herself at him to give him a hug. "Its great to see you! I've been great for the most part. I own this store, you know," Lily replied, pointing over her shoulder at Gladrags. "Come get coffee with me! I want to hear what you have been up to these past years. I was just heading over to caffinate before I apparated home." She couldn't help but giggle, knowing that Sumner will be stuck home a bit longer with Andy Rose, but she would deal with his wrath later. Besides, she knew exactly what to do when she got home to make him forget all about her staying in New Zealand an extra hour or so.

She grabbed his arm and looped hers through his, not willing to take no for an answer. "This shop has the best drinks. My treat." Lily smiled up at the taller man, giving him a goofy grin that she hoped he would not be able to resist.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raffael suddenly found himself with arms full of Lily and he gave her a squeeze in return. "It's great to see you too!" Raffael said truthfully, feeling his spirits lifting as his attention was distracted away from his gloom. Raff glanced up at the shop to see where he was, as he hadn't been paying a great deal of attention when he was walking before. Gladrags. "Oh that's awesome," Raffael replied. He had an interview with the ministry coming up but he couldn't really compete with owning his own store. He was genuinely happy for his old school mate.

At the request to get coffee with Lily, Raffael couldn't say no. Especially not after the grin on Lily's face. "Sure, coffee sounds great, I swear all the coffee places I go to are awful," Raffael grinned back and began to walk with his arm looped around Lily's to wherever she was taking him. "So are you very busy with the store? I trust you've got good workers to give you a bit of a break." Raffael started with as conversation. He wanted to ask her about Sumner, but found himself delaying it for two reasons. One, because if they weren't together anymore that could potentially be very awkward and two, because then Lily might ask about Hadan and Raffael had hardly spoken about her at all and knew that it would only make him seem like a more horrible person than he already felt like if he tried to explain it.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily was glad to see Raffael relax a bit as they walked the short distance to her favorite little coffee place. "I have been rather busy with the store, but the staff is great! I would be lost without them." They arrived at the shop and she released Raffael's arm as she ordered her usual drink, an amaretto white chocolate mocha, in the largest size they had available. She also grabbed a blueberry muffin that was the size of a pygmy puff. Lily waited for Raffael to order before she pointed to a table and with a smile, moved to sit down. Once settled she took a huge bite out of her muffin while she waited for the drinks to be served to them.

"Sorry, I have been a bottomless pit of hunger these past few days. Not really sure why that is yet. I have been alternating between hunger and exhaustion," she stated with a giggle and a shrug of her shoulders. "Sumner will be totally jealous that I ran into you! We will have to make plans to have you over for dinner at our house. So tell me!" she ran on with her sudden burst of giddy energy, "how have you been? What have you been up to since graduation?" Lily was pretty sure that he had been engaged or at least seriously dating a Slytherin back then, but so many years have passed that could have changed multiple times over. Besides, she wanted him to share what he was comfortable with and not force him into uncomfortable territory. She remembered what it was like when she ran into a friend she hadn't seen since dating Blake who assumed she was married to her former paramour. That was one uncomfortable conversation, especially for the friend who thought Andy Rose was Blake's daughter.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Lily's energy was certainly refreshing in Raff's opinion. "Well that's good," Raffael smiled in response to her answer about the store. He remembered how stressed Taylor's Mother could get when she owned Flourish and Blotts some time ago when he was staying at her home. Especially around the time when Hogwarts was starting up again and all the students crowded in for their school supplies. Being in charge seemed like a lot of work. Something Raffael didn't think he was cut out for. He was a smart guy, granted he had let his grades slip towards later years because of other circumstances in his life, but he used to be the top of his class. However Raff would much prefer to use his intelligence quietly in the background, than have all the responsibility resting on him.

The coffee shop wasn't too far away and they reached it quickly. Raffael was impressed with Lily's complicated coffee order as he chose a plain cappuccino for himself. He went and met Lily at the table she had chosen for them and suddenly wished he'd ordered a muffin for himself as Lily's looked delicious, however his appetite had been somewhat diminished over the past months. As Lily brought the subject to Sumner, Raff smiled, glad he could now ask Lily about him without ensuing an awkward situation. "How are you and Sumner? Is he not a nightmare to live with?" Raff joked, having shared a dorm with the guy, he wasn't really a nightmare, but he could be a bit of a handful. Nothing Lily couldn't handle, Raff was sure.

The conversation came to what Raff had been up to and deciding to avoid the overtly depressing he opted to say, "I've actually been in France for a while, staying with my Mother." Not many people knew the truth about his parents and how they'd left him, so it wasn't an odd thing to say out loud. "Her and my Father recently divorced and she was having a bit of a tough time with it. But I'm finally back in New Zealand and I've got a job interview at the Ministry next week, so nothing too exciting," he said, a crooked smile on his face, that he hoped didn't look as forced as it felt. It was the truth at least, he hadn't been up to anything exciting, not to him anyway. What about yourself?"

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily broke off a piece of her muffin as she listened to Raffael fill her in on his life. She popped it into her mouth and chewed it quickly, savoring the flavor of the fresh blueberries the shop used. She couldn't help but giggle when he asked if Sumner was a nightmare. "He is not horrible at all actually. Now that he has learned to do the wash and the dishes from time to time I'm not so stressed. It was actually worse when I was playing full time quidditch and running the shop. The laundry was non stop!" She moved the plate with the muffin on it across to the middle of the table before breaking off another piece. "Please, feel free to help yourself. I swear I am constantly eating these days."

Lily smirked as she ate the piece, then took a drink from her mocha. "Europe is wonderful. I was in France once, but that didn't end too well." She grimaced as she remembered the fateful game she played when she lost her first child. "I really have no desire to go back there. Sounds like being here is exactly what both of us need. And you getting into the Ministry would be awesome! I hope you get it. We could have lunch on the days I am at the store." After another sip of her mocha, she filled in Raffael on the past years since graduation. They were years filled with his and hers quidditch games, hospital trips and lots of activity. "The most amazing thing is our little girl, Andromeda Rose. We call her Andy Rose and she is just a perfect mix of the two of us. You wouldn't believe how protective Sumner is of his baby girl." Lily pulled out the latest picture of the little family from her handbag and handed it to her former housemate. "We named her after Andy. Both of us were devastated to find out she died so young. She was such a good friend to us before she went down her dark path." The former Gryffindor had died shortly before their child was born, and since both Sumner and Lily thought of her as a friend, they felt the name was perfect.

 

[Raffael Fox]

Raffael chuckled in response to Lily talking about how Sumner helps with the dishes. Had everyone grown up this much from Hogwarts? Lily looked so happy and she had completely settled down with someone. Raffael realised he had briefly had that life himself, but it seemed so far off now. Like he hadn't had the experience at all. He knew he'd had to face up to a lot of mature situations, but the way he was stumbling around recently, not sure of the direction of his life, made him feel so lost and like he still had a lot of growing up to do.

As Lily offered Raff some of the muffin, he shook his head. "Oh, no thank you," he refused politely. In his head he thought he could say he was still full from lunch or something, but the words didn't come out. Raff wasn't a very good liar, it had been drilled out of him at a young age. It was hard enough to cover his true mood in the presence of other people. When Lily stated that Europe was wonderful, Raffael had to agree. He loved his home in Paris, it was a very beautiful place, regardless of some of the more unpleasant memories. Raff was curious about what had happened to Lily in France, but her grimace told Raffael it was a sensitive subject and he wouldn't press the issue. He took a drink out of his cappuccino that had arrived instead.

"Thank you, I hope I get it too. I'll be in the accidental magic reversal squad, so should be interesting," Raff explained. "And lunch would be nice," he grinned. Raffael wasn't much of a talker, but he was perfectly happy to just listen. He hoped he wasn't coming across as rude by not sharing his own experiences in such detail as Lily was, he just didn't feel like his life was as interesting. He took another drink, but put it down after hearing that Lily had a little girl. "Wow, congratulations!" Raff said, taking the photograph of Lily's family. The little girl was adorable and they looked so happy. Raff looked up again as Lily confirmed a small suspicion the the baby was named after Andy. "I'd been friends with her too," Raff said a little sadly. She made some bad choices, but she had been such a good person. "I'm sure she would be pleased if she knew about Andy Rose," he said, passing the photograph back to Lily. "I'm so happy for you Lily," Raff smiled, feeling just a tiny bit lonely, but his statement not being any less true. He knew not to feel sorry for himself now, because it was his own fault. It was just a bit hard sometimes, knowing he could have had all this himself, if he hadn't been so stupid.