The week was almost over, I kept to my room mostly. Afraid I was going to bump into someone from my family, not knowing their busy schedules anymore. I was in plain sight. It was rather quite genius being so close to all the business, my parents would assume I'd avoid anywhere close to the small boutiques they go to and tea rooms they frequent.

Though it was a genius to hide in plain sight, it was hiding.

I was expecting a visit from Narcissa on Sunday to discuss my next steps. Though I still didn't know where I'd go next, I didn't see it too bad to stay here for a while to get my bearings. It was still incredibly early on and this arrangement worked for now.

I was still processing that I had actually left, only beginning to find the courage to step out of comfort zone.

I hadn't done anything I had wanted to do, other than take a shower whenever I wanted and slept in until almost noon most days. Which felt like such a luxury.

I was awake early today though. My body feeling restless. I didn't leave to be locked up somewhere else, upon reflection.

I needed to do something. It was a Friday, I had to celebrate my first Friday of freedom.

I could always explore the muggle side of the city. My parents very rarely ventured in that direction. They didn't care for muggles in the slightest.

It was the safest, yet most exciting option!

I wandered around for hours, the sun shining upon me and the muggles around me rushing to get from here to there and not taking a moment to breathe, not one person paying me any attention. Which actually felt great and eased my anxiety that I'd stand out.

I observed the new world around me, I was never allowed to go into muggle shops before.

The sights, the sounds and smells were all incredible...even if they were strange. 

There were several men pretending to be statues, collecting change in little hats, that I stared at for far too long and intensely before realising they were real people.

A saw a woman leaning down to pick up her dogs waste with a little bag, making me glad we used magic to clear up after our pets.

Small moments like that throughout the day had me in a trance. It was so wonderfully bizarre being on this side of reality. So fascinating being able to just stop and stare at what was happening around me. No one knew me, maybe not even my parents, here.

My muggle converse were the only objects I had owned and became familiar with from this world (and I didn't even purchase them) and truthfully I didn't know much about the culture entirely, so this was all new. I remember that one time at Hogwarts when I was explained muggle storybooks and how they differed from the ones we read as children.

The thought made me curious, now on my way back to the leaky cauldron. I was a few streets away from heading back to the reality I knew about when I remembered there was a book shop I had walked past at the beginning of my adventure.

It was still light outside though I could tell the people around me were more relaxed and taking their steps slower, signifying the work day was approaching an end.

If their culture was anything like ours, that would mean their shops would close pretty soon. Everyone finished work around the same time in the wizarding world, unless you were part of the service industry or ministry which seemed like an okay sacrifice to make because they got paid more for the hours they worked outside of the usual timings. So I've heard. Regular pay was offered until it passed a certain time and then it doubled.

I was beginning to become quite bored with all the window watching on the days I felt I couldn't go out and explore without anxiety of being seen.

A book would be a great way to pass the time for the next forty eight or so hours until I see Narcissa.

I looked at the front of the book shop. It was sweet looking, a burgundy, rounded wooden window and ivy growing up the building. It almost mimicked the shop fronts you'd see in Diagonal Alley, which didn't seem to follow the theme of the other muggle shops.

A sign on the front claiming to be open and selling books since 1897.

"They must have had shops like us a long time ago." I spoke out loud to myself. I had wondered why our world looked visually different than theirs. Perhaps we were more traditional? Did muggles just outgrow our aesthetic?

I walked inside the old bookshop, a bell ringing that was connected to the door. It smelt glorious. It reminded me of the smell in Hogwarts Library and I was thrown back into a similar calm, studious mentality.

I looked around at their children's book and fantasy section. I knew I was probably too old to experience what the authors probably attended to achieve through their writing, but I was more curious than anything. I wasn't looking for a spectacular book, just something fun.

I flicked through a number of books, getting lost in a blurb about a french girl being held captive by a beast. This was a children's book? This world was so odd.

I wanted to buy it and see what was so childish about the concept but quickly realised I had no muggle money left. Only converting a small amount that would cover food and drink on my adventure. Which I didn't realise would be so expensive.

Remus' POV

"That'll be £8.60 please."

The young lad handed me the money, took his receipt and went on his way.

Thank god my shift was almost over. My legs were tired from standing the majority of the day and I couldn't wait to have a beer.

My boss came out from the stock room, scraping his combover back in the right place.

"We'll close up in a minute mate." He said to me, seeming as done with the day as I was. There was nothing more depressing than being cooped up on a sunny Friday.

"Oh for gods sake, not another one." He said glancing down one of our very few aisles. The shop was narrow but long, you could only see down each one if you paced up and down, shelves stacked high.

"Go and tell them this isn't a bloody library and if they wanna read they have to buy it." He requested, as he began to fill up the special offer books near the till for tomorrow.

I rolled my eyes discreetly but left from behind the counter, I don't know why he was so strict about people reading the books. As long as they didn't damage or steal them...I wasn't paid enough to care.

I wandered down the aisle that I could see a girl sat on the floor with a book open. She was probably just skimming to see if the book was appropriate for their niece or nephew or something, as she was in the children's literature section.

I was about to speak up to ask her if she was looking for anything particular. Though she was cutting it fine, our closing hour approaching quickly.

Until she brushed her hair behind her ear and I paused.

My mind and body worked at different speeds, I turned quickly around and walked straight to the staff room instead of completing the task I had been assigned.

It couldn't have been? No one had seen her in years? It was just someone who looked similar, surely? That woman had shorter hair and didn't hold herself in the same way.

How old would she be now? Seventeen? Eighteen? Just turned eighteen. She could look different, that would make sense.

My mind was racing.

I looked at myself in the mirror very quickly, flattening the hair that I had messed up throughout the day. It flicked past my ears and wouldn't sit nicely today. Weird waves and crimps that showed which side I slept on last night.

I straightened out my baggy shirt. I didn't bother to iron it today. I knew I should have.

"Shit, no no no." I tried rubbing off a small stain from my lunch earlier. I didn't have my wand on me or easily accessible to get rid of it.

Regardless of if it was or wasn't, she was so pretty and I was such a mess right now.

It was at the end of a long, warm day without air conditioning. Stuck at the back of a stuffy shop.

I quickly walked back, making sure I looked as presentable as possible. Clearing out my throat lightly and preparing to be confident but chilled out, like I hadn't just rushed off to the staffroom to check how I looked before attempting to speak to her. Just because my body told me it was her, but it couldn't have been. I was just seeing things. Didn't make me any less nervous though.

"I'll do all ya jobs for ya shall I mate? Slacking." My boss said to me with an attitude.

Walking away from the girl that now was standing up from the floor she was sat on.

She was preoccupied, putting back the book she held in exactly the right place, fussing with a bag that was slipping off her shoulder and attempting to push the hair out of her face.

Which she eventually did.

It was her.

My heart starting beating even faster. I never took the time to imagine what she would look like now.

I couldn't seem to move. My feet felt too heavy to move and my mouth suddenly dry.

She glanced around the shelves again before leaving the shop. The bell ringing as she left.

She never once looked back in my direction and quickly left looking as if she was in her own little world, completely blissful.

It was her.

"Arty." I whispered out loud like my body had to check it could still speak. I felt as if I had seen a ghost.

"Help me close up, Remus!" My boss shouted at me and I just couldn't believe I was still expected to continue work, though of course he didn't know. I couldn't control my urge to pull my eyes away from where they were glued. My brain was repeating the sight of her pushing her hair behind her ears and leaving the shop door.

What if she forgot something and came back?

What would I say?

Did she remember me?

She never replied to those letters I sent her, she probably tried to forget about us all. It all ended horribly and quickly. It would make sense why she would want to move on. She looked like she had. She was so relaxed. So content looking.

It had been so many years. Almost five right? I'm not sure. Four and a bit? A long time to go without seeing or hearing from someone.

She was a stranger now, I suppose.

Suddenly someone was at the shop door, the bell ringing and making me jolt up from my crouched position as I poorly rearranged some books that I just couldn't focus on doing properly, I hadn't prepared how I'd approach her. Not since I had obsessed over it at fifteen anyway.

"You alright? You look like you've seen a ghost?" Marlene came in, looking at me and laughing.

"We're closed." My boss shouted from the opposite side of the shop.

"I'm waiting for Remus!" She shouted back and waited until I finished work, glancing around the shop.

We were all going to the pub tonight, but I now didn't know if that beer was just wanted or necessary...or even if I wanted to go.

What the fuck just happened.

I hadn't thought about Arty in such a long time, life being too busy to linger on the past. This isn't how I imagined being reminded of her, seeing her and not being able to bring myself to say hello.

My hands slightly trembled as I completed lock up and I was tripping up over myself a lot more than usual. My mind felt as if it had been shaken. I knew it was racing but I couldn't decipher anything it was saying. I felt as if someone had just jump scared me and as I result I had gone back in time. I felt fifteen again. Which felt horrible and ... I'm not sure. I don't know how I feel.

Too warm, sweaty, shaken and scruffy looking.