[Lou's Gallery] Body and Soul (Sam)

It was warm already in the morning. There was no cloud shadowing the usually rainy British capital. Louise walked through Camden, wearing an olive coloured summer dress with a broad belt. Her huge sunglasses covered about one quarter of her face which was framed by her auburn hair. Her wedgies were so comfortable that Louise walked in them like in trainers. It was the perfect day to stroll through the city with her camera. She liked taking pictures of people using the effect of back light.

She used the morning hours before opening the gallery to take some photos. Maybe one of them would turn out worthy of being exhibited. When it was time to go to her gallery, Louise got herself a coffee to go at one of her favourite shops. She was running late but didn't really feel guilty. There were rarely any people lined up to get in in the morning. On the contrary. Usually it took until about 11 am until anybody entered.

The witch opened her gallery and sat down at the table behind the right window of the shop. The sun was shining into the room so that she kept her sunglasses on and leaned back, enjoying her coffee. The statues that were positioned close by the windows as well as the shopkeeper herself painted long shadows on the light wooden floor. Louise was unaware of the fact that the whole arrangement was something she'd usually take a photo of.

She was watching the passers-by, wondering if anyone would find their way through her door anytime soon. Sometimes she dreamed about travelling somewhere herself again when watching tourists outside. It was such a great feeling to discover new things. Louise wanted to look ahead rather than look back. In her life there had been quite a few things she rather wanted to leave behind than to carry them with herself like a rucksack.

While she had found her way to satisfy at least sexual needs to some degree, the witch felt that it was time to find a man she could trust and love. She was not searching for this special person, but secretly hoped that she'd run into someone who fit that description and who was able to accept her for what she was. Louise was rather certain that some men would not approve of the third area of her shop in which she did not really sell art but rather items that could offer a witch or wizard some special satisfaction.

She closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying sun and silence. Knowing that the moment couldn't last forever, she already planned the rest of the day. She needed to do some accounting, look through the most recent photos she took, rearrange the items in the back of the gallery as she had developed some new toys in the last couple of weeks that she wanted to put up there and, of course, she was looking forward to visitors joining her in the sun lit rooms filled with so many pieces of art.

Another year at Hogwarts was almost over, and as much as he enjoyed teaching, Sam was looking forward to the break. While he'd had several good classes this year including several talented NEWT students he hoped would gain high grades in divination (and not just so he could take pride in telling the other professors when they mentioned the results in their own subjects), he was ready for some time off. Strangely, he didn't particularly feel the desire to travel that had so infused his youth, but found he would be quite content staying close to where he had grown up. Perhaps he would even help his father and sister in their shop, though they seemed to be doing quite well by themselves. Things in Diagon Alley were apparently getting back to something approaching normality now, and Dickinsons Antiques was turning a profit once again.

Sam had dropped in to visit early that saturday morning, knowing that his sister would often take breakfast in the shop in order to catch any early morning bargain hunters. Belatedly, he recalled that he should send a note before unexpectedly paying a visit, particularly given that he still didn't feel confident apparating long distances and had turned up in the georgian fireplace that took pride of place in the front of the shop. Still, there hadn't been any customers there at that moment who would have been disturbed by Cassandra's sudden scream, so no harm done, she had reassured her little brother. They'd shared scrambled eggs on toast and bacon before Sam had headed out into the city.

While he enjoyed the peace and quiet of the Northern regions, it was some time since he'd been in London, and he left the magical area quickly, strolling from one street to the next almost at random. It was a pleasant, sunny day and he enjoyed the walk, and time quickly slipped by. One of the great things about a bohemian city such as this was that he attracted only a little attention for wearing robes, though today Sam was clad in jeans and a loose-fitting shirt that had once been white, before he had worn it whilst painting on numerous occasions and, as everyone knows, even the best cleaning charm can't return a white shirt to pristine condition after the fortieth time it's been used. The divination professor was oblivious to this, of course; indeed right now his attention was caught by a phoenix sculpture attached to a shop front. While he knew muggles often used such decorations, this one was attractive enough that he stepped closer to the shop and glanced through the window. A series of artistic photographs and a classical sculpture could be seen, and he stared at these for a few moments before moving to the other window.

Here he stared only for a few seconds before realising that he was looking at not a sculpture but...the owner? Slightly chagrined, Sam raised a hand in a half-hearted gesture that might have been a wave or equally could have been an embarrassed apology that he'd been caught staring. He had been thinking of going into the small gallery and looking around, but now...undecided, he remained rooted to the spot for the moment.

Suddenly it was darker as if a cloud had made its way between the sun and the shop front. However, Louise could still feel the warmth of the sun on her bare shoulder. She opened her eyes and saw a man standing in front of her window, looking inside. He was the reason for the unexpected shadow. Was he staring at her? The witch was slightly amused. Well, she didn't mind a bit of attention. However, it rarely happened that anybody looked as obnoxiously as that at her.

To make things even more weird, the man now waved. Was it a greeting? Did they maybe know each other? She looked at his face, feeling that it was somehow familiar even though she couldn't yet tell why. Where did she know this face from? She looked at the whole figure more intensely. He was definitely a wizard and not a muggle strolling through Camden. As someone who set great store by fashion, Louise didn't find his attire very appealing on first sight. However, she figured he probably didn't have the money to get finer clothes.

After a short moment when she merely observed him through her sunglasses, she decided to play a little game with him. Of course she could ignore him or she could just go to the door and invite him in in order to satisfy her curiosity. Yet, Louise didn't want to do either thing. Instead she waved back, mirroring his gesture. Then she took off the sunglasses and put them on the table. If he could stare at her, so she could. Her penetrating gaze was something she liked to use on men. Sometimes she could bring people to talk about things they would not usually share so willingly. However, she liked to make especially men nervous sometimes. Resting her ellbows on the table, she supported her chin with her folded hands and looked at the man.

An amused little smile appeared on her face but she tried to hold it back. She was not going to be the one to end this absurd scene. Looking at the man some more, she suddenly recognised him. That had to be Sam Dickinson. A much older Sam Dickinson than she knew. After all she had last seen the man when he had still been a boy. She raised her eyebrows slightly and opened her mouth as if to voice his name. However, she did not move any further.  Tilting her head a little, she looked at his features carefully. She liked his face better now that he was older. He looked interesting. Sometimes time was gentle with people, making them look better than in their youth.

It was as well that Sam had chosen something that resembled muggle attire as he stood, unmoving, on the pavement of that London street. A man in jeans and shirt staring into a shop window can be more easily overlooked than one in brightly-patterned robes, and once the woman mirrored his gesture, things took a turn for the surreal. Had he been mistaken? He had assumed at first she was a particularly lifelike sculpture, then perhaps the owner of the gallery or at least the saleswoman and now...a mime artist? He had seen them a few times on both muggle and wizard streets, people dressed to resemble statues who came to life when you walked past. In the time it took for him to stare and recall the memory, the woman removed her sunglasses.

Surprise must surely be apparent in his face. Sam was sure he recognised the woman, though for the moment he couldn't place her. Undeniably she was attractive, but that wasn't enough for the Seer to remember a person. His first, disturbing thought was that he knew her face from a vision, and he shuddered despite the warmth of the day. His visions were less frequent than they had been during the war, less frightening and, one might say, less helpful, but he didn't mind any of that. Having a 'gift' that was less reliable was infinitely preferable to being afraid to pour a cup of tea or pick up a pack of playing cards for fear of what might follow.

Yet, while his mind had wandered - for only a few seconds, though it had seemed much longer - he recalled with a jolt where he knew this woman from. It was close to twenty years since they had last seen each other, and they hadn't been close then. But this was undoubtedly Louise...he couldn't recall her surname right at the moment, but the girl who had been his first student. He smiled, because of course as a young teenager he hadn't known how his life would turn out. Even Seers don't foresee everything. Belatedly he realised he was being studied. Had she recognised him as well or would there be an awkward scene where he tried to introduce himself, only to be greeted by a polite, blank expression?

Well, he had wanted to look inside the gallery, and at least now he had an excuse for having stood outside for so long. Finally, Sam moved the short distance to the door, turned the handle, and stepped inside.

Sam Dickinson. Louise remembered well that he had been a good tutor for her and that he had listened to her sorrow when she had found out that her father sided with Voldemort. He had been the only one she had dared to confide this fact in at first. It was odd that after he graduated they hadn't stayed in touch. Perhaps some friendships were only meant to last for a certain time, a certain phase of one's life. After all, Louise had lost contact to most people she had known at school. She hadn't stayed in touch with most of her colleagues from her time at the ministry either... With every phase of one's life the people seemed to change except for the very few close ones.

When Sam moved towards the gallery door, Louise hoped that it would take him some time to remember who she was so she could play a little with him. Oh, how she would love to let him struggle just to see how he would handle the situation. While she always liked to provoke, the witch felt a strange sensation in her stomach. What if Sam didn't recognize her, didn't remember her at all? She was not really insecure like that but even she wasn't devoid of these little insecurities that were only human. She felt a little nervous when she got to her feet and made a few steps towards him.

What was he doing now? By the looks of it he wasn't particularly wealthy or at least didn't like fancy clothes. However, even though she silently criticized his clothes, the woman felt certain that he was leading a life that satisfied him. She wasn't yet sure if he really looked like it or if she just hoped it because she thought he deserved to be pleased with his life. Just as he steppe inside and she found herself face to face with his old school mate, Louise wondered if her hair looked nicely and only stopped herself from running her fingers through her hair when she had already lifted her hand.

She found her self control quickly though and, even if it might be unusual to greet a guest at the gallery with outstretched hand ready for a handshake, Louise offered her hand, waiting for him to take it. "Sam Dickinson," she said softly, "it's been a while... What brings you to my little gallery?" She grinned a little, stopping herself from saying any more. She would have loved to ask him some more questions but that had to wait. She looked at him carefully, wondering how much deeper than in the past his voice would sound now that he was an adult wizard.

Being used to standing in front of classes of students, some of whom were prone to misbehaviour and needed firm guidance, Sam wasn't usually prone to nervousness. He'd fought at the Battle of Hogwarts and knew he was capable of standing up to an opponent who was actively trying to kill him. He'd cared for students as they fell ill at the Victory Ball at the expense of his own health, with the result that he still couldn't apparate long distances. But walking into that shop set his heart pounding and, if he didn't know better Sam felt sure his cheeks were reddened from more than the bright Sun. What if she didn't recognise him, and really was just being polite? But it was too late, because by now he was inside the shop, glancing around a little before his eyes returned to rest on the woman before him.

His face broke into an easy smile. She did remember him; better than he remembered her, it seemed. She'd used his surname, remembered that nobody apart form his mother called him Samuel...and with that thought the smile broadened. "Louise. That's the same name as my mother, you know." That was one of the first things he had ever said when they were still young students; she'd hardly taken it as a compliment almost twenty years ago but they were both older now. He hoped her sense of humour had matured as well. When he took her hand, he had to stop himself from leaning in to kiss her cheek, reminding himself that, with the passage of time, they were almost strangers again.

"So this is your gallery?" he sounded just the slightest bit surprised, but there was admiration in the tone as well. "I must admit, I found it entirely by accident. I don't make it down to London as often as I used to, and it's the perfect day for a stroll, and then I saw the sculptures and..." he stopped, running a hand through his hair and only succeeding in making it less tidy than it had been before . "Listen to me. You'd think I never get out to talk to people..." he chuckled, though he didn't want to admit his profession right away. Being a professor at Hogwarts carried a certain amount of prestige, he had learned, but when women found out you were not only a head of house but also deputy headmaster, they tended to prefer a certain amount of distance in any sort of relationship. Or so it was in Sam's experience.

"Let me start again. I stumbled across your gallery quite by accident. The outside is quite lovely, and you might remember I was always fond of art, so I thought I'd take a look around." as he spoke, his eyes fell upon a photograph of the iconic muggle image of Big Ben, taken from an unusual angle at sunset and with the sort of lighting that could surely only be achieved with magical development. "Now that really is beautiful. Do you display work by a lot of different artists?" he asked, moving closer to the framed picture to examine it more closely.

Louise suppressed a sigh. Why did he always tell her that she shared his mother's name? She had no real problem with that. Why should she anyway. Yet, it made her feel somehow awkward. She brushed this feeling away though, not wanting to let this silly sentence spoil their reunion. "I do remember that you like your Louises around," she said instead, grinning a little. "At least some of them." While she was not reproaching him, the witch wondered why they hadn't kept in touch. During their time at school, she had always felt that she could confide in Sam and he had given her the feeling that she could trust in him and that he'd be there if she needed him.

Now, however, many years had passed without them seeing each other or even exchanging cards for birthdays or other special days. Somehow it was sad how they lost contact after they hadn't seen each other anymore at school. It happened frequently, that was a fact but it didn't make it better. Sometime halfway through her education at Hogwarts Louise had believed that Sam might be one of the few people she'd stay in touch with after school.

Fortunately, before she could get anymore thoughtful, Sam spoke up again. Louise nodded, smiling proudly. "Yes, this is my gallery. I have it for a few years now." She found it amusing how Sam seemed to babble on about how he found her shop now. He seemed nervous and while Louise could relate to that feeling quite well, it made her feel more reassured. There was no need for them both to be nervous. His insecurity had to be enough for both of them. She looked at him with only a faint hint of an amused smile. She liked to observe people when they were nervous. Their body language was usually still revealing what they tried to hide and they spoke out more than they intended to.

However, just as she thought he might give a display of a nervous man, he seemed to have regained his confidence. For the conversation it was certainly better when he didn't appear like a teenage boy. "I'm glad you found your way into the gallery," Louise admitted. "This first area of the gallery is actually mostly filled with the muggle kind of art. I might occasionally, with my own photos, use some magic to get out effects better but I do believe that the muggles have something called computers that can do almost the same tricks. Anyway, many of the photos have been taken by me. Paintings, sculptures and some of the photos are from artists from around Europe." She paused briefly, letting her gaze wander through the sun lit first room of the gallery.

"Please, do feel free and look around. If you are interested in more art than the muggle pieces, you might want to approach the wallpaper that shows the British Museum." She winked at him, hoping that Sam would take some time to look around and chat with her for a while.

Apparently she still didn't find references to his mother having the same name to be amusing. Sam made a mental note not to say it again and supposed he understood; certain comments that meant nothing to outsiders made him feel irritable even though he knew they were meant lightheartedly. This thought slipped through his mind as he glanced through some of the other artwork displayed on the walls and plinths of the gallery. He was surprised and impressed to learn much of it was created by muggles - or perhaps by wizards who decided to work without magic, as he occasionally did whilst painting - and wondered how Louise had managed during the war. That definitely wasn't a topic for today, or perhaps ever.

"Oh yes, I've heard of computers. They're mentioned in one of the muggle studies textbooks. Apparently muggles find them very useful" he said thoughtfully, before realising he'd probably let something slip out unintentionally. The Seer ran his hand through his hand and grinned ruefully "and I guess I might as well tell you where I'm working now before you figure it out for yourself. I've been teaching divination at Hogwarts for the last three and a half years." He didn't mean to take control of the conversation in that way, and in truth hadn't meant to say anything about it yet. But how else would he know about school textbooks if he wasn't in a position to discuss them on a daily basis. He still wanted to look around the rest of the gallery, though.

"The British museum?" Sam knew several of the London galleries, but it took him a moment to realise the one she meant, because it wasn't a view of the majestic building but rather the interior, partially concealed behind a large stone statue. He walked towards it, suspecting that there was more to this particularly large picture than met the eye. It looked like a fine piece of art, even up close, but there was something about the finish that made him reach out a hand towards the corridor...a hand that disappeared into the corridor as if it was...

"This is brilliant!" he exclaimed, taking a step forward, then a second. It reminded him a little of platform 9 3/4 and he wondered how far  Louise's magic skills had advanced that she was able to create something like this. Now he was standing in a larger gallery that was similar and at the same time totally different. When he turned back, he could see Louise still sitting in her window, but it appeared as if she was behind a thin film, or perhaps as if he was viewing her through a waterfall. "You can...still hear me?" he asked, a little tentatively.

Muggle studies textbooks? Why would a man like Sam read those? Louise looked at him curiously. She didn't want to ask but that didn't matter as she felt sure that she'd find out more later. It was usually like that. People shared a lot of information about themselves if given the time to do so. The witch didn't have to wait for long. Sam soon offered an explanation for his earlier statement. He was a professor? Louise couldn't hide a slightly amused smile. This profession did suit him though. In fact he had always been good at explaining things and he was a calm and patient person as far as she could tell from their time at school.

"Congratulations," she said, "but what I don't understand is why you read Muggle Studies textbooks when you're teaching Divination." Somehow she would have found it easier to understand if he had told her that the Muggle Studies professor had spoken about computers to him but reading textbooks? Louise had been an eager student but she had usually found the textbooks rather boring anyway. Maybe they had improved over the years though.

With a rather proud smile, Louise observed how Sam examined the picture of the interior of the British museum and finally found his way into the second part of the gallery. Only now she realised that he might discover the veil in the back of that room that led to an area of her shop that she would prefer to remain undiscovered by Sam. Selling sex toys to strangers was fine with her, however, as soon as an acquaintance or even friend or family member faced these items she felt embarrassed somehow.

"Yes, I can still hear you," Louise said accompanied by a soft chuckle. She made the few steps to surround the sculpture from the Easter Islands and stepped into the second part of the gallery herself. "I take it, you rather like my gallery?" she said with a provoking wink.

Ah. He should have been more careful with his words. Of course a professor was expected to read around his own subject; but it would sound strange to hear that he read the other textbooks. Well, glanced through them would be a better description; he was rather too busy to read everything in it's entirety, particularly subjects he still felt a little uncomfortable with. The terrible year when muggleborns had been excluded form Hogwarts was still fresh in his mind and he tried not to think of it. For now, he could avoid that thought quite easily, though it seemed a little further explanation would be necessary.

"Actually, I'm not just the professor for divination... I'm Ravenclaw head of house as well" he admitted with a grin "which probably makes me sound a bit less dull when I explain that I don't read textbooks for fun, I have to know something about all the Hogwarts subjects in order to give my students accurate careers advice." The fact that he was also deputy headmaster of the school was something he kept quiet for now; in fact he felt rather embarrassed about it for some reason. Certainly he didn't want to tell Louise for fear she thought he was showing off; or perhaps he was trying to prove his career was on a par with her gallery.

Which truly was impressive, and Sam thought she must have worked far harder than he had in order to achieve this. He strolled around the various sculptures and artworks, as fascinated as if he had walked into a museum. "It's amazing!" he called back, stopped beside a portrait of a unicorn that tossed it's head so realistically he was on the verge of asking what charm had been used to obtain the effect. There had been no need to call out; Louise had joined him in the second part of the gallery. He almost blushed at her wink, and instead turned away rather than let her see his reaction, even as he wondered what it meant.

To cover his slight befuddlement, Sam crossed to a greyish-purple curtain in one corner of the room. "What do you keep behind here? Is it an unfinished sculpture?" he asked, reaching a hand out to draw back the curtain.

"Head of house? Well, I suppose many of the students approach you then and you know a lot about the problems of the teenagers of our time." While she grinned, saying this, implying that she was not too serious about it, Louise was actually impressed. She had always thought that the heads of house were old, wise, and authoritarian and somehow it felt odd that a man who was about her age was now head of house. Besides Sam was such a nice guy and she didn't see him as someone who was particularly determined.

"I suppose things are different for the students now than they have been in our school days, aren't they? I mean the situation in the wizarding world has changed and I suppose that reflects on the career plans of the teenagers." She looked at Sam, wondering if he would agree with her on that or if he, as an insider, had a different view on things.

Louise couldn't hide a pleased grin when Sam exclaimed that he found her gallery amazing. Sure, she was not the head of house at Hogwarts and barely anyone really knew her but she was proud of what she had achieved with her little gallery. It was entirely hers. It was not a position she had earned herself due to hard work like Sam had earned his, it was a position she had created for herself due to hard work, many trials and a lot of determination and passion. His and her position in life could hardly be compared and yet Louise couldn't help but feel like she had to fight to let her gallery appear at its best to keep up with him.

Then he stopped in front of the curtain...

Louise gasped, bit her lips and felt how her cheeks reddened a little. This was so not anything she could impress a head of house with. Scratching her forehead as if that would enlighten her as to how to avert the disaster of him discovering what was hidden in the back of the gallery, Louise listened to his curious questions.

"It's... yeah... umm... you could say it was unfinished..." Her voice trailed off. "It's probably nothing that is of interest to you. I mean... no... Errr... would you like some coffee? I could make you some. It's not as good as the coffee from the coffee shop down the road but it's decent?" She rambling and she knew it. She smiled nervously, hoping that Sam would indeed go for the distraction and not explore the back of the gallery with all its adult toys. However, she was well aware that if the roles were reversed she would not hesitate and check what was hidden behind the curtain.

Sam grinned and shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. I know they have a lot of the same problems we did - too much homework, not enough sickles in their allowance, falling for someone who isn't interested. Maybe things don't change that much really - though I don't remember so many of my friends wanting to become aurors or mediwizards as we seem to have these days" he said. Actually, he was glad Louise hadn't made a big deal about his position. It still felt strange that he had risen through the ranks at such a comparatively young age, and he didn't much like talking about it. He knew it was partly because of his own actions during that terrible year when Death Eaters had controlled Hogwarts, and partly because...well, he couldn't even think of those amongst his colleagues who hadn't even survived that time without sadness, and he didn't want this woman to pick up on his emotions. Hopefully he'd said enough by way of explanation.

Still a little distracted, he wasn't paying a great deal of attention to what Louise said next. He didn't want to risk turning the conversation back to Hogwarts in case she asked about how the students who had survived the battle were coping two years on, and he didn't want to ask how she had dealt with that time either. He was curious, certainly; having heard tales of witches and wizards who'd lost businesses and even their freedom just because they'd befriended the wrong people he still wondered how those on the outside had managed, but that was a conversation for another day. He hoped they wouldn't lose touch again, and was surprised to realise how disappointed he would feel if he didn't see her again after today.

So it was that he wasn't entirely paying attention and had already partly drawn back the curtain as the young woman made an apparently feeble attempt to explain why that part of the gallery wasn't open. "Coffee would be great..." he started to say, then his voice trailed off as well as he realised what was behind the curtain and he quickly turned back to face her. His cheeks reddened, even as he told himself that it was nothing to be embarrassed about and that it was perfectly okay for Louise to be selling such things. Which it was, though a stray, male part of his mind badly wanted to ask who decided what items she would stock and who tested such things which in turn led to other thoughts that were entirely inappropriate to be thinking about someone he hadn't seen for eighteen years.

"That's, um..." he tried, failing to complete a sentence simply because he had absolutely no idea what he might say. What should he say anyway? It was easy enough to compliment her on the gallery, but he had no point of reference for this. If it was a collection of paintings he could calmly turn back and admire them before making a comment on which one he liked best, or how it might look on the wall of his quarters... and the mental image this conjured made his face stopped behaving and break into what could not honestly be called anything but a smirk, try as he did to fight it. "Sorry. Sorry... I just... do you get a lot of business? I mean, uh... coffee. Coffee would be great. I could go and get some if you like?" Or I could walk out of here and fall down the deepest hole I can find, because I think I just made a total idiot of myself and offended you at the same time he added silently.

He touched the curtain, he even draw it back a little. Louise would have liked the ground to swallow her now. She was not usually ashamed of her side business. In fact, she thought about expanding it even. Many people had unsatisfied sexual needs, after all. However, there were also prudes who didn't talk about sex and who did not approve of the use of these special adult toys that she sold in the back of her gallery. While she didn't really see Sam as a prude, she thought that a Hogwarts teacher, a head of house even, would think less of her because of this.

Sam agreed to the coffee, but Louise saw that he looked at the items behind the curtain and realised what they were. Alright then... Well, now he knew it. She looked at him, a little scared of his reaction but also strangely relieved that this wasn't a secret she would have to tell him if they stayed in touch. Maybe he wouldn't want to keep in touch now though... She frowned ever so slightly and soon realised that the man was about as embarrassed as she felt.

His stuttered apologies and questions made her smile a little. He was cute and he was definitely not the kind of person Louise would have imagined if someone had asked her who was now the Ravenclaw head of house. "Don't apologise," the shop keeper said and was surprised by the hoarse sound of her voice.

"Let's put it that way - the gallery and this... shop together get me enough business to keep it all up. Either business alone would probably not earn a living." She offered this response, unsure how he had meant his question and paused. She wondered if she should add that she was also running small advertising campaigns in wizarding magazines and papers. However, he had just agreed on the coffee and it would probably be best to get away from the adult toys and continue with an easier topic of conversation.

"The coffee shop down the road has the best cappuccino and latte in Camden. The coffee I can brew here is nothing compared to it. They also sell coffee to go... so if you wouldn't mind you could walk down there and get us something." Louise's gaze was now steady on him and she tried to read his thoughts. Maybe the coffee was just a pretext and he was really just looking for an excuse to leave. Well, if he went to get coffee it meant that he was not too shocked by her side business.

Sam's own history meant he knew about things that not many wizards were privy to. Which is why he found himself fervently wishing he had been born an elemental, because then he would be able to literally sink into the ground or turn into a puff of wind and disappear, or even becoming a pillar of flame seemed like a reasonable option right now' he was sure his cheeks were quite red enough. To compound matters, Louise didn't seem surprised, and that could only mean that she expected such a reaction. Why couldn't he have said something sensible and mature that made him sound like a sophisticated man of the world...or better still, not touched the d*mned curtain in the first place. At least he managed to resist the impulse to continue stammering out apologies and instead allowed her to speak.

He should probably make an appropriate comment about her businesses being successful, but he couldn't seem to figure out how to form a sentence just then. At least he wasn't blushing any more, though he wished she would stop looking at him quite so intently. It felt as if she was trying to guess his thoughts just by staring at him, and that felt uncomfortable.

"Right. Coffee. Yes..." he agreed, making one or two false starts before persuading his feet which direction they wanted to go in. "Five minutes...okay, maybe ten if they're that good, there might be a queue..." At least he made sense that time, even if it wasn't exactly a thrilling speech. Sam managed a slightly tentative smile as he excused himself and headed for the door. He was fifty yards down the street before realising he hadn't asked which direction the coffee shop was in, and then suddenly he was struck with a sense of panic that he might have come out without any muggle money. Going all the way to Gringotts to change some would take far too long, and he'd look a complete idiot if he had to sidle back to the shop and admit he only had galleons. Reaching into his pocket, the Seer was relieved to find something that felt like a banknote, and even more so when his brain started working enough that he realised he must be going the right way. Logically, if he'd passed a coffee shop before going into the gallery he'd have noticed it, so given that he was walking in the opposite direction now, it must be somewhere around here.

A minute or so further on and he saw the place. At least, he assumed it was the one Louise meant, and he wasn't about to chance his luck any further. Half a dozen tables were occupied, and a couple of people were waiting at the counter. Sam joined the queue, pulling out the note and examining it carefully, remembering belatedly that he should have done this outside the shop. Oh well, maybe they'd assume he was foreign, he decided as he read the 5 and glanced briefly up to make sure that was enough for two cappucinos. Then, of course, he didn't know whether Louise took milk and sugar, so the teenage girl serving gave him a paper bag with some little packets of each with a look that clearly suggested he shouldn't be out in public without a keeper. Then he almost forgot his change, hurriedly stuffing the random little coins into his back pocket and making good his escape.

The gallery came in sight again, and he had a nasty thought that Louise didn't want him to come back, and that he should... what? Just walk past? Never come to this part of London again? Sam felt his heart lurch at the thought; a little embarrassment was preferable to being rude to someone he should never have lost touch with. So with more confidence than he felt, he opened the gallery door once again and carried the coffee cups and little bag over to the table where she had been seated when he had entered the place earlier. "Cappucinos alright? I didn't know if you liked cream and sugar, so the girl gave me some in the bag and... shall I just stop talking now?" he asked with a small laugh.

When Sam had left the gallery, Louise had a feeling that he would not return. Then again he was a decent guy and she could hardly imagine him leaving without at least making some sort of excuse. Though maybe getting coffee was his excuse. She walked up and down in the gallery, her gaze scanning the people that walked past the windows of her shop. It would be sad if he did not return... However, it was bound to be awkward if he came back.

Should she try to explain her inventions more? That would probably sound like she wanted to justify what she had created and she thought she didn't need to do that. Maybe she should rather try and find a completely different topic to talk about. That again felt like wanted to distract him from the things behind the curtain and thus hide something from him. It was a tough decision to make.

When Sam came into sight again Louise hadn't yet figured out what she wanted to do. Her eyes reflected her surprise when he entered the shop for the second time today. A relieved smile spread across the young woman's face as she watched him placing the coffee cups as well as a little bag on the table by the window.

"Cappucinos are fine. Thank you so much," Louise said, her voice rather low. "Sam, please..." She didn't know how to put it but it it made her sad to see him this nervous. Was it really because of the discovery in the back of the gallery and their brief conversation about it? "Is there anything you want to ask me? Anything I should explain? You seem so nervous now and there's no reason for that, really." She paused briefly and took a cup of cappucino, helping herself to some cream. "Please, sit down with me and tell me what is on your mind right now." Sinking gracefully down on a chair herself, she crossed her legs and offered Sam a warm smile. Hopefully they'd get past this awkward moment soon. Maybe an alcoholic beverage would have been a better choice for them now than coffee...