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Augustus' appointment was already waiting for him when he got to the café. Technically, it wasn't an 'appointment', so to speak. It was a, err, meeting that his old friend, Antonin, had set up for him. His colleague and friend always told him that he didn't go out enough and that he needed company. He never interfered with Augustus' private life before, but apparently, now it was something that he did. He called it a 'good resolution' or something ridiculous along those lines.
Augustus had no idea who would be waiting for him, but he figured it couldn't hurt to show up to this 'blind date'. He could go, spend a correct amount of time with the person his friend had chosen for him, and then leave after either promising another date or explaining that he didn't do that sort of stuff. All of his planned excuses flew from his mind the second he recognised the person sitting at his table (table 5).
Oh, shit, he thought as his eyes widened in stupefaction. Antonin knew him too well.
Harry hadn't initially planned to show up to the blind date set up by the twins. He knew they meant well, but Harry wasn't in the mood to meet up with a stranger and have awkward small talk with them. There was a high chance that they would be a Wix at that, and if that was the case, then Harry's identity would most likely be a source of trouble. If it was a Muggle... well, Harry didn't particularly care about that, but he couldn't see himself having a serious relationship with one if he couldn't come clean about being a magic user. He just couldn't hide such a big part of his life, like that. So, dating a magic user or a person who was part of the magical world (or, at the very least, already had knowledge of it) seemed much more feasible in his mind. Still, he wasn't a big fan of the whole 'blind date' thing. He knew the twins meant well, but had it been anyone else, Harry would have sent them to the crows. Fred and George should count themselves lucky. If it were anyone else... Well...
With a nervous sigh, he glanced around the coffee shop, and he tightened his hold on the burning cup. Winter had swept over Britain, and the temperatures had dropped spectacularly. He could feel the burn of his hot chocolate and knew his hands would turn red from the warmth, but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to feel cold. Hermione would scold him if she were there, but Hermione didn't know about any of this because Harry hadn't told her anything about it. If she had known, she would have either encouraged (: bullied) him to go to that date or scolded the twins for setting Harry up like that. Harry loved Hermione, but he would be the first one to admit that she could be a bit hypocritical sometimes. She wouldn't have thought twice to set him up if she thought he needed it.
Glancing around, he didn't see anyone he recognised (thank Merlin!). He had arrived a bit early, the nerves getting the better of him. The hot chocolate was supposed to last the time of the wait. He didn't expect his date to show up while he was still drinking it.
Which means that, of course, when a handsome man showed up at his table and Harry looked up, there was a milk mustache above his lips. He could tell just by the way the man's lips twitched in amusement. Harry blushed in embarrassment and brought a napkin to his face to erase it.
“Heir Potter,” the man greeted him. “My name is Augustus Rookwood, heir to the Rookwood family.”
The man was older than Harry, much older. He wasn't good at this, but he'd say Rookwood was in his late thirties. His face was long and narrow. Scars crossed his face; two scars went across each eye, and a smaller one cut through his lower lip. That didn't make him any less attractive. He was pale-faced but not in a sick sort of way. His eyes were dark and piercing, staring intently at Harry to an uncomfortable level. He had dark hair, longer than Harry's, stopping mid-neck. They looked soft.
“Good morning,” Harry greeted him softly.
He internally congratulated himself when he didn't stutter. It was a habit he had all the difficulty to shake off, especially when meeting new individuals. He had worked on himself, though, mostly because he couldn't imagine what people would say if they knew of his stutter.
The way Rookwood was dressed was... formal, Harry would say. He certainly didn't look as casual as Harry did, and yet, he didn't stare at the way the younger male was dressed, which was a bit of a relief. The twins told him that he didn't need to be dressed for the 31st. It was going to be casual. It was supposed to be casual (whatever that meant). The man certainly pulled off the dark robes and high collar. Then again, it wasn't the first time Harry thought so.
“I'd have said 'pleased to meet you' but... It's not the first time we meet,” he added quietly.
There was no accusation in his tone, Augustus mused with slight surprise. If anything, the younger male almost sounded teasing.
The Unspeakable smirked.
“Indeed.”
He sat down in front of the green-eyed wizard, and his eyes quickly scanned the menu. He tapped on a line with his wand to order himself a drink.
“I must say, I did not expect you to be my blind date. As far as I know, which is admittedly not much, you don't seem the type.”
“The twins convinced me,” Harry replied carefully. “And... I could say the same about you.”
Augustus smirked.
“My friend, Antonin, convinced me. He said he wanted me out of my dusty corner and was sick of seeing me only in the company of books.”
“Books aren't so bad,” the Potter heir argued meekly.
Augustus leaned back against his chair, his smirk widening slightly.
“I quite agree.”
He almost preened when he caught the few glances from the Potter heir. Augustus knew that he wasn't your typical good-looking wizard, but he also knew that he was considered attractive. People usually didn't dare approach him, though. They said he felt dangerous. They didn't want to risk it. Potter, though, well, not many knew what he had truly gotten up to with his little friends, back at Hogwarts, but they had all heard things. If the other man hadn't hightailed it out of here or pulled his wand out, well, then maybe there was some truth about Potter being attracted to danger.
His drink floated to him, as well as the drink he had ordered for his date. Heir Potter thanked him quietly. There was something soft about him as they relaxed and the conversation started to flow. The sharp edge around his eyes softened when they started to talk about Antonin's knitting hobby.
“I swear. That guy made tiny woollen socks for Cristo.”
Cristo was Augustus' cat. He had adopted the little guy two years ago, from Selwyn, who, as it turned out, was allergic to cats. The man was also allergic to a couple of ingredients used in the potion to solve allergies.
Harry – as he had asked to be called- laughed.
“Aw, that's cute.”
“It is. Cristo absolutely hates it. Ask away,” he added when he saw the glint in the man's eyes.
“Why Cristo?”
“Selwyn said he liked how it sounded,” Augustus started before taking a sip of his beverage. “He thinks I don't know how obsessed he was with that Muggle book.”
He took pleasure in the way Harry's eyes widened, completely taken by his explanation. To be fair, he wouldn't have believed it either. Selwyn certainly did his best to mask his fascination for Muggle literature, always scoffing and making snide remarks whenever someone said something about Muggles. Had Augustus not known better, he would have fallen for it.
His company was pleasant, Augustus mused as they enjoyed their drinks and made small talk. There were surprisingly no awkward blanks that desperately needed filling. Augustus talked about his day in the Department of Mysteries (what he was allowed to say anyway), and he mentioned his close friend, Antonin. Harry talked about the bookshop he wanted to open with his friend Wayne. He told him that this date was one of the twins' ideas, and that he initially had reservations, but that he was starting to agree that maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.
As the café emptied more and more, Augustus tilted his head to the side in consideration. When he had first put a name on the face of his date, he had internally questioned Antonin's sanity, but perhaps he should give him more credit. Obviously, his friend knew him well enough to know that he would come to enjoy Harry's company. And obviously, Antonin personally knew Harry, as the younger man hadn't seemed surprised at hearing some of the things his friend had gotten up to lately.
“If I were to ask for a second date, would you be inclined to kill me?” Augustus asked as the café slowly started emptying around them.
Harry chuckled.
“Out of the two of us, I'm not the one inclined to do the killing, Mr Rookwood,” he said quietly, an enigmatic smile on his lips, “but, yes. I would accept a second date. Without even a little bit of maiming.”
The older man smirked in amusement and raised his hand to get the attention of an employee. He ignored Harry's weak arguing about paying and gave a few coins to the young woman who came to them.
Augustus and Harry had fully expected this date to be a disaster from beginning to end, before they even found out who their date would be. This day was turning out to be a pleasant surprise. A very pleasant surprise, indeed, Augustus mused as they left the café and went their separate ways after agreeing to a second date.
Maybe, just maybe, Antonin had been right to drag him away from his dusty corner, for once.