Coming Home (Leopold and Willow)

Leopold really hated the floo network and apparently it hated him too because when he came through the floo it sent him flying through the air at high speeds. Fortunately this had happened before and Leopold had had the foresight to set up a soft chair in front of the fireplace. He mumbled as he sat up,

"Stupid floo network..." he muttered darkly, "Wish I could make you bleed..."

He shook his head a little bit and stood up, stretching as he did so. Not seeing Willow around, he smiled faintly,

"Honey!" he called with a small smirk, "I'm home!"

In an instant he froze. He had a home. He smiled a little bit more. It felt good to have a home.

Willow jumped a little bit when she heard someone arriving in her home, she knew that it was probably Leopold but she felt much better when he spoke, so that she knew that it was definately him, popping her head around from the corner of the room that she was in Willow grinned.

"Hey there Leopold!" she giggled "You manage to get here alright?"

Stepping out from the kitchen, Willow was hugging a bowl of chocolate brownie mix to her chest and she smiled softly at Leopold, she was just so glad that he was back, it had been a while since she had seen him after all and she was sad about that.

"How have you been since I've last seen you, you been behaving?" she asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows "I'll just put this mix in the fridge and then I'll be right with you."

Leopold grumbled a little bit more about the floo at Willow's question. The damn thing only ever seemed to hate him this much. No one else got launched across the damn room like they'd been shot out of one of those muggle cannons or whatever they were called. He pouted a little bit as he dusted himself down,

"No." he pouted, "The fireplace and the floo were mean to me again. They like banging and twisting me around it seems."

Seeing Willow holding some kind of cake or brownie mix close to herself made Leopold smile. She did seem like the type to bake things in her spare time after all. When she asked him what he'd been doing since they'd last parted he paused. He didn't want her to know he'd been sleeping underneath a bridge,

"I've been surviving Willow, it's what I do." He told her with a smile before chuckling, "Sure I can't have a little taste first?"

Willow placed the bowl on the countertop and she went over to hug Leopold, she didn't like the fact that he was hurt by using the floo network yet she didn't know what else he was going to do to get here, she hoped that maybe he would be able to find the way to her house via the muggle bus?

"Awwwww Leo you could have always come on the bus or something, after all it's only a short walk away to the bus stop." she said, kindly while stroking Leopold's hair.

Stepping back into the kitchen Willow gestured for Leopold to follow her and she laughed lightly, holding the bowl out to him, and giving him the teaspoon that she had just washed before to scoop some of the mix out;

"Here you go then, you can have a sneak preview of what they are going to taste like." she smiled broadly "But that doesn't sound like you've been having a great time...did Raven kick you out...?"

When Willow hugged him Leopold was a little startled. After a split second's hesitation he hugged her back with a soft smile. He had missed the way she showed affection through tenderness and love. It was so different from everyone and everything else in his life after all,

"The bus?" he paused for a second before shaking his head, "No, no... I'd be far too tempted to kill the other passengers for being annoying. And loud. And smelly."

He chuckled a little bit when he followed her into the kitchen and accepted the spoon happily. It was, by far, the best tasting thing he'd had in days. He hummed a little bit before she mentioned being kicked out by Raven. Leopold could even blame her for it really. Taking the spoon out of his mouth and beginning to wash it in the sink, the muggle way, Leopold nodded shortly,

"Yes she dismissed me." he told Willow quietly, "It's not been fun without a home Willow."

Willow couldn't help but giggle when Leopold told her that he would be more likely to kill the people on the bus for being annoying, sometimes even Willow had to admit that there were people on the bus that she found annoying, they had spilt drink on her once.

"Well I guess I can't say that the bus isn't annoying sometimes, it's probably a good thing that you don#t want to get the bus, it wouldn't be very...uhm....nice."

Giggling a little, Leopold washing a spoon was something she had never thought would happen, just the little ordinary everyday things, that she couldn't see him ever doing, but knew that he must do.

When she heard that Leopold had been kicked out Willow's mouth dropped open and she placed the bowl down on the side, and placing her hands on either side of his head, looking into his eyes;

"Why did you not come and see me when she did like I told you to Leo?" she asked startled "Where have you been staying!?"

Leopold flashed Willow a small grin. Truth was he'd been talking from experience. He had been on a bus once. The next day the aurors had found the bus upside down in the river themes with fifty three dead bodies. It was a busy day for him actually,

"Yes the passengers are annoying, the ride is awful and the drivers are always annoying little men." he agreed before pouting a little bit, "And I'd have to use muggle money. And that's confusing! Why is paper more valuable than a metal coin? Honestly..."

Leopold tried to look away, ashamed, but was unable to because Willow had her hands on his face. He sighed a little bit and nodded slightly, something he was able to do with only moderate success,

"Yes Raven kicked me out. I was too much of a handful it seems. But... you told me to leave Willow... I don't... you'd let me stay?" he asked, confusion gradually making way for happiness before he coughed sheepishly, "Um... underneathabridgepleasedon'ttellme off!"

Willow giggled lightly and she thought that Muggle money was a funny little thing, it was so strange that they had so many different types for different countries and sometimes even the same country changes the money they used beforehand!

"Well I don't know Leo, maybe they decided that the thing that was on the money meant that it was more expensive, no matter what the thing is written on...? I don't know." she laughed lightly.

When Leopold seemed to think that she didn't want to see him again, she couldn't help but open her mouth and then close it, she couldn't help but think that he was mistaken in what she said! Suddenly, she felt even worse than she did.

"You lived underneath a BRIDGE?!" Willow asked incredulously "Of course I would let you stay! I only meant that you needed to go for the meantime while I calmed down, I was in shock that's all Leopold. I felt so bad when you left, I thought I'd done something wrong."

Leopold wasn't kidding, muggle money confused the hell out of him. He'd once given a poor man over five hundred pounds because he didn't know what was acceptablely called 'change'. He'd found out later and the hug the man gave him felt less out of place,

"It is strange and confusing and I like it not." he decided with a pout, "The coins aren't even heavy enough to hurt when you throw them. Terrible money."

Leopold was so glad that Willow did actually want to see him again, the thought that she'd sent him away forever had been eating away at him for so long now. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head,

"Well... it kept the rain out and I was not able to get a tent. Not without killing at least." he admitted before smiling faintly, "No I was the one to do something wrong. That was why you were in shock right? Because I had messed up?"

Willow smiled gently and she couldn't help but think that the pout that Leopold was pulling at the moment was terribly cute and she liked it on him, strange as it seemed to be whenever she thought about what they were actually talking about, and who he actually was.

"I don't think that many people use money as projectiles Leo." Willow teased lightly "What do you want to do then, after all you must have come to see me for something in specific?"

Tilting her head to one side, Willow blinked a little when Leopold told her that it kept the rain out and he was not able to find a tense, she wondered why he simply had not come to see her if it was that bad living on the streets!

"Oh now I feel terrible!" Willow said, sitting down on one of the chairs in the living room "No you did not mess up Leopold, I am just not used to seeing things like that happening, and I didn't know how to handle it." She attempted to explain.

Leopold frowned a little bit. Did that mean that he had to stop using Knuts as those shuriken things that muggles liked to use? He would say that it did. But he would also say that it was very unlikely to actually stop him from doing it in the future,

"Oh that's just because most people are hopelessly uninventive Willow. If they thought about it then they'd know that it can be used for all sorts." he told her with a pout before he blushed a little bit, "Actually... I just... wanted to be near you again..."

When he saw how upset Willow was getting he knew that he had to reassure her that everything was alright. He sat down beside her and pulled her in for a soft but tight hug,

"Don't worry about it Willow, it's over now." he told her quietly before looking sheepish, "If your offer for me to stay still stands that is..."

Willow felt her cheeks heat a little bit, of course she remembered what she and Leopold had done the last time that they had met up, and she wondered if it might be for another sort of encounter like that, however, she was glad that it was just to see her once more.

"R-really?" Willow asked with her hands reaching up to touch her cheeks, in an effort to cool them "I'm glad that you want to see me again, I was missing you too Leo..."

When he wrapped his arms around her, Willow closed her eyes and sighed happily, she was so glad that she was in his arms once more, that she was in his warm grip once again. She had missed it more than she even realised she did.

"Of course it still stands Leopold," Willow whispered "I would love for you to stay with me, and...and you don't have to rush to find another place if you...you know you like it here."

Leopold was glad to see that he wasn't the only one with the damnable cheek reddening known as blushing. The last time they had met up they had done something pretty blush-worthy though. Especially since it had been their first time together and one of the softest and most loving acts he had ever taken part in,

"Yeah really Willow." he told her quietly, also reaching out to cup her cheeks in his hands as gently as he could, "You have? I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one."

The hug itself was just a mechanical action. It carried no significance as a simple action of moving his arms. But when you looked beyond that he could tell that this hug was more than that. This hug made him feel warm, it made him feel complete. Holding her in his arms gave him such feelings that he never wanted to let her go,

"You'd let me stay with you... I... thank you Willow it means the world to me." he told her before his cheeks reddened slightly, "Can I.... can we... sleep in the same bed maybe? I've missed holding you..."

Willow smiled gently and she was glad that Leopold seemed to miss her as much as she had missed him when they were apart from each other and it turned out that she had not been worried for nothing, that she was in fact not helping Leopold when he needed it.

"Of course I miss you Leopold, I miss you whenever you come away from me." she smiled softly, wiping her hand across his face and brushing some of his hair out of his eyes.

Snuggling her head into the crook of Leopold's neck, Willow couldn't help but feel the sense of happiness building inside of her, he really wanted to be here with her, as much as she wanted to be with him as much as she could be.

"Of course I will, I wouldn't have it any other way." she giggled "I would like that very much....it's been cold in my bed without you Leopold." Willow blushed.