"We're off to the village, there's a very pretty girl working in the paper shop who thinks my card tricks are something marvelous...almost like real magic..." - George Weasley

Chapter 1

Maggie stood at the counter of the store, absorbed in her crossword puzzle, listening to the rain pattering lightly outside. Despite the time, and lack of customers, her shift wouldn't end for another two hours. She didn't mind though. This was actually Maggie's favorite time to work. Every night she worked, as customers trickled away, she turned on the radio at a low volume and worked on a crossword. Whenever she got stuck, she had plenty of little tasks to do on to clear her mind. At this particular time, she was stuck on one she felt like she definitely knew the answer to, but couldn't quite put her finger on. She tapped the eraser of the pencil lightly on the counter, frowning down at the little boxes. '"Jewish deli order'... What are you...?"

A light and friendly bell sounded at the door, grabbing her attention away. Taking advantage of the last few seconds before she would have to interact with the customer, she let her eyes linger on the puzzle. In a sing-song way, suggesting she'd said the phrase hundreds of times, she called out "hellooo, how are you today?" She finally tore her eyes away and took a better look at who had entered. Not only did he have what she suspected was the orangest hair in the world, but he was wearing the oddest clothes she'd ever seen. His blazer seemed to be made from some kind of lizard skin, and underneath, he wore a shirt of the most ridiculous fuschia. His jeans looked nice, but he had a massive gold belt buckle in the front, which detracted completely from his one normal item of clothing. His boots seemed to be made from the same skin that his jacket was, which in theory would pull a normal outfit together, but all in all he just looked... outlandish. Aside from his manner of dress, he was handsome, in an odd sort of way. She was so taken aback by his clothes that she failed to notice how surprisingly dry he was, despite the rain.

The young man smiled at her and said a quick "all right, thanks" before turning his attention to the various snacks, drinks, and knickknacks around the store. She kept a curious eye on him a few moments longer, as she settled herself back in with her puzzle. Five letters. Blank, blank, I, blank, H.

Her attention was soon drawn back to him as he barely contained a laugh. She raised her chin from her hand a little. "Is something funny?" He turned his gaze away from the soda he was holding and looked at her as thought he hadn't noticed her until that moment. His eyebrows raised as he smiled, like he had a secret.

"Not at all."

Maggie didn't return her focus to her crossword this time. The man in the store, she was beginning to discover, was much more interesting. Each product he picked up made him crack a smile of amusement. She'd never seen someone so curious and entertained by common candies and softdrinks. He smirked and turned to her again. "Don't any of these do anything exciting?"

She stared at him incredulously. "What exactly do you mean by 'exciting'?"

He looked back down to what he was holding. Was he embarrassed? "I dunno, really." He lifted his head again, but continued to avoid looking at her straight on. He seemed fascinated by the "open" sign. "Something fun to eat, I suppose."

Maggie came out from behind the counter now, looking up and down the aisle he stood in. He had his eyes on her again as she squeezed just past him and grabbed a packet of Pop Rocks. She spun around to face him, and her words caught in her throat. She hadn't realized how close she was to him, or how tall he was. She wasn't far below average height, but he stood a good head taller than her. They caught each others gaze for a moment, and looked away, smiling. Maggie took a step back and showed the bag to him. "It's not much, but these are sort of fun. Uh..." She squeezed by him again and picked up a bag of Bugles. "These are a little fun to eat too. I like to put them on my fingers as... I er... you know..." The idea sounded dumber and dumber as she said it. She covered her face with her free hand and giggled at little at herself. The young man, however, looked highly amused. For a moment, she thought he would laugh at her, but she realized his interest was in the things she was holding when he snagged both from her.

He looked the bags over, excited, before holding them up to her, asking "are these quite popular?"

She snorted and grinned at him. "Maybe for kids."

"Brilliant!"

Maggie stared at him."Right then." She started edging back toward the register. "If you need anything else, just give me a shout." He seemed content, so she settled back in with her puzzle. "Wild ones may be sown... 'oats'... 'blank straight'... D, A... 'damn'... so that leaves blank, N, I, blank, H... knish... Jewish deli order. Knish. That seems right..."

"What on Earth could you be mumbling about?"

Maggie looked up from her puzzle. The man was standing right in front of her. She stood up quickly, blushing and shuffling her puzzle off to the side. "Sorry! It gets so slow in here this time of night, I just wasn't paying attention..."

He seemed entertained by this as well, as he was struggling to suppress a grin. She looked away, her cheeks red. He leaned to try to maintain eye contact. "It's not that big of a deal, really." He held up the snacks as well as a few other bits and bobs. "Just wanted to know how much it would be for all of this."

She turned back to him, her cheeks still red, and rang up the items, still trying to avoid his gaze. After scanning the last one, a yo-yo with lights in it, she checked the total. "It'll be four quid even."He stared at her blankly for a moment, as a look of realization spread across his face. She blinked a few times and leaned an elbow on the counter. "You haven't got it, have you."

He bit his lip a little, and then glanced back at her, a twinkle in his eye. He leaned on the counter as well, his gaze now more even with hers. "How about this," he began, a playful look in his eyes, "I'll show you a trick, and if you're impressed, you let me bring you the money another time." He raised his eyebrows and nodded encouragingly. She stared at him, wondering if he would keep his word if she agreed. After toying around with the idea, she nodded once. It couldn't hurt to have a little fun at work for once, could it? He looked excited. "Wait right here." He pushed himself away from the counter and ran down an aisle, looking for something. When he returned, he was holding an ordinary deck of playing cards. He opened the seal.

Maggie cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. "You owe the store for that now, you know." He shrugged, obviously not caring about the price. She figured that with a jacket like his, he had to be either very poor, or very rich.

Without shuffling the cards, he fanned them out in front of her, face-side-up. "Pick a card, any card!" he said, with great showmanship. She looked at him curiously, with a little smile. He grinned back. They were leaning close to each other now. "In fact," he said, "pick whichever you like best." She scoffed and looked down, biting her lip. Her fingers traced the outline of the fan, before she eventually picked out the king of hearts. She raised it between her index and middle finger, flashing it to the man. He snagged it from her and looked it over. "Ol' kingy, eh? What's the draw? Thought you would have gone for the queen."

She shrugged. "He's the suicide king. I always wondered why he was stabbing himself. I used to come up with stories when I'd play cards and have him in my hand." He seemed highly interested in this answer.

"And I suppose you like the queen second best?"

"No." She said, defiantly. "Ace of spades is next."

"And why's that?" He slid the king back toward her.

"Who isn't drawn to the dark allure of the ace of spades?" She picked the card up. "Why are you giving this back? Nothing's changed."

He motioned to the pen cup by the register. "Write your name on it please."

She gave him a curious smile and picked up a black felt tip pen. "I suppose you want my number as well?" He looked confused and shook his head. Maggie felt a little let down. He seemed to be showing interest until then, but she appeared to be wrong. She cast her eyes down to the card and wrote her name in large, uppercase letters in a diagonal. Slightly less amused, she handed it back to him. "Now you definitely owe the store."

He laughed, his eyes twinkling in delight. "If you say so..." he glanced at her card, "Maggie." He shuffled the cards a few times and arranged them back into a straightened deck. "Now then..." He withdrew a stick from the inside of his coat, and held it up importantly. Maggie supposed it was a poor excuse for a magicians wand. "Are you ready Maggie?" She mimicked his important looking stance and gave a curt nod.

"I am, whatever your name is!"

He relaxed his posture and reached a hand forward. "Oh, my name is George. Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh..." She took his hand and shook it lightly. "Nice to meet you too."

The words had only just left her mouth when George straightened again. "AND NOW!" He lowered the point of his stick to the top of the deck grandly, and stood in perfect silence. Maggie waited for something to happen. After a moment, he withdrew the tip of his stick with a loud "Ha HA!" He flipped the deck over and fanned them out again. Each and every card had "Maggie" written across it in the same manner as the original. As she stared in surprise, he placed his stick back into his jacket.

Maggie had heard of misdirection, which was what she suspected he'd used for a moment, in introducing himself, but she couldn't grasp how he could possibly manage to do something this amazing in such a short period of time. "How did you do that? That was incredible!"

"Before you congratulate me too much, take a look at your suicide king." She slid it out of the fan and gasped in surprise. Contrasting the black letters on the rest of the cards, her name was scrawled across her card, same as when she wrote it, but in red ink. She looked back up at him, grinning ear to ear and shaking her head in disbelief.

"It's..." She began. She knew how stupid it would sound once she'd said it. "It's like real magic." She laughed at her own words and hid her red face with her hands again.

"Hey," he said, laughing lightly too, "don't cover that pretty face of yours." Maggie removed her hands, redder than ever. Words escaped her. George's eyes lingered on her for a moment, happiness radiating from him. He dropped them back to the cards. "Anyway... I'll take this one." He held up her king of hearts, and slid it into his pocket. "And you keep this one." He slid one a little way out of the deck. She picked it up and looked it over. It was a joker, with "George" written straight down the middle. She laughed again and leaned further on the counter.

"You're ridiculous, you know?"

"Yep!" He shoved himself away from the counter. "I seem to have impressed you plenty, so I'll just take these for now." He gathered the things he'd picked up and pocketed them. He leaned back to the counter once more, taking her hand gently. "I'll be back to pay for these soon, yeah?"

She grinned again. Every part of her that may have been upset by him walking out with merchandise was dissolved by absolute giddiness. "Yeah..." She said in a sigh.

"I'll see you around, Maggie." He backed toward the door, keeping his eyes on her, before eventually turning to leave.

"See you!" She called weakly after him. She examined his card once more and shook her head in disbelief before sliding it into her pocket.