Final chapter - to all who have hopped aboard, thank you for joining me for the ride! I'm so, so glad this is over with. :P
Naruto, Harry Potter, and their characters do not belong to me.
Hello Wizard World
Epilogue
Travelling by the London Underground was definitely not on Tenten's list of favorite pastimes. It was crowded, noisy, and probably very unhygienic, with how several people were crammed in the same train car, and breathing the same air.
The one advantage the train did serve was that the crowd had pressed her bodily into Neji.
This, Tenten did not mind. She probably could spend forever squashed next to Neji.
"You're poking into my hip," she grumbled.
Behind her, Neji lifted an eyebrow. "Pardon?"
Tenten blinked, and realized that her words didn't come out quite as she imagined them to be. She fought a smile down and turned slightly to look him in the eye. "Your wallet. It's in your jeans pocket and it's poking me."
"Ah." Neji's eyes lit in understanding, though he didn't make to reposition the offending article. "Should I be poking you elsewhere, then?"
A snort burst from her throat before she could decide if she wanted to be polite. Tenten rolled her eyes, and elbowed him lightly in the ribs; he grunted. "One would think you were greatly deprived of polite upbringing," she informed him. "With the way your thoughts swing from gentlemanly to crude in the space of seconds."
"Right." Neji looked smugly down at her; he slipped his hand into hers, and fingered the band around her ring finger. "And yet you put up with me."
"I had no choice, believe me," she retorted with a smile. "Someone threatened me with marriage."
He continued to look at her in barely-masked amusement, and Tenten grinned.
"So, are you excited?" she asked.
"Can't say I am too keen on it," he answered. "We don't even know if this Leaky Cauldron place actually exists."
"It totally does! Mrs Figg even pointed it out on a map!" Tenten protested. "I bet there'll be some people heading there, especially since it's the weekend."
Almost a year had passed since the day they'd met Mrs Arabella Figg and buried Mad Eye's body. The war was now officially over, Mrs Figg had informed Tenten, and business was back in full swing over in Diagon Alley. Tenten was beyond excited to be able to discover what the magical world was like, and spend some of their hard-won gold.
When Neji said nothing to refute her statement, Tenten continued, "And I definitely want a unicorn - they have to sell those!"
He heaved a patient sigh. "Didn't the Monster Book say that they aren't easily caught?"
She sent him a mischievous grin. "Well, books can always be wrong."
Neji shook his head, and did not bother to object.
"George was saying that he has some new joke products up at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes!" a girl said excitedly in the same train car.
Tenten flicked her eyes towards the source of the voice - it didn't hurt to be discreet. Behind her, Neji was probably doing the same.
"Despite how helpful their inventions have been, they're still prank toys," another female voice said disapprovingly. This second voice belonged to a pretty young woman with bushy brown hair. "You should probably ask about the effects of the toys before trying them out."
The first girl, a redhead with straight hair and freckles, gave a frown. "Oh, don't be such a spoilsport, Hermione, you know those jokes don't do permanent damage."
Next to her, a tall, gangly man grinned. He had the same red hair and freckles, and was probably related to her in some way. "Don't argue, ladies," he cajoled, looking around the train. "We should've tried Muggle transport early on in the war - it sure saves a lot of energy!"
Tenten's eyes grew wide when her eyes landed on the fourth person in the group - Harry Potter himself, with that messy black hair, green eyes, and round glasses. Who would've thought to see wizards on public transportation?
She turned back to Neji, and whispered, "It's Harry Potter!"
Neji looked dully back at her. "And?"
"He's famous!" Tenten explained, "Remember?"
At her words, Neji granted them another cursory look - but his disinterest did not wane. "He seems like a normal person to me."
Neji did have a point. Tenten pursed her lips, and continued sending Harry Potter and his friends covert looks. If the war was over, then that meant that Harry Potter had to have defeated that scary snake man, who had given Tenten nightmares on more than one occasion. Yet he wasn't putting on airs, or strutting around.
"He does seem pretty normal," Tenten acknowledged. In fact, Harry Potter and his friends dressed just like Neji and herself did - in simple shirts and jeans.
They had opted to go without robes or strange clothing first, if just to scout out the location, and get new clothes to blend in if necessary. Tenten was very relieved that she and Neji had not been wearing Harry Potter's old school robes today - that would have just been too awkward.
"What do you think they're doing on a train?" she whispered to Neji. "Shouldn't they be on broomsticks?"
"Probably the same reason why we're on a train," he answered dryly. "Parking is scarce around the Charing Cross Station."
Tenten rolled her eyes again. "I've never seen a space where you can park brooms there."
"Then that may be the precise reason," came Neji's bland answer. Tenten didn't know if she wanted to laugh. Neji's sense of humor could be odd at times.
They continued their discreet observation on the quartet until they reached Charing Cross Station, upon which Tenten tugged Neji along with her, while keeping an eye on the wizards.
The distance between Tenten, Neji, and Harry Potter's group was such that they saw the quartet enter what seemed to be a pub on a busy street. There was no sign hanging out over the pedestrians - the pub was tucked away between two larger stores, and set back a little, painted in dark grey. Most of the pedestrians actually seemed to miss seeing the establishment, curiously enough.
By the time Neji and Tenten stepped into The Leaky Cauldron, Harry Potter's group was pulling away from the bar counter - perhaps they only stopped for a quick chat.
Tenten dragged Neji through the back door of the pub, where Harry's group had disappeared into, though all they saw, now, was just an empty alley, and no trace of the four.
"They disappeared," Tenten muttered.
Neji shrugged. "I guess we tap the magic brick, then."
They counted twelve bricks along the wall, and seven bricks up; Tenten gave the brick in question three taps (it was not worn smooth, despite the number of people who must have had tapped it in its lifetime).
As soon as her fingers touched the brick a third time, the wall began to shimmer. Tenten took a step back in surprise, her back bumping into Neji's chest. Before them, the bricks began to move, each rotating upon its own axis as a little hole opened up in the middle of the brick wall, slowly growing larger to form an archway.
Past the archway lay a bustling cobblestone street - people hurried around in all sorts of colorful robes, and various quaint shopfronts stared invitingly at them.
Tenten's eyes lit up; she smiled at Neji, and he followed as she pulled him through the archway. Contrary to what she expected, the archway did not close in upon itself - Tenten guessed that the wizarding world made it easy for their own to enter the world of normal people, but tried to hide themselves from the majority of the human population.
With a shrug, she turned back to Diagon Alley. Harry Potter and his friends were nowhere to be seen - they had been dressed in normal clothes as well, and Tenten realized that no one was staring at her and Neji for having a different fashion sense from the rest of their kind.
"Is it like anything you expected?" she asked Neji with a smile. She squeezed his hand and began to walk slowly down the street, unwilling to miss little details.
"I didn't know what to expect," he admitted, pale eyes sweeping over the various storefronts.
If she were perfectly honest, Tenten had not quite known what to be prepared for, either. The Diagon Alley of today seemed cheerful and busy - probably a far cry from what it was like a year ago, when a war was waging in the wizarding world.
To a side, there was Eyelops Owl Emporium, where owls in various cages crowded the display window, Second Hand Brooms, in which polished brooms covered the walls of the shop, and Flourish and Blotts, where a variety of colorful books were arranged in the storefront window. On the other side of the street, peeling gold letters read "Ollivanders", with a painted wand next to the shop name. A cacophony could be heard over the crowd, originating from the Magical Menagerie (Tenten thought she saw rats playing jump rope with their tails), and Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions lured potential patrons with jewel-toned robes in its display windows.
Tenten took a while to absorb the entirety of the street - her head spun with all the new information, and she couldn't decide which store she wanted to visit first.
"I don't know if we have enough money on us," she whispered to Neji, who slanted an exasperated look at her.
"Why don't we get an idea of what we actually want?" he suggested. "Since we aren't wizards, some of these stores aren't relevant to us anyway, like the wand shop."
"That is true," she admitted, scanning the rows of shops once again. "What are you interested in taking a closer look at?"
Neji gave a slight shrug, and Tenten smiled. "Well, I think I might have an idea."
Three hours later, they slumped into the al fresco seats outside a tea shop, steaming cups of tea on the table between them.
"I can't believe no one sells unicorns here," Tenten whined in disappointment. "I thought they would be well-known enough for someone or other to have them in stock!"
The look in Neji's eyes clearly said, I told you so, and she glowered at him.
"At least I got a statue of one," she mumbled, fishing around in her purse for the little figurine. It was pure-white and measured a couple inches high, and when she set it on the iron-wrought table, the creature pawed the ground and whinnied, before galloping in a circle.
Tenten felt a smile creep up her lips. This would have to do until she got her very own unicorn someday.
"It would fit well in a display cabinet," Neji commented. "I have no wish to see it crunching beneath my feet one night."
She frowned at him for being so morbid. "It can go in your trophy cabinet," she pointed out. "It's not like you place any sentimental value in old school debate competition awards."
He shrugged. "Fine with me."
"We can have a little zoo in there!" she suddenly realized. A smile spread on her lips; Neji watched her with faint amusement.
"Only if you promise not to go overboard with it," he allowed.
"Fine." Tenten grinned. "Need a spare invisibility cloak to hide from your fans?"
At that, Neji cracked a smile. "They won't be after me when we get married. Maybe you might need one instead."
"One for each of us, then," she concluded. "I just hope they don't cost too much."
Neji shrugged - they had not come across invisibility cloaks yet - perhaps the shops on the other end of Diagon Alley carried them.
"I really want to try brewing some potions, though," Tenten added thoughtfully. "I've flipped through Magical Drafts and Potions - there were some potions that did not require magic... and I thought I saw runes at the apothecary for simple potions."
He glanced suspiciously at her. "I'm not having my entire house burn down in some magical accident, Tenten."
"Our house, you mean," she corrected him with a smile. "Maybe I should stick to simple potions then."
"Or none." Neji gave her an imperious look. "Stick with what you know - you don't have the resources to deal with an emergency."
She pouted, knowing that he was right. "What about a broomstick?"
"We have nowhere to fly it, and we don't have the magic required in case of emergencies," Neji countered.
Tenten made a face at him. A self-writing quill might have been helpful, if she wasn't already doing all her writing on the computer.
"I think I want a book on runes," she said finally, "And more books about magical creatures. Maybe we can go on an adventure to find unicorns someday."
Neji wasn't convinced, and she laughed. "I'm kidding! Maybe."
"It would be helpful to have a wizard friend or two," he allowed. "Then at least someone would know how to prevent you from getting boils on your nose."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Be glad that I'm not giving you boils on your butt, Neji."
"I'm sure you'd enjoy that view," he said mildly. Tenten winced.
At length, they finished their tea, and set off for the end of Diagon Alley that they haven't had the chance to explore yet.
"We could get us a wedding gift," Tenten piped up suddenly.
Neji frowned. "From this place? I'd prefer a non-magical item, thank you."
She sighed, and grinned. "Yeah, you'd prefer a faster laptop for work, huh?"
At that, Neji quirked a smile. "I wouldn't object to that."
"Workaholic," Tenten muttered beneath her breath.
"I'll prove how much of a workaholic I'm not when we get home," he said in her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
"Oh yeah?" She grinned. This was an easy challenge, one that both of them enjoyed.
"I'll give you my word on that," he promised, lifting his eyebrows suggestively.
Tenten smirked, elbowed him in the side, and he grunted. "Pervert."
"Only yours, Tententen." Neji slipped his hand into hers and pulled her close.
"I'm so honored," she answered flatly, though her grin gave her away. "What about we return here another time, when we have a better idea of what we want?"
"A better idea of what you want," he corrected. "But I certainly will not object to going home."
Tenten grinned, and steered them towards the exit of Diagon Alley. "Raring to prove that you aren't a workaholic, huh?"
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Always."
END
A/N: The idea to use runes for muggle potion-making comes from "The Arithmancer" by White Squirrel, in which Hermione is a math whiz who invents her own spells. ;) Give it a read sometime if you're into math/science-y stuff.
Special thanks to those of you who have left encouraging comments throughout. :P I never really intended for HWW to be this long, and I'm so glad I'm over the huge mental block this fic was giving me.
Coming up next Friday: Nights in the Sleepless Town - featuring Hooker!Tenten, and set in Japan, 1983. ;)
