It was a sunny Saturday morning, and Agatha Cromwell was very happy about that fact. Halloweentown had been suffering from some nasty bouts of bad weather, and now the sun was out to chase away the fog and damp puddles and stiff creakiness that had alarmingly begun to settle itself in Aggies' bones on rainy days. She hurried on her way downtown, with a sunny smile and a few kind words of greeting for anyone she happened to pass. The sun began really shining in earnest as she made her winding way down the streets from her grand, cluttered house on the hills that overlooked the town to Halloweentown proper. Halloweentown was such a festive, cheerful place, full of happy people living their lives. How could anyone find them scary?
Aggie continued her purposeful walk through the streets of the town, being called out to, stopped to discuss something with, and bowed to once or twice. It was lovely to be respected. She couldn't stop to chat long though, because one of her favorite stores was having a huge sale, for no apparent reason, and she figured that while her good luck held, what with the sale and the nice weather, she might as well capitalize on it.
She reached the store, Ruckury Brothers Lmt. Its large, storefront window, was, as usual, filled with quaint little antique cauldrons and fortune-telling tea sets, tarot cards and spellbooks galore. Aggie pushed her way in, hearing the bell over the door tinkle, and took in a deep breath of the musty air inside the shop. Today it was filled with patrons, rushing back and forth asking sales associates how much things cost, tripping over scarf racks, and messing up the displays. Aggie smiled as she gently shouldered her way to her favorite corner, over by the back window. It was their "Trash or Treasure" Corner- they did business with Gort the Junk Man- if he could hold onto anything he found that seemed interesting until Friday morning, Frederick or Gregory Ruckury would pay him handsomely, and then sell it back to the good people of Halloweentown for a reasonable price, which was why they did such good business.
Today there seemed to be more trash than treasure on the clothing rack, and Aggie flipped through them quickly. She came to the last item on the rack, and stopped cold. It was the most beautiful red velvet cloak. It had gold trim, and a generous hood, to accommodate the matronly yet elegant pouf she had taken to wearing her brown-swirled-with-silver hair done up into. The inside was flannel, warm enough to keep out the dampest winter chill, and it was covered with planetary designs, Aggies' pattern of choice for clothes, and really just about anything else. It was perfect! She had been looking for something to cheer her up this impending winter- the first one that she would be spending alone since her daughter ran awa- no, best not to spoil such a happy moment with such sad thoughts.
Aggie purchased the cloak, and wore it home, feeling very pleased.
Wrote this for lack of any different ideas. (Mintgum666888, your fic is forthcoming) In it, Aggie is significantly younger- Gwen has only just recently run away from home, and her hair is not yet completely white. This is the red cloak that she is wearing when we first meet her in the first movie. And yes, I did steal the name Ruckury from another Disney Channel Original movie- the Little Vampire. Ironically, in that movie, Ruckury is a vampire hunter, and the names Frederick and Gregory are the names of two of the vampires he's trying to kill. If you haven't watched that movie, I suggest you do, it's a really good one.