Part 3.
Charge It
By OldScout.
"That's just too cool." Buffy said as the brick wall opened up to reveal Diagon Alley.
Tonks was trying not to frown. She was going to have Buffy open the wall (if she had a wand) but they timed it just right to catch somebody coming in to the Cauldron. Before she could stop her and show her how it worked, Buffy was already through.
Buffy grinned to herself suspecting that the magical wall was a last defense for keeping muggles out of Diagon Alley. As soon as she saw it open, she knew she had to take the opportunity and slipped into the Alley. Now she just had to stay one step ahead of her sitter. The first sign she saw was 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. Buffy uttered her second favorite shopping phrase next to 'Charge It!' "Ooh, clothes," and headed for Madam Malkins.
Tonks finally caught up to her in Madam Malkin's. She was standing in front of a full length mirror holding up a green dress robe.
"What do you think?" Buffy asked. "Does it bring out the color in my eyes?" Buffy thought the robe was hideous; she just wanted to see Tonks's reaction.
Before she could answer, Tonks watched as the American's attention was caught by something else and she dropped the robe across the rack and headed to the back of the store. She picked up a tall purple wizard hat with moons and stars on it and started laughing. "I swear, this looks just like the one Giles was wearing once." She looked around and found the matching robe. "Oh my God, this has got to be it. Wait till I tell Willow, he never would say where got the hideous thing."
"A hum," the seams-witch interrupted. "That happens to be a very popular style for today's distinguished Wizard."
Buffy grinned widely trying not to laugh. "Of course, but boy did it look hideous on Giles. You know he's all tweed and everything this just didn't work."
"Is your friend Giles a wiz......?"
Before Tonks finished her question Buffy had dropped the purple robe and was headed to another part of the store while exclaiming "Ooh, shoes."
Watching Tonks in one of the dressing mirrors rushing to keep up Buffy smiled. She was having a lot of fun channeling her fifteen year old self, it had been a long time since she allowed herself to let loose like this. She wondered if Tonks was catching on to the act yet. She looked over the ugly pointed toe, ankle high witch boots in all different shades of black. No other color, just black. Buffy picked up the ugliest one she could find. "Do you have this in yellow?"
The seams-witch pulled out her wand and tapped the shoe, turning it to a bright yellow. It was all Buffy could do not to stare open mouthed at the wand. This was the first bit of magic she'd actually seen anybody perform. After a second to collect her self, Buffy held up the shoe and looked at if from all directions. "Nope, still ugly." She handed the shoe back to the seams-witch. "Thanks, maybe I'll find something another time." She headed out the door.
Just outside the shop, Buffy stopped in her tracks causing Tonks to nearly run into her. "What's wrong?" Buffy pointed to Gringots bank. "Tom said I should change my muggle money into wizard money. Do you think they're still open?"
"Gringots never closes."
"Cool." Buffy was on the move again.
It was all Tonks could do to keep up with her. She wasn't running but the woman seemed to have a sixth sense for weaving her way through a crowd. The incident with the shoe made Tonks pretty sure Buffy was a muggle, any real witch would know how to change shoe colors, that's why they only came in black. Tonks couldn't help herself; she just wanted to see what the flighty American would do next.
After the bank, Buffy seemed to actually get serious about her shopping. Her next stop was Fourish and Botts Book Shop.
An hour later they left the book store with Buffy carrying three bags of books. One bag seemed to move on its own, as if something was trying to get out.
"I still don't know why you need two copies of the Monster Book of Monsters." Tonks was actually afraid she did know why. They had spent half an hour watching the books fight in the display case. Buffy had spent the whole time enthusiastically cheering on one of the copies she had ended up buying.
"One for Dawn and one for Willow. Those books just remind me too much of the way those two act when it comes to sharing supplies."
"Okay, Dawn's your sister, I got that and you mentioned Willow before, is she the one from Boston?" Thankfully Buffy was now strolling at leisurely pace, finally allowing Tonks to actually ask some questions.
"No Faith is the one from Boston, but Willow's my best friend, she's the witch."
"So you're not a witch."
Buffy looked a little sheepish. "Guess not."
"And Dawn?"
"Willow's been teaching her some things, but we have to be careful, we had some really bad experiences when Willow was learning. I don't want Dawn to go through that as well. I figured it was better for Willow to teach her proper control early because if she didn't Dawn would just go and figure it out on her own and that's how Willow got in to trouble."
Tonks turned and stared at the woman walking beside her. Just like that the ditzy blond was gone. This was a mature woman in control of her world. "Why don't you send her to...."
Buffy suddenly stopped and stared in a window. "Ooh, jewelry."
Both women were suddenly in Lady Periwinkles Charms and Jewelry for the Discriminating Buyer. "Can I help you ladies?" The sales witch smiled at them. She was an attractive woman in her early thirties with waist length dark brown hair just starting to gray at the temples. Instead of the standard wizarding robes, she wore a white cotton peasant blouse with a floor length cotton skirt. Every finger had at least two rings, and she wore several bracelets on each wrist. She wore multiple necklaces, a waist chain and both her ears were pierced multiple times. There was even a chain connecting her right ear to a ring in her nose.
"I'm looking for something special for my sister." Buffy said sweetly.
"Younger or older?"
"Younger, late teens."
"What does she like, any preferences? Style, does she have pierced ears or is anything else pierced?"
Buffy tried real hard to not glare at the woman for the 'anything else' comment. They were talking about her 'little' sister. "Something old perhaps; maybe with a unique but harmless charm on it."
"Ah, over here." The witch led them to a display case in the back of the store. "All of these objects are purported to have charms on them. Since not all charms are the result of wizarding magic, I haven't been able verify if the charm actually exists on all of the pieces."
As Buffy studied the pieces, Tonks and the sales witch were inspecting earrings or were they nose rings in another case. As Buffy reached out to pick up an intricately carved silver bracelet, the clear stone in the bracelet next to it glowed bright white for a second then faded. Buffy pulled out the simple fixed band silver bracelet with a clear stone in the middle. "What does this one do?"
"Ah, that is an interesting piece. It was made by Gypsies and it is said that the crystal will glow red if there is a vampire near by. The closer the vampire, the brighter it will glow. But since I do not know where there are any tame vampires to test it, I can't say if it actually works. The few tests we've performed on it indicate that there is some sort of charm on the bracelet, but we haven't been able to verify its true nature."
Buffy handed it to Tonks and watched for the reaction, nothing. "How much?" She asked as Tonks examined the piece.
The witch quoted a price and Buffy's rough math told her that it was about 60 pounds sterling. She knew she only had about 60 pounds left and still needed to get a cab back to headquarters. "I don't have near that much in wizard money; all I've got is muggle. Will you take 45 pounds for it?"
"I don't know, that's a pretty rare piece. Gypsy charms can be pretty powerful. Plus at the current rate of exchange, that's quite a discount."
"How long has it been sitting in that case?" Buffy asked. "That felt looks pretty worn to its shape. It's not doing you any good just sitting there."
The witch smiled. "The best I can do is 50 pounds. Even then I'm barely breaking even."
"Okay, I can do that." Buffy said and shook the witch's hand. Tonks tried to hand it back to Buffy. "Can you wrap it for me?" Buffy asked as she dug her wallet from the bag/purse she carried slung over her shoulder. Buffy motioned for Tonks to hand the bracelet to the sales witch; the last thing she wanted was for them to see the thing react when it got near her.
It was starting to get to be dinner time when the women left Lady Periwinkles. "Perhaps we better get going." Buffy said. "I think I've used up enough of your time."
"No problem." Tonks replied still at a loss as to what to do with this muggle.
"So do I pass muster?"
Tonks stopped in mid stride and stared at the woman.
"Well I assumed you came to check me out to make sure I wasn't just some wayward American tourist who took a wrong turn or something."
"You knew?"
"You didn't think I was really that.." Buffy looked at the lengthening shadows. "We've got company." Buffy let her bags drop to the ground as hooded figures dressed all in black and wearing white masks detached themselves from the shadows of near by buildings.
To be continued...........
Charge It
By OldScout.
"That's just too cool." Buffy said as the brick wall opened up to reveal Diagon Alley.
Tonks was trying not to frown. She was going to have Buffy open the wall (if she had a wand) but they timed it just right to catch somebody coming in to the Cauldron. Before she could stop her and show her how it worked, Buffy was already through.
Buffy grinned to herself suspecting that the magical wall was a last defense for keeping muggles out of Diagon Alley. As soon as she saw it open, she knew she had to take the opportunity and slipped into the Alley. Now she just had to stay one step ahead of her sitter. The first sign she saw was 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions'. Buffy uttered her second favorite shopping phrase next to 'Charge It!' "Ooh, clothes," and headed for Madam Malkins.
Tonks finally caught up to her in Madam Malkin's. She was standing in front of a full length mirror holding up a green dress robe.
"What do you think?" Buffy asked. "Does it bring out the color in my eyes?" Buffy thought the robe was hideous; she just wanted to see Tonks's reaction.
Before she could answer, Tonks watched as the American's attention was caught by something else and she dropped the robe across the rack and headed to the back of the store. She picked up a tall purple wizard hat with moons and stars on it and started laughing. "I swear, this looks just like the one Giles was wearing once." She looked around and found the matching robe. "Oh my God, this has got to be it. Wait till I tell Willow, he never would say where got the hideous thing."
"A hum," the seams-witch interrupted. "That happens to be a very popular style for today's distinguished Wizard."
Buffy grinned widely trying not to laugh. "Of course, but boy did it look hideous on Giles. You know he's all tweed and everything this just didn't work."
"Is your friend Giles a wiz......?"
Before Tonks finished her question Buffy had dropped the purple robe and was headed to another part of the store while exclaiming "Ooh, shoes."
Watching Tonks in one of the dressing mirrors rushing to keep up Buffy smiled. She was having a lot of fun channeling her fifteen year old self, it had been a long time since she allowed herself to let loose like this. She wondered if Tonks was catching on to the act yet. She looked over the ugly pointed toe, ankle high witch boots in all different shades of black. No other color, just black. Buffy picked up the ugliest one she could find. "Do you have this in yellow?"
The seams-witch pulled out her wand and tapped the shoe, turning it to a bright yellow. It was all Buffy could do not to stare open mouthed at the wand. This was the first bit of magic she'd actually seen anybody perform. After a second to collect her self, Buffy held up the shoe and looked at if from all directions. "Nope, still ugly." She handed the shoe back to the seams-witch. "Thanks, maybe I'll find something another time." She headed out the door.
Just outside the shop, Buffy stopped in her tracks causing Tonks to nearly run into her. "What's wrong?" Buffy pointed to Gringots bank. "Tom said I should change my muggle money into wizard money. Do you think they're still open?"
"Gringots never closes."
"Cool." Buffy was on the move again.
It was all Tonks could do to keep up with her. She wasn't running but the woman seemed to have a sixth sense for weaving her way through a crowd. The incident with the shoe made Tonks pretty sure Buffy was a muggle, any real witch would know how to change shoe colors, that's why they only came in black. Tonks couldn't help herself; she just wanted to see what the flighty American would do next.
After the bank, Buffy seemed to actually get serious about her shopping. Her next stop was Fourish and Botts Book Shop.
An hour later they left the book store with Buffy carrying three bags of books. One bag seemed to move on its own, as if something was trying to get out.
"I still don't know why you need two copies of the Monster Book of Monsters." Tonks was actually afraid she did know why. They had spent half an hour watching the books fight in the display case. Buffy had spent the whole time enthusiastically cheering on one of the copies she had ended up buying.
"One for Dawn and one for Willow. Those books just remind me too much of the way those two act when it comes to sharing supplies."
"Okay, Dawn's your sister, I got that and you mentioned Willow before, is she the one from Boston?" Thankfully Buffy was now strolling at leisurely pace, finally allowing Tonks to actually ask some questions.
"No Faith is the one from Boston, but Willow's my best friend, she's the witch."
"So you're not a witch."
Buffy looked a little sheepish. "Guess not."
"And Dawn?"
"Willow's been teaching her some things, but we have to be careful, we had some really bad experiences when Willow was learning. I don't want Dawn to go through that as well. I figured it was better for Willow to teach her proper control early because if she didn't Dawn would just go and figure it out on her own and that's how Willow got in to trouble."
Tonks turned and stared at the woman walking beside her. Just like that the ditzy blond was gone. This was a mature woman in control of her world. "Why don't you send her to...."
Buffy suddenly stopped and stared in a window. "Ooh, jewelry."
Both women were suddenly in Lady Periwinkles Charms and Jewelry for the Discriminating Buyer. "Can I help you ladies?" The sales witch smiled at them. She was an attractive woman in her early thirties with waist length dark brown hair just starting to gray at the temples. Instead of the standard wizarding robes, she wore a white cotton peasant blouse with a floor length cotton skirt. Every finger had at least two rings, and she wore several bracelets on each wrist. She wore multiple necklaces, a waist chain and both her ears were pierced multiple times. There was even a chain connecting her right ear to a ring in her nose.
"I'm looking for something special for my sister." Buffy said sweetly.
"Younger or older?"
"Younger, late teens."
"What does she like, any preferences? Style, does she have pierced ears or is anything else pierced?"
Buffy tried real hard to not glare at the woman for the 'anything else' comment. They were talking about her 'little' sister. "Something old perhaps; maybe with a unique but harmless charm on it."
"Ah, over here." The witch led them to a display case in the back of the store. "All of these objects are purported to have charms on them. Since not all charms are the result of wizarding magic, I haven't been able verify if the charm actually exists on all of the pieces."
As Buffy studied the pieces, Tonks and the sales witch were inspecting earrings or were they nose rings in another case. As Buffy reached out to pick up an intricately carved silver bracelet, the clear stone in the bracelet next to it glowed bright white for a second then faded. Buffy pulled out the simple fixed band silver bracelet with a clear stone in the middle. "What does this one do?"
"Ah, that is an interesting piece. It was made by Gypsies and it is said that the crystal will glow red if there is a vampire near by. The closer the vampire, the brighter it will glow. But since I do not know where there are any tame vampires to test it, I can't say if it actually works. The few tests we've performed on it indicate that there is some sort of charm on the bracelet, but we haven't been able to verify its true nature."
Buffy handed it to Tonks and watched for the reaction, nothing. "How much?" She asked as Tonks examined the piece.
The witch quoted a price and Buffy's rough math told her that it was about 60 pounds sterling. She knew she only had about 60 pounds left and still needed to get a cab back to headquarters. "I don't have near that much in wizard money; all I've got is muggle. Will you take 45 pounds for it?"
"I don't know, that's a pretty rare piece. Gypsy charms can be pretty powerful. Plus at the current rate of exchange, that's quite a discount."
"How long has it been sitting in that case?" Buffy asked. "That felt looks pretty worn to its shape. It's not doing you any good just sitting there."
The witch smiled. "The best I can do is 50 pounds. Even then I'm barely breaking even."
"Okay, I can do that." Buffy said and shook the witch's hand. Tonks tried to hand it back to Buffy. "Can you wrap it for me?" Buffy asked as she dug her wallet from the bag/purse she carried slung over her shoulder. Buffy motioned for Tonks to hand the bracelet to the sales witch; the last thing she wanted was for them to see the thing react when it got near her.
It was starting to get to be dinner time when the women left Lady Periwinkles. "Perhaps we better get going." Buffy said. "I think I've used up enough of your time."
"No problem." Tonks replied still at a loss as to what to do with this muggle.
"So do I pass muster?"
Tonks stopped in mid stride and stared at the woman.
"Well I assumed you came to check me out to make sure I wasn't just some wayward American tourist who took a wrong turn or something."
"You knew?"
"You didn't think I was really that.." Buffy looked at the lengthening shadows. "We've got company." Buffy let her bags drop to the ground as hooded figures dressed all in black and wearing white masks detached themselves from the shadows of near by buildings.
To be continued...........