Chapter 5
Vala was silently making her way down the dark alley, making sure her features were hidden from view, except her dull dark brown eyes. There were few people lining the streets, each having a dark look to them.
No one was really paying any attention to her though, for some odd reason.
"Buy a pretty pendent for your pretty neck." A street peddler asked her, holding out a cracked charm on a silver chain.
"Not today," the half vampire replied, wanting to seem like she knew what she was doing.
The peddler shrugged and went on to try and sell it to another passer by.
Vala rolled her eyes and continued on her search, sniffing the air slightly until the smell of the snakeskin was the strongest, and she was standing in front of a shop.
Slowly turning the handle of the door, Vala walked into the small shop and was quickly greeted by the gruff welcome of the owner.
"Good morning, miss." He said with a less than toothy grin. "What is a dark witch, such as yourself, doing here?"
"Cut the gentleman act." Vala growled, allowing her eyes to turn red. "I am here for these ingredients."
The man paled at both her eyes and accent as he reached out with a shaky hand and took the parchment outstretched to him.
"What do you need these for?" he questioned shakily.
"It is none of your business." Vala replied sharply. There was no one in the shop, so there was no real fear of someone being a slayer or of any threat to her.
"You are one of them, aren't you?" he said in a hushed voice.
Vala smiled from behind the dark cloth, she loved to see fear in people's eyes, it was a weakness thanks to the vampiric blood in her.
"Get them for me before you join my kind." She ordered in a voice not of her own. It was deeper and had an echo to it.
The poor owner quickly bowed to the half vampire and nearly ran into the back to please her. He returned not even ten seconds later, panting as he held out a package of all the items on her list.
"How much?" Vala demanded, placing the bag in the folds of her robes and securing it as to not have it accidentally fall out. She also got out her purse.
"Consider it a gift." The man said cheerily. "If you ever need them again, though, they will be full price."
He winced, as if he expected her to lunge at his throat and drain him of his life that very second.
Vala chuckled. "Thank you, sir. You needn't worry about me; I can't stand wizard blood. Obliviate" The half vampire waved her wand (after remembering she actually had it) and cleared his memory of her time in the shop.
Good thing Zareh made me listen to her lessons on spells last week. Vala said to herself upon exiting the shop, smirking behind the dark veil.
… … … …
Raelin drummed her fingers against her arm whilst leaning up against the wall outside Magical Menagerie.
"What is taking her so long?" the werewolf growled. "She should have been back here hours ago."
Zareh sighed. "We've only been waiting here for five minutes."
"Seems like an eternity."
"Just wait until you get to eternity, then this little scenario won't seem like that long."
Ranger barked in agreement. Truth was, the guild wolf was almost thirty years old in human years and hadn't aged since he was three (having taken an anti-aging potion, courteously of Vala), so eternity seemed rather long for him.
"Shut up Ranger."
The wolf snorted before sniffing the air cautiously. The other werewolf was near.
By the time Zareh realized Ranger was walking away, he had already reached his destination.
"You're stupid wolf is gone again." The sorceress stated angrily.
"I'll get him this time." Raelin replied, looking around at all the auras until her eyes came to rest upon a single grey-blue one. "Bloody annoying animal."
… … … …
"Hey Remus, looks like your little friend's back." Sirius stated.
Ranger turned and growled at him, before returning his gaze to the figure in front of him.
"Ranger! Ranger you stupid wolf get back here!" Raelin yelled, tapping along the road with her cane.
The wolf looked guilty as he turned towards his master.
"This your dog?" James questioned, gesturing to Ranger, even though Raelin couldn't really see that.
"Depends, does he have a rope collar on?" Raelin questioned, feeling her cheeks going slightly red with the embarrassment of not knowing where her dog was. Got to remember to get Zareh to put a spell on him so I can actually see him! She mentally scolded herself.
James bent down and reached for Ranger's neck, who growled in return. "Nice dog, you're not going to hurt old James, are you?"
Ranger silently cursed himself for being such a softy as he let James scratch him behind the ear while also checking for the rope collar.
"There sure is. So Ranger's his name?"
"Unfortunately," Raelin sighed, snapping her fingers to signal Ranger to come to her.
"That's not fair." Sirius whined. "How come he let James pet him and not me?"
"He obviously has good taste." James replied and a small smirk.
"Actually, I'm surprised that Ranger let you pet him. He usually only lets me, my sisters and…" Raelin caught herself just in time. She was about to say werewolves.
"And…" Sirius motioned for her to continue.
"I'm Raelin, Raelin Knight." The young girl stretched out her hand to the aura she knew was James.
James shook her outstretched hand. "I'm James Potter. This is Remus Lupin."
The werewolf, Raelin thought silently to herself.
"And Sirius Black."
Sirius took her right hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "Milady."
Raelin giggled, while her guide wolf growled low in his throat as a warning.
"Was your sister the one who came over to our table last night?" Remus questioned, his curiosity getting the better of him.
Raelin half raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes it was. Her name's Vala. She's been acting rather creepy for awhile now."
"You're not from around here, are you?" Sirius questioned.
"Finally noticed my accent, did you?" Raelin replied, rolling her sightless eyes. "I live in Romania. Moved there when I was five."
"Romania? See any vampires there?" James joked.
"Yes, a few are my very good friends as a matter a fact." Raelin replied, dead serious.
There was an uncomfortable silence that followed, until a loud voice broke it. "Raelin Knight, veni aici acum!"
Raelin sighed. "Coming Zareh!" she replied. Turning back to the group of three. "I've got to go before my sister kills me. Maybe I'll see you all some other time."
"See you Raelin, nice meeting you." James said. Ranger barked at him. "Nice meeting you too Ranger, next time maybe I'll have a treat for you."
Ranger wagged his tail at the wizard before walking behind his master, nudging her out of the way of oncoming pedestrians or anything else.
"Did you have to call me right then?" Raelin asked upon reaching the white aura of her oldest sister.
"What were you doing, talking to complete strangers like that." Zareh demanded, dragging the young werewolf into a nearby shop called, Madam Malkins: Robes for All Occasions. Ranger stayed outside, guarding the perimeter.
"They were nice, if they were bad, I would have sensed it and so would have Ranger." Raelin replied. "Where's Vala?"
"Right behind you." A familiar quiet voice said.
"Did you get everything?" Zareh questioned, looking at all the different colours and styles of robes. Vala nodded.
"Good afternoon ladies, what can I do for you?" the shop owner asked cheerfully.
"We each need a set of two robes." Zareh stated shortly, admiring a royal blue dress robe.
"Right, come over here." The woman gestured for Raelin to stand on the stool.
"Five steps forward, stool." Vala said while she too looked at the robes.
The werewolf followed her sister's instructions and within fifteen minutes, she had two sets of school robes. Half an hour later, Zareh had two sets of school robes and the royal blue dress robe (for special occasions she said) and Vala also had her school robes.
"Can we go home yet?" Raelin whined.
Zareh sighed in frustration as she paid for the seven robes.
"Depends on which home you would prefer going to." Vala stated.
Raelin turned to her vampiric sister. "Can you stop talking, please? You're starting to scare me."
Vala chuckled and helped Raelin out of the store and back out onto the street where a nervous Ranger was pacing.
"Hey boy, worried about me of something?" Raelin whispered. She kneeled down to let her wolf make sure she was all right. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Come on ladies, one more stop and then we can leave." Zareh ordered, walking down the street with all her bags in hand.
Raelin groaned. "Where now?"
"I want to get a pet," was the simple reply.
"Can we go to a joke shop, or something else. I already have a pet." Raelin argued.
"Fine, I'll get myself an owl, Vala a bat (yes, yes, yes, I know, I'm creepy) and you a…?"
"An owl."
"Fine, another owl. Val, take Raelin to the joke shop and meet me here in ten minutes." Without another word, Zareh disappeared into Eeylops Owl Emporium.
Vala walked a very pleased Raelin over to the Wizarding Jokeshop where they spent the better half of five minutes before the werewolf in the family began complaining again.
"There aren't good jokes, why can't there be a good joke shop in one of the countries I live in?" she whined.
The half vampire rubbed her temples as she dragged Raelin out of the shop and was about to go back to Eeylops, when something caught her eye. It was a broom in the window of a shop.
Curious, Vala went over to admire it.
"Like it, miss?" a voice questioned, startling her.
She nodded.
"It's a Nimbus 1000, very fast." The man replied. "You like Quidditch?"
Vala tilted her head to one side in confusion.
"Quidditch, isn't that she sport with the Snitch and the chasers and stuff like that?" Raelin asked.
"Yes it is, I have some great deals on Quidditch supplies if you'd like to come and see."
"Sure." Raelin replied happily. Vala led her blind sister into the shop and looked around curiously. "Do you think I could play Quidditch, Val? Or even ride a broom?"
"Possibly, if you could convince Zareh to let you." Vala replied, picking up a pair of sturdy gloves.
"I don't need her permission, she won't be able to teach me. I'm asking you." Raelin said stubbornly.
Vala thought for a moment before a wide grin passed over her pale face.
… … … …
"Zareh's going to run a stake through your heart." Raelin stated as the two walked away from Quality Quidditch Supplies. In each teen's hand were a new broom and a bag with several other items.
"Where were you two?" Zareh exploded once her two younger (and taller) sisters appeared through the crowd. "And just what was going through your minds when you bought these?"
"I was thinking that I want to be free." Raelin replied truthfully. "It's not fun to be grounded. Not my fault if you're scared of heights."
The sorceress turned bright red. "I am not scared of heights!" she stated loudly, but left the subject at that as she walked back to the entrance to the alley.
"I'm amazed, I actually shut her up for once!" Raelin declared, earning a grateful bark from Ranger and a small chuckle from Vala as the trio started after their sister.
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Super sory for not updating sooner! Blame it on the evil exams that are coming up. Review and I'll try and update faster!
Translation:
Veni aici acum: Come here now. (Romanian)