"Miss Chang, this really has to stop. This is the second time you have been seen using magic to complete your duties, despite knowing it is against the guidelines you agreed to when you joined us."
Outside, she put on as friendly a smile as she could manage; inwardly, she grit her teeth and wished a most painful death on the sneaky little brownie that had forced her to use magic in the first place. Working in a Muggle library was enough of a challenge that she didn't need the added aggravation. "Of course, Mr. Mapplethorpe. I promise it won't happen again, regardless of the circumstances."
"I should hope not. You have been an otherwise excellent employee so far, Miss Chang. It would be a pity to lose you."
And with a curt nod, the old man spun on his heel and walked away. She waited for him to be well outside of hearing range, then turned back towards the shelves, glaring angrily at the grinning brownie who'd hidden behind Volume Six of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Sighing, she pushed the banishing spell from her mind and instead produced the tiny Binaca spray from her pocket. It wasn't even half as efficient as Muggle household insect spray, but if it was effective even in the short term, it would do. Let the night shift see how they like these buggers.
The frown instantly reversed itself as she watched the brownie dance away in a hopping fit of pain as the minty spray bit at its eyes. It wasn't a banishing spell, but it would have to do, and she sighed wistfully as she returned to her shelving duties. She was off in a half-hour, anyway.
Magic had been something of a complicated affair since the War of Darkness ended. Voldemort had been defeated--for good, this time--but the price had been high. Too high; everything about the magical world changed, including its most important aspect: secrecy. The moment Voldemort's body had hit the ground, the magical Veil separating the Muggle and Wizarding worlds had collapsed entirely. Barrier spells and shields became particularly weak, though all magical effects were operating strangely. Places that were once Unplottable were now cropping up even on Muggle maps. Neither Ministry knew how to handle the situation, and Muggle/Wizarding relations were at its worst, with riots and random street violence breaking out all over the place. It was some time before arrangements were made, and new laws set in place. Soon, the Magical and Muggle Ministries had formed a temporary merger of sorts, with squads of wizards working together to reinstate the Veil while Muggle specialists tried to find a way for magic to coexist with the Muggle way of life. It had been about three years since then, but progress was slow, and all developments had been minor.
In the meantime, witches and wizards living within Muggle communities were encouraged to relocate to formerly magical--or even Squib--communities, if only for personal safety. Magical law enforcement was forced to a strange sort of flexibility; magic in the presence of Muggles was more of an inevitability than a crime, anymore, but punishments for magical infractions were more harsh.
Thankfully, she hadn't done anything particularly noticeable; a small concealment spell to cover the brownie. She could have left it exposed--and with the effectiveness of the spell, she might as well have--but that would probably lead to her being blamed for its presence to begin with. All she could do was hope it stayed gone long enough for her shift to end, while she collected all the books that had been strewn over the floor. At least they were organized, thanks to the magic she'd been caught doing.
Just as she finished, one of the circulation clerks came to get her attention. It was a patron looking for a particular book in her section. She followed the clerk to the front desk, then asked them to transfer the call to the break room; she knew better than to take this particular call out in the open.
"Good evening, and thank you for calling the London Metropolitan Library. This is Cho; what might I help you find this evening?"
"Good evening. The book in question is the Cliffs Notes booklet concerning Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Does your branch have it?"
"Yes, we do. I can hold it for you overnight, but that's the best I can do. Will that suffice?"
"Actually, I was also wondering if your branch was on the inter-library loan system? I can't make it down to the main branch for a couple of days, but if you could transfer it to the Fulham branch, I would be most appreciative."
She thought for a moment, though she already knew the answer. "We are on the system, though I am not certain the Carle Park location is. I can certainly look into that for you, if you'd like?"
"If you would, please. I will be available at this number, when you find out the information."
Taking down the number, she thanked the caller for their time, then hung up. After that, she immediately made note of the time and location of the next meeting; her second job was starting late tonight, compared to other nights. What was tonight's assignment, though? Stowing the note in a secret pocket of her purse, she went back out into the stacks to finish what she started.
Finally, five o'clock came. As she drove home, she went over the note in her head, committing as much to memory as she could manage. There was a moment of distraction, when the news broke with information concerning Lucius Malfoy's death; thankfully, they were stupid enough to think he'd ingested it, and were investigating the wait staff. It was the wrong trail, and poor luck to them, but they did what they had to do. That was all that mattered.
Once she was home, all she had to really do was wait. Her Muggle roomate had moved out a week ago, so there wasn't anyone to lie to, anymore. That was a pleasant experience; it also meant no shielding phone calls, and the only time she had to worry about code was when she had calls at work. Making herself a cup of darjeeling tea, she kicked back and watched the sun's descent. When she felt drowsy, she went over to her bedroom, set the alarm, and decided to take a nap. The less tired she was at the meeting, the better she'd probably understand what was going on.
Unfortunately, it wasn't the alarm, but the loud knocking that woke her at eleven forty-five. She answered the door to find Luna standing there, bag over her shoulder. The look on her face was a mixture of bemusement and impatient irritation.
"We'll be late, you know. Honesty's wondering why you've not answered her calls."
"Must've slept through the ringer," she muttered, silently cursing at herself as she ran back to her room to grab her things. "Thought I had the damned thing at full volume!"
"Well, no use crying over spilt pumpkin juice. Oh, and I took the liberty of fixing your car, before I woke you up."
Cho froze mid-step as she was rushing back towards the door. "There should've been nothing wrong with my car. What do you mean, you fixed it?"
"Oh, nothing," she sighed, shrugging. "Only that someone apparently was trying to steal your front right tire, and was rather unsuccessful. On the other hand, you got a free car jack out of the whole thing, and I doubt he'll bother you anymore." With a sly grin, she produced the greasy car jack in question, before letting it fall to the side. "Funny contraptions, those."
"You mean you saw him?" She ran past Luna out the door, looking to see if she could find any trace of the would-be thief.
"What? Oh, yes, I saw him. Rather embarrassing little fellow, too. Didn't much like me, but the feeling was mutual. In any event, here are your keys."
Cho looked at Luna's hand, unnerved to find her car keys dangling from her index finger. "Don't. Do. That. In. My. House." She enunciated every word, hoping to get the point across. Luna's suffering of the Shadowshade Curse was unfortunate, but there were elements she wished Luna could do without.
"I won't, if you stop taking too long. Now, let's get going. Traffic's light, thankfully, because I can't jump Muggle devices with me."
"Besides, I rather like my car the way it is, thank you." She cast a quick glance at her little blue Eclipse, trying to picture it slowly turning black and not liking the image. "Still got everything, do you?"
Another annoyed sigh as they got in the car, then the glint of light against crystal. "Yes. Why is it you always ask me that whenever we meet?"
"Because I'm your Watcher, and that's part of what I do," she replied sharply. "Now, keep an eye out for the police; I'm going to buy us some time."