Before the Kissing Starts

[laura nicole thomas]

[/i] to have a protection charm placed on it during lock up. In the loft was the workshop, where many defunct items were still awaiting repair. At Dervish and Banges, there was more concern about something getting out than in.

As hopeless in the arts of healing as she excelled in the "mechanics" of magical items, it was little wonder that she still had a cut across her forearm when a hexed blade flew out of her hand this morning. Half the time the solution was not the difficult part of her job, but figuring out what was wrong in the first place. Her favorite part was going out on excursions to find more items for the shop. She got to do significantly less of that when students were bringing in stuff that the boy who liked them jinxed to bop them on the head through the halls.

After going through the motions of closing the shop, Laura sheathed her wand in a thin leather holster that she had designed to wrap around her forearm under her sleeve. Because of the length, she had had to fashion it to fit against the outside because it reached up to her elbow. She had always had qualms about putting her wand in her pocket, but this necessity did not occur to her until she was first attacked at work. When defunct quaffles started acting like bludgers, a girl had to be constantly on her toes.

She had worked late, but it was now pushing 6:30 and Laura was eager to get to Madam Puddifoot's. Her friend, an occasional lecturer at the school, had come back this term and was finding time during the last days of preparation to come have tea. Laura didn't mind drinking, but she liked the girlie delicateness of Puddifoot's. At least, when teenagers weren't dragging their boyfriends in, reluctantly accepting only because they knew it would pay off for them in the end. Of course, Laura had certainly never done that. At least, that's what she would claim if some thirteen-year-old came asking her. Madame Puddifoot, on the other hand, had spent years wondering when Laura opted to start coming in with her girlfriends.

Briskly walking down High Street, though with Laura's tall frame she easily could have been taking her time, she arrived outside the pink and white tearoom and did not hesitate to push the door open to reveal the cramped arrangement of flourish and tables. Most of them were empty right now, but the atmosphere was still enlivening. There was nothing like chatting, drinking tea, and being surrounded by decoration. She scanned the room for Vic, but when she did not spot her she accepted the owner's offer to seat her against the adjacent wall.

Date: 29 August 1996
Tag: Victoria Larkin[/ul]