To Hunt a Wizard [Remus and Rebecca, late March]

[wandandawolf]

Jingle-jangle.

It could have been any customer, but instead it was Remus - head almost touching the doorframe, a magnificently gangly thing, all legs and tweed and freckles and politeness. He stooped a little as if in sympathy, and gave a small motion with his hand that could have been doffing a non-existent hat out of courtesy.

"Hello Rebecca," he said pleasantly, "you don't happen to have a spare wizard in the back, do you? Young bloke, sort of pretty, about so high-" he indicated Izzy's height with his hand, "black hair, black nails, earrings, hoodies...young people these days." That was the last comment, tailing off a little as Remus shook his head. Punk had never been that pretty, and glam had never been that black: he certainly didn't understand it. And it was certainly an incongruous comment, considering Remus' own apparent age.

"He seems to be tracking magical people and items, so I thought he might have stumbled across your cheery little shop." Dropping some of the academic, bumbling affectation, Remus gazed directly into Rebecca's eyes, and spoke firmly, but quietly, keeping himself on his side of the counter so he hopefully didn't come across as bullying. "He appears to be untrained and doesn't know what he's doing. I'd like to make sure no one gets hurt."

Comments

[curio_arcanum]

Rebecca cleared her throat after catching herself gawking. She'd never been good with a quick comeback--well, not a nice one, anyway. Lying was also not on her list of strong suits. "Good to see you again." She picked up a clipboard from under the counter and flipped through a few sheets. "No, there don't seem to be any 'gothy young wizards' on my inventory. Maybe next week?" She gave Remus what she hoped was a relaxed smile.

[wandandawolf]

Remus' mouth twitched in an almost grin after the foreign - witch? wizard? sorcerer? - implied it was good to see him again. It had the ring of a polite lie, and he did so appreciate someone attempting the pleasantries. Most of wizarding society solely consisted of people attempting the pleasantries with people they despised.

"He couldn't be out the back on a shelf somewhere?" Remus wondered aloud, seemingly engrossed in looking at a particular item on a shelf that really wasn't the sort of thing anyone should be carelessly playing with. It was mostly a gambit to get her even more flustered, and Remus probably should have felt bad about it, but didn't. "Or maybe you've simply seen him wander in and out," he declared, half-turning so he could glance at her sideways, tone deceptively mild.

[curio_arcanum]

She set her jaw for a moment while she turned a few things over in her head. All she did was give herself a headache, and she pinched the bridge of her nose as she sighed. "Please stop playing with the enchanted items." They were harmless--at least as far as any tool could be called harmless--but she was sure that Remus had enough education and talent to create a spectacular backfire from them. "Look. You can consider this place the American Embassy, as far as Izzy's concerned. I'm taking responsibility for his education, and I won't let anyone black bag him; not under my watch."

[wandandawolf]

"...Black bag?" That got Remus' attention, and he looked over his shoulder, mildly horrified as the implication of what she implied hit him. He'd been a soldier, yes; he'd fought in a war, such as it was, dirty and underhanded on both sides in a way Remus had been more comfortable with than he should have been, probably, but: "Good lord, I'm just making sure he's not doing anything too stupid," he declared. "And I've been asked to be responsible for him by my lot, so I guess that means joint custody."

He was all business as he placed a particularly offending object back on the shelf and turned around properly. "So what sort of responsibility are you taking?"