[Wizard Wheezes] My 9 to 5 is cutting open old scars (Verity)

Gemma walked down Diagon Alley, glancing at shop windows without bothering to stop and give their wares a closer inspection. She made a mental note to return to a few that had displays that caught her eye, but Gemma was on a mission today. She was headed to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for the first time. It was her spring break and she was spending the day helping her Grandmother in her own shop, so she was dressed in her nicer robes with a dark blue dress over a white blouse, white knee-high socks and black ballet flats. Her short blonde hair was nicely styled with her bangs held in check by one of her own hair clips; a Celtic knot which consisted of a circle wrapped around a square and was covered in runes. There had been a slowdown in customers so her Grandmother had said she could have the rest of the afternoon to herself. It helped that Gemma had made 5 sales this morning, including a brooch that she had designed herself.

She enjoyed the walk to Number 93, taking in the brisk air and the general babble of the people out to shop. The crowd thickened considerably around Wheezes; students stocking up on pranks before returning to Hogwarts, graduates reliving their school days, and even a few parents buying gifts for their children. Gemma saw a few other students she knew from Hogwarts, but no one she was particularly close with. She gave each classmate she encountered a friendly greeting and then moved on through the store. It was quite something, full of movement and joy. She wandered through, no particular purchases in mind. She was just looking through some of the more outrageous pranks, thinking of getting one as a gift for her friend Terry when a display caught her eye.

The Headless Hats rack was standing off to the side of a small clear space. She watched a student put one on his head, both head and hat disappearing. Gemma felt her chest tighten. She had a picture of Kelly in one of those hats. He had sent it to her while she was in France. In it, he waved his hands desperately before pulling the hat off, revealing his broad smile and freckled face. She had a sudden urge to hold one, see what made it work. She walked towards the rack, gingerly picking one up. She looked the hat over, noticing unfamiliar runes stitched around the band and body of the hat. Gemma focused on understanding the runes, quietly murmuring to herself as everyone else faded to a vague presence.

Spring break was always one of the best times of year. All the school kids wanted to get stuff to prank their friends, the weather sometimes drove customers into the shop, and it just kept everyone busy. Except busy also meant that Verity didn't really get a lunch break, and that she didn't really have time to do much more than man the register and stock the shop. On the plus side, at least she could stick some snacks in her pocket and munch on them while she was working. Kinda. Sorta.

She really hopped that fizzing whizbees wouldn't go off in her pocket.

The first hour of restocking had her running back and forth between the counter and the racks, if only because she kept forgetting small things. Like the inventory list... which would have been handy to start but oh well. Going through the items was a pain. Necessary, but still a pain. Snack boxes need to be restocked. Fanged Frisbee's are down but I know we have more in the back... Maneuvering around students, Verity continued to take stock.

She heard the muttering before she noticed someone standing at the Headless Hats. After a quick scan (good on amount out, more in the back), Ver turned her attention back to what she was saying. It was curious... The girl was taking notice of the runes, which had been her addition. After a bit, she spoke up. "Runes your thing then, huh? You know, we have other products that are better for rune lovers. The hat's fun, but it's not the best rune work." She paused, taking a look at her handiwork before muttering, "stupid needles..."

Gemma didn't look up at the person speaking initially, just responded "The craftsmanship on the rune-work is excellent, but the balance is off." She looked up into the face of the speaker, and her green eyes widened. She had been a few years younger, but even after three years away she could recognize Verity Blackburn; she was almost as famous as her employers. Gemma had heard that although the Weasleys were a huge creative force, it was Verity that kept the everyday business running.

She felt a blush creep across her cheeks as she looked at the older girl. There was also a kind of hot, tight feeling in her chest which Gemma attributed to being a little star-struck. "Miss Blackburn!" she said in a breathless squeak. Gemma gave a nod, her blush becoming a little deeper. "I'm good with runes. It's one of my hobbies," she replied, her French accent much less pronounced now, less distinct. It gave her inflections a musical lilt. She unconsciously reached up to touch her hair clip. This one kept the wind at bay, which was handy but had the unexpected side-effect of redirecting the wind, which she found out this morning when the witches and wizards on either side of her had complained about how gusty it had suddenly become. "I'm in my 6th year at Hogwarts now but I hope to design my own jewelry and I find runes take better to metals and precious stones than charms do." Gemma became aware of the fact that she was babbling and stopped.

As she continued to look at Verity, Gemma felt the peculiar feeling in her chest spreading along with her blush which she imagined was now making its way down her neck. She thought that Verity might be the prettiest person she had ever met, and Gemma had once run into a girl how was half veela. I'm staring, Gemma thought, and looked away quickly. "Did you do the runes?" she asked, becoming a little more shy. "The stitching is excellent. As good as my grandmother's, and she been doing it for ages."

This kid was sharp. Verity grinned, nodding slightly. “Yeah, well… It’s hard to get the balance right on all of them. The prototype was better, but you can only hand stitch so many runes perfectly.” The look on the girl’s face made her day. Sure, she wasn’t as big as the twi- as George, but it was nice that she was getting a little recognition. Or at very least, it was nice having her work appreciated.

Miss… That was new. She chuckled. “Verity. Miss Blackburn sounds so formal.” She pulled a face, imagining the teasing she’d have to endure if that particular one ever got back to Ruby. Her friend would never let her live it down. The girl’s accent was endearing, as was her runes hobby. “Keep it up. Hobbies keep you sane, trust me.” Unlike certain other people, she actually stayed around to finish her NEWTs, which meant that she’d been dying of boredom when she wasn’t at the shop. Runes had all but kept her from losing her mind (well, runes and her friends). When she heard what the girl did, she nodded thoughtfully. “Precious stones… Never considered that. We don’t use them much at the shop because, you know… Expensive. But good on you for figuring that out.” Verity would have to look into that, if only because it could be a viable route for her own personal work rather than shop work. “By the way, take a closer look at the thread there.” She grinned, waiting for Gemma to see it; the metallic sheen that the thread seemed to have. Metal threading was a pain in the ass to work with, but it was something she’d been willing to do if it would make the products better. Her prototype had just used regular thread, of course, but she’d found that the silver thread not only enhanced the runes but also juts looked better on the hat. Kept the brim from flopping around as much, which was a nice bonus too.

Aw, she was blushing. That was cute. Verity grinned; normally she’d have fun teasing or playing with the fresh meat around the shop, but it seemed that the poor thing was already in over her head. Besides, she wasn’t actively flirting, just turning red. And staring. This was just too good; she’d have to tell Ru about it now. “Yup! And thanks. I mean, I’m used to having to patch up clothing, so I have had a lot of chances to practice.” There was a split second where she remembered stitching up clothing after spells tore through it, watching as thread pulled closed the tears that were meant to kill her. It was gone before she could dwell though, banished back to the dark recesses of her mind. “It helps that this isn’t my first time trying to enhance the product. The fabric stuff is the hardest to work with, but it always ends up working out in the end.”

Gemma focused on Miss Black- Verity's words instead of her face. She found it much easier to concentrate that way. She nodded at the remark about sanity. "Keeping my hands busy helps a lot," she replied. "I used to dance, but ballet isn't a class you can take at Hogwarts and there isn't enough interest to start a club." She shrugged and let out a little sigh. "I had to find something else to occupy my time. And after, well," here Gemma stumbled, recalling the events of her first year in France, "I went through some things and I discovered runes. They fascinated me."

She giggled a little, a sound she hadn't made very often in the past few years. "I did not think of that, but semi precious stones work as well. Glass beads too, although I would recommend painting the runes on those instead of carving them. Keeping the glass from cracking is difficult." She had calmed down again, mostly through carefully avoiding looking at Verity. She gave the runes a closer inspection, seeing the shine of the thread. "Metallic!" she said with excitement, "brilliant! Have you tried soaking the rune threads in oils and herb mixtures? I need to ask permission to take cuttings from the greenhouses, but I want to see if I can increase the potency of the spells by soaking the materials in special blends."

Gemma turned the hat around and around, following the the pattern of the runes. She looked back at Verity, her eyes alight with curiosity. "Have you tried nestling a second circle inside the first?" she asked as she ran her fingers along the runes. "If you mirror the outer circle, you could create a resonance. If it works properly, you could potentially increase the spell's duration by a half. Of course," she added, "if the circles aren't correctly mirrored, the disharmony would at best cause the spell to fail and at worst it would fail spectacularly and rip the hat to pieces." She thought a moment before setting the hat back on it's hook. "Of course this is Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. An exploding hat would probably be quite popular."

She looked back at Verity, making the mistake of catching her eyes. Gemma's blush, which had retreated during the conversation, came rushing back in full force. "I... um..." she stammered slightly, all her poise vanishing. "How do you get used to being a wizard?" she asked, surprising herself. Once she realized what she had said, her blush intensified by at least two full shades. "I mean," she began quickly, feeling like the sudden change in topic needed an explanation, "Dad raised me as a Muggle after Mom died and I didn't know about any of this until I was already in primary school. Sometimes it still feels strange, like a dream." She looked up at Verity, a witch who had grown up without magic but who seemed to be doing just fine in this strange world. "It seems so effortless for you. Do you ever cast a spell and just think, 'Wow, I can do magic!' It's surreal sometimes." Gemma shook her head, embarrassed enough to wish the floor would open up and swallow her. "I... I shouldn't take up more of your time," she apologized. "I'm sure you're very busy."

“Yeah, it tends to.” Verity knew the fidgets well; she tended to fiddle with things. She was like her brother that way: very hands on and always moving in some way. “Ballet huh?” She gave the girl a once over, nodding to herself. “Yeah, not many people are too fond of classical dancing. Or dancing at all, I’d imagine. Too busy with Quidditch.” Which was awesome, but the only sport a lot of them seemed to play. Which was sad. Silly wizards… She missed rugby. Well, she missed kicking her brother’s butt at rugby, which was practically the same thing.

“Noted… Semi-precious may be a bit much for the merch, but the beads should work just fine...” In her mind, she was already trying to see where she could work runes into the designs. If they ever got around to developing the box that made its contents invisible, she could work it in there somehow… And there were the other hats, but…  It took some effort to pull herself back into the conversation. A grin spread on Verity’s face. “I haven’t, but mostly because I’m absolute shite at Herbology. I have a black thumb, so unless I want to go out and buy herbs every time I need to do a stitching project, I’m better off utilizing what’s around the shop. Although… I could as Gin or one of her friends. Longbottom’s good with plants.” That was a thought. This kid was good, she had to admit that much.

Mirrored… the circles? Verity could feel her brow furrow as she thought about the idea, eyes glue on the hat. “I… haven’t considered that. Nesting circles could… Huh.” Her look of confusion morphed into excitement. “Exploding hats would be great! I could actually use protection charms and runes to make sure it was a safe and controlled explosion, but then utilize the effect of the runes not being totally in sync. That’s brilliant!” Why hadn’t she thought of it earlier? Oh, she’d have to tell George about this as soon as possible; he’d love it, she was sure! Plus, it’d be a big hit with the school crowd, which was always a plus. “If it works, you’re a genius!”

Ah. Practically a muggleborn, then. Verity gave Gemma a sympathetic smile, making note of the blush but not teasing her about it. Now wasn’t the time, and she liked to think she had some tact (more than the boys did at least). “You don’t entirely.” It was the honest truth; she thought back to just that morning and her mishap with breakfast, barely managing to suppress a grimace. “Trust me, kid, it’s not effortless. I’ve just known about it longer. You’re… what, still in school… Seventh year? Sixth at the earliest? You’ve hardly been in the magical world. I’ve had thirteen to adjust, and even then it hasn’t been… easy.” The last year was proof of that much. Pushing back the memories, she continued. “That feeling? It never goes away, but it shouldn’t. The second it does, this – “ she motioned around her “ – becomes nothing more than a chore. A job, like everything else. That’s the funny thing ‘bout muggleborns… This isn’t the world we were born into, and we could easily walk out if we wanted. What’s keeping us here but that sense of wonder, that surrealism?” She grinned, shoving her hands into her pockets. This was about as deep as she liked to get; let the ‘claws figure out the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. She just wanted to have fun. “Nah, but if you’ve got someplace do be, far be it from me to stop ya.”

Gemma felt Verity give her the once over after her ballet comment and she felt her blush slip up into her ears. What was wrong with her today? She never got this nervous meeting new people, and Verity's semi-celebrity status didn't seem to fully cover it. Was she coming down with a cold? Her head spun at bit at Verity's casual mention of Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. It seemed weird, but heroes must lead regular lives too. And she did remember Neville spending most of his time in the greenhouses.

She beamed with pride at the genius comment, happy to have contributed a little something. If exploding hats became a thing, she could tell all her friends that she had come up with it; not like any of them would believe her, but it was a funny thought. She was glad to know that she wasn't alone in her feelings about magic. She nodded emphatically at Verity's observations. "I don't really want this to ever feel normal," she replied honestly. "This world is wonderful. But..." here she paused a moment. She was thinking of Kelly, and spoke a little more softly, almost to herself, "it's dangerous too. But I would rather be a light alone in the darkness than spend my life in the safe prison of my fears." She may not be Auror material like her mother, but she could still stand up for what was right.

She looked back up at Verity, shaking her head to clear it, smiling as she said, "Oh, no, I have the rest of the afternoon to myself. Grandmother said since I did such a good job this morning I could stay out until inventory and closing! I have a few hours yet till I need to get back." An idea struck her, and she smiled a little mischievously. "If you want, we can work on the exploding rune circles. If we use sheets of parchment, we can see what effects, if any, the circles have on each other!" Gemma's eyes sparkled as she thought about the possible outcomes of the experiment. "We'd need some ink, and something sturdy to hide behind."