Knight of the Black Rose (11 page)

"Oh no...of course not," Travis said smiling as though wild ideas were springing to mind.

Will though didn't have any plans to use his powers for anyone else, nor did he want to make a big deal out of it; which was when he saw his book and took it off of the shelf. He was kind of a little worried now wondering if he shouldn't have told him what he could do; he didn't even seem to be paying attention to what he was doing because he hadn't picked up his own book which he said that he needed.

"What year are you in?" Will asked him.

"Oh...second," Travis answered just before he walked off down the next aisle.

Will frown as he watched him walk off, he really was doing it, just following him around like a groupie even though he had only known him for a couple of minutes; he grabbed his book off the end of the shelf or rather what he thought was his book and quickly followed after him. The only problem was he wasn't down the next aisle; he looked up and saw that it read ‘Charms’, well he had his book but he didn't have one for that subject; so he quickly went down the aisle looking for a book which had level two on it. He couldn't believe that he was doing this, these books weighed so much and he was actually looking for his still, even though he had disappeared on him; then he realized that he still had his list.

"Damn it." Will said loud enough for those stood around to hear, and look over at him.

A book flew off the shelf to his left and landed on top of his pile of books, he looked around wondering who had done it but couldn't see anyone with a wand out so lowered the pile to see what it was; he just stared at it not sure how but it was the book he had been looking for; that was kind of cool, he'd have to tell his dad about that when he got home since he had never been able to do that before and especially without a wand.

Okay he was excited at how he had gotten that book down, but he had to find Travis and get his list back for now, and find the rest of his books, then find his aunt and then he could leave the store and get away from Travis and his sister to get the rest of his things; simple he could do that.

Will carried on down the aisle and turned onto the next aisle, if he wasn't so annoyed he wouldn't have minded looking at some of the books because this aisle was titled Particle Magic for Everyday Use; now a couple of books like that would come in handy, as the books that they had at home were kind of dated. He spotted him then, near the end of the aisle so he hurried up to catch him, he saw a large book stuck out of the edge and picked it up as he walked past.

He wasn't stood alone, but there were two more lads stood with him not that he cared, in fact it would make it only a little easier; he gave the nearest lad to him Travis' books, he was almost the same height as Travis and had gelled spiked hair. The lad only just about caught them because he had been taken by surprise even more so when Will shifted his own books to his free arm and whacked Travis over the head with the book he had just picked up, he was almost knocked off his feet and the smile wiped off of his face; he grabbed his letter back off of him as he stormed past down the last aisle. He knew it wasn't a very good idea to pick a fight with an older lad but he didn't care as he had annoyed him by just walking off like that and making him carry all of the books by himself; well now that he thought about it, hitting him with the book was probably a little much, but he couldn't really do anything about it now except perhaps run away.

"I think you upset her," the other lad said as he lifted his head out of a book, revealing piecing blue eyes under his sandy hair which he pushed back with his free hand.

"She almost killed you," His friend said astonished, still holding his books.

Travis lent back holding his head staring at his friends seemingly speechless by her reaction, he didn't think that he had done anything wrong only tried to help her and this was how she repaid him, he might as well not have bothered. He wasn’t completely sure what he was going to do about it, but it wasn’t like he would never get to see her again as she was going to the same school as he was, which meant that he had a little time to figure something out.

Chapter Three

Twenty minutes later Will was laded down with books on the top balcony, he had somehow found all of his books without running into that Travis guy and his friends again; in fact he was sure that they had already left so all he needed to do was find his aunt somehow, even though that she seemed to have just disappeared on him.

He started looking through the crowd of people below and was sure that he finally spotted her looking around for him as she wasn't carrying any books of her own. He quickly made his way down the stairs that were just next to him, not wanting to lose her again; he was careful not to drop anything or trip down the narrow stairs because he couldn't hold the hand rail or see the steps because of all the books that he was carrying. He finally came out at the end of the fifth aisle and walked up the next aisles just in time to see his aunt who turned around just then looking relieved to see him also.

"I've been looking for you for ages," Anne told him.

"Sorry, but I found all my books," Will told her smiling brightly and as innocently as he could, hoping that she hadn't heard about what had happened with the fire or with him hitting someone; which it wasn't as though he did that sort of thing all the time, actually never.

"Well...I guess that's alright then," Anne said as they walked over to the counter which was actually surprisingly free of customers, considering the rest of the shop.

Another twenty minutes later they were walking down Archer Alley after finishing buying the books and also Will's first year potion supplies, along with another book and a cauldron which Anne was carrying because it was too heavy for him and all of the books.

"I can't believe that I have to take that thing with me to school," Will said frowning slightly, wondering why they haven’t invented something a little more modern.

"Yes, I know; you would think that they would supple something like this wouldn't you?" Anne said scowling at the cauldron. "But I guess it's so that you all take responsibility for all of your own things. Though I think you do get to store them in the actual classroom, you don't have to carry them around everywhere with you; which of course is a plus,"

"Oh well," Will said distractedly as he saw a cafe just before the alley split into two, he was getting a bit hungry considering that he didn't have anything to eat before he came out, and they had been walking around now for a while and with all this stuff that he had to carry, he really could do with something.

The cafe's umbrellas were patterned like festive mushrooms, though that didn't seem to bother anyone, in fact there was quite a large crowd sat outside with a few spare tables.

"Aunty Anne..." Will started.

"Perhaps we should get something to eat considering that we haven't had anything all day," Anne suggested, having the same idea.

They walked over to an empty table careful not to knock into anyone with their shopping, but they weren't the only ones there who were layered down with shopping, as they soon realized trying to get through all of the tables. Will sat down first when they finally reached an empty table and put his books on the empty chair next to him and his bags on the floor, Anne put all of her shopping on the floor underneath the table and then picked up the menu.

Will didn't listen to a thing that his aunt ordered for them because he was too busy watching everyone walk pass wondering where they all came from and where they would all go back to after they had finished shopping because there weren't any apartments around here, well not what he had seen so that must mean, that this place was just for the shopping.

He also kind of wondered how many of those he had seen his own age would actually be going to his school, or one of the many others in their world.

That actually made him remember Travis and his friends and he wasn't looking forward to seeing them again nor what they could tell anyone else about what he had done to him, not really how he wanted to be known before he had even started; well he didn't actually want to be well known among everyone just have a nice group of friends like he has now, it was going to be hard enough considering that his father was a Dark Wizard Tracker.

They both ate their dinners talking about what they had done so far and what they had seen, as it had been kind of a nice change for the two of them to go out shopping like this, especially for all of his school things, it was kind of like going out with a mum; he had often thought that if his mum had still been alive she would probably be like his aunt and he probably would have gone with her. But he was alright with how thing's were at the moment, as it was alright living with his dad, because he got to see his friends whenever he wanted and it had kind of already gotten him used to how it would be at school not seeing him that often. Well that thought didn’t really make it any less scary that he would be living somewhere else, but at least he would have his friends and he could still contact his dad whenever he wanted, though it might take a little longer to get a reply.

"I've still got two things left to get," Will announced suddenly, as he needed to get his mind onto other things. "A telescope and a wand,"

"Yes you can't be going without that," Anne said smiling.

"I wonder where the shop is?" Will said sitting up hoping to see it through the crowd, as he was sure that he hadn't seen one yet.

The young woman that was waiting their table came back over to their table to clear away their plates, so Anne stopped her.

"Summer, isn't it?" Anne asked.

"Yes," Summer answered smiling.

"I was wondering where we could buy a telescope from..." Anne asked her.

"And a wand?" Will asked excitedly, as he thought that was far more important and he finally wanted to get his hands on his very own.

Summer smiled at them. "Two shops down on your right, still on Archer Alley. For your wand, it's right at the very end of the alley; you can't miss it,"

"Thank you," Anne said. "Well then, stall we start heading down?"

"Okay," Will said gathering up his books and bags as did Anne.

They made their way carefully through the tables again, and were back out into the throng of the alley feeling like they hadn't even had a break from it because it was still so crowded; they started down looking for the shops that they still wanted.

"How about you go on ahead for the wand," Anne suggested, as she was starting to worry about the time as it had taken them longer than she thought going from one shop to another seeing as she hadn't been here in years. "I'll get the telescope,"

"What?" Will said somewhat unsure, but actually thinking about it, he didn't really see any problem with going by himself. "I guess I could,"

"It'll be alright, it's just at the end; I won't be far behind you," Anne told him. "And when you're finished just wait outside for me,"

"I guess so," Will nodded still unsure about going off on his own, but he still agreed all the same even though he was a little scared about going getting his first wand on his own; this had been one of those times that he had wanted his dad to be there for, it was supposed to be an important moment in a wizards life receiving his first, and now he was going to do it alone.

"Take this, thirty Silronze’s that should be plenty," Anne told him before she headed off towards the other shops.

Will walked down on his own carrying his bags and books trying not to bump into anyone but they didn't seem to be giving him the same consideration, he was starting too wonder how long the alley was when he saw the end of it realizing that it wasn't actually very long after all, it just seemed it because it was so hard to get past all of these people with everything that he had. The shop right at the end was the wand shop; he started to slow his pace as he got closer his nerves getting the better of him what if none of them worked with him? What if he wasn't powerful enough to use one and they had made a terrible mistake after all? He knew he was being stupid, because all of his family had magical powers, but it was really nervous and also exciting to be getting his first wand.

He was almost there and could see the sign of the shop over the heads of the crowd ‘DISTINY IN HAND’ when he stopped, seeing someone already in the shop heading towards the door, it was a girl with light brown hair cut into a bob and she was smiling as she opened the door followed by her mum and dad.

Will watched them leaving the shop before he went in behind them, the door closed with a snap, and then he stood in the empty shop. This was the only shop that he's been in all day that didn't have anyone else in it which kind of made the shop feel somewhat spooky. Unlike the other shops which had normal lights this one used candle lamps which didn't give off much light, and being at the end of the ally there wasn't much light coming through the windows either, though he also thought that they were kind of ditty caked up with dust, as though they hadn’t been clean in ages.

The shop and its contents looked as though they have been here for years as everything seemed overly dusty, the walls which were covered in small draws made the shop seem really closed in; he stood there wondering what to do and sure that there must be someone in here considering that the last people were served, when he finally heard something moving in the back.