“I can hardly see you as that little boy I met, what? Twenty years ago,” said Shiela. They had gone upstairs to the small apartment above the shop when Beau lived. He was brewing tea in the tiny kitchen next to the equally small sitting room where Marianne and Shiela were settled into his sofa.

“That sounds about right.” He said from the kitchen.

“You were so small, not to mention you had blonde hair back then.”

“Well, Sam’s a magician after all and he used magic for everything while I was growing up.”

“I see, I’m glad we chose him to take you in.”

“Did he not volunteer?” exclaimed Beau from the kitchen

“Oh no, not that man. We thought raising a child would make him happy again.”

“After his fishing accident?” asked Beau from the kitchen.

“That’s right, he was always sad after he lost his eye.” She tried to provide some context for Marianne who was doing her best to follow the conversation.

“He always said he brought me in out of the kindness in his heart.” Beau chuckled, coming through the door with two cups of tea and placing them on the small table in the middle of the room. He went back in to retrieve his own cup then sat on the chair he had dragged from downstairs.

“Well that’s not entirely untrue,” Shiela said, smiling at the memory.

“What about you? Are you related to Shiela in some way?” Beau asked Marianne with an anticipating face. She had gone a little red because she felt a little out of place in this reunion, he had no doubt noticed and sought to include her.

“We’re not related, I just work for her in her wand shop,” she replied with a smile.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I see,” said Beau, confusion prevalent on his face.

“We... Well, to be honest, we wanted to get away from the high street after what happened,” Shiela said, not smiling anymore.

“Ah, I saw that too, not a nice thing to see on your way for breakfast,” Beau grimaced a little then sipped his tea.

“I can’t imagine it would be. I stayed holed up in my shop until Mary here came down. I told her, ‘I do not want to see whatever they are going to pull from that alley,’ is what I said wasn’t it darling?” she said, asking for confirmation from Marianne.

“That’s exactly what you said.” Marianne was not sure if it was exactly but agreed anyway.

“I’m glad I could offer some reprieve from, well, whatever it is that happened,” Beau shrugged.

“Well, it has to be to do with that rogue, doesn’t it?” Shiela said with an angry look on her face. Beau shrugged again and took another sip of tea.

All members of the conversation decided to move the topic quickly on, the two visitors decided to leave after their first cup of tea. Knowing it was business hours they felt it rude to force the shop closed just for them. Marianne was slightly apprehensive to leave, however, as perched on one of the shelves was a beautiful blue hair clip that she thought would suit just about every dress in her wardrobe.

“Beau, how much is this?”

“Actually, you’re my first customer here so, I’d like you to have it for free. Provided you’re a magician of course.”

“I am a magician, but I could not take it for free.”

“All right, then the price is that you put in a good word about my shop to that fancy academy of yours,” he said with a smile. He was hoping this early investment would pay itself back when she told all her rich friends about his shop.

Although, he had to admit – maybe killing a cult member so close to the high street was a bad business decision.

“Deal, I’ll make sure to tell the whole school.”

“If you can do that, I’ll let you take another one,” Beau chuckled in reply.

“I will hold you to that,” smirked Marianne.

“That’s fine,” he said.

“All right, but next time I’m choosing that,” she pointed towards a box that had its own shelf behind Beau’s desk they had found him tinkering behind. It was a dull green colour with a quite remarkable pattern on the front of it, the golden lock on the front was exceptionally detailed leaving what was inside safely up to the imagination.

“That’s not fine, I’m afraid,” Beau shook his head, “It’s more of a keepsake than a product. I just leave it there to impress customers.”

Marianne smiled, “Well, it certainly works!” she exclaimed. Marianne and Shiela departed after saying their goodbyes, leaving Beau to continue working. By the time they got back to Shiela’s shop, they decided to get to work themselves and after reopening their shop and closing one of the curtains slightly, they managed to forget the commotion that was happening outside.