The Flight Of The Vulture

January 2nd, 2007

Belle had seen two candidates so far for her assistant position. She needed someone competent enough to learn the business, but also creative enough to put out good designs. Both candidates had been inept in both.

One was a young man Samantha had recommended. Dean Thomas was a fine artist. However, Dean proved to only be competent at painting and had no experience with fabrics or design work. He was rotten with any kinds of maths. He'd also arrived twenty minutes late, not at all a proper candidate.

The next was an overworked house elf Hermione had sent over from the Ministry, she seemed almost too frail to work. Her hands had been broken multiple times by abusive owners. Belle liked that the elf had a good mind for numbers, but her skills were more than lacking. She wished she could have helped the poor thing.

Belle had high hopes for the final candidate who arrived promptly fifteen minutes early.

It was odd to see a Scandinavian gnome dressed so modernly in what looked like a bright pink floral pantsuit. Her soft looking golden braids were pinned in a crown atop her head. Belle recognized her immediately. Even though she was much more mature than Belle remembered, Belle would have recognized her anywhere.

"Hello Mrs. Fyre." The little Scandy Gnome held out her hand, "I'm Imogene Berg and I'm here for the position."

"You are Ingrid Berg's daughter correct?" Belle asked after shaking her hand and leading her to the back room where she had a little interview space set up.

"I am, since my baby sister is taking over the family business, my mum suggested I go ahead and apply with you." Imogene smiled a little as she seated herself. She settled into her seat and fixed her suit jacket nervously. "I've followed your work since I was a little girl. When I met you and I learned people could grow up to be artists and designers, I decided I had to pursue the career."

"I am beyond flattered." Belle put her hand to her heart. "Do you have current sketches?"

Imogene nodded before reaching into an ebony satchel. She pulled out an emerald sketchbook.

Belle took the book and poured over Imogene's sketches. They were certainly along Belle's style and she could tell Imogene had studied her work. They were imaginative, but based in nature and the natural flow of life. It seemed Imogene, like Belle enjoyed taking inspiration from the world around her.

"So miss Imogene, you certainly have talent in design." Belle said still leafing through her sketch book. "But it does take more than just good drawings and sketches."

"I can do the magic too." Imogene insisted scooting up a bit closer. She waved her hand over the drawing like she was just skimming it across a pond.

The dress upon the page was designed to look like icicles hanging off of a roof. The faceless model in the picture jumped up and began twirling around. The icicles even made crackling noises and it felt cold to her touch.

"I also need someone who can balance books and handle the shop when I can't." Belle said as she watched the little model jump back onto the page. She was exceptionally impressed by Imogene's design and magical abilities.

"I have been helping my mother for years, you've seen her filing system I assume?" Imogene asked with a slight shift in her chair.

Belle had seen Ingrid's filing system. It was a large room covered in shelves with files constantly flying around. She nodded in response.

Ingrid fixed her suit jacket again before smiling boisterously as she explained, "I alphabetized everything in a new and more concise way, she found files she thought she lost years ago. I also balanced her books for the last five years."

"When can you start?" Belle asked looking into the young gnome's eyes.

"Next week." Imogene clasped her hands enthusiastically. Her eyes began twinkling while her feet danced a bit as they dangled from her chair.

Belle gave her a small tour and discussed salary. Belle was excited to hire her and have her on board. She was exactly the kind of person who could expand her business.

Before leaving, Imogene stopped in the doorway.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course Miss Berg." Belle resisted using one of Ed's signature jokes. She'd almost responded, 'Didn't you just ask one?' but decided against it.

"Why hire someone new? Your store and your brand are both so well respected, why allow someone else to come in? This is your artwork after all." Imogene asked with a tilt of her head.

"I have been striving to retire for a while. I'm not ready for it yet, but with my children both finally in a place I feel better about, I'd like to begin the steps towards it." Belle shrugged, "After my trip to America in March, I'd like to start considering the future more in depth. Whatever that holds anyway. It will be a slow transition of course, but overall I hope to have more time for my family."

"Are you looking for a partner someday?" Imogene raised an inquisitive golden eyebrow.

"There is a possibility." Belle answered. She could see Imogene's eyes sparkle. "Let's take things one day at a time of course."

Over the next few weeks, Belle found she didn't regret the decision in hiring Imogene. Samantha had been attacked by a Brenna family member and due to her malediction, her heart had been in danger of being permanently damaged.

Belle tried not to blame herself. It was her family's curse, it was her brother's daughter who had attacked her. Belle knew the situation was out of her control, but the blame plagued upon her heart like it was tied by a stone. She wanted to reach out to her family, but even in her somewhat catatonic state, Samantha begged Belle to consider her own safety. Belle respected her daughter's wishes and stayed away.

With Imogene's help Belle had been able to go back and forth to Hogwarts to spend time with her ailing daughter. Neville had insisted Samantha come to stay with him. He was doing his best, as was Madame Pomfrey, but Belle tried to be with her as much as possible.

The store continued to run as smooth as a polished stone. Imogene took orders, always giving Belle final approval on designs, but satisfying customers with high quality. Even some of her more persnickety customers expressed their appreciation.

On an early February evening, Jack arrived at his parent's house for his weekly dinner. He had his exceptionally large Pygmy Puff, Cherry Blossom in tow.

When Blossom wasn't surrounded by other creatures, she wasn't as prone to breaking things. Belle still liked to keep an eye on her, just because she didn't know her own size. So she offered the puff a bowl of food beneath the table at Jack's feet.

"Where's Maria?" Belle asked as she came back up, "I made extra meatloaf."

"Oh she and I are at odds for the present." Jack shook his head.

You could hear the sound of Blossom begin chewing away at her supper.

Belle was shocked, just a month ago the two were nearly inseparable.

"What happened?" Belle asked as she sat to her chair at the table.

"I wanted to see that Healer, the one who helps Sammy." Jack said softly. "I could have the curse too after all."

"And?" Belle asked raising an eyebrow, "What's wrong with wanting answers for that?"

"She said it was contradictory to my previous assessment that modern medicine is nothing more than a way to control the masses on a larger scale." Jack said as he sat down to the table. He summoned a beer for himself from the kitchen. "Which I agree, but I also know I can't ignore it if there is a problem."

"That's not a very good reaction on her part." Ed interjected looking up from his meatloaf, "Partners are supposed to care about each other."

"She's allowed her opinion, even if it stings my heart in every possible way." Jack gripped his fork, "Besides we aren't partners in the traditional sense for that very reason, so we can have little attachment to what the other one thinks."

"But you seem slightly attached to what she thinks." Belle callously reminded.

Jack shook his head and breathed a very deep sigh of relief, "No, because I still saw Lores and I'm glad I did. I do not have the Blood Curse."

Belle leaned back and felt her breathe steady, "Oh Merlin's beard, that's excellent news."

Ed breathed a sigh of relief as well, he lifted his wolf beer stein and toasted Jack, "I'll drink to that."

"Yeah, Lores said it can affect men, but normally it results in a hedonistic tendency for murder." Jack smiled from ear to ear before shrugging, "And I've never murdered anyone."

"That's a relief." Ed said with less emphasis than one would have expected.

Belle's breath broke again, "That makes more sense than I care to admit."

"I mean, if we look at it, I haven't killed anyone." Jack said as Blossom coed beneath the table. "Sammy's killed more people than I have."

Ed stopped eating and instead just raised an eyebrow at Jack, "She has?"

"Out of self defense." Belle reminded.

"While we venture into the deep and intricate topic of morality, all of these events have inspired a devastating thought for me." Jack revealed with a deep breath, "Life is incredulously short and I've wasted so much of it."

"Jack, you haven't wasted your life." Ed shook his head.

"Yes, but now I know what I want to do with my life." Jack excitedly exclaimed as he put his fork down. "I have a world of opportunity ahead of me, and I have finally discovered what I truly want now. It's possibly a decade of work ahead of me to finance it, but I know what I really want now. I may even take a few classes at Muggle universities."

"What is it you desire so desperately my dear?" Belle asked looking up from her supper.

"I want to open a record store, one that's made up of both muggle and magic records!" Jack exclaimed, "It could be a way of combining worlds so to speak. Music has always been a conduit for bringing worlds together. I can still study philosophy, but I can put it to practical use by helping others feel and express their emotions through music."

Ed stopped eating. Abruptly, he locked eyes with his son.

"I don't obviously have the financial capability yet. But do me a favor, don't mention it to Sammy." Jack rubbed his neck. "She has done so much for me already, and I know she will try to finance it. I want to earn this myself. I don't know if it's merely a sense of pride I seek, but I want something that I've done. I haven't done much right have I?"

"How can I help you?" Ed asked with a conceding smile. "I used to manage a record store, I do know how to communicate with the muggle music distributers."

"I'm glad you asked." Jack reached his hand to his father's shoulder, "I want to break up the mundanity of your life father, will you be my business partner?"

Ed's eyes filled with tears but his smile broadened, "We might butt heads."

"Good, I need a challenge." Jack answered with a bigger smile, "Someone needs to keep my pigheadedness in check."

Ed reached out a hand, "Alright partner."

Jack took his father's hand. They shook hands like old business partners who'd been very immersed in the world.

"What am I? A dungbejtle?" Belle asked only slightly jesting, "I've only independently ran a business for nearly two decades."

"Yes, but I wouldn't dream of taking you from your business mum." Jack said quickly, "I apologize for not asking you, but you have such a fantastic business on your own. Dad and I, we just might need each other. I need a muggle on the outside and he needs a wizard on the inside. Not all of us are so capable of standing on our own laurels like you and Sammy."

Belle smiled before coughing out a laugh, "Excellent judgement Jack."

She'd never heard her son speak so humbly before.

"Well then Jack, do me a favor, don't take upwards of decades." Ed laughed before taking a drink of beer. "Your old man, is in fact nearing actual old age."

"Not to worry dad, my goal is to open in less than a decade." Jack insisted before returning his attention to his meal. They spent the rest of the evening discussing their dreams for their future shop while listening to the records Jack had enjoyed in his childhood.

January 13th, 1987

"Jack turn on a record will you?" Ed called to his son as he carried a box through the living room of the house towards the kitchen at the back. Belle wanted to do a lot of the unpacking with magic, but Ed insisted the children know the meaning of hard work. So Belle compromised and insisted on doing a half and half job.

"Which one dad?" Jack asked as he ran to the newly set up turn table near the large front window.

"Steve Miller Band please." Ed responded with a chaotic chuckle, "It's good chore music."

Jack didn't waste any time, he picked a record and placed the needle onto the record. Belle laughed as she heard the music drift through the home.

Sammy giggled as she danced through the door to the house with a box full of dolls and notebooks. Her high curly pigtails bobbed as she twirled.

"Sammy close the door behind you, it's cold out there!" Ed called.

A few boxes followed her inside, just the ones she couldn't carry herself. She turned to look at the door and with a small but curt nod, the door shut behind her.

"Samantha!" Belle scolded at her daughter. "What do I constantly tell you about magic outside of school?"

Samantha was only six, but already had a way of sneaking a bit of magic here and there. Some of it was a bit beyond her skill level already. Belle should have been impressed, but there were rules about those kinds of things.

"That I have to wait." Samantha pouted. Her lower lip pressed up.

"Go on, up the stairs." Belle waved her hand for her to keep going. "Get that bright pink nightmare of a room together."

Belle had hoped her daughter would pick a more practical color, but at this moment everything she loved was pink and sparkly. She liked tutus and floral dresses, all things Belle would never have dreamed of wearing herself. Currently her daughter was wearing a rose colored set of dungarees and a hot pink striped shirt beneath.

"I don't think my room is a nightmare!" Samantha exclaimed with a stamp of her foot, "I will always love pink. Nothing and no one could ever change my mind."

Belle hoped desperately that her daughter was wrong, "Sounds like a plan. Now go on, get yourself better unpacked.

Samantha continued up the stairs. She began talking to one of the dolls in the box as she climbed the stairs, "Can you believe it? We get to have our very own pink room. I'm practically a princess."

Jack ran out to the car which was just down the hill from the cottage and grabbed a box into his arms, he returned with multiple boxes following him. He was humming along to the tune of the music.

Belle herself decided to take a trip to the car. She needed to grab the boxes she intended to hide away up in the attic. She didn't want either of the children accidentally getting inside the boxes.

She was stopped mid trail by Minerva who was standing at the bottom of the hill in front of their new home with a bittersweet smile upon her face. She was looking up at the little cottage.

After Mr. Urquart's tragic death about a year before Belle's official move, Belle insisted Minerva didn't have to help them move into the cottage. Mr. Urquart had spent a good deal of effort finding them the perfect cottage and making it livable for their family.

Minerva claimed Mr. Urquart would have wanted to help as much as possible. Minerva of course had taken the death of her husband incredibly hard. Belle had done what she could to tend to her friend, but Minerva insisted she continue on acting as she always had.

"Minerva." Belle greeted softly, "I didn't expect to see you here today."

"I just wanted to check and see how the move was coming along." Minerva revealed, her eyes still glued to the home.

"It's going quite well." Belle said wrapping her coat around herself as the air chilled a bit more. "I have the aviary all set up and the children love their new rooms."

"He would love to know they enjoy it." Minerva nodded her head, tears in her eyes. "He would have loved them."

Belle put her arm around her friend's shoulders. "He would have."

Minerva hastily wiped her tears. "I hear Mr. Fyre has his muggle music playing."

"Yes, he says music keeps the mood up. The kids really respond to it." Belle observed. "Honestly, I believe muggle music has a real magic on its' own."

"Your observation seems to be correct." She nodded a little. Her hat almost flew away in the wind that whipped around them.

"Ed has his first day of work on Monday and I am officially set to open in six months time." Belle excitedly updated.

"Good, things may finally be going in the right direction. Let's hope it stays that way." Minerva smiled weakly as she spoke.