Briallen Bevin and the Clocktower Guard

Chapter 4: New Boundaries

Briallen, who had never been further north than Washington D.C., nor further west than Nashville, felt out of place when she arrived in the center of Fort Wayne, Indiana, at a designated Floo-station in a small bookshop storage room. A few days had passed since the big storm in The Village (which lasted abnormally long for a storm), and Cal Bevin had been eager to send Briallen out of Virginia, to visit her friend Marisol. Briallen initially argued against being sent away because she wanted to stay longer in The Village.

She wanted to practice Quodpot with Benjamin and spend the evenings with Hayden, but after the storm nobody was in a very good mood, including her friends. Most of their time was now spent cleaning up the debris, and Hayden hadn't even returned from Roanoke yet. He sent her an owl just before she left for Marisol's, apologizing, and explaining that more damage had been done to their Roanoke property because of the storm. He wouldn't be back until school started in a few weeks since the property was in a Muggle neighborhood, meaning they couldn't use magic to clean it up.

At least that weird weather hasn't hit Indiana, thought Briallen as she stepped out of the fireplace. Zofia Escudero, Marisol's mother, was waiting for Briallen just a few feet away and, to Briallen's surprise, she had a car waiting out front to drive Briallen to her home. Most of the witches and wizards Briallen knew who had been raised in magical families were unaccustomed to and unfamiliar with Muggle-life, but Zofia and her husband Alfonso had made the effort to adapt and blend in.

The Escudero family lived just outside of Fort Wayne: close enough to the city for shopping and just far enough away that they could practice magic without intervention from the Ministry of Magic. Briallen stared out the car window at the city as they made their way to the Escudero homestead. To Briallen it looked just like any other large city. It was bland with its tall buildings, high volume traffic, and litter everywhere, but it was still different from what she knew. It did not feel like the South. It did not have the centuries-old charm of Williamsburg; Fort Wayne was, quite simply, a big ugly city and Briallen decided right away that she hated it, and was very glad Marisol lived out in the country.

After half an hour the office buildings with their walls of glass and the crowds of people bustling from meeting to meeting began to thin out and were soon replaced by neighborhoods with small brick homes and untidy, yet welcoming, lawns. Then, even the neighborhoods began to thin out as they entered the Midwestern countryside.

Briallen grinned as she gazed out her window at familiar sights. On either side of the road was farmland, and every few miles there was the occasional farmhouse with its barn and silo and, occasionally, even a windmill. Too soon, Zofia turned off the main highway and onto a narrow gravel road, at the end of which was a beautiful Victorian-style home with a wrap-around porch, tall windows, and a large separate garage, all of which impressed Briallen greatly with its simple beauty. The large trimmed lawn had several large oak, beech, and pine trees scattered about. On the side of the house there was a small playground, shining like new, with its swings swaying in the breeze.

"Home, sweet home," chirped Zofia as she parked the car and unlocked the automatic doors. Briallen stepped out of the car, clutching her small duffle bag tightly to her chest as she followed Zofia into the large house. "Briallen, I have to finish preparing dinner before Alfonso gets home, so you can just go on upstairs. Marisol and Toby are in her room. It's the third door on the right, and it should be open. Just be careful not to wake Moraima - she's napping."

Briallen nodded but Zofia had already left for a door at the end of the hallway that Briallen assumed led to the kitchen. She walked up the carpeted stairs to the second floor hallway and looked around. On her left was a door that was slightly ajar. Inside, Briallen could just make out a baby's crib and a light snoring sound. Marisol's little sister, Moraima, was born just before Marisol's first year at Bergamot, though Marisol hardly ever mentioned her. Briallen sensed her friend was jealous of the new baby and so she never mentioned Moraima either. She walked further down the hall until she came to the door she knew had to be Marisol's because it had a pink, crown-shaped sign on the door that read, in glittery, silver calligraphy: 'Princess Marisol's Room - Bow Upon Entering.'

Briallen chuckled and opened the door.

"No, you're doing it wrong. You're supposed to bring the wand in a full circle, and then flick, and then say 'Congelo!' I'm sure of it," argued Marisol as she demonstrated a wand movement for Toby, using a pencil.

Toby grated his teeth and shook his head. "That's not what the book says!"

"That doesn't change the fact that that is how you do it."

"So the book is wrong and you are right? I'm pretty sure that- " Toby paused to look at the cover of the book he was holding. "Devdan Obano knows what he's talking about if the spell-book he wrote is being used to teach us."

"Then why did the spell only work when I cast it, and not when you did?"

Briallen cut in to the prevent the argument from escalating. "What spell are you guys talking about?"

"A congealing spell. It sort of freezes liquids. Well, it turns them into a type of jelly, really. We've been working with that glass of water there."

"Jelly water? Gross," said Briallen, wrinkling her nose.

"Not gross: cool!" corrected Toby with enthusiasm. "It's one of the charms in our new book for Spell-Working this year! There's also some defensive spells in here, finally. Would've been more helpful last year though, right?"

Briallen dropped her duffle bag on the floor and went over to Marisol's bed where she sat down next to Toby. "You've already bought your school supplies? I thought we were supposed to go to Habory Lane together next weekend?"

"I know, but my mom's law firm suddenly got a big case and she had to push back our family vacation from this weekend to next weekend, and so... I'm staying here this week and had to go to Turtle Creek last week to make sure I got my supplies before school started."

"Turtle Creek?"

"It's a wizarding town in Wisconsin. It's not as cool or as big as The Village. And it surrounds the Glen Haven School for Magic. It was weird seeing another wizarding school... it was smaller than Bergamot and it looked more like some cabin resort than a school. I mean, I didn't even know it was a school until I heard someone talking about it. It's really lame. I'm glad I didn't go there."

"At least he gets to stay here for a few days," Marisol told Briallen. "His mom wasn't going to let him visit because she didn't want him to stay the weekend with two girls." Marisol laughed loudly, not caring that her baby sister was napping. "My parents had to convince her that we really are just friends."

Briallen wrapped her arms around Toby protectively. "I'm going to have to thank your parents! It wouldn't have been the same without Toby!"

O * O * O * O

The weekend with both Marisol and Toby by her side flew by, and they all had a good time. They played tag on broomsticks in the yard, they practiced new spells, and they played Exploding Snap whenever Moraima wasn't napping. Briallen was sad when Toby had to leave after only a few days, but she just reminded herself that school would be starting soon and then she would get to see with her friends everyday again.

But as she expected the week without Toby went by slowly, compared to the weekend, and, because of sudden rainstorms, Briallen and Marisol were stuck inside most days. This especially upset Marisol because her mother left her in charge of watching Moraima whenever they were stuck inside, which was almost all the time.

"It's not fair," grumbled Marisol as she held Moraima, now one-year old and able to walk. She had a disgruntled look on her face but Moraima didn't notice her sister's unhappiness. "What were my parents thinking having another baby at their age? I mean, they're so old they're practically senior citizens and then when they die, who is going to have to look after this stupid baby? ME. I don't even want to have kids of my own! But they make me baby-sit this little brat..."

"You're parents aren't old; they're not going to die anytime soon; and Moraima is only a baby which means it is too soon to tell whether she's a stupid brat; and, oh, life is never, ever fair."

"Yeah, not for me at least. I wish I was Brenda Lance. That's the good life: fame and fortune and all that fantastic stuff."

"But she doesn't have any luck with boys - they always leave her! You wouldn't be happy if you were in her position."

"True," said Marisol, nodding. "Poor Brenda... did you read the last YW? Cyril Nibbs just dumped her, and on her birthday too! I think she might actually be cursed, and the article hinted at that too. It'll be a huge scandal if it turns out she is cursed... probably by her step-mother too!"

"Aw, that's so sad. I feel kind of bad for her," said Briallen, understanding that Marisol was speaking literally.

"Me too. But I'm still jealous. At least she has boyfriends."

"...I think I have a boyfriend," said Briallen slowly. She was almost afraid to mention it because she wasn't sure it was true and because if it was true, it would mean she had her very first boyfriend. Her feelings on the subject had changed dramatically in only a few months and she figured it was because Hayden relentlessly pursued her, slowly convincing her that it would be a good idea for them to go out. She hadn't mentioned her feelings to anyone until then, however. Even though she was almost thirteen and felt she was at an acceptable age to start dating, she knew her parents felt otherwise, and she wasn't even sure she was ready.

Marisol gasped and almost dropped Moraima. She leaned closer to Briallen to ask in an excited whisper, "Who is it? Is it Lucan? I knew it - it's Lucan, isn't it! Bad boys are just so-"

"No! I never-" Briallen paused to take a deep breath, and to remind herself that it was useless to argue about Lucan Stone, since Marisol really only mentioned him to tease her. She took another deep breath, this time so that she could say everything with having to pause to breathe. "It's Hayden Van Vlerah. He's been asking me out since winter break last year but I kept telling him no, until... he sort of grew on me. He's really nice, and he blushes every time he sees me and most of the time he's with me, and he buys me things, and when we went to the faire last week, he kissed me on the cheek at the top of the Ferris-wheel, and then we watched Brenda Lance and he held my hand the whole time."

Marisol began squealing and giggling. Moraima stared at her big sister, fascinated by the noises Marisol made, and tried to imitate her. "No way! Oh my - Merlin's sake! No way! Briallen - he is so good-looking! I'm so jealous! Wait a minute - what happened to you not, like, ever wanting a boyfriend? Ever? Remember that?"

"I know! I still kind of don't, and my mom would ground me for life if she found out, but... It's kind of fun having a boy follow me around and be so interested in me," said Briallen with a shrug. Both Marisol and she were bright pink: Marisol because she was happy and excited for her friend, and Briallen because she was still embarrassed to talk Hayden and her feelings for him.

"Now I have to get a boyfriend this year! Who do you think? Dax Rieger is cute..." Marisol started to say as she twirled her hair.

Briallen and Marisol spent the rest of the day talking about boys, and about which boys they thought would be a good match for Marisol. Normally, Briallen actively avoided such conversations, but in the privacy of Marisol's house she found herself enjoying acting like a silly girl and talking about boys. She had never had a friend she could talk to about such things, not that she had really ever thought about boys until she met Marisol.

When Saturday finally arrived, both girls were practically shaking with unused energy, ready to go to Habory Lane, and ready to get out of the house. The trip to get their school supplies meant that school would be starting very soon, and Marisol was very eager to get back to Bergamot and find herself a boyfriend - and Briallen was eager for the same thing because she was starting to grow bored of Marisol's obsession already.

Briallen and Marisol stood in front of the kitchen fireplace in Muggle clothing and a summer cloak proudly displaying their Bergamot house badges (Withers for Briallen and Wenlock for Marisol), and were chatting about how excited they were to go back to Habory Lane.

"Okay, girls - I'm here, I'm here," said Zofia apologetically as she rushed into the kitchen where the very tall, and very wide, fireplace was located. "Alfonso was in the bathroom and I didn't want to leave Moraima by herself. Alright, now take some Floo Powder and all you have to say, Briallen, is 'Habory Lane,' and you'll come out in O'Doyle's. Entiende?"

Briallen nodded, remembering clearly her first trip to Habory Lane last year, as she watched Marisol go first. "Habory Lane!" said Marisol cheerfully as she threw the Floo Powder down on the hearth. She disappeared in a flash of green flames. Briallen followed suit and soon appeared in the large, crowded building that was O'Doyle's Pub and Motel.

Marisol pulled Briallen out from in front of the fireplace so that her mother could get through. Once all three females had cleaned themselves off, they left the pub and entered Habory Lane, ready to go shopping.

Briallen loved Habory Lane because it had an old-world feeling to it, much like Williamsburg, which was one of her favorite cities, though it looked like it could be transplanted with any old American Main Street (without the magic, of course), circa 1950. She also liked that it had a certain hum, an underlying vibration, that just made it feel alive. Everywhere she looked there was magic: spells were being cast, things hung in mid-air without any string or were flying back and forth from store to store or cart to cart, and some things that most Muggles knew to be inanimate were speaking with each other or wandering around on their own. None of this was as shocking as it was when Briallen first saw it, but it still amazed her.

"Alright, girls. I have some shopping to do myself so do you think you'll be alright on your own? We can meet back at O'Doyle's at about three," said Zofia, her hands on her hips. Marisol and Briallen nodded obediently. "And Marisol, you know not to go to the right side of Habory Lane. If Mr. Rarity has to bring you back to O'Doyle's one more time... "

Marisol blushed and whispered hurriedly, "Yo sé, mamá."

"Alright... behave, both of you." Zofia then caught sight of somebody she obviously knew and rushed off. "Yolanda! How are you!"

Zofia disappeared in the crowd, leaving Briallen and Marisol standing on the front porch of O'Doyle's. Briallen glanced up at the bright sun and adjusted her tank top, wishing she had remembered to put on some sun block before they left. It had been so cold and foggy in Dustum that she had almost forgotten it was still summer; and the heat was only intensified by the crowd, but Marisol seemed not to notice as she clutched her purse in front of her and looked at the stores up and down the road in anticipation of spending a lot of money in as many of them as possible.

"So... " said Marisol, antsy with excitement. "Where do we go first?"

"Um... " Briallen looked down at the list of supplies in her hand. "Well, I need a new set of collapsible scales, also parchment, ink, and then of course, we need our new books... and then Ollie's, the pet store, and Gambol & Japes?"

"You need a new set of scales? What happened to your old set?"

"My little cousin, Holly, decided to see how many cook books it could hold. If you'd like to know the answer, it's seven. Then the scales break."

"That's why I'm glad all my relatives are either way down south or in Puerto Rico, and we visit them." Marisol and Briallen began to walk down the street to Verudite Junction, to pick up their books.

Out of nowhere, a man in a dusty brown tailcoat, very much in a hurry, ran between Marisol and Briallen, shoving them both to the side. "Merlin's beard! Excuse me, Mister! You trying to be rude or something?"

Briallen looked over her shoulder at the messy old man that had cut between her and her friend, and sneered at his rudeness, before turning back to Marisol to continue their conversation. "We don't really have a choice. Pretty much all of my relatives are in Virginia and they visit with us all the time."

"Maybe it's because your dad's so cute," said Marisol in a dreamy voice. Marisol had only ever seen pictures of Will Bevin but that was enough for her.

"Gross! Marisol, he's in his thirties! And he's my dad!"

Marisol shrugged and laughed as she pulled open the door to the bookstore. A sharp chime rang as the door opened, and was cut off when Marisol quickly pulled the door shut behind them. "I hate that sound, it reminds me of Moraima's lullaby clock," mumbled Marisol, before wandering off to a stack of books on the right, across from the front counter. Several more people entered the busy store, setting off the door chime, and Marisol winced each time.

Verudite Junction was a very large bookstore, but due to the amount of books and people inside, it felt very small. Some books were ordered neatly on the shelves, while others were placed haphazardly in wobbly, towering piles on the floor. In the back, at the end of each row of bookshelves, there was a small alcove with several pillows, inviting people to pick up a book, take a seat and relax. Also at the back of the store was a short, thin staircase leading to the second floor, which overlooked the first floor in some places, and held only school books.

Briallen loved everything about Verudite Junction, but her favorite part of it was on the second floor. While the stairs were in the back, if one went up the stairs and made their way back to the front of the store, they would suddenly come across a small space of open floor with pillows and cushions, right behind a few bookcases, and right in front of a large window that overlooked Habory Lane.

Wanting to get to that small nook as soon as possible, Briallen went to the front desk where a young woman sat reading the magazine, The Witchy Woman. As soon as she saw Briallen standing in front of her (which took nearly a full minute), she put the magazine down and jumped to her feet. "Oh, hello! I didn't see you there at first... what can I help you with?"

Without wasting any time, Briallen read off her list of books what she wanted. "I need Munin Mimir's newest runes dictionary, and Elemental Magic: The Do's and Don't's of Controlling Nature by Breg Viridian and, uh, the level 2 spell-book for Bergamot."

The witch behind the front desk nodded and waved her wand. Seconds later, those three books landed on the desk. "Would you like to pay for them now or do you plan on looking around?"

"Looking around," said Briallen as she scooped the books into her arms and walked away, letting the witch at the front desk get back to her magazine. Briallen had planned on going straight upstairs to her favorite hidden corner to read a bit while she waited for Marisol, who was currently flipping through a book on love spells, when she saw on display a new book about dragons, her favorite magical animal.

I suppose I could... thought Briallen, as she gazed longingly at Deadly Dragons! by Virago Night. I have plenty of money...

She smiled, her decision made, and pulled a copy of Deadly Dragons! off the display and added it to the pile in her arms before then wandering down the isle to see what other books had just been released. Two more caught her eye, a historical non-fiction account of a woman who befriended a unicorn, and a book that Briallen had been waiting for: Quodpot Teams of the World.

Briallen was now having some difficulty carrying all of her books. She went back to the front desk to pay for them, just so she could carry them in a bag enchanted with a Feather-Light Charm. The young woman behind the desk, not used to students want to buy so many books, shook Briallen's hand after giving her the change and asked her to please return as soon as possible.

Finally, once she let Marisol know where she would be, Briallen made her way to the back, went up the stairs and behind a bookcase, and then sat down in the small cozy nook in front of the window. She smiled as she looked down at all of the witches and wizards visiting Habory Lane that day, even recognizing a few of them. The view allowed her to see the right side of Habory Lane that led to the stores with darker inclinations, as well Gringotts, the wizarding bank, and Ollie's Old Fashioned Frozen Custard, which sat in the middle of a small park and where the line stretched past Gringotts' front doors.

"What are you doing?" whispered a voice from behind her.

Disrupted from her thoughts, Briallen's head snapped to the person who was speaking to her. "Lucan!" she said, genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"

The solemn-by-nature dark-haired boy sat down gingerly on a floor cushion across from Briallen. He was wearing, as always, somewhat formal dark slacks and a button-down shirt, neither of which were suited for sitting cross-legged on the floor, nor for a hot day. Then he noticed her staring at him, waiting for an answer. "Buying school supplies, just like you. You know, I've been in this store hundreds of times, but this is the first time I've ever noticed this sitting place."

"That's because it's a secret spot... and if you've never noticed it before now, then how did you find it?"

"I followed you," replied Lucan casually. Briallen snorted slightly, unsurprised. She had gotten used to being followed by the strange boy. "So I notice you've bought a copy of the new book for Spell-Working. What do you think? I'm looking forward to the blasting spells, myself."

"I'm not surprised. I think the portable flames look neat."

"And I'm not surprised either... What do you see in Hayden Van Vlerah?" asked Lucan, out of the blue.

Briallen was taken aback, not expecting such a question, though she knew she probably should have since he had a habit of asking sudden, unrelated questions. "He's nice? What do you even mean? Or, better yet, why do you even care?"

Lucan shrugged, acting as though he really didn't care. He picked a piece of lint off of his shirt and frowned at it. "Just curious is all. The Van Vlerahs are odd."

"You've already said this. And I like odd."

Lucan looked Briallen in the eyes and leaned forward. "You like odd? You should meet the man who runs the clock-tower at school. I'm sure you'd love him."

"Briallen! I forgot you said - Lucan?" asked Marisol, more surprised than Briallen had been. Briallen had told Marisol all about her run-in with the Stone family at the faire, and so Briallen knew that Marisol's mind must be racing with possibilities of why Lucan was here, with her, now. "What are you doing here?"

Briallen noticed that Marisol sounded strangely hesitant all of a sudden, and almost frightened, instead of annoyed, as she usually was when she spoke to Lucan.

"I'm purchasing my new school books, Marisol." Without waiting for a response, he stood up, straightened out his pants, nodded a curt good-bye to the two girls and left them in the sitting room. Marisol looked unsure of what she wanted to do or say, and so the two of them followed Lucan downstairs. Marisol paid for her books quickly and they left Lucan roaming the store.

"What's wrong?" asked Briallen after she and Marisol had walked a few stores down from Verudite Junction. They had stopped in front of Gambol & Japes joke shop to look in the windows when Briallen could no longer hold back her question.

"Nothing. Hey - we should get some stink pellets and dungbombs! I'm sure the first years would love them, don't you think?"

"If you don't answer me now, I'm going to bring this up later, Marisol."

Marisol glanced at Briallen and frowned. She linked her arm through Briallen's arm. "And I'll tell you later, but right now we're in a good mood and we're having some fun. Come on, lets get us some toys we can use on the new first years."

Briallen pretended to protest as her best friend dragged her into the joke shop, where Marisol quickly began filling her arms full of stink pellets, dungbombs, and other things that Briallen knew would get them both into plenty of trouble that year at Bergamot.