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Chapter 3: Meetings     Without further ado I made my way to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour that I had luckily passed by earlier.   E

Chapter 3: Meetings

Without further ado I made my way to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour that I had luckily passed by earlier.

Entering the building the first thing that immediately caught my eye was the beautiful reddish/orange colored hair that swayed gently with the wind produced by the opening of the door.

‘Huh, seems my attraction to redheads is as strong as ever in my second life. Might be stronger actually as that was the first thing, I noticed about Maya too.’ I thought silently rooted in place before shaking my head once and continuing to walk into the store. ‘Still, I thought I saw them earlier, seems I was right.’

Standing in line was none other than Ginny Weasley with her mother Molly and I must say that Universal Calibration had done wonders for her. Not to shame the actor that played Ginny in the movies as I thought she was hot herself but it was like comparing a pretty girl to a supermodel that you thought only existed behind a screen. Combine that with my natural attraction to redheads and you could excuse my momentary loss of focus.

The sound of the door opening must have grabbed Ginny’s attention as I saw her turn a curious eye in my direction. I observed silently as her gaze focused on me and when our eyes met, she froze in place for a moment just staring silently at my eyes for a moment. A few moments later she suddenly blinked and realizing what she had done a small blush grew on her face highlighting some of her freckles that just made her look prettier in my eyes.

‘That must have been Love Spot.’

I offered her a small friendly smile and wave in her direction as a form of greeting and was inwardly pleased when I saw her hesitantly wave back with a shy smile on her lips even if her blush had now spread to cover her whole face. After that she turned and faced forward again with her head slightly bowed in embarrassment.

Coming up behind them I waited patiently for my turn with my head facing the menu trying to think what flavor to get. It wasn’t too long before I noticed the cute antics happening in front of me in the form of Ginny as she would occasionally glance in my direction when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.

Then almost as if it was planned, I saw Mrs. Weasley searching her purse when she was about to pay before cursing softly as she whispered about having left it with Arthur for their gift of Percy making Prefect.

“Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley turned towards her daughter. “Can you stay right here for a moment dear while I go and fetch my purse from your father?”

“Sure, thing mum.” Ginny agreed with a nod of her head.

Taking that as an opportunity to introduce myself and earn a little goodwill I stepped forward and cleared my throat grabbing their attention.

“Excuse me, ma’am?” When I saw I had their attention I smiled and continued. “I couldn’t help but overhear what you said just now. How about you let me pay for your ice cream and in return you show me the way to Ollivanders?” I offered.

“You see I’m rather new to the Alley and so far, I have only managed to find my way by sheer luck. It would be nice if I could manage to find my way around without getting lost for once.” I said a little sheepishly as while I did have the Map perks, it only showed the places I had been to so far or places of enough interest like Hogwarts or the Alley.

Seeing Mrs. Weasley smile warmly at me I ignored the slight twinge I felt in my heart at seeing such a smile as it reminded me of my first mother.

“That is very kind of you dear but we can hardly accept such an offer when the only thing you’ll be getting in return is some directions. Don’t worry this won’t take long and afterwards we can still show you to Ollivanders if you wish.” Mrs. Weasley gently denied my offer with a shake of her head.

“Please ma’am it will be no trouble at all. My mother always told me to repay any favors I get and you will be really helping me out with what I asked. So far it feels like I have only been stumbling from place to place so trust me when I say that any help will be greatly appreciated.” I tried to plead again which was all true by the way.

Having intimate knowledge about the books and movies does not translate to navigating your way around this clusterfuck of a place. The only reason I had managed to find everything so far was after either stumbling to the place or after asking around a few times.

“Haah very well dear. I can tell that I’ve lost this conversation. Your mother must be very proud at having raised such a mature and respectful young man.” Mrs. Weasley let out a warm chuckle and finally agreed to my request.

“Thank you.” I smiled politely, ignoring the small twinge in my chest again.

I stepped forward and prepared to pay for the order only to internally freeze when I couldn’t find my money pouch before mentally cursing. ‘Fuck, that bastard Dung robbed me huh?’

Not letting any of that show on my face I instead sneakily pulled out some money from my inventory from the salary that all Contractors get and paid the man. ‘Now I no longer feel bad at all about turning that bastard into a slave.’

Stepping back and turning back to the mother daughter duo with a smile back on my face, I realized with a start that I had forgotten to introduce myself.

“Oh! I apologize. I just realized that I forgot to introduce myself. ‘ahem’ A pleasure to meet you, my name is Aether Cordelia. Thanks again for agreeing to show me the way to Ollivanders.” I said with a smile on my face while I brought my hand over my heart and nodded to them.

“Not to worry dear. My name is Molly Weasley and this is Ginny, my daughter.” Mrs. Weasley motioned to Ginny who had been silent this whole time.

“H-hello.” Said ginny with a blush on her face as she waved to me with one hand while holding her ice cream with the other.

Seeing that my ice cream was ready I stepped forward and grabbed it off Mr. Fortescue and with that we made our way outside and let Mrs. Weasley lead the way.

“Just this way dear.” Mrs. Weasley said taking charge and walking forward. “Anywho, are you here for Hogwarts as well then? I have a bunch of boys attending this year including my youngest Ron who will be starting his first year.” Mrs. Weasley asked me with a smile on her face.

“Yes, ma’am. I will be attending Hogwarts this year as a first year.” I answered with my own smile.

“Splendid. Maybe you and my Ron will become friends.”

“I hope so.” I said before turning to the still quiet Ginny and directed my gaze at her giving her a curious look. “So does that mean I won’t be seeing you in Hogwarts this year?”

“No. I don’t get to go until next year. I wish I could go now.” Seemingly forgetting about her previous shyness Ginny answered with a slightly downcast look in her eyes and a cute pout.

“Don’t worry time will pass before you know it, trust me.” I tried to encourage her getting a small nod in return.

“That reminds me, you wouldn’t happen to know a girl named Luna, do you?” I asked remembering Luna talking about Ginny a few times in her letters and also from my previous knowledge.

Ginny blinked in surprise at hearing that and turned to look at me. “You know Luna?”

“Yeah, I met her and her family a few months back and have been keeping in touch with her. She talks about you sometimes in her letters and that’s mainly the reason I decided to speak back on the shop since you seemed familiar.” I half lied as while they did seem familiar it was for an entirely different reason.

“Wait! Are you the new friend that Luna never shuts up about whenever she comes over? So that’s why your name sounded familiar.” Ginny said in realization.

“Haha apparently so.” I admitted while scratching the back of my head in slight embarrassment not knowing about that last detail.

With the ice seemingly broken between us we spent the next few minutes to the wand shop speaking about any and all things that came to mind. From favorite Quidditch teams, classes we were looking forward to the most and favorite foods.

All the while unaware of the smile Mrs. Weasley was sending us the whole time.

Before too long we found ourselves standing in front of Ollivanders with Eeylops Owl Emporium situated on the opposite side of it. Mrs. Weasley then turned around and faced us with a knowing smile directed me and Ginny’s way making us a little embarrassed. I especially felt a little silly feeling that way and once again cursed at having to go through puberty again.

“Here we are dears. Now I’m sorry to cut your conversation short but we should really be getting back now Ginny. Knowing your brothers, I’m sure they’ve gotten into some type of trouble by now.” said Mrs. Weasley with a little regret at ending our conversation.

“It was very nice to meet you Aether dear, I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you again in the future.” said Mrs. Weasley looking at her daughter with a small teasing smile making her blush.

“Thank you again for agreeing to my request Mrs. Weasley, you were a great help.” I smiled and politely bowed my head a little to her in thanks.

I finally turned to Ginny who looked a little crestfallen at my departure. It made me remember that Ginny didn’t have many friends growing up other than her own brothers and Luna so it must have felt nice for her to meet other kids her own age.

“It was nice to meet you, Ginny.” I said with a smile extending my hand forward for a hand shake making her blush. Though I got a little embarrassed myself at my next words.

“I-If you’re ever feeling a little lonely or just want to chat with someone when term starts you could always send me an owl. I wouldn’t mind writing to you.” I said scratching the back of my head. “A-anyways I’ll be seeing you next year when you join Gryffindor House.”

I cursed my current teenage body as I couldn’t finish what I wanted to say without stuttering. Luckily it seems Ginny was in the same boat as me as her blush had grown to encompass her entire face.

“I-it was nice to meet you too Aether and thanks for the offer.” said Ginny with a stutter. “I’ll make sure to remember that. See you next year even though none of us know where we’ll be sorted yet.” said Ginny while extending her own hand forward now with a slight smirk on her face as her usual attitude resurfaced.

“Nah I’m sure you’ll be in Gryffindor. I guarantee it!” I said with my own smirk shaking her small hand with my own once before releasing it.

I stood at the front of the shop and waited as Ginny and Mrs. Weasley disappeared into the crowd. The last thing I saw was Ginny turning one last time in my direction and giving me a wave with a cute smile on her red face. On the back of her hand, I could just make out the small red bird like tattoo I had chosen to represent my stamp. It actually looked like either a phoenix or a thunderbird from my point of view.

‘That was unexpected. At this point in time, I would have expected Ginny to not even give me a second glance due to her girl crush on the Boy-Who-Lived. Maybe it’s just her being more mature since she’s older than her counterpart? Well, that and my current looks probably played a part as well.’ I thought while looking at my supernatural good looks reflected back at me in the store’s glass window.

In the window I saw a tall teen at about 170cm in height with soft black hair and the bluest eyes I had ever seen reflected back at me. The shocking thing about all this was that my looks would only get better as I matured to where I was concerned at it becoming a problem for me if my looks attracted a bunch of rabid fangirls my way.

Shaking that slightly terrifying idea out of my head I headed inside Ollivanders hearing a small bell jingle as I did so. Looking around the shop I found it thankfully empty so I walked up to the counter and waited.

I didn’t react when I felt a presence appear to my side suddenly, knowing it was Ollivander.

“Ah Mr. Cordelia, seems I have the pleasure of selling another of my wands to your family.” Ollivander suddenly said walking behind his desk and getting a measuring tape.

“Hello sir my name is Aether Cordelia and I’m ambidextrous.” I said not that surprised that my ‘father’ had gotten his wand here as Ollivander was an excellent wand maker recognized all around the world.

I stood still observing curiously as the measuring tape started measuring both of my arms by itself. “Actually sir, I was wondering if you take special orders?”

“A special order you say? Not your typical customer then huh? What’s your request?” Ollivander asked looking at me curiously as if he couldn’t figure something out.

‘Shit, is he curious about why he can’t sense anything from me due to Information and Trace Defense? Better turn it off for now before he gets too suspicious.’ I thought in slight panic mentally letting the man through my defenses and seeing the moment he blinked when I did so.

“My dear friend was kind enough to give this with me.” I said sticking my hand in my bottomless bag and pulling out a small pouch and handing it over to the man. “I was hoping you could make a wand out of this.”

“Hmm,” Ollivander opened the pouch a bit and let out a small smile. “Aah, how rare to see a horn shard from a Horned Serpent in this side of the world. Rarer still that it was willingly given to you but since you this comes from a dear friend then it starts to make more sense.”

“Will you be able to sir?” I asked hopefully.

“Don’t worry young man it should be no problem though you will have to come back in a few days for the finished product.” Ollivander reassured me with a smile.

“Haa thank goodness then that’s what I’ll do. How much do I owe you sir?” I said in relief.

“That’ll be 12 Galleons please.”

After paying the man I made my way out of the wand shop aware if the stare directed at my back but ignored it and headed towards Eeylops Owl Emporium.

‘Sorry Harry but at least with me Hedwig never runs the risk of dying anytime soon.’ I though heading straight for the snowy white owl at the back and proceeding to buy it.

With nothing else to buy for the day I headed my way out of the Alley and called Ilulu who apparated me home where she already had a meal prepared with Maya, Cliffo, Varina and Keros already seated around the table.

Heading to the head of the table I absently greeted everyone with a small pat to the head before sitting down. “That was exhausting.”

“See? I told you, you should have taken us with you.” Maya said teasingly.

“I agree Master, I would have gladly offered my assistance.” Keros said kindly with a small smile on her face. Keros had unexpectedly turned out to be very affectionate towards me considering that unicorns were usually wary of males but I was thankful for it nonetheless.

“I would help too even if I don’t like crowded places too much.” Varina said next with a soft voice being the shy one of the group.

“Yeah! It’s not fair that Ilulu got to help and we didn’t.” Cliffo finished with a small pout on her face fitting her personality perfectly of a boisterous girl.

“I’m sorry girls but I couldn’t run the risk of people finding out about you. The government in this country is very corrupt and they would try to take you girls away from me if they found out you were a new species.” I apologized sincerely but knowing I was right regardless.

This country after all looked down on any subhuman like Vampires or Werewolves and they were looked at as beasts or second-class citizens.

“Haah alright we got it. Now changing topics before this gets anymore depressing, did anything interesting happen in your trip?” Maya asked thankfully changing the conversation.

Thankful for the change of topic I sent Maya a grateful look and cleared my throat.

“As a matter of fact, I did. I managed to complete a mission while I was out.” I said referring to the generic mission asking me to capture Mundungus before quietly grabbing some of the food that had suddenly appeared on the table and eating it.

“Hoh, and what was the reward Master?” Keros asked also eating from her own plate.

“A free tier5 Companion of my choice.” I answered simply and continued to eat.

“Who do you have in mind?” Maya asked with a raised eyebrow grabbing some food for herself as well.

“You’ll just have to wait and find out.” I raised my hand and waved my finger back and forth in a teasing manner.

“Mou, you like teasing me way too much Master.” Maya said with a cute pout.

“Hmhm it’s just that you and everyone else make the most adorable faces when I tease you.” I revealed sending a smile in everyone’s direction getting a blush from them in return. “See?”

“Mou meanie~”

Despite the light banter the atmosphere felt soothing to me, as if it was something I had been missing from my life for a long time now. Once more I came to the realization that I was alive again and not in another dream of mine conjured by my lonely existence. It made me appreciate even more what I had now and the lengths I was willing to go to keep things as they were.

Later that evening I found myself outside in an empty clearing with Maya beside me as I scrolled through my company phone.

“I thought you had already decided?” Maya asked while looking over my shoulder.

“I did but it never hurts to double check, right?” I said in response not looking up from the phone.

Seconds later I let out a sigh before pressing a button on my phone and looking up where a white light suddenly appeared for a second before it vanished leaving behind a crouching figure covered from head to toe in a dark cloak. From the corner of my eyes, I saw a set of Command Seals appear on the back of my hand taking the same shape as that of the Stamp tattoo.

“My lord…you summoned us so we all gathered. There is not one who would reject your call.” The figure said submissively with a distinct female voice.

“Welcome aboard Asako.” I greeted in return with a serious voice. “You may raise your head.”

I had of course ended up choosing Hassan of the Hundred Faces from the Fate series mainly for her ability to split unto multiple bodies while still retaining her Presence Concealment. In a world with incompetent wizards and witches, Asako would be invaluable in helping with Captures.

The now named Asako raised her head and removed the cloak around her head and the white mask from around her face revealing a purple haired female with almost black skin and dark purple eyes. “What are your orders, Master?” She asked in a clear voice.

“Unfortunately, we will have to wait a few days before I can send you out on a mission.” I said with a shake of my head before looking at the assassin curiously. “By the way Asako, do voices still echo in your mind?”

Hassan of the Hundred Faces suffered from multiple personality disorder and as a consequence her mind was filled with countless whispers that never left her a moment of peace. With how the Company binding worked though and with Body Tune-Up, it stood to reason that her problem might have been fixed upon her purchase.

“As you have guessed already Master, all voices have stopped and I am now whole.” The hint of a smile showed on Asako’s face as she answered that. “Though please do not be concerned, I still have the ability to split into all my past personas so my combat abilities have not suffered.”

“That’s good to hear.” I said with my own smile. “Still let me properly introduce myself. My name is Aether Cordelia and this lovely creature besides me is Maya.” I introduced with Maya even waving at Asako cheerily.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Master, Maya-san. I am but a mere Assassin called by many names over the years but you may continue calling me Asako while I’m in this form.” Asako said in return bowing her head at us.

“Well, it’s rather late so let’s head to bed, shall we? Tomorrow we can discuss in more detail what I will be needing your help in.” I said leading the way back inside after quickly keying in Asako to the wards.