Good friends ...
(Meant to make a placeholder for this about a month ago. It's backdated. OOPS. >.>)
Mira loved Diagon Alley. She loved how it brought together all different kinds of witches and wizards, the variety of stores to browse through, the busyness. It was one of the reasons why she had applied to work part-time at Corner Records when she had still lived full-time in England. She didn't need the money, but she liked staying busy, and it had given her a reason to come into London's bustling wizarding district regularly. She had often taken tea in the various cafes just to sit in the window and watch people pass by.
She'd done that today, but she found it a much different experience. After spending half a year in Paris and doing much the same in the French city's wizarding district, and also in Moscow where she'd been the last month checking in on the Rosier investments for her mother and papa, Mira found sitting in Diagon Alley's Persephone's Tea Palace wholly new.
Paris had been much cleaner, more chic, and elegant. The witches and wizards in the City of Love were a bit more friendly, even if they had more airs, generally. Though she hadn't had as much time in Moscow, she'd still observed enough to compare. The Russians were less concerned with what was vogue and fashionable as suited the French, and were often just as socially distant as the British could be. They were much more suspicious; it had reminded Mira of the way people had acted during the second rise of Voldemort. Based on her observations, both on the streets, and of her family's companies, Mira would hazard to guess there was a draconian political regime on the rise. She'd told her mother and papa as much, if only so a more careful eye was kept toward the happenings in the north and how it all might affect their investments.
All of it served to make her see her own home in a different light. She found that she liked having more basis of comparison; it made her notice the more nuanced differences in how people carried themselves, dressed themselves, interacted and reacted, and how business was done. She found it fascinating.
But that wasn't really why she'd come to Diagon Alley. Mira wanted a record, and she was curious as to what her former boss was up to. If she was lucky, he might play her one of his latest creations. It was a pity the man didn't record anything as he was insantely talented. Michael Corner was also particular in how he did things, and how he spent his time (or just plain lazy, depending on one's view).
The bell tinkled as she stepped into Corner Records off the street. There were a few teenagers in the Muggle section and a couple sitting at one of the tables in the cafe, but she didn't see any sign of her old boss. An unfamiliar face sat behind the counter reading a magazine.
"Is Michael in?" she asked the heavily tattooed man.
Dark eyes flicked up to her and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Sure, dove. Boss is in the back. Second door on the right. Make sure you knock."
"Of course," Mira said with a nod of thanks. She was fairly sure Mr. Tattoo thought she was here for another reason -- one of Michael's girls -- but that was hardly the case. She resisted the urge to crinkle her nose at him before disappearing into the back hall.
It wasn't hard to find the door. Second on the right.
But what she saw made her blink. Mira had expected Michael to be napping, or perhaps just composing music in private. However, what she came upon was apparently a lab of some sort. There were shelves of items in various stages of transformation, scorch marks in various places, books strewn about. Michael was currently bent over one and scratching notes on a parchment. Even as she watched, he straightened and shifted his attention to a record, wand pointed at the disc. She couldn't hear what he said - the room was obviously heavily warded - and moments later the record glowed blue. And then turned black again and cracked.
Mira knocked on the wall next to the open door.
Michael glanced up and grinned when he saw his visitor. Flicking his wand disarmed the wards. "Montgomery," he greeted.
"Corner," she returned as she stepped in the room. Her grin matched his own. "Plotting to take over the world, I see."
"Only the recording industry."
"Of course," Mira said. "What else is there but music?"
"Exactly." Michael was happy to see his old shopgirl. Mira Montgomery was easy to be around and he'd enjoyed her company when she had worked for him. He'd been unhappy to see her hop off to Paris for school over half a year prior as she'd been management material, but Michael had always known Mira was temporary. She was too smart and too driven to settle at a little shop in Diagon Alley.
"How goes?"
"Things are good. My twin sister's pregnant, my other sister's sending me howlers from Paris for stealing her clothes, and my youngest sister is wisely hiding away at Hogwarts." Mira grinned. "Essentially, nothing has much changed since I last saw you. Except for the whole baby thing."
"Life's funny that way."
"I know, right?" She punched him lightly in the arm. "How about you, mister? What's all this?" Mira was actually insanely curious. What could he possibly be up to that warranted such heavy wards and such thorough research? The books he had lying open were old, thick tomes. Mostly charms and transfiguration texts by the looks of it.
Michael glanced back around him. He hadn't really told anyone about his pet project. It didn't seem worth mentioning, at least until he had some definitive results to show for all the time he was putting into it. But Mira had come upon him and he was caught red handed.
He shrugged. "Trying to make the magical equivalents of Muggle iPods," he said. At her slight frown, he added, "the music playing devices Muggles carry around with them. They can hold thousands of songs."
"Ohhh, yes! I know what you're talking about! A lot of the Muggle students on campus carry them about. They wear little globes in their ears to listen to them, yes?"
"Right."
"Goodness, what brought this on?" she asked, a bit incredulous. Her family had a history in charms work, and the kind of charms and transfiguration spells he was trying to develop were anything but rudimentary.
"Muggle music boxes don't work at Hogwarts. Or my family home," he said as he settled back down on the stool by his research.
Mira nodded slowly, digesting his reply and trying to fill in the blanks. "So you're attempting to develop an industry changing charm, or charmed transfigurated device, that can play back thousands of songs and still work within heavily magicked areas?"
Michael's lips twitched. "Yes."
She blinked at him, long and slow. "You're either brilliant or crazy. Both, I think."
He shrugged again. "Wanted music at school, and I still wanted it when I'm at the manors. The reasons are basely selfish."
"But if you succeed you will literally transform the wizarding music industry." It was mind boggling. The ideas were fantastic, but the level of magic to execute something like that was astounding. Mira didn't doubt Michael was intelligent enough -- the man was good at everything he tried, a Ravenclaw through and through. It was just shocking that these ideas and the initiative to begin research and development had originated with Michael Corner. Possibly the laziest human being she'd ever met.
"You're going to need an actual lab. The warding here isn't strong enough for the kind of magic you're working with."
Michael raised his brows at her.
Mira lifted her hands, palms out. "Don't look at me like that. My family's been experimenting in charms for generations. There's a slew of properly outfitted labs at Falcon Court, and I spent some time touring my sister's labs in Paris. She's head of research and development for Chanel cosmetic's magical products."
Michael nodded thoughtfully. "I'll look into it." And he would. He liked the idea of having all of his magical mishaps elsewhere. There was probably some room at the Corner estate to outfit properly.
"Good." She grinned then, and hugged him. "Congratulations though! I'm so proud of you," she said as she pulled back. "You've gone and got some ambition."
"You're fired," he told her, lips twitching again.
"And you're still a pill," she said as she pulled back, still smiling.
She hitched her bag on her shoulder then. "I'm happy to see you've not blown yourself or the shop up, but I've got to get going. You make sure to floo me if you need help with the new lab though, yes?" He hadn't said he would make a new lab, but he was smart enough to realize what she'd said was true. "I'll get you in touch with the company my family has a maintenance contract with on our own labs."
Mira patted him on the cheek then, her grin turning cheeky at his raised brow. "Be good, boss."
"You're still fired," he called as she made her way toward the front, and exit.
Laughter was his only response.
SUMMARY: Mira drops in to Corner Records to say hello to her old boss and is shocked to discover that he's been innovative and industrious in her absence.
Mira loved Diagon Alley. She loved how it brought together all different kinds of witches and wizards, the variety of stores to browse through, the busyness. It was one of the reasons why she had applied to work part-time at Corner Records when she had still lived full-time in England. She didn't need the money, but she liked staying busy, and it had given her a reason to come into London's bustling wizarding district regularly. She had often taken tea in the various cafes just to sit in the window and watch people pass by.
She'd done that today, but she found it a much different experience. After spending half a year in Paris and doing much the same in the French city's wizarding district, and also in Moscow where she'd been the last month checking in on the Rosier investments for her mother and papa, Mira found sitting in Diagon Alley's Persephone's Tea Palace wholly new.
Paris had been much cleaner, more chic, and elegant. The witches and wizards in the City of Love were a bit more friendly, even if they had more airs, generally. Though she hadn't had as much time in Moscow, she'd still observed enough to compare. The Russians were less concerned with what was vogue and fashionable as suited the French, and were often just as socially distant as the British could be. They were much more suspicious; it had reminded Mira of the way people had acted during the second rise of Voldemort. Based on her observations, both on the streets, and of her family's companies, Mira would hazard to guess there was a draconian political regime on the rise. She'd told her mother and papa as much, if only so a more careful eye was kept toward the happenings in the north and how it all might affect their investments.
All of it served to make her see her own home in a different light. She found that she liked having more basis of comparison; it made her notice the more nuanced differences in how people carried themselves, dressed themselves, interacted and reacted, and how business was done. She found it fascinating.
But that wasn't really why she'd come to Diagon Alley. Mira wanted a record, and she was curious as to what her former boss was up to. If she was lucky, he might play her one of his latest creations. It was a pity the man didn't record anything as he was insantely talented. Michael Corner was also particular in how he did things, and how he spent his time (or just plain lazy, depending on one's view).
The bell tinkled as she stepped into Corner Records off the street. There were a few teenagers in the Muggle section and a couple sitting at one of the tables in the cafe, but she didn't see any sign of her old boss. An unfamiliar face sat behind the counter reading a magazine.
"Is Michael in?" she asked the heavily tattooed man.
Dark eyes flicked up to her and the corner of his mouth twitched. "Sure, dove. Boss is in the back. Second door on the right. Make sure you knock."
"Of course," Mira said with a nod of thanks. She was fairly sure Mr. Tattoo thought she was here for another reason -- one of Michael's girls -- but that was hardly the case. She resisted the urge to crinkle her nose at him before disappearing into the back hall.
It wasn't hard to find the door. Second on the right.
But what she saw made her blink. Mira had expected Michael to be napping, or perhaps just composing music in private. However, what she came upon was apparently a lab of some sort. There were shelves of items in various stages of transformation, scorch marks in various places, books strewn about. Michael was currently bent over one and scratching notes on a parchment. Even as she watched, he straightened and shifted his attention to a record, wand pointed at the disc. She couldn't hear what he said - the room was obviously heavily warded - and moments later the record glowed blue. And then turned black again and cracked.
Mira knocked on the wall next to the open door.
Michael glanced up and grinned when he saw his visitor. Flicking his wand disarmed the wards. "Montgomery," he greeted.
"Corner," she returned as she stepped in the room. Her grin matched his own. "Plotting to take over the world, I see."
"Only the recording industry."
"Of course," Mira said. "What else is there but music?"
"Exactly." Michael was happy to see his old shopgirl. Mira Montgomery was easy to be around and he'd enjoyed her company when she had worked for him. He'd been unhappy to see her hop off to Paris for school over half a year prior as she'd been management material, but Michael had always known Mira was temporary. She was too smart and too driven to settle at a little shop in Diagon Alley.
"How goes?"
"Things are good. My twin sister's pregnant, my other sister's sending me howlers from Paris for stealing her clothes, and my youngest sister is wisely hiding away at Hogwarts." Mira grinned. "Essentially, nothing has much changed since I last saw you. Except for the whole baby thing."
"Life's funny that way."
"I know, right?" She punched him lightly in the arm. "How about you, mister? What's all this?" Mira was actually insanely curious. What could he possibly be up to that warranted such heavy wards and such thorough research? The books he had lying open were old, thick tomes. Mostly charms and transfiguration texts by the looks of it.
Michael glanced back around him. He hadn't really told anyone about his pet project. It didn't seem worth mentioning, at least until he had some definitive results to show for all the time he was putting into it. But Mira had come upon him and he was caught red handed.
He shrugged. "Trying to make the magical equivalents of Muggle iPods," he said. At her slight frown, he added, "the music playing devices Muggles carry around with them. They can hold thousands of songs."
"Ohhh, yes! I know what you're talking about! A lot of the Muggle students on campus carry them about. They wear little globes in their ears to listen to them, yes?"
"Right."
"Goodness, what brought this on?" she asked, a bit incredulous. Her family had a history in charms work, and the kind of charms and transfiguration spells he was trying to develop were anything but rudimentary.
"Muggle music boxes don't work at Hogwarts. Or my family home," he said as he settled back down on the stool by his research.
Mira nodded slowly, digesting his reply and trying to fill in the blanks. "So you're attempting to develop an industry changing charm, or charmed transfigurated device, that can play back thousands of songs and still work within heavily magicked areas?"
Michael's lips twitched. "Yes."
She blinked at him, long and slow. "You're either brilliant or crazy. Both, I think."
He shrugged again. "Wanted music at school, and I still wanted it when I'm at the manors. The reasons are basely selfish."
"But if you succeed you will literally transform the wizarding music industry." It was mind boggling. The ideas were fantastic, but the level of magic to execute something like that was astounding. Mira didn't doubt Michael was intelligent enough -- the man was good at everything he tried, a Ravenclaw through and through. It was just shocking that these ideas and the initiative to begin research and development had originated with Michael Corner. Possibly the laziest human being she'd ever met.
"You're going to need an actual lab. The warding here isn't strong enough for the kind of magic you're working with."
Michael raised his brows at her.
Mira lifted her hands, palms out. "Don't look at me like that. My family's been experimenting in charms for generations. There's a slew of properly outfitted labs at Falcon Court, and I spent some time touring my sister's labs in Paris. She's head of research and development for Chanel cosmetic's magical products."
Michael nodded thoughtfully. "I'll look into it." And he would. He liked the idea of having all of his magical mishaps elsewhere. There was probably some room at the Corner estate to outfit properly.
"Good." She grinned then, and hugged him. "Congratulations though! I'm so proud of you," she said as she pulled back. "You've gone and got some ambition."
"You're fired," he told her, lips twitching again.
"And you're still a pill," she said as she pulled back, still smiling.
She hitched her bag on her shoulder then. "I'm happy to see you've not blown yourself or the shop up, but I've got to get going. You make sure to floo me if you need help with the new lab though, yes?" He hadn't said he would make a new lab, but he was smart enough to realize what she'd said was true. "I'll get you in touch with the company my family has a maintenance contract with on our own labs."
Mira patted him on the cheek then, her grin turning cheeky at his raised brow. "Be good, boss."
"You're still fired," he called as she made her way toward the front, and exit.
Laughter was his only response.
SUMMARY: Mira drops in to Corner Records to say hello to her old boss and is shocked to discover that he's been innovative and industrious in her absence.