Rock-n-Roll Girl - Part III

Chapter Title: The Magic is in the details

[Late December]

Ginny always knocked. She couldn't remember when she'd started doing it but no matter how many times her mother insisted, it wasn't her home anymore and she wasn't going to just walk in every time she visited.

"Good afternoon dears." her mother said, hugging them both. "Ron and your father are out back.

"Molly, is Percy going to be here this weekend?" Hermione asked as she ushered them in.

"Not that he's said. He mentioned something about rock climbing with that friend he never brings by." she answered quizzically. "Why?"

"Rock climbing? Percy?" Ginny's jaw dropped. "When did he start doing that?" she asked in amazement as she and Hermione made themselves comfortable in the kitchen.

"A few months ago. If it gets him out of that stuffy office away from all those stuffy people and he doesn't get hurt," Molly Weasley said, "I can't really object. And it seems to help him relax. He actually had a civil conversation with his father last week."

"Oh. You know, he's never really been that stuck up." Ginny commented. "It's all an act."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked from her seat at the kitchen table. Percy wasn't like the other, more outgoing Weasleys and she often found dealing with him confusing.

"I talk with him occasionally." she merely said. "Though he didn't mention rock climbing the last time we spoke."

"Ginny, I'll talk with him on Monday. It would have been nice to get that out of the way this weekend but it can wait several days."

Ginny understood Hermione's unspoken message. One potentially confrontational family meeting was enough for the abbreviated weekend.

Dinner that evening was a slightly subdued affair with just the two youngest Weasley siblings, Hermione, and Molly and Arthur.

Afterwards they all gathered companionably in the now clean kitchen over glasses of Elderflower wine. Ginny knew this was as good a time as any. "Mum, Dad, I have some news."

Molly visibly perked up, Ron continued playing with Hermione's hair, and her father listened attentively.

"It doesn't involve marriage, or children, or the boyfriend needed for both." Her mother visibly deflated and her father just winked at her. "That's something you'll have to discuss with Ron and Hermione."

Ron's jaw dropped at his blunt speaking little sister while Hermione blushed and shook her head at Ginny.

"I've decided to take some time off from my job at the Ministry." She tensed, waiting for the expected explosion from her father. She was shocked when he just nodded as if he'd expected it.

"Dad? You aren't surprised?" She noticed her mother wasn't surprised either. The only person who didn't seem to see it coming was Ron.

"I've known you all your life, Ginny. I do notice when you aren't happy. Do you have any plans?" He asked gently. "You can always have your old room back."

"Well... I do actually. You know how Hermione's office works with muggles who do non-wizarding magic?" He looked thoughtful and nodded. "One of the larger groups needs some help and I said I would do it."

"So who is it? And what are you going to do?" Molly asked curiously.

Her father snorted quietly. "Molly, if I remember what Hermione's office does correctly, Ginny actually can't tell us much about what she's going to do. The idea that muggles can do magic makes quite a few people in the Ministry very nervous so they would prefer we pretended they can't. And they have some fairly powerful charms to keep it that way." He looked at Hermione for confirmation.

"Correct. Though a large part of it is that the Ministry doesn't want these muggle groups to know that much about us." Hermione added. "Which can be a challenge some times."

"So what's going to happen?" asked Ron who'd finally managed to find his voice.

"Well, in a week I get to go and spend a month or so with a Wiccan coven learning every thing I possibly can about how they do things." Ginny explained enthusiastically. "It sounds really interesting."

Hermione prodded her. "Don't forget the best part!"

"Which best part?" Ginny asked. She certainly wasn't about to say anything about Buffy at this point. Especially with Ron sitting there. It wasn't something he would understand.

"The travel?" Hermione hinted.

"Oh. That best part. I get to work for the Wiccans with another one of Hermione's muggle groups. They have offices all over the world and I'll get to travel to all sorts of different places. It's going to be like a working vacation."

"That sounds great Ginny." her mother said. "That'll help you do your job at the Ministry better when you get back. And how long will you be gone?"

"And who is this other group." Ron asked suspiciously.

"Its one of those things she can't talk about." Hermione said, in an attempt to deflect him from his line of questioning. "They are sort of research librarians and every so often they need a little help with magic. Mostly harmless. They are even more concerned with secrecy than the Ministry and won't work with us if we tell people who they are. They just have muggle ways to hide." Hermione knew she was stretching things a bit but if they learned more than that they were bound to fuss.

"How long will you be gone?" Molly asked.

"Once I've done the wiccan training? I was told anywhere from six months to a year."

The conversation quickly evolved into advice and suggestions for Ginny on how to work with muggles and plans for the next weekend. Ginny's parents felt it would be a good idea to get everyone together if she was going to spend so much time away from her family and working that out would take a bit of planning.

Giles wasn't the impatient sort. If he had been working with temperamental Vampire Slayers and the old Council would have cured him. He was curious though. He'd gotten an early morning call from his contact at the Wiccan Rede. They'd called to let him know that they'd managed to find someone to help the Council out while Willow was taking her much needed sabbatical.

He wasn't sure how the government had become involved in Wiccan affairs but he'd been told that Hermione Granger, part of that Ministry certification board whom he'd met with the previous autumn, would be bringing her to his office for a brief introduction after lunch. Hopefully everything would be explained then. They hadn't even given him a name for this person which was odd.

Randall, apparently practicing being stealthy in his perpetual desire to avoid playful slayers, surprised him, interrupting his thoughts. "Mr. Giles, there's a Miss Granger and a Miss Weasley here to speak with you."

Weasley? Buffy had introduced him to a Ginny Weasley several months ago, and based on comments he'd heard from Dawn and Willow over the past few months Buffy had kept in touch with her since then. But none of the things he'd heard indicated any reason for her to be visiting his office. Especially in the presence of Miss Granger.

"Randall, could you please show them to the small conference room? And see that they are offered the usual."

"Yes, Mr. Giles."

"And Randall..."

"Yes Mr Giles?"

"This Miss Weasley wouldn't happen to be the same person Miss Summers brought to the museum reception back in October would it?"

"I believe it is."

"Thank you Randall."

Giles silently observed the two women from the doorway for several moments without being noticed. They were both standing at the window watching some activity in the garden. From her posture it was clear Hermione Granger seemed to be watching with a purely academic interest. Ginny Weasley seemed to be a bundle of nervous energy, constantly shifting as she looked out of the window. He could only surmise they had noticed the young slayers out in the light drizzle attempting to turn the dreadful weather into a training opportunity.

While watching slayers really training was fascinating to many, especially in the Council, they were probably not in his office for that reason so he reluctantly interrupted them. "What can the Council of Watchers do for you today Miss Granger?" he asked as he motioned them to seats.

Once she was sitting down, Hermione began "Well, my office has been working with Miss Greenwoode, with the Wiccan Rede. They asked us to help them find someone to help while one of your staff takes some time off."

"Yes. Willow Rosenberg, the Wiccan with our Cleveland office was in need of a break and we felt she should take a sabbatical. The coven she works with had an excellent suggestion for how she should spend this sabbatical but, unlike the other non-magical things she does for us, we don't really have anyone who can effectively take her place." He looked at Ginny curiously and Hermione took the hint.

"I believe you've already met Ginny Weasley?"

"Yes. Several months ago, though I wasn't aware of her connections with your office." he said as they shook hands.

"Well, though she does work for the Ministry, she doesn't actually work for my office. Her involvement in this was very unexpected." Hermione explained. "Miss Greenwoode met her purely by accident and feels she can meet your needs."

"How? No offense intended Miss Weasley but you don't exactly give the impression of being wiccan." He watched her closely to see what her reaction would be.

"I'm not." Ginny really hoped he would believe the simple story she and Hermione had worked out. "The magic I can do is slightly different in nature."

"Mr. Giles," Hermione interjected before things went any further. "before Ginny explains I need your promise that you won't tell anyone what she's going to tell you."

"You'll need to explain why." Giles said firmly. "I dislike keeping secrets from my staff."

"Miss Greenwoode wouldn't really explain it but she insists that you be the only person in your organization to know that Ginny isn't really wiccan."

"How are you going to disguise her as a wiccan?" he looked at both of them in interest. This tidbit definitely wasn't something he'd expected.

"I'll be spending the next month with Miss Greenwoode's coven learning how to do it." Ginny replied. "We spent several hours with her a few days ago and she believes it is possible."

"I'm curious how this will be done but I'm sure we can discuss it later." He briefly removed his glasses and cleaned them. "Now, you were going to explain how you can do magic to help us but you aren't wiccan?"

"Yes... well, it's a family talent. We've had the ability to do a type of magic for a very long time, usually with some kind of focus like a wand." She slid her wand out her sleeve where she'd hidden it and placed it on the table in front of her.

"A wand? There have been rumours of such things for years but this is the first time I've seen any proof. May I?" He gestured at her wand.

"Go ahead. They are tuned to work with a specific witch so you won't hurt anything." Even saying this Ginny was visibly nervous, which Giles took note of.

"We have alarms that should have been set off when you walked into the building so I'm assuming it isn't magical itself?" he asked intently.

"No. Magic has been done to it but it is magically neutral." If they couldn't detect a wand Ginny didn't feel it was her place to tell them how just yet.

"Wiccan's don't use wands. How do you plan on hiding it if you need it to do magic?" he asked as he examined it.

"If I have to I'll make it invisible. But hopefully Miss Greenwoode has an answer to that question so I won't have to." Ginny shrugged. "There are some things I can do already that don't really require a wand so I'm assuming more is possible."

"You were saying it's a family talent? Is everyone in your family able to do this kind of magic and are you the only family?" Giles asked curiously. It would certainly explain the reports he'd been given about her brother Bill.

"Everyone can do at least a little magic. There are a few other families with the same talents but they are all very secretive. In fact, they would probably react badly if they found out I was going to be helping you. I can't even tell my own family. They just think I'm doing Hermione a favor while I'm on a sabbatical myself. We felt you should know this if I'm going to be working for you. Otherwise I wouldn't have brought it up."

I'm assuming this is also a reason you don't want anyone to know you aren't wiccan?" Giles surmised. "What about the rest of the Council? Did you want them to know you'll be working for us before you start?"

"If it's so easy to tell I'm not wiccan right now, I would rather not have anyone know my name until I actually finish Miss Greenwoode's training and can disguise myself as a wiccan. I'm sure you understand?"

"And Buffy?"

"I would like to tell her myself when I get to Cleveland. If that is possible?" She smiled at him hopefully.

"Are you sure you want to surprise her?" He hadn't realised how young she was until now. Her expression reminded him of some of the younger slayers hoping for a treat. "Even if we don't tell her your name we'll have to tell Willow and I don't know if she'll agree to keeping this a secret."

"Yes. I would really like to." She felt like she was holding her breath waiting for his answer.

"Okay. I don't think it will harm anything for now." Giles paused to gather his thoughts. "I'm assuming you want to know what you will be doing for us?" Ginny nodded as she let out her breath in relief. "I'm not sure how much Buffy has told you about what we do here..."

"She won't tell me much of anything actually. Just that you do a lot a research and that she delivers the research to whomever it was for." She glanced at Hermione. "I'm sure Hermione knows a lot more than I do but her office takes confidentiality very seriously and she won't tell me anything either."

"In essence that is true. Most of what we do here is research. But her explanation of whom it is for leaves a lot out." He thought for a moment. "A really in-depth explanation of the history of the Council of Watchers and those who work for it can probably wait until you are done working with Miss Greenwoode."

"Miss Greenwoode referred to Buffy as the Slayer. What did she mean by that?" Ginny asked when he didn't immediately continue.

"At its most basic level the Council exists to fight evil. But not the evil done by men to men. He paused for a moment. "Are you aware of vampires, demons, and other supernatural creatures?"

"Yes. I've heard of such things though the only supernatural creatures I've ever seen are the harmless ones like elves, ghosts, unicorns, and that kind of thing."

"Unicorns? Really? Hmmm. Well, there are a number of creatures we call demons, for lack of a better word, who seem intent on removing humans from this plane of existence. The Council was formed to stop them. The Council's primary agent for this is called the Slayer. Though the original title was 'Vampire Slayer' that has turned out to be only part of this person's role in recent years. Often stopping these creatures involves killing them, hence the title."

"So Buffy is this 'slayer' who kills evil creatures? Isn't that very dangerous?" Ginny wasn't sure whether to be concerned for Buffy, proud of what she did, or both.

"Yes. In a way. She isn't the only one at this point but she is the most experienced of the current ones and plays an important role in training the newer ones. And as far as the danger goes, yes, it is a very dangerous job. But she is uniquely qualified to do it."

He seemed to be deep in thought after that pronouncement and the silence stretched out for a few minutes.

"Mr. Giles, I'm sure you have other things to do today. Is there anything you need from Ginny before we leave?" Hermione could tell he wasn't going to expand on what he'd said and she really needed to get back to her office.

"No. Ginny, if you could stop by when you are done working with Miss Greenwoode's coven I would appreciate it. I'll have some documents ready for you to sign then and I'll explain in more depth what we do here and introduce you around."

"Thanks." Ginny smiled at him. "I'm looking forward to working with everyone."

"Good. We definitely have room for your enthusiasm." Smiling at both of them, he continued "Randall will show both of you out. If you'll excuse me?" and he headed back to his office.

"Yes Mr. Giles? You needed something?"

"Yes. I'm assuming Miss Granger and Miss Weasley are gone?"

"Yes."

"Miss Weasley has requested that no one know why she was here today, for personal reasons."

"Does that include Miss Summers?"

"Yes it does." That was most likely the real unstated reason for her request he thought but didn't say aloud. "She'll be in Cleveland in a few weeks and would like to surprise her."

"I'll have her name removed from the guest list at the front desk. I don't believe anyone else saw her."

"Thank you. And could you get Miss Rosenberg on the phone for me? I believe she's in the Los Angeles office today."

"Willow? Good morning. How is everything going?"

"Good. I'm hoping to get him to spend some time over here in the London office after he finishes with Cleveland. I'm not sure how the old Council managed without someone with his skills. No, you cannot tell our one-eyed carpenter how indispensable he is."

"Yes. I did call for a different reason. The coven sent your replacement over to meet me today."

"Will you like her? I don't know. Is there room in the Cleveland office for another redheaded witch?"

"Yes, a redhead. A name? She has requested that I not tell anyone, especially a certain blonde slayer of your acquaintance, before she actually starts working for us."

Giles held the phone away from his ear at her high pitched squeal of delight.

"Yes. That is her name. No. I didn't know she was a witch. I don't believe Buffy knows either. And she indicated that she wants to tell her herself. Yes. I did agree and would appreciate it if you would also."

"No, I'm not playing cupid. And it would be best if you refrained from doing so also. You know what Buffy thinks about such interference in her personal life. Yes, even by her best friend. Yes, I'm aware of the incident with the photo."

"She'll be with Miss Greenwoode's coven for the next few weeks. She's stopping here before she heads to Cleveland if you need to talk with her before then."

"Okay. I'll check my e-mail for it. If you could mention to Xander that I would appreciate a call from him this week? Thanks. I'll talk with you later. Good day." Giles hung up with relief. Even on the phone Willow's enthusiasm for certain topics could be exhausting.

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