WLTM

A/N: I have taken the images and the meanings of Valentine\'s cards from the popular Fortune Cards by Titania Hardie of which I am lucky enough to have a set (google them, they\'re very lovely and not at scare-making as Tarot!)



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It was just before 6 a.m. and Valentine Passiflora entered her back room, her lips set in a thin line of determination. She had so much to organise today. Four of her recent clients had surfaced as soul mates and although she knew with one couple it would be fairly plain sailing, the other two…. She shook her head ruefully. She would have her work cut out with them.



Walking over to her altar, she unwrapped her fortune cards from the purple silk scarf she kept them in and put the scarf around her neck for safekeeping. Taking the first couple, she placed their name cards in front of her mirror side by side. She waved her wand quickly and lit the two candles. Lifting a small pot of sage, she sprinkled two pinches into the flames and watched as they crackled and the aroma began to fill her nostrils. She murmured a few words and tapped her fortune cards with the tip of her wand. 3 cards lifted themselves from the pack and fell, face upwards



Valentine looked at the cards thoughtfully then smiled. This was going to be easy. The garden, heart and ring cards told her everything she needed to know and with a little planning, there would be a very happy occasion within the next 6 months. She sighed deeply. She loved pink and fluffy and this couple were definitely going to be that.



Wrapping the cards back in her silk scarf, Valentine replaced the candles with new ones, cast a cleansing spell over her altar and started her ritual all over again.



This time, she placed the second couples’ cards in front of the mirror, sprinkled her sage and murmured her spell. With her wand tap, four cards leapt from the pack and her eyes widened. That didn’t happen very often but given the complex nature of this joining, she thought perhaps it made sense. As the cards fell, Valentine frowned. The bear and the coffin signified the end of a friendship, then the tree, signifying learning and growth, next to the heart, which was self-explanatory. Valentine was a little reassured but she had no idea where to go with this match. She closed her eyes a little and murmured again. She began having a conversation and to the uninitiated it would have seemed she was talking to herself. At the end of her muttering she opened her eyes and tapped the cards again. Two further cards fell out. A man and a woman. Valentine’s eyes widened and she started to laugh, a low chuckle in the pit of her stomach.



‘Oh my goodness…’ Valentine started to blush furiously. She blew out the candles and wrapped up her cards. This was going to be interesting, if nothing else.





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Valentine put down the muggle telephone in her office and ticked a small notation on the parchment in front of her. It had taken her no time at all to organise her first couple and their owls were on their way already. The second couple, however. Now that had taken some sorting out.



She prided herself on planning unforgettable first dates for her couples. Her first match, Sylvia and Horatio Smythe, had shared an interest in fishing so she had organised a weekend on a boat, complete with champagne, a delicious picnic and a house elf with sea legs to serve them. When they had returned, they explained they had actually not got around to doing any fishing but that was OK. Their honeymoon would be a chance to catch up on that. Valentine had been thrilled and it had gone on from there.



The muggle telephone rang again. She answered it quickly, laughed a little into the phone and put I down with a satisfied click. Summoning two owls, Valentine scribbled her instructions quickly onto a piece of parchment, duplicated it with her wand and wound the two tightly, attaching them to a leg of each owl. She opened the top floor window and released the owls, watching them as they faded into the distance. Closing the window she looked at her clock. It was almost 5 pm. But at least it was done.



Valentine closed up her office, locked and warded the door and when she stepped out onto the still-bustling street, she pondered her latest couple for a few moments. She had an uneasy feeling she was heading for choppy waters, particularly with him. Oh well. She would just have to deal with that when it happened.





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A short chapter but I wanted to give a flavourt of how Valentine works... its not just left to chance.