Author's Note: Hello! This is my very first Harry Potter fanfiction and I'm very excited about it! If you could drop a review, that would be lovely! :)
Diagon Alley is a blur of brilliant colors, a swirl of mixing magic, a symphony of cheerful laughter. Diagon Alley is beautiful, all in itself. Even more beautiful than the lively witches and wizards, the lovely sights and sounds, is the tiny possibility taking the form of a "Help Wanted" sign in one of the corner shops.
I glance up at the sign and grin in delight at the prospect of working here. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It looks full of color and fun and I can't wait, a feeling of fierce hope surging through my veins. Something about this place makes me feel like a little kid again.
Stepping through the door, a loud bell trills, announcing my arrival to the various customers, all talking excitedly and guffawing at the intriguing and entertaining products that line the shelves.
A shout of, "Be with you in a moment!" comes from somewhere in the spacious store, though it's too large to really be able to tell where it came from, perhaps the back room, or the upstairs.
The shelves are filled with enticing, clever magical objects of all sorts, for every type of person, ranging from love potions, to wizard fireworks, to extreme and ridiculous pranks. I sidestep something flying through the air-whizzing loudly straight past my head and see someone holding an opened box of something called a "Fanged Frisbee".
Swiveling my head around I see a large display, full of bright colors, of what are named "Headless Hats" and peer curiously at the things. I'm reaching out to touch the bright, silky material of one of them when I hear a voice behind me.
"One of our newer products, try one on if you'd like." I turn around to see a tall boy- man?- coming down the winding staircase of the the shop. He grins when he sees me, giving a a huge wave. "What can I help you with?" He inquires when he reaches me, looking at me with open curiosity.
"I actually came in to ask about the sign in the window," I say, trying to smile warmly at him, but I'm terribly nervous, so I'm not sure it comes across right.
He apparently doesn't notice because he nods, smiles brightly and runs a hand through his flaming red hair. "You're looking for a job, then?"
"Er, yes..." I trail off, staring around me in wonder at all the incredible pieces of magic surrounding me. "I'm in desperate need, actually." I look up at him- a boy, I've decided, he hardly seems grown- into his crystal clear blue eyes, clouded only by a mysterious bit of sadness- and he seems a bit concerned by my wording, his eyebrows furrowing a little. I make another decision in that moment- I like this boy, who can be worried for someone he's hardly met.
"Well, I'll go grab you an application and we can go from there." He smiles warmly at me, a genuine smile, and disappears.
I continue to wander through the aisles, half falling in love with the store in the process. It's right up my alley, so to speak, and in a joke shop, the atmosphere cheerful and enthusiastic and bright. It's not hard to be optimistic surrounded by such fun. Picking up something called a "Skiving Snackbox", I turn it over and look at the pictures on the back side. Fainting fancies, fever fudge, nosebleed nougats, and puking pastilles greet my curious stare. Reading the large print on the box, my eyes widen as I realize the effect of each.
"I would advise not trying any of those," the boys says, coming up next to me. His words carry a tone of conviction, as if he knows, first hand, what they do. And of course he would, as he does work here.
I laugh, a high, sort of pealing sound. Staring up at the boy, who is easily a foot and half taller than me, I say, "Shouldn't you be endorsing your own products?"
"Well, I just told you not to eat them. Of course, you could always trick your friends, leave them around from someone to 'steal'." He puts air quotes around the word and his eyes crinkle as he laughs quietly. "I used to slip them to my brothers all the time."
"I'm afraid I haven't really got anyone to trick like that," I say wistfully, trying to smile at him, but I know it doesn't reach my eyes.
"Oh." He seems to be genuinely at a loss for words for a second and then says, "Well, you could always come up here and prank me...Although, I've got to say, that would be pretty difficult, all things considered."
"All things considered?" I question, raising an eyebrow at the boy, who seems to be grinning in delight, a mischievous glint in his light eyes.
"George Weasley, king of the pranks, at your service," he says, jokingly formal in tone, giving a dramatic little bow at the end.
I laugh loudly, my shoulders shaking and he joins in after a second and it feels wonderful to be laughing with somebody, both of us casting amused looks at each other.
"George Weasley, eh?" I hold out my hand to the red-head, who is beaming at me brilliantly. "Zellaria Mays, at your service."
He shakes my hand with a firm grip, a true grin spreading even further across his handsome features, meeting his eyes, and they light up. I don't know what I've done to make him look so bright, but it suits him, and my nervousness seems to have disappeared.
"Care to show me around? Explain the other products?" I ask, smiling around at the massive store, taking in the three floors and shelves filled from floor to ceiling, walls painted in dazzling bright oranges and blues.
"Absolutely!" He starts walking down the aisle excitedly, waving his hands wildly around as he immediately jumps into an explanation of something called a "Patented Daydream Charm".
I follow behind him closely as he gives a description of every product on the shelves, smiling and giggling at his enthusiasm and the way he talks with his hands. He seems like a little kid, talking fast, his eyes sparkling excitedly.
"So...that's everything, I think." The corners of his mouth turn up even more, which doesn't seem possible, but there he is, grinning at me like a maniac. "What do you think?"
"I..." I trail off, taking in the sheer number of products and thinking privately that there aren't really any words for this place, for how I'm feeling. It's like being a child again, surrounded by awe-inspiring dreams, everything so much bigger than it really is. "It's absolutely wonderful, you have no idea. I've never seen anything like this shop."
He nods enthusiastically, looking incredibly pleased with my response. "That's the idea."
"You've done an amazing job with this store," I say sincerely, looking up at him- I actually have to crane my neck to see into his eyes, he's so much taller than me.
He stares at me, almost confused, for just a split second, then looks toward the back room, muttering something to himself, and then turns back to me, smiling at something in his head. He's half insane, but I find him fascinating. He grins at me like this for a moment before snapping into reality, and saying, very rushed, "Why don't we skip the formality of an application? I consider you hired, if you want the job."
I gasp in surprise- pleasant surprise- and gush, the words spilling from my lips. "Oh, of course. Thank you so much. Really, this is incredible, this is perfect. Oh, I can't believe it!" I realize I'm practically squealing and quiet down, settling for just smiling at him gratefully.
"You seem to genuinely like the store, and that is very important, so-"
"Closing time!" A loud voice screeches, loud and nasally and whining all at once. "It's late! Everyone go away! Out! Time to close!" Whatever- whoever?- it is is screaming in a terribly angry tone, almost frightening.
George seems to be turning an alarming shade of red, almost as bright as his brilliant hair, and I give him a quizzical look, deeply confused.
"That's our...bell, I suppose. See, it used to be a portrait of a friend of ours' mother, and it used to say terribly nasty things. We thought it might be a good idea to change it's words to something a bit more...useful. Guess we underestimated her, she can be a bit scary, even now."
"Oh," I say, biting my lip. "Should I be leaving, then? I don't want to intrude..."
"Oh, of course you aren't intruding!" He exclaims, looking as if that's the last thing I could be doing. "I actually do have to be going soon, I have dinner to attend with the family...But you can start tomorrow morning, yeah?" He starts packing up his stuff and I take that as my cue to get going.
"Oh, yeah, sure," I say. He's off to dinner with his family and here I am, going home- if you can even call it that- to do nothing. To be miserable, and lonely. Talking about leaving, I realize how much fun I've really had today and sigh. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."
He grins at me and waves as I walk out the door and down the bustling street that is Diagon Alley. I glance back and see him watching me as I walk away. And suddenly, I feel like maybe I won't be so lonely and I really start to look forward to my new job.
Author's Note: Out of curiosity, would any of you readers be interested in a scene of George showing Zellaria all of the WWW products, with some funny happenings and such?