A summer between books; get your Harry Potter fix here!

Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my world.

Dive In

Chapter One: Tempting Treats

"Agh!" The cry came from the mouth of Ginny Weasley, founder, president, sales clerk and sole employee of Tempting Treats, a small candy shop in Diagon Alley. However, today, all was not going well. To start off, Ginny was swamped with bills, swamped with cooking, and- to top it all off -she had just burned the second batch of candy in two weeks. So it was no surprise that she was in a foul temper; the only surprise was that she was not screaming bloody murder.

"Damn oven." she muttered. "Bloody cheap thing." What she wouldn't give for a vacation. However, no rest was in sight. She could not just abandon her business while she went on a pleasure jaunt, and could not afford a holiday anyway.

Ginny leaned over and took the latest batch of toffee off the stovetop and poured it into a pan to cool and be cut up later. She sniffed it, ensuring that it was cooked properly- it was. Ginny dipped her pinky in the rapidly cooling mixture, and brought it up to her mouth. "Yummy," Ginny murmured. Well, at least one thing went right today. Now, if only the fudge would do as well-

Ginny's trail of thought was cut off abruptly as the fireplace started glowing green and rumbling. Someone was floo-ing in, and Ginny didn't know who it could be. It was too late for customers, and no one else would bother to come and visit. But she didn't have to wait long to see who was calling upon her, because a figure was stepping out of the fireplace.

"Ginny, are you there?" asked a female voice. The soot-covered body stumbled forward and, wiping her eyes, sighed, "Ah, there you are." Ginny just frowned.

"Grandmamma?" she asked. A small, slim, eccentric little old lady, Ginny's maternal grandmother was a hoot and a half. Ginny stepped forward to embrace the old woman, then paused, as she was covered on soot from the fireplace.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Hun." murmured Ginny's grandmother Lucille "Here," she reached into her black robes and removed a wand, muttering "abstergeo" to clean herself off, then stepped forward and embraced her granddaughter. "Oh, how have you been?"

"All right." Ginny replied. "I've been doing well." Ginny sighed, the lie escaping her lips with a minimum of feeling. She had not been all right. The money situation with her business was getting more and more bleak.

"Money issues?" inquired her grandmother, as if she had read Ginny's thoughts. Ginny just nodded. "I'm so sorry, hun." Ginny nodded again. "Other than that, is everything else going well?"

"Well, the money situation sure puts a damper on everything. I've ruined two batches of candy in the past two weeks, and I don't have any preorders for the coming week. Tempting Treats is kind of my life right now, and since business is not going great, I'm not doing so great."

"I'm sorry, hun. Is there anything I can do to help?" Ginny just shook her head and replied "No, but thank you for the offer. Would you like some tea?" she asked belatedly, realizing that she had forgotten her manners.

"No, thank you dear. I can't stay long, I just wanted to stop in and see how my little granddaughter is doing."

"Well, thank you, Grandmamma, but I need to get back to work." sighed Ginny regretfully.

"Are you sure that there is nothing I can do? Help with the cooking, or washing dishes?" Ginny just shook her head again.

The most depressing thing was that there was only one thing that could solve all (most, she conceded) of her problems-money. With money she could pay all her bills, she could hire more workers, she could advertise and get more business... the possibilities were endless. And money was one thing that Ginny Weasley did not have. Floundering, she supposed that perhaps running a business was not for her. However, the optimistic part of her brain told her that business management runs in the family; her brothers Fred and George were doing very well in business. So well, in fact, that Ginny was sure that they could help her out in this pinch, but Ginny's pride wouldn't let her go to her brothers for money. Perhaps she could go to Bill or Charlie, one of her older brothers, or maybe even Ron, because she felt closer to them than to Percy and the twins, however, none of the brothers she felt comfortable going to for money had any. What a shame. And her parents weren't exactly loaded. Ginny knew that her parents would give her their last gaellon, and never say a bad word about it. That was precisely the reason why Ginny could not go to them; she would feel so guilty going to them for yet another thing, even after they put everything, every last sickle, into raising her and her brothers. No, the money front was looking decidedly bleak.

Ginny's grandmother walked over to where the toffee was cooling and took a deep breath, smelling the still-warm candy. "It smells wonderful, dear."

"Thank you, Grandmamma."

"You always did cook so well, my dear. I remember when you were young, and would come to my house and go through my kitchen, making the oddest combination that always ended up being delightfully tasty. I was so happy to hear that you opened your own business, and I'm so proud of you."

"Thank you for stopping by," Ginny said honestly. "I've missed you, and it's a relief just to have somebody to talk to, even if only for a few minutes."

Her grandmother gave Ginny a hearty hug, no mean feat for someone of her advanced years. "You can always talk to me Ginny. I promise. Something will come to you. You're too great a cook for this business to go under." With one last encouraging smile, Lucille added, "You're doing fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, tonight is Bingo night. Stop by sometime and see me Ginny." And Lucille walked slowly to the fireplace and threw floo powder in, shouting "Bingo Hall!"

Ginny smiled at her grandmother's hobbies, and, thankful for the distraction she provided, devoted herself to shaping the candy for the rest of the evening, resolved that her Grandmother's optimistic predictions would pass.

It was late when Ginny finished up for the day, and Ginny was exhausted. She had been on her feet since before dawn; the weekends were her busiest time, and she had to get the majority of her cooking done before the store opened. Luckily, Ginny's flat was simply above her shop, making it a short jaunt up the stairs to reach home. While pride had prevented her from begging money from her friends and family, Ginny resolved to begin calling in favors. Her shop simply would not survive without some outside help. She sat down and began penning notes. Hermione was in government, a local city official, but she could begin recommending Tempting Treats, and perhaps even serving some of their sweets when she was entertaining officials. Harry had turned to professional quidditch after the war, and while the sport no longer had the following it had enjoyed before the war, it was still moderately popular, and Ginny was going to ask Harry to endorse her shop. Perhaps stop by once in a while, and be seen walking in and out of it. Harry Potter himself still was reasonably famous for the role he played in defeating He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, though it was a coalition of the Order which really defeated You-Know-Who.

The war had changed people. That was, partly, what inspired Ginny to open Tempting Treats; it was a happy store, and people needed some happiness after the devastation the war caused. But people had not rushed out to buy candy after the war was finally over. The economy was slow, people still wary. While business had -finally!- been picking up slowly, Ginny was still severely in debt from what she had borrowed from Gringotts to start this business, and the interest on the loans was picking up. If she didn't start paying them off soon...

Ginny refused to continue that thought, and devoted herself to writing notes to all her former Hogwarts friends, asking that they stop by and try some of her -objectively- excellent selection of sweets. It was past midnight when Ginny finally went to bed, prepared to make the local owlery her first stop tomorrow morning, to begin owling these off.

Surprisingly, over the next few weeks, the notes began to make a difference. Business picked up a bit; several Hogwarts friends stopped in, and even Harry poked his head in for a dessert or two. While everyone who made it to her shop ended up purchasing something, the difficult part, thought Ginny, was getting them into her shop in the first place. It was towards the end of Diagon Alley, which was not frequented as often as the front. Tempting Treats was also small, and looked almost squashed between the tall building flanking it. Business began to slow again, and just as Ginny was despairing, knowing she would have to send another fleet of notes begging for business, Hermione's note arrived.

Dear Ginny,

Glad to hear you're doing well. We're having a reception for the Minister of Magic when he arrives here, and I was wondering if you'd be available to do the dessert catering. It's for about 200 people, next Friday. I know it's short notice, but I'd be grateful if you could manage. Send Juniper back with a reply, and if you can do it, I'll send more information soon.

Hermione

Ginny was ecstatic. Two hundred people! She would make more off of this one night than she normally made in a week. Maybe two weeks! And the publicity...! Ginny twirled around the room in delight, clutching Hermione's note to her chest. She twirled over to where she kept her stash of paper, scribbled "I'd love to!" on a piece of paper, and quickly attached it to Hermione's owl.

Thank you for your interest, and feel free to show some appreciation by means of a review or two.

Much love,

MA