The charm that announced a customer's arrival to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes chimed merrily as Seamus Finnigan entered the shop. Giving a wave to Ron behind the registers, he wended his way through the few midday customers toward the back office.
Given his proclivity for pyrotechnics, Seamus had been consulting with George Weasley on his line of fireworks since the end of the War. Initially their partnership was tenuous; Seamus' help had been suggested by Ron when George was doing little work that didn't include finding the bottom of multiple bottles of Firewhisky per week. As he slowly climbed out of his bottle, George and Seamus had found common ground in restoring joy to the wizarding world once more.
Seamus could feel the wild thumping of his heart and the thrill of exhilaration as he walked the short corridor. Today was the day. He was finally ready to set out on his own. Not that he didn't love his consulting work with the successful joke shop; he'd known early on that a typical job with the Ministry wasn't for him. But with the amount of other product lines the joke shop ran, Seamus felt that the fireworks weren't going anywhere beyond the general products sold to amuse wizarding families. They were fine products, and Seamus was proud of his contribution to the magic that went into them, but he had big plans for a market he felt was untapped: Muggles. Nothing that would violate the Statute of Secrecy, of course, but things that would dazzle them beyond their dreams.
With a deep breath, Seamus knocked on the office door and entered when George called for him to come on in.
"Seamus O'Sullivan O'Flaherty Finnigan!" George exclaimed in his usual joking manner. "That a Guinness in your cup, mate?"
Seamus shook his head and smiled, raising his takeaway coffee cup. "It's not yet gone ten o'clock. I promise it's just coffee."
"Isn't it Tuesday?" George asked. "I thought we were working together Friday."
Seamus nodded his head and smiled. "There's something on me mind."
.
"I want my daughter's wedding to be spectacular. You know, like nothing anyone's ever seen!" Andrew Clarke, the new customer Seamus was meeting with that afternoon, smiled indulgently at his daughter, Annabel—a dark-haired beauty who was attempting to plan something akin to a Royal wedding if the pictures of the venue were anything to go by.
Seamus smiled at his new customer's enthusiasm and stood to grab a large binder from behind the counter. He watched the young woman's eyes light up as he opened it and set it on the table for the pair to see. "These are some examples of weddings we've done since the business started. Take a look through the book and tell me if there's something you like."
Sitting back with a satisfied smile, Seamus watched as his customers flipped through the pages of examples. Since leaving Weasley's Wizard Wheezes months before, his company had grown quickly. At first, he'd been nervous. Although he'd been hopeful when he'd rented out a small commercial property not far from the Leaky Cauldron to set up shop, he'd had no idea if his idea would take hold. Turns out, much to Seamus' delight, Muggles couldn't get enough of the elaborate displays he put together. He'd started small with private parties—birthday parties, graduation parties, family reunions—and had just finished his sixth month in business with several large accounts with customers requesting extravagant fireworks displays for Bonfire Night.
Once it was clear that accounts for large events such as weddings were going to keep coming in, Seamus had brought in two partners in addition to his Muggle father who was keeping track of the accounts and expenses for him. Dean Thomas and Dennis Creevey were two talented wizards who were perfect for the job. Dean was well-known throughout Gryffindor Tower as a clever artist and helped Seamus with design, whereas Dennis was as enthusiastic about life as his late brother and handled marketing and photography for the company. Not only did they have plenty of magical talent, they were both Muggle-born and therefore understood the Muggle way of business the way some other wizards would not. Business was good.
Seamus was broken from his thoughts when the bride-to-be asked, "Do I have to choose from the book, or can you customize with my theme?"
"I can customize anything you like," Seamus said with a smile. His penchant for explosives combined with Dean's artistry meant they could conjure up anything a customer asked for.
The young woman clapped her hands gleefully and began describing her plans for a spring garden-themed reception in shades of gray and turquoise. Seamus pulled out a notebook and a Muggle ballpoint pen—items he'd had to get used to using rather than parchment and a quill since most of his clientele weren't wizards—and took notes so Dean could draw a sketch to present to the customers at a later meeting.
A few weeks later, Seamus met with the Clarkes again to present the ideas they had designed for the post-wedding fireworks send-off of Annabel's dreams. As he was flipping through the sketches Dean had drawn, Seamus was distracted by the music playing through the charmed speakers and cursed himself for the invitation he had extended to George the night before to join them after work for Chinese takeaway, a growler of ale, and a few games of cards. The music in their shop that day—it was supposed to be a tasteful mix of Christmas music—was a terrible playlist of warbling Celestina Warbeck hits and a jazzy Muggle Christmas song Seamus couldn't believe George even knew. If it weren't for the fact that they were surrounded by Muggles, Seamus would have blasted the speakers from their spots hanging from the ceiling rather than hear the singer croon once more about how she didn't want a lot for Christmas.
Even though George's prank was likely in response to Seamus' prank the previous week involving George's unsuspecting girlfriend Angelina and a Regurgitating Toilet Jinx, he couldn't help but begin planning his comeback purely out of annoyance; Angelina had only needed Cleansing and Drying Charms and a simple anti-jinx to end his prank. It looked like Seamus and his colleagues were stuck with the bothersome music until he could figure out how to counteract what George had done.
Annabel Clarke looked at Seamus quizzically as she paused in her perusal of the fireworks design. "Hasn't this song played twice already since we arrived?"
"All I want for Christmas is you. You, baby!"
Seamus fought the urge to cringe as the singer went on to describe how she wouldn't even wish for snow. Luckily the door to the shop opened before he had to come up with some excuse about why the song was repeating every few minutes. The woman who entered headed straight for the table where Seamus sat with Andrew and Annabel Clarke.
"Sorry I'm late," the young woman said breathlessly as she shrugged out of her coat and unwound a bright pink scarf from around her neck. "I stopped for coffee, which was a bad idea with all the bloody last-minute holiday shoppers out and about. Traffic was murder and—bloody hell, how many times today do I have to hear this shit song? I swear it's following me round from place to place." She stopped her rapid-fire speech to kiss Andrew Clarke on the cheek, sitting down at the table before pulling the drawings toward her. "Is this the design?"
Seamus stared at the woman. His first impression—aside from being amused at her verbal onslaught—was that she was lovely; her long dark locks nearly reached her waist and had a streak of turquoise that ran through the hair just beyond the fringe that framed her bright blue eyes. Before the table had hid her bottom half from view, Seamus had appreciated the black mini-skirt she was wearing with tights and knee-high boots.
"You're always late," Annabel said with a smile. "But no matter, we just started. Yes, these are the designs Mr. Finnigan and his team put together."
"They're gorgeous!" the young woman gushed.
Seamus couldn't tear his gaze away from her lively blue eyes and wide smile. He was startled from his thoughts of running his hands through her long dark hair when she looked up and addressed him.
"Mr. Finnigan, I presume?"
"Call me Seamus," he replied, before quickly reminding himself he couldn't chat up a woman who was here as a client. Regardless of whether or not he could ask the woman out for a pint, Seamus couldn't help but return her grin when she said, "Seamus, then."
"I'm sorry!" Annabel exclaimed. "I was so distracted by the designs and my sister's nattering I forgot to introduce her. Mr. Seamus Finnigan, this is my younger sister, Alice."
Annabel's attention went back to the drawings in front of her as Seamus reached out and shook Alice's hand. Their eyes met for a brief moment until they were interrupted by Annabel nearly squealing in delight at the last of the sketches that Dean had put together.
"Alice, don't these just look magical?"
Seamus spent the remainder of the meeting simultaneously thanking Merlin for the business the Clarke family was giving him and mentally hexing George every time the first strains of the Christmas pop song came over the speakers. Not only was this one of his largest accounts to date, but he had the privilege of interacting with the vivacious woman sitting across from him—he even took delight in watching her as she laughed at the lyrics of one of the Celestina Warbeck songs.
Once the meeting was finished and the final payment was received, Seamus was disappointed to see Alice go. He was encouraged by the grin she gave him as they shook hands once more as the Clarke's were leaving the shop. Was it too much to hope that the beautiful young woman didn't have a boyfriend? He smiled thinking he could use the upcoming wedding as a means of finding out—he would see for himself whether or not she was accompanied by a date.
.
A month later, Seamus, pulled the wheeled suitcase—magically enhanced with both an Extension Charm and Feather-light Charm—behind him as he entered the attached garden of the wedding venue for the Clarke account.
"Who has a spring garden-themed wedding in bloody January?" Dean groused behind him.
"Dunno," Seamus replied over his shoulder. "But I reckon you're smart enough to warm yourself up if you need to."
The three of them went about setting up the equipment needed for the fireworks—Dean taking it upon himself to surreptitiously cast a Warming Charm around them. Seamus checked his watch again and again, waiting for the time when the wedding guests would enter the garden to see the grand send-off he had planned. Of course he wanted the timing to be just right, but he was also anxious to see the bride's younger sister, Alice, again.
Finally, the time came for the guests to spill out into the garden. Using his wand to ignite the first round of the display, Seamus signaled to Dennis to be ready with the camera so they could add the impressive display to their catalogue. With the guests' attention tuned to the sky for the larger of his effects, Seamus charmed the smaller fireworks—bright turquoise flowers and butterflies to go along with the theme and color scheme—to dart and dash about the garden.
He swelled with pride at the "ooh's" and "ahh's" and laughter that his fireworks drew from the crowd. Hoping for a glimpse of Alice, Seamus scanned the front of the crowd, thinking the wedding party would be closest to the action. A grin spread slowly across his face as he finally caught sight of her.
Her long dark hair was flowing loosely around her as she twirled to the music, holding up the layers of her long gray gown. He couldn't help but admire the dress that left her slim shoulders bare, dipping down daringly low to show off her back. In a moment of inspiration, Seamus flicked his wand and watched as she giggled at the butterfly effect that he charmed to flit around her.
Seamus watched with anticipation as the final large firework shot into the sky since it was one he was hoping she would enjoy: a giant bouquet of spring flowers and hearts that exploded into a shower of sparks the exact color of the turquoise streak in her hair. She clapped exuberantly and threw her head back in uninhibited laughter, and Seamus couldn't help his smug smile as he took in her delighted expression. Thrilled with her reaction to his work, he decided he would ask her for a date that night before the opportunity was lost. Who cared that she was a Muggle and he was a wizard; his father was a Muggle and his mother a witch and it seemed to work for them.
Disappointed that he had to see to his equipment rather than seek her out straightaway to ask her out—he told himself that if she'd had a date, the man would likely have been standing with her to watch the fireworks—Seamus turned and stowed his wand in his jacket and began loading things into his suitcase. Once he and Dean and Dennis had finished cleaning up and he'd sent the other two wizards home, Seamus turned to find Andrew Clarke ready with an enthusiastic handshake, telling him how happy he was with the display.
"Dad!"
Seamus glanced over the man's shoulder and his heart pounded as he saw Alice walking through the doorway to the garden, a turquoise wrap covering her shoulders.
"Aunt Elsbeth wants to make sure you don't escape without speaking with her," Alice said once she'd reached where they stood.
"Of course she does." Andrew sighed and thanked Seamus once more.
Alice stood on tiptoes to kiss her father on the cheek. "Don't let her put you in a nark," she said before he turned to walk back inside.
Glad that Alice hadn't simply turned and walked inside with her father, Seamus leaned down and pulled up the handle on his rolling suitcase and thought furiously about how he should ask her out. "Did you enjoy the show?"
Alice smiled widely. "It was amazing." She pulled her wrap tighter around her body and looked up at him, her wide smile now a shy upturn of her lips. "I was wondering if—now that the wedding is done—you'd like to get a cup of coffee or a drink sometime."
Not caring in the slightest that she had beat him to the punch, Seamus grinned. "That all depends," he said as he reached into his pocket for something to write her phone number on. He pulled out a piece of paper that turned out to be the billing invoice for that evening.
Alice cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrows at him. "Does it?" she asked coyly. "On what?"
Seamus grinned. "Do you believe in magic?"
A/N: This is for round 8 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction competition
Challenge: Head canons. Head canon from Beater 2, Aya-DeWinter, Tornadoes: After Hogwarts, Seamus Finnigan makes fireworks for Muggles and wizards. He does quite well because the Muggles think his fireworks are magical.
Prompts: 3. (Song) All I Want For Christmas Is You-Mariah Carey, 5. (Image), 15. (Object) suitcase
Word count: 2513 per Google docs