A/N- I'm glad everyone liked the first chapter! Here we are with the second one!

-oOo-

Chapter 2: Open For Business

It was a somewhat painful process, but through hard work and lack of sleep, we've managed to get the shop ready to open. The shelves are fully stocked, the back room is filled with all the extras, the order forms are stuck up on the wall, and there's a general ambiance of playfulness.

We put up a big "now open" sign above the door, and stuck a few flyers around to spread the word. I expect it won't be booming in the beginning, but once the word gets around, we'll have all the kids (and childish adults) filling us up. It's an exciting thought, to be honest; filling the world with immaturity and potential danger, one prank at a time. That should be our slogan.

"We should cut a ribbon or something, make it official," Kate comments, holding Michele in her arms.

"It's not official by just existing?" I inquire, eyebrows raised. She and I are standing in front of the double doors, which are closed, waiting to be opened to the public for the first time.

"You know what I mean! As a sort of… you know…" she twirls a hand through the air, searching for the right word. "Ceremonial thing," she says finally. I ponder the barren door, contemplating her proposal, but Fred is already ahead of me. He raises his wand and with a flick, a gold streamer comes out and fixes itself across the door.

"You can do the honors," he gestures to me.

"Hey, it was my idea!" Kate protests. I roll my eyes.

"Good luck finding anything to cut it with," I smirk.

"Don't you have any scissors?"

"No, my wand performs scissors' duties when scissors are not present."

"What?"

I flick my wand lazily, thinking Diffindo, and the streamer falls to the ground, severed in two. Kate huffs and goes to lean against the front counter with Michele.

"You can use that magic to cut it, but not to conjure up some scissors?"

"With that spell, we don't need scissors," Fred says ia mocking voice. "You would make a terrible witch," he add.

"And you would make a terrible Muggle," she fires back.

"Come now, children. Not in front of the baby," I interject, placing my hand on the glass of the door. "Are we ready to open up?"

"Yes!" Fred claps his hands together, grinning.

"Alright, here we go. One… two… three!" I push the door open, and put a stationary charm on it to keep it from closing. It's a Saturday, so there's a fair few people out, but few people our age. I think the adults are the ones who need our products the most, though, as a way to spice up boring work days. And some of them just need to get a sense of humor.

I was quite right when I said it would be slow; two hours have passed and literally no one has come in. I'm not discouraged though, seeing as we're the new business. We've got to give people time to figure us out. A majority of our expected sales will be coming from the Hogwarts students anyway, and they're in school. The winter holidays are still a few days away, so to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if no one comes in until then. Well, I take that back. I wouldn't be surprised if no one buys anything until then. I correct myself because someone is walking in right now.

"Hello!" I greet the young-looking wizard as he enters. He can't be older than 20; another target age group.

"You are our first potential customer ever," Fred adds. "Good on you, mate."

The man chuckles. "Thanks. I'm glad there's a joke place closer than Diagon Alley now," he says, looking around. "Are you like Zonko's?"

"Not at all," I grin. "Everything you see in here, you won't see in any other joke shop, because my brother and I invented everything you're looking at."

"I'm his brother," Fred chimes in.

"Hush, you," I wink, and return to the man. "Well, other than near the back, which are Muggle magic tricks. Mostly for enthusiasts like our Dad."

"Did you really make all this?" he asks incredulously, and peers at the nearest shelf, which contains the Skiving Snackboxes. "That's brilliant!"

"Yeah, we like to think so," I say happily.

"They like to say so, as well," Kate shouts from upstairs. The man stiffens in surprise.

"Ahh, here, I'll let Fred show you around, and while he's doing that, I'm going to go tell our flatmate that yelling from upstairs while there's a person here is really creepy," I say, and gesture to Fred.

I take the stairs two at a time and walk through the open door.

"Why's the door open?"

"So I could listen in on your first visitor," Kate smiles. It's at this moment that I realize she's feeding Michele. I spin around, embarrassed. "Oh, come off it, it's not like you haven't seen 'em before," she states.

"Yeah, I know, I know. Doesn't mean I want to," I grimace. "Anyway, would you mind not shouting from up here? If you want to make fun, do it where people can see you." That sounds a bit odd.

"It's no fun if they can see me," Kate protests.

"I know, but it's… unprofessional, for want of a better word," I wince.

"Don't you dare," Kate laughs. "You two are the most unprofessional people I know."

"I don't mean unprofessional like silly, I mean unprofessional like no one needs to know we live up here," I say. "That and the fact that a disembodied voice floating from up here is a bit weird," I add.

"Right, yeah, sorry," Kate says with a chuckle. "Not much to do up here though, you know?"

I ponder her words for a moment. "You should meet a friend of mine," I say. "She'll be out of school for the holidays in a few days."

"Company would be lovely, with my working men being so busy all the time."

"Right, so, I'm going to go back down now," I say awkwardly, still not facing her.

"Have fun."

I head back down to find Fred talking about the trick wands.

"They turn into pretty much anything," he says. "Old springs, chocolate… We even have a few that turn into shrubs," he grins.

"That is brilliant. Just brilliant." I get the feeling that this guy is easily impressed, which is good for any businessman, because if you can easily impress a person, you can persuade them to buy as well. "My nephew's birthday is next week, he'll be 15. He loves this kind of stuff, gets it from me I expect," he says proudly.

"Well good thing you came 'round here, then," I smile. "See anything you like?" I ask.

"Yeah, those wands are perfect. And I might get one of those nose-biting teacups for my sister, just because she needs a good bite on the nose," he says.

"We'll take your word for it," I chuckle. "So, are you going to prove me wrong and buy something before the holidays?" I ask, gesturing to the brand new register, grinning in a somewhat creepy fashion.

"Yeah, I think I will," the guy grins along with me.

"Brilliant! Grab what you want, and I'll ring you up," I say as I slide behind the counter. First day, first customer, first sale. Good start, if I do say so myself.

The wizard grabs a trick wand from one of the bins (it turns into a pair of sunglasses), a nose-biting tea cup, and Candy in a Can ("this product contains candy"). The total came to a galleon and three knuts.

"Tell your friends," I say as he turns to leave.

"And your family, and the strangers on the street. Order forms are by the door," Fred adds. The man promises to spread the word and says goodbye. I wait until he's out of sight before running around to the other side of the counter to hug Fred.

"First sale!" I say as I grip his shoulders. He presses a quick kiss to my lips before giving me a high-five.

"This is going to be brilliant. I can feel it," he tells me, then spins around to start pacing. "Mum didn't want us to do it. She probably still doesn't, but look at us! The shop is open, and we just mad our first sale. This is us; this is where we belong," he says excitedly. "Not in school."

"I couldn't agree more, Freddie," I concur, and lean against the counter.

"Can I come down?" Kate calls from upstairs.

"As long as you're not exposed," I yell back.

"Oh, of course, I wouldn't want to burn your eyes out or anything with my womanly figure." The sarcasm is dripping from her voice.

"How considerate," Fred cocks an eyebrow.

"I've got a question," Kate announces. "Now that your shop is up and you'll both have to be down here, who's going to watch Michele when I'm at school? I mean, I know the holidays are next week, but after that, what do I do?"

That… is actually a good question. Neither Fred nor I have thought about this.

"Are there any day cares around here or anything?" she inquires.

"Not that we know of," Fred shrugs. "We probably should have thought of that, eh?"

"No, Kate and I should have thought of that, you have nothing to do with it," I assure Fred.

"Perhaps we could hire someone?" Kate suggests.

"We could, but who?" I ask. "All of our friends are in school, and we don't really know anyone else."

"We couldn't ask your family?"

"Kate, you know I haven't even told my family about this," I wince.

"I know, but thy have to find out sooner or later, don't they?"

"Later would be preferable to sooner," Fred says. "That way when we finally do tell them, we'll be able to show that we were still successful and able to handle everything."

"I hear you, but this is sort of important," Kate presses her lips together.

"I know," I say. "We'll figure it out. But we're good for right now," I smile encouragingly.

"Isn't Verity coming in tomorrow?" Fred asks.

"Yes."

"Right, well, once she's acquainted with all the merchandise, which she should be by the time the holidays are over, you and I can alternate watching Michele, since there'll always be two of us down here," he offers. "Problem solved."

I look at Michele, grinning. "There we go. See? It's all fine," I say happily.

"I sure hope so. I don't want to end up being that parent," Kate clucks her tongue.

"What parent?" I ask.

"The parent who thinks she's doing everything right, when in reality, she's doing everything painfully wrong," she answers. "That goes for both of us."

"You won't be that parent, and neither will I. Promise," I smile reassuringly.

"Right. Well can either of you watch her this Monday through Wednesday? Those are my last days of school before the holiday."

"Yeah, we've got it," Fred says. "Not a problem."

"Thanks," Kate smiles. "Looks like you've got some more people coming in. I'll go back upstairs so you can be professional," she teases.

Sure enough, there are three people walking in; a father, and his two young sons. We say hello when they walk in, and offer to show them around. The kids were all about the sweets, but we had to repeatedly explain that they would make them sick, turn them into canaries, or swell their tongues to a rather uncomfortable size. In the end, the father ended up buying them each a trick wand. It's one of the few things that are actually safe for small children.

As the day went on, several more people stopped in, but no one bought anything. They were all either window shopping, or planning their Christmas shopping, which was fine by us. Two of them took order forms from the cubby next to the door.

When eight o'clock rolled around, we locked up and had a victory snog. Once the lights were off, we headed upstairs.

"Closing time, then?" Kate asked when we appeared through the doorway. She was lounging on the sofa watching something or other on the small telly she bought from a second-hand shop with the little money she'd made working for her dad.

"It would appear so," I say, as I fill a glass with water.

"Good first day?"

"Excellent first day," Fred claps his hands and shoves Kate over so he can join her on the couch.

"Are you rich yet?" she asks sarcastically, crossing her legs, and punching Fred in the arm. ("Ouch!")

"Not yet, sorry. Are you only here for the money?" I tease.

"No, I'm here because you practically kidnapped me," she shoots at me with a grin.

"Ah, that's right."

She throws her shoe at me, narrowly missing, and it lands in the sink. I'll let her get that.

I sit on her other side and we settle in. Things are looking pretty good.

-oOo-

A/N- Sorry this took so long! School is keeping me rather busy.

Review! :D