Chapter Eleven – Business

A little over a week after the Order of the Phoenix changed Harry was found in the middle of a duel with Tonks.

Over the course of the time that Harry had been practicing his dueling he had gotten a lot better then he previously was before. While he knew he still couldn't come close to beating Voldemort in a duel he knew that he could at least survive in a straight duel with one of his inner circle for a period of time, or he might be able to actually win depending on the situation. This in part was due to the larger spell repertoire and new creativity including using some basic conjuration, transfiguration, and charms.

Tonks flung a yellow colored curse at his midsection, which made it difficult to duck or jump the spell.

Moving quickly Harry slid to the right and took a step forward before sending a banishing charm in his opponent's direction and then an orange blasting curse behind it incase she tried to use a shield to stop the charm.

However Tonks had also learned from the lessons that she gave Harry, and knew to move to the side after setting up a shield to dissipate the first spell. It wasn't the amount of spells that changed for her, but her ability to change dueling tactics due to the fact that Harry was such an unorthodox opponent.

A scarlet beam sped passed Harry's head as he spun diagonally to the left and forward due to the fact that a blue colored spell was coming at about waist level just to Harry's right.

Following a barrage of violet, red, yellow, and orange spells at Tonks, Harry sprinted towards his opponent in an attempt to get close so he could dislodge her wand and then bind her, thus eliminating any threat from her.

However Harry had tried this once before so when Tonks saw a stop in the spells she was prepared for Harry's charge. He did vary his style a good amount each time in part due to him having so many instructors teaching how to duel, but since she had seen almost all of his tactics she would be able to counter them in most cases.

Unfortunately for Harry he realized that Tonks had him, so he tried to do a leaping twist out of the way(basically a jumping corkscrew of his body) but he was hit with a banishing charm causing him to twist and collide into on of the mats that were now set up around the sides of the room. These mats had become common when Harry really got into his dueling so that way the injuries to the individual wouldn't be too bad.

Following this he was hit with a stunner, and his wands were summoned from him.

Tonks just gave a small laugh before waking Harry with a quick, "Enerviate." She continued to laugh at Harry's scowl, and his small berating.

"Shit… what the hell was I thinking trying that again so soon," said Harry as he dragged himself up. "I know better then trying the same thing twice on my opponent. I should have faked a sprint and then blasted her into the wall. Mistakes like that can get me killed. Keep my head or I will be seriously fucked over at the least!"

Tonks just laughed before tossing over Harry's wands and saying, "Relax Harry, the only reason that I got the drop on you there is because I have helped to train you. In a duel against a death eater they won't know what the bloody hell hit them with that tactic of yours. Most likely they will assume that you don't know nearly as much as you do because you go to Hogwarts and there is not formal dueling class there, let alone that there has been a different Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher there every freaking year."

Harry just nodded as he put away his holy and maple wands into their correct holsters. He knew that she was right but Harry still felt that he could be that much better and no one would be able to convince him otherwise.

"Alright we are done for the day because I want to go spend some time with my mom and aunt Bellatrix. I figure having me there helps keep things somewhat regulated," stated Tonks with a smile. "Now what are you going to be doing instead?"

Harry just gave a devious grin before saying, "Well since I already know that no one from the Order will be there today, I'm going to Diagon Alley to pick up my books for classes, including potions and a few others for my own use, and I need to refill my potions supplies."

"Wait a minute… you can't go on your own," stated Tonks before smacking him upside the head. "What are you trying to pull here? You can't apparate and there is no one that would be able to go with you!"

"Calm down Tonks," stated Harry. "You just said that I can take care of myself, plus I'm going to a public place and it isn't like I will be loitering around or be announcing my presence far and wide just to draw attention to myself."

Harry paused for a second before clearly but sharply stating, "But the main reason that I am going by myself is the fact that I am an adult and when and where I go is my choice dam it!"

Taking a step back Tonks just stood there staring at Harry. She knew that he was right and that there was nothing that she could do about it but it still didn't mean that she liked the fact. "You are right Harry, I have no right to stop you from leaving, but it doesn't mean that I have to like the fact."

Giving Tonks' shoulder a squeeze Harry went up to his bed room to grab a full money bag, which Narcissa had picked up for him so that when he went to school he would have some money available for Hogsmeade trips.

Pocketing the money into a fresh set of plain black robes, which weren't exactly proper fitting or of the highest quality, Harry walked down to the fireplace so as to leave.

Luckily no one was around as he tossed the floo powder into the fire place and clearly sated, "Diagon Alley." With a whooshing sound Harry disappeared into the green vortex of flames speeding towards his destination.

It seemed like only a moment later when Harry stumbled out of the floo barely managing to keep him upright. "Can't wait until I can apparate," mumbled Harry as he brushed himself off.

Moving quickly so as not to attract any attention he strode through the pub towards the area behind the magical pub, where he tapped the wall with his holy wand so as to make his way

The alley was fairly crowded but people were keeping to themselves for the most part, which made moving among the crowd without attracting attention easy enough. Luckily he didn't see anyone that he knew so he didn't have to try and purposely move away from them to avoid being seen and because of this he was able to get into the apothecary rather quickly as it was the closest store from the entry into the alley.

Walking up to the counter Harry clearly stated the items that he would need to the person behind the register, while most of the ingredients were for N.E.W.T. level potions Harry also picked up a few rarer potion items so as to be able to keep a large variety of ingredients available at the house. 'After all the more items the better,' he thought as the clerk moved around gathering everything together.

It didn't take long for all the ingredients to be collected, however the bill was rather expensive in the end with a total cost of twenty galleons and seven sickles. Most of it was because of the more expensive ingredients including dragon's blood. Harry took the contents in the bag and quickly shrunk everything before placing them inside of his robes and making his way back into the alley.

As Harry began walking towards Flourish and Blotts Harry thought he saw one of the Weasley twins a few yards ahead and coming in his direction. "Shit," mumbled Harry. "If they recognize me I could be in for some trouble, and I know that they can spot anything unusual."

The real fact that Harry didn't want to be caught by them though was that he wasn't sure where they stood in with their relationship to Dumbledore. Yes they had played quiditch together for four years and he had given them the money for their joke shop, but he didn't really talk to them outside of quiditch otherwise.

Moving quickly Harry was able to duck into the store and into the shelves as he began to look for his books.

Taking his time after collecting all the books that would be required for his N.E.W.T.s Harry began browsing through transfiguration books, charms books, and Defense Against the Dark Arts books for his own reading. Harry chuckled to himself realizing that last summer let alone a few months ago he would never have thought that he would be looking for extra books. It was just a lesson about how times change as well as people, and nothing could stop changes from occurring.

Collecting everything that he wanted to purchase Harry strolled over to the counter and hag the package bagged and shrunk. Then he proceeded to pay the costs and leave the store.

He wasn't paying to close attention to his immediate surroundings as he walked towards the Leaky Cauldron, when he bumped into someone and without thinking said, "Sorry bout that I wasn't looking where I was going."

The person gave Harry a quick glance before saying, "Harry what are you doing here in Diagon Alley? I thought you were staying at the Dursley's for the rest of the summer?" asked Fred, or George.

"Had to get out," said Harry carefully. "Keep it down though I don't need it announced that I'm here by you. Now who is it I am speaking to, and none of that bull with your name. So is it Fred or George that I have the pleasure of speaking to at the moment?"

"It is Fred my dear conspirator; now follow me as we have some things to discuss and it would be better if we have some privacy," said Fred as he wrapped and arm around Harry's shoulders and began leading him in the opposite direction of the Leaky Cauldron.

Now Harry was thinking quickly as to what exactly he could do in order to keep his presence in Diagon Alley being brought up at an order meeting. 'Is there anyway I can bribe his silence at the least?' Harry asked himself. 'Well what exactly would he want?'

As Fred silently led Harry towards his shop Harry realized the best way to make sure would be to expand his own investments. If he could expand Fred and George's business then he would have more people that he could have helping him. Besides he knew that Fred and George were excellent at their business.

Coming out of his thoughts Harry realized that Fred was bringing him to their joke shop, which they had established shortly after leaving Hogwarts last year.

Harry didn't really get to look around as Fred led him quickly to a back room, while motioning for George to join him.

It wasn't long before George came into the back room and after a quick conversation with Fred he turned to Harry and said, "Well Harry you have us in a bit of a situation here and unless we know why you are here we aren't sure what to do, so why don't you tell us what is going on?"

This was something strange to Harry because he couldn't remember the last time the twins were so serious. 'Come to think of it I don't think that they have ever been this serious."

"I'm willing to make a deal with you two in exchange for anything I tell you guys today being kept silent," said Harry carefully.

"What," began Fred.

"kind," continued George.

"of,"

"deal,"

"are,"

"we,"

"talking,"

"about,"

"here," finished Fred.

The whole sequence of speech moved flawlessly as the twins began to lose their seriousness with the prospect of what Harry could be talking about here could prove beneficial.

Harry smiled at the antics of the two before saying, "I was wondering how you would feel about expanding your business to including a location at Hogsmeade, with me gaining a small percentage of the profits of course."

The twins looked at each other before George turned back to Harry and began saying, "Interesting."

"to"

"say"

"the"

"least"

"this"

"is"

"definitely"

"intriguing"

"so"

"elaborate"

"o partner," finished Fred with a devious smile.

Harry's smile grew larger at these words. He then proceeded to say, "I was thinking about buying Zonko's shop and having it be in partnership with your shop as well. This would allow both shops to combine their product inventories so that way profits would be increased, better products would be produced, and best of all neither shop would be in competition with the other, which means that both shops popularities would rise."

The twins looked at each other before turning back to Harry with grins of their own.

"We"

"agree"

"o partner"

"of"

"ours"

"now"

"onto"

"the"

"reason"

"of"

"you"

"being"

"in"

"Diagon"

"Alley."

Harry just had to shake his head at how, when the two of them wanted too, they could make a whole sentence by alternating words flow as if it was just one of them speaking.

Before speaking Harry took a breath to calm his nerves. "Well the reason that I came here was that I needed to make a few purchases, due to the fact that I am now living at a property of my own and am legally of age. Now none of this is to be repeated to the Order. But if you have questions or need to contact me you can speak to Tonks or Remus when he returns from his mission."

Fred and George just nodded and waited for Harry to elaborate on his story.

"The reason for this is because those two know where I am presently living, and that is because I have taken control of my life," said Harry. Seeing the confused looks on his business partners faces he continued by saying, "I guess that I should start by saying that for a good portion of my life I have not had control over what takes place in my life, and I have finally become fed up with not having any control over my life. So when the opportunity presented itself I took advantage and now I am in a much better situation."

"Do," began George.

"elaborate"

"dear"

"partner"

"about"

"your"

"newfound"

"independence," finished Fred with a wave of his hand as for Harry to continue.

Harry smiled slightly before giving a somewhat edited version of him leaving Privet Drive by saying, "Basically I am now the active head of the Black Family as well as the Potter family and as such I am a legal adult. Once I found this out I moved into one of the ancestral homes of the Black family. The best thing about it is that no one knows that I am there or even where the place I am staying is located."

"Devious," began Fred.

"definitely"

"devious"

"bravo," commented George.

"Well now that your curiosity is satisfied," said Harry dryly, "I will be on my way back to my house. You two will be notified when Zonko's is purchased and remember to keep quiet about my presence here."

Both of them just nodded as Harry walked out from the back room and out of the store.

He let out a small sigh of relief as he moved from the shop back into the alley and finally made his way back towards the dingy pub. Harry knew that he was lucky that it was Fred and George that discovered him instead of someone else in the Order where he wouldn't know how to keep their mouths shut.

Harry moved quickly through the alley and made sure to avoid bumping into anyone this time, and it paid off as he reached the fireplace at the Leaky Cauldron.

Putting a sickle in the tip jar Harry tossed in some floo powder and disappeared in a whirl of green flames.

Upon exiting the fireplace Harry checked to see what was going on in the house, as well as to show Tonks that nothing went wrong. He found her and her mother and aunt in the kitchen talking quietly.

Giving a small nod of his head when Tonks saw him he left so as to put away his purchases. After unshrinking his purchases he went around looking for his wife, wondering where she could possibly be.

It took him a while before he found her in pool located on the first floor of in one of the side wings.

Harry shut the door quietly, before he placed a powerful locking charm on the door and began getting undressed. It didn't take long for his clothes to be divested, which along with his wands and glasses were now in a pile on a reclining lounge seat, before he was diving into the water.

Narcissa looked over as she heard the splash of water and moved towards the shallow end, while Harry swam over her way.

It wasn't much longer before Harry had his arms wrapped around her waist and began kissing her neck taking his time working towards her collar bone.

Narcissa just leaned into him and gave a soft moan at her husband's actions before saying, "I take it you had a productive day to say the least."

Harry just spoke as he continued kissing her, "Very… and I'm just thinking about how much more productive it can be before we have a late dinner." After these words Harry put his full concentration back to Narcissa, while sliding the bottom of her bikini down to the pool floor with his left hand and then reaching towards her crotch with his right. 'O this was becoming a very productive day' thought Harry.

Author's note: Sorry about the wait but I was a little lazy and I had some writers block, but after talking to one of my friends we were able to work out some plot for the chapter. Hopefully my next update will not take as long but no guarantees. Also the girl is not Susan Bones and just to let everyone know I am not just thinking along the lines of one girl from each house or anything like that.