The world hurt. That's what Alex thought as she opened her eyes the next morning. Her head was aching, the light made her eyes water, and her body felt weighted and tiresome. Exactly how much firewhiskey had they gone through last night? Yawning, she stretched her arms and legs.
"Ouch!"
Her foot had connected with something padded yet bony when she moved. Raising herself up on her elbows, she noticed that her impediment happened to be Fred's face. He was sitting upright at the end of the couch, her legs had been resting on his lap. "Sorry." She laughed.
"Morning to you, too." Fred glared at her, rubbing his chin. Alex looked down. George was sitting propped up against the couch near her head. The bottle of firewhiskey lay empty, discarded next to the coffee table. "Oy! George! Wake up!"
Fred threw something at George, who awoke with a start, obviously not realizing he'd slept on the floor last night. "What a nice wake up call."
"Better than being kicked in the face. Anyways, quit complaining. We need to open up shop." Fred casually flicked his wand before disappearing into the bedroom. Pots, pans and cutlery set about making what Alex could only assume was breakfast.
"You guys are actually going to open your store after what went on this weekend?" Alex stifled another yawn and stretched out on the couch.
"Course." Came the muffled reply from the bedroom. Alex still couldn't't tell which twin was which unless they were standing in front of her.
"We decided a long time ago that we'd stay open as long as we could." Fred/George continued.
"Laughter goes a long way, even in this climate."
"Plus, Hogwarts students will be arriving soon."
"No way the Ministry is going to let McGonagall stay headmistress." They were trading sentences back and forth, as if they shared one brain. It drove Alex insane.
"It's our obligation to make sure students can cause a ruckus for whomever the Ministry decides to use as a figurehead."
Both boys emerged from their room. "Not much in the kitchen, but help yourself to what's there." George said before rushing out one of the two doors off the kitchen.
Fred followed, but stopped and looked back at her before disappearing. "It gets a bit noisy downstairs, but you're welcome to come join us later."
A bit noisy is an understatement, Alex thought ruefully about a half an hour later. Considering she felt like she had been hit by a truck, she decided to go back to sleep before getting up and making food. She'd barely drifted off to sleep when odd bags, pops, shouts, and music started wafting up from the room below. After awaking with a start, Alex decided it would probably be better to shower, eat and start her day. Especially since it didn't sound like she'd be getting sleep any time soon.
A huge shadow flew by the front window as Alex passed by. Terrified, she jumped and pulled out her wand. The shadow passed back and forth three times before she decided to approach the window. As she pulled back the homemade curtains, she realized the shadow was in fact a giant purple top hat attached to a mechanical arm. Opening the window and leaning on the sill, she looked down on a giant-sized top half of a man with flaming red hair. Rolling her eyes, she closed the window and went about making food.
About an hour later, Alex walked through the door the twins had disappeared through earlier that morning. Slowly, she wound her way down a spindly staircase that lead to a walkway behind the cash register. The still bandaged George was leaning over the counter mumbling to himself.
Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was an assault on the senses. The shop was a hodgepodge of brightly colored boxes stacked higher up the walls than any normal person could reach. Odd bangs, flashes, pops, and snaps came from every corner, above and below. A firework rollicked about, sending shimmering rainbow colored sparks in its wake. Smoke and flashing lights issued from the other object crammed onto shelves and spindly tables. From one oddly pink and purple area, smells of sugar, lavender and citrus wafted, making Alex's mouth water.
"Nice store." Alex said, stepping inside. George shouted and nearly jumped onto the counter.
"Merlin's beard! Don't do that!" George yelled back at Alex. "Lucky I didn't take you for a Death Eater and pull out my wand!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." She apologized, jumping up on the counter and grabbing a spindly black horned object. "What's this?"
Fred had materialized out of nowhere, dressed in a brown pinstriped suit. "Decoy Detonator. Handy if you need a distraction." He picked one up and dropped it on the floor. It scuttled away under one of the spindly tables. "One of my more brilliant—"
"—our brilliant ideas." George interrupted, glaring at his twin.
Fred kept grinning, and suddenly the whizzes and bangs that flooded the shop were overshadowed by a loud honking, banging, and black smoke. The decoy detonator had deployed. "Wish I had some of these when we needed to get Filch off our backs!" Fred yelled above the noise.
"Cool." Clearly impressed, Alex's eyes began wandering around the rest of the shop.
"Feel free to look around. Try out anything you like."
Fred watched as she strolled about the store, her hand trailing on the shelves. She stopped every feet feet to pick up a box or to more closely inspect a display model of a product. Just as she reached the stacks of brightly colored trick candy, the door to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes was blasted open.
Three Death Eaters entered the shop, glaring around at the few people who cowered in the corners. Alex slipped back behind the counter as the approached, stealthily grabbing badge emblazoned a large, blinking, orange W and pinned it to her shirt.
"Oy! You're going to fix that door, you are!" George yelled as the Death Eaters approached the counter.
The three men approached the counter, ignoring George. "Well, well, look who's finally returned." The tallest of the men, a man with cold grey eyes and pale blonde hair said, spinning his wand carelessly between his fingertips.
"Our brother just got married, Malfoy, in case you didn't notice-"
"Closed up shop to help with the festivities-"
"That's not been made illegal, now has it?"
Malfoy continued to ignore the twins, using his wand to nudge a box that read "Extentable Ear" across the side. "We've been looking for you. Shop's been closed up. And Harry Potter just disappeared. Pretty interesting, don't you think?"
Alex, who was standing slightly behind the two boys, say both of their back tense at the same moment. They both reached for their wands. She stepped forward. "They said they were at their brother's wedding. I was there. I saw them, both in awful suits that threatened the laws of fashion."
"And, who, might I ask, is this?" Malfoy's cold eyes surveyed her up and down. Alex stuck her chin out definitely, drawing a deep breath before launching into the verbal lashing she was currently cooking up in her head.
Fred stepped in front of Alex slightly, making it clear that her best bet was to shut her mouth. "New employee. Just started this morning."
"I see." Malfoy gided along the counter, surveying the products lining the shelves, his lip curling slightly. He turned back towards George. "Wherever did you get that?" He gestured towards George's ear, which was still bandaged.
Instinctively, George reached up for his ear. There was a slight pause as he thought of an answer. "Bi-Bit of an accident with a new product. Testing phase."
"Really? Tsk tsk...we should learn to be careful, shouldn't we, Weasley." Alex was taken aback by how much disdain dripped through the last word, as thought the name Weasley was something dirty. "Perhaps next time, we'll be a little bit more-cooperative when my friends and I pay a visit." He turned on his heel and left the shop, his two lackeys barely a foot behind.
"The next time you visit, you'll be lucky if you make out of this shop in one piece." George muttered under his breath.
Fred jumped up on the counter. "Sorry for that little spectacle, ladies and gentleman. Just a friendly visit, you know. 10% off anything you buy at Weasleys Wizard Wheezes today." He jumped back off the counter.
"Is it like this every day?" Alex asked, leaning back again the orange and purple striped wall behind the counter.
"Didn't use to be. Likely will be going forward." George sighed.
Fred was a little less forgiving. "You really need to learn when to shut up." He leaned against the counter opposite Alex, crossing his arms and attempting to look stern.
"I'll shut up when I get paid." Alex grinned. "Since I'm an employee and all."
Fred's stern look soften and he looked away. When he looked back, he was smirking. He nodded to the badge pinned on her shirt. "The orange does suit you."
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