Chapter 20: Press Involved
Not being trusted with high-tech computers, Harry was forced to meddle with ancient forms of presenting, such as a cardboard square and a quill. He shook the lint off of it, it had been laying in the Weasley home for a decade. Harry groaned and banished the rest of the lint that had found its way onto Harry's clothes. "Is this adequate for your purposes?" Harry mocked with a high-class British accent. Draco tutted and motioned for the board, and Harry relinquished it at once. Draco was sitting cross-legged in the Weasley's attic, a place Harry had never thought of exploring. Of course, George had sent them there after a need for supplies came about, and even though Draco had complained they could've easily bought a high-quality parchment from a store, George had disagreed as there was no stopping George's cheap nature.
Of course, that lasted only to superfluous things, such as cardboard that could be found in a never-used attic. Now, indispensable things however, such as the Universal Championships that George was spending every last knut of his buyer's payment on, was something that could be flourished deeply. George was of course requiring the most for his own work, while Draco and Harry were stuck making their own ideas on a cardboard poster board, as Harry had a track record of not matching with muggle technology.
I think we outta do something about George's flourishing." Draco muttered, as though reading Harry's mind. Harry was against this idea, however. "What? That's the best part about George. His tendency for the dramatic." Harry piped up, winking at the obvious connection between this and Draco. Draco huffed and took Harry's quill from him. "No. His tendency is to overdo crap, such as this." Draco pointed at a floating newspaper article attaching itself to the poster, Harry could tell it was from the Daily Prophet. Harry thought one of George's young costumers must of told their fathers, as it still wasn't mainstream enough to advance to the newspaper, until now.
"What is it?" Harry squinted, and wrinkled his nose as forgotten dirt on Harry's glasses had appeared in his vision. He rubbed at it, forgetting his wand, until Draco spelled it away himself. He sat down next to Draco, purposely rubbing his leg against Draco in the purpose. Draco glared at him and shifted, trying to hide his reddening face. "The Daily Prophet did a whole front page about George 'going wild' with a new project, purposely neglecting to mention what that project is, instead letting a bunch of anonymous people credit themselves with talking about how George has simply 'gone round the bend' with 'outrageous schemes' and 'manipulating the public' with his endorsement plans. It's like they're completely forgotten what part he played in the war." Draco's face reddened more, this time with anger.
"Hey, hey." Harry waved his hand in front of Draco's face to get his attention. "All the Daily Prophet does is post nonsense. You, personally, know that very well." Harry started, giving Draco a look. "But, this could give George more publicity than the Daily Prophet wanted. All the little kiddies over at Hogwarts will be simply ecstatic to learn that their idol is in the makes of a 'secret project.' Especially when they learn Quidditch and Football are involved."
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Heading back to their dorm with a whole poster board now filled up, Draco quizzed Harry on all things concerning business. It seemed some of his business classes had come into use after all. "Now, if any reporters come to ask you questions about George, you..." Draco asked expectantly. "Fill their small-minded heads with facts about George Weasley and his Championships, but only the good ones that are still in developing. Leave them in suspense." Harry rolled his eyes at this. "Oh come on, Harry, this is serious. What if you end up just running away from the reporters instead of answering their questions, or worse, blowing up like you did when you were younger? We know they're going to attack George in front of you."
Harry shook his head. "I know, I know. I just can't believe we have to go through this again. I thought it had stopped. It's for such a good cause too." Harry sighed sadly. It hurt Draco to see Harry this way, as though he was drowning under the press's constant attention. It was Draco's quick thinking that had saved them from being in another scandal last time, and he would save Harry this time again. He just needed Harry's help on this. "Harry, I promise you we can fix this for your foster brother. Just trust me." Draco said, unneeded, as Harry already trusted Draco to a fault, but Draco needed his promise on this. "Of course I trust you, Draco. I just don't trust the press. Especially if the next big golden-boy stalker is as bad as the second and first." Harry said offhandedly. It was crazy how indifferent Harry was about the possibility of there being a second Rita Skeeter. Draco shivered at the memories.
"I sure hope not." Draco laughed, but Harry remained stoic. Draco had to think fast if he was going to get Harry in the game. "Hey, Harry, how about we go flying again? We could even play with your snitch." Draco asked hopefully. It wasn't a long-shot, by any means. "Of course." Harry's face lit up with a smile and Draco smiled back. Now, they just needed a snitch and some motivation. Harry summoned a snitch, and it flew into his hand. "Snitch caught. You got any old brooms lying around?" Harry joked. He knew they still had their own ones. Draco smirked and summoned both of them, hoping they weren't making a scene inside of the dorm room.
"Now then. Let's fly." Harry said excitedly, jumping onto his broom after Draco handed it to him without a second thought. Draco cursed at Harry mock-seriously and got onto his own broom, racing Harry to the nearest green field. They eventually found one, of course, and Harry let go of the snitch, letting it whizz away randomly. "Catch it if you can!" Harry yelled back at Draco, kicking off into a fast pace around the perimeter. Draco followed close behind, tailing him on purpose. "Can't you do better than that?" Draco called out as Harry made a false dip only to see the thing he was chasing was a fallen baseball, not the snitch. "I'm just distracted, is all." Harry flipped off.
"Oh come on! The Potter I knew would never let that stop him." Draco chased him again until he caught eye of the snitch, hovering this time in clear view in the center of the false-pitch. Draco set off, and heard a huff of indignation before Draco sped up behind him. Draco looked back in time to see Harry flying as fast as Draco, grinning a toothy grin at Draco before lurching forward and snatching the snitch into his hands. Draco smirked. He had went easy on the bugger. "Good game." Draco said courtly, hovering down to the grass. "Couldn't have done it from my favorite enemy." Harry teased, flicking Draco's nose. "We can do this." He said confidently.