Chapter 48: Shopping and Inspiration

The Burrow – Friday 1st July 1994

They had only been home an hour and when they had arrived, a copy of the Daily Prophet was waiting for them attached to the owl; it was unusual, the Daily Prophet was only delivered in the morning. They immediately sat in the living room, with Mr Weasley removing the newspaper from the owl and reading it out loud.

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT!

Today a mysterious trial was called at the Ministry of Magic headquarters in London; later upon arrival it was revealed that Professor Dumbledore - Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - had requested it for soon to be fourth year student and best friend of the Boy Who Lived – muggleborn, Hermione Granger.

Uproar ensured when Miss Granger insisted that Sirius Black was innocent of all crimes during the war almost thirteen years ago.

After all evidence was broadcasted for the jury, Minister and Ministry employees, the jury made their verdict.

SIRIUS BLACK IS IN FACT AN INNOCENT MAN.

Not only did Miss Granger do exceptionally well during the trial, she also brought to light the true culprit of these crimes in which Sirius Black was framed and wrongfully incarcerated for. We are not able to name names at this point in time; however, we can confirm that the murderer is soon to be transported to Azkaban for life imprisonment until given the dementor's kiss.

Sirius Black is no longer a fugitive but a free and innocent man thanks to Miss Granger's commitment and bravery; a true Gryffindor indeed. Upon threat of a law suit for the violation of Sirius Black's human rights and lack of trial, Miss Granger made a list of demands as payment to which the Ministry immediately granted.

Congratulations Miss Granger and Sirius Black.

They all continued celebrating when Dumbledore's phoenix patronus arrived not long after.

The room went quiet as the phoenix spoke in Dumbledore's voice, by the tone Hermione could tell there was no sparkle present in his eyes, even if she couldn't see him.

"Peter Pettigrew has escaped auror custody whilst being transferred to Azkaban" he said gravely before the patronus disappeared.

You could hear a pin drop in the room; the atmosphere was no longer light and happy but filled with tension and shock. They could feel the anger radiating off of Hermione and Sirius.

Before anyone knew what was happening, Sirius had stormed out of the house and into the garden. They could hear things exploding. But that didn't bother them at the moment; their attention was on Hermione.

Anger like she has never felt before was coursing through her veins. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and clenched her fists, her nails painfully digging into her palms. At first the room started to buzz and a tingling sensation washed over everyone. Then the house suddenly began to shake violently and out of control. Photo frames had fallen off walls, the table and on top of the fireplace. Furniture began shuffling around the room and things were rattling.

Sirius was outside blowing apart trees when he felt the ground shake. He immediately stopped and turned back to the house. "That's not good" he said to himself, before running back into the house. He stopped when he saw Hermione in the middle of the room, a look of complete and utter rage on her face; he looked around at the stunned and fearful faces of the others.

Then Hermione began to slowly levitate off the ground until she was five feet in the air.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?" surprisingly this exclamation came from Percy and if they weren't stood frozen, they would've likely laughed.

A few seconds later Hermione opened her mouth and instead of a scream or a shriek, a roar of fury erupted from her lips. But not just any roar; a lion's roar. Suddenly she fell towards the floor, the house stopped shaking and she passed out. Fred being the closest to her had managed to catch her and he cradled her unconscious body to his chest looking around the room for answers.

"Definitely need to keep an eye on her at school" George mumbled quietly.

"Does someone want to explain what that was?" Lee asked.

"Nothing for you to worry about" Bill said.

"NOTHING FOR ME TO WORRY ABOUT? SHE CAUSED AN EARTHQUAKE, FLOATED IN THE AIR AND THEN PASSED OUT" he bellowed.

"Just her magic reacting to the strong emotions in her body dear. Don't worry, now everyone off to bed" Mrs Weasley said shooing them out with her hands and up the stairs.

They looked at Hermione when she groaned. "We've caught him once before, we'll do it again" she mumbled before passing out again.


The Burrow - Wednesday 13th July 1994

She had sent word to Harry the next day of Pettigrew's escape and he was livid given the reply he sent back to her with Hedwig. There had been no more incidences with Hermione's magic since the night they found out and no one had spoken of it or Pettigrew.

Hermione was currently sat in the sun staring out at the lake in the garden of the Burrow.

Oliver had left for his try-out with Puddlemere United five days ago and she missed him. Surprisingly she hadn't become ill, but she felt less happy. She knew that he would be gone another two days before he returned and she couldn't wait to see him again.

She had given Oliver her favourite stuffed bear that she had had since she was a baby for good luck. It was the only thing she had left of her biological parents and she knew he would take care of it. She always had it with her in her trunk; it brought her comfort and she hoped it would for him too.

Of course Sirius had told Oliver to somehow get something of sentimental value from Hermione, but she didn't know that. They wanted to test Sirius' theory regarding the separation that would come when Hermione returned to school.

Oliver had sent an owl to Sirius explaining that so far it had been working; they may have just solved the problem.

The twins had spotted Hermione sitting by the lake and walked over to her. Fred sat next her on the left as usual and George on the right. Fred put his arm around her shoulders and George put his arm around her waist and she leaned against Fred.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah" she said smiling at him and then she shifted and leaned against George. They smiled at that, she always made sure she gave them equal attention without realising she does it.

"You miss him don't you?" George said.

"Yeah"

"He'll be back in a couple of day's Spitfire"

"Yeah"

"Are you only going to give us one word answers Princess?" he asked amused.

"Yeah" she said and they laughed.

"Come on, let's do something fun" Fred said dragging Hermione to her feet.

"Like what?" she asked wiping down her shorts and removing any grass and dirt.

Fred and George shared a look and then smirked. She narrowed her eyes at them. Out of nowhere Fred had picked her up and chucked her into the lake. She came up for breath coughing and pushing her soaked hair out of her face. She smiled sweetly at them and then walked out of the water. They gulped and took a step backwards. Hermione continued to smile and walked around them in a circle. When they had their backs turned to the water she took a step forward and they backed up considerably. This caused them both to fall into the water. She laughed loudly as they resurfaced. Fred and George smiled at each other. She really was beautiful. Of course they thought that she was since the day they met her, but they could see the changes the Siren within her was making. But now with her laughing loudly and water dripping off her, they couldn't help but smile wide.

They pulled her into the water with them and they splashed around and swam for a long time.

Unknowingly to the three teenagers, Sirius and Mr Weasley had been watching them from a far smiling at the scene.

"How much longer do you think Sirius?" Mr Weasley asked. Sirius knew what he was asking.

"Couple of year's maybe, not long too long though" Sirius replied and Mr Weasley nodded.

"They're good for each other" Mr Weasley said and Sirius chuckled.

"Well they were literally born to be together" Sirius said.

"It seems to be working; she doesn't seem to be hurting"

"Yes it does, Oliver owled me last night he hasn't suffered any symptoms and neither has Mione. He just explained that he wasn't as happy. I think it's a mixture between the growing bond and that stuffed bear she gave him. They might actually make it through the school year without incidence" Sirius said and Arthur looked at him skeptically. Sirius chuckled. "Then again maybe not, who knows with Harry, Ron and Mione"

Their attention was drawn back to the lake when they heard a particular loud shriek and they laughed at the scene.

Fred and George were stood over the edge of the lake and each had a hold of one of Hermione's legs, effectively holding her upside down with her head almost touching the water.

"FRED GIDEON AND GEORGE FABIAN WEASLEY, PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT" Hermione yelled.

"Okay" they said and they let go of her, sending her into the water head first. When she resurfaced she glared at them and got out of the water. The twins turned and ran as Hermione chased them.

"COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN" she yelled at them as she chased them.

George turned around and ran backwards facing her. "Technically we're sixteen, so we're not of age which technically means we're not men yet" George said winking at her.

Hermione stopped running and smirked at George. He had a confused look on his face but then he ran into something and fell flat on his face and he groaned. Hermione was in hysterics laughing as she sat down on the floor. George had just ran into a very large and very solid oak tree. Fred stopped and turned around and he too laughed as he figured out what had happened to his twin.

George rolled over onto his back and sat up on his elbows.

"I meant to do that" he said which made Hermione and Fred laugh louder and George pouted.

Hermione quickly stood up, made her way over to George and pounced on him sending him back onto his back. Then she relentlessly tickled his ribs. He was laughing uncontrollably as he wriggled and shrieked. Fred ran over and pinned George down by the shoulders keeping him still so it was easier for Hermione to tickle him.

After several minutes George breathlessly said with tears leaking out of his eyes. "I give up, you win, you win" Hermione stopped tickling him, got off him and sat down by his side.

"That's another way to tell you apart" Hermione said still chuckling.

"What is?" Fred asked curiously.

"George has ticklish ribs and you have ticklish feet" she said.


The Burrow - Friday 15th July 1994

Hermione was sat reading by an old oak tree in the garden, when she saw someone from the corner of her eye making their way over to her.

She put down her book and turned towards them. A large dazzling smile lit up her face. She quickly stood up and ran to him.

"OLLIE" she shrieked as she jumped into his arms and he hugged her tightly spinning her happily in circles.

"Hey Little Lass" he said chuckling and setting her down on her feet. She dragged him down to the floor and they sat opposite each other with their legs crossed.

"So?" she said excitedly.

"So what?" he spoke amused.

"So how did it go?"

"It was exhausting; they had us running drills and practicing for the first six days and then on the final day the try-outs were held"

"So how did you do?"

"Alright I suppose" he said shrugging his shoulders and she rolled her eyes.

"So you did good then. How many others were there?"

"There were about thirty others trying out for the keeper position and slightly more for the other positions"

"You'll get it" she said confidently.

"Not likely" he said defeated.

"Yes you will and if you don't and I'm wrong… You can prank me for a week and I will not be allowed to retaliate"

He raised his eyebrow at her. "Ya are that confident?"

"Yep" she said smiling like an idiot and he chuckled at her.


The Burrow - Saturday 30th July 1994

Hermione had just sent of Neville's birthday gift with Pig before she made her way down to the kitchen.

"Hey Maji"

"Hello dear" Mrs Weasley smiled. "Do you need something?"

"Yes, I was just wondering if you would like to come food shopping with me"

"Food shopping?"

"Yes, so I can get something's for Harry's birthday party tomorrow"

"That's nice of you dear, but we have plenty of food"

"I was thinking we could have a barbecue"

"What's that?" she asked confused and Hermione stared at her.

"You honestly don't have barbecues in the wizarding world" Mrs Weasley shook her head.

"Well it's another muggle tradition and delicacy. We usually have them when it's warm, so in the summer. You basically cook food outside on a grill"

"What food?" she asked intrigued.

"Anything really, chicken, spare ribs, burgers, hot dogs, sausages, things like that"

"Well thanks to you dear I know what burgers and spare ribs are, but what are hot dogs?"

"They're basically sausages in bread buns, but they taste different to the ones you eat for breakfast, and don't even ask what's in them because you don't want to know" she said with a chuckle. "So would like to come food shopping with me? It's a muggle supermarket" Hermione said.

"Very well dear, I'll just let the others know that we're leaving" she said as she removed her apron and then left the kitchen.


London: ASDA

Mrs Weasley quickly changed into some muggle worthy clothing with Hermione's help and they flooed to Hermione's house. They left the house and Hermione and Mrs Weasley walked down to the nearest bus stop. When the bus arrived Hermione paid for their tickets and they sat at the back of the bus until they reached the supermarket.

Mrs Weasley's eyes bulged at the size of the building. Hermione collected a large trolley before pushing it into the shop with Mrs Weasley at her side. Hermione chuckled at Mrs Weasley's expression.

"You okay Maji?"

"Yes dear, this place is huge and they sell food?"

"You think this supermarket is big, you should see the one in central London. It's triple the size of this one. And yes, they sell food. But they sell other things too"

"Like what?"

"Pastries, toys, games, clothing, shoes, jewellery, electronics, washing and cleaning supplies, medication, books and magazines, game consoles and games, DVD's and music CD'S, TV's, phones, birthday cards and party supplies, outdoor furniture and toys and seasonal things"

"What do you mean by seasonal things?"

"Well when it's Easter, Halloween or Christmas and other holidays they will sell things to do with those holidays. Like Easter eggs, Halloween costumes and decorations, Christmas trees and decorations things like that. They also sell items based on the seasons. So when it's summer they will sell more items linked with warm weather. Like summer clothing, ice, alcohol and barbecues and food. And in the winter they will sell warmer clothing and foods"

They made their way down the first aisle, which was fruit and veg. Hermione knew that they wouldn't likely eat the fruit but she put some apples, bananas and oranges in the trolley any way before moving to the other side of the aisle where the veg was located. Mrs Weasley helped her place some salad into the trolley: lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, mixed peppers, spring onion, onions and carrots.

They then walked down a confectionary aisle and placed chocolate bars, biscuits and sweets in the trolley. The next aisle they walked down Hermione placed several brands and flavours or crisps in the trolley: cheese and onion, salt and vinegar, ready salted, beef and smoky bacon.

They then walked down the chilled foods aisles and Hermione placed several blocks of cheese and several tubs of cocktail sausages in the trolley, as well as different brands and flavoured yoghurts: strawberry, peach, apricot and toffee.

"Maji, do we need milk?" Hermione asked.

"Oh I'm not sure dear" she said with a frown.

"Well might as well get some just in case then" she said and put several cartoons of full fat milk into the trolley.

"What are these cold boxes?" Mrs Weasley asked as she looked at the fridges suspiciously and Hermione smiled and chuckled.

"They're called fridges, we put food and drink in them to stop them from spoiling and to keep them cold. It's the muggle version of a cooling charm. Muggles also have freezers where they keep the frozen foods instead of using a freezing charm. Plus frozen foods last longer as they don't spoil as easily" she said as they walked down the bread aisle.

She grabbed several packets of burger buns and several packets of hot dog buns and placed them in the trolley making sure they don't get squashed by the other items.

"Do we need bread?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so"

Hermione just shrugged and placed a few loafs into the trolley any way. They walked down the cake aisle and Hermione restocked on flour, cake decorations and icing so that she could make Harry a cake when they returned to the Burrow.

They made their way down the freezer aisles and Hermione placed several bags of: sausages, chicken legs, beef burgers, ham burgers, chicken burgers and spare ribs in the trolley.

"Should we get some cereal?" Hermione asked Mrs Weasley as they walked down the aisle.

"May as well dear"

"Right" she said as she placed several boxes of: shreddies, cornflakes, cheerios, wheetabix and shredded wheat into the trolley.

"We're going to need another trolley" Hermione said. "Wait right here, I'll be right back"

Hermione walked down the aisle and returned not long after with another empty large trolley. Mrs Weasley pushed the empty one and Hermione the full one. When they reached the drinks aisle, Hermione quickly shuffled around some items and placed the cartons of milk in the empty trolley. She grabbed some dilute orange juice and Vimto and placed the bottles in Mrs Weasleys trolley before grabbing some two litre bottles of Coca Cola and lemonade and several crates of cans of the Pepsi and Dr Pepper.

They then quickly made their way through several aisles which they didn't need anything from before they walked down the canned food aisle. Hermione placed several tins of hotdogs into Mrs Weasley's trolley along with a jar of pickled onions.

"We're almost done, we just need a few more bits and bobs" Hermione said as she made her way down an aisle. She grabbed some eggs and cocktail sticks placing them in the trolley.

"We're going to need several barbecues. They come in different shapes and sizes, but the one's we're going to buy are disposable ones so we will need several. You can by large metal ones that you put in your garden and they last a long time but they tend to be rather expensive. Also the disposable ones are small and easier to transport and carry around" Hermione said as they made their way down the summer themed aisle. She grabbed several barbecues and placed them in the trolley.

They then made their way down the birthday aisle and Hermione grabbed a box of prank birthday candles that you can't blow out and some disposable cups. She had a fun time explaining those to Mrs Weasley who looked as though she had just found out Charlie was over his play boy ways and finally getting married.

"I think that's everything, but we might as well look at the summer clothing. We might find something for you. A new dress or sun hat maybe" she mused and headed that way.

"Oh no dear, I couldn't possibly" she said blushing.

"Rubbish" Hermione said as she looked through the racks of clothing.

She was right; she had found a long back maxi dress that fell to floor and a lightly tanned brown sun hat. She found a pair of black sandals and black sun glasses.

"Now Maji, go into that changing room over there and try these on" she said pushing her into the room and closing the door behind her.

Hermione turned her attention to a rack of sunglasses. She placed several pairs of different shapes, sizes and colours into the trolley. One for each member of her family, so there were a lot of sunglasses in the trolley. Then she looked at the jewellery. She saw a silver bracelet and picked it up. It was obviously not real silver but it was pretty and Hermione put it in the trolley thinking Ginny would like it. She had gotten something for Mrs Weasley and Ginny and she decided she would get something for everyone else; she didn't want them to feel left out. Her attention was brought to Mrs Weasley who stepped out of the changing room wearing the clothes Hermione had picked out and she smiled at her.

"You look beautiful Maji" she said.

"Thank you dear" she said blushing. She quickly changed back into her clothing and placed the clothes into the trolley. Hermione then spotted a white knee length dress with capped sleeves and she picked up a darker brown sun hat for Mrs Wood. She walked down the teenagers aisle and smiled when she saw the perfect dress for Ginny. It was green, had thin shoulder straps and fell just above the knee and flared out at the waist.

Hermione moved them down to the toy and games aisle. She picked up a remote controlled car for Mr Weasley and several packs of the correct sized batteries. She got a swingball set and several water guns, packets of water bombs and hula hoops to be used at the park and then the Burrow afterwards. For Fred she got a muggle pranking kit and she got George a set of fake animals used in pranking like snakes, spiders and bugs. For Oliver she got two children's tennis rackets and a couple of tennis balls and for Mr Wood she got a rugby ball. She then made her way down to the book and magazine aisle; for Bill she got a crossword puzzle book and Charlie got a book filled with designs and patterns that he might like for tattoos and he could colour them in if he was bored. Lee had started taking an interest in drawing so she placed a sketch pad and some colouring pens and pencils in the trolley from the arts and crafts aisle and for Percy she got another notebook and set of pens for when he's at work. They then went to the pets aisle and Hermione grabbed a few dog toys for Sirius and Mrs Weasley chuckled at her, so she also grabbed him some muggle alcohol from that aisle. On their way to the check out she quickly made a detour back to the confectionary aisle and grabbed some chocolate for Harry, Ron and Lupin.

They went to the check out, the shopping was paid for and packed away in bags and placed back in the trolleys. They exited the shop and hid in an alcove. Mrs Weasley banished the shopping to the Burrow, Hermione returned the trolleys and then Mrs Weasley apparated them home.


The Burrow

They walked into the kitchen to see several nosy teenagers trying to look through the bags on the kitchen table and several of the gifts she had bought were sticking out of the bags.

"Hello dears" Mrs Weasley said and they jumped in the air, before they froze and turned around slowly to face a smirking Hermione and their annoyed mother.

"Hello mum" the twins said now smiling angelically at her.

"What are you doing in Hermione's bags?"

"Nothing, just making sure everything is there and there's nothing missing" Ron said quickly.

"You didn't come shopping with us so you don't know what I bought" Hermione said smirking. Ron gulped and ran from the room, followed quickly by Ginny and Lee.

"You boys need something?" she asked the twins with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, we need your help with something Princess"

"Right now?" she asked.

"No Spitfire, if you're busy it can wait until later"

Hermione smiled at them softly.

"Just let me put all this shopping away and bake Harry's cake. I'll come and find you in a couple of hours" she spoke and they nodded. They exited the kitchen kissing Hermione and their mum on the cheek.

"They're up to something" Mrs Weasley said.

"They're always up to something Maji" Hermione replied.

Mrs Weasley chuckled. "Good point"

Mrs Weasley used her wand to put all the food away and placed the appropriate charms over the food when needed. She then banished the gifts she bought to Hermione's room bar the clothes Hermione bought for her.

Whilst Mrs Weasley set to work on preparing dinner, Hermione baked Harry's birthday cake and decorated it, Mrs Weasley placed the appropriate charms on the cake and Hermione boxed it up and placed it out of reach from the others.

She made her way upstairs to the twins.

"Hey boys"

"Hey Mione" they said as she walked over to them.

"So what did you need help with?" she asked.

Fred put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him. "Well we're working on this potion to change someone's hair colour, and we can't seem to get it right. We're missing something but we don't know what"

She leaned forward slightly looking into the cauldron.

"Haven't you already done the hair colour changing prank?" she asked.

"Yes, we did that in your first year. But this one that we're working on is different. Not only will it change the colour of the hair on your head, it will change the colour of the hair all over the body, including eyelashes. Plus it will change a person's hairstyle to something completely different" George said excitedly and she smiled at him.

"Right, so the colour of the potion is wrong and the potion's thickness doesn't seem right either. Have you thought about charming the potion?"

"It's impossible to charm a potion. It will either ruin the potion or react badly and explode" Fred said.

"Yeah, but if you prepare the ingredients, charm them and then make the potion..."

"That's bloody brilliant!" the twins exclaimed and they kissed her on the cheek.

"And because you're working on a prank that will affect hairstyles and hair colour you should look at cosmetic spells and charms"

"You got any books on that Princess?"

"Nope, but even if I did it would have to wait until school"

"Because we're underage" Fred said sadly, thanks to Hermione they had just had a breakthrough and they couldn't do anything about it.

She walked over to Fred's bedside table and picked up the muggle note book and pen she bought him a while ago. She noticed it was almost full 'going to have to create something for him instead. Something that will last a long time and will not get damaged' she thought.

She walked back over to the twins whilst writing in the notebook.

"What you writing?" he asked looking over her shoulder.

"Well I may not have the books, but I remember reading about a few spells, so here's a starting point for you boys. You can work on another product" she said handing the book over to Fred and they looked over it, she walked over to Fred's bed and laid down.

"Products?" George said.

"What do you boys want to do after school?"

"Mum's pushing us into the Ministry" he said.

"That's not what I asked you. What do you want to do?" she said looking them straight in the eye and smiling softly.

"We don't know, but we love pranking" Fred said.

She smiled and patted the sides of the bed next to her. They walked over to her and laid down on either side of her. She rested her head on George's chest and she was playing with Fred's fingers.

"Then you should do that" she said.

"Do what Princess?"

"Be pranksters, make people laugh, sell products and open a shop. Like Zonko's, but he's outdated. You could be so much more successful than him. The things that you've done are truly phenomenal"

"You think we can do it?" Fred said.

"There's nothing you can't do when you put your mind to it. You're smarter than you allow people to believe and this would be easy for you. I mean it would be difficult because you have to do the planning, you have to find a location and set it up, you have to create the products, you have to get a business permit and know the laws plus you need the money..."

"Are you trying to talk us in to this idea or out of it?" George said chuckling.

"But it will be easy for you; no matter what people say, you are incredibly smart and brilliant, you are creative and you love pranking. It's what you were born to do. To make people smile, laugh and happy, to bring joy and light to people's lives. I know you can do it, I have faith in you" she said softly and they smiled at hearing her praise. It made their chests fill will love for her and pride that she thought of them that way, when everybody else thought they were just jokesters.

"Plus you have a secret weapon"

"Oh yeah? What's that?" Fred said smiling.

"Me. I already know everything you need to to set up your own business and I've already read every book in the Hogwarts library based on law. And I know you would never take money from me, but I would gladly be an investor to help jump start the business. I will help you in any way I can"

"What do you think Georgie?" Fred asked.

"I think it's not a bad idea. You?"

"Yeah, not a bad idea"

"Mum won't be happy though"

"Probably not"

"Your mum will fight you tooth and nail on this shop, but when she sees what you have achieved, she will be proud of you. All she wants for you is to succeed and make something of yourselves. That's what she wants for all her children. No matter your decision as a career choice, no matter what she says, she loves you. And I will be proud of you boys no matter what you choose to do with your life" Hermione said.