Chapter 55: Business is Booming
"That'll be 4 Galleons and 8 Sickles, honey." I said to the young boy who was next in line at the shop's counter. He was carrying a Fanged Frisbee, a boxing telescope, and a Screaming Yo-yo. He handed me the money shyly, and when I smiled at him, he blushed and scampered away.
"Next!" I called. The shop was complete chaos, and I loved it. Business couldn't be doing any better. We had tons of witches and wizards coming from all over Europe to see our shop. And we had a few more employees now, one of them being Verity, the assistant who helped us set up the shop.
Now let's just say Verity wasn't my favorite person in the world. She was a little blond petite girl, and I don't know why, but everything she did annoyed the hell out of me. Her squeaky voice, the way she moved stuff around the shop that wasn't supposed to be moved, and how George has taking a liking to her were all contributing factors. Fred and George both knew I didn't like Verity, but she was a good employee at the end of the day, and they refused to fire her. And George took pleasure in seeing me annoyed.
"Do you have any more Trick Wands, by any chance?" A witch who was holding three children asked me.
"Let me check for you." I said, a bit absentmindedly, as I wrote down the details of the last purchase. I spoke into my gold pendant, "George, Fred, come up to check the U-NO-POO signs when you get the chance." I had designed the pendants so Fred, George, and I could contact each other quickly from around the shop. Mine was in the form of a necklace, and Fred and George's were in the form of pins. If you spoke into them, it transmitted into the others' heads.
Remembering the witch's request, I walked briskly into the storage room. "Trick Wands…Trick Wands…" I hummed to myself as I looked for the little wands in the many boxes.
I found them fairly quickly, and I dashed back to the witch, but she was nowhere to be found. Either she had gotten lost in the crowd, or she had become impatient. I sighed and put the Trick Wands on their display in case she came back. People these days…
I returned to the counter when I felt a kiss on my cheek. I rolled my eyes as I turned around. "I told you- not in the shop." I said to Fred.
Fred pouted. "Why not? I only wish to show off my undying love for you." He said mock dramatically, and added, "No one minds."
"It's not just for that. You can be…distracting." I said finally.
That was definitely the wrong word. He raised his eyebrow at me, and I saw that familiar mischievous glint in his eye. "Distracting, eh? I didn't know I had that much effect on you."
I sighed, and turned away from him to start restocking some of the shelves. But Fred wouldn't leave me alone.
"Don't you have work to do?" I asked him, annoyed.
"Oh yes I do." He purred, putting his arms around my waist.
I pulled his arms away. "Did you get back to the guy from the Ministry yet?"
"Maybe I did. Maybe I didn't." Fred said.
"Very mature, Fred."
"Hey-where's the fun in maturity?"
"Front of the Shop. Section 14. Top Shelf." I said, handing him a box filled with toys.
He stuck his tongue out at me, but followed his orders.
Knock-Knock
George groaned from his seat on the couch. "It's 11 o'clock at night! What do they want now?"
"I don't know, George. What did you do to get the Ministry upset this time?" I said, going to open the door to our apartment. But it was not the Ministry. It was Tara.
"Surprise." My aunt said.
"What are you doing here?" I said, hugging her.
"Coming to see your little shop, of course." Tara said. I was a little offended by the term, 'little shop.'
"At 11?" I asked.
"Well, things are a bit busy at the Ministry. Couldn't come over sooner." She said, coming into our apartment. She hugged both Fred and George.
"Has Fudge been fired yet?" I asked her. She told me not yet.
Tara then pulled me aside, saying she wanted to talk to me. I took her to my room. My room was decorated quite minimally, besides the Gryffindor posters and a few Quidditch posters. I had a small desk and a bed that took up most of the space in the room, but that was about it.
I sat down on my bed. "Yes?" I asked. I didn't normally have long conversations with Tara. She had always been my friend more than she had been my guardian. But the look on her face told me something was wrong.
"I just wanted to see how you're doing." She said, quietly.
"Everything's fine. The shop's doing great. I love this little apartment. We're going to go visit the Weasleys soon…" I trailed off when I saw her eyes shining with tears. I didn't know exactly what to do. I hadn't seen Tara cry since my parents' funeral, but I didn't remember that too well.
"Um. What's wrong?" I asked. She looked up at me. The way her green eyes bore into me made me feel like I was supposed to know why she was upset. Then the light bulb turned on.
"It's Sirius, isn't it?" I whispered. I had completely forgotten about Tara's relationship with Sirius. I mean, they were engaged at one point, for goodness' sake! I hadn't seen Tara after Sirius died, as we went straight to the shop. I felt like an insensitive little brat.
Tara nodded slowly, but she didn't let her tears fall. She blinked rapidly a few times and then looked back at me, her eyes still sad. "I saw him a few times while you were at school. It was almost like old times." She said.
"I'm sorry," was all I said. Great consoler I was.
"It's okay. I'll be fine." She said, but she wasn't doing a very good job at making me believe it. "It was just that he had just gotten free, and then he was taken away again."
I pulled her into a hug. "I miss him." Tara whispered.
"I know." I hadn't known Sirius very well, but I couldn't begin to imagine what it would be like to lose someone you loved. I shuddered at the thought.
I rocked Tara like a baby for a while, before she said she had to leave. She left before even seeing the shop.
I put all the money we had made from yesterday in our extra-safe safe, to be sorted out later. George came through the door with mail, causing a farting noise coming from the door to go off.
"Why couldn't we just use a nice bell instead of that horrible noise?" I asked him.
"Because it's amusing." George said.
"Yeah. 'Amusing' is the word I'd use for it." I said.
George threw the letters onto the counter one by one. "Letter from Mum, letter from Ministry, letter from Gringotts, letter from Fred's fan club, and-ah- letter to Miss Amelia A.R. Coy from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He said, taking the letter addressed to me.
He raised an eyebrow at me. "Give it here." I said, already knowing what he was about to do. George still ran off with the letter, making me chase after him. I chased him through the shop until he ran into Fred, who blocked his path.
George held his hand as high as he could, still holding the letter. I didn't even bother trying to get it. George was already a head taller than me, so there was no way I could get it now.
"Must you do this every time I get a letter?" I asked him.
"Yes I must." George said, opening the letter.
"You hate me, don't you?" I asked, exasperated.
"Very much so." George said with a grin. He read the letter carefully. "Well I'm sorry Miss Coy, but you have completely failed your O. ."
"Completely failed." Fred agreed. "They would like to inform you that you are no longer permitted at Hogwarts."
"But you are allowed to bunk with Filch, and work as his right-hand man." George said.
"Fighting crime and fighting dust bunnies." Fred said.
I rolled my eyes at their façade. "Will you give me the damn letter?"
Fred handed it over to me, after snatching it away playfully a few times.
I read the words carefully:
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results
Ami Andromeda Rowena Coy has received:
Ancient Runes….E
Arthimancy…..O
Astronomy… A
Care of Magical Creatures…E
Charms….O
Defense Against the Dark Arts…O
Herbology….E
History of Magic…...P
Potions…O
Transfiguration….O
No way. 5 Outstandings! I didn't even dream that I'd do so well in Arthimancy, and Potions! And I only failed one class, and who cares about History of Magic anyway? The only down side was that I had another year with Snape, but at least I can show off my Outstanding grade in his class.
I looked at Fred and George, "I did alright."
