Sorry it's a few days late, had some hospital stuff and a huge assignment for school! But it's here now. I hope you liiiiike it :)


The Other Malfoy

Chapter Forty Four

It was a few days later when George was standing in his kitchen, making himself a cup of tea with his breakfast when there was a familiar whooshing sound of a person arriving through the fireplace. George turned and saw Aurelia.

"Good morning," he said cheerily. "Cup of tea?"

She nodded and wandered over to stand beside the bench.

"Have a good sleep?" George asked as he fetched another cup for Aurelia, who replied to his question with a wavering hand – okay, but not great. She then pointed at George, to ask him the same question.

"Me? Not bad," he replied. "Bit of tossing and turning but I got there eventually." He grinned as he threw a teabag in the cup. "Need any breakfast or has Mum shovelled enough into you already?"

It was a rhetorical question and Aurelia knew it. She simply smiled and took the mug of tea from George carefully and nodded her thanks. She hadn't mentioned the incident from the other day, and she hadn't told anybody. George hadn't brought it up again and the fact she'd agreed to help him out was a sign that she didn't hate him, and the fact she hadn't run away from him the last few days and was smiling at him again was a sign she had forgiven him.

"So, all ready for your first day at work?" said George with a grin. "C'mon, I'll show you the study. I cleaned it just for you."

When at dinner the other night, Molly had asked George if she had anything to help Aurelia kill some time during the day, and George had responded with a shrug, Arthur had made an astonishingly good suggestion.

"You used to do those mail-orders, didn't you George?" he asked, between bites of chocolate cake. "Why don't you do that anymore?"

"Well, that was when we were running our business out of Aunt Muriel's garden shed," George said with a laugh. "Now that the shop's open again, it doesn't run anymore."

"Maybe you should," said Ron. "Zonko's is out of business in Hogsmeade – they never picked up the shop again after the War. Hogwarts kids are dying for some prank gear."

George had thought about it for a day or so before he decided that it was a brilliant way to further expand his business. Mail orders were becoming more and more popular with many other businesses, including Flourish and Blott's and the Apothecary, so why not Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes? George had set up the study with a bigger desk and stacked a number of different sized boxes in a cupboard he'd bought in a second-hand furniture shop, and brought Aurelia's record player and LPs over which he had placed on a table near the window, so she could listen to music.

Her job was to be the Director of Mail Orders. George decided it was perfect because she could help out, get involved and not actually have to deal with any people or confrontations. It was a perfectly safe and secure job and she was totally capable of doing it.

George had been handing out mail-order catalogues for 'same-day delivery' (between 8am and 5pm) He'd handed flyers out in the shop, placed advertisements on notice boards, put a notice in the Quibbler and announced it to most of Diagon Alley at lunchtime via a fireworks display in the sky. He'd also borrowed Hedwig II (Harry's owl) and Pigwidgeon to help Clover take bundles of letters to Hogwarts. George had already organised for Neville to collect them and hand them out to students at random.

It was nice having friends who worked at Hogwarts. It was good for business.

After all that, George was ready for the orders. He had stacked boxes and boxes of every product available in an expandable trunk, so Aurelia could climb down the ladder and fetch whatever she needed. There were also pre-boxed gift sets, like WonderWitch gift boxes and Fireworks Big Bang Box, as well as the ever-popular Skiving Snackboxes.

The letters were due to start arriving today, so George had set up quill, ink and paper, and had bought a lot more owl treats for the owls sent to pick up deliveries. Aurelia had wholeheartedly agreed to taking on the job, and she was now on the payroll and was an official employee of the store.

George knew it would be immensely helpful, and it was another step towards getting a second store in Hogsmeade.

They arrived in the study, and George showed Aurelia where everything was. It was fairly straightforward. He'd already put on Elvis Presley, Greatest Hits on the record player and had the window open, ready for business. He still had protective charms up around the window, though, so no unwanted visitors would be able to drop in. Owls only beyond this point.

"So I wrote out an example letter," said George, "Which you attach to the box when you send it back – this one is pretty basic, Dear customer, thankyou for shopping at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. We hope you thoroughly enjoy your latest prank or it could be latest beauty product or Skiving Snackbox or whatever it may be – your order and change is in the box. And then you sign your name, or whatever name you like – write Henry or Terrance if you like," he said, and he saw Aurelia smile. He knew she'd be more comfortable signing it from somebody else.

George went on. "There are some orders which you can't send – like if the owl is too small for a box, just send a letter back saying they need a bigger owl or a smaller order. Or if they don't send enough money, send them back the money with a stink bomb enclosed – they're in the top drawer – and tell them to pay the right amount."

Aurelia grinned and George knew it had been a good idea. She was perfect for the job.

He was about to open his mouth to explain how to deal with complaints, when an owl flew through the window and landed on the perch there (George had purchased a second perch so Clover didn't have to share with visitors).

The barn owl tilted its head at George, who exclaimed, "Aha, our first customer!"

He took the letter from the owl's beak and opened the seal, and laughed when he saw who it was from. Aurelia frowned and he said, "It's from Charlie – look."

The letter read, Georgie boy! Glad to see your business is flourishing. Mum dropped by yesterday and told me you were doing mail orders, so I thought I'd invest in some of your brilliant fireworks for an upcoming dragon festival. I've enclosed fifteen galleons from myself and the dragon boys, send as many fireworks as that'll buy me. Thanks again, hope you're doing well – Charlie.

George said, "Now, you can check the price list, that'll buy him a fair few fireworks – if he doesn't specify, you get to pick and choose. You get to make the firework show," he said with a grin, making Aurelia laugh.

George froze, and he realised he'd heard a small sound from the back of her throat as she'd laughed. But he simply let it go, a private smile on his lips as he said, "Come on, I'll help you with this first one."

He lowered himself down the ladder into the expanded trunk and he pointed at the firework section as Aurelia watched from above. "Now, Charlie's a special customer so I'll probably give him a few extra," George called up, going on to explain which ones to choose for certain events, and showing Aurelia where the instructions booklets were in the drawer to put in the box, so the customers knew what to do with their product.

"That should do just fine," said George, smiling at Aurelia as they gave the barn owl a treat and gave it the package, which contained his fireworks, his instructions and a letter from George and Aurelia.

George watched the owl fly away before he turned to Aurelia and said, "So you'll be okay?"

She nodded, a small piece of hair falling from her ponytail. George reached over and gently tucked it behind her ear, watching the way her eyes followed his movements. Time seemed to go slowly when he was with her. It was… unusual.

He broke the soft silence with a half-smile, saying, "Thankyou for doing this, Aurelia."

She returned his smile, somewhat shyly and nodded, before George said he had to get downstairs to open the shop, leaving Aurelia to her tea, her books, her music and the owls.


Later on that day, George had left Verity in charge of the shop while he wandered down the street to Gringott's. Having taken Ginny's advice, George had owled Justin Finch-Fletchley and asked if he could see him sometime to have a chat about some financial advice.

Justin, being a muggle-born, had more knowledge than some in the wizarding world about finance and business. He was not the smartest person George knew but his parents had been bankers, so he had a firm grasp on finance issues and he was one of the most trustworthy advisors at Gringott's Bank.

George had asked if there was any chance he could meet up with him for half an hour or so just to see if there was any point in proceeding with the expansion of the business, and Justin had seemed more than a bit excited at the prospect of meeting Ron's older brother – and luckily, he had a last minute cancellation that day, just after lunch. George figured he should take the opportunity before Justin was all booked out again. Most people waited a few weeks to see him.

So George had left Aurelia in Verity's trusty hands – he'd also put up a disillusionment charm after Verity warned him that people might be able to see in the window where Aurelia was working. So now anybody who looked up there would see Katie Bell pottering around instead of Aurelia. (George was sure Katie wouldn't mind).

George wandered down the street, which was now clear of snow. He did like Diagon Alley when it was wintery but Merlin, it was so much more pleasant to go outside without several layers of clothing. Early March was one of George's favourite times of the year. Spring, lovely sky, not too much rain, perfect weather for Quidditch. George supposed he should organise a scratch match at the next family gathering.

The huge Gringott's building (which had been restored to its former glory after being torn apart by a dragon) loomed over Diagon Alley, the bright white stone almost difficult to look at in the midday sun. He wandered up to the doors and pushed them open, stepping inside onto the marble floors. The security guard at the door nodded at him politely. George was a regular visitor, being a business owner.

He walked up to the front of the corridor, trying to avoid eye contact with the goblins. They were a weird bunch, and though they were brilliantly clever, George still found that they got on his nerves more than a little. Gave him the creeps.

He waited patiently behind another wizard who was talking to the supervising goblin about opening an account – the goblin pointed him towards one of the desks on the left, saying he could enquire about a vault over there.

George then stepped up and said, "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon, Mister Weasley," said the supervising goblin a little stiffly. "How can I help you?"

"Yes, I had an appointment with Mister Finch-Fletchley," said George. "I was wondering where I might find him?"

The goblin's gnarled hands picked up a little bell on the desk, and it made the tiniest of sounds, but another younger-looking goblin came running. "Take Mister Weasley," said the supervising goblin, "To Mister Finch-Fletchley's office."

The other goblin nodded, and George thanked the supervisor before following the second away from the main entrance and towards a smaller corridor which curved around from the left. There were a number of ornate doors on the left side of the wall, and the goblin stopped at the sixth or seventh along and rapped on the door, before nodding at George and walking back the way they'd come.

The door opened, and George set eyes on Justin, who had been a rather scrawny boy the last time he'd seen him at Hogwarts. Now, Justin was nearly as tall as George and had a mop of dark brown hair, but his face had thinned out and he wasn't as unusual looking as he'd been in his younger years (even if his chin was a little too large in George's personal opinion).

"George," said Justin, with a large beaming smile. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

George shook his hand and said, "Not at all. Thanks for seeing me on such short notice."

Justin laughed, and ushered George inside. "Come on in. Did you want some tea or coffee?"

"No, thankyou," said George, sitting himself down in an extremely comfortable antique-looking walnut chair. Justin's office was rather fancy and posh – George wasn't sure whether the furniture was supplied by Gringott's or by Justin (or Justin's extremely rich parents). The bookshelf was the same dark walnut and had a number of large leather books on the top few shelves about finances and prime wizarding real estate, the history of Gringott's and the wizarding market and also a number of files and account folders on the bottom few shelves. He was clearly very organised.

"So what can I help you with?" asked Justin, sitting himself down in his slightly larger-backed chair.

George explained his ideas as Justin listened intently, making small notes on a piece of parchment he had on the desk. George went through the ideas he had, talking about the property he'd seen in Hogsmeade, and when Justin asked how much money he had at hand, George handed him his financial reports and annual tax letter from the ministry from the year before.

Justin glanced at the finance reports and his eyebrows shot up. "Whoa," he said, making a small whistle as his eyes scanned the paper.

"What?" asked George.

Justin looked up from the papers and said, "George, why didn't you ever invest in a second shop before now? You've got enough money to get several more stores, and enough income to pay more than one employee."

"I've got one contracted employee," said George, "And I hired another today to run the mail order area of the business. I have other workers but they're casual workers."

"Right," said Justin. "Well, in any case, you've got more than enough money to invest in a second shop, and if you'd like to keep a bit more money in hand you can get a loan. What with your weekly income, you could afford to pay it back within a few years, if the business expands well enough, which it should."

"Loan sounds good," said George. "I did think that would be an option – we took out a loan on the first shop and it went well."

Justin laughed. "Well?" he repeated. "That's a word for it. Your business is one of the most successful in the British wizarding community, and what with the way you're going you could be looking at much bigger things."

George chuckled. "Let's just concentrate on Hogsmeade for now, shall we?"