Chapter 5 – WWW
"Want to walk or take the tube?" She asked as they stepped out of the building.
"Tube?" He asked, eyebrows high.
"Oh, right. It's sort like a train that rides underground. It's faster than going on foot."
"Maybe on the way back? We still have time until the shop opens, and I need to calm my nerves first."
"Fine by me. Let's go." And she started walking to the opposite direction, they came from the day before.
"Can I ask you something?"
"I think we're fast the phase you need to ask me that." She chuckled.
"Yeah, guess we are." He grinned. "Don't you have to go back to work?"
"The doctor got me a sicknote for this week because of my wrist. And I still have a lot of vacation days."
"Oh." He said pondering. "What do you do exactly?"
"I'm a game developer. You've seen the box next to the video player? You can play games on it. And I work at a company that designs it, programs it." She explained but snickered at his confused look. "I'll show you when we get back."
"Brilliant, I'm very intrigued. So, next question."
"Shoot."
"Don't you have a boyfriend? Or girlfriend?"
"Not at the moment. Had one in college for a while but drifted apart when we started working." She shrugged. "What about you? Did you leave some one behind, man or woman?" She grinned.
"No, just my family. I had a few flings after school but nothing serious. I liked my freedom."
"Yeah, me too." She smiled and looked at him. "Can you tell me something about George?"
"Oh, well. He looks like me." Hr grinned.
"No!" She called out extravagant.
"Yes! And he was pretty serious with a girl back in school but when the war started…"
"You still haven't told me which war."
"It was a wizarding war. It was all hushed up for muggles. Did you read about a lot of deaths to gas poisoning or the footbridge crashing down?"
"Yeah." She said slowly. "You mean to say..."
"Yeah, a lot of people died, wizards, witches, muggles... a lot of innocent people."
"You died." She whispered as she looked up at him, stopping in her tracks.
"I died during the final battle. It was at Hogwarts; it took me a while to remember what happened but… I think a wall fell on me."
"A wall?"
"Yeah, there was some kind of explosion and the next thing I knew I was standing in Regent's Park. I don't know what happened after, I think we won. It doesn't look like there are as many deaths anymore." He said looking at a newspaper stand behind him.
HG
They walked in silence the rest of the way, both processing the information about the war. Suddenly Leah stopped and Fred almost walked through her.
"Give me warning, will you."
"It's not like you'll bump into me." She grinned up at him.
"No, but I don't think you'll like it if I went through you. Why did you stop?" He asked looking around.
"We're just around the corner. What if I can't get in?"
"We'll handle it when it happens."
"Alright…" She turned on her heel and started walking again. When she rounded the corner, her mouth formed an O: "Oh!" The beaten down shop was gone, now it was a dark grubby looking tavern. "Doesn't look much better."
"You can see it?" He asked with a tone of surprise.
"Yeah, do we just walk in?"
"Tom won't ask any questions. If you get in, he'll think you just belong there."
"Here goes nothing." She pushed the door open and Fred her followed in.
The tavern was dark lit, with a grumpy bartender behind the bar, waving his wand as he cleaned a couple of glasses. Fred leaned closer and whispered.
"Try to hide your shocked face, Leah. I know this is a bit much – "
"A bit?" She squeaked at little.
"I'm sorry, I should've prepared you, but it's one thing to say it, then –
"- To see it." She finished his sentence. She nodded at the bartender. "Where to?" She whispered.
"Follow me." She followed Fred to the back of the tavern and stopped in front of a door. "Can you?"
"Oh, yeah, sure. Can't you go through it?" She asked as she quickly opened the door and slipped in. It looked like a closet, shelves on either side of her, filled with boxes. "Uhm, Fred?"
"Shit, I knew I forgot something."
"What?"
"We need a wand to open the wall."
"Open… open the wall?"
"Yeah, and you don't have any money to take a seat and drink something until there is someone we could pass through with."
"I have money."
"Not our money. Yes, we have different money." He said, answering her confused face.
"What do we do now?"
"Wait I guess and hope someone comes along quickly. Why don't you hide behind the rack, we don't want anyone to see you, lurking here, do we?"
"Oh, okay." She squished herself between the rack and the wall. When she reached the back, she had more space and she leaned against it, watching Fred walk closer. "So, I didn't get an answer. Can't you just go through the door?"
"I can. I tried it in your flat but when I do, I get this horrible headache."
"Hmm." She said looking up at him, before she pulled out her notebook from her bag.
"What are you doing?" Fred asked curiously as she started to write things down.
"I'm writing everything down. From what you feel and do, to what has happened since we met. I could he-" She stopped talking when the door on the side of the tavern flew open. She tucked her notebook away and glanced past Fred to look at a witch, that took out her wand and tapped the wall. Then the stones started to part and opened a doorway. She gasped, but the witch didn't hear her as the sounds of Diagon Alley filled the closet.
"Let's go, before it closes." Fred said, wanting to grab her arm but fell through. "Shit, sorry."
She waved him off and followed him out from the behind the rack and walked through the wall.
HG
"Oh wow!" She said, looking all around her. Owls flew above her head, witches and wizards in weird robes sauntered by. The shops were in all colours and sizes, outside hanging cauldrons, robes, glass bottles. One shop had bowls in the window filled with eel's eyes. The street was crowded with people with funny looking robes.
"I don't think I fit in." She said as an older wizard with long maroon robes and a pointed hat walked by.
"It's mostly the older generation that still dresses like that. We, the young ones, we dress like you. See?" He pointed at a group of girls who were standing outside an ice cream parlour. "I know there is a lot to see but do you mind if we head out to George first?"
"Of course, which way?" She asked looking from left to right. Fred gestured her over and they walked the cobbled street to the right. "Which one is it?"
"You'll know, when you see it." He grinned, she frowned at him before she looked around at the shops.
"A wand shop." She said looking through the window.
"Olivander's, one of the greatest wand makers in the world. I'm glad to see he's back and got his shop in order. During the war, a lot of shops closed or got trashed and burned but as you can see, everything turned out okay."
Leah stopped, when she saw a colourful shop, busting with people around it in front of her. "Let me guess…"
He winked before he practically ran to the shop, Leah hot on his heels, trying not to lose him in the crowd. He finally stopped as he was standing a meter away from the front door, that was like a revolving door, people constantly walking in and out of the shop.
"Is it always this crowded?" She whispered, peering in the shop.
"Yes, until the war. But it seems like business picked right back up." He said with a sad smile.
"I'm sorry, I know you'd wish you could be here." She said placing his hand over his, he looked down and turned his hand over, so that their palms faced it other, not even a centimetre apart. "Ready?" Fred swallowed but nodded his head and Leah walked in, Fred still 'holding' her hand. "Stay close." She whispered.
The shop in one word was: Colourful. Bright orange and purple walls, racks stuffed with boxes. The shop was also loud as it was stuffed with witches and wizards. On rack was stuffed with skiving boxes, whatever that was. Fanged frisbees, canary creams, self-writing quill, tiny twisters and so on. She teared her eyes away from the products and looked up at Fred with a wide smile.
"This is brilliant! I don't know what any of it is, but wow!" She looked up at him in awe.
"Thanks." He rubbed his neck, nervously. "Do you want a tour? I can't spot George at the moment."
"I'd love to." She said excitedly. Fred looked up and saw that the second story was almost empty.
"Let's start upstairs, it seems deserted."
"Lead the way." She gestured, smiling. Fred bowed dramatically before he walked behind one of the shelves, to an iron spiral staircase. They climbed the two sets of flight before coming to a stop on the second landing. They leaned over the banister, looking down to the full shop. "You miss it." It was a statement, not a question.
"Yes, George and I worked years on getting to this point, we've started the business at 18. We've been inventing since we were kids. It was always just me and him."
Leah turned to him and saw a tear roll down his cheek, she carefully stepped closer and held out her hand and cupped his face, her hand hovering over his cheek. "Hey." She said softly, making him look at her. "What you and George did, it's amazing. You should be proud of yourself, proud of your brother to honour your legacy. We will talk to him; we will make him see. I don't know, how or why this is all happening, but we'll figure it out. I promise."
Fred placed his hand over hers, the once hovering over her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't-"
"Hey, never apologize for something like this. I can't imagine how you must be feeling."
"Come on, let's start the tour before I turn into a big sob."
Leah chuckled, nodding her head and followed him between the stacks. The top floor was filled with muggle tricks and pranks. Like, haunted decks, unbreakable eggs, Mary's magic mic, …
"My dad is obsessed with muggles, so we made him a little corner at the shop." He said as she picked up a repeating rabbit.
"That's sweet of you, but there are a lot more pranks you can add to this little corner. Next time I'll take you to one of our shops."
"It's a date." Fred grinned.
"A date with a ghost, wouldn't that be something." She laughed and turned to the other stacks. Fred watched her for a bit, her strawberry blonde hair braided to the side, making her large blue eyes pop up. Even though he only knew her for five days, he couldn't think of leaving her, losing her, to whatever might happen after all of this. She was pretty, yes, but she was smart, kind and funny. Her swearing only made him like her more. His stomach clenched at the thought he could never really take her out on a date, or even touch her. Every time she flashed him a smile, he melted even more.
"Fred," She called from behind a stack, popping her head out from behind it. "What's all this?"
"Ah, that's our defence line." He said walking over. "I guess they don't really sell as much anymore with the war over."
"I could use a decoy detonator to run away if my boss comes to find me." She grinned, reading the back of the box before placing it back.
"Or a headless hat, we have them the on the first floor."
"Headless hat?" She looked up from the box of instant darkness powder.
"Makes your head and hat invisible." He grinned.
"I think that will give him a heart attack." She laughed as she followed him to the first floor. "He's nearing his seventies, don't want that on my conscious."
"Guess not. Here we have our Wonder Witch line. We designed it just for the ladies."
"For blind ladies?" She asked as she had to cover her eyes from the bright pink display.
"Not a fan of pink?" He teased.
"Not a fan of being blinded by it, no." She stuck out her tongue at him. "Love potions?"
"Yeah, they really work, but after a friend of ours had an incident at school with them, we lowered the dosage. Just so the person you like could see you in a different way, take notice to you or gets the courage to ask them out."
"Incident? What kind of incident?"
"Not too bad. Here we have some bath products." He quickly changed the subject.
"Ten-second pimple vanisher." She mumbled picking up a box. "You would make a fortune of you could sell these to us, muggles." She said with emphasis on muggles. "What the hell are those?" She asked pointing at fluffy balls that ran around a glass box.
"Pygmy Puffs. They are kind of a pet. Like a cat or a dog."
"That is nothing like a cat or a dog." She laughed, stroking ones back. "They are cute though."
"Too bad, you don't have any money. I think you would love the daydream charms." He said pointing at the stack of boxes. She picked one up and saw moving figurines on it. A boy and a girl giggling on a swing set. "Each box sends you thirty minutes into a very, very realistic daydream."
"You've tried it?"
"We test all of our products ourselves. I mean I tested…"
"The love potions?"
"Yeah, that was a very awkward day." He grimaced, thinking back.
She snickered as she placed the box back. "And what was your daydream about?"
"That's for me to know."
"And for me to find out?" She asked grinning.
"Merlin, no. Why do I want you to find out?" He asked bewildered.
"It's a saying. And… Merlin?"
"Yeah, don't you use it?"
"No, we say god no, heck, hell or even fuck no. Not Merlin."
"Hmmm. God, isn't that a dude you guys' worship in a church or some kind?"
"Yes, although I am not religious. I just use god, or Jesus when it suits me."
"You're weird."
"I'm weird? You're a freaking ghost!" She laughed as he leaned away from the display.
"Still, you're weird. Let's head down."
Leah pursed her lips at him, holding back as smile as she followed him down the stairs. Fred took her first to the left wall that was covered with sweets in all colours and sizes. Canary creams, candy in a can, jumping snakes, ton-tongue toffee and much, much more.
The other side of the wall was, if she has to name it Explosive Polloza. A range of fireworks, in all different designs, forms colours. Fred smiled proudly and happy at the stand, full of fireworks. Leah saw the excitement in his eyes turn to sadness before he cast his eyes down.
"You really love your fireworks." She grinned picking up a box of exploding whizz poppers.
"One of the first things we started selling, alongside skiving boxes."
"What now, skiving boxes?" She asked as Fred was already walking to them.
"Ah, one of our most popular products. Welcome to Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Can I help you look for something?" A tall girl with long blond hair asked. Fred turned away from the skiving boxes and looked at the girl.
"Verity." He whispered. "She works with us in the shop."
"No, thank you. Just browsing."
"Alright, if you need any help, just holler."
"Will do!" She called back as the witch named Verity walked away. "Your brother must be around here somewhere? She can't just run all this madness by herself."
"Although Verity is a very capable witch, no. He must be here somewhere." He said craning his neck, looking through the store. "Let's finish the tour, almost done. Then we can go find a certain twin of mine."
"Now, last but not least, are general joking products. Here we have dung bombs, shock shake, fanged frisbees, nose biting teacups."
"How do you come up with all this?" She asked looking at the boxes Fred pointed out.
"Overly active imagination." He stated proudly.