Disclaimer: It's not just business, it's also personal.
In Which a Seed is Planted
Bill walked into the staff break room with a confused look on his face and collapsed into the nearest chair.
"Problem?" Remus asked.
"I got called back to Gringotts regarding the work I've been doing here," Bill replied.
"Are we going to have to find a new warder?"
"No, we're getting another dozen curse breakers and I'm getting half pay from Gringotts to supervise," Bill said. "I don't understand it, I've never seen them act like this before."
"Harry is a very influential wizard," Remus pointed out.
"I don't think he's the reason for all the odd behavior," Bill said. "There'll also be a tailor coming later today."
"What for?"
"Gringotts is hoping to sell us new clothing," Bill replied.
"I take it there's something special about it?" Remus prompted.
"Without being charmed, it'll take anything up to the killing curse," Bill agreed. "With charms . . ." he trailed off. "I don't think they've tested it."
"We're not that lucky," Remus stated. "I'll go have a word with Thomas and James," he said after a moment of thought. "If nothing else, I'm sure they'll be interested to hear if it's better than what they're already using."
IIIIIIIIII
Ron's eyes were shining as he watched the craftsmen work their magic. This was what he needed to learn, this was what would allow him to live up to his potential and accomplish his dream of becoming the premiere broommaker in the United Kingdom.
"I understand that you do a bit of woodwork yourself," the stock maker that was conducting the tour said as the tour ended.
"A bit," Ron admitted. "Nothing like this."
"Got any of your work with you?"
"Some," Ron agreed.
"We've all got to start somewhere. Let's have a look." The man held out his hand with an expectant look on his face.
Ron reached into his pocket and pulled out the first thing his fingers closed on. It was a small, almost perfectly spherical, wooden ball.
"Steady hand," the stock maker commented as he examining the object. "There any reason you used pine?"
"Pine is cheap," Ron replied.
"It is," the stock maker agreed. "It's also soft. Much better to practice on hardwood if you can. I'll see that you get a box of scraps and failures on your way out."
"Thank you," Ron said with a grin.
"If it's not too much trouble, please see that he gets a list of tools too, please," Harry interjected. "A supplier would help also."
"I'll include a spare set with the wood scraps," the stock maker promised. He turned back to Ron. "Any chance you could spend more time here to pick up a few things?"
"I don't know," Ron replied. "I'm supposed to be at school till June. Think you can arrange something, Harry?"
"Should be able to," Harry agreed.
IIIIIIIIII
Moody stormed into the Director's office, collapsed into a chair, and propped his foot and peg up onto her desk. From his expression, Amelia could see that this was not going to be a fun meeting. As it happened, she was right.
"Well?" she prompted.
"Well we are completely and totally dry-buggered," he barked. "You've got moles, you've got corruption, you've got nepotism, and you've got incompetence. Quite a bit of cross over in those three categories and the numbers of them are much higher than the numbers of good reliable Aurors, most of which are so green they're still in academy issue uniforms."
"Segregate the good Aurors, have them assigned to my security detail, Hogsmead, and St. Mungos. Put the rest into places they can do the least amount of harm like guarding the Minister." She smirked. "That one should already be mostly nepotism anyway. I know for sure Gavin wasn't selected to command it for his abilities as an Auror, make sure we don't have any good ones wasted in the detail. Find something relatively safe for the merely incompetent where they won't get in our way. Have 'em help out record keeping maybe."
"Already done," Moody laughed. "Going to go through the other Departments under your command next. Also need to find an excuse to get you out of this bloody death trap. Too few exits, too many entrances, and not even a little bit defensible."
"Healer Rage wants to put me on medical leave for just that reason," Amelia admitted. "Unfortunately, that would give Fudge the run of the place."
"Something that's looking more and more tempting if we can get the good people out first," Moody retorted.
"Been abusing the confidential undercover assignment idea as much as possible," Amelia sighed. "Let us hide a number of our best."
"The idea about sending our Healers and Researchers to Hogwarts wasn't a bad one either," Moody agreed. "Lets us put Rage at Hogwarts permanently and the others on a temp bases shared with St. Mungos and Hogsmeade."
"I'm operating under the assumption that the Ministry can't be held, not when Fudge is the Minister and not when half the employees are working for the other side."
"Likely not more than a third," Moody corrected. "With another third of quislings."
"Lovely."
"Isn't it just?"
"Suggestions?" Amelia asked.
"Azkaban guard force is fairly reliable, swap 'em out with the corrupt," Moody replied. "Use the guard force to set up a separate, secret prison somewhere else."
"How am I going to explain that to the Minister without letting him in on what we're actually doing?" Amelia demanded.
"There's a disease hitting the island pretty hard at the moment," Moody said softly, leaning in so he could be understood. "Several prisoners have already succumb and all the guards are sick. Healer Rage, our Chief Healer, recommended putting them all on an extended sick leave and insisted on quarantining them and their families at an undisclosed location."
"Which prisoners?" Amelia asked.
"Oddly enough, they were all captured Death Eaters," Moody replied. "To be expected when one considered the fact that they're in the deepest level of the prison with the most time around the dementors. Completely buggers their immune system it does."
"I don't like that."
"I don't like any of this, bloody needs must!" Moody barked.
"I didn't say it wasn't necessary, I said I didn't like it," Amelia growled. "Bugger the idea of a second prison, I don't want to spare the men for it."
"You suggesting we stop taking prisoners?" Moody asked carefully.
"And miss out on the valuable intel they're all carrying around in their heads?" Amelia laughed. "No, I'm not suggesting we off them after we find everything out or that we just hand them into Azkaban where a well placed bribe will get them out."
"What are you suggesting?"
"Auror Tonks put a new ward around my office that will scramble her brains if she's removed and I'm in my panic room," Amelia began.
"Loyal little bint, isn't she?" Moody commented with what passed for warmth. "If only I were a few decades younger."
"She is," Amelia agreed. "I was thinking we remove every one of their memories before handing them over. Not like we can't replace them if we come out on top, is it?"
"And bugger the lot of them if we don't," Moody agreed. "I'd suggest we also key them into the prison's wards, they leave without getting keyed out and they leave in pieces." He amused himself for a moment imagining the look on the chief bugger's face when he realized what they'd done. Might have the side bonus of discouraging more break out attempts or causing the bastards to waste time figuring out counters to boot.
"Can you do that?" Amelia asked.
"Close acquaintance of one of Gringotts' curse breakers," Moody explained. "We got to talking shop and he mentioned a few things he'd do if he were in your seat."
"Grab him, throw Galleons at him, and get it done," Amelia ordered.
"I would, but he's a bit busy with warding the Granger properties," Moody replied. "One of Arthur's boys."
"Damn. See if he can recommend someone else if he can't spare the time to do it himself." She considered the matter. "Actually, see if he's willing and I'll talk to the Granger family about buying some of his time if he is."
"Will do," Moody agreed.
IIIIIIIIII
Phil yawned as the car pulled up the drive to his weekend abode. It had been a long but hopefully productive day, he'd have to see if he could help Harry with more business ventures. Perhaps if the boy got a taste for it he could be pointed at Oxford after he left Hogwarts? If nothing else, Hermione could use a friend with business sense to help manage her affairs.
He dragged himself back to reality as the car came to a halt.
"Care to stay for dinner, Ron?" he asked.
"Mind if I postpone that?" Ron asked. "I promised mum that I'd come right back and tell her about how things went."
"Feel free to drop by anytime," Phil agreed. He stepped out of the car and was immediately confronted by his daughter and her retinue. "Hello, darling."
"Hello, daddy," Hermione replied. She brushed him aside and greeted the next one out of the car. "Hi, Ron, how was your trip?"
"Pretty good," Ron replied brightly. "I learned a lot. Can't wait to get home to try out some of the things I saw."
"Good." Hermione hugged him. "I'm quite glad that things are working out for you, don't let us keep you."
"Bye, Hermione." Ron waved at the rest of the group. "Bye, girls." He didn't know what was going on, but he did know it was time to leave while he still could.
"You come out of that car, Harry Potter!" Hermione ordered. "We were all terribly bored without you here to keep us company."
"That means you have to entertain us extra hard to make up for it," Luna agreed. "We've spent the time you were gone thinking up ideas."
"I don't think he's in there," Susan said, peering through one of the tinted windows into the seemingly empty interior of the car.
"He's not," Phil agreed. "He got called away to deal with a last minute issue regarding the deal he worked out with your godfather."
"Daddy, Harry's our friend, no fair stealing him," Hermione huffed. "Stop working him so hard, it's not good for him. He needs to rest."
"I'm sorry, darling," Phil replied. He suppressed the first comment that came to mind. "If it helps, he was quite annoyed by it and expressed his wish to come home to you girls."
"Isn't that just the sort of unthinkingly sweet statement you expect to hear from Harry Potter," Hannah giggled.
"Do you know when he'll get back?" Hermione asked.
"He was planning to ride back with Susan's Aunt," Phil replied.
"No more all day business meetings, daddy," Hermione demanded. "We only have a few more days before our return to Hogwarts."
"I'll see what can be done, darling," Phil agreed.
IIIIIIIIII
It was dark and they were nearly worn out by the time Harry and Amelia finally managed to get back to the stately Granger Manor. Harry's meetings had gone over long and while Amelia was no stranger to late nights, the accumulated stress was making her feel her age more than ever.
Upon walking through the front door, Harry was immediately beset by four frowning faces.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Hermione asked in concern, seeing the state her friend was in. She took a couple steps closer for a quick inspection to assure herself that he didn't need medical attention, cursing the fact that she didn't have her wand to cast a few diagnostic charms.
"Just tired," Harry replied. "Had to talk with Charlie about some things regarding the contract with the twins and some other things, then I had to talk to some other places on Ron's behalf."
"Okay," Hermione sighed. She nodded to the other girls, let the games begin.
"About time you got back!" Susan snipped, fighting down the grin that threatened to split her face. "Do you know how bored we were?"
"It's your job to keep us entertained," Luna agreed, grabbing his arm. "We get so lonely without you around."
"We expect you to make up for your rudeness by being extra entertaining in the future to make up for it," Hannah giggled.
"I'll keep that in mind," Harry said dryly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out four packages. "Wear them in good health. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get something to eat and then collapse into a chair."
"What are these?" Susan asked curiously.
"Mind if I give the explanation, Harry?" Amelia asked.
"Aunty Amelia?" Susan squeaked.
"Please," Harry said. "Now if you lot will excuse me, I must be going."
Hermione shot one of the servants a meaningful look, causing the man to fall into step behind Harry. It wasn't that she didn't trust that he'd be able to get back to his room without injuring himself, it was that she was more than slightly convinced that he couldn't do anything without somehow managing to put himself into mortal peril.
Amelia smiled down at her niece. "Didn't even notice me? I guess it's to be expected that you'd be focused on boys at your age."
"Um . . ." the girl blushed a deep red.
"But that's neither here nor there," Amelia continued. "As part of a favor he did for me, Harry managed to acquire a number of magical artifacts."
The girls opened the packages to reveal four finely made silver chains, each with a matching wire bracelet.
"What do they do?" Hermione asked curiously.
"You can store items in the bracelet, they'll appear as miniature dangling decorations. The necklaces will protect you against several minor hexes and physical injuries." She'd suggested giving them to the girls after Phil had called with a warning about the planned ambush. "I wouldn't suggest storing your wand in the bracelet, it takes a few seconds to retrieve any items you put into it and that is not a good thing in a fight."
The girls put the jewelry on and spent a few seconds admiring each other.
"I think we're going to have to cut Harry some slack this time," Susan offered. "He did remember to bring us presents and that's the sort of behavior that I'm sure we all agree should be encouraged to continue."
"Yeah," Hannah agreed.
Amelia grinned, glad that she'd managed to do something for the boy to take the heat off. She owned it to him after all.
IIIIIIIIII
Ron was relieved to find a car waiting for him when he stumbled out of the Cauldron early the next morning. It wasn't that he couldn't make his way in the muggle world, it was that the muggle world was a complete mystery, so alien that all sense of normalcy was lost.
OK, maybe it was a little difficult for him to make his way in the muggle world, just a tad.
The driver opened the door and motioned for him to take a seat in the back.
"Where are we going today?" Ron asked curiously.
"Purdey today, Mr. Ron. Mr. Harry told me to ask you if you wanted to look at a few more gunmakers," the driver replied. "Also mentioned that it would be possible for you to spend some time with a musical instrument maker if you'd like."
"I'd like," Ron agreed. "Might be best to focus on the gunmakers first though. I don't know." Ron admitted. "I still don't know enough about any of this to know if it'd be better to focus or to look at everything."
"Can't hurt to take a look at how others do things," the driver offered.
"Right," Ron agreed. "Thanks for taking the time to drive me around like this, especially since we should both be asleep right now."
"It's my job, happy to do it."
IIIIIIIIII
Harry was dragged awake by a cold sensation that told him some inconsiderate soul had pulled off all his blankets.
"You're lucky I wear something to bed," he groaned, not opening his eyes.
"Lucky isn't the word I would use," a feminine voice giggled.
Harry's eyes shot open to reveal that he was surrounded by girls, not a bad place to be. Though the look of frank appraisal on Hannah's face, the look of innocent curiosity on Luna's, the look of exasperation directed towards Hannah on Susan's, and the look of faint embarrassment on Hermione's was more than a bit unnerving.
"Do you have anything to do today, Harry?" Hermione asked, hoping the answer was no. She did not like how hard her friend was pushing himself.
"Charlie wanted me to speak with the goblins on his behalf," Harry replied. "But . . ." He held up a hand to silence her before she could interrupt. "I told him I wouldn't have time to do that until after we returned to classes."
"Okay," the girl chirped, relieved by his answer.
"So what would you four like to do?" Harry asked.
"Daddy told me that Thomas is qualified to instruct us on the proper way of how to ride motorcycles," Hermione offered, she'd already read several books to prepare. "We could do that if everyone wants to?"
"Works for us," Hannah said.
"Myself as well," Luna agreed.
"Something I've always wanted to learn to do," Harry said with a pleased smile.
"It's settled," Hermione declared. "We'll learn to ride motorcycles."
"Great, now if you will give me a bit of privacy?" Harry hinted.
"Right." Hermione blushed. "Sorry, Harry."
Harry smiled as he the four girls march out of his room. It was good for Hermione and Luna to have other female friends even if it did make it easier for them to conspire against him.
IIIIIIIIII
Ron held his breath as Purdey's master stock maker inspected his work. It was times like this, after seeing the man's work and comparing it to his own, that really drove home how far he had to go. Welp, he thought to himself, I've got a long way to go so it's a good thing I started early enough to have enough time to reach my goal.
"Adequate," the man pronounced. "I'm told you're planning to spend a bit of time at Holland & Holland learning the ropes?"
"Yes, sir," Ron agreed.
"Spend a bit of time here too," the man ordered. "I'm also told that you're starting a small custom shop supplying bespoke items to a very exclusive clientele?"
"I am, sir," Ron said, unsure of how much he should admit.
"Already have orders?"
"A few, sir. Hard thing is trying to keep up with the demand while I get good enough to be good and quick."
"Keep at it," the man advised. "I look forward to seeing how you do in a few years when you have a chance to get in some real practice."
"I will. Thank you, sir."
Ron left the gunmakers with another bag of scraps and another set of tools thanks largely to the management's desire to stay on the right side of the powerful Granger family. He was still on cloud nine when he got home and itching to try out everything he'd learned.
IIIIIIIIII
Mandy walked into the coach's office with an expression of profound confusion. She was fairly sure she hadn't done anything she shouldn't have lately and she knew she hadn't broken her diet, so what did the demanding bitch want now?
"You called for me, coach?" she asked.
"Have a seat, Maxwell," the coach ordered. She stared at her player for a few moments. "Just how close are you to Ron Weasley?"
"Isn't that question a bit personal?!" Mandy demanded, rising to her feat. "Who I associate with in my free time is my business and you can't make me stop seeing him!"
"Sit!" the coach barked. "Sit," she sighed. "Rumor is that you are very close. Rumor is that the two of you are dating. I am hoping that rumor is true because I am hoping you have a very close relationship for the sake of the team."
"What?" She dropped into her seat. "What's going on, coach?"
"The owners have decided that we need more security in case of another Death Eater attack," the coach replied. "Real security. Nothing against the boys and girls we've got now but they're not much good for more than the occasional drunk fan."
"So?"
"So the labor pool's dry. We found three ex-Aurors that weren't fired for gross incompetence." You didn't want to be anywhere near Aurors that had been fired for incompetence, not with the lax standards foisted on the Department of Magical Law Enforcement by the Fudge Administration anyway. "Do you know what they told us when we approached with an offer?"
"Not a clue, coach."
"They told us that they'd already signed on with Harry Potter and that he's grabbed everyone the Department of Magical Law Enforcement hasn't," the coach explained. "Ron Weasley is a close associate of Harry Potter. So how close are you with Ron Weasley?"
"Um, we're just starting to get to know each other, coach," Mandy admitted. "I like him and I know he likes me and I'm serious and I hope he is." She blushed. "I don't know that he is, we haven't discussed it yet. Seems a bit early for that."
"Let me rephrase that; Are you close enough to use your relationship with him to get a meeting with Harry Potter?" The coach shook her head. "We're also going to try to get to him through Hooch at Hogwarts, but . . ." she shrugged. Management had decided that it was better to go through the best mate than the flying instructor. The less said about their third choice, the better. No one had the guts to approach her cold considering her reputation.
"Might be better coming from his best mate," Mandy sighed. "I'll talk to Ron, tell him what I want and why. What should I say to Harry Potter if Ron introduces us?"
"Tell him that we'd like to hire some of his wands," the coach replied. "Find out how much it will cost us."
"Alright," Mandy agreed.
"Here." The coach slid an envelope across her desk. "Season tickets for one of the private boxes. Present these to Potter with our compliments before you ask for anything."
"Nothing for Ron?" Mandy asked innocently.
"He's already got a standing invitation to sit in the owner's box and I know he's welcome in the dugout and the locker room. What you think he'd like? You find out, you let me know right away," the coach said seriously. "Owners are set on getting you lot protected. Price is still an object but not a significant one."
"Can I get back to you on that?" Mandy asked.
"You may," the coach agreed. "Take the rest of the day off, see your boyfriend, have fun."
"I will, coach," Mandy agreed.
IIIIIIIIII
Ron was in the shed doing his best to turn out another beater's bat with one of the larger scraps when he became aware that he was not alone. The boy turned away from his work to lose himself in a worried set of blue eyes.
"Hi, Ron," Mandy whispered.
"Mandy," Ron replied. "Your bat and broom alright?"
"Best set I've ever had," she said quickly.
"What's wrong?" He patted the place on the bench to his right.
"The team wants me to use you to get a meeting with Harry Potter," she confessed.
"Oh. Why?"
"They want to hire some of his guards to protect the team from Death Eaters," she replied. "They're really spooked by what happened."
"Okay," he agreed, wondering when Harry had gotten guards. "I'll floo Harry and see if he's willing to meet with you."
"Thank you, Ron."
"No problem." The boy grinned, the expression on his face looking a lot like the ones that perpetually adorned Fred and George. "There are a few things you should know before you meet with Harry. Kinda important if you want to make a good impression."
"What are they?"
"He likes to be referred to in the third person . . . uh, never turn your back on him. Uh, if you're taller than he is, which nearly everyone is, you should be sure to slouch or stoop down so you don't tower over him. He hates that. And . . . uh . . . you should probably refer to yourself in the third person too and end every sentence with a preposition."
"Really?" she exclaimed, thinking about some of the odd demands her fellow players had after they let fame get to their heads.
"Nah, he's a pretty normal guy. Don't stare at his scar or ask him about how he got it and you'll be fine," Ron laughed.
"You prat!" she squealed, giving him a playful slap on the arm.
IIIIIIIIII
Anne stepped into the car just in time to see her husband put down the phone. The man had an odd but intriguing look on his face.
"What was that all about?" she asked.
"Hmmm?"
"You've got the same expression on your face that you had the night Hermione was born," she explained.
"One of the professional magic sports teams has need of some physical security and they're hoping to hire some of ours away," he explained.
"Can we spare any?"
"Oh yes, that shouldn't be a problem. I've been hiring up everyone with a good reputation that I could find and we've got a bit of a surplus at the moment," he replied.
"So why are you looking so smug?"
"They think that everything belongs to Harry," he replied with a grin. "So naturally I asked him to work out a deal for me since I'm not there to do it myself."
"Why?"
"I haven't given up the idea of teaching Hermione how to handle herself in the business world, but I have decided that it would be best to find someone that knows what they're doing to keep an eye on her. In the normal course of things it would be one of the cousins that would take over but I'm afraid that isn't an option with this generation." He felt a brief but familiar pang of loss. "As I was saying, other options need to be explored for the sake of continuing the family."
"Harry's going to be your someone that knows what they're doing?" she asked dryly.
"That's my hope," he agreed. "Wouldn't hurt to have an agent in the magical world anyway no matter what happens."
"He's just a boy," she protested.
"He's tremendously influential in the magical world," Phil replied. "That aside, I'm just laying the foundation now for Hermione's future."
Anne frowned at him. "Seems as if you're using the poor boy."
"So long as they at least remain friends, he'll look after her. I'm merely insuring that he has the proper tools to look after her finances as well as her physical safety," he defended himself. "I'm helping him do a better job of what he would do anyway."
"Does he know about your plans for him?" Anne demanded.
"Some of them," he evaded.
"Tell him all of them," she ordered.
"I'm quite happy to do so," he agreed easily. "I'd always planned to, just never seemed to find the right time."
"Good. The time is now." She leaned into him. "Let me just state for the record that your evil plan for our offspring and her friend is just the sort of thing that I expect from the heartless mercantile class, treating people like chess pieces. The horror."
"I recognize value and seek to increase it," Phil replied. "You recognize nothing of value since everything in your life has been handed to you thanks to an accident of birth. Sad, I really think you could have been something worth while if you'd had to work for anything in your life."
"If I had to work for anything?" Anne giggled. "Your family is several times wealthier than mine ever was and has been for the last hundred and some odd years. Or do you think the use of facts in one of our arguments is unsporting?"
"Don't break character, my love. It ruins the mood." He gave her a gentle kiss. "Or do you think that playing a role is beneath you? Such classism." he sniffed in mock disdain. "A pity, I thought such things were rightly constrained to the dustbin of history."
"Lowborn fop," she said affectionately.