Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue.
However, any thoughts of Parvati were brushed from Hermione's mind, as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny made their way into Hogsmeade.
"Oh, come on, Hermione, there's the shop!" Ron cried excitedly, tugging on Hermione's hand. Harry and Ginny laughed as Hermione whispered, "Honestly, you're like a little child."
Harry looked at the new shop the Weasley's owned, and was impressed. Outside were giant moving posters of what some of the more spectacular pranks would do. Harry was engrossed in one that showed someone eating a chocolate which would cause them to violently pass gas, when Ginny pulled him into the shop itself.
Harry and Ron gasped as they saw all the products along the shelf. Sure enough, the store was divided into Blue, Green, and Yellow areas, and Harry spotted a sign that said:
WWW Color Guide
Blue: Harmless
Best way to introduce yourself to the first years, without that loss of points
Green: 5-10 Points
Nasty. But a great way to get someone back…
Yellow: 10-20 Points
Anyone buying this can be considered our comrade!
Sure enough, Ron immediately ran over to the Yellow section with Hermione in tow. Harry turned around, and saw Fred and George.
"Hey, Harry!" chimed Fred.
"Glad you could make it!" added George. While Ron appeared to already know the store pretty well, the twins took Harry on a tour, showing off the various products which they were proud of.
"It's the Transverse Time Turner!" boasted Fred, holding up an odd shaped amulet. "It takes anyone in the same room with you, and transports them all exactly one hour into the future."
"We came up with it during potions," George explained, and Harry had to laugh. It made sense the Weasley twins would find some way out of particularly bad classes!
"Tell me," Harry whispered to the two, "do you have a Red section?"
Fred and George grinned, and George said, "Indeed. We wouldn't just let anyone in, though. Even our younger brother doesn't know…" Harry followed the two, and passed through an ordinary wall, similar to the platform 9 ¾ barrier at King's Cross.
It didn't even appear to be an ordinary store room, but rather an exotic laboratory.
"This here," Fred pointed, "is the Doomsday Dungbomb."
"Hey!" Harry said, "That's what you used on Hermione's room last year,"
George shook his head and said, "No. That was actually just a prototype. We've managed to make this about seven or eight times stronger than that." Harry was visibly impressed, and the twins grinned.
"This," Fred continued, "is a Blackness Bomb. When it's used, it sucks every trace of light within a room, even Lumos spells. The only way to take it off is to come up with the code word, or manage to destroy the bomb. Of course, that's really hard since you can't see it!"
Harry laughed, and George showed them the final product, "Tubby Transmutation!" he said proudly. "It transfigures someone to look exactly like Dudley Dursley for 5 hours."
Harry laughed uncontrollably, and the twins joined in as well. "I have to admit," Fred said after they were done laughing, "that using it wouldn't make anyone lose over 20 points. But we felt that making someone look like Dudley was a crime beyond description, so it's not out in the shop."
George grinned and said, "Tell you what – you've helped us out so much, we'll give you a free red product." Harry was hesitant, and Fred chimed in, "Go ahead! It's not even really paying you back. It's just so we can show our appreciation."
Harry smiled, and grabbed the Doomsday Dungbomb. Fred cried a fake tear, and George said solemnly, "We're proud of you, son."
Harry jokingly said, "You guys have taught me well." All three laughed and made their way back to the main shop area.
Ron spotted them and asked, "Harry, where were you? I found this awesome gadget that turns your hair really weird colors!"
Fred, without hesitation said, "Oh, he had to use the loo."
George gave Harry a farewell wink, and the four students left the store, Ron loaded down with prank supplies.
"Ugh. Do you realize how many points you're going to lose Gryffindor?" Hermione moaned.
"Yep," replied Ron happily, "I counted 'em up. I think the total was 125-250."
Harry laughed, and wondered how many they'd lose if he used his gadget.
"What's that?" Ginny asked, pointing to a run-down store, which Harry barely recognized as the old joke shop.
"Zonkos," Ron replied, a little gladly. "Fred and George utterly crushed them. They don't sell nearly as much as they used to, and I think they're almost out of business." The four walked inside, and Harry had to admit the store looked on its final legs. Most of the shelves were bare, and the products available were the ones few people would buy anyway. The store owner didn't even bother coming over to greet them, and was sitting by the register holding some Firewhiskey.
"It's kind of sad," Harry muttered, feeling a little sorry for the owner.
"I heard that!" the owner said.
"Er, sorry," Harry mumbled.
The owner brushed the apology away and said, "Save your pity. Fortunately, I put enough of the profits into Gringots that I can fully retire. It's just a shame the store's going to close – it's been here for over 50 years.
Harry quickly said, "Have you talked with the Weasleys? I mean, they weren't out to compete with you. They just wanted to have a joke shop. Maybe the two of you could come together; make something like 'Zonkos: Authorized Seller of Weasley Wizard Wheezes'. If you've got enough money to retire, you could even sell the store to them – they might be willing to carry on Zonko's tradition. I mean, they loved your products while they were at Hogwarts."
Harry was amazed at his speech, and could see that the owner was mulling over the possibility. "Yer right…" he muttered, "They were always in here over the years… I'll have to have a talk with them."
As they exited the shop, Ron said to Harry, "I don't know about what you said, Harry. I think they wanted to open their own shop."
Harry replied, "Then they can say no. But it could end up helping both Zonkos and WWW out."
"That's it! I'm tired of this!" cried Hermione, "All we've done so far is go to the joke shops and talk about the joke shops!" She then pulled the group into the Three Broomsticks. Harry volunteered to get the butterbeers, and the others found a booth towards the back. Harry came back with the drinks, and scooted in next to Ginny.
The four sat in the booth for hours, talking about classes, co-ops, professors, and the future in general. Harry was slightly amused as every butterbeer would bring Hermione closer to Ron, until she was leaning on him, resting her head on his shoulder. However, shortly after, Ginny rested on him as well, and looked about ready to go to sleep. When Hermione let out a small snore, Harry and Ron couldn't help but laugh, although softly so as not to disturb either of the girls.
"We need to get back to Hogwarts," Harry whispered.
Ron looked at the sleeping girls and said, "How are we supposed to do that with these two?"
Harry had to admit he was rather tired himself, and wouldn't like to carry Ginny all the way back to Hogwarts. "How about Mobilicorpus? Does it hurt?"
Ron thought a minute and said, "I don't know. I don't think so."
"Tell you what," Harry said, "Try it out on me." He disentangled himself from Ginny and leaned her against the opposite wall.
"Mobilicorpus," Ron whispered softly.
Harry felt himself gently rise up in the air. It certainly wasn't painful; it actually felt like the air around him was made out of silk which was holding his weight. "Actually," Harry admitted, "that feels kind of good." Ron took the spell off of him, and the two cast the same spell on their girlfriends.
Hermione didn't make a sound, and Ginny made a gentle murmur as the two were gently guided out of the booth. Harry and Ron shrugged, and began the short trip back to Hogwarts. However, as they were climbing the stairs within Hogwarts, the stairwell changed and Ron lost his attention. Hermione's ankle banged against the rail and she opened her eyes.
Hermione found herself looking straight up the large shaft of the Hogwarts stair area, and could feel she wasn't on the ground. Before she gave it a second thought, she screamed, "AAAAAAGGGHHH!" This woke Ginny up, who also let out a large brief scream.
"Sssshhhh!" Harry urged, "Filch will hear us. It's past curfew now!"
Ron was unnerved by his girlfriend scream, and accidentally let her down abruptly. "OW!" yelled Hermione, still not aware of what was going on.
Both Harry and Ron groaned as they heard Filch yell in the distance, "Students up past curfew?! I swear I'll have you hanging by CHAINS!" Harry and Ron quickly got Ginny and Hermione fully awake.
"Come on!" Harry urgently whispered, "We've got to go! Filch will kill us!" What seemed like an eternity later, Ginny and Hermione nodded and the four took off. However, it was quite apparent that Filch was right on their heels. Harry yelled, "Hold your breath!" and reached inside of his robes. After grabbing the Doomsday Dungbomb, Harry roughly tossed it at the ground and ran even faster.
Harry was relieved as he heard Filch break off the chase and yell, "EEEEEEERRRRGGGHHHHH!!" Ron quickly gave the Fat Lady the password, and the four collapsed in the common room, panting.
"That…" Ron gasped, out of breath, "was exciting!"
"Ronald Weasley," Hermione panted, "if you ever even think about doing that again…" but she couldn't finish her threat and had to get some more air.
Harry looked at the three of them, and burst into giggles. Ron joined in, and both were soon fully laughing. Ginny and Hermione eventually joined in, and the four laughed for several minutes, before quieting down and falling to sleep on the armchairs by the fire.
----
First, I've got some news. I found out I don't have any finals on Friday, so I won't be going home on the 20th or 21st. Instead, I will be going home on Thursday the 19th. And I still have a lot of chapters to get up. From now on, I will be posting two at a time. So, you won't see any review feedback every other chapter from now on.
Kaelli: Yeah, Parvati should trust Harry. Hmmm… Maybe I SHOULD kill her off…
Ariel: Good catch! I reposted with the changes as soon as I got your review.
Beefywpac: Thanks!
Seifer: Wow, it seems everyone hates Parvati because she won't trust Harry.
Anyways, please review!