Chapter Five
Fred set to work on the paperwork his brother had shown him. Of the two of them, George was more client inclined, while Fred liked to work out inventory. This arrangement worked out fine for both of them. They both got to do what they liked.
George would wheel and deal with the suppliers and people he supplied too, while Fred figured out the paper work and drew out the agreements. Together they had hired the people to run their other stores. They had to all be of wizard families, due to the inventory lists that they had to handle. It would not do for some unsuspecting muggle to order a bunch of magical jokes. How would they explain that to the ministry of magic. That for sure would cause problems for their father.
Fred read the orders. Not much to fill with them. Mostly just requests for more canary creams, and exploding golf balls. They also had requests for their extreme wizard chess sets and ultimate exploding snap games. Business was good. They both had made quite a fortune. To tell the truth, they had enough money, that if his father wanted to retire early, they could give him enough so he could live comfortably for the rest of his natural life.
The problem was their father did not want to retire, and they could understand why. If he left there would be few people left to keep Fudge in check. If there was one thing Arthur Weasely had in the ministry, it was friends. People generally liked him when they met him.
After the incident when Harry was almost killed due to Fudges' refusal to acknowledge the return of Voldermort, people had started to turn against him. And with the Weasely family being such good friends with Harry, it put Fudge in an awkward position. He would love nothing better than to get rid of both his father and his brother from their posts. That how ever was not likely to happen. They were smart on Fudge. They both had collected enough supporters that if Fudge tried to fire either of them, there would be an uproar.
Fred gathered the paper work and went to the storage room in the back. Even thought the building looked small outside, it had plenty of room inside. (Thanks to a room enlargement charm they had cast on it.) It didn't take him long to fill the orders. After packaging and shipping them he went back to the front of the store. His brother was talking to an older witch whom he'd never seen before.
His brother noticed him immediately. "Fred! Over here! I want you to meet someone." Fred approached the older woman. She looked familiar. Fred shook her hand. George grinned. Fred began to worry. "You will never guess who this is!"
The witch smiled at Fred and left him off the hook. "Hello Fred. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Christine's Grandmother!" You could have knocked Fred over with a feather. "But you're a." "Witch!" she answered for him.
"I know. It's confusing. How would a muggle have a witch for a Grandmother? Well you see I married a man. A wonderful man! Only he was a muggle. My Daughter from him has very little talent as a witch and since she too married a muggle, Christine has no talent at all. At least as far as we know she doesn't. As a baby, we had her tested. The only thing that showed up unusually high was her ability to tell when things were going to happen ahead of time. Unfortunately, those predictions seldom involve her self. That is why I had to come meet you. I noticed the spell on her store, and when she mentioned your name last night at dinner, I recognized it. I had to come and meet you to see for myself!"
Fred was amazed. So Christine did originate from a wizarding family. But she was a squib. Well, he could live with that. And he was sure it would relieve the minds of his parents a great deal also. Fred promised her that he had only the best intensions for her granddaughter. Promising to keep in touch, he escorted her to the door.
George looked ready to bust a gut laughing. "A squib. I can't believe this. Oh wait till I tell the others. They will enjoy this!" The others that George was referring to were their old school chums, Lee Jordan, Harry, Oliver Wood, and of coarse he had to tell Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. They all met regularly at the local wizard pub every Friday evening.
Fred's ears turned a shade of red that almost matched his hair. If that crew heard about it, he'd never hear the end of it. Especially from Seamus. It wouldn't be so much that Christine was a squib that they would tease about. It was that he was interested in her. Fred gave his brother a frustrated look. He couldn't even use the rule about not interfering in each other's love lives, because technically this didn't. It was just embarrassing.
Fred couldn't get overly upset with his brother. They were too close to have that happen. Besides. If their situations were reversed, he would probably do the same thing to George. Fred gave up trying to intimidate him with looks'. George took pity on him. "Hey. It's almost lunchtime. Why don't you go down to Christine's store and see how the clean up had come along.
George was letting him off easy and Fred knew it. He took the opportunity anyway. At Ray's Electronics, things were starting to look better. The broken glass had been replaced, and a set of bars had been installed in all the windows. If only she knew she didn't need them. The spell he had placed on the store was still intact. No thief would trouble her.
Fred entered the store. Christine was just handing a gentleman some money. It looked to be the man that had installed the window and bars. Fred looked around the store until the man left.
When he heard the door close he turned to Christine. "So how are things today?" Christine looked and sounded better than he expected her to. "I will be fine. They caught the criminals but there was no sign of my inventory. The insurance company however has agreed to settle for the loss of the merchandise." Fred was happy for her. "That's good. Have you had lunch yet? Perhaps we could have a quick lunch at the pub next door?" Christine agreed and they both headed out to lunch.
Fred set to work on the paperwork his brother had shown him. Of the two of them, George was more client inclined, while Fred liked to work out inventory. This arrangement worked out fine for both of them. They both got to do what they liked.
George would wheel and deal with the suppliers and people he supplied too, while Fred figured out the paper work and drew out the agreements. Together they had hired the people to run their other stores. They had to all be of wizard families, due to the inventory lists that they had to handle. It would not do for some unsuspecting muggle to order a bunch of magical jokes. How would they explain that to the ministry of magic. That for sure would cause problems for their father.
Fred read the orders. Not much to fill with them. Mostly just requests for more canary creams, and exploding golf balls. They also had requests for their extreme wizard chess sets and ultimate exploding snap games. Business was good. They both had made quite a fortune. To tell the truth, they had enough money, that if his father wanted to retire early, they could give him enough so he could live comfortably for the rest of his natural life.
The problem was their father did not want to retire, and they could understand why. If he left there would be few people left to keep Fudge in check. If there was one thing Arthur Weasely had in the ministry, it was friends. People generally liked him when they met him.
After the incident when Harry was almost killed due to Fudges' refusal to acknowledge the return of Voldermort, people had started to turn against him. And with the Weasely family being such good friends with Harry, it put Fudge in an awkward position. He would love nothing better than to get rid of both his father and his brother from their posts. That how ever was not likely to happen. They were smart on Fudge. They both had collected enough supporters that if Fudge tried to fire either of them, there would be an uproar.
Fred gathered the paper work and went to the storage room in the back. Even thought the building looked small outside, it had plenty of room inside. (Thanks to a room enlargement charm they had cast on it.) It didn't take him long to fill the orders. After packaging and shipping them he went back to the front of the store. His brother was talking to an older witch whom he'd never seen before.
His brother noticed him immediately. "Fred! Over here! I want you to meet someone." Fred approached the older woman. She looked familiar. Fred shook her hand. George grinned. Fred began to worry. "You will never guess who this is!"
The witch smiled at Fred and left him off the hook. "Hello Fred. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Christine's Grandmother!" You could have knocked Fred over with a feather. "But you're a." "Witch!" she answered for him.
"I know. It's confusing. How would a muggle have a witch for a Grandmother? Well you see I married a man. A wonderful man! Only he was a muggle. My Daughter from him has very little talent as a witch and since she too married a muggle, Christine has no talent at all. At least as far as we know she doesn't. As a baby, we had her tested. The only thing that showed up unusually high was her ability to tell when things were going to happen ahead of time. Unfortunately, those predictions seldom involve her self. That is why I had to come meet you. I noticed the spell on her store, and when she mentioned your name last night at dinner, I recognized it. I had to come and meet you to see for myself!"
Fred was amazed. So Christine did originate from a wizarding family. But she was a squib. Well, he could live with that. And he was sure it would relieve the minds of his parents a great deal also. Fred promised her that he had only the best intensions for her granddaughter. Promising to keep in touch, he escorted her to the door.
George looked ready to bust a gut laughing. "A squib. I can't believe this. Oh wait till I tell the others. They will enjoy this!" The others that George was referring to were their old school chums, Lee Jordan, Harry, Oliver Wood, and of coarse he had to tell Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. They all met regularly at the local wizard pub every Friday evening.
Fred's ears turned a shade of red that almost matched his hair. If that crew heard about it, he'd never hear the end of it. Especially from Seamus. It wouldn't be so much that Christine was a squib that they would tease about. It was that he was interested in her. Fred gave his brother a frustrated look. He couldn't even use the rule about not interfering in each other's love lives, because technically this didn't. It was just embarrassing.
Fred couldn't get overly upset with his brother. They were too close to have that happen. Besides. If their situations were reversed, he would probably do the same thing to George. Fred gave up trying to intimidate him with looks'. George took pity on him. "Hey. It's almost lunchtime. Why don't you go down to Christine's store and see how the clean up had come along.
George was letting him off easy and Fred knew it. He took the opportunity anyway. At Ray's Electronics, things were starting to look better. The broken glass had been replaced, and a set of bars had been installed in all the windows. If only she knew she didn't need them. The spell he had placed on the store was still intact. No thief would trouble her.
Fred entered the store. Christine was just handing a gentleman some money. It looked to be the man that had installed the window and bars. Fred looked around the store until the man left.
When he heard the door close he turned to Christine. "So how are things today?" Christine looked and sounded better than he expected her to. "I will be fine. They caught the criminals but there was no sign of my inventory. The insurance company however has agreed to settle for the loss of the merchandise." Fred was happy for her. "That's good. Have you had lunch yet? Perhaps we could have a quick lunch at the pub next door?" Christine agreed and they both headed out to lunch.
