Chapter six: Weasley's Wizard Wheezes
They were walking down the crooked street of Diagon Alley when Ginny asked, "Er- Mum? How do we know where their shop is?"
"They said it would be really-" she broke off as she gasped, "-noticeable."
They weren't lying. Unlike the other shops, the exterior of their shop was illuminated with bright colors. The sign of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was flashing different colors.
Everytime someone past underneath the sign, fireworks went off loudly. It was obvious this was annoying the other shop keepers because Harry heard Madam Malkin mutter, apparently annoyed, under her breath as she walked past their shop, "Fireworks going off every other minute. Drawing people away from my business." Harry smiled as they walked up to Fred and George's shop. As they walked under the sign, fireworks immediately went off in every color and shape imaginable.
"Hey everyone!" yelled Fred, striding towards them as they walked into the shop. "Ooops, sorry Ma'am," apologized Fred as he slammed into a woman looking at his fireworks.
"It's a little cramped in here. Really busy lately," said his twin, George beside him, smiling.
"Yes, well, how are things you two?" asked Mrs. Weasley, concerned about her two twin boys.
"We're fine! The business is booming!" said Fred happily.
"Yeah, Mum, you should read the reviews in the Daily Prophet lately. They love it!" said George. "Anyway, why don't you guys have a look around, some kid just set off a firework," said Fred, hurrying off to control the fireworks a few feet away from them. George followed him.
For about an hour, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny walked around the shop taking in each and every one of their new items.
"Wow Harry, look at this! They never told me that they invented "X-static X- ray glasses". He put them on and turned towards Harry and Hermione.
"Oops!" said Ron, blushing furiously as he looked away. Harry coughed, which was obviously an attempt to conceal his laugh. Hermione on the other hand looked really embarrassed. "I'm going to go see what Ginny is looking at," she mumbled, walking off.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Harry and Ron burst out laughing in unison. "I didn't realize that they would, well, you know," Ron said, trailing off, blushing crimson once more. Harry looked up and saw the sign they were standing under.
"CAUTION! 17 and up only! Rude or offensive material."
Harry pointed to the sign. Ron looked up and laughed nervously before turning away to go look at other joke supplies. Harry decided to go off on his own and look around; he had some spare gold to spend.
He was walking around when he came across someone who he did not expect to see inside Fred and George's shop. It was Draco Malfoy. Harry was standing behind him and saw what he was looking at, the Extendable Ears.
Harry smirked to himself. Draco apparently heard him because he turned around. His expression at first was furious embarrassment. It then turned to a nasty smirk.
"What are you doing here Potter?" he asked maliciously.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Harry said with amusement in his voice. "I don't think your father would like to see you in a Weasley shop."
"I-I was just looking to see what the poor did to make money," he said trying to recover himself. Harry looked down and saw some merchandise in Malfoy's hand.
Malfoy saw him looking and immediately threw them down on the table.
"It's just junk. I don't know why anyone would buy this stuff," he said, his cheeks tinged with pink. "Get out of the way Potter," he said pushing him out of the way as he made his way to the door. Harry stood there with deep satisfaction in seeing Malfoy in a tight spot.
He was about to find Ron when he bumped into a solid object with a mass of red hair.
"Oh, sorry Harry," said Ginny, smiling.
"It's alright, guess who I just met in here?" Harry asked, smiling back at her.
"Who?" she said, confused.
"Malfoy," Harry smirked.
"Really? No, Harry you've got to be joking with me," she said disbelievingly.
"Actually I'm not. He was going to buy stuff until I saw him," Harry said with pleasure.
"We've got to tell Fred and George, Harry, they'll be pleased," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him in and out of the crowd to find her brothers. Harry felt a twinge in his stomach as she did this. He grasped her hand in return.
When they found Fred and George they plunged into the story. When they were done Fred and George had odd expressions on their faces. Harry was wondering why on earth they weren't immensely proud when he realized they were looking between him and Ginny. They hadn't let go of each other's hands.
Ginny noticed this too and they both let go. Fred and George started snickering. "Well, er, so that's what we wanted to tell you," said Harry awkwardly. "I have to go find Ron and Hermione," he said, leaving the three Weasley's standing there.
When he came up to Ron and Hermione, he observed they too were holding hands. He suppressed a laugh, but cleared his throat.
"Oh, hey Harry," said Hermione.
"Come on you three, we have to leave now," floated Mrs. Weasley's voice from over the crowd.
The trio made their way through the crowd towards the door. When they got outside, they followed Mrs. Weasley and Ginny to the Leaky Cauldron. When Harry's eyes met Ginny's, they both blushed furiously and looked away from each other.
When they got to the Leaky Cauldron, they took Floo Powder back to Headquarters. Once they were back at Headquarters it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Harry looked at the calendar hanging in the kitchen and noticed that it was only one week until they went back to Hogwarts(*). Harry felt an exciting swoop in his stomach. But it was dampened by his next thought: Snape. His new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was Snape. That was truly a nightmare for Gryffindors; Harry in particular. He also wondered who was going to be replacing Snape as Potions master at Hogwarts. At least Potions won't be so bad, thought Harry.
Harry also learned some pleasant news: Kreacher was gone. No one would elaborate on his disappearance which led Harry to believe that Kreacher has either killed himself, or one of the members of the Order, "accidentally" bumped him into the burning furnace. His last thought was confirmed as he walked past the kitchen that night and heard Tonks and Lupin talking.
"It was an accident, Remus," came Tonks' innocent voice from behind the kitchen door.
"Tonks, I know that you hated Kreacher for what he did, but that was not necessary," Lupin said without conviction.
"God Lupin. I know you could not have felt any emotional attachment to that elf after what he did to Sirius. Would you stop acting like he shouldn't have died? I know you miss your best friend Lupin. Why don't you just come out and come to terms with it: Kreacher betrayed Sirius. What I did was no more than he deserved and you know it," said Tonks in a strangely severe voice. After hearing this conversation, Harry walked upstairs and got into bed.
The next week passed without any major happenings. Fred and George stopped by for a meeting with the Order (They joined as soon as they left Hogwarts). They also saw Tonks visit almost everyday, in a different appearance every time. Moody made very rare visits. He said that he was going to be part of Harry's guard again to King's cross. Mr. Weasley also came and went, as he was being overloaded with work since Voldemort had started his attack upon Muggles once more.
There have been twenty Muggle deaths in the past 2 months, according to Lupin. Every time Harry heard of another missing Muggle, or another one murdered, his heart immediately started to beat fast. He was, for the first time in his life, worried sick about his remaining relatives. Not so much Uncle Vernon and Dudley, as Aunt Petunia. Harry couldn't explain it. He had never felt any connection with Aunt Petunia in his life, but in the last month or two that he was at Privet Drive, he felt like she was really his Aunt and not some foster parent. The next morning, Ron came into Harry's room and woke him up.
"Harry, come on, we have to go eat breakfast, then we're leaving for King's Cross. I'll meet you downstairs," he said, walking out of Harry's bedroom.
Harry got up and dressed lazily. He then went downstairs and sat down next to Ginny who was also not all together awake. The four remaining Hogwarts students ate their breakfast in silence but then livened up as they had to bring their trunks downstairs for the drive to King's Cross.
Ministry cars were provided for them again. Which according to Ron was in direct result of his father's increased status at the Ministry. He had been promoted to the Head of Muggle Relations at the Ministry. Percy on the other hand had been demoted to a desk job with tons of paperwork. His demotion came as a result of his fight with the Minister of Magic. He still did not believe that Voldemort had come back and he told Fudge that he was blind to believe Dumbledore.
When they arrived at King's Cross with Moody directly behind them with their trunks, like last year, they all loaded their things into a compartment then got back off the train to say their farewells to their guard.
"Be careful you four. I don't want to hear that you have been wandering around Hogwarts again. It's too dangerous of time to be doing that," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.
As they got onto the train, Ron, Hermione and Ginny (a newly made Prefect) parted with Harry to go to the Prefect's compartment for a quick meeting. They promised to meet up with him after the meeting was done. As Harry sat down on the seat alone, he was soon joined by a spacey girl by the name of Luna Lovegood. They sat in silence for a long time when they were accompanied by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They all talked the rest of the way to Hogwarts with Hermione poking her head out of their compartment to scold some first years for hexing each other.
The train slowed down to signal their approach to Hogwarts. Everyone filed out of the Hogwarts Express to begin a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
(*) I moved time along. Otherwise this chapter would've been much longer than this and this is already really long.
They were walking down the crooked street of Diagon Alley when Ginny asked, "Er- Mum? How do we know where their shop is?"
"They said it would be really-" she broke off as she gasped, "-noticeable."
They weren't lying. Unlike the other shops, the exterior of their shop was illuminated with bright colors. The sign of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was flashing different colors.
Everytime someone past underneath the sign, fireworks went off loudly. It was obvious this was annoying the other shop keepers because Harry heard Madam Malkin mutter, apparently annoyed, under her breath as she walked past their shop, "Fireworks going off every other minute. Drawing people away from my business." Harry smiled as they walked up to Fred and George's shop. As they walked under the sign, fireworks immediately went off in every color and shape imaginable.
"Hey everyone!" yelled Fred, striding towards them as they walked into the shop. "Ooops, sorry Ma'am," apologized Fred as he slammed into a woman looking at his fireworks.
"It's a little cramped in here. Really busy lately," said his twin, George beside him, smiling.
"Yes, well, how are things you two?" asked Mrs. Weasley, concerned about her two twin boys.
"We're fine! The business is booming!" said Fred happily.
"Yeah, Mum, you should read the reviews in the Daily Prophet lately. They love it!" said George. "Anyway, why don't you guys have a look around, some kid just set off a firework," said Fred, hurrying off to control the fireworks a few feet away from them. George followed him.
For about an hour, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny walked around the shop taking in each and every one of their new items.
"Wow Harry, look at this! They never told me that they invented "X-static X- ray glasses". He put them on and turned towards Harry and Hermione.
"Oops!" said Ron, blushing furiously as he looked away. Harry coughed, which was obviously an attempt to conceal his laugh. Hermione on the other hand looked really embarrassed. "I'm going to go see what Ginny is looking at," she mumbled, walking off.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Harry and Ron burst out laughing in unison. "I didn't realize that they would, well, you know," Ron said, trailing off, blushing crimson once more. Harry looked up and saw the sign they were standing under.
"CAUTION! 17 and up only! Rude or offensive material."
Harry pointed to the sign. Ron looked up and laughed nervously before turning away to go look at other joke supplies. Harry decided to go off on his own and look around; he had some spare gold to spend.
He was walking around when he came across someone who he did not expect to see inside Fred and George's shop. It was Draco Malfoy. Harry was standing behind him and saw what he was looking at, the Extendable Ears.
Harry smirked to himself. Draco apparently heard him because he turned around. His expression at first was furious embarrassment. It then turned to a nasty smirk.
"What are you doing here Potter?" he asked maliciously.
"I should be asking you the same thing," Harry said with amusement in his voice. "I don't think your father would like to see you in a Weasley shop."
"I-I was just looking to see what the poor did to make money," he said trying to recover himself. Harry looked down and saw some merchandise in Malfoy's hand.
Malfoy saw him looking and immediately threw them down on the table.
"It's just junk. I don't know why anyone would buy this stuff," he said, his cheeks tinged with pink. "Get out of the way Potter," he said pushing him out of the way as he made his way to the door. Harry stood there with deep satisfaction in seeing Malfoy in a tight spot.
He was about to find Ron when he bumped into a solid object with a mass of red hair.
"Oh, sorry Harry," said Ginny, smiling.
"It's alright, guess who I just met in here?" Harry asked, smiling back at her.
"Who?" she said, confused.
"Malfoy," Harry smirked.
"Really? No, Harry you've got to be joking with me," she said disbelievingly.
"Actually I'm not. He was going to buy stuff until I saw him," Harry said with pleasure.
"We've got to tell Fred and George, Harry, they'll be pleased," she said, grabbing his hand and dragging him in and out of the crowd to find her brothers. Harry felt a twinge in his stomach as she did this. He grasped her hand in return.
When they found Fred and George they plunged into the story. When they were done Fred and George had odd expressions on their faces. Harry was wondering why on earth they weren't immensely proud when he realized they were looking between him and Ginny. They hadn't let go of each other's hands.
Ginny noticed this too and they both let go. Fred and George started snickering. "Well, er, so that's what we wanted to tell you," said Harry awkwardly. "I have to go find Ron and Hermione," he said, leaving the three Weasley's standing there.
When he came up to Ron and Hermione, he observed they too were holding hands. He suppressed a laugh, but cleared his throat.
"Oh, hey Harry," said Hermione.
"Come on you three, we have to leave now," floated Mrs. Weasley's voice from over the crowd.
The trio made their way through the crowd towards the door. When they got outside, they followed Mrs. Weasley and Ginny to the Leaky Cauldron. When Harry's eyes met Ginny's, they both blushed furiously and looked away from each other.
When they got to the Leaky Cauldron, they took Floo Powder back to Headquarters. Once they were back at Headquarters it was already 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Harry looked at the calendar hanging in the kitchen and noticed that it was only one week until they went back to Hogwarts(*). Harry felt an exciting swoop in his stomach. But it was dampened by his next thought: Snape. His new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was Snape. That was truly a nightmare for Gryffindors; Harry in particular. He also wondered who was going to be replacing Snape as Potions master at Hogwarts. At least Potions won't be so bad, thought Harry.
Harry also learned some pleasant news: Kreacher was gone. No one would elaborate on his disappearance which led Harry to believe that Kreacher has either killed himself, or one of the members of the Order, "accidentally" bumped him into the burning furnace. His last thought was confirmed as he walked past the kitchen that night and heard Tonks and Lupin talking.
"It was an accident, Remus," came Tonks' innocent voice from behind the kitchen door.
"Tonks, I know that you hated Kreacher for what he did, but that was not necessary," Lupin said without conviction.
"God Lupin. I know you could not have felt any emotional attachment to that elf after what he did to Sirius. Would you stop acting like he shouldn't have died? I know you miss your best friend Lupin. Why don't you just come out and come to terms with it: Kreacher betrayed Sirius. What I did was no more than he deserved and you know it," said Tonks in a strangely severe voice. After hearing this conversation, Harry walked upstairs and got into bed.
The next week passed without any major happenings. Fred and George stopped by for a meeting with the Order (They joined as soon as they left Hogwarts). They also saw Tonks visit almost everyday, in a different appearance every time. Moody made very rare visits. He said that he was going to be part of Harry's guard again to King's cross. Mr. Weasley also came and went, as he was being overloaded with work since Voldemort had started his attack upon Muggles once more.
There have been twenty Muggle deaths in the past 2 months, according to Lupin. Every time Harry heard of another missing Muggle, or another one murdered, his heart immediately started to beat fast. He was, for the first time in his life, worried sick about his remaining relatives. Not so much Uncle Vernon and Dudley, as Aunt Petunia. Harry couldn't explain it. He had never felt any connection with Aunt Petunia in his life, but in the last month or two that he was at Privet Drive, he felt like she was really his Aunt and not some foster parent. The next morning, Ron came into Harry's room and woke him up.
"Harry, come on, we have to go eat breakfast, then we're leaving for King's Cross. I'll meet you downstairs," he said, walking out of Harry's bedroom.
Harry got up and dressed lazily. He then went downstairs and sat down next to Ginny who was also not all together awake. The four remaining Hogwarts students ate their breakfast in silence but then livened up as they had to bring their trunks downstairs for the drive to King's Cross.
Ministry cars were provided for them again. Which according to Ron was in direct result of his father's increased status at the Ministry. He had been promoted to the Head of Muggle Relations at the Ministry. Percy on the other hand had been demoted to a desk job with tons of paperwork. His demotion came as a result of his fight with the Minister of Magic. He still did not believe that Voldemort had come back and he told Fudge that he was blind to believe Dumbledore.
When they arrived at King's Cross with Moody directly behind them with their trunks, like last year, they all loaded their things into a compartment then got back off the train to say their farewells to their guard.
"Be careful you four. I don't want to hear that you have been wandering around Hogwarts again. It's too dangerous of time to be doing that," said Mrs. Weasley sternly.
As they got onto the train, Ron, Hermione and Ginny (a newly made Prefect) parted with Harry to go to the Prefect's compartment for a quick meeting. They promised to meet up with him after the meeting was done. As Harry sat down on the seat alone, he was soon joined by a spacey girl by the name of Luna Lovegood. They sat in silence for a long time when they were accompanied by Ron, Hermione and Ginny. They all talked the rest of the way to Hogwarts with Hermione poking her head out of their compartment to scold some first years for hexing each other.
The train slowed down to signal their approach to Hogwarts. Everyone filed out of the Hogwarts Express to begin a new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
(*) I moved time along. Otherwise this chapter would've been much longer than this and this is already really long.