Entering the twin's store, Harry found himself staring around in wonder. The streaks on the walls had been enchanted to flash different colours. It was dizzying to watch. Shelves were arranged in no particular order. Whirring objects hung from the ceiling, emitting the strange noises Harry had heard earlier. Near the front entrance of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes were dishes full of sweets; a seemingly thoughtful gesture. Harry didn't take one. He knew better.
Anyone that went to school with the twins knew never to accept food from Fred or George. The Gryffindors had become wary of anything offered to them after the twins started selling their inventions.
A nearby squawk made Harry jump. A large yellow bird was flailing around in panic. Canary Creams, he thought, suppressing a grin. Obviously this unwitting customer was not a Gryffindor.
Upon closer inspection of the wares, Harry recognized the Fake Wands, which had infuriated Mrs. Weasley two summers ago. Moving along, he saw the Skiving Snackboxes, which were arranged in neat stacks, Weasley's Wildfire Whizbangs, and the Portable Swamp, which all assisted the school's rebellion against Umbridge last year.
Harry stopped in front of a striped barrel of Ton-Tongue Toffees. (16 Sickles each) As he peered down into the tub of candies in multicoloured wrappers, he felt two hands clap on his shoulders.
"Blimey, look what the cat dragged into our store, Fred!" George said from behind him.
They spun him around to face them. The twins were grinning at Harry, and they were both wearing their new dragon hide jackets. "This store is brilliant!" Harry said, waving around at the organized chaos.
"Yeah," George said fondly, resting a freckled hand on the bin of toffees. "It was a lot of hard work opening this place-"
"-But it's paid off," Fred finished.
Harry fought to keep a straight face. "You two sound like proud parents,"
he snorted.
The twins exchanged incredulous looks. "Harry...didn't we tell you?" Fred asked seriously, "This joke shop is our child and-"
"-And you got George pregnant, I'm sure," Harry said, rolling his eyes. George put an arm around Harry's shoulders.
He deadpanned, "Harry, I think it's about time Fred and I told you where babies come from..." The twins exchanged wicked grins.
"NO!" Harry yelled, shoving George off of him. Whatever their explanation was for how two brothers could give birth to a store, he didn't want to hear it. The three of them burst into laughter.
"Why don't we show you around the store, Harry?" Fred asked, "You can see what we've developed since we left Hogwarts."
Harry readily agreed, and the twins seized him and marched him towards a rack of oddly shaped cases and a rack with feathered hats on them. "Remember our hats, Harry?" George asked, excitedly, picking up a green pointed hat with a fluffy pink feather and putting it on. Instantly, his disappeared along with the hat, giving the illusion that George had been decapitated.
"They're all the rage," Fred said, flapping the hand that wasn't shoving Harry towards the table, "We've started making them in all kinds of different colours. Our newest is 'Drooble's Best Blowing Gum Blue.' We can't keep that kind on the shelves. In fact-"
He was interrupted by a shrill bell ringing. "Ah," he said, glancing over at a till, "A customer is waiting. Please excuse." He dashed off to the counter where a rather attractive young witch was waiting, holding two vanishing hats.
"Good choice in colour," they heard Fred say, as he suavely leaned over the counter to grin at her, "That will be two Galleons and 14 Sickles."
George whispered to Harry, "What people don't realize is that it doesn't matter what colour you have, as the hats disappear the second you put them on, so it always goes with what you're wearing." He smirked.
"Thanks for that package you sent me, by the way," Harry said, stifling a laugh, "Dudley really enjoyed it.""I only wish we could have been there to see it..." George said wistfully.
Fred hopped over the counter again, calling to the pretty witch, "Come again!" and joined them once more. "So, Harry, anything interesting happen recently?"
Harry took a quick glance over his shoulder. There were too many people in the shop to discuss the Order in public. "Yeah..." he whispered, "Yeah actually, something has happened. Do you have a back room?"
George gave Fred a sidelong look, and then nodded. He pointed to a large oak door labeled "Supply," and said in a hushed voice, "Go ahead. Wait for us in there. We need to get some workers to take our places. We'll be there in a tick."
Casually, Harry made his way through the store towards the supply room. On his way, he wandered too close to a tray offering scones, which had somehow been bewitched to attack any misfortunate person who attempted to eat them. It would have been quite amusing, watching toothless scones follow him, trying to nip at his heels, until they started hurling themselves at his head. The scones persisted, until Harry caught one of the ones flying at his face, like a very tasty Snitch. He caught it so hard, however, it squished in his hand. The scones, defeated, sulked back to their tray to prey on any passerby who might dare try to eat them.
Muttering darkly under his breath, Harry pushed open the supply room door forcefully. The room was dark, and full of crates and boxes. Harry fumbled around, looking for some kind of light. Suddenly, he crashed into a box, and got knocked backwards.
Harry, who thought he was alone, let out a small yell, and demanded, "Who's there!?" at the same time as the other person.
"Blimey, it's you Harry!" said the one he crashed into, sounding thrilled. Harry grinned, scrambling to his feet. He recognized that voice anywhere. It was Ron.