Molly Weasley was sitting at her kitchen table, staring at the cup of tea in front of her. She was feeling downtrodden, unappreciated and quite resentful. She had spent all these years of doing everything for her husband and children, keeping the house nice, making sure they were all fed and had clean clothes to wear, but did they ever say 'thank you' or offer to help anymore – no. She sighed and after draining the last of the tea from her cup, she got up and began to start her housework again.

Arthur had been working long hours at The Ministry lately, because of the encroaching war and was coming home very tired and not much in the mood for talking. She put his dinner on his lap in front of the fire every night and after eating it, he fell asleep where he was, leaving Molly to go to bed alone.

Is this all her life was now, just drudgery and boredom? Where had all her dreams gone? When she had been at school, she had wanted to be an Auror, but all that had gone by the way side, when her and Arthur had got serious. She had focused all her time and energy on him and as pretty much as soon as they had left school they had got married. Madly in love, she couldn't wait to start a family and settle down to a comfortable life with her new husband. She had always planned to start her career once her first child had grown a little older, but then she just kept on having more children and a career had been put permanently on the back burner.

Now practically all the children were grown up and didn't need her so much, she had begun thinking about it again. But was she too old now? She still had plenty of energy and her magical talent - though not as strong as her husbands – could still be useful. She felt in the end though, that in these uncertain times, they must need as many people as possible, whatever their age. So without telling anyone she had applied to the Ministry to ask if she would be a suitable candidate for training and was still waiting anxiously for the reply.

Standing there lost in thought she jumped, when suddenly, something brown and fluffy sped in at full pelt through the open kitchen window. It skidded along the long oak table, coming to a stop in a heap on the floor.

She bent down and picked up the scruffy pile of bones and feathers that made the Weasley family Owl look like a prize winning pedigree and placed it gently back on the table. After carefully removing the note attached to it's leg, she placed the exhausted little bird on an armchair in the living room and it promptly fell asleep, snoring loudly.

She unrolled the note, expecting it to be from one of her children, but she had to sit down when she saw whom it was from as her heart had practically jumped into her mouth. It read:

Dear Molly Weasley

I have now recovered from my little 'episode' and eager to get on with life.

So I am writing to you, to make you an offer you simply can't refuse! I have a wonderful little business in the offing and I would like to ask You to run it with me.

I have come to realise that my skills are best served in getting rid of the smaller, less dangerous, but still troublesome magical creatures that plague our daily lives so I am setting up a magical creature control business.

I still have some of your fan letters to me and from what you said you seem to be very keen on my methods. As you told me in your letter, you still use my books. So I couldn't think of anyone better to help me make a fresh start!

Please R.S.V.P as soon as possible with your answer, as I have several other people who are interested in my idea. I have heard good things about you Molly and from reading your letters I can well believe it! You are one of my most loyal, faithful and most special fans and I thought this being the case I should offer it to you first.

Yours Sincerely

Gilderoy Lockhart

Molly could hardly believe her eyes; Gilderoy Lockhart wanted to go into business with her! He had picked her out as special! She sighed and held the letter against her bosom. She knew she had no time to waste, she didn't want him to make his offer to anyone else! Quickly she got up and rummaged around for a quill, once she found one she began writing her reply immediately.

It read:

Dear Mr Lockhart

Yes, of course, I would be delighted to take up your offer. When would you like to start? I am free anytime.

Yours

Molly Weasley

She giggled girlishly as she attached the note to her own owls foot, as the one Gilderoy had sent was barely even breathing, let alone conscious. Errol looked at her contemptuously, as she had woken him from his nap, then he sighed and hobbled his way over to the window. He tried and failed his first two attempts to take off, but on his third attempt he finally made it and flew off out of sight.

The reply didn't come until late afternoon,

Fred and George had just apparated in with a load of washing for her to do. All she'd got out of them was an "Hello Mum! Don't mind do you, gotta go, customers waiting!" then they had gone again. Molly was still doing everything for them, even going up once a week to clean their flat, as they had convinced her they were absolutely useless at cleaning spells. It was always like a bombsite when she got there and spotless when she left. While she was tidying, she often found items of underwear that were definitely not theirs, usually being of the red or black, lacy variety. She was always asking to meet their girlfriends, but they just kept telling her it wasn't worth it as they changed them as often as they changed their boxers; "every week!"

After putting her tired owl back on his perch she opened the new note excitedly, hardly able to contain herself, it read:

Dear Molly

I am simply delighted that you have accepted my proposal. Meet me in The Leaky Cauldron tomorrow at twelve o'clock to discuss the details over dinner.

Yours Sincerely

Gilderoy

Molly was beside her self! She could hardly wait. What was she going to wear though! "Oh I have nothing anywhere near decent enough!" She said to her self fretfully and ran upstairs to begin rummaging through her wardrobe. She eventually decided on a blue robe she had worn for some formal event her and Arthur had been to a couple of year's back. It needed a little adjustment, as she had put on weight since then, but other than that it looked quite presentable.

That evening, she rushed around getting tea ready for everyone. Some of her boys were dropping round (as they often did) and tonight it was Fred and George and Bill and Fleur (now his fiance). She knew that Arthur would probably come in late and eat his on his lap, as usual, so she piled some on a plate and put a heat-preserving spell on it.

Arthur came in when everyone else was already half way through their dinner and afterwards fell asleep in his chair – as usual. After talking and catching up for a while, everyone apparated out, leaving Molly to the clearing up. After a few quick waves of her wand this way and that, though, she had it done in no time and then went to bed dreaming of meeting her hero the next day.

The next morning, Molly was nervously watched the clock on the mantle-piece ticking by, constantly checking and rechecking her appearance in the mirror. As soon it was time to go, she threw some 'floo powder' into the fire and after stepping into it uttered

"The leaky cauldron!"

When she arrived, dusting herself off, a few people cast curious glances in her direction, then turned back to their drinks. She went to sit down and waited... and waited. At 12.30 she was beginning to think he wasn't coming, but suddenly he bustled in through the door, slightly red-faced as if he'd been running. As soon as Molly saw him she waved furiously in his direction and beckoned him over. He looked quite harassed at first, but as soon as he saw Molly waving at him, his expression changed to his usual smarmy grin. Molly's heart leapt when she saw him come towards her.

"Oh he looks as gorgeous as ever!" She thought to herself excitedly. She suddenly felt a blush creeping over her cheeks and felt rather hot in her heavy velvet robes.

"Hello! You must be Molly! It's lovely to meet you at last!" He said in a rather over enthusiastic kind of way. As soon as he sat down next to her, he immediately grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes seriously.

"I do hope we can be friends as well as business partners Molly, as I for one believe it makes for a more harmonious working relationship!" then began smiling again.

Molly blushed even harder at this intimate gesture; she suddenly felt all girlish and giggly and couldn't stop smiling.

"Oh yes, me too!" she said rather shyly in reply

They then began discussing the details of his business plan, which as Molly found out, involved an initial investment on her part. "I've already put my half of the money in, so it's just a matter of waiting for you to sign the dotted line and put in yours." Gilderoy said encouragingly.

It sounded like a good business and Molly knew she could probably do it, but she worried about the money. Even though Arthur had been promoted recently, they still weren't that well off and the lump sum Gilderoy had suggested was nearly all the money they had in the bank. But then she thought,

"Oh, I'm sure I can soon make it back! Yes, just think how pleased Arthur will be, when he sees how much I've made for us, it will take the pressure off him a bit. Anyway, I would kick myself if I didn't take this opportunity to work with Gilderoy Lockhart..I'm so lucky he chose me!"

So she agreed to his plan and he had shaken then kissed her hand cordially, his eyes never leaving hers.

They eventually had lunch, which Molly had to pay for, as Gilderoy had unfortunately forgotten his own moneybag. He attributed this embarrassment to him having been very busy that day, what with all the organising he'd had to do and everything, but Molly had told him not to worry, as it was her pleasure.After leavingThe Leaky Cauldron, theywent down to Gringotts, to get to the Weasley family vault, chatting like they had known each other for ages. All the while they were in the old bank, the Goblins kept giving Gilderoy rather derisive looks and raising their eyebrows at Molly, but Molly didn't seem to notice. She was far too busy looking at Gilderoy herself and dreaming of her new and exciting life, her belly continually fluttering with butterflies. She just couldn't stop looking at him; he was a little older now of course and dressed much less flamboyantly, but still very handsome in her eyes. She was also fascinated by his hair, which had grown much longer than it used to be and was all, thick, blonde waves that she just longed to run her fingers through. She also appreciated all the compliments he kept giving her, something that had been sadly lacking in her life of late.

Once they had traveled down to the vault and the money was withdrawn, it was eventually transferred into an account they set up for the business. The account had only been allowed to the go-ahead, after talking at great length to the Goblins, who kept questioning Gilderoys motives and Molly's sanity; they had eventually seemed convinced though, but still suspicious. At Gilderoyrequestthey kept some of the money out, in order that they could get some supplies.

Once the goblins were out of earshot he brought out some papers he wanted Molly to sign and she nervously put her name on the official looking scroll, overlooking the fact she couldn't read the 'very' small print, as she hadn't brought her glasses. She worried about doing something so final without discussing it with Arthur first, but he was always too busy or too tired to talk properly nowadays. He would probably say no to it anyway, as she knew he disliked Gilderoy. No, she'd get it up and running first and see how it went before she told him. After all she might be his wife, but she didn't need his permission to do anything!

Then the thought came to her that justified her actions even more – Huh, and how many times has he gone and bought something silly without asking my permission first? All the time we've been married I've always been the sensible one, well.. now I think it's about time I took a risk for a change!

"Well now all that bothersome paperwork is out of the way, let us go and celebrate by getting in those supplies in for our new company!" he said, beaming widely, "and we'll need to visit the Daily Prophet to ask them to print an advert for us – erm..you'd better do that. Oh but we'll need a name first won't we? Something catchy.. something that people won't forget..." Gilderoy seemed lost in thought for a moment

"What about.. M.C.M's - Magical Creature Management? Molly suggested helpfully

"Yes, that's sounds good. Well done Molly!" Gilderoy agreed, hugging her around the shoulder in congratulation.

"Well, I think you should get down to the Daily Prophet as soon as possible, time is money and all that eh?" he stated enthusiastically

"Oh right, yes.. of course!" Molly replied, rather hesitantly as she was a still a little worried about the money, even though she had been convincing her self she was doing the right thing. She had remembered what her son and his best friend Harry had told her about Gilderoy, but then she had just dismissed it as bias against him because he had been their teacher and they'd knownthat she liked him.

Molly went to set off for the newspaper office but Gilderoy called her back.

"Look I might as well make a start getting some of the stuff we need while you are there, so.. could I have some of the money please?" He asked, then on seeing her slight frown, said, " Look don't worry, we're going to make a mint I guarantee it! You're not going to regret this I promise Molly" Lockhart drawled confidently. "By the way it's probably best not to mention my name to the paper just yet...you know after what they said about me and all." He added quietly

She nodded smiling and reassured, gave him some money.

After watching her disappear out of sight, Lockhart did a little dance of triumph then headed down towards Knockturn alley. He had a vague memory of a man down there who dealt in illegally imported potions and he used to be very cheap. Which was good in Gilderoy's eyes as he'd never minded cutting corners to save money, even if the saving meant you got poorer quality, not when it came to business anyway. In his personal life of course, he always expected the best of everything though.

As he was on his way there, a bright window display caught his eye and he stopped to look. The two owners of the shop looked out from behind their counter and couldn't believe their eyes. They grinned to each other, before going out to say hello.

"Gilderoy Lockhart!" announced Fred

"Whoever would have believed it!" chimed George

"They let you out of the loony bin then? How are you!" asked Fred

"Well I hope?" George continued

"Erm, yes..thankyou" Gilderoy answered nervously. There was something in the tone of their voices that said they weren't being as friendly as they appeared. He racked his brains trying to remember their familiar faces; did he owe them money? Or was it something else? Then he looked up and saw the name of their shop and realised they must be related to Molly in some way - sons perhaps? She had mentioned that she had grown up children. Looking at the size of them he knew he'd better watch his step very carefully. He wasn't about to let them spoil his plans though; no, he'd just have to move somewhere very far away if things went belly up!

"You up for a little fun Gildy old son?" asked George, putting his rather long arm around Lockharts shoulders

"Yes, why don't you come in and browse, see if anything takes your fancy!" added Fred, who stood the other side doing the same, sandwiching their victim in the middle.

"We've got a brilliant new line of products just in today - you can sample them if you want" smiled George

"Yes, we've developed our old 'ton tongue toffee' recipe, so if you ask someone a question while they're eating it and they tell an untruth.." (Fred)

"Their tongue swells up to the size up to the size of a Hyppogriff!" Fred added gleefully

"Or we have an amusing little potion called 'Pinocchio's peril'. Dab it on your chosen person's snout and low and behold if they fib they end up with a beak like an elephant!" suggested George

"Yes and we've discovered it works quite well on other areas too.. not that we need it mind! But some people might.." Fred sniggered suggestively, along with George and they both nudged Gilderoy, who smiled wanly in return

"Erm.. I don't think I need anything like that today thankyou lads. Actually, I'm in rather a hurry, so if you don't mind.."

"Oh, of course, don't let us hold you up. I mean we wouldn't want to lie..I mean 'stand' in your way, would we George?" Grinned Fred to his twin who grinned back

"Yes we must get back to work, I mean we don't want to be accused of 'lying' down on the job do we Fred?"

"No we wouldn't George" Fred replied, in mock seriousness

They stood back letting Gilderoy go, grinning with delight and as Gilderoy headed in the direction of Knockturn Alley, Fred called out

"Be careful..there's and awful lot of dishonest people about nowadays you know!"

"Yes like that bloke who claimed to be a great monster hunter. Turns out he made it all up, terrible business that! Funny thing is I can't remember his name.. now what was it?" laughed George

Fred pretended to be thinking hard too, but then both he and his brother could stand it no longer and collapsed into raucous laughter. Gilderoy just scowled at them tight lipped and stalked off.

After paying for the advertisement Molly found, that her pursewas nownearly empty; as she had even had to use the standby money she was supposed to keep for emergencies. She felt it was worth it though, after all, she was going to make it back like he said, wasn't she?

A week after their first meeting, they met again, to continue discussing their business plan and to wait and see if anyone would reply to their advert. (As yet they had no business premises, so Gilderoy had suggested they use The Leaky Cauldron as their postal address). All the time he had sat very close, which made Molly feel a little uncomfortable, but she had told her self that it was just his way - he was a people person, which made him very 'touchy feely' that was all.

It was a warmThursday afternoon and Molly soon began to relax and enjoy his company. She was listening rapt while Gilderoy happily talked about himself, when an owl came flying rather elegantly through the dimly lit bar. It looked around disdainfully at its surroundings and stuck its leg out for them to take its letter.

Gilderoy read it outloud

Dear M.C.M's

Could you please come to my residence 'toot sweet'? I have a rather embarrassing infestation of gnomes in my garden and as I wish to have a garden party this weekend I would appreciate your immediate disposal of the horrid things

Thankyou

Yours, Mrs Lilia Davenport

It was just what they had been waiting for - their first customer!

Brilliant! Thought Lockhart. Yes, she sounds perfect, no doubt middle aged, rich and probably gagging for a bit of male attention from someone like me! He planned to charge the lady a lot more than he was going to tell Molly. Yes it would be all by the book, in front of his new partner, but out of sight, he would do what he done before in times of trouble – find some rich woman, chat her up, flatter her then hopefully con some money out of her.

Gilderoy alwayswent for a certain type of woman, ones he was sure would be a pushover and more receptive to his particular brand of charm. This usually meant homely looking, middle aged women, who were insecure about them selves enough to respond positively to his flattery. He'd come on to them as if they were the most desirable woman in the world and then make love to them. Once he had gained their trust he would give them a sob story and take everything he could manage to weedle out of them. He would never steal outright though, no; he wasn't brave enough - or clever enough, but most of all - his damn conscience pricked him too much. He'd been brought up to believe it was wrong to steal and that had stayed with him, even though he'd found plenty of ways to bend that rule out of all recognition!

That afternoon, at Ms Davenport's creaky old mansion, who, much to Molly's chagrin, had also been a fan of Gilderoys and still was. She was very excited to have him in her house and after enthusing about him for a while Molly managed to interrupt and get the woman to show them the garden.

As they walked around they could see that the garden was clearly swarming with the little blighters and it was obvious that this witch; a rather plump, frivolous woman in her late forties had not de-gnomed it for a good while. She probably didn't want to get her hands dirty. Molly made a start and after throwing the first few Gnomes over the hedge, noticed that Gilderoy was still talking to the lady, who was alternately giggling and looking open-mouthed with shock. He noticed Molly watching and walked over to her, he told her that the lady had mentioned a another job back up at the house, in her living room and he was going to take care of it. Molly hadn't been very impressed at first, that she was being left to the de-gnoming by her self. That was until he had reminded her that more jobs meant more money and besides if they did well, the lady might well recommend them to her friends and that would be very good for business.

By the time she had got rid of the last gnome, Molly was quite exhausted, hot and ready for a break. She conjured up a cooling charm for her forehead and tired feet and a drink of water, which made her feel better. She then made her way back up to the house to find Gilderoy, but after going in through the French doors and calling out his name, she got no answer. She walked into the hall, frowning curiously, to see Gilderoy coming down the stairs fastening his cuff button.

"Where were you?" She asked, "I thought you said you would be in the living room?"

"Oh, the lady had a Boggart in the wardrobe; terrified of them the poor dear! She had to go for a lie down after showing it to me, I think she's alright now though."

"Did you manage to get rid of it?" Molly asked nervously, she had been terrified of Boggarts ever since the incident at Grimmauld Place.

"Oh yes of course, no trouble at all" he boasted confidently

"Good, I'm not very good with Boggarts they ...well..they really frighten me" she admitted, remembering and looking down sadly

"Oh Molly, you poor dear!" Gilderoy soothed, putting his hand on her cheek and giving her a sympathetic look. "Now don't you worry, I'll always take care of that sort of thing, You just stick to things like Doxy's and Bundimun Fungus." He added smiling

Molly smiled gratefully, but she couldn't help feeling he was patronising her a little. She also worried that she was going to end up doing all the hard work as per usual, while he did Merlin's knows what. She had managed to shake off those feelings though by the time they had 'flooed' back to The Leaky Cauldron, as despite her worries she was quite elated – they had just done their first job and it had been a complete success. Hopefully this was a sign of things to come!