Part 10
It was around 3 o'clock when Liz, Ginny and Hermione returned to the pub to meet the guys and to leave their packages in their rooms.
Liz checked her finances and discovered that even if she bought a broom she'd have a large amount of galleons and sickles left. She kept out 55 galleons for a broom and other necessary expenses. This left about 250 galleons in the pouch, which she decided to use to open an account at Gringott's.
She heard a commotion in the hall and looked out to see what was the matter. She saw twin redheads who resembled Ron pushing trunks in the room where Ron was staying.
She looked toward the room Ginny and Hermione were sharing and watched as Ginny walked out to help her older brothers. She asked, "Do you think you could make more noise, you stupid gits?"
Liz suppressed a giggle as they waved off Ginny's help.
Ginny noticed Liz standing there. "Well, Liz, I think we have everything on the list. Do you know of anything else you need or want to check out?
Liz was still holding the money pouch she'd gotten from the exchange counter the day before. She said raising the bag, "I think I'd like to open an account at Gringott's."
Fred Weasley was still standing in the doorway behind Ginny. He perked up when he heard this. "Ginny, we'll take her. We were going anyway."
"You were going to Gringott's? Why?" she questioned.
"To start our own account for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes." So that mom doesn't know about what we're doing for the business," he answered.
"You just want to ride the carts," Ginny stated in a half-mocking tone.
"Well, yeah. Of course we do," chimed George as he walked out of the room past Fred.
He walked up to Liz. "Hi, George Weasley at your service," he said as he gave he a mock bow then offered his hand.
She took his hand and shook it. She smiled and shook her head as she said, "Liz Parker."
"That's Fred over there," he said motioning over his shoulder. He continued, "We're going to Gringott's now and would be happy to have you join us if you would like to go."
"OK," Liz said as she nodded and wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into.
For the second time in two days Liz walked through the bronze and silver doors of Gringott's.
It didn't take long for Liz to open her account. She received her key and followed the goblin to the cart. Fred and George had finished at the same time and they all climbed in the same cart.
After the worst roller coaster ride of her life they stopped at her vault. She placed her money inside and shut the door. She barely had her hands back in the cart before it took off again.
A short jaunt later and Fred and George were able to place their large leather pouch in a vault. They then began their return trip.
When they reached the surface Liz stumbled out of the cart and hurried out the doors to the fresh air. She kept praying not to throw up. She was not a big fan or roller coasters to begin with, and after that ride she wanted nothing to do with them for a long, long time. She breathed deep gulps of air for a couple of minutes until the nausea subsided.
George came up beside her. "You never forget your first ride in a Gringott's cart. But it does get better."
"Yeah, with lot's of that Muggle motion sickness medicine dad buys," agreed Fred. "What's it called again, Manadrine?"
George saw the confusion on Liz's face and explained. "There are lots of wizard potions that work as well without feeling sleepy, but they smell awful and taste worse. Now have you got everything you need?"
"Well, I have everything I have to have. But," she hesitated, taking a deep breath and then continued, "they said I could have a broom. I saved some money out to buy one but I don't know how to pick one out."
"We know brooms, but we have a little dilemma of out own. We need to buy dress robes for Ron as a surprise. He had these awful maroon ones last year that went out of style before Grandma Weasley was born. We promised an investor in our novelty business that we would remedy the situation, but we're not sure the best place to get them. And then there is the colour…"
Fred interrupted George by saying, "So basically, you help us, and we'll help you. Honestly, George, we can't stand here all day waiting for you to finish. So, Liz, will you help?"
"I'd love to, and I know just the place," she smiled as she rose to her feet and brushed herself off. "Come on, this way," she ordered as she started back to DeAnne's Divine Dress Robes.
Once there she took them to the display the girls had admired earlier and said, "Hermione and Ginny both agreed that these were the perfect robes for him. They decided to wait for Christmas to get them because 'he's so hard headed.' Their words, not mine."
Fred laughed at the accurate description of his younger brother. George examined the robes and agreed with the girls.
Within minutes they had paid for the robes and were off to buy Liz a broom.