Chapter 2
Harry Has Fun
Harry smiled to himself as he slipped through the Leaky Cauldron and tapped the third brick from the left in the back alley. Diagon Alley, his fourth favorite place in the Wizarding world. The Dursleys had come into London to get Dudley some new school clothes. His diet was finally starting to take effect and he was now too small for his uniforms. Of course, this had started to happen shortly after the Dementor attack last year. Dudley seemed to be in a constant state of depression, so had stopped eating so much. Harry pretended not to notice, mostly to keep his Aunt from bursting into hysterical tears whenever it was mentioned.
Harry had overheard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia talking, well, yelling, two nights ago. It seemed that Uncle Vernon was trying to blame Dudley's depression on Harry. Amazingly, Aunt Petunia defended him. She told Uncle Vernon that since he knew nothing about Dementors, he shouldn't be making broad statements. Harry was staying, and that was that. Uncle Vernon sounded as if he was having an apoplectic fit. He kept attempting to get her to change her mind, yet she was having none of it.
Dudley, however, seemed less afraid of Harry than before. Take today for instance. He had asked his mother to let Harry come to London with them.
"He'll need to get his own school things, Mum, shouldn't we take him to do that?" Dudley had asked. Harry was happy to hear the whining note had at last left Dudders' voice when he spoke to his parents. In the car, Dudley had whispered that he would like to talk to Harry alone. He'd asked, not demanded, that Harry meet him somewhere to talk. Harry, in a fit of mischievousness, suggested the Leaky Cauldron. Dudley had guessed it was a Wizarding place and vetoed that and suggested a delicatessen not far from the Leaky Cauldron however.
Harry put that meeting out of his mind for now, excited to be allowed to buy his own things for a change, Harry quickly made his way to Gringotts for a little money. He quickly got all his new schoolbooks and a few more robes, as he had grown out of all of his over the summer. When he had everything he needed, he turned his attention to the newest shop in Diagon Alley.
"Wesley's Wizarding Wheezes," Harry read aloud. He grinned. This was the first time he'd been able to see the shop, although the Daily Prophet ran ads for it daily. The twins were obviously making a killing. He opened the door and had to stop before he dropped all his things as he heard the unmistakable sound of someone having eaten a Canary Crème. Fred heard Harry laughing and came over to see who had entered the premises.
"HARRY!" Fred yelled happily. Harry squinted as he looked at Fred Weasley. He was wearing a bright orange blazer under a sickly yellow robe. His pants were the same color as his flame red hair. The tie he wore was simply black. Harry was dazzled by the colorful display and it must have shown.
"Harry, mate, you all right?" Fred asked. Harry blinked several times and nodded, smiling. Then George came over. Apparently the twins thought it was a good business move to dress alike. After a few moments of stunned disbelief, Harry allowed himself to be drawn to the back of the store. Fred and George were doing well enough that they had hired another person to help at the store. Harry was happily listening to everything they had to say on the subject of being entrepreneurs. He had missed the twins and the way they spoke. Fred would usually finish Georges' sentences. They made tea as they talked. Working together so well, you would have thought they were one person.
"So, Harry, we have an accountant now, and she's got this idea," Fred said after a while.
"What idea?"
"Well, although we're doing so well, it would be a good idea if we had a source of revenue that wasn't based on our sales," George went on. Harry's confusion showed on his face.
"It's like this, we need a silent partner, and we figured,"
"That since you had helped us once"
"That you could do it again."
"Only this time, you get a bit more formally in"
"We have the paperwork right here,"
"Just read it and let us know, eh?" Fred finished. Harry looked from one to the other and took the scroll from them.
"Just read it, Harry" George said calmly. "It'll explain itself."
From the front of the store, the girl they'd hired called for them.
"It's your sister, Fred and George," she said. They jumped up and ran to greet her.
Harry began to read the scroll. It was pretty straightforward; they wanted him to back them financially for three years. For that three years he would get 15 of the profits, after that they could buy him out or...
Harry had been reading for half-an-hour. He understood it, but the legalese was boring. Suddenly he wasn't in the store, he was in a large circular chamber and in front of him; hanging naked by his wrists; was Malfoy.