The idea for this fic came to me while listening to "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent. It's not based on the song but it is "inspired" by it.
Candy Shop
Summary- When Hermione buys Ron a gift he always dreamed of, she and him decide to go into business together. But will they be able to remain professional or will they mix business with pleasure.
Chapter 1: The Birthday Party
Hermione smiled as she counted out the final galleons, sickles, and knuts and handed them to the gray-haired woman. She smiled kindly and handed Hermione two silver keys and a paper signed by both of them. The older woman grinned and said, "Good luck dear. I hope you do as well as we did."
Hermione smiled, thanked the woman and walked into the store. It was completely full of candies and sweets of all sorts. She took a quick tour around the shop and beamed. She couldn't keep herself from squealing with glee at the thought of how happy she'd be making one of her best friends. She glanced about the store one more time and walked out of the shop, making sure she locked it securely.
She stepped out in the windy February night and pulled her cloak tighter around her. Walking down the sidewalk she thought of the reaction Ron would give her when she told him what she'd gotten him for his birthday. She'd been searching for months for the perfect gift and finally she saw the sign in the window of Honeydukes saying it was for sale.
Hermione awoke on the first day of March feeling excited. She couldn't wait to present her gift to Ron. She'd put the ownership papers in a parcel and wrapped it in gift wrap. She got ready to meet Ron at the Three Broomsticks for drinks before they went to the Burrow for his party. The grin on her face didn't falter once. When she'd fixed herself up completely she looked in the mirror. She'd bought new robes for the occasion. They were silky and blue and hugged her curves. She knew Ron wasn't her boyfriend. But they still had a spark between them. She felt the lingering crush on her best friend was hard to go through, but not as hard as losing him if things didn't work out.
After applying some make-up she grabbed her wand and the gift and dashed downstairs. Since no one was allowed to Apparate or Disapparate inside her apartment building, she had to go outside to do so. She disappeared with a popping noise and reappeared in front of the Three Broomsticks. She stepped in and glanced around. She spotted Ron's shaggy red hair in a booth in a corner. She glided toward him and stood in front of the table. Ron looked up and smiled. He turned slightly pink when he saw Hermione's new garment. He stood and gave her a hug. She smiled ear to ear and sat down across from him.
"I know everyone's giving their presents at the party," Hermione began, "but I've been waiting a week already and I think I'm going to burst if I have to wait any longer. So here," she handed him the wrapped parcel. She leaned over the table and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed furiously but didn't look up. He looked down at the gift. "Well?" she urged. "Open it!"
Ron smiled and pulled gently on the paper. It ripped and he tore it off completely. He opened the parcel and looked at the ownership papers. His eyes swept across the words and a grin formed on his lips. Hermione's eyes lighted up with glee when she saw his reaction.
"Hermione!" he breathed in almost a whisper. "I can't believe you did this!"
"I wanted to!" she said. "So you really like it?"
"I love it!" he said. He got up and moved to her side of the booth. She moved over a little and made room for him. He wrapped his arms around her lovingly in appreciation. She hugged him back.
They heard footsteps coming towards them and they turned around. "What can I get for you two love birds?" Madam Rosmerta asked.
"Oh, no," Hermione said. "We're not together. I mean…we are together but we're not a couple."
"Could've fooled me," she replied. Ron got up and went back to his side of the table. They ordered some butterbeers and talked happily. When it was time for the party they paid for the drinks and walked out into the wind. Ron was clasping his birthday present as they walked to the corner and Disapparated together. They entered the Burrow and saw the entire Weasley family, Harry, and a few others scattered here and there.
"Oh, there's my big twenty-two year old!" they heard Mrs. Weasley screech.
She bombarded Ron and almost knocked him over when she pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. When she finally pulled away she placed a cone-shaped birthday hat on top of her son's red hair.
"Mum, I'm not turning seven!" Ron cried. He jerked the hat off his head as his cheeks tinged pink.
"I think it's cute," Hermione said taking a hat of her own and placing it over her bushy hair. Ron smiled at her appearance. She giggled as she looked at the mirror that hung on the wall. Fred charged past her with Carmen, his latest girlfriend, on his arm.
"Well, hello, Hermione," he said. "You remember Carmen, right?"
Hermione nodded and smiled as she shook Carmen's hand. She liked Carmen alright but she seemed so distant. She was exactly what one would call overly-friendly. She had blonde hair and blue eyes. She wasn't enthusiastic, she wasn't animated, and she didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor so she really couldn't see why Fred was going out with her. But she was polite so she didn't not like her.
Mr. Weasley got everyone's attention and called out, "Everybody, our guest of honor is here so I think it's time we let him open his presents." He sat Ron down at the head of the table as was tradition and placed his wrapped presents in front of him.
"This is from Fred and George," Mrs. Weasley said handing him a long rectangular package.
Fred and Carmen stood behind Hermione's chair holding hands. George was sitting beside Ron on the other side of the table. Ron pulled the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a sleek black broom with gold lettering on the handle that read Ion. It was the latest broom on the market.
"Wow!" Ron reacted. He smiled happily as he examined the shiny handle and the smooth bristles. "Thanks!" he said. He reluctantly handed the broom over to his mother as he went to open his other presents.
When he was done Mrs. Weasley looked around. "Where's your present, Hermione?" she asked.
"Oh," she answered. "I already gave Ron my gift. Tell them, Ron."
"Oh," Ron grinned widely. "Well, Hermione bought me Honeydukes."
"What?" George exclaimed.
"Of course," Fred said smiling. "We get him a broom and she gets him a candy shop. Like Quidditch beats sweets in Ron's eyes. Do you have to be the best at everything, Hermione?" He said this in a way that showed her he was joking.
Hermione looked up at him and he winked at her. Carmen looked from Hermione to Fred several times and rolled her eyes.
"So," said Harry, "are you going to run the shop by yourself?"
"No," Ron replied. "Actually, I was hoping that since Hermione bought it she would…go into business with me."
Hermione looked at him. He looked so thrilled at the idea. Truthfully, Hermione felt the same. She loved Ron dearly and the thought of them working together was great. Maybe if they were going to spend time together she could get Ron to see her the way she wanted him to see her. She'd had a crush on him since they were young and that crush had developed slowly into a love deeper than friendship. She caught herself looking at Ron in a way that she'd never looked at another guy before. It was with want, need, and true love. The only problem was that she didn't know how Ron felt about her and she didn't want to risk ruining their friendship. So she just kept quiet about it and went along with everything. Working with him would be the perfect opportunity to find out what his true feelings for her were.
"I'd love that!" she responded.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley interjected clapping her hands. "I'd much rather you own that candy shop than being a bus-boy at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Hey!" Fred interjected. "How come it's wonderful for him to own his own store but when me and George were opening the joke shop you went crazy?"
"That was different," she said with a constant stare at one of her twins. "You were only seventeen when you wanted to do that and I wasn't sure how successful you would be. Now you've proved it is successful. But this shop is already established and already doing well so I'm not as worried."
"It's still not fair," Fred said with a fake pout.
"Yeah, now on with the cake," George said.
The cake was served and they laughed and talked until it was getting dark. Fred and Carmen left around six and George departed shortly after them. Harry and Ron had planned to stay the night at the Burrow and so had Ginny. Everyone else began to disperse and soon the only people left were Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione.
"I'm going for a walk," Ron said at about seven. "Anyone else want to go?"
Hermione got up and said, "I do."
Harry got up and started to say something but Ginny grabbed his arm, closed her eyes, and shook her head. Hermione noticed this but chose not to acknowledge it. Ginny knew perfectly well that Hermione had feelings far beyond friendship. She noticed that thankfully that Ron had been pulling on his jacket and hadn't seen it.
She got her own jacket and followed him out the door. Mrs. Weasley stopped them in the kitchen on the way and asked where they were going. They answered and continued on. They ventured out onto the lawn and walked through the brisk night air. Since it was the beginning of March it was still chilly outside but not freezing. All the snow had melted in the last few days and their surroundings were calm and quiet. They walked down the length of the yard side by side.
"Thank you so much for the gift," Ron said. "I love it."
"You're welcome," she replied. "You deserve it."
They smiled warmly at one another and continued to walk.
"We should go out there tomorrow afternoon and see about setting up," Ron said. "Do you think we should change the name?"
"No," she answered. "Like your mum said, it's already established."
"Yeah," Ron said in agreement. "So, what are you going to tell the Ministry?"
"Eh," she replied. "I'm just going to say I found a better job. I'm only a secretary."
Ron nodded as he kicked a rock on the ground. They looked at each other for a long time not saying anything at all. A nervous lump began to form in her throat and a knot pulled itself together in her stomach. Should I tell him? she thought. Should I tell him that I have feelings for him?
She opened her mouth and was about to say what she was thinking when she felt several cold drops of water land on her face. She looked up and saw that the sky had been invaded by dark rain clouds and the raindrops were quickly increasing in size and speed.
"We better get back," Ron said without moving.
"Yeah," she agreed.
It seemed that at that moment someone had hit a button that made the rain come pounding down harder than ever. She grabbed Ron's hand and they laughed as they ran as fast as they could back to the Burrow. When they reached the safety of the huge wrap around porch they fell onto the porch swing staring at the water beating down onto the earth.
Hermione shivered and rubbed her wet arms. They stayed outside just looking at the rain for a while until they went in and went to bed.
Please review and tell me what you think!
