The Houses Competition: Round 9: This is the End, but it's not forever
House: Hufflepuff
Subject Muggle Studies
Type: Standard
Prompt 1: [Magical Creature] Ashwinder
Prompt 2: [Location] Hogsmeade
Bonus 1: [First Line] He/She/I/Name had/have to check the abandoned storage locker, there was/is a weird smell coming from it.
Bonus 2: [Quote] I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou
Word Count: 1596 words
Authors note: Thanks to my team for betaing. Story deals with grief over canon characters' deaths.
George had to check the abandoned storage locker, there was a weird smell coming out of it.
"Uggh," he grunted, "Dungbombs. You would have thought old Zonko would have cleared this place out better before he retired."
He pulled out his wand and, with a quick Nilodoratus, the stench seemed to dissipate.
"Anything else interesting in there?" Ginny asked from a stool in the middle of the empty shop.
George rummaged about. "A couple pretty tired-looking fanged frisbees, a box of nose biting teacups – oooh some love potions," he finished, turning to stare pointedly at Ginny, who shot some harmless sparks back at him.
"Nothing worth selling then?" Harry asked.
"Nothing much," George confirmed. "If we buy the place we get the property and all the student customers but it looks like old Zonko took all the merchandise worth selling with him."
"Why are you even questioning this?" Ginny asked bluntly. "Your back room in Diagon Alley is overflowing and Ron said he'd retire from the Aurors office to run it. Hundreds of students, George. Hundreds, coming down to buy Weasley Wizards Wheezes every Hogsmeade's weekend."
"Didn't realize you had a head for business now, Ginny," George responded, continuing to rifle through the old storage locker.
"I have to admit, I think Ginny's right," Harry responded. "It's a great location for a shop; what are your reservations?"
George screwed up his face into a pained look. "Look, I'm just not sold on having to stare up at the castle every time I visit, that's all."
"What kind of reason is that? The castle's where all your customers live," Ginny interjected. But Harry put a calming hand on her arm.
"Is it Fred?" he asked softly
George didn't answer, and went back to rummaging instead.
"Did Zonko set a fire in here or something? The back corner is covered in ashes." Ginny and Harry heard George scraping around in the corner.
"Look at this—ashwinder eggs!" he said, popping out of the closet levitating two bright red palm-sized eggs. Ginny reached out to touch one.
"Ooh– they're pretty!"
"Careful," George warned, "they'll burn you. Let me freeze them first." He pulled out his wand.
"Glacius," the egg froze over, crystalline streaks of ice surrounding the exterior. He handed it to Ginny, who caught it expertly.
"Take care of that, it's worth a lot of money." George warned. They stopped for a moment and seemed to do some mental math.
"Those eggs only last an hour or so before they catch fire. If they're still around, there's probably a fire around here spawning the adult ashwinders that are then laying those eggs. You two get looking."
Harry descended to the basement and Ginny busied herself looking under the counters and display tables in the main shop while George continued inspecting the storage closet.
"Found another nest!" Ginny called. "This one's got a live ashwinder. She's kind of cute!" Harry wandered up to look under the till counter and saw a 5ft long snake-like creature with a crested head curled around three more eggs.
"Well, Hagrid would like it as a pet, I suppose." Harry wasn't sure he could justify calling it cute.
"If it's already laid its eggs, it doesn't have long to live, go ahead and freeze it," George called from the storage locker
"Glacius" Ginny said, freezing both the snake and the eggs.
"I'm going back downstairs to look for whatever fire that came from. It might still be burning if the ashwinder was still alive." Harry commented.
"Make sure we don't miss any eggs," George warned.
"Can't we just summon them?" asked Ginny. "Accio Ashwinder Eggs"
The spell did the trick and 4 eggs, along with a large ashwinder, came shooting up from the basement, busting a hole in the door as they did so and leaving smoldering embers along the perimeter. George was suddenly very glad he had spent so many weekends teaching his baby sister to dodge bludgers when Ginny ducked just barely in time to avoid getting hit in the forehead by an egg or a very angry ashwinder. Instead, the nest careened over her and collided with the wall, where it promptly caused a fire as the eggs exploded and the adult ashwinder burst into ashes.
"Aguamenti," George shouted and a jet of water shot from his wand and at the fire. The fire crackled and retreated momentarily but was too large for the jet to extinguish. Harry and Ginny added jets of their own but the fire was growing too quickly.
"Let's get out of here," George suggested, gesturing to the door, "see if we can get some help."
Outside the store, Ginny and George continued spraying jets of water on the perimeter, trying to slow the path of the fire that was now steadily engulfing the external walls. Sensing the need for reinforcements, Harry turned himself around and generated a Patronus. The stag pawed at the ground, waiting for instructions.
"Go to the other shops, tell them there's a fire at the Zonko's property and that we need help," he instructed the deer before turning to help with the firefighting.
The stag was swift and, within a couple of minutes, Jeremy Pippin from the potions shop, Sarah Spintwiches from the quidditch supply store, Madam Puddifoot from the tea shop, and Aberforth Dumbeldore had arrived and begun to set jets of water towards the burning building. The fire had blown out the windows and was licking out the roof, but the combined force of 7 witches and wizards slowly drove it back inside the building and eventually extinguished it. Ginny, Harry and George stared at the burnt building as they tried to catch their breath.
"It's Zonko's fault for letting ashwinders breed in there," Ginny declared. "He should pay for the building repairs."
"Oh, it's not worth it," George said, "we should just set up the second shop somewhere else."
"Oh, come on, George," Ginny insisted. "It won't be that hard to repair. The building needed some work even before the fire. And it is Zonko's fault. I'm sure we can get him to knock down the purchase price."
"Is it his fault you decided it was, for some inexplicable reason, a smart idea to summon an ashwinder egg straight into a wall? It's my business and I'll decide where to expand it without your constant meddling!" George's voice was harsh and accusatory. He seemed to realize this as soon as the words left his mouth.
"I'm sorry Ginny, I didn't mean to snap at you." George retreated to a bench on the other side of the street and Ginny gave Harry a confused look.
"I don't think this is about the fire damage," he whispered. "You get everybody who helped settled. Buy them some butterbeer or something, I'll take care of George."
As the others retreated to the Hog's Head, Harry followed George across the street and joined him on the bench.
"Is it Fred?" Harry asked again
George took a moment to compose himself, then nodded.
"I don't really care for the thought of having to look up at the place where my brother died every time I visit my own shop. And I don't get how all Ginny can think about is the business potential, like she doesn't remember what happened there."
"She cares," Harry insisted, feeling the need to defend his girlfriend. "She tears up every time she opens one of his chocolate frog cards these days."
"Yeah, well, she's fine being here and clearly I'm not."
Harry leaned back against the bench. It had been two years since the war had ended but it felt like, at times, the damage from the fighting still crept up and took him by surprise. They sat in silence for a minute as he tried to formulate a response.
Harry's pondering was interrupted by a third person walking up to the bench.
"You're that Weasley boy – the one with the joke shop?" Aberforth asked gruffly. George nodded.
"I couldn't help overhearing. I remember your twin; brave lad. Was sorry to see him go."
George nodded, but his shoulders were tense at the interruption. He preferred to be private in his grief.
"You have a good family, you know," Aberforth continued without noting George's discomfort. "My brother was a mess of a person, and I can't say we ever got along. I set up shop here way back to try to keep an eye on him. I considered packing up after he died."
"Why'd you stay?" George asked.
"Can't say I'm entirely sure. I just remembered when we were kids, and he was a little toddler running around with Dad's books, almost having the weight pull him over. I felt so proud of him once. Albus loved teaching and I wanted to remember that feeling from before everything went to hell."
George let out a grunt. "Ginny was quite the baby sibling herself. She tried to make a run to join us on the train our first year at Hogwarts. Fred had to tell her he'd send her a Hogwarts ghost to get her to stay home. Suppose she had found memories of all of us up at the castle."
George sighed and stood up, "I think I need to go talk with Ginny. Thanks Harry. Thanks Aberforth." Aberforth accepted George's outstretched hand.
"You don't have to set up shop here, but if you do, you're always welcome to step in at the Hog's Head for a drink and a chat."
George smiled. "I might just take you up on that."