Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! This is a shorter chapter, but as always, necessary. Enjoy!
"So, you guys aren't mad?" Harry asked the twins and Ron as he stood next to them in a line against the wall. He had just flooed back from his father's and Arthur told him to stand with the others while the man and Molly spoke to Severus.
"Of course not," Fred smiled. "We wouldn't want you constantly feeling bad for something we did."
"Besides," George added with a wink, "it gives us a reason to prank you."
"Great," Harry muttered. Ron just rolled his eyes and offered Harry a smile. Harry smiled back. He did have the truest of friends here.
"No talking boys," Arthur told them, pinning them to the wall with a stern look before looking back at Severus's flaming head. Harry listened to what they were saying.
"I know it's in the past now, but I still think punishment is in order," Molly insisted.
"Oh, I most certainly agree," Severus replied. Of course you do, Harry thought moodily. His father kept speaking. "What did you have in mind, Mrs. Weasley?"
"Well, I believe the boys must go back to the joke shop and make a formal apology. Then, I will see if there is anything they can do to make up for those stolen fireworks and candy. I just hope the owner doesn't press chargers."
"Let me know if they do," Severus said. "I will assuredly contribute on my son's behalf."
"We'll let you know what happens, Severus," Arthur said.
After their goodbyes, Severus disappeared from the flames and Molly and Arthur glared at the children. Molly was quick to speak, her eyes flashing.
"So not only did you steal that car for some late-night fun, you stole fireworks from a shop! You are too young to be handling fireworks anyway! Do you have any idea how dangerous those are? Someone could have been hurt that night. And then stealing the fireworks on top of that!? You four could have gotten in serious trouble with the Aurors if you had been caught! We could have been fined! I will not allow you four to become some common thieves! You should be ashamed of yourselves! All of you!"
The four boys kept their heads lowered shamefully as they were scolded.
"Now, boys," Arthur spoke up, "you know we must all do the right thing here. But we all know nothing can replace those fireworks. However, you will apologize to the shop owner today on our trip to Diagon Alley, explaining in detail what you four did. Then, we will see what the owner wishes to do. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," the boys chorused.
"Good. Let's go then, shall we."
Once at Diagon Alley, the entire Weasley family plus Harry found themselves at Gambol and Japes. Harry's heart raced nervously as he entered with everyone else. He recognized the lady behind the counter as Amorette. She looked up bemused as the family made a beeline straight for the counter.
"Hello," she greeted formally, "welcome to Gambol and Japes. May I help you?"
"We need to speak to the owner," Arthur stated, pushing the twins forward while Molly directed Harry and Ron forward as well.
Amorette frowned but nodded and left through a door in the back, disappearing for a few minutes. When she came back, an older, heavy-set man with a white beard and mustache appeared, wearing a red and purple vest, a hat of the same colors, and a yellow bowtie. He was rather bizarre looking, and Harry frowned at him.
"Mr. Gambol at your service," the man smiled happily, reaching out a hand to shake Arthur's and then Molly's. "What can I do for you?"
"Well," Molly said, "my boys have something they'd like to tell you."
When no one spoke, Arthur gave Fred a rather rough encouraging nudge. Fred glared back briefly at his father, who just motioned at Gambol pointedly with his head, silently telling all the boys to get on with it. Fred sighed.
"Well, you see, sir," Fred began, George adding parts.
"A couple nights ago, my brothers, friend and I stopped by here. We were having a night out together, but we wanted a firework show to really end our adventure . . ."
"But you see, the silly law makes us too young to buy fireworks, so we really had no other choice but to . . . permanently borrow them from your shop . . ."
"Steal," George corrected when Arthur smacked him and Fred on the back of the head, making them wince. "We mean steal. We stole fireworks from here and then some candy. All that stealing made us rather hungry."
"We were with them, too," Ron spoke up, not wanting to be smacked by his father.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "And we didn't do anything to stop them. We were just having fun."
"And," Fred took over, him and George simultaneously saying, "we are very sorry."
"It was wrong to steal, we know and knew that then."
"But we did it anyway. And we deserve whatever punishment you give us."
"Yeah, but go easy. We're kids."
"Boys!" Arthur exclaimed exasperatedly.
Mr. Gambol was silent for a minute, taking in the sight of the four miscreants.
"You're funny boys," he finally spoke. "I can tell that you four were just looking to have some fun, but stealing is wrong. Do you know how that effects my sales and profit? Losing all those values from my shop without a single knut? It cost good money to have those shipped here."
"We will pay for the lost goods," Arthur nodded, "we just need some time and we can set up a –"
"No need," the man smiled, looking at the large family patiently waiting around them. "I believe a little free labor will make up for the cost of those fireworks. I just had new shipments come in that must be stocked on the shelves. You two boys look like you can do some heavy lifting. And you two – I've got a shelf of knickknacks that need to be arranged in alphabetical order. Kids are constantly shuffling through and putting things in the wrong section. You could work on that."
Harry and Ron nodded, biting back a groan at the idea of work – especially if they weren't going to be paid. The twins nodded as well, looking at the many heavy boxes full of stuff to be shelved.
"How does that sound to you folks?" Mr. Gambol asked, looking at Arthur and Molly.
"Oh, that sounds wonderful," Molly said, a bit of relief in her voice. "How long will you be keeping them? Would you like them to return for the rest of the week?"
The four boys' eyes widened at what Molly said. Was she really encouraging the man to make them work all week?
"Just the day shall do. Perhaps they stay here under Amorette's watchful eyes until four this evening. I'll even provide a little lunch for the troublemakers."
Harry bit back a sigh. It was only ten in the morning. This was going to be a long day.
"Well," Molly said, looking at Arthur who nodded. "That sounds agreeable. That gives us plenty of time to shop. We have the boys' lists so we can gather what they need. And we can send Severus a patronus explaining what the verdict is."
"Sounds good," Arthur smiled, turning to look at Mr. Gambol, "and thank you so much, sir, for –"
"No-no," Mr. Gambol waved his hands, "no thank yous needed. Lessons like these must be taught to our younger generation. It is important that they know all actions have consequences."
After the Weasleys' departed, leaving behind Fred, George, Ron, and Harry, Mr. Gambol spoke privately to Amorette away from the children, though still in eye's reach. The boys spoke quietly amongst themselves.
"At least he didn't press any charges," George said seriously.
"He seems like a nice guy," Fred commented. "I mean, you have to be nice and fun to run a shop like this. This is the dream place of all jokers."
"Guys, we are so lucky to be getting off this easy!" Ron insisted.
"Ron's right," Harry said, "this could have been so much worse. We are lucky."
"Worse?" Fred exclaimed. "What's worse than hard, physical labor with no pay? Putting these babies to work costs extra." He playfully flexed his arms.
George shoved Fred, but before he could say anything, Mr. Gambol and Amorette came back.
"Alright, boys. Time to put that energy to good use. Amorette will show you what you need to do, and I will gather us lunch later. You are to work efficiently and quietly and do not interfere with customers. And no magic – not that you children can use it right now anyway. If you do a satisfactory job, I'll push this whole incident behind us. If you fool around, laze about, and do not complete your tasks, I will have to press chargers against your parents. Now I'm sure such fines can be lived without, hmm?"
"Yes, sir," the boys chorused.
"Amorette, I'm leaving you in charge. If you need me, I'll be in my office until noon, but I'll be back within thirty minutes."
"Yes, sir," Amorette nodded.
Mr. Gambol left. Amorette glared down at the four boys.
"Well," she began, obvious dislike in her voice, "because of you four, I've received my first strike since I clearly allowed you to rob this store a couple nights back. I must give you my gratitude."
The four boys kept their heads lowered, allowing the woman to rant at them. She sighed and waved a hand to motion the boys to follow her. She led them to the many stacked boxes, looking at Fred and George.
"Take these boxes over to those empty shelves against the wall. Take everything out and arrange them orderly on the shelves, alphabetically, if you can. You can take the empty boxes out that door there and leave them in the back."
Fred and George nodded, recognizing the back door as the one they had snuck in through. Amorette told them to get to work and then led Harry and Ron to a shelf unit across from Fred and George. There were knickknacks of all kinds: dungbombs, frog spawn soap, nose-biting teacups, self-inking and spell-checking quills, and a large array of candy. The shelves had labels of where the different products should be, but the items were scattered all around. Amorette instructed them to go through all the shelves and put the items in the correct place. She moved a ladder their way, so they could reach the higher shelves. Harry and Ron sighed, but quickly got to work.
An hour passed, and Harry and Ron found that rearranging the shelves was trickier than they originally thought it would be. Items hid craftily among other items, and some joke products actually turned invisible for a certain period of time, reappearing in an area the two boys swore they had checked thoroughly. This was terrible! At least the twins had managed to finish one shelf, the very top with many stuffed animals whose eyes literally popped out - a real scare for little kids.
Ron picked up an object and smirked at it, showing it to Harry who was up on the ladder. Harry took it and read the label: Fresh Breath. It was the breath spray Sam had found that had turned sour. Harry smiled at the memory, even though the image of the kitsune kissing the witch still grossed him out. Sam should be punished for that adventure, too. It wasn't fair that the fox always got away with everything.
Just as those thoughts rang through his head, the bell above the door chimed and he glanced at who had entered.
His eyes widened as he saw Sam, in human form wearing a silky black robe and carrying two drinks, enter the shop. Ron looked up at him with a confused look and Harry shrugged.
"Samuru!" Amorette happily cried, moving from around the counter, "I didn't think I'd see you again!"
"I told you I'd find you," Sam smiled, his teeth illusioned to look normal instead of pointy. He handed Amorette one of the drinks he had. "Here you are; this is for you."
Amorette breathed in the smell of whatever it was – Harry assumed it was coffee. She seemed to hum in delight as she took a sip, fluttering her eyes at Sam.
"Delicious. I'm surprised you remembered our talk on coffee. Is that pumpkin juice?"
"Yep," Sam smirked as he sipped his own drink. "I was just passing by and I had to come in and see you. What are you up to?"
"Monitoring these little thieves," Amorette motioned to the boys in the room. She shook her head disapprovingly. "Can you believe they stole fireworks from here a couple nights ago?"
"Did they really? Such naughty children," Sam smirked in Harry's direction, who threw a glare the fox's way. Ron rolled his eyes and the twins turned and glared at Sam.
"You have no idea how mad my boss is with me right now," Amorette said, setting her coffee down on the counter. She brushed back a strand of curly hair agitatedly. "I usually do the night shifts and close shop, but I swear I had no idea these children were even here! Sneaky little Gryffindors."
"Kids these days," Sam shook his head. "Good to see them getting what they deserve. I take it you went to Hogwarts."
"I did. What school did you go to?"
Sam choked on his pumpkin juice as he said, "Oh me? Err – Mahoutokoro."
Harry paused while climbing up the ladder as he heard the name of the Japanese school. He wondered where Sam may have heard of the name or if he had ever actually seen or even been to the school. Or if Sam had completely guessed on the name.
"So, you are from Japan. I had figured as much. You know, if you'd like to stay and help out, or lunch is soon, we could . . ."
"Isn't this a professional business?" Harry turned and glared at Sam specifically.
"Get back to work, kid," Sam told Harry with a sly smile. "Adults are talking."
Harry angrily turned back to what he was doing. He was going to get Sam back for this. Ron sent Sam a glare as well.
"Well," Amorette sounded uneasy now. "As much as I hate to admit it, the boy is right. My boss is in his office, and if he sees me talking with you, he may kick you out."
"I'm sure I can talk some reason into him. Of course, He'd have to come out of his office first."
"Good point," Amorette laughed.
"Well, I came to say that I have to return to my home country today, but I couldn't leave without staring into your sparkling eyes one last time."
"Wait, you're leaving?"
"Things came up. And I regret to say that I may not return for a very long time."
"But . . ." Amorette's face fell as she stared at Samuru. "I thought we . . . are you sure you have to leave?"
"Pretty sure," Sam smiled amused.
"I . . . I would like to give you something before you go. Wait here."
Amorette left through the door she had gone to get Mr. Gambol. Harry took advantage of her absence.
"Return to your home country, huh?" Harry glared at Sam, jumping off the ladder and walking up to the kitsune.
"More or less," Sam smirked down at Harry, his fox ears flicking in his thick, bushy hair. He set his drink down on the counter.
"More like less," Fred called to Sam from the top of his ladder as he worked on the second shelf.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked. "Really doing here? You must be feeling better if you're up and moving."
"Oh, much better. I heard from your father that your punishment was to do some work here. I was actually accompanying him on a trip here to pick up a few things for his classes: ingredients, extra cauldrons, cutting and grinding tools. You know the list."
"So, what are you doing here?" Harry pushed. "Why aren't you with Dad?"
"I just thought I'd check in on my four amateur thieves. And give my final goodbyes to Amorette. It was quite rude to leave her in a hopeful state, awaiting my return. Surely you appreciate my doing so."
"Not really! And you should be working here, too! You helped steal those fireworks!"
"Yes, but I make sure not to get caught," Sam said, guiding Harry back over to the shelf unit with a hand on the boy's shoulder. "And when I do get caught, I make sure not to get in trouble."
Before Harry could retort, Amorette reappeared.
"Samuru!" she called happily. She frowned briefly. "What's happening out here?"
"Nothing I couldn't take care of for you, my beauty," Sam smiled, walking away from Harry, who grumbled as he joined Ron in searching through a section. "Just making sure these children don't slack off in your absence."
"Why, thank you, Samuru," Amorette smiled, keeping a hand behind her back as she walked over to the kitsune. "You are such a gentleman. Here, I'd like you to have this."
Harry looked over his shoulder to see what Amorette handed to Sam. It was a small, flowery hair comb, a piece that slid into the hair and stayed, Harry figured. He had never really seen hair combs like that before.
"Now," Amorette continued, "you'll have something to remember me by in Japan."
"As if I could ever forget you," Sam smiled, accepting the little gift. "I will treasure it always. Now, I really must be going . . ."
"Oh, Samuru," Amorette made a sad face as she moved closer to Sam. "Well, you won't leave without a . . . kiss goodbye, will you?"
"Never," Sam said as he pulled Amorette into a deep kiss.
Harry groaned as he covered his eyes and Ron made a disgusted face. The twins snorted as they carried another box over to continue organizing the second shelf. To Harry, the kiss went on forever and he wondered how the two were even breathing still. Was it even normal to kiss for so long? Finally, they pulled away, though Amorette seemed sad that it had ended.
"Well," Sam said in a sad tone as he picked up his drink, "I should be on my way. But now, when I look up into the starless night sky, I will remember, with this, that the stars are here, glittering in those beautiful eyes of yours." Sam held up the comb pointedly, clutching it to his chest like a lifeline.
"I'll miss you Samuru!" Amorette said.
"And I, you," Sam returned.
George sent a whistle Sam's way while Fred pretended to make out with himself. Sam paused and stared intently up at the top shelf where the stuffed animals were, using mind magic to cause the toys to fall to the floor, dropping on the twins, effectively wiping out their playful mood. He smirked as he continued on. They gaped as they watched Sam disappear from the shop.
"Boys!' Amorette snapped. "Get back to work."
"Wait!" Fred shouted. "We did that top shelf – you saw us do it! He ruined our hard work! That shouldn't count. You saw what he did."
"I didn't see anything," Amorette smirked. "I suggest you hurry up and get everything done."
The twins groaned and picked up the stuffed animals, shoving them in an empty box to get them back up to the top shelf. Harry and Ron felt bad for the twins.
"Sometimes I can't stand that fox," Harry grumbled.
After a long day of work, the twins, Harry, and Ron were allowed to leave the shop without any additional charges. Percy had arrived to pick them up. On their way back to the other Weasleys, Harry spotted Remus.
"Uncle Remus!" he greeted happily.
"Hey, kiddo," Remus smiled, pausing in front of the group. "I heard you four got into a spot of trouble. How was the labor?"
"Terrible," everyone agreed. Remus laughed.
"Well, hopefully there will be no more stealing," Remus gave them all a pointed look.
"Yes, sir."
"Good. Harry, I stopped by a muggle book shop and found this," Remus dug through a bag he was carrying. "I know you've been wanting to read it and it's the perfect edition . . . where did I put it? . . . Ahh, here it is."
Remus held out a hardcover book to Harry, who accepted it and looked at the title. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. Harry beamed. He had been wanting to read this book after Remus had shared a part of the story with him. It sounded so cool and adventurous. It was an edition for younger readers, but Remus told him it was to make reading it a bit easier.
"Thanks, Uncle! I'll start reading right away!"
"I knew you'd like it."
"Well," Percy interrupted, "we should really be going. Mum gets worried when we run late."
"Of course," Remus nodded. "I'll let you guys go."
Remus walked away, listening as Harry explained what he knew already about the book to Ron and the twins, who asked various questions about the muggle book. He smirked as he made his way to the apothecary, where Severus was stepping out with fox-sized Sam at his heel, the fox carrying some object in his mouth.
"Right on time," Severus remarked, reaching into his robe, pulling out two vials of wolfsbane. "I would have brewed more, but I was rather short on time."
"Whatever you do is always more than enough, Severus," Remus said, accepting the vials and putting them in his bag. "I ran into your troublemaker and his musketeers."
"Did you? How'd he look?"
"Tired."
"As he should be. That tells me he worked hard."
"I delivered that book to him. He seemed excited to start reading it."
"You mean Ivanhoe? If he becomes obsessed with that, remember, it was you that got him interested."
"There's nothing wrong with liking a book."
"No, unless it interferes with school and his learning."
"I'm sure it won't. Evening, Sam. What do you have?"
"You noticed it, too? He left me earlier for a while then came back with that thing."
: It was a gift, Sam said, giving his tails a wag and lifting his head more to show off the hair comb. She gave it to me. She likes me.
"She?" Remus's eyebrows shot up. "Sheesh, Sam, it seems you've had more action today than I have all year. You'll have to give me some pointers."
"I wouldn't take advice from a fox, Remus," Severus said. "He's a troublemaker. And I bet he plays those poor ladies like a fiddle."
: You'd never believe it, Sam smiled slyly up at Severus and Remus. But suit yourself, bachelors.
Severus snorted, and Remus chuckled. Severus sighed as he thought about having to worry about one danger-seeking troublemaker – and now he had to be concerned about a heart-breaking troublemaker. Where was Sam going to keep that comb anyway? Perhaps in that stash of goods the fox had buried outside Snape Manor. Severus just shook his head at Sam.
I know I said Sam wouldn't meet up with that lady again, but he couldn't pass off that one opportunity to annoy Harry and his friends. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And that Ivanhoe book has more significance than just something Harry is interested in. You'll find out in later chapters.