A/N: Hi, everybody! I'd just like to announce that I'm back from my holiday, so get ready for more frequent updates. For those wondering where the plot is, it's just about to resurface. As always, if you have any ideas or any comments at all, feel free to leave a review, and I will answer it if needed.
Saturday morning dawned like any other day. The sun was a silver disc, shining low over the lake and framed by fluffy clouds that gave not a hint of rain. Birds sang as they usually did and the dew twinkled on the grass. It looked just like any other morning, but the atmosphere inside the castle of Hogwarts was buzzing. It was a bracing nine o'clock in the morning and there was a crowd growing in the Entrance Hall. Professor McGonagall stalked down the grand staircase with an annoyed look on her face.
"Please," she said, "there's two hours before you need to gather here. I'm sure there's something else you could be getting on with before then. Perhaps some homework?" There was a collective groan from the assembled crowd as some of them headed into the Great Hall and others back to their respective common rooms.
When eleven o'clock finally came, everyone who could go to Hogsmeade was lined up. The few people who weren't allowed in were being filtered out from the crowd and sent away, much to their dismay. Nobody could resist a surprise Hogsmeade visit, and with Voldemort gone, surely there would be more than usual.
Professor Flitwick was ticking off the names of the Ravenclaws in the line next to the eighth years, as did Professors Sprout, Slughorn and Bell for their respective houses. Harry had been given a list of the eighth years and was doing the same as the representative of the year. He got to Ron, who saluted.
"Ron Weasley, reporting for duty, sir!" he called out. A few people giggled at this, but most didn't understand.
"Have you been watching Muggle films again, Ron?" asked Harry. Ron nodded and grinned sheepishly.
"Dad's got some that he watches in the shed. He found some sort of black block to make the TB work."
"That's TV, Ron," corrected Harry. "TB's a disease." He moved along the line after grinning back at Ron, and soon every single eighth year was, as Ron and Hermione said in unison, 'all present and correct'. McGonagall had instructed Professor Flitwick, as the most senior teacher, to lead the group into Hogsmeade and had then returned to her office. As it was, Harry had no idea exactly where they were headed.
Like a massive flock of geese, the crowd of Hogwarts students passed through the gates flanked with winged boars, with Flitwick at the leading point. They squashed into the opening of the path into Hogsmeade, which was lined with dry stone walls, and eventually along the winding main street of the village. Then, about halfway into the village, they stopped and gathered outside what looked like a pile of snow.
There was silence. Nobody knew why they had stopped, and people were beginning to murmur in confusion. As the murmuring grew louder, Professor Flitwick shushed, and there was a lull in the underlying buzz of voices.
Suddenly, a loud brassy note played, and began a short fanfare. There were strange pops, whizzes and bangs during the fanfare and the pile of snow began to shake and rise. It was at that moment that Harry realised it wasn't a pile of snow at all, but a huge white sheet covering a building. The sheet was whipped off and the building lit up in vibrant, clashing colours. The underlying colour scheme was orange, and there were orange letters spelling out the name of the establishment.
"Welcome, one and all, to the Grand Opening of the Hogsmeade branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" announced a voice loudly. "Please give a big hand to the person who organised the whole event, Mr. George Weasley!" There was a round of applause and George was pushed through the crowd to the stage that had also been covered by the blanket. There was a lot of loud whooping and whistling.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" George began, his voice magically magnified. "I would like to share the good news that we have bought out Zonko's and established our own premises right here as you can see behind you. We bring you the Skiving Snackbox range, with the new, limited edition double symptom sweets." There was a cheer. "We bring you the cutest pets around, the Pygmy Puffs, now also in bright green." There was another, smaller cheer. "And our latest innovation, the Punish-Me Umbridge figurines! Soon to include a range of other figurines, such as the Punish-Me Carrows!" The cheer at this was almighty.
"I now declare this shop open, in dedication to one half of the Weasley twins, Fred Weasley." Though the last two words were uttered in almost a whisper, everybody heard them clearly. Angelina jumped up onto the stage and led the sad-looking George off. The door opened, and a large chunk of the crowd poured in. Meanwhile, Harry headed towards George to make sure he was ok. As he got there, Angelina was just leading him away from the hustle and bustle.
"Don't worry, Harry," she reassured him, "I'll help him." She wrapped her arm around George and, talking softly to him, led him meandering down the main street. Harry watched them go until Ginny tapped him on the shoulder. She had a small smile on her faced, though it was tinged with a sadness that would probably linger for a long time.
"Leave them, Harry. I'm sure Angelina can handle it." Harry reached up to the hand on her shoulder, took it and turned to look into Ginny's eyes. They lit up as they looked into his own, and they both smiled.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Harry asked.
"Ok," replied Ginny, "but only after we've seen inside." She led him by the hand into the already packed shop. There was the usual large crowd around the Pygmy Puffs and Skiving Snackboxes, as well as around the love potions. The two wended their way towards the Punish-Me Umbridges and grinned at what they saw.
The sign above the ugly-looking figurines read:
PUNISH-ME UMBRIDGES
She'll be so annoying that you'll want to destroy her a thousand times over. And you'll be able to, because she just keeps coming back, like a bad Doxy infestation. Guaranteed indestructible beyond self-repairing functions. Fully customisable options – just ask at the counter!
Ginny reached out towards one, which jumped out of the way and began berating her furiously at the top of its voice. The entire shop went quiet just to listen to it.
"Silencio!" Ginny silenced the miniature version of the old bat. "Merlin, she was getting annoying!" There was a collective laugh and the conversations resumed, although there was a general migration of people towards the new figurines. Within minutes, dozens of people were walking out of the shop with their Punish-Me Umbridges, a few of which had already been melted by their new owners. The pools of melted Umbridge, which they carried in sturdy vials, bubbled sadly.
Ginny and Harry continued to look around the shop, even popping into the back room with the permission of the young witch at the counter. There, they saw that there was a list with Harry's name at the top. They looked more closely at it and saw that it was a list of the Weasley products used by Harry, clearly as a new marketing scheme. Labels on the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and the Decoy Detonators confirmed that they were in the 'Potter's Pride' range.
"Mr. Weasley would like to know if you would consider using some more of his products," asked a soft voice from behind the pair, "free of charge, of course."
"Of course I would," replied Harry, turning to see that it was the woman who was behind the counter talking to them. She had just poked her head around the separating curtain to ask that important question.
"And if you have any ideas about any of our items, we'd love to hear them. Address them to our suggestions chimney." Harry thanked the woman and continued to look at the increased range of 'serious' Weasley products. The range of shieldwear had expanded to include fashionable jewellery, in order that a young witch or wizard's dress sense would not be compromised. The Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder now came in different grades, giving total darkness for varying amounts of time before settling. It even came in hot pink, to give a light coloured hue to the room rather than total darkness.
Just along from there, however, Harry caught sight of sets of mirrors. They reminded him of the mirror that Sirius had given to him, and had the same function. Moreover, different pairs of mirrors could be linked, so that groups of witches or wizards could all talk to each other at the same time, but the mirrors could still be used for one-to-on communication within that group. It was a fantastic piece of magical engineering, and Harry concluded that George had to be among the greatest wizards of all time.
The only problem was that he really needed someone like himself, like Fred, who he could bounce ideas off and who could give him inspiration. That way, he could be distracted from the events of the previous year. He could concentrate on making his new products, and more easily get over the tragic death of his twin. Harry grabbed two mirrors, and he and Ginny left the back room. After the woman refused to charge Harry for the mirrors, they made their way outside and took a deep gulp of the fresh September air.
"Ginny," began Harry, "would you like to take a walk with me?"
"Sure," she replied with a smile. Harry took her hand and they walked through Hogsmeade, away from the castle. As they passed the last of the shops and began to walk through the houses at the tail end of the village, Ginny began to wonder where they were going. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"Out of the village," replied Harry simply. Trusting him, she bent down and pushed her head under his arm. He shifted it and put it round her shoulders so that they could walk more closely together. They passed a few houses with broken windows and others in various states of repair. The inhabitants of the village had been working all summer to fix the damage done by the Death Eaters when they had occupied the village. Every time someone broke the curfew, the Death Eaters would wreck their house, and so the villagers had ended up completely demoralised and trapped in their homes.
The villagers of Hogsmeade were beginning to dislike magic, as what could be repaired magically could also be put beyond magical repair. They weren't used to the physical labour involved in repairing and rebuilding houses, and so the work was very slow. Nevertheless, magic could still be used in transporting bricks and cement, and so the work wasn't too backbreaking. Harry, brought up as a Muggle, but immersed into the wizarding world of an easier lifestyle, sympathised with them.
"Can't we do something to help them, Harry?" asked Ginny. Harry thought about it for a while as they continued walking. When they reached the stile at the end of the street, he figured it out.
"I have a plan. If it works, we could have Hogsmeade rebuilt by Christmas. Come on, though, over the stile." They hopped over the stile and walked along the path Harry had once taken to see his Godfather in the mountains. A little way along the track, however, they veered off into the trees running parallel to them.
Suddenly, they emerged into a small clearing. Lavender and buddleia attracted scores of butterflies and they fluttered around them. Ginny giggled when one landed on her nose, scaring it away. A small brook bubbled away on the far side of the clearing and sunflowers drooped in the centre, heavy with seeds. It was as though summer had never left this clearing and it was a truly beautiful sight to behold. Harry and Ginny sat on the soft moss against a rock, watching the butterflies.
"It's beautiful," said Ginny in an awed voice.
"Nowhere near as beautiful as you though," replied Harry. As the sun was unmasked from the lightest of clouds, the golden light in the clearing grew stronger and warmer, and the butterflies began to settle. The two of them, alone in the clearing, leaned towards each other, their eyes half closed.