Serious Business

For a second Astoria stared at Hannah and at the squirming toddler in her arms. Then she smiled. The little boy had a heart-shaped face, pink cheeks, a rose-bud mouth, brilliant blue eyes and hair that was so blonde it looked white. He was the most beautiful child she'd ever seen.

"This is Scorpius." Instead of returning Astoria's smile, Hannah's lips thinned.

Astoria blinked, trying to reconcile the woman before her with the pink-faced, pig-tailed teenager she'd known at Hogwarts, when Hannah had been two years ahead of her and by far the friendliest of all prefects.

Her cheeks were still rosy, her hair still blonde. But apart from that, Hannah seemed to have little in common with the girl she'd been. Although she had gained generous womanly curves, there was nothing soft about her. The new proprietress of "The Leaky Cauldron" had the down-to-earth, don't-mess-with-me look of a tavern owner down to a T.

And in her eyes bitter shadows of sorrow lurked.

Astoria swallowed hard. "Dra– Mr. Malfoy should be back soon. The Minister called him up for something."

Hannah narrowed her eyes. "I'll wait." She put Scorpius on the floor, scattered a few tiny crumbs in front of him and enlarged them promptly into wooden building blocks that changed their colour, depending on how many were stacked together. "Pi, be good."

The toddler mumbled something incoherent, but proceeded to occupy himself earnestly with the business of building blue stacks (two rectangles, one square at the top).

"Teddy, stay here. You know that you're not allowed in there without your uncle present."

Pouting, the boy flounced back to Hannah. "But I want to see his fish!"

Hannah winced just a little, but her brisk voice betrayed no emotion. "Ask Uncle Draco when he comes back. Here's your book." A quick flick of her wand enlarged a stamp-sized object on her palm into an animated picture book from the Babbitty Rabbitty series.

"May I sit at the desk?" Teddy turned to Astoria.

"Uh… of course. Just don't touch the parchments, all right?"

Hannah raised an eyebrow.

"Really, it's okay. I've already cleared up for the day." Astoria walked around the desk and gestured for Hannah to sit down in one of the visitors chairs. Only when the other woman had settled down, Astoria perched on the other chair herself.

After another glance at the children, making sure that they were doing what they were supposed to do, Hannah turned her attention to Astoria. Her expression was cool. "So how are you these days, Astoria? I have to admit that I was a little surprised when Draco told me that Daphne's little sister is working for him now."

"I am very grateful to Mr. Nott for the opportunity," Astoria replied as calmly as she could.

"Ah, yes. Slytherins do take care of their own, don't they?"

"I was in Hufflepuff." And I doubt you've forgotten that. You always took your prefect duties very seriously.

"Your sister was not."

"I am not my sister."

"But you are Hufflepuff. And you know what they say about us, don't you? 'Loyal to a fault'," retorted Hannah.

Astoria flinched. "I never supported my family's cause."

"But you still support your family."

"Why do you even care?" Astoria asked defensively. "You wanted to marry Draco!"

Hannah bent forwards in her chair. "I care precisely because I wanted to marry him. What are you playing at, blabbing his secrets to his parents? Now Lucius Malfoy is suing for custody over Scorpius. And all because you couldn't keep your big mouth shut."

oooOooo

George had already left, flying off to watch a match of the Holyhead Harpies and to cheer for Angelina, while Ron was still finishing up some paperwork in the shop.

Sighing, he sealed and rolled up another scroll. Somehow tedious paperwork took up more and more of his time these days.

Admittedly, he was also rather impatient to get going tonight.

Lois was a big believer in fixed daily routines for babies, and he dearly wanted to play a bit with Kuno and Hugo before their bedtime. And he needed to stop by St. Mungo's to look in on Hermione before going home.

Merlin's pants. He'd been aware that Hermione had a problem with her magic these days, but nearly blowing up a shop and herself …

Suddenly the door bells jingled and reminded him that he hadn't locked up the shop yet.

Damn, a late customer.

"From now on I'll lock up the second George steps foot outside," he vowed under his breath as he ducked into the show room.

The main room of the shop was quite large, but stuffed as it was with shelves and display tables, it appeared crammed, definitely too small to fit the fat wizard in purple robes who stood sweating in the middle of the floor. Bushy white eyebrows, a cloud of white hair framed his head and a fluffy cowlick frothed over balding pink skin. A thick handlebar and chin puff type of beard made the wizard look rather like a very hairy walrus. The purple tie and dress robes reminded Ron of Dumbledore.

He cleared his throat. "Why, hello Bertie. Long time no see. As full of beans as always, I hope?"

"Quite, quite," Bertie replied. He pulled a pink kerchief from his sleeve and dabbed nervously at his forehead. "I ah… The shop is doing well, I trust?"

"We're getting by. Though all those new rules and restrictions coming down from the EMU are a pain in the …" Ron trailed off. "Well, how may I help you? Some Wheezes for the grandchildren, perhaps?"

"I … ah… to be perfectly honest, I am here on serious business." Again Bertie dragged his kerchief across his sweat-damp face. "I gather that you are in charge of finances for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes?"

Ron's frown deepened. "I guess that's not a secret."

"You see, Ron, I was wondering if you and your brother could imagine selling the shop …"

oooOooo

A/N: To recapitulate, some birthdays in Apprentice 'verse:

April 22, 1998 - Teddy Lupin
October 27, 2001 - Scorpius "Pi" Malfoy
June 18, 2002 - Hugo and Kuno Weasley
August 20, 2002 - "Jamie" James-Hermes Potter

So, what do you think?