This chapter is one of those sudden inspiration ideas. Before I post it, we need some context to understand the background of this chapter. As a matter of general interest, I will state right now that there are six Weasleys I like and three Weasleys I dislike. The six I like are Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Fred. George, and Ginny. The three I dislike are Percy, Ron, and Molly. This chapter focuses another of the reasons I don't like Molly: Her lack of support for Fred and George. In this chapter, Fred and George get encouragement from someone to chase their dreams.
Things were grim at Number Twelve Grimmald Place. Lord Voldemort had returned mere weeks before and Fudge was going out of his way to deny it. Sirius Black was particularly miserable, both at being stuck back in the childhood home he had hated and in feeling he was useless.
On this day, however, while was in Buckbeak's room feeding the hippogriff, he overheard a conversation that rubbed him the wrong way.
"THAT'S TOO TRIVIAL FOR A CAREER!" he heard Molly yelling, "A JOKE SHOP! SERIOUSLY?!"
"We'll be great at owning a running a joke shop," insisted Fred, "We may not be very academic minded, but we're very talented at magic!"
"We have to be to pull off our jokes and pranks successfully," added George.
"THAT'S PART OF THE POINT!' shouted Molly, "YOU'VE GOT MAGICAL TALENT AND YOU'RE WASTING IT ON SOMETHING AS IRRELEVANT AS A JOKE SHOP!"
"Opening a Joke Shop is our dream," insisted Fred.
"That's why we experiment and test things," piped up George.
"YOU'VE GOT NO AMBITION!" thundered Molly, "YOU AREN'T INTERESTED IN ANYTHING USEFUL!"
At that, Fred and George had had enough and ran away from Molly without looking back at her.
They were about to make a beeline for the room they slept in while at Number Twelve Grimmald Place, but Buckbeak's room was on the way to theirs, and Sirius called out, "Fred, George?"
"Yes," chorused Fred and George.
"Can I have a word?" asked Sirius.
"Yes," agreed Fred and George, who had both gotten on well with Sirius since they'd all been there.
Fred and George entered Buckbeak's room and Sirius shut the door, locked it, and then raised his wand in right hand and performed a Privacy Charm on the room so that no one could overhear them.
"Let's stay standing up, " said Sirius seriously.
Fred and George nodded.
"So?" inquired Sirius, "Is opening a joke shop your true ambition?"
"Absolutely," replied Fred and George together a nanosecond later.
"As you may have overheard," said Fred bluntly, "Mom isn't a fan of the idea."
"She wants us to do something more serious, more important," explained George.
"I'd like to give you my own two cents on the idea," piped up Sirius.
"It's always good to get a second opinion," smiled Fred, "What do you think?"
"Let's get straight to the point," said Sirius clearly, "If running a joke shop is really what you want to do, then go for it!"
"You don't it's too trivial to be a career path?" wondered George.
"There is nothing trivial about chasing your dreams, no matter what those dreams are," said Sirius encouragingly.
"How does the fact that mom doesn't approve of our career path affect your opinion of it?" asked Fred.
Sirius now looked Fred and George straight in their eyes and said, "Ultimately you can't live your lives for other people. At some point, you've got to live your life for yourself. At the end of the day, being true to yourself is more important than pleasing other people."
Fred and George continued to stare into Sirius's eyes.
"You don't want to be in the twilight of your life and look back on your life and regret not chasing YOUR dreams because you didn't get approval from other people or because they're not what someone else wanted. Being true to yourself will lead to a fulfilling life you can end at peace with and have no regrets."
"Do you agree with mom about a joke shop being too trivial for a job though?" Fred asked Sirius, "What is your honest opinion about that aspect of this?"
"Just because a joke shop isn't the most important thing in the world doesn't make it worthless or irrelevant," said Sirius crisply, "Not everybody can be a Healer or an Auror. In fact, a joke shop is a Very Good Thing."
"How?" asked George simply.
"Humor helps people deal with the stress and worry that comes with the more serious aspects of life," said Sirius seriously, "Here's the thing: the serious work done by the most important people such as Healers and Aurors is what makes life livable. But it's the fun and funniest created by things like sports, music, and, yes, jokes, that makes life worth living. I mean, would there be any point in life if life only consisted of fighting crime and take care of our health? There has to be a fun and funny side of life to make it worthwhile. Important people such Healers and Aurors make life livable. People like you will make life worth living."
Fred and George smiled at Sirius after hearing this encouragement.
"By the way," interjected Sirius, "Molly is being a bad mom to you by not supporting your ambitions. She's trying to live vicariously through you by encouraging you to take on the career path SHE would want for you instead of supporting your dreams. Now, does Arthur support the joke shop?"
"He does," confirmed Fred, "But he's careful not to let mom know."
"He doesn't talk about too much, but we know he does support us," explained George, "Then again, we're talking about a man who collects batteries and plugs as a hobby."
"Arthur's muggle obsession is charming and endearing," said Sirius fondly, "I do wish he'd stand up to Molly more often though."
"Do you think there are any actual benefits to a joke shop?" Fred asked Sirius.
"You can brighten people's spirits and put a smile on their faces when they buy products, " said Sirius in crystal voice, "You can make people happy. "
"You are behind us 100% then?" cooed George.
"I am," smiled Sirius.
Fred and George were definitely feeling better now. Sirius's support had lifted their moods and he'd been rational while being supportive.
Yes, they were going for it. They were getting their joke shop.
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