Darker Shadows (A Harry Potter Fan Fiction)

Chapter 41- Call for Help (Fred)

Chapter 41 (Fred)

I flipped the sign on the door over to ‘Closed’ and turned to look at George. He had two boxes of products in his arms and was trying to carry them whilst holding his wand in his mouth. I laughed,

“Having some trouble there, Georgie? Gosh, it almost looks like you were brought up in a world without magic.”

He shot me a dirty look and I pulled my wand out of my pocket, levitating each box out of his arms and settling them down on the table. George smiled gratefully and walked over to the till,

“I’ll cash up if you re-stack the shelves.”

I chuckled dryly,

“That’s it, give me the physical job.”

“You’ve got to keep those muscles!” He called out sarcastically.

I smiled and bent down to pick something up, trying to look busy as I asked my brother,

“Where do you think Ava will go once the school year is over? Do you think she’ll stay with Malfoy again?”

George looked up at me in surprise,

“I don’t know… I’ve never really thought about it. She could stay with Remus?”

I knew that George didn’t want to suggest that Ava live at the Burrow when in a few months time Harry might have lost all trust in her.

I nodded,

“That’s a good suggestion. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind taking her in, but-”

“He cares about her, Fred.” George interrupted, his voice soft, “He would not wish any harm upon her- of course he would take her in.”

I sighed, defeated, and resealed the box on the table in front of me. I knew George was right, I’d just had a lot of time to think about it recently.

I walked past the front desk and picked up my leather notebook and quill, making my way to the back of the shop.

One of the shelves was completely empty of Love Potion, so I picked up a box and opened it carefully. I found a stool to sit on and leant against the wall behind me. I flipped my notebook open to a page half-filled with sketches and annotations and with my other hand, used my wand to lift the potion bottles onto the shelf. The art of multitasking.

I read through my notes on my most recent prank idea and started to add to it. The notebook was almost finished, each page crammed with sketches, bits of writing and photos stuck down. It was the one that Ava had got for me the Christmas before last, and it had lasted me well. My thoughts drifted to Ava’s charm bracelet, and I wondered if she still wore it.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that the noise of a potion bottle smashing caught me by surprise. I swore and slammed the notebook shut, getting off the stool to clean up the mess. The smell of fresh parchment, morning dew and dusty old library books wafted up from the spilt liquid, but I ignored it and quickly wiped it up with a cloth.