"Alright my beautiful family. We've got about four truckloads of product coming in today."
It's Tuesday morning, a few days after my doctor's appointment. My nerves haven't gotten any better. The thought of flying again scares the ever-loving shit out of me. I want to be able to play quidditch again so fucking bad but every time I think of it all I feel is the bludger slamming against my skull and the weightlessness of falling out of the sky.
"Leah?" Mum and Dad are both looking at me now.
"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
Dad smiles and ruffles the hair on the top of my head, "It's going to be me and you today bub, do you think you're up to helping me unload everything."
"Yeah, yeah. As long as I get to know what's in all the boxes."
Theo slams his cereal spoon down on the dining table, "Leah gets to know all the big secret products that you and Mummy have been working on and I don't? That's not fair!"
"If Mummy and Daddy told you what was in the boxes then Lucy would find out then the whole family would find out and then where's the surprise?" Annie says to him.
"I wouldn't tell anyone!"
"Yes, you would." Everyone else says at the same time.
Theo grumbles to himself but he doesn't continue the argument. A truck horn beeps from outside and Dad looks at me, "Let's go."
Dad kisses Annie and Theo on the head then gives Mum a proper kiss before heading to the back stairs. I give Mum and peck on the cheek before following Dad outside.
"Morning Jason!" Dad says to the driver.
"George, nice to see you again." Jason, the driver, gets out of his big truck and gives Dad one of those weird bro-hug things before he goes to the back of the truck and opens the door.
"Can I ask you what's in all these things?" Jason asks as he takes out his wand to help dad levitate the boxes out of the trunk and down onto the ground.
"You can come back on the first day of summer and see them all for yourself just like everyone else. I'm not having some of my products leaked like last year. Though my eldest has a mind of his own. You wouldn't believe the stunt he pulled earlier this year."
Jason and my Dad continue to talk about life, mostly kids. Jason has got a young daughter that will be going to Hogwarts at the same time that Theo is going apparently. I start to pick up some of the lighter boxes and carry them through the door and into the storage room. Dad has already marked off where he wants each new product to be stored so it's pretty mindless work.
I can hear the truck pull away and a few boxes come flying through the air and land beside me. Dad walks into the room at looks at me, "You want to see what's in them?"
"Please."
Dad laughs and comes over to me. He takes the box out of my hands and puts it on top of a different stack of boxes. He cuts it open with one of the keys he's got on his keychain and pulls a small package out of it.
"Sweets?" I ask taking the package out of his hand and holding it in front of me.
"They're called Cedric's heart of gold. They've got liquid luck in them so pop one in your mouth and let it dissolve and you're set for an hour."
I go to tear open the package but Dad snatches it out of my hands and shoves it back in the box, "Not a chance Leah. Sixteen and up."
"You're no fun."
Dad closes the box and goes to put it back in the stack that has the same product in it. "I made these for Pops birthday present. Arthurs collectable rubber ducks." Dad says moving over to a different pile of boxes. He doesn't open one of them though, just smiles at them, "You've gotta collect all fifty to see what the real purpose of a rubber duck is."
"Wouldn't people just be able to pick and chose which ones they don't already have?"
"Not when they're packaged in charm proof boxes so you can't see through them or open them in the shop. There are different levels of rarity. Like the Minister of Magic duck is one of the rarest ones where the house ducks are really common."
"You think people are going to spend money on rubber ducks?"
"Course I do. Cause once you have all fifty they do a dance before turning into real ducks that you can send off to do your bidding three times."
I shake my head but Dad seems thrilled with his idea, "You're mental. How do you and Mum even come up with things like this?"
"Years of experiences darling." Dad heads back out of the storage room to get the rest of the boxes inside before the second truck comes along. I hesitate to follow him, my eyes land on the boxes full of Cedric's heart of gold. He wouldn't notice if I pocketed a few of them for later use would he?"
"Leah! Let's go!" Dad calls from outside of the room.
I walk out of the storage room and back out into the back of the shop. I don't understand why Dad needs my help with all this when he could just use magic to get them all into the store but I don't question it.
"In here are Dobby's socks. Unlosable, undirtable socks that'll last a lifetime." Dad says to me as he sends a stack of boxes through the door, "Inspired by the best house-elf any of us have ever met."
"We should get a house-elf, it'll be a lot easier to run the shop with one," I say walking past Dad with boxes stacked in my hands.
"And risk Hermione's rage? No thanks, even I'm not dumb enough for that."
"What does Aunt Mione have against House-elves?"
Dad moves the boxes into the storage room and piles them beside the boxes full of mystery rubber ducks, "Well they're slaves. Many wizards don't pay them or treat them properly. You saw the house-elf at the Malfoy Manor."
We head back outside. Dad stacks a bunch of boxes on top of one another and smiles, "These ones... these are called Ophelia's Bludger Babies. You can thank your brother for the name."
"Godric Dad," I pretend to be annoyed but I really can't wait to have my name displayed on shelves in the shop, people coming in and buying things with my name on them not just my family's.
"They're not made of iron though so they're a little safer than real bludgers. Either way they're being sold with helmets." Dad winks at me which makes me laugh.
"What's in these?" I say picking up two boxes stacked on top of each other.
"Percy's box 'o' nothing. It's quite literally just a clear box with nothing inside that does nothing. The perfect product to have your Uncle's name on it in my opinion."
I laugh, "Okay but seriously, who is gonna buy these?"
"You can't tell me that those aren't the perfect joke gift for a secret Santa at the ministry," Dad says as we walk through the door again. "These are Lee's censored mega-phones. The perfect way to commentate quidditch without being hassled by McGonagall. No one above the age of twenty can hear the swear words said into these bad boys. So you can cuss your heart out while watching a rough game of quidditch without getting smacked by a teacher."
"Bet Uncle Lee is going to be thrilled that that's the legacy you're creating with his name," I say to Dad as I put the boxes I was carrying down.
"It's not your uncle Lee that I'm worried about. It's Wally, he's not going to be too thrilled with it all."
The last couple boxes of this load are full of 'Sirius's cologne' which according to Dad is a prank cologne that smells like wet dogs and is best used outside because it's so strong. A 'Freddie's Bears' machine so you can make customizable teddy bears in an instant, and 'Cassie's Piano Pasties' which will give you the ability to play the piano perfectly for an hour, but the side effects include not having rhythm for the rest of the day.
By the time we have got the first load of boxes stacked away and ready for the summer months, Mum, Theo, and Annie have opened the store and are milling about getting the morning chores done. Dad goes over to Mum and pinches her bum while we wait for the next truck to arrive.
"What's in the boxes?" Theo says coming up to me, he's doing his best to look like he's just sweeping the floor.
"Just a bunch of ingredients, no actual products," I tell him.
Theo looks at me hard, "You're a bad liar you know that? You and Cassie both suck at it." He goes back to his chores as Dad comes around the corner and we head out of the shop to meet the next truck.
It's a different driver this time, "Well if it isn't Adrian Pucey." Dad says as the driver hops out of the truck.
The driver, Adrian, looks at Dad, "Hey Weasley."
"How's your wife?"
"Clarissa? She's good, busy with the kids. Our oldest, Addison is having a pretty rough time at Hogwarts right now. And Pandora is getting ready to head off to Hogwarts in September."
The conversation between Dad and this Adrian guy is a lot more strained than the one with Jason. It makes me think that they went to Hogwarts together and didn't have the best relationship. Once all the boxes are unloaded Adrian turns to Dad, "How's Violet?"
"Inside with the young ones. She's good."
The sleeve of Adrian's shirt rolls up and I catch a glimpse of a faded Dark Mark on his arm. He pulls his sleeve back down and looks at me before saying goodbye to Dad and hopping back in his truck.
"Who was that?" I ask as we watch the truck pull out of the back of the shop and into the alley.
"Adrian Pucey. He was in our year, in Mum's house. I don't like speaking ill about people around my kids but he married a fucking bitch." Dad laughs and I get awkward.
"Okay, let's get these sorted," Dad says looking at all the boxes.
He explains all the products in this batch in great detail;
Molly's Magical Specks! X-ray glasses that can see through everything! Does not work on people.
Mum's Chocolate Chip Cookies! Nothing magical about them. Now you can take home Molly Weasley's famous chocolate chip cookies to your own home! Recipe not included.
Charlie's Dragons! Miniature dragons that breathe real fire! Not for children under 11, sold with a fire extinguisher.
Bill's Werewolf Repellent! Joke cologne that smells so bad not even a werewolf would want to be near you!
Solemnly Swears! A package containing two candies. Make a promise with your best friend before eating them. If one of you breaks the promise then you'll break out into hives!
Marauder's Map! Miniature Marauders maps that show key locations at Hogwarts such as the library, great hall, and the grounds! One map shows one location! Keep track of your professor's whereabouts! Does not track students. Each sold separately.
Annie's Invisi-ink! Black ink that dries invisible. Want to see what you wrote? Cast Lumos!
Soulmate Rings! Two rings sold together, give one to your soulmate, you keep the other one. If your wearing them at the same time then you can feel each other's heartbeats! Comes in a variety of different colours and sizes.
Harry's BRILLIANT lightbulbs! Works just like a normal lightbulb. Every time you turn it on, hear the chosen one shout "BRILLIANT!"
Mione's Mind! Take this little potion and get ready for the study session of your life! Stay completely focused and awake for five hours after you drink it! Side effects include not being able to blin the entire time and word vomit for the rest of the day.
Every time Dad explains a new product to me, I get excited. I love when Mum and Dad do stuff like this, unveil a bunch of new stuff all at once to keep the joke shop in the back of everyone's minds.
Mum is chatting with a customer by the counter. Dad is whistling in the backroom as he reorganizes his boxes and makes room for the next two trucks full of stuff. Which gives me time to sit for a bit. I walk through the storage room and out to the front of the shop. It's a pretty busy day honestly. Mum has got Lance from the other shop over to help Annie at cash while she and Theo are doing their best to keep the shelves stocked and answering questions.
"Sorry, to bother you, do you work here?" A girl says from behind me. I turn around and put on my customer service smile.
"Yes, I do! How can I help you today darling?"
The girl smiles at me, she's probably Victoire's age, "You sell bruise removal paste here do you not? I can't seem to find it anywhere."
I nod, "Yeah of course! It's upstairs with our defensive objects. I can walk you there if you would like?"
"Thank you very much." She says in a soft voice.
Dad is at the back of the shop, looking for me. When he sees me I nod my head towards the girl that I'm helping and he smiles at me before heading outside to the back.
"Here you are! Bruise removal cream. Fair warning though, it smells really bad." I tell the girl. I take a bottle of it off of the shelf and hand it to her, "It's going to end up being one galleon and twenty knuts. Our cashiers on the ground floor will be able to help you cash out."
"Oh thank you so much, uhm..."
I stick out my hand and she shakes it, "Ophelia. It was my pleasure. Let me know if you need anything else alright?"
The girl smiles again and heads back down the stairs. While I'm up here I make sure that there aren't any empty shelves. I move the shield cloaks further up so that they are easier to reach and it doesn't look like we're running out before heading back downstairs.
Theo is demonstrating a few nose biting teacups to a group of kids around his age and they are all laughing wildly as their parents' shop elsewhere. Mums talking to a few people about our explosive enterprises on the second floor and I can hear her say, "We sell each of our firecrackers separately raging from a galleon two sickle to a galleon eight sickle. Or we do have different bundles such as Fred Weasley's Basic Blaze box which goes for six galleon one sickle. You'll get eight of Fred Weasley's favourite firecrackers and a few whizbangs."
Mum gives the same selling pitch that we all use when we are talking about the firecrackers. Buying a bundle is always the better option for both us and them so we do our best to sell them the most. The most expensive one we've got... hell the most expensive thing in the store is Fred-and-George's Pyrotechnics Compendium which sells for twelve galleon, one sickle, and four knuts. It'll get you one of every firecracker that we have and five whizbangs which makes for a really good fireworks show.
"Did you make a sale?" Dad asks me when I get back outside.
I shrug, "Some girl needed help finding the bruise cream."
"Did you ask if she was alright?"
"No...?"
Dad sighs, "Next time if someone ever comes in only looking for things like bruise cream just ask if they are alright. Sometimes they aren't, and if that's the case you get either me or Mumma so we can help them out."
"Help them out how?"
Dad looks at me, "Just help em out. You never know what's happening in someone's mind eh? Come on these boxes aren't going to stack themselves."
"I mean they could," I say going over to a stack of boxes. Dad looks at me, "The boxes. They so totally could stack themselves. You have the ability to do that. Even I know the spell you can use to make that happen if I could use magic outside of school..."
Dad laughs, "And what would I be teaching you if I just relied on magic for everything? You've got to do things yourself, magic is just a bonus."
"Magic is a bonus that we have. So if we just used it..."
"No Ophelia. Pick up those boxes and let's go please."
By the time the shop is closed Dad and I have finally got the back room sorted which means that now we have to help restock the shelves so we don't have to do it tomorrow.
"Has anyone checked to see if the nut machine outside has been refilled recently?" Dad says as he carries boxes of firecrackers over to the display.
"I'll check! I love Ernest!" Annie says happily before running across the store and out to see the dragon roasted nut machine that we have outside the door.
"Who the bloody hell is Ernest?" Mum asks from the floor above us.
"It's what she named the dragon," Theo says. "Here Mumma catch!" Theo tosses a bag of Won Won's Bon Bons up into the air. Mum, who's leaning over the railing of the first floor, snatches them out of the air and starts to refill the big sweets bar that we have up there.
"Oi! None of that! How about we walk up the stairs and hand your mother the product like civilized people?" Dad says to Theo.
"But there are so many stairs and Mum caught them just fine."
"Who even buys those things? They taste like soap." I scrunch up my nose and spray some disinfectant on the counter. Lance left earlier than we closed today because the alley is farther away from his house and Mum and Dad wanted him to get home before it got dark.
"They don't taste like soap, they're lavender flavoured," Mum says.
"Lavender flavoured bonbons named after Uncle Ron? Shouldn't they be like, I dunno, sausage and egg flavoured?" I finish cleaning off the counter and look at Dad.
He laughs, "Not in the slightest. Lavender is the only flavour that those should be."
Mum cackles from upstairs. Theo lugs a few boxes full of different treats up the stairs so that Mum can finish off up there.
Annie comes back inside and puts the now empty bag of fresh nuts in the garbage before going into the bathrooms to do a check-in there. Instantly she walks out, her lips turned down in a big frown, "Someone vomited in there." She says.
"Not it!"
"Not it!"
"Not it!"
Dad sighs and his shoulders drop, "Fucking hell." He mutters. Dad finishes off the fireworks display before going around the cash register and pulling out the bucket of cleaning products we have back there.
"I swear some people just come in here to vomit in our bathroom and leave. At least have the courtesy to buy something... like a...."
"Glow in the dark bubble gum." Annie finishes my sentence. She flips the boxes that once had firecrackers in them and jumps on top of it with both feet, flattening it out so we can put it in the recycling."
"Yeah! It's only twenty-three knuts. Least they can do for spewing everywhere."
"Mumma? Are the Pygmy Puffs supposed to be huddled in a circle like this?" Theo asks peering into the cage that we have in the middle of the ground floor.
"Yeah, don't worry about them, darling. They huddle together when they're sleeping."
Dad comes out of the bathroom and shudders, "That definitely was not the result of puking pastilles."
Everyone laughs and Dad puts the cleaning stuff back behind the counter. "It looks good in here guys. Let's say we call it a night? Vi darling do you want me to make dinner?"
Mum throws an empty cardboard box over the railing on the second floor and it lands with a thud beside Dad, "I've got dinner. You've worked hard today G."
Dad picks up the box and crushes it down, "Do you three want to play some quidditch while we wait for dinner?"
"Yeah! It's so much easier to play when Freddie isn't here." Theo says happily.
Dad and Theo both look at me, waiting for my response. My hands get all clammy and it suddenly gets hard to breath. "I – uh, I think I'm going to help Mum with dinner if you don't mind."
Dad looks at me hard, "You sure? The doctor said that you can start..."
"I know what the doctor said!" I say it too loud and too defensive. By the look on Dad's face I can tell that he's annoyed with the way I said it but he doesn't reprimand me. "I'm sorry, I'm just not feeling quidditch tonight... Theo, you can use my broom if you want. I don't mind."
"Really!?"
"Yeah, yeah go ahead. I'm gonna head upstairs and get changed."
Dad gives me a hug and a kiss on the top of the head before I head upstairs. Mum is already on the third floor, opening the secret door hidden amongst the defensive products to get to the flat. She looks over the railing so she can look down at Dad, Theo, and Annie. That's my favourite thing about the shop honestly; no matter what floor you're on you can see the other ones and what's happening on them. "Stay safe please!" she calls down to them.
"Yes, darling!" Dad shouts back.
"I'm serious George! Take care of them, don't let them fly too high or too fast."
"Yes, darling!" Dad calls again.
Mum looks at me, "How does roast and potatoes for dinner sound hm?"
"Oh yeah, sounds great," I say following her up the stairs and into the flat.