DRARRY - Wonderful Wheezes

Chapter Seven

Harry was feeling uninspired. Uninspired and lousy and dull and a whole slew of other things that weren't important but made him want to bury his head in a pillow and scream.

So he did, and then he got dressed and took the floo to Wheezes.

Verity grinned when she saw him, a box of Nosebleed Nougat tucked under her arm.

"Don't you look cheery this morning!"

"Shove right on off, thanks."

He set to work in Fred and George's office, trying to outline a plan for the grand re-opening as he worked.

First, he needed to officially hire on his friends for their respective jobs. He didn't want to be exploiting them for free labour when he didn't have to. He also made a note to give Verity a pay bump and hire at least one more clerk for somewhere in the store. If everything worked as planned, she would need the help.

Second, he had to figure out a lot more new products, and he needed someone to test them. That also meant getting the warehouse up and running.

Third came the makeover. Not of himself, thankfully (though Hermione had been hinting at her desire to captain that ship for a while now), but for the shop. Vanishing old and expired products, fixing up the broken ones, talking to Dean about some new advertisement posters for the windows, and getting Luna in to give some tips on interior decorating.

She didn't exactly have the kind of style that he'd want for a house, but a joke shop was right up her street.

With a sigh, he looked at the orange gunk and admitted that he should probably wave the white flag and get a team to clear out the rest of the office. It felt wrong, somehow, letting strangers invade Fred and George's space, but he knew it would have to be done in the end, and putting it off wasn't helping anybody.

As for the actual logistics of the grand re-opening event... Harry groaned. He'd need to talk to the Prophet to get the word out, and he'd ask Luna to run something in the Quibbler too, though it'd reach considerably fewer people. Then there was figuring out the date. Malfoy had suggested the start of December, and he could write to McGonagall to figure out the nearest Hogsmeade weekend to that so they'd be sure to get some business.

And that just left...

"Potter."

Malfoy stood in the doorway, looking at the office with a sneer. Harry felt weirdly defensive of his progress, so he was already on edge.

"Malfoy," he replied gruffly. "Didn't know you were coming in today."

He stepped forward to stand beside Harry, and the pair of muggle trainers he'd donned caught Harry's eye, nearly making him laugh before he caught himself.

"Yes, well, I don't run my schedule by you, do I?"

Harry sighed. "What do you want?"

"I'm just monitoring your progress. It is my job, after all."

Harry gestured to the office, knowing it was obvious how far he'd gotten.

"With the plan, Potter, not the room."

"Oh."

"Oh." It sounded mocking coming out of his mouth.

"Well, I've got some things in place. Er... plans to put them in place, really."

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "What's the incantation?"

"Huh?"

"For the charm," he said slowly, like Harry was a child. "The one you're using to clear the room. What's the incantation?"