PURIFY : Fred Weasley

31: Released

Since money is urgently needed, I can't start up my own potioneers shop. Instead, I go in for an interview at the ministry. I'm stiff but apparently pleasant enough. With my NEWTs and my letter of recommendation from Professor Snape, I manage to get a job as a brewer.

I spend all day preparing Veritaserum and Amortentia and, on occasion, the Polyjuice potion. Most of the draughts we were taught to brew in school are brewed at St. Mungos by healers, rather than by us at the ministry. Instead, our potions are used by Aurors during investigations or by the Wizengamot during trials.

Every month, Robbie and I are just making ends meet. After all, flats are expensive, and my savings account has run dry. What few sickles I do put away, I save for the dream of opening my own brewery. Rather than do anything expensive, like going to concerts or buying new games, we go window shopping whenever Robbie and I both have the day off. It's rare, but it does happen.

"A new shop opened up round the corner. Want to check it out?" Robbie asks.

I get up from my desk and head on after her. It's still warm out, so we only need to put our shoes on, and then we are out of the apartment in less than ten minutes.

"What are you working on?" Robbie asks.

"Felix Felici," I tell her, looking down at my notes. "I want to figure out how to brew it in less time. Six months is an awfully long while to wait."

Robbie looks at me and furrows her brow. She snorts, but she covers her mouth to hide her giggles.

"What?" I ask.

She smiles at me. "You just said you'd never brew it again, after last time."

I shrug. "I'll still never take it again, and I'll hire someone else to experiment on with."

"That's hardly ethical," she points out.

"Oh hush," I tell her since it's just a dream. I'll never be able to afford to hire someone to experiment on.

We arrive at the shop, which the sign proclaims as Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes.

We enter the shop, and Robbie's jaw drops to the floor. The shop is filled with crackling fireworks bursting in the air, and bubbles floating down from the ceiling, and it reeks of firewood.

"This is amazing!" Robbie points out.

It's a joke shop. If she'd ever been to Zonkos, she'd know the place was the same. The laughter of children rings out around the corner. A few teenagers mill about, checking the different stands. Still, I can imagine the pride that Fred and George must feel, knowing that they pulled this all together without a complete Hogwarts education. This would take a lot of knowledge on both the practical and theoretical applications of magic.

Robbie links our arms and begins to drag me off to a booth with pink and purple bottles and frills. It's called the WonderWitch line. There are a few creatures in a cage, each big and fluffy, that seem to coo at me. Robbie takes a bottle and sniffs it, before bringing it close to her.

There are tears in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" I ask.

Robbie nods. "Perfectly swell. I just, I never thought I would smell him again."

I'm about to ask who, when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Interested in Pygmy Puffs?" Fred asks.