It was packed with customers when Ron and Harry enter the shop; Harry could not get near the shelves.
He stared around, looking up at the boxes piled to the ceiling: They were the Skiving Snackboxes that the twins had perfected during their last, unfinished year at Hogwarts thanks to his sister's extensive research; Harry noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was the most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf.
There were bins full of trick wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of briefs when waved, the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck, and boxes of quills, which came in Self-Inking, Spell-Checking, and Smart-Answer varieties.
A space cleared in the crowd and Harry pushed his way toward the counter, where a gaggle of delighted ten-year-olds was watching a tiny little wooden man slowly ascending the steps to a real set of gallows, both perched on a box that read: 'Reusable hangman - spell it or he'll swing!'
"Where's D?" Harry asks.
"There," Ron points. "Centre of attention as usual"
"I'd be surprised if she wasn't," Harry says with a soft smile.
Delilah was surrounded by a small crowd as she moves her hand in a flying motion which allows a firey butterfly to soar from her hands.
The crowd applauds and Delilah takes a dramatic bow before clenching her hand and the butterfly circles before disappearing. The auburn-haired witch then wanders over to where a beaming Cedric stands before he embraces her. Delilah wraps her arm around Hermione, the curly-haired girl had asked Delilah for a very life-altering favour which had led to her taking up residence at Grimmauld Place.
"Hermione, are you sure about this?" Delilah asks the girl as they stand on the doorstep of the Granger residence.
"I am," The girl nods. "I'm a known close associate of Harry, even though my parents don't know anything, they're likely to be targets"
Delilah nods as Hermione opens the door to her home. A brunette woman and a ginger man smile at the pair but before they can greet them, a red sheen takes over their eyes as Delilah removes their memories of the Wizarding World and alters their memories to believe their daughter had died at birth.
"Come on," Delilah wraps her arm around the girl and in a swirl of red smoke they're gone.
Hermione had managed to squeeze through to a large display near the counter and was reading the information on the back of a box bearing a highly coloured picture of a handsome youth and a swooning girl who was standing on the deck of a pirate ship.
"One simple incantation and you will enter a top-quality, highly realistic, thirty-minute daydream, easy to fit into the average school lesson and virtually undetectable. Side effects include vacant expression and minor drooling. Not for sale to under-sixteens. You know," Hermione says looking up at Harry, "That really is extraordinary magic!"
"For that, Hermione," Fred says. "You can have one for free"
A beaming Fred stands before them, wearing a set of magenta robes that clash magnificently with his flaming hair. Delilah appears next to him wearing a form-fitting, deep burgundy dress, her hair clipped back messily. Cedric was in a suit that matched the colour of Delilah's dress as he wraps an arm around her waist.
"How are you, Harry?" Fred asks as Harry hugs his sister.
"I'm good, thank you, Fred," Harry says.
"What's happened to your eye, Hermione?" Delilah asks, gently tilting the girl's head to the side to examine the bruise that hadn't been on her face when they had left the house.
"One of the punching telescopes in the office," She answers ruefully and Delilah glares at Fred.
"Oh blimey, I forgot about those," Fred says, flinching when he meets Delilah's glare. "Here-"
He pulls a small, green tub out of his pocket and handed it to her; Hermione unscrews it gingerly to reveal a thick yellow paste.
"Just dab it on, that bruise will be gone within the hour," Fred says. "We had to find a decent bruise remover. We're testing most of our products on ourselves."
"It saves liability issues," Delilah says with a roll of her eyes.
Hermione looks nervously at the paste.
"It is safe, isn't it?" She asks.
"Course it is," Fred says bracingly, seemingly insulted by the insinuation it wasn't. "Come on, Harry, I'll give you a tour."
Harry leaves Hermione and Delilah and follows Fred towards the back of the shop, where he sees a stand of card and rope tricks.
Delilah's hand shimmered with the red glow everyone was becoming familiar with. The older witch glides her hand over the bruised area of Hermione's face, watching as the purpling bruise begins to fade back to the girl's natural colour.
"I warned Fred about leaving prank items around people who don't know what they do," Delilah complains to the younger witch. "Does he listen to a word I say? No, of course, he doesn't"
"Is he still irresponsible?" Hermione asks.
"What gave you the idea he ever stopped?" Delilah asks and Hermione giggles. "Goodness, the day Fred isn't irresponsible is the day my heart packs in all together. Now let's sneak you some free items"
Hermione smiles at Delilah before they begin looking through the wonder witch items.
"This line is my baby," Delilah says as they walk. "I figured we needed a wider market than just pranksters"
"How are you and Cedric doing?" Hermione asks. "How is he holding up?"
"He still has nightmares," Delilah sighs. "Sometimes when I feel him start to move, I dream walk. It keeps him calm"
"Doesn't that make you exhausted?"
"You do anything for those you love,"
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