"There's something else," Hydrus said bringing George's attention back to him. "I want to purchase five of every item you have in stock and be put on the list for future things."
"Harry, you know your money is no good here," the twin chastised.
"No," came the semi-harsh reply, "for an order this big, you will be paid. Besides, now that I don't have a vault you can't give it back." He folded his arms defensively.
"Alright, Harry, but anything I come up with from these notes, you get for free, plus, a bit of the profit."
"Fine," he compromised, not really wanting to fight. The two shook on it and the younger boy's face softened. "Sorry about what happened last time we met."
"I understand. Mum's hard to deal with lately. Ginny told us she broke up with you that night, so I kinda get why you didn't stick around and why you haven't been back," George said with a sad shake of his head. Sometime his family was a bit overbearing.
"Yeah, that came as a bit of a shock," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "So how are you coping?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Better. The more money the shop brings in, the closer I feel to Fred. It was our dream to bring smiles to children's faces. Every time that happens, my heart heals a bit more," George answered with a brittle, yet fond smile. His brown eyes took on a vacant look, like he was remembering something good.
"I'm glad," Hydrus said sincerely, bringing the redhead's attention back to him. "I only want the best for you. It does me good to see you, well, not happy, but better." He gave a smile of his own.
George nodded and then went to the door. He called one of his employees to get the younger man's order started, handing his helper an extendable bag. When he sat back down the two talked over the notes for a while. Then he had a thought.
"Hey, George, what happened with Bill?" he asked hoping the oldest Weasley had not suffered for what they had done.
"Well, you were right, he got fired, but, Fleur moved them to France and he's now working for the Unspeakables there," George answered with a bright smile. He was happy for his brother. Then a frown marred his brow. "Mum was right gutted when that happened. She complains that she was losing more of her family. She puts all the blame on Fleur, which is stupid, since the goblins made Dad close their vault too."
"Oh, well, I'm glad Bill got away, but saddened that your Mum has more to deal with."
George waved it away. "Not your fault," he said firmly, "Mum has always hated it when one of her chicks flies on their own. She'll always blame someone and usually not the right person."
"Still, if we hadn't stolen from Gringotts your family wouldn't be suffering," he complained.
"Don't be daft, you had no choice. I understand that and so does Bill. Remember, he was there when you made your plans. He's right chuffed that you didn't heed his warning about trusting goblins, still he knew it was something that needed to be done," George said firmly. Bill had told him the whole story before he moved. George was thankful to his older brother for trying to make everyone realize Harry wasn't at fault. Bill couldn't tell them why the Golden Trio had to steal from the goblins, only that it was needed to end the war.
"Fine, I didn't come here to fight. We'll just have to disagree on this," the younger man said, still feeling like he was to blame. Maybe he should look into getting professional help; all these guilty feelings can't be healthy. That and his nightmares about the war were getting worse. He almost hurt Kreacher the one time the old house elf tried to wake him. He was having flashbacks of all the times someone died due to his negligence or the many times his life had been in danger at Hogwarts.
"One of these days, Harry James Potter, you are going to see that you have nothing to feel sorry for, but you're right, so I'll let it go for now." It was about that time that the worker came back with the order and the total. Magic summoning was a wonderful thing, making everything take less time. The employee left and George handed the feather light bag to his friend. "The total comes to 1,565 galleons," he said.
"Okay," Hydrus said with a shrug and called for the money from over his shoulder. "I better go," he said after the transaction was complete. "I've got stuff to do. You get a hold of me when you've got new inventions," he politely reminded the other man, he got up and went to the door.
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