"Wait! This is the route to the Shrieking Shack, is it not?" Hermione asked hesitantly.
"Yes, but it is also where you open the door to a new world." Draco led her around the last bend, proudly declaring, "The most popular shop in Hogsmeade!"
The next second, the words "Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes" flashed with colourful light, suddenly bombarding Hermione's retinas.
George and Fred had transformed the place. The shop windows were set up like a fireworks display. All sorts of rotating, twitching, flashing, jumping, and screaming merchandise was on display, like a feast for the eyes, attracting students coming and going.
This shop made all the surrounding shops pale in comparison.
"Is this... run by George and Fred?" Hermione exclaimed in surprise.
"Yes," Draco said, a hint of pride in his voice. "This shop just opened in Hogsmeade, and I hear it is very popular."
"Let us go in and take a look!" she said with interest, pulling him into the small shop.
The store was bustling, not much more relaxed than Honeydukes. Fred stood behind the counter, looking around, completely overwhelmed. Whilst packing up some Skiving Snackboxes for a customer, he loudly explained to a fourth or fifth year, "Nosebleed Nougat? You will need some anti-swelling ointment too..."
Hermione looked at the shelves, which were piled high with cardboard boxes, reaching all the way to the ceiling.
Products such as Skiving Snackboxes, Nosebleed Nougat, and novelty wands had all found a place here.
There were also boxes of quill pens labelled "Auto-Answer," "Spell-Check," and even "Quick-Quote," as well as some rather strange-looking Muggle gadgets.
Just then, George rushed over from beside them, patted Draco on the shoulder, and asked enthusiastically, "How was it? Not bad, right?"
"Quite good." Draco nodded reservedly.
"That is incredible!" Hermione exclaimed enthusiastically, smiling at George.
George's gaze fell on their clasped hands, and he gave them a meaningful smile.
Hermione then realised that they had been holding hands ever since they encountered the Dementor!
"Ah, I will go and take a look over there." Like a startled rabbit, she let go of his hand and walked towards the large display case next to her... where products like the Daydream Charm were displayed.
"Do not wander off, and do not leave the shop," Draco said, his hands now empty, unable to resist adding his own words of advice.
"I know, I am not a child!" Hermione said impatiently, her face flushed. She moved closer to the cabinet, pretending not to care about George's teasing laughter, Draco's words, or the look Draco was giving her.
"Rebellious phase?" George glanced at Hermione with interest, then looked at Draco. "Honestly, you should not talk to girls like that. Nobody likes being told what to do. You are being a bit overprotective."
"You do not understand," Draco said, following George towards the counter. "She just encountered Dementors and is a little frightened. I think..."
"Oh, it is all right, Fred will keep an eye on things," George said knowingly, then whispered in his twin's ear, "Fred, keep an eye on someone's girl..."
"Yes, sir." Fred grinned mischievously, handing a product to the customer in front of him, and winked at Draco as he did so. "Do not worry, I will make sure she is safe and sound, Sir."
Draco sensed something sinister in the brothers' smiles.
He glanced back at Hermione; she seemed quite interested in the products, intently examining something. He shook his head, temporarily setting aside his worries. "Let us talk about the shop."
"You have to come upstairs with me! We have finally finished the second floor! Dobby was a huge help! Dobby was the one who put these shelves together, and upstairs..."
George led Draco up the stairs, showing him the newly renovated staff dormitories and the workshop used for developing new products, which were filled with all sorts of strange and wonderful things.
Draco glanced around the somewhat cluttered workshop. There were several long tables, one of which was piled with a rusty dagger from Grimmauld Place and a crystal bottle filled with an unknown liquid. Animal claws and coiled snakeskins hung on the wall. In a cabinet over there, there was a large pile of dull, tarnished silver boxes.
Several licences and permits hung on the wall. Draco looked at the stamp of the Ministry of Magic's Office of Joke Products Patents and asked George, "Have the invention registration and patent application for the joke products been completed?"
"All done. The approval process took a great deal of effort." George pursed his lips. "Their efficiency is so low. We had to make several trips before they finally got it all sorted out for us."
"Did Mr Weasley find out when you went to the Ministry of Magic?" Draco asked with interest.
"The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures is on the second floor of the Ministry of Magic, and the Office of the Patent for Comical Products, which belongs to the Department of Magical Games and Sports, is on the seventh floor. As long as you do not run into someone you do not want to see in the lifts, it will not be a problem," George said lazily. "We usually use Polyjuice Potion when we go."
Draco smiled approvingly. He walked to a corner and curiously lifted the lid of a huge iron cage covered with a black cloth, peeking inside. He found piles and piles of unconscious Puffskeins locked up inside.
"Merlin, how many have you saved up?" He put down the black cloth with distaste.
"Those Puffskeins are useful... they can be used for research on the side-effects of the Skiving Snackboxes..." George said with a grin.
"All right." Draco shrugged, then glanced at the boxes of novelty wands and a pile of oddly shaped hats beside him, wisely refraining from touching them.
"We are working on a new magic wand that will get the user in trouble..." George, seeing his interest, enthusiastically explained. "And there is also a hat to ward off jinxes, the purely comical kind..."
"That is quite good." Draco's tone finally became a bit more positive. "Keep making those hats. They might be very popular."
In his past life, the Ministry of Magic had placed a huge order for those hats that protected against curses; there was definitely a profit to be made.
He thought pragmatically.
The store was packed with people, and Fred soon could not keep up. He shouted upstairs, "George, come down here right now!"
"Then you can look around here by yourself, I have to go and help out." George smiled at Draco and hurried downstairs to sell the goods.
Setting up Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had been no easy task. It had taken them a full year to get it up and running.
Draco did not know exactly how many days a week the Weasley twins buried themselves in the joke workshop, but judging from the condition of the workshop... he guessed... the path leading to Hogsmeade must be worn smooth by their constant use.
They were currently only open on weekends. This was at Draco's request; he did not think the two brothers should have their studies affected by it. On weekdays, the brothers sometimes did owl-order business or developed new products.
"Two people are still too few," Draco said softly to the coiled snakeskin. "We need to hire more people."
The snakeskin remained silent, but the iron cage covered by the black cloth began to flutter.
The nearby houses were lit with faint lights; it was getting late.
He walked slowly down the stairs and immediately saw Hermione.
She seemed to be having a great time, and there was no trace of the fear she had shown when she was startled by the Dementors. She leaned over to observe the clumps of fluffy, round little creatures that rolled around in the cage, emitting soft humming sounds.
"Those are Pygmy Puffs," Fred introduced to her in a friendly tone. "Miniature Puffskeins. They just arrived today. You can touch them; they do not bite. I can give you two if you like."
"They are so cute." Hermione stroked them excitedly, then said disappointedly, "No, I already have Crookshanks... they would get eaten."
"That is a shame." Fred shrugged. "Ginny likes these things. Could you pick out a couple for me to take back to her?"
"That is no problem." Hermione then lowered her head and picked through the little creatures.
Just then, a group of older girls rushed into the store, grabbing George and bombarding him with questions in the "ladies' section," which included a variety of strange and unusual items such as Blemish Blitzer, magical makeup tools, Sleekeazy's Hair Potion, and various other curiosities...
"Fred, come and help me!" George said awkwardly.
"I am busy right now!" Fred winked at him.
"Oh, he is down here, we do not need you anymore!" George said with a grin.
Fred's eyes flickered in Draco's direction, and he smiled kindly at the girl. "I will get back to work now, Hermione."
"Oh, of course, you go ahead and get busy, Fred." Hermione was extremely puzzled, not understanding why the shopkeeper would take time out of his busy schedule to come and keep her company whilst she looked at a bunch of miniature fluffy creatures.
Fred, overjoyed, rushed to greet the group of excited girls... who were laughing incessantly at a row of dazzling pink products... and enthusiastically introduced them. "Take a look, have a look! Our highest-grade Amortentia substitute... you will not find it anywhere else! Each dose can last up to twenty-four hours, depending on the boy's constitution..."
"What are you doing?" The platinum-blonde-haired boy suddenly appeared behind her, his tone somewhat relaxed.
"Draco," Hermione glanced at him and asked cheerfully, "where did you go? Come and help me pick one out!"
"Yes, of course." Draco smiled happily, and amidst Fred's enthusiastic introduction in the background, he fiddled with the pile of small fluffy balls, picking them out one by one for her.