"Yeah, I think we probably should have charged more. Eight knuts a dose and we almost couldn't keep up with demand!" George added.
"It even landed me this fine woman for the upcoming ball," Fred said while wrapping his arm around Angelina.
She laughed. "No it didn't. That ridiculous powder made you wait an extra day for me."
"Well, Katie saw the effects herself, and couldn't resist my advances." George wrapped his arm around his date in a mirror image of his brother.
"You didn't even use it on me! I was just laughing too hard when you used it on Angelina that I couldn't say no." Katie slapped George's thigh. "You should consider yourself lucky that I'm a girl who enjoys your crazy brand of humour."
"Still, you can't deny the power of rumour. Everyone heard the story of the powder, and everyone saw us walking hand-in-hand the next day." Fred grinned and held Angelina's hand.
"Add them together and you have a thriving business, especially when most of the school will be going home for the holidays on Friday," George said as he wiggled his eyebrows.
"Some figure it's their last chance to snag themselves a date, so they're taking every bit of help they can get."
"Even if that help isn't exactly guaranteed to be help at all," Angelina finished for them.
"I see..." said Harry. "And this powder... is it supposed to spark and foam up? Not to mention the smell..."
"Huh? No, it's supposed to make bubbles and glitter. Although it did do that when we left a pile of it on our workbench for an hour," George recalled.
"But we measured out each packet so that it just disperses long before that can happen," Fred explained.
"And what if a girl gets hit with more than one?"
"Err... it shouldn't be too bad. As long as there was some time in between for the powder to disperse. I guess some of the prettier, unmatched girls might have some problems for the next few days," George explained.
"At least it gives them more incentive to say yes to somebody to take themselves off the market," Fred howled in laughter. "And then our product will really sell!"
The girls beside them both punched them in their arms. "Guys! That's horrible!"
"But what if that girl gets hit with a dozen of them at the same time?"
The twins' eyes boggled. "Is there a girl that popular in our school? I mean, I can appreciate some girls like Cho Chang, or the Patil twins in your year, or even Alexandra York in seventh year, but she's already with Anzers, everyone knows that."
"You're forgetting our foreign visitors. Namely, one French champion in particular," Harry's eyes darted in the direction of Fleur, who was keeping her distance but was already plotting the twins' demise from afar. "Especially when she turns on her aura."
"I have to say, that pink really doesn't suit her," George said fearfully.
"And those sparks might be bad for her hair," Fred commented.
"Look, I'll try to stop her from killing you if you tell me how to clean it up. Apparently the scouring charm isn't enough, and those robes are probably expensive," Harry said. The twins quickly explained how to get rid of the mess, how to avoid future messes, and even handed a small squeeze bottle of cleaning solution.
"Our own invention," Fred explained. "We use it to clean up evidence quickly. Don't worry about damaging the robes, because that was always one of the dead give-aways we were up to something in our first few years at Hogwarts."
"Thanks," Harry said as he took the bottle. "You guys know you owe me, right?"
The twins nodded quickly as they watched Fleur glare at them until Harry reached her. He explained how wind spells would get rid of the powder quickly if anyone else used one again, but gave her the bottle of cleaning solution for the powder that had stuck to her robes. A few quick spritzes and the powder began to fade away, along with its effects. Fleur was pleasantly surprised at its effectiveness.
"Zis is a very good cleanser! Where did zey get this?"
"Apparently they invented it themselves, like the powder. They don't have anything against you, Fleur, they've just been selling that stuff to all the boys who are desperate to find a date."
"Oh? Zey 'ave a business before zey 'ave graduated? Ze 'romance powder' may be something out of a cheap romance novel, but this cleanser is the best I've used. Hm... perhaps I can work out a deal with zem." She left Harry and walked towards the twins, putting on a malicious face. They were now deathly afraid that Harry's bid to calm her hadn't worked- softening them up for Fleur's business proposition.
"I can see why she told you to lavish me with gifts. She knows you've got money, doesn't she?" Hermione asked.
"Maybe. She could tell I wasn't really worried about prices when we went shopping, I guess." Harry shrugged.
"She likes to use people like commodities! Did she ask for anything in return? She tell you that you owed her for the advice, did she?" Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"What? No, she didn't. I gave her and her friends a box of sweets from Honeydukes, but that's it. Why are you so critical of her? Please don't tell me you're jealous or something..."
"No, not in the least. But she's probably got her eye on you- maybe not as a boyfriend, but maybe as a 'good friend' because she knows you'll be famous, and probably knows you're rich. Did you see how quickly her mood changed when she realized Fred and George could be... profitable for her?"
"Are you telling me I should start avoiding her?"
"That's what leaves me so conflicted. She knows how to make the right friends, if you know what I mean. She's already looking to build family alliances or something, like what the pureblood Slytherins have had for generations. I don't like getting caught up in those kinds of political drama, but at the same time, it could be really useful. Just be careful what you do and say around her, alright?"
Harry couldn't wait for the holidays to arrive, because it meant he would be heading to Hermione's home for the break. As the train rolled into the station, they saw the occasional poof of pink in the crowd. Some people were very desperate.
"I can't believe they're not just writing letters. That has to be the most annoying way to ask someone on a date," Hermione muttered.
"Some people still haven't figured it out yet. I mean, Fleur got hit with it and the next day she has a date!" Harry laughed.
"Yes, with the one boy who didn't use that stuff." Hermione said with a annoyed smirk.
"You know the twins never lied outright when they advertised their product. They simply said that certain people had used it, and they did happen to have dates the next day..."
"Almost lying is just as bad," Hermione said through gritted teeth. It certainly didn't help that almost all the girls complained about the stuff day and night for the past week to her, but at least she could watch from the sidelines instead of being a victim of its effects.
"Come on, Hermione. Let's get a compartment and make sure no single ladies are with us..." Harry laughed as they boarded the train. It was far easier to find an empty cabin than at the beginning and end of the school year, since many students chose to simply stay at school, including Neville and Luna. They decided to have one cabin all to themselves, and Hermione immediately cast several privacy wards they had practiced from the auror's handbook. After a locking charm on the door, she also cast a silencing ward and identification ward on the door. She added one-way glass charms on the windows as well, so they could still see outside and buy a snack from the trolley lady. From the other side, it would look like they had simply drawn the blinds.
.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/madarasama125🎉