Time Keeps on Slipping - Chapter 11

Rose stood in front of the Floo. She motioned to the dish of ash on the hearth with a smile.

"Does everyone know that I hate floo travel?" Harry grumbled as he took a pinch of the ash.

"It was one of my favorite stories." Rose teased.

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

"We use the Floo at the shop." Rose explained. "That way we don't pop out in the middle of a crowd. Mom is pretty famous these days and there is a side-door that we use."

"What's the address?" Harry asked as he stepped to the side.

Rose took a pinch of ash. She tossed it in the flame.

"Ginger Snaps." She called before she stepped into the flame.

"I half expect whoopie cushion." Harry shook his head.

He called the name and stepped into the flame. This time he managed to keep his feet under him. Unfortunately, he didn't have a solid landing. His feet scrambled on the carpeted floor. He stumbled forward until he was stopped by a helpful wall.

Rose snorted in laughter. He pushed himself away from the wall. Red swam in his vision. He shook his head, but the red remained. Harry took a step back to see that there had been a large target drawn on the wall. A bright green shape of the outline of his impact had stood out among the other colors. There were a few other noticeably smaller outlines as well. Each one had a name and age associated with them. It was easy to connect the names with the people he had met last night.

- Harry Potter – Age: *%@ -

Appeared inside of his outline.

"Fred and George put it there when we all started to use the Floo on our own." Rose explained. "It became a mark of passage." She took a step forward. "I've never seen it do that before."

"Harry Potter." Fred said from the doorway.
"Don't question it." George finished.

Harry flashed them a smile. They came over and each gave him another hug. This one was less bone-crunching but just as heartfelt.

"Glad you decided to visit." Fred beamed.
"We've wanted to give our first investor a tour of the shop for years." George chimed in.

"What about me?" Rose pouted. "Your favorite niece doesn't warrant a hug anymore?"

Rose was scooted across the floor by an invisible hand of magic. The twins opened their arms and wrapped her in a hug before she could protest.

"Little Rosie." George said in a cutesy voice.
"Uncles will always love you." Fred added in an equally sweet voice.

Rose giggled as they peppered her cheeks with wet kisses.

"Stop it." Rose wiggled out of their grasp and wiped her cheeks off with her sleeve.

Fred and George shared a victorious nod.

"What brings you two here?" Fred asked.

"Harry needs to talk with the goblins and I'm meeting Roxie for lunch." Rose replied with an easy shrug.

"Hm." Fred tapped his chin.
"Hm indeed." George tapped Fred's chin.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You're going to cause an uproar." George answered.

"Still?" Harry groaned. "It's been fifteen years."

"More than that." Fred waved his hand while George continued to tap his chin.
"The count is muddled." George clarified.
"Closer to twenty." Fredd continued
"Disguise." George stopped tapping.
"Disguise." Fred nodded.

"Why would people still recognize me?" Harry asked. "I'm dead."

"The anniversary of your death was yesterday." George split off from his twin. "There are always sightings of The Ghost of Harry Potter around this time. Seeing the real you would be chaos."

"Not the fun kind." Fred muttered as he went his own way.

The twins worked in tandem as they searched through shelves. Harry just now realized they were in some sort of storage room. Rows of organized shelves lined the walls. Harry watched in awe as the duo moved around the room and each other with natural ease. He knew that they had taken their business seriously, but this was something completely different. It felt like he was watching an intricate choreographed dance. They communicated in glances and small motions rather than words.

Rose stood beside him. The look of awe matched his own. Neither wanted to speak in fear of ruining the moment. The closest thing Harry had experienced before was watching the Quidditch World Cup. Fred and George matched the feeling of the professional teams move with such coordination and skill.

The flurry of motion ended just as smoothly as it had begun. Fred held some sort of powder while George had a vial of viscous fluid.

"Please tell me I don't have to drink that." Harry took an involuntary step back.

"No." George scoffed.

He popped the top of the vial. The smell of a swamp on a warm day mingled with fresh oranges filled the air. Harry's eyes watered. Rose coughed. He blinked, trying to clear his vision. The smell grew stronger. It got even worse as something wet and slimy was poured over his head.

Harry found the curse he was about to yell blocked by a hand over his mouth.

"You do not want to get this in your mouth." George said in a serious tone.

Harry did the only thing he could think of in that moment. George pulled his hand away with a very manly squeal that in no way sounded like a toddler who had just stepped in something squishy.

"What?" Fred asked.

"He licked my palm." George laughed.

Harry gave a victorious smile as George pulled his hand away. The moment was ruined as Fred blew a handful of powder into his face. A strong tingle raced along his scalp and his eyes watered. The twins stepped away.

He saw Fred and George looking at him with a satisfied grin while Rose stared at him in shock.

"What?" Harry asked.

Fred conjured a mirror and held it up for Harry to see. A platinum blond with blue eyes stared back at him. It was still his face, and he wore the same glasses, but they had clearly modeled his new look after an old friend.

"It needs one more thing." George swished his wand in Harry's direction.

Harry felt the hair on his head shift. He watched his reflection as the blond hair swooped back tightly against his head and took on a slight wet sheen to it.

"I hate you both." Harry leveled a flat glare at both of them.

"He's already in character!" Fred beamed.
"Well done, Harry." George patted him on the shoulder.

"There will be vengeance." Harry said.

"We wait with bated breath." George flashed him a smile. "Come on, let me show you the store."

Rose followed behind with barely contained laughter. The twins led Harry through the main sales floor on a guided tour. A lot of it was stuff they had developed while in Hogwarts and perfected over the years. The Extendable Ears no longer looked like a detached ear on a leash. They came in a variety of appearances from a ball of thread to a couple of cups with a string between them.

"People use them for communication." Fred explained. "We've developed a wide range of lengths."

"Nothing for long distance." George shook his head. "We couldn't get the mirror communication to work."

Harry arced an eyebrow.

"They can send out a broad-spectrum signal, but it just won't work with a two-way connection." Fred grumbled. "We can get it to work with up to fourteen active connections at a time."

"It gets messy after that." George didn't clarify any further.

"Are these dung bombs?" Harry pointed to a familiar shape on the shelf.

"Dung bombs." Fred gasped.
"You think so little of us?" George put a hand to his chest.

"Then what are they?" Harry shook his head at their antics.

"Dung bombs." George replied with a smile.
"A Weasley Original Design." Fred added with a smile of his own.
"What is the downfall of the original Dung Bomb?" George slid into a sales pitch.
"They have no finesse. No personal touch." Fred continued.
"What if you want to target an individual among a crowd?" George asked.
"Those poor people caught in the splash zone." Fred wiped away an imaginary tear.
"These are much more personal." George tapped the box.
"Weasley's Targeted Dung Bombs." Fred declared.
"When you absolutely want to ruin that one person's day." George said.
"Inquire with the sales staff for information about our selection of odors, strength, and time release option." Fred finished.

Harry smiled at the two. He shook his head and motioned for them to continue the tour.

"We bought out Zonko's a few years ago." Fred explained as they walked on. "We took over their location in Hogsmeade but kept the staff. Their development department was a single witch that had retired before we got to Hogwarts."

"We're always on the lookout for fresh talent." George led them into a backroom. "This is our research and development area."

The room was well lit and a hive of activity. He motioned to a line of cauldrons. Each one was separated by a thick sheet of glass. There was also a large fan affixed to the top of each unit. There was a cluster of desks with a group of witches and wizards working on what looked like equations in the center of the room.

"This is amazing." Harry gawked at the room.

"Pranks are serious business." Fred sounded like he meant it. "Runes, Arithmancy, Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration all play a part. We have layers of quality and safety testing before a single item ever goes into public distribution."

"We also have a contract with the Auror department." George whispered. "It's all hush-hush."

Fred flicked his twin on the ear. George glared at his brother and flipped him the bird.

"Ok guys." Rose spoke up. "The tour was awesome, but we have other places to go."

"Right." George straightened up, still rubbing his ear.
"We didn't mean to interrupt your date." Fred sighed.
"We just got excited." George pouted.

"It's not a date." Rose glared at the duo.

For a moment Harry was back in Hogwarts watching Hermione chide the twins.

"Harry." Hermione looked at him with concern.

When had she dyed her hair red? Was that why she was mad at the twins? Oh yeah, they messed with his hair too. They didn't want people to see him. Even the magical world would freak out when a dead person walked around like nothing was wrong.

The edges of his vision started to go gray. When was the last time that had happened? The dementors. Right before he fell off his broom. How long ago had that been? He was reasonably sure that it had been two years. That was the only time he had missed the snitch. Cedric never bragged about it. He wanted a rematch. Too bad he died.

They were both dead now. Maybe they could have a rematch as ghosts. He started to laugh. It was that or tears and he didn't want to cry.

"Ghosts playing quidditch." He started to laugh harder.

"Harry." Fred, or was it George.

Forge and Gred. They had changed his hair to be blond. A gentle hand guided him to a chair. Muffled voices spoke in low tones. He hated it when people did that. It meant something bad had happened and he'd end up in the healing ward again. The laughter finally died down.

"I just." He whispered. "I need a moment."

A mess of emotions made his vision spin. This wasn't Hogwarts. That was not Hermione. It was her daughter. Her daughter that she had with Ron. One of two children they had together. The twins had kids too. He was here to have lunch with Rose and Roxie.

He took a long, shuddering breath. His vision started to clear. He looked up to see Angelina had joined the group at some point. His head tilted to the side. Not Angelina, it was Roxie.

"I'm ok." He said after a moment. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ruin things."

"We'll go with you to handle the goblins." Rose rubbed his back. "Then I'll take you home. Roxie can come over for lunch."

Harry rubbed a hand over his face.

"Nope." Roxie put her hands on her hips. "None of that."

Harry looked up at her in confusion.

"You just went through another live-changing event." Roxie started down at him. "If half the stories I've heard about you growing up are true then you need time to recover."

She held out a hand to him. He took it and she helped him to his feet.

"We're taking you home now." Roxie guided him back to the floo. "Dad, can you change his hair back?"

"Nope." One of the twins replied. "It will be like that for another hour."

"We'll get you a hat." Rose chimed in. "Or a knit-cap."

Harry nodded absently. It wasn't until the Floo flared to life that he realized that Roxie hadn't let go of him. She pulled him in along with her. Roxie kept him upright when they landed. He looked around in confusion.

"Our house." Roxie answered the question in his eyes. "It's nice and quiet this time of the day."

Harry let her lead him to another room. She sat on a comfy couch and patted the spot beside her. He joined her without a word. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close against her. The sound of her heartbeat soothed him on a level he didn't expect.

The flare of the floo announced Rose's arrival. She found them easily enough. A moment later she had joined them on the couch. She scooted close and started to run a hand through his hair. Harry closed his eyes.

"What did you want for lunch?" Roxie asked. "I can make sandwiches, sandwiches, or if you're really brave, sandwiches."

Harry laughed. It felt good to laugh for real.