Chapter 3

Many thanks to my betas, Cafe Mercury and PDRSJ56, and my muse, Poultrygeist99. All mistakes are mine; if it's wonderful, thank them.

J.K. owns them, I just borrow them for a while.

~oOo~

As soon as Fred walked into the shop, he saw Ginny at the front of the store with a dish of her "Witches' Best Friend" Chocolate discreetly placed under the counter. This was his cue that today was the day to put his plan into action...and the day he would finally win the bet with George.

Each month, Fred watched as Ginny would nick a chocolate as a customer walked into the shop. Seeing her do this the previous month had given him an idea. Just last week he completed the research he had needed to put his plan into action. He was just waiting for the day Ginny would need her special chocolate.

Now that it was here, he knew it was time for the first step in the plan – owl Oliver.

Hey Oliver, stop by the shop later this afternoon, say 4:00? I've got a proposal for ya! Send a reply back with the owl.

Fred

Fred walked towards the back of the store and motioned for one of the shop's owls. He tied the parchment to the owl's outstretched leg and offered it a treat.

"Take this to Oliver Wood and wait for his answer," he instructed.

Fred spent the rest of the morning in the laboratory working on new products. Periodically, he checked his watch with an impatient glance and looked around to see if the owl had returned yet. At midmorning, the owl finally returned with Oliver's answer that he would see Fred at 4:00.

Fred grinned as he unrolled the parchment. He was beginning to worry that Oliver wouldn't answer in time. After he incinerated Oliver's answer, Fred's smile grew broader as he set aside the product he was working on.

Step two in the plan was to prepare the chocolate for Ginny. Fred chuckled as he thought about how mad his mum would be if she ever realised that they used her recipe in their original love potion product. Actually, she'd be more than mad, Fred considered; she'd box their ears!

Fred normally hated it when his mother started reminiscing about her days at Hogwarts, and every time she told Ginny the story of how she made the love potion, he would always roll his eyes and pretend to look bored. Actually, he was paying complete attention to every word she said so he could record detailed notes of the process. She'd thought he wasn't paying attention, so she didn't worry about what she said. If Fred had shown the slightest bit of interest in the story, he knew Mum would have become suspicious and never would have given the recipe to Ginny for fear the twins would use it in some less-than-honourable manner.

In the past month, Fred had worked hard at perfecting his mother's potion. It wasn't the first time he and George had developed a love potion, but this one was a little different. Once a witch or wizard took this particular potion, they would kiss the first person they saw. Not only that, the love potion was transferred during the first kiss so both parties were under its influence. It was pure genius.

He did discover one problem with his original plan to add the potion into the "Witches' Best Friend" chocolate. After spending a week perfecting the flavour of the potion so that it wasn't detectable, he discovered it had a potentially undesirable side effect when mixed with the relaxing draught in the WBF. Angelina accidentally ate a piece of the chocolate one afternoon when she visited Fred in the product development lab while he worked. When the potion wore off, they found themselves entangled on the floor of the lab – missing a few pieces of clothing.

Fred was grateful that he and Angelina had been long-standing shag buddies. Though they laughed about it afterwards, Fred quickly realised he needed to modify his plan. He wasn't ready for Ginny to shag anyone ... well, anyone else, that is. Instead he used chocolate that looked like Ginny's, but eliminated the relaxing draught that had lowered Fred and Angelina's inhibitions.

As 4:00 approached, Fred wandered to the front counter with the spiked chocolates hidden.

"Ginny, could you please hand me the report on the American owl-order sales?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Sure," Ginny mumbled and then turned to the pile of parchments behind her.

As Ginny reached for the report, Fred replaced the chocolates she had hidden under the counter with his version.

After handing the report to Fred, she reached under the counter and popped a chocolate in her mouth. Fred watched Ginny for a second and looked at the front door just in time to see Oliver reaching for the handle.

"Hey, Ginny," a voice called behind her. Lee Jordan entered the shop from the back door.

Fred groaned as he watched Oliver walk into the shop...and Ginny immediately turn to see what Lee needed.

"Lee!" Ginny exclaimed as she ran across the shop, jumped into his arms and wrapped her legs around him. Lee stood perfectly still with his arm at his side. Fred thought Lee looked as if he couldn't decide if he should return Ginny's embrace or run in the other direction.

Time seemed to slow down as Fred watched Ginny lean in to kiss Lee in a way that was not exactly appropriate for a place of business. Lee slowly brought his hands up to Ginny's arse to hold her close to him and began to snog Ginny enthusiastically as the potion was transferred to him.

George had walked in behind Lee and was now staring at his sister and Lee before looking to Oliver and Fred. Slowly, Fred turned to look at Oliver. Oliver's face and shoulders had fallen. He looked like a small child who had just lost his familiar. Before Fred could speak, Oliver squared his shoulders.

"Um, Fred, I think I'll talk to you later. I just stopped by to tell you that I can't meet at four," Oliver mumbled. He backed out the door, trying not to look at Ginny and Lee.

"Bugger, George! Why did you have to come back now?" Fred yelled.

"Fred," George asked slowly, "what's going on?" His facial expression alternated between shock and amusement.

"No time to explain now. I have to stop Oliver before he misunderstands. Just watch Ginny and Lee. The love potion should wear off in about an hour."

As Fred left the shop, he heard George laughing hysterically. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard George say something about being sure he would win the bet.

~oOo~

"Oliver, wait up!" Fred yelled until Oliver finally turned around and waited for him to catch up.

"Sorry, Fred; I forgot I had someplace to be. I can't meet with you. I was just stopping by the shop to tell you, but you looked like you were busy," Oliver said.

"I know," Fred said, running his hands through his hair. "Unfortunately, I think Ginny and Lee might hex me when I get back to the shop. I've been working on a new love potion..."

"A love potion?" Oliver asked sceptically.

"Yea, and Ginny accidentally ate some just as Lee and George walked into the shop. Now I need to figure out how to apologise to them after it wears off."

Oliver began to laugh. "Oh, mate, you are in deep trouble now. How long will the potion last?"

"About an hour."

Oliver gestured down the street. "Let's go get a drink. It'll help you face them."

Oliver and Fred entered the Leaky Cauldron, waiting a moment for their eyes to adjust to its low light before looking for a place to sit.

"Fred, I'll grab the drinks," Oliver said. "You find us a table."

A few moments later, Oliver handed Fred a Butterbeer, then sat down across from him at the well-worn table.

"I'd get you something stronger," Oliver joked, "but I'm afraid you might need quick reflexes when that potion wears off."

"Don't I know it," Fred said, as he held his head in his hands. "Ginny has always been good with a wand, but she is deadly when she gets angry."

"It was an honest mistake, Fred. I'm sure once she calms down, she'll be reasonable," Oliver tried to reassure him. "Tell you what; while we try to take your mind off this, why don't you tell me what wanted to talk to me about?"

"I thought you had to be someplace?"

"I do," Oliver lied, "but I can be a few minutes late."

"I guess. Well, you see, George and I we're thinking of having someone front our new campaign, but we haven't made any decisions yet. I suppose what I'm really trying to ask is, how would you fancy being the new face of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"

"Does that mean you'd put my photo on your Exploding Dungbombs? Oh, Fred, my mother would never live it down," Oliver said while laughing. "But seriously, I'm retiring. Are you sure you would want someone so, well, old?"

"We realise your not eighteen anymore, but if you're still using our products now, it might bring in a variety of customers."

"I don't know."

"You don't need to make any decisions now. Just promise me you'll think about it. Tell you what; let's meet for lunch in a few weeks' time to discuss it. You know that new restaurant with the coffee shop next to it?"

"I've walked past it."

"I'll owl you and we can find a day we can meet. Just promise me you'll think about it."

"No promises, but I'll consider it."

Fred finished the rest of his Butterbeer in one swallow.

"I'd better get back to the shop before George decides to hex me, too, for being gone so long. That potion should be wearing off soon, and I should probably be the one to tell Ginny and Lee what happened."

"I don't envy you, mate," Oliver smiled, setting down his own empty glass. "I'll walk out with you."

Out on Diagon Alley, Fred said, "I'll talk to you in a few weeks."

"Okay. Tell Ginny I hope she's feeling OK. Those love potions can be a real pain."

Fred smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "Tell me about it. I've been testing this one for the past few weeks."

As Fred walked slowly back to his shop to face the music, Oliver walked in the opposite direction.

~oOo~

As Fred approached the door to the shop, he noticed the closed sign was in the window and the shop lights were off. While he knew it wouldn't be good for business to have customers find a snogging couple in the middle of the shop, he hoped George had the good sense to not leave Ginny and Lee alone. He wasn't sure if Ginny would forgive him if anything more happened between them.

Taking a deep breath and holding his wand at the ready, he opened the door and walked into the shop.

~oOo~