Here's another update! Kind of a filler chapter, sorry, but hopefully it will still be enjoyable. Enjoy!
Chapter 10
After another long day of practice Harry walked into his house desperate for a long hot shower and a big soft bed. The long hot shower he could have, but the big soft bed had to wait since he had plans tonight.
A loud bark and the sound of claws scraping on hardwood floor caught his attention and he looked to see Daisy running towards him. "Daisy, no jumping," he said pointing a finger at her, but of course she didn't listen. It had only been two weeks since he got her, but she already grew quite a bit. "Okay, girl, good to see you too…down girl, down. Hermione, call her off will you?"
"Daisy, come!"
Daisy, who was about to jump up on Harry again, turned her head towards the owner of the command. She then sauntered over to where Hermione was sitting at the kitchen table where she had rolls of parchment and books scattered all around her.
"Lie down," Hermione said without looking up from her work and Daisy did as she was told. "Good girl, now put your head down and stay."
Harry watched Daisy put her head down over her little paws sighing in defeat. "How on earth do you do that? She never listens to me."
"She fears the wrath of Hermione and she knows you're a softy."
"That is so not true," Harry said sitting down at the side of the table while Hermione was at the head.
"You feed her scraps under the table, Harry," she said as she rummaged through parchment.
Harry frowned. "You weren't suppose to know that."
Hermione let out a snort as if to say, 'What do you think I am, stupid?'. "How was practice today?"
"Well, coach told me I made starter."
Hermione looked up from her work for the first time since he got home and smiled. "Harry, that's great!"
"Yeah," he said shrugging sheepishly. "Practice is going to get worse though."
"Probably, but you'll love every minute of it."
"What you got going here?" he asked nodding his head towards all her stuff.
Hermione blew out a breath while she glanced at the cluttered table. "I want to start a business. A book store."
"Really?" he asked as his eyes lit up. "That's perfect for you."
"I've been wanting to do this for awhile now." She put her quill she had been using down and rubbed her tired eyes. "I even found the perfect place for it. It's a building on the edge of Diagon Alley, but in the main office there's a magical door leading to a muggle store."
Harry gave her a look. "I don't understand."
"I want to start a magical and a muggle bookstore. Hire only muggle borns to help with the muggle side." Hermione bit her lip as she glanced up at him. "Is that insane?"
"Absolutely," he said with a laugh. "I think you'll do great, Hermione!"
She gave him a small smile, blusing slightly. "Yes, well…the problem is I'm a little short on the asking price of the building." She gestured her hands over rolls of parchment. "I've been going over my savings and no matter what I do I'm always a little short. I asked the realter for a little more time, but the deadline is two weeks, apparently another guy wants the building."
Harry placed a hand over hers. "How short are you?"
"To get the lease alone I'm five thousand Galleons short, but then I need money to order books, get in new furniture and of course pay my employees. It's hopeless."
Harry shook his head. "Nothing's hopeless," he said as he picked up a blank parchment and her quill.
"What are you doing?" she asked as he started to write.
"Writing to Gringotts to tell him to transfer fifty thousand Galleons to your account. That should help."
Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "W-what? Harry, no! I can't let you do that!"
"Hermione, do you know that saying, 'Money doesn't grow on trees'?" he asked as he kept on writing and out of the corner of his eye he saw her nod. "Well, basically for me…it does. I'm quite rich, Hermione. Besides the fact that what my parents left me would keep me comfortable for years, I also have the entire Black fortune, plus just today I signed a ten million Galleon contract for five years."
Hermione let out a sigh. "That's hardly the point, Harry."
"No," he said calmly dipping his quill in the ink. "The point is, you're my friend and you need my help. I can't spend all my money on myself, what's the fun in that?" Harry put down his quill and rolled it up before setting int aside and then took another blank parchment and put it in front of Hermione. "Write to your realtor and say you want to set up a meeting to buy the building. Buy…not lease. The store will never be truly yours if you lease."
Hermione stared at him not believing what she was hearing. Harry was going to make her dream come true just like that. "Harry," she said softly with her eyes filling with tears. "I don't know what to say."
"You can start by telling me what you plan on calling your store," he said with a grin.
Hermione let out a laugh as she wiped her eyes. "Books and Cleverness."
Harry smiled as he remembered that day down through the trapdoor when they were only mere first years. He could still hear her say it clear in his head. Books and Cleverness…there are more important things. Friendship and bravery. "I think that's bloody brilliant." He then placed the quill in his hand. "Now write."
Hermione shared a smile with Harry as she took the quill and then wrote her realtor a letter requesting a meeting. When she was done Harry took it and rolled it up as he called for Hedwig who was napping on the edge of one of the dinning room chairs. Harry instructed her on what to do and then together they watched her fly out the window. "Well, Granger…I believe you are on the way of being a business woman."
"Oh Harry," she laughed as she threw her arms around him. "I don't know how to thank you!"
"You don't have to do anything," he said hugging her tight. "You let me know if you need any help getting this store ready. I want to help."
"Of course, it's your store, too," she said pulling away. "I'm giving you fifty percent of the profit."
"Hermione, no…I don't need…"
"Fine, thirty."
Harry sighed. "Okay, if it will make you feel better I'll agree to five percent."
"Five?" she asked. "But that's nothing. Twenty-five."
"Ten."
"Fifteen."
"Ten," Harry said firmly but with a laugh. "That's my final offer."
Hermione blew out a breath. "Oh all right, if that's the best I can do." She held out her hand. "Ten."
Harry grabbed it. "Deal."
"This is so exciting!" Hermione exclaimed as she started to clean up her mess on the table. "Hey, I have a bottle of champagne in the refridgerater I've been saving. Want to pop it open?"
"I have time for a quick toast," he said getting up. "I've got plans with Maggie tonight."
"You two getting serious?" she asked as she followed him into the kitchen.
" I don't really know," he said pulling out the bottle of champagne. "I really like her, she's a lot of fun. Plus, being that her father owns the team I know she's not using me for my money or anything, the girl is probably wealthier than I am."
"She's also nice," Hermione said as she perched up on the counter and then laughed when Harry popped the cork. "I love that sound."
Harry smiled as he pulled out two glasses. "She is nice," he said handing her her glass then jumped on next to her, clicking his glass with hers before taking a sip.
"I sense a 'but' coming."
Harry nodded. "But…I don't know if we have chemistry yet, you know?" He took another sip and then shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I think she's great. She's funny, sweet and…well, you've hung out with her when we went out at the pub with the team."
"Yes, Maggie and I got a little drunk that night," Hermione remembered with a chuckle. Maggie and one of Harry's teammates who was a chaser and the only girl on the team sat together with Hermione all night where they discussed the hotness factor on all the men at the bar.
"Tell me about it," Harry said rolling his eyes. "I had to tuck both of you into bed that night."
Hermione giggled but then shook her head. "We're straying off topic, why do you think you have no chemistry with Maggie?"
"Mags is great and I love hanging out with her, but I wonder if we're better off as friends."
"Maybe you are," she said and then finished off her champagne. "Have you kissed her yet?"
"Well, we've never really had the chance yet. I've given her a peck on the lips, but we haven't kissed or anything yet. It always seems awkward."
"You just need to get it over with," she said jumping down from the counter. "Tonight, just kiss her…you'll never know if you don't kiss her."
"You're right," he said finishing off his glass then jumped down and put the empty glass in the sink. "I better go get ready, Mags will be here in a bit." He hugged her tight and kissed her on the top of her head. "I'm happy for you, Hermione, we'll get started right away on your business."
"I can't wait. Go on and get ready, I'll be listening for the door for Maggie."
"Thanks." He then walked out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs while Hermione decided to pour herself another glass of champagne. She walked over to the den and sat down on the couch ready for a night on the telle and getting tipsy on champagne. Crookshanks jumped up on her lap and Daisy jumped up on the cushion and curled up on her side. "What would I do without you guys?"
Not a second later Hedwig came flying into the open window and landed right at Hermione's shoulder. "Hey, come to join the party?" she asked but then saw a roll of parchment tied to her leg. "A reply already?!" Hermione set the glass down and eagerly untied the parchment. "Thanks girl."
Hermione read the reply with a smile on her face. "She wants to meet tomorrow morning!" she exclaimed to her animals. "Isn't that great? It's really happening!" Hermione sighed in disbelief and then placed the parchment to her heart. "Thanks, Harry."
The doorbell rang and Daisy's head shot up and then jumped off the couch to go greet the new visitor. "Daisy calm down," Hermione laughed as she walked to the door. "No jumping." She then opened the door to see Maggie standing on the other side. "Hey, come in!"
"Hey, Hermione," she said walking in then leaned down to greet Daisy. "Hey girl."
"Harry will be down in a minute, I'm afraid I made him a bit late."
"He flooed me and told me about your business," she said. "I wanted to give you this." Maggie held out a woven doormat that had the "Welcome" written on the front. "Thought you could put it out on the front of the store. I guess you could pick on which store."
"Maggie, it's great!" she said as she took it then hugged her new friend. "I'll duplicate it and put it in front of both."
"Good idea."
"Let's go in the kitchen, I've got champagne."
"You know I can never say no to alcohol."
Ten minutes later Harry came into the kitchen to find Hermione and Maggie laughing and drinking champagne. "Oh no, you two drinking together is never a good thing," he said taking the drink out of Maggie's hand.
"Oh, relax," she said taking the glass back. "We're just celebrating on her new business."
Harry shook his head with a laugh. "Well hurry up and finish, we have reservations in ten minutes."
Maggie chugged the rest of her glass and then leaned over and hugged Hermione. "Congrats again, Hermione. Let me know when you get started, I'd love to help."
"Thanks, the more help the better."
"You going to be all right tonight?" Harry asked.
"Oh sure, don't worry about me. I might start working on this project I've been thinking about on the house, plus I have a lot of stuff to do for the bookstore."
"All right well have fun," he said and then gave her a kiss on the cheek goodnight.
"You too, and remember what I said," she added in a low voice where only he could hear.
"Yeah, yeah," he said with a roll of his eyes. "Ready Mags?"
"You bet," she smiled as she let Harry help her with her cloak. "See ya, Hermione."
"Bye, Maggie. I'll owl you later this week."
"You better, bye."
"I won't be too late," Harry said has he opened the door. "Don't wait up."
"I won't and Harry?"
"Yeah?" he asked pausing at the door.
"Thanks again. For…everything."
"My pleasure," he said with a grin and then closed the door behind him.
"Well Daisy," she said looking down at her four legged friend. "Looks like it's just you, me and a bunch of animals tonight." Hermione sighed as she shook her head walking back to the den collapsing on the couch. "I may be alone on a Saturday night, Daisy. But I'm not sad. I have a new business and it's going to be great!"
Hermione then got up and rubbed her hands together in anticipation. She had a lot of work to do.