Escape ↣ Harmione

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter 43 - Help comes to those who ask

George rubbed his face casting a dark look at the thick folder on the edge of the work bench. He had to deal with its contents, but it drove him mental. He wanted to invent things, to make things to get people to laugh. He wanted to explore the muggle world that was unfolding in front of him through a magic mirror and the parents of two people he was only just getting to know. He really wanted to try some of that Chinese food Hermione seemed addicted to.

They had been using the mirror to talk for two weeks, finding that at the weekend, Harry and Hermione would spend more time chatting and working on their school stuff with the mirror active. He or Fred, sometimes both, would work in the workroom re-stocking for the shop, and fiddling with new products.

Days like today, a Sunday, when the shop was closed, could have all four of them working together casually discussing Muggle things, inventions, and Quidditch. It was odd, but also quite good as a way to share information and tips. Even the inclusion of Helen and John who would periodically come and see what they were up to, didn't stop the conversation. Usually, they ended up drawn in, asking more questions, suggesting more answers, and things that he and Fred had never thought of, were brought up. He found himself forgetting they were muggles, that magic wasn't part of their abilities. Hermione had always been smart, but she was the product of two smart people, and George was impressed. Which resulted in both he and Fred really wanting to impress them too, and have both Helen and John like them.

"What's up?" Hermione's voice came through the mirror as if she'd heard his thoughts.

"Running a shop with a product base as diverse as ours is no fun, Granger."

"Oh? I thought you two were all about fun?"

"Oh we are," he assured her with a lazy smile. "More fun than you can shake a stick at." His smile grew broader as she laughed at his use of the muggle phrase. "But the Ministry is most decidedly not about fun. The Ministry would outlaw fun if it could. In fact, if the very idea didn't bring paroxysms of joy to some department buried in its depths it probably would have. Fortunately, they have stuck their heads together and found a way to make fun miserable for everyone."

"Oh? And what was their brilliant idea?" she said smiling at him.

"Paperwork! Registration for every product. Registration of suppliers, domestic and foreign. Registration of brewing licenses, registration of wands, registration of wand storage, registration of wands sold. The list, Granger, is longer than Merlin's beard."

"Oh no," she sympathised. "Bureaucracy is the death of all sound work."

"Bureaucracy is a giant machine operated by pygmies," Harry added from his place at his desk where he was completing his notes.

"Yes," George replied emphatically. "It is, whatever a pygmy is, are they like nargles? But it's not what we want to do, and if we get it wrong, they can stop us selling wands. The joke shop we can get around, re-brand and fill the form in properly next time. But the wands Granger, they are important."

She tapped the end of her pencil on the tip of her nose, eyes narrowing in thought. "What you need is someone who knows the system. Someone who can help you fill the forms in, and can tell you what to do and when. And if you are really lucky, can get you ahead of the curve."

Harry looked up from his books again, meeting her eyes and raising his brow. She smiled slightly at him, and he shrugged back in response. Their silent communication going unnoticed by George who was still scowling at his files.

"Great," George said. "That sounds great, someone who loves bureaucracy and form filling in. Where do I get one? Is there a suggestion in that yellow book of yours?"