Confident | Fred Weasley

Chapter 94 | Intruders

The aftermath of the wedding was filled with urgent news. The wand-point interrogation and house search that the Burrow received was barely anything compared to what others across the country had faced.

Dedalus Diggle's house had been burnt down, but thankfully, he wasn't there. He was keeping an eye on Harry's muggle Aunt and Uncle at the time. Even worse, Tonks' family had been tortured with the Cruciatus curse about Harry's whereabouts by Bellatrix and Rodolphus, but fortunately, they were fine. There were a number of other Order connected places that had been broken into, but thankfully, Fred's house or the shop weren't either of them.

The Fidelius Charm on their house was as strong as ever. The shop? Well, Fred didn't have any explanation for that.

Still, things for the shop were starting to look downward.

"Fred," Lee muttered out of the corner of his mouth as he passed by, "There's someone dodgy stood outside the shop."

Fred, who had been restocking Extendable Ears, inclined his head slightly to let Lee know that he'd heard him. Lee walked casually towards the till, whilst Fred closed the cardboard box full of the Ears and picked up one with Skiving Snackboxes in instead.

The Skiving Snackboxes were displayed right by the doors, which meant Fred could go do some surveillance under the guise of restocking. With a wave of his wand, the box was floating ahead of him, leading the way to the front. He stepped carefully around their few customers (Not many people were willing to come to Diagon Alley anymore, meaning they had a lack of footfall. Plenty of orders, though).

Fred lowered his wand, and the box floated gently to the ground. He crouched to unseal the box, making sure he was inconspicuously facing the entrance.

Watching the shop like a hawk was Jugson. He must have escaped Azkaban recently, as according to Sarah, he was arrested after the Department of Mysteries. He wasn't particularly high up in the ranks for the Death Eaters, and Fred found himself slightly offended that he or George didn't warrant a more exciting Death Eater.

Fred stocked a few of the snackboxes before sealing the box again and heading back into the shop.

He walked past Lee, mouthed, "Jugson."

Lee nodded and continued wrapping up orders. Fred continued to the back room, where he found George flicking through their accounts.

"Jugson's outside," Fred told his brother.

"Jugson?" George questioned, head snapping up from the parchment, "As in the Death Eater?"

"Yes."

"That's not good," George muttered, leaning back in his seat, "That's not good at all. What is he doing?"

Fred dropped the box of snackboxes onto his desk, "Just standing there, staring."

"You think he's watching me or you?" George asked.

Fred shrugged, "Dunno. You'll have to see when I leave."

George huffed, "We're barely getting any footfall as it is, and now we have a grumpy Death Eater stalking the place! This is just what we needed."

"Yeah, wonder if there's a way to get rid of him..." Fred wondered thoughtfully.

"You think on that," George said, getting up, "I need to get Capri. Her shift finishes in five minutes."

It wasn't safe for anyone to walk around Diagon Alley on their own. Capri was only two minutes away, but it was better safe than sorry.

"On your own?" Fred asked, "I'll come?"