The day passed and Ron needed to buy the ingredients he needed to make the next potions soon because in a few hours, the shops would close.

Ron went down to Percy's room to collect for the help he had promised.

"Percy?"

Ron knocked lightly on the door.

"Door's open, Ron. come on in."

Percy replied in a gentle voice.

Opening the door, Ron could see Percy sitting at his desk in his room, studying some school subject.

"I'm just studying a little. Are you excited for your first day of school? There are only a few days to go."

Percy said with a smile on his face.

"Oh, I am. I studied some things from the book."

Ron answered without delving too deeply.

"Some things? I saw that you already know how to do many spells. I wish I had that talent of being able to learn so easily haha."

Percy said, turning the page in the book.

"I'm glad you're more focused now that you're going to Hogwarts. I remember that you were very disinterested when I explained to you that it wasn't just about waving your wand around, you would still need to study quite a lot. I'm happy that I will have a brother to study with me."

Percy continued. He had a smiling expression on his face.

"But you're way more advanced than me. I don't know if we'll ever be able to study together."

Ron said, with a small smile.

"I don't mean studying the same things, but just being able to have company in the Hogwarts library will be great for me."

Percy replied excitedly.

Ron grinned at the news.

"Well, I need your help. You told me you would help me with 'that thing' I needed to do earlier today."

Ron asked, leaning his back against the wall.

"Oh, right. What do you need?"

Percy asked, putting his study book away.

"I need you to go with me to Diagon Alley and buy me a list of ingredients."

Ron answered.

"And why do you need me for that?"

Percy responded, getting up and tidying up the study table.

"The owner of the store I need to go to doesn't like me very much and neither does Fred and George. I thought that since you're the most behaved of us, it would be easier for you to buy from there,"

Ron explained.

"Behaved? What do you mean by that?"

Percy looked confused, crossing his arms.

"Behaved. Like, you don't go around trying to beat gnomes or playing pranks on others. You just study and… study."

Ron said, realizing that Percy's routine was really dull.

"Are you trying to say that I'm boring?"

Percy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, that's not it. You're just really focused on studying. So, are you going to help me?"

Ron replied, trying to evade the subject.

"Alright. I'll buy your ingredients for you. Get me the list and let's go."

Percy replied, grabbing a coat from the rack.

"Here it is."

Ron handed him a list of various named ingredients.

"Wow, this is quite a long list. Do you have the money to buy all this?"

Percy asked, looking at Ron.

"Yes, I think this should be enough."

Ron said, handing Percy a heavy bag of coins.

"Oh, wow, this is heavy. I think I will start working with you guys haha."

Percy said, admiring how much money they'd collected.

Then, the two brothers went to Diagon Alley after lunch.

"Do you remember the name of the store?"

Percy asked Ron. Percy looked a little lost walking those streets. He just looked around and followed Ron, having no idea where they were going.

"It's called 'Potions For All Afflictions'."

Ron said firmly as he walked confidently, showing that he had memorized the way.

Upon arriving, the two stopped in front of the store, admiring the appearance of it.

"Well, here we are. Now you need to go in and buy everything. Don't forget any of the items."

Ron said, patting Percy on the back.

"Aren't you coming with me?"

Percy asked.

"Of course not. If he sees me, he'll throw us both out without even asking if we're going to buy something. Go in there and say you need to buy things for Mum. Don't forget to be confident and fawn over him."

Ron replied, pushing Percy into the shop.

Percy walked up to the counter, looking for the owner of the place.

"Good morning, my good sir. Could you help me find some items?"

Percy said with a huge smile on his face. He was confident.

"Oh, good morning. What would you like, young man?"

The man asked Percy without even realizing he was a Weasley or, at the very least, not caring enough to kick him out.

"This is a list my mother asked me to give you. She said that you are a very wise and kind man, so you could easily help me."

Percy lied, with a warm smile.

"It's quite a long list, isn't it? Well, your mother's right, boy. Let's go. I will find everything you need."

The man said kindly, going with Percy in search of every item on Ron's list.

A few long minutes passed and Ron could see Percy waving at the shop owner, a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, Horace Greenwood is really cool. Why don't you like him?"

Percy said, leaving with some bags.

"How do you know his name?"

Ron asked frowning, leaving Percy to handle all the bags himself without offering to help.

"He told me. Oh, and he also gave me a lollipop. Look."

Percy said, taking a lollipop out of his pocket, which was shaped like a beetle.

"Must taste like beetles."

Ron said, laughing.

"I'll tell you about it after dinner."

Percy replied, slightly excited.

Arriving home, Ron grabbed the ingredients and walked upstairs to the bedroom with Percy.

They laid everything out neatly on top of Ron's desk.

"You didn't tell me what you needed it all for."

Percy said curiously as he finished placing the last bag on the table.

"I'm thinking of starting to sell some potions at the stall. Just expanding my range of services, you know?"

Ron said, throwing the bags away.

"Is the repair service not doing well?"

Percy asked.

"It's not that. We have a lot of work to do with the repair service. Optimizing everything would be better."

Ron answered.

"Optimize?"

Percy asked.

"Yes. Earning more by doing less work."

Ron answered.

"If we made potions, we'd only have the trouble of selling it at the stall. We wouldn't need to provide a service to receive it, you know?"

Ron completed, looking at Percy who looked less confused.

"Oh, I think I understand. I didn't know you understood sales. How did you learn about it?"

Percy asked curiously.

"It just seemed to logically be the next step I should take."

Ron lied, but Percy accepted the answer.

"I think that's it. If you need my help, don't be afraid to ask, and call for me."

Percy said, leaving the room.

"It all depends on what you charge me."

Ron responded.

"Charge you? Why would I do that? I'm your big brother and I'm here to help you. I won't charge you anything haha."

Percy laughed, not understanding why Ron had said that.

Ron spent a few seconds watching the door through which Percy had left, reflecting on what he said.

Having someone help you just out of kindness, out of affection, was strange. He was used to people's meanness, always receiving something expecting to have to repay the person later, but in this case, Percy's reward was seeing Ron happy.

Ron smiled, still looking at the door, and soon turned his attention back to the ingredients he had gotten.

Ron was determined to earn more money before he entered Hogwarts. He only had a few days left to improve Weasley's status even further, so he needed to work harder now.

Offering simple but useful potions could be an effective way to attract more people, in addition to the fact that, if he delivered quality products to people, he could gain even more of their trust. That will make it easier for him to sell other potions in the future.

After some analysing, Ron finally decided what types of potions he would sell in the tent. He would sell 3 potions in small vials. Those would be:

Light Healing Potion - For minor cuts and minor injuries. (It had a white appearance and tasted like cherry candy).

Sleep Well Potion - To help you get a good night's sleep. (It had a light blue appearance and tasted like vanilla).

Monster Potion - To give you a boost of energy during the day. (It had a neon green appearance and unspecified citrus taste).

[Au's Notes: None of these specific potions are found in the world of Harry Potter. Similar potions can be found, but not the same as these.]

These potions were very useful for any wizard's daily life and, even though they were simple to make, having the facility to buy the potion ready in some store was better than having to buy the ingredients and having all the work to make the potion perfectly.

Ron started to prepare the potions.

- Monster Potion

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves

1 tablespoon dried orange peel

2 tablespoons willow bark powder

1 tablespoon dried mallow.

500 ml of purified water

Instructions:

For the potion to be made, the water must be boiled as a first step. It needs to be added to dried orange peels and powdered willow bark until the water starts to acquire a shade of navy blue. You need to stir the ingredients for 10 minutes by reducing the heat until the liquid clears from navy blue to light blue. Add the honey and dried mallow and soak until it turns neon green. Then, it is ready to be consumed.

- Sleep Well Potion:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of green slug.

1 vanilla pod (to extract the aroma)

[…]

Instructions:

For the potion to be made, the water must be boiled […]

- Light Healing Potion:

Entering: […]

Instructions: […]

As he worked, Ron could hear a few knocks on the door.

"What is it?"

Ron said towards the door.

"It's me, Fred!"

Fred's voice screamed.

"And or George."

George added.

"Can we see what you are doing?"

They said together.

"No. Go play something else."

Ron said, shooing the two away.

"Please let us stay, Ron. We'll be quiet. Won't we, Fred?"

George said, pouting.

"Definitely. We can even be your guinea pigs. Just let us do something."

Fred said.

"There's nothing to do and it's a proper downpour outside."

George said, opening the door slowly so that Ron wouldn't notice.

"Fine. But if you drop something, I'll kill you."

Ron said seriously.

Fred and George walked into the room with big smiles on their faces.

"Are these the potions we're going to start selling?"

George asked curiously, while Fred looked with his face very close to one of the vials.

"Yes, they are. Do you want to try some?"

Ron asked, looking forward to the result.

"Yes!"

George said excitedly.

"Right. You can choose. There's the one that gives you more energy, the one that helps you sleep and the one that heals wounds, but I think for this one we're going to need a knife."

Ron said, scratching his head as he looked at George.

"WHAT? No, no. No knives. I'll have the energy one."

George said with wide eyes.

"I'LL TAKE THE ENERGY ONE!"

Fred said, lifting the Monster Potion vial.

"Right. I already saw that this was left for me. I'll get a knife."

Ron said coming down the stairs.

The brothers looked at each other, startled by what Ron planned on doing.

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[ Toru's notes ]

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