Alex ignored him and instead crouched down near Ginny, smiling warmly. "Hey, Ginny. Do you remember me?"
The moment Ginny saw Alex, her grip on Fang’s tail loosened. In the blink of an eye, she abandoned the dog entirely and threw herself into Alex’s arms. Ginny wrapped her arms tightly around Alex’s neck and giggled. "Remember! Remember!" she chanted, her face lighting up with excitement. Her enthusiasm made everyone laugh.
Alex adjusted her in his arms, letting her sit comfortably as he held her. Looking at the little girl clinging to him so affectionately, his expression softened with fondness. "It looks like Ginny likes you even more than I expected," Arthur commented with a grin, squeezing his daughter’s tiny hand. "You’re more useful than me, that’s for sure. Having you as her godfather was clearly the right choice." He then leaned in slightly. "Ginny, call him properly. This is your godfather, remember?"
Ginny blinked up at Alex and obediently repeated, "God... godfather?" She wasn’t entirely sure what the title meant, but she knew she liked this uncle, and that was enough.
Alex chuckled. "That’s right." His eyes gleamed with amusement as he carried her back to the living room.
Ginny was a little clingy. After a while of sitting in his arms, she grew even bolder, staring up at Alex with wide eyes before reaching out to play with his hair.
Instead of stopping her, Alex leaned forward slightly, letting her mess up his hair to her heart’s content. Ginny giggled as she twirled and tugged at his strands, delighted by her newfound plaything. Arthur watched the scene unfold and shook his head with a laugh. "You know, since she likes you so much, why don’t you let her stay with you for a couple of days? I’ll come pick her up later."
"Stay here?" Alex glanced at Ginny, who was still happily playing with his hair, and lifted her slightly. "Ginny, do you want to spend a few days in Diagon Alley with your godfather?"
Ginny didn’t fully understand what that meant, but she looked at Alex, then nodded instinctively. "Mhm!"
Fang, who had been sulking in the corner, suddenly went rigid. ‘What?! The little demon is going to stay here?’ His fur bristl
"Alright, alright, stop showing off your father-daughter bond," Moody grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Let’s get to the real reason we’re here. In your letter, you said you had something important to discuss."
"Right." Alex nodded, setting Ginny down gently on the sofa. She immediately made herself comfortable, happily accepting the lollipop Alex handed her.
Once she was settled, Alex leaned forward and pulled out two documents, sliding them across the table toward Arthur and Moody. "Take a look at these."
Arthur and Moody exchanged glances before picking up the papers. Moody scanned through the document, raising an eyebrow. "So, you’re finally setting up your alchemy company, huh?" He had known about Alex’s plans for a while, but something in the paperwork caught his attention. "But what’s this bit about a 5% share?"
Arthur nodded thoughtfully as he read through it. "Wilson’s Arcane Alchemica Company? That’s the name you’ve settled on? It’s good that you’re making it official, but why are you giving us shares?"
Alex leaned back slightly, his fingers tapping the armrest of his chair. "Well, if I want to do business with the Ministry of Magic in the future, I need the right connections. Minister Bagnold is too upright for these things, and I don’t trust the others enough." He glanced at Moody. "You, on the other hand, are a major figure in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. If you have a stake in my company, you’ll have a reason to speak on my behalf in the Ministry. That alone makes these shares worth it."
Moody narrowed his eyes, but there was a flicker of approval behind his stern gaze. Alex then turned to Arthur. "As for you, even though the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office is a small department, I know you actually have quite a bit of authority. I plan to expand into civilian alchemy, and that’s going to involve modifying Muggle items. If the Ministry decides to make trouble, you can help smooth things over."
Arthur looked surprised, but also a little impressed. "You’ve thought this through."
Alex shrugged. "The Ministry controls legislation. If I want to avoid headaches, I need people I trust on my side."
Moody huffed. "So, you're bribing us?"
Arthur’s eyes widened slightly at Moody’s words, and he glanced at Alex in surprise. Alex, however, didn’t panic or even look the slightest bit nervous. Instead, he simply grinned. "If you want to put it that way, I won’t argue. But if you think I need to go through the back door for orders, you’re underestimating me. I’m confident in my products. Once you see what I’ve developed, you’ll understand they’ll sell themselves." He turned his attention to Moody. "You’ve seen my work before. You remember the demonstration, don’t you?"
Moody nodded, his expression shifting into one of appreciation. "I remember. I’ve been waiting for years for you to start selling these things."
"Exactly." Alex leaned forward slightly. "So tell me, do you think your colleagues at the Ministry of Magic, once they see what I’ve got, will be interested? Will they be willing to pay for quality equipment?"
Moody didn’t answer immediately. He mulled it over for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… I don’t see anyone turning them down. The Aurors on the front lines would eat these up."
Alex spread his hands. "Then do I really need to pull strings to get orders? All I need is for my products to be seen, and the demand will come naturally."
Moody narrowed his eyes. "And when you say ‘seen’… you mean…"
Alex smirked. "I mean that I’ll be giving you both free tactical gear to test out in front of your colleagues."
Moody let out a bark of laughter. "Ah! So that’s your game. You want us to be your walking advertisements."
"That’s one way to look at it," Alex admitted with a nod. Then he turned to Arthur. "Of course, I wasn’t lying about wanting your help with developing new alchemy products. And in the future, I’ll need both of you to help me test prototypes."
Now that everything was laid out plainly, both men understood exactly what Alex was aiming for. Moody slapped his thigh. "Alright! As long as you’re not asking me to bend the rules for you, I’ve got no problem with this. Hell, having a company like yours is good news for us Aurors."
Arthur, too, seemed satisfied. After all, Alex was giving them a financial stake in a promising venture, it would be foolish to turn it down. "Alright then," Alex said, snapping his fingers. A quill and a pair of elegant wooden boxes appeared in front of them. "If there are no further questions, sign the magical contract, and from now on, we’ll be in business together." He gestured to the boxes. "These contain the first-generation products I’m launching. Take them back and try them out."