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The Weasley Perspective | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP, Post-OotP, Post-HBP, Post-Hogwarts, Post-DH/AB Characters:Harry/Ginny, Other, Ron Weasley Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, General, Romance Warnings: None Story is Complete Rating: PG Reviews: 39 Summary: The story of how Harry and Ginny fell in love as told through the eyes of the Weasley family. Hitcount: Story Total: 17223; Chapter Total: 2030 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: Only one more chapter left to publish! Until then, enjoy the chapter I believe many of you have been waiting for. This is all from George's perspective with Fred being a big part of the memories. Thank you to Arnel as always for your brilliant editing skills. |
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“Family and friends, welcome…” George allowed the words of the minister to fade into the background as his eyes settled upon the expressions of the bride and groom. The happiness they were exuding made him wish that Fred were here to see as Harry and Ginny exchanged vows. Admittedly, he had said that every wedding, every birth and every other good moment since the end of the war, but this time, he truly believed this was the one moment Fred would have wanted to be present for. While he suspected that his sister probably knew, George could admit that many of the pranks he and Fred had pulled, while at Hogwarts, had been for the benefit of putting a smile on the face of Ginny and Harry. Even before they had managed to con their only sister into admitting that she and Harry had dated, he and Fred had long been convinced that the pair would be perfect for each other. Now, here they were, getting married, and Fred was not alive to see it happen. Oh, the teasing he would have given the couple. HP&GW June 1992… “Do you have it?” George asked as Lee Jordan walked into the boys’ bathroom on the first floor. “Of course, I do,” Lee replied, holding up a camera he had borrowed from another Gryffindor. “Are you sure this is going to work? I cannot imagine Madam Pomfrey allowing such a gift into the hospital wing.” “She probably won’t, but we won’t know for certain until we try,” Fred said as he came out of one the bathroom stalls before turning his attention to his twin brother. “We should be able to get the seat off without magic. Don’t want to risk damaging it with the wrong spell.” News had quickly reached the Gryffindor common room that Harry had ended up in the hospital, magically exhausted, after a confrontation with Professor Quirrell. Once the twins had confirmation from their younger brother, Ron, and his best friend, Hermione, they had quickly put their heads together to come up with the perfect ‘Get Well Soon’ present for the Boy Who Lived. “I still cannot believe your own mother gave you the idea for this,” Lee said as Fred walked back into the stall to begin removing the toilet seat. “If this gets back to her that we actually attempted this, then we will happily remind her just who gave us the idea,” George said with a smirk, even though he knew he and Fred would still get in trouble. He could, however, hope that it would lessen the punishment if their mother realised that she was partially responsible for they had done. “Well, are you not risking her finding out about this by taking a photo?” Lee asked. “You have never once taken a photo of any of your pranks, so why would you start now?” “We may be sending this to Harry,” George explained to the twins’ best friend, “but we are also doing this for our baby sister.” “Who would kill you if she heard say that George,” Fred called out from the bathroom stall. “My apologies, dear brother, I mean our darling sister, who just so happens to have an enormous crush on the recipient of our gift,” George said, correcting his mistake. “We figured, given how upset she was to be left behind for another year, that she would appreciate our attempt to send an actual toilet seat to Harry.” “Done,” Fred said as he came out of the stall, now carrying a toilet seat. “No magic needed.” George inspected the seat quickly, impressed that his brother had managed not to damage it. “Ok, let’s get this photo, then,” Fred said, standing shoulder to shoulder with George, them both facing Lee. Lee held up the camera and quickly took the picture as the twins held up the toilet seat with cheeky grins adorning their faces. “Brilliant,” Lee said as he lowered the camera. “I will get this camera back to Beatrice. She said she would be able to have the photo developed and back to us by the end of term.” “Good, because if this fails, then we can at least show Harry that we did actually have the toilet seat for him,” George replied as he let go of the toilet seat and pulled out his wand. “What am I inscribing on the seat, Fred?” “How about ‘To one troublemaker from two others, get well soon!” “Nice and simple, while keeping you both anonymous,” Lee said as he and Fred watched George inscribed the message onto the toilet seat with magic. “Though, we should probably get another photo of this.” “Ginny is going to love this,” Fred said once George had completed the inscription and Lee had taken one more photo. “If I thought we could get away with it, I would suggest we steal another toilet seat to bring home to Ginny.” “How about we attempt to get this past Madam Pomfrey first?” George suggested. “If we do, then we can arrange one for Ginny.” Fred pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket, unfolded it and, with a tap of his wand, whispered the words, ‘I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.’ Before their eyes, writing began to appear on the parchment, not that Fred took notice of it as he quickly unfolded the parchment even further to reveal a complete map of Hogwarts and its grounds. “She’s in her office,” Lee stated as the three boys immediately looked at the hospital wing. It showed the names of Harry Potter, which they had expected, and Madam Pomfrey, who they hoped would be elsewhere at that moment. “I doubt she will be leaving any time soon. She would not leave an unconscious patient alone in the hospital wing.” The twins looked at one another, wondering how they could get their gift past the strict matron. Neither spoke a word as an evil grin appeared on each of their faces and turned to face their best friend. “Lee, our dear, dear friend…” Fred started. “You truly have the gift of conversation…” George continued. “…and we believe you would be able use that…” “…to distract our lovely matron.” “Oh, no,” Lee said, moving back towards the door to the corridor. “There’s no way I am getting involved in this scheme of yours.” “So, we shouldn’t let slip to Alicia about how you have a crush on her?” Fred said as he made sure the toilet seat was firmly secure in his arm. Lee’s mouth fell open in shock. “Well, it seems Lee is on board,” George said as he went to leave the bathroom with his twin. “Let’s go and pass on our brilliant gift to our young friend!” HP&GW February 1993… “His eyes are green as a fresh pickled toad…” Fred began to recite as the twins approached Ginny in the common room, having made sure Harry was not around as they did so. Ginny looked up from where she sat in the corner, her eyes wide in shock and her cheeks a deep red. “You were there?” she whispered. “Oh, no, but the whole school has heard about it,” George told her as the twins took a seat either side of her on the arms on the chair that she sat in. “It seems Draco has taken to reciting it to whomever is willing to listen, which, right now, is everyone.” The twins could only watch as Ginny dropped her head in shame and began to cry quietly, something she very rarely did. “Hey, Gin,” George said as he shifted so he was knelt in front of her. “Why the tears?” Ginny shook her, refusing to reveal what was upsetting her. “Is it because Draco is reciting the poem,” Fred said as he joined his twin brother to kneel in front of his youngest sibling, “because we can prank him for you if you want us to.” George looked over at Fred, knowing that they would be pranking Malfoy, whether Ginny wanted them to or not. Even if he wasn’t the reason for her tears, though he suspected Malfoy probably was, it was still a great excuse to prank the Slytherin. “You can if you want,” Ginny finally replied as she lifted her face to look at her twin brothers. “He isn’t the reason for the tears, though.” “Who is?” George demanded to know, automatically the hating the person in question. “Because we will prank them as well,” Fred declared. “Please, don’t prank them,” Ginny pleaded. The twins glanced at one another, knowing there was only one person she would refuse them the opportunity to prank. That didn’t mean they couldn’t have words with the boy for making their sister cry. “I doubt he knows what he did,” Ginny continued without for a promise from her brothers. “I don’t think it helped that he tripped and fell in his hurry to escape the dwarf or that there were so many people around. I doubt he even noticed that I was there when it happened.” “Well, Harry is an idiot if he cannot appreciate the beauty of your writing,” George said, thinking he was probably stretching the truth quite a bit. Ginny giggled, “I think we all know my poem was awful.” “Awful?” Fred questioned. “Never!” the twins then chimed together, making Ginny laugh properly. “Even if it you think it was awful, Harry may not have,” George told her as he carefully wiped away the last of her tears. “Like you said, he may just have been embarrassed by it happening in such an open space.” “Plus, if what we saw when we rescued him from his relatives in the summer,” Fred continued, “he was probably feeling overwhelmed by such an honest expression of your feelings. I think Harry may not be as loved by his relatives as he should be.” That was something George and Fred had both been concerned by. They had tried to confront Harry about it, but he always managed to find a way to change the conversation. So, they had let it drop, knowing there was no point forcing the issue when Harry appeared much happier at The Burrow. “I still think I should never have sent it,” Ginny confessed. “He will never come to like me if I keep making a fool of myself in front of him. He will probably think I am just like the rest of the girls at this school.” “You know what,” George said, deciding he could twist the truth just a little, “if Harry doesn’t make the effort to find out what a brilliant witch you are…” “The best of all of the Weasleys,” Fred noted. “…then, it is his loss!” George finished, truly believing what he said. He would never willingly come out and admit it, but he honestly felt Ginny needed to wake up and see Harry for who truly was — a typical twelve-year-old boy, who had absolutely no clue when it came to girls. Perhaps then she would loosen up and be herself around Harry. He thought the two would be great friends, but only if Ginny could get past her idolised view of the second year. For some reason, though, he believed it would take something huge and potentially life-changing for that to happen right now. HP&GW November 1993… “Are my brothers in there?” George heard as he left the hospital wing with Fred. “Yeah, they should just be behind us,” Angelina Johnson said as the twins saw the Gryffindor Chasers and their sister come into view. “George! Fred!” Ginny cried when she spotted them, running over and throwing herself into George’s arms. “Is he ok?” “We will catch up with you shortly,” Fred told Angelina, Alicia and Katie as George hugged their sister tightly. George kept Ginny in his arms until the three Chasers had walked far enough away to guarantee the twins some privacy. Once he could no longer see them, he gently pulled back and looked down at Ginny. He couldn’t but immediately notice the worry in her eyes. “Is Harry ok?” Ginny asked again. “He’s fine,” George said soothingly, knowing Harry’s fall would have scared even the toughest person. “He is going to be spending the night in the hospital wing,” Fred explained. “Madam Pomfrey will keep him there until Monday morning,” George interrupted. “Of course, she will,” Fred replied, nodding his head in agreement. “Just as a precaution, though. He did fall from quite a height and he was unconscious before he even hit the ground.” George could see Fred’s words hadn’t helped to calm Ginny. In all honesty, he thought their sister looked close to tears. “It was the Dementors,” Ginny just about managed to say, a telling sign she was holding back tears. “He passed out when they came onboard the Hogwarts Express. I don’t know what he hears but it must be far worse than what I hear if they cause him to pass out.” George and Fred looked at each other in confusion. They knew that Ginny had not reacted well to the Dementors as they had managed to get Ron to tell them what had happened in their compartment. However, when they had confronted Ginny about it, she had shut them down and refused to talk about how the Dementors had made her feel. Yet, based on what she had just said, Harry certainly had it worse if they cause such an extreme reaction in him. “What do you hear, Ginny?” George tentatively asked. “You don’t have to answer the question, but it would really help us understand just how bad it is for Harry.” “I hear Tom Riddle taunting me,” she whispered painfully. Neither twin said anything, knowing there was nothing they could say that would make their sister feel any better. George couldn’t help but wonder if Ginny and Harry had even talked to one another about the impact the Dementors had on them. He knew it was a stupid thought to have, because he knew Ginny was still unable to talk to Harry by herself, given that he had saved her at the end of the last school year. “You know what you should do,” Fred suggested as he wrapped an arm around Ginny and began to guide her away from the hospital wing. “You should put something together to cheer Harry up!” “I could do that,” Ginny said, brightening up just a little. George thought Fred might be setting Ginny up for some embarrassment, but, at the same time, he thought the gesture might help his sister deal with seeing Harry fall so far. In all honesty, he just wanted Harry and Ginny to see each other for who each of them truly was as he felt they would become brilliant friends if they did. “How about Fred and I help you out by teaching you a spell to use on a card?” George said as the trio headed towards the staircase. As much as he wanted Ginny to wake up and see Harry as just a normal boy, he knew he couldn’t force her to do so. For now, it was something that was better left alone. HP&GW August 1994… George followed as Fred tugged Ginny deeper into the woods, running as far away as they could from the trouble that had started at the campsite. None of them paid attention to their surroundings as they moved further along, nor did they realise that they had lost Harry, Ron and Hermione much further back. “Stop running, Fred!” George called out when he finally realised there was no one else around them. Fred stopped abruptly, causing Ginny to stumble slightly as she, too, came to a stop. “There’s no one else around,” George said as his siblings turned to face him. “I don’t think we should risk going any further or we won’t know when it is safe to go back.” “George, where are they?” Ginny asked, fear shining brightly in her eyes. “Who are you talking about?” “Harry, Ron and Hermione,” she told him, her eyes gazing over his shoulder, frantically looking for their brother and his friends. George turned around to see Ginny was right. None of the trio were with them. They had become separated. “What if they have been caught?” Ginny asked fearfully. “I doubt that would have happened, Ginny,” Fred told their sister with as calm a voice as he could manage. “They probably just ended caught up in the crowds that were rushing in the same direction as us. I’m sure they will have found a safe place to hide and wait.” A glance at his brother told George that Fred was just as worried as their sister was. “There were Death Eaters, Fred!” Ginny cried out as she pulled her hand away from Fred’s. “You know as well as I do just who the Death Eaters were! What if they capture Harry? He doesn’t know who they are. He doesn’t understand, because no one has ever told him!” George was surprised by his sister’s outburst. It was not because of the fact she knew about the Death Eaters as that wasn’t exactly a secret for those who had grown up in the wizarding world. It was more because of her concern for Harry. While he knew Ginny had moved past the worst of her crush, it was obvious to anyone who knew her that she still harboured feelings for the Boy Who Lived. Then it dawned on him the true reason why his sister was worried — she didn’t want him to go through anything like what she had just a year previously. “How about we start walking back towards camp?” George suggested. “Hopefully, by the time we make it back, the Ministry would have dealt with the troublemakers and everything will be calm.” “That’s sounds like a good plan, George,” Fred replied. “Perhaps Harry, Ron and Hermione will have made it back to camp as well. What do you say, Ginny?” Ginny nodded her agreement, allowing Fred to take her hand and begin to guide her back towards the camp. George followed behind, keeping his wand in his hand in case of trouble, hoping desperately that Ginny’s fears did not come true. HP&GW April 1996… “Boys, I need your help.” George looked up from the parchment he had been looking at to see his sister standing in front of him and Fred. “And don’t even try and tell me you are too busy to do so, because I am pretty certain you are not studying for your OWLs like some people think,” Ginny said with a dangerous look in her eyes. “What can we help you with, dear sister?” George said as he shifted along the sofa to allow Ginny to sit down between him and Fred, knowing he was risking meeting her Bat Bogey Hex if they didn’t help. “Actually, it’s not me who needs the help. It’s Harry.” “And why isn’t he asking us for help?” Fred asked. “We would help him, no questions asked, if he came to us.” “With the way Harry has been this year, do you honestly believe he would come and ask you?” Ginny replied with her own question. George had to admit that his sister had a point. Harry had been on edge ever since the end of the tournament the previous June, which was to be expected with the return of You-Know-Who. Up until recently, most of the school had been wary of him and his refusal to tell anything but the truth about You-Know-Who being back. So much had happened to the younger wizard over the current school year that Harry asking for help would take a miracle. However, he was intrigued about how his sister had come to be involved in approaching them. “Well, how did you manage to get him to ask you for help?” George asked before he could stop himself. “We talked and I offered to help,” Ginny told him simply, refusing to elaborate further. “I’m impressed, Ginny. You managed to talk to the Boy Who Lived without running away!” Fred teased, knowing it had been a long time since that had actually happened. Ginny glared at Fred, making it obvious she was not in the mood to be teased about her former crush. “Look, can you help him or not?” “Well, you haven’t exactly told us what it is you need us to do?” Fred replied, pointing out the flaw in her question. “All you need to do is to create a distraction that will keep Umbridge away from her office for a decent amount of time,” Ginny told them. “We don’t need to know what you are planning, only when it will happen so Harry can be ready to do what he needs to do.” George and Fred looked at each other, both knowing their upcoming plan would be the perfect distraction for Harry. On top of that, her request would be helpful in finalising it. “It seems your request just so happens to align perfectly with something big we are planning,” George responded. “We’ll have to drag it out a bit longer though,” Fred said, thinking out loud. “I would hate for Harry to miss the show.” “You make an excellent point, Fred.” “Any chance one of you could give me an idea of just what you are planning?” Ginny interrupted before the twins’ back and forth went on too long. “Nope, it is to remain secret until the actual day,” Fred declared. “We just need to decide on what day it will be happening, something I believe we will now need to discuss with Harry to make sure we can make it all work.” “So, what is this?” Ginny asked as she swiped the piece of parchment that the twins had been looking before either of them could get to it themselves. George could only watch as his sister read through the notes they had written down, her eyes growing wider every few lines. She would now know what they were planning and why, while also realising why they would be able to help Harry without issue. “You’re leaving?” Ginny asked, looking at both twins for confirmation. “Yes,” George replied simply, knowing no other words were needed. “To open Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes?” “Yes, just like we have always dreamed of,” Fred confirmed. “Where did you get the money to do this?” “If we tell you, you cannot tell anyone,” George said, giving his sister a rare serious look. Ginny gasped, “Harry gave it to you. That’s the reason you are willing to help without knowing why.” “Our sister has a brilliant mind, George!” “That she does, Fred,” George said in agreement. “And, hopefully, she’ll continue our pranking legacy once we leave.” “Leave me some of your products before you go,” Ginny asked. “I may just need them to help Harry out if there is no one else around to cause a diversion if needs one again.” George couldn’t help but smile. His sister may deny that she had feelings for Harry, but it was obvious to George, at least, that Ginny still cared deeply for him. The very fact she was willing to go as far as causing some sort of havoc to help Harry out proved just how much she cared for him and George doubted that she would do the same for her current boyfriend, Michael Corner. HP&GW August 1996… George exited the storeroom of Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, carrying all the necessary items for having a Pygmy Puff as a pet. “There you, Ginny,” he said as he placed all the items on the counter. “Everything you need to take care of…” “Arnold,” his sister automatically replied as she carefully placed the creature onto her shoulder. “Interesting choice of name,” George noted with some amusement. “Anyway, Arnold is probably going to prefer sitting on your shoulder, but there is a small carrier for times that is not possible. I have also thrown in enough food to last until Christmas and at no extra cost to you and Mum.” “Thanks, George.” “Now that there is no one near us, do you want to tell me all about how your dating life seems to be an issue for Ron,” he said, shifting the conversation back to one Ginny had originally been distracted from. “Why?” his sister responded as her expression changed from one of love to one of absolute anger. “Is it so you can tell me I am too young to be dating? Or is it so you can back up Ron about how I have dated too many boys in too short a time?” “I have no intention of backing Ron up on anything when it comes to your dating life. Firstly, it would be hypocritical of me to say you are too young date, and, secondly, the last Fred and I had heard, you were dating Michael Corner and had been since last summer at least. That to me does not sound like you going through boy after boy.” George watched as Ginny’s expression changed yet again to one of regret. “Sorry, George,” she quietly said. “I have had enough of Ron sticking his nose in. He keeps asking me why I am dating Dean when there is obviously, at least in his opinion, a better option for me. And before you say it, I know exactly who he is talking about and as far as I am concerned, he doesn’t like me in that way.” While he wouldn’t say it out loud, knowing he would be hexed severely if he did, George secretly believed that Harry was starting to open his eyes to Ginny and see her for who she truly was. Neither he nor Fred had failed to notice how Harry had responded to their sister during the previous school year. Then again, Ginny had gone out of her way to help Harry whenever she could. In all honesty, it was a surprise she dated Michael Corner for as long as she did. “Want to try a love potion on him?” George joked, not knowing what else to say to his sister about Harry. “You do realise that you selling them is going to be problematic for Harry,” Ginny told him sternly, sounding an awful lot like their mother. “Girls are going to think they have a shot with the ‘Chosen One’ if they get their hands on one of your Love Potions. Harry hates to be controlled as it is and would never forgive anyone who tried to use one on him.” George could see Ginny still had feelings for Harry, but she appeared to be resigned to the idea that she would never have a chance with him. What he wouldn’t give to slap some sense into Harry! “Even so, I don’t want to experience something that isn’t real with him,” Ginny said so quietly that George almost missed it. “I think that, with you dating his dorm mate, he may just wise up and realise just what a great catch you are, Ginny,” George told his sister as he came out from behind the counter to hug her. “And if he doesn’t, well, then, he is just a fool for failing to see what Fred and I see.” HP&GW April 1998… George and Fred quietly entered their Great Aunt Muriel’s house, not wanting to wake any of the inhabitants, most specifically their mother. They had just returned from another secret location where they helped Lee Jordan present another episode of Potterwatch, something their mother had already lectured them about due to the risks involved. However, neither were prepared to stop if it meant them playing their part in the current war. “One of these days, you are going to realise that we all know most of your tricks!” The twins looked up to see their only sister sitting on the staircase, dressed for bed, obviously waiting for them. “Don’t worry, everyone is asleep,” she quietly told them as she stood, walked down the stairs and headed towards the kitchen with the expectation that they would follow her. With a quick look at one another, the twins followed their sister, both wondering what Ginny wanted to talk to them about. George suspected it was to do with a certain Boy Who Lived, who they had confirmed was alive and safe on the show. While she had never admitted it to them, at least, both he and Fred were convinced something had happened the previous school year. “What did you want to talk about, Ginny?” George asked after Fred had locked and silenced the room from potential eavesdroppers. “I just wanted to know how you come by all your information that you announce on Potterwatch?” Ginny asked. “We have our sources and our spies,” Fred admitted, refusing to elaborate further. “Just ask what it is you truly want to ask, Ginny,” George demanded, knowing his sister was skirting around the issue. “Fine,” she huffed. “How did you know all that stuff about Harry?” George was taken aback by how Ginny had only asked about Harry; having thought she would have tried to at least make it look like she was concerned about Ron and Hermione as well. “We’ll tell you if you tell us something we would like to know,” Fred said with a glint in his eye. “That’s blackmail, Fred!” “It just might be, but the very fact you asked about Harry and not about Hermione and Ron therefore suggests you are hiding something,” George responded. The guilty look that appeared their sister’s face confirmed his suspicions. “We suspect that we may just be the last people in the family…” Fred began. “Well, I doubt Percy knows,” George interrupted. “Yes, that’s true, but we cannot really count him as family right now, can we?” “True, very true.” “Like I was saying, I believe that me and George are the only ones who are still uncertain as to whether something has happened between you and a certain black-haired wizard.” Ginny appeared to deflate before their eyes at the realisation that she could no longer hide the secret of having been in a relationship with Harry Potter. George couldn’t believe her reaction to their enquiry, despite having suspected the truth for some time. The looks the pair had kept shooting one another from the time Harry arrived back at The Burrow to when he had escaped the wedding screamed out that the pair had feelings for one another, but neither he nor Fred had been sure whether there had been more or if they were on the verge of something. “I’m sorry I never told you,” Ginny quietly said, “but there was nothing to tell by the time I arrived home from school for the summer. He broke up with me at the end of Dumbledore’s funeral.” “Stupid, noble git!” Fred muttered just loud enough for Ginny and George to hear. “Remus told us,” George said, answering Ginny’s original question. “He visited Shell Cottage after Teddy was born. He spoke to Harry, who didn’t really give him much information about what they were doing. All Remus could tell us was what we said on the programme, that Harry is alive, well and working on next stage on his plan, which he hopes will bring us towards the end of the war.” “So, it’s nearly over?” Ginny asked, looking at each of her brothers individually with a pleading look in her eyes. “Hopefully,” was all Fred could say, not wanting to his sister’s hopes too high. A few minutes later, Ginny had left the room to go back to the bed, leaving the twins to contemplate how worried Ginny truly was for Harry. “Harry and Ginny are going to end up together, married with babies,” Fred said with absolute certainty. The look in his eyes told George that he was more certain of his statement than he had been about the war hopefully being close to ending. “I think we need to expand our promise to one another,” George said as he remembered the discussion that they’d had just a few months prior about what they would do if one of them was to die. “We need to promise to take care of Ginny if Harry doesn’t survive, because she will not cope if something happens to him. It doesn’t matter if one of us dies, whichever one of us survives has to help her if the worst happens to Harry.” “Agreed,” Fred immediately responded, “but I don’t think that is a promise we need to worry about. Harry is going to survive, marry our sister and have the family he has always wanted.” Even though he thought Fred was being far more optimistic than he should be, George couldn’t help but agree. If anyone was going to survive this war, it would be Harry. HP&GW July 1998… George wandered out into the garden of The Burrow, barely paying attention to where his feet took him as he contemplated the shop he had yet to return to. He was struggling to keep the promise he and Fred had made to one another, that, in the event of one of them not surviving the war, the living twin would keep the shop open for business. The problem was neither of them had foreseen just how hard it would be to continue without the other. How was he meant to keep their dream going, then, when he couldn’t imagine being there without Fred? “GEORGE! WATCH OUT!” Turning his head towards where the shout had come, George saw a Quaffle flying straight for him, causing him to quickly duck and avoid being hit. “I was expecting your skills to be rusty, Ginny,” George said as his sister flew down to reclaim the Quaffle, “but I had not expected your skills to deteriorate so badly!” Ginny glared at him before responding, “Actually, Harry threw it. Turns out he is absolutely horrendous in any other position than what he is used to.” “In my defence,” Harry responded as he flew down and joined the siblings, “I have only ever learned to play Seeker, given that I was only taught about Quidditch when I joined the Gryffindor team.” “What are you doing out here, George?” Ginny asked, choosing to ignore her boyfriend for the moment. “Just taking a walk as I think,” he confessed. “Thinking about what?” Ginny asked. “Must be serious if you are going to walk right into the path of a flying Quaffle.” George looked at his sister and her boyfriend, pleased to see some happiness in their eyes. While he had spent some time talking with them both about how he was feeling as he came to terms with Fred’s death, he didn’t want to intrude on their time together. “Oh, George, you have the same look on your face as Harry gets sometimes. You might as well tell us what is bothering you or I am going to have charm your hair black and start calling you Potter!” George couldn’t help but chuckle at the threat, thankful his sister could always find a way to make him laugh. “I was thinking about the shop and the promise I made Fred,” George admitted, knowing he couldn’t escape telling them. He also knew Harry may have some words of wisdom for him, all thanks to his own personal experience of loss. “What did you promise him?” Ginny asked as she came over to her brother and wrapped her arms around him. “We talked about the possibility of one or both of us not surviving the war,” George explained. “We wanted to have plans in place for the business in case the worst happened. We promised we would keep the shop going, no matter what, but how can I walk back into the shop knowing he will not be there with me?” “What would you have wanted Fred to do had it been you who had not survived?” Harry asked bluntly, much to the surprise of the two siblings. George knew instantly that Harry had said the right thing, because he knew he would want Fred to reopen the shop and keep on creating new products. “How did you know?” he asked the younger wizard. “It’s the same thing I told myself when Dumbledore died. I knew if it had been me, I would have wanted those who were aware of my mission to keep on going until Voldemort was dead. In fact, I did tell Neville to kill the snake when I went to meet Voldemort, thinking I was not coming back to finish off the job.” George looked Harry in awe, grateful for the wise words he had said. His sister could not have fallen in love with anyone better than Harry. “You know Fred was certain that you two would end up together,” he told the couple. “We both did. I just wish he were here to see it.” “He is, George,” Ginny quietly told him. “He is up there, watching you, while having a laugh with the Marauders. He is probably planning the ultimate prank to play on you when it’s your time to join him. Not that you should go and join Fred any time soon!” “If it helps, Gin gave me the exact same speech after I told her what happened in the forest with Voldemort,” Harry told him as Ginny shot him yet another glare. “Even so, it’s going to be hard the next few months as we find our footing again. All we can do is try and live our lives for those who didn’t survive to see the peace we won.” George knew it was incredibly hard for Harry to say those words when he knew that the younger wizard was carrying a lot of misplaced guilt that he felt for not defeating Voldemort sooner. However, he was still impressed by how Harry, with love and support from Ginny, had found a way to keep going. He needed to follow Harry’s example and find something that help him keep on living and moving forward and he knew, therefore, that he had to keep his promise to Fred. “Well, then, any chance you two fancy helping me clean up the shop?” HP&GW “… then, it is with great pleasure, that I declare you bonded for life.” George snapped out of his memories, realising immediately he had not paid attention to the ceremony. He couldn’t help the face he pulled as he watched the newly married couple share a kiss, something neither he, nor his brothers, could still bear to see. “May I present to you, Mr and Mrs Harry Potter!” Standing with the rest of the guests, cheering loudly, George pulled out the firework he had specially designed for this specific moment and discretely set it off. Most guests’ eyes looked upwards as streaks of green and red shot across the sky before coming together to form a heart with an overlapping lightning bolt. George, ignoring the glare his mother was sending him, looked over to the happy couple to see them looking back at him, smiling. His sister gave him an appreciative nod of the head before turning her eyes back to the fireworks. He was glad that she was happy with the fireworks, because he wasn’t too sure she would be happy with him later when he would play a prank that he knew Fred would have appreciated. Though, if he kept it until after the speeches, Ginny and Harry might just be more accepting of it. |
| Reviews 39 |
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