Dusk Till Dawn: A Fred And George Story

August 6, 1999

The week came and went. I stayed in the flat.

The day of George's judgment was a day of liberation. When she came up to the flat, George met her right at the top of the stairs.

"Isabella," he'd called, a smug look on his face, I imagine.

"Yes, George?" I arrived behind him, saw her, and crossed my arms. "Oh." She narrowed her eyes at me. So much for not being a petty schoolgirl anymore, I thought.

"See, Angelina?" George said. "This is me standing up for me, George Fabian Weasley, not Fred. Because I'm not Fred. You tried to make me into Fred, whom you've loved since forever, didn't you? Well, I know it's hard to say it, but Fred's gone. He's not coming back. It took a long time, but I've accepted it, and you need to, too."

Angelina looked as if she might cry. "No, that's not what happened!"

"Well that's definitely what it seems like. Oh, and I'm also standing up for Isabella, too."

"Hey," I said. "I can stand up for mys-"

"I know you can. But I want to tell Angelina that real friends don't make each other push away other friends."

"But - " Angelina started.

"Oh," continued George. "I bet you can see who I choose."

And then Angelina freaked out. "No, Fr...George, I was supposed to - "

"Leave," I commanded. "You're no longer in control."

George and I left before she did, high-fiving in the kitchen.

"You know, George," I'd said. "I think things didn't work out between Terry and I because I wasn't ready for another relationship. I had to deny Terry of what made him happy because I myself still wasn't happy."

"Really," was all he said.

"Yeah. I think you and Angelina both weren't ready. I think that's why she ended up acting the way she did, and why you just took it. You both thought it was going to make you happy."

"That's exactly what it is," he agreed, nodding as if I'd just enlightened him on a particularly complex subject. "I thought it was going to make me happy, so I didn't leave."

"But as soon as you were given a reason as to why it couldn't work out, a chance, it all started to unravel and you saw the big picture for the first time."

"Yeah. You're right."

"And you're happy now?"

"Yeah. I am." He turned to me. "You've just put into words everything I've been feeling. Thank you." I smiled and he left the room.

I'd certainly never had talks like that, so interpersonal, with anybody else, even Fred.

I wondered why I had been thinking about that day as I readied the shop for opening. We'd finished the Pop-Up Places and had tested out each kind in each room of the flat. It was the big day: they would become available for purchase today.

George and I had worked tirelessly for this day. We'd figured out the mechanics, the designs, how to make them unsusceptable to undoing-jinxes, mass-produced them, and advertised them. Our hard work was about to pay off.

The customers streamed in all day, unceasing, like the homework I would get from Snape. I helped numerous people find what they needed, whether it was a woman purchasing for her grandchildren or a Hogwarts student planning to prank a professor. The change of pace was refreshing.

I must say, our Pop-Up Places were a best-seller. I could tell that George and I would have to work overtime on weekends in the near future to satisfy the demand. We did cause quite a stir. A reporter from the Daily Prophet even interviewed George. And overall, our sales were through the roof! Maybe some key advertising was really what we needed to keep the place going. I was beyond happy to see all the smiling faces and excited eyes walking through the aisles. I couldn't keep a smile off my own face for long. I rediscovered that this was what I loved - making people happy. Fred was there with us; I could just feel it. And I saw so many familiar faces - Harry and Ginn (together might I add), Neville, Luna, Katie and Alicia, Oliver, and the person I hadn't ever expected to see in the store: Hermione.

"Miracles really do happen," I whispered to George behind the counter as she walked in.

George's eyes danced when he caught sight of her. "What d'you reckon we do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, which product do we demonstrate?"

I looked at him and smirked. I knew exactly which one to use.

I grabbed a small, round, glass bottle with a stopper from under the counter and did my best to hide it in my hand as I walked over to greet her.

"Hermione!"

"Isabella!" She opened her arms for a hug, and I gladly gave her one.

"How've you been holding up?" I asked.

"Great, actually. I'm on the verge of discovering how to undo a Memory Charm."

"That's wonderful!" I said. "You're absolutely brilliant, 'Mione. I've no doubt that you will."

She looked down with a tinge of embarrassment, right at my hand. My heart sank. "What's that you've got?" she asked.

"Oh, this?" I raised it up for her to see. It had dark, puffy, swirling clouds inside. "It's broken, I need to take it into the back to fix it."

"What does it do?"

"Well, you're supposed to pull this stopper here - " I pointed to it and slightly loosened it. Then I dropped it on the ground. "Oops." The stopper gad slipped out when it hit the ground, so while Hermione had bent down to retrieve it for me, I backed away.

A second later, the dark clouds slid out of the bottle and filled the air over Hermione's head. A loud crack! Of thunder was heard, and just after she'd pulled her wand, the clouds opened, and the rains came pouring down, soaking her, but not the carpet, from head to toe.

I grinned, and soon enough I was laughing, alongside George who had watched the whole thing from the till. The customers near us chuckled quietly when they saw.

Hermione dropped her sopping arms down to her sides in defeat. "How have I not managed to learn I shouldn't trust you?" She looked at me coldly, but quickly her expression turned warm when a smile graced her features and she laughed along with us.

"I needed that," she admitted. The clouds began to dissipate, and she tried to dry herself off. "That must be why I came."

"You won't be able to do that for another ten minutes," I advised her. She sighed.

"And that," shouted George loudly, "was our very own Weather in a Bottle, available for purchase, located in aisle three. Get yours now!"

I turned to Hermione. "We better get out of the way."

She nodded. We ran to the counter just a stampede of people who'd seen the "demonstration" came rushing to the aisle we'd been standing near.

George chuckled. "There, Izzy, I've helped you get in your exercise in for the day."

"Oh, hush up." I punched him and rolled my eyes.

I looked back to Hermione. Her brows were furrowed in concentration as she looked at me, then George, then back to me again.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said unconvincingly. Then her eyes lit up. "Great mother of Merlin, I've done it!"

"What?" said George.

"I've figured it out! I know how to reverse a Memory Charm!"

"Amazing!"

She was so excited she could barely stop moving. She hugged me, which got me a little wet, and rushed to the door. "Bye, Izzy, bye, George. I'll see you sooner or later."

She was out the door and down the street before we could reply.