Unlikely || George Weasley

Chapter 13 - Tourists

London, June 19 1998

George was beginning to understand his father's fascination with muggles. With all the colour, noise and chaos of the city in summer, he was sure they had a magic of their own.

They were in no rush, and Hermione was endlessly patient with George and Ginny as they asked a stream of questions, gazing around in wonder as they left wizarding London far behind. George tried hard not to look clueless, he had come through muggle London to get to St Mungo's a handful of times before, but he found it all incredibly overwhelming in the best way. Hermione had an indulgent smile on her face, clearly amused at their reactions.

"What's that?"

"They're called traffic lights. They control the flow of cars, so nobody crashes into each other. Green for go, red for stop."

"Wow. And that, in the wall?"

"An ATM. Dispenses muggle money from the bank."

"Cool! And what's that?"

"That's a bin lorry, Ginny. People put their rubbish out one day a week, and it gets collected."

"...weird."

There was so much to process that he struggled to keep up with the road signs and place names they passed, the streets of concrete and billboards merging into one. They walked far from the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione confidently in the lead but making sure he and Ginny didn't get left behind. She tried to stop them pointing too eagerly and from drawing attention to themselves, but the muggles walked by without looking twice at them. They seemed quite busy, with their heads down, striding with purpose and ignoring them. Hermione said the muggles were very used to tourists.

George loved the anonymity of it all.

However, there were an awful lot of people in muggle London, far more than in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, which felt miniscule in comparison. He kept accidentally walking into people when he wasn't looking where he was going. George cursed himself internally that he'd never really thought to cross through the wall and investigate the city that was on the other side. How had he not been more curious? It was so similar and yet... so different. He made a mental note to drag Fred along with him next time – although, they'd probably need either Harry or Hermione to come too.

We'd definitely get lost otherwise.

Despite her earlier protests, Hermione seemed to have a keen sense of direction and knew her way round better than she'd let on. In true tour guide fashion, she explained in a clear and authoritative voice what they were passing, which was mainly statues of people George and Ginny had never heard of, and other landmarks or important buildings like the museums.

He knew their dad would lose his mind over the art galleries and fancy looking museums. Maybe I could take him for his birthday? He'd love that.

"I came here once when I was little," Hermione said to him as Ginny read the descriptive poster by the entrance to the Natural Science museum. "In year five, I think, on a school trip. There was a lot of walking, and I don't remember much about the exhibits. But it was a good day." She smiled sadly, lost in memories.

George suddenly felt an ache of envy. "You went on school trips?"

Hermione nodded, looking at him in surprise. "Yeah, didn't you?"

"No, never. We didn't go to a primary school, Mum home-schooled us. We couldn't afford days out. It was mayhem, Mum trying to teach Percy, me and Fred, Ron and Ginny at the same time."