Golden Boy

14. The Leaky Cauldron

After that afternoon with Fred, Camellia was on Cloud Nine.

Fred was fully recovered from the injuries he sustained from the gekslinger thanks to Camellia's aid, and while they'd been upstairs, George had called the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

Before heading downstairs, Fred grabbed Camellia's arm and spun her around to face him. He looked uncharacteristically innocent with his wet hair and peaceful smile, and he took his wand from his pocket.

"You're wet," he said with a chuckle. "We can't both be wet from the shower when there's only one, can we?"

Camellia giggled, and she stood in front of him as he performed the drying charm on her. Her clothes suddenly became dry and warm, as did her hair, and she gave Fred a kiss on the cheek before they both headed down the steps to the shop.

"Oi, Fred!" came George's voice from below them.
"You feeling better, mate?"

"Yeah, much better," his twin replied, walking over to meet him at the bottom of the stairs. "Something wrong here?"

George crossed his arms and huffed irritably. "I called the damn Ministry, said they won't be here for another hour. Apparently there's a Cornish pixie infestation over in some Muggle house in Guilford- not sure why that should take so long, I mean this lot dealt with Cornish pixies in, what, second or third year?" -he gestured angrily at Ron, Harry, and Hermione- "So we're going to have to keep that thing in the attic stunned until they get here. And we still can't fix the heat because of that, and re-opening is in a few days, and Angelina wrote me with another problem she's got with me today, and-"

"George, mate, it's alright," Fred said, putting a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll deal with the gekslinger and get that out of the way, then I can go back up and fix the heat, no problem. And re-opening is going to go just fine, you know that."

George clenched his jaw and nodded with a frustrated sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around the shop, surely for more issues he needed to add to his to-do list.

"What's going on with Angelina?" asked Ginny sweetly. "You've mentioned it a bit before, but I didn't know it was stressing you this much."

George rolled his eyes. "It's really nothing. She just keeps writing me and complaining about how we haven't spent much time together lately, even though it'll now be the third date she's canceled with me. I understand Healing school is difficult, but she won't even talk to me about it. She just blames me for not coming to visit her more often, even though she knows I've got the shop to run. And when I do offer, she's too busy! I don't even know what to say at this point!"

There was a moment of silence. It was rare to see George upset about anything, and this situation with Angelina seemed to be striking a particularly sensitive nerve. Ginny walked up to him and hugged him, and he hugged her back, but his mind was clearly still caught up in his frustration.

"Look, take your mind off the shop, alright?" said Fred. "I can handle it, and I'll deal with the Ministry people when they get here. Go get yourself a drink, mate, we'll have dinner ready when you get back. Maybe we could watch something on the television now that Dad's set it up for us."

George nodded silently, then looked at his twin with an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Freddie," he said softly, and he made his way back up to the apartment.

Once he was out of earshot, Ron sighed. "Never thought he and Angelina would be fighting like this. They've always been fine, s'far as I can tell."

Fred shook his head, his eyes on the staircase that his brother had just gone up. "No, they've been having some trouble for a while now, George has been telling me. Frankly, I'm really cross with Angelina and I think she needs to make a decision about him like an adult instead of leading him on like this. But, of course, I can't talk to her, so it's just something they'll have to resolve themselves. I just hate seeing George like this."