Two Become One [Harry Potter One Shot]

 Like everybody else in the world, George Weasley grew old. However, in the minds of his friends and family this seemed a strange occurrence. They were under the impression that he would be forever young, joined at the hip with Fred and excelling in their business, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. But when Fred’s untimely death shook the foundations of George’s world, the future he dreamed of became little more than a childish fantasy. He still struggled to cope with the concept of their duo being hacked apart.

 After a lot of thought, he came to the decision to close the shop for a few weeks while he dealt with his grief, but as weeks turned into months, George’s business crumbled. After two long years of pondering, he closed the shop for good, watching as another business took over, eradicating the potential the shop had once held. But what is the point in a joke shop when no one is laughing? He thought.

  As years dragged on, his siblings married, his friends snagged high flying jobs and the wizarding world began to settle into normality, leaving George trailing behind, grasping at broken dreams and the life he could have once had. But Fred would always be one step away from him. Deep down, George knew that. But it doesn’t hurt to dream.

 In the summer of 2003, George Weasley found himself in a park on a bench, watching his surroundings. Muggles milled around him. He saw a couple kissing under the summer sun, children playing catch and parents watching on with pride. If Fred had been there, they might have made a joke about kids. How they never planned to have any. They’d never been the settling kind. At least, Fred hadn’t. It had always been the two of them. There wasn’t any room in their plans for other people. But George thought it could be nice, as he sat there watching the families and the couples and the smiling people. It would be nice, he thought, to have someone to share everything with. Someone to help unload some of the troubles from his life and tidy them away out of sight. Of course, he had his family, but they hardly counted. They were living the same pain as he was.

 George could smell barbeque food from a vendor van across the grass. He wondered how long it had been since he went out for a meal. It was one of the rare times he left the house, that day. He hadn’t seen any of his old friends in a long time, though they sent him Christmas cards every year, accompanied by a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans. Fred and George’s favourites. But with only half of the duo left, the sweets were given to Ron’s children, or else abandoned at the back of the kitchen cupboard. It wasn’t the same without him.

 George tuned back into reality when he heard a child crying. He scanned the park, and discovered that a young girl had dropped her ice cream cone. George fished some Muggle coins out of his pocket and approached the child, handing the little girl the money to buy another ice cream.

 “There you go. Try not to drop this one!” he said with a ghost of a smile. The girl looked at him with her big brown eyes, wiping away her tears and her lips forming a smile. Not stopping to say thank you, she ran off to the ice cream van to collect another icy delicacy.

 “Thankyou, sir. That was very kind of you.”

 George stood up and turned to see who had spoken to him. The woman who he faced widened her eyes in sudden recognition.

 “George,” she whispered, taken aback. Her hand went to her lips in shock.

 “…Angie. You haven’t changed a bit,” George said, smiling slightly. And it was true. Angelina Johnson was the same as she’d ever been, but in some ways, it was obvious she’d grown up. She had makeup brushed across her bronze skin. She was still broad shouldered, but not unfeminine, and her hair was swept from around her face into a tight braid. George noted that she looked a little out of place in the Muggle area, with a long black cloak swishing around her ankles and a wand peeping from inside her inner pocket. But what George noted most of all was that she was beautiful. He wondered how he had never noticed that during his time with her in Hogwarts. In truth, he’d never had much time for girls, unlike Fred, but he couldn’t help feeling he’d looked straight through Angelina all those years. But he noticed then, as Angelina pulled him into a tight hug and he could smell her floral scent. She hugged him for a long time. It was like she thought letting go would finally finish him off, making him crumble like cake. As she pulled away tentatively, he swore she had tears in her eyes.