He'd known it was a mistake to come. As the dinner party continued around him, George made no attempt to join in the conversations, merely pushing the tasteless food around on his plate and avoiding eye contact. Not that anyone tried to force him into it. After months of dealing with his anger and sullenness, his family had learned when to butt in and when to leave him be. Of course they had also made him fully aware that they weren't avoiding him, that they were ready to engage him whenever he was ready. Somehow he just couldn't drag himself out of the misery he was mired in. But tonight he had attempted for his mother's sake. His brother Ron had convinced his future in-laws to visit them at the Burrow and his mother felt the whole family should be present to meet them. She had been gently nagging him all day to get out of bed and get cleaned up. It had taken awhile to find his dress clothes beneath the mess accumulated in his closet. They were all wrinkled even though they were surprisingly clean, and he had obviously lost weight.
But what else could be expected when he'd lost half himself. He and Fred had been in each other's company constantly and every moment alone was a reminder. His life was empty, his food tasteless, his world colorless. Desperately he wished to follow his twin into oblivion.
At some point dinner had ended and George wandered outside to the quiet and watched the sun slowly fade. He was surprised when Hermione's father came and stood beside him. "I know it's hardly my place to advise you, but have you seen anyone to discuss what you're going through?" The man looked over at him. "I mean we… Muggles… have people who meet and talk things through and help each other through their grief. Do you lot have something like that?"
"Oh sure." George answered with a quiet snort. "Cropping up all over, everyone lost someone in the war you know. Only they see those of us who fought as heroes and focus on how proud we should be of all we've done and blah, blah, blah." He moved his hand in a short curt gesture, dismissing that attitude. They he continued more softly, "Plus they're used to me being the jokester, the prankster, you know the happy one who will lift everyone's spirits. Only I can't."
Hermione's father nodded and said what George couldn't, "Like that part of you died with him." They sat silently for a few moments before he spoke again. "Perhaps if you were to go to a Muggle group. A place where no one knows you. I'd be happy to look into it for you if you're interested."
George thought that through for awhile. In the end he saw himself without any real sensible options. "Sure, why not?" he said finally. Hermione's father nodded again and left him to the quiet night.
Another night, another crowded room; George sat and listened as those around the circle spoke. Hermione's father had been right, grief was grief and magic had nothing to do with it. It was helping him feel slightly better to talk to these people. Now there were occasionally moments where he could think of Fred and smile. It had been hard for him the first time he told the group about his brother, but it was also the first time he'd really told anyone, because everyone else he spoke to had already known Fred to some degree. As he spoke the dam around his heart burst and thoughts he had forced away came loose. He hated to admit they hadn't always gotten along, and it was painful to speak of how much he missed Fred and how guilty he felt just being alive.
But the listeners understood. Voldemort's war had bled into the Muggle world in ways George hadn't guessed. Several of the grieving group members had lost family to vicious attacks which to him were obviously werewolves running rampant. Others had lost loved ones to unexplained, untraceable 'illnesses' which George was certain were curses.
Mary had lost her whole family that way. She told her story looking down at the floor, her hands twisting stray strings from her jacket cuffs. "I had to work that day, it was a Saturday. My parents decided to take my sister and the dog and go hiking at a park. I was so jealous and I almost called in sick, but I needed the money so I went to work anyway. They still weren't home when I was done, but I wasn't worried until they were late coming home for dinner. Around 7 o'clock I finally called the cops. Next day the rangers found them." She sighed softly in frustration. "No one will tell me how they died. The coroner even said 'cause of death:unknown'. It doesn't really matter to me what happened, it just matters that I'm alone." Mary swallowed hard and blinked back tears. "Of course then I feel like it's my own fault that I'm alone, because I could have been with them. I should have been with them."
"I don't believe those things happen for no reason, Mary." The group leader spoke gently. "There is a purpose for you to still be here, you just haven't found it yet." Then he turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Would any of you be willing to keep in touch with Mary between meetings? Help her combat her loneliness? "
George was surprised to see his own hand in the air as the leader acknowledged the few volunteers. He found himself glancing in her direction for the rest of the meeting. Once he pierced through the veil of sorrow shrouding her face, he could see that she was fairly young, about his own age anyway. Though she wasn't an outstanding beauty, he was willing to bet that she looked stunning when she was smiling. It had been awhile since he'd taken a second look at a girl, and with a pang of pain, he wished he could share his observations with Fred.
When the meeting was over the leader approached him and handed him a slip of paper. "Here's Mary's number so you can get a hold of her. She said if she wasn't home the answering machine would be on." George had no idea what any of that meant but he nodded and took the paper. It said Mary Evans and had a string of numbers below her name. As he left he wondered who could help him understand, and finally decided on Harry.
Getting Harry alone was easy, he just had to tell him he needed to talk. As they walked away from the Burrow he explained everything. George was amazed at how easy it was to talk about something besides Fred and the war. He almost felt normal again. Only if things were normal it would be Fred he'd be talking to and what a hearty laugh they'd have over the strange way Muggles do things!
"So then he says something about she has a number and a machine that answers things… didn't make any sense at all, totally a Muggle thing!" George shrugged his shoulders and cocked an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry laughed lightly. "Remember once Ron tried to call me on the telephone? The number he gave you rings this Mary's phone, and if she isn't around to talk then the machine will let you talk into it and leave her a message."
"Still strange, right?" George shook his head. He was silent, thinking for a moment. "But what would I say to her…", he thought aloud.
"I don't think you'd have to say much the first time, just ask after her. See if she's having a hard day. Just let her know someone cares." Harry was quiet a moment wondering how to word his question. "So… making friends with a Muggle?"
George shrugged. "Sounds like she needs one." Then he looked at Harry with a half-smile. "Gonna need some help with that though, I pretty much failed Muggle Studies."
They both laughed. George reflected he felt a little more himself as Harry patted him on the back.
"I've spoken to her nearly a dozen times between the telephone and the meetings." George confided again in Harry a few weeks later. "I'm not sure this is doing much good."
Harry hid a smile thinking that the attempts to help Mary had certainly done a lot of good for George. The man looked less haunted and more relaxed in the company of others since he'd started calling the girl. "Maybe it's just that she's on her own too much. I know that the best thing for me after the war was your mum insisting I come stay here instead of spending my time alone. Maybe you should ask her to meet somewhere."
"I have thought about that, only I'm not so sure about all the Muggle aspects. Where should we meet, what would we do, how do I manage Muggle money? I don't even have Muggle money!" George shook his head at the confusion. "So my friendly Muggle expert, any suggestions?"
"Well I think it's fairly obvious you can't handle this alone." A voice teased from the next room. Ron poked his head in the doorway grinning. "Hermione, I'm pretty sure George needs you!" He called back over his shoulder.
Hermione dashed into the room looking concerned. Her eyes fell on George. "Anything, anytime." She said firmly.
George was overwhelmed for a moment with the realization that at some point Ron's friends had become his own. Their love and care was more than he had ever expected. As his heart accepted this truth, he held in a smile as the prankster in him resurfaced. He leaned forward and spoke seriously. "You best sit down Hermione. Ron's right, I do need your help with something." He watched as she sat in a chair before him, biting her lip. Then he continued, "See there's this girl…", and he grinned.
"Oh you!" Hermione reached forward and smacked him on the knee. Rolling her eyes exasperated, she added, "Boys!"
They all laughed a bit, as much in relief that he'd pulled a joke on Hermione as the joke itself. Then George said, "Seriously though there is a girl, but she's a Muggle." He went on to explain how he'd gone to the grief meetings and agreed to reach out to Mary; much to the astonishment of Ron and Hermione. "So I've been muddling through okay, but I'm not sure I know enough to do anything more."
"You really feel you need to do more?" Hermione asked. At his nod, she gave him her full attention saying, "Tell us as much as you can about her."
"Her name's Mary Evans, she's round about our ages. Her mum's family lives 'across the pond', whatever that means; and her dad was an only child, had two cousins they had no contact with, but all the grandparents have passed; so far as her family goes, she's got none. She's a bookworm like you Hermione, and she's crazy about animals, really misses her family dog. I told her she should get another, but she's just unsure about pretty much everything yet. From what I understand her parents had something called insurance and that's keeping paid her house and bills for now." George shrugged. "She doesn't talk much about herself, mostly when I talk to her she's asking about all of you." He grinned, surprising them all with how easily he did it. "It's been interesting trying to tell her about things round here and not mention magic."
Harry looked thoughtful. "Evans huh?" The others glanced at him, instantly understand his point. "Wonder if she could find out the names of those cousins."
"Wouldn't that be something?" Ron said, coming the rest of the way into the room and sitting beside Hermione.
"You look like you've got an idea." George addressed Hermione.
She had been thinking and straightened up in her seat as if she'd just come to a conclusion. "You said you've been telling her about us. Perhaps she'd like to meet us?" She glanced at the others asking their acceptance of her idea. "That way George, you wouldn't have to concern yourself with Muggle customs or anything. Harry and I could help you."
"Ginny too?" Harry asked.
"Maybe…" Hermione said, "the only thing is… well Ron and I are together, and you and Ginny are together; is this Mary going to think George is trying to get her as his girl?" The she looked at George again, "Or are you?"
George sat there with his mouth open unable to answer. It was such a simple question wasn't it? Why would he look twice at a Muggle? Yet he admitted he'd been terribly concerned for her welfare. To the point where there was an evening where he had fought with himself over whether or not to call her, and felt tremendously relieved to hear her voice when she answered. There was only one answer. "I don't know."
After a moment of stunned silence, Harry said, "Wouldn't that be something!" They all laughed as George threw his hands into the air, clueless.
As the next grief meeting came to a close the leader passed around flyers. "There's a local fair this weekend. It would be good for some of you to get out and try to enjoy yourselves a little."
George stared at the flyer in his hand trying to understand everything it said. Most of it made sense. He did wonder what people rode on 'rides', and what exactly Muggles called 'entertainment'. Perhaps this was the kind of thing he could do with Mary and bring his friends along too. He was so busy thinking it through that he didn't notice when she came over to him.
"Are you going to go?" She asked.
"I think I might." He answered smiling at her. "How about you?"
"I'd like to." She said hesitantly. "I always enjoyed seeing the animal exhibits, especially the horses. And some of my favorite foods are fair foods; and I love the rides, sometimes I feel like I'm flying." For a moment her face lit up, then a shadow passed over her eyes. "I don't know though, there's so many memories…"
"Then you'll need to make some new memories so it doesn't hurt so much." George said gently. "You know, I will probably go with my brother Ron and his friends, you should walk 'round with us. That'll make it easier for you."
"These are the friends you've told me so much about?" As he nodded she added, "Well then it wouldn't be like being with strangers would it?"
As they made plans on where and when to meet George felt his heart felt lighter than it had in a very long time. Again he questioned his motives and decided he would just let things continue to play out on their own and see where he and Mary ended up.
Getting Harry and Ron and Hermione in on the idea was the easy part. Getting out without his parents finding out exactly what they were doing turned out to be impossible. In the end, when his mum threatened to follow him to see what he was up to, George decided to spill everything. There was silence around the dinner table when he was done.
"A Muggle fair. Fascinating!" His dad finally said.
His mum looked torn between joy that her son was moving past his grief and astonishment that there were Muggles involved. As she considered the possibility that he might actually be interested in this girl, she put a hand to her spinning head. Then with a small effort she pulled herself together. She looked at her husband's excited face and suggested, "Maybe we should go too dear."
The end result was that Arthur borrowed a couple of vehicles and the whole group piled in for a 'muggle excursion'. Harry and Ginny rode with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley while Ron and Hermione rode with George. "I hope we don't scare Mary." Hermione remarked. "The whole lot of us descending on her."
As they walked to the fair entrance George spotted her waiting. She had pulled her long hair into a ponytail and was wearing a t-shirt with a shaggy red colored dog. She looked nervous, scanning the crowd of fair goers. George hoped they weren't about to shock her too badly. Was he imagining it or was that relief coming over her face as she finally spied him?
Mary smiled shyly as introductions were made. It wasn't long though before she and Hermione were chatting away as if they'd been friends for ages. Ginny joined them as they walked around looking at all the different craft vendors. The three men followed behind occasionally making comments about girls and their shopping. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went their own way. They saw the animals next, the girls cooing over the little lambs and baby calves; the men mocking them and everyone laughing.
When they came to the rides, they rode them as couples. Mary sighed as she and George sat in a seat behind Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny beyond them. "What's that for?" George asked.
"Do you mind?" Mary said without looking him in the eye. "That they have each other and you're alone?"
"It is a bit of a pain with them drooling all over each other, and listening to the cooing and pet names." George laughed. "But for some reason it's not really bothering me today." He added and put an arm around her shoulders.
Mary looked at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh I'm so glad to be of service!" She said sarcastically.
"Yes, of course." George said in a pompous voice. "But I'm afraid my dear I may have need of your services on a more regular basis."
"Well I'll have to check my calendar." She answered her eyes sparkling with the laughter she was holding in. "Perhaps we could come to some kind of agreement."
George laughed loudly and pulled Mary close. He felt as though nothing would make him happier than to spend every moment with her. Then a nagging little voice reminded him that he still had to tell her about his life as a wizard.
Some time later as George waited with Harry and Ron for the girls to get out of the loo, Ron clapped him on the back. "Sly dog. I seen you holding her hand." He said. "She really seems nice, you know, for a Muggle."
"Yeah, 'bout that." George made a grimace. "I can't imagine what she'll think of me being a wizard. How in the world do I tell her about that?"
Harry grinned. "Ginny's already working on that. She's already found out that Mary wishes unicorns were real, and she would love to fly." Then he smiled broader. "And she's really falling for you." He spied the girls coming back. "I think she's open to the truth. Your real problem is how you mum will react."
George groaned. "One problem at a time okay?!"
Mrs. Weasley cornered Ginny and Ron that night to get their impressions on Mary. The longer she thought about it, the less important it was that the girl George was obviously interested in was a Muggle. Much more important was the fact that he had come out of his depression and was smiling again. He was even talking about reopening the store and ideas for new prank items. Arthur of course thought it was all wonderful and couldn't wait to talk to the girl all about Muggle life. Mrs. Weasley decided to be sneaky and have Hermione invite Mary to dinner at the Burrow and surprise George.
Hermione was surprised by the request but right away joined in on the meddling. She convinced Ginny to go with her to talk to Mary; and Harry and Ron to talk George into going that day to check on the shop. After all, all sorts of things would need his attention after so long an absence!
To say they took Mary by surprise was an understatement, but Hermione explained to her all about the wizarding world and Ginny cut into the 'lesson' with interesting anecdotes. Before long Mary recovered from the shock and began showing interest and asking questions. To her it seemed too good to be true, a whole magical world opening up in front of her! But then she wondered what George could possibly see in boring non-magical her?
When they reached the Burrow she was glad they'd explained so much to her. They arrived outside and Mary stared at the home which could only be held together by magic. At first when they went inside things looked normal, if eclectic but when she took a closer look Mary began to see things that just didn't seem to fit like the owl watching her from the windowsill. Hermione was just explaining about the special mail carrier when they heard shouting outside. Looking through the window they saw George yelling at Ron and Harry before turning and storming away over the hilltop.
Without a word, Mary ran out after him, ignoring Ron's "I wouldn't if I were you." As she approached the top of the hill, she could see that George hadn't gotten much farther but had fallen to his knees with head bowed and fists clenched. Mary went to him, kneeling down beside him and holding his fist in her hands, and waited quietly for the wave of grief to subside.
George didn't realize at first who had come to him, but he was grateful all the same for the wordless comfort and support. Facing the store had been necessary but difficult. It was impossible to look around and not see Fred in everything; remembering developing this product and experimenting on each other for that one. He was glad his friend Lee had agreed to run the shop because he couldn't see himself going there everyday. Lee also agreed to make more of the existing prank products as long as George would come up with new ones. By the time the visit was over, George had had as much as he could take and felt an unreasonable surge of anger that he of course took out on Ron and Harry.
As his anger spent itself in tears, he slowly found it easier to breath and loosened his grip enough to clasp the hand of whoever was with him, and began to wonder to who it was. With his free hand he wiped his face dry and took a deep breath. George was amazed when he finally looked over to see Mary and gathered her into his arms. As she snuggled her head against his chest he sighed deeply. Just having her there offering him love and comfort and strength meant he could finally let go of the anger and grief and start his life over again. In that moment that was all that mattered, not how she'd gotten there or whether or not they had a future together. "Ah love," he said in a hoarse whisper. "I'm awfully glad you're here."