A/N: First, a disclaimer... I don't own Harry Potter or anything within the Potter-verse, which all belong to J.K. Rowling and I'm only borrowing for a short period to bother George and Ron relentlessly.
Second, this fic had no beta, however I checked spell check often and re-read a few times and if that's not good enough then you can beta for me ;D
Rain poured heavily over the little houses littered around the outskirts of Bristol, the clouds throwing great shadows over the lush green lawns that were thriving in the springtime. While muggles were the predominant inhabitants of the suburb, a small few were living a double life, possessing extraordinary abilities that most humans only dreamed about, all possible from the swish of a wand in the air, a community within the muggle community, of wizards and witches.
The town itself was as normal as any other. People hopped in their cars each morning and drove to work, gardens were tamed by gardeners or some tended to theirs themselves, children (weather permitting) would play outside on their lawn and sometimes in the street. Six months ago the scene would have been much different; everyone knew there was some sort of rift going on, people were being taken from their homes, others murdered, no one felt safe: anyone could have been a victim.
The peaceful nature of the small town now back to normality, none would assume that several magical families took residence in the average two bedroom households that lined the streets, none would imagine that behind closed doors mysterious and exciting things were happening every day, to muggles things they couldn't imagine, to the others it was just normal necessary behaviour.
Granted normal 'muggle' behaviour was displayed in these magical homes too, and this morning was no different to any other muggle's house. The smell of bacon and eggs wafted from the kitchen through the hallways, the sound of a television at low volume showing the news, the loud snores of one still asleep heard through the crack in the barely open door.
"Ron!" Called a voice in the kitchen, already knowing she'd receive no answer. "Ronald Weasley," Hermione Granger pushed the door open, staring at the tuft of red hair peeking out from above the quilt, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated fashion. "I go to all this trouble of making you a cooked breakfast and you fall back to sleep,"
"Cooked breakfast?" Ron mumbled from beneath the bed covers. He sniffed the air and pushed himself into a sitting position, smiling up at Hermione whose face went from angry to amused almost instantly.
"Yes and I'll eat it all myself if you don't get out of bed this instant." She stood, arms folded in the doorway, Hermione meant business. As much as one can when dressed in nothing but their pyjamas.
Ron grinned, got out of bed and closed the short distance between them, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks 'Mione." He kissed her lips and her nose, leading them both back into the kitchen. The eggs and bacon were in the pan, the eggflip turning them over by itself periodically as the lot sizzled loudly. "That looks amazing, what did I do to deserve this meal?" Ron questioned, dropping into one the dining chairs, taking on a look of suspicion.
Hermione shrugged, opening one of the windows just in time to allow a tawny owl to flutter gracefully in, dropping a wet copy of the Daily Prophet on the table. It stuck its leg out impatiently, flying off once it had received payment and she closed the window once more. "It's a nice weekend-"
"It doesn't look very nice to me…" He muttered back, staring out the window where the wind blew harshly and the rain lashed against the glass, the noise of the television set unable to compete it was silenced in the background. "But that's not to say I don't appreciate what you've done for me sweety." He quickly corrected when he caught the look on her face. Hermione began dishing up their meal while Ron grabbed his wand off the kitchen counter, to begin attempting to siphon off the water that left the Prophet moist.
"Well it's a nice weekend for a cooked breakfast then," She began once more using her wand to transfer the meal to two plates, putting both down on the table, one in front of Ron the other in front of her own chair. She sat down across from him and smirked. "I also have some good news and thought we could celebrate." She paused, awaiting his reaction.
Ron looked up from the egg he was about to cut into, giving Hermione a curious glance, his excitement mirroring Hermione's own. "What good news?"
She passed a thick roll of parchment across the table, breaking into a full-fledged grin, shaking lightly from where her foot continuously tapped the wooden floor beneath her chair. "Oh go on, open it!" she looked ready to explode as he unrolled the letter, his eyes scanning the page as quickly as he could manage.
"Miss Granger, we are pleased to inform you that the Ministry of Magic has accepted your application to join its staff in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." He spoke as quickly as he could, skimming through the rest of the letter with an amused look on his face. Forgetting the bacon and eggs momentarily he jumped to his feet and pulled Hermione (difficultly as she was still in her chair) into a hug, kissing her quickly all over her shocked but happy face. "I can't believe it, you got in!"
Hermione giggled slightly, patting him awkwardly on the head as she didn't currently have full use of her arms. "Well, to be quite honest I wasn't really surprised. I'm not trying to sound stuck up-"
"But you're going to anyway,"
She ignored him. "But before we left Hogwarts I had the highest grades in our year and the Minister must be a little biased, being Kingsley Shacklebolt and all…" She finished matter-of-factly.
Ron smirked at her, shaking his head with exasperation. "Well we can't all be little geniuses." He walked back to his seat, resuming his position of cutting his egg once more. The telephone by the table rang, Ron paused, egg halfway to his mouth, frowning his distaste at whoever was calling, their timing couldn't have been worse. "I'll get it,"
Picking up the phone he put it to his ear, smiling at the voice on the other end of the line.
"Hi Ron,"
"George, it's great to hear from you." Ron meant it; it wasn't often now that he spoke to George, simply because George didn't really speak to anyone unless they made the effort first. George was currently living in an apartment within central London, he said he preferred being around muggles as it helped him forget. Hermione believed he preferred the muggle atmosphere as it disconnected him from the magic, which subsequently killed his twin.
Ron just thought George was avoiding his family because he was being a big git, but despite this he still didn't want to scare George off, or insult him, this was a rare opportunity and he wasn't about to waste it.
"I know its short notice but I hope you'd be able to visit today."
Ron's eyebrows rose, this was an unexpected development. "Uh, sure!" Ron was aware he may be neglecting all of Hermione's weekend plans by agreeing to see his brother, but on the other hand he may not get another chance (Hermione wasn't likely to tell him no) and so he was happy to oblige. "What time would you like me to drop around?" The two made their plans for that afternoon, Hermione of course was fine with his decision, agreeing it would be good for both of them to see one another.
~o~o~o~
Ron apparated into the living room of George's London apartment, glancing around for the aforementioned George, his eyes spotted a face peering out through the kitchen and Ron waved awkwardly in his direction laugh lines thrown into sharp relief as he grinned. They embraced momentarily, exclaiming over one another's slight changes in appearance and manner (despite it being only six months each had grown up considerably- if no longer upward then at least Ron now more muscular fitting into his previous lanky appearance, and George more lean making him appear larger then he perhaps was).
George's face was still that of someone who held humour, his eyes maintained the old sparkle, but his face appeared somewhat gaunt in other areas. His mouth turned down at the corners, the crease lines on his forehead more prominent- Ron kept these thoughts to himself, George did not ask him here to fuss over him and assure (as their mother Molly Weasley would have) that he was eating adequately.
Ron knew that there was something more to this meeting then just a simple phone call could convey, if they were to speak long distance it would traditionally be by owl, the phone call itself displayed urgency in what George required.
"I'm aware I called you here short notice…" George began, grabbing some clothes littering the couch and putting them somewhere out of sight so Ron could sit down. "I'm not asking for charity and I certainly don't want to cause you or Hermione to feel a sense of obligation," He continued, sitting down on the wooden coffee table that was facing the couch. "I do however need some help, and to be honest you were the only person I could think of that I wanted to ask."
Ron smiled encouragingly. "I'll try to help however I can, I'm not certain I'll be able to fulfil all your requests but the sentiments still there."
George almost grinned. "I appreciate the sentiment Ron," He quipped sarcastically. "Though it's sort of only one request, with a few parts." He watched Ron's eyebrows knot in confusion and couldn't help but give him a slight smile this time. "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes has been sitting neglected for six months, ever since the-" He tried to finish his sentence but hesitated as the word 'war' caught in his throat. He didn't pick up that line again, preferring to skip over it entirely; he still wasn't all for discussing certain memories with anyone, including Ron. "I finally feel it has been long enough, I was hoping to restore it to its former glory. The place costs a lot to keep; I'm running out of the funds to supply. I either sell it- I could never- or pick up business once more. I can't work back there on my own… not without my- our brother…" George paused to let Ron process all he had said.
Ron looked thoughtful. He would have loved nothing more than to jump up and say 'yes of course!' but he had commitments at home that he couldn't just drop, a life outside his family now (he couldn't consider this lightly, even unfortunately for his brother). Of course Ron was the only logical choice here- no one else would be so willing to help George fix up and then continue the business his brothers had painstakingly started with no funding or family support at the beginning.
"I would love to help but I'll need to discuss it with Hermione first, you understand." George nodded his face completely calm as if expecting this answer from Ron from the beginning. "Will this role require financial support?" George shook his head.
"I still have enough money to restore the building; I can't leave it any longer though. I was looking for a business partner however; you were the first person that I thought would most closely cover Fred's side of the business." He didn't flinch to say the name; he was proud of his brother and would never shy away from him despite his tragic death, the circumstances surrounding his death however George found hard to mention in casual conversation or otherwise.
"Well, thanks George." Ron replied rather lamely, his own cheeks clashing with his freckles as he blushed a light maroon. "I'll get back to you as soon as I can, as soon as I've spoken to Hermione."
George nodded, calm and collected as he stood once more, smiling down at Ron. "Thanks for coming."
"It was my pleasure," they hugged once more, Ron stepped back and with a loud pop had vanished from the threshold. George sighed, spun around and collapsed back to the couch. That took a lot of courage, it had been hard to appear less vulnerable then he felt he was.