A Timely Encounter

by Xedra

George has never managed to cope with the trauma of losing his twin. He no longer has any interest in his business or in much of anything anymore and his days pass by in dull blur. A timely encounter with an old friend may be just the thing to make him interested in life again.

George Weasley dragged himself out of bed around noon, threw a dressing gown over his pajamas, and thumped his way down the stairs that lead to a short corridor connecting his rooms above Wheezes to the small break room behind the main room of the shop.

He shuffled over to the counter and waved a hand to remove the stasis charm Ron had left on the coffee pot. He filled a mug with the strong brew and sipped at it, running his thumb up and down the fancy capital letter F printed on the side. Long minutes passed as he sipped and stared at nothing.

A spectacular boom shook the walls, followed by the sound of squawking chickens. George set down the mug and pushed away from the counter to go investigate.

He poked his head into the R & D room and it was immediately covered by a blast downy white feathers. In fact, every inch of the room was covered in mounds of feathers that were showering down from the ceiling. Two rather large mounds in the middle of the room began shaking and giggling, so George stepped back and closed the door to leave Seamus and Dean to their experiment.

Ron had brought them in five years ago to take over the Research and Development of new products for the shop and despite their fondness for creating new and interesting ways for things to explode, they were a creatively brilliant team and the shop had never been busier. It was just one in a million good decisions Ron had made since taking on the management of the shop. He'd surprised everyone, most of all himself, with how well he took to the responsibility of running the business. He'd flourished under the challenge and George had been so proud the day he'd made him a full partner.

He made his way down to Ron's office and peaked inside to see his little brother contentedly scratching away at his piles of paperwork. as he stepped inside, Ron looked up and smiled warmly at him.

"Hiya. Sleep alright?" When George just shrugged, Ron nodded. The lack of circles under his brother's eyes told him George had been sleeping better, so he didn't push.

Noticing the feathers clinging to George's hair and clothes, he grinned. "They're still working on a variation of some Muggle thing called a Glitter Bomb." George hummed in response and leaned against the desk. He plucked a few feathers from his hair and made them dance in his palm for a few moments before letting them float to the floor.

"Your package arrived from St Mungo's this morning," Ron said and handed over the small parcel of mood stabilizer potions. He grinned when George took it with a smirk and a salute, but the moment George turned and walked back out of his office, the grin fell from his face and pinched into a familiar expression of helplessness and concern.