Postquam Praelium is my first serious attempt at writing fanfiction, taking place shortly after the final battle at Hogwarts. I'm going to try to stick as close to canon as possible, though if I fudge a few things here and there, it would be great if someone would let me know. Also, I used an online translator for English to Latin for the title,(It should mean "after the battle") and I'm not sure if it's correct or not. If anyone here's good with Latin, it would be real fab if you could tell me if it's right or not. With that said, let's begin.

Chapter One

"Lumos!"

It was midnight, and Number 93, Diagon Alley was engulfed in pitch blackness, broken only by the beam of light emanating from George Weasley's wand.

Number 93, Diagon Alley was home to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the joke shop that Fred and George had opened up after leaving Hogwarts during their seventh year. There were shelves lined up against the walls, containing Skiving Snack Boxes, Fake wands with varying effects, Wildfire Whiz-Bangs, and various other items of mischief which George and his twin brother, Fred had invented together. The shop proved to be quite profitable, and was particularly popular among Hogwarts students.

"And to think that mum said all our work on the shop would never amount to anything, eh, Fred?"

An overwhelming sadness swept unto George at saying that. Despite having been at the mass funeral for the more than fifty who had lost their lives in the final battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters at Hogwarts, including his brother Fred, he still couldn't get over the fact that his brother was gone. It had had happened so quickly, there was no chance to say goodbye. The two had rarely been apart, ever since they were very young, they had always done everything together. Yet now...

"Damn it, Fred, how could they only kill you? Why did they have to separate us, why couldn't they have killed us both? At least we would have still been together." George said to himself, in between sobs.

He slumped to the ground and leaned against a counter, staring blankly at the wall. Until...

There was a sharp knock on the door, a voice called out from outside.

"George, you in there? It's me, Percy,"

"What the hell are you doing here?! I wanted to be alone!"

"Can I come in?"

"Door's unlocked."

Percy entered the joke shop. He had never been there before, he was always to busy doing work for the Ministry of Magic,

"Why'd you come here?" said George in a frustrated tone. "I said that I wanted to be alone, didn't I?"

Percy sighed. "Mum's been worried sick ever since you stormed off earlier today, she sent me out to search for you."

"Well, you can see I'm fine can't you? Why don't you go home and tell Mum that she doesn't have to worry about me."

"I'm not going to leave you alone like this. Look, I understand what you're going th-"

"NO YOU DON'T, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND A BLOODY THING!" Shouted George, angrily.

"George..."

"You have no idea what it's like! I didn't just lose a brother when Fred died, I lost a part of myself, and the best damn friend I've ever had! But what the hell would you understand about that, you were always too damn absorbed in your job at the Ministry to care about your own ruddy family!"

"I did what I felt I had to at the time! He was my brother too, you know! How do you think he'd feel seeing you like this? You're acting pathetic!"

"Percy..." George said softly. "I didn't mean to blow up at you like that, it's just..."

The two brothers embraced, George sobbing into Percy's shoulder.

"Look, let's just go home, alright? Poor old Mum's probably still awake waiting for us." Percy said.

George locked up the shop and they made their way home.

"Percy, it alright if we stop at the Leaky Cauldron for a sec, I could really go for some fire-whisky right about now"

End of Chapter One

Sorry about the rather short length, I'll make sure that chapters after this one are longer, but I kind of wanted to get this uploaded now, before it became yet another victim of procrastination.

Anyways, reviews would be greatly appreciated, and may help me to write faster. Any criticism is welcome, so long as it's constructive. So, tell me what you think,