Disclamier; nothing belongs to me.
Title; That Healing Thing
Chapter One
You can't really say that it gets easier with time. They say that time will heal your wounds. But is that really true? Can time really heal your wounds? Don't think so. Time doesn't heal, it just makes it easier to live with your wound, and it doesn't make it any less deep.
The wound that George felt when Fred died is still there. It still feels like he has a dagger stabbed into his heart, and he can't take it out. It's still there; he has to go through every day with it. When he laughs it hurts even more. When he cries it hurts less, but he can't spend the rest of his life crying, can he?
1'944 days have passed since his death, since George last saw the smiling face if his brother. 5 years, three months and 26 days. George is now at the age of 25, and he still run the joke shop that he and Fred once started.
It seemed almost impossible to believe that it have been such a long time. George walked past a window over the main street; the most of those people out there was out making a last minute shopping before the new term at Hogwarts. His shop on the other hand was pretty much deserted; all the naughty kids get sent to bed early, like his mother used to say.
Gorge continued past the window and out into the back room, more known as the storage room. Their office was back there; still with two desks, it had been Fred's idea to have the desks with the fronts toward each other. The first one, the left one, had always belonged to George, the second one, the right one, had changed owner several times over the years.
First had the desk belonged to Fred, obviously, but when Fred died had the desk gone into the care of Ron for the next three and half year, who George had generously given a job as he was going through the Auror training program. Then had been empty for six months, then George had offered a companion ship to Verity, who had worked in the shop ever since they started, or could afford to have an employee more exactly. Verity had over the years become more as a friend to George than an employee, and there was no chance in hell that the two of them would ever become a couple, besides, Verity had been married since the year after Fred had died.
George walked out of the office and once he saw that the shop was completely empty. He looked tiredly up at the watch on the wall, ten to six. Ten minutes left until the shop closed. He considered in his head the thought of closing the shop early, sighing to himself at the thought that he might lose customers because of it, he sat down on the floor behind the counter, under there he took out the Firewhisky bottle he kept in store there, it was lucky him that Verity hadn't found it, she wouldn't have done anything, but he didn't like the thought of letting her know that he had been drinking on the work place one time or another.
George had a very high tolerance for alcohol, so half a glass wouldn't make him get all drunken, it might have before Fred died, but certainly not now.
The doorbell above the door rang and George sighed. Did they have to disturb him? He closed the bottle and put it back, if he stood up and offered them his help maybe he could pester them to leave so that he could close the shop earlier. He sighed again and took a piece of chocolate into his mouth, didn't want them to smell the alcohol on his breath.
When he stood up and surveyed the shop, he noticed that in front of the tank filled with pygmy puffs was a little five year old girl. She wasn't alone though, her parents were probably the other two people in the shop who George couldn't identify. There was something about this little girl that spoke to him, he put the rest of the chocolate in his pocket and walked up to the girl, where he kneeled down so that he could speak to her.
"You fancy the pygmy puffs I see?" He said to her.
"Oh." She said and turned her face toward him. "Yes sir I do." She answered in a polite voice. "They are in so many pretty colours."
"In the beginning did we only manage to get them into the colours of pink and purple." George said to her with a smile.
"Those are also pretty colours, sir." The little girl answered. George couldn't help but to think that he knew this girl, something familiar about her.
"Don't call me sir, I don't like when people call me sir." George said. "Call me George. What's your name?"
"Jamie." She answered.
This little girl was so adorable, with her brown hair up a braid, her blue dress underneath her jacket, her gray-white dirty shoes. And the eyes, when George saw those blue eyes with a hint of green in them, he couldn't help but wonder where he had seen them before.
"Chocolate?" He asked her and offered her a piece.
"Sorry, but mum told me not to accept anything from strangers." She responded, but George could tell from her voice that she really wanted that piece of chocolate.
"Jamie honey." A female voice said behind them. "This is George, he's not a stranger."
When the voice spoke, George knew exactly where he had seen those blue-green eyes before, they belonged to the girl he had been in love with in school, his team mate, his friend, the girl he could never have because her heart had always belonged to somebody else, the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He stood up and turned around toward her.
"Alicia." He said breathlessly with a voice that neither was happy nor sad at the sight at her. Oh Merlin she was still beautiful, now only older, he hadn't seen her since the grand opening of this store. Her skin was smooth and in a perfect tanned tone, her forms were now more filled out, and she probably still wore the reading glasses she had gotten in fifth year, but he couldn't tell now.
"Hello George." She said in a voice happier than his.
"You know my mummy?" Jamie said, from where she stood at the side of him. George looked down bewildered at the little girl. She was Alicia's daughter; George had assumed earlier that they were related, siblings as closest but not mother daughter. He looked back at Alicia again.
"She's your daughter?" He asked her for conformation.
"Yes." Alicia simply answered.
"Who's the father?"
"Remember Henry?"
Henry, the Ravenclawer in Oliver's year who had stolen Alicia's heart away from George. He had accompanied Oliver to the Battle of Hogwarts, but he was unfortunately killed. "Yes I remember him, so the two of you had a child." The latter was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes." She answered him. "I was thinking about telling all of you, but... The battle happened. And I just couldn't stay here; there was too much loss; Henry, Katie, my brother and... Fred." She told him sadly. "How can you ever manage to go forward without all of your loved ones?" She asked him, but on her tone it didn't seem like she was looking for an answer.
"Chocolate." He answered her, and held up the chocolate he had in his hand. "And alcohol, and work, and some special female friends and then you just try to concentrate on everybody else's happiness." He answered her and sighed, he didn't like to see her sad, it had always pained him.
First she just looked at him, and then she burst into laughter. And soon he laughed too; both of them seemed to have forgotten the little girl who looked confused and wondered why they were laughing.
"How have you been?" She asked after she had calmed down.
"I manage." He simply answered. "You?"
"I manage as well." She looked at him, still smiling. "Starting a new business." She said to him excited.
"That's nice. What kind of business?" He answered, feeling happy for her.
"Me and Carlos, we are staring an inn in Hogsmeade. The Dragon Sphere" She said. "Carlos is the guy who's looking around in the shop."
"Wonderful idea since three broomsticks is closing down." George answered, he looked over at the other person in the shop, who was busy looking through the store, or maybe he was just letting the two old friends catch up without interruption.
"That's actually why we chose just Hogsmeade." She told him. "The place we bought is currently under renovation. Opening in a month if everything goes as planned."
"Where are you going to live? Flooing every day?"
"No, we live in house there, not so far away." Alicia told him.
"Hogsmeade is a growing village." George stated as he looked over at Carlos who had appeared behind Alicia.
"Are you tired, honey?" Alicia said.
George, who hadn't seen that Alicia had spoken to Jamie, turned his attention back to her. "Me?" He asked confused.
"I'm talking to Jamie." Alicia answered him with a smile. "C'mon honey, we'd better go home." Jamie walked up to her mum."It's getting late." Alicia spoke to George.
George looked up at the clock on the wall, ten past six. "We're closed." He said out loud in a disappointing voice, he wanted them to stay longer.
"Yes, and Jamie's getting tired." Alicia said. "We'd better leave; it was really nice meeting you again." She said and hugged him, and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Let's make sure to bump into each other again some time." She said to him with a smile.
"Of course, I'll be here." George said. "From 10 AM to 6 PM every day, except from weekends when I open at noon." He said automatically and held up the door to them.
Alicia gave out a little laugh at his business like voice.
"Bye George." Jamie waived at him and took her mum's hand.
"It's a really great shop you've got." Carlos finally spoke to him and walked out of the shop after Alicia and Jamie.
"Thanks." George said low to himself as he closed the door and turned the open sign.
Once the door was closed and he lost sight of Alicia through the window, he turned quickly around and walked into the back office. Once he was in there, he sat down on Verity's chair and looked through the papers on her desk, but unable to find what he was looking for. He stood up again and walked over to the fireplace upstairs in his flat.
"Can I speak to Verity?" George said to the person who answered his call.
"George, what have happened?" Verity answered concerned that he had called her at this hour. "You didn't burn up the shop, did you?" she joked.
"Uh, no." He answered smiling, a little taken back by her joke. "I'm just wondering where you put the Zonko file."
"It's in my top drawer." She answered. "Right under the quill boxes, that is why you might not have found it. Why do you wonder?"
"I was just thinking, why not take the chance, and see how it'll work out." George answered, having Alicia in his mind.
"Alright, let's talk about it more tomorrow." Verity answered.
"Alright, have a lovely evening." He responded.
"You too." Verity answered and left.
If they bought Zonko's and extracted their line of products to Hogsmeade, maybe he and Alicia will 'bump into each other' more often, it made George happy for the rest of the night, but then he remembered Carlos, and his good mood disappeared, he had forgotten about him completely.
Author's note; You like or no like? it will depend on the feedback if this story will get high priority. So leave a review if you like it