"Harry."
A voice spoke up in front of Harry but he was too focused on the Prophet to hear.
"Harry." The voice spoke more firmly this time and Harry looked up to see Kingsley at in the doorway.
"Minister. How long have you been there?" he asked, attempting to tidy up his desk a bit. Kingsley shook his head.
"Not long, Harry, not long at all. How long have you been here?" He asked, crossing his arms. He had noticed the headline; Rita Skeeter's new Potter Biography, 'Protector or Coward?' to be Released Next Month. Kingsley hid his anger best he could and focused on the topic at hand.
"Um, I don't know exactly. What time is it?" Harry asked and looked around for his watch. Kingsley raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips slightly, keeping his arms crossed.
"7:00 a.m. Didn't you get in at 9:00 yesterday?" Harry nodded in response, surprised at how late- or rather, early- it was.
"Yeah, I was just trying to get a little more paperwork done. Not going to Auror Training might've been a bad idea after all," he joked trying to change the subject while also lightening the mood. It failed at the former.
"Harry, you have been here for twenty-two hours straight. It's Saturday. Molly has owled me thrice. Now GO HOME and get some damn rest before I throw your 'chosen' arse over my shoulder and carry you there myself," he demanded and Harry chuckled.
"Alright, thank you Minister," he said with a wave as he moved slowly towards the floo.
"If you call me Minister one more time while we're alone, I will see to it that you are forced to go back to Auror Training before you may continue as one," Kingsley said with a stern point as Harry disappeared in a puff of green flames.
~O-O~
"Charlie, have you seen George?" Molly asked, looking around the kitchen at all of her other children, adopted and blood, waiting for their breakfast. Hermione was the only one who had decided to go back to school to finish out her seven years. Ron, Harry, and Ginny had all mentioned how damaged their memories are now. How can you force someone to go back after hearing something like that?
Before he could respond, Ginny intervened.
"I'll go get him. The lumphead hasn't eaten since Thursday," she muttered under her breath as she trudged up the stairs. When she reached the door with the scorch mark, she paused.
The door that used to read Fred and George now had a scorch mark over the first name. Not a day after the worst day of George's life, he had come home to face his worst nightmare. In a fit of rage from having to sleep alone for the first time in his life, he'd almost burnt down the house with his Fireball Spell.
After the brief delay in her mission, she regained focus and knocked on the door. All she heard was a muffled response so she decided to take that as her cue to enter.
When she did, the lump in the unburnt bed rolled over at the sight of light entering the room. It'd been light for at least an hour now but the curtains had been drawn to drain the room of happiness.
"Hey, if you want to continue to annoy us for as long as you can, you might want to come eat some food for the first time in a couple days. We're feeling a bit unannoyed at the moment," Ginny mentioned and the lump sat up and looked at her.
George looked horrendous. No one knew when the last time he took a shower was. All they could deduce was that it'd been over a week. Also, his hair hadn't been cut in months, leaving it long, greasy, and knotted, hanging at around shoulder level. Ginny kept her composure as she moved closer to his bed.
"You can annoy yourselves just fine, I think," he muttered before lying back down. Ginny hated seeing anyone like this. Every time Harry got this bad, she would surprise him with broom races, Exploding Snap, or something just as random to make him feel better again. She didn't mind when he needed space but she wasn't about to let him close himself off from those who loved him. It was only temporary, but she didn't mind helping him out. Now it was George's turn to feel the love.
"I really can't though. It's twice as hard to annoy Ron as it would be if you were down there with me."
"More accurately, three times. You know, because there is another member of the annoyance party missing," he said sinking further into his sheets. Ginny thought for a moment and then took out her wand. She might not have finished school but she sure as hell was 17.
"Aguamenti," she whispered and a jet of water started spraying at the unmoving lump. When it hit the sheets, George shot up and out of the bed.
"What the hell? Now I have to wait for them to dry!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in exasperation. Ginny shrugged unapologetically.
"Now that you're up, we might as well wash them. And since they won't be done immediately after breakfast, you might want to partake in some self-grooming," his bubbly little sister replied as she grabbed his arm and dragged him the entire way down the stairs. When she returned, the food was being plated. Molly looked up, expression changing when noticed who was with her daughter.
"Georgie! Thank you for joining us on this lovely morning," she started, skirting over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist in an embrace. She almost flinched at his stench; thankfully, she was too overcome with happiness to notice it much.
George looked around the room at all of the breakfast-goers. Charlie was still home for another week before heading back to Romania. Bill and Fleur were visiting from their lovely home at Shell Cottage. Ron was already piling food into his mouth. His dad was just sitting down, and Ginny was heading towards him.
"What's for breakfast?" he asked plainly, proud of himself for even getting a few words out.
"Eggs and bacon!" she replied shooting him a happy look. "Just for you, actually." He attempted a smile back, but instead, it turned into almost a grimace. "We saved you your usual seat, we've been doing it for awhile now actually."
George looked at his normal seat. Charlie was in his usual chair to George's right. To his left was supposed to be…
"Why is Phlegm is his seat?" George asked pointedly and Fleur blushed.
"I'm sorry George, I'll move over, maybe grab another seat?" She looked at Bill for support and he nodded, pity overcoming his face.
"What was that look for? I don't need your pity! I need his seat to be open! It's the respectful thing to do for someone who laid out their lives so you could sit around and eat eggs and bacon and prance off into the sunset!" He shouted and his dad stood up.
"Son, just come sit down. You haven't eaten in days. Let's just have a nice family breakfast for once. Please," Arthur said, motioning for Molly to help him with his seat.
"No, you know what-," he started. But halfway through his sentence, a body rolled out of the fireplace. Harry's body. He stood up and looked around at the Weasleys, George standing in a more aggressive manner than the rest of them.
"Good morning," he muttered and Ginny walked over and hugged him. If he didn't have a job to go to every morning, he would probably end up smelling the same as George if not worse.
"Harry, dear! You're finally home! Did Kingsley- sorry- the Minister get my owls?" Molly asked, taking Ginny's place when she was finished.
"Yeah, that's why I'm here I suppose." His face was blank and unmoving. "You made breakfast, I'm sorry I'm late."
"No dear, it's not a problem. Come and sit, please," Molly smiled her regular smile, full of motherly love for the boy without one.
George and Harry met eyes. Harry looked at George and Fred's regular seats. He moved both of them over, and grabbed a potted plant. He muttered something under his breath and instantly, the plant turned into a chair. The entire Weasley clan was now watching as George eyed the black-haired boy carefully. After rearranging the chairs a bit, Harry was now seated between George's normal seat and Charlie. He looked up at the clearly still mourning boy, met eyes, and nodded.
He then looked around at the other table guests. "Fleur, Bill. Sorry I didn't see you before. How are you two doing?" he asked as he served himself some eggs and bacon. George was visibly emotional at the actions just displayed by Harry and slowly moved over to his chair. By the time he sat down, Harry had dished him out a very generous portion and George was barely holding it together. Everyone else was still eyeballing the situation.
Harry knew it'd been a while since he'd seen George. I mean, it'd been a while since he'd seen anyone but it'd been extra long for George. He figured any and all sustenance was beneficial, given the way George was looking. He used to be one of the stockier Weasley children and he was now just as thin as the rest of them. Bill was currently telling Harry about the renovations being done to a couple of the bedrooms and planning for future children. But George just sat there looking at his plate.
Finally, he took a deep breath and picked up his fork. He brought eggs to his mouth slowly and sped up his pace as he realized how truly hungry he was. With this, the tension was broken. The table's volume grew increasingly.
"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked, looking at Molly.
"I think she's gone to clean George's sheets, or at least throw them in the wash before she has to go to practice," she responded as she started on the dishes. George looked up.
"She didn't have to do that," he stated plainly. "They were fine."
"Georgie dear, you should really take a shower while she's cleaning your sheets."
"Mum, I'm fine, really."
"No, son, you're not," Arthur cut in and George just stared at him blankly. "We love you but we hate your appearance at the moment. We need to you shower, shave, maybe even let your mum cut your hair."
Everyone sat silently for a moment before George got up enough courage to stand up.
"Fine."
He placed his dish in the sink before walking back up the stairs. When he was gone, Molly walked up to Arthur and smacked him on the shoulder.
"What's that for?" He demanded and she glared at him.
"Arthur, we had just gotten him to come downstairs. How long's it been since he actually ate, let alone with the family? I was going to try and take baby steps but someone had to jump the gun."
"I was just trying to help, Molly," he got up to help her with the dishes as everyone moved from the kitchen of the Burrow to the living room. Ginny then came prancing down the stairs, broom and bag in hand. She looked around and locked eyes with Harry. When she met them, she smiled brightly, leaving Harry feeling guilty.
"I'm off to practice. Please try to get some sleep while I'm gone," she finished with a kiss on the temple. Charlie and Ron wolf whistled as Ginny flipped them the bird. Before Ron could tattle, she was gone with a crack and the room continued their dull conversations. Harry stood up and everyone stopped for a moment.
"I'm gonna go for a walk, I think," he said heading towards the back door.
"Do you want me to come, mate?" Ron asked standing up as well.
"No, I'm okay. Just need a little fresh air after sitting in a Ministry Office for hours."
Ron nodded hesitantly and sat back down. Harry snuck past the Weasley parents cleaning up in the kitchen and out the back door. He walked through tall, grassy fields and all the way to the little lake a mile or so back. With a flop, he sat in dewy grass and picked up a rock laying next to him. He threw the rock as hard as he could, it landing in the water with a 'Plunk!'
George had just gotten out of the shower when he looked out the window and saw Harry walking towards the lake. He walked past the shattered bathroom mirror and into his room to pick out his usual outfit of sweatpants and a t-shirt before sneaking down the stairs and to the back door. While following the trail Harry had left on his excursion, his mind wandered. It wandered to all of the times him and Fred had run to their secret treehouse where they'd make their Weasley & Weasley products before Harry gave them the money to open up shop. His eyes watered as he walked and he tried to shake the thoughts out of his head. Harry looked behind him, hearing noise. When he saw it was a distraught George, he stood up.
"Hey man," he said and George looked up, eyes still watering a bit.
"Hey," George replied. The two stood their for a moment, a bit awkwardly before George started conversing again. "What're you doing?"
"I don't really know. Throwing the rocks just kind of clears my mind a bit," Harry shrugged before sitting back down. George followed suit.
"That's cool, I guess."
There was a bit of awkward silence again, only broken by the occasional 'plunk'.
George was again the first to speak.
"How do you deal with pain?" He asked. He'd wanted to ask since coming home but hadn't found the right way to ask. Without thinking, he just blurted it.
This caught Harry a bit off guard. He held onto the rock in his hand and turned it over a few times.
"I don't. At least not well. I mean, I just spent over twenty hours at my job without a break. I was too afraid to come back to this place."
"Why were you afraid?" George understood the wanting a distraction but not so much the fear.
"Because every time I'm here, I'm reminded of the cost for me living through the war."
There was silence again.
"But we all love you Harry. You're our family too."
Harry thought about that for a moment before smiling and wiping away his teary eyes.
"Yeah, I guess it's still hard for me to get over the fact that I'm not alone."
"And it's hard for me to get over the fact that I am. For the first time ever," George stated, holding back tears.
Harry looked over at his emotional friend and wrapped one arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a sort of half-hug.
"I've been there. My entire life I was a freak. When I was younger and living with the Dursleys, I was the freak without any parents. When I got to Hogwarts, I was still seen as that, except people were too afraid to talk to me. Second year rolled around, and everyone was even more afraid because on top of being parentless and the "Boy Who Lived," I was also the heir to Slytherin. When I first met Sirius, it just reminded me that the Dursleys were never going to love me. Fourth year, I was the cheater who was responsible for Cedric. In fifth year, I was the liar claiming Voldemort was back. Then Sirius died. Then Dumbledore. The only thing that kept me from being completely alone was you lot. You made me feel normal."
George couldn't hold in his emotions anymore. He now realized that this boy had felt before, the pain he was going through. Harry too knew what it was like to feel so fucking alone.
"It'll get better. I know it's cliché and stupid to say that. But don't push away your family. Ginny never lets me and I'm sure that since she was so apt to get you out of bed this morning she won't let you retreat anymore either," they both laughed a little, thinking about Ginny's stubborn attitude. Harry went back to throwing his stones.
"Does that actually relieve stress?" George questioned and Harry shook his head.
"Ah, I never said that's what it did. I said that it clears my mind. Those are two totally different things."
George scrunched his face up.
"Um, not really. When you're mind is spinning out of control, you're stressed. When your head is clear, you're not. What's the difference?"
"That may be how it works in your head, but when my mind is clear, I'm still stressed. I'm stressed thinking about whatever's gonna happen next," Harry corrected, throwing another rock.
"If you're clearing your mind then you shouldn't be thinking about anything," George pointed out, stealing a rock out of Harry's hand.
Harry though for a moment before screwing up his face in thought.
"Oh yeah, I guess it doesn't help anything then," he muttered a bit. He looked over a George, chuckling. But George was staring up at a tree, hanging out over the lake directly across from them. "What's that?" Harry asked pointing to the pieces of wood that were hanging out of the tree a bit.
"Dad built that treehouse for Fred and I when we were little as a place for us to go and not annoy Mum. We started Weasley & Weasley in there. It's been like four years since either of us were in there though," George's eyes never left the tree. Harry looked back and forth between George and the tree a bit. Then he stood up and gestured for George to come with him.
"Harry, I don't think it's a good idea for me to be over here."
Harry ignored him. When they got close enough, he pulled out his wand. With a few flicks, all of the wood was back in place. With another flick, a statue appeared. A statue of the twins, each of them holding a W&W basket. In cursive letters under their feet, it read "In Loving Memory of Fred Weasley: May he cause laughter in the afterlife." When George read the sign, his tears flowed more heavily.
"It should just be his statue. I shouldn't be there with him," George choked out, barely. Harry shook his head.
"This way you're never alone, and neither is he."